"Art brings out the crazy side of me."  - Roland Escalona

ROLAND ESCALONA

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I am a self-taught artist. My interest in creating art started when I won the “Non-registered” category of the Architectural Record magazine’s 2014 napkin sketch competition. Since then, I've been submitting my pieces to art exhibits and competitions. I am lucky enough to have won numerous art awards at every level -- from local, to regional, to national. I also have been exhibited internationally. These awards include Best of Show at Costa Mesa ArtVenture; First Place in Photography at Center for Contemporary Arts in Abilene, TX; First Place at American Institute of Architects National Photography Competition; Juror's Award at Ink and Clay Exhibit at Kellogs Art Gallery in the campus of Cal Poly Pomona; and twice Best of Show at American Institute of Architects Orange County Chapter Artwalk. Most recently, I was awarded Best of Show at 2018 Orange County Fair Art Competition. Checkout the full list under "Exhibit + Awards" tab above. 

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I considered myself as an abstract or contemporary artist. My goal is for viewers to feel they are seeing something unusual, something they have never seen before. The body of my artwork is not of a particular medium or theme or style. I constantly look for new items to use as my medium. Some of the unconventional items I have used as my medium include paint chip samples, dressmaker pins and pencil shavings. Sometimes I like to explore colors in one artwork and on another be as dull as possible with just plain ink sketch of repeated houses. I spend endless hours covering a foam head with more than 48,000 dressmaker pins and cover an illustration board with acrylic paint one dot at a time. Several of my art pieces can also be viewed as an extension of my zeal for architecture as evident of my extensive use of colors, shapes and architecture elements like houses. I also enjoy creating pieces in which elements are repeated over and over at a very small scale to a point that the art pieces are not recognizable from a distance -- just a blur. As a result, viewers' curiosity draw them closer to my art pieces to further investigate.

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I was born and raised in the Philippines. After graduating high school, I moved to the US with my family to pursue better opportunities. I earned my Associated Science degree in Architectural drafting at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, CA and eventually my Bachelor of Architecture degree at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. After college, I moved to Orange County, CA where I currently live. I now enjoy toggling between working on residential designs at an architectural office in Newport Beach and creating art pieces whenever possible.