Biography: Marco Munoz Jaramillo was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador on November 23, 1957 to his parents Alfredo and Leonor. Jaramillo is his mother's maiden name. His father left for the United States prior to sending for Leonor and Marco and settled in Washington Heights, New York City where they lived in humble beginnings during the tumultuous 60s. The cold concrete world of city living was a far cry from the warm familiar climate of Ecuador. Marco sought comfort by sketching an isolated tree growing in a patch of dirt behind the apartment complex where he lived and another world was opened to him. Marco later developed a fascination with artists such as Picasso and Michelangelo and researched them passionately. Later, in public high school, in Elizabeth, NJ, under art teacher, Mr. Tagliaferro, Marco, being further inspired, produced pencil renderings in graphite of the human figure and in Mr. Tagliaferro's words "are refreshingly different, expressing a sensitivity never before achieved in his other works" and that he had "matured into an artist" and would make a significant contribution to the art world. Later at the Chicago Arts Institute, he further cultivated his ability by becoming well trained and well-versed in contemporary as well as traditional painting. Marco found himself making decisions that set the course of his career as a painter to remain in a state of hibernation for a period of years until recently In 1998, Marco built his own studio and began to paint once again. This is the fruit of his experience, his thoughts, his dreams and his vision. "I am still that child drawing a tree outside the window of my concrete, brick, and mortar tenement apartment building."
As the roots of a tree grow deeper and its trunk and branches grow taller and wider, so is my experience of this discipline called Art. I cannot say that this work is or was being made only by my own efforts for each time I am given the opportunity to create, I bring to it what was taught to me. Every square inch of time spent knowingly or unknowingly, past, present, and future is filtered through their teachings and represented through the works of my hands. Nothing is wasted or lost but captured for time to judge. Only time reveals what is true or false, valid or invalid regarding all that I have learned, experienced and translated.. My art is an attempt to give back to the world in thanksgiving. The work comes from my fierce convictions screaming, I am alive. I am here, I am not an animal or a freak or a mistake made by random chance, but a child of God through Christ Jesus. The gift of creating is truly only owned by God. The best that we can do is merely to touch his brushes and look at his canvas to feel the essence of his great creation. I stand in awe of every precious second of conscious existence and fall short of capturing what is the best of life and the fullness thereof.
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