Artist Spotlight: Rico Duenas
We met Rico Duenas last year, when he showed up as our electrician during the install of "The Lily Too Shall Function." Our paths crossed again at Gallery 16, where he had a piece in “Everybody Knows This Is Someplace,” an exhibition featuring Studio AHEAD fave Jeffrey Sincich and Rose D’Amato. Naturally, we had to know more about this intriguing electrician-turned-artist (or is it artist-turned-electrician?), so we invited ourselves over to his studio, where we shot these impromptu pictures and had a little chat.
Studio AHEAD: Tell us about the show at Gallery 16. We were quite surprised to see you again!
Rico Duenas: Being included in that show was so much fun. Rose and Jeffrey are just such great people. They are always looking for ways to show and bring their community together. Not even just their community, [they] bring different communities together.
My piece for that show was pretty special for me because it was one of the first times I felt that one of my lights became more sculptural than lighting. It was an a-ha moment for me. It didn’t necessarily relate to what Rose and Jeffrey were doing, but I’m really happy that I got to show that I can do a thing and it’s a lil different.
SA: You started as an electrician, though, and now you make lamp art.
RD: I actually learned how to make lights before I became an electrician. When I was 19, I reconnected with this guy named Kevin Randolph. His daughter and I went to K-8th together. He was selling at the Alemany Flea Market unique objects, but he was also selling lights that he made. At the time I had just dropped out of college and was looking for something to do so I asked if I could check out his space and process. After visiting his storage/studio space, I fell in love with art again. After that I had the opportunity to work for him installing his lights in some commercial settings (Ramen Shop, Bar Crudo, 15 Romolo). That led me to want to learn more.
I figured I could learn a trade that can also help expand my art. Also, health insurance is cool. I thought I would be working in people's homes but actually I mostly do commercial and industrial work. I believe being an electrician and making art that includes light gives me a unique perspective and advantage. I mean I can make something and properly install it. I've been an electrician for 14 years now. Throughout that entire time I kept tinkering and playing in my garage making my sculptures.
Kelly Ishikawa, who owns Perish Trust, was so kind to let me sell them out of her store. In 2021, I got the opportunity to do a small residency at 500 Capp Street. That was the first time I really got to show my light sculptures as art. I also turned their garage into a lamp repair shop that I open 4 days a week. I repaired people's lights for free. I really got to blend my trade, art, and love into one thing.
SA: Is being in a union important to you?
RD: I didn't know much about the electricians' union and was very lucky to have gotten in on my first try. I love being in the union, especially for construction. I would say the main things that stick out to me are the training (5 year apprenticeship), job site working conditions (much safer and cleaner), and the bylaws of when and how I work, so if I work outside normal hours I will be compensated for my time appropriately
SA: Are there parallels between union work and being part of a larger art community?
RD: I can't really speak about the art world or community. But I can speak to my friends that do art and they, like the union, all prop each other up, constantly helping each other with personal projects, brainstorming, or talking about dream projects that we want to do together. I guess in a way it's like an unofficial artist union.
SA: Each lamp is made of repurposed parts. Where do you find the pieces?
RD: The majority of the material I use comes from flea markets, garage sales, scrap yards, or the trash. I don't know how often you all go to flea markets but growing up I would go every Sunday with my family. We legitimately called it the Flea Church. I don't remember the family buying new things. I feel like everything came secondhand growing up. For example our dining room table was surrounded by 12 different, slightly broken chairs all with potential. To me everything in my studio is bursting with potential.
SA: What is your thought process when putting disparate pieces together?
RD: I look for objects that have been used and loved. Those types of objects always have a specific patina and wear on them. Or I look for things that have been neglected and left alone to just survive time and weather. Either way I find these objects that have been essentially thrown away and I get to give them a new purpose and in doing so they give me purpose. I never really looked at it as an art practice. Up until recently it was just something I did in my basement.
My niece once asked me how long it takes me to make a light. I thought about it, grabbed a few things, and made a quick light. Then I told her I had one of those objects for over 10 years, so did it take me 30 minutes to make the light or over 10 years? I think about that every time I make a light.
Photos: Ekaterina Izmestieva
