A Conversation with Muralist Jade Rivera
Just a few weeks ago, Ash Street Project had the good fortune to be part of Portland's city-wide, Forest For The Trees mural project. Each summer, this non-profit group brings artists from all over the globe to work on walls throughout our city. We are so grateful to have been selected to provide the palate for Peruvian painter and muralist, Jade Rivera.
Jade had a mere 6 days to complete the piece on Ash Street's west wall. Watching the process was fascinating. Where many muralists work with spray paint, Jade used a brush for most of his painting, adding a roller only for large areas of color and when he felt pressed for time. This gave the piece a decidedly different feel than many murals.
Jade started painting when he was 14, at which time he was drawn to graffiti. A gifted, prolific, self-taught artist, he has filled notebooks with sketches, drawings and paintings for the past 18 years. The “WORKS” section of his website shows the incredible trajectory that his work has taken in in this time. He is a great fan of manga/anime, and claims Hayao Miyazaki his greatest influence. If you look back to his earlier works, this reference is quite apparent.
Now at 32, Jade paints murals all over the world. He tries to limit it to five murals a year. In the US, you can find his work in Miami (Art Basel), New York, New Jersey, L.os Angeles and now in Portland. Jade has asked that the subject matter of the Ash Street mural be open to the viewer's interpretation. However, he did share that this is his favorite mural to date.