Statement

Andrew G.H. Betancourt is a Chicano Artist from El Paso, Texas, whose work engages with identity representation, and belonging within the Mexican-American diaspora. His practice reflects on the tension of “otherness” by questioning fixed notions of what Chicano art should be, while honoring traditions in printmaking, drawing and finding new visual languages interdisciplinary experimentation.Central to his practice is a pursuit of growth and understanding through the balance of new experiences with the discipline of art making and times of reflection. 

His work is deeply informed by connection with nature, spirituality, community, family and ancestors. These sources of purpose help to transcend the “otherness” he often explores. In what he calls a “fourth space” of creativity, language becomes secondary as he lets the visual forms guide the narratives and intimacies of lived experiences. His practice allows for him to create a bridge to contemplate the ideas of resistance and renewal of existing as an artist living in a sense of hybridity.

The artist approaches each medium with an openness to have conversations with process and tradition. Sometimes allowing himself to disrupt the traditions to create space and merge mediums creating new visual languages, challenging cultural norms, and expanding boundaries of belonging. Growing up in a border city has shaped his experience of understanding hybridity. To feel at home and at once displaced or to be both included and excluded. To have a unique cultural place in this world and embrace that tension. He turns this into resilience and furthermore, connection. He creates works that hold space for personal reflection and shared experience.