Check out Marcus (AudWun) Chavez’s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcus (AudWun) Chavez.

Marcus, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I got really interested in music when I was about 10. I found a website called Acid Planet, where people were uploading tracks they had made. The site was run by Sony and promoted their music production software, Acid Pro. As a naive youngster, I had no concept of music outside of what I heard on the radio, and I guess I just assumed that music production wasn’t accessible to your average person. So that blew my mind, and I asked my dad if I could get Acid Pro. Since then I’ve been making music off and on, electronically and playing acoustic guitar and singing. Music was always my first love, and that’s where the first half of my artist name “Aud” came from. “Aud” as in audio. Most of my creative efforts were in music, but I’ve always had a hard time perfecting my sound.

I loved to draw too, but I never took it too seriously and didn’t think I was any good at it. I went to New School for the Arts and Academics in Tempe for all four years of high school, in which I continued to focus most of my attention to music. I did have a few visual art classes there, and I believe I gained some knowledge and perspective that would later be useful. I graduated in 2011, but it wasn’t until a couple years ago that I started drawing a lot and developing my style.

My full artist name is “AudWun.” Again, “Aud” as in audio, but it’s sort of a double entendre since it also alludes to the word “odd.” This pretty much stems from a history of feeling socially awkward amongst other things. “Wun” is basically a stylistic spelling and another double entendre meaning “one” and “won.”

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do? Why? And what do you hope others will take away from your work?
There’s so much that I can say when it comes to describing my art. I’ll try to break it down into two key ideas here; biology and psychology. I encourage all viewers to interpret art in their own way. These can just be viewed as tools or ideas that you may want to reflect on when viewing.

Biology: I’m inspired by nature and all the beautiful and astonishing structures of organisms.
Psychology: I’m inspired by everything I’ve experienced in life. I feel as though our minds are infinite reservoirs that operate in a feedback loop. Things are observed by the mind and are automatically sung into a ruminating medley with every other note that has played out on life’s chords, in a progression that continues forever. The mind is also the instrument we use to navigate and act, thus creating new experiences to be observed and added into the feedback loop.

It all starts with one shape.
Biology: A seed, the birth of an organism, some element of an organism that other elements seem to blossom from or lead into.
Psychology: The first experience or thought, the start of a relationship or tribe, a significant event in someone’s life.

Sometimes there are paths or shapes that seem to be replicated or are similar.
Biology: Leaves, pedals, fruit, bones, cells, etc. Together the entire organism is in view, but some of the shapes can be seen as repeating aspect of the organism.
Psychology: A routine thought pattern or behavior.

There are outlines closely hugging certain shapes.
Biology: An eyelid, a cell membrane, skin
Psychology: A highlight of a great achievement, A wall built around a failure.

Eventually, the shape or structure concludes.
Biology: The entire organism with each piece of the anatomy working in a system
Psychology: The entire psyche with each separate part of the mind and life playing into and being encompassed by the whole.

The stereotype of a starving artist scares away many potentially talented artists from pursuing art – any advice or thoughts about how to deal with the financial concerns an aspiring artist might be concerned about?
The financial aspect of my life thus far has been pretty weak. Thankfully I am now working a full-time job and a part-time job, allowing me to take responsibility for my bills and have enough to invest in my other endeavors (art being one of them.) My advice is just to work hard, and if you have any remaining funds after you’ve taken care of your responsibilities, distribute them into supplies and marketing/networking accordingly. If you truly do not have anything left to fund your creative endeavors, find some scrap paper and a pencil. It may not be ideal for your specific path, but at the very least, there’s often an opportunity for you to develop your style and sketch out ideas for future pieces of art or music if you just have a pencil, a sheet of paper and the will to make do with what you have.

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
Currently, I am just posting my work on my personal Facebook account and the AudWun Facebook page, and @audwunart on Instagram. I plan on expanding this soon.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/audwunart/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AudWun-162655977754035/

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