John Meza, you have earned numerous awards since 1985 for your works, and have had your works exhibited from Pennsylvania to Michigan, Oregon and Tennessee.  What elements in your life drove you to become an artist?

There are two factors. First, I firmly believe I was blessed with being born with artistic DNA. My father used to paint and draw large murals with his students. He wrote poetry and possessed a whimsical sense of humor. My brothers are creative in their own rights and my cousin on my father’s side is also an artist. Just as one can inherit blue eyes, I believe one can inherit artistic ability. Secondly, I was raised in an environment that nurtured creativity. As far back as I can remember my brother Mark and I were making drawings. We had a cigar box full of pencils and crayons and my father always had paper for us to use. Later on, it was my father who enrolled me into college for art. One can learn a great deal about art in school, but the intuitive and congenital attributes that come into play in the creative process, cannot be taught

What was your very first work of art?

It’s hard to say, but It was probably a crayon or pencil drawing on manila paper, depicting the battle of the Alamo or John F. Kennedy’s PT 109. My brother and I were intrigued with historical accounts and we were always drawing scenes inspired from the movies we watched.

Who has inspired you the most?

I have always been a big fan of David Bowie. He is obviously renown as a world class singer and musician, but he is also a visual artist and has acted on stage and on screen. I believe a truly creative person can cross disciplines and express themselves effectively in a variety of outlets. For me, Bowie personified this cross platform creative ability. He always seemed to be ahead of everybody else.

 Some of your latest works, Highest Order (2011),Trajectories (2011), and East Meets West (2011) are currently in the Longwood Art Gallery (Bronx, NY) for their Toys & Games with a Twist exhibition.  The images are captivating yet each image depicts to the viewer a different message.  Highest Order I feel as though it renders a tension between having the privileged vs. the unprivileged.  

Highest Order is a reference to our species position in the grand hierarchy of the cosmos. It raises a few questions, the first being, is there intelligent life elsewhere in the universe? Short answer: yes. Another point of view questions the idea of man being the highest order of life on Earth. In Genesis 1:26, the bible states that man has dominion over the land and animals. I believe this idea has led to the misperception that man owns the planet and its resources. Rather, I believe that our role should be that of temporary custodians. If one takes a look at the Earth from afar, a metaphor can be drawn with man as a parasite crawling around on the living host planet. Are we not slowly and surely draining the lifeblood resources from mother earth, like maggots feeding off of a carcass? Given that refreshing perspective, coupled along with the idea that life exists elsewhere in universe, our self serving assessment of man as the “Highest Order” of a life form becomes untenable.

Trajectories presents the viewer with a very real situation that America has been able to relate to for past generations.  May you explain your thought process for this image?

Trajectories is a metaphor for the dichotomous nature of man. The simple juxtaposition of the athlete and soldier illustrates the extremes in the range of behavior in our species. Man is capable of a gamut of activities from organized games to organized mortal combat. The juxtaposition also draws the similarities between the two activities. In both cases the men wear “team” uniforms and utilize special equipment, they both employ offensive and defensive strategies, and they are both concerned with controlling the opponents territory and ultimately defeating them. The Trajectories path can be applied to both the football and the bullet.

In East Meets West the idea of violence is brought to a serene setting. The sweeping clouds are interrupted by the ominous all-seeing-eye and our view of the desert is obstructed by the Native American and cowboy action figures who pose in fighting stance. Please tell us more about this intellectually stimulating piece.

My work is based on the classic literary themes of Man vs Man, Man vs Nature, and Man vs Himself. The theme of East Meets West is obviously Man vs Man. The cowboy figure represents the Imperial European Westerner, and the Native American represents the Indigenous Easterner.  East Meets West questions the intent of God, our grand designer and the condition of human nature. The allegoric figures depicted are locked in a mortal cultural clash under the unblinking and phlegmatic eye of our creator. The balance scale under the eye is a challenging reference to mankind’s lengthy history of self inflicted social injustices. In Moby Dick, Melville poses the question, (paraphrased), what grand designer has pitted us against each other tooth and claw? Here Melville is obviously referring to the whale hunt, but the same question can quite easily be applied to Man vs Man.

If there was one message that you can send to the world, what would it be?

As world citizens the common mission in life should be: to elevate humanity while sustaining our planet’s health.

Are there any recognitions that you would like to give?

Yes, I’d like to acknowledge my father for my gift of creativity and my mother for teaching me the value of tenacity. Also a few former teachers, Dr. Melinda Parsons, Art Historian (Memphis U), and the late David Foster, Professor Emeritus (U of Oregon).

Your three works discussed are currently open for viewing at the Longwood Art Gallery in the Bronx, NY, but is there a place online and/or offline that anyone may be able to locate your works?

My new site is presently under construction, but some of my images can be viewed at:

http://www.marywood.edu/art/faculty-staff/meza-gallery.html