Story by Abi Safago, Reporter
Photos by Daniel De La Rosa
The AQ community is full of students with a variety of talents and passions. The Artist Spotlight features some of these gifted scholars. This week, we feature Ezra James-Munoz Faust. This artist, originally from Alma, Michigan, can’t imagine his life without art.
One of Faust’s sketches
Early beginnings
From a young age, Faust remembers drawing, painting, and wanting to build. This is all thanks to his mom.
“My mom was an art teacher so our home was filled with everything I needed. Some of my earliest memories are just creating,” he said.
His early beginnings definitely gave him a way to really bring his imagination to life.
One of the biggest things he’s loved about being an artist is that he can create anything he wants. Big or small, simple or difficult, the challenge is a part of the process for him. Faust said, “I think something I like about [art] is that you can make anything. You can take whatever is in your mind and put it on paper or you can build it with your hands —that’s why I find it interesting.”
The start of his future
Faust realized that he wanted to be an artist in high school. It all started with an assignment he was given. He was told to write a short story and quickly found himself becoming fully invested in the project. He loved creating characters and creatures with extreme complexities.
“All of my friends were like, ‘you’ve gotta keep doing this. It’s so cool.’ So I kept pushing and pursuing it. I still am after all these years.”
Pictured: “Zeuscar the Cursed King”
From this experience came one of his most interesting pieces of art, inspired by his story, “Zeuscar the Cursed King.” This piece (left) is made of several mediums and took a lot of time and effort for him. He initially created this one as a drawing to give definition to a character in his story.
Later on, a professor saw the drawing and told him he found it interesting. He made it Faust’s next project. Faust remembered, “It took a lot of tries to get it right. We had to use different materials in this project, so learning how to use them all and how to shape them took some time.”
The artist’s process
Faust usually starts out with basic sketches and builds on those. When he gets his hands on clay is when things get messy.
“I would describe myself as a messy artist I guess,” Faust said. “It’s funny though because I hate the feeling of having a lot of wet clay on my hands so I’m also constantly washing my hands. You’ll see me running back and forth constantly.”
Regardless of the messes he makes, thanks to Faust we get to see plenty of really detailed pieces. Many of his pieces rely on the look of texture, which only gauges interest more.
To see more of his work and to see updates on his projects, check out his Instagram: @ezra_does_art .
The Saint 