Joset Medina’s skill has been seen in South America, Europe, and the United States. Craft is his love. Born in Venezuela, Medina has lived in Panama, Spain, and then San Francisco. In all the areas he’s lived, he’s worked as an engineer while developing a subsequent career as an artist. As an engineer, he has worked in commercial and residential jobs. As an artist, he creates designs, paintings, and murals.
“I’ve been drawing and painting for as long as I may remember,” Medina said in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “As a child, I used to create designs and pictures of my community, particularly since I grew up surrounded by people who were my first content. I began addressing their sexual relationship through my arts.”
Medina recalls being a nervous child. High school wasn’t easy for him. When he was bullied by some of his colleagues, he responded by making interesting pictures of them, exaggerating their ugly features in order to manage and defend himself.
“Painting and drawing are like counseling for me,” he said. “I love channeling my personal experience into my skill. It’s like a way to grow and learn from life’s difficulties. I get a lot of inspiration from nature, my walks, and particularly the powerful people in my life. Although, since tying the knot, and my relationship with my father, I’ve started incorporating more adult themes into my work.”
Bay Area flexibility
While living in Panama, Medina worked for a global infrastructure company based in Southern California. He traveled quite a bit for labor, and San Francisco was generally high on his list of places he wanted to visit. He eventually made his way around and instantly fell in love with the town. He was enchanted by the liberty he felt around after seeing men holding hands and kissing on the street. It was a pleasant change from Panama and Venezuela, where there is still a great deal of discrimination against LGBT people.