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Hector Kriete | Episode 607
Hector Kriete’s life and art has been a path of breaking boundaries that are formed by rules and expectations. As a Latino immigrant from Colombia, Hector grew up with the mindset that financial stability was the primary goal in life. But on the inside, Hector always had a strong desire to create art and a need to be surrounded by nature. Hector spent his teenage years in Southern California trying to assimilate and suppress his true self. When Hector started accepting who he was and rediscovering himself through his roots, Hector’s soul was nourished and his creativity was sparked. Hector started doing ceramics when he was a child in Colombia. When he moved to the States, Hector focused on his drawing skills, but soon felt constrained by the overwhelming amount of rules imposed by one of his high school teachers. Hector rediscovered ceramics through a teacher who allowed him to experiment and create without strict direction. This freed Hector to discover a world of unlimited possibilities. Another inspirational teacher in college taught Hector the value of making mistakes and not being afraid to take risks. Hector has learned that the best things can often come from not having expectations and allowing a co-creative process with the medium.
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What do you do when you are trying to make it as an artist and life forces a failure that you have no control over?
Well as an artist you have to get really creative because there is a lot of it. But luckily you turn to other artists, you connect with them and ask them heart to heart, How do you deal with this? The best advice I got from an artist was that a failure was still a step in the right direction toward your work. So don’t count the failures as a step backward, because it’s not. You are still going forward. I have had tons of failures that turn around a really bad show but then you end up meeting a person that connects with you later. It makes it all worth it at the end. So some of the failures are not failures in the first place even though they felt that way. I have a girlfriend who is also a potter and having that emotional support is really important. Being creative about how you take in the failures, how you store them in your memory and also reaching out and connecting with other people.
Where does self-confidence come into play when you are faced with a big u turn in life?
I think self-confidence is key. You have to believe in yourself before anyone else can believe in you. Although I also have my mom who will believe in me no matter what, forever. So I have that but you need to believe in yourself. People when they meet you in person they don’t see your entire work, they don’t see what you are worth. Most likely they don’t even care. But if you believe in yourself and you really let them see that then that’s what matters to them at the end of the day. So it’s very important.
How important is that time and space to be tutored by someone way further down the road than you?
I think that is the guidance that you need. Again, right after school I had none and I applied for all the shows in California. I did some nice ones but I was definitely was completely lost and going nowhere. I don’t know, I feel like everyone has a different story, so some people make it that way. I have heard it in your podcast, they did one show and whoa! But that wasn’t in my story. I had to chuck away at it. I have had to really, really earn the skills and impress. My last mentor, he would have not have taken me in if I didn’t show him some promising skills. I also would be nowhere near where I am without him. So I think it is the other piece of the puzzle you know, you need guidance. You need to believe there is a grassy hill over that hill, you know, and head that way.
It sounds like you are talking about resilience. That you have to be able to bounce back. Is it true that resilience has to become a big part of your mindset?
Yes, one hundred percent. To a point that sometimes it just feels like stubbornness, you know. I have done the show where it was hard and considered a failure and I have done another one back to back and then done another one. I am ready for the next one. So you definitely have to have the stubbornness. It all feels rough and you go through all the emotions but you know you are going to get past it. You are going to be looking back and like I said it is a step in the right direction so it’s not really failure.
Do you have to remind yourself when you are working that this is not only art but this is business?
More and more nowadays, yes. For a long time it was just art, art, art, art, this is what I want to do. But now I am looking at my last year’s taxes, this year’s taxes and what can I do for next year. You start looking at everything else. Things that have nothing to do with art. You start looking at, Can I raise the price on this? Maybe lower it on this? You start making decisions that are based on numbers and they have nothing to do with the actual work but it’s essential. Someone once told me, If you don’t do this, someone else is going to do this. At that point the skill doesn’t even come into play. It’s just whether or not you did these steps to survive and continue making your work.
You have been in the United States for a lot of years. Have you been back to Columbia?
Yes, about two years ago I visited with my girlfriend.
What is one thing you miss about Columbia that you can’t have access to here?
Food. Yes, the food. Oh my, God. I don’t know what it is but…well I do know what it is. It’s just better food. Less processed food, less processed meat. When I first moved here that was one of my biggest struggles.I could not get used to the way milk tasted. I could not get used to the way meat tasted. I thought I was going insane even with home cooked meals I thought I was going insane. So when I went back it was just like being born again through my taste, you know.
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Pleased to Meet Me by Bill Sullivan
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Instagram: @kriete_stoneware