We had the good fortune of connecting with Pablo Alejandro and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Pablo Alejandro, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I’m originally from Bogota, Colombia, my parents and I immigrated to the states when I was around 5-6 years old. This played a huge role in my upbringing because I felt like I didn’t have enough time to learn the customs of my birthplace and I didn’t have anyone to show me the customs of this “new world”. In hindsight I believe that immigrant mindset of working hard and “making it happen no matter what” has stayed with me my whole life but at the time I was craving to be accepted by my peers. I found myself slowly culturally assimilating, not really having any Colombian Americans to look to I was convinced my life was non relatable. After many years of hard work, mistakes and finding things out the hard way I’ve created a great life for me here where i’m able to express myself through art. Now I’m constantly looking to my background & upbringing for inspiration on new pieces, hopefully I can be that person to look to for other immigrants and people who felt like outsiders.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My art career has been all over the place, growing up I was that kid sketching on the side of my school work, my parents appreciated my drawings but never thought I could make a living out of it. This pushed me to prove them wrong; my whole art brand is centered around the concept of “proving the doubters wrong” the mascot for my business is a flying pig that represents making anything possible. I don’t want to create anything to spite anyone I just want to push the idea that anything you put your mind to and truly want is closer than you think. When I first got into graphic design it was because I wanted to design clothes for a clothing brand, but after learning the software I started to play around with it more and create “art pieces”. So many paintings and illustrations after I find myself going back to clothing for expression, currently i’m focused on my new brand “Palpable” it embodies the feeling I want to create with my work and is my way of bridging my Colombian and “American” lifestyles. If nothing else I want the world to know that anything you want in this world is palpable, it’s closer than you think.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I have family visit from out of town all the time and these are always my recommendations, if you come to Chicago you have to visit the touristy places because why not right? they are there for a reason; Navy Pier, Sears Tower “Willis Tower whatever”, The Bean, go to a cubs game, MCA, Art Institute, Field/Science and Industry museums & Aquarium eat some deep dish that’s pretty standard surface level Chicago. After you do all that then you can visit the real Chicago go to a Sox game, watch the Bulls, complain about how bad Da Bears are ( i guess this wouldn’t be possible the same week but you get where i’m going) there’s Harolds for amazing fried chicken, Small Cheval for a great burger, Taco Sublime for delicious tacos, fulton market has become like the “cool” area but wicker park is still pretty hip. Pilsen for more local artshows and Novel Pizza for the best pizza! Any tavern type pizza will be delicious, honestly the whole city has amazing food. Rivernorth is where alot of people go to party/club and there are bars all over, Beauty Bar, Three Dots & Dash, Royal Palms, Rhinehall, Marz Brewing all great places to get drinks.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My grandmother; Gladys Rubiano, my number one supporter growing up we spent so much time together, she was a teacher for a local school so she taught me how to read how write and was my guardian when my parents were at work. It was through her that my love for art grew, we would create so many amazing things together and I honestly don’t think I would have started a business if it wasn’t for her believing I could.

Website: https://pabsprints.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pabsprints/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pabsprints

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pabsprintspage

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@pabsprints

Image Credits
@pabsprints

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