Vertical Portraits: Jonlouis Gonzalez
Jonlouis Gonzalez needed to come back down to earth.
The Miami-based multimedia artist built his reputation by embracing the interstellar spirit and symbols of Florida’s Space Coast region, creating paintings, sculptures and installations exploring the terrain between reality and imagination. But as the new year dawned, Jonlouis was feeling lost in orbit.
“I live in a high-rise with 145 units, and I felt very disconnected from nature. I wanted to live on the land, and see what it feels like to walk on dirt floors,” Jonlouis tells Vertical Gallery. “[My partner] Yezenia and I were applying to a whole bunch of residency opportunities, and for whatever reason, we weren't getting the results that we wanted. So we decided to create our own residency in Mexico, where Yezenia’s family is from. We brought all our tools and our supplies, and we built a studio in the middle of nowhere.”
The couple spent close to three months on a ranch in Aguascalientes, a small rural community located in the northern part of Mexico’s Bajío region, working odd jobs while absorbing the customs and rituals of their new environment. The sojourn inspired Jonlouis’ ‘Lay of the Land,’ a collection of vividly impressionistic oil and acrylic paintings on view at Vertical from April 4-26 as part of our 12-Year Anniversary International Group Show.
‘Lay of the Land’ rockets Jonlouis’ signature astronaut adventurers into the heart of his Aguascalientes experience, bringing his characters into contact with the cattle and cacti essential to everyday life there.
“The family we lived with farmed cactus, which is a traditional meal for breakfast. Their neighbor farms eggs, another neighbor makes leather goods, and still another neighbor herds cattle. The same day the cattle is slaughtered, the community consumes it,” Jonlouis recalls. “The whole neighborhood is an ecosystem. It produces everything needed for sustainable living. That had a big impact on me. I was writing everything down in my notebook, like ‘Wow, this is so different compared to where I'm from.’”
Aguascalientes also introduced Jonlouis to amate, a type of thick, textured paper manufactured from the pulp of fig and mulberry trees. He purchased 20 sheets of amate paper from a local vendor, four of which form the basis for the paintings that make up ‘Lay of the Land.’
“I was searching for a medium that was deeply connected to this region,” Jonlouis explains. “At first, I considered using local clay or adobe, but then I came across amate. Understanding the history and significance of my materials is important to me, and amate carries a powerful story. Indigenous Mesoamerican groups have been making it for nearly 2,000 years, using it to record history, rituals and important events. However, during the Spanish conquest, its production was banned to suppress indigenous record-keeping and erase cultural memory. When I discovered a local artist creating scenes of cockfighting, cattle herding and traditional weddings on amate, I knew this was the right medium for ‘Lay of the Land.’ It wasn’t just about aesthetics — it was about honoring the land, its history and the people who preserved its traditions.”
Needless to say, Jonlouis returned to Miami with the grounded perspective he craved.
“This experience redefined my understanding of craftsmanship,” Jonlouis says. “The people there create, build and eat only what is within arm’s reach. Their resources are limited, but their creativity is limitless. It made me realize that having every option available doesn’t necessarily make you more creative — it can actually lead to paralysis. True craftsmanship is about working with what you have, and pushing those materials to their fullest potential.”
