Statement:
Influenced by Latino Iconography and Spirituality, I work from intuition. My work displays ways in which cannabis has influenced my life through changing my perspective, but most important its role medicinally. As a fourth generation curandero, my appreciation for the hierba is shown through exploring its materiality through multiple mediums in my work. I have been able to use its natural properties to create unique artwork using an unconventional and in some places illicit material. I am creating self sustained and resourced material through cultivating the medicinal cannabis myself.
Cannabis has been a part of my life since I was a child. I changed its role in my life from street drug to a way of naturally healing and medicating my family and friends. It was always seen as a negative substance in my community because of its recreational use and under the counter selling during a time when it wasn’t legal. The old school parents would refer to us as marihuanos. As a Latino, I remember stories of older generations and their holistic cannabis use to dealing with pain. With modern everyday tools, I process the herb into medicine through multiple ways to be ingested or applied topically. As an artistic practice I process the material through blending the herb to mix as a pulp, burning the herb to recycle the ashes to make drawings and mix my own paint as well as fermenting it in alcohol to make ink with its chlorophyll. I am developing a new language by using the plant along with the tools I use to grow it, they coexist as my art form in each project.
Working the plant influenced my practice because I understood how it biologically works and what it can provide by reading it. Cada hoja es difenete. Paying attention to the details of the plant’s needs and medicinal outcomes influenced me to think about multiple natural components such as environment, sound, scent and imagery being used to influence my projects. Through my installation work I create an immersive space. A space where cannabis grow tools are repurposed to transform narratives of healing. Inspired by rascuachismo esthetic which involves repurposing found materials from around the community and giving them life, I gather found materials and readymades to create an enchanting space harvesting stories of healing.
Master In Studio Arts
Education, Spring 2023 MFA Fine Arts , San Francisco State University, San Francisco State, CA
Teaching Experience:
June 2016- 2018 California Mini-Corps tutor.
For two years I was employed by Butte County of Education as a tutor for children en rolled in the California State Mini-Corps Migrant Education program. I worked with students in grades ranging from tk to 12th grade. I learned many things as a tutor, especially with my first hand experience of understanding the difficulties of growing up with English as a second language. Many of my students were constantly trying to grow themselves while living through life full of obstacles. One thing I understood was that everyone has their own way of learning. As growing and developing adults, we all deserve the patience to be guided and helped in our education.
Spring 2023
While completing my three year masters program I received the opportunity to be a teacher assistant in Libby Blacks Intermediate painting class and observed her at work. Through the semester I served as an aid for any questions, examples, and any help needed. During this opportunity I developed and instructed my own assignment which helped the students in the conceptual development of their practice.
Fall 2023 -Summer 2024 San Francisco State University
Right out of the program I was offered to teach a drawing class at San Francisco State University. This offer was then extended for another semester to Spring 2024 to teach a fundamentals painting class and can possibly extend again to fall 2024 depending on the course availability.
Exhibitions
2024 “40th Annual Art From The Heart Auction”, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park CA
2024 “Fade and Feeling”(gave a haircut live as a part of a performance art piece for Sun Park), Room in Slash Art Gallery, San Francisco CA
2023 “AABA6 (Art Auction to Benefit The Artist)”, Incline Gallery, San Francisco CA
2023 “Meet the artist Vol. 4”, Evolved SF, San Francisco CA
2023 “Abrazame muy fuerte”, Dia De Los Muertos, Evolved SF, San Francisco CA
2023 “Other Structures”, Thesis Show 2023, San Francisco State University Fine Arts Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2023 “Home”, Group Show, SFO Museum, Harvey Milk Terminal, Forthcoming Oct. 2023, Curated by Libby Black, San Francisco, CA
2023 “Other Structures” MFA Thesis show, San Francisco State Fine Arts Gallery,
San Francisco CA
2022 “Atentamente”, SFSU Martin Wong Gallery, San Francisco CA
2022 “SFSU Art Student Union: Down With The Whiteness”, ICA San Francisco,
San Francisco, CA
2022 “Art as Medicine”, Evolved SF, San Francisco, CA
2021 “Mi Cronologia”, SFSU Martin Wong Gallery, San Francisco CA
2020 SFSU Martin Wong Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Residencies:
2024 Clearlake Art Residency, Clearlake CA
2024 Mexico City Art Week, invited by Incline Gallery, Mexico City Mexico
Publications
2017 Marry Callhan, "Windsor School & Community Rise Above Ugly Act of Election- Year Vandalism”, sonomamag.com, March, 2017, https://www.sonomamag.com/cali-calmecac-wall/
2020 Genesis Botello, “Student Spotlight: Jiovanny Soto”,
https://www.genesisbotello.com/blog/student-spotlight-jiovanny-soto, April, 2020
2020 Corona Portrait Project, March 27th, 2020, https://www.coronaportrait.com/soto
Volunteer Work
2024 Careerfair at Roseland creek, Elementary Santa Rosa, Ca
2024 Did three Artist talks at Windsor High school to a Spanish class, Windsor CA
2024 Recorded a video documenting a car show event I attended with my lowrider car club Latin Rollers Car Club Held by Elsie Allen High School, Santa Rosa CA
2024 Attended a Career Fair as an artist at Roseland Creek Elementary, Santa Rosa CA
2018 volunteered as a mural painter in the Climate March in San Francisco
community event on sept 14th
2017 helped cover up racist tagging at Cali Calmécac Dual Emersion elementary school during the Trump campaign. (News article under Publications of My CV)
2019 was an aid to creating the now known community courtyard at Sonoma State in the spring