Ramón Vargas makes paintings that amplify and investigate the cultural realities of Brown communities. Utilizing a representational approach, he alternately challenges, celebrates, and subverts prevailing concepts of identity, tradition, and interpersonal relationships. Drawing on his own life experiences, Vargas’s figurative paintings blend realism with a surreal sense of color and place, often incorporating heavy symbolism, repeating patterns, and flat geometrical elements. Throughout his career he has held arts-related administrative, faculty, and consulting positions for non-profit and grassroots organizations and is known as a mentor for arts education and community outreach in Los Angeles and Orange County. In addition to painting, he is also a muralist and printmaker.