I’m not sure if Balam Soto is a genius or just motivated beyond the standard human condition. I do know that Maestro Balam is fearless and that his story is not only inspirational but perhaps one of the more intriguing artist stories you might read this season.

Quiet and unassuming, Soto’s persona is one of kindness and grace but when it comes to his work the man is a warrior. Only twelve years ago, this Guatemalan artist made his way from a small village in Central America to Hartford Connecticut. He knew no English but he knew he wanted to be an artist in America. He had never taken a cab or used a computer. Twelve years ago Maestro Balam Soto had never even owned or held an actual paintbrush or swiped color against the tooth of a canvas.

Flash forward: In April 2008, Balam was honored with a Diploma of Recognition as a “Maestro” by the National Constitutional Assembly of Guatemala for “being a valuable and outstanding Guatemalan with international success.” The Casa de la Cultura of Guatemala in New York has also honored “Maestro Balam Soto for his brilliant artistic career in the visual arts” and he has received a Diploma of Recognition from the Consulate General of Guatemala in New York. Maestro Balam is now a successful full time artist, webmaster, lecturer, educator, husband and father with concurrent art exhibitions and plenty of requests for interviews.

“I knew when I was a little kid that I wanted to be an artist. The economy in Guatemala was very tight so I would make art with mud, stones, leaves and trees,” says Soto. “In Guatemala everything is very lush and I remember I would direct my friends to help create circles and designs with the flowers and leaves.”

With the unfolding of a creative mind, Soto grew older and in school he came across a painting shown in a book. He thought, “Wow, this would be amazing to do.” He had no idea how to begin. “I had no clue how to stretch a canvas or get paint.” In examining the picture in the book… “It looked to me like some cloth on a frame, but in Guatemala cloth and paint was extremely extremely expensive.” Soto began to save his money and was finally able to obtain some tempera paint from the local store. Now he needed canvas and a frame. He cut up his mother’s bed sheets and went to his Grandfather to get help building a frame. “I also knew I needed a brush and they were real expensive. I would have to save for another year if I wanted to buy one. I remembered I had worked with bamboo and I thought ‘I could probably use that for the handle of a brush’ so I got the bamboo and hollowed it out. But now I needed something to apply the paint with. I thought ‘Ahh… I can use my hair. I cut off my hair and taped it to the bamboo.’” That was Maestro Balam’s first paintbrush.

Balam attended the University of Guatemala and was presented with the opportunity to go to the Rain Forest. “I love the rain and so I decided I was going to go and move to the rain forest for the rest of my life.” It was there that he met his future wife Shelli. “We fell in love in the rain forest,” says Soto. “But Shelli lived in Wethersfield, CT and I had to make a choice between the rain forest which I loved and the woman I loved. I chose the woman.” It was Soto’s in-laws who presented him with his first set of art supplies. Balam spent the next 2 years painting in his in-law’s basement.

It is not just Soto’s talent and fierce pursuit of art that makes him unique. It is also his love of learning that propels him to embrace all that is available to him. “The first time I went to the library in the US, I was amazed. There was ocean of books waiting for me,” reflects Soto. But Soto didn’t read or speak English. A friend provided him with a book of archeology. It was a very thick book… and all in English! But Soto had always wanted that book and so he spent days and months with his English to Spanish dictionary translating the archeology book. That was how Soto learned English.

He further developed his English skills by taking classes at an English as a Second Language course. “I remember I really wanted to do that. But I was afraid to take the bus. But I took the bus to the class and was the only student to show up. That teacher loved to teach and for 6 months, every single day, I went to that class.” The teacher was a retired Electronic Engineer and he saw that Soto had a different way of thinking. The teacher knew about computers and showed Soto the technology. “How do you make all this stuff happen using just 0’s and 1’s? How does this work?” asked Soto. Again teacher and student embarked on the learning of a new language…computer programming. Today Soto is experienced in web design, flash, php, Unix, Linux, networking, database construction and programming. He has received a diploma in Computer and Industrial Electronics. This technology has become a part of his artistic palette.

Life is a journey and it is the steps we chose to take, or not take, that define our life. As humans we develop and Soto was developing at super human speed and loving every minute of it. After some time, he began to feel disconnected from the art he was producing. “I began to feel like I was going to die if I continued to work with oils… both in a creative way and in a health way.” He began to go for walks and picked up found objects with which to make art. He also discovered acrylics. “I really liked this medium. Water for mixing, Water for cleaning up. They were less expensive and they allowed for some interesting effects.”

“There is a tremendous amount of effort that goes into making art. And while some may not understand that process, when they look at the art… they feel it,” says Soto.

Maestro Balam now creates mixed media paintings, murals and installations in a unique style of modern art. He utilizes both traditional mediums and digital technologies in his creations. This blending of art and technology define his style and he is one of the few artists to embark upon this type of groundbreaking work. In fact, most things about Soto’s work are unique to what we might call Western Art. This combination or juxtaposition of medium, application, and theme are all a direct result of Soto’s Mayan ancestry.

Themes that reoccur in Soto’s work include the sun, the rain, Mayan spirits and saints such as Maximón (pronounced “Mashimon”.) The artist uses turquoise, jade, glass, beads and wood in his creations. “In my culture of Guatemala the idea of spirit is very different. We have so many spirits… there is the spirit of a mountain, the spirit of water. As I grew up my grandmother taught me about Mayan mythology. She lived in a very traditional house. She cooked on a fire in the fireplace and at night she would talk to me about these things. It would be so dark and her face would only be lit by the light of the fire. She told me about this magical world and how spirits interact with humans, and so when I say I’m connected to my roots it comes out in my art.” There are so many languages (influences) that come into play in art and while some art works can be technically perfect in execution they may lack spirit. “There is a tremendous amount of effort that goes into making art. And while some people may not understand that process, when they look at the art… they feel it,” says Soto.

How we see and think about mythology is timeless and yet it evolves while still remaining the same. The way Soto uses color, the way he paints (he paints on the floor), and the way he explores ideas are outside of the western mind. And from the mind of Balam Soto comes the notion of Modern Thinking, a phrase he has developed to explain his philosophy and his mission.

Soto explains the concept like this:

“Technology has completely changed our mode of thinking in modern times; it has created a concept that I call modern thinking. To explain this concept, I first need to define the traditional model of thinking that we used before the advent of modern technology, in particular before the development of the Internet. Growing up in a small town, I knew one tiny piece of the world and nothing more. Information came to us very late and through one channel, if it arrived at all. Even recently before the Internet, people’s access to information has been severely limited. This model has changed drastically for those who have access to modern technology, including the Internet, radio, television, etc. Information comes to us rapidly and through several channels. As a consequence, it expands our concepts, ideas and potential. Modern thinking is dynamic, upgradeable and modular… using an analogy, it’s similar to open source software.”

As humans we are constantly developing and evolving. As a people our potential is astounding. Art reflects society and how we have changed… it reflects how we think. Study of art history will show that 200-500-1000 years ago, art reflected a very different perspective from society and thought. Life went on at a much slower pace. Today we are influenced by communication and globalization that comes to us very quickly. Art will and should reflect these new sensibilities. “It’s a philosophy really. I’ve been studying Socrates, Plato, Nietzsche and of course the Mayan philosophies to have a sense of what that is all about. The more knowledge you have of all these things the more meaningful your art and your life become.”

Soto’s tangible expression of modern thinking is his development of an interactive “artware.” His vision of virtual reality and spiritual reality is somewhat one in the same. These things are untouchable. Through the use of technology it is Soto’s mission to create an artistic platform whereby one can interact with art. The possibilities are staggering.

“Modern thinking is dynamic, upgradeable and modular… using an analogy, it’s similar to open source software.”

Everything continues to inspire Maestro Balam for he truly sees with fresh eyes. He thinks outside the box. “Is there a box?” he asks. It is this kind of attitude or clairvoyance that can set our world on fire with remarkable and beautiful things. Knowing someone of this caliber can cause us to reach higher, do more, learn languages, study literature, create art, and never say we don’t have time to fulfill our dreams.

Maestro Balam Soto is an artist, designer, computer programmer, curator, educator, and lecturer with a trail of credits and exhibitions to his name. Upcoming shows include venues in New York City, West Africa, and the Tri-state area. Please visit his website www.balam.us for more.

This article was originally published by INK publications in November of 2008.

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