Michael Bardales-Urióstegui

Michael Bardales-Urióstegui (b. 1994 Inglewood, CA) is a visual creator. As an adolescent, Bardales-Urióstegui dropped out of Hawthorne High School and pursued his creative endeavor as a graffiti artist where he learned the fundamentals of aerosol painting. Utilizing the skills developed as a former graffiti artist, Bardales-Urióstegui tackled large-scaled paintings on canvas fusing aerosol and oil techniques.

     Bardales-Urióstegui’s creative trajectory towards figurative painting was influenced by notable art professors which led to his participation in Santa Monica College’s Art Mentor Program. Through his work, Bardales-Urióstegui depicts Brown folx in historical settings from a cultural perspective and addresses issues of racial discrimination through spirituality. Additionally, Bardales-Urióstegui’s practice also involves researching his familial histories and recreating moments that were not captured by photography to combat his cultural erasure.

     Bardales-Urióstegui earned an Associate’s degree in Arts from Santa Monica College (2016) and received his Certificate of Proficiency from the California Department of Education, a GED equivalent (2018). In Spring 2020, Bardales-Urióstegui enrolled as a Fine Art student at Art Center College of Design (Pasadena, CA) and graduated with Distinction in Fall 2021 with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts.