Feature - Art Student: Diego Gomez

Diego Gomez sitting in his studio at AUArts.(Photo by Matthew Siu/SAIT)

“Why did you decide to go to art school?”

“Because there was nothing else.”

 So says Diego Gomez, a 21-year-old student currently attending the Alberta University of the Arts (AUArts).

 Diego, who had immigrated to Canada with his family, is currently attending his fourth year at AUArts. Majoring in fine arts drawing, and intending to complete a minor in animation, he intends on graduating after next year.

 His family hails from Venezuela, having immigrated to Canada eight years ago, alongside twin sister, Amanda, and older sister, Maria, as well their parents. He attended Sir Winston Churchill High School, and described the transition to be smooth in many aspects. But highlighting small cultural differences that some might often overlook, such as an unfamiliarity with “Scantron” tests, a common form of standardized test taking here. “I was just like, what is this?” described Diego, when first introduced to the tests.

 Like many other immigrants, Diego was initially put into ESL programs, but quickly realized his grasp of the English language was sufficient. He attributes this to his parents putting him into extracurricular English classes in Venezuela early on, as though with the foresight of their eventual transition to the English-speaking world.

 Alongside these English lessons, Diego had also taken art lessons as a child, likely igniting the passion for art early on in his life, as well developing skills that would be used later on. By grade 11, it was well established that Diego would pursue art in his post-secondary education, seeing it as the obvious path to take.

 “I have known Diego since our first year at AUArts, at the time ACAD,” recalled Alex McMillan. “We first met when hanging out with mutual friends, but quickly latched onto one another due to our shared interest, both in and outside of school.”

 Alex describes Diego as a quiet person, and as someone who blends into the background. But he has come to understand this quiet nature comes from a place of understanding, and while Diego finds himself blending into the background, that also allows him to become and observer.

 “He [Diego] manages to help me slow down when things begin to get too fast.” Alex states that it’s the connection that they share that helps keep him grounded. “He’s a good dude who’s always there.”

 However, to someone meeting Diego for the first time, some of this behaviour might be misconstrued for arrogance.

Sophia Love, a fellow AUArts student and friend, described her initial impressions of Diego as, “aloof” and “passive aggressive.”

 Alex reinforces this, describing Diego’s manner of providing feedback, as blunt, this often is noticed by others before much earlier than he does.

 Granted none of these potentially negative attributes serve to detract from the positive aspects of his personality.

 “I thought Diego was a quirky soul, especially in the way he practiced his art,” said Sophia.

 “He is an awkward character, but still very endearing,” followed Alex.

 Diego described their family’s immigration to Canada as smooth, albeit uneventful. However, below the surface his twin sister Amanda feels there is much left to be said.

 “I personally feel like the transition to Canada was hard on our family,” said Amanda. “Going through it together had changed out dynamics.”

 Amanda described this change as an unspoken thing, and much to Diego’s credit, he is often in the background, quiet, and keen on being an observer rather than an active participant.

 Amanda felt that this shift in familial dynamics had distanced their family from one another, but at the same time, the shared struggle helped them reach a level of understanding with one another.

 Being as they are twins, Diego and Amanda are expectedly close. In ways it feels as if they received opposite and complimentary character traits. While Diego remains the quiet, sometimes awkward and soft-spoken of the two, Amanda appears to have received outgoing and headstrong personality. While growing up together, it was this dynamic that has allowed the two siblings to get along, rarely fighting and always comfortable with one another.

 Amanda even recalling an instance during their childhood where this dynamic manifested very early on. A story of two siblings in kindergarten, where the headstrong and outgoing of the two bullied her brother into swapping juice boxes for the flavour she liked better.

 After completing his degree, Diego has considered continuing his education further. Wanting to focus primarily on the academics of art, rather making it himself; Diego sees himself writing for art publications, or working in galleries, doing curatorial work. His experiences, both as an immigrant to Canada, as well as a member of the LGBT community, gives him a unique outlook on the world, as well as a breadth of knowledge and insight on many topics.