Photo by Agaton Strom.
“I am particularly interested in preserving, honoring and propelling forward traditional Mexican and American woodworking techniques while simultaneously combining them with new developments in the global industry of woodworking.”
Raul De Lara is a sculptor who practices storytelling via woodworking. Arriving from Mexico to the United States at the age of twelve and a DACA recipient since 2012, de Lara explores Mexican/American iconography, queer identity, and the immigrant experience in his work and his research preserves, honors, and propels forward traditional uses of wood while combining them with new developments in the global industry of woodworking.
De Lara received a MFA in Sculpture + Extended Media from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2019 and a BFA in Studio Art from the University of Texas at Austin in 2015. His selected awards include the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Craft/Sculpture, Art in America Magazine’s Top 20 Global New Talent to Watch, Hermès Paris Inaugural Aspen Installation, Penland Distinguished Artist Winter Fellowship, Silver Art Projects Residency, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Residency, Haystack Mountain School of Craft Open Studio Residency, Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown Fellowship, National Park Services OCARC Residency, Ox-Bow School of Art Fellowship, Chicago Artists Coalition HATCH Residency, Queens New Arts Grant, New York City Arts Corps Grant, and the International Sculpture Center Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award.
Donor -The Maxwell/Hanrahan Awards in Craft are supported by the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation.
This artist page was last updated on: 08.20.2024
For Being Left-Handed (Self-portrait) by Raul De Lara, 2020. Pine, Chiclets gum, acrylic, brass, steel, and particle board, 24 × 13 × 13 inches. Private Collection.
Photo courtesy of the artist.
Soft Chair Series by Raul De Lara, 2022-ongoing. Mesquite, Siberian elm, walnut, lacquer, dimensions variable.
Photo courtesy of the artist.
Lotion In Your Lungs by Raul De Lara, 2019. Pine, oak, wood glue, sand from Mexico/US border, acrylic, lacquer, 72 × 24 × 50 inches. Private Collection.
Photo courtesy of the artist.
