Forest Hills artist to be featured in Brooklyn exhibit
BY TAMMY SCILEPPI
Raw emotions often play a part
in making awesome, conversationsparking
art.
That’s certainly true of Ryan
Castrillo’s dynamic creations. Each of
his works seems to exude a raw vibe.
“I began drawing and painting as a
means of coping after my grandmother’s
passing a few years ago. At first, when
I lost her, it didn’t sink in; I was in shock
for a few months. I kinda just got the
urge to draw at some point,” the young
artist from Forest Hills recalled.
“I kept honing my craft over the
years to create an experimental, raw
and tactile style, influenced by a
mixture of manga, pop art and avantgarde
animation, to create something
magical.”
A game design major at Drexel
University in Philadelphia, the 22-yearold
Castrillo uses acrylic and water for
his paintings. But digitally, he employs
a variety of tools like Adobe Photoshop
or Illustrator, or a sketching app called
Paper by FiftyThree.
And there’s no doubt that his
obsession with and knowledge of video
games ties in to his other talents, as a
“new age” artist.
“A lot of up and coming games
aren’t the typical Call of Duty or GTA
Forest Hills artist Ryan Castrillo will
have his work displayed at at a hip
exhibit called RAW Brooklyn presents
REFLECT on March 13. Courtesy of
Ryan Castrillo
(Grand Theft Auto); they are more
artistic pieces that come together in
an interactive experience. The new era
of indies independent games is one of
avant-garde experimentation rather
than rinse and repeat,” Castrillo said.
“What I mean is they don’t necessarily
fit the standard mold of a shoot’em up
game — the most mainstream title
being Call of Duty, or standard open
world games like GTA,” he added.
“They tend to either take a new spin on
different genres or be more stylized and
artistic and have movie caliber writing
to their stories. The artistic aspect and
innovative nature is certainly true for
independent titles.”
Castrillo was inspired to paint and
draw shortly after starting college and
wanted to expand his artistic horizons.
He said that creating art has been a way
of “coping with the curveballs life has
thrown at me” and with “glum day-today
life.”
While he enjoys painting in open,
grassy parks around his school, when
he’s home, the artist finds inspiration
at McDonald Park in Forest Hills or
Washington Square Park in the city.
Describing his artwork, Castrillo
explained that with his ‘skeleton in
a hoodie’ piece — “a self-reflection
of isolation” — he experimented
with compositing his sketches onto
photographs.
“It’s a digital painting symbolizing
internal conflict and accepting one’s
self,” he said. “Personally, my favorite
one is the stitched-up fragmented heart
with an arrow pointing upwards, simply
saying, ‘Everything will be okay.’ I made
it shortly after a messy rejection.”
Besides playing video games and
sketching, the artist said he likes
listening to vinyl, playing guitar, and
skateboarding.
Being the only other creative in
his family besides his grandma, who
painted as well, Castrillo said he feels
he has “a responsibility to kind of carry
the torch along.”
“What pains me is that no matter how
far I go with this, she’ll never see any of
my art. But I always manage to keep the
necklace she gave me as a way of her
possibly watching me, even though she’s
gone,” he said. “In a way, making art
helps me by keeping a connection with
her…from one artist to another.”
You can view this up and coming
artist’s masterpieces, which will be on
display March 13 at 6:30 p.m., along with
30-to-40 other New York City artists’
works, at a hip exhibit called RAW
Brooklyn presents REFLECT (Brooklyn
Night Bazaar — 150 Greenpoint
Avenue).
The event is for ages 18 and over.
Tickets are available for $25 (pre-sale)
or $30 (at the door).
For tickets and more information,
visit rawartists.org/brooklyn/reflect.
2 Dinners & 1 Bottle of Wine
FOR ONLY $29.98
����������������������������������������������������������������������������������
Choice of: Barefoot Merlot, Santa Marina Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay
Tues. & Wed. $1195
16 oz. Black Angus Certified
Shell Steak
Served with Salad, Vegetable,
Potato with Purchase of 2
Cocktails, 2 Wines or 2 Beers
Among Our Daily Specials,
���������������������������������������������������������������� ($23.95)
������������������������������������������������������ ($21.95)
���������������������������������������������������������� ($19.95)
���������������������������������������� ($14.95)
������������������������������������������������������
All dinners served with Salad,
Potato & Vegetables or Pasta
We Feature Quality
and Value!
������������������������������������������
or Bell & Evans Chicken.
����������������������������������������������
Meat Are from
Pat LaFreida Meats.
������������������������
������������������������������������
Sun. Brunch $1195
Served 12 - 4 pm
Served with Fresh Fruit,
Entrée, Coffee &
Choice of Bloody Mary,
Mimosa or Screwdriver
Enjoy
Happy Hour 4-6 pm Monday
thru Thursday at Bar Only
Hamburger Platter and
2 Domestic Bottle Beers $10
214-22 41st Avenue, Bayside, NY 11361����������718-224-9898
TIMESLEDGER,34 MARCH 8-14, 2019 TIMESLEDGER.COM
/reflect
/TIMESLEDGER.COM
