|
Date: |
March 5th 2004, 5PM-9PM |
|
Place: |
Élisabeth Bruyère, S.C.O. Atrium, Saint Paul University |
|
Address: |
223 Main Street, Ottawa, Parking available |
Contact Roberto Cisneros
(email: rcisneros@mfjassociates.homeip.net)
My name is Jose Roberto Cisneros, I am 46 years old. I was born in El Salvador in 1958 the son of Blanca Luz Cisneros. My mother was from the city of Tonacatepeque, but at an early age she moved to the city of San Salvador where she met my father and I was born.
My mother used to tell her friends that as a child I was deeply curious and a kin observer of the world around me and that I learned to read at the age of five.
Life was hard for a growing family and although we were poor, my family managed to send me to school. I did normally have good marks but my real interest lied in wandering about the haciendas, eating the abundant fruits hanging from trees and swimming in the nearby river. It is perhaps this longing for freedom, this need to escape from a structured modern life that led to the development of my artistic spirit.
Artistic talent is something that ran in the family; there is the early example of my ancestor Francisco Cisneros (1823-1878) who was a very well known painter in more recent times, there were some of my brother and sisters who when I was growing up also excelled in school at drawing and painting.
I had the opportunity to travel a lot in my childhood and visited many towns and villages in Guatemala and Honduras. I was always fascinated by the artistic manifestations of the way of life of the Maya’s descendants, their festivities and their colorful clothes.
When I was a young boy, my older brother used to draw pictures that he abandoned unfinished around the house and I would furtively get my hands on them and color them after finishing them. This initiative of mine would make my brother very angry but I really liked his pictures and enjoyed “improving” on his work. My brother was recognized as the official school master draftsman since he was in third grade.
As years went by, the economic situation in El Salvador got worse and there were few opportunities for young people to survive, let alone prosper. In 1978, on the occasion of a five week visit with my sister, who was living at the time in Guatemala, I made up my mind to leave El Salvador and was very successful at making a living by doing and selling my paintings in Guatemala and Mexico. Eventually life led me to Canada where I found a place where I could enjoy the peace and tranquility so necessary for an artist to develop.