Roland Becerra has a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago; MFA, Yale University, School of Art. Becerra has also studied at The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and The Cleveland Institute of Art. He has also won several artist grants and awards and has exhibited his work widely throughout the North East including six solo shows in Philadelphia, PA; His work has also been published in several publications throughout his career.
Artist statement
I am a visual artist and filmmaker working primarily in painting, animation, and comics.
In my filmmaking, I have explored monsters such as zombies and witches. For my most recent painting series, I became interested in a different kind of monster: the aristocrat. Rather than a supernatural creature, this figure represents privilege, dominance, and the ability to remain detached from the consequences of one’s actions.
The Lifestyle Series are meant to feel haunted, evoking images of old manor houses, forgotten ceremonies, and wasteful parties. The stenciled masks, spirit animals, crowns, and cakes painted above and below the portraits and lavish scenes suggest the legacy symbols or family crests of different families or institutions within the ruling class.
As an extension to my paintings, I’ve also made animated films and comics. Through an intricate animation process, AGATHA, a feature-length film completed in 2022. It combines live-action with animation, aiming to present a modern-day New England folktale. Also, my 170-page graphic novel, also titled AGATHA, completed in 2024, is a continuation of the film's concepts and themes, expressed through hand-drawn techniques. both explore themes of decay and the effects of time on individuals and society.
AGATHA is designed to be a hybrid between Film and Painting, with the goal of creating a “Moving Painting”. My previous Animated short “Dear Beautiful” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
Learn more about AGATHA here: https://www.agathathemovie.com/notes