Competition should, at its essence, be about collaboration, symbiotic relationships wherein each person develops their own skills and those of every participant around them. Winning is nice, but learning and improving is what competition should be about. Multi-hyphenate artist Emilio Marz is a former track and field athlete, who believes that to improve, you must test yourself against those who are better than you. And that means managing ego.
This mindset is baked into Emilio’s spirit as he navigates through various artistic communities, always wanting to learn new forms, new techniques, new artists. Competition is less about the win and more about the growth found in the effort. Emilio speaks of ego with nuance, recognizing that all artists need it, but they mustn’t let it hinder them. An artist needs to seek out and identify others to learn from. Emilio is so adamant about this concept that he hosts Art Battles across the city. Artists are given a prompt and then must create a piece in their given art form, under time and audience pressure. Each artist’s finished piece goes head-to-head with another who was given the same prompt – and the judges decide who moves on. It’s intimidating but also a lot of fun, and it always nurtures artists’ development.
“I show up to these kinds of things to lose,” Emilio says with a smile and a calm confidence. “If I win, cool. But losing is learning.” This philosophy of constant evolution is evident in his artistic history. His progression through mediums has been a steady climb, starting with a gray world of graphite before moving into vibrant acrylics and Copic markers. While he resisted digital art for years, he eventually embraced it, and it has since become one of his most successful avenues for storytelling and sales.
Whether he is painting a mural on a basketball court or researching fabric blends for his latest project, Emilio starts in what he calls the “art of chaos.” Sometimes literally making a mess of graphite on a canvas and staring – before it finally begins to come into focus. Then he begins to erase here, add there, and the artistic vision emerges.
Emilio’s work is clearly a balance of raw energy and meticulous research. When he decided to move into streetwear, he did not just look at designs. He studied the science of comfort, price points, and the technical details of printing.
The Artist Support Grant from The ACGG provided a strategic tool for Emilio’s latest endeavor: a professional grade heat press, which he affectionately named “Big Red.” This piece of equipment removed the middleman barrier to production. Instead of relying on outside vendors, Emilio now has the agency to print his own designs, allowing him to maintain the integrity of his vision from the first sketch to the finished garment. “My art walks around Greensboro.”
We often highlight arts organizations working together to strengthen community, and Emilio does that work at a ground level. While he is not from Greensboro, he is an energetic and deep-rooted figure in the local creative community, bouncing from one art form (and its practitioners) to another, always learning, always improving. He remembers the first half of the 2010s in Greensboro as a time of peak vibrancy and collaboration in the various local art scenes, and he seeks to reactivate that energy.
Emilio’s interest across so many different art forms makes more sense the more you listen to him speak. “Live life like a comic book,” he said a few times.
“Anything you do can be art.” In this sense, Emilio evokes the wondrous view at the heart of creation. Emilio is a bridge-builder and a champion of other artists. His success in connecting and collaborating is perhaps his biggest point of pride. “Don’t let me hear your dreams or I will help you get there. You better be ready.” This spirit is contagious, and for artists, it is energizing. Emilio is an artist who is always becoming, guided by a simple mantra for a creative life: “Live free, draw easy.”
You can follow Emilio’s latest designs and see the heat press in action on Instagram at @emiliomarz
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