Pablitosomething

“Raiz”, also known as Pablo Moisés Ruiz Arroyo, started his career in La Paz, Bolivia. His hometown is a place of many indigenous cultures, and a huge inspiration to his art and life. Pablo embarked on a year-long journey to migrate from Bolivia to California by traveling over land, and supported himself with murals, street performance, and chalk art along the way. Upon settling in California, opportunities for mural work took him global, including Australia, South East Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore), New Zealand, Central America, and Europe. Now back in San Francisco Pablo collaborates with local organizations such as Precita Eyes Muralists, Mission Housing, Mission Cultural Center, The Center for Independent Living, The San Francisco Arts Commission, and many others. Together with Pancho Pescador he co-founded “Chilovia,” a portmanteau of Chile + Bolivia, and tribute to their two home countries.

During his time in New Zealand he created a youth mentorship program as part of an artist residency in the Tauranga Historical District with the support of local art collective The Incubator. During that process he mentored local youth and directed their artistic ambitions in the practice of figure drawing, perspective fundamentals, watercolor techniques and spray paint techniques.

Since his return to San Francisco he has dedicated his time to contributing to community based arts such as murals and group projects. He participates in various gallery shows in such places as the Mothbelly Gallery, Against The Grain Gallery, and Helvela Studios. He assists on many murals throughout the Bay Area to such artists as Johanna Poethig, Daniel Galvez, Marta Ayala, Twin Walls Murals, and many others. He is currently displayed on a collaborative mural in the Oakland International Airport and is in the process of installing a new collaborative mural in the Ashby BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station of Berkeley.

His biggest inspiration is the refuge he found in creating art. From an early age he could be found with a pencil in hand drawing on whatever he could. Throughout his life the time and places where he found growth always revolved around art. The freedom to convey things beyond words and the excitement to create something never before seen enveloped him. Through art he found his first mentor, his peers, family and career.

Nature is the ideal example of these things and becomes a constant element in the artistic work done by him for that reason. He signs every piece as Raiz (“root” in Spanish) as a reminder of this in every piece. As a teen he got into graffiti under bridges and was briefly in a tiny crew called TFD. Since then he has mastered realism with spraypaint, and has worked with members of Bay Area crews such as TDK, Lords and PTV.