Gregory James Bustillo

 Texas's Last Southern Belle

Gregory James Bustillo is an artist born in San Antonio, Texas. He is a descendent of one of the thirteen Canary Island families that founded San Antonio in 1731.He also has an ancestor who was a messenger in the Alamo. This makes Gregory feel like Texas royalty, and he plays the part very well by adorning himself in CHANEL accessories or other designer objects. His Spanish and Native American heritage influences some of his work by the use of color pallets, environments, and inclusion. Gregory is also a "somewhat" proud homosexual and refers to himself as “Texas’s Last Southern Belle”...despite having a very kind and supportive younger sister. so along with the theme of inclusion in his work, he also enjoys playing with the male nude as a human figure in his drawings. He has received his associates degree at Northeast Lakeview College & received his bachelor's degree in studio art with a concentration in drawing at Texas State University. Gregory currently lives on a ranch in New Braunfels, Texas. He also suffers from a few mental illnesses, ADHD, OCD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety, & depression, which all influence his body of work, his way of drawing & his perception. He is currently taking medications daily and is getting to better health. Gregory enjoys reading biographies (especially ones on Coco Chanel), books questioning masculinity & "what it means to be a man", and reading the books of Joan Rivers when he needs to laugh. Gregory works in a variety of media and mixed media, some examples are ceramics, fabric, sculpture, video, installation, photography, painting, and mixing combinations, but his favorite is drawing. Gregory draws on his iPad or in one of his many sketchbooks (in a range of sizes), this is his preferred method of rendering an image & his starting point for most projects. By drawing he creates blueprints for his potential projects. Some of his favorite artists are Robert Mapplethorpe, Yayoi Kusama, Jean-Michel Othoniel, & Basquiat.