Meet Vee Guereca | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Vee Guereca and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Vee, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I was born in Denver and have never lived anywhere else, for now anyway. I’ve thought a lot lately about my background and upbringing when it comes to my creativity and personality. My father is Mexican and my mother is American, yet they both spoke Spanish and so did most of my family. However, my parents decided to not raise me to speak Spanish or even understand it. You can imagine how that played out when it came to family relationships and gatherings. Unfortunately I rejected my own heritage and latched on to others. I learned very early how to be comfortable with myself and be in isolation. When that happens you can either begin to embrace your own uniqueness or have a hard time loving yourself, luckily I found the former. Because of my upbringing, I find solace in being different and I love my own space. I am sad but also grateful because my creativity, style, and personality has to be original or it doesn’t feel genuine.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I believe what sets me apart from others is that I pull inspiration from a variety of mediums. Graphic design, cinema, interior design, fashion, or even things like coffee culture. I also refuse to do things unless they’re going to be done well. I learned recently that Filmmaker Christopher Nolan refuses to use cgi for things like explosions, car crashes, etc. because he wants it to be real. It needs to be done well and that’s what I want.

I’m most proud about the relationships I’ve built through my crave for inspiration. The relationships I’ve built are the reason I even am where I am. I stand on the shoulders of very humble people who have empowered, taught, and loved me.

I’m constantly stepping out of comfort zones into unfamiliar ones and that’s been the most challenging. I overcame those challenges by simply being myself and not needing affirmation. If you’re confident in who you are you can overcome most things.

I’ve learned a few lessons that may not be new to anyone; just do the thing you want to do, don’t try and get bigger just better, and be a student of silence.

I want the world to see themselves through my brand. It’s so easy for me to build my own image through my work but the most inspiring work for me is when I take a photo that helps someone else reflect on their own story.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh man, nothing is more exhausting and exciting to me about hosting a friend in town (lol). We’re having brunch at a place called One Fold where you’ll have the best be on fried rice. It’s brunch because we were up late drinking at a speak easy called Cruise Room, Denver’s longest running bar. After watching my beloved Colorado Avalanche play hockey,
We are eating sushi, I know sushi in Denver sounds wild, but we have some great owners who have ties to Japan out here and it’s surprisingly fresh!

And that’s only day 1.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
A guy named Mike Faley, he lives in Brooklyn. I reached out to him over Instagram one time and offered some photography services for his brand. I was just getting started in the game and I just wanted to shoot good products. I remember our phone call, he talked about production lines from Japan to New York where he sold his ideas. That night I became curious about more than the world (state) I lived in my whole life. Not only that, Mike believed in my creativity without knowing me and helped me conjure up the creativity I didn’t know I had. Mike is somewhere on a phone call right now talking about a Kendrick Lamar lyric or what’s on his docket for the day. I’ll work as hard as him one day in the streets of New York.

Website: veeguereca.com

Instagram: @vguerecv