About

Nestor Valenzuela is multimedia artist who describes his art as “process expressionism.” He works in illustration, painting, writing, photography, video art, and film.

Valenzuela was born into a poor family living in Culiacan in 1986. He was raised by his mother, his grandmother, and his three older sisters. At age three, he moved to Los Angeles with his mother and his sisters. At age eight, he moved with his mother and his sisters, to his stepfather’s middle class home in the foothills of the San Fernando Valley.

As a child Valenzuela taught himself to draw. In adolescence, he taught himself illustration, painting, writing, photography and film, and found community in the Los Angeles punk scene. At age eighteen, he began working and living on his own. Temporary customer service jobs and temporary apartments were means to live and create art.

In 2006, at age twenty, Valenzuela produced his first group art show, Arte Nuevo. Shortly after, he dropped out of college, after two semesters of studying art. The following year, he began working as a medical receptionist and interpreter, and studying western mysticism and meditation. Between 2006 and 2012, Valenzuela produced four multimedia art exhibitions in the Los Angeles underground art scene, and collaborated on seven more. In 2011, he released his first book, Dreams I Remember 1.

In 2012 Valenzuela lived briefly in Barcelona, and later moved to Portland. From 2013 to 2014, he studied film in community college. In 2015 he wrote and produced his first professional short film, Urban Chic, and began his career as a camera, lighting, and grip technician.

In 2019 Valenzuela moved back to Los Angeles where he transitioned to full-time artist, writer, and filmmaker. To date Valenzuela has produced and directed four short films, and worked on hundreds of productions.

For collaboration or exhibition inquiries, please email: contact@nestorvalenzuela.com