Today we’d like to introduce you to Omar Estrada ( Skull ).
Hi Omar, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My story as an artist really starts in childhood. I grew up in a family of artists my parents were always encouraging us to be creative so making things was just part of life. Being a kid in the ’90s Saturday morning cartoons were huge and they absolutely fueled my imagination. I’d watch and then try to draw what I saw on TV the wierd the wild sometimes the unsettling images. Growing up in Laredo, a small town in Texas art became my escape it was my way out of that small-town bubble. At the same time, I was raised in a family that deeply valued culture and heritage Mexican culture and traditions where always a part of my life. One tradition that stuck with me more than anything was Día de los Muertos. That imagery the vibrancy, as well as raw and symbolic meanings. It all made an impact and would grow to be a big focus in my work. When I went to community college I started experimenting and found myself merging street art aesthetics with those iconic raw Day of the Dead symbols. That’s when something clicked. I realized I had found my voice, so I took a big riskI dropped out of collage to pour all my energy into developing my style full-time. I gambled on myself. When most people around me told me it was a bad idea. That gamble paid off my first exhibition was in 2011, and I’ve now been working as an artist for 16 years. Since then I’ve done multiple group shows and duet exhibitions across Texas and Southern California. A few highlights I’m really proud of: my work is in the private collection of the MexicArte Museum here in Austin. In 2023, I was part of the Community Favorites for the online magazine Concept Animals and won Best Art Show of the Year in Austin 2023. And my work was featured in The Austin Chronicle back in 2018. Right now I’m deep into preparing for a solo exhibition still under wraps, but it’s coming this fall, and I can’t wait to share what I’ve been building.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Growing up with immigrant parents who came here for a better life not speaking English little to no formal education that was the first hurdle. They gave us everything they could, but imagine trying to raise four kids all diagnosed dyslexic, when you can’t even read the homework yourself. I wasn’t just learning a new language I was fighting my own brain to process it all, but my parents taught me one thing that stuck like a scar you never give up. Even if it takes longer even if you fall a hundred times. You get up and you fight that lesson isn’t just inspiration it’s survival. Then there was the small-town trap. Laredo in the ’90s art wasn’t even on the map. Museums might as well have been myths for me. My only visual fuel was Saturday morning cartoons and encyclopedias. Me and my siblings would tear out images of animals, toys, anything that sparked intrest that was our gallery. Our museum was a stack of ripped out pages. I didn’t know art could be a career. Hell I didn’t step foot inside a real museum until I was 18. That’s not a flex thats a void I’ve been filling ever since. When the internet finally showed up in the late 90’s it cracked the door open, but even then theres this unspoken secret in the visual arts everyone teaches you art history but nobody teaches you how to actually get in the door. How do you land a gallery show? How do you even get a reply? There’s no map you just hear NO over and over until maybe someone lets you into a tiny group show and even then you’re still fighting to sell work, pay rent, eat. So you hold multiple jobs. You come home exhausted and paint until your hand cramps up. That’s the life its brutal but I love it. I got lucky along the way but I also made my own luck. I landed a role at The Contemporary Austin as a visitor engagement specialist, and over time worked up to management and the position of Lead Spanish tour guide. Most of my colleagues have MFAs or art history degrees. I’m self taught I studied like my life depended on it. Documentaries, books, research, everything I could find on the subject. I built my own education from scratch while juggling jobs and making art at night. Now that position isn’t just a paycheck it’s a backstage pass. I get to see how the museum machine really works. It feeds my own practice and enhances it. Everything I learned as a kid persistence, self reliance, fighting through the No’s it all loops back. Invest in yourself keep moving never stop. The art will reward you but only if you refuse to stop.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m Skull, an Austin-based artist obsessed with duality life and death, light and shadow, and the strange harmony between them. My work pulls from Mexican Day of the Dead traditions, goth culture, and the raw pulse of punk. I paint figurative works that celebrate anatomical impermanence the beauty in bones, in life after death. I work with a minimalist palette and cross hatching. The result is dark, edgy, and unflinching, but never bleak because confronting mortality to me is how we actually start living authentically. I weave in sacred geometry, angel numbers, and occult symbolism. Think street art meets gothic mysticism. I would say that what sets me apart is. I’m a self thought artist that built my visual language through hard work and life experience useing symbolism gathering inspiration from indigenous practices, modern fashion, gothic and punk aesthetics, and mysticism. What am I most proud of? First, that I’ve developed my career one step at a time, believing in myself across almost 20 years now. Not just as a visual artist, but with nearly a 5-year career in museum visitor experiences at The Contemporary Austin. Second having two of my original works selected for MexicArte Museum’s private collection.
What’s next?
Right now I’m all in on my upcoming solo show this fall that’s the immediate focus. I’m treating it as a launchpad not just a milestone. I want it to open doors reach new audiences, and prove that this dark and weird vision of mine belongs in bigger rooms. Long term I’m aiming broader. I want to apply for artist residencies and museum exhibitions across the country. I love Austin it’s home it’s where I built everything from nothing but my work needs to travel. I want my art in front of eyes outside Texas outside the Southwest. Different regions different conversations new interpretations. No big dramatic pivots just steady expansion. More walls more cities more art and more opportunities to confront people with mortality and beauty in equal measure Hahaha. I’ve spent almost 20 years building this career one brushstroke at a time. Now I want to see how far it can go how far my art can reach.
Pricing:
- Pricing is currently in development as I prepare for my upcoming solo show this fall each piece is being curated with that exhibition in mind. That said I am always open to inquiries from serious collectors and galleries. If something resonates with you reach out on the socials. I’m happy to discuss commissions or availability on a case by case basis.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.deadlyskullart.com
- Instagram: @Deadlyskull89
- Facebook: @Deadskull89
- Other: Deadlyskull89@gmail.com
