Surrealist Artist Paints For The People

Imagine a hybrid of Salvador Dali and Van Gogh paintings, and you will get the artwork of 18-year-old Sergio Potes—according to him anyway.

Potes, 18, is a surrealist and impressionist artist who creates all of his pieces from his home for his family and friends—free of charge.

“I mainly paint for other people,” said Potes, a psychology major at Kendall Campus. “They will call me up, tell me what they want, and I just end up painting something along those lines with my own touch.”

It all started four years ago, when he was accepted into the Academy of Arts and Minds, a charter high-school focused on the arts. He later transferred to the Miami Arts Charter School, where he received his only formal training. Potes credits everything he knows to his professors.

“Not only did I learn, but they helped me showcase my work,” Potes said .

Potes’ artwork has been featured at galleries in Coconut Grove, the Design District, and South Beach.

During his most recent exhibition at Gallery Déjà Vu in South Beach his artwork did not sell because “it didn’t target the right market,” according to Potes. But that did not affect his outlook on art.

“Rejection motivates me. It moves me to get out there until I make it,” said Potes, who creates his art under the alias Pachi.

Potes uses personal experiences and music as his inspiration. He has created more than 30 pieces of what he calls “a timeline of my life over the past four years.”

Each piece represents hardships he has gone through.

“He has grown so much day by day as an artist,” said his sister, Monica Potes. “He never fails to surprise me with his unique art.”

Consistent brushstroke techniques and a recurring pastel palette are what give Potes’ pieces a unique touch.

“I don’t name my artwork,” Potes said. “I want the person to name my art from what they take from it. Naming it gives away the meaning.”

Today, Potes is focusing on getting a degree in psychology and hopes to eventually become an art therapist to help people express themselves.

“Everyone is an artist. In our society it is very limiting to be your true self, but that is what you get from being an artist,” Potes said. “Living your entire life being who you want to be.”