VCU news

By Lydia Dodd

When Raul De Lara left Mexico as a 12-year-old, he didn’t know when – or even if – he’d ever return.

This summer, after 20 years, the creativity that has distinguished his work as a wood sculptor brought De Lara back to his homeland. Funded by a renowned grant for artisans, the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts sculpture graduate spent three weeks reconnecting with his cultural and familial roots, which have long inspired his work.

For many years, the ideas that motivated De Lara were more abstract, as he had to rely on fading memories. Seeing Mexico again after so long sparked something in him.

“It really solidified so many gaps in my spirit about my practice and life. It all made so much more sense,” said De Lara, who earned his master’s degree in sculpture and extended media from VCUarts in 2019.

De Lara’s artistic journey has been notable as well. In the past decade, his extensive list of exhibitions has grown, with his work showcased in nearly 20 states and several countries. The number of residencies and honors are impressive, too – including De Lara’s recent recognition by the Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation, which supports creative thinkers across many disciplines.

The 2024 Award in Craft offers recipients unrestricted access to $100,000 so they can explore their craft more freely. De Lara, now based in New York City, is the first VCU graduate to receive an award from the foundation; candidates are nominated anonymously, and a panel of professionals in the field select awardees for pursuing mastery of their craft and expanding cultural heritage through their work.

The richness of Mexico’s traditions create a strong connection to De Lara’s work. He explores how wood has found meaning through cultures, and he embraces traditional Mexican and American woodworking practices as well as modern techniques -- from hand-carving to power-carving. De Lara’s art is imbued with references to mask-making, furniture design, architecture and nature, leading to what he calls “storytelling via woodworking” – including about the immigrant experience.

Despite not returning to the country for many years, the sense of home came flooding back to him during this summer trip.

“The different passions, belief systems and materials enable makers to create in a way that is part of a bigger universe,” De Lara said, noting his interest in conserving – and building on – the generational knowledge embedded in customary ways of creating.

During the life-changing trip, De Lara learned that those customs were even closer to his family than he realized: His great-great-uncle was a church woodcarver. While in his hometown, he visited the impressive church his relative helped hand-build.

“There are carvers in my lineage; it’s in my blood to be using this material,” De Lara said.

With both of his parents as well as his grandparents having careers in architecture and design, he caught on early to the importance of material research and the maker process. De Lara recalls spending time in his father’s woodshop and feeling curious about the material. Even in childhood, he knew that being a creator was in his future.

At age 12, De Lara and his family abruptly moved from Mexico to the United States, where they made Austin, Texas, their home. He spent eight years undocumented before joining the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows him to live and work in the U.S. legally. He worked on construction sites and in his uncle’s hardware store – and even was a cake sculptor for a year, based on the strength of his woodcarving portfolio. De Lara also was a serious Freestyle BMX rider before devoting his time to his art.

He attended the University of Texas at Austin and earned a bachelor’s degree in studio art. He then made his way to VCUarts to study sculpture, as the program was highly regarded by fellow artists.

“People around me just kept bringing up VCU,” De Lara said. “I would go to residencies around the country, and somehow VCU just kept coming up.”

At VCU, he admired his professors’ dedication to the discourse of the art world, teaching through their active participation in creating alongside students.

While in the MFA program, De Lara funded his education by assistant-teaching, including for classes about woodworking and theory. He enjoyed sharing his love of the woodworking craft with students and watching them flourish with the material.

“I hope with my work, the initial response is an interest in the material and its capacities,” De Lara said.

He embraces the uniqueness of wood as a medium, highlighted by its ability to show time on its skin through growth rings – something no other material does. How he shapes the material in ways that spotlight Mexican American iconography can spark wonder, and raise questions, about cultural meaning.

As a full-time artist, De Lara said the Maxwell/Hanrahan award relieved some financial and professional burdens and allowed his trip to Mexico to be seamless. Most of his day-to-day work deals with the commercial side of the art business, marketing his finished works to be exhibited or sold. Now with more flexibility, he is focusing on his first solo show in 2025 – at the SCAD Museum of Art in Georgia – and he looks forward to expanding his artistry.

“I’ve not been stuck – but almost meditating for the past four months on how to take my work to the next level,” De Lara said. “This award has given me the opportunity to have the time and mental space to not have a solution yet. I’ve enjoyed not knowing the answer to that question and letting it linger instead.”