Statement

I learned to draw as a way to connect.
As a shy kid, I sketched cartoons of my sisters, my family, and classmates — breaking the ice when words felt too heavy. Over time, those playful portraits grew into layered paintings and murals. Through them, I’ve painted my own process of healing — stories of resilience, personal growth, and change — carrying grief, beauty, and love in ways that connect people across distances and keep memories alive.

I was shaped by the spaces between belonging and absence — by love that endured quietly, even when it could not be spoken of.
I grew up between countries, carrying my father’s quiet encouragement from afar, the strength of the women who raised me, and my belief that we are always growing — like the twisted roots and branches I paint again and again in my work.

My paintings often center female figures intertwined with elements of nature — roots, branches, flowers — as symbols of resilience and renewal. I use mixed media and, at times, layered torn paper to mirror the way we evolve — how healing is rarely clean, but textured, torn, and full of complexity. My paintings are stories of growth — where even the deepest wounds can give birth to beauty. Flowers bloom from fractured forms, roots entwine with human figures, and winds carry ribbons of hope, each image a reminder that transformation often emerges from vulnerability.

My interest in murals began in high school, when my art teacher asked me to design the stage backdrops and murals for our school’s anniversary. Leading the concept and working with a team to bring it to life was my first experience transforming a space through art — and it sparked a love for large-scale storytelling that continues today.

My murals grow from the same roots as my paintings. They carry the same flowing lines, organic forms, and recurring symbols — but on a scale that transforms entire rooms and outdoor spaces into sanctuaries. Designed in dialogue with the spaces they inhabit, they root the walls in narratives of resilience, beauty, and connection. Whether wrapping around a quiet bedroom or stretching across a sunlit garden wall, each mural invites people to pause, feel, and see a part of their own story reflected back to them.

Biography

Joset Medina is a Venezuelan-American artist and architect whose work transforms walls and canvases into layered narratives of resilience, identity, and renewal. Blending an architectural approach to space with emotional storytelling, he creates immersive murals and paintings that explore personal growth, healing, and human connection.

Drawing and painting since childhood, Medina began using art to understand and express the world — a passion that led to his first press feature at age 16 in La Nación (Venezuela). His interest in murals began in high school, when he designed and coordinated large-scale stage backdrops for his school’s anniversary celebrations — an early experience in combining storytelling, teamwork, and spatial transformation.

He earned his degree in architecture from Universidad Nacional Experimental del Táchira (UNET), where he developed a sensitivity to light, rhythm, and materiality that continues to shape his visual compositions. Medina later moved to Panama, where he developed his artistic career alongside architectural and interior design projects. There, he collaborated with renowned jewelry designer Melina Typaldos to create her boutique for CasaCor Panamá — an international interior design exhibition — where he led much of the design concept and played a key role in coordinating the construction process. Working with a small team, he developed the overall spatial vision, integrating architectural detail with artistic expression. The project included a portrait he painted of Typaldos, both elements receiving additional press coverage.

In Spain, Medina’s work was featured in an exhibition in Talavera de la Reina, where he presented a large-scale painting inspired by the city’s pottery traditions and architectural heritage. The work led to an interview with Castilla-La Mancha Media (Spain), the region’s leading public television network, and was later gifted to the city in a public ceremony attended by members of the city council and local cultural leaders, marking its formal inclusion in Talavera’s public art collection. The event took place at a historic cultural center dedicated to preserving the city’s artistic legacy.

In 2017, Medina was granted an O-1 visa by the U.S. government in recognition of extraordinary ability in the visual arts — a milestone that allowed him to continue developing his cross-disciplinary practice in the United States. Now based in San Francisco, he draws on his multicultural background and LGBTQ+ perspective to create work rich in meaningful imagery, layered textures, and recurring symbols — especially female figures and natural elements. His murals merge architectural expertise with narrative depth, transforming public and private spaces into immersive environments that invite reflection and connection.

Medina’s work has been featured internationally in publications including San Francisco Magazine, Modern Luxury, SF Weekly, Bay Area Reporter, Art of Times, La Tribuna de Toledo (Spain), Espacios Magazine Panamá, and La Prensa Panamá, among other notable outlets.