Prison Art (1988-1991)
In 1988 I was given a 5-year sentence in the state of California, I would complete my sentence at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility. This was the first time I had ever been in prison; I had no idea what this experience would be like. I was in my senior year at Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles when this occurred, so my outlook was still mainly focused on art, I had painted a couple of murals in the county jail during my arraignment so maybe I could do the same in prison.
Donovan was a new California prison during this time, and everything was grey concrete inside and out, even in the cells so the idea of color was absent. The first couple of months I worked in landscaping and later found out I could take a vocational course. The only art-related course was the UCLA Extension Program which focused on printing and publishing. I was in Level 4 when I arrived at Donavon so to be a part of a college program was perfect.
The course consisted of learning how to run Ryobi printing machines, color separations, graphic design and offset printing. One of my final projects was to do was to print something Artistic. I decided to publish a limited-edition book on my reflections, a kind of visual journal, mostly sketches and ink drawings. I was allowed to bring many of my sketches done while my trial was in process in the county jail. Paper and pencils were hard to come by there, so I would usually keep all my courtroom passes and save them for drawing on the backside. I also did a lot of envelope art both in the county and in State. I wasn't drawing in the usual prison-style art, most likely because I was still fairly new to the prison system.
Most of my drawings were an invitation to my thoughts, emotions, and visions during a dark storm of my life. I tried to observe as much as possible and document whatever I could. I was heavily influenced by scripture, surrealism, and classical paintings of the Renaissance.
Excerpt from my Prison Journal 1990:
Some people want to keep their past hidden, secluded within the walls of silence. I believe in being an open book, sharing my life with others. I believe I was created to relate and to share my environment with people. I do not claim to be a wise or a master of anything. I just express who I am, using the gifts and talents I believe were given to me, in the hope that I might touch that part of someone that can relate to my own human experiences.
As I look above the vastness of all creation, I begin to imagine being in another place where my surroundings are not obstructed by metal and concrete. God, who is always offering a little of himself, but yet I choose not to receive. I am but an infant who drinks milk because I have not yet learned to use the muscles of my mouth, but the meal is always there. I am often so easily satisfied; every day of my life is a lesson to be learned. Yet my mind is finite to the confluence of this world, but lessons keep on.
I sit under a tree and rejoice, comforted by its shade, then the time comes to leave and never once do I look back to see how beautiful and wonderfully the tree is made. I remember being so concerned with calling myself an artist, so bound and confused. Always looking for an outward experience that I never thought about looking within. I was looking at people who expect the best of their world, creating a universe the size of a bathroom. Every day, every second must be converted into actions lest the doors of the imagination let chaos walk in. The focus is on today and today alone.
I was released from prison in April of 1991.
Hopefully, my Prison art book will be published soon.
J. D. Estrada
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