Jose Omar Valenzuela...

is a New York-based graphic designer and collage artist. Born in Lima, Peru it is here that he was exposed to Japanese television shows such as Mazinger Z and Sankoukai. He also loved Superfriends and He-man and the Masters of the Universe these exciting shows woke his passion for working with his hands. He began experimenting with paper, colored pencils, scissors, and glue. He used these early art supplies to create his own paper figures and playsets based on these shows.

During his pre-teen years, he moved to South Florida where he learned English by attending a multi-national bilingual school, where he was exposed to different cultures. This experience would later develop his curiosity for traveling. At this time, he discovered comic books such as Batman, the Justice League, and the X-Men. It is also here that he started growing his 80’s action figure collection and love for 80’s New Wave music. While in college and realizing all his peers were creative, he decided to give graphic design a chance. And it worked by waking an unknown talent.

After college, he moved to New York City to pursue a career in graphic design. There, he gained experience as an in-house packaging designer for mobile/photo accessories and, later, cleaning accessories. He continued to develop his artistic skills by taking collage, bookmaking, letterpress, silk screening, and risograph printing courses at various NYC art institutions. He considers himself an explorer and collector this is shown in his collages, where he loves reconfiguring images. Working as a packaging designer has allowed him to step away from the computer and go back to working with his hands as he did when he was growing up in Lima.