Ricardo Xavier Serment is an artist and educator native to Chicago and born to Mexican parents from San Luis Potosi, Mexico. He received his BFA from Columbia College Chicago with a concentration in printmaking and his Master of Education at Dominican University.

Currently serving his community in the Back of the Yards neighborhood in Chicago Public Schools teaching Art classes at various grade levels. Presently, Ricardo resides in Pilsen and formerly was a Museum Educator at the National Museum of Mexican Art. He also continues a dedicated practice towards creating new works of art, including collaborations with other artists and organizations.

Ricardo is a founding member of a small print collaborative, the Instituto Gráfico de Chicago; which he established fellow colleagues in an effort engage in national and international printmaking collaborations.

With regard to his work, Ricardo is knowledgeable in media such as painting, papier-mâché, mosaics, and bookbinding, but mostly focuses on works on paper. His prints draw from personal and cultural experiences in order to create visual narratives; and they have been exhibited throughout the US and in the Mexico. More locally, specific pieces can be found in private collections, as well as the permanent collection of the National Museum of Mexican Art.

Artist Statement

My primary choice of medium as a visual artist is printmaking—specifically relief techniques on wood and linoleum blocks. I have chosen to specialize on relief printmaking in response to its strong cultural connection with Mexico. As such, it is not uncommon to find traces of my cultural heritage in my work. In fact, I explore the use of narratives to reveal dynamic issues confronting individuals with bi-cultural identities such as myself.

My goal as an artist is to provide viewers a fragment of the diversity within Latino culture, as a lens to analyze universal struggles encountered in contemporary society. Thus, my work is rooted in narratives that may be connected to folklore, myths, traditions and current issues. In this way, my work forms visceral connections with viewers and simultaneously serves as an introduction to diverse cultural traditions and customs. For this reason, I rely on an illustrative style which is accessible and clear to any viewer. It is my hope that my work elicits nuanced responses from viewers—responses that fully embrace all aspects of Latino culture and also contain the joy and bliss I have personally experienced throughout my life.