About

About

Steven Vasquez Lopez was born in Upland, California and currently lives in San Francisco. Raised in Southern California in a Mexican-American household, Lopez's early obsession with architecture, manual labor and bold fashion continues through his meticulous hand-drawn ink on paper and vibrant photographs.

“My work is about being okay with the flaws and imperfections of our experiences.”

Education
Master of Fine Arts, Painting 2007
San Francisco Art Institute

Bachelor of Fine Arts, Studio Art 2000
University of California, Santa Barbara

Earlier works on paper push the boundaries and definition of the "modern quilt," technically and conceptually demonstrating how the process of immigration "redesigns traditions." By weaving together themes of displacement, cultural inheritance, and adaptation, his work examines the evolving nature of identity and craft. His practice interrogates the battle between technology and the handmade in a rapidly digitizing world, questioning what is lost and gained in this transition. Additionally, he explores the role of gender within Western society, particularly in relation to labor, ornamentation, and domesticity.

In his latest project, The Collective, he expands this exploration into large-scale photographic compositions that reimagine historical and religious iconography through a contemporary queer lens. Layering textiles, masks, and constructed environments, he creates immersive visual narratives that bridge the intimate and the monumental. His work celebrates the personal histories embedded in hand-crafted traditions, paying homage to ancestral labor while challenging rigid structures of authorship and belonging. Through an intricate interplay of pattern, materiality, and performance, he redefines the act of making as a form of resistance, resilience, and reclamation.