Angel Cabrales

We met Angel in his office at the University of Texas El Paso, where he teaches sculpture, encouraging his students to push the boundaries of what sculpture can mean and look like. His work is an incredible balance between the totally absurd and the intimately human. His art-making maintains an approachable, almost comedic feel while also interrogating the sinister infrastructure of border militarization. An actual-sized rocket launcher that shoots flan, a kid’s ride you might find outside of a department store refurbished to appear as a Department of Homeland Security vehicle: these are pieces of Angel’s singular body of work. His work calls you in to play and participate in this infrastructure, and then makes you feel guilty for doing so. Angel’s work is uncomfortable in the most profound way.

We laughed a lot with Angel. We also ate a lot of great food with him, which makes sense considering his parents own one of the best restaurants in town. Check out his website here to see more of his work and play around for yourself.

From Angel’s bio: “Angel views everything as an artistic resource and utilizes this in all of his creations.  From his extensive experience with a variety of mediums and styles, to the intangibles, such as his upbringing and ideas, his work grows and expands with the requirements presented from each new art piece.  The artwork’s concept ultimately dictates the medium needed for its creation, so artistic evolution is intrinsic in his philosophy.

“Originally from the border city, El Paso, TX, Angel was instilled with a great interest in science and math because of his father, a retired engineer at White Sands Missile Range. Cabrales also learned the importance of community and social work through his politically active mother. A stay at home mom, who volunteered heavily in the church, community, helped register voters and even ran for state representative in the state of New Mexico. Angel’s work is a mixture of social/political commentary with and engineered flare.”