ARTIST(A)

 

I am a binational architectural artist based in San Ysidro, California. I work primarily with ink, paper, and abandoned or unfinished materials, turning them into visual stories that explore place, identity, and rebirth. My practice combines architectural representation, memory, and the narratives of the San Diego–Tijuana border.

I studied architecture at Cornell University and spent years designing major projects such as the 15 Hudson Yards tower in New York City and the Kanai EDITION Hotel in Riviera Maya. This background in hospitality storytelling, urban form, and spatial psychology shapes both the structural precision and emotional resonance of my artwork, influenced significantly by my time studying under artist Pia Stern.

My work has been exhibited at Balboa Park’s World Design Capital Pavilion, the Oceanside Museum of Art, the San Diego International Airport, the Tijuana Triennial at CECUT, the Baja California State Museum CEART Rosarito, PHES Gallery, the Tijuana City Museum (IMAC), and BLK BOX Gallery.

 

Art(e)

Alvarez’s work spans imagined structures, abstract forms, portraits, and sculpture, all united by a deep connection to architecture, not only as form but as a theme that shapes how we feel, remember, and perceive the world around us.

His recent projects include Imperfect Boundaries, exploring the physical and psychological limits of the Tijuana–San Diego border; 46 Renacimientos, forty-six textural paper sculptures of abandoned Baja California buildings; AbandonmenTissues, transforming discarded regional materials into new visual meaning; and his Architectural Series, detailed drawings and paintings imagining alternative built environments.