Simeyon Mendez Spins Surrealist Art

Dyslexia made school difficult for new Anderson Artists Guild member Simeyon Mendez. “Art was really the only thing I was good at,” he said.

On the recommendation of an art teacher at Hanna High School, he attended a summer program in illustrative comics at The Kubert School in Dover, New Jersey, and went on to receive a bachelor’s degree there in graphic design.

After graduating a year ago, Mendez returned to Anderson, where he supports himself as a freelance artist. He’s working on his second book, a sci-fi fantasy story called Life Form about an alien whose planet is destroyed by ancient beings. He has pitched it to Marvel and DC, who said they wanted to see more.

Other freelance projects have included designing t-shirts for a dog training company, creating a book cover, and coming up with tattoos. In fact, he’s about to embark on a low-residency certification program at the Master Tattoo Institute in Miami Beach with a goal of working in the field.

His greatest passion, though, is painting. He is drawn to surrealism and has been influenced by artists like Salvador Dali, Francis Bacon, Junji Ito, and Jim Lee. One of his pieces, Blue Avenue, makes real the idea of a liminal space. “It’s a place that looks familiar but is sort of scary,” he said. “You feel like you’ve been there before but can’t quite think where it is.”

Unlike many artists, Mendez relishes the chance to promote himself. He’s active on social media and takes his portfolio to shows like Greenville Comic Con. “I enjoy talking to people and networking,” he said. “I love doing trends and challenges and making videos.”

For more information about Mendez, visit https://simeyon-artstore.square.site/ or https://www.instagram.com/sim_artista/.