Truthful journey: Albuquerque-based artist Reyes Padilla gets introspective with pieces in 'Serio'

Ideas are always dancing around inside Reyes Padilla’s head.

It’s something that has always happened — and it’s something he’s aware of.

The Albuquerque-based artist will take those ideas and cultivate them into something he’s never done before.

Case in point — his upcoming solo show “Serio” at Lapis Room in Old Town, which runs from Friday, Aug. 18, through Sept. 24. There will be a reception from 5-8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 24.

“This show has been brewing within me since last year’s ‘Synful Norteño,’ ” he says. “That show was about my time growing up in Santa Fe and feeling like an outsider. I’ve touched on that topic before.”

Padilla says the work in “Serio” is the result of many lessons.

“I’ve learned a lot about myself and this work has put me in a state of mind within the abstract world,” he says. “The title is a term that most New Mexicans are familiar with, meaning ‘serious.’ You hear people use it in different ways. It’s also a term that I feel like I’ve carried along with me. It’s a description of my own personality. It’s something that’s carried me to where I am today. I wanted to tell a story of who I am. It’s abstract work, and I’m using a black and white palette.”

“Serio” features 11 pieces.

Since he started in May, Padilla worked on all of them at the same time.

He works abstractly, tapping into his synesthesia – a process where he can hear colors. Though this time around he was inspired by the ritual of using nails — 533 to be exact.

Padilla hammered in the nails into the panels of work, patiently bending them to create a flow.

“Before I started, I took all the nails and I dunked them in the Pecos and Santa Fe rivers so that they would be submerged on both sides of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains,” he says. “It’s significant for me because that’s where my heart is.”

Padilla says once the panels were complete with nails, the inspiration continued.

“I then could tell each story of the canvases,” he says. “The number 533 jumped out at me. Growing up Catholic, I’m approaching these pieces like a religious practice. It’s about the process and ritual. I’ve used the same mica I spent my childhood collecting and that I continue to use in my paintings.”