This Arizona Artist Walks The Line Between Abstraction + Realism

As the only child of Cuban immigrants, Carlos Ramirez was strongly encouraged to choose an “economically sustainable” career—in other words, not art. But some things just can’t be rooted out. When he was 22, Ramirez launched a fashion label, Liancarlo, during his summer break from law school. Over the next 25 years, he learned how to grab attention in precise and functional designs, skills he uses today as a full-time visual artist.

Working out of his home studio in Tucson, Ramirez creates large-scale acrylic paintings that walk the line between abstraction and realism. Nature inspires him to transform sea blue, orchid, buttercup and other botanical hues into layered compositions where outlines share space with sweeping color. This abstraction is intentional. “I have a great camera,” he says. “Why would I want to do realism?” Instead, he seeks to create the feeling you get when you experience natural wonder—not the natural wonder itself. “I approach painting as beauty, as a world I want to live in, as something I want to be a part of,” he muses. With gallery representation across the country, interesting commissions and even an upcoming film cameo (by his painting, not himself), Ramirez achieves something equally beautiful: a life well-lived.