The Artist’s Journey

Oscar Molina Embraces His Second Act

From fleeing war in El Salvador to running a successful masonry company to emerging as an artist and gallery owner Oscar Molina has always abided by his father’s principles, “You always do good by others and be the best you can be. Be humble and be strong.” 

It was a difficult decision in 1989 for Molina’s family to leave their country to come to America. Molina says, “It was very hard to say goodbye to family ties and hopefully make it. Not everyone did. Those memories are in my mind so when I paint, I go back to my roots. I find painting as therapy.”

After twenty-five years devoted to his company Molina was ready for his second act. “I wanted to say thank you to that time and move forward into the arts. It’s understanding you have to let go of a lot of things to find your other passion and start from scratch.” Molina was inspired by the story of J. Steven Manolis who fulfilled the American dream rising from an immigrant family to a hugely successful corporate career then took the art world by storm, considered now a modern master in abstract expressionism.

A strong work ethic is ingrained in Molina, “If it was good yesterday, I try to make it better today.” He credits an inspiring piece of advice from artist Eric Fischl, “I asked him one day how he keeps his passion going. He said, ‘Sometimes the passion isn’t there but the least you can do is go to the studio and smell the paint.’”

For Molina it was a time for birth and rebirth with a new daughter, new studio space to paint and a new gallery. He opened the Oscar Molina Gallery last year in Southampton with a mission to not only exhibit emerging and accomplished artists but to create an interactive program designed to illuminate art as social practice and encourage dialogue in a public space. “When I opened the gallery I had a lot of friends in the art world,” says Molina, “I was not only a painter but a collector for the past 15 years. With every painting it is the color or texture or theme that gives you connectivity. I believe in the energy on a spiritual level. Any artist that is conscious connects deeply and anyone on that same frequency will experience the same emotions and pleasure.” Molina has exhibited at the Southampton Arts Center as well as future exhibits at The Parrish Art Museum and the Nassau County Museum of Art.

Audiences have formed a strong emotional bond to his latest sculptural project Children of the World with an installation at the LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton. “The idea is to connect my experience leaving El Salvador at a young age due to war and not by choice.” The “children” inspire all sorts of emotions. “When you see a group of sculptures like this you can have several reactions: the artist is very crazy, these look like ghosts, this is beautiful, wow magnificent work, what a beautiful message or they almost look at them like souls. The essence is of our experience as humans and how we move in this world.” The sculptures migrate every two weeks through the gardens with their metaphorical journey echoing Molina’s own through the sand-like desert to crossing the pond like the Rio Grande to emerging at the concrete block sculpture like the skyline of New York City. At times they will be huddled together for protection or coming out of hiding. Even the sculptural material became a metaphor. “The first ones I did were very rough because I made them that way, untouchable – but the material could cut you apart if you wanted to hold them. So, a year later I went back and now you can take pictures with them and interact with them. It is a more friendly feeling.”

For Molina it is all about embracing, embracing his family, his artistic expression, the space he creates for other artists, and most of all himself, being the best he can be.