Raíz, also known as Pablo Moisés Ruiz Arroyo is a traveling street artist inspired by surrealism. Having journeyed the world leaving murals as he goes along has been his career. Coming from La Paz, Bolivia, a country surrounded by the Andes mountain of many indigenous cultures, has been a huge inspiration to his art and life.
After being involved in the art world of Bolivia, he dedicated a year to travel north to California from Bolivia by land. He lived off painted murals, street performance, and chalk art as he traveled to California. “Not having money was the most inspiring thing to my art at the time…” he proudly tells people referring to the culture of busking and nomad life he lived as he traveled the Americas. He then traveled to Australia and left murals as he traveled the east and west coast living solely from his art. Soon after he traveled through South East Asia leaving murals in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. After briefly returning to the USA for a mural conference he found himself in New Zealand painting more murals. After leaving to travel to Central America and Europe, to continue painting the world, he decided to return to New Zealand. After finishing a youth mentorship art program as director under an artist residency in Tauranga New Zealand, he has since then returned to San Francisco California. During his time in San Francisco he has been involved in various communal outreach murals partnered with local communities such as Precita Eyes Murals and the San Francisco Arts Committee. He has been involved in various public art projects in hopes of beautifying communities for the benefit of its people. Pablo Is currently involved in a mural project with the youth members of the East Bay Asian Youth Center near the Fruitvale Station of Oakland.

My name is Pablo Moisés Ruiz Arroyo, and I want to change the world. During my education I was amazed in discovering how powerful changes can be generated by creative people not considered average. My great inspirations come from people who thought in different manners than their societies. In the world of artists, my major influence is Hieronymus Bosch, a Netherland artist from the XIIIth century. A surrealist so radical in his times that he was considered a heretic and almost burned for his paintings.

Things can be as simple or as complicated as we want them to be. For example: the origin of all the colours an artist can mix on a pallet comes from a simple combination of red, yellow and blue. But the results of specific combinations can take us to the reaches of the heavens or the depths of the darkness inside our emotions. In the end the question I constantly ask myself is as simple as it is complicated: What is the purpose of my art? I am not the only painter who can mix colours, but I am the only one with my observations. Every person has a specific point of view, and the purpose of my art, is to convey that every point of view is a reflection of reality distinct to every person.

Pablosomething.com