"Because of its nature as a solitary endeavor, independent of collaborative production, visual art became my mode of expression. Film and literature are fundamental influences on my artwork, wherein the aim of each piece is to accomplish what a movie or a book does: engage the viewer in a narrative tale or essay that results in discussion and negotiation, and perhaps even cement a viewer's stance on a particular issue.

There is no overriding statement to each work but rather an encouragement of dialogue. This goal frees me from a need to settle into one medium and be limited to that medium. Nevertheless, the tension between social ritual and contemporary aesthetics can be more fruitful when its seed is planted in the traditional art forms of painting, sculpture, and collage. William Faulkner advised, 'In writing, you must kill all your darlings'. I subscribe to this technique in my artwork because technical adeptness is destructive to irony. I deem it successful if a piece can defy the depiction of a recognizable character, the literal subject inhabiting the work, and viscerally negate an underlying aesthetic quality. This creates a parable without a message or a fairy tale without a lesson, which is important for me as an artist who has the same irreverence and aversion for received dogma as I do for distributing dogma."

- Rubén Torres Llorca