CHARLES EDWARD SOTO
The very idea of art is often most confusing to those of us brave enough to undertake a belletristic endeavor. However, it is because of those willing to brave the darkest caves of creativity and insanity that we are given the chance to experience art, which at its most basic pure level is this: emotion distilled through the filter of experience and preserved in the concrete limits of moment and medium. Charles Edward Soto, is a master distiller serving us simply the purest shots of emotion, straight up. No Chasers.
Soto was born February 19, 1985 in sunny Hollywood, Florida. He enrolled at Florida International University to study architecture, before unfortunate, and unforeseen circumstances caused him to leave the world of academia. His departure from school would not however, signal an end to his learning. With a sense of Investing in himself he earned in the reading rooms of Dade County public libraries, and armed with some rough, self-taught drawing and design skills Soto decided to devote himself to creating, sharing, and learning.
The man has pressed his soles into soils in the furthest most exotic corners of our planet, as well as pounded cobblestones in some of the most revered cultural centers of the old world. Soto has studied and collaborated in local workshops in Prague, London, and Paris, Panama City, Mexico City, Osaka, and Berlin. He stood among the seven hills of Rome and slid around the canals of Venice, and so many more. Sotoʼs wide travels and willingness to absorb from anyone and everything have created a unique holistic sense of the human experience, one that often finds itself at the foreground of his artistic endeavors. This holistic approach to humanity finds itself reflected in the many mediums Soto finds comfort in working in. Whether itʼs the solemn permanence of injecting ink into skin—tattooing, to the unforgiving, unwavering gravity of sculpting heavy stone, or the sanity straining exercise of sitting in front of a canvas with paint and brush. It doesnʼt matter what it is, all that matters is finding the purest, most honest, distillation of emotion. Straight up. No Chasers.