Meet the Artist: Lorenzo Crockett

Lorenzo was raised in Oakland and found his love of art at an early age. Unfortunately, he did not get much of a formal introduction to art in school. He went to barber school in the early 1990s and found an outlet for some of his creativity via cutting hair. It was not until he moved to Minneapolis in 2005 that he found mentors who pushed him to discover his own artistic voice. He gravitated towards mixed media early on to provide more depth to his pieces. Lorenzo then started to incorporate recycled materials into his art and was fascinated with the idea of transforming unwanted items into fine art.  

Moving back to the Bay Area and Vallejo in 2015, Lorenzo really began his exploration of recycled material even more, not just for the idea of transforming unwanted items into art but also because of its affordability. Traditional supplies were expensive, and recycling helped mitigate the expense. One of his early “canvases” was made from former fence slats that came from a recently demolished fence he had happened upon. From there, it grew to a more diverse collection of “flat surfaces” on which to place his art-old locker doors, steamer trunk lids, or steel serving trays became his medium of choice. The diversity of the substrate added to the complexity of his art and the direction of his creations. 

Lorenzo had also collected photographs over the years (from a variety of sources) to act as inspiration for his future paintings. This is where he drew inspiration for his piece with SolTrans. The image drew him into this project because it reminded him of his own experiences as well as other children that he saw on public transportation over the years. Lorenzo and his family would use public transit exclusively well into his teenage years. This photo refreshed those memories of riding the bus. He also worked with other artists and ironworkers on this piece to help him lay out his design, fabricate and cut the steel, that acts as his canvas. 

He wants his piece to help convey the feeling that Downtown Vallejo is an inviting place that families and people of all colors and backgrounds can come to experience and enjoy.

To see Lorenzo Crockett’s art, you can find him on Instagram at iconic_vinyl_art and on Facebook at IconicVinylArt.