Stray bullet changed trajectory of CSUMB student’s life

By Mark Muckenfuss

When Jose Quevedo was shot in 2017, his first thought was not, “Oh, this is art.”

But nearly a decade later, that experience provided the inspiration for his capstone project as he prepares to graduate from Cal State Monterey Bay with a degree in visual and public art. 

A bullet, he said, cannot only be potentially deadly, it can also be motivational.

“If it wasn’t for getting shot,” Quevedo said, “I wouldn’t be at this school. It made me reflect on what I wanted to do. It gave me the fire.”

Quevedo, 41, said he was crossing the street in front of the Santa Cruz boardwalk the day he was hit by a stray bullet. He noticed a commotion down the street, but thought little of it until he heard a gun go off and was hit in the side. The bullet passed through his right side and lodged in his spinal column. Because of the danger of removing the slug, it remains there, a permanent part of him. 

Some of that experience is born out in one of his paintings called “Bite the Bullet,” which shows a set of lips and two rows of teeth clamped down on a bullet. Some of the teeth are cracked and one is missing. Reflected in the bullet is the faint image of people walking through a hallway and there is a light splatter of red paint resembling blood.

Another piece incorporates a plaster body cast of the back of a human torso with an illuminated CT scan of Quevedo’s spine, showing the bullet. Among other elements, the piece also incorporates an audio component, a loop of the artist’s stand-up comedy routine where he talks about the shooting. Humor, he said, is an important part of dealing with his experience and his resultant post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Thankfully,” he said, “I am a survivor.”

Up until the shooting, Quevedo said he was sort of drifting through life. He was developing his skills as a photographer while working low-wage jobs, such as fast-food, security and hospitality work. The life-threatening experience allowed him to focus on what was important to him, he said, and he decided to concentrate on his photography. 

His partner, he said, encouraged him to do more and go back to school with the idea of earning a degree. 

“She said, ‘If you’re really serious about your art, there’s no excuse,’” he said.

“I chose CSUMB because I saw that it was making art for a cause,” he added. “I didn’t really know how to share my ideas.”

He had done some painting and drawing earlier in his life and had even attended the Institute of Art in San Francisco for a year. Revisiting those mediums has allowed him to create more varied artwork. One of his recent pieces incorporates a wooden barrel made out of cardboard, two-dimensional paper sculptures of a classroom of children and a teacher, all with panicked looks on their faces, and a gun. The title of the piece is “Kids in a Barrel.”

Using such media, he said, has been a process of discovery.

“If there’s something you’re passionate about that’s not even necessarily related to your medium, this is the place to come,” he said. “This is the place to meld those two things together.”

His CSUMB experience, he said, has been revelatory. 

“This program and the people in it really push and support each other,” he said, adding that there is a vibrant camaraderie among the students. “It’s never anything negative. It pushes you to be better. They’re not going to let you just phone it in or get complacent with your own work.

“I’ve worked with every professor, and everyone is always very supportive,” he added. “They’re trying to get the best work out of you.”

As a result, he said, “I’m more thoughtful. I process things a little more completely. You’re really learning to get down into the nitty-gritty.”

CSUMB has not only inspired Quevedo’s artwork, it has also given him new goals. He’s planning to apply to graduate school with the idea of eventually teaching art at the college level. Along the way, he said, he will continue to develop and explore as an artist.

“I’m very excited to combine what I’ve learned here with my photography and see where it takes me,” he said.