When L. C. Atencio arrived in the United States as a refugee from South America, he found a country where almost everything felt unfamiliar. The language, social environment and daily responsibilities were vastly different from the life he had left behind.
Having already graduated from high school, returning to education was not an immediate option. Employment was necessary, despite having virtually no English language skills. Most of his extended family remained in South America, while others had fled to countries including Canada and Spain.
The transition brought isolation, financial uncertainty, and discrimination. Yet amid those difficulties, one part of his identity remained untouched: his relationship with fine art.
Painting had always been central to his life. In America, it became a source of comfort, emotional stability, and expression at a time when even ordinary conversation was an enormous challenge.
Looking back, he describes fine art as something that saved him physically, spiritually and emotionally.
A New Country Without a Familiar Life
Before immigrating, life in South America had offered a sense of belonging and security. Family property, familiar surroundings and established relationships provided stability that disappeared almost overnight.
In the United States, finding employment became an immediate priority. Without sufficient English, even routine workplace interactions could be difficult.
Determined to learn, he relied on dictionaries, a thesaurus, notebooks and constant exposure to English-language radio. He sometimes left the radio on while he slept, reflecting his urgency to understand the language.
The fear of unemployment was particularly serious because losing his job could mean losing his accommodation.
During those first two years, financial insecurity and social isolation created a level of sadness he had never previously experienced.
He remembers feeling as though he were falling into a dark, bottomless abyss, unable to find a way out.
There were also experiences of marginalisation and discrimination connected to his Hispanic background. Without the English vocabulary to respond or defend himself, those encounters could leave him feeling powerless.
But even when communication failed, creativity remained possible.
How Fine Art Gave L. C. Atencio a Voice Without Words
Language was one of the greatest obstacles to rebuilding his life.
Writing in Spanish remained an outlet during particularly difficult moments, but painting offered something that written and spoken communication could not.
It required no translation.
An image could convey emotions through colour, composition, and atmosphere, regardless of whether the viewer spoke Spanish or English.
“Fine art became my true language when I had no words I could say to make myself understood,” he recalls.
Painting provided a way to communicate feelings that everyday conversations could not adequately express.
“I was ‘heard’ through my visual fine artwork.”
That distinction became especially meaningful during his early years in America. Although his verbal communication was limited, his ability to create visual art remained intact.
The paintings did not eliminate the practical difficulties of immigration. They offered something different: a means of expression the language barrier could not restrict.
The One Friend That Could Not Be Taken Away
Although his mother and brothers were also living in the United States, they were occupied with their own responsibilities. He no longer had the social connections and sense of community he knew in South America.
During those difficult years, painting became a dependable source of companionship.
“Painting was the one friend I had that no one could take away from me,” he says.
Even while working, thoughts of future paintings offered moments of comfort. Imagining the next composition or anticipating time spent creating something new provided a welcome contrast to the pressures of employment and financial survival.
His external circumstances differed sharply from who he understood himself to be.
To others, he was a struggling immigrant attempting to establish a life in an unfamiliar country. Internally, his identity as an artist had never changed.
During periods of particularly intense sadness, he continued writing in Spanish and painting whatever came to mind. Those activities offered relief when other sources of reassurance were limited.
Fine art did not need to solve every problem to make a meaningful difference. Its value lay in providing continuity and comfort amid uncertain circumstances.
Why Creating Art Was Never Optional
For L. C. Atencio, there has never been a clear separation between enjoying art and needing it.
“I need art as much as I enjoy it, and I enjoy art as much as I need it,” he explains.
Unlike someone who discovers painting during a difficult period, he began his relationship with creative expression in childhood. Immigration didn’t introduce him to art; it revealed how important that relationship could become.
He has never seriously considered abandoning visual art.
Even during illness, the desire to sketch or develop new ideas remains. He compares the urge to create to a persistent irritation that disappears only after he acts on it.
Making art brings both joy and relief.
This enduring need helps explain why painting became so important during the challenges of immigration. It was not an unfamiliar coping mechanism adopted out of necessity, but a familiar activity that remained available when other aspects of life had been disrupted.
From Personal Expression to Sharing Joy
The importance of fine art has remained constant, although his understanding of its purpose has evolved.
As a child, painting was largely instinctive. The satisfaction came from imagining something and bringing it into existence, without necessarily considering how another person might respond.
With maturity came greater awareness of the audience.
Today, he continues to explore his imagination, but also considers how a finished artwork might bring joy, beauty or serenity to the person experiencing it.
That shift reflects a broader understanding of creative expression.
During the early years in America, art offered comfort when he felt isolated and unable to communicate. Now, he also hopes that his paintings can provide something meaningful to others.
The creative process remains personally rewarding, but the viewer’s experience has become part of his thinking.
An Artistic Identity That Survived Immigration
Throughout his life, L. C. Atencio has worked across painting, literature, sculpture, music, dance and theatre.
His experiences include professional dance, fine-art exhibitions, published literary contributions, concerts and stage performances.
Despite that variety, the underlying commitment has remained the same.
He finds it difficult to imagine pursuing a life entirely outside the arts. Even without access to conventional painting materials or formal artistic traditions, he believes he would have found ways to create using whatever resources were available.
This conviction also shapes his understanding of professional success.
In his view, building a sustainable artistic career requires sustained effort and dedication. Talent may provide the foundation, but daily work is essential to developing and maintaining a creative profession.
The difficulties of immigration made that commitment particularly demanding.
Learning English, maintaining employment and managing financial insecurity consumed considerable time and energy. Nevertheless, creative work remained part of everyday life.
Rather than postponing his artistic ambitions until circumstances improved, he kept producing work amid uncertainty.
That persistence helped preserve an identity that had existed long before he arrived in the United States.
What Painting Means to L. C. Atencio Today
The excitement of approaching a blank canvas has never disappeared.
Even after years of creating artwork, the possibility of developing something entirely new continues to motivate him.
What has changed is his understanding of how significant that process is.
Fine art has been a profession, a form of personal expression and a way to connect with audiences. During one of the most challenging periods of his life, it also provided emotional comfort when familiar relationships, financial security and everyday communication were disrupted.
When asked what he would tell someone who relied on art to feel grounded during difficult circumstances, he responded.
He would tell them that he understands.
Drawing on his experience, he sees creative expression as a constructive way to cope with hardship, offering an alternative to potentially harmful habits.
His story does not suggest that painting can resolve every personal difficulty. English still had to be learned, and the challenges of adapting to a new country required time and perseverance.
But art gave him something those difficulties could not take away.
No single painting transformed his circumstances overnight. No exhibition immediately restored the security of his former life.
Instead, countless smaller moments mattered: creating every day, finding comfort in a new idea, expressing emotions through colour when words failed, and recognising that the artist he had always been still existed beneath the struggle of starting over.
