Joseph Paul Vargas grew up on the high desert plains of New Mexico. He began creating sculptures and paintings as a child, receiving many awards and commissions. Taking an apprenticeship with his uncle, a well-known sculptor and potter, his skills quickly advanced and he had his first show at 15. He did several ceramic vase series, and sculpted some of the most modern interpretations of traditional Indian dolls. His love of discovering new medium found him showing large watercolors at 20. Using Native American and South American Indians as subjects, his ghostly portraits were powerful and captivating. Fusing a classic western style with a modern contemporary backdrop Vargas again earned accolades. Slowly his work became unsatisfying and his desire to explore abstract painting took him to San Francisco. For years he has experimented with paint application and the development of a painting through layering medium.

" I had to develop a style of painting that kept me happy and challenged. It seems that most painters today paint a subject that is liked, and then paint it over and over from different angles and use different colors maybe. Ludacris! In my work I am fusing Old West themes, myths and struggles with modern, mass marketed, "keeping up with the Jetson's", "Before & After" non-sense. In the past people were willing to get dirty, make things happen for themselves. Now people are riding the shortcut, fix it with plastic wave. Applying lotion to counter the cream, that exfoliates the soul, and softens the Blah Blah Blah!