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San Francisco\u2019s Mission District is historically home to numerous murals and creative spaces, and artists\u2014many of whom, like Javier Antonio Chab Dzul, live at the margins of society.<\/p>\n
Dzul\u2014a Mexican-born homeless man of Mayan ancestry\u2014uses the streets as his canvass, and his paintings don\u2019t just cover a surface, but pain as well.<\/p>\n
Follow the painted flowers\u2014sprawled across intersections, side streets and sidewalks decorated in a vibrant combination of colors\u2014and you\u2019ll find Dzul living out of his small tent at 19th<\/sup> and Shotwell streets.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you know what this does for me?\u201d Dzul asked as he touched up one of his flower paintings on the sidewalk. \u201cIt distracts me so I don\u2019t have to think about my many problems. That\u2019s why I do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Hailing from Yaxhach\u00e9n, a little town in the municipality of Oxkutzcab near the Yucatan-Campeche border in southern Mexico, the 40-year-old Dzul left home when he was 13. Raised speaking the ancient Mayan language, he improved his Spanish after moving to Merida, the Yucatan capital. Dzul eventually made his way to San Francisco 16 years ago, leaving two of his children behind.<\/p>\n He wasn\u2019t always homeless.<\/p>\n He\u2019s worked in many San Francisco restaurant kitchens, and even had an apartment at Turk and Hyde streets about nine years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s where we stayed, until I ended up here on the street,\u201d Dzul said. \u201cWhen they kicked me out of the apartment, it was for not paying rent. But honestly, I [had] sunk pretty low with drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n Dzul said the building was eventually sold, and that he had to break the padlock to his room to retrieve his belongings. He wandered first through Golden Gate Park before finding a home in the encampment on Shotwell Street, making friends and frequently speaking Mayan with Luis Demetrio Gongora Pat. Gongora was fatally shot by two SFPD officers on April 7. Gongora\u2019s family has since filed a claim against the City and County of San Francisco, alleging that the SFPD used excessive force against Gongora.<\/p>\n \u201cThat bullet could\u2019ve been for me,\u201d said Dzul, who decorated the spot where Gongora died with painted flowers. \u201cHere in San Francisco, I\u2019ve seen many things. I\u2019ve gotten to know homeless people who are a step closer to death than they are alive, people with pain, with injuries that should be treated. Police and DPW [Department of Public Works] shouldn\u2019t just go removing us, and throwing our things away. They should ask us, \u2018Hey, are you OK?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Dzul wasn\u2019t always an artist, either.<\/p>\n \u201cI never liked drawing,\u201d Dzul said, whose brother in Mexico was an artist. \u201cI would always observe and try, but I would say, \u201cthe hell with it,\u201d and throw it away.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI never liked it, but look,\u201d he added, pointing to one of his paintings.<\/p>\n Dzul has been practicing his street art for five years, first becoming inspired by art that was displayed in his former apartment building.<\/p>\n \u201cMany tell me that my paintings are magical. I believe that the magic comes from within us. When you do things from your heart,\u201d Dzul said. \u201cI continue to practice to this day. I don\u2019t feel like a professional.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy mind is a little more open when I\u2019m on drugs,\u201d Dzul said.<\/p>\n Dzul smokes methamphetamine in the confines of his tent, so that children don\u2019t see him. Smoking helps him sleep on the street. And it\u2019s good for the hunger, too he said.<\/p>\n The hunger can get to him though. He scouts local cafes for leftover bagels and pan dulce, and rummages through trash bins. But sometimes those table scraps aren\u2019t enough. The thought of stealing an expensive bicycle or smashing a car window have crossed his mind.<\/p>\n \u201cCan you believe that I can\u2019t do it? My friends, they don\u2019t have this problem,\u201d said Dzul. \u201cI go out with that intention, and at times with hunger.\u201d<\/p>\n The urge to look for a laptop sitting in a car and flipping it for $150\u2014a sum that can feed him for a week\u2014is strong. But something tells him not to do it.<\/p>\n Instead, he looks for art supplies that allow him to channel what he calls his \u201cMayan spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEverything that I do, I consider that it comes from them. They built great pyramids and painted numerous beautiful paintings, all done in their way,\u201d Dzul said. \u201cThey are gifts, I say, that they give us, gifts that they were given to them by their ancestors. And now I\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [su_slider source=”media: 30737,30738,30739,30740,30741,30744,30742″ limit=”40″ link=”image” target=”blank” width=”700″ height=”460″ autoplay=”0″ speed=”500″][su_slider source=”media: 29856,29857″ limit=”30″ link=”image” target=”blank” width=”700″ height=”460″ autoplay=”0″ speed=”500″][su_menu][\/su_slider] San Francisco\u2019s Mission District is historically home to numerous murals and creative spaces, and artists\u2014many of whom, like Javier Antonio Chab Dzul, live at the margins of society. Dzul\u2014a Mexican-born homeless man of Mayan ancestry\u2014uses the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":30737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3929],"tags":[10689,10685,10681,10687,3782,10659,9445,10691],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-30736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en","tag-homeless-artist","tag-javier-antonio-chab-dzul","tag-luis-gongora-pat","tag-mayan","tag-mexico-en","tag-sf-homeless-project","tag-shotwell-street","tag-yucatan-en","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n