Simon Arancibia, better known as La Robot de Madera (translated as “The Wooden Fembot”) is a Chilean painter, graffiti artist and muralist. He began participating in urban interventions while he was a student at the Viña del Mar School of Fine Arts in 2007 (In close proximity to Valparaiso, Chile’s street art capital). He specializes in indigenous human forms and has taken his creations to numerous cities around the world.
His pseudonym comes from a comic he made out of boredom when he was just a boy in school. For him, it represents “achieving the impossible.” Although he uses the initials LRM most of the time, he continuously plays with his name to reinvent himself, using names such as Never, ROVOC, and Mr. L.
His career developed due to him being invited to participate in social murals of vulnerable sectors in Chile while still being in high school. After experimenting a couple of years with stickers and stencil techniques, in 2007, he formally arrived at graffiti while he was a student of painting.
His murals focus mainly on human beings and their internal thoughts, stemming from his research and tastes acquired through his travels: music, regional dishes, wildlife, traditional festivals, the church as a sign of human decadence, carnivals, dance, etc. Social issues also figure prominently in his art, as evidenced by a series of murals named “Los Estudiantes,” dedicated to the fallen youths in Chilean student protests, which led to the idea of education as a struggle.
Showing tremendous artistic range, Simon most recently has been experimenting with drawings of shapes that resemble natural elements such as coral or rock. His paintings are infused with a sense of mystery, as they tend to make us consider the hidden meaning they may have.
Simon has an Instagram account where we can check for updates on his most recent work: https://www.instagram.com/saintrobot/