wendell pascual

Wendell Pascual is magic. His deep-rooted belief in this world’s magic allowed him to be a conduit for it. He described himself as a “father / botanical artist / pixel pusher / bike advocate / vinyl acupuncturist / scavenger / i'm a fun guy” but to many of us, Wendell Pascual was, and continues to be, a genius.  

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Wendell is immense. Immense in his love, friendship, music knowledge, creativity and artistry. He shared and he would give, always. He was curious and went deep to know and wholly understand what and who touched his heart. If he dug it, he embraced it. His habit of breaking ground and coming up with the dopest shit was simply a daily practice, a practice which started when he arrived earthside in Laoag, Ilocos Norte, Philippines on February 27, 1975. He immigrated to the United States within the first decade of his life and grew up in a multigenerational household in Koreatown, Los Angeles, CA. After completing high school at Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet, he attended the University of California Los Angeles. Like any great artist he promptly moved on to work at Kinkos Copies where he embodied the autodidactic spirit, designing his flyers and fanzines and xeroxing them on company time. His magic attracted him to an opportunity to work with James Robie Design Associates where he gained a design foundation that carried him through his professional career.  

 

Wendell is an artist and beloved community member. His influence and commitment is easily detected in the heartbeat of the 90’s Pina/x/oy community in Los Angeles. As the designer and originator of “downright pinoy”, one of the first Filipino American clothing lines, the founder and curator of the “dekonstrukt” zine, and the main organizer of “our path to follow,” the spoken word series that was the stage for poetic legends. Through Downright Pinoy and his curation of poetry events, Wendell was instrumental in the growth of  the Festival of Philippines Arts & Culture, an annual Fil-Am event  in Los Angeles. Wendell’s magic had the power to inspire, motivate, and move our communities to realize their highest creative potential. In the last year of his illness, Wendell returned to these passions and co-wrote on the “Spoken Word” entry in the Filipina/x/o American encyclopedia scheduled to come out in October 2022.  He also created several designs including one dedicated to Uncle Roy Morales, a professor and legend of P-town, “Manong Bagaoog” and a Prince inspired “Purple Yam” design that can be found on limited caps, aprons, and bags. He designed and hand-printed assets for the Pinay Rising Activist-Scholars. One of his last designs was the “eThnics” and “eThnicsradio” series which paid homage to the Technics DJ brand by politicizing it and connecting it to his roots in Ethnic Studies. 

 

Wendell is a vinyl acupuncturist. His magic could heal you with a selection from his eclectic array of vinyl records. From 2002–2007, Wendell was a radio host for KPFK with his weekly global music show Aziatik Rhythmz. He eventually shifted to a mentor role, giving younger radio hosts a space to grow on the airwaves, and the show he began continued for 17 years on air until 2019. Wendell was the soul force behind Spearituals at Nova Express Cafe on Fairfax, which ran at that location from 2003-2005, and then had a brief stint at Tribal Cafe in Historic Filipinotown until 2006. He championed the “open turntable” format which created a welcoming atmosphere and inspired many to try DJing for the first time. Many DJs credit Wendell with giving them their first public gigs. He was known to hustle at his salaried places of work as a resident DJ, playing all vinyl DJ sets for openings and receptions at UCLA Live! on the west terrace overlooking the campus and the Geffen Playhouse’s historic courtyard. In 2020, he created and developed eThnics, a product line and platform that is quintessentially Wendell. With the witticisms on words to incite dialogue, his design shows the origins of his critical consciousness, through hip hop and Ethnic Studies. 

 

Wendell is a scavenger - an “upcycler” years before it was a trend. He loved going to thrift stores not just to dig for vinyl but to take a discarded item and give it new purpose, new life. He curated his home and his family’s wardrobe into what he coined “mid-century ethnic.” He loved vintage 80’s steel tube bikes. A familiar face at the Bikrowave and UCLA bike commuter advocates, he was an original supporter of Ciclavia. In true Wendell style and magic, he supported his family for more than a decade as Funguy Finds, a top-rated eBay and Poshmark dealer of rare edition collectible t-shirts.  

 

Wendell is a creative partner. For almost 20 years, he and Carolina San Juan allowed each other to be the best version of themselves, fully and unapologetically. Carolina writes “I lived with Wendell’s frenetic creativity because I loved all of him- but more importantly, because his work was good, like really good, some of the best I’ve ever seen. With his mix of beautifully laid-out mid-century modern and 90’s Hip Hop sampling aesthetics fueled with just enough indigenous stylations, Wen was so clearly his own trope of image and music selecta.”  

 

Wendell is more than a graphic designer; he is an artist facilitator who brought out the best for all the community and professional organizations who had the privilege to work with him. He knew to listen, clarify, and focus on the values and message before imbuing his artistry on print (rarely digital) material assets. Wendell is unmatched as one of Los Angeles’ premiere performing arts’ graphic designers. For more than a decade, he was the principal artist for UCLA Live! before continuing his work with Grand Performances and the Geffen Playhouse for another 10 years. His design was thoughtful in his approach—he could magically conjure an idea and execute it beautifully, often with punny flair. His use of heavy weight typography; of bright turquoises, oranges, and yellows; of joyful playfulness and respect for photography and imagery; and of expressive movement and emotion create a distinctive style that is recognizable in all his work including design for the UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance, East West Players, and the UCLA Academic Advancement Program, where he designed for Carolina’s many colleagues and projects. Wendell’s grassroots experience, training, and moral compass continued with the UCLA Labor Center where he designed numerous reports addressing union values and LGBTQ+ experiences; nail salon workers and industry; California garment workers experiences; and unstable working hours in the Los Angeles retail sector.  He also designed numerous books published by the UCLA Labor Center including Dreams Deported: Immigrant Youth and Families Resist Deportation; Miguel Contreras: Legacy of a Labor Leader; Nonviolence and Social Movements: The Teachings of Rev. James M. Lawson Jr.; Underground Undergrads: UCLA Undocumented Immigrant Students Speak Out; and Undocumented and Unafraid: Tam Tran, Cinthya Felix, and the Immigrant Youth Movement.  His global outlook and western design sensibility came together designing for the Foundation for World Arts Projects in partnership with UCLA Center for Intercultural Performance. There he curated images and emotions at large in brochures, banners, postcards, and ads for LA’s largest city-wide festival of music and dance boasting almost 2000 artists and 73 events total for the World Festival of Sacred Music 2008 and 2011. He also designed the Center's Water is Rising National Tour 2011, featuring 45 performers from Pacific coral atolls of Tuvalu, Kiribati and Tokelau and the Aratani World Series 2014-2015 season in partnership with the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center. Additional design projects included assets for filmmaker Tad Nakamura, Dan Froot’s “Who’s Hungry”, the Black Rebirth Collective, the Amma Los Angeles tour, San Jose Jazz Summerfest, ArtWorx LA, Suarez Dance Theatre, Teada Productions, the Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles Opera, Grand Park, and so many others in his quiet and beautiful way.  

 

Wendell is a botany savant. Unknown, but felt by many, was his long relationship with Rainforest Flora where he worked every Saturday for 4 years. He was inspired by the beauty of all flora and awed by verdure. He cared for those who felt the same, so he designed a book to help people love their plant friends. His floral and foliage arrangements were a celebration and homage to nature’s ultimate design.  

 

Wendell is a spouse. Wendell adored Carolina. And Carolina adored Wen to the very end. Carolina was his sole caretaker, simultaneously caring for him, their son, and her students through a preventable pandemic, through his entire illness, and ultimately until he transitioned to becoming our ancestor in their home during the early hours of July 6th, 2022.  

 

Wendell is a father. Through their combined magic, Wendell and Carolina created Siyam San Juan Pascual, a rare and magical being in his own right. Siyam was raised with a series of running dad-jokes, bad puns, chili and taco nights, and cruising LA on the back of his father’s Xtra-Cycle or in the infamous white Toyota Tacoma. Wendell is forever Siyam’s “Yayee.” 

 

And lastly, Wendell is with us. We now understand that Wendell’s greatest magic was through his passing because it changed everything, and it changed us. His departure is a reminder to live fully, to love one another generously, and to believe in magic.  

FIN 

 

Please join us for a public celebration in loving memory of Wendell.  
Saturday, Oct 29, 12-5pm at Rainforest Flora. 

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On September 10 there will be MahaMritunjaya homa at Amma’s ashram in Amritapuri, India.  Please join in this intention to create great energy for Wendell’s continued journey from wherever you are in time and space.