Tio's Taco
Address: 3948 Mission Inn Avenue, Riverside, CA 92501
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| Martin Sanchez and his daughters: Stephanie (right), Kimberly (left) and Maiten (middle). |
Sanchez began working on his first installation nearly 18 years ago, gradually creating the art /sculpture garden that has been attracting a lot of attention of late. Most of his sculptures and installations are figurative, such as the giant wire sculptures filled with cans, shells, computer parts, and other recycled objects; and the life-sized man and Barbie woman transformed into fountains, with water flowing from between their legs and from Barbie's breasts.
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| Life size figures/fountains |
The artist and restauranteur owner, Sanchez grew up in poverty. At four years old his father died, and at five he began shining shoes to help his mother make a living. Sanchez said he never had any toys growing up. “I never played as a child. Those are my toys,” he said, referring to his artwork. He came to the United States in 1984 from the Michoacan village of Sahuayo, in western Mexico. Sanchez was surprised at how much people in United States throw away, including still useful objects like chairs, couches, beds, TVs, electronics, and more. He said that he never throws anything away, because he believes that if an object cannot be used for what it was meant for, then it is always possible to find it another use. His older daughter Stephanie said that her father would go through the trash can every evening to see what the family threw away, trying to find items he could use for his art. In the beginning his family couldn't understand what he was trying to create. “It was hard to explain to people what I was trying to do, because all they saw was trash.” Sometimes the family even argued with him about saving empty cans, bottles, and other garbage, but after Sanchez created his first figures, his wife and daughters pitched in and helped him collect more discarded items. Stephanie said that they separated trash cans, using one for trash to be thrown away, and the other one for “trash” that Sanchez could use in future sculptures.
In the early days, to make ends meet, Sanchez sold oranges on street corners and freeway off-ramps. Later he and his wife, Concepcion became hotdog sellers, purchasing their own hotdog cart. But when hotdogs didn't sell, he made a few adjustments, turning his hotdog enterprise into a taco cart, while dreaming of opening his own restaurant. When Concepcion saw Tio’s Taco for rent in 1990, the family immediately jumped on the opportunity. At first the space was in dire need of remodeling. Sanchez got all the necessary permits to fix and remodel the place, and in 1995 the family purchased the restaurant and the house next door (now the Sanchez family home). In time Sanchez purchased the adjacent parking lot, and a house that now serves as a gift shop and storage space. Today the Sanchez property fills almost an entire city block, and every inch, including roofs, trees, and floors, has been personally decorated by Martin Sanchez.
His wife Concepcion and three daughters, Stephanie (22), Kimberly (17) and Maiten (7) help out with bigger projects, but according to Sanchez, none of his sculptures or installations are ever technically “finished.” He continues enhancing his old projects while creating new ones. “I have a lot of dreams,” he said. “When I die, then it will be finished.” Sanchez mines much of his material from his own family. The playful figures on top of the roof are his oldest daughter Stephanie's toys and dolls, while stuffed animals hanging on the trees once belonged to his youngest daughter, Maiten. His wife’s old shoes and his daughters' old bicycle, as well as the license plate from a car they once drove to Mexico on family vacation, are all mounted in concrete. The sculptures and installations made from once-owned and discarded objects opens a window to a family's past joyful memories. Stephanie said that if her childhood bicycle was just thrown away she would never remember it. But since she sees it mounted in the ground every day she remembers the bike and all of the fun times spent riding it. More than just an artistic endeavor, Sanchez is building a scrapbook/family album/personal journal, only instead of photographs and two-dimensional objects, his memories are sculptures and installations built of his family's history, saved from the landfill. His work is built with humor, sarcasm, and love, and each piece tells its own, as well as his own, story.
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| Stephanie's childhood bike |
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| Sanchez's wife old shoes |
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| Stephanie's toys on the roof |
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| Maiten's stuffed animals |
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| Old family chair |
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| Tio's Chapel |
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| Inside the Chapel |
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| The mural on Tio's Chapel ceiling |
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| Inside Tio's Chapel (detail) |
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| Inside Tio's Chapel (detail) |
He also uses bottles and shells directly from his restaurant to fill the bodies of his giant figures. Lately, locals have started to bring objects for Martin’s projects. “When people bring their belongings and then see them in my father’s sculpture it makes them happy and exited,” Stephanie Sanchez said. “They tend to come to the restaurant more often.”
It is difficult to imagine that all this work was done by just one man with a little help from his family, but Sanchez never runs out of ideas and endlessly plans new projects. One such project is tree house for his youngest daughter, Maiten. “The tree house will have everything – gas, stove, electricity, and bathroom – just like a real house,” Sanchez said, pointing at the tree where he plans to build. His vivid, wild imagination, and his childish enthusiasm, helped the artist/restauranteur create this one-of-a-kind attraction that draws more visitors than a mere taco stand ever could. In fact, it's easy to forget about food while there. Tio’s Taco customers often just wander around for a while, staring at the humorous figures hiding in the trees, the fantastic tile work, and sculpture fountains, before taking a table, looking at the menu, and thinking about dinner.
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| The Tepee made of bottles and cement |
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| The bench, was featured at Riverside art fair |
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