Nelson Rivas, known as CEKIS, is a Chilean visual artist and muralist whose career spans more than three decades. Born in Santiago in 1976, he began painting graffiti on the streets of his native city in the early 1990s—a period of profound national transformation. CEKIS belongs to the generation that experienced childhood under Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship and came of age as Chile uniquely used a democratic process to dismantle it. This transition from censorship to open expression fundamentally shaped his worldview.

Part of the first wave of South American graffiti artists, CEKIS and his peers used public space to forge a new, distinctly Chilean visual language, merging global influences with local realities. Rooted in Hip Hop culture, his work builds on Chile’s rich muralist tradition while maintaining a deep commitment to public space as a site for civic dialogue and collective memory.

Since relocating to Brooklyn, New York, in 2004, CEKIS has expanded his practice through large-scale murals, studio work, and institutional collaborations. His studio practice has given rise to a defining theme: the fence. Functioning as both a metaphor for his immigrant experience and an homage to the trespassing nature of graffiti writing, the fence motif juxtaposes sharp, architectural lines with vibrant organic forms. This dialogue explores ideas of division, resilience, and freedom—themes deeply informed by his homeland’s journey from imposed barriers to democratic opening.

Through ongoing experimentation, CEKIS has developed a distinctive visual language that preserves the visual DNA of his Latin American heritage and graffiti origins, while evolving across contexts and scales. His narrative compositions often merge botanical elements with urban structures, reflecting on migration, identity, and the interconnectedness of all life.

Grounded in a philosophy that values effort and authenticity, his practice embraces both success and failure as essential to the creative cycle. CEKIS has exhibited and created public works internationally, collaborating with museums, city agencies, and community organizations. He remains devoted to public art, inspired by the belief that, like democracy, it is a living process built in the open, for everyone.

He lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.