A six-year-old boy sits at a small, cramped table in his parents’ bedroom on a Hawaiʻi afternoon. Inside, the banging pots and radio music almost sing along with nature’s calming noise right outside the window. The tropical sun illuminates the green landscape but Caesar “CJ” Caberto Jr.’s world is shrunk down to the size of a sheet of paper.
He’s hunched over, with his best crayons in hand, as his eyes dart back and forth between the television and the developing masterpiece. The screen is paused. A frozen frame of Inuyasha stays still as his point of reference. Darker shade here. Finer lines there. It’s not just a drawing. It’s thoroughly translating a world that already exists into a visual reality he can touch.
One could call it a visual artist’s idiosyncrasy. To Caberto, it was just day one of a lifelong practice.
THE BASE COAT
By sixth grade, he was already capturing emotion and personality that jumps off the page, having started taking formal classes that took his skills from amateur to growing pro. His earliest recognitions and awards came three years later in the ninth grade from continuously practicing the elements he admired most.
“I loved characters and creating worlds,” he said. “From when I was a very young artist, I really dabbled with a lot of different things. The things that have stayed a common denominator are characters and portraits. I love faces.”
What’s better than one face? One face in different mediums. The seeds for visual artistry were planted on his parents’ table, and the grit of telling a story came through under the fluorescent lights of the art rooms at Leilehua High School, where he took drawing, painting, and photography. Those classes and the influence of regular “talk story” time at home was its own recipe in feeding his creative hunger.
“I think that’s when I really found my passion and saw what hard work and discipline does when you really put your time and effort into something.”
That hard work led to a poignant moment in his junior year that would change the trajectory of his life. One photograph earned him the National American Visions Award from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the nation’s longest-running, most prestigious recognition program for creative teens. His award was his ticket to the official ceremony. Where? None other than Carnegie Hall in New York City, the premier global art capitol.
Standing among thousands of the country’s most celebrated young artists visiting the Big Apple, Caberto discovered the Parsons School of Design at The New School. From then on, his collegiate plans were already in motion.
His ambitious path was paved by a rare and pivotal pillar: parental nurturing.
“My parents were so graceful with it, and they supported me through everything. They were like, ‘We’re going to show up for our son. We’re going to go have a good time in New York, and we’re going to celebrate him.’”
And that meant celebrating all aspects of him, giving Caberto the strong foundation we all need to show up in the world as our true selves.
“With that kind of support, you really feel invincible. Even as a queer artist too, sometimes it’s really hard for parents to support you. My parents went through their own learning curve and had to grow into the supportive beings they are today. With my sexuality, my parents are so on board and don’t care,” he praised. “The only thing they care about is that I’m happy. I love this energy of knowing that people have your back and will help you every step of the way. I know that no matter how old I get, they’ll always be there.”
BETWEEN TWO CANVASES
After completing his Fine Arts degree in Illustration in 2017, Caberto moved back home to Hawaiʻi, where part-time jobs, freelance work, and community advocacy encompassed his initial post-grad era.
One of his most profound works during this period took place on Oʻahu’s west side working with a houseless encampment community in Waiʻanae. He co-founded Wolf & Woman, a documentary media and arts collective with Marie Eriel Hobro, a former classmate, and together they provided free photography classes with a mission to dismantle the stereotypes associated with Hawaiʻi. They’d teach local youth how to take photos, and from there, they’d put on exhibitions where the students could showcase their work and tell their stories.
After seven years of pushing artistic limits at home, Caberto was ready for new opportunities. He knew that the pull of New York never truly faded, so in 2024, he packed his bags and made his return to the East Coast, taking in all of the concrete jungle’s influence.
“I was so attracted to the hustle and bustle of it and being able to just go out your door, and then have the world for you to explore. You can go to several parts of New York City and get a totally different vibe from everywhere. You get a mouthful and then some just within a few hours. You can feel like you’ve lived a thousand lives.”
The city itself acts as an inspiration buffet for artists like Caberto, who embrace new ideas and love seeing their work evolve over time. Hawaiʻi’s lush dominant green colors, for example, often showed up in a lot of his projects. New York has since expanded his worlds, utilizing every bit of his five senses.
“I’m using the whole color palette in my pieces now because that’s what I see out here. I see different kinds of people I’ve never seen before. I see outfits I’ve never seen before. Even scent impacts my work too. Sometimes one area might smell more intense than others. When I smell and taste things, I see colors in my head.”
Caberto sees colors in every which way, getting his hands on several mediums that scratch and satisfy his creative itch. All of them together make for a body of work that’s impressive to many and surprising to few.
A LAYERED PORTFOLIO
“I feel like I’ve done quite a few things under the sun,” said Caberto, reflecting on his drawing, painting, illustration, photography, embroidery, sculpting, ceramics, and printmaking experience.
He’s someone who opts to create in more ways than one, often flexing his strongest artistic muscles and still having the drive and humility to tone the rest. A pinnacle moment of his multidisciplinary approach was a stop-motion project in his junior year of college that he calls one of the most challenging: an animation highlighting a Hawaiian world built out of clay.
“I did sculpting, drawing, painting, and illustration. I was getting my hands dirty and it was amazing. I loved every bit of it. It was a minute and a half but it took me six months, and it was probably one of the best six months I’ve ever had.”
A mixed plate of his influences include animator Rebecca Sugar, painter Sasha Gordon, sculptor Isamu Noguchi, and poet Etel Adnan. “They create beautiful worlds,” he added. “I love characters and that’s very much up their alley.” But there was no bigger source of inspiration than the beloved universe of Studio Ghibli.
“It has been one of my biggest muses and it still is now. I always refer to these different movies like Spirited Away, Ponyo, or Totoro.”
Even with his digital fluency as sharp as it is, he remains a fierce defender of the tactile experience of creating with your bare hands.
“No matter how much tech advances, there’s always going to be room for a primal and traditional experience like sketching in a book. I love being able to draw something and just having a smear on my finger and experiencing how raw it is.”
PASSING THE BRUSH
Nearly 5,000 miles away from Hawaiʻi, Caberto’s Empire State of mind has led him to nurturing a new generation of young artists. Since September 2025, he has proudly served as the art director of an independent music and art academy in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood.
He creates and implements curriculum for the entire after-school art program, incorporating projects of various styles and techniques. The end of every semester culminates in a recital and gallery that warms the heart of any musical and visual arts enthusiast.
“It’s awesome to see the kids so into it and look forward to projects. I think to myself, ‘Okay, I’ve done my job.’ I want to provide them with the knowledge I had when I was growing up.”
This role is a deeply emotional one for Caberto as it’s not lost on him that the same creative sanctuary and support system he had when he was younger is mirrored back to the students he teaches.
“It actually gives me goosebumps sometimes because I remember being their age and having that kind of support from my parents. So I want to provide them with that kind of support too,” he celebrated. “I’m an only child, and I was always alone but I never felt lonely because I always had my parents, my cousins, and I had my paper and all my colors and tools. I want to create that same energy for these little kids.”
PURPOSEFUL CURATION
The energy that will never go away is the aloha spirit that’s ingrained into his artistic identity. Caberto says his roots allow him to approach his work with a firm sense of who he is and where he came from.
“I like to place myself, in my head, back home, to find my center and use that chill mindset of being laid back [into my projects].”
This practice, in fact, goes beyond energy and enters a realm of intentional diversity that he believes the world needs more of. It’s unapologetically personal, and he encourages other artists to do the same, to lean into their own narratives and occupy space with their identities, no matter what that looks like.
“I’m a fourth-generation Filipino-American. I’m a gay artist from a small town in Hawaiʻi, and my great-grandparents were immigrants. Hawaiʻi is not just a little vacation hub. We’re more than that. People from Hawaiʻi are amazing, resilient, creative, and talented. We are multifaceted,” he applauded. “Being able to represent that on top of the art that I make is such a blessing. I’m going to carry these communities on my back and do them well wherever I go. I love when someone is able to represent themselves in their work because their stories need to be told.”
That’s why to this day, he likes to meticulously hide little Hawaiʻi easter eggs in his pieces from a musubi to a pair of rubber slippers or a lei. It’s a small act that ensures the islands are always woven into the fabric of his new landscape.
For artists just starting off trying to find their way, Caberto emphasizes the necessity of an open heart with the courage to fail.
“There is so much art out there, and it may look different to you. It may look like illustration, embroidery, sculpting, wood working, glass work, all kinds of mediums,” he encouraged. “Whatever it is, immerse yourself in those communities and try. Your pieces don’t have to ever be perfect. Sometimes it’ll never be perfect, and that’s what’s perfect about it. Just try something new. Keep searching for those communities, and don’t give up.”
For Caberto, the idea is to be an artist in perpetual evolution. Even with his established success, he continues to seek new methods and perspectives to sharpen his craft.
“I’m always interested in trying different processes. No matter how far I get in my life, I don’t think learning stops anywhere. It’s important to take risks,” he said. “If I didn’t take the leap in leaving home, I don’t know if I’d ever have this life I live so I’m a firm believer in taking risks. You’re always learning forever, and there’s beauty in that. Knowledge is power.”
The biggest thing to learn is that you can be anything you want. Whoever you are, wherever you are, there is always a way to achieve your biggest goals. Caberto reflects on his own journey, saying, “If you told five-year-old CJ, ‘You’re going to be living in New York as an art director,’ I would’ve never believed that.”
That’s the key: belief. You have to believe you can do it despite your circumstances. For Caberto, it’s about knowing what you want and surrounding yourself with a community that can help make it happen.
“It’s often an occurrence where people will think less of themselves because they come from a smaller area or they grew up without having a lot of money. I didn’t have a lot of money where I was growing up but that didn’t stop me,” he noted. “If you put pedal to the metal, anything is possible. You don’t have to do it by yourself. There are so many people you can collaborate with to help make your dream possible.”
Today, Caberto sees his dream realized ten fold. He still hunches over in the same familiar curve. The neon pulse of a grand metropolis has replaced the quiet green terrain outside his parents’ bedroom often showing up as a coffee shop, the subway, a park, or his apartment. His point of reference is no longer a paused screen but the living, breathing vibrance of New York in motion. Darker shade here. Finer lines there. Wiping a smear from his thumb, he elevates the work he started at that small, cramped table all those years ago: making the invisible, visible in all its glorious colors.
