It’s a creature we’ve all encountered, and a caricature we’ve probably come across one way or another—perhaps on the bathroom tiles of an underground bar or the walls of an art gallery. Garapata, artist Dex Fernandez’s beloved character, has come to be one of the local street art scene’s most recognized faces since he entered the world of graffiti in 2006. Inspired by a tick infestation that beset his pet dog and household when he was a kid, Fernandez uses a collaborative approach to his art, encouraging viewers to be “infested” and become “hosts” to his creative process.