Tatum Spencer | staff writer

“No He Estado Aquí,” Asier “Ace” O’Malley Gorbea, a sophomore at Duquesne University explained the meaning of his clothing brand with a smile. “Which means, ‘I haven’t been here.’”

O’Malley Gorbea had the idea for his brand, a place where empathy and awareness meets stylish artwork, since his sophomore year of high school. Within the past four years, he has grown his audience in ways he never imagined.

He spreads his message to the Duquesne community through No He Estado Aquí’s social media presence with growing followers, and his website, where he and his team are working on new shirt designs for the brand.  

“As I changed schools as a kid, it also changed my identity and how I saw myself versus how I saw others,” he said. “From that, I wanted to make an artistic platform to express my thoughts and beliefs.”  

O’Malley Gorbea said his creativity grew from designing his website, which includes not only his artwork but his three-eyed logo, each eye with a different meaning.

“Noe means understanding, Dao means empathy and Aki means presence. I think those three virtues are what we need more of in this world,” he said.

When O’Malley Gorbea was growing up in Puerto Rico, he said he always found himself dissociating from class, which then led to him imagining himself in other people’s shoes.

“I would shift my point to someone else in the classroom, and I would draw what I thought they were feeling,” he said.

O’Malley Gorbea said this was how he got inspired to start his project, as it made him feel empathetic toward people he would never normally talk to.

Despite his wandering mind, Gorbea’s supporters never turned their backs to him or No He Estado Aquí. In fact, they encouraged his artistic side in and outside of the classroom.

“My friends, my peers and my family members have always advocated the idea of me being so devoted to this brand,” O’Malley Gorbea said.

Fiona Curran, a sophomore in the pharmacy program at Duquesne, met O’Malley Gorbea at the beginning of their freshman year. She was the first to hear about the brand, seeing sketches O’Malley Gorbea drew on her iPad of merch and art concepts for No He Estado Aquí.

She began to show an interest in his message of creating a space for empathy and positivity to strive in a world full of negativity and hate.

Curran began officially working alongside O’Malley Gorbea and gave him insight on certain events that could benefit from more awareness. The research gathered is then used to give his audience ways to support communities during a time in need.

Currently, the brand’s social media presence is focused on spreading awareness and raising funds for the floods in Nepal.

“Every human being exists for a reason, and they deserve love and compassion,” Curran said. “Ace’s mission is meant to inspire others to extend empathy into their everyday lives. Even if all you do is compliment an outfit you see, positivity travels through space and time.”

Curran added that O’Malley Gorbea’s work ethic has contributed to the brand’s success.

“It took a lot of hard work to get started, with much failing at the beginning,” she said. “His resilience has been amazing to watch, and I admire how the setbacks haven’t kept him from pursuing his dream.”

Camila Matais, a good friend and collaborator of O’Malley Gorbea’s brand from his home in Puerto Rico, said her experience working for No He Estado Aquí has brought positivity to her life.

“I found out about his brand from a post on his Instagram story about the purpose of his initiative and asking for help on it,” Matais said.

She then went to his brand’s website and saw his proposal, and why starting this project meant so much to him.

“His main goal is to bring [a] spotlight to these communities that are going through stuff that is not being covered in the way it should be, but also trying to show hope in good coming through these hard situations,” Matais said.

She now helps O’Malley Gorbea with finding trusted sources of important events and how the community is affected by them. She also helps make Instagram posts for the brand, which has helped out with her research and writing skills as she attends the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez Campus.

What Matais wants to come out of No He Estado Aquí is people putting a more “empathetic touch” on real-world problems.

“I think that the issue in mainstream media now is that everything is reported in a very monotone way, and I think that we forget that the deaths happening are not just numbers and statistics,” she said. “I think the intention with Ace’s brand is to make us see their lives beyond their deaths, and to make us get in touch with basic human morals.”

To support No He Estado Aquí, visit noetaoaki.vidaboricua.com.

Tatum Spencer can be reached at spencert3@duq.edu