Dave Swensen

In conversation with Les Nouveaus Riches Magazine and Matteo Messori | 2021

What are ritual acts for you? How did you approach this thematic?

Matteo Messori: For me, rituals live on actions, they can live in several moments or in just one such as to mark a whole life. We dedicate a lot of our day to „repetitions“, thanks to them we merge a good dose of the daily structure. In my case I was able to experience the rituality of death in the first person by changing my person. Reading Ernesto De Martino (Italian anthropologist) I discovered his theory known as „Crisis Of Presence“ which describes some events and situations as radical crises that create strong states of disorientation for those who experience them. This leads to the crisis of rituality and its regeneration … then it is up to us to decide whether for better or for worse. In this latest series of mine there is a lot of being a painter that he calls „ritual“ as an escape from the ordinary imbalance that gives motion to everyday life.

Dave Swensen: Daily rituals are important to us as humans. We build our worlds around them to get a sense of control and structure. For me, this exhibition is about several things. One is, the ritualist act of painting or being engaged in the art making process. I am in the studio daily either thinking or making. It is so entwined in my daily life that it has become a part of who I am. Additionally, the paintings presented are set in a world where ritualist acts are key. Figures are presented at night with a sort of quiet folklore that involves love and an evil force.

I think that in comparison with group exhibitions, the constellation of the duo show gives room to an opportunity for a real deep dialogue. How has been your experience?

DS: Finding a way to connect our current themes was initiated by Matteo and myself. We had wanted to work together for a while now. The process allowed us to enter into in-depth discussion about what we were trying to convey and the world’s we were building. We share a common thread of being creatures of habit. Creating work is so interwoven into our daily lives. We allowed the work to create the dialogue for the viewer around the meaning of active rituals.

MM: Unfortunately, the dialogue between me and Dave was born at a distance, but nevertheless we gave vent to our technical and thematic synergies to kick off our rituality. I believe there is a strong militancy among us in painting, in my opinion little combed and deep. A painting that seeks luxury through experiences and not decorations. As a painter, I see sculpture as a cinematic example to be captured and brought to canvas. As if reality were a pond full of ingredients to be used. It had been a long time that we wanted to give life to our opinion on the everyday life that lives around us by translating it into our own exhibition project.

What role does the exhibition space plays when realizing an exhibition? How you would describe the atmosphere at Galleria Ramo?

MM: The Galleria space is very versatile and in line with the dynamics of a professional setting. The atmosphere that you live inside is that of a welcoming second home full of beautiful people who know how to understand as well as look. Where there is the love for work that is done, respect and the renewed energy of a creative research without limits or ulterior motives exist. The relationship between the artists looks first to friendship and then to work. I believe this is the basis for a good home where you can experiment and ask, if needed, advice.

DS: Galleria Ramo is very supportive of our vision. They don’t try to censor or push what’s popular in any way. They are a true supporter of the creative process and they supply us the means to see these visions to fruition. As for the physical space, it’s beautiful with an engaging atmosphere.

Is beautiful to see how work titles in Italian and English amalgamate – Night vision, Fountain, Wait and see, A strange history […] and Anziani Saggi, Fiato I, Mangia Tragedie, Oracolo, Idra […]. If someone would read just the titles of the works, what kind of narrative would he/she build?

DS: For me naming work is tedious and exhausting sometimes because it is so important to me. In the past, works have shared the same names only because they seem to carry the thoughts and feelings I’m trying to convey. The paintings presented in Ritual Acts were all named with the idea that they are living in the same world and are weighted with an underlying mystery. It’s up to the viewer to connect these clues when trying to understand the narrative presented.

MM: I hadn’t thought of this aspect of the titles … as Dave said before this exhibition I was not used to using different titles for my works but I used one to give an order to the series I was producing at that time. Looking at those of the works on display, as you say, I see a reference to each other. As if Dave’s mysterious men had generated my works, or at least the idea that produced them. I think the public would enjoy finding out who created what, and under what circumstances they came up with.

In a few of the exhibition views, we always see a dog. What is the role?

MM: Beh Maye is the elegant mascot of the T.G.O.R. : the gang of branch!

DS: I can’t really speak to this haha.. I consider her a protector of the works and a friendly aspect to visiting the gallery.

Lorenzo Madaro says in his critical text: „Do dissimilar forms fit together? Do certain reflections only happen in painting and sculpture? or possibly in life?“ How will you answer this?

MM: I take advantage of this question to thank the work that Lorenzo Madaro has done in writing the text, despite not having seen the works live, he managed to give way to an excellent critical glue on mine and Dave’s works. While with regard to the phrase you quote in Madaro’s text, I think that dissimilar forms as Dave rightly says are a healthy conflict of intent, which however leads to openness. Just asking a „question“ exerts a dissimilar pressure within our thinking. Action after action we welcome what is divergent as if to an unknown discovery which at first glance rouses a little cordial noise in us. This din then becomes a symphony and finds its accord with the instrument called „Habit“ and without realizing it we forget how deafening that dissimilar form was.

DS: The text raises a lot of questions. We all have different experiences in life so I would have to say where people find connections and through lines is different. I have always been open to seeing objects, people and events as connected. Dissimilar forms do fit together meaning that sometimes they may conflict but maybe it’s that conflict that bonds them. We reflect on things we find importance in. How these factors connect to the view is different for each of us.

How long did it take you to create the Wise Elders Matteo? Can you elucidate on the process of creating them?

MM: The Wise Elders are still in the „Creation“ phase. Being waste materials received by my carpentry they have collected and will grasp over time ever new tactile information and finally positioned in space as heralds of a past movement. We are all containers of memory in our own way, we ritually assimilate images that are then twisted and trapped by our identity. All human memory is old and immature in its own way and knows how to be wise in some sporadic moments. Over the course of our life it often happens that we are faced with moments that are so strong that we don’t know what to say … as collectors we welcome the rituality of moments as focal occasions, weaving souls beyond the imaginary we know. The same thing applies to the „form“ is its plasticity within a space, it assimilates and acquires the weight of our conspiracy and it is in taking shape that we can see the metamorphosis of a thought become physical. I take this opportunity to also say that as artists we are called to order a unique responsibility. We have the language of luxury in our visual communication, through the latter we can communicate the apparent illusion that covers the most refined eyes. I take advantage of my artistic militancy to say things that are clear and common to those who focus on what is right and know how to look at „goodness in acting“ as the strongest action among forces.

How does it feel to paint on MDF Dave?

I have always painted on wood. Since the beginning, I have felt that it provides a density and weight that I like. I look at it as sculptural and of the earth. The fact that it’s easily cut, sanded and shaped is what keeps me coming back to it.

Where were your respective works created?

MM: My works were created in my studio in Reggio Emilia, it is a carpentry that I was lucky enough to inherit from my father and grandfather. Since it was left abandoned for years I recovered it and cleaned it up again, bringing out all its memories. In addition to being my studio, it is a place for me to meet and discuss for everyone. Anyone who needs a space to work here with me is welcome to create their own works.

DS: I work from my home studio. It’s cozy and intimate and it allows me the ability to create work at a moment's notice. Sometimes you can’t wait to try something and for that reason alone I’m grateful for it.

Ritual Acts exhibition review published by Sengo Magazine | Nov-Dec 2021 Issue

Between painting and sculpture, Matteo Messori carries on a research made of simple and seductive forms that support an inner, deep and springy narration, kept alive by a severe goad, by a vigilant and circular anxiety. A continuity of formal outcomes is appreciated despite, in the specific case of the works exhibited at the Galleria Ramo in Como, the intention of the artist is that of a reset, of a new beginning. It is real life, a mourning in the sphere of the most important affections, that dictates a state of disorientation that becomes the measure of a changed sense of being in the world which is, inevitably, also a new way of being in things of art. Faced with this crisis of presence, the order finds itself in devoting itself to a personal religion of nature, by exorcism of an impotence, which is strengthened in the acts of a comforting ritual. Moreover, the practice of painting is nourished by rituals, which requires a daily discipline, an exercise suspended between limit and possibility. And Messori finds himself in a perimeter of exact, measured, daily gestures, waiting for disorientations and distortions, salvific possibilities of making the whims of reality cross over into the rarefied territory of his art, ferrying the individual experience into a shared form.

The scraps of the family carpentry, shards, bricks, cement, pieces of frames and skirting boards, are left to stack in (almost) random order and precarious balance, without binders, until they are composed into vaguely anthropomorphic presences with all the weight of a mythological imperfection (the artist thinks of Sisyphus) and offer their disjointed surface to the pictorial gesture, summarized in the blue line that we have learned to recognize as typical of Messori. They are the "Wise Elders", totemic sculptures to be interpreted as testimony of an action, of a childlike stacking that consistently combines weight + shape + surface, tutelary and towering deities of a visionary anthropology and abstract. They watch over a group of five untreated denim canvases: here the oil painting follows the contours of crumpled sheets, emptied stones, condensation of breath on a glass, samples of reality photographed and then distorted in the sign tension that transforms them into oracles, hydras or vampire creatures significantly baptized "Tragedy Eaters", which seem to redefine the boundaries of experiential regions in which vision becomes a longing mapping, or a way to rethink the figures of existing languages, which surpass with enthusiasm the Primary antiform in new possible and vivifying forms.

In dialogue with Messori's interventions there are five small paintings by the American Dave Swensen, of a minimal matrix: pigments and wax on wood condense disembodied narratives that are freely composed through the blooming of faces, windows, flowers , without any final written already. In fading, one imagines the story of two separated lovers and an antagonist dividing them, in the theater of an evening horizon, of farewell rituals and ghostly whispers before sleep. These are the Ritual Acts of the Galleria Ramo, accompanied by a critique by Lorenzo Madaro, who imagines the exhibition as "a possible open inventory of forms, side by side, paradoxes and cohabitation (peaceful and otherwise)" by two artists "builders of images or signs that trace possible images, drawing on different registers, using painting as a body of constant stratifications towards a possible real to be invented, or at least to be scrutinized as an external, anthropological approach “.

Written by Francesco Paolo Del Re 

 Ritual Acts exhibition review published by Juliet Contemporary Art Magazine | Nov 5th 2021

The exhibition Ritual Acts at Galleria Ramo shows two apparently very distant works: those of the American artist Dave Swensen and those of the italian Matteo Messori.The first is characterized by a regressive and almost outsider expressionism and a nocturnal sense of suspension; it seems to narrate a humanity that dissolves in the dim light of domestic interiors, using formats that reminds very strongly ex-votos and icons; devotional objects in some way, in which the images seem not paintings, but apparitions – just like the icon par excellence, which is acheropita. They are diaphanous figures vanishing in the dark as they make a gesture or start to say a word, frozen on their lips.

These compositions show the poetic of making the images resist, as bearers of existential values, catching them at the edge of their disintegration, as if to steal them from oblivion a moment before its completion. In this gesture, there is all the emotional meaning of keeping the small appearances of living, and at the same time the attempt to aestheticize, through representation, the fading moment, making it forever immobile, mute, but like any artwork able to generate relationships. This is the reason why they remind me of the surreal corpses of Dr. Martial Canterel in Locus Solus, a novel by Raymond Roussel, which regain a life appearance by repeating the gestures of a moment of their existence over and over again.

Matteo Messori’s “ritual act” starts from an intimate space of reflection and get a monumentality expressed even in small dimensions. One title in particular seems paradigmatic to me: Breath. Drawing with breath is one of the games that everyone plays in front of a window since childhood, misting it and tracing with fingers words, symbols and images destined to vanish with the condensation generated by their own breath.

Reflection, both in the sense of a process of thought and of reflecting oneself in it and in the misted glass in which the will to represent is expressed. A context between sharing and introspection, the appearance of a thought when it manifests itself and then disappears. An act of creation, performative in its purest meaning, because it leaves no trace; but if this were the subject of the work, it would be enough to document that gesture and its temporality.

Actually, breath is a narrative pretext from which the image draws to structure itself: the “ritual act” is internal to the making of the image, which also contains the memory of an intimate and daily ritual. From a certain point of view, the scheme through which Messori constructs the painting is comparable to some surrealist processes (Ernst, Dalì, Tanguy): the image arises from a “hallucination” or from a process of “critical paranoia” stimulated by some automatisms, then it is frozen and contextualized in a three-dimensional space where it casts shadows and at the same time reveals the illusionistic nature of the painting.

The choice of an unconventional medium such as denim amplifies the presence of the painted object into the world of things, and not just the world of ideas. Messori’s painting acts in space, and its signs are clear, iconic, ideographic; precisely in that space prominences emerge on which signs are similarly traced: obelisks that create a relationship with the works on the wall, build the space and give the coordinates of a total context, not episodic, a dialogue with the Swensen’s works that become a dialectical counterpoint.

Precisely this dialectic shows the relationship, not without conflicts, between the luminosity of Messori’s work and the crepuscularity of Swensen; a montage that activates connections, a story that springs from contrasts. In both these works it is evident, with opposite poetic but similar needs, that these works try to freeze the flow of time through a gesture, which becomes a “ritual act” precisely because it is captured in its making and made incorruptible by the artistic text.

Written by Alessandro Gazzotti

In conversation with Forme Uniche | 2020

What does it mean to be an artist and what are the differences that you noticed between the beginning of your career and today? 

For me, making art comes organically and out of need. I need to constantly be creative in my life. This started for me at a young age. When I was very young, I would make things out of sticks and branches I found in the woods. As time went on, my knowledge about art and art history grew. I would visit my local art museum and check out books about artists I found interesting from the library. As a self taught artist, I started out showing work at cafes and bars. I never considered art school or being a professional artist until much later. Over the years and through trial and error I’ve learned what works for me, how materials react and my strengths and weaknesses.

What are themes touched by your work and what are your next projects? 

My current show “From Above” is up at Galleria Ramo in Como, Italy until May 17th. When preparing for it I wanted to create all new work and really push myself and existing minimalist concepts. The show consists of both paintings and sculpture.  Most of my ideas come from sculpture and are carried over or mixed with other mediums. Even when I paint, I’m thinking of 3 dimensional spaces and forms. Extensively in my recent work I question the idea of dividing up conceptual space using painted and sculptural elements.

My needs as an artist are also changing and evolving. Where I sought structure before is slowly being replaced by a more relaxed and expressive line. I’m becoming more interested in textures and abstract forms. I’ve started rubbing paint into the surface rather than brushing or rolling it on. With all that's going on in the world at the moment I feel I need to be less precise and more intimate with the works I am creating. 

How do you relate with the city and the cultural context where you live?

 Oddly enough I don’t relate to the city I live in because of its art culture. As an artist I’ve had a lot of great opportunities within the central United States. As time has gone on I’ve been drawn to bigger cities and am always learning and trying to grow as an artist. Out growing your local scene is a good thing and I am grateful for my previous experiences and years of being able to experiment and find my voice. I love the outdoors and being in nature. It's a big part of who I am and where I spend a lot of my free time. Living near parks, trails and farmland really provides the clarity that I need. I’m always working on keeping a balance. 

What do you think of the system of contemporary art? 

I think it's difficult to be seen but it is getting better. Mailing and emailing galleries and curators with limited responses is hard on artists who want to share their vision with the world. A lot of us out there do not create simply for money but for the chance to grow and connect with the art culture around them. Over the past few years social media has done wonders for young artists such as myself. It gives everyone more visibility and allows you to make connections and really grow those important relationships. 

There is a particular topic you want to talk about today? 

The current situation with Coronavirus will have a lasting impact on the arts community all around the world. So many galleries are not able to be open at this time which has allowed people to come together online to talk and share in new and different ways. In an odd way the circumstances are bringing people closer together while keeping them physically apart. 

Recently I started “Closed Windows / No Entry” an online gallery to promote other artists from emerging status and beyond. It’s a minimalist curated profile that aligns artists in new and simple ways. In the future I will include interviews with gallerists, curators and art lovers to dig into other aspects of the art world. In the future the project could include pop up shows across the globe as well.

In conversation with Juliet Art Magazine | 2020

Your work moves gently between painting and sculpture. How did your self-taught training take place?

I didn’t grow up studying art. I didn’t go to art school but have always had an interest in art. When I was a teenager I would research other artists in books and listen to interviews where they would discuss their work. I learned by doing. Trying various mediums and ideas until something felt like it was genuinely mine.

The act of going between the two mediums happens constantly. Early in my career I started out wanting to be a painter. I had a big passion for it but never felt that I was able to execute my ideas very well. My need to create pushed me toward sculpture and other mediums. Later I started weaving the two practices together.

"From Above" is the title of your first European solo show at the Galleria Ramo in Como, can you tell us how the project was born?

When prepping for the exhibition, I knew I wanted to make all new  pieces for the show. I spent a lot of time thinking about my art practice and the mediums used.  Many of the pieces have smooth surfaces and dark, rich colors. After creating the works, two themes became apparent.They almost all became sort of topographical maps in a way. Each piece seems to have a surface dedicated to land or water mass and spatial interpretation. Ironically enough “From Above” for me isn’t about the works themselves but more about the act of making from above. Being positioned over a piece of art fixing it, refining it, and finishing it. It’s about being an artist and finishing something you love. 

I read your thought on minimalism that reads as follows: "Reflects and executes a concept in the artist’s simplest of terms. Starting from nothing and stepping slowly forward towards an idea" How did you approach this mode of artistic practice?

I think I have become less reckless while getting older. Oddly enough for many years I would do the exact opposite. Exploding with ideas I would spend a significant amount of time reducing something down to its pure essence. Ultimately it’s way less stressful this way. I want to enjoy things more and I want to be sure that I am allowing my concepts to evolve naturally. It took discipline to slow down and really understand why I was making certain choices. On occasion, I still allow impulse to take over. I think that’s important but I just want to be more present during the creation process. I want to feel it and I want to enjoy it. With this, I am able to take a longer look and be more steady in my approach. Ultimately ending with a stronger piece that takes me longer to create because I am spending much more time with each work.

What do you think of the contemporary art system? Do you notice differences between America and Europe?

I’ve found a lot of artists from both the States and Europe that really resonate with me. In the central US where I’m located, I’ve never really felt like I fit in. I think the contemporary art scene where I live is still growing. Every artist dreams of showing work in a certain venue or location. Most often it seems to be across the globe from where you are. Europe is beautiful with a rich art history. I guess that’s why I’m drawn to it. I can feel that history and its importance when I visit. I’ve always wanted to be a part of that. 

You have an interesting project on Instagram called "Closed Windows / No Entry" - an authentic space where you can present the work of different artists. What relationship do you have with social media? Do you think they can be digital exhibition spaces?

I remember for many years working via email. A grueling process that was slow moving and just wasn’t cutting it. Using social media lets you join a community of galleries, artists, curators and art fans quickly and efficiently. For me, making these connections and friendships has really been inspiring. 

With “Closed Windows / No Entry” I wanted to promote the artists that I love. I intentionally mix newer and more well known artists together in the feed to try to break down some barriers that younger or newer artists feel early on. It’s been a great experience so far and has allowed me to meet some great people I might not have otherwise. 

Digital spaces are becoming more and more of a reality these days. I had the pleasure of working with ARTLAND and it was great to see how they photograph a gallery for their 3D application. There will always be a need for people to see art in person because it's the best way to experience it. But, using online tools to learn about art and other artists is something that can benefit us all as well. 

Right now the world is going through a global pandemic, following the spread of the coronavirus, can you imagine what impact it will have? (also in the artistic field)

What’s happening across the world currently because of the Coronavirus is scary. Everyone is trying to learn and adjust as we go. The impact will be great and hopefully we can learn from the mistakes and improve should anything of this nature happen again. Artists are impacted just like a lot of small business owners. But during this time, it can also help to become more creative in ways you wouldn’t have thought of before. Like, gathering more online as an art community and sharing. It’s important to keep an optimistic mind and to keep supporting each other as much as possible. 

What do you read in your free time? Do you have any books to suggest to us? (Or movies) 

I am often busy with my family and studio practice. I don’t have as much time for reading as I would like. I do enjoy reading about other artists' work and exhibitions around the globe. So many inspiring people are constantly creating. It’s refreshing to see there is always something new.

Most of my days are filled with music; I am always listening to something. TV, music and films are always jumping out at me. I tend to be drawn to dark more memorable subject matters. Longer form storytelling is the most enjoyable for me as you get to really live in that world for a while longer.

In conversation with Freud Monk Gallery | 2019

To begin, could you tell me a little about yourself and your background?
Growing up in the Midwestern United States, I learned early on how to spend my time being creative. Spending my youth in a small town outside of Iowa’s capital, I spent a lot of time reading and making things. I’ve always enjoyed the act of planning a project just as much as the making. I would spend a lot of time planning out whatever I was trying to create. Daydreaming.  I was never good at drawing so I would find other ways to achieve whatever I was doing. Going through school I enjoyed all the art classes that I took but it wasn’t until much later in life that my love for art took over. I developed an interest in graphic design first. While studying design I began to meet other artists. My world flipped and I soon felt like I was missing the big picture. My artist friends were so passionate. That passion really had an impact on me. I gave up the idea of designing behind a computer and started using my hands.

 
Describe your journey to becoming, (or identifying as) an artist. Has it been easy? Natural? What has been difficult?
I started out thinking I should be a painter. I tried to paint thinking that it would automatically be easy to find my own voice and style. There was no spark, nothing about painting at that point in time did anything for me. I had no love for it but what I did learn is that you can paint on different materials and you can attach various elements to a canvas or wood. I would paint on discarded pieces of wood and attach fabric and other elements building up the surface. It was during this time that I discovered I had a great interest in the artist Robert Rauschenberg. 

While still working in mixed media I became friends with a low budget film director. He lent me his video camera and I did a few experiments with it. Video art was new to me on my journey and it blew my mind. I would continue to borrow the camera until I could finally afford one of my own. Having an interest in so many mediums has made my art career challenging. As I progressed, I began creating videos about sculpture and learned that I enjoyed using my hands and creating the sculptural elements as much as the shooting of the video. That led to focusing more on the sculpture as my main medium. I think just figuring out what you like and what likes you takes time. 

How would you describe your work to someone?
I construct free-standing and wall based sculptures that are intimate in size.  These works carry themes of abstraction, modern design, and minimalism and tend to be architectural in nature. I use elements of construction and building materials in my works that result in both smooth and porous finishes. I love bringing used materials that would normally not be highlighted together to make something beautiful. Constructed with minimal use of color, each work stems from a stripped down minimal approach that results in an emotional impact. Because my art is meditative to make, I hope it brings a sense of healing to the viewer. 

What is important for viewers to note when viewing your work?
I want them to notice that it’s handmade. Although I am pushing for a clean sharp aesthetic, flaws and tool marks are welcome. These subtleties add a sort of hidden complexity that is created by the construction process. That sort of personality is something I cannot help but include in my work. I want the viewer to know the materials I use are fragile in nature.

What is your process like? How important is process in understanding your work? Sometimes I start out the process with some sketches, but most of the time things kick off by the act of just doing. I work at a quick pace, trying various assembly methods. I tend to not work with an agenda or complete work in a series. Where I move next depend purely on what I feel inspired to do. 

I'm interested to know how you arrived at your choice of process, materials, and 'style?'  How did this develop? 
I’m interested in reclaimed and construction materials. They seem to come with a sort of personality that strikes me as useful. I started finding objects and materials that triggered something in me. Often times interested in a small section of their form or the abstract movement the material is making. I’m always looking at shapes and colors in my everyday life.  Style and themes are developed over time, constantly evolving.

What does your work aim to say?
My creative process is a meditation for me. Working on and completing a piece is like one big inhale/exhale, a present moment of honest feeling and pure emotion manifested through me. My art is a therapeutic process. I’m interested in the feeling that my work provides to the viewer and how it resonates in the space that it is in. There’s no political statement or hidden agenda, just leftover energy in a compact form.

Can you highlight some of your influences and discuss how they have impacted your work?
I am interested in simplicity, color, and repetition and how those factors can be drawn out of construction and consumer materials. I am often reducing to a simple shape or concept. In those regards, I’m drawing inspiration from minimalist artists like Carl Andre. On projects where forms and textures are more pronounced, I might look to the sculpture of Cy Twombly or Eva Hesse for inspiration.  

Where do you find inspiration?    
Connecting with other artists on social media has been a huge inspiration to me. It’s great to see my peers progressing and achieving their goals on a constant basis. I am inspired by architecture and nature. Oddly enough people and human relationships play a part as well because there are a lot of repeated elements in my work that I think stems from our need to not be alone, to be social. 

In your experience, what is the best thing about being an artist? What is the hardest thing about being an artist?
I enjoy the entire process of being creative. Sometimes just a great idea can be very gratifying.  The best part is the feeling you get when you put something out into the world that you’re truly happy with. The hardest part is juggling creating while promoting your artwork and getting yourself out there.

If you were not an artist, what would you be? 
It’s hard to imagine not considering myself an artist. To me, people make art in a lot of different ways. There is an art to making someone smile or the way you organize your house. It boils down to if you’re conscious of that or not. I would be involved in a creative field. I’ve always had a love for science and technology. I would probably integrate myself into that world. Creating tools to help others live better and fuller lives would be great. I would choose a profession that is impactful and meaningful.

What piece of advice would you give to a young artist?
Surround yourself with people who are supportive of your passion. These people might be what it takes to get you through discouraging times. Always keep trying new ideas no matter how odd they might seem. Lastly, connect with your local community and others who share your same passion. This network will continue to grow getting you where you want to be as an artist