Conversation with Artist Thomas 'BREEZE' Marcus

September 20, 2014 by Ginger Dunnill in Mural, Painting, Podcast

"The need for education and knowledge is the greatest social achievement…and is one way to uplift and empower the people back to their feet. To shed truth and light about the way worlds work and why we can and have the infinite potential to make our own world. Finding common ground and acknowledging situation and place. With the platform to speak, express and relate by creating art.. is an extremely potent and complex way of communication. Mental and physical barriers fade away once people begin to let go and unplug from an illusionary reality and get back to the state conscious being." - Breeze

BREEZE mural collaboration. Photo Credit: Chip Thomas

Here is the conversation with Thomas 'BREEZE' Marcus:

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Music featured on this episode by MC Optimal from Salt River, AZ.

Special thanks to Cannupa Hanska for helping to complete this interview!

More about the artist:

Painter and large scale muralist Thomas 'Breeze' Marcus has painted over a dozen murals in the city of Phoenix alone, but he is also known to rock a canvas and mixed-media materials in a gallery setting with ease and grace. His work reflects the woven stories of our lives, and reminds us that everything is connected, that there is no one way to exist. Breeze has chosen the path of a full-time artist and although he goes where his art takes him, he seems most connected with his work when painting large walls or murals, respecting the craft of Graffiti as being one of the great contributors to contemporary art.

Follow Breeze on his Blog

Conversation with Artist Yatika Starr Fields

August 20, 2014 by Ginger Dunnill in Mural, Painting, Podcast

Little Havana, Miami. Yatika Starr Fields 2013 — Little Havana, Miami. Yatika Starr Fields 2013

Yatika Starr Fields is of the Cherokee, Creek and Osage tribes, a member of the Bear Clan, and was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His Creek name "Yvtekv" means Interpreter, and in interviewing Yatika it becomes apparent how fitting this handle is. In this episode, we learn how Yatika interprets the world through his art, as he recounts travel and inspirations from home that have shifted his perspectives and created the kaleidoscopic visions apparent in his work. We find out where this inspiring artist comes from, what people and places have influenced his thought process, and what currently motivates his artistic expression. I am truly honored to share with you the story of Yatika Starr Fields.

Here is the conversation with Yatika Starr Fields:

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More from the Artist:

"I am motivated in my work fundamentally by the search for freedom in all forms. I seek to create a contemporary terrain in the juxtaposition of my living memories. Playing with elements of space and time, I create a synthesis of symbolic objects floating and bending on the canvas at all angles; negating the horizon and the rule of linear experience. In this suspended dichotomy between nature and the urban environment a new world is made. The creation mythology of this space is narrated in my work where Oklahoma meets NYC meets inspirations from travels. In the end, exploding the expectations of current experience." -Yatika Starr Fields

'Yatika's work is a vibrant and surreal fusion of Native imagery with both a pop and graffiti art aesthetic.' -Chiaroscuro

Yatika Fields current work at Chiaroscuro Gallery:

Commission interior mural for Oklahoma state University 2013:

"Connecting Roads From Past to Present," a mural by artist Yatika Starr Fields, at the Oklahoma State University Museum of Art, Postal Plaza Gallery, Stillwater, OK 2013

Selected works:

Southern Plains. Yatika Starr Fields — Southern Plains. Yatika Starr Fields

"Sonoran Waltz", part of paint Phoenix mural project. 2014 Yatika Starr Fields

Large scale mural Melbourne, Australia 2013. Yatika Starr Fields — Large scale mural Melbourne, Australia 2013. Yatika Starr Fields

Large scale mural. San Juan (santurce). Puerto Rico 2013. Yatika Starr Fields — Large scale mural. San Juan (santurce). Puerto Rico 2013. Yatika Starr Fields

Conversation with Artist Frank Buffalo Hyde

July 20, 2014 by Ginger Dunnill in Painting, Activism, Podcast

Frank Buffalo Hyde's approach to life and his work is refreshingly honest. In our interview he explains the multiple layers of his existence, growing up in two worlds, on and off the reservation, and how this opened his mind and amplified his awareness and reaction to American society and culture. This interview is truly a revealing and sincere look at the artist Frank Buffalo Hyde. I am proud to share his story with you.

"When working on a piece, I tap into the universal mind. The collective unconsciousness of the 21st century. Drawing images from advertisement, movies, television, music and politics. Expressing observation, as well as knowledge through experience. Overlapping imagery to mimic the way the mind holds information: non linear and without separation. I don't need permission to make what I make. Never have...no artist should." -Frank Buffalo Hyde

Here is the conversation with Frank Buffalo Hyde:

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Music featured on this podcast by the following artists: 2Pac, The Clash, DJ Krush, The Legendary Shack Shakers, Quannum MC's, Freddie Cruger and Guru.

Frank Buffalo Hyde at Modern West Fine Art Gallery 2014

More about the artist:

Frank Buffalo Hyde traces his heritage to the Nez Perce and Onondaga people, Hyde is recognized for breaking through the boundaries commonly placed around what is considered Native American art. His work confronts stereotyping of culture and informs the viewer that they are participants in the conversation. He is defining himself as a Native American without being a stereotype and dealing with what he calls the "fragmented contemporary life" of a Native U.S. citizen.

More about Frank Buffalo Hyde and his work on his Website.

Follow Frank Buffalo Hyde on his Fan Page.

I-WITNESS CULTURE. FBH 2014 acrylic on canvas — I-WITNESS CULTURE. FBH 2014 acrylic on canvas

Puck-Ficasso. FBH 2014 acrylic on canvas — Puck-Ficasso. FBH 2014 acrylic on canvas

Conversation with Artist Patrick 'Cloud Face' Burnham

June 09, 2014 by Ginger Dunnill in Podcast, Dance, Painting, DJ, Musician

Patrick Burnham, better known in the art continuum by the handle Cloud Face, is a Navajo/Hopi painter, musician, dancer, dj, producer and all around true expressionist.

Much like the constant evolution of form and direction we see in a cloud making it's way across the sky, Cloud Face the artist, possesses the ability to enter an environment and enhance every aspect of his surroundings, shape shifting seamlessly through his crafts to create an inspiration that is comparable to a modern day renaissance man, now often known as the B-Boy .

"A cloud, changing shape across the sky..."

Here is the conversation with Patrick 'Cloud Face' Burnham:

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All music featured on this podcast is from Cloud Face's own debut album Secrets of the Invisible.

More about the Artist:

Cloud Face representing indigenous art crew XFRX

From live painting, to dance, from Dj'ing to teaching, from composing, to collaboration, Cloud Face represents community and the true definition of a B-Boy. Obsessing until he feels he understands each fundamental aspect of Hip Hop, he then adds each piece carefully to his tool bag, to be incorporated with elegance and jaw dropping precision visible in all of his work. Cloud Face has a new and visionary approach to surviving and thriving as an artist, proving, with his shear will and skill, the ability to maintain self sufficiency and to survive as an artist is possible. By using his hustle, learned at a young age from growing up in an artisan family, mixed with his self determination, and a hit of what I like to consider 'soul', Cloud Face stands out in a crowd, or actually he doesn't stand at all, he is too busy getting down to stand around, but if he is involved in a project you will take notice, his style requires our attention. Cloud Face is currently an active creator in the indigenous hip hop scene in New Mexico, incorporating whichever element necessary to create his artistic dialogue. Always in motion, as a cloud floating through the heavens, inspiring us all to keep creating.

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Purchase work from Cloud Face

Conversation with Artist Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski

April 21, 2014 by Ginger Dunnill in 2-D, Performance, Painting, Activism, Podcast

Artist Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski, mural collaboration with Artist Rebekah Tarin in Penasco, NM.

I am so proud to present a conversation with artist Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski. A passionate activist and visionary, DeJesus Moleski possesses a positive, humble and gracious presence that is whole and rare. Her work is refreshing and unique, inviting the observer to engage further, to look deeper, to feel the warmth in the the color palate, and to further explore the integration of the various mediums she chooses. DeJesus Moleski invites collaboration and conversation through her art, asking the viewer into a complex dialogue threaded through her work. Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski focuses on futuristic femme myth as it relates to marginalized communities. She primarily works in 2-D media and performance, and is based out of Oakland, CA. In this conversation we are able to further understand DeJesus Moleski's inspirations and share her process, unfolding how she developed her ability to balance beauty and activated resistance in such a precise and elegant manner.

Here is the conversation with Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski:

Subscribe to Art Beat Conversations on iTunes and download this episode.

Music featured on this podcast, listed in order of appearance: Sylvio Rodriguez, Angel Haze, Immortal Technique, EDIT ft. The Grouch, REG ft. Medusa, Fernanadindo, Alice Russell, and ending track 'Revolution' by J-Boogie's Dubtronic Science/Lyrics Born/Mamaz.

'Instructions for a Storm'. Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski

More about the Artist:

Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski was born in France but spent her life moving around the East Coast, Down South, and Midwest of the US. DeJesus-Moleski has received awards and honors in the areas of visual art including the ArtLA Student Artist of the Year, All College Honors, and is an Alumni of the AICAD New York studio residency program. Her work explores the tensions between private tenderness and public defiance, specifically within communities that are typically depicted as stressed and vulnerable. She has been working with organizations such as the Brown Boi Project, Strong Families, Third Root Health Center, and the Estria Foundation among others. DeJesus-Moleski has exhibited work in New York, LA, and the Bay Area. She is currently working on a solo show called Thick Dig, which focuses on futuristic femme myth as it relates to marginalized communities. DeJesus-Moleski aims to practice the integration of multiple art forms as a way to make myth and tell the truth. She is an experienced muralist, performance poet, playwright, youth organizer, and visual artist. She is the co-founder (along with Cynthia Ruﬃn and Jessie Workman) of the B.R.E.A.T.H (Building a Revolution of Expression through Heartwork) program in Albuquerque, NM that teaches poetry and performance to incarcerated youth as a means to heal, resolve conflict, and uplift. Amaryllis has dedicated her life’s work to stand with countless others in the movement that intersects the arts with activism, using creativity and expression as the tools necessary for community liberation, and the means by which we may all realize our most potent dreams.

Learn more about Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski on her website.

"Thick Dig (Ghost Sighting)". Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski

"Weave (for spell)". Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski