Lusty in Colombia, The Art
“I’d rather die enormous than live dormant, that’s how we on it/Live at the main event, I be a trip to Maui on it” - Jay Z : Can I Live
I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t influenced by the early MTV & reality wave of shows that came out in the early 00s. I absorbed pop culture in those days, watching people enjoy moments in their lives to the fullest extent. From Angelina Jolie & Billy Bob’s moment on the VMA red carpet to Pam Anderson & Tommy Lee’s home video released to the internet to Whitney & Bobby’s reality show, and even MTV’s Making the Video, these moments helped shape my understanding of human nature; most people desire to live outside of the typical boundaries of society but are too afraid to do so, thus the idolization of celebrities. At the time, the country was still relatively conservative, with athletes, actors, and musicians being seen as the ones who lived beyond the boundaries. As I grew older and got closer to these industries, the curtain was drawn back and I saw in my early 20s that celebrity is just a facade but my vision for who I wanted to be was already set.
Luckily, I found a partner who was also influenced by pop culture and was catapulted into a career that aligned with that lifestyle. She too had learned that same lesson in life during her earlier years. We share the belief that if you are what you believe yourself to be, why not believe the best?
Getting back into documenting my travels has been an interesting undertaking as stylistically, my art has evolved. These images that we create together will, at some point, become part of a larger artistic series that we monetize in some way. When I envision the series I see galleries, I see subscription-based content, I see coffee table books, and more. With what we are capable of creating together and how we can create, I believe us to have established a very creative foundation for some really cool art.
