Childhood Roots Of Interactive Art

SPEAKER_01 1:48

Growing up, what was your childhood like? And how early on did you feel the spark to express yourself creatively?

SPEAKER_06 1:58

I've always had a flair for the drama. So, you know, whether I want to do or not, like uh from day one, it's been uh creative flair and a little bit of extras and stuff like that. Um my childhood was rockin'. Um let's see. I feel like it was a standard American childhood, but I'm sure everybody would say that. And that's just you know, I didn't have anything especially uh remarkable, but um a few experiences that did one I should say, there was a place, um the strong museum of play, and that really influenced the uh the interactive element of my art. Growing up, I lived in Buffalo and Rochester was an hour, you know, an hour away. And so um the opportunity to go and experience both like art with my eyes, but also my ears and hands really um ingrained this love of interactive art experiences. And so that's something from my childhood that I very actively pull from. Uh, you know, a few minutes ago we were talking about um creating interactive art and uh and just the handling of it and stuff like that. So that's where it comes

Siblings, Identity, And Creative Lineage

SPEAKER_06 3:09

from. But yeah, she's always been When's your birthday? What's your summer? December 6th, 1992, and I'm staggering.

SPEAKER_00 3:20

Oh yeah, put your mic up. Put your mic up. There you go.

SPEAKER_06 3:23

Is that it?

SPEAKER_00 3:24

Are you the only child? Are you my siblings? No, no, I'm just a no.

SPEAKER_06 3:29

No. No, I have siblings. I've got four siblings. Okay. Wow. Yeah, and so I'm in the middle. Okay. I'm a middle child. That's exactly it. Yes, yes. So yeah, now she's a Sagittarius. You know what? And um, I have two in like my big three. I've got two fire signs and one air sign. So I say I'm a wildfire sign. Yeah. That makes sense, right?

SPEAKER_01 3:56

Wow. Now, do you have any role models?

SPEAKER_04 3:59

Ooh, role models. Or who influenced you when you were growing up?

SPEAKER_01 4:04

Because he's always interesting to hear.

SPEAKER_06 4:06

Yeah. Yeah. So I come from a long line of creative women.

SPEAKER_03 4:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 4:14

Yeah, yeah. And uh my grandmother was on the eccentric side. And yeah, yeah. And my mom's creative. And uh, yeah, and then I'm over here expressing the genes, you know. Next to mine, next generation. Exactly. That's a hundred percent it. You know, we push the envelope a little bit. And um, so yeah, yeah, I would say um I don't have like uh people that I am uh externally looking out to. Actually, a friend of mine told me about the um when you're a child, you might have role models. This is how he explained it to me. He said, When you're a child, you might have role models, but when you're an adult, you have possibility models. Yeah, and so um, and there's is it T oh no, there's there's a famous person who who said it first and he was recounting that to me. But um so essentially, uh, but I also don't have possibility models right now because I think I'm uh I'm on my own journey and and figuring it out. Yeah, yeah. That's exactly it. Yeah, I uh part of the unmasking journey is figuring out where I want to go, not necessarily how I fit into the framework of what an artist is supposed to be. Um, and that's just you know one of the identities.

From Speech Pathology To Painting

SPEAKER_06 5:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_06 5:27

Are you a self-taught artist or did you go to school? No, I'm self-taught. Uh I went to school for something completely different. What's that? Speech language pathology. Shut up. Yeah. And so I ended up in South Carolina. Um, I moved down here in June of 2016 after I finished my master's.

SPEAKER_03 5:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 5:44

Congratulations. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I appreciate. And so, um, yeah, I started painting during COVID. Like when, you know, I was just at home chilling like the rest of everybody. I wasn't too active on social media, so that wasn't my outlet. Um, but I was really pissed off about George Floyd's murder and how black folks uh I like that.

SPEAKER_01 6:06

I like that little bit of anger that came out.

SPEAKER_06 6:07

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:08

I like that. Oh, it's always in there.

SPEAKER_05 6:13

Is always in there. Okay. Is happy and spooky, okay? So she, you know. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

Okay. Um, oh no, no, no, that's A-okay.

SPEAKER_06 6:27

I was like, oh, you're good, you're good.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

So happy and spooky, you're talking about George Floyd.

SPEAKER_06 6:32

Yeah, oh yeah, yeah. Um, so of course there was the initial impact of uh like the the shockwave of his murder, and just I mean, I've never watched the full video because I don't want to re-traumatize.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_06 6:44

Like, why, why? And um, but I was, you know, I suppose if that was the initial impact, then kind of all of the other stuff coming out of it was a mess. And I really felt so angry about how um black folks were not allowed to have the access to the full range of their emotional experience, right? Like there were there were protests and and uh, you know, just general speaking out about what had happened. And to me, it felt like there's no right way to be angry. It's it's almost like, you know, if you want to talk about it, then you can't get the meetings. And if you want to scream and cry about it, then you're reactive, angry, violent. Like pick the pick the term that you want to classify. Exactly, yeah. So um I needed an outlet, and so I started painting, and I should have brought my first, my very first piece. It looks nothing like this. Um I just painted faceless black um heads with beautiful hair because I felt so ugly at that time, as if I didn't have a right to be angry and hurt. So I just wanted to paint black beauty. That was it, you know? Um, to rebalance the scales even internally. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:00

Wow. Now we I I gotta ask this, because that was very like it was very pointed. You were doing something for a specific reason. Did that come from any of your studies? Where did you get the I like the idea was where did the idea to do that come from?

SPEAKER_05 8:15

To paint?

SPEAKER_01 8:15

Yeah, especially what you said black beauty in that way.

SPEAKER_06 8:19

Um, because I felt like I I was I started this journey uh for myself. I needed it like therapeutically. Like I I was sitting at home with all of my thoughts, feelings, fears, and I was like, like what do I do with this? And then um I suppose as the Big Bang goes, right, it explodes into painting, and now you're on this this journey.

unknown 8:39

Wow, wow.

Japan, The Pacific, And A Reset

SPEAKER_04 8:40

So how has your artwork changed over time? Yeah, it's been six years since COVID. Yeah. In those six years.

SPEAKER_06 8:49

Yeah, yeah. I know it's so gnarly to think about like doing it for so long because this is my first uh like artist residency, right? Like I started uh we got the keys to the garage studio down on Taylor Street on October 31st of last year.

SPEAKER_03 9:03

Wow.

SPEAKER_06 9:03

Um yeah, so it's like it's gnarly to hear this whole chunk of time because I didn't do any markets, festivals. I mean, this and the social media was looking skimpy.

SPEAKER_03 9:13

It's looking sparse.

SPEAKER_06 9:18

But yeah, so so the evolution of it. Um let's see. So in in this time, I actually had moved to Japan. Now we're cry yeah, right.

SPEAKER_05 9:29

I know these faces.

SPEAKER_06 9:31

These faces. Okay. Yeah, yeah. So uh in January of 2022, I moved to Japan. And um I worked um as a speech language pathologist over there. Okay. And so uh for about 18 months. And in that time, um, my like I I didn't have like hobbies or anything like that. I was just, you know, figuring everything out. I would get out of work and then go ride my bike around. And I was like a 20-minute bike ride to the beach. So every morning I'd get up and ride my bike, you know, and go take in the Pacific. And my emotional attachment to the Pacific was completely different than the Atlantic, you know? Like it's it's different when you don't get in water and feel your ancestors just, you know, like it's a different attachment there. Um but but all of that to say, uh, my partner at the time sent me a painting kit. Like I'd stopped painting for a second, and then she sent it uh because I was like, um, I kind of, you know.

SPEAKER_01 10:25

Need something to do.

SPEAKER_06 10:26

Exactly. Exactly. That's a hundred percent. And she put um, she baked me a ton of cookies, and um, but then they got stale because trying to get a package from the States. I still ate them, though. I missed them. I still hate them. Yeah, I gave them just a few extra seconds in the milk, you know. Um sprayed up. Sprayed up.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

I like Dynasty.

SPEAKER_06 10:52

Yes, but um, so that's where it like that's where I grew out of. I actually have a few pieces. Um, or you can really, you can see, there's one piece that I started in Japan that I didn't finish until I got home, but you can see the the genesis of the happy spooky aesthetic and motif. Um so yeah, I uh the piece that I actually have, y'all. I keep referencing this because I put my history in the pieces, you know? Do y'all want me to pause?

SPEAKER_03 11:16

No, no, oh, oh.

SPEAKER_06 11:18

Okay, so I put my I put my history in the pieces, and um the particular painting is a cat that um activates a magic spell on like a doorway and then unleashes the happy spooky. What? Yeah, and that's the first time that I painted, you know, like this full ghost motif and and used fluorescence in that way. And I was like, bruh, this feels weird and I like it. So is that your your niche now? That's your signature? Is yep, my signature. Um, my signature art aesthetic is happy spooky, that's what I call it. Um so it's like it's a bright, funky colors paired with whimsically macabre motifs like ghosts, spiders, great use of language to explain it. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So it draws you in because it looks like a cupcake, you know what I mean? But then it fucks you up because of the magic. Right? Like boo. Yeah, like boo, right? Exactly, a hundred percent. Like these, uh, let's see. So I have two happy pieces, excuse me. I've got two kind of deeper pieces here, two spooky pieces, I would call it, and one happy. So if y'all can guess, which is which. Oh, I've you know what? Actually, there is one spooky too happy.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

One spooky too happy.

SPEAKER_06 12:33

But low-key, they're all happy, spooky, so good luck. This one is happy? Nah.

SPEAKER_01 12:37

Dang.

SPEAKER_06 12:39

I know, right?

SPEAKER_01 12:41

All right, spooky, happy, happy.

SPEAKER_06 12:44

Oh, okay, so uh spooky, happy, happy, spooky. Wowy spooky. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

Stop it.

SPEAKER_06 12:52

Y'all want to chat?

Happy Spooky Becomes A Signature

SPEAKER_00 12:53

Yeah. Okay. All right, all right, break it down.

SPEAKER_06 12:56

Yeah, so um the one right behind you is it's called Red, White, and Bruised. And so um when you look at my ghosts in these two other pieces, they're usually pretty, like pretty defined. They do look drippy and stuff like that, but they're not um, they're not quite as thick. And that one, um, I was really trying to channel the smush that I feel in America right now.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Being I was about to ask you why you came back, but go ahead.

SPEAKER_06 13:20

Yeah, right, yeah. Because you know what? Because I miss Columbia and I missed my community.

SPEAKER_00 13:25

Sister, right here. Yeah, I appreciate you not leaving us.

SPEAKER_06 13:28

You know, and to go down just that rabbit hole really quick, or bunny trail. I appreciate bunny trails, right? But um, but uh I I came back to Columbia because uh, so we're gonna pull in a little bit of the speech pathology. It is very difficult to build community when you can't communicate. I was in Japan, but I don't speak Japanese, right? I was working as an English-speaking speech language pathologist. And so, um, but for being, you know, close to base, uh, I I was I didn't feel like I was going to be able to learn Japanese um in enough time for me to like outpace the loneliness that comes from not being able. Yeah, like to be able to like communicate with your friends in the very nuanced way. You know what I mean? Like you pick up the phone, you're like, girl, yeah, like, you know, and I I wasn't getting very far with like hi, yes, thank you, and water. You know?

SPEAKER_05 14:23

Right.

SPEAKER_06 14:25

Correct, exactly. Yeah. Oh, to wrap up the other point too though, so yeah, it's red, white, and bruised because I felt like uh so smushed. Uh yeah, I do feel smooshed in America right now. And so um, when you mix all those colors together, what do you get? Purple. And so I was like, that's you know, it's just one. And then I left that canvas um fleshy like that. I didn't put any glass on it. I just wanted this like matte finish almost like um you're touching skin in the happy spooky. Yeah, so that's that one. Uh this one is called squad goals because I yeah, right. It's uh it's called squad goals because it just reminds me of like when you get together with your homies, it's just kind of like you're with it. It doesn't matter what you're doing or how you're flowing, it might get a little bit messy, but everybody's there and having a good time. I've been. Yeah, that's exactly it. And um, it really reflects the the feeling of like when you start to get your community going and and you're like you walk into a room and you're like, oh my gosh, hey, like what's going on? You know, like that. Yeah, the energy energy. Yeah, buzzy energy. That's exactly it, yeah. And so that green comes through. Now I paint all of my own frames too, and the frames are a part of storytelling. Yeah. So for this particular frame, you have that green that's on the canvas that's also coming out into the frame. Yeah, and that just like that ooze represents the good juju that's cultivated with friends, you know? And then this particular one, so this is the first piece of art I ever had in a gallery show, and that was September of last year.

unknown 15:52

Wow.

SPEAKER_06 15:53

Yeah, and so it is called What Did You Do Last Weekend? Or excuse me, What Did You Do This Weekend? And it is about my experience as a queer educator in South Carolina. So as you're looking through it, um, I'm represented as this brown and gold ghost uh that says, I'm happy to see y'all this morning. How was your weekend? And then these are students uh who might chime in, right? Like, you know, you pick your Monday morning. Um so I say I went to dinner with my wife, not ex-wife, but um, and uh I say like but you know, um, I went to dinner with my wife and they they will return uh the question. Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. You know, I edit this part out because I need to tell that differently. So in this frame, the students return the question, What did you do this week?

SPEAKER_03 16:40

What did you do?

SPEAKER_06 16:40

I said I went to dinner with my wife, and then um they say, but you're a girl married to a girl, like like asking, like that moment would happen where you could hear, oh my gosh, you could hear like the oxygen flowing through the room, you know. Yeah, that's exactly it. Because now I'm like, whoa, I'm just trying to talk about what I did. Like the kids just asked me the normal question. We want to have engaged educators who care about our children outside of the seven and a half hours that they're exactly outside of the box. That's a great way to say it. Yeah, and so um you'll see in this piece, like I just shrink and all of the hearts fall out of me because I'm like, yeah, I just feel terrible. Um, and so this moment, it's a happy spooky piece because that's spooky, but this final square represents me uh radically claiming myself in those moments because I have the choice of either lying, right? And being like, oh, like a girl can't be married to a girl, then who's your wife? You know, like how do you so um yeah, when I say yes, it's just it's it's being okay with with being myself, even when it feels scary. Because of course, the last thing you can imagine, we're all sitting down eating beanie weenies that night. And uh, you know, parents are like, what did you do today, right? Like, here we go. Like, what tell me about your day? And oh, I learned that a girl can be married to a girl. Right. Exactly. Right. Right, yes. And so it's that anxiety and that shrinking that I really wanted to capture. So it's I wanted to bring it today because it's super sweet. Um, it was just my very first piece, and it was up at the Richland Library, Richland Library, Maine. Oh, yeah, yeah. Shout outs to our library. Thanksgiving. Yeah, yeah, artists their start, and they were so sweet. Oh my gosh. I was wearing this like mermaid crown in my whole outfit, and they just they were so spectacular. It was like they could intuitively tell it was my first time, and they made it so special for me. And it sticks. Oh, I'm getting like little goosebumps. Yeah, it was so sweet.

SPEAKER_01 18:45

We love Brisbane County Library Shout out.

SPEAKER_04 18:47

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I like this piece because it looks like a storyboard. So it's like we were talking about comics in one of our last episodes. So it's giving like a comic storyboard where you read it from left to right, and then yeah, and that's what I wanted to do.

SPEAKER_06 18:59

That's also a part of the happy spooky aesthetic because it looks like a comic strip, right? Like it looks like you're watching it. Yeah, you're like, oh, what is going on here?

SPEAKER_00 19:08

And then it's like bam, bam, bam.

SPEAKER_05 19:13

Yeah, that's exactly it, y'all. That's how it goes, uh awesome.

SPEAKER_01 19:18

Awesome. Um, I know we're gonna ask, so I'm gonna go into this question, and then we have some cool things we're gonna talk about. But um, I love this. That's a great question. All right, so shout out to my is awesome. Y'all don't realize tomaya to my is too awesome because of the questions, right? The questions are they make so much sense. Hit me.

Creative Blocks And Money Pressure

SPEAKER_01 19:35

So, creative blocks. Creative blocks. This is something everybody asks about. I like how she puts this question. When you hit a creative block and the inspiration just isn't flowing, what is your go-to strategy to break through? How do you get back in alignment with your happy, spooky aesthetic? See? That's a hard-hidden question.

SPEAKER_06 19:56

Nah, I thought about it. I don't do anything. Why am I forcing myself? Yeah, like like this is like my art is gold that has been mined from my soul. If it's not there, it's not there. Yeah, you know, like I don't want to go around. Have you ever seen like mining videos where they're blowing up mountains looking for minerals and stuff like that? That's what it feels like when I'm trying to force it, you know? Or have you ever tried to poop and you're like really straining? You ain't supposed to do that. Yeah, right. You're not supposed to do that.

SPEAKER_05 20:34

Yeah, you're not. No, absolutely. You'll pop a blood vessel in your face.

SPEAKER_00 20:38

Yeah. This is deadly. Yeah, it is. No, it's a joke. You're gonna laugh at a minute.

SPEAKER_06 20:43

Yes, D D. Yeah, it's oh, so now that we understand the risk. I don't do that shit.

SPEAKER_00 20:58

You don't do that right now.

SPEAKER_05 21:00

No, no, absolutely not.

SPEAKER_06 21:01

Because then it's not, then it's it's manufactured connection, it's not real. It's, you know, is what I what I I felt like I had to put out, you know what I mean? Or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

Like a good follow-up question. You're already gonna bother you guys.

SPEAKER_06 21:13

Oh, hit me, hit me, hit me. Love it.

SPEAKER_01 21:15

Some of the people that listen to our show, yeah, they actually work in media, yeah, but they work for corporate reasons.

SPEAKER_03 21:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:23

They feel that they have to do it because I gotta put this ad out. Or in some cases, I'm working for a nonprofit, and we need to have good marketing strategy because right now the government's not giving us any money.

SPEAKER_06 21:34

That's real.

SPEAKER_01 21:35

So yeah. For those folks, they're hitting these, they're hitting these areas. Do you feel, and this is something we always discuss on this podcast, the need to survive and make monies?

SPEAKER_06 21:47

Mm-hmm from my art specifically. Monetize.

SPEAKER_01 21:50

Yeah, how do you feel about that monetization of the art and like and I'm I'm I love your answer.

SPEAKER_06 21:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

Because that's true. Yeah. And that's where it needs to be at.

SPEAKER_00 21:57

How do you keep living and take care of yourself? How do you pay for a got in the gas?

SPEAKER_06 22:00

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So um I actually took this uh this year off in residency. Yeah. Um, and I'm fully self-funded. So see? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I thought um, you know, uh it is difficult to ask people to invest in you when you haven't invested in yourself, you know. So I guess on the on the money front, I wanted to like add that piece. Um do I feel pressure to make art or excuse me, make money from my art? No. I don't want to force that either. Yeah, I I have done the um, you know, working in speech pathology, working in healthcare essentially, right? Like everybody knows the the difference between doctors' visits from like, I don't know, even 10 years ago till now, where the doctor pops in, types something up, you know what I mean? You see them for like 15 minutes and 27 seconds, and then they're like, okay, talk to the nurse, talk to this person, or you can only reach out to them online. Um, and so I I did not want that pace. I mean, I'm not a doctor, it's not exactly like that, but I didn't want that pace of healthcare in my creative practice. Um, and so fortunately, like I I did, I've I've worked as a speech language pathologist for the better part of a decade.

SPEAKER_03 23:14

Wow.

SPEAKER_06 23:14

Um, and so the the opportunity to continue working with children and students allows me to um to support myself as I'm you know working on my artwork and at the same time again I simultaneously. Mm-hmm. Yeah, because I do. I have these these two sides, and actually um it's a personal happy spooky that I'm navigating, which is um for a long time I didn't let this girl out because I thought that there would be, and there is, but I'm Over it, there would be a lot of judgment for being um a creative woman, an expressive woman. I'm talking about um queerness, I'm talking about blackness, you know, and and there's this watch out.

SPEAKER_01 23:59

There's a moth. It's it's gonna bother you. It's just mothing.

SPEAKER_06 24:02

Oh mothing. There's this uh there's like this, I don't know, sentiment in the south almost. It's if you can't be two people, right? You can't. Or you can't be, or excuse me. It is all the same person, but it's almost like you can't be two, you can't operate at two different speeds. Suddenly, uh uh one right, it just likes the light. Oh, it does.

SPEAKER_01 24:21

Yeah, that's actually that's all it is. It's it's fine. Look at it. All right. She told me about it earlier. We couldn't find it.

SPEAKER_00 24:30

It's just being a good thing.

SPEAKER_05 24:33

It's not bothering me. Exactly, right?

SPEAKER_00 24:35

Go ahead. Spooky butterfly. Exactly. That's correct.

SPEAKER_06 24:40

I love that.

SPEAKER_00 24:40

Look, it got out.

SPEAKER_06 24:41

Oh, that's so nice.

SPEAKER_00 24:42

Let it live, let it live. Let it live.

SPEAKER_06 24:45

Little moth release and bringing the good vibes. Or let them out.

SPEAKER_01 24:51

They need to go see some nice people.

SPEAKER_06 24:53

You know, that's real. Um, I forgot. Where what I was talking about, though.

SPEAKER_01 24:57

All right, so you we were talking about this is how it goes. Before the before the moth came, we were talking about obviously the need to make money off of the two with the two halves.

SPEAKER_06 25:10

Yeah, as if you can't be oh, always just a little decoy moth before.

SPEAKER_00 25:15

Go ahead, keep talking. We ain't worried about that moth. We ain't worried about it. Harlem in a house.

SPEAKER_06 25:23

All right, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:24

Harlem ain't playing, all right.

SPEAKER_06 25:27

Okay. What? There's multiple ways to do it.

SPEAKER_00 25:33

Multiple ways to get it. All right, go ahead.

SPEAKER_06 25:35

We love diversity of you know, problem solving.

SPEAKER_00 25:39

Here we go. All right, so yeah.

SPEAKER_06 25:43

Yes, yes, making it too. Uh, so I something that I really needed to get over was the difficulty, you know, the the fear of judgment over being uh both a teacher because I'm a certified, like a South Carolina certified educator, okay, and also being an artist who says, I enjoy partying, I enjoy being social, and those two things can exist at the same time. So to to wrap it up all with a bow, um I I create art for happiness, catharsis, connection. I say that um my my uh painting is is a is a medium for connection. I think if you're pushing sales, if you're like you must buy, you gotta do all that, then that really undercuts the sense, you know? And also art, the beauty of art is that it is something that you can enjoy without necessarily needing to purchase. Now, of course, purchasing art matters, so like is amazing, but I I just don't want to operate with that that hustle. I think stress. Yeah. And that very like American, just like go, go, go.

SPEAKER_01 26:47

Yeah, like change the way in which you're producing like you aren't producing it with your soul anymore. Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_06 26:53

Yeah, like if I if I don't have the time to apply all the fine layers of uh spray paint, you know what I mean? Like to this outside. Do you know how hard it is, bruh?

SPEAKER_01 27:04

I'm gonna ask you, it's very hard.

SPEAKER_06 27:06

But it's very on point. It's uh, but you know, like that stuff takes time and I just I don't want to rush that. When when somebody goes home with a piece, I have a whole um, you know, they might know what the piece looks like when they purchase it, but the way that I wrap it and the way that I continue the storytelling of the piece into wrapping it, my I want you to open a piece of art, purchase it because you feel connected and happy. Like I enjoy making people happy and seeing them smile and sharing in the the catharsis of the moment, right? Maybe you're not queer, but you know what it's like to radically claim something about yourself when it feels scary. You know, you know exactly what it feels like to have a squad. Yeah, totally. And I mean, of course, you know, to be in America, you know, like starting.

SPEAKER_01 27:50

I'm gonna ask you another. We're gonna follow up on that question, but we have some

Mentors, Residency, And Immersive Work

SPEAKER_01 27:52

cool cards. Yeah, oh hit me, get me.

SPEAKER_06 27:54

Pick a card, any card. It's up to you. Read it and respond. Happy to. Oh, the mentor card. Who gave you an opportunity when they didn't have to, and how did it impact your life? How much time we got?

SPEAKER_01 28:09

Two two to five minutes.

SPEAKER_06 28:11

Okay, excellent, excellent. Um, so let's see. Um, well, of course, residency, right? Like being an artist. Yeah, oh my gosh, that's that is that is you know, the like the the space to be able to create.

SPEAKER_01 28:25

Just the old school sponsoring.

SPEAKER_06 28:27

You know, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:29

Give the person a chance to actually do the art and live.

SPEAKER_06 28:31

Yes, yes, that's exactly it. And even, you know, and now too, I'm looking to what is what's Columbia's arts ecosystem like? Because, you know, when you have an established visual aesthetic, when you've shown different bodies of work, I mean, I practice certainly, you know, canvas. Um, I paint uh acrylic and watercolor on canvas, terracotta, and bone. Okay. Love a bone situation. Yeah. Well got any skulls, you know, or to say, okay. All right. But um, but then I also had the opportunity to practice uh on an immersive scale. Um, like so when you're walking in, actually, what it what it felt like it was called happy spooky square, and what it felt like if you were walking down Taylor Street was just this you saw open doors with like a foggy purple haze. That was it. And then as you walked in, you saw the different elements of the the installation. I should have sent photos beforehand, yeah. Um but all of that to say, so certainly there's um there was residency, right? But I would say um shortly after starting residency, we were asked if we wanted to participate in Vista Lights.

unknown 29:37

Cool.

SPEAKER_06 29:37

This was Vista Lights, yeah. Yeah, oh so last year, um, and we were in the studio space right on Lincoln Street. Um, it is now the Raccoon's Den, but um before they moved in, it was it was open, and so Clark Ellison allowed us to set up in there for Vista Lights.

SPEAKER_01 29:55

That's what was going on.

SPEAKER_06 29:56

Oh wow, what do you mean?

SPEAKER_01 29:57

No, um go ahead. I'm just I walk downtown all the time and I'm like, what what's hap what's happening in here? Makes sense. Go ahead. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 30:03

And so I um I set up the version one, and you'll be able to see too. I should send you guys some photos too so that you know I can timestamp our conversation so your your listeners can see what I'm talking about. But I had that that first version um for Vista Lights, and then I said, Clark, would it be okay if I stayed just a week? Um like an extra week. I was like, I put in a lot of effort, you know, to put this up. And I said I I really want to see what people's reception is to this immersive concept. Um, and kind of, you know, it was my first time doing it, so minimum viable product, right? And uh I was open every single night that week to let, you know, just have people, you know, walk in. There were people who came to visit, stuff like that. I called it after dinner art, but that really validated the concept as well as the um I mean I said that it felt it felt so good. I said that it was like a vampire drinking blood for the first time. I was like, is this what it feels like to connect with people? Yeah, I was like, ah, I was like, give me more. Like, oh my gosh. And then to see people's eyes light up or see them interacting. Like I have this phone that looks like um the pair of lips. And so to see people picking up the phone and you know, faking phone calls and just all of the things, shaking the magic eight ball, I was like, oh, this is what connection looks like. Yeah, this is what immersion looks like, this is what it looks like to offer something that um you know, I d I just think that in Columbia we need more spaces that are open late downtown where people have inclusive. Yes, inclusive and and curious. You're like, what is this? What have I found? You know? I say in a world of pastel and sea sucker, seersucker, excuse me, in a world of pastel and seersucker, be neon pink.

SPEAKER_01 31:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 31:48

You gotta exactly right.

SPEAKER_01 31:50

Put on a t-shirt now.

SPEAKER_04 31:51

Yeah, right though, for real.

SPEAKER_01 31:53

Awesome.

What’s Next Plus Spooky Southern Joy

SPEAKER_04 31:53

Do you have anything coming up that people can look forward to or follow you or support?

SPEAKER_06 31:58

Yeah, absolutely. So um my next, my very next thing is um I have a show opening on October 1st.

SPEAKER_03 32:05

Hey.

SPEAKER_06 32:05

Um, and that's going to be um at the or in the Jasper Alley Art Gallery.

SPEAKER_03 32:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 32:10

Yeah, and so um, I've got that going on. And then also, I have a few more things. I'm planning a small finale, but the doll can't talk about it right now. Okay, we understand.

SPEAKER_01 32:21

Let us know when you can. Share information with us with the show.

SPEAKER_06 32:23

And by finale, I mean like, you know, just different events and and really going out. Um I I said actually in a in a movie that I made last year that I won an award for.

SPEAKER_03 32:34

Hey.

SPEAKER_06 32:34

Um, I said that my residency was a love letter to Columbia, like to my community. And so there are a few more artful experiences that I want to be able to provide to my community while um while I'm still wearing the artist in residence crown.

SPEAKER_04 32:48

Please do.

SPEAKER_06 32:49

I would definitely come.

SPEAKER_04 32:51

Especially if you do anything like around Halloween time.

SPEAKER_06 32:53

Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. October. Oh man, yeah. The fall. It's the way it's been like, yeah. Take a look at it. Y'all, there's a hundred percent it. And you know what? I've been so pleasantly surprised too by the number of people who want spooky things. Like we have these spooky things year-round.

SPEAKER_01 33:09

Like, I say this, you know, we are the capital of Chucky Dolls.

SPEAKER_06 33:13

No way.

SPEAKER_01 33:14

We ride around with Chucky Dolls on the top of the car. On top of the car. On the top of a car. People, because people they say, what is this about? What do y'all like about it? I'm like, I don't know. We just like Chucky dolls. We like spooky stuff around here. Like, for real, I'm like, yeah. Yeah. Haunted, um, haunted houses, playing fields, phases, all that stuff. Spooky stuff. And part of it, too, and I think it's a southern aesthetic thing, that southern gothic thing. Yeah. Where we are really into that vibe of like extra, how do we say extra? Girls stop at playing with a girl. I mean, with folks. Um, them unidentified flying objects. But um, but yeah, we do like spiritual, spirituality, we like weird, weird, I mean, voodoo and all that stuff. We love that stuff, right? So I think it does fit in very well. I think you're in a good place. And I was gonna ask you this last question. I'm gonna I know we ain't got time. I'm gonna ask you.

SPEAKER_05 33:57

No, hit me, hit me.

SPEAKER_01 33:58

Being being a queer black woman in the South into spooky. You know you're in a very good group of people.

SPEAKER_06 34:09

Oh, yeah?

SPEAKER_01 34:09

Yeah. Look at it. There's a lot of y'all. In a good way. In a good way. Oh, okay. Writers, um, uh um artists, and et cetera. It's it's strange, but for some reason, like you all do a good job down here.

SPEAKER_03 34:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:21

Because I like I said, I mean, uh, not that you gotta start doing voodoo or anything like that. Uh-huh. But there there's a lot of things. For you to thrive. Yeah. But my wife, my wife loves you.

SPEAKER_03 34:30

Yeah?

SPEAKER_01 34:31

My wife loves. Oh, that's so sweet. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 34:34

I can see you doing stuff with kids around all the time. You know, I actually just did a um a workshop um with uh Princess Empowerment and Boys to Mend.

SPEAKER_03 34:43

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_06 34:44

Yeah, and um, it was the sweetest lesson. I love it, and I want to redo it. I'm gonna tell you guys with like our 30 seconds left. Um, but we we uh we made flower pots, and so I spray painted them black beforehand, and then I used the like I brought the fluorescent markers for the kids, and um we planted flowers, but the whole concept was, well, how are we similar to flowers, right? How do we need to be nurtured? How do we, you know, so the kids were Exactly right? And so the kids were like naming all of these things, and um, so I had them paint their flower pot and we put dirt in and the seeds and stuff like that. And I was like, Well, what do you do if uh you cannot be nurtured like outside of yourself? What if you are having a really difficult time in school? What if you have, you know, uh a hard time with a friend or something like that? So I had them close their eyes and then we went to the happy spooky. So I transitioned the room while they were sitting there. I like put the fog all in the room and turned on the black lights. And I said, when it it feels like you can't be nurtured on the outside, you can go inside, inside to the happy spooky, and that's where you can get the the all the goodies to nurture yourself. You can get the happy things, right? As well as acknowledge the spooky things. Yeah, so like teaching kids to have well, of course, we all children and adults need to work on re like self-regulation and and resilience and all of that, right? But um teaching children young that there is a space inside of you, you know, that even when the world is acting however exactly that you can go into the happy spooky and pull from from that strength. And that's um that is certainly it applies to adults, but that's what I've needed to do. Happy spooky isn't just my aesthetic, it's my worldview, it's how I understand um my space in the universe right now.

SPEAKER_04 36:31

Yeah. Awesome.

How To Follow And Final Sendoff

SPEAKER_04 36:32

Yeah, so now you need to look at that camera and tell people where the follow where to follow you, how to follow you, get in contact with you, buy artwork, donate support. Yeah. Whatever.

SPEAKER_06 36:42

Okay, well, y'all gotta play some like sexy saxophone in the internet.

SPEAKER_00 36:47

Make sure you put some sexy saxophone in there.

SPEAKER_02 36:50

Right.

SPEAKER_06 36:52

So if you're interested in following the doll, what you're gonna wanna do is go on Instagram and uh TikTok and um YouTube for uh or and find Bobo to the Max. Um, let's see. Oh, and of course you can sign up for my newsletter at bobo to themax.com. And uh yeah, those are the best ways to get connected to me. So um I'd love it if you did.

SPEAKER_00 37:18

You don't need to be there sex phone on there.

SPEAKER_04 37:22

Voice drops.

SPEAKER_00 37:22

Voice drops, voice drops.

SPEAKER_01 37:24

Man, I will tell you, um, we're gonna wrap up.

SPEAKER_04 37:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:27

This is the Hilltop Club Podcast, DJing what?

SPEAKER_04 37:29

This is Tamaya.

SPEAKER_01 37:30

Skip.

unknown 37:32

Janae.

SPEAKER_00 37:34

We're about to talk about her day. This is gonna be awesome. And then our team guest. Jaquelon Boo Boo.

SPEAKER_05 37:39

Woo! No, I'm just kidding. No, that's not boo.

SPEAKER_04 37:41

I know, but I thought I was like, is that her full name? No.

SPEAKER_05 37:51

My full name's Jack Willin, but Jackie Bobo. That's what my brother calls me. I knew it came from somewhere. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 38:01

I was like, ooh. So anyway, thank y'all for having me on and just like yeah, being so cool. It's been amazing to just like chit chat.

SPEAKER_01 38:10

You're awesome to talk to.

SPEAKER_06 38:11

You did great.

SPEAKER_01 38:11

Um, I'll tell you, make sure you tell somebody next to you that you love them, you appreciate them. You don't know when you get a chance to do that next time. You'll know what happens out here. That's real. And until the next time, y'all, beef prices are high. Start eating more vegetables. Peace.