Conversation with Artist Thomas 'BREEZE' Marcus

"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!

BREEZE. 

BREEZE and Chris Pappan Collaboration

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.

BREEZE. 

Follow Breeze on his Blog

Conversation with Artist and Vocalist Valentina Gonzales (VRGNZ)

It was incredibly refreshing to sit down and talk with such an honest, strong and opinionated creative mind as Valentina Gonzales aka VRGNZ. 

VRGNZ. Photo Credit:Travis Duran

Valentina creating a mural on a new ShelterCare facility, Eugene, 2014.

In this episode, Valentina shares her journey as the artist, the mother, and the human. She reminds us all that as an artist, there is no point A to point B, but it is a long and winding path which, if you are open to receiving, will teach you passion and determination and ultimately could restore your faith in humanity. Valentina is a power house, and if you want to laugh and cry, get motivated to create, or just hear some crazy ass life stories, then listen in to hear Valentina's interview.

 

Here is the conversation with Valentia Gonzales (VRGNZ):

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All music featured on this Episode courtesy of VRGNZ

More about the artist: 

Valentina, better known in the music and art scene as VRGNZ was born a daughter of Texas music. This Appala Chilean exemplifies diversity not only in heritage, but also in her multi faceted artistic backgrounds. Her Chilean father, a musician and night club owner, and her Kentucky raised mother, a teacher, worked hard to cultivate they're daughters creative spirit. As a teen, Valentina grew with the underground hip-hop movement and after connecting with Chris Calloway, her greatest musical mentor and the daughter of legendary Cab Calloway, Valentina began her journey as an independent artist. Finding experience and passion through recording, traveling, skateboarding, and design, Valentina continues to evolve her artistic pursuits and abilities.

VRGNZ ON FACEBOOK

VRGNZ ON SOUNDCLOUD

VRGNZ

Conversation with Artist Yatika Starr Fields

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:

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

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:

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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

Commission interior mural for Oklahoma state University 2013. Yatika Starr Fields

Selected works:

Saturday Night. 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. San Juan (santurce). Puerto Rico 2013. Yatika Starr Fields 

Conversation with Artist Bethany Edmunds

Miss b.Me  Photo Credit: NativeLight Media Photography 

I feel so proud to be able to share the work and world of multidisciplinary Māori artist Bethany Matai Edmunds (Miss bMe). Through the scratchy channels of our cyberspace Skype interview, all the way from her home in Aotearoa (New Zealand), Edmunds' creative determination radiates clearly and straight to the heart. Edmunds reminds us that it is the larger circles we are creating today that will sustain our cultures and create new opportunities for growth and evolution of indigenous ways. By continuing to be innovative we will retain the strength of our ancestors and 'never forget'. 

"As a descendant of the far north living in the city, it’s the taura here of my whakapapa that connects me to my cultural identity and the land that my tupuna are from. I often feel like a manu aute, with my wings spread and my eyes wide open, riding wind currents, and soaking up sights and smells, acknowledging influences and celebrating and creating connections and reference points in this multi-cultural global world we live in, asking myself what does it mean to be urban indigenous? For so many of us whose whakapapa Māori is diluted our connections to the north are dislocated, how do we achieve the success that our grandparent’s generation strove for when they moved to the city? Reclaiming knowledge and sustainable practices and at the same time embracing our Māori identity to innovate, interpret and be proud of the influences and materials available in our immediate environment." - Bethany Matai Edmunds BAA, MA (Ngati Kuri, Pohotiare) 

Here is the conversation with Bethany Matai Edmunds:

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

Miss bMe (aka Bethany Matai Edmunds) performing with her band Kinaki on the Aotearoa stage at Pasifika Festival, March 2014

More about the artist:

Bethany Matai Edmunds a.k.a Miss b.Me is a weaver, artist, fiber sculptor and Hip Hop lyricist. Edmunds visual work is grounded in traditional Maori weaving which she conceptually translates using traditional materials and fibers, combined with contemporary denim and mixed media, which further expresses her experiences of being a culture bearer of 'pART mAOri' descent. Lyrically, Edmunds also called Miss b.Me, explores similar concepts which she poetically expresses through cultural references and feminine flows, combining stories inspired by her Maori heritage and her unique worldview of life as an artist, poet and MC. Edmunds has a strong focus on the enhancement of taitamariki, young people, through the use of the arts, and ensuring that nga taonga tuku iho, the skills passed down from our ancestors, are retained for future generations.

Learn more about Miss b.Me and her band Kinaki HERE

'In the Hood' Woven out of Kuta a lake reed which is a traditional weaving material used to make rain capes. This piece is about retaining cultural identity while operating in an urban reality. Weaving by Bethany Edmunds, January 2014

'Raninikura' Kuta and Pingao (sedge grass that grows in the sand dunes) This garment is a woven personification of Raninikura the daughter of our famous tupuna Tohe, and references the transient tribal connections of Te Hiku o te Ika (the Tail of the fish of Maui/ the far north). The materials are sourced from Muriwhenua (another name for the far north), and the golden colour palette of Kuta and Pingao suggests the glistening image of Raninikura that Tohe held in his memories. Weaving by Bethany Edmunds.

Conversation with Artist Frank Buffalo Hyde

Frank Buffalo Hyde

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:

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

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

Puck-Ficasso. FBH 2014 acrylic on canvas