We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Steven Pestana. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Steven below.

Hi Steven, thanks for joining us today. Was there an experience or lesson you learned at a previous job that’s benefited your career afterwards?

I’ve worn a lot of hats in the past, but it’s the insights I gained from throwing a weekly dance party for nine years that I always come back to, even as a visual artist.

One lesson that comes to mind is the importance of keeping the audience on its toes, and myself too. It’s difficult to keep party people returning to the same place, week after week, for years. Everyone is on the hunt for the new and the joyful – other flavors, new sights, a different way the air feels on our skin. So, in that hunt, we are all “party people” in our own way.

I’m also always searching for things that make me say “wow” and leave me in awe of possibility. In this world of infinite distraction, it seems like going deeper is the only way that makes sense to build an audience and keep the ones who already know you coming back.

Whether you’re throwing a party or creating art, the goal is the same: to create an experience that captivates and inspires. It’s about finding a sweet spot where you’re pushing boundaries while still staying true to yourself, and giving people something they can’t find anywhere else. When you’re able to do that, you don’t just build an audience, you build a community.

Steven, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

When people find out I’m an artist, the inevitable question that follows is, “What’s your medium?” It’s a tricky one for me as an interdisciplinary artist. I could give a generic answer like “sculpture” or “installation,” but that wouldn’t be very revealing. I prefer to say – and this is more descriptive – “light,” “space,” “process,” “ideas,” or “possibility.” Of these, “possibility” is the most inspiring and energizing. I love nothing more than being presented with a space and the freedom to go wild.

When someone shows a spark of creativity as a child, they might be called “artistic,” if they’re lucky. This can be the start of a new world of possibilities, where they learn that some people have a talent for creating things that others can admire and experience. As a child, I loved drawing and painting, but things got a bit more complicated from there. I was also drawn to other forms of creative expression, like writing music and using sound and video to tell stories. As I grew older and became more serious in my creative pursuits, I tried to lock down fundamentals like figure drawing but found myself increasingly bored. It wasn’t until later that I discovered the true breadth of art’s possibilities. Nobody told me that an artist could be more than just one thing, and no one really said that anything, thoughtfully done, could be art – not just drawing and painting. It took me a long time to figure that out, but once I did, it opened up a whole new world of artistic possibilities for me.

Fast forward to the present, and my creative toolkit includes light-based phenomena, video, sound, as well as materials like wood, metal, and glass. I don’t see my artistic practice as bound to any one of these things, or any specific medium or genre, but rather, as a process of discovery. My artwork lets me think with my eyes, using the act of looking as a tool for understanding and reflecting on big, but elusive questions about things that we might take for granted. In that sense, the nature of whatever project I am working on guides the medium and processes I end up using. I like to think of these artworks as the threshold to a shared journey through experiences, ideas and possible worlds. While that might sound like a lofty goal, it’s rewarding to know that my work has offered this sense of discovery to myself and others.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I think of artmaking as means of self-realization, with the creative process giving form to otherwise amorphous thoughts or intuitions. With that in mind, one possible measure of success is the fidelity with which an artist brings their inner world into the real world, where it can be accessed by others like a memory made physical. As the vessel for these ideas, art helps communicate and connect with others in a vast and ongoing conversation across time and space.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

There are a few things we, as a society, might consider if we want to support and nurture artists and creativity. First, it’s essential to recognize that art, by its nature, defies conventional notions of usefulness. Is art useful? Absolutely. Just not in ways that are immediately obvious to most people. Any type of art is about making things appear effortless, fun, with zero labor, but this is art’s greatest illusion: that it is easy. In reality, it is actually one of the hardest things you can do.

Art may not be useful like a cleaning product, a computer, weatherproofing, or something like that. It may not fit within traditional ideas of labor or productivity in an obvious way, but that doesn’t mean it lacks value. Art does something nothing else can: it provides us with space for contemplation, distraction, and the chance to view the world differently or escape it entirely.

This might sound romantic, and certainly, it can be, but this leads to something else that we would do well to recognize: galleries and museums are not the sole domain of art. From the movies we watch to the songs we listen to and the advertisements we see, our everyday world is completely immersed in art. Artists designed the clothing you are wearing right now, the haircut you have, and the furniture in your home.

What about art that is intentionally complex and difficult to interpret? That has its place too. We need to remember that there is no “right answer” to art, and if you are confused, you may, in fact, be understanding it perfectly. In any case, art asks us to let go of that impulse to be right or wrong, if only temporarily.

Art also asks us to step outside of ordinary life in fundamental ways. An artwork can take many forms, such as a movie, a TV show, a song, or a painting. Even an apparently simple artwork can’t always be fully appreciated in a short period of time. It asks us to slow down, analyze details, compare it to other artworks, and consider its historical context. In everyday life, we are always busy, and time is often equated with money. But art shows us that maybe we can take a break from those rhythms. The reward is not only a greater appreciation of the artwork and a deeper understanding of different perspectives, but also a more delightful life.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.stevenpestana.com
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/stevenpestana