We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Beck Lane a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Beck, appreciate you joining us today. Do you take vacations? Why or why not?

No. I’m an artist. Developing & creating artwork, portfolios, shows, & exhibits is everything, serving the work is my life’s purpose so every day, every moment, every decision is devoted to my work. There is no room for frivolity &, to me, vacations are a luxurious frivolity spent wasting time. IF I travel or leave my studio, it is to serve the work, always.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Although I have done a lot of different types of decorative & commercial artwork, I have become a portrait & figure multimedium painter. My interest in figure work started when I was a teen & young adult. I used to draw images from old photos that were always around me but were of ye olde, white New England faces only. But, over the last 10-12 years, the scope of my portrait & figure work has widened to include faces that haven’t been included in mainstream, gallery art. It is a concentrated effort to have forgotten, nameless, marginalized people seen. Over the last 12 years or so, as I built confidence & found intent-filled purpose, my portfolios have become focused on Black & Brown/African Americans, LGBTQIA figures, & other under-represented, under-acknowledged people. In the beginning, the paintings were based on family photos & random pictures I found in thrift stores but now glean a lot of material from internet sources because there’s so much available & I’m able to both ask permission of the owner & learn the history or stories about people I intend to paint.

Even though I do work from present-day pictures periodically, the bulk of my work is referenced from black & white photos from the mid-1800s to 1945 with a heavy focus on historical, but somewhat lost to history, Black & Brown/African American figures. Their images & stories are the springboard for, usually, large-ish, colorful paintings developed thru the use of oil paint over aerosol over black & white gesso. By mixing oils & mediums, I am able to create contradictory effects in the paint itself. I understand the multi-medium layers spark an engaging experience for the viewer especially when I work flat, dry paint next to medium-rich oils that allow light to pass thru the top layers down to the aerosol colors & bounce back out again for a glow. This play on light is evident in my abstract work as well & helps to heighten the feelings of connectivity & energy. The technique(s) in combination with my deliberately raw brushwork style is wholly unique & has been described as “explosive”. Or as one supporter wrote “You & your work are the love child of a Russian graffiti artist & Vincent Van Gogh”.

Since moving to Sarasota in 2017, I have become known as a studio painter with work in galleries & shows. However lately, people & organizations have been tapping into my other areas of expertise such as lettering, illustration & mural design. Included in my more recent projects are several 8ft x 10ft chalkboard murals for social activist Zander Moricz & his Sarasota based social justice organization SEE Alliance. The first set of mural illustrations were background in a Nightline News interview with Zander, the second set were used in a documentary being made by Vanity Fair about Zander, SEE Alliance & politics in Florida. The documentary will be available on either Netflix or Hulu.

Other projects I have underway include a children’s book series; two out-of-state, solo museum & university exhibits; murals for the city of Sarasota; the development of 55 portraits of Frida Kahlo, two local solo shows, an artist residency as well as artist talks. In essence, I am an artist who is uniquely experienced in several areas. My abilities are agile while I am driven, & have the organizational skills to be able to tackle opportunities both large & small.

In spring 2024, I received the Halo Art Projects Fellowship award, an award given to select artists by a board made up of philanthropists & professional artist peers. I also became the first individual artist to receive the Johnson/Singer Award, a privately run group of cultural enthusiasts. Both groups are dedicated to choosing artists or art organizations based on not only need & ability but also their dedication to cultural & social justice issues.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I have so many stories. So, so many stories about not just being knocked down or having the rug pulled out from underneath me but I also have endless stories about people & situations that left me devasted, starving & on the brink of homelessness. I have stories about gallerists violating our contract(s), stealing 100s of thousands of dollars worth of work, huge projects & exhibits evaporating before my eyes, etc. etc. etc. & I’m not Polly Ann-ish about it. My resilience comes from being fueled by “I’ll show you!” anger & bitterness. It’s not a popular thing to say, it’s not fashionable but it’s how I’m built.

Over time, however, I’ve learned to take these experiences, understand people & patterns better & try not to repeat the same scenarios over & over & over again. It seems impossible at times because we, as artists, are incredibly vulnerable. We have to rely on others & that leaves us open to all kinds of people taking advantage of us. The thing is, to not tell yourself that other people’s shortcomings are YOUR failure. Instead, I find it best to stew in the moment, understand the lesson, chalk it all up to experience, & become even more determined. If being an artist is your purpose, you have to stay determined & driven because the people who will support you are out there – they are waiting for a tougher, more focused version of you to come out the other side.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I’ve had to learn to not take everyone’s opinions seriously. Good or bad, & I don’t take it to heart because everyone is coming at everything from what they believe they know & understand. But too, like a lot of people, I was taught to jump thru hoops & try to please as many people as possible but you can’t do that in life, never mind an artist. If you do you’ll find yourself wasting time, chasing other people’s dreams & their ideas of who you should be or what you should be doing.

That said, in 2012, I thought I was offered the deal of a life time – an exclusive contract with an international gallery firm based out of NYC & Israel. Blinded by the impact this partnership could have had, I was willing to do anything I was asked to do to make the relationship work even it felt “off”.

My first mistake was agreeing to create paintings of “happy white children”. That’s not my thing. The bulk of my work is of historical but, somewhat lost to history, Black & Brown/African American figures. I specialize in ferreting out photos from the mid-1800s to 1945, learning as much as I can about the subjects & producing colorful, sometimes large, portraits. At the time, I thought it was worth my dignity to take the firm’s monthly stipend & fulfill their requirements while I built my passion portfolios on the side. I dove in head first, producing work specifically for them but, within a few months, the firm had violated aspects of our contract & so our agreement was null. I was left devastated, broke & exhausted. It took me years to recover but it taught me to #1 don’t do anything of that magnitude without a lawyer or representative, #2 don’t trade your dignity for cash, #3 don’t confuse the failure(s) of others as being your own. But most of all, stop being a people pleaser.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.becklaneartist.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becklaneartist/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002159828818
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/La102438
• Other: https://linktr.ee/becklaneartist