We recently connected with Davion “Dismoc Le Ma” Coleman and have shared our conversation below.
Davion “Dismoc Le Ma”, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is my past solo exhibition, “Respect! The Woman In the Red Dress,” which can still be viewed at thekre8iveshop.com/reddress
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?
Well, to simply put it, I am “The Artist Known As Dismoc Le Ma.” born and raised in St. Louis, MO, where I grew up on the southside. Art runs through my blood like oxygen, several of my family members dabbled in art, including my father. I started drawing as a child, and in all of the books my mother purchased to read to me, I was more interested in redrawing the characters inside the books. I moved forward with my artistic journey, focusing on graphic design. Through high school, I participated in a summer program at the Art Institute of Downtown Chicago for Animation & Game Design. I later spent my junior and senior years at a technical school studying graphic design. I graduated at the top of my class and received an honors award. I indirectly became an ambassador for the school. Eventually, my picture would be placed on the homepage of the school’s website. Next, I went to college to continue my education in graphic design. This is where I rediscovered my passion for illustrating and learned about the business of design and illustrating. During college, I began painting independently from any school assignments. I took many design, drawing, and illustration classes in college, but ironically, I never took any classes for painting. So in that area of art, I’m self-taught.
I like describing myself as a multidisciplinary designer/artist. I’m more than just a designer or painter. I’m a dream creator; I turn people’s imaginations into reality. I bring thoughts to life, whether it’s my ideas or if someone hires me to bring their ideas to life. I accomplish these tasks through design, illustration, painting, and now marketing. As time evolves, I adapt, and the number of skills I maintain increases. I’ve conditioned myself to be versatile while continuing to focus on art & design. What sets me apart from other designers and artist is that I’m not looking to fit in. I have no desire to join the art club. I’m more interested in building my own club. That’s where the “ARTrepreneur” in me kicks in.
What I’m most proud of are my will and determination. Me being a stubborn Taurus, I refuse to lose sight of the goals I set in place. In college, I knew I wanted to write and illustrate a children’s book. I have two children’s books published currently, with a third on the way. Back in 2014, I was determined to travel the country promoting my art. By 2019, I had accomplished that goal by being featured in art shows and festivities in major cities with the biggest art markets in the US, including Chicago, LA, NYC, Atlanta, Miami, Houston, Philadelphia, and more. I even made an international art appearance in Toronto, Canada.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Freedom! Creating! Fulfillment! I don’t think people truly understand what freedom is, but I think we all have an idea of what freedom is not. To free yourself from media, government programming, or societal peer pressure is mentally cleansing. I believe this is one of the purest forms of freedom. However, this doesn’t mean you are not self-aware or combative toward society’s norms. You just have a different perspective and live your life by your own definition. Some people are incapable of living life by their definition for various reasons. But art allows you to escape, your world could be filled with complete madness. Within an artist’s imagination, they can create a world in which they live peacefully. I’ve been in that position of living in chaos. I managed it by putting on my headphones and turning up the music to the max. Whatever I felt, I drew, and whenever my ideas didn’t align with the page, I wrote.
Fulfillment comes when you find peace. I worked many sleepless nights on various projects—that satisfying feeling you get when you’re finally finished. The fulfillment comes when you present your work to a crowd and it’s appreciated. It’s like seeing your child be born or watching your child graduate. That feeling of joy is electrifying. I remember I drove to Denver, Colorado, from St. Louis, Missouri, during a winter storm for an art show. When I arrived, the weather cleared and I set up my work for the art show. Once done, I left to get dressed, and when I came back, people were swarming around my paintings like bees hovering around a bee hive. I was in complete shock and mesmerized by how many people understood and related to my art. I ultimately sold every painting that night. That was fulfilling because the people don’t know the journey I took or the sacrifices I made to get there. But they appreciated every subtle nuance each painting possessed. For every win, there is a loss. I’ve taken many L’s, but my wins are far greater than any loss I’ve ever taken. An L is just a risk that was miscalculated, but with the right recalibration, victory is always near.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
To be a great artist, you have to lose your sanity. We are living in insane times, where human life has no value. Where the moral compass is spinning rapidly, we have become desensitized to others’ pain. So why even share your pain if it goes unappreciated? That’s why I love being an artist. I don’t need to connect with the world. I just need to connect with one person, the one who understands, values, and connects with the art. The one person who loves what they see and buys the art. Sanity is not always about how you behave. It’s more about the box you refused to be placed in. To be indifferent is to go against the status quo. For example, during the early 1900s heroin was used as cough medicine. Now imagine the one person during that time who denounced it and saw the addiction. The community probably made a mockery out of that person or even called them insane. However, fast forward to the present time, and people would say they were ahead of their time.
A non-creative doesn’t understand free thought, and they only see a potential hustle. A person came into my home one time and was mesmerized by the paintings on my wall. They immediately began counting my pockets (guessing the amount of money you make) and stated, “If you sell 100 paintings a month, you’ll be filthy rich.” But they never considered the amount of time it takes to create one painting or the amount of work it takes to sell one painting. That’s the hustle, and people see a fast sprint to cash, but they don’t see the bigger picture, which is in the pace you take to complete the marathon. Some see the hustle and some see the struggle, but they don’t understand what it means to be an ARTrepreneur, independent, or self-reliant. Because you have a different viewpoint, that doesn’t mean objects outside of your line of sight don’t exist; you just don’t see them or you lack the understanding of perception. By grasping the ability to cognize, you can see the genius within the artistry.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.dismoclema.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dismoclema/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/dismoclema
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEmyXuzfHKToGneJxzYAfJg
- Other: https://www.thekre8iveshop.com/