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

Joshua, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I am currently in the process of working on my Spirit Animal series: The Consciousness Collective. My ultimate goal for this project is to create 100 portraits, with each animal having its own name and a short poem that introduces who they are and what they stand for.

I was raised in a very spiritual household. My mom works as a healer and my dad practices as a shaman. Growing up in this environment, allowed me to feel very deeply into my body and spirit. And while I always felt this deep knowing, I never truly knew how to break it up and start to understand it, to understand myself. And because of this, throughout my life I always felt different and misunderstood. I never felt like I belonged.

I was inspired by two artists Iris Scott and Jen Starwalt. Both of these amazing artists created large scale vibrants animal portraits. I have been drawing and painting animals for my whole life, and I wanted to create something like them. And then back in 2019, Empress the Elephant was born. She was the most colorful, beautiful, miraculous creation I had ever made.
And the way that she was painting, the way that her eyes spoke, and color seemed to illuminate her spirit, I could have sworn in the moment she was alive!

While attending art school at SCAD, I went on to paint eight more animals. And living in Savannah biking through Forsyth Park every day I learned about a street performer program, befriended the artists, and got myself a license from the City. I really wanted to set my work apart, and it came to me the animals needed to speak their messages to everyone!
I sat down and asked each of the animals, “Who are you, and what do you stand for?” Whatever came to me is what I wrote down.

Since starting several years ago I have created 43 spirit animals and have been able to spread the wisdom of these animals to the thousands of people from around the world that come through our park. Not only have I witnessed the messages of my animals change lives, but they have also changed mine.

Along the way I learned about ancient iconography, and the spiritual power and beliefs behind icons, and realized that I was practicing the same process. And as more animals came to me I was able to learn more about myself, and the individual spirits that live inside of me. I learned how to step into my power. I learned about to love myself. I learned how to be myself. And I learned how to understand myself.

And most amazingly, I’ve been creating a collection of paintings that allows everyone, all people to feel understood, felt, recognized, heard, and seen. Its the most meaningful work I’ve ever done in my life.

Joshua, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have been creating art for as long as I can remember. Both my brother Seth and I took dozens of art classes and pursued artistic careers. I started going to SCAD in 2019, and graduated in 2023 with a BFA in Illustration. Realizing that the Illustration industry would restrict the creative freedom I desired, I found myself getting a permit to be a street artist.

I started painting spirit animals and writing poetry that describes them. Soon my safari of zoo animals grew from 9 to 43. For each animal, they represent very specific spiritual qualities and deep wisdom designed so that any individual could discover it inside of them.

In addition, the impressionist style that I work in is something people tell me they’ve never seen before. The vibrancy of my work catches the eye, the lively essence of the animals pull people in, and the words the animal speak touch their hearts, sometimes it brings people to tears.

What I love most about what I do is being able to be outside and meeting people on the street. For every person that walks up to discover my animals, I perform out loud the poetry that goes with each animal. For me it’s about creating an experience they’ll never forget, allowing them to touch a part of themselves that needed to feel seen and understood.

Recently I’ve starting exploring pastels as well, creating 18×24 gestural animal drawings which have brought me a many others tons of joy. To my surprise, many of my closest friends love the style of my gestural drawings just as much as my other work! The drawings have helped me with speed and being more in tune with the process of each piece. The pastels allow me to make bold choices and reveal every line I make.

After only a few months of being a street artist I realized that I was earning more in the park with my artwork than working my ass off as a server. I had more time to create, to have fun, and to be free from the shackles and responsibilities of life. And the biggest blessings was being able to inspire so many of my artist friends who were struggling as I was to join me and find success and joy in being a full time artist.

For those interest in my work, I sell prints, originals drawings, embellished canvas prints, and more!

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I took an online media marketing course. I analyzed social media content and analytics and created content for YouTube, TikTok, and instagram. I was posting twice a day for over three months. My content was struggling to grow on Instagram and TikTok, but Youtube my content flourished. I had one viral video and gained over 4,000 subscribers.

While all of this exposure was really awesome, it took a serious toll on my mental health. I found myself in a depression, unmotivated, addicted to analytics and trying to make my videos better. The biggest issue is that I didn’t feel like I had any creative energy, so I stopped making artwork. And I can’t make art videos if I’m not making artwork, so I decided to put social media to rest. During these three months I had over 1 million total views and I didn’t sell a single piece of art.

However, after a year of a social media cleanse there is advice that I can give that I think is really important to any artist looking to build an audience.

– Post on all three platforms per piece of content that you make
– Analyze viral content and try to recreate what you see is already working
– You don’t need the best equipment to create viral content
– You creative flow is the most important thing, creating art always should come before the importance of content
– Learning analytics is important but its not everything
– At the end of the day you are at the mercy of an algorithm whose sole purpose is to sell add space, so please don’t feel discouraged when a video doesn’t do well, it says nothing about you or the quality of your artwork
– If you feel like you are struggling, it is so important to ask for help, you don’t need to do everything by yourself.
– Remember social media also isn’t for everyone, there are dozens of avenues for you to succeed as an artist!!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Living as a full time artist I get to be my own boss and create my own schedule. I get to have more control over my life and I get to have more time during my day. From being a server to an artist I live with less stress and more freedom. And in living like this, every day I get to live my truth, that I am a creative, and that what I create contains great value. I get to do what I love, and nothing has been more fulfilling in my life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://primalspiritgallery.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j.a.bilkis/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@J.A.Bilkis