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

kHyal, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

In my case, it’s been more about changing how I convey my work in the world rather than one specific meaningful project. I learned as a young child to use my creativity to process life, explore my thoughts and emotions, and problem-solve. My long-standing mantra is that “art saves lives.” I certainly feel like it saved mine. I was born with a very different way of looking at things, often resulting in being misunderstood, sometimes bullied, and socially isolated. My personal art gave me a place of belonging.

The shift I made in recent years wasn’t particularly drastic. I have always used discarded objects, reclaimed plastics, and other rescued materials in my work. I was raised to respect nature, spent significant time exploring outdoors, and always loved the natural world. I have also done work centering around body image throughout my career, as I suffered from body dysmorphia for as long as I can remember, and when I was six years old recognized that I was meant to be a kinetic sculpture. Some people confuse this with me being interested in the fleeting business of fashion since I design textiles and apparel and have had an off-and-on vintage clothing and style consultancy since 1981. But it‘s always been about personal style as an original art form, how that transforms my body into a sculptural design work, and finding comfort in being in the world by expressing myself that way.

My dysmorphia was so severe that I became anorexic in my late teens. It wasn’t therapy that got me through the toughest times and out the other end of what could have easily killed me. It was making art. Art was essential to my survival, and I coveted it without caring much about exhibiting or selling, though I have done my share of both. Its greatest benefit was that of self-healing. After decades of creating art by juxtaposing discarded materials that tell autobiographical stories in my own form of code — I no longer need to focus on myself. I have flipped my practice to speak for the environment by elevating the status of the materials I choose. Like Dr. Seuss’s Lorax, “I speak for the trees.” I also speak for the oceans, forests, horseshoe crabs, the environment, vulnerable populations, and human rights.

Now, I amplify the material, what it represents both in shape and content, and why it’s critical to change our consumption habits. For instance, 99% of all plastic is made from oil and it’s now estimated that each of us ingests about a credit card’s worth of microplastic per week1. In 2023, medical doctors confirmed that they’ve found plastic in human heart tissue2. And, this is just the tip of the (now melting) iceberg of global warming and negative health impacts.

Most of my work is made from found beach plastics and reclaimed plastic toys from tag sales, flea markets, and thrift stores, which I often buy just to keep from being landfilled or incinerated. The physical pieces of art I make are mounted on discarded plywood from local pack and ship companies. The accompanying wearable work and textiles may use photography of my final art, source materials, or other imagery and text to build awareness about environmental concerns. Other wearables are made completely from vintage or second-market apparel and materials headed for the landfill.

I design collections each year to launch at major international art fairs and events. As a journalist, I also cover the shows through my arts publishing arm, SECTION. After activating new work at major events like Art Basel, Miami Arts Week, Armory Arts Week, Los Angeles Art Week, Frieze, and Enter — I put the wearable pieces in my regular rotation of everyday apparel or show them on mannikins at galleries and events. For example, Kelly Cutrone of “America’s Next Top Model” chose my work for a New York gallery and fashion show. My messaging aims to make viewers aware of facts and combat greenwashing by companies that profit from material goods and practices that ultimately harm people, animals, and the planet.

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666911022000247#:~:text=Ingested%20Microplastic%20(MP)%20particles%20can,et%20al.%2C%202021).
2. https://www.plasticsoupfoundation.org/en/2023/08/plastic-found-in-the-human-heart/

Toys are a $90+ billion-dollar industry. It’s estimated that 90% are made of plastic, and 80% of all plastic toys end up in landfills.

(The World Counts: https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/consumption/other-products/environmental-impact-of-toys and CBS: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/episode-371-iran-nuclear-deal-plastic-toy-waste-kaepernick-bitcoin-bunkers-spotify-vs-composers-and-more-1.4470486/wasted-greening-the-plastics-heavy-toy-industry-1.4470526)

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

I began my professional art career in Los Angeles. I first worked in the art restoration and period framing trade on projects for The Getty, LACMA, high end galleries and private collectors, including Mrs. Bob Hope and Steve Martin.

I was later recruited by Joan Wheeler Ankrum of Anrkum Gallery. A gallery of considerable note, with initial funding from Joseph Hirshhorn, who became a loyal patron. The Smithsonian Archives of American Art, which now holds the gallery’s archives, documented that Ankrum Gallery “was among the earliest to exhibit the work of black artists.” Joan Ankrum was a co-founder of the Art Dealers Association of America and an active member of the Black Arts Council. She also helped organize the Monday Night Art Walk program on La Cienega Boulevard.

I learned the ropes of the art world from Joan, and what started as a relationship through employment grew into a deep and lasting friendship. Ankrum Gallery also went on to represent me as an artist, which led to my first commissions from private collectors.

After several years, I moved back to the East Coast and started using personal computers in my work and began a simultaneous career in technology while experimenting with animation, video, and MIDI projects on Amiga and Macintosh computers, along with installation art at galleries incorporating computer generated photography and art, video projection and traditional methods to create immersive experiences, decades before this was commonplace.

Since then, I have held positions as Creative Director in cutting-edge digital agencies and technology companies and co-founded a software company and interactive agency. More recently, I was Chief Creative Officer for a technology-based architecture firm and worked in transmedia storytelling and experiential design on projects for the Whitney Museum of American Art, Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, BRIC Arts Media, and others.

I currently run a creative consultancy called fiZz and am often hired by technology firms as a marketing strategist, writer, and content expert. I also help entities focused on climate action, ESG, and the Equator Principles with branding, creative direction, and messaging and a wide variety of other projects that require fresh thinking.

I launched MegaGlam® as an umbrella brand for my art, design, and illustration. This encompasses surface design, limited edition streetwear via sustainable on-demand manufacturing processes, public art, and more. In 2010, I created The Weather sKwirl™, my alter ego and the center of many projects. He has been featured in commissioned public art, street art, fine art, and merchandise sold in stores and galleries around the globe. Although always a champion for environmental protection, The Weather sKwirl has reemerged as a climate action superhero who is always by my side.

I’d like to add that since 2007, my partner in life and often in work, Karl Heine, has been an integral collaborator on many projects. His creativity, production expertise, photography, and unwavering support have been integral components of growing my art and design practice. He is also a key contributor to my art fair activations of wearable work. We have merged our entrepreneurial experience and passion for the arts into many experimental economic development initiatives.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I aim to help drive positive change for the planet as a creative activator through art, design, and education. Many people simply don’t know the facts, are fooled by greenwashing, or have developed climate apathy. One of the primary ways I am working towards this is by continually advancing my own knowledge. During the past two years, I have become a certified Climate Reality Leader via the Climate Reality Leadership Corps, a member of the Plastic Pollution Coalition, Women and Climate and Creatives for Climate, trained in grassroots advocacy through Beyond Plastics, and a Save the Sound Cleanup Captain. In addition to my previous training in the Sustainable Design Entrepreneur program at FIT, I have recently taken courses in Circular Economy Sustainable Materials Management at Lund University, ESG and Climate Change at Wharton, UPENN, Sustainable Development at the University of Copenhagen, and Sustainable Product Design via SCAD. In 2022, I was invited to the global team that contributed to promoting Seth Godin’s all-volunteer project, The Carbon Almanac, winner of the Data Literacy’s “Most Insightful Data Book” Award. In addition, I spearheaded the Fashion Sustainability Resource Guide on The Carbon Almanac website.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Pivoting is the linchpin of my career strategy. Since I often work in cutting-edge industries at their very beginnings, change is a common theme. Change is also the one thing that is guaranteed in life, so learning to surf, metaphorically at least, is a skill I continue to build and embrace.

Since I have used art primarily as a tool for personal development and now view it as a means to connect to community and make positive change, this has been a major pivot, and it continues to unfold in surprising ways.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://khyal.net/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megaglamster/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khyal/
• Other: https://getfizz.com/portfolio-item/climate-action-and-sustainability/ https://getfizz.com/toy-ocean-out-to-see/ https://www.instagram.com/megaglamstyle/ https://www.megaglam.com/

Image Credits
1. kHyal (Image: Self Portrait, Courtesy of the Artist) 2. “Save Me” Signs of the Times series 2022 (Image: Courtesy of the Artist) 3. “Ocean Plastics Kill” 2022 (Image: Courtesy of the Artist) 4. The Weather sKwirl™ “Climate Change Sucks” 2022 (Image: Courtesy of the Artist) 5. “Wake Up” Signs of the Times series 2023 (Image: Courtesy of the Artist) 6. kHyal wearing “By 2050 the Ocean Might be More Plastic than Fish” (Image: Karl Heine) 7. “Plastic is Oil” Signs of the Times series 2023 (Image: Courtesy of the Artist) 8. “Animal Rescue” jacket (Image: Karl Heine) 9. “Crimes Against Nature 4 Money” Signs of the Times series 2023 (Image: Courtesy of the Artist)