We were lucky to catch up with Lain Wilgenbusch recently and have shared our conversation below.

Lain, appreciate you joining us today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

One of the biggest influences of my work is being personally misunderstood and capturing the pain of others who are also misunderstood. One of the most rewarding parts of living is getting to know people from all sorts of backgrounds and social circles. My former career as a Banker allowed me to meet a wide range of people from millionaires to people barely scraping by. Often times the plight of disadvantaged people is overlooked by the ruling class and those people are without a voice. It’s my responsibility to give them a voice, and to also express mine and show the world that everyone is flawed. That’s just part of being human.

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

I’ve been drawing from the time I was a child and just never stopped. I’ve always had a passion to draw people. I would stare at people in public and study their faces, their musculature, and the small details of their appendages. Soon enough I was able to draw them from memory. The fascination with anatomy grew into a curiosity about the human life cycle and existence. What does it all mean? What is our point of living? I want people to look at my work and see themselves. See their own flaws and be comforted. Feel pain and learn from it. Know evil and question it. That is also why I believe it is important to challenge politics.

I have done a few jobs for local Saint Louis bands and projects. Namely, Sternocleidomastoid, whom I did a logo and kickdrum piece for. I love working with local artists and helping support their work.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Racism. Growing up in the Midwest where a majority of my family is from Iowa, there is a lot of animosity for anyone who is not white. I unlearned the lies fed to me by the White community when I was teenager and discovered, through the internet, that everyone is different in their own beautiful way. I learned many people who considered themselves Christians were the least Christ-like of all. Because Jesus believed in loving thy neighbor, which racism does not include. Loving others first instead of hating them was the biggest revelation of all through that growth.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Recently I lost everything when I lost my job August of 2023. I was with and without a steady income for about 6 months which practically bankrupted me, and I was struggling to pay rent, bills, and even eat. My art was greatly impacted during this time and progressively became darker when had the time to sit down and work on it. Today I live with family, and have less free time to work on art because I have to focus on working a salary job to pay my debts. But I will eventually get brush to canvas again. I have many ideas for future projects.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/single_cell_?igsh=OWF0ZDN4cXQ4amdx&utm_source=qr
• Other: Business email: [email protected]

Image Credits
.