Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mawdoods. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Mawdoods, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

When I decided to start taking art more seriously, it was an extremely impulsive decision. At the time, I hadn’t been doing any. I had been following art accounts on social media and was intrigued with work using Copic markers and mixed media; then I decided to invest a couple hundred dollars into expensive materials hoping that it would guilt me into using them so I wouldn’t lose out on the investment.

After specializing in portraits for a few years, I decided to grab one of the many shoe boxes I had laying around and take a pen to it. Doing that for a few months, eventually I decided to cut a box to mix in with the ink, then carve, then add more boxes.

Looking back, I realized I created “rules” for myself to follow for months before deciding that they could be broken. For instance, the rule was that my shoebox works only allowed for black and white ink on top of the orange box top so that the work had consistency from piece to piece. It took over 35 different works for me to finally decide i needed to cut the box to create negative space, then another month before I realized I could carve it, then months later add color along with different color boxes.

Today, the works are 10-12 times the size, and sometimes take months to complete while in the past they would take a few hours. I learned that it’s okay to start projects that you are unsure if you’ll be able to finish. Its okay to start a project, let it sit for months because you are unsure HOW you want to finish it, either from a technical standpoint or a creative standpoint.

To speed up the learning process, I would consistently bite off more than you can chew. Make yourself a LITTLE uncomfortable with the piece(s) you’re working on to always push the limit of what you’re creating.

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

My whole life i have been into sneakers. I worked at Finishline shoe stores growing up throughout high school and college. I had dreamed of being a footwear designer as a kid but had no idea how to accomplish that and ended up with a business degree.

Fast forward to today and I am repurposing old shoe boxes and up-cycling them into fine art in a genre I like to call “kixed-media.” The work resonates with sneakerheads due to the recognizable, often hard to find shoe boxes being used in the works. The work ties in skillsets of drawing, carving, and inking and combines them with a unique craftsmanship of assembling the pieces together.

I think what’s unique about my work is that it really is a genre of its own; I don’t think there is anyone else making work that is really in the same lane. I would like to give a shout out to Kerry Sutton though, who also has developed his own style while using shoe boxes as s medium in some of his works. The “ShoeboxSeries” has taken on a life of its own and is really something that sneakerheads and artists alike are able to connect with.

Most sneaker collectors keep their shoe boxes with their shoes, it is part of the value. If you are eventually reselling a shoe, the shoe costs more with the box present. Additionally, storing the shoes in the original box is convenient and many of them are aesthetically pleasing featuring their own color palette, textures, and detailing. It is for these reasons that the work I create has additional perceived value, along with a time stamp of when that work may have been created based on when the shoe coinciding with the box was released. The more hard to find the boxes are, the more value the work will have, or the more it might connect with someone specific because of the materials used.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Building a presence on social media has been a long, tedious, often exhausting grind. I think that engaging in similar content from artists you admire, industry pages that are relevant to your niche, and connecting with people that share you’re interests are crucial.

I think following the latest “trends” is important, but I found equal success in just being myself, showing the work as I think it should be shown, not thinking too much about the outcome or results and truly enjoying the craft.

Consistency is a large part of it in that you don’t want to be inconsistent; but creating art work does take time. Find new ways to show old pieces, bring them back after a year and share more details about them etc.

I have been fortunate to get acknowledgements from Nike SNKRS app, Nice Kicks, Complex, and other big name accounts which has helped my growth. In my opinion, word of mouth from your everyday supporters is the best way to grow. Engaging with their messages, comments, and thanking them for the support goes a long way and has for me. I’m truly appreciative of whoever takes the time to check out my work as that always hasn’t been the case. To this day, I still am appreciative of new followers who connect with my work, and send me a message etc, as I still am trying to learn how to get my work in front of new people.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

There are so many aspects of being an artist that are truly rewarding for me. For one, I feel very privileged and thankful to be able to make exactly what I want and typically having a buyer be interested. There is no greater feeling than being able to use my creativity and acquired skillset to make something that someone is interested in paying me hard earned money for. It’s always nice to be compensated for your work but that is not the MOST rewarding.

The most rewarding part for me is just the therapeutic feeling I get during long studio sessions, becoming super involved and hands on with the work. It has a way to relieve stress and allows me to fully dedicate my headspace to the work environment I’ve created. It honestly is the most enjoyable way for me to spend time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shopmawdoods.myshopify.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mawdoods/

Image Credits
@_zl98_