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

Phillip, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

I am very happy that I have been blessed to have the talent to pursue this thing called art. I can also tell you that there is never a time that I have said I would rather pursue another occupation. This being because I had already retired from my work life when I started my new career in art.

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

I am a self-taught visual artist, born in Calgary Alberta, Canada. My very first recollections of art were from seeing my mother drawing these beautiful female caricatures on scrap pieces of paper when I was of pre-school age. I did study some basic art in high school, and considered a career in commercial art, but found it too restrictive creatively. Then as daily life and responsibilities of family and work consumed all my energy, art was forgotten. Most of my time was spent in Alberta and British Columbia,Canada, before making the move to Pasadena,California, where I now reside and have my studio. I believe that art should speak to issues such as social injustices, which would explain why many of my works reflect on the complexities of black life in North America. So even as memories either fade or history is taken away, l am trying to put on canvas a history that will not fade, while never forgetting the happy and melodic experiences along the journey. I also believe that I have been blessed with a God given gift that should be shared. I refer to my painting style as semi-surreal, not too surreal that it turns away the viewer that prefers realism, yet surreal enough, l hope, to prompt a second look that will evoke introspection and the awakening of dormant emotions in the viewer.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I believe my resilience has been shown on many occasions but the one that will always stand out in my mind is the one that start my journey back into art in the first place. It started when my sister had opened an old package that I had left in a closet at her place some twenty or more years prior. In the package was an old painting I had started but never finished. It was then that I decided to finish that painting. After I had finished that painting, it just seemed that I could not stop painting canvas after canvas were painted in a very short period of time. I started to ask myself, why am I painting like there is no tomorrow. It was a short time later that I found out the reason, this came with a diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s disease. I then knew that l must have subconsciously known that I had a limited time line to capture my memories on canvas. With this diagnosis came the news that I had possibly three years to live. I can call it resilience or a miracle but that diagnosis was just over ten years ago and I am still very much alive and painting my history.

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

I believe my mission as an artist is to try and help make art by black artists more accessible, accepted and valued.I would like to see more galleries and other venues open up to creatives of color, so that more people get to view the works of this under funded and under valued niche in the art world. I realize that there have been strides in the right direction but they are far too short. I do not believe that this problem exists among the artists themselves but among an elite group of curators and galleries that show and sell the works. So my goal is to see this situation rectified in my lifetime.

Contact Info:

• Website: theartofphilliprisby.com
• Instagram: Phillip Risby