We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Psilo Sage a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Psilo, appreciate you joining us today. Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?
Being an artist of multiple mediums, I often deal with this issue of being misunderstood or mischaracterized. Understandably, humans tend to want to put other people into an organized group or label them as one particular thing. The truth is, however; that most of us are complex and tend to have more than one way of expressing ourselves. Luckily I never fell into this idea of limiting myself to only one craft. As the saying goes, “A Jack of All Trades is a Master of None, but Oftentimes better than a Master of One.” Unfortunately many people only tend to remember the first half of this quote, and end up doing exactly that: mastering only one trade or craft. This leads them into being quite limited in their skill and perspective. As a complete artist, I have always naturally balanced my paintings (visual art) with music (audio art) and even tend to blend the two mediums into one united project. This is why “PsiloSage” is not only my artistic name, it is also my title & trade as well. To me being a “PsiloSage” is being a person who combines multiple mediums of expression into one multifaceted expression of life.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I started making art as PsiloSage around 2012-2013. Since then, it has grown into a lifestyle that involves multiple mediums of expression including music, paintings, clothing, video games, and philosophy. It began with a symmetric style of painting that uses both hands to paint at the same time while trying not to think too much about what you are doing. That later echoed into the music I was creating, where I would freestyle from the unconscious without forcing anything. I try to be organic with whatever it is that I am creating. Only involving the ego or conscious mind when absolutely necessary, if at all. Lately, I have been releasing Singles on streaming services that reflect a more polished style but even those are freestyles off the top without thinking. I recently released a project titled “PsiloBobSagePants” and also have another project titled “Authentic Psilo” which will be releasing on New Years Eve to end the year off right!
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
The main goal is to continuously improve upon myself and to keep evolving as an artistic individual. As well as trying to advance the human race however possible. That’s really what it’s all about. By focusing on that, along the way you end up inspiring others. When everyone feels comfortable in their own skin and is able to fully express themselves without fear of judgement then I think we are on the right track. I often look into my inner vision of the future for inspiration, as well as the past whether it be my childhood, or wisdom that was left behind from ancient cultures.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
It really started with Instagram for me, although earlier social media like Tumblr and Myspace definitely played a role. I was really just constantly sharing my art, no matter the quality or the time it took to make it. I always felt like the scribbles I created in 30 seconds should be treated with the same amount of respect as the projects I created over the course of 3 months. When Instagram first started it wasn’t about having the highest quality, it wasn’t about looking like a celebrity or a model; it was about sharing what you felt represented you personally. Early on I was really just flooding Instagram with my artwork and created #PSILOSAGE to bridge them all together. I didn’t see art as a way to make money; instead I saw it more like an alternative to the English language which seemed very limited at expressing the feelings and ideas I was attempting to share with others. Over time this naturally began to gather likeminded individuals to my page which turned into the “PsiloSpace” community. My advice to anyone just starting to build their social media presence would be to just keep posting, authentically, and not to get too caught up in all these trends nowadays that claim to help with engagement. It may work in the short-term, but after a while you may lose sense of who you are or why you are even doing this in the first place.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://psilostreetwear.bigcartel.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/psilosage/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PsiloStranger/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/BasedLazerynth
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PsiloSage