We were lucky to catch up with Rianolakas Mizathtelos recently and have shared our conversation below.
Rianolakas, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?
In a fast-paced world where time is not only commodified but taken for granted, I have found that a lot of people seem to expect things to be built overnight— like going viral is something that just happens for everyone, or that as if work and creation is as fast as the fingers that scroll past a flood of posts on social media. Things have become so fast, that I wonder if we even take time to notice our breath and thoughts during a creative process, or if they are automatic motions as we are expected to churn out products like machines to feed a commodified world. I was doing creative projects and drawing and creating with anything I could find even before I could remember, and always seeking more involvement and later how to possibly make a living from the work I consider to be sacred. Strangely, it was so natural to me, however in my life I had found an odd juxtaposition to my personal story with finally being able to start my creative career on my own terms— a dual aspect of hindrance, lack of support, denial, and even abuse if I dared to practice my creative crafts.
Long since having moved out and getting married, I had worked through enough trauma and understood what rifts that I previously thought was separating me from my true self— my creative self and the work that resulted from it—could heal, connect, and help others in kind as I may offer inspiration. I am 27 now, but each year melts quickly into each other especially with how fast social media is even now. In short, it is easy to talk about starting a collective or an art business of some kind, or even a gallery— but it often takes many years of building it brick by brick, and ensuring the foundation is solid. Otherwise, it tends to go down like a house of cards, constantly rebuilding each time—though I can still appreciate the instability, since it gave me a lot of depth to my collective experiences as a whole. However at 27 I can’t shake the feeling that I still feel like when I was 17 with my budding idea of starting an Etsy, or at times even at age 7 still finding new ways to express myself creatively, which can be viewed as a good thing but also with some resentment where I wish I could have started much sooner. I wish there was more support for young artists, especially if they might be going through their own adversities, as creativity has been a life line for me in terms of well-being but also for supplementing my livelihood, and of course meeting wonderful people.
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?
So going back to how I would describe myself as a freelance artist & occult enthusiast— I have always nurtured my curiosity and thirst for wisdom in learning about religions, anthropology, language, and various esoteric and occult philosophies and sciences. More personally, I would notice how between various eras and cultures may seem to draw parallel lines in their thinking, seeing a sort of perennial truth in how people all over the world might make of the world. Appreciating the wisdom and art that helped to inform the meanings behind the metaphysics when one may view Hindu art and statuary, or viewing Mesoamerican, or Chinese, European, and African perspectives have greatly impacted my worldview as well as my pool of collective inspiration for my art and my creative process. In turn, what I seek to offer by my art and craft is to continue that lineage of artists connecting viewers to these sublime concepts, to serve either as effigies of focus or iconography in a way, that adorns their sacred space with their deity or spirit of choice.
I take a certain pride within my work, to allow these divined spirits to speak through the creative mediums—however seems fit in the moment. Some feel like a full-body performance done in ecstatic dance for larger canvasses in one sitting, in a creative flow state, and some others feel like a metered meditation and scrying sessions spanning over months or years. Some personal projects have imagery of visions and dreams that I am still gestating and sitting on, as I learn more and more about what exactly there is to capture on the expression of brush upon canvas. I let whatever wants to manifest on the medium, and some of my most fulfilling moments come from what meaning the viewers may glean, sometimes things I couldn’t notice just from the creation process itself, as it connects personally to the commissioner. As for working with the mediums themselves, oils and thicker painting mediums are a joy to work with to capture texture and impression, as well as thinner washes obtained from more wet techniques with addition of mediums into acrylic and oil and of course watercolor and ink to explore ethereal impressions. Sculpting and three-dimensional work lends many perspectives on one form, allowing it to be very easy to directly depict the multi-faceted nature of the subjects. Even digital art, for all of the things previously impossible on mere canvas to be done in the distinct style that technology could only lend.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
As common as churches and convenience stores are, and as prevalent as stores for vices are, I think it would be a boon for any community to have creative centers and collectives and galleries that welcome in parts of their community and small time artist involvement—or even welcoming outsider artists in. In an ecosystem in any part or aspect of society regardless of background, affiliations, identities, age, etc.,— all can take part in a creative project that helps the whole community express collectively and connect with their own neighbors and form those meaningful relationships and see different perspectives. Besides these establishments being heavily present in the centers of cities, they can be sprinkled throughout other areas to make them more accessible so everyone can exercise their creative muscles. There could be a lot more in terms of events, but this would be a great start, I think.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Support can be a great thing to have, however I do value my experiences where I have continued to create and connect to other creatives despite any adversity that have presented themselves over the years. Even if other doors are all but open, we can still find ones that have rarely been opened, or even carving out a doorframe and fashioning a knob in order to open one completely new and unprecedented. What drives my resilience also drives my seeking for wisdom, and its creative expression. Often we are not as alone as we think, and all we need to do is merely start walking and we can already meet aligned creatives to collaborate with and seek support with.
Contact Info:
- Other: I am currently still deciding on which website to move all of my work to, but in the mean time I can be reached on most platforms under Rianolakas, and my INPRINT: https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/rianolakas/