Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to SEK. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi SEK, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally was when I was 19/20. I had been running a gallery in my home town with some friends that was, by some odd chance, passed on to us. I originally saw the space as a place where My friends and I could hang out and paint and use the space as a way to host events and, as any 19 year old with a chaotic background growing up where I did, throw parties/raves with friends. During the day we operated as an art gallery community space and at night it was a studio/skate park hang out. I really hadnt thought about pursuing a career in art at all until a couple that happened to stop by when we were open during business hours saw one of my pieces hanging on a wall and had approached me to buy it. I had declined the offer because i really didnt know anything about selling art and a part of me was not ready to part with the piece. But , insisting that they really loved and wanted it, they kept making me a bigger and bigger offer to buy the piece of art. It was at that moment that it hit me ” I could be making a living doing this”. After that, my entire perspective and focus shifted on exploring the world of art ( in galleries) , growing a career and earn a living out of what I did creatively.
SEK, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
As a kid growing up, I got into painting via graffiti. Thats how my passion grew for art and painting. Its still a big part of my life and my craft/practice. But As I mentioned before, I got into the art/creative industry by helping run a gallery that had opened up as a pop up in my home town of Lincoln Heights. Originally the gallery was supposed to be open for 2 weeks and then it was moving on to another location. The space/building it was in was just being borrowed for the pop up. My friends and I happened to stumble in one day on a walk and the person running the space at the time had offered us paint and canvas to paint on. to be honest, I felt like he did it because we were not the loveliest bunch of kids to come across and deal with. We definitely mad our presence known when we walked in and we were weary about the space because we had never seen anything like it popping up in our home town. But, nonetheless, we took him up on his offer and we hung around all day painting. We returned every day after that and kept bringing more and more friends. It eventually consisted of 20 kids just showing up every day as soon to hang out and paint there. Where the materials were coming from, we didnt care to ask, we just went along with it. Eventually, the two weeks were up, and the gallery had to pack up and move on. But my friends and I didnt it want it to end. So, after convincing the person running the space to give us the building owners contact info, we set up an appointment with the owner to try and convince him to let my friends and I continue to run the space going forward. Showing up the meeting bright and early one day, the owner met us at the location and by the owners facial expression as he walked in the room, I dont think he was expecting to see my friends and I let alone expected that we would be the ones asking to keep the space going. He almost immediately, after hearing us out, said no. But I wasn’t ready to just walk away. We had a long conversation and I spoke my mind about how I felt about the space and situation, give it, it was in a way he definitely did not agree with the way I expressed my self, but he listened to me talk, and replied with “Give me until Monday to think about it”. Nervous, anxious and anticipating the worst, I got a call Monday morning and he said ” We need to set ground rules.Come pick up the keys”. Thats kind of where my gallery artist career started.
As I’ve grown as a creative, the creative works i provide for my collectors, supporters and friends are not just limited to painting on a canvas but sculpture work, digital 3D renderings and writings as well. I’ve always loved learning new things. Given, not in the traditional institutional way, but at my own pace and in my own way. I’ve always had this innate curiosity and habit of asking questions on subjects or things that I’ve wanted to learn how to do on my own. I was also a quick learner.
What sets me apart from others? Hmmmm… thats an odd question for me because, when it comes to what I do creatively, I dont really spend too much time thinking about others or comparing myself. I just kind of lock my self in and work haha. But, if I am to think about it, I think what sets me apart from others is my will to be DIY in what I do. That includes the PR and Business side of the creative process. I love the art world, my collectors, my peers and everyone that I work with, but if you ask them, I tend to be, as some of my close collaborators and collectors would put it, ” The boy that no one owns”.
I tend to have a vision when it comes to creating, planning, executing and displaying and I do what ever it takes to make sure that vision of it stays as true and accurate to the feeling and message I want to deliver and display. You can tell me “no” or ” its not possible” and I’ll just find a way to do it myself on my own terms. And if I cant, I dont take a loss from it, I take a lesson.
My persistence to stay authentic and true to myself and my work has always put me in the most insane situations and conversations, and I may not always get what I want out of it, but has always seemed like it has set me apart from others.
I think Im most proud of being able to navigate through the art world and being able to have established my self as an artist (and a known one at that, to my surprise) on my own terms and as an individual. I am proud to both have been able to work and collaborate with so many amazing galleries and companies and create amazing experiences and to still be able to create work and experiences on my own and make a living out of it. And Im absolutely proud that, even though it was insanely disheartening, crushing and hard at times, I’ve been able to say no or accept that somethings, as good and rewarding as they may seem in the moment, were not for me. Which in turn has made it so that no outside factor can dictate my worth or my relevancy or what kind of creative I am in and out of the art world. I think its what has kept me and allowed me to maintain my presence and exist in the graffiti world as well as allowed me to grow and exist in the gallery art world.
As far as what I want my potentials clients/ followers/ supporters to know about me…. well… Im still growing. As a human and a creative. And I have more work, thoughts, Ideas and perspectives left in me to express. Some of you will relate to it. Some of you wont. And others will completely reject it. Thats ok. Which ever way you feel about it, all of it, it is valid. Bare with me.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Well, of this, theres a few ( hahaha ). But one I really remember is the time I was 24 and I had gotten arrested for vandalism. Now, I’ve been arrested a few times before this, but this one was definitely a pivotal point for my life and career. I had just done a big event with red bull as one of their featured artist thanks to my brother Gregory Siff, who is an amazing artist and creative and an even more insanely amazing and brilliant human being!. And a few weeks after the big show, I was out in the streets painting. I had gotten caught in the act and they arrested me and they had taken me in because of prior offenses and a warrant for my arrest. I remember laying in the cell, with toilet paper as my pillow, just looking up at the ceiling contemplating my life.
Now, at the time, even though I had done a big gig with red bull, I was still broke as broke could be, because at that time i didnt know any better and did things for little amounts of money and “exposure”. I was also couch surfing and roaming and I didnt have a stable job. My friends and family were on me consistently about getting my act together and going back to school to get a “real job”. And laying in that cell after getting arrested for the same reason that I was able to even become known or recognized as an artist and having all these things weighing over me, all I could think to myself was ” You’re about to be 25. Its not too late get your shit together, go back to school, get a job in something that pays well. Or you could keep going down this rabbit hole and see this thing through.” A big part of me was set to start getting my life together after I got out and just try to live a more normal lifestyle. But when I got released and they returned my belongings, I walked out of the building and looked up at the sky and said “F*** it… theres no going back now…” and went straight home to paint. I think that was the day that I fully accepted the consequences to my actions. I was determined to make them worth a life of my own that was worth living.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Yes , there is a goal. That is simply to leave bits and pieces of me behind that will out live me. I know I would live forever. But my thoughts, Ideas, words, actions and story just might. And I aim to do that in some way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sek-cess.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sekcess/?hl=en
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealSEKcess