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

Tony, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The most meaningful project I feel I’ve worked on thus far was a small collection of works titled “Silent Screams”. The Silent Screams project detailed the feeling of overwhelm, anxiety, and alarm that is caused by the surplus of stimuli from a world that is faster paced than we are evolved to handle. This concept is very important to me as I feel it is deeply felt by myself on a constant basis and I feel it is harming most people without their knowledge.

This project felt very special to me because it was the first time I’d asked friends and peers for help and advice in working on my proposal. The range of feedback I received was very insightful and it really helped to push me in developing my concept, the work, and my understanding of art in general.

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

I fell into being a painter after a hiatus from playing music as my creative pursuit. I had a handful of friends who are painters, artists, and collectors, and when I started painting as a hobby, they were very complimentary and encouraging. I decided to pursue the craft more seriously when I realized I didn’t want to do much of anything besides paint for hours on end. I thought it was out of character for me to do visual art, but looking back on my life I’ve always experimented with visual art through web design, band merchandise, and eclectic interior decor work. It turned out that it was only fear that was preventing me from creating.

Drawing on deep interests in psychology, philosophy, and politics, my work centers on the exploration of emotional reaction and response. Merging the realms of abstract and figurative painting, I use a wide variety of mixed media, with an emphasis on oil paint, to create colorful and visceral works of art. My paintings are intended to create a response within the viewer and to provide a space for the viewer to explore one’s own thoughts and understand themselves on a deeper level.

My paintings are evolving explorations into the possibilities of the materials available, using tools and techniques to create movement and texture though layers of paint. The imagery in my work is a combination of memory, imagination, found images, and experimentation. My paintings are unmistakably loud and pay homage to the experimental work of artistic predecessors, past and present.

I am very proud of having created a distinct and recognizable style for myself. The themes are always evolving and I incorporate new techniques, but I always maintain a thread of visual elements to tie my work together.

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

I find the most rewarding part of an artist is the ability to move through and understand difficult emotions and thoughts by creating. If I am challenged by something that happens, or that triggers strong emotions, the first thing I want to do is paint it. It is an outlet for my compulsion. I really enjoy the immediacy of paint. When I was a songwriter, it would take weeks to produce a result if working with other musicians.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

NFT’s are, to me, comical, and the evidence of the death of culture in the real world. They can be shrouded in trickery of technique, and may not even be authentically the intellectual property of the creator. It is dangerous to creators and collectors alike in that there is no true substance to them. The commodification of nonexistent goods breeds a place for our dopamine saturated, instant gratification seeking, and ADHD afflicted culture to thrive. I am constantly solicited by modern-day “telemarketers” that are scammers trying to take money from unsuspecting young artists on social media. I don’t know if it will stick around, it has benefited plenty of digital artists, but it doesn’t feel like a positive on the whole to me.

Contact Info:

• Website: tonyartemisia.com
• Instagram: tonyartemisia