We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tory DiPietro. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tory below.
Tory , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I knew when I was a little girl by four years old that I wanted to be an artist however I never believed I could and it took a lifetime of working regular jobs, being really unhappy and struggling to decide that if things were going to be hard and I was going to struggle, I may as well do that chasing my dreams. Fortunately for me once I took the leap the cards really flew into place a lot quicker and with much more ease than I ever imagined they would or could
Tory , 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?
My name is Tory Di Pietro and I am a neon multimedia artist based out of Venice Beach Los Angeles. I am best known for my public art installation “Light at The End of The Tunnel – Heart of Los Angeles” on the Third Street tunnel in downtown LA
I began working with my medium and as a professional artist in 2017 after believing all my life that being an artist was an unrealistic unreasonable goal for me. I grew up under unconventional circumstances and through a great deal of hardship. My father grew and sold marijuana long before legalization and passed away of a drug overdose when I was just 15. I came from a broken home, never went to college, did not have a trust fund or the money most people who make their way into the arts have. I built my entire career from nothing and a large part of my goal in all of this is to show others like me that they can do the same and defy the odds life sets against them.
I have sold over 250 original works all around the world and my art has been my full time job since 2018.
My work stands apart from others because of the content and because of my background. I often make bold works centered around social injustice, inequality, and kindness.
I work with light as my medium greatly for its healing properties. Around the same time I began my work with neon I also began my journey of healing a lifetime of trauma on my own after years of failed therapy and other traditional treatments. My journey led me to find the healing properties of light, sound, somatic exercise and other holistic means address my personal struggles and I incorporate those elements into my work while also being open with my personal battles and story which has allowed followers and collectors to relate to me and get to know me on a deeper level than many other artist.
My public art installation was an artist initiated project that I spent two years along side my producer Adolfo Nodal former head of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs, to clear city approval and raise over 200,000 dollars to build and install the project and also shared that entire journey through my social media.
I basically represent the underdogs and I hope that my work and career can serve as an inspiration and proof for others who come from similar backgrounds. I want children to see my rainbow on that tunnel and know that an ordinary girl from LA created that, and through that believe that they can achieve giant goals too.
Everything I do and create is done with great intention and heart and I believe that is also what often sets me a part from the rest
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I love the question of what lesson I had to unlearn to get here because my entire story is one of unlearning. I believe that we are all born into this world with beaming hearts and endless belief in possibility and as we grow and experience life the hardships and constructs of the world really suffocate most of that out of us. I had to unlearn pretty much everything life taught me about myself. That my financial means set the bar for what I was capable of, that not going to art school or college or having a trust fund made being an artist impossible for me. I had to unlearn what society teaches us success looks like and redefine all that for myself. But most importantly I had to unlearn fear and learn to have faith. Faith that we are not born into this world to suffer and struggle and just work jobs that get us by and provide benefits and do nothing for our souls. I had to learn to believe in myself and my dreams even though most of the world we live in says thats stupid or unrealistic.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspects of my career are watching my growth over time and getting feed back and messages from others with similar backgrounds who have shared with me how I have inspired them to believe in their dreams and found hope and possibility through following my story. And of course knowing my art is shining in the middle of the city on 100 year old tunnel for all to see. Living through so much hardship and living so much of my life believing that I was just here to exist and somehow turning that all around and building this magical career with tremendous accomplishments and being able to inspire others to reach for dreams they long put on a shelf will never be anything less than miraculous to me and I am deeply grateful to have found this place in the world and to know I have done it through art that I have imagined and created out of thin air its just really beautiful. Prior to leaping to chase this dream I suffered profoundly with depression. I even attempted suicide more than once, and to be here in this place where I have so much to live for, it is just more than I ever expected for myself.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.torydipietro.com
- Instagram: @torydipietro
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tory.ann.7/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tory-di-pietro-20238a246_art-losangeles-publicart-activity-6956031098111897600-vI_e
- Twitter: @torydipietro
Image Credits
photo of me in tunnel is taken by Gary Leonard