We recently connected with Travis Trium Perfectum and have shared our conversation below.

Travis, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Art is risk. There’s a certain liability when you allow an audience to look inside who you are and what you do; you immediately pay a price. I believe that price is always worth it though, whether it be a negative or a positive one. To me, the final piece of the art puzzle is reaction. I feel anything between complete hatred and love is a failure. Being honest with yourself and how you want your ideas viewed is something I have never taken lightly. It’s the only true freedom I have ever felt and I fell in love with it long ago. It’s not the corporate bullshit “freedom” tagline we slap on our country and masquerade around. The danger and hazards that come with complete freedom border on arousal for me. Anything is possible, anything can happen. I don’t limit what I do to a specific medium. From poetry to charcoal and pastel and from writing musical compositions to video installations, I let my thoughts dictate to me what is necessary to render my work into something tangible in this reality. You control how your ideas are translated, but the reaction to those ideas is always a surprise. I don’t even think much about the risk in what I do anymore because I’ve always done it. There’s social risk, financial risk and the most valuable risk of all, your time. Capitalism in general forces us to trade our time and labor for money and our passions get destroyed. I try to live outside of that as much as possible and create things because I want to and very often need to. I feel like it is my duty to continue to explore the human condition and disrupt this reality in any way that I can with my creative style, conceptual continuity and a hammerblow for good measure. I revel in that.

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

It’s weird because my work has such a wide creative spectrum with different mediums yet still feels very concise. Anyone who has followed my art knows that I have a deep affinity for contrast and juxtaposition, so I guess that is just natural for me. I think I’m ultimately infatuated with the human condition and the differences in which we handle similar issues. I like to speak for things that haven’t been adequately spoken for yet. The human condition is vast and certain feelings are fleeting. My aim is to capture those whether through writing, drawing, video, poetry or all in combination. I think I’ve always been inspired by those less talked about bleak moments of this existence. Ones that we are faced with daily, but almost never talked about openly. I think accepting this life for what it is can lead to a healthier mindset overall. I like to create surreal and almost fever dream-like visuals with a message. To expose ideals that many hold dear and spin them around – make people view them differently. The things people hold tight are usually ugly to me and I like to make sure they know that. I hate the idea of something being “sacred.” Nothing is above criticism and scrutiny and when it is, or protected as so, that’s usually a great indication that something is really wrong with it. Art is where I inject blasphemy and spit in the face of these ideals. Beyond the drawings and poetry I have created, which I am very proud of, I think I am at my most powerful when I mix all the mediums that I am fond of together through an immersive video installation experience. At my yearly solo exhibition I always debut a new installation piece alongside my wall art, which has become an exciting element of the show. When I write a spoken word musical composition, bring my drawings to life through video and create tangible objects and props that the viewer can interact with, it’s truly enveloping. To me, that’s what art is all about. Creating your world and allowing others to interact with it especially when they’re a little reluctant. That’s an experience and that’s something they’ll take with them. Art should pull people out of their comfort zones and based on some of the reactions to my work, I’d say I’ve had some success in that.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

There’s no ladder and there’s no formula for “success.” You have to let go of societal norms or you will struggle even more. It’s truly chaos and for some that’s frightening and for others they feel at home. I’m definitely the latter. Being an artist is a war of attrition. It will wear you down, whether it be from your own workload of ideas or trying to keep rent and life paid for. I love the sacrifice for it and in getting worn down, I have always viewed myself as a tool being sharpened. Yes, you have lost pieces of yourself along the way, but you are sharper now and more devastating. More dangerous. You better f*cking love it or you will have a very, very bad time. When the public finally sees an art piece, you have to realize the resiliency and damage the artist sustained in getting that to you. Some of my installation works were six months of work from concept to creation, not even to mention the decades of experience that allowed me the skill and ability to complete it. Art is suffering for what you love. It’s thriving in chaos. It’s the human condition on fire and it’s necessary.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

In creating the way I do, I sometimes feel like an onlooker to society and create statements based on what I see. In the end, I seem to learn more about myself though. I just really think exploring and translating the human condition is fascinating. The good and bad can easily switch places based upon perspective. I don’t think I ever have a direct goal in mind. Each piece is different and there are little victories along the way, but I guess I don’t view this as a goal, but more of an experience. Yes, I push myself to be at a certain caliber within what I do, but you have to allow yourself the freedom to be very raw with your attempts. To allow “mistakes” to happen as those can be the most poignant parts of a piece. There’s a special dichotomy in that and I like to bring that into focus. Also, you just can’t be afraid to say what you deem important no matter the backlash or outcome. Artists disrupt and that’s something I will always believe in.

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