We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Zac Lassen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Zac, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I’ve always been into drawing & painting for as long as I can remember. As a kid, it was a real thrill to visit the St. Louis Art Museum with my grandma and encouraged me to start making art. We all have things that draw us in closer to make us want to participate and that was it for me. I studied Animation and design in college so it’s always been with me and directed where I should go.
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?
I am a figurative oil painter specializing in portraiture and currently working on an upcoming show for 2023. Over the years, my interest in realism faded and am more focused on motion and capturing moments like a memory. My favorite projects are rendering people how they want to be remembered or how they remember someone who has passed on. This can sometimes be very somber or lighthearted. I guess I just see the world as a movie that keeps replaying over and over again. If you would like to see more of my work or contact me my website is www.ZacLassen.com and my instagram is @ZacLassenArt.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Resilience seems like a strong word, I still feel like I break apart sometimes in this industry. There were many days and nights not being able to afford rent or food even while working full-time and painting. 2020 certainly was not a fond year for me after losing my relationship, house, job, and a couple family members but, if anything, it was a year for internal growth. I really connected deeper with my friends and family I had around me and just took the time to reflect on who I wanted to be and the kind of life I wanted. A few years ago, I threw out both my shoulders making it so I couldn’t paint properly for months and I was quite upset about it at the time but, looking back on it, it’s kind of funny and places things in perspective for me on what I currently have and to never take for granted what’s in the moment.
Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?
I think they’re neat, I haven’t really utilized them yet and I still feel like their true potential has yet to be tapped. Maybe that will be something I invest in next summer, who knows?
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Image Credits
Zac Lassen