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Transcript

SPSY feat. Stephen Yia · philly has heART

0:14
Hey, Lucinda. Hey, Robert. How's it going? Great.
0:17
Happy 4th of July. Happy belated 4th of July.
0:21
Yes. Feeling kind of melancholy about it this
0:23
year. Why? Why? Well, you know, we got a budget
0:27
passed. Doesn't have anything for the arts, but
0:30
we'll see. How was your 4th of July? What'd you
0:32
do? We got out of town. Nice. Yeah. Excellent.
0:36
Same. We left Thursday. came back monday 10 out
0:39
of 10 recommend coming back on the monday though
0:42
especially if you're driving right miss all the
0:44
traffic miss all the traffic unless you're find
0:47
yourself on the george washington bridge during
0:50
rush hour speaking for myself Yeah, I went to
0:56
Cape May for the weekend and had a great time.
0:59
It was packed down there. But at the same time,
1:01
like we left early Thursday morning to make it
1:04
there early enough to beat everybody else or
1:06
everybody else was already down there already.
1:08
I mean, I think a lot of people now are just
1:11
like hanging at the Jersey Shore all summer doing
1:14
that hybrid life. You know how I feel about the
1:18
Jersey Shore. It's not for everyone. It's not
1:21
for everyone. I've actually never been, but.
1:23
The connotation in my mind is forever going to
1:26
be 2009, Snooki getting clocked. At Gintan Laundry?
1:31
Yeah. Oh my, that is not my Jersey Shore. I believe
1:36
you, but I wish to go elsewhere. I will want
1:38
to shout out the small businesses, the wineries,
1:42
the entrepreneurs in these shore towns that are
1:46
also sharing art. using local artisans in their
1:52
shops because that's what people are going for.
1:55
You're going to get that touristy crowd coming
1:58
into town and wanting to buy up all of those
2:02
little things that remind them of the little
2:05
vacation that they got to take. It's always great
2:07
to see. Agreed. And I went to a New England town
2:12
that I'm not going to share because this I do
2:15
gatekeep. Gatekeeper. But there was an arts festival
2:20
that weekend. Wow. Oh, great. We went to the
2:25
beach a little bit. We brought the beach back
2:27
to the hotel with us as a family of four does.
2:34
A minor miracle, we managed not to bring any
2:37
sand into the hotel room, but that was only because
2:40
I was able to source the hotel hose and spray
2:44
the family down. Excellent. Those kids had never
2:48
slept better. Isn't that the best part? It's
2:50
the best part. I love a nap. Oh, yeah. Oh, so
2:53
many great naps. So many, like, post -beach naps.
2:56
Mm -hmm. They're the best. Okay, guys. Before
2:59
you get sleepy, on to the conversation. On to
3:02
the conversation. Greetings. This is Robert Marsh,
3:19
and you're listening to Philly Has Heart Podcast.
3:21
In this podcast, we sit down with artists. gallerists,
3:25
educators, curators, and other creatives who
3:28
comprise the Philadelphia art world to discuss
3:30
upcoming performances, exhibits, and other events
3:34
and initiatives that are not to be missed. The
3:38
art scene in Philadelphia is so rich that it
3:40
can seem daunting. Consider this your weekend
3:43
cultural recommendation. With me always is my
3:46
producer, Lucinda Dyreland. Hello, hello. And
3:50
today we have Stephen Ia. We're so happy to have
3:54
you today. Thank you for having me. It's so wonderful
3:56
to see you guys. Yes. We originally met Stephen
3:59
at Artish with Kelly and Kelly. Stephen was painting
4:04
during the event, but then also selling some
4:07
of your portfolio as well that evening. I myself
4:10
even purchased one that night, which is on my
4:14
walls already. Really? Love it. Absolutely love
4:17
it. It was so incredible to... go to Art -ish
4:23
to see art, number one, being made in person,
4:26
and then be able to speak with artists there.
4:31
You know, they're really making that the focus
4:35
each year as it grows. What was your experience
4:39
that night? My experience was beautiful, and
4:41
it was interesting to see how people responded
4:44
to you painting in real life. It's different
4:47
when you think. People are just walking by and
4:50
they're like, what is this kid doing? Why are
4:51
they kind of being weird? But no, it's like people
4:54
are very interested and very excited for another
4:56
person to just be painting and seeing that happen
4:59
in real time. When I was organized to come onto
5:02
Artish, they're asking. what would you like to
5:05
do? Like, what is something you want to do? I
5:07
said, I could possibly paint live, but it would
5:09
be my first time ever doing it. So it was a big
5:12
feat. Lots of nerves. You couldn't tell. I had
5:15
to tackle it, but it was the excitement just
5:16
took over and it was more excited. The nerves
5:18
were gone. Yeah. And it was just meeting people,
5:21
trying to show my art, this thing that like I
5:23
love doing just for the sake of having people
5:26
be inspired. How did you get connected? pulled
5:30
you into Artish? A lot of connections. First,
5:33
I started off with Aya Market. I don't know if
5:36
you guys ever heard. It's over in Fairmount,
5:38
Philly. They are like a jewelry store. My girlfriend
5:40
and I were there, and they were having one of
5:43
their first art markets in their secret garden.
5:46
So my girlfriend and I were browsing through
5:47
things, and then at the end, we find some art
5:50
pieces that we, like, jewelry pieces that we
5:52
liked. out of nowhere we're talking to the owner
5:54
and out of nowhere she's like oh so you know
5:57
how do you get involved into this whole art market
5:59
and she said well are you an artist and she said
6:01
no he is so from there Rachel and Val who are
6:05
the owners and co -owners of AYA they invited
6:08
me and I wanted to get my photography taken you
6:11
know doing it live it was like a very big moment
6:13
I invited this photographer at first and he said
6:17
yes But then I was so stupid. I was like, this
6:20
is such a big opportunity. My girlfriend and
6:22
I were talking about it. She was like, you know,
6:24
Steven, maybe you could just shoot the photography
6:26
yourself. Like you do have your own camera. You
6:28
do your own media. Okay, fine. So I denied him.
6:31
I told him no. And this is PJ. I don't know if
6:34
you've ever heard of PJ. He's a really big photographer
6:37
here, like food photographer. And okay, I denied
6:39
him. And I like for like a whole day straight,
6:42
I was like, this is the wrong, this is the wrong
6:43
decision. So I accepted PJ back in. And then
6:47
PJ gladly came, took my photos. The same day
6:50
he was like, Stephen, I love your art. Let's
6:52
go take photos of it in my studio. So the next
6:55
day we take photos and he's like, Stephen, let
6:58
me connect you with someone that I know that
7:00
knows about the Philadelphia Museum. And her
7:03
name is Sydney. And Sydney and I talked it out
7:06
like maybe like a week later. She said, let me
7:08
throw in your name. into i guess the pma and
7:12
she said i don't know if you'll get accepted
7:13
maybe a month or two go by i'm like oh well i
7:16
guess nothing's coming out of it and i get an
7:19
email from priscilla who's there organizing this
7:23
whole event and she said i'd love to meet with
7:25
you and talk to you about being one of the vendors
7:29
at artish or like you know exhibit your art at
7:31
artish that's how i met you guys boom oh my gosh
7:33
that's incredible it's been a really inspiring
7:36
time I don't show my media to anybody that was
7:40
my first time with Rachel and Val that was the
7:42
first time I showed somebody my art how I started
7:44
all of this is such a big story yeah let's get
7:47
into it oh yeah how'd you start I first want
7:50
to say that having adults great adults inspiring
7:53
adults in your life is just so important and
7:55
I'll start off with maybe just a few moments
7:57
when I was younger I remember one time in art
8:00
class and this was like second grade third grade
8:02
we were doing an objective which was like okay
8:04
foreground background I don't know. I forgot
8:06
how old that is in second grade. I'm like drawing
8:08
and I'm doing something I think I like love.
8:11
And out of nowhere, my teacher's like calling
8:13
me out to the whole entire class saying like,
8:15
this is not what you do. You don't do this. This
8:18
makes no sense. How is this bird so big here?
8:20
And then this house is over here being big. I
8:23
was like, oh my gosh, this is so degrading. I'm
8:25
a kid. I don't know what to do. I don't know
8:27
what to say. So I stay quiet. You know, confidence
8:29
just going, just plummeting slowly. Nose dive.
8:32
Nose dive. And so. then in like around third
8:35
grade fourth grade it was a time to be a part
8:38
of course i remember vividly showing up to the
8:41
door and looking through the window and seeing
8:42
like some of my friends there and i was like
8:45
oh i want to go in like this is where like i'm
8:47
supposed to take my moment i turn around I don't
8:50
show up. You know, your confidence at age is
8:52
just so important. Fast forward, in high school,
8:54
I started taking like iPhone videos. I was really
8:57
inspired to be able to do that. I love being
8:59
able to just watch people make cool videos. Like
9:01
back then, media there was so simple. You just
9:03
shot clips together. I love that. My graphic
9:06
designer teacher inspired me personally to be
9:08
able to be like, Stephen, I like what you do
9:10
on graphic design. Let's have it up. in the art
9:12
show in high school and so she was amazing she
9:15
was like a really big influence for me coming
9:17
college all these other friends that inspire
9:20
me to pick up the camera so it's like being a
9:24
big whole multimedia mixed media artist and everything
9:28
recently maybe two years ago i did art here and
9:32
there i did some in college but then i found
9:35
myself in like a very deep hole very deep dark
9:39
hole And I needed to figure that out. And so
9:43
I started, I put myself onto medications. It
9:46
was like a long process of putting myself onto
9:48
medications. I was actually, again, like talking
9:50
about more inspirations. I don't know if you've
9:52
heard of Rick Rubin. Yeah. Yeah. We're not that
9:56
old. So Rick Rubin was so big in the creative
10:02
space of being able to talk to other creatives
10:05
and pull out all of this. all this like massive
10:09
pieces out of them. I was listening to a podcast
10:11
from them and he was saying like, you know, his
10:14
journey through going on to medications because
10:17
he doesn't, he's like never done drugs, which
10:19
I tried to figure that out. Anyway, but so he
10:25
does that. And so I put myself on to medications
10:28
and for the whole entire year, I took painting
10:31
seriously. I picked up oil painting. I was like,
10:33
I don't know how to use oil paint. I'm going
10:35
to use, I used to use acrylic. Acrylic took way
10:38
too long to, it took, it was so fast to dry.
10:40
And so I picked up oil painting and every single
10:43
night I painted. I painted just this one flower
10:48
and through the course of this flower, it was
10:50
like dying. It was actually really funny because
10:52
of one of the last paintings I took of it was
10:54
one of the leaves looked like it was bowing.
10:56
And at that point, the flower looked like it
10:57
was bowing. And I was like, this is really cool.
11:00
So that whole entire year, I... I showed no one
11:04
my art except if like you were like my friend
11:05
or it was like a co -worker. So for that whole
11:08
entire year, I did art. That whole entire year
11:12
as well, I let go of more than half of my whole
11:16
friend group. So the hole got deeper. It turned
11:21
into a cave. It was just like, who am I in this?
11:24
And so as I did more of that art, I understood
11:27
oil painting. I understood what it was to be
11:30
painting and these emotions that are around me.
11:33
And so as I knew more about that, I knew more
11:35
about myself. I found out who I was and how important
11:40
it was for me to go through that whole journey
11:42
myself. And then it wasn't to any waste. I didn't
11:48
care if it was like, oh, I'm just going to throw
11:49
this in trash or just will never meet anybody.
11:52
But, you know, through connections and through
11:56
the right people, it... was seen by so many eyes
11:59
right and people are just like this is like so
12:02
wonderful that this is out here and I tell that
12:05
my to myself like almost every day this is so
12:07
fun yeah I don't do it you were filling that
12:09
hole with your art yeah it was beautiful yeah
12:12
no and so I I try my best to show other people
12:16
now but I still stay quiet about it like I'm
12:18
not just like oh yeah I'm an artist I love I
12:21
want to listen to what you do all this and this
12:23
is even like one of the opportunities where I'm
12:25
trying my best to be able to speak about myself
12:27
because there's most of the times where I'm like,
12:30
oh, wait, I'm talking too much. I should let
12:33
these people say something to me. But that's
12:36
how art has been. It's been a big journey of
12:38
like different mediums, different people and
12:43
emotions. And so now we're here. And I thought
12:48
this would just be a hobby. It's crazy how we've
12:53
talked to... number of different artists now
12:56
and they also yeah have just have just fallen
13:01
into it you know found it as an outlet found
13:04
it as a as a hobby to start with and then fell
13:07
in love with it one way or another and then took
13:11
different directions and found one that spoke
13:15
most to them or put it down for a while And then
13:19
picked it back up. And so it's great to see that
13:23
you're not limiting yourself to one medium. You're
13:28
exploring and continuing to try to find what's
13:32
inspiring for you as well as what your favorite
13:36
is going to end up being. Yeah. That's great.
13:39
So much. Such a big journey. Yes. Talking to
13:43
you guys, first podcast and just best experience,
13:46
you know? Yeah. going through all these experiences.
13:49
That's why I'm videoing myself, just trying to
13:51
be a different player in the YouTube space or
13:53
the media space. It's not, I'm trying to make
13:56
you brain rot and watch me do what I'm doing
13:58
every single day. Like my video, my objective
14:00
is to have people be like, oh, I'm watching this
14:02
video. But right now, like I'm inspired. Like
14:04
this kid is doing something. When I just dropped
14:06
the video, I'm going to watch it later. And,
14:09
but I'm going to pick up, I don't know, a brush
14:11
or a camera. Yeah. Just think like, first you
14:15
sharing your art. Then you're sharing your art
14:17
through this media as well. You're allowing other
14:23
new artists to then be able to show them that
14:26
there's a new path, right? That the second grader
14:30
who is told by an adult that they're drawing
14:33
is crap. That no, no, no. There are many different
14:37
artists that come at it in many different ways.
14:40
And this is a life that... can be meaningful
14:44
and fulfilled that's great yeah it is it's it's
14:49
lots of self -doubt in this whole entire space
14:51
yeah and having integrity and confidence through
14:55
all of it is so important yeah and so just being
14:58
able to know that it is possible as long as you
15:01
stick to you know who you are and what you feel
15:04
yeah you know anything is possible yeah um where
15:08
do you believe you're finding most of your inspiration
15:12
for your art now so funny enough i was listening
15:14
to one of the podcasts i heard that you think
15:17
monet might be overrated yes yes you called me
15:23
out yes yes so funny enough during that whole
15:28
entire year that i was like just in a deep dark
15:31
hole my girlfriend got me a membership to the
15:34
pma and i went every single weekend and i was
15:38
like I need to go here. I'm studying from these
15:41
artists. This is what I want to do. So I'm always
15:44
in the wing of like post -impressionist artists.
15:47
Going through these guided tours, hearing what
15:49
all these different people have to say. Every
15:51
person has a different thing to say. I'm like
15:53
going through these artists and I love Monet.
15:56
And I'm looking through it. I'm like, this makes
15:58
no sense to me right now. How is this look so
16:01
awesome? So I'm like hours in front of these
16:04
paintings, staring at them. and studying from
16:08
them. And so that's who's inspired me. Picasso,
16:11
Van Gogh, Monet. And then also the ones that
16:15
like when, you know, it's very academic type
16:18
of art, like you couldn't see a single paint
16:21
stroke. And I was just so amazed by like, how
16:25
do these people do this? So at some points I
16:27
was like copying or like I remember what when
16:30
I get back to my easel and like remembering what
16:32
I saw and I'm just like, like. imagining this
16:35
paint stroke or what it is to do that and so
16:38
even youtube videos so it was more or less not
16:41
painting what i think i saw it's what i actually
16:44
see so there's like everything is just a shape
16:46
everything is a shape in a different shade of
16:48
color there's colors that trick your mind right
16:52
where like if you look at a cloud and it's a
16:54
blue sky it might look like a gray cloud when
16:57
technically it's almost like a very dull blue
16:59
and so you know learning color theory through
17:03
even like All these other artists, it's like,
17:07
this makes sense now. Like, there's something
17:09
our eyes are doing and our brain is, you know,
17:12
having to comprehend. So these artists I learned
17:15
from in a very different sense of, like, a teacher
17:19
telling me. I'm, like, imagining also, I don't
17:21
know how weird this is to say, but, like, Monet
17:23
or, like, Van Gogh or all these people that I'm,
17:25
like, inspired by, like, just, like, looking
17:27
at my art or, like, critiquing it maybe a little
17:29
harshly or, like, they're like, no, this is good.
17:31
Keep going. Because, like I said, like, you know,
17:35
adults are so important. And, you know, I don't
17:37
think any of those, who knows, maybe Picasso.
17:40
Picasso might be like, this is absolute shit.
17:43
Or, like, you know, just these critiques. Steven,
17:48
outside of your art, what is your day -to -day
17:52
9 -to -5? My day -to -day 9 -to -5 is video editing.
17:55
I am a video editor for My Show Filmworks. And
17:59
we do a lot of, like, commercials, social media.
18:02
Lots of narrative stories, too, here and there.
18:05
We had one story. It's called Viet Lied. And
18:08
it was, like, Vietnam immigrants coming here.
18:11
It's, like, the whole story about that. It made
18:12
it into Jarbeca. Oh, wow. And so then that was,
18:15
like, maybe a year or two ago. And so now we
18:18
had Underdogs, which is about Vare Recreation
18:21
Center here in Philly. They, like, had to tear
18:24
it down, and then they rebuilt. And so we had
18:26
that whole entire story with, like... one of
18:28
the Eagles players. And so that was also a big
18:30
deal in Philly for a minute, too. Yeah. Yeah,
18:33
we do. I video edit. You get to do a little creative
18:35
at work as well. Yeah, it's a film. That's awesome.
18:39
Steven, do you have any upcoming projects or
18:42
exhibitions that are coming up? I do. I have
18:46
the I Am Market again in the second week. The
18:50
second Saturday of August. Okay. Not exactly
18:53
sure which date that is. I think that's, like,
18:56
the second or the ninth. Where can people find
18:57
you both online and in real life? In real life,
19:00
most likely from, like, another connection. Like,
19:04
I'm, like, again, like, not outwardly trying
19:07
to go for all of it, but it just ends up happening.
19:10
Yeah. In, like, social media, you can find me
19:13
in, like, Instagram, or by Sipsy, S -P -S -Y.
19:17
or YouTube right now, which is SPSY, or it should
19:21
be art by SPSY as well. We'll link it all in
19:24
the show notes. Okay, awesome. We're going to
19:26
close out with some rapid fire questions for
19:28
you. Awesome. Can you, if you could describe
19:31
the Philly art scene in one word? Inclusive.
19:37
Nice. Excellent. If you could pick one work of
19:40
art to have in your house, no limitations. What
19:44
would it be? Any Japanese footbridge that Monet
19:46
has ever painted. Wow. Cheese steaks with whiz
19:51
or without? With whiz. Nice. If you had to pick
19:54
one medium to work with for the rest of your
19:57
life, what would it be? It would be oil painting.
20:01
Beautiful. Favorite Philadelphia neighborhood?
20:04
It would be Fishtown. Nice. A Philadelphia -based
20:09
artist people are sleeping on? Scratch Williams.
20:13
I'll ink them. Favorite beverage at the moment?
20:17
Ooh, water, sparkling water. So setting the scene,
20:21
the PMA is on fire, but you have a superpower
20:24
to save one piece in the museum. What do you
20:30
save? The crucifixion of Jesus. It would be that,
20:33
especially for how old it is and the techniques
20:36
used for it. Yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you so much
20:39
for spending your time with us today. Thank you,
20:41
Stephen, so much for being here. Thank you guys
20:43
for having me. conversations and leads and talks
21:04
from our time at Artish. It was really a time
21:08
that artists and patrons were able to come together.
21:13
It was a really great event that I look forward
21:16
to every year that the art museum puts together.
21:19
I do wonder though, if they will do it again
21:23
next year because they are juggling a lot with
21:27
the 250. A year anniversary. Art -ish or having
21:33
artists come in? Art -ish. Because the art museum
21:37
has already postponed some of their other major
21:39
events because of how much they're juggling with
21:43
the 250th anniversary. Do you think we'll get
21:46
our public services back by then? Potentially.
21:50
Let's hope so. I read today that supervisors
21:55
are sleeping on cots to make sure that you have
21:58
fresh water in the city. I don't want to take
22:00
a side. I'll take a side. Okay. Pro -union town.
22:05
Okay, let's not get too political on here. I'm
22:08
not doing anything this weekend. I'm taking a
22:10
little vacation from my vacation. Nice. But we
22:14
have several gallery exhibition closures throughout
22:17
July, so prioritize these. Rob Wynn's Vents and
22:22
the Group Show Tea Party closes at Locke's Gallery
22:25
on July 11th. Dick Daddario's Abstraction in
22:29
Paint and Pots just opened at Muse Gallery for
22:32
the month of July. Cecilia Paredes, By My Side
22:36
or Back of Me at the Print Center. Katie Hugnell,
22:39
The Longest Distance Between Two Points at the
22:42
Museum for Art and Wood. And Da Vinci Art Alliance
22:45
just opened two shows, Imaginary Portals, Poetics
22:49
of Space, which is the summer member exhibition,
22:52
and Nature, We Are of It, a solo exhibition by
22:55
Gloria Klayman, just opened and will also be
22:59
closing on July 20th. John Poblador's Chapel
23:03
of Color is ongoing at Bridget Meyer Gallery
23:06
until the beginning of August. H. Doyle's Spray
23:10
Therapy is ongoing at Works on Paper Gallery
23:13
until the end of August. Tickets to Ballet X
23:17
Summer Series are on sale for July 16th through
23:21
the 20th. Subscriptions for Philadelphia Theatre
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Company, Ballet X, Opera Philadelphia, Ensemble
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Arts, and Philadelphia Ballet are all available.
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On that note, Philadelphia Ballet has a matching
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gift opportunity at the moment. An anonymous
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donor has pledged to match all new gifts to the
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annual fund by July 31st, which is just a great
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way to maximize your impact if you've ever considered
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making a gift. Let's make them poor! Yeah. We
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are linking to the support page in the show notes.
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And with that, Philly has heart. And heart! Japanese
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footbridge that Monet has ever painted. Wow.
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Beautiful. Is that okay with you, Robert? Just
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kidding. Yeah, it's perfectly fine. I'll let
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it slide. Thank you. He's a beautiful artist,
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okay? And I don't blame you two others. I mean,
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I can see where it's like, oh, this is just beautiful
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art. It is. It is. It's just like, you're looking
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at it, but where's the other objective of saying
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something with a narrative? Yes. There's that.
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Levels. Yes. Like, how many times did he have
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to stand by this pond? How many freaking water
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lilies were there? Okay, moving on. Yes.