Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do.
I am a professional skateboarder and artist. I majored in photography at Pratt, but after I graduated it became too expensive to continue my darkroom practice, so I shifted more into making functional furniture objects and sculpture. I worked for the artist Sara Vanderbeek as a studio assistant/fabricator for several years which is where I was introduced to mold making. Eventually, I started making my own concrete mold projects on the side.

I work mainly with concrete and found materials. I use a lot of standard building supplies that I try to harvest from the trash area of our studio building. I also find a lot of metal pieces and objects on the ground throughout the city. I try not to buy any materials unless I absolutely have to. There is a lot of set design studios in our building so there is always a lot of materials to be found in the garbage. I like the idea of recycling the industrial scrap that is abundant in NYC. I also want to give these objects another life instead of just being left to rust as trash on the ground and eventually get washed into the ocean.

How were you introduced to the mediums that you work with?
I was introduced to building through skateboarding. I learned how to make things out of wood by building ramps and whatnot in my driveway. I was always intrigued with concrete because of skateboarding and skateparks and one day I finally just bought some and tried to build a quarter pipe. Then started making concrete molds for skate objects and pool coping etc. and then sort of at the same time started some sculptural concrete mold-making stuff.

Are there any core influences to the work you do?
Everything around me in the natural and manmade world are influences. I draw a lot of inspiration from variations in the ground and objects that I find. Everything I see on the ground and weird shitty repair jobs throughout the city and world all speak to me.  I’m interested in the way things are put together and how their material and texture relate to each other; Sometimes so elegantly, and sometimes so shoddy. I love the way that the natural world is reflected in our infrastructure. I also go to museums whenever I can, I really like huge sweeping museums like Dia:Beacon and looking through art books.

Your work often incorporates found objects. When you are sourcing material for your work, is there something in particular that you’re drawn to? At what point does the object itself influence the composition of the work?
I’m mostly drawn to metal objects and things that once served a structural purpose.  I like the idea of giving them a new life and purpose. Structural components often reflect shapes of the body and nature which I play off of depending on the objects and textures.  Certain pieces on the ground just call out to me to pick them up haha. I originally was collecting pieces to photograph them, and I used to pick up a lot crap all the time. I try to be more picky now with what I actually take home, since I’ve accumulated so much trash at the studio. Sometimes I’ll start with an idea or a sketch and choose pieces that work with it. Sometimes the found object is main inspiration and I will just build around that actual object.

Is there a moment you look back on as being formative to your identity as an artist/creative person?
I fell like formative moments happen throughout the years, and each one is important in different ways. The moment I got sucked into black and white photography in high school changed my trajectory completely. Then discovering certain aspects and distinctions about light, time, and motion gave me a clear artistic vision while I was at Pratt. Working for an artist, and becoming a fabricator led me further down the path of making sculptures, but my original sculptures were all based on photographs that I took. Every day when skateboarding there can be a certain moment when something causes the idea to click into place, and I realize how to utilize the spot or what it wants from me.

How does your community in New York today compare to the one you had there when you were younger?
I have a lot more friends now after living here for 18 years and going to school here.  There weren’t many skaters here when I first moved, and the idea of being a pro skater never crossed my mind in a serious way. I was mostly focusing on school and then I was working constantly. Eventually, we developed a little more serious skate crew that was working on filming videos for fun. I feel extremely lucky that my friends and I are able to make a living doing something we love to do. That’s not to say it’s easy, but I am very grateful to even get this opportunity for any amount of time. I feel like I’ve had 3 separate lifetimes here already, and now it continues.

What was it like to build out the Sideyard? What was it, and how did what you make there influence how you sculpt? What was the community like that used that space? Any memories from there that especially linger with you?
Building the Sideyard was Insane! We lived in a building with fake landlords, no heat, carbon monoxide poisoning, and a dilapidated “sideyard” that people would dump trash in every night.   I always wanted to build a concrete quartepipe so one day my roommate and I piled up some trash and went for it with no idea what we were doing.  After the landlords were unphased by this first quarter pipe I decided to start expanding.  The whole place was built on top of trash, logs, and junk that appeared in the yard.  It probably took about a year and half from the first quarerpipe to when it was a complete bowl.  It was “skateable” at all times, but it was extremely difficult, and the learning curve of working with concrete was very evident towards the end once I actually figured out what I was doing. I also could not have done it without the help of so many friends, and I’m thankful for all the support and experiences that building it brought to us.

I started sculpting and working on the Sideyard around the same time, so they were kind of evolving together. I was learning about concrete and making molds and just experimenting. It didn’t matter if I did something wrong. I would either go over the top of it, smash it out, or just continue adding to it. It was fun to have no consequences with the results because my job at the time was fabricating super specific, clean, perfect sculptures and objects.

Some of the best memories are the “Annual Memorial Day Disaster” party that we had for several years. Climbing the billboard at night. The best was coming home after a long day at work and being all exhausted but then seeing some commotion in the yard. I would get home and there would be full-on session with a bunch of friends and it would turn the whole day around.

Describe your current studio or workspace. Do you have any rituals or habits when you get there?
I have a spot in a large shared studio space in Bed-Stuy. I have been in the same space for over ten years now and it has gone through many different iterations and people. Right now, we have 8 people total and a small communal woodshop zone. I don’t really have any rituals, but I try to stop by there every day, even if I’m not actually working on anything. It is nice to be there and take a look at everything and see my studio mates. Maybe I’ll get some new ideas or work on some ongoing pieces or just let them marinate for a bit.

You’re good friends with the folks at Skate Jawn. Have you seen life shift for an independent publication since the early 2010s? Instagram seems like it has a strong capture of skate media, but magazines and photo books have always been a pillar for the community.
Skate Jawn will always be respected as an East Coast zine. It’s been a free print magazine for over 13 years, and that is no easy task. It’s definitely a struggle, but they have been expanding over the years and it seems like there is a lot more money in skateboarding now than several years ago. It’s really important and special for kids to see and be able to hold a physical skate magazine, especially these days. It’s more interactive than the internet or a phone.  You can look through it with friends, tear pages out, draw on it, give it to someone else, anything. When I was growing up we waited for the new issues of magazines with so much anticipation.  It was so exciting when you got to see a new issue and it still is today.

You were a part of the group that started Limosine Skateboards. How did the group form and are there any traits that are shared among the group?
We all started Limosine because 917 felt like it had reached a stagnant point. A couple people had already quit the team and everyone was kind of burnt out on it. It was not anything personal with Alex we just wanted to do more. More trips, more projects, etc., and at that point 917 wasn’t doing much.

Cyrus, Aaron, and Logan had the idea to start our own thing and then we could do whatever we wanted and not have to rely on someone else to make things happen. It’s really just a group of friends who love skating and being together. The whole team is very organic, it’s all friends. There aren’t any random people on the team, it had to just take shape naturally. I think everyone has a unique creative style, and really strong drive and work ethic.

What do you collect?
Mostly I collect metallic trash objects that I find on the ground to use in sculptures and take up valuable space in my studio haha. I was collecting VHS tapes, but I’m kind of on a hiatus from that now. Now I’m collecting photobooth strips and Art books

 

 

Interview conducted by Luca Lotruglio.