Artist Decoded by Yoshino

Christine Kuan is President & Executive Director of Creative Capital, a nonprofit grantmaking organization funding artists creating experimental and groundbreaking new work in the visual arts, performing arts, film, technology, literature, socially engaged, and multidisciplinary forms. Before joining Creative Capital, Kuan was CEO & Director of Sotheby's Institute of Art, and held roles as Chief Curator & Director of Strategic Partnerships at Artsy, Chief Curatorial Officer & VP for External Affairs at Artstor, and Editor-in-Chief of Oxford Art Online/Grove Art Online at Oxford University Press. She has also worked at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and taught at the University of Iowa, Peking University, Rutgers University, and Stanford University Arts Leadership program. Kuan holds an MFA in Creative Writing Poetry from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop and a BA in Art History and English Literature from Rutgers University. Topics Discussed In This Episode:

• Intuition (0:09:49)
• How Creative Capital fosters the careers of multi-disciplinary artists (00:13:43)
• How Creative Capital supports diversity and equality within the arts (00:16:30)
• How Creative Capital is often the first organization to fund artists (00:21:18)
• The "Wild Futures" grant cycle (00:22:23)
• Jordan Weber's "4 MX" project (00:25:11)
• Early funded projects including Lynn Hershman Leeson's "Women Art Revolution" (00:28:08)
• Christine encourages people to pursue a career in the arts (00:33:24)
• Creating harmony between the arts and institutions (00:36:18)
• Focusing our attention towards quality time and experiences (00:40:11)
• How artists are selected by Creative Capital (00:48:36)
• Christine's advice for artists and creatives (00:58:04)

Books Referenced:

• "Deep Work" by Cal Newport
• "The Kybalion" by The Three Initiates

People Mentioned:

• James Baldwin
• Angela Merkel
• Spike Lee
• Jibz Cameron
• Titus Kaphar
• Cassils
• Jordan Weber
• Jesse Krimes
• Lynn Hershman Leeson
• Samora Pinderhughes
• Simone Leigh
• Lorraine O'Grady

artistdecoded.com creative-capital.org instagram.com/kuannyc

Mitch Horowitz is a historian of alternative spirituality and one of today's most literate voices of esoterica, mysticism, and the occult. He is the PEN Award-winning author of books including Occult America, One Simple Idea, The Miracle Club, Daydream Believer, Uncertain Places, and the forthcoming Modern Occultism. Mitch hosted, co-wrote, and produced a feature documentary about the occult classic The Kybalion directed by Emmy-nominee Ronni Thomas and shot on location in Egypt. The movie premiered as the #3 documentary on iTunes. Mitch plays a newscaster in the forthcoming Paramount feature thriller My Animal directed by Jacqueline Castel, an official selection of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Mitch's books have been translated into French, Arabic, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Korean, and Portuguese. His work is censored in China.

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

• Mitch's currently unreleased book, "Modern Occultism" (00:04:33)
• Mitch's concept, "The Ten Day Miracle Challenge" (00:07:00)
• Having an obsessive intellect (00:09:53)
• Nurturing one's intrinsic nature (00:11:19)
• Positive lessons Mitch learned while working in publishing (00:13:41)
• Learning from suffering (00:17:17)
• Emotions informing memories (00:20:31)
• Anton Lavey's teachings (00:24:03)
• Truth comes in the form of a lie - G. I. Gurdjieff (00:26:34)
• Finding one's personal truth (00:31:49)
• The films of Ruben Östlund (00:35:19)
• "The Wish Machine" in Andrei Tarkovsky's film Stalker (00:38:39)
• The effects of technological information overload and Anton Lavey's "The Augmentive Principle" (00:42:32)
• Fear and a wish being one and the same (00:47:27)
• Building character through difficult situations (00:54:23)
• Mitch's fascination with the work of G. I. Gurdjieff (00:57:09)
• Separating the art from the artist (00:59:42)
• Limiting judgments against others (01:06:38)

Books Referenced:

• Station Eleven (Emily St. John Mandel)
• Think and Grow Rich (Napoleon Hill)
• The Third Mind (Brion Gysin and William S. Burroughs)

Films / TV Shows Referenced:

• The Square
• Force Majore
• Stalker
• Anti-Christ
• The Last Ship
• The Last of Us
• Alone

People Mentioned:

• Jacqueline Castel
• Carlos Castaneda
• Jack Parsons
• Brion Gysin
• William S. Burroughs
• G. I. Gurdjieff
• Vernon Howard
• Ruben Östlund
• Andrei Tarkovsky
• Anton Lavey
• Emily St. John Mandel
• Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Napolean Hill
• Grant Morrison
• Alan Moore

ArtistDecoded.com MitchHorowitz.com Mitch's Twitter Mitch's Instagram

Cj Hendry (b. 1988) is a New York-based artist originally from Brisbane, Australia. Hendry transforms her fascination with contemporary material culture into large-scale, hyper-photorealistic drawings. Cj Hendry's exhibits aren't intended to be passively observed but, rather, actively experienced through engaging, fun, and thought-provoking exhibits. For her exhibit Monochrome, Hendry and her team built an entire multi-room "home" inside a warehouse with each room entirely monochrome-colored from floor to ceiling and everything in between. For Rorschach, guests jumped through a gigantic bouncy house maze in order to reach and finally view the impressive series. Each Cj Hendry exhibit, from Miami to Melbourne, draws massive crowds with attendees waiting in line for several hours - and, in the end, everyone leaves more enriched than when they arrived. With her celebrity clientele – and many works in private collections - Hendry's waitlist is now well over 3,000 collectors with a wait time of up to five years to get their hands on a piece.

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

• CJ's mindset shift after university (00:03:41)
• The beginning of CJ's art practice (00:06:35)
• What led to CJ's first sale (00:08:32)
• The 10,000-hour rule (00:12:49)
• Creating great concepts and ideas (00:10:46)
• Success leading to complacency (00:13:59)
• Her recent project "Cheese" (00:18:28)
• Thoughts on losing fire and passion over time (00:20:37)
• Sustaining a playful mentality (00:23:58)
• Valuable lessons learned creating an art business (00:26:54)
• CJ's "Copyright Infringement" series (00:37:22)
• CJ's decision to not work with a manager (00:42:33)
• AI art (00:46:38)
• Her upcoming exhibition "Plaid" (00:52:27)

artistdecoded.com cjhendrystudio.com instagram.com/cj_hendry

Yoshino is a multi-hyphenate artist and the host of Artist Decoded. Yoshino's short story "And Then Awoke The Butterfly" can be read at Yoshino's Diary on Substack. Yoshino's Links: yoshinostudios.com yoshino.substack.com instagram.com/yoshinostudios twitter.com/yoshinostudios

Brett Amory's multidisciplinary practice is based on the intersection of quotidian and habitual engagements with the everyday world. His works consider moments of visual perception that precede interpretation. Working primarily in painting and installation, he uses the ordinary as a vehicle for extending the familiar into the realms of the unfamiliar. His work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, including at the National Portrait Gallery, London; the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh; the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Indiana; Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco; and de Young Museum, San Francisco. Brett Amory earned an MFA from Stanford University and a BFA from the Academy of Arts University. He lives and works in Oakland California.

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

• Introduction (00:00:00)
• Brett's introduction to art through skateboarding (00:11:42)
• Using experiences to inform one's creative process (00:21:45)
• Honing into instincts (00:26:27)
• Being challenged to draw better (00:30:22)
• The combination of aesthetics and meaning (00:37:35)
• The evolution of Brett's work over the course of 25 years (00:41:33)
• "The Waiting Series" (00:43:33)
• Getting his MFA @ Stanford (00:48:31)
• Conclusions Brett has come to after completing his MFA @ Stanford (00:51:23)
• What the MFA application process is like @ Stanford (00:56:47)
• Phenomenology (01:01:08)
• Brett's recent work regarding duality and technology (01:04:00)
• Stoicism (01:09:40)
• GANs / AI (01:12:27)

Artists / People Mentioned:

• William Strobeck (Skateboard Film Director)
• George Romero (Director)
• Marshall McLuhan (Writer)
• Maurice Merleau-Ponty (Philosopher)
• Paul Cézanne (Painter)
• René Descartes (Philosopher)
• Martin Heidegger (Philospher)

Books Mentioned:

• Techgnosis (Erik Davis)
• The Singularity is Nearer (Ray Kurzweil)

Article Read In Episode Intro: "What is Embodiment? Maurice Merleau-Ponty's Philosophy of the Body" by Moses May-Hobbs

artistdecoded.com brettamory.com instagram.com/brettamory

Yoshino is a multi-hyphenate artist and the host of Artist Decoded. Yoshino's essay "Wandering and Wondering" can be read at Yoshino's Diary on Substack. Yoshino's Links: yoshinostudios.com yoshino.substack.com instagram.com/yoshinostudios twitter.com/yoshinostudios

Yoshino is a multi-hyphenate artist and the host of Artist Decoded. Topics Discussed:

• Living with love and compassion (00:07:48)
• The journey into understanding (00:11:56)
• Making impactful decisions (00:15:27)
• Yoshino's creative life (00:19:41)
• Manifesting future outcomes (00:25:35)
• Napolean Hill's concept, "The Definite Chief Aim" (00:27:51)
• The psychology of money (00:32:02)
• Yoshino's life as a martial artist (00:36:07)
• Breaking through a consensus trance (00:42:00)
• Toxic productivity (00:50:53)
• Seeking balance (00:53:21)
• Yoshino's recent revelations (00:59:06)

Artists / People Mentioned:

1. Mac Miller (Rapper)
2. Thundercat (Singer/Songwriter/Bassist)
3. Michel Legrand (Composer)
4. Mitch Horowitz (Writer)
5. Phoebe Bridgers (Singer/Songwriter)
6. Justin Daashuur Hopkins (Director/Artist)
7. Erik Davis (Writer)
8. Charles Bukowski (Writer)
9. Jack Kerouac (Writer)
10. William S Burroughs (Writer)
11. Aldous Huxley (Writer)

Yoshino's Links: yoshinostudios.com instagram.com/yoshinostudios twitter.com/yoshinostudios

Yoshino is a multi-hyphenate artist and the host of Artist Decoded. Topics Discussed:

• Dealing with negative thoughts and emotions
• Yoshino's perspective shifting while running
• "Tao Te Ching" by Lao Tzu
• Living in a productivity-focused world
• Giving ourselves permission to step deeper into ourselves
• Sufi mysticism
• Thich Nhat Hanh

"Simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. Simple in actions and thoughts, you return to the source of being. Patient with both friends and enemies, you accord with the way things are. Compassionate toward yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world." ― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

Yoshino's Links: yoshinostudios.com instagram.com/yoshinostudios twitter.com/yoshinostudios

Raymond Lee stars as Dr. Ben Song on the new NBC drama "Quantum Leap." Ben is a brilliant quantum physicist leaping through time to put right what once went wrong. Lee also stars in the AMC series "Kevin Can F*** Himself," which begins its second season Aug. 22. Previously, he was a series regular on Alan Ball's HBO series "Here and Now." Additional recurring roles include the HBO Max series "Made for Love," Fox's "Prodigal Son," Amazon's "Mozart in the Jungle" and ABC's "Scandal." On the film side, he is currently appearing in the box office smash "Top Gun: Maverick." Theater credits include the world premiere productions of "Vietgone" at Manhattan Theater Club, for which he was awarded the Theatre World Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Debut; "Office Hour," opposite Sandra Oh, and "Cambodian Rock Band" at the South Coast Repertory. Topics Discussed In This Episode:

• Raymond and Yoshino being Cal State Long Beach alums (00:06:31)
• Raymond dropping out of high school and how that affected him psychologically while growing up (00:07:27)
• Problems with the education system (00:010:05)
• Finding a love for performance in his youth (00:13:07)
• Discovering acting through theatre and deciding to become a professional actor while he was in college (00:14:49)
• Raymond's approach to acting (00:18:37)
• The importance of having discipline and maintaining solid habits (00:22:53)
• Embodying characters and manifesting roles (00:25:59)
• Yoshino shares a personal story highlighting the impact art can have on its viewers (00:36:05)
• The impact art has made on Raymond's life (00:39:02)
• The Kybalion and embracing polarities (00:43:56)
• The Rashomon Effect (00:47:32)
• Manifesting goals (00:51:18)
• Honing into and practicing intuition (00:59:22)
• Raymond and Yoshino speaking about acquiring skill sets (01:10:56)
• Final words of advice from Raymond (01:22:11)

Artists / People Mentioned:

• Sandra Oh (Actor)
• Joseph Lee (Painter / Actor)
• Akira Kurosawa (Film Director)
• Rubens Charles Cobrinha (BJJ Practioner)

Books Mentioned:

• The Kybalion

Films / TV Series Mentioned:

• Dopesick (2021)
• Rashomon (1950)

artistdecoded.com Raymond Lee's IMDB instagram.com/raymomomo

Yoshino is a multi-hyphenate artist and the host of Artist Decoded. Topics Discussed:

• Making good use of your observations
• The cop-out of not feeling inspired
• Observing people's body language and the way they treat animals
• Yoshino's perspective on street photography
• The artist's duty
• "Our hearts all beat for something." - Yoshino
• Following one's own personal interests
• Being honest with one's self
• The Daemon
• Building one's perspective

Yoshino's Links: yoshinostudios.com instagram.com/yoshinostudios twitter.com/yoshinostudios