AD 271 | Jacob Rosenberg
Artist Decoded by Yoshino
Growing up in Northern California, Jacob Rosenberg developed his passion for video and film as a skateboarder in the early 1990s, making acclaimed videos for Plan B Skateboards under the mentorship of the late founder Mike Ternasky. Upon his graduation from Emerson College, Rosenberg began his professional career directing music videos, short films, and commercials where he has directed and produced talent names such as LeBron James, Quincy Jones, Snoop Dogg, and Latto. Rosenberg served for a decade as a partner at the independent studio Bandito Brothers, spearheading forward-thinking digital...
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AD 270 | Joshua Hagler (Æmen Ededéen)
Artist Decoded by Yoshino
Joshua Hagler (b. 1979, Mountain Home AFB, Idaho) is a first-generation graduate with a graphic design degree from The University of Arizona. A 2018 grant recipient of the Roswell Artist in Residence Program, Hagler has since made New Mexico his permanent home. Currently, he lives with his wife and daughter in the high desert village of Placitas at the foot of the Sandia Mountains. In recent years, his practice has been guided by an approach he calls Nihil, a set of nine self-imposed principles that have grown out of solitary excursions throughout the state. These principles determine all...
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Slow Creativity | Yoshinocast #18
Artist Decoded by Yoshino
Yoshino is a multi-hyphenate artist and the host of Artist Decoded. Yoshino’s Links:
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AD 269 | Nouel Riel
Artist Decoded by Yoshino
“As an artist, I am interested in observing the transmutation process of unconscious material moving into conscious awareness. I work in painting, photography, writing, performance and video. My paintings utilize inner visions and depth psychology to form works layered with symbolism and metaphor. In photography, I employ an experimental process on film that focuses on Jungian Intuitive and Feeling typology. By blurring, altering or disrupting the straight forward information in a photograph, the image moves from analysis to an abstraction - allowing the viewer’s point of focus to relax,...
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AD 268 | Sah D'Simone
Artist Decoded by Yoshino
Sah D'Simone is a dynamic spiritual leader and global humanitarian who has made profound contributions to mental health, spirituality, and social welfare. As the founder of the Somatic Dance Institute and creator of the Somatic Activated Healing (SAH) Method, he has empowered millions to heal from trauma and foster spiritual growth. Sah's work extends across multiple fields, from his role as a spiritual teacher to his achievements as an internationally acclaimed filmmaker, published author, and host of the podcast Solving the Riddle of Being Human. Blending Buddhist practices, contemplative...
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Cancer Sticks | Yoshinocast #17
Artist Decoded by Yoshino
When I was a child, I was repulsed by my father’s smoking addiction. I can still smell the acrid scent of his clothes, laden with a residual stench that never quite went away. He used to carry an old handkerchief in his front shirt pocket. Even at a young age, I thought it was odd when he would blow his nose into it and then stuff it back. I found it even more disgusting when he would spit on it and then subsequently wipe my face with the same putrid handkerchief. I felt a sense of betrayal enter my body whenever he would do this. Maybe he thought of me as some sort of sick puppy, like how...
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AD 267 | Jia Sung
Artist Decoded by Yoshino
Jia Sung is a Singaporean Chinese artist and educator whose practice spans painting, artist books, textiles, printmaking, writing, and translation. Drawing on motifs from Chinese mythology and Buddhist iconography, Sung uses the familiar visual language of folklore to examine and subvert conventional archetypes of femininity, queerness and otherness. Her recent work explores threads of ecofeminism, ethnoecology, the ecological capacities of the body, invasive species as family, and the potentials of collective and constant human transformation through interspecies dynamics. Her approach draws...
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The Stories We Tell Ourselves | Yoshinocast #16
Artist Decoded by Yoshino
Yoshino is a multi-hyphenate artist and the host of Artist Decoded. Yoshino’s Links:
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AD 266 | James Mountford
Artist Decoded by Yoshino
“Born in the UK I now live and work in Los Angeles. I studied fine art at UCA just outside London in the early 90s then moved to Italy for 7 years to immerse myself in classical art. On my return to London I started a successful fashion career that took me around the world, shooting for esteemed clients and magazines for 15 years. In 2013 I decided to return to fine art. This coincided with a move to Los Angeles, where I built a studio practice that broadened my horizons to include sculpture, painting, installation and video works. And this is where I’ve landed and feel comfortable, in...
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AD 265 | Justin Tyler Close
Artist Decoded by Yoshino
Justin Tyler Close (b. 1984, Toronto, Canada) is an award-winning director, photographer & visual artist. Justin founded the internationally distributed arts publication The Lab Magazine and was the active editor-in-chief/creative director from 2010-2018. The interview magazine featured artists, designers, filmmakers, and activists such as Marina Abramovic, Wes Anderson and Noam Chomsky. In 2020, Justin created his audio-visual installation titled The Fifty Eleven Project, which was exhibited at the prestigious Copenhagen Contemporary Museum. Soon after, Justin wrote and directed two...
info_outlineJia Sung is a Singaporean Chinese artist and educator whose practice spans painting, artist books, textiles, printmaking, writing, and translation. Drawing on motifs from Chinese mythology and Buddhist iconography, Sung uses the familiar visual language of folklore to examine and subvert conventional archetypes of femininity, queerness and otherness. Her recent work explores threads of ecofeminism, ethnoecology, the ecological capacities of the body, invasive species as family, and the potentials of collective and constant human transformation through interspecies dynamics. Her approach draws from that of the Chinese zhiguai tradition, that genre of ‘strange tales’ cannot be translated directly through the lens of horror. The supernatural, the monstrous, the spiritual, seep into the tidy confines of ordinary existence, often humorous, arbitrary, smearing at the boundaries of our reality and then slinking away just as rapidly. Here is shapeshifter, here is trickster, things that inhabit liminal space and refuse to be held in place or form; the profane invades the interior, wilderness enters the domestic space, phenomena defy causation and morality, creature refutes taxonomy.
Topics Discussed In This Episode:
- Jia’s childhood, early influences, and why she chose to dedicate her life to the arts (00:06:14)
- Formative books, films, and mythologies for Jia, Jennifer, and Yoshino (00:08:05)
- Art as a lifestyle and sketching/journaling as a form of expression (00:15:52)
- Jia explains her experiences going to RISD (00:17:03)
- Teaching art and guiding students – Jia shares her approach to teaching, focusing on personal expression over technique (00:18:46)
- Returning to unfinished work (00:22:42)
- Balancing chaos and creativity – reflections on how emotional turmoil can fuel or take away from creative work (00:28:11)
- Identity, ego, and output in art – how artists' identities are tied to their creative output and the challenges that brings (00:33:32)
- Discussing various levels of consciousness (00:40:44)
- Challenges of art school and institutional expectations – Jia reflects on the pressures and baggage that come from a formal art education (00:43:48)
- Breaking away from art jargon and structured critique to find a personal voice (00:54:27)
- Lightheartedly discussing astrology (01:04:04)
- The Artist Decoded Tarot and Jia’s “The Trickster’s Journey” tarot (01:10:27)
- Discussing the potential future of AI (01:18:17)
- Jia’s advice to her younger self (01:30:41)
Episode co-host: Jennifer Sodini