Rekindling Flame
July 3, 2023
First off, I know I haven’t shared any substantial thoughts on the internet in a while. I decided to detach myself from social media, for a period of time, in an attempt to be more present in reality…To be even more cognizant and observant of life’s details.
It’s easy to lose appreciation for things and become a bit jaded. Routines can become monotonous, days can start to blend together.
I had to make some changes in order to get inspired again…To rediscover the purpose of my creativity.
Traveling more, & doing certain things like taking public transportation, studying the emotion, body language, and details of the faces of real people have brought that spark back for me.
Hopefully this body of work will reflect that.
Singularity
November 18, 2021
“Man becomes, as it were, the sex organs of the machine world, as the bee of the plant world, enabling it to fecundate and to evolve ever new forms. The machine world reciprocates man’s love by expediting his wishes and desires, namely, in providing him with wealth” Marshall McLuhan ...
In regards to that ominous quote, it seems as if it is playing out. Humanity is succumbing to AI, and it seems inevitable. In this digital world we're merging with, we have to ask ourselves,
"where do we go from here"?
"What's next?"...
It also makes me think we could already living in an earlier iteration of some digital world created by an earlier civilization. Who's to say otherwise? Maybe this is just how things are supposed to be, but I will continue to ask questions as opposed to blindly accepting things.
With that being said, I'm starting to question the intrinsic value of art. With these new technologies like NFTs, more and more people are looking at it as if it's a commodity to buy and sell for profit as opposed to something they identify with, something they proudly show off, and something they love. Very soulless in a way.
As we move toward the "singularity", I'm interested to see where things go. Not just the "art world", but the world in general. Hopefully, it leads to something positive.
-LaVance
August 23, 2021
Throughout my entire life, I’ve felt like I’ve been on a constant search for something that I couldn’t quite explain. At times, this quest seemed like an infinite loop of disappointments because the feeling of being “alive” seemed out of reach.
I’ve been in situations where the people around me were having the time of their lives, but for me, something was always lacking. A sense of joy and enthusiasm always seemed to escape me.
I’ve always felt like I needed more.
I’ve always felt like what I had wasn’t enough.
I still deal with this at times, but then I started to look inward, and I realized my reality was a projection of my thoughts.
I had to tap into my potential and see myself for who I am, first, then I could attract people, situations, and feelings that aligned with my desires.
I am leaning more into this particular thought and Self-Reflection will be a primary theme of my next solo exhibition. (Date to be announced soon)
Thank you for reading,
LaVance
Know Your Worth
August 12, 2020
Hey readers. I’m here to give a rundown on some of the imagery, metaphors, and ideas behind my latest painting, “Know Your Worth”. I'm typing this from my phone, and I'm not going to proofread, so if there are any typos, chalk it up to the game.
If you saw my latest Instagram post, you should be aware of the article that inspired the overall concept. Knowing your worth is an important topic to me, as a creator, because generally speaking, creatives get marginalized and don’t get looked at as business-minded individuals. That leads most of us to get taken advantage of. To me, this needs to change, and we can’t look to anyone to bring this change except “us”.
I see a lot of artists doing work for low wages or doing work for “exposure”. To me, that’s B.S. This world would be bland without art. Companies would fail without art. Music promotion would be wack without art. Movies would be dry without art. What would we be inspired by if there wasn’t any art to look at?
We have to realize that and realize how powerful art is. And with power should come fair compensation. We can’t settle for getting pennies. We have to know our collective worth in order to raise the value of the overall market.
With that being said, here’s a rundown of some of the imagery in the piece that I created: I’ll start with The main subjects. The “monopoly man” holding a coin. He represents companies or individuals that have huge budgets, but will only pay an artist "pennies" for their work. I have one word to say for this.. NEGOTIATE. If you make high quality work and you know you have value, be firm and charge your worth. Don't settle.
The woman spray painting: She represents the nature of being an artist. Exposing yourself to the world. Also, there are people in the crowd taking pics of her and showing interest, but are not considering investing into her. Just "lookers". That's just the nature of the game. She also represents the artist that doesn't know their worth, hence the question mark above her head. Some of the people are bidding on her as if shes in an auction, and she doesn't know her value. There are other meanings that I had in mind, but I'll leave that up to the viewer to form their own meanings. The other woman in the chair, crying, represents the artist who doesn't believe their work has value.
Tyler Perry Studios sign: I pay attention to black moguls. As an Atlanta native and resident, I believe Tyler Perry is one of the few black men who have enough power and resources to provide big opportunities for black creatives. I'm manifesting future projects with Tyler Perry Studios for my creative career.
So, that's all I will give yall for now.
Until next time,
LaVance
Not Checkers
April 8, 2020
Haven't done this in a while, but I'm back..
First and foremost, thank you to whoever takes the time to read this. I genuinely appreciate everyone who takes the time to peer into my thoughts because I have a lot to say.
So, I want to talk about the idea of sharing art with the world, via social media (twitter, youtube, instagram, etc). I tend to be very calculated with my approach as to how I put things out, but lately I've been feeling the urge to be more open with my creative process. I've been told I come off as "mysterious", but I never wanted to be that. I consider myself a very transparent person, as long as I know the listener(s)/viewer(s) want to know more.
With that being said, I am going to transition to doing more walk-throughs while creating; where I break down techniques, and discuss my thought process. I have my Youtube on the home page of this site, so subscribe if you want. I've gotten a few requests, but feel free to reach out to me and let me know if this is something you guys want! I've spent the past few years learning and perfecting my craft, and I want to give back by sharing what I've learned!
-LaVance
forbidden fruit
July 26, 2019
The main story I've been referencing lately, is the story of Adam and Eve; a story of temptation (I recommend anyone reading to do a google search and quickly read the story before continuing if you are unaware of the reference). Within the story, there was the "forbidden fruit" that, to me, has a double meaning within today's society. First, within the story, women can be your downfall if you choose the wrong one or overindulge with multiple partners. Second, I'm treating the forbidden fruit, the Apple, as if it's the iPhone or any other smartphone. Both of these can either aid you if you do it right or hinder you if you misuse them.
Now let's talk about Women...I can admit, recently, I've come to a point in my life where I want to find "the one". I always proceed with caution when new women enter my life, and I try not to have the typical "flings" anymore because I'm 26 now, so I'm too old for that. I'm not perfect by any means though and I slip up.. but With that being said, when I draw/paint nude women, it's because ultimately, I want the woman I find to be 'naked', to let her guard down and let me in completely in an emotional aspect. In the Bible, the Adam and Eve were naked, so in a sense, I use nudity to show a man and woman baring their souls, not for the purpose of displaying sexuality.
The second meaning, the apple. This is a bigggg issue I'm noticing within today's society. The way people seek gratification and get their dopamine fix from technology is scary to me. I'll keep this simple: Make use of the technology but don't let it use you. (I'll speak more on this in my next blog).
Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk
LaVance
Religion
July 11, 2019
I've decided to speak on the topic of religion because people have messaged me about my personal faith due to my work containing religious references. In fact, I'm not a religious person, but I grew up in the church, so I'm pretty well versed in certain stories of the Bible. Even though I don't consider myself to be a Christian, I try to find parallels with the stories, the imagery, and the messages of the Bible with events that go on in the world and in my personal life.
With that being said, I don't reference the Bible to be preachy or self-righteous. I do a lot of the same things everyone else does, and I have the same vices. I'm just a deep observer of the world and of myself, and I use what I know to get these ideas and stories out!
P.S. New work and updated site coming soon!
My hand broke
June 5, 2019
my hand hurt bro. shit hitting the stanky leg, SMH
Moments
May 28, 2019
A lot has transpired during this journey of navigating the art world. Still trying to find my footing, but a lot of progress has been made; a lot of moments have been made. I can honestly admit that I'm pretty trash at capturing moments with my phone, so it may seem like I don't have a lot going on, but quite the contrary. I've been cooking up a lot of ideas with my creative team. Ideas that go beyond the pencil or brush. I'm not just a painter, artist, sketcher, illustrator, etc. I'm going to prove that I am more than that. I am a creative visionary/mastermind; I'm just humble and quiet about it because the arrogant and brash will be raised up quickly and brought down even quicker..
This story I've been creating will be called Moments in Time. It is a continuation of Everything Was Different. This world I've been creating is a product of the internet (and possibly an undiagnosed case of mild ADHD lol). More will be explained later. Stay tuned
-LaVance
Mandela Effect
March, 19, 2019
"Maybe it's parallel universes or time travel, maybe it's just bad memory - either way, it's fascinating"
-Christopher Hudspeth Buzzfeed on the Mandela Effect
Here we are again...
I have a lot on my mind. Almost a year removed from my first art show, Everything Was Different, and guess what? - Everything is even more different.. even more weird, even more perplexing, even more out of place. As an avid observer of the world, I notice patterns in the way things operate, and at the same time, I also notice glitches in the "simulation".
First, for those who are unaware of the meaning, I wanna speak on the psychological phenomenon, coined by Fiona Broome in 2010, known as the Mandela Effect. The term stems from thousands of people having a collective false memory of Nelson Mandela dying in prison in the 1980s (people even remember seeing news clips of his funeral). But in reality, or should I say, in this reality, he was actually released from prison in 1990 and died in 2013. Some, what I like to call, "abstract thinkers" speculate that these memories are caused by parallel universes spilling into our universe. Shit weird.
Now that we got the origin story out of the way, let's talk about my view on this.
My curiosity about how the world works, at a fundamental level, has been inside me for as long as I can remember. As a millennial, growing up in this new age of rapidly improving technology, coupled with the rise social media, and a seemingly infinite amount of data/information, it's easier than ever to skew facts and alter history.
Just to show how spur of the moment this writing is, I'll use an example from today of how shit can get twisted, especially on social media, or what I like to call the "digital world".
If you go to my Twitter @lavancelining, you'll see I saw a tweet with a headline Barnes & Noble to start selling alcohol in stores. I was lit. Thousands of people were lit. I even retweeted it and got excited about the prospect of me getting faded while reading a finance book or something. But that excitement was short-lived because I checked the date of the original tweet, and it was from 2016. Got my ass smh. So, currently, thousands of people are sitting at home waiting for Barnes and Noble to serve shots of Henny, but in reality, it was a failed experiment from 3 years ago. People could end up thinking, "I remember seeing a tweet from March 2019 saying Barnes and Noble is selling alcohol from a credible news source and it never happened."
It's that easy for the timeline of reality to get twisted in the digital world and have it spill into the physical world. We've seen people delete posts, use photoshop to alter images, and with new technology like Augmented and Virtual Reality, shit is gonna get even more weird and the physical world, as we know it, will come second to the digital world.
Basically, everyone has the ability to use their digital presence to alter reality in some way.. The stronger the digital presence, the more you're able to distort reality and impose your will upon it. I mean, look at Donald Trump. He showed what you can do with your presence, via social media.. dominated his opposition and won a seat in the White House with no prior political experience. So, I guess we are now living in an alternate reality.
The Mandela Effect
-LaVance
(I will speak more about this subject soon thru art. This is just an intro).
Over-Thinker
May 4, 2018
Imagine constantly critiquing yourself, your work, your work-ethic, your habits...Imagine a life of constantly reevaluating every single aspect and detail of your life....all the time.. This is how my mind works - no need for sympathy though, just being honest.
I'd consider myself to be a very detail oriented person. Some would say, sort of a perfectionist. But lately, I've been even more self-aware, and I've graduated to a point where I'm allowing myself to be human; allowing myself to make mistakes, and allowing myself to realize that I don't know everything.
I want my next series of work to reflect that change in mindset. Freedom from my own criticisms of myself. Freedom from the inhibitions that prevent me from being the best version of myself and really putting myself out there. Freedom from that voice (not literal) that says things have to be done a certain way.. So, I'm no longer chasing perfection. No longer over-analyzing, over-working, and seeking a false sense of "perfection". Honest expression and transparency are the new frontiers for me because I'm sure others out there can relate.
-LaVance
Everything Was Different
March 27, 2018
Now that my first art show is out of the way, I want to explain the meaning behind "Everything Was Different".
If you know me, you know I'm sort of a science junky. I've spent countless hours studying quantum physics, astrophysics, and even more abstract ideas such as the 'simulation hypothesis', infinity, and the concept of time. With these ideas, I began developing a concept that revolves around the theories & hypotheses supposed by notable figures in science, such as, Einstein, Stephen Hawking, and Nick Bostrom. I wanted to create a world of infinite possibilities...a world where everything is...different.. lol
Imagine a world where whites are the oppressed in the modern-day US, and blacks brought over white slaves from Europe to America.. Or let's get even more weird -Imagine living in a different dimension where Earth gleams in the night sky like our own moon and other large celestial bodies pop in and out of existence.. These types of ideas are the current focal point of my work, and I'm going to continue creating different scenarios that echo the idea of a universe with infinite possibilities. Hope you guys continue to enjoy!
-LaVance
It's ALL Good?
November 25, 2017
I've been sitting with this thought for a few days, and I think it's a fitting metaphor, describing how we wear our daily "mask" when we present ourselves to others, especially via social media. I believe there's a severe lack of transparency in our society, and you never really know or understand a person, fully.. I couldn't tell you if it's an, overall, good or bad thing because there are many different perspectives to view this topic from, but hear me out and read this poem I'm about to write.
Life is a Rubik's cube...
On one side, every color can be perfect.
Everything seems right
But we reside in multiple dimensions,
And that's just one side...
We ignore the fact that everything else is a mess.
We only showing off the best..
Yes, all the yellow is correct,
But don't be a square, and neglect the rest...
I guess, no one wants their dirt to be exposed,
So we con the world and only show the pros. I
But there's beauty in the struggle
You truly gotta know,
A seed must be watered before it grows into a rose..
So.... what I'm saying is we're all a work in progress. There's always more than meets the eye, and you never know what any individual is truly going through. Let's all uplift each other because we all know Rubik's cubes are difficult as hell to solve, and life can be just as difficult, as well... (kudos to you if you can solve one though). - LaVance
P.S. Major announcement coming next week.. stay tuned
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