We were lucky to catch up with Kai Griffin recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kai, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
I feel growing up as a queer kid there’s an intrinsic resilience that, more often than not, is compelled to develop rapidly due to extrinsic forces; those forces ranging from social constructs to authoritarian parenting to peer pressure to perceptions, etc. I learned at an early age that while not everyone is ‘out to get you’ per se, they aren’t necessarily out to help you either. Therefore, I knew I could, in most instances, only rely on helping myself, learning from the experience, and moving forward. I had a mentor once tell me, “It’s only a mistake if you don’t learn from it.” and that has stayed with me.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’ll just say it – I’m an Elder Millennial. Though it can be humbling in some cases and funny in others, it’s an experience that delivers perspective that 100 percent informs how I create art.
It’s from this perspective I see the best of several generations, all in one fell swoop.I see where the history, culture, and nuances of life from the 80s and 90s meets the 2000s; how people and technology have grown and evolved across the century line; why the forever-transforming definition of the word ‘contemporary’ continues to transform. I’ve seen artistic processes and materials declared dead twice in my lifetime – and then return again.
More than anything though, it’s experience that allows me to see this – the spark where classical theory meets modern work; where analog meets digital; where handcrafted meets laser cut; bridging the gap between the 20th and 21st centuries.
Whatever the process, material or final product, there are non-negotiables to my approach to creating art. I study and respect theory – and I’m not afraid to flip it on its head to make something new and different; I believe in well-executed craftsmanship and clean precision; I believe in repetition and focus, working until it’s right. There’s always honesty and humor; energy and commitment; a serious and curious drive to create high-quality, timeless work that’s a nod to the classical and a contribution to the contemporary.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I attended art school as a non-traditional student, graduating with my BFA at the age of 41. I began the fledgling state of my third career, as an artist, with twenty plus years of experience in both the beauty and fitness industries, respectively. Those multiple decades of experience have impacted my art journey by providing me with: rigorous tenacity; the understanding of how to create harmony in art and commerce, and life experiences.
Some sage advice for folks regarding tenacity: do not take “no” for an answer. It’s as simple as that.
As for understanding art and commerce: seek out a mentor(s) in your field that you admire and are drawn to (even if you can’t exactly tell why you’re drawn to them) and do whatever it takes to become a pupil/protégé/assistant-whatever role that looks like for you and begin from the ground up. Also, know your own strengths and weaknesses: I, for example, loathe photo-documenting my work; therefore, I source photographers to do it for me. I would rather work to earn the money to hire the photographer than to subject myself to a task that I find taxing.
Advice on life experiences: get out there, connect and engage, and do things! Travel, read lots of books, pursue interests (with zero expectations on an outcome), find the things that you truly love to do and protect the time to do them ferociously.
Oh one more thing: learn and understand how credit works.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
I combat feelings of being overwhelmed and stressed by doing one simple thing: I keep an old school, analog, pen and paper calendar on my kitchen island. I fill it out every Sunday evening for the upcoming week, Monday to Sunday. The very first entries I make into the weekly calendar (via an ink pen, mind you) are my workouts. I currently do yoga 3 times a week (with a bonus 4th time every now and then) and I strength train 3 times a week. I commit to these workouts and execute them without fail. Those six hours a week are pure, unadulterated “me time”; time to create a mind-body connection, time to meditate, time to blow off some steam, time to prioritize the one and only thing that truly matters, my health and well being. I am fiercely territorial with my workout times and it has served me well. On Wednesdays I attend a 7am Power Vinyasa yoga class with my number one favorite teacher, for whom I would follow to the ends of the earth and back. As a result of my love for that class and that teacher, the earliest I will begin work on Wednesdays is 9:30am. Period. I have found that establishing boundaries and investing in my time for health and wellness has been a *near* cure all for feeling overwhelmed.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hellokaigriffin.com/
- Instagram: @hellokaigriffin
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/kai.griffin.35
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/kai-griffin-080a3897/
Image Credits
Headshot, Vironica Dawson
