Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Keith Josiah. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Keith , 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 would have to say i owe my resilience to my family. Everyone in my family overcame some kind of hardship in their lives and their stories always remind me that there is beauty on the other side of every challenge in life.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’m from a beautiful city called Memphis, TN raised by a single mother. I learned alot at a young age and I’ve become dedicated to doing and creating things that impact people
My art is my own self expression. I use art as a way yo personify figurative language and concepts and depict the conversations that I have with myself. I use shapes and colors to reflect the different perceptions, thoughts, feelings, emotions, and opinions that I have and how they look within my own imagination.
I am influenced by the sights and sound of the world around me Growing up I was always inspired by music and language hip-hop, rock N roll, jazz, gospel, country and blues were all a huge part of my upbringing in Memphis. Along with music I was always fascinated with words. I love words and how they sound and the way you can say something in a different language. Because my dad was absent my mama worked a lot so I spent a lot of time with my grandaddy who made furniture. Being in his workshop sparked my creativity early on, especially when he would let me use his old fabric, paint, markers and paper. As a really impulsive artists I’ve carried a lot of that with me because I continue to use the materials that are close by whenever I make art. Old shirts, bed sheets, wood, spray paint and even coffee helps me maneuver through some of the ideas that I have in my head that I need to get out right away.
All of these things combined help me remain authentically myself as an artist which I feel like is extremely important considering that I want my art to sincerely mean something to people. Its always flattering when people say they want to buy my art and have it on their walls but it much more important to me that I make people feel heard, seen, felt, understood, remembered, and cared about.
I took a year off from artist to pursue music curation through my venture, Second Kings Sound. It’s genuinely the thing I’m most proud of in my career so far. It feels like an art piece that i can continue to work on a be satisfied with over and over again and connect with people in a new way
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I think i gained the most knowledge through experience and trial and error. I didn’t go to school for art and i think that the world through technology and social media moves at a pace that makes it nearly impossible to learn any other way. You truly have to get, an idea, try it, take the risk of failing, and trying again to grow in this journey
How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?
One of the biggest things i struggle with right now is wanting my art to speak for itself with out me. In the era we’re in now people want a face and a personality behind the art. The art only goes so far without the artist. I just have to work on being comfortable with putting my face out there. Im very proud of the art i make im just a very shy person
Contact Info:
- Website: https://secondkingscollectors.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/josiahwithlove
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/user/224cvrmtf2ykphx77a3scdgqq?si=Z4T3_u3kR8qIjHbvLgbX4Q
