Meet Vndre Ford

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Vndre Ford a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Vndre, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.

Do you ever really not feel like an imposter? Just speaking for my experience, I just keep death in mind. Meaning, the worst thing that could happen is I die. Anything else is…extra. If you’re scared, that’s probably a good thing because it means you care. Scared? Cool, do it scared, because you never know how this thing could go. It’s funny because all the paintings I think are too out there for the audience, those are the ones that usually have the most impact on the viewer. When a piece moves someone, and they express to me the feelings that come up, that’s the pay off because that’s what I aim for and those reactions are confirmation. Those things kill imposter syndrome for me, I suppose.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I was born in Savannah, GA, and I was raised in Southern California, so I was exposed to a wealth of experiences as a kid. My roots are southern but I had friends from many cultures, so I absorbed some of those different perspectives early on and it allowed me the disposition to identify what it means to understand the human condition, beyond culture and belief. My grandfather was/is a pastor, I used to read Greek mythology and Revelations for fun, just because I loved the poetry and the imagery. So creating and drawing came natural to me, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t draw or create stories, and my standard was the Bible and the films I watched as a kid, so you’ll see a lot of references throughout my work. I’m interested in juxtaposition and contrasts, my work is a collage of contradicting ideals, a patchwork of competing references, all which are stories on their own, but come together to form one bigger story.

I’m self taught, so everything I’ve absorbed, everything I’ve learned was organic and immensely aided me in identifying my own voice unpolluted by old doctrine or rules. Not as a sign of rebellion, but simply just because I didn’t know any better. So my bar was everyone from Picasso to Tarantino to Virgil Abloh.

When I finally discovered fine art at 24, I spent probably 10 years just crafting who I was as an artist, experimenting with techniques, refining theories and finding what it was that would separate me before I even stepped into the art market . At this point in my career, I’ve spent time building a network and carefully curating my career.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Speaking for myself, i’d say be a student above all. I try to find things that spark my curiosity. Second, I think having the ability to reverse engineer the things you’re inspired by is massively helpful. I draw a lot of inspiration from music or films, I tend to meditate on why I like a song, or why I like a certain technique a film director uses…I’ll analyze. Then I’ll break that thing down to the principles of that thing and apply the principle to the work.

But the most important advice I’d give to anyone in regards to art is “Know Thyself”. Really being a student of who you are, your good your bad, your vulnerabilities and flaws, these are the things that are going to separate you from peers, because they’re unique unto you and you only, but also relatable at the same time. The more specific you can be in articulating those unique things while also making them relatable is key, for me at least.
Just live life, man. Your job as an artist is to live as much as possible then come back and tell the story.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?

Great question. My mother was such an impactful force in my art journey. She protected my gift so many times in my childhood. She’d do things like..for example, Hometown Buffet used to have prints of Norman Rockwell paintings all throughout the restaurant, and every time we ate there she’d point to them and ask me who painted them and id have to know the artist.
She’d buy me comicbooks. She’d have really dense conversations and talk about world events or even films we’d watch together. She made me read books that a 8 yr old kid had no business reading lol. She made sure I was exposed to other cultures. She just made sure my mind was being exposed to things outside of my normal frame of reference. She always encouraged me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @vndre_ford_