Meet Dylan James Seeman

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dylan James Seeman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dylan James, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
Without my heritage, I wouldn’t be who I am, yet with it I often feel out of step from the world, and often out of step with even myself. It shapes the foundations of my thought, and I hope my work show’s it. I was born in Arizona, yet I’ve never felt that “from” part. As if Arizona was my origin, people so quickly forget that throughout all of history, humans have been migratory and that beats deep down in my chest. A wanderer at heart. My mom’s great, great grandparents fled Ireland/Scotland during the famine to North Dakota. After a generation the dust bowl hit my grandparents moved down to Az. My father’s grandparents emigrated from Russia/Poland to escape war. My father met my mother and eventually replanted in Phoenix together, all on the promise of a hope for a better life. So when I think about my work, behind the obvious pretty picture is dozens of epics passed down to me. Hundreds of my own memories are composed of distinct people, cultures, ways of telling a joke, ways of love, ways of disagreeing and anecdotes. I’m trying to capture all of that at once. To have a background and yet none, to be in the present and bathe in nostalgia. To feel out of step and tuned in. The hefty weight of history bares down on us all, and I’m chasing how to show it without it feeling antiquated.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
What sets my artwork apart from the sea of others? Tough question, especially since I don’t really think in terms like this anymore. Each piece of art in the world needs to be seen on its own terms—not mine—to be understood, interacted with. I am a firm believer that we are all snowflakes, each special, complex and beautiful. And every piece of art that comes out of a soul, is just that too. What I am about is trying to show just that. It’s easy to generalize, to say that “it’s just a pile of snow,” but if we slow down and take our time, we realize how mesmerizing even a single drop of water can be, a distinct individual and yet part of a family. And right there is my overarching theme to my art: bringing together opposites. Let it not get confused with trying to join them though, each part needs to keep its individuality, like how positive exist because of the negative and negative exist because of the positive but all part of a single number line. Now that I think of it, I think (could be wrong) Aristotle once said, “Everything is unique and yet I could not tell you the difference.” This is the pot that I’m brewing.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My best friend shares my philosophy; that the most interesting thing to do would be to not ask anyone. To pick streets and explore themselves. I might tell them Tempe is a college vibe, Mesa has true grit, Gilbert holds a wonderful veneer of wholesome, Downtown Phoenix is how the wild west would make a metropolis, Chandler is for families, Scottsdale… well the world already knows about Scottsdale. But they would want to wander, they would go out and meet people, take the back-road, slam on the breaks to check out a restaurant that looked interesting. They would never ask me to lead them or follow but simply walk as a friend on the journey and chat.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are too many people to thank, love and appreciate to list here. Though if anyone in my story deserves more attention, Tiara Marie Gray, was/is the reason I ever wanted to learn that life was worth loving. The vibrancy of her soul flowed like a torrent, to those who knew her, and the world has been at a loss since she passed away. But if any reader could find her story and read her’s, then that would help me sleep a little better at night.

Website: www.dylanseeman.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dylanjamesseeman

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dylan.seeman.98 

Image Credits
Paige Pappas