Meet Mark Jay Freedman: Artist & Teacher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mark Jay Freedman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mark, career-wise, where do you want to be in the end?
And in the end…when put into words it seems simple…to leave a physical body of work behind that reflects who I truly was and the time in which I lived. The dream is that the body of work will live in spaces where they will be alive, appreciated and contemplated. 

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
My current body of work is a Series titled ARCADIA.

“All perfect light and promises” New Sensation INXS

Arcadia suggests origin, mythology, natural splendor…an Edenic counterbalance to Man’s unrelenting pursuit of Utopian desires. Arcadia is the first of many “still lives” in which I imagine a new world and its things…and I’ve started at the beginning. Dreaming of origins and a democracy of mediums, and using the visual language of my native 1980’s New Wave Southern California roots…I’ve begun to create a story about a people. Landscape, vessels and spirits inhabit Arcadia with an implied suggestion of place and purpose. Arcadia asks questions. What, who, where, when and why? Arcadia is also quiet, allowing for open imagination and wonder. Arcadia claims beauty for itself. Arcadia is a place before and after now…new and ripe with possibility. My art career has never been easy. All challenges have been met with resolve. I’ve been bent but not broken. I’ve had my greatest opportunity (to show ARCADIA) disappear due to museum politics…I’ve questioned and pulled back from the entire art endeavor on a few occasions but the NEED to make always triumphs in the end. The best lesson: MAKE to satiate the thing inside that feeds on your creativity. Everything else will follow. My greatest gift as an artist is my ability to presage, without arrogance, the direction in which culture’s focus will turn. This has been constant with me for as long as I can remember. I believe this adds an element of the curious and injects a beautiful strangeness into all my creations. Nothing is random.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Arizona cannot be understood without experiencing the desert. We would go straight from the airport North out of Phoenix and into the Sonoran badlands. After winding our way on questionable roads carved out of the middle of “nothingness” we would eat by the river in Sedona…luxuriating in our state oasis. From there the highlight of the day would be a one lane excursion from Sedona to Arcosanti. This weekend we will attend the Form Festival at Arcosanti. Here we will experience the best that Arizona culture has to offer…Art, Music, Dance, the Sun, stars and people. Then back to Phoenix to recharge and down to Tucson. All meals at El Charro or The Blue Willow. Walk the campus of the University of Arizona and hike Gates Pass. A day trip to wander the woods of Mount Lemon and a long desert drive back to Phoenix. Before departure I would go the the Heard Museum and dive into the art and history of the Native people. This should be anyone’s last taste of Arizona before leaving the state. The visitor would understand the circulatory system that gave birth to this part of North America.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d like to recognize and dedicate this feature to my family. My wife and daughter, puppies, parents, my brother, aunts and uncles, cousins and friends. You all know who you are. I also want to acknowledge to entire Faculty at the New School For The Arts And Academics (Tempe, Arizona) for their unwavering personal support and the vital job we do educating young artists during their middle and high school years. We may not be the best funded or have the prettiest of everything but a better, more caring and talented group you’d be hard pressed to find.

Website: markjayfreedman.weebly.com
Instagram: @markjayfreedman @thebeautifulidea
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Image Credits
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