Meet Kevin Ly | Visual Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kevin Ly and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kevin, what’s the most important lesson your business/career has taught you?
To me, the most important lesson, not just in my career but in general is to always put people first.

In whatever I create and whatever project I am working on, I want to be able to include people in it. I am very grateful and very lucky to say that the reason I am who I am today is from the help of others.

Throughout my college tenure, while I was pursuing animation and the arts, I had a very difficult time connecting with my peers due to the fact that a lot of artists were very focused on “competing” with each other and for others’ approval. It was very daunting and shined a light on a lot of my insecurities. Within that environment, I felt like in order to succeed as an artist, I had to have the more elaborate idea or the more interesting style and it wasn’t until my last semester where I really felt confident and comfortable with myself. In that last semester, I was introduced to a course called Art in Public Places, where our goal was to create installations and artwork that would change the way people perceive public space. Within this time, my mentality shifted from just creating art for myself to creating art that would have the potential to affect people and the community. It was a very special moment for everyone that was involved in this course including myself especially. It was the first time being a part of a collective group that really supported each other and helped elevate each others’ ideas.

During the course of that year, I created an interactive art installation called Letters to Parents, in which I proposed the question, “What is something you wish your parents had told you?” in hopes to create conversation and discourse about the complexities of family dynamics. I laid out writing materials, envelopes, and a bright orange mailbox where people can then send them off. Within 5 days of the installation being up, the project garnered hundreds of letters. My main intent behind this was to create a comfortable space for people to interact in and with others and hopefully act as a catalyst for them to open up about issues that we don’t normally talk about. This project was very personal and very crucial to my development as an artist because seeing how all these people interacted with each other and their environment showed me what we can do as artists and how we can inflict change in our communities. This is where I learned my mission in life: COMMUNITY OVER COMPETITION ALWAYS, whether that’s in art, film/animation, education, etc. It will be for the people by the people.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started off by going to school pursuing film and then half way through changing course and pursuing animation. Now 3 years after graduating, I would consider myself a visual artist due to the fact that I find value in being able to create content that connects with people with the goal to create accessibility through conversations and discourse whether that be with installations, conceptual art, film/animation, education, etc.

My proudest achievement and most personal is with the interactive art installation, “Letters to Parents” as it played a crucial part in my development as an artist and came at a very sensitive time in my life and from reading the letters, for a lot of others as well. “Letters to Parents” was an installation in which I proposed the question, “What is something you wish your parents had told you?” I provided writing materials and envelopes for people to write their responses anonymously and after they were done, they were able to place it in a bright orange mailbox to signify the act of sending it off into the world and to hopefully receive some type of closure. After the project was completed, I reached out to a variety of artists of all different mediums to create artwork for some of the letters to provide two different perspectives: 1. being the perspective of the person who wrote the letter and 2. being the interpretations of the artist creating work based on the letter. By having these 2 supplements, my goal was to provide multiple perspectives and to strengthen both platforms as a whole as they go hand in hand with each other.

It was very specific in regards to its focus towards students on campus because along with myself, we were all transitioning from adolescence to adulthood in some way or another. It can be a very scary time for people and for the first we are here to deal with it on our own. With this project, there are a lot of different parallels that you can draw from childhood and how it can directly affect the way we view and perceive things as adults. My goal was to start a conversation on topics that we don’t normally discuss to either our family, friends, or even strangers. By creating an installation that is anonymous, hopefully it gives people the space for them to feel comfortable in expressing something that they may be holding onto for a very long time. My hopes is that it acts as a catalyst for others to feel safe in sharing these things when they’re ready whether that’s with a therapist, a friend, and/or a family member.

In no way, as an artist, is it ever easy. You go through many insecurities and doubts. Some days you feel confident and before you know it, you start to feel like you don’t deserve to call yourself one. I don’t think that ever goes away but maybe that isn’t necessarily a bad thing because it means that you care and that you’re putting something that is very personal and vulnerable out into the world for others to see and that is terrifying to say the least. Just know that, if you truly believe what you’re putting out is necessary, then that is all that matters. If it is personal to you, then it has the potential to be personal for others.

What I’ve learned and what I say to myself to get through those crippling moments of self worth is that: show them your heart and they will know, they will find a way to care. Do it for the right reasons.

Art should be shared with everyone. It is incredibly important that we make it accessible because in so many ways it helps us with understanding our world and each other. We can inflict change within our communities and bring people together and as a result of that, we create an open environment for anyone to voice their ideas. What these ideas will do is get passed along from one person to another and if we do it for the right reasons, we grow as people.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
GO CHECK OUT MUSEUMS! By submersing yourself in the world of different forms of art and education, it can only help you with understanding others!

Indulge yourself in different facets of art whether its at the movies, parks, AND/OR PUBLIC SPACES! I guarantee you that you will find something that you didn’t quite notice before or that it was made by an artist! If you are in LA check out the art in Union Station! There are so many unique forms and mediums used at Union Station and Los Angeles in general!

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?
The reason why I create and the type of artwork I create is through the help of so many others in my life. I love being able to meet new people and have discussions about these type of topics and I almost always end up leaving knowing that these people are going to play a big part in my development as an artist and most importantly as a person. It’s a very cathartic feeling knowing that you have the support of so many loving people and you just want to make them proud. The most important person in my life and the person who has affected my growth so much and the way I view EVERYTHING is my partner Maxine Lubrico. Every step of the way, she has been there and always trusted me and lended a fragment of her very very large intellectual brain to help guide me. Everything that I’ve created and made, a bit of her is always in it. Everything I do, I do for her and everything I will ever do will be because of her. She doesn’t just deserve a little credit, she deserves the WHOLE THING.

Website: https://yourfriendkev.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kev.arino/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-ly-b81994186

Image Credits
“Breathe” Artwork – Jackie Anne “Stroll” (Black and White Photo) – Oscar Naspud