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

Hi Misha, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
Since an early age, making art and being creative was always a priority. It is something that I enjoy immensely and often becomes a mediation, a way of grounding my spirit and connecting to the world. Following the path of least resistance in a society where we are forced to sell goods or services to survive, I felt it important to pursue a career in a field that made me happy and one that I was good at. Naturally I gravitated towards the arts.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
As an immigrant from Soviet Ukraine, I have always seen art as a global language. My artistic practice is informed by urbanism, cultural identity, iconography, and contemporary popular culture, and is influenced by ‘Golden Age’ graffiti, Japanese prints, Abstract Expressionism, Mexican and WPA Muralism, German Expressionism, and Social Realism. Utilizing expressive brushstrokes and bold colors, I aim to create work that is culturally and socially aware, while also aesthetically, visually and compositionally sound. Both locally and abroad, working in underserved spaces where I have existing relationships and new ones where there is the potential of creating public art to be used as a tool for social change, is the priority for me.

As far as my public art practice, building on the tradition of WPA murals which sought to represent the masses, and utilizing my own experience working with marginalized communities and public art/community engagement organizations such as Fulbright, Groundswell, BRIC, Booklyn Arts Council, and SoBRO to create public art, I always aim to provide a more democratic platform for those outside of the professional artistic realm and who live, work and learn in the community where the art will be fabricated, facilitating a more equitable community involvement model.

Ultimately, the generative result of this is that communities can then be empowered to replicate this model of collective critical thinking and have more authentic ownership of the visual aesthetic of their neighborhood

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 was always fortunate to have family and friends that supported my art from an early age, so shout out to the family that I didn’t choose and the one that I chose and continue to choose throughout my time on this planet. Shout out to the fathers and father figures and the mothers and mother figures. Shout out to all my famous artist fathers and mothers, living and dead – Picasso, Vrubel, Marshall, Beckman, Khalo, Hammons, Rivera, Kollwitz, Katz, Basquiat, Warhol, Gauguin, etc. (just to name a few), and to all my contemporaries that I am constantly inspired by and am fortunate enough to call friends – Ivan Orama, Joshua Williams, Chris Soria, Nadia Westcott, David Sepa, Crystal Clarity, Ted Ghal, Kaitlyn Tucek, Sasha Korban, Mason Eve, etc. (just to name a few). And of-course the biggest shout out to my life partner, poet and author Vanessa Jimenez Gabb and our incredible almost three year old daughter Cecilia. I would not be the human being or artist that I am today without these people. Thank you!!

Website: https://mishat.com

Instagram: mdot_season

Linkedin: Misha Tyutyunik

Twitter: @bluubeard

Facebook: Misha Tyutyunik

Image Credits
All photos/images taken by David Sepa

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.