Meet Austyn Sullivan | Visual Artist, Multi-Instrumentalist, Producer, Composer & Writer

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

Hi Austyn, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Creative expression has been the only way I’ve ever known how to express myself. Whether it’s releasing energy through music, expressing grand ideas through visual art or writing, it’s the only way I’ve ever known how to process the world around me. I don’t know a life without creativity and self expression.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Art is a process, like piecing together the puzzles of our subconscious mind. For me it feels like remembering my dreams, reaching for the metaphors and lessons they hold. I let my intuition guide me in the act of creating. I let myself become a vessel of creation. In the final moments when I realize a piece is complete, it feels like I’m holding a mirror to my inner worlds. It feels like solving a riddle to a gateway in my mind. Art will forever be a process of trusting my intuition and having a deeper understanding of my soul.

It’s never easy exploring deep places within yourself, it has taken lots of work to get myself to where I am at creatively but I feel like I am just at the beginning of my artistic journey. Being a multidisciplinary artist and muscian, all of my different avenues of expression carry so many different emotions.

I started off as a drummer when I was 12. I played drums in the hardcore scene in Louisiana in my teens. My musical interest expanded & I began learning various instruments & composing my own music that now goes by Soul Glimpse.

I grew an interest in writing and ended up studying creative writing at NOCCA (New Orleans Center for Creative Arts) in high school. Surrealism, magical realism, folklore and myth were a very big subject for me. I see how much it affects my visual art to this day. With a background in writing, I try to tell a story through my visual art and music.

I lived in Baltimore for a while as a drummer for many bands. When I was living there, there was a place called The Book Thing. It was a warehouse full of free books. I would go there to find reading material but also ended up with a horde of art books. I started making collage show flyers. One day I found these weird sheet metal canvases in the trash and decided to collage on them. That is what started my visual art journey. New Orlean’s has influenced my style a lot. It’s mystical & dark poetic nature has had a huge influence on my work.

I have a tarot deck in the works and plan to print a Major Arcana deck with many more project to be announced soon. I have plans to move to California next year to further all of my artist pursuits. Everything from touring and session drumming, score writing and screenwriting for film, my visual art to production and film making.

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?
These days I mainly like to explore outdoors. Being from Louisiana, I have a fascination with the swamps and the hypnotic and eerie beauty of Louisiana nature. I would bring a friend on a kayaking trip through the Maurapas Swamps or go out to Lake Matin outside of Lafayette. There are lots of small hole in the wall restaurants and dive bars in the small town in Louisiana to go to. To me, that is a good trip in Louisiana.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to give a shout out to Kellie “Agent Peach”. Agent Peach has pushed me in the past year to reach for bigger things with my art. I recently joined the artist agency she started and very excited for all of the things to come.

https://www.agentpeach.art/mission

Website: https://www.austynsullivan.com/

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

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/austynsullivancollage/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy17ezz4I89ODyZH31A1TYg