Meet John Park | Artist

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

Hi John, how do you think about risk?
Risk taking is a fundamental component in leveling up your skill in any professional field although it’s of particular importance in the realm of art.

One particular event really captures this for me. It happened in 2018. At the time I was trying to establish my self as a muralist in LA and had experienced some moderate success painting murals for small businesses although the scale of my work had never exceeded 900 square feet.

Then one day while I was working on a small piece in Santa Monica I got a text from an architect whose lobby I had done a small mural for two years prior.

He offered me a job painting four walls in a new building complex in San Diego that totaled more than 6,400 square feet. My immediate reaction was fear and anxiety at the prospect of such a huge undertaking. I knew I didn’t have the experience to confidently take on such a huge project, but my gut told me to proceed despite my misgivings. Part of me knew it was a good sign how much this project scared me since I’d learned long ago that professional growth cannot be acquired without substantial risk of failure.

So I decided right then that I would say yes and figure out how I’d actually do it as I went along. It was the most challenging thing I had ever done up to that point and I gained invaluable experience not only with painting at that scale, but also the logistics of liaising with architects and clients, allocating a budget and dealing with rental equipment and sub-contractors. I was one of the beneficial things I’ve ever done for my career and it immediately led to an 11,000 square foot job in Irvine.

Since then I’ve done four more massive scale murals including a 28,000 square foot job for Nike.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
When I graduated from art school with a degree in illustration, I had no clear idea of a career path. So when I found myself in LA I started following the gallery scene with hopes of breaking into it as a painter. I began doing small group shows and live painting at events while teaching full time at a small private high school in Santa Monica.

Then in 2015 I had a major revelation. I had just had my most successful gallery show selling 90% of my show. For three months of preparation I was able to sell $20,000 worth of paintings. But after the gallery took their standard 50% cut I realized that $10,000 for three months was not sustainable for me living in LA.

Luckily by then I had also started painting murals and I had just finished a job that paid me the same amount for one month of work. The decision was clear and I transitioned from gallery to work to painting murals almost exclusively.

Since then my career has taken off with the demand for public art growing each year. And with AI art completely decimating many of the professional fields of visual art I have the extreme fortune to be plying my trade in one of the only aspects of visual art that is not directly threatened by AI.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The first thing I would do with any visitor to LA is take them to In n Out for a Double Double and some Animal Fries. Then I would probably go to one of the amazing museums in the area to appreciate some artwork.

If the season was right then skiing at Big Bear would be in order. Otherwise a trip to Joshua Tree would be the next destination.

And of course when we got back into LA we would need to go on a food tour through Korea Town and Venice to visit some of my favorite restaurants like Hodori and American Beauty.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
In 2016 I stumbled upon a YouTube video titled “The Willpower Instinct”. It was a lecture given at Google by psychologist Kelly McGonigal. In it she delved into the science behind the power of positive self talk and the counter productive nature of abusive self talk.

As a typical American I was convinced that when I made a mistake it was important to berate myself lest I make the same mistake again.

It through different experiments Dr. McGonigal was able to prove that the effect is actually the complete opposite. When you punish yourself it creates psychological stress which usually results in further failures of willpower. But if you talk to yourself the way you would talk to someone you’re responsible for mentoring , with understanding and forgiveness, it reinforces your ability to succeed at willpower challenges.

I immediately implemented this practice into my life and I noticed the results right away. The quality of my life improved dramatically and I was able to accomplish things I had previously found impossible to maintain like working out regularly and cutting back on my drinking (which lead to my quitting entirely, another thing I thought was an impossibility in my life)

This is something I try to share with everyone in my life and it certainly deserves a big shoutout.

Website: https://JohnParkArt.com

Instagram: @johnparkart