We had the good fortune of connecting with Omniflux (Mahsa Zargaran) and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Omniflux, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I approach this idea in two phases. First, capturing the muse. Second, forming and realizing the muse. Capturing the muse: I often have giant art dreams where I’m standing in front of a big sculpture, painting, or piece of music. I run around in the dream trying to find the artist behind the work, and encounter a stranger who informs me that I’m the artist behind the work. When I wake up I sketch out the pieces or write down everything I can remember from the dream. I am also gifted with these visions throughout the day. The flash of an entire painting, sculpture or piece of music will pop into the room and sit in front of me for a few seconds, then vanish. I have to keep my eyes and ears mostly noise-free to catch these flashes, and be ready to pay attention fiercely for when those flashes visit. Forming the muse: now this is where risks come in, because my muse/intent drives my medium, not the other way around. I have to be courageous and willing to learn how to weld, for example, and start working with steel or new materials to bring my vision to life. I feel unbelievably lucky to be visited with these ideas, and feel that it’s my responsibility to honor them by not playing it safe within the medium I know very well, and let the idea take me into unknown territories. To say yes, before I know how to do any of it. The more risks I take, and the more I act on my visions, the more ideas visit me. It’s a risk well worth taking, to go into foreign territories to learn, experiment, make lots of mistakes and eventually complete a new work.
Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
As an audio visual artist, I write, produce, and perform all the elements on my albums and then integrate my music with immersive visual installations that include my sculpture, animation and dance work. What sets me apart is not my abilities, but rather my willingness to design worlds using any and all instruments, materials, and techniques. My appetite to perhaps touch other realms through my work gets me to go deeper with my explorations. I am proud and excited to have a series of 8 foot tall sculptures, when I didn’t even identify as a sculptor until a few years ago.
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?
Since I am between Los Angeles and Portland, I will delve into delicious activities in both cities. Los Angeles – walk around Silverlake reservoir, have a picnic at the meadow, go to The Last Bookstore downtown, visit The Broad, and have dinner at Botanica. Portland – hike in the Columbia River Gorge, go wild swimming on Sauvie Island and visit some orchards while there, go to Powell’s bookstore, followed by cocktails at Angel Face. 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?
Aside from my gorgeous friends, brilliant partner, and warm family, I’ve been riding a never-ending wave of inspiration from Elizabeth Gilbert’s book The Signature of All Things that follows the journey of a 19th century botanist, Alma Whittaker. Alma’s devotion to studying mosses fuels my quest to explore deeply and pay attention.
Website: www.omnifluxmusic.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/omniflux/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/omnifluxmusic
Youtube: youtube.com/omnifluxofficial
Other: http://patreon.com/omniflux
Image Credits
Tari Gunstone, Paul Barker, Sammy Zargaran, Kevin Bronson