Artist Decoded by Yoshino

John Wentz is a contemporary artist whose work is an exploration of process and technique. Working within the classical idiom of the human figure, his goal is to reduce and simplify the image to its core fundamentals: composition, color, and mark-making. Paint application and brush strokes are broad and simplified as a means to connect and convey these ideas to the viewer with an abstract sensibility. John was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. His interest in art began at the age of 6 when he first discovered Batman and Spiderman comic books. After years of copying comics panel by panel, he worked in the commercial arts as a muralist, billboard creator, and freelance illustrator. After learning to paint by doing airbrushed billboards, he decided to pursue Fine Art and work in oils. Since then, he has had 5 solo exhibitions in San Francisco and numerous group exhibitions both nationally and internationally. His works have appeared in many publications and have won multiple awards. artistdecoded.com johnwentz.com instagram.com/johnwentz

Tim Bettinson is a 27-year-old singer-songwriter and producer most recognized for creating and living behind the lustful, ambient guise of Vancouver Sleep Clinic. Across his catalogue, elements of anthemic indie rock, intimate R&B, and sophisticated folk provide a sweeping film soundtrack for Bettinson’s gentle vocal and expansive storytelling. Emerging from his native Brisbane, Australia on the strength of a series of singles including “Someone To Stay," “Middle of Nowhere," “The Wire,” and the bedroom-produced viral cover of “As It Was," Tim now roams the world with a laptop and headphones in pursuit of adventure and creative inspiration for his ever-evolving project. Topics discussed in this episode: artistdecoded.com vancouversleepclinic.org instagram.com/vancouversleepclinic

Iranian-American filmmaker Saman Kesh has the most Vimeo staff picks, ever. He attributes this accolade to excessive consumption of rocket fuel and a knack for combining the human experience with a healthy dose of controlled chaos. After his music videos won him YDA Silver at Cannes and two Best Video at SXSW, his foray into advertising was an epic international Superbowl spot for Taco Bell. Since then, he has worked with major brands like Zoom, Google, Citibank, Uber, and most recently picked up a handful of Clio awards for his work with Toyota and Nintendo. Saman has written and directed two universally hailed short films, CONTROLLER and HIT TV, which are being developed into TV-shows, and he is currently working on two feature films. On his off hours, he plays video games and trolls racists. Topics discussed in this episode: artistdecoded.com samankesh.com instagram.com/saman_kesh

Daniele Bolelli is a writer, martial artist, university professor, and podcaster. He was born in Italy and currently lives in Los Angeles. Topics discussed in this episode: artistdecoded.com danielebolelli.com danielebolelli.substack.com historyonfirepodcast.com thedrunkentaoist.com instagram.com/daniele_bolelli

Yoshino is a multi-hyphenate artist and the host of Artist Decoded. Yoshino’s essay “Photo Roulette” can be read at Yoshino’s Diary on Substack. Yoshino’s Links: yoshinostudios.com yoshino.substack.com instagram.com/yoshinostudios twitter.com/yoshinostudios

Wesley Stringer (b. 1985) was born in Oklahoma City and has worked as a photographer for the past 13 years. Stringer began photographing while a BFA student at the University of Oklahoma. His practice is concerned with the natural environment, both in its untouched state, as well as how it relates to the spaces people occupy. The printed image is as important to Stringer’s work as the physical and textural presence: his photographs frequently take the shape of handmade books or boxes. In addition, the artist prints many of his photographs on translucent gampi paper and mounts them by hand to heavier weight papers, giving each artwork evidence of its making. Stringer’s photographs and handmade books have been exhibited in museums and galleries in the United States and in France. In 2013, Stringer’s photographs were exhibited at the Museum of Art and Design in New York. In 2016, Stringer was a finalist for the Rudin Prize for Emerging Photographers, which resulted in a group exhibition at the Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach. Working in collaboration with artist Daniel Brush, Stringer’s photographs were exhibited at L’École School in Paris (2017) and L’École School in New York (2018). In 2019, his photographs were exhibited at Nailya Alexander Gallery, New York (2019), and in 2020, Stringer’s work was acquired by the library of The Museum of Modern Art, New York (2020). Stringer's work is represented by Michael Hulett at The Hulett Collection in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

James “Munky” Shaffer is best known as co-founder and guitarist for American rock band Korn. With a career spanning three decades, his latest project Venera ventures into experimental electronic territory. Venera L.A.-based James Shaffer and Atlanta-based Chris Hunt converged as Venera in early 2022 in Downtown Los Angeles while working on songs for singer Xhoana X. Their kindred interest and backgrounds in dramatic texture, electronics, and experimentation inspired an improvisation-based recording process that seeks to explore a sonic universe defined by evolving atmosphere, cinematic noise, and select collaborations. Venera released their self-titled debut album on Oct. 13 via Ipecac Recordings. Topics Discussed In This Episode: artistdecoded.com instagram.com/munky_korn instagram.com/_veneramusic veneramusic.com kornofficial.com

Paul Yoon is the author of four previous works of fiction: Once the Shore, which was a New York Times Notable Book; Snow Hunters, which won the Young Lions Fiction Award; The Mountain, which was an NPR Best Book of the Year; and Run Me to Earth, which was one of Time magazine’s Must-Read Books of 2020 and longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, he lives in the Hudson Valley, New York. ArtistDecoded.com Paul’s Website The Hive and The Honey

Johan Van Mullem (Belgian painter born in 1959) persisted in his youthful search for wrinkled faces, seeking the beauty he recognized in an experience engraved on the faces and in the hands. Since then, the face remains the major subject of his work but over time reversing the imprint of it on his own face while these subjects seem to rejuvenate, disappearing or emerging in a halo of light in old-fashioned sfumato, offering the gaze an escape into the world of emotion, because Johan van Mullem's work is an invitation to introspection, to a journey whose omnipresent emotional charge cannot leave indifferent as the depth is often dizzying. The superimposition and erasure of the many smooth layers of the diluted inks further accentuate this feeling of inexpressible presence on the canvas. The self-taught mastery of the specific and unique technicality of his work because only executed in etching ink (an extension of his experience as an engraver) gives his work an additional exceptional character. Complete artist, designer, painter, and sculptor, (but also poet and musician) Johan Van Mullem strives to create a multiple, diverse but absolutely coherent work offering links and bridges to all our senses awakened by this work that projects as much into the past as into a contemporaneity. artistdecoded.com johanvanmullem.com fine-arts-museum.be/en/exhibitions/johan-van-mullem instagram.com/johanvanmullem

Jacqueline Castel is an internationally award-winning director, screenwriter, and curator based in NYC. Her short film work has been featured at more than fifty festivals worldwide, including Sundance, SXSW, Rotterdam, BAMcinemaFest, Sitges, and Fantasia. She has written for and directed cult auteurs John Carpenter and Jim Jarmusch, and collaborated on a film with David Lynch for his Festival of Disruption in 2018. Her most recent short film, a portrait of Cannes award-winning actor Caleb Landry Jones, debuted on NOWNESS in 2021. Castel’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The BBC, Dazed, VICE, Italian Vogue, Interview Magazine, and on AMC’s Shudder. She earned her BFA with honors at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. My Animal is her feature film debut. artistdecoded.com jacquelinecastel.com instagram.com/jacquelinecastel myanimalfilm.com

Internationally acclaimed, prominent contemporary artist and social media Influencer; Dan Lam is an artist based out of Texas, US. Lam’s sculptural work expresses and plays with sensational dichotomies by combining unconventional materials, organic forms, and bright colors. With contrasting themes verging on beauty and grotesqueness at once, Lam’s art provokes its viewers to ponder meaning and existence while inspiring feelings of familiarity and wonder. Curiosity, play, and fun are the foundation of where Lam’s work begins. Her experimentation results in beautiful sculptures created with various materials such as foams, polyurethanes, resins, acrylics, and polymers, which defines her style. She has exhibited worldwide, and celebrity clients include Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, The Game, and Lily Aldridge. Notable art collectors, such as the Tisch family, have acquired her work. In addition, Lam has collaborated with prominent companies, including Facebook and Virgin, and renowned art producers, Meow Wolf. Her pieces have been featured in Architectural Digest, Travel and Leisure, and Forbes, amongst many other international media outlets. artistdecoded.com bydanlam.com instagram.com/sopopomo

Yoshino is a multi-hyphenate artist and the host of Artist Decoded. Yoshino’s short story “The Inner Symphony” can be read at Yoshino’s Diary on Substack. Yoshino’s Links: yoshinostudios.com yoshino.substack.com instagram.com/yoshinostudios twitter.com/yoshinostudios

Christine Kuan is President & Executive Director of Creative Capital, a nonprofit grantmaking organization funding artists creating experimental and groundbreaking new work in the visual arts, performing arts, film, technology, literature, socially engaged, and multidisciplinary forms. Before joining Creative Capital, Kuan was CEO & Director of Sotheby’s Institute of Art, and held roles as Chief Curator & Director of Strategic Partnerships at Artsy, Chief Curatorial Officer & VP for External Affairs at Artstor, and Editor-in-Chief of Oxford Art Online/Grove Art Online at Oxford University Press. She has also worked at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and taught at the University of Iowa, Peking University, Rutgers University, and Stanford University Arts Leadership program. Kuan holds an MFA in Creative Writing Poetry from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a BA in Art History and English Literature from Rutgers University. Topics Discussed In This Episode: Books Referenced: People Mentioned: artistdecoded.com creative-capital.org instagram.com/kuannyc

Mitch Horowitz is a historian of alternative spirituality and one of today’s most literate voices of esoterica, mysticism, and the occult. He is the PEN Award-winning author of books including Occult America, One Simple Idea, The Miracle Club, Daydream Believer, Uncertain Places, and the forthcoming Modern Occultism. Mitch hosted, co-wrote, and produced a feature documentary about the occult classic The Kybalion directed by Emmy-nominee Ronni Thomas and shot on location in Egypt. The movie premiered as the #3 documentary on iTunes. Mitch plays a newscaster in the forthcoming Paramount feature thriller My Animal directed by Jacqueline Castel, an official selection of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Mitch’s books have been translated into French, Arabic, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Korean, and Portuguese. His work is censored in China. Topics Discussed In This Episode: Books Referenced: (Emily St. John Mandel)(Napoleon Hill)(Brion Gysin and William S. Burroughs) Films / TV Shows Referenced: People Mentioned: ArtistDecoded.com MitchHorowitz.com Mitch’s Twitter Mitch’s Instagram

Cj Hendry (b. 1988) is a New York-based artist originally from Brisbane, Australia. Hendry transforms her fascination with contemporary material culture into large-scale, hyper-photorealistic drawings. Cj Hendry’s exhibits aren’t intended to be passively observed but, rather, actively experienced through engaging, fun, and thought-provoking exhibits. For her exhibit Monochrome, Hendry and her team built an entire multi-room “home” inside a warehouse with each room entirely monochrome-colored from floor to ceiling and everything in between. For Rorschach, guests jumped through a gigantic bouncy house maze in order to reach and finally view the impressive series. Each Cj Hendry exhibit, from Miami to Melbourne, draws massive crowds with attendees waiting in line for several hours - and, in the end, everyone leaves more enriched than when they arrived. With her celebrity clientele – and many works in private collections - Hendry’s waitlist is now well over 3,000 collectors with a wait time of up to five years to get their hands on a piece. Topics Discussed In This Episode: artistdecoded.com cjhendrystudio.com instagram.com/cj_hendry

Yoshino is a multi-hyphenate artist and the host of Artist Decoded. Yoshino’s short story “And Then Awoke The Butterfly” can be read at Yoshino’s Diary on Substack. Yoshino’s Links: yoshinostudios.com yoshino.substack.com instagram.com/yoshinostudios twitter.com/yoshinostudios

Brett Amory’s multidisciplinary practice is based on the intersection of quotidian and habitual engagements with the everyday world. His works consider moments of visual perception that precede interpretation. Working primarily in painting and installation, he uses the ordinary as a vehicle for extending the familiar into the realms of the unfamiliar. His work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, including at the National Portrait Gallery, London; the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh; the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Indiana; Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco; and de Young Museum, San Francisco. Brett Amory earned an MFA from Stanford University and a BFA from the Academy of Arts University. He lives and works in Oakland California. Topics Discussed In This Episode: Artists / People Mentioned: Books Mentioned: Article Read In Episode Intro: "What is Embodiment? Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s Philosophy of the Body" by Moses May-Hobbs artistdecoded.com brettamory.com instagram.com/brettamory

Yoshino is a multi-hyphenate artist and the host of Artist Decoded. Yoshino’s essay “Wandering and Wondering” can be read at Yoshino’s Diary on Substack. Yoshino’s Links: yoshinostudios.com yoshino.substack.com instagram.com/yoshinostudios twitter.com/yoshinostudios

Yoshino is a multi-hyphenate artist and the host of Artist Decoded. Topics Discussed: Artists / People Mentioned: Yoshino’s Links: yoshinostudios.com instagram.com/yoshinostudios twitter.com/yoshinostudios

Yoshino is a multi-hyphenate artist and the host of Artist Decoded. Topics Discussed: “Simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. Simple in actions and thoughts, you return to the source of being. Patient with both friends and enemies, you accord with the way things are. Compassionate toward yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world.” ― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching Yoshino’s Links: yoshinostudios.com instagram.com/yoshinostudios twitter.com/yoshinostudios