Troi Parham

Interviewed by Ella Texada (E.T)

Grade

Mediums

Classes Taken at Harriton

Interview

Art Focused Questions:

All right, this is interviewer Ella Texada (E.T), and I'm here with:

Troi Parham.

Awesome sauce. All right, briefly introduce yourself as an artist or person in general.

I'm Troi. I am a painter, a cinematographer, photographer, videographer, and I think that's it. And I skate.

So you're an artist of all sorts. That's really cool! What is your favorite media? It seems like you work with a lot.

I would have to say my favorite media is for art, like illustrations, I would say it would be watercolor and gouache and definitely oil pastels. Oil pastels and crayons are really fun to work with. And for photography, I really like to use Nikons. Even though people say they're garbage, I don't care. Nikons and soon-to-be Fujifilms are my favorite cameras.

I think sometimes a garbage quality can add a lot actually. Are you interested in a particular style of it? Whatever you feel like you have a more distinct answer for.

When it comes to me for art I am really interested in, like, surrealism and kind of dreams and stuff. Because like when I was a kid I had a really active imagination like I don't know if you've ever watched Inside Out but when Riley’s a little kid and she plugs in the little thing and she sees the floor is lava and it looks real, that's how I was as a kid. And it just never went away, I’m still like that. So when I paint, I like to dabble in nostalgia, surrealism, all of that. Photography too, I really like street photography and action sports, but not actual sports like skating. I go to a lot of skate events and take photos and videos. But I'm a really big fan of candid work for photography.

Nice. What was it like working with this medium? Do you have a process that you do?[Laughing] Um, for photography, it's like, I don't know, the last thing I want to do is offend someone, especially in the city. So doing candid shots of people just walking by, like, it's a little nerve wracking. But I've learned that you just have to be really quick with it. And then just walk away. People do that all the time. So I think people in the city are honestly used to it.

For art, I don't really have a set process. I have an idea as to what I want to do, and I literally just move my hand until I get some sort of outline, and then I just expand upon that outline.

That's really cool. It is quite literally trust in the process then.

Yeah.

Nice. Do you do a lot of planning beforehand?

If I have a piece that I want to do, I collect materials, like references, and all the things I think I’ll need to create it. And then afterwards, I kind of just sit in my room with music on, and then I just let it flow. I zone out.

Actually, it's music is a question too- but we'll get to that later. What do you find frustrating about the process?

Sometimes it's so many factors. Like sometimes it's like i'm motivated but I'm not inspired , or sometimes it's like I'm neither. Sometimes I'm motivated and inspired. My hand just won't move. Sometimes being an artist that has art block feels like being a printer with like only two colors of ink instead of all the ink. It's like you can do something, but it's not going to be up to par the way you want it to be. And then that just discourages you even further. So I think the thing that I'd struggle with the most is honestly like not, yeah, I guess consistency and like just staying inspired and like in a working mood.

I think the printer analogy is the best one I've actually ever heard.

Thanks.

Do you have a favorite tool?

Favorite tool– Definitely watercolor. I don't know what it is about watercolor. I think that oil paint is some of the most like, poetic looking medium. Every piece I've seen done in oil paint is so gorgeous and I don't know how to explain it. It’s just ancient looking. Like how art in the Baroque periods used to look like, it's just really pretty and realistic, but I just can't wrap my head around it. But watercolor just has always has been my go-to thing. And I think it's because when I was a kid, I read a lot of children's books with watercolor and like pastels and crayons and stuff. So kind of just, literally material that little kids use, I'm like, yeah, that's the one right there. Give me the Crayola crayons.

I think it's because they're more forgiving also.

Yeah, actually people say that watercolor is like one of the hardest mediums because it's so hard to control. I digress, but everyone has their own things.

Fair enough. What do you believe is your strength and weakness as an artist?

I believe some of my strengths are anatomy, like hands.

Very true!

And definitely composition. But definitely one of my weaknesses or no those are my strengths– some of my weaknesses are colors, like I'm colorblind ASF, so putting together color palettes and not knowing what they look like to most people is a little difficult. But even with colorblind modes, one thing that people won't tell you about being colorblind is there's not a lot of stuff meant to help colorblindness, because it's not that big of an issue. It's not like missing a limb or something. It's just, “oh! you can't see. Yellow and blue is dull to me.” But no one really cares. Or not no one really cares. It's just not that important.

Not a ton of accommodations.

Yeah, not a ton of accommodations. I have to reteach myself color theory every time I open a palette, and it's just, that's definitely one of my weaknesses, but if you've seen my art, it's led to some crazy color palettes, so. It's a blessing in disguise.

I really enjoy it. I always find that artists have particular color palettes that they subconsciously gravitate towards. And I've always been a really big fan of your colors.

Thank you.

Who are your favorite visual artists? Why?

Okay so, i'll give you instagrams before I give artists. I have this mutual who's in the skate scene in Philly, his name is nazir wayman. He does crazy like– He has a film camera and he shoots in all black and white and literally in a crowd and will fully pick up his camera with the flash to take a photo in the middle of the crowd and keep it pushing. I aspire to be like that one day. And then there's another artist on Instagram, their handle is female pentimento. And they take a lot of photos that are really fuzzy and nostalgic looking, but also kind of eerie. It's a lot of horses and landscapes. I forget what the aesthetic is called, but it's like Midwest Catholicism or something. I forget, but it's like really like run down buildings, like run down churches. Just like what it's like to live in the creepy woods in the midwest. I love female pentimentals art. And then for painters; definitely Vincent Van Gogh. And I forget his name right now, but the creator of Peep the Cat. And Basquiat. I don't copy Basquiat, but I think that his process and the fact that he's so controversial, is he an artist or is he just a crazy man scribbling? I like an artist that plays with the public. I like that some people are like, he's not an artist, he's just a crazy man. And then other people are like, no, he's a genius. I think Basquiat's a mastermind at art. I think he's also crazy.

Yeah, as I'm thinking about those artists (or the ones that I'm aware of) I think about a lot like Van Gogh's yellows, and I find that a lot in your work, just to kind of bring back to a point. And I think it's really cool. Also, I have a lot of Southern Gothic inspiration, just because of my own family.

Yeah! Southern Gothic. That was it.

Do you base your art pieces around a central theme? If so, why?

When I was a kid, I didn't realize this at the time, but I always dabbled in kind of surreal themes. And I see people dabbling in it now. I see people on Instagram being like, imagine if we were born all colors of the rainbow instead of just shades of brown. And people go outside and paint themselves red. When I was a kid, I was like, damn, I want to be blue so bad, or purple. And I don't know, I just dipped in bizarre themes like that all the time when I was a kid.

That's just what kids do, honestly. They don't realize it's a form of art before their frontal lobe literally forms. But like, I forgot where I was going.

So kind of like a mix of surrealism and nostalgia?

Yeah, oh my god, nostalgia kills me. I like to make art where you stare at it, and you're trying to figure out what it makes you feel. That weird feeling you get in your chest when it feels like someone's playing your heart strings like a guitar, I want my art to make people feel like that. Because I've looked at art and felt like that, and I'd be like, whoa, I need to recreate this feeling.

That's beautiful. That is so beautiful. How do you get ideas? Do you make a mind map or find mentor artists and so on?

I am a lucid dreamer so I have crazy intense dreams that are colorblind so it's just like a lot of media I consume too like I really like love things like love death and robots adventure time like things I kind of just grew up with like really weird stuff surrounding me as a kid and

I don't know, just like, my childhood was just really like, it wasn't bad by any means, it was just a little off. I lived in the middle of the woods and I always had reoccurring nightmares about things coming out of those woods to come get me. I don't know what was wrong, but I just had, I was always surrounded by weirdness when I was a kid. I seemed to be a magnet for weirdness. It was just like, alright, there's no getting away from it, so.

The women on my side of my mom's family are all also lucid dreamers, including me. And some of them have been prophetic. It's weird. I get it.

Do you have, like, a favorite art-related quote? Art-related quote? Like, for example, C.S. Lewis. Or wait, was it C.S. Lewis? But, like, comparisons to the thief of joy, things like that.

I don't have a favorite, but I would have to say that that one would be my least favorite.

While it has made me sad, it has forced me to improve. Comparison is the thief of joy, but also it grants you with the literal willpower to get better. And I find that comparing my art to others that I really look up to, it has made me just want to do nothing but sit down and improve and draw drawing after drawing until it's finally perfect.

So, I don't think I have a favorite quote, but I agree and disagree with Comparison is the thief of joy. You got it. Great. Was your art inspired by any personal experiences? Again, do you mind elaborating any more? Like, a lot of my art, while super colorful, it's just a little like,

I don't know, I don't know how to explain it. Some people have described it as calm, some people have described it as off-putting. When I was a kid, I would swear down to you on my life, I could see ghosts. Like when I was a baby. So like, and we just had a ton of portraits around of like people I never met. And they had that look that it's just like, I know I'm related to you, but like this photo is so, I don't, it's like out of, like it's crazy.

Kind of just like off-putting like I don't know if you ever looked at a photo like a relative you've never met But yeah, I'd be a really old photo and it just seems uncanny like I can't not uncanny but like I Don't know like I was just surrounded by like weird stuff. I I also watched a lot of like paranormal stuff. So like yeah, I like um, I really like

dabbling in a lot of different like uh not religions but like like theology theology mythology yes mythology so like that's a lot of like that definitely dips like i i don't discriminate with any like i like all religions all theologies all mythologies so like

mermaids are cool, like giants are cool to me, like fairies are cool to me, like I like the devil and all of like the stuff that seemed super innocent when you're a kid, but then you learn about what it's actually like, like in scriptures and it's like oh, mermaids aren't that nice actually? That's scary. No.

How do you see yourself in your art? Do you often depict yourself in your art?

Not on purpose, but I find myself drawing a lot of characters that accidentally look like me or like somebody that I'm really close with. I don't know why I do it. It's a thing all artists have. It's studied. It's just like my art looks like me and I can't describe why. I know it's a subconscious thing, but it's just like I really can't dig in my brain to find out why.

Like, we have an art show coming up, and I know that I'm going to have to fight the allegations of all of my art being self-portraits, because a lot of them look similar to me, just not on purpose. Just, I don't know.

Do you think emotionally, too?

Yeah. Like, I connect emotions with colors a lot, because that's just how I was raised. Like, anger is red. Happiness is yellow. Green is jealousy or disgust, you know. I don't know what purple would be. Whatever.

But like if you look at a lot of the colors in my art like sometimes I'll literally I don't care about what the pieces. I'll just pick up the color of how I'm feeling and I'll just go into the piece. And the color palettes probably aren't as compatible as I think they are, but it's okay. I pour a little bit of my soul into every piece that I do, and I just can't explain why, but it kinda happens. I get emotionally attached to every piece I do, It's a piece of me.

Woah. Wow. How has your family or friends influenced your art, if any?

Considering that I'm always with someone, like don't get me wrong, I love my alone time. But– considering that I'm always with somebody, whether it be on the phone or that I'm talking to my mom or something, a lot of the people that I'm surrounded with— there's little aspects of them that I also pour into my art. Like, my mom has a short haircut, so a lot of the female characters I draw have, like, the shortest haircuts ever. Because, not a buzz cut, but it's a little above a buzz cut. What is that called? It's not a taper. It's not a little taper. And a lot of these kids have sixties or some of my cousins have really long curly hair.

So a lot of my characters have really long, lustrous curly hair. And a lot of my characters, they accessorize with a ton of jewelry like my family or they have similar eye colors as all my family or friends.

I am a museum of everything I've once loved.

Oh, how do you plan to continue your art and incorporate it into your life in the future?

I would definitely like to move to either a country or a state that appreciates art more.

I know Pennsylvania has, Philly is definitely one of the most artsy cities in the country. But, I've noticed in a lot of other countries, they're not as like, this might just be what media I'm being fed, but a lot of other countries don't use AI nearly as much as America does. And when they do, it's like, did I use the wrong thing there? They use it as search engines instead of being, like, “draw an anime girl”.

So I think, one way I would move to somewhere like Italy where they have, like, a ton of art everywhere. And it's not that I feel underappreciated. It's just I would like to appreciate more. There's not a lot of art around to appreciate, and it creates a feeling of isolation when you're looking around. You're like, “damn, there's no one else around. Damn. There's no one else around here like me.”

So I think just moving somewhere a little more artsy.

I feel like in America, artists are either venerated to an alarming degree or they're, like, completely not respected.

Yeah. It's a weird mix!

Do you have any goals as an artist?

It's not, “be the best that I can” because I'm ever changing.

I think it's just I never want to get to the point where I don't enjoy art because I'm doing it too much or too little. I want to keep art at a perfect distance to where I can always enjoy it if I wanna do it for fun. It can help me make money, and it's just there for me whenever I need it. I don't want it to be too close. I don't want it to be too far.

What advice do you have for students who relate to your experiences?

Stay weird.

Hell yeah!

Stay weird, stay different, and experiment as much as possible. If you have the opportunities to experience something, do it because the worst thing that can happen is you experience it.

What advice do you have for students who are passionate in art but unsure about pursuing a career due to financial concerns?

You and me both! But I say personally as someone who gave up engineering for art, I'm a much happier person. This might just be me, but honestly, being rich in life and being surrounded by people you love is a much better choice than being rich and having every materialistic item. Like never having problems, because then it kinda takes the fun out of living. One thing that's nice about life is you always have things to fight for.

But if you buy everything you want, it's not fun anymore. There's nothing to do. So, personally, I would say go for it. The money will come one way or another.

Wow. Alright. And here is the question I mentioned earlier. What is your taste in music? Do you listen to music while you're creating art?

Oh, brother. Do I listen to music? Okay. Okay. Depends on the season.

In the fall, I like to listen to indie rock, bedroom pop, etc. I really like indie music in the fall. In the winter, nostalgia time. I listen to all oldies, whether it be Christmas songs or not.

I listen to songs purely from before the eighties. Like, I don't know what it is about the grain of the microphone, but it works wonders for me.

For spring, I like to listen to a lot of classical music, a lot of jazz. And then for summer, I like to listen to a lot of r and b and a lot of soul music because I just associate all of those musics with the seasons. I don't know why.

They just fell into them. If you look at my collection of art and look at the dates, you can almost tell what season I did it in and what kind of music I listened to because I'm just so affected by everything around me.

That's awesome. Favorite place in the Philadelphia area or nature?

Favorite place in Philadelphia— I have a couple.

I have Muni. It's a skate spot near Love Park, which is also up there. South Street, Hundred Percent. The art museum but, behind the art museum. Like, there's a couple of benches behind the art museum where you can draw, and it's really peaceful.

And FDR. Oh my god. FDR Skate Park is my place! I love FDR Skate Park. You have some crazy photos there. And they're super chill. There's always bands playing their stuff.

And this was my own personal question that I added.

Were there any medias, more so video games or TV shows particularly that you can say, “that was a really big thing for me?”

Okay. No Man's Sky. That was insane for me because I've always been obsessed with space. Subnautica because I'm just a big biology person, so I love underwater. I love space. I love the unknown. So one of my favorite things to do is just sit and learn about it.

Also a game called Coffee Talk. That's a really good one. Stardew Valley too. I really like pixel games. Pixel games. I don't know what that's about. And literally, like, every Disney Infinity game. I don't know why!

I don't know why it's so hardwired into my brain! The thing about those games is it's free play and you can just do whatever you imagine. Top top favorite style of game ever. So those really, like, inspire me to just do whatever I want.

Really cool. Alright. Anything else you want to share before we move on to the final part of the interview?

Nah. Not really. Alright.

Get ready.

SPEED ROUND!!!

Favorite food.

Oh god. Spaghetti. Noodles. You can do anything with noodles for the first time.

Favorite drink?

Water.

Favorite restaurant?

Favorite restaurant. Back when it used to be the good Nifty Fifties.. So good.

Favorite ice cream topping?

Whipped cream.

Favorite animal?

Oh, you're killing me.

Favorite animal!

Jellyfish.

Favorite song right now?

Dark Red by Steve Lacy.

Favorite color?

Orange.

Favorite TV show?

Adventure Time.

Hobby?

Guitar.

Favorite book?

Goosebumps. Help We Have Strange Powers.

Alright. That is the end of the interview :-) !

That is horrible.

Thank you so much for the interview! I hope you have a great day.