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Truth in this art
Only a couple months down, I think I recognize.
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Rob Lee
Welcome to the truth. That is art. I am your host, Rob Lee. Thanks for listening. Checking out this podcast and you're in you're in for a good conversation on arts and culture. Today, I'm in conversation with an artist who describes themselves as a brown boy representing the duality of both Latin and American culture and experiences through mass that can either misconceived or stereotype perceptions.
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Rob Lee
Please welcome Sean nine Lugo. Welcome to the podcast.
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Sean Lugo
Thank you, brother.
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Speaker 4
Thank you.
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Rob Lee
Absolutely. Absolutely. I love the car, by the way. I had to get that color. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. I mean, as a do with the body, it's it's December as we're recording this. And, you know, it's.
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Sean Lugo
Got to you got to keep warm, though.
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Speaker 4
Absolutely.
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Rob Lee
So before we get super deep into the conversation and we kind of started like the conversation, we did that sort of 20 minute like, oh, okay, this is where we're at intro chat, if you will. Could you could you share like your story? Like what are some of those like early creative influences? You know, describe the type of work that you're doing and what sort of creative practices that you engage in growing up.
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Rob Lee
You know, I know it's a lot, but, you know, and I'm welcome to tap back in, but start off with the story. Like, what's your story? How did you get started in in art?
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Sean Lugo
Yeah, that's that's a that's a long one. I'll cut a short, um, yeah. So I'm just, I'm just a dyslexic brown boy who was, you know, brought up New Jersey, raised by a bunch of immigrant women. Father was incarcerated, mother had a drug problem, grew up on food stamps. I wanted to change the world. So and some of my earlier influences.
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Sean Lugo
Where were comics? Huge, huge comics growing up as a kid? Mostly the street. Uh, I, I was I was in the street a lot when I was eight years old. My curfew was midnight. Oh, I can't make this shit up. And mostly life meant life. So I hate to curse, man, but life's a motherfucker, you know? I mean, as upside down now I try to learn.
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Sean Lugo
I try to learn from all the downs, especially, and and helped me grow, you know, and that's that's kind of that's kind of my story in a nutshell.
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Rob Lee
Yeah. And thank you. Because I think, you know, when you have sort of those like ups and downs, you're able to recognize one from the other based on the other, you know, like say, oh, man, this really sucked. So when that next cool when happens because it's all about balance I think at the end of the day. So it's like, oh yeah, it's like this sucked.
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Rob Lee
This was great. Everything's even.
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Speaker 4
If.
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Rob Lee
So, what would you say? You said you said comics are in there, what have you. And I now, now just wrote a comics related question that's going to be a part of this rapid fire, but what are some of the like some of those creative practices you engaged in like early on? Was it like, you know, in terms of like street art or was it like graffiti?
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Rob Lee
Was it tagging? Was it drawing and having a sketch, book writing? What was it for you?
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Sean Lugo
Yeah, a lot of when I was, you know, art artists is probably one of the best therapeutic outlets. There is all types of workers playing music, writing poetry, whatever. For me, like drawing as a kid, you know, trying to replicate the cartoons and, you know, trying to draw Batman, Spider-Man or whatever. And as I got older, probably, probably around like 15.
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Sean Lugo
Graffiti. Graffiti was like everything, just being a little vandalism and, you know, reading like The Art of Giving over by Steve Powers and like looking at his ten rules of what not to do, you know, and then trying to master that and respect those rules and write on everything that I should not write on the things I said it, you know, and then eventually got arrested for it and realized it was only for me.
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Sean Lugo
But it took a while. It took a while.
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Rob Lee
This ain't for me.
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Speaker 4
This is just.
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Sean Lugo
For me.
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Rob Lee
Is it? Some people say I'm an asset in it. So you're. So I became aware of you, I think, through one or two different means, like either sort of that, you know, Jersey, New York, Philly connection, because I've been back and forth in that sort of area and I'm doing this series as as we're talking now, it'll probably be out by the time this episode drops.
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Rob Lee
But doing the series that it's featuring a lot of Philadelphia artists and a lot of your work is there. So can you tell us more about that work and some of the main ideas you're trying to express?
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Sean Lugo
Yeah, like my my street art. Um, which I'm not a news on the term, but it's kind of hard not to call it anything else. It's art in the street of her for me, I paint animal heads on people. You know, the best way to describe it. I like playing off like the misconceptions that one have. So for me, portraits, they're nice.
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Sean Lugo
But if you see a face, you pass judgment. And if you see an animal head on something, you just you throw all that judgment out the window and for for what I do in the street is it's, you know, trying to create images that I enjoy or work with artists, enjoy and collaborate with a lot of artists, especially in Philadelphia.
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Sean Lugo
I want to try to do more collaborating all around the world. They'll be they'll be dope trying to work on that now. We'll see. We'll see. We got some people on the list and it's it's kind of just like but I think people's day with I get attached to my own horn. But from my symmetry, you know.
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Rob Lee
Yeah and so, so so with it because I've seen some pieces and I was like, this is, this is great. It was giving me like Ralph Lauren vibes because there's a lot of bears, a lot of their heads are like, Oh, this is great. Yeah. Hey, yeah. How do you how do you pick, like in terms of like, you know, there's there's a figure that you may relate to, maybe someone that is, let's say, a celebrity or someone that is personal.
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Rob Lee
Like when you're looking at sort of the the human component of one of the images, how do you know? Like, all right, I'm going to put a wolf here on this person or a unicorn or a a horse handle on this person. How do you come with that to to that that idea?
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Sean Lugo
But it depends on the image of what you're trying to do come across when it comes to painting. You could play more with that when it comes to collaborating with like a series I do in Philadelphia, I tell people like, you know, what do you want your head to be like? What do you relate to? Like, what do you think?
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Sean Lugo
You know, some people say a bird. Some people say, I want your bare head. You know, some people give a request and I look at them and they'll know that. I mean, you know, so then having conversations with people, you know, I'll just wing it and be like, Oh yeah, you know, maybe it would be cool if if I gave you, like, a dog or you have a dog, oh, send me a portrait of your dog.
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Sean Lugo
And then you recreate their body with their dog, you know, as the head. So a lot of that all depends when it comes to paintings, you can really play with it, like narrative or whatever. I did a portrait of like two cops beating up a guy and, you know, that was easy, just different. The cop came, I had because right away, you know, you got to know the dogs that that sniff of the goodies so might as well you know use that as as the reference.
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Rob Lee
So I'm just going to put this out there. Right manifesting. Right. So alligator be an alligator, right? Like just a long alligator face or. Yeah, I'm just saying I'm just saying. I'm just saying. So we talked a little bit beforehand, so I want to dove back into like some of like maybe one that comes to mind, like a very, like impactful experience that has inspired your work.
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Rob Lee
Like, you know, I'll say in doing this, you know, literally, I always point to this got started because an orange colored asshole said something about Baltimore that I didn't like. That's really what it was. And so what would be something that's like a touchstone for you that was like, Oh, I need to really engage more in sort of this art or I really need to approach my work in this way.
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Rob Lee
What was one of those like impactful experiences in your life that really impacted your art?
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Sean Lugo
Oh, man. Overall, I would just have to say, like the struggle La Lucha, you know, like the downs I've definitely had I've definitely had more down than ups. The ups are great, you know what I mean? But I'm too I'm I guess I'm like a magnet when it comes to the down sometimes. And it's, it's it's hard to just ignore, you know, so, so one of the, like the main one of the main, like, things that inspire me and impact me when it comes to my art is just like it's just a struggle, you know?
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Sean Lugo
Um, but life is hard. I'm not going to sit down and be, like, all because, you know, I have a house now. You know, I have a job. And people who love me like any at any moment, man, all of that could go away. Yeah. And I'm not. I'm not blind. I've gone through shit. So. So for me, the struggle always, like, pushes me.
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Sean Lugo
Right now I'm. I'm fucked up in that sense, but like, uh, when I hear bad news, it motivates me. Even, like, lights a fire in my eye. I hate hearing it, but. But when you find out, like, someone's misfortune or, you know, someone, someone might be passing away or they got horrible news. And for me, it's just fuels.
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Sean Lugo
Like, I got to do it for them, you know? I guess I don't, I don't know, uh, and maybe, maybe it's my fucked up upbringing, but it's what, it's what helps me like it really is for me. Like the number one thing is the, you know, the struggles just it impacts in so many ways, you know, and I always try to take the positive from it.
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Rob Lee
Yeah. I mean, you know, because the truth of the matter is we're not always the most at least I think at times I'm always the most motivated or feeling creative or in spite of someone. Sometimes it's those those things that are the the darker things that are in the back of your mind. Like, you know, that you get energy from you.
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Rob Lee
You listed like, yeah, I'm going to do this because someone said I couldn't, I'm going to do this out of spite. I'm going to do this out of anger. And is fuel potentially to to make work or at least to, like, get out and get to that spot because there's times, especially when the temperatures drop, you're like, I'm not getting out of bed.
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Rob Lee
I'm going to stay here a couple, you know, a couple more hours or whatever. It's a lot of things that happen that can beat up on you emotionally, psychologically, whatever. And you're like, I don't know if I want to do anything, let alone doing my creative work, but there's something there that clicks like, Oh, I'm fortunate enough to be able to do this.
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Rob Lee
Not everyone gets to do it. And seeing other people's and perhaps misfortunes and and things of the sort and, you know, that's what happens with me is like despite sometimes like every now and again I hear, oh, you don't look like you do this. And I was like, What does that mean? You know? Or, You know, you've done this, or I may not be able to get a certain guess or conversation doesn't go the way I would hope or is you?
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Rob Lee
You probably recognize this. People are very weird on social media and in emails. A lot, a lot of tough guys out there, weird messaging. And it's just it says energy.
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Sean Lugo
Like Williams said, if you don't got enough haters, this is true. You need to get yourself some fucking haters, as many as you need. We need to push forth and get that you know, we live in we live in weird times that, you know, everyone's equipped to be keyboard bullies, you know, and, you know, you you got to you got to like, you know, just not pay attention to the noise.
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Rob Lee
Yeah. And, you know, I think, you know, there's been yeah, I have to because I kind of have that sort of motor motivation around sort of the struggle and sort of the the else that will stick out more than the WS writing. And I need to, I need to, I need to recognize those WS a bit more because like I said earlier, this year has been a pretty, you know, as we're recording has been a pretty good year in terms of those W's.
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Rob Lee
And, you know, I'm very appreciative and very blessed for those opportunities, but I need to need to acknowledge them and feel them more versus moving on to the next thing for whatever reason that might be.
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Sean Lugo
100%. Man, i, i, i always tell myself that, you know, like, look in the mirror and realize what you achieved when I don't do it enough either. You know, I'm definitely guilty of it. You know, I definitely I'll always think of, you know, having your tire fixed because you just got to fly, you know, finding out your buddy got fired or someone got cancer instead of like, you know, sitting back in real life, you you accomplish a lot.
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Sean Lugo
You shouldn't be having this conversation now. You know, I should it but I should I should be blessed and and appreciate the moments I do have. And, you know, it's good to hear it because it makes you to realize, you know, like you saying, it makes me realize like that, you know, I should do it more. You know, it's always in the back of your head, but you just it just slipped through the cracks.
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Sean Lugo
You know, there's a lot of cracks in my brain about it.
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Rob Lee
Just built with cracks. It's just all cracks all the time.
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Sean Lugo
The whole bunch of ways all over the place.
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Rob Lee
So let's talk about artistic movements and or artists that have influenced you and how either you go about your work or, you know, because I think, you know, a lot of times artists are and I put myself in the same conversation with even with these in the gentlemanly sense. So I have, you know, oh, I like the way he does that I'm going to steal that technique or how could I learn it from a, you know, I think a lot of the greats in whatever they do, you're learning something like if you watch boxers, how you throw his jab again, show me that.
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Rob Lee
So what are some of the movements or the artists that have influenced you? You've taken bits away from them.
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Sean Lugo
Picasso said it best man, good artist, copy, great artist, feel. You know, I've been inspired by, uh, a lot of artists, man. Jack Kirby, you know, that whole comic realm that Kirby is my guy, man. I do. I do. The legend. Norman Rockwell. Huge Norman Rockwell thing. Dr. Seuss. Dr. Seuss is my guy.
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Speaker 4
Uh.
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Sean Lugo
Salvador Dali. You know, those are. Those are like my major influences growing up. And then when it came to the streets, soon, soon as I got them, that woman, she is. She is amazing. And, um, and then there was an artist called Albert, so he doesn't really do things in the street anymore. But I remember being in Brooklyn in my late teens, seeing like this beautiful drawing on a door, glued on the door.
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Sean Lugo
It was like peeling off. I was like, Oh, shit, you could just walk into a door like, you know, you know, I didn't go to art school, man. I don't. I don't know what you can and cannot do even today. I just.
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Speaker 4
I just went it, you.
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Sean Lugo
Know. So for me, like, seeing that, that was I was like, holy shit, do like and I would I would love to do drawing with him on the walls, you know. And then I used those two artists. And then W.K. in Iraq is another one who had a lot of stuff up in Brooklyn and the size of it, like seeing things life size with paper glued on wall.
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Sean Lugo
I don't know, man. That's just that's it changed my life. It made me be like, oh, wow. Like, I could do that. I can do, like, being dry and glue them on walls, and maybe one day I'll do it. And I was still a kid at the time, and then once I got arrested at 20, I was like, well, I wasn't really good at this anyway, so maybe I should try something else.
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Rob Lee
I was that paper and glue.
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Speaker 4
And then I.
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Sean Lugo
Just, I dabbled with like really small thing because, you know, you know, you don't know if it's going to stick or if you like it, you know? So I started over like a little thing, little, little stupid birds and things like that. And then and then as the time came, I just kept, like, trying to, like, work on, like, a theme or a body of work or something that I can, like, push forward, like the next step in my career.
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Sean Lugo
And this series just came up in my head and then I was like, Oh, man, I'm, I'm gonna play with this. And, and it's going on. It's what's going on. I think 11 years since I've been doing it. So. Wow, yeah. Yeah.
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Rob Lee
Longevity. I love it over here. It so a long time. So we were kind of touching on like, you know, what the work is about. It would make sense to talk about the creative process a little bit and so I got some, I got like three questions related to that to the process I definitely got to ask you.
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Rob Lee
So within your process and I'm sure people have asked you, can you describe your process? So whatever you want to describe your process, feel free. But I really want to keep in on these two areas. What is the most like that you enjoy the most, most enjoyable part of the process and the least enjoyable?
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Sean Lugo
I'm like, for me it's like, yeah, putting go straight, right? Like so sometimes like you got street specific things, you go galleries specific thing. Uh, so for me I would say like putting things up in the street I love, I just, I don't know, man, that is better than Rush. And like, 95% of the things I do is legal so that that adrenaline rush is like, I don't know, it's great.
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Sean Lugo
It's hard to describe, but it's great. You know, it's almost like a drug, I guess it's my little drug. And then like creating a body of work. I had a show at Paradigm Gallery and like creating a body of work. The whole show is based off of immigrants. That immigrant mentality of being raised by immigrant women and my mother being from Cuba, like creating that body of work man was oof!
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Sean Lugo
It hit me. They hit me so hard. Like I'm still suffering from the pressure from that shit and and then the hardest things are like being in the street looking for a spot, like, I love doing it, but then like putting shit in my head, I'm, I have problems. I'm like, so crazy. I have OCD when it comes to like, like placement.
00;21;16;16 - 00;21;50;16
Sean Lugo
I'm all about placement. And I love when, when people notice that about the work I put in the street, you know, I'm all about placement. Like if there's something is on a wall, I ain't going to make it 71. You know, I look for a specific spot to get that perfect photo because at the end of the day, that's all I got from this thing, that it took me anywhere from 8 to 12 hours to create, to just put it in the wall and for somebody to come and rip it or or to write their name in it because they think it's cool, you know, whatever.
00;21;50;26 - 00;22;16;24
Sean Lugo
Do it for me. One of the one of the things that that's frustrating is like looking for a spot like, wow, that's, that's crazy. And then, uh, and probably like creating a body of work that I love doing it, but it's so hard to come up with a good concept that people can relate to if because, you know, it's easy to feel like, Oh, I'm going to do everything.
00;22;16;24 - 00;22;43;23
Sean Lugo
That's right. I'm gonna do everything that's blue, you know, and say, Oh, because of the blues here, it's it's very easy to to come up with, I guess, things. So I know people, you know, there's people who do that. There's people who get old and they they like doing whatever they want to do and they sell it a couple of times.
00;22;43;24 - 00;23;18;10
Sean Lugo
They keep recreating and recreating, recreate same image. The same image. Yeah. And mass produced in an hour to you for me, I like creating things that people can relate to. Like I have I have an interesting story and if I could create a body of work that goes with my story and I could be genuine, express myself and people could relate to it, that means the world to me, you know, at the end of the day, I make art for me, you know, like it's selfish, man.
00;23;18;10 - 00;23;44;14
Sean Lugo
Like, this is this is all for me. If when people appreciate it, it means the world. Because like being an artist, at the end of the day, any type of art, you know, when I say artists like something like painter or draw or whatever, if you're just any type of artist that is, if you're selfish like this person or whether you're doing it for yourself and then it's for you, it's for you first and foremost.
00;23;44;14 - 00;23;49;12
Sean Lugo
And then any. Any way you get that love, man, that is beautiful.
00;23;50;08 - 00;24;13;01
Rob Lee
I definitely that definitely clicked for me right there because I started thinking about I was like, you know, there's some ego, there's a selfishness. It it's like I'm sharing these conversations that I'm so fortunate to have with folks, with other people. It's not like I'm taking in a poll of questions. I'm answering asking questions, or even as we talked about earlier, who do I want to talk to this?
00;24;13;01 - 00;24;29;25
Rob Lee
Like who I think I want to talk to you and I'm asking questions that I am curious in. And it's very, very selfish in that regard. This is for me, if you don't like it, but also this is for me. And and, you know, it makes me seem like a more interesting than I actually am. So thank you for being part of me.
00;24;30;06 - 00;25;05;02
Rob Lee
I'm like, I'm more interesting, actually. So thank you. Thank you for that. So tell me about any constraints that you put within your work and even kind of touching on it where, you know, you're not kind of doing this sort of replicating, you know, doing this sort of I want to do this blue period or what have you, but what sort of constraints do you put within your work from a macro sense, like for me, I, I don't really engage too much in conversation with folks beforehand because I think it kind of can change the flow of conversation sometimes.
00;25;05;02 - 00;25;25;14
Rob Lee
It's like, Oh, I didn't know what this answer is going to be like and so on. Or at times I will forget my questions or just go off the cuff because I feel like I'm already a little scripted. So it was like, Well, let me do it in this way just to kind of shake it up sometimes, you know, I just don't want to feel like I'm being repetitive and it just they have like mail it and I don't want to do that.
00;25;25;14 - 00;25;36;11
Rob Lee
So what sort of constraints do you have or things that are part of your work and your process that, you know, you shake it up a little bit or you're like, I'm not doing this in this way.
00;25;37;14 - 00;26;09;15
Sean Lugo
For me and anything goes. So like I said earlier, my, like, I told myself, this stuff, you know, I've got like little tips and I'll just go watch other artists do stuff and picked up some techniques and at the end of the day, I just, I just do what I feel. Oh, the paper thing was inspired, you know, being younger, seeing the paper glued to the street so that that gravitated me.
00;26;09;15 - 00;26;34;16
Sean Lugo
And then like when it comes to paintings of drawings, whatever, they're, they're acrylic paint, they're, I'm using acrylic watercolor markers. Like, I mean, anything goes, like I said, I was I was poor as a kid. And I I'm down for whatever you want to give me. You want you give me crayons, man. I'll make art like everything goes.
00;26;35;26 - 00;26;59;19
Sean Lugo
I'll never I'll never be like, No, I only work in this medium. Okay? You never know. The only medium I don't work in is oil or oil companies. I don't draw that quite quick for me, you know, and I'll always wind up touching it and mess it up. So I give props to people who pay with oil, but any anything else goes.
00;27;00;06 - 00;27;27;14
Sean Lugo
I love I love like there's nothing like painting a black boat and just doing a drawing color with markers. You know, that that to me, just automatically it's like nostalgia. It brings you back to being a teenager, you know? So for me, it's literally like anything goes there. Like, whatever is there. I dig it. I'm still painting. Oh, man, this is crazy.
00;27;27;18 - 00;27;33;10
Sean Lugo
I'm still painting with paint that I stole, like, 20 something years ago. You know what I mean? Like.
00;27;34;12 - 00;27;36;13
Speaker 4
Uh, I had a.
00;27;36;15 - 00;27;44;13
Sean Lugo
Buddy who worked with A.C. Moore, man, and you just said, bro, you could leave with a shopping cart. So I left with a shopping bag.
00;27;44;13 - 00;27;47;03
Speaker 4
Yeah. I mean, you know, shout.
00;27;47;03 - 00;27;48;17
Sean Lugo
Out to my brother, but.
00;27;48;24 - 00;27;52;10
Speaker 4
Oh, I mean, for me, like.
00;27;52;26 - 00;28;00;03
Sean Lugo
It's whatever I got, man, whatever I got, I would make the most of it. It I do what I would do.
00;28;00;03 - 00;28;20;26
Rob Lee
I hear you. Okay. So I got I got two more real questions before we get to those rapid fire ones. And let's talk about anonymity a little bit. What are what are some of those benefits that you've experienced of like not too many people knowing you at a point and then once they know you like what sort of changes came about?
00;28;20;26 - 00;28;37;17
Rob Lee
Because I can say that like really firsthand, you know, like I said, how long I've been doing this. And then once people knows like, oh yeah, you know, overnight success is like, I've been doing this for 14 years and it's like you've known me for like the last year or something like that. Oh, my God. Just out of the blue, you know?
00;28;37;17 - 00;28;45;16
Rob Lee
So tell me about that. Like when, you know, people didn't really know about you but maybe knew about your work and then when they knew about you, like what that what that was like.
00;28;46;08 - 00;28;46;22
Speaker 4
Okay.
00;28;47;17 - 00;29;09;16
Sean Lugo
That's interesting for me. Um, I, I don't like posting photos on my Facebook or anything like that. I don't, I don't mind if someone to take a photo of me out and knows me and tagged me. And I'm not I'm not petty like that, you know, I go by my name. So that's really not really hiding that. Well.
00;29;09;16 - 00;29;35;19
Sean Lugo
But overall, like, I don't, I don't like telling the world like, hey, look at me, look, look at my wife, look at my kid. No, I don't. I'm not about that. It helps. It helps sometimes, uh, when you don't show yourself that much. I've been in situations where people will talk about you and not know you're that person, you know, which that's.
00;29;35;19 - 00;30;03;06
Sean Lugo
That's kind of a trip. That's kind of a trip because, you know, I'm not constantly putting myself out there. That that could be funny. That can be funny. There's a silly story, uh, a good a good friend of mine now. She's like. She's like my little sister. She was doing a talk at Temple, and she was just talking about me not knowing.
00;30;03;06 - 00;30;24;05
Sean Lugo
I never met her, and she was just giving me all this praise and all these things. And I'm just laughing in the audience like, Oh, man, this is hilarious. She has no idea I'm here, you know? And then after the interview, you know, someone was like, I think that's in I think that's great. And then when she found out it was me, she like, she freaked out.
00;30;24;28 - 00;30;51;03
Sean Lugo
And it was it was an awesome experience. But yeah, it has its benefits. I know, I know a couple artists who like, they don't show their face or anything. I think one of them from Philly kid has no one knows who he is. You know, he's like he's like, you know, he's like your typical I guess, Banksy where no one knows who he is thing.
00;30;51;23 - 00;31;13;19
Sean Lugo
So that's that's Philadelphia's version. This artist kid has a I know who he is, but it's great that that we've been in a situation both of us and people talk about him and it's just like, I don't know what that is. And so it it does have its benefits for you not to be like full blown, I guess.
00;31;14;01 - 00;31;19;07
Sean Lugo
Yeah. Going by my name, I throw all those.
00;31;19;07 - 00;31;33;18
Rob Lee
I go by a portion of my name. But as I described to you earlier, I'm very noticeable out there in the street. But oh, yes, that ogre right there. And people say, oh, he has the podcast guy. I was like, Oh, man, boom. So is that like, I'm carrying around a microphone?
00;31;33;18 - 00;31;35;08
Speaker 4
But I.
00;31;35;21 - 00;31;59;11
Rob Lee
Yes. In the last day that last week, I end up doing this party and I tried to wear my most like non artsy kind of kind of fit usually, you know, I kind of dress a certain way. It's I'm always wearing Carhartt, let's just put it that way. So I was definitely wearing like the plaid shirt with the feel, the fit fitted with a low brim and with a stupid fake gold necklace on.
00;31;59;11 - 00;32;21;07
Rob Lee
I was like, is that is that not I can't be him. I was like, Exactly. So this is the last real question I got for you, but I always like to get this take from folks. What is how do you describe the the artist's lifestyle? Like, you know, what is that for you? What is your version of the the artist's lifestyle?
00;32;21;27 - 00;32;44;12
Rob Lee
You know, you'll hear people oh, artists, they're always laid to things. They're bad with money, but at about five bucks. So, you know, that's that's pieces of it that people throw out there and, you know, always looking for funding and all of this this different stuff. What is your version or your perception of the artist's lifestyle and how are you like living sort of the artist's lifestyle?
00;32;44;12 - 00;32;52;26
Sean Lugo
No comment. I don't I'm not sure I'm even doing that. I got a 9 to 5. I got a mortgage.
00;32;53;18 - 00;32;54;00
Speaker 4
Um.
00;32;54;09 - 00;32;55;11
Rob Lee
Part of is lifestyle.
00;32;56;12 - 00;33;29;10
Sean Lugo
You know, for me, I guess I would say being able to create art full time, like for me to wake up and create art and, you know, go to sleep again and, you know, kind of like eat sleeping, you know, that that would be like the artist lifestyle for what I do that that that would be a dream come true.
00;33;29;28 - 00;34;07;17
Sean Lugo
I hope to one day have that in the future. Um, but you know, I like, I like, like steady money. So I worked 9 to 5. Got to do it. Got to do it. It's a peace of mind that I need. Yeah, I was. I was homeless for, like, three months. It was mostly it was mostly by choice because I could have probably just used a little bit of money I had and and try to, like, put down a month and a half security deposit and like wing it, hopefully pay rent or maybe be late.
00;34;08;13 - 00;34;43;16
Sean Lugo
Instead, I decided to just like, you know, bust my ass and live on the street for a month. Luckily, I had friends, couches and clothes to sleep on and a shower that I could take my sister's apartment and then things like that, you know, put myself in storage. But realizing you don't have something to go like home to per se, you know, like there's an apartment that you, you know, you call home is your place right now.
00;34;43;17 - 00;34;59;05
Sean Lugo
Having that for eight months time was was wild. And I would never want to put myself in that type of situation again. Yeah. And it could literally happen at the snap of a finger, you know, you could turn off that motherfucker, boy. Bam, everything's. Don't you know.
00;34;59;22 - 00;35;22;29
Rob Lee
I. I've been I've been homeless twice, once as an adult and once as a kid. And, you know, you have parents they make sure you're not aware of. Like this is the situation. But as an adult, just not having access to my stuff, you know, and moving from season to season and having to go like to the Cube stores, it's like, Man, I need a coat, what else do I need?
00;35;23;15 - 00;35;24;10
Rob Lee
And just get.
00;35;24;10 - 00;35;25;06
Sean Lugo
Summer clothing.
00;35;25;06 - 00;35;25;15
Speaker 4
Store.
00;35;25;25 - 00;35;26;09
Sean Lugo
The winter.
00;35;26;09 - 00;35;26;20
Speaker 4
Clothes.
00;35;28;08 - 00;35;48;17
Rob Lee
And trying to trying to figure it out and, you know, it wasn't like any sort of a, you know, crazy situation. As much as I was trying to close on a house and I was just effectively homeless for a period of time, I was able to stay with my mom. But as like I was staying there, like, like I just got out, like I didn't have anything.
00;35;48;17 - 00;36;05;06
Rob Lee
I was like, Hey, I got none of my stuff. And some of those some of those showers, right? Some of those showers that I was taking at the job, I was like, this is, you know, take it in the we have a gym at the job and I was like him, take the shower in here because I definitely didn't do it this morning because it was too cold and I don't have a jacket.
00;36;05;23 - 00;36;15;05
Rob Lee
You get pieces of it and it was just like, it's very disruptive. So I want to I want to I want to shift into these these rapid fire questions for you. Oh.
00;36;15;15 - 00;36;16;12
Speaker 4
Oh, no, no, no, no.
00;36;16;15 - 00;36;30;26
Rob Lee
They're fun. They're fun. I think you're going to enjoy I think you enjoy them. So, you know, don't overthink them. Don't overthink it. So here's the first one. If you could be one, a character in a TV show, what character would it be?
00;36;31;29 - 00;36;36;02
Sean Lugo
Oh, oh. Uh.
00;36;36;17 - 00;36;37;24
Rob Lee
Waiting for something ridiculous.
00;36;38;24 - 00;36;48;04
Sean Lugo
I'm not going to say I would be Walter White from Breaking Bad as good.
00;36;48;04 - 00;36;48;16
Speaker 4
That's good.
00;36;48;16 - 00;36;53;04
Sean Lugo
You could give me one character. That would be Walter White from Breaking Bad.
00;36;54;17 - 00;36;55;16
Rob Lee
What is your favorite dessert?
00;36;57;09 - 00;37;00;25
Sean Lugo
Anybody? Anything. I'm, like, affected at heart.
00;37;01;29 - 00;37;02;06
Speaker 4
If.
00;37;03;23 - 00;37;14;22
Sean Lugo
Favorite dessert, ice cream. I love me some ice cream. I don't give a shit. What the flavor of vanilla ice cream I got I got a smile on my face I mean.
00;37;15;01 - 00;37;32;12
Rob Lee
I tier my desserts I tier out cakes like, yo, let me get rid of it. Let me get a Tesla cheese and let me get that. The German chocolate. Thanks. It's the lay of all carrot cake. Carrot cakes laughs. Who is your hero? Comics or otherwise?
00;37;33;08 - 00;38;13;09
Sean Lugo
Oh. Oh, well, my mom. My mom. I would say my mom's my hero. Yeah, you she she did everything she possibly could, you know, being being uneducated and then coming to this country at 16 years old and then having to get thrown into the Bronx, you know, trying to teach her kids everything she could, doing everything for. Definitely, definitely a hero in my book.
00;38;14;12 - 00;38;20;06
Sean Lugo
And for Heroes, I love Spider-Man. I still hope I get that Spider-Man to turn into that motherfucker.
00;38;20;06 - 00;38;24;00
Speaker 4
I tell you what it's like.
00;38;24;00 - 00;38;26;28
Sean Lugo
Every time I get bit by the fire, I'm like, Oh, is this the one.
00;38;27;26 - 00;38;29;00
Speaker 4
Through the wall and shit?
00;38;29;20 - 00;38;30;20
Rob Lee
Shit. And I'm just a.
00;38;31;04 - 00;38;34;07
Sean Lugo
No super strength bucket. All right. Maybe next, folks.
00;38;35;12 - 00;38;49;22
Rob Lee
John Luger across the Spider-Verse. So here's the last two. I'm going to say I just saved the best one for last. But I'll ask you this one. What is your Zodiac sign? Do you believe in the whole astrology thing?
00;38;49;22 - 00;38;50;22
Sean Lugo
I'm mellow.
00;38;51;03 - 00;38;52;13
Rob Lee
Uh, it makes sense.
00;38;53;12 - 00;39;12;29
Sean Lugo
Yeah, I'm a little, I guess. I don't know. Um, I don't. I don't really. I don't really know that much about it. I didn't like who's compatible with who and what, you know, what time does what I know, I know. I got like a lion to represent me.
00;39;13;16 - 00;39;14;29
Rob Lee
The beard almost looks like a mane.
00;39;15;00 - 00;39;16;02
Speaker 4
So, yeah, you go.
00;39;16;18 - 00;39;27;02
Sean Lugo
Other than that, man, I don't, I. I don't know much. All I know is that water. My father would. Would tell you what the star of the game boy.
00;39;27;02 - 00;39;28;13
Speaker 4
You would kill it, boy.
00;39;28;18 - 00;39;31;19
Rob Lee
I love that. I know who Walter Ricardo is, and I know.
00;39;31;29 - 00;39;32;24
Speaker 4
I have the tape.
00;39;33;26 - 00;39;38;26
Sean Lugo
And you're mentioning you. Come on, man. That. That's the goat right there.
00;39;39;00 - 00;39;43;08
Rob Lee
I've been out here looking for capes, so let's let's start right there.
00;39;43;08 - 00;39;44;13
Speaker 4
Virtually, I.
00;39;45;11 - 00;40;01;01
Sean Lugo
I would be in a laundromat as a child. And if you try to speak when that dude was on TV, you would get slack, not just from your mother, from everyone there. They would just line you up and slap you. You shut up, I tell you.
00;40;01;01 - 00;40;03;23
Speaker 4
Oh, shit. You know what I mean?
00;40;03;23 - 00;40;04;14
Sean Lugo
Like, that's.
00;40;04;14 - 00;40;06;03
Rob Lee
Great.
00;40;06;03 - 00;40;06;27
Sean Lugo
Walter boy.
00;40;09;00 - 00;40;09;10
Speaker 4
Know.
00;40;10;03 - 00;40;20;25
Rob Lee
But nevertheless, when I got for you, what is your. Okay? You can only pick one. What is your favorite pizza topping? Oh, I know.
00;40;21;15 - 00;40;23;23
Speaker 4
It's tough. Oh.
00;40;24;05 - 00;40;27;06
Rob Lee
You're not far from the land of the dollar slices, so, you know.
00;40;27;06 - 00;40;48;23
Sean Lugo
No, no, I'm it's crazy because I'm like, man, give me. Just give me, give me just a tiny slice of pizza, boy, just decide. Do that. That's like fine line. You know, there's there's all different types of different types of beef. You get the dollar joints, you get the dollar 50 joints. It might be a little better quality.
00;40;48;23 - 00;40;51;20
Sean Lugo
You know, maybe they use that alio who knows, you know?
00;40;51;21 - 00;40;53;16
Speaker 4
But you know.
00;40;54;02 - 00;41;03;12
Sean Lugo
You don't know, man. But if I, if I'm going to do a topping this is probably going to be a little lot is probably going to be a lot. I'm gonna go bake it.
00;41;03;21 - 00;41;04;26
Rob Lee
I'm here for it. I'm here.
00;41;04;26 - 00;41;05;04
Speaker 4
For you.
00;41;05;04 - 00;41;12;08
Sean Lugo
I'm gonna go take a look. Opaque. It's something I think I'm fine with just the cheese. But if I'm in a female.
00;41;12;08 - 00;41;15;18
Speaker 4
Yeah, I'm a I'm a soft baked atmosphere.
00;41;15;18 - 00;41;20;13
Sean Lugo
You throw a little bacon on, you know, let's get this, get that. Let's get that bridge.
00;41;20;29 - 00;41;38;01
Rob Lee
I'm a next tier kind of guy. I mean, it's a bacon is good. You know, I like a little smokiness, like a nice, smoky, crispy bacon. But if I'm going non-meat, if I'm going on meat, I got to go with, like, you know, you know, good cheese. Got to be good cheese in there. But like mushrooms. I love mushrooms.
00;41;38;22 - 00;41;43;26
Sean Lugo
Yeah, I, I only like the mushrooms that make me hallucinate, but other than that, those.
00;41;43;26 - 00;41;44;10
Rob Lee
Going to be on there.
00;41;45;15 - 00;41;51;05
Sean Lugo
Well, if she does, then we got a pizza. Now you're talking my.
00;41;51;05 - 00;42;06;25
Rob Lee
So that's pretty much it for the for the podcast and for the interview. And I want to thank you for for being on this podcast and to I want to invite and encourage you to tell the listeners where they can check you out, your work, social media website, all that good stuff. The floor is yours.
00;42;07;08 - 00;42;30;28
Sean Lugo
Well, first off, man, I want to say thank you for wanting to talk to my crazy. I appreciate it, man. That that means the world to me. And other than me, man, I don't I don't I don't give a shit about any of those social things you could, I guess, look me up on everything. Sean Scan number nine.
00;42;31;03 - 00;42;47;10
Sean Lugo
LUGO You go have fun. Whatever, whatever your whatever your cup of tea. No or don't, you know. Look, I'm fine either way. I appreciate it. And I appreciate you more, man, for taking your time.
00;42;48;08 - 00;42;48;17
Rob Lee
A little bit.
00;42;48;26 - 00;42;50;19
Sean Lugo
And having me man means the world for.
00;42;51;00 - 00;43;07;28
Rob Lee
Appreciate it. So I'm going to wrap up there so far. Sean Lugo I'm Rob Lee saying that there's art culture in around your neck of the woods. You just got to look for it.
