We’re thrilled to introduce a newer Embrace Creatives artist partner Paul Mascot, a New Mexico-based painter interested in artistry, which he would describe as the art of active listening and responding to what arises.
A LOOK INSIDE THE ARTIST’S STUDIO.
WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO MAKE ART?
I am most inspired by the experience of embodying our human nature as creators. As an artist interested in listening — and listening long enough for conditioned motivations, ambitions, and outcomes to fade or turn sour — I want the kind of artistry that invokes an encounter, one that may or may not even occur. An encounter that contains within it its own necessity, its own volition, a pulling and pushing forward of something through the shape of my body.
HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR WORK EVOLVING AND WHAT NEW MEDIUMS OR THEMES DO YOU HOPE TO EXPLORE?
I see my work branching out in new directions—less concerned with style and more with voice, following the threads that truly compel me. Seeking a ‘signature style’ merely to attract market attention feels antithetical to artistry. In the near future, I plan to explore sculpture and to combine ceramics with natural materials.
As an artist interested in listening — and listening long enough for conditioned motivations, ambitions, and outcomes to fade or turn sour — I want the kind of artistry that invokes an encounter, one that may or may not even occur.
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DO YOU CREATE SPONTANEOUSLY OR ARE YOU A PLANNER?
I do both. It’s important to me to continually challenge my tendency toward either planning or spontaneity.
PLEASE LIST COMMERCIAL OR HOSPITALITY BUILDINGS WHERE YOUR ARTWORK IS INSTALLED.
My work is installed in the Paloma restaurant and the Copita restaurants, both located in Santa Fe, NM.
WHAT LIFE EXPERIENCES HAVE INFLUENCED YOUR WORK?
In 2021, I developed what’s now known as long COVID and spent years in recovery. Emerging from a period of chronic nervous system dysregulation deeply changed how I relate to neurogenesis — and especially autogenesis: a self-organizing aliveness that arises through its own intrinsic integrity, more collective than individual, and capable of response to complexity, rather than being reactive or conditioned.
DESCRIBE A GREAT DAY IN YOUR STUDIO.
Waking up at 6am and wandering through the previous day’s work with a warm drink. Then qi gong, movement practices and something to eat and rolling that all into a fresh start. Any great day would include some lounging and ample breaks and many returns to the work before letting it all go in the evening to try on other things for the rest of the day.
CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENT STAGES OF YOUR PROCESS?
I often take photographs on walks and sketch what I see from these. I throw the sketches away but later they emerge when engaging with more free flowing beginnings to paintings. I’m not sure what this does entirely but I enjoy it and do not need to make sense of it.
IF SOMEONE CAME TO YOU WITH A DREAM PROJECT, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
A commission for a full body of work based on a certain location: multiple large series of works which allow me the time for deep listening of a particular place and its inhabitants.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE TOOL OR MEDIUM AND IF SO, WHY?
Right now I am enjoying working with cold wax. I don’t use it all the time but it’s working like other water-based mediums in that it makes oils behave differently and I like having another element in there to contend with.
WHAT FAMOUS PERSON WOULD YOU LIKE TO OWN YOUR ARTWORK?
David Bowie (RIP) came to mind first. I think because I admire his courage as an artist.
ANYTHING WE MISSED THAT YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE?
In addition to commissions for public spaces I am developing a program and platform to support creating accessible and more affordable art to a wider population.
For more information on this artist, their artwork or to schedule a Meet & Greet, contact Andrea.
