Tayo Famodu is Finding Calm in the Chaos: Thanks For Having Me #3

To call Tayo Famodu a force of nature would be robbing him of the careful calculus that is his artistic endeavor. His input of energy — consisting of culture, art, communication, and everything in between — is both constant and deliberate. His output is genuinely breathtaking: endless drawings where lines explode all over the page, dotted with color that charge the pieces with emotion.

I spent two days with Tayo talking about his new showing at Calendula Gallery in Lowertown, taking pictures, and watching him move the beads of his spiritual abacus.

Aaron: How did your showing at Calendula come about?

Tayo: So I reached out to them because they have an application process where you submit your work, and then they will say, "Hey, this work is good enough. We want to show it in our consignment space.”

It's a consignment gallery, meaning you rent out the wall space, but you also make 100% of what you sell. Some galleries will take 50% commission, 70% commission, 30% commission per piece, but with this gallery, you just pay a little bit per wall space, then you keep everything that you sell.

Aaron: That's sweet. And how long does your showing last? 

Tayo: So it's indefinite. I want to have work up there for at least three, four months. Then if it like picks up a little bit, maybe a year. The most important thing is that it's local, it's in my area and I can walk there. That's like the coolest part about it.

Aaron: That's so cool. And was there anything that drew you to their specific gallery? Or was it just that you were local?

Tayo: Really just the local aspect of it. I want to have my feet set in Lowertown [St. Paul] or my immediate area. I want to, I wouldn't say to launch, but just to get some things going in my immediate area. So because it's so close to my place, that drew me there.

Aaron: What does your typical creation process look like for your pieces?

Tayo: The creative process for me is not just sitting down and making a piece of art and calling it there. The creative process starts weeks or months before I even sit down to make art. It's really just how I go about my day. It is kind of like a meditative state: gathering information about people and their nuances in speech, just staying with my daily routines, and keeping up with my relationships.

It's a really big inventory intake. When everything comes to a head, I'll sit down, and the floodgates will open.

I’ll just notice really small details throughout my day that spark joy, or I'll have a really good conversation with someone, and then it’s about capturing that state that I'm in throughout my day and having it come out in my piece.

Aaron: I've noticed that you very carefully curate your house, your life. You're constantly shouting out other people. I feel like you're somebody who draws inspiration from others and then creates something really new. Is there anybody in particular right now who you're zoned in on, who you've been gravitating towards?

Tayo: There are two parts to my inspiration. My first inspirations are immediate: family, close friends, my parents. That's one aspect of it. But also, there's a big interest in the cool culture kids online on Instagram. Like who's hot, who's pushing the needle, who's interesting to follow. My favorites have been Jakob Hetzer, who is a fashion designer and consultant — I think he’s originally from Germany and I've been following him since high school — and then also Tyler Mitchell, the photographer.

Aaron: His work is incredible.

Tayo: It's just insane. But the reason why these two stand out is that they're so honed in on having their personal touch show up in everything that they do. You could have five artists create one project, and it would be the same project, but you could point out from a mile away that, “Hey, that’s Tyler Mitchell's photography because of the color palette, because of the way the faces are lined up, because of the composition. Same thing with Jacob Hetzer, because their touch is on everything. I think that a really important thing to do as an artist is to have your voice come out in everything that you do.

Aaron: What do you think that “touch” is for you? If somebody was at a gallery and was able to point to one of your pieces, what do you hope they would point to?

Tayo: I would hope that they could tell from the immediate first glance that there’s a lot going on, but it's also calculated. It's calm, it's smooth, it's colorful, it's bright. And just from that first glimpse of the composition, they could say, “Okay, that's Tayo’s.”

It's the way I have a certain formula of what I call “visual weight” of how I want the page to lay. And how it’s like topography; when you look at a map top down, you see mountains going down. The mountains would go this way. When you look at my work, I want you to see that pattern in the composition. And it's getting there. It's really getting there. 

Aaron: Man, that's so exciting. Oftentimes, people can look at a piece of work, abstract or not, but specifically abstract, and feel that it's devoid of meaning. A lot of people will say the sentiment, “Oh, a five-year-old can do that.” What would you say to somebody like that to give them a different perspective? 

Tayo: You know what? That's such a good question. This is my stance on it: I don't think every abstract piece has or is intended to have meaning, but what it does have is a feeling, right? You can look at a Rothko piece or a Willem de Kooning piece; it might not mean anything or have any commentary on the culture, but it has a feeling. The colors move you in a certain way. The way the lines are staggered, the way the proportions are shifted, the way it's balanced, makes you feel a certain way.

So I'd say first, as a viewer, don't always look at an abstract piece with the attention that, “hey, this has to have some commentary on the culture, or this has to mean something super serious happened in this artist's life.” Try to connect to the feeling because a lot of times, these abstract shapes will give you a cozy feeling or a rushed feeling.

They'll push your emotions in a certain direction. That's my take on it. And then when it comes to meaning, You know, look for the direct, explicit [directives]. Maybe words on a page. Like [Jean-Michel] Basquiat will have words scattered out his pages that will literally be direct and that you can read. If a piece is supposed to have meaning, the artist will tee it up for you to take out the meaning.

Aaron: One thing that I really love about your entire creative process is that it’s really thoughtful. Even getting my piece and knowing you spent so much time picking out the packaging. When I got it, Rebecca [my beautiful gf] pointed out how you had even written my name in a really, really cool way. She's like, “that's a piece of art in and of itself.”

Being a writer, I'm so interested in nomenclature and how you name things because that feels really emotionally charged, too. So, how do you come up with those names?

Tayo: First, just growing up in the art world and seeing famous artists post pictures on Instagram, I got that from them. They are always some wacky names. But when I observed those pieces and how they were named, it always made sense in an odd way.

For me, I name my pieces when the piece is done. I take a glimpse at it from an outsider's perspective, right? I take off my artist hat, and I think, “What's the first gut reaction that this piece gives me?” I recently named the piece Chicken Feet because there's an orange triangular shape in the middle that, if you were to turn it, it would look like the foot of a chicken. Or I'll name it like a one-liner. Weight Off My Shoulders I named because the whole process of making that piece felt like there was a weight off my shoulders. Or I'll name it like Infernal because it's hot, it's charged. I think it's giving it a name that makes sense to, yes, but also one that makes the viewer think a little bit.

I want it to hit. and I'm glad that you're one of the people that’s catching it. Cause I'm not naming it Blue Sky. You know, these are odd names for a reason. And it's to give you the exact feeling that you're getting.

Aaron: So it's all about charging that…

Tayo: Emotion. Yeah. Everything sort of leads to that. And kind of summarizing it in a way that makes the viewer think, but also makes sense to me. 

Aaron: How lovely. Another thing that fascinates me in the way that you create is that it feels like when inspiration hits for you those floodgates completely open up, like you said earlier. Your output super, super prolific. What typically ignites those creative bursts? And if you'd want to talk about it, what can stifle your production?

Tayo: I will 100 percent talk about it and I think that's where me being an artist doing this to my core comes in. I think as an artist, so much of the work is done away from the paper, right? Sitting down and making the art piece is maybe 10 percent of it. For me as a practicing artist who thinks about things in a specific way that notices proportion, shape, color, line, texture throughout my day. A lot of the heavy lifting, believe it or not, is even done at my day job — being a banker. Because I'm getting inspiration from the unique way that I approach my day-to-day life. So, when it's time to sit down and make a piece, it's because I've taken so much from my day-to-day routine for the past month that I’m about to explode, I need to make art.

And it's all about transferring these feel-good states I'm going about my day and putting them onto the paper. I won't make any art if I'm not 100%. If I'm 80%, I'm not gonna sit down and make the piece. It needs to be 100%. So, by the time I sit down and make a piece, I'm 100%. I already have another 100% backlogged from last week and ready to go so that it can come out in a flood.

Being an artist the way I want to be an artist is all about observation. It's all about observation.

Aaron: You're like a scientist.

Tayo: I love psychology. I love people. I love this feeling right now. It could probably charge five pieces in the future if I really wanted to. I'm not even kidding.

Yeah. I would say emotionally intelligent and generally emotional person. And I love to weave that into my pieces in a way that's abstract. That's the journey of it.

Aaron: So the energy you take in is the energy you can give. You've traversed a few different routes to being an artist in the time that I've known you. After spending time as a musician, dabbling in painting and other things, you ended up back at drawing. Were there any lessons you learned or things that you draw upon from those other artistic forays?

Tayo: It's multi-layered. First, there's a commonality of work that, when work hits, it will hit whether it's a video, whether it's a song, whether it's a piece of art. There’s this universal, let's say artistic DNA or artistic code, that if someone is really calibrated properly, it will it will be really good.

I chose to go back to drawing because it's what I feel I'm most skilled at, and it's something I feel like I can master eventually throughout my lifetime. But I learned a lot from making music.

And a lot of the songs that I made weren't that good because they weren't structured well. The proportions weren't good. The melody wasn't good. It wasn't balanced right. And what I'm talking about when I say those terms are basically the elements and principles of design and art that apply to all practices.

If you look at some of the best films or some of the best songs, they all utilize those. You know the elements and principles of design in a very unique way. It's all about knowing what hits and what lands. One thing I wish I had done while going in those other fields was building long-lasting relationships.

But I've learned a lot from doing many different practices, and the one thing that's taught me is to get really good at what you're working on right now.

Aaron: What do you think the most challenging part of drawing is for you? 

Tayo: Right now, it's choosing to be truthful in the style that I'm making. Because when I go on Instagram right now, there's a specific type of artist. There's a specific type of reel short-form video content that hits that you can gain 10k or 100k followers from. Painting like pastel flowers or doing a certain kind of ceramic. Yeah, I'm choosing to do my style right now because it means something to me, and in five to ten years, it will be fantastic. But the hardest part right now is avoiding those hot pieces that could give me a following. It’s knowing I can do that but choosing to go this route. It’s like I’m playing the long game because I can do portraiture, I can do really cool paintings that are the hits.

It’s like if a musician could make a pop song that would chart, but they decide to go, “I don't think I want to; I’m good.” But I've talked to other artists, too. You do what makes sense to your artistic code. You don't want to do what's hot. And that's something I'm stomaching right now and I'm hoping it pays out in the future. 

Aaron: Well, that could only be a short-term strategy, right? Mainly because you're somebody that is so driven by emotion to create, I can't see you doing that as a long-term strategy because you don't; if you are doing something you don't like to do, you're not going to do it.

Ultimately, all it could be was a short-term burst. And people can go anywhere on Reels to find that, right? Tayo: Exactly. Exactly. But I do understand.

Aaron: Is there ever a point where you considered doing that? 

Tayo: Honestly, I have considered doing it, but really for all of the wrong reasons.

And that would be just to have a large following, or just to make it. Yeah. But I think it's really important when you're getting your legs in the art world that you want to be standing on something that makes sense to you and not what's trendy. Because at any point, you can always flip on the switch and make those paintings that hit.

And I really do want to make really large, cool paintings that have that broad appeal, but I want to do it in my own way, and I want to do it when the time is right. So I'm even considering it now, like I could do a really cool painting of my face with some of my favorite songs, but it's a timing thing.

Yeah. It doesn't feel right right now. But that's a really good question. It's something I wrestle with almost daily.

Aaron: Every single person that I talk to who is an artist is telling me that their favorite thing to do is create the art, and their least favorite thing to do is create the content around the art. It's a frustrating thing to wrestle with. Because it is the easiest way to succeed. In the way that TikTok is for musicians, I'm sure instagram is for artists. 

Tayo: Yeah, gone are the days where you can just point, just post a hot piece of art and it takes off.

It doesn't take off anymore unless your back is facing the camera with a canvas and you're turning around in the reel, showing your piece right when the beat drops with really funky music. It’s insane. You have to post reels to grow. I don't like reels. You have to do all of the things. That's why right now, for me, you kind of have two options: you can try and make it in the online world, or you can make it in the physical world as far as galleries and relationship-building. Right now, I'm just testing the waters of both.

Aaron: Do you think being really popular online as an artist closes people off to opportunities in gallery spaces at all?

Tayo: It does. I think it really does. Or it can because if you make work that's only for the online space, you may never get into the Delphian or all the other nice galleries. A lot of galleries won't even show work that a lot of these Instagram artists have because it's not considered high fine art.

Aaron: It’s considered accessible. It’s too accessible.

Tayo: Yeah, like some Instagram artists with 500,000 followers would never get a chance at some of the top galleries because it just doesn't work like that. The high art, the fine art world, and the pieces selling at Sotheby's or any auction house are in there for a reason.

So yeah, it can close you out. I think it's a trajectory that a lot of people are gonna figure out how to navigate, or have to figure out how to navigate, soon. 

Aaron: What would be the perfect next step for you after this?

Tayo: A solo show. Where it's all my work. Where I've maybe spent a year or so curating the pieces, and it has a commentary on my life and the struggles I've dealt with over the past five years that says, “This is who I am as an artist, and this is me trying my best 100%.”

I want one year to build a show that really hits. Even if it only takes off for just hundred people. That's great. It doesn't need to go viral. It doesn't need to make me famous, but it needs to mean something, and I want it to land. So the next step would be a really nice solo show, and I'm pulling some strings right now to figure out where that would be.

It could be at someone's house, dude! I don't care! Because the thing is, I know down the road, my art will eventually take off, whether it's 5, 10, or 20 years from now. But the next step right now is having a nice solo show. 

Aaron: Hell yeah. Recently, I've seen that you've been switching up or reverting your style.

I feel like they’re pieces you used to do with more writing and faces in particular. What makes you know you want to put down or aside one style? How do you say to yourself, “I need to stick and move and do something else.”

Tayo: I'd say when I'm making art and the actual process of it starts to feel stale or starts to feel like I've done this 10 times this week, I immediately know I need to switch it up. The good thing about my style is it opens up many avenues to try out different things. But I'd say, kind of, for a short answer, that it’s about what I am feeling at the moment.

Do I want something that has a recognizable face that's more cartoony? That will connect with an audience. Or do I want to sit down and try and make a cool abstract piece? It's what I feel in the moment, and how can I keep it fresh and new?