Meet Visual Artist Jay Raheem
Jay Raheem
Urban Time Magazine: Who are you, Where are you from and What exactly do you do?
Jay: Well I'm Jay Raheem, originally from Wichita, Ks, now to Philly. And I'm a visual artist; I paint, draw & creatively direct. (and do a little music here & there)
Urban Time Magazine: What type of person do you consider yourself to be?
Jay: Personality wise; I guess I'm very uninterested, typically. Social issues at this point in time are all trend & fad. Things people do and talk about are usually things I don't care about. I don't care for trends or the things that are mainly glorified socially and in arts. This correlates how I am in my arts/career too. I don't create things that are trending, that are supposed to appeal to the majorities. I create & care about things that are "real" in me & that I am interested in. So well I guess that means I'm "Self Centered" to sum it up. I do what I want. I don't mean self centered in an arrogant way btw. Arrogance is one the worst personality traits.
Urban Time Magazine: What type of themes do you pursue as an artist? What interests you the most when it comes to you doing an art piece
Jay: I don't have like a direct theme. I just like to do whatever comes to my mind, even if it doesn't seem like it will look nice. I just wanna capture however I'm feeling at that moment. So I guess feeling could be a theme but that's boring as shit. I like excitement & provocativeness...but on the other hand almost all of my work has trees in it. Because I associate (my) life with being like a tree; growing, rooting myself to branch out, going thru seasons to produce the fruits of my labor...or whatever, some deep shit like that, ha. Oh that's basically why my art Exhibit is called Abstrakt Trees.And why my stage name is TreeThugga. Lol.
Urban Time Magazine: Is there anybody you look up to? Any role models?
Jay: When it comes to my work? honestly I don't think so. Growing up I didn't ever just want to be like anybody or was the type to idolize. I'm not interested in being like a improved or new / " the next" anybody. I'd rather invent me than innovate another. But if I had to say anybody it would people I know who I think we mutually look up to eachother, which is my friend/mentor Tayler, she has a natural skincare line 'Polished by Tay', B Hill who's own Lxstdreams Dreams Clothing & my go to Photographer Zay Ali. The way they build & the insights inspire me. And my grandma's jazziness & eccentricness has had It's influences on me.
This is a painting I started in Harlem, and worked on randomly while I was in New York & Conneticut. I feel like it embodies me & my artistry going from a young, unsure, free from place into a more Self assured & Sophisticated, independent place. Painted with all the colors I've felt along the way. I consider it my masterpiece. I'll be showing the finished piece at my Abstrakt Trees Art Tour shows this summer in Philly, NY & etc.
I don't know if this is technically a "Piece".. But I def. consider this art. It is basically a vision that I had for a while that I had to make happen. It was created/styled by me & Shot by Zay Ali, and I was assisted in painting my idea on myself by Idalis Yvette, a fellow artist I met in Philly. This is what I consider my Release that Introduces Jay Raheem into the Art World. It's a Photo series I'll by having a Release event for next Month in Philly.
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