RYAN CAMPBELL: Embracing Hope Through Art
interview+photography by Jorge Perezchica
Introducing the world of Ryan Campbell, aka RMC1: a graffiti artist turned visionary painter, sculptor, and public art creator. A true desert dweller with a story as layered and textured as his art. From his early graffiti days in Los Angeles to adopting the moniker “RMC1,” Ryan’s journey led him to the landscapes of Coachella Valley in 2001, where he found not only inspiration but also a canvas for his evolving artistic expression.
Ryan connects intricate layers between his life and art, shaped by experiences ranging from the rebellious energy of graffiti to heart surgery at 14 and later, brain surgery. Unveiling the essence of “Line Segments,” his distinctive painting style capturing the desert’s brilliant light and architectural nuances, Ryan reveals the emotional and visual echoes of his health struggles, seamlessly weaving them into his artistic narrative.
The evolution of RMC1 extends from navigating the burgeoning art scene in the Coachella Valley to being represented by Melissa Morgan Fine Art Gallery, highlighting the profound impact of his public art on the community. From his recent exhibit at The Penny at Desert Island Country Club to his upcoming sculpture for Downtown Park in Palm Springs and the immersive experiences he envisions for his three-dimensional works.
As we peer into Ryan’s studio on Perez Road Art District, we discover not just an artist but a philosopher of light, evoking “hope and embrace” through his creations.
Read on for the Coachella Magazine interview. As we explore the layers of Ryan Campbell’s past, present, and future, the world of RMC1 unfolds—with each stroke resonating as a form of communication beyond words.
INTRODUCING THE WORLD OF RMC1
Coachella Magazine: Could you first introduce yourself and tell us about your background as an artist?
Ryan Campbell: My work started early on in my teens. I started as a graffiti artist. That was the art that I was most inspired by and it led me down a path that has “RMC.”
So in my active graffiti years, my nickname was Motel. That was the name I was given. And so, I didn’t want to use my given middle name. I liked the letter combination (RMC). And with the (number) 1, it made it more solidified. And that’s also speaking to graffiti and how graffiti writers developed their name.
CM: And then you moved to desert in 2001?
RMC1: Yeah. I got to the desert in 2001.
CM: Where are you from originally?
RMC1: Born and raised in Los Angeles. From a small city called La Cañada Flintridge, Pasadena area, Glendale, kind of.
CM: What brought you to the desert?
RMC1: All kinds of stuff. <Laugh>.
At that time, I was still figuring out life. I was 18, 19 years old, trying to grasp what I wanted my future to look like. And I had fallen in love with the desert as a very small kid coming here, visiting friends. And even then, I knew I wanted to live here too, I was getting in some trouble at home, <laugh>. And I had an opportunity to kind of go anywhere I wanted. And I said, “I wanna go to the desert.”
CM: Did you meet your wife here too?
RCM1: Yes. We met here in 2006.
CM: How would you describe your artwork style?
RMC1: So my style, I refer to it as “Line Segments.” I paint lines <laugh>, let’s be honest, I paint lines, but I do it in a way to attempt to capture some of the depth and the light and the shadow that we have in the desert, because our light here is so brilliant. Coming from Los Angeles, there’s an orange casting of light over everything. You get to the desert, you have this pure, crisp light — and I fell in love with that. And in that, I started taking really big mental notes about architectural elements that I was seeing around the desert. A lot of shade screens and sunscreens and lattice kind of.
CM: What about the color palette? Did that shift as you go through different phases?
RMC1: Yes and no.
I approach everything with the sense of going from the dark to the light. And that palette does shift and change. My current palette is a little bit less pure color and tones that are not necessarily a hundred percent opaque color.
CM: Did you grow up around a family of artists or creatives?
RMC1: I think my family.
Where the main influence came from seeing graffiti and starting to kind of emulate that and try to express myself that way.
Everybody in my family doodled <laugh>. My dad used to own restaurants, and so he would sit at the tables and draw on his place mats. And so as a little kid, I emulated that and I would draw on my place mats. And as I got older, I met friends that were becoming artists. And then the inspiration just went crazy ’cause there was these other artists to share ideas with and to push one another.
CM: I was going through your Instagram account earlier and I noticed a couple posts that stood out to me. In one post, you share having heart surgery 29 years ago. How old were you at the time?
RMC: I was 14 years-old. I had open heart surgery. I had a condition that had created two holes in my heart between the chambers and a blockage in my aortic valve, which required surgery for me to continue living.
CM: Did that prevent you from participating in sports or other things?
RMC1: Yes. So I definitely was very conscious of my chest and how my chest had been opened. And I wasn’t allowed to play contact sports. I wanted to as a kid, to play football and stuff like that. But I played golf and I played water polo. Those were the two sports — and swimming. So those are the three sports that I was capable of doing where I wasn’t endangering myself physically. Baseball, you could get a hit to the chest from a ball and that would be a problem. But I was lucky and played water polo and golf.
CM: What changed after your surgery? Is everything better now?
RMC1: Oh yeah, physically everything was better.
CM: So you don’t have to worry about it anymore?
RMC1: No, I still have the heart issues. I mean, at this point in my life, I have the very early stages of heart failure. So I’m already in that category. I’m watching, we’re watching different parts of my heart and different function with my cardiologist. So I’ll probably have to have some kind of touchup surgery in the next, you know, hopefully not anytime soon, but at some point I’ll have something.
CM: And then, I read another post. Four years ago, you underwent brain surgery. Are those two connected at all or some totally different?
RMC1: Totally different things.
Okay. That has to do with seizures. So I have temporal lobe epilepsy, and that’s a condition that causes seizures that come from the temporal lobe, the side of your head. And that was something that I’ve had probably most of my life. It’s hard to see it now. There’s like one bald spot right here, <laugh>. But it’s something that I probably had most of my life. And it wasn’t ever witnessed as a convulsive seizure. I had smaller seizures where I would kind of daydream or I’d get little sensations and I’d get really sick afterwards.
CM: Was that terrifying going into that surgery?
RMC1: Open heart surgery prepared me for a lot of it. Going through a surgery like that, at the age I did it, there was a shift within me. There was something that changed where I could almost shut out the mental chatter of it. Like, “Oh my gosh, here we go.” And I could just kind of turn that off and be like, “All right, let’s get this done and treat it.”
CM: And you haven’t had any seizures since then?
RMC1: I still do have seizures.
Not as frequently and not as severe. So, before surgery, I was having at least one seizure a week, you know, pretty big one. The smaller seizures are called focal seizures. And those, I have pretty regularly.
CM: How long do the seizures last?
RMC1: Anywhere from about five or 10 seconds to couple minutes. I’m lucky that I don’t have massive convulsive seizures. I have a really good friend that has them, and it breaks my heart every time he has one, because I know what it’s like to go through it.
CM: There’s no concern if you’re here alone in the studio?
RMC1: No. I have a really good regiment and, you know, I have a great support system of people around me that can keep an eye on some of the things that can trigger.
CM: Another thing I wanted to ask you, because after I read those two posts, I was wondering if that had any impact on your art style?
RMC: Yes, it absolutely did.
CM: Is painting meditative for you? Does it help keep you stay focused by exercising your mind?
RMC1: You know, at the time, I didn’t realize what I was doing, but I was subconsciously trying to capture the sensation of going into a seizure. So it almost feels like a compression state. Like your body’s being compressed from the chest back <laugh>. And a lot of my paintings deal with layer and how the layers impact the next layer that creates that depth. So when I was still having seizures all the time, I definitely was getting a lot more visual sensory input that subconsciously fed into the paintings. I’m more deliberate now, I would say in what I’m looking at, how I’m looking at it and what I’m trying to investigate.
THE EVOLUTION OF AN ARTIST
CM: When you were first starting your career as an artist, what was the most significant challenge establishing your name and gaining recognition?
RMC1: There wasn’t a lot of venues for emerging artists and young artists. There was Venus Studios and a couple of other places you could go to show your art or even to buy art materials. And I think, as I started to see it, the art scene here started to evolve pretty rapidly. Then you had the Coachella Valley Art Scene that popped up. They had all these different, you know, festivals and different outlets for people to have shows and display their work and paint live. And I think that really made a change, especially for me, because I wanted to do as much as I could. I love painting and that’s what my goal was, just to paint, and focus more on murals.
At that time, I was transitioning from 90% graffiti and 10%, you know, drawing and sketching. And so at the time, my focus was a little bit of both. I was trying to fill the void of actively painting graffiti by painting larger canvases and starting to get involved with the Palm Springs School District and painting murals. And that really became a significant focus, working with kids and painting murals at schools.
CM: When did you begin transitioning to the art style you’re recognized for today?
RNC1: It was in the early 2010s. I was working mostly figuratively at the time. I was becoming heavily inspired by the shadow patterns I was seeing around the desert casting from shade screens and various architectural details. I’ve always found peace in the shadows.
I began to incorporate renditions of the shadow patterns I was seeing so often. One day, I was walking through the studio and noticed one of the prepared surfaces with only my lines. In that moment, I knew that there was a language there that I needed to explore. The beauty of line is that there is a clear global understanding of it as a subject.
CM: Can you pinpoint a particular moment that played a crucial role in advancing your career? In 2019, I recall being present for the mural unveiling “Line Segments” at the Palm Springs Art Pit near the Kimpton Rowan hotel. Additionally, you created the mural “UNITY THROUGH HEALTHCARE” on the East Entrance at Desert Regional Hospital in Palm Springs, among other projects.
RMC1: I’ve been lucky. I’ve been really fortunate that people have supported the work in that way.
CM: Were these done before you got connected with Melissa Morgan Fine Art Gallery?
RMC1: Yes, I had been going to Melissa’s shows and, you know, just as a guest to see the shows and had always kind of, “Hey, Melissa and hey Alec.” I had met Alec (Longmuir) quite early on, who’s the director now. And we kept this loose contact and I think, as social media is, we all kind of watch what everybody else is doing. And so we all kind of keep tabs and keep notes. So Melissa and I started working together, I want to say in 2022, no, excuse me, It was 21. She invited me to be involved in some group shows and she and Alec have been very supportive and have been a great team to work with. The whole entire team there is pretty incredible.
CM: What is it like now to be represented by a gallery? Did that change the way you put out work?
RMC1: It hasn’t really affected how I put out the work. I’ve always made art very feverishly.
CM: What is the biggest advantage to that?
RMC1: The biggest advantage of being in a gallery is that you have a more focused audience. And the collector base is a little bit broader than what I’m able to achieve as a single artist.
CM: Let’s discuss your exhibition at The Penny at Desert Island Country Club. I attended the artist reception on December 7th, and by the end of the night, I noticed some red stickers indicating that you had sold some pieces.
RMC1: Yeah, we sold a few, we sold some paintings and a sculpture commission, which I’m excited about. And I mean, it’s incredibly exciting to have people respond to the work that way, but also, as an artist, to put the work out there. It feels good. It feels like the work has been completed. <Laugh>, you know? You paint in the studio and you paint, but the work doesn’t really feel truly completed until there’s an audience to view it.
CM: Anything else that you can share about your exhibit at Desert Island?
RMC1: Yes. The exhibit is up through the middle of January.
CM: Were these older works or were they created specifically for the show?
RMC1: There was a combination. There were pieces that were brand new, and then there were pieces that had been in my catalog, that had been put away. I feel like, it’s good for work to come and go. It’s good for it to find its time to resonate with people. Desert Island has been a really incredible space to show in because of the light, that beautiful light that comes in those windows. But it’s also a fresh perspective for us in the desert, it’s a fresh perspective of a beautiful restaurant, beautiful clubhouse, and an amazing little parlor that I love to go and sit and draw in.
CM: What is the best advice you’ve ever received that’s helped you as an artist?
RMC1: That’s an easy one. David (Einstein), “Just make a mark a day.” And also “You gotta make the work. If you don’t have the work, you got nothing.” Even beyond make a mark a day, “Be true to yourself.” Make the things that you really wanna make. Don’t make it for a gallery. Don’t make it for, “I need to sell this piece.” Make it because it’s inside of you and it needs to come out.
EXPLORING THREE-DIMENSIONAL ART + PUBLIC SPACES
CM: One thing I noticed after touring your studio are the three-dimensional art pieces. Is that a new medium you recently began working with or something you’ve always been developing? Is your work evolving more into three-dimensional art?
RMC1: I am evolving into three dimensional works. I do have bits of conceptual work that I’ve created over the years, and those works are still in progress. Those still haven’t had the complete voice put to them, but those will be shown one day.
CM: I recall viewing some of your three-dimensional art pieces showcased at the Palm Springs Art Museum during your residency in early 2020, just before the global COVID-19 pandemic unfolded.
RMC1: Yeah. The residency in 2020 <laugh>. It started and then it ended very quickly. I was right in, what was it, it was in February and March, and then everything shut down <laugh> a couple of weeks before I was scheduled to finish my residency. So it was a little bit crazy going in, going from that high to that low.
CM: Do you see yourself doing more large scale installations, like something at Coachella festival, for example?
RMC1: I absolutely see it as a possibility. Those are things that I want to do. I see my pieces, especially my three-dimensional pieces, my sculpture, they’re pieces that I want people to be able to inhabit. I want people to be able to step inside of them in this kind of rib cage, an embrace of the sculptures. And, you know, there’s something special about being able to interact with a sculpture. I like people being able to interact with things. And I think, like a Coachella would be incredible to watch people interact with pieces like crawlers.
CM: During the artist reception at Desert Island, I noticed a sculpture rendering onscreen for the Downtown Park in Palm Springs. Is that something you pitched to the city? Could you share more insight about that?
RMC1: So the city has commissioned me to create a 12 foot version of one of my standing crawler sculptures. And so that was one of the renderings that I presented in my proposal.
CM: So that is going to become a reality?
RMC1: That sculpture will become a reality. And we’re currently working with our engineers to try and make sure we can fit my sculpture there.
CM: Is there an estimated timeline when that would be completed?
RMC1: To be determined. We’d like to have it finished and done by the spring.
CM: Having a unique and original sculpture in downtown would be very of cool to see.
RMC1: Well, I’m very fortunate that the city has been so supportive of me over the years with murals and now sculpture. I’m hoping that the people really make it theirs and enjoy it.
CM: You’ve been living in Coachella Valley for over 20 years. What is it like to see the community evolve? As an artist, do you see yourself playing a role in that evolution?
RMC1: The development is great to see, but I also really love the fact that our desert is small and doesn’t have this expansive population. Well, it didn’t <laugh>. Now we’ve got a lot of people from LA and all over the place, which is great. And I love seeing the development and I love seeing the progress and it’s created a lot of new opportunities for a lot of artists, and I think that’s really gonna be significant to the artistic landscape for the coming generations.
CM: How do you choose the locations and settings for your murals and public art?
RMC1: It’s usually worked out with a client. In a lot of cases, I’m approached to create murals for people. And so there’s a location in mind. In cases like the Sanctuary House in Palm Springs, I walked into the house to deliver a piece of art that I was donating. And I walked into the backyard and saw a big, beautiful wall and I said, “Hey, can I do a mural there?” And so it’s a combination of either, “Hey, we have a space for you, or hey, I want to paint that space.”
CM: What kind of emotional sensory response do you want to evoke in viewers when they encounter the artworks?
RMC1: I guess above all else, “Hope and Embrace.” I think that light really allows for hope. And so I want people to look at my work and know that there’s hope in the world, that there is light
CM: How do you believe public artworks, such as the ones you have created, can contribute to the community and public spaces? What effect do you hope your artwork will have on the viewers and the surroundings?
RMC1: I mean, public art is important. It’s an important expression of our civilization. I think we all deserve to have that creative moment in our day, whether it’s by practicing a creative moment or viewing a creative moment. I think that public art in a whole can uplift people. So if, I hate to sound dramatic, but I almost feel like public art is a right, it’s a right of every person on the planet. That’s how we how we speak without words.
MOVING INTO THE ART STUDIO
CM: How many years have you been in the studio on Perez Road Art District?
RMC1: I’ve been here five years now, five going on six.
CM: Before then, were you working from home?
RMC1: I was working from home. I always had a small office that I worked on small things and then worked out of my garage or my backyard. I’ve worked in my kitchens in all of my different houses and apartments for whatever reason. The kitchen has always been a big part of my private practice, but being in the studio has allowed me to make works larger and envision larger ideas and have more of a sense of scale. I think you’re limited by the space you create in at times. And this studio allows me to create at almost any scale.
CM: Were you a full-time artist before you moved into your current studio?
RMC1: Yes. I had a studio before this, just down at the end of the driveway. And that started in 2016. And that informed a lot of where I’m at now with it. It allowed me to get into a studio and understand what worked for me and how I needed the studio to be prepared. And in this current space I’m in, I’m pretty dialed in where I can come in here and work any way, shape or form I want. And the space is prepared.
CM: For young creatives aspiring to pursue a career in the arts, what advice do you have?
RMC1: Keep making the work every day just a little bit. Just make a little bit every day. If it’s in you, it’s in you and you’ll go everywhere if you give yourself to it.
CM: How would you describe yourself in three words?
RMC1: I’m crazy. <Laugh>. Wow. I don’t know. That’s one of the most difficult questions I’ve ever been asked.
CM: We can get back to that one.
RMC1: Yeah. Let me get back to you on that one.
THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
CM: What are your future goals and aspirations as an artist? What are you working on next?
RMC1: For 2024, I guess going into the new year, I’ve got my public art commission from the city of Palm Springs. So that’s gonna be a major focus going into 2024. And in the coming year and years, I wanna make bigger, more beautiful paintings.
CM: Where do you see yourself 10 to 20 years from now?
RMC1: Still plugging away in the studio.
CM: What do you love most about being an artist?
RMC1: The ability to communicate without words. To share a dialogue without words. To be able to connect with anyone on the planet in any economic, social, and any level. Being able to connect with somebody is a very special thing. And I think we as a society, forget that.
CM: In public, you appear at ease socializing with the guests.
RMC1: I love to, well, there’s a story behind that actually. So I grew up in the restaurant business. My family owned restaurants, and so from a very early age, I was working in the restaurants. I developed a customer service — I would say more of a hospitality nature. And it’s something that I kind of just do it. I love to talk to people and I love to share time with people.
CM: You were never a shy person when you were younger?
RMC1: No, not at all. I was never shy and if I was, I wasn’t allowed to be <laugh>.
CM: What’s a day in your life look like? Do you work seven days a week or do you find some time to take a day off and spend with friends and family?
RMC1: I work seven days a week. I don’t stop. I don’t differentiate between my work and my life. The work is my life. My life is the work. And so whether I’m sitting in my studio from nine o’clock in the morning until midnight, or if I’m in my office at home working on small maquette or paintings, my practice doesn’t stop. When I’m out with my wife and my friends and my family, I’m scanning the room for inspiration, for lines, for patterns, and I get a little <laugh>, I guess, I get a little distracted, but no, I absolutely have a good amount of time with my family, but my work absolutely comes first, unfortunately.
CM: Returning to our previous question, how would you describe yourself in three words?
RMC: True to myself. That’s three words, right? <Laugh> Or is that more of a statement?
CM: Is there anything else you want to add that we haven’t talked about?
RMC1: I wanna say how grateful I am to all the people that have helped me and guided me on my journey. I have an amazing group of family, friends, supporters, people like you that have followed me along my crazy career the last 10 years.
CM: You built a circle of friends who are artists, like Philip K. Smith, III, Carlos Rodriguez, Pete Salcido from Flat Black and a bunch of others.
RMC1: You know, I’m lucky because through my art practice, in my entire life, I’ve met such a diverse group of people. Like I know all my graffiti writer friends, but then I can go into Donna MacMillan’s house and sit down for dinner because she owns some of my art. So it’s this wide spectrum. But again, I love art because I can communicate on a wide spectrum and on any level people can understand that.
CM: How important is having that circle of artist friends in your life?
RMC1: It’s very important. I take a lot of inspiration from my friends. They’re not just my friends, but they’re people that I admire, that I look up to, that I get inspired by. And I think when you’re inspired by people, you just sort of gravitate to each other.
CM: And everybody’s been pretty supportive throughout your career?
RMC1: Yes. I can’t say that I’ve had, I mean, there’s been great experiences and not so great experiences, but I’ve always had an amazing group of people around me that have been supportive, encouraging, and most of all, allowed me just to be the artist. My wife particularly has been an amazing wife, has been an amazing partner, because she understands that the art is my life.
CM: Do you have any other hidden talent besides art? When you’re not making art, what are you usually doing?
RMC1: I’m usually underwater basket weaving. <Laugh> Not really. You know, it’s funny because I don’t really watch sports. I don’t play video games. I kind of go through some of the medical things I’ve been through, I have a sense of how limited time is and I don’t want to put my time into things that I can’t fully express myself in some way, shape or form, I hope to connect with somebody else.
CM: Do you contemplate the influence of emerging technologies, such as AI, on the art world?
RMC1: Yes, I do. I think about it all the time. Not all the time, but I do think about it seriously. You know, I think for my entire life, that painting has been dead <laugh> and here we are, you know, 42 years later of my life and painting is alive and well.
CM: In the future, will viewers be able to put on VR goggles and walk through a virtual Ryan Campbell artwork?
RMC1: <laugh> No. I think art is meant to be tactile. I think it’s meant to be tangible. And when it gets too, for me, when it gets too overly conceptual and too electronically activated, it’s taking away the artist’s hand. It’s taking away the A to B communication.
CM: How do you feel when one of your artworks is sold and placed in someone’s home? Is it difficult for you to part and let go of your creations?
RMC1: No, I’m always grateful when a piece goes out of the studio, because I almost feel like each piece has a spirit. Each piece has a soul. And to keep that soul bottled up, it’s not fair <Laugh>. They need to live and breathe in the world for them to be a completed artwork.
POSTSCRIPT
As we bid farewell and exit Ryan Campbell’s studio, he shares a revelatory detail. Instead of letting go of his art pieces, he points to a shelf where they are displayed – balls of tape in various sizes, each meticulously dated. “I keep a ball of tape from every piece I make,” he says with a smile, underlining the enduring connection he maintains with his creations.
WEB: RMC1STUDIO.COM
SOCIAL MEDIA: @RMC1