interview by Jorge Perezchica
It was almost a year ago when 25 year-old artist known as Uncle Reezy decided to pack up the van and move from the midwest to the Coachella Valley, “it was a no-brainer” her seasonal job at a pest control company had ended and depression felt real. Uncle Reezy always wanted to live in the desert since she could remember, and now took comfort being reunited with her sister who was pregnant at the time and living in Indio, California. Growing up wasn’t easy for Uncle Reezy, she was bullied as the weird kid in a small town. Uncle Reezy used art as a creative outlet to express the stream of thoughts that were difficult to articulate through words. Since moving to the desert, life has changed for the better.
I recently stumbled upon Uncle Reezy’s artwork one morning while perusing through Instagram — I paused and then scrolled down the image gallery which left an immediate impression on me. The artist’s use of Day-Glo color palette and erotica quickly burn into your consciousness. Imagine a world populated by figures who appear in pink, blue, red or orange skin, wear halos over their head and pose provocatively. “Erotic Pop with some Giotto influence,” Uncle Reezy self-describes her art. To see a narrative beyond the surface, I reached out to Uncle Reezy for the Coachella Magazine interview.
Coachella Magazine: Tell us about yourself and your background as an artist.
Uncle Reezy: It’s a tale as old as time! I grew up in small towns in the south, underwent lots and lots of bullying, stayed in my head a lot, and imagined lots of different realities to play in. I feel like that is such a drag of a story but I promise I love how everything has gone down in my life because I ended up creative. The things you sacrifice for art, am I right? I’m only a self taught artist. I have no art education besides doing poorly in my high school art class and taking one still-life college class. I hated those classes so much because I don’t really like just drawing what’s in front of me. I’ve just watched youtube videos, practiced on my own from reference photos, and learned as much as I can from anyone who will impart wisdom to me. Sometimes it is frustrating to have these ideas and have no way to execute them, but I’m learning so much every year and I know I’ll get to where I want to be at some point.
CM: Where does the name Uncle Reezy come from, and the lizard character on your Instagram profile?
UR: About ten years ago, I had misheard my friend Austin and I thought he said something about his Uncle Reezy, so since then he called me that. I like using it as my art name because it seemed natural to me and I enjoy the “surprise!” element when people expect me to be a male. My logo came up from me getting frustrated at being able to draw bodies, but the faces always sucked so I started planting that head on them. It came out of nowhere! Just organically from my hand to the paper. I couldn’t tell you what kind of species it is but it’s cute and kind of unsettling so it all just worked well together.
CM: Your artwork is rendered with the use of bright colors and erotica. Can you talk about the imagery expressed in your work?
UR: I do art because I have a hard time articulating what’s in my head into sentences that make sense to anyone else, so bear with me please! I use bright and bold colors because I like to take things that make people uncomfortable and shed them in a positive light. I focus largely on sexual subjects NOT to make people uncomfortable but to make them take a minute to themselves and feel MORE comfortable about their own sexual experiences, fantasies, and bodies. I grew up in such small towns I had no concept of feminism or what it meant to be sex positive or empowered in your body until after high school and if I can use what I’m good at to make sure other people don’t feel how I felt growing up, that’s what matters to me. There is no one right way to be a human, and the weirder my art gets, the more people I hope I encourage to just be themselves. I know there are people out there that see my stuff and hate it and that’s fine–that’s the whole point of being sex positive, it’s okay to be out there about it and it’s okay to keep it to yourself.
CM: What music do you listen to nowadays that inspires you creative workflow?
UR: “Flagpole Sitta” by Harvey Danger over and over and over. 90’s kids remember!
CM: You recently moved to the Coachella Valley, what drew you to the desert? How has your life changed since?
UR: I moved from Wisconsin. I’ve always wanted to be in the desert since I can remember. I don’t know why because I had never even visited before I moved. My sister Rhianna lives here and last year we found out she was pregnant with my (now four month old) nephew Jasper. Honestly I was pretty stuck in Wisconsin. Seasonal depression is very real, my job at a pest control company had ended for the season, I was newly single…it was a no-brainer to pack up my van and move here to be with them. Life has changed so much for the better. I have a new bug job haha, I love being with my family, and I’m in a healthy relationship. I think the desert is so calming and dreamy. I feel more energized than ever to do art which says a lot because I’m an extremely lazy creative, but my head feels clear and it’s easier to process ideas that I have one at a time rather than being all over the place and out of control.
CM: Can you tell us about one of your favorite projects your working on or completed?
UR: I’m super proud of doing work for shows ran by mega bad asses. I’ve been lucky enough to contribute work for events that donate the funds to places like Planned Parenthood or Rape Crisis Centers. As far as projects in the works, I have some exciting stuff coming up but in the art business it seems like so many things fall through or get delayed or yadda ya. I’m trying to get better at not telling every single person with ears or eyes about opportunities I’m excited about. We shall see if things pan out!
CM: You have a new website coming soon. Can you give us some details?
UR: Yes! My website just really needed to be updated. It’s gotten to the point where I’ve progressed a lot as an artist and so seeing my older stuff just weirds me out, especially when I think about OTHER people looking at it. It’s taking longer than I imagined due to balancing life, but I’m gonna say it’ll be ready by June just to light some fire under my ass.
CM: Scrolling through your Instagram gallery, I noticed you visited RoboLights in Palm Springs. What was your impression?
UR: I thought it was really fun! It was my first Christmas without snow in a long, long time so the holiday already felt sort of bizarre to me. I hit a joint and walked through rows of baby doll parts glued to other objects — it was better than any gift under a tree.
CM: What are some things that you find exciting about being an artist today?
UR: I find the grind super exciting. Nearly every creative I know can’t afford to take a leap into banking full time on their art, so we are all working day jobs to fund our dreams while trying to keep friends, relationships and families happy. It’s exhausting but it makes every reward, even if it’s super small, feel so much important. It’s also a time where we are processing a lot of trauma and devastation. Nobody is wired to be able to handle this much bad news daily and I think artists, at least for me, feel incredibly lucky to not only have an outlet but to also have so many opportunities to share the product of our outlets. I hate social media as much as the next person who still uses it but it’s really awesome to know my ideas could possibly brighten someone’s day just from them scrolling through their feed. Art should be able to be consumed by everyone and I’m glad it’s so freaking easy now.
CM: How would you describe your artwork and personal style?
UR: I honestly don’t know how to describe my art…maybe like erotic pop art? YEAH, erotic pop with some Giotto influence (notice all the Madonna Enthroned halos I use). Personal style wise, uhhhh…I’m constantly bitching to my friends about how I don’t have an aesthetic. I grew up being such a bullied weird kid and now my Instagram feed is full of the weirdest, eclectic styles and I’m so mad I never figured out how to make my outside appearance match the weirdness inside. Daily I look like Johnathan Taylor Thomas or some sort of 90s dude heartthrob, but then I have special feminine moments too. I’m never consistent!
CM: What are you working on next?
UR: My next big venture is painting! I currently just use markers and pens on paper. I’m saving up some funds to acquire some painting supplies, so I can teach myself how to do large canvases and use paint. I feel like painting would be so much fun especially because sometimes I’m so over filling big spaces up with markers. So be on the lookout for some Uncle Reezy acrylic originals someday!
For more info follow: @uncle.reezy