Artist Interview: Magnus Sodamin
MAGNUS SODAMIN
Hi Magnus, thank you for doing this interview, let start with the basics, where are you originally from and how did you come to live in Miami?
I was born in manhattan in 1987. My mother is norwegian and my father was austrian. We moved to miami 15 years ago.
What do you love about Miami and what do you wish was different?
The weather, the proximity to nature, its lush environment. I wish we did not affect our environment as much through population, pollution, over fishing, etc.
What is a typical day in the life of Magnus?
On a work day I wake up after a good dream, make breakfast, pick up a colada on calle ocho, get to my studio, put on some tunes, start mixing up some paint, work for a few hours, go pick up some empanadas and colladas, get back to work either on painting or at tasks. go check out the sunset for a few minutes then studio, and then perhaps meet with some buddys.
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When did you decide to start a career in the arts and what drove you to that choice?
When I was a child my grandmother in norway always put her oil paints and canvas in front of me every summer, and in high school after studying film I transitioned back to painting, where I felt I could encapusulate much more information and feeling in a single frame. I had a teacher there, Craig Kirk, who took me under his wing, where I then painted all the hands and faces on his native american portraits. In a way I became his apprentice for a while, I think it took him to show me that I could make art a career.
How would you describe your work to someone who has never seen it?
Thats how I try to look at it!
Tell us a little bit about your process and inspiration
My process is very organic. I try and let my materials/ paint react and flow where I am a conductor. Through many layerings of paint each painted piece tells its own histories in space. I find inspiration in nature whether camping, fishing, traveling to new places, seeing new things.
What did you listen to a lot when you were working on the pieces for this upcoming show?
I put my I pod with 160 gb to cappactity on shuffle..
Which artists do you look up to and why?
I look up to other local artists, ones that I see are making art a life for them and are able to live of that. I want to see myself being able to do that as well.
If you weren’t an artist, what would you be?
I think that everyone finds their calling, and that there is creativity in every form of human experience. Maybe a captain on ship.
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Opening : Friday, Feb. 7th. 6 – 10PM
Primary Projects
151 NE 7th ST. Miami, FL 33132