8 minute read
Last Call
Lord Smokey Bruja
Lord Smokey Bruja’s final local show “Bee Like Honey” will take place at The Bridge at 300 Southbridge St. Sept. 5 from 4 to 9 p.m.
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When did you arrive in Worces
ter? In 1985 when I was almost 10 years old. I was born in Puerto Rico.
How did your love of art begin?
It was all I had as a kid. My family was pretty much poor. We followed my uncle around everywhere because he was in the military. He was the youngest of seven and I was adopted by my maternal grandmother so I was brought up with him and my other uncle. We spent a lot of time moving around and my mother pretty much did whatever she could for me, but I grew up without many toys. I remember I had two stuffed animals. One was an elephant and the other one was a camel. Art was a healthy way for me to be able to keep myself occupied. When I was about four years old, we were living in Jersey City and I remember I couldn’t sleep. My mom drew a picture of a rooster on a napkin because we didn’t have anything else. I just kept copying the rooster over and over and over again. And then the rooster became a cat and then the cat became a dog and then the dog became a horse. And then my mom was just like, “Wow, my daughter can do things. My daughter has a talent.” It was the only thing she could actually provide me with that would nurture me and keep me out of trouble.
Tell me about your career tra
jectory as an artist. Originally, I was considered an “urban artist,” but then over time, I started to get a lot more attention from fine art galleries. I did a short tour in the New England area. All of a sudden, I started getting phone calls from more galleries and I thought it was really strange. Artists are pretty much used to begging to get on a waiting list. This was different for me. They wanted me. Showing work at a gallery in Boston increased the value of my work. My first gallery show was in Manhattan, but as I got into my late 30s, I decided to focus on my own community more. I had helped build the very first Worcester Youth Center back in the ’90s. I was one of the first city workers at Worcester Community Action Council. My career took me to other places, but eventually, I realized it was important to start mentoring other artists here in Worcester. I wanted them to know that they had a chance. I never had anybody tell me as a kid that art was going to bring me more life. Instead, what I mostly got was people laughing at me and saying things like, “What makes you think you’re going to succeed? What makes you so special?” I never forced it. For some reason, when you do something really special, it makes a lot of people angry. I didn’t want to be like that. I wanted to be the opposite. When my kids got older and they moved out, I was just like, “Okay, now it’s time for me to take life into my own hands and make something of it.” I knew what made me happy, and art is it.
When people started to view your art as ‘fine art’ versus ‘urban art,’ had your visual style changed at all, or was it
just their perception? It hadn’t changed then, but I’m starting to change now. Galleries usually earn about 30% of whatever you make. I ended up having to raise the prices of my work so I could actually get into the art galleries and make a living. But essentially it was the same work. It was the matter of who wanted my work and how much they were willing to pay for it that transitioned my work from Urban Art to Fine Art. That’s the industry! That’s every industry.
What is the theme of your
upcoming show? The theme is bees and honey. The queen bee has been slaughtered. Her life taken away. For some reason, she has the power to continue on. This gets really personal. She is bound by her community and her job is to continue to give life over and over again. Where there is sacrifice there is growth. But it isn’t just about Bees for me its about Love and Fear. It’s about strength and survival.
I only want you to share what feels comfortable. Sarah, you would know me by an old name that I don’t go by anymore. You and I have actually met before.
used to be was murdered. You knew me by the artist name [redacted].
Of course. Oh my god, I’m sorry I didn’t put that together. What
happened? I was working with a lot of musicians. It just got to the point that I really wasn’t paying attention to the characteristics of some of these people. One day, I met the wrong guy and I worked with the wrong person. It affected me in a profound way. I fell into a really deep depression and I felt like what happened was that they killed her. Burned her at a wooden stake. When I speak about her, I speak of her as though she was my sister and she died and nobody ever found the body. That’s how I feel. I have no way of knowing where she is or if I’ll ever find her again. I’ve gone through therapy. It was constant, constant, constant, constant pain. If I want to survive as an artist — if I want to survive as a mother, I have to leave here. I need to save myself. If it seems like I’m giving up because I’m leaving,
DYLAN AZARI
I’m not. I’m expanding my power to a whole new place and I’m taking my throne with me.
I don’t think you’re giving up. This show is a rebirth. New beginnings are so hard and I applaud you. I admire you.
Thank you that means a lot. I still want to see Worcester thrive but there’s nothing left here for me. I’ve already conquered this place. Like a good friend said, “You’re too good for this place. Worcester is too small for you.” He knows who he is.
Do you have any last words
for Worcester? I want everyone to know they are not alone. I’m just doing the best to stay alive. That’s what this show is about. It’s about being as small as a bee, but making something as beautiful as golden honey. I’m taking that power with me. The only thing I’m leaving behind is my art.
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