Life & Work with MØTH

Today we’d like to introduce you to MØTH.

Hi MØTH, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi I’m MØTH and I’m an aural (music) and visual (painter) artist living in Venice, CA!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Absolutely not. For a long time, I was just trying to get to a place…physically, emotionally, financially,…where I could thrive and have the time of day just to be creative. I had a lot of personal work to explore. But, I am someone who loves to learn, grow, and be a better version of myself constantly. If I can be a better human to myself and others, that is more important of a battle for me to face than anything because I never want to hurt or bring others down in the ways I experienced when I was young. But It took me the earning of my own successes without other’s help to realize that I was actually given a gift of fearlessness and a confidence in myself that is crucial to why I don’t walk but run forward down my own road.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a musician and visual artist. I play piano, sing, and song-write. I have various bands and have played all around Los Angeles and that has been a big part of me. But, because you are interested in learning more about me as a visual artist and painter, I’ll keep the focus in that department for this interview and also because it has become the most relevant thing happening in my life recently as it seems as many important figures have taken an interest in my latest release; a 3 ft x 6 ft reimagined version of da Vinci’s notorious “Last Supper” but featuring modern day relevant icons in Los Angeles. It is a satirical comedy piece depicting the rise and epic drama of the Kardashian family, with Kanye (Yeezus) as Jesus in the center.

While at a glance, it comes across as maybe just a visually entertaining and superficially very LA-esque (and it is), the hidden details, painting techniques, social commentary, and research I conducted are what, in my opinion, makes it stand out not just as a pop art piece, but also as classical fine art. Some have described it as street art, which is generally intended to make a personal statement about the society that the artist lives within. “Smart vandalism”….but with oils on canvas. I just feel a little bit cooler saying that. I simply have to include that bit because it makes me feel more like a bad-ass and I am a BANKSY fan.

These people in my painting are LA’s modern-day “Gods”. It is not fan art or my personal opinion of this particular family necessarily, but I feel we can all agree that this basically sums up our current culture, however you feel about it. Literally, the Kardashian’s influence and monetize the entertainment world and Kanye calls himself Yeezus. The Kardashian’s “followers” will literally mimic what they wear, how they talk, where to eat, and they determine the size of lips that define trending beauty standards. TMZ is our Bible and Influencers…well, influence. Hmmm…Sounds almost semi-religious to me.

It is a satirical commentary piece and I thought it funny to combine such a beautiful, famous piece of religious art with characters on the other end of the spectrum. This diminishment of real heroism is our current situation. Some people take offense at this but like most comedy, in the offense lurks a wider perspective. Following the shock and laughter is a pause for thought, if done correctly.

All of the modern characters in my piece are in the exact same positions as da Vinci’s “Last Supper”, except I inserted some sneaky accessories like iPhones in their hands, selfies, gossip, makeup, cocaine, and of course, Kanye’s Yeezys. I’ll attach an image of the original above my own version so you can understand how I preserved these positions of the apostles surrounding Jesus. There are hidden messages in there, just like the original “Last Supper”. There is controversy too. Overall, my piece depicts the rise of this family beginning with Robert Kardashian’s defense of OJ Simpson (who is the apostle “Judas”, the betrayer of Christ, the bad guy) which brought huge publicity to this family. Up until the Kimye divorce, hence the Last Supper. Mostly, just to tie it up together for the moment or until we all find out it was one big publicity stunt and then Kim becomes president.

I made sure that pigments are accurate to the time period, painting techniques (the way in which painters painted in the classical method of the 1400’s), religious symbolism used in that era, and the appropriate costly colors such an ultra-marine blue were used for important people like Mary and Jesus in the piece. Phallic symbols surrounded Jesus in ancient religious art. LA’s quintessential tall palm trees halo over Kanye’s head glowing head, leading your eye off into our famous California sunset. Lake Hollywood is in the distance behind Kim, as they would always incorporate a body of water by Mary to symbolize her abundant fertility. These intricate details are all throughout the piece but my favorite one is OJ Simpson, with a mound of cocaine in front of him, holding black gloves and spilling a shot glass. OJ’s apostle character, Judas, spilled salt in the original which was a forecast to Jesus’s death from Judas’s betrayal of Christ, as salt was highly valuable back then. And Judas held a bag of coins (symbolizing greed as Judas sold out and ratted on Christ like an asshole). Judas practically begged me to add black gloves (replacing the black bag), spilled shot glasses (spilling salt=an omen for bad luck coming) and cocaine (the salt…and yes, also accurate OJ story) to OJ. OJ’s lawyer Robert Kardashian is by him, leaning over whispering to his daughter Kim as he hides OJ’s weapon (the knife) behind his back….just like it was representing in the original as well.

Hey, it’s controversy and gossip and drama and I could imagine there would be a lot of “tea” spilled at that table if it actually took place.

As a young person growing up in this century, I like to paint celebrities, political figures, and modern-day characters.

I also love to use this classical method used by the great Venetian Masters of art because the juxtaposition of it feels timeless and humorous to me. Plus, it is just fun–the whole process of it; lights over darks forming deep hues of blues that bring out the sense of rushing blood and life under their skin. I eat that up. I have another piece I am currently working on that will focus on a completely different set of people, One’s I personally idolize, with a message that speaks more personally to me. And many others, I feel, will appreciate including the icons I am featuring. I will release that in a couple of months from now.

I have yet to meet another person of my age that feels the same way I do about classical painting (not that you obviously don’t exist!) I rarely see celebrities painted in this style, at least accurately, to this style of art. And done with a depth of research and intention beyond what should maybe be necessary today but I don’t just want to paint pretty pictures, I want to paint messages. And it’s in the details I love to incorporate humor and subtleties, that’s really really fun for me to engage viewers who can notice and appreciate those things. Everyone will find something different and that relatability is fun so I can connect to not just art critics or museum-goers but just everyone. I like everyone.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Interesting you’re asking about this…

A psychologist told me that interpersonal trauma in the life of a preadolescence child causes scar tissue to an area of the brain called the amygdala that should be firing off signals of fear in situations where you should be afraid. This causes literal scar tissue to cover this region of your brain. Isn’t that crazy? Now I haven’t done the tests researchers conduct to study this but I can say for certain that I have little fear and almost always want to try things that do scare me because I see there is an opportunity to grow. I ride a motorcycle, solo skydive, moved to Hollywood the summer after I graduated high school alone then moved alone to London when I was 19. And in a few weeks, plan to paraglide off a mountain. I was afraid to do all of these things at first but now I reflect on them as some of the best experiences of my life.

Long story short, risk-taking combined with strategy and logic is why I was able to make the time to even entertain pursuing a career in art and why I am the happiest I have ever been in my entire life today.

But short story long, I quit my 9 to 5 job working in the music industry for one of the biggest managers of the music business at a point in time. It was a job that had great prospect to work up quickly in the industry and I was told I was really really lucky to have it. I hated it. I work hard but I was left with zero time for myself or creativity, which is something that needs space, good health, and almost an element of boredom to inspire me. My battery life was at 0% by the end of each workday. So, I just walked into his office and quit. I hate quitting. But, staying there meant I was quitting myself and that wasn’t worth it to me. He tried to plead with me that this wasn’t a good idea but I told him how grateful I was to have been believed in by him but I had to or I might forever regret it.

So, here I still was; in debt, jobless, and living at my uncle’s place for too long. I scoured craigslist and found this seedy ad hiring young female girls as karaoke hosts for men in Korea Town. In Korean, they are called “doumi” girls. I was scared going in to see what this job was all about and I didn’t tell my mom because she would have never slept another night again worrying about me. I was even scared to death but it seemed as if fear in and of itself doesn’t stop me from doing things…something about myself I’d come to learn. The ad claimed you could make $5-10K per month in cash. I demanded to speak with one of these girls prior to going so I met with a gorgeous 5’11” French girl named Lucie. She said this was legit. She said you don’t have to do sexual anything with the men who party in these underground karaoke rooms but you are serving them drinks, singing, and making sure they are overall having a good time. It’s all cash, under the table. There is no security and because there are a lot of legality loopholes here, no one would call the cops if something went wrong. I could write a book and tell so many interesting stories and situations that happened to me and others in those rooms but I saw it all and that is another time I suppose. But to give you some broad strokes, I got this weird glimpse of an underground world in LA where young girls would line up in front of a room to be picked (yes, picked, with a finger flick or by dress color) by each man in the karaoke room. If you weren’t picked, you left and went on to the next room or was driven by a driver, ten girls packed into a minivan, to around 25 other various underground karaoke clubs. Somewhere you had to use some gated locked door in a back ally and then crawl in behind cooks in the janky kitchen just to get in. All the heels from lines of women making this click clacking sound as sizzling shrimp went in the deep fryer. Haha. I had to laugh at this in my head to keep my sanity intact and remain positive. The largest part of me was completely demoralized being in the situation. I hated it. I had never been a partier and was a good girl too. A good girlfriend and always honest and forthcoming about everything I did to my friends and family. I have social anxiety but again, fear wasn’t a deterrent for me. I took it as an opportunity to overcome it. There was also this curious, bewildered, entertained part of me that sort of enjoyed the exotic ride so contrary to my previous world. I was overcoming a lot of my fears in these rooms, meeting people I would have never met from all walks of life, and I left with wads of hundreds shoved in my bag by the end of each night. I am a singer and in one room, in some weird, bored, 3am slightly buzzed state, I just got up, went to the front of the room, and crushed “Let It Go” from Frozen and my guy handed me $1,100 in cash when I hit that high Idina Menzel note…”let the storm rage onnnnnnn!”…and then told me to scram. Haha. I went home, counted my cash because it was so fun to know where my remaining card balance would be as the debt dwindled away. A lot of these men were lonely and sad. One wouldn’t stop handing me hundred-dollar bills as I listened to his crazy life story. He told me this was his therapy as he consistently downed his glass of whiskey. I actually stopped him at a certain point because I felt guilty taking them from him. He said he just needed someone to talk to.

I was in rooms with 5% predominant figures but 95% were mostly mid-life crisis dads and foreign rich business men. Some didn’t even speak English and just wanted me to sit there like a dummy as they had their business meeting. I took it upon myself to learn either a Korean or Chinese word each night because I was simply bored after a while of doing this. I was in hundreds of rooms. I always made a point to learn and listen as much as possible but I did see the more unsavory sides of this scene and I eventually didn’t want to be around it anymore. I was exhausted all the time from working even though it gave me the flexibility to work whenever I wanted to and work on my music and art during the day. I stopped drinking in the rooms early on in the job because I realized that was a risk I wasn’t worth taking being around strange men. I got pretty lazy with how I handled fake drinking honestly. I’d pretend to take shots with a group and then just throw the glass right over my shoulder if I had to avoid it. I’d sometimes pour it right back in their glass if they weren’t looking or in the guise of taking a chaser spit the shot right back out in my Coca-Cola. I wasn’t trying to go deep down the rabbit hole of karaoke-life, I was focused and trying to get to point B; Operation Art/Music Career. And fast. Fast money is always risky but I’m not stupid and I wasn’t there a second longer than I needed to be. I paid off my debts and was out.

All of my friends are similar to me; entertainers, musicians, writers, artists. They slaved away at their jobs all day to make what I would make as a tip from one room at the end of the night. I felt badly for them. We are all exhaustingly trying here to make it work for the pursuit of our dreams. But, I also sacrificed a lot choosing this as my path. It’s a piece of my story, whether I want it to be or not. I am not advising others to take the same type of risks I have either. But, some extent of risk-taking is important to your success. 100%. And it worked for me.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/follow_the_moth
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/followthemoth
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCprv6MM4eGjUU1dtIxsuLew
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/followthemoth
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/track/1kF8oxJjooxEeLHhzMpZU6?si=5a52194ef89e4c91

Image Credits:
Alex Stone