Today we’d like to introduce you to Cheyenne Randall.
Hi Cheyenne, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I’m a self-taught mixed/indigenous artist twice rejected from art school. I’d say it was the right thing; I have no set discipline or medium. I was born in Minneapolis in 78 to a hippie mother and father. My dad was an incredible artist whose talent was often lost in the bottom of a bottle. His works are few to be found these days but have always been the drive in my own creative pursuits. I often sat with him while he worked as a child. We collaborated on some pieces through my teenage years. He passed in my senior year in high school, leaving me with so many questions as an artist. I was lucky enough to be given his creative gene but also his allergy to alcohol. I lost many years as a producing artist to my addictions. I did have a vision throughout my 20s and 30s and plugged away at ideas at night while working residential remodel by day. In 2013, my digital work went viral through the media. I woke up to emails from The Today Show, Rollingstone Brazil, Playboy Italy, etc. It was a weird time. I put tattoos on found photos from iconic people; mostly the silver screen or 60s 70s actors and musicians. It scratched an itch for some people back when the Instagram algorithm was helpful to artists. My following skyrocketed, and though I was selling mixed media and paintings and drawings at the time, this put me in front of a large audience. Since then, I’ve been able to expand what I do into a more tangible experience through mixed media wheat paste murals that people can visit and enjoy in person at a large scale. I started the hashtag #PastingtheWest, which showcases my work all the way from the sides of abandoned buildings in the early days, a wheat paste artist in residency at the Heard Museum, to NBA team stores as of late. I’m happily on my 6th year of sobriety as we speak, and feel like I’ve just begun my story as an artist.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Getting out of my own way, being more playful in my approach to a new work of art and saying yes when I feel like saying no has eliminated a lot of obstacles for me, but also knowing when to say no. I have a tendency to overthink everything I create as an artist, and it just doesn’t have to be that serious. I like to remind myself that traditionally, artists have been tortured souls whose work didn’t amount to much until they died, if at all, and so everything we’re doing here today is a bonus; it’s like none of our careers as artists was guaranteed to begin with and so have fun with it.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I was a carpenter/house painter by trade for over twenty years; I started working for my uncle as a house painter in H.S. I’ve been really lucky to have worked alongside what I consider masters of a trade. When I approach an installation or private commission, it’s very much like a contractor, from my wife on the phones and emails working with clients, lining up commissions, pricing & availability to me creating imagery, you name it, together we are a mom-and-pop shop. All my years in the trades comes in handy when laying out a large-scale installation and running a clean job site. We often joke that we not only don’t take vacations, but we don’t like to vacation, not unless we can move our bodies, break a sweat and produce some kind of art while there.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
You can follow my journey on Instagram: @indiangiver. You can purchase prints here: www.cheyennerandallart.com.
My books are always open, and my wife, Ariel, will answer all emails about commissions, collaborations, murals, and custom print work [email protected]
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cheyennerandallart.com
- Instagram: indiangiver
Processed with VSCO with 6 preset
Processed with VSCO with 6 preset
