Daily Inspiration: Meet Johnny Tay

Today we’d like to introduce you to Johnny Tay.

Hi Johnny, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born in Virginia into a white trash tornado of a family. I was the first one to go to college after high school, I majored in Crafts… everyone was very proud and not confused at all. After a couple of years of shit jobs, a failed, young marriage, and a year in NYC I decided to move to a new coast. Once I got to LA, I trained under one of my favorite jewelers for nine months, then Covid hit and she left me high and dry. At this point, I felt like I’d had my labor exploited by enough employers and started really focusing on my own stuff. I started Heebie Jeebies Jewelry after I graduated in 2016, but it remained a side project until the pandemic left me unemployed (and receiving unemployment) for the first time since 14… Funny how a tiny bit of financial assistance can help a person find themselves… Anyway, I’ve been hawking silver, painting smut, confusing people about my gender, and tattooing ever since.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Lol no. It’s never smooth in the sense that the path is easy, linear, or clear in any way. Being a working-class artist in late-stage capitalism is such a shit show. Money is scarce, algorithms change, maintaining your spark of freedom drives you to create is an ever-shifting balancing act. I’ve worked five jobs at once, I’ve worked really hard on shit I don’t care about, I’ve done grunt work that no union would stand for…but at a certain point, I realized that I do not control the road, but I do control the vehicle. X job will not lead to X result, but maintaining my sense of self and trusting myself as an artist enough to just make shit and see what happens makes roads feel a lot smoother and exciting.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As far as jewelry goes, I’m really proud of The Garbage Patch. This is an ever-growing group of rings that are variations on Kewpie dolls. Each one is completely unique, and they all come with a little name and birth certificate and a zine with the origin story. I have so much fun with them and it’s so fun seeing people get all gitty about the excessive, unnecessary world-building connected to them.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Hit me up! My tattoo/painting ig page is @johnnyhassletay, jewelry is @heebiejeebiesjewelry, or contact me through my website heebiejeebiesjewelry.com. Please buy my things. I’m very poor.

Contact Info:

• Website: heebiejeebiesjewelry.com
• Instagram: @johnnyhassletay @heebiejeebiesjewelry