Today we’d like to introduce you to Ethan Lipsitz.
Hi Ethan, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I got my start in 1984 in Brookline, Massachusetts, one of the first trolley car suburbs in the United States. Growing up pre-internet, life was about rollerblades to bikes to skateboards and in the winter, snowboards. From middle school until college I spent most of my time skateboarding in parks, playing musical instruments or ping pong and listening to 90s grunge and Phish.
I got into UPenn and moved to Philly in 2oo2 to begin my degree in Urban Studies. I ended up spending some time abroad in Barcelona, skateboarding around the city, gaining my Spanish chops and studying industrial design. I also started a custom hoody brand in Philly that became a 14 year project.
After college I got a job working at an architecture firm in Sydney, Australia and learned how to surf. When I got there I found a sewing machine and kept making hoodies and pocket tees, selling them to local shops in Sydney and Melbourne.
By 2008, I felt ready to pursue the business full time and moved back to LA where I had community and could navigate the apparel industry with my Spanish. Apliiq.com started to take off as a custom streetwear brand between then and up until around 2014 when our main sales partner tanked and we had to pivot into more private label manufacturing.
We managed to grow that business and it remains today as a powerful tool for brands to design and sell unique apparel products on demand.
Throughout that time I began making a lot of music and sharing new original songs weekly online. I also started a platform called Love Extremist (www.extremist.love) using podcasting and merch to spark conversations about what the opposite of extremist hate could look like.
In 2017, I stepped away from Apliiq after experiencing a seizure in my sleep and discovering I had a brain tumor which turned out to be a Grade III Astrocytoma (aka Brain Cancer). At that point I focused all my attention on healing through making changes in my diet (going majorly Keto), using all medical Western and alternative methods I found workable for my lifestyle, and starting a visual art practice.
One of my first big art pieces was freestyle painting a 1993 Honda Del Sol, driving from LA to Cabo and back with my good friend and incredible photographer Daniel Johnson. That drive became the basis of our collaborative exhibition – Destination Del Sol (destinationdelsol.com).
Since that journey in 2017 / 2018 to ring in the new year, I’ve continued going on major road trips and painting vehicles, canvases, textiles, murals and other architecture. I’ve also started a family, gathered hundreds of people together for collective singing and hosted salon dialogs focused on harmony as an antidote to social division.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Getting brain cancer in 2017 was a massive struggle. I always thought I’d had it easy before then but looking back I was mugged by some kids in Sydney almost exactly 10 years before I was diagnosed. They hit me over the head with an empty Jack Daniel’s bottle right where my tumor appeared. So yeah, there were some struggles.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My work is oriented around improvisation but it always exists within boundaries. I use specific tools to paint or may focus a series of works on a special type of paper or a defined shape or my story dealing with dis-ease and facing mortality. My hope is that whenever you see my work, it feels alive and you can get the sense that I’ve seen some shit, even if it’s revelatory colors and shapes.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
You can come by the studio in Highland Park and check out my work. Or we can talk about a commission or project first. I paint cars and murals and canvas on commission and have worked with major corporate clients like Soho House, Summit Series and The Aspen Institute as well as individuals who want something special for their home or vehicle.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ethanlipsitz.com
- Instagram: @ethanlipsitz
Image Credits
Daniel Johnson
George Evan
