The [expletive promotions] celebrity interview

Welcome Omar, thank you for the interview. You are the first in a series of [expletive] promotions Celebrity Interviews.

📖 thank you for having me for this interview.

Before we get into the artistry of you as a sculptor, our crack research staff happened upon your IMDb movie credits. What was your experience like participating in motion pictures?

📖 it was a really great experience. I grew up watching Classics with my old man so I developed an early appreciation for Film, I attended the Los Angeles City College theater Academy where Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and Mark Hamill attended once upon a time in Hollywood, lol. So once completing the Academy I started to audition and landed some parts on stage, television and film which was an amazing experience.

Leaving no stone unturned, we also found out at one point you were an accomplished skater. Was that a hobby, profession… both?

📖 Now we are going back haha, yeah I initially came out to San Francisco at 17 years old with $100 from Dayton Ohio to pursue a professional skate career which I did for about 8 years eventually solidifying myself as a Los Angeles street skater. I did the rounds of skate videos tv shows espn fox sports, magazines had pro wheels, sponsors  and was constantly on tours around the country living a sort of “pop nomadic” lifestyle. Getting paid to skate and travel through my late teens and early 20s was definitely a dream come true but did have its shares of ups and downs and was overall an amazing learning experience.

We read that you were self taught, an autodidact in sculpting. Were you young when you were inspired to make art from metal? “Omar? Are you playing with fire again?” “No Ma, I’m fusing materials! ” Something like that?

📖 well I never thought of being a visual artist. I kind of just stumbled upon it. I started by selling art at farmers markets and swap meets and soon moved onto craigslist and boutique stores around Los Angeles. A few years in I started to sell on Etsy and developed my own website from there, it was just a learning experience, trial and error, lots of burns,  lacerations and tears lol. The southwestern culture and deserts have been my main inspiration, as well as urban and abstract tones. I like things to have a distressed ancient feel to them giving character and a nostalgic Southwestern vibe. And sometimes I’d like to go completely in an abstract and urban direction. Sometimes depicting urban decay and maladies. I like my work to have a raw feel to them.

You really aren’t in  dire need of promotion. I just asked for the interview because I love your work and wanted to class things up a little here at “plug alley”.  Was it your initial strategy to build an audience using social media? Or did it just happen organically? 

📖 it was not my initial strategy. I am a bit old-school and not that tech savvy so it took much self convincing to open up social media profiles and devote energy and time into posting and advertising my work. It was definitely a learning process that at times was frustrating, but sometimes you just have to muscle through it, ha ha. 

Looking at your creations (here’s a few images for our readers) I like the catering truck and the guitar sculptures, but that’s  just me. Do you just see random things and recreate them? are they requests? How do you come up with these ideas?

📖 Well, thank you for checking out my work! Yes, I do get a lot of inspiration from what I see especially in city and desert environments. I spent a lot of time in the streets so pieces like the taco truck or guitar are definitely culture inspired flavors that I picked up along the way. I definitely always have a pen and a pad to take note of things that pop out of me. Journaling is a major part of my process and is something I can not – not do on a daily basis. “Take Knowtz” one of my old skate company philosophies, it has always stuck with me.

let’s say someone sees your work from a social media posting, or featured article from somewhere and wants to own an Omar Wysong creation now? What’s the best way for them to – let’s say – “shop” on line?

📖 you can hit me up on my Instagram @omar_wysong “DM” for custom or specific works or shop my line of sculptures Topanga Patina via my website Topangapatinaarts.com.

I see you shoring some things up, in sports it’s called a “rebuilding year” Are you planning an online store, or maybe re-opening a brick and mortar studio/shop/workspace/gallery like you had with Topanga Patina ?

📖I’ve had my online store for almost a decade but had it recently down for an update and a self searching period that I embarked on this last year but we are now up a running, thank the Lord!

Last two segments for the Omar Wysong Celebrity Interview and all interviews going  forward.

“You heard it here first – Exclusive message to the world”  The floor is yours. 

📖. I just want to thank God for every day he gives me. God is my ultimate inspiration. And just want to say that all of you are so important and special. God bless you all. Take Knowtz.

 And finally the wildly popular [expletive.pro] Celebrity Interview comment fodder “Final Four”.

1. Favorite movie 2. Favorite song 3. Favorite artist of any kind who creates or created anything. 4. Words you live by. – GO!

📖1.Serpico 2. “In My Life” The Beatles 3. St. Joseph 4. Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything. Whoever has God lacks nothing. God alone suffices.

Thanks Omar, it’s been a pleasure 🙏