Today we’d like to introduce you to Milan Finnie.
Hi Milan, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
As a little girl you could always find me with a pencil in my hand and somewhere near a pad of paper. I would lay on the floor and watch cartoons or a marathon of video games that my older brother, Paris, would play. My father worked at MoPA (The Museum of Photographic Arts) and has worked in the arts for as long as I can remember. The arts and animation have always been close to me. I went to High Tech High Media Arts where I learned how to use technology as a tool for visual communication. In my senior year I’d finally gotten a much anticipated art class with a teacher whose name is Josh Krause.
One day, he pulled up some PowerPoint slides and presented a project that we would begin that day. He showed some examples of walls and sheds covered with a bunch of individual wooden art pieces which ends up being a large-scale, collage-like public art piece. I remember this day so clearly. He told us that we would be merging the art and engineering classes, so we could use the wood shop to cut our wood into personalized shapes. And then he said we could either use watercolors or a woodburning tool to put artwork on our pieces of wood. Well, I was known in my family for touching things that were too hot, so the decision was easy for me. Something about heat has always fascinated me. So I picked up woodburning then and haven’t really stopped since. My primary medium is pyrography (woodburning) now. I also dabble in other media, but the work I produce always has a similar minimalist, flat, and bold nature to it. Today I am a pyrographist, a muralist, a graphic designer, and every once in a while, I make 30min-1hour long music mixes on SoundCloud as “Earthtone.” I believe that for an artist, there are no limits. I am an artist because I put creativity into everything that I do.
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?
Well, it depends on perspective. It hasn’t been easy but it’s all divine. The hardest thing has been establishing value. I am just getting to a point where I’ve decided to commit to the arts for the rest of my life. There are some projects that I want to do, but I have to make decisions about what makes sense for my path. I will be graduating with a degree in Design this Summer (2021), so I am intentional about what I do, making sure it reflects what want my life to look like. I also had to sit with myself and realize that I have a particular style that is good enough. So, when people ask me to collaborate or provide work for them, I am obligated to show up as the artist that I am. There is meditation involved and there is spirit involved. I have made mistake of disregarding my intuition during a creative process. This, sometimes, has to happen for the sake of a client’s vision. But the mistake is evolving into something far from genuine. Sometimes it’s necessary to ask the question, “is this something I want my name on?” I have answered yes and no, and done the project either way. The projects where I have answered “yes” to that question yield infinitely better results.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am primarily a pyrographist (woodburning artist), and also a graphic designer, and a muralist. I am most known for my pyropgraphy artwork, which is what most of my commissions are for. I recently did a mural on six walls for a StateFarm building. The mural represented the value of Black lives. I had a huge amount of support from people around the country and a huge amount of hands-on help from the Imperial Beach People’s Alliance and a fellow local artist, Yessenia Hulsey. This is the largest and most well-known project that I’ve done, and it was met with a lot of opposition that helped me realize that I am an art-activist. I spent a lot of days looking over my shoulder with a racing heart and having difficult conversations with people who come from different experiences with me. Even though it was a heavy experience, it also came with a lot of joy and self-realization. I can say that I look forward to doing more political artwork in the future. We’re now at a time when many suppressed issues are coming to surface, and art can facilitate important conversations that need to happen. This is movement I want to be a part of. Not just art for art’s sake, but art for the sake of the world’s evolution.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
The most important lesson has been to let the inspiration come. And if you can, write it down so it doesn’t leave so quickly.
Pricing:
- Mural Work: $20/square foot
- Pyrography: $30/hour (+materials)
Contact Info:
- Email: milan.finnie@gmail.com
- Website: milanfinnie.art
- Instagram: @milanfinnieartist
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/milan-finnie
Image Credits
Brandi Coley
Adam Sutherlin
