Kuba Sokólski - Profile Of An Artist
When and where were you born? Are you originally from Poland? What was growing up like for you? Do you have any siblings? When did you first begin to have a fascination with music and art? Do you play any instruments yourself?
I was born in 1985 in Warsaw, Poland and that’s where I reside to this day. I have an older brother, who works as a scuba diving instructor and is passionate about underwater photography. We share a love for deep sea creatures and Star Wars, or, I should say - did. Now I try to weaponize my hate for the current state of the franchise against him and burn away any last glimpse of nostalgia he still may have hahaha! Kidding, of course. Growing up was pretty standard, I guess, when it comes to 90’s post-soviet reality. There was an overall joy and excitement over the shift our country was going through and the opportunities that laid ahead, but the actual Polish landscape was (and is) far from the standards everybody aimed for.
I, of course, completely understand the enthusiasm my parents’ generation felt at that time, but boy, were we all wrong. Especially now, seeing, what’a happening here politically it is obvious how fragile democracy is, especially in a nation without a well grounded idea of a civil society or self government. But I digress. On a personal level, I had everything I needed and couldn’t really complain. My father, being an artist himself, probably played a significant role in sparking my interest in art. I was, and still am, extremely lucky to have an ongoing support from my family when it comes to my life choices and none of this would’ve been possible if it wasn’t for them. I’m in a very privileged position that allowed me to pursue art with very few compromises along the way.
When it comes to music, even though I would discover most stuff through my peers or by browsing random records at the store, my father did introduce me to a few important artists like Tangerine Dream or Billy Cobham. He especially started exposing me to jazz drummers, or jazz in general, when I picked up drumming. I played drums for a number of years but gave it up after my band Merkabah broke up right before the pandemic (we played this heavy avant-prog kind of thing). I really want to get back behind the kit, but since it’s very difficult to find a rehearsal space nowadays, I started toying around with some electronic stuff at home. It’s new and exciting and I hope it continues to move forward. I also had a ritual ambient side project called Gnoza, but that also got suspended indefinitely.
Who were some of your biggest inspirations growing up within art as well as outside of art? What would you and your friends do for fun growing up? When did you first get into creating art and what were your choice of mediums? What bands left a huge impact/impression on you early on? Do you have any other interests outside of being an artist?
My first big inspirations were of course Zdzislaw Beksinski and HR Giger. Looking for similar artists, I came across the works of Franciszek Starowieyski, a Polish surrealist and poster artist to whom I mainly looked up to during my Academy years. That also introduced me to poster art in general and for a number of years my main focus was actually graphic design before I turned to illustration. As for other inspiration, I guess as a kid I would draw it from pretty much anything. Being a big sci-fi/fantasy nut, I would get inspired by everything from comic books to RPGs (mainly Werewolf, Mage and Call of Cthulhu), movies, literature (Neil Gaiman, Philip K. Dick, HP Lovecraft), etc.
Later on, I would have my first fascination with Buddhism/Hinduism in high school, but of course I wouldn’t be able to comprehend the underlying concepts of these systems until much later. Then of course there was a Beatnic phase, gobbling up Kerouac, Burroughs, Thompson, watching experimental movies, etc. and you can probably tell where it goes from there. I would also spend hours every day scrolling through this blog called Savage Saints, which was a seemingly endless source of knowledge regarding all sorts of off beat, outsider art, psychedelic music, avant-garde theatre and everything counter culture. I think our favourite past time as kids was mainly gaming, RPG’s and watching movies. I think you can tell by now that I was kind of a nerd hahaha!
Like I mentioned, I got into art pretty early. I feel like I was always destined to pursue this path, even though, of course, I had to pick up other different jobs along the road. I started out by drawing comic book characters, game-inspired art, etc. My main medium back then was probably pencil. It wasn’t until my time at the Academy of Fine Arts that I started truly exploring other techniques, mainly charcoal and ink. At that time I considered myself more of a surrealist-expressionist, doing large scale work with loads of black and intentionally working in limited time frames to keep my work as dynamic and intense as possible. My early musical inspirations were pretty standard: Tool, Metallica, nu metal (lol), etc.
Apart from that I was a big world music fan and artists like Dead Can Dance or Osjan (a Polish ethno-jazz band) were the ones that really turned things around for me. Then I got introduced to bands like Isis, Neurosis and all the projects related to John Zorn / Tzadik and Mike Patton, and that’s where my journey really began, sparking my fascination with all sorts of avant-garde and experimental stuff. It was also through post-metal that I got introduced to the gig poster scene and a bunch of artists that inspired me to pursue illustration. Namely Aaron Horkey, Aaron Turner, David D’Andrea, John Baizley and many others. I guess music was always my main focus apart from art. But like I said, sci fi has been a big part of my life as well and I remained a bit of a movie nut up until this day. And that early fling with Eastern Philosophy was probably the ground work for my current ever-evolving interest in spirituality and mysticism.
Tell me about some of the commissions you’ve done throughout your career. When you're asked, or approached to do a piece, or work for a client, how do you generally approach that said project? Do you have a particular process? You have an incredible style!
Thank you soooo so much! The process is pretty much the same every time. It all starts with what the client provides in terms of concept, themes, etc. Sometimes they approach me with a very specific vision, and sometimes it begins with a word, a lyric, a general vibe, a message. I try to get as best of an idea of their expectations as possible and do my best to meet them within the framework of my own aesthetic and artistic expression. We then sort out additional details regarding colors, composition, technical requirements and with that I proceed to do an early digital sketch. Once that is accepted, I move on to the final ink drawing and coloring/post production.
I think the most important thing for me is that we agree on the theme of the project and that the client knows my work and trusts me enough to leave me a decent amount of space for self expression and not steer me in a direction I wouldn’t want to go. I don’t even necessarily have to like their music, unless it’s not ideologically contrary to my beliefs. In the end, the project is always a form of collaboration and I’m extremely lucky to have great clients that I’m usually on the same wavelength with. But of course I do enjoy a nice challenge as well. Some of the more important early projects include designs for Decapitated or a box set for the label Hell Comes Home. That, I think, really put me on the map and I had a great time working on those.
I was also lucky enough to know a few bookers that allowed me to do gig posters for them and pursue screen printing, which was one of the reasons I got into illustration in the first place. I was also really thrilled to work with Scientist, a band formed by the ex-guitarist of Yakuza, a very important and dear band to me at the time. But there are so many more I could mention: Nuclear Devastation, Oranssi Pazuzu, Dark Buddha Rising, Levitation, Slift, Kevel, Barishi. It’s such a thrill working with artists whose music inspire me, but it’s also extremely exciting to discover lesser known bands and end up doing some of the most satisfying projects of my career with them.
When did you become interested in becoming a tattoo artist? Do you approach your gun the way you do your mediums when creating your visual art, or is there a completely separate approach to each?
It’s a completely separate thing, or at least it used to be, since I’m only now beginning to grasp this medium enough, to be able to translate elements of my drawings on to the skin. It was a slow and hard process for me, since I’m still constantly busy with commissions, which caused tattooing to be more of a side gig and I guess it will stay that way. But it’s getting more and more satisfactory as I get more comfortable with the gun and keep learning and expanding my idea of what can be done with the medium. But it also made me unlearn a lot of things which translated to my drawing as well, which I find very beneficial. It also pushes me to try new approaches towards my work in general and that is always refreshing.
I initially wanted to get into tattooing a long time ago, but the artist I chose to learn from didn’t have the time or interest in teaching me the craft. And since I wasn’t that determined apparently, I just moved on to other things. Years later, when getting a tattoo from him, having no recollection of how we initially met, he asked me “Hey haven’t you though about tattooing?”. I replied “I did, but you rejected me”, he goes “I did? Well, you should totally start tattooing” hahaha! But it stil took me a few years until I finally picked up the machine. I came into the game pretty late, unfortunately. The market got really saturated and I was already old and anxious enough, that learning such a demanding and time-consuming new skill proved to be pretty challenging. But I try not to give up just yet.
What are you currently working on for 2022 and how have you wanted to approach this year and work differently than that of last year? What are you most eager to express and explore with your work? How has your style/approach changed since you’ve first started out on this journey?
Currently I’m working on a few festival posters, but there is already a bunch of other stuff lined up for the coming months. Aside from the regular t-shirt designs and album covers, there is also a poetry book for my friend I’m working on, which is really exciting, since it’s aimed towards a different audience and it’s a territory I haven’t really explored. Artistically, my main ambition this year is to challenge myself a bit more and try out new approaches to composition and colour, as well as do more personal work.
For years I’ve been almost exclusively doing commissions, and even though I do find artistic fulfilment in it and try to learn something new with each job, there have been certain profound personal experiences that I would love to translate to my art. In principle, most themes and concepts I include in my work have an important philosophical and spiritual meaning to me, but in the end it is always in service of the clients “product”. I would love to do something unconstrained, emotionally driven, as a sort of personal venting, like playing music used to be for me.
I also dream of putting out my own zines/artbooks as well as merch. I have a few ideas but it always comes down to the limited time I have for side projects. With regards to tattoos, I would love to focus on large scale projects and prepare some a bit more abstract, organic concepts more in line with the body. I want to try and approach the tattoo as a sort of extension of the body itself, rather than just a canvas to which I can copy and paste my illustration to. I find myself circling back around a bit, when it comes to certain ideas I want to pursue. Back in the day, I was definitely more interested in forms, textures, fluidity, drawing inspiration mainly from marine life and nature in general.
But over the last few years, I’ve been increasingly focused on symbolism and meaning in an almost religious kinda way, trying to balance my own microcosm of personal transcendence with the macrocosm of universal truth and the Great Unknown, however overly serious and exalted this might sound. Now I feel I want to try express these inconceivable ideas in a more abstract way. I guess it’s not really circling back but rather spiraling out. Reaching back for old ways of expression but enriched with this new sense of purpose and intention I have today. If that makes sense.
How has the pandemic impacted your life these past few years? Especially working as a visual artist and tattoo artist, I can only imagine the struggle and stress both financially and personally. What have been some ways in which you’ve managed to stay positive and optimistic during this time?
Ugh, it was rough, man, especially in the beginning. In the face of a global event like this, as an artist you suddenly feel completely irrelevant. Fortunately this turned out to be less of a catastrophic thing, than we anticipated, but it’s a good signifier of what we might expect in the future. How well prepared we are? How much we define ourselves by the roles society imposes on us (or we do unto ourselves) and what is left when that is stripped away? What we view as important? How our world of language, concepts and identities is relevant to describe an existence where all our social and political structures are suddenly at a halt? Holy shit, am I getting philosophical here hahaha! But those were the thoughts I had.
Apart from that, I was going through a lot of personal changes over the last couple of years, questioning and reworking all ideas I had about myself and reality in general. On top of that, last year I went through a break up that has absolutely shattered and devastated me. All that combined resulted in a clinical depression and left me pretty much catatonic for at least six months. Even though I was super lucky to have work through this whole time (less than usual but still), emotionally I was in a state of a permanent mental breakdown and was barely able to do my job, not to mention socialise or talk to anyone. So my reality fell apart on multiple levels (very fundamental ones) and it took all my strength and a lot time and effort to pull myself out of it. Of course I didn’t do it all by myself.
I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the amazing support of my friends and family, no matter whether that meant talking to me when I needed it, or leaving me be, when I needed it. Of course the depression wasn’t completely out of the blue. It was a direct result of years and years of ongoing patterns and issues, that have simply spilled over in the wake of a traumatic event. So now, thanks to months of therapy, reading, insight, conversations, spiritual practices and a multitude of other things, I’m still alive and couldn’t be more thankful for it. I can’t say that I’m out of the woods yet, I don’t think it works that way. But I think I’m on the right track. So yeah, it’s been a crazy ass time for me. One of extreme fucking peril, but also of absolutely profound self-transcendence, selfactualisation and self-forgiveness. What a ride.
Is there anything else you would like to further share with the readers?
Oh man, I think I definitely overshared enough in that last question hahaha! This is pretty much the first time I’m going public with all this. But I hope it ends up being helpful in some way to anyone who is feeling lonely in their struggle or just overwhelmed by this weird shared dream of ours. Thank you so much for setting up this interview and thank you to those, that have made it this far. Be kind to yourselves and each other. As one of my favourite people, Ram Dass once said: “We are all just walking each other home”.
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Dakota Brown
