quite often we assume that art should come from a place of passion and tortured emotionalism. in mike willcox’s case, mindfulness and holistic balance are the vessels to his creative prowess. an approach that powerfully resonates with a new generation of art enthusiasts, who seek sanity and serenity in defiance of an overly sensationalistic and materialistic world. willcox’s symbolistic imagery exhumes a feeling of inner-peace and interconnectivity with our world, as well as worlds beyond. a painter, tarot-card designer, self-published author, musician and comedian, willcox channels creativity in all of its forms as a mean to reinterpret and to make sense of the chaos that is life. an ambitious quest that is sure to inspire.

how would you describe your art: aestheticism, esoterism, etching, all or none of the above?

maybe romantic art deco… with symbolist and esoteric tendencies, as well as subtle mid-century and ancient cultural influences. i’m working on a new series of paintings that are aimed to refine my voice a bit more and establish my next phase of work. i used to move around like 20 times a year, and in those periods, i would make a lot of pen and ink drawings. when i have periods of being more settled, i can paint with oils and acrylics. art deco is something i’ve fallen in love with and i have enjoyed learning everything i can about the period. there’s a really special correlation between art deco artists and ancient greek and egyptian cultures. i study them all zealously. it’s my hope to contribute to the canon of art deco in some meaningful way in my lifetime. anyone reading, feel free to commission me to design a magnificent fountain or colossal monument.

you’ve said that art is the pursuit of “transforming chaos into beauty to make earth a mirror of paradise”. how would you describe paradise?

the best of us, in every sense. the greatest expressions of love in all forms: art, music, architecture, writing, films, romance, family, friends, food, sports, love. like the best night ever in the most astounding setting, perpetually. these things seem to only come in small moments and seasons for us in this life. the greatest works and experiences come from love and striving for things to be the very best they can be. what i mean by transforming chaos is the very nature of us existing, and taking all these elements and organizing them into something special and beautiful. we are surrounded by and subjected to all kinds of things, energies, and experiences. art is the process of refining these things and making sense of them.

there’s a deliberate transcendental quality to your art. what is your required state of mind to create?

well, thank you. that’s not always my aim. i can create in any state of mind really. i just won’t share the more intense or loose personal works. i have about a thousand unreleased songs and ten thousand drawings you’ll never see. i want to make refined things to the best of my current ability, and for those i need to be calm and centered. sometimes that takes the process of working through other emotions to get to the place where i am able to make the things i wish to make.

how do you get yourself in that state of mind? what’s your process like?

i mostly focus on the health of my physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. i feel like it’s my job to get myself in the right place and create a venue for things to come through. i get there through vigorous exercise, manual labor, meditation or by making songs, prose or art pieces that are looser and more expressive. i choose not to be at the mercy of my emotions with what i express and present to the world, but rather to use the art or music and other tools to temper my state to get to the truth of things, and then express that in a more controlled way once in its final form. one of the reasons i love deco so much is that i have to find ways to fit these things into something that’s very orderly. that said, you definitely don’t need to be in any kind of good shape mentally or physically to make a great art of any kind, that’s been proven many times. however, if you want longevity in creation and your career, it’s super important to keep yourself and your whole life in good working order. i don’t drink or smoke or any of that anymore. no drugs. i find i have a much clearer connection to creative and spiritual energy just being a natural man. i think if you use your pain correctly it can be transformed into immense beauty. i believe, in my work, i’ve discovered the ways to make that sustainable.

you often mention the importance of reconnecting with the natural world. as an artist, what is your relationship with technology?

a reluctant one… it saves time for sure in certain areas. i think some of the conveniences technology offers are to many’s detriment and it should be used with caution. it’s important to learn the traditional ways of doing things first so you aren’t using shortcuts to compensate for a lack of skill. i try to do everything the old-fashioned way as much as possible. i’m also pro-efficiency, but i don’t want to sacrifice quality, if i can help it. i always draw on paper or paint on canvas. i never use tablets because something gets lost, but i do use a computer to set up print files, and wallpapers, which is helpful. i needed the computer to set up the tarot cards and format the book by myself. i’m working towards less and less of it as i go on.

the world is abuzz about ai. is ai a threat to art and artists or a tool?

there are many phases of making something, whatever it is, but there is most certainly a phase that is pure creation, that is your life and the world and the universe coming together to bring something to the light. if you make that part of the process about speed and leave it to a program to do your thinking, feeling, and decision-making… well, you are not contributing anything meaningful at all, are you? you could argue that it’s a tool, but the function of that tool is replacing your ability to be imaginative. your personal predispositions, biases, sensibilities, and choices are what makes the creation process beautiful. telling a computer ten things you like and watching it make a story, or a song, or a weird art-soup with dysmorphia-inducing bodies and faces is not good for society whatsoever. ai, like anything, can and will be used in good ways and bad ways. i’m sure there are some useful timesaving applications, which could be fine in film production, if it’s menial tasks, but if it’s designing for you. that’s pretty bogus. it’s going to create a lot of phony artists, and others will reluctantly feel forced to use it in order to keep up. i wish people could see that the more we rely on these things, the more we are giving up our sovereignty. before you know it, you are doing no thinking and you are literally existing as a middleman in some gross digital nightmare. as far as it being a threat, people appreciate the human touch, so i don’t know. i see it more of a threat to our culture and sensibilities and to the future of art. probably a lot of jobs will become obsolete. businesses and studios will cut corners to save time and money. it will cheapen a lot of things and make them cold. it takes really cool patrons with good taste to commission great buildings and works of art. unfortunately, these days, many of those in power, with loads of money, have strange futuristic robot sensibilities. many businesses prioritize time and money-saving over producing something beautiful for the world. in the making of art, we are expressing this universal energy that is coming through us and the way we color that is what makes it personal and human. if you let someone or something else design your body of work, justify it all you want, your soul isn’t going to feel good about it and it will most certainly be missing something vital. ultimately, the value of a body of work over time is the intrigue of the life of the creator. take that away and you have something empty and soulless. i find it all very weird. i wish people would prioritize the focus of these technologies on medical applications and not image-making. they’ve set up a very profitable business model for images, so it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. we should really focus on making our actual world more beautiful instead of creating fake worlds to escape to (talking about the metaverse not films). there’s something deeply wrong with that direction. i guess it’s bleeding into our physical world too… but if you prefer a sculpture that’s 3d printed instead of carefully made by someone’s hand, then please move to mars! i will say, it may very well make tangible human art more valuable because it will be a rarity. time will tell. then again, how will we know, if they didn’t have ai design it for them first? maybe, as a result, art made before ai will become more valuable.

some say social media democratized the art world, others say it’s a necessary evil. where do you stand?

it just opened up different avenues of having a career as an artist. you can still do the big gallery thing if you want, and you can also be independent and do all kinds of things with or without it. it has allowed me to reach a whole lot of people without the oversight of a gallery. i have fans and friends all over the world now, it’s amazing. i had a tarot deck sold in every single us state, i thought that was pretty cool. i spent over a decade getting rejected by galleries, illustration houses, and publishers… now i reject them. same in the music industry. the way it is now, if you’re tenacious enough you can build yourself a career without having to sleep with the gallery director. it’s a good thing for me. if people like what you’re doing they’ll share it and talk about it, it’s that simple. it’s all very interesting and continues to evolve, and i have to keep adapting. It only opened more opportunities for more artists. the state of the world and business is always evolving and you have to roll with it. if you’re blaming social media for your problems, i’d say you’re not trying hard enough or doing the right things. some people get lucky, but if you're not one of them now you can work for it. i worked extremely hard and deliberately to build a following and i still do to maintain it. there are a ton of brilliant artists that aren’t taking the time to manage their careers. social media makes it so you have to do both simultaneously, which isn’t easy, but there is greater opportunity and freedom in that, if you can figure it out. the thing i really don’t like about it all is how shortform everything is now favored. it’s terrible for all of our brains. i refuse to get a tiktok. you really need to be mindful of what you are subjecting yourself to these days.

you’ve incited people to vote on social media. is it an artist’s duty to be political?

something like over 40% of the eligible population skips voting, which i find shameful after such great lengths were taken by so many to have the right to do so. i’ve felt a responsibility to encourage people to care about who is in office because it does matter. as far as it being the duty of an artist to be political, i don’t know… many would argue in favor of that notion. i think its everyone’s duty to do what is right to the best of their abilities. that being said, voicing political opinions online isn’t always appropriate. sometimes people are dealing with very serious things in their lives and taking a stance on social media subjects them to all kinds of crazy negative hateful things. so, for that reason i think the concept of ‘silence is violence’ is a flawed one. from my perspective i see a lot of well-meaning people getting swept up in media frenzies without truly understanding what being a proponent of something could be doing, and that can inadvertently do a lot of harm. we need centered, compassionate and intelligent voices, not loud manic chaos. artists are generally very compassionate and sensitive people, which can be a good and bad thing in these instances. so, i recommend always doing what’s best for you, and if there’s something you really believe in, get as broad and informed perspective about it as possible before you take action.

you’ve mentioned that you’re the son of an albanian gypsy. how has that influenced your art?

my dear mother is a hippy/rocker from philly, more so. she’s the best ever. she has poured so much love into me. living by that standard of love has been the biggest influence, more than anything else. she was always into rock-n-roll and spirituality. i grew up on led zeppelin and cat stevens, also on tarot and numerology. she was always hiding rocks and crystals with intentions around my place. she’s also a great photographer and artist in her own right when she takes the time to paint or take photos. she dedicated her life to taking care of everyone else. she used to love volunteering, and she’s just the most loving person. she’s also tough as nails and pretty fiery. we always loved snl, and stand-up, and old comedy movies. all of that has influenced me deeply. she’s made some really beautiful things for sure and always supported me with art, music, and comedy. she always encouraged me to follow my heart and to do what makes me happy. also, one time she did tell me to paint a couple of feng shui for my place and it’s become my favorite theme to draw and paint. as far as the albanian aspect, there’s a rich culture. lots of beautiful clothes and rugs and weavings. most of my albanian family was murdered in ww2 by nazis in an incident called the massacre of borova, but that’s a long story. my grandfather lost his parents and went on to fight for the us in the war. that influenced me and my work quite a bit also. he built the periscopes for the submarines, and he taught me a lot of mechanics, fixing and building things, the importance of keeping things in ship shape, being sharp and orderly, taking care of your tools and things like that. i didn’t really put any of that into practice until after he passed, but i’ve become a lot more like him as the years have gone on. and the massacre… i’m not sure how to articulate this exactly… i feel a deep sadness and anger about it that just adds onto my experiences. i would never claim generational trauma or anything like that. i’m sure it's in my dna on some level because i can feel it when it comes up, but i’ve had plenty of my own traumas and i don’t blame that for anything in my life. those feelings do drive me to want to fix a lot of things in the world, to put energy into the wellbeing of everyone and our society. it drives me to more compassion and love and putting more good things and happiness into the world. maybe someday i’ll run for president and clean this place up.

you’ve released “tarot & oracle” which comprises of a deck of tarot cards and an accompanying book about “dreams, goals, balance and well-being”. what is your biggest challenge in keeping sight on all of that?

i suppose, the most difficult aspect of that whole process was that my personal life changed drastically in a few very big ways just before its release, so this moment of celebration was colored with deep loss, grief and isolation. i run my business by myself and i did every aspect of the writing, art, production and release, which was challenging, but also rewarding. my biggest ongoing challenge is continuing to promote it and stay involved while already feeling separated from it internally and artistically. i’ve already moved on to creating the next things, and i don’t want that to be my entire essence, if that makes sense. the main thesis of the writings in the book is to know yourself and to create a way of living where you keep all aspects of yourself in good order, so you can be and do the things you are here for to your highest potential. i very much live that, so the challenge of keeping sight on it is minimized. i’m also very much against the imposition of disempowerment and limitation in all forms. the tarot book is my answer to that. every word of that book was written to empower you. it’s up to us to free ourselves and decide for ourselves who we are and who we want to be. so much limitation is projected onto us, and if you believe you’re this way or that way because of this or that, you will always have that limitation. it doesn’t have to be that way.

i’ve read somewhere that tarot cards were conceived as playing cards in the 15th century. why do you think it has taken such a spiritual turn?

historically, organized religions have not been for everyone. we all crave spiritual connection because it’s innate in our existence and sometimes the mainstreams of cultivating that relationship don’t jive with us. i find the nature of symbols to be a very universal and potent avenue to understanding ourselves and our relationship with existence, which goes hand in hand with spirituality… these things seem to live in a realm where visions and dreams come through, so it seems a natural evolution to where it has landed. also, the cultures which used them for divination and fortunetelling had a big hand in that.

if you could pick one person, dead or alive, to do a tarot card reading to, who would it be and why?

david bowie maybe? we have a similar family situation, so i’ve always felt extra-connected to him. i don’t really do readings for anyone, but myself and close friends. i do have a long list of people throughout history that i would love to hang out with though. i need the telephone booth from bill and ted.

you’re an artist, musician, actor/comedian… a jack of all creative trades. would you call that a curse or a blessing or both?

it can be both… i mean most things can be double-edged swords. it’s just a matter of figuring out how to swing it the right way. the blessing is being able to express different aspects of life in different ways that feel authentic to the feeling itself. if you’ve dedicated the time to build a real foundation in any modality, then you are free to express yourself in it. some things want to come through as songs and not paintings or a story or something else. the curse is wondering if in doing too many things, i am hindering my time and ability to get each to the level i want. with the time i spend wrestling with that idea, i could have made something. i try to keep that in mind. it’s been more of a slow climb moving many things upwards, but it’s just who i am. i feel like i’m just getting started. i tend to work in seasons on different things where i’m more focused on one thing than the other for a few months at a time. though lately, i’ve been doing them in tandem, giving a few hours every day to art, music, and writing separately. it’s all just different flowers in the same garden. if you look at a film director or ceo or something, they manage many aspects of their job. i view self-expression in the same way. lots of great actors are also writers, musicians, painters, dancers, chefs, designers and vice versa across the board. if you’re a creative person, you just end up expressing yourself in all the ways you feel you need to. there are a lot of talking heads that will tell you to laser in on one thing for success, but for me it just doesn’t work. when it comes to the arts, there are big necessary lulls between creative acts, and i’m just choosing to keep making things where there is juice flowing. if i only painted and didn’t give myself time to recharge, i would end up doing too much of the same thing. i’d rather make ten paintings a year that are unique than a hundred that all feel the same. at that point i would just feel like i’m living out some weird habit instead of trying to say something that’s true and real. also, i do aspire to purity in each creative channel. i’m careful not to make comedy a part of my art or music, because those aren’t things that are funny to me. i have no desire to be a novelty act of any kind. i just genuinely love learning and practicing all the arts. comedy is a beautiful artform in itself. i have a deep reverence for it. during some of the darkest days in the hospital with my mom, we’ve still been able to put on a funny movie or stand-up and laugh and escape. it’s so important. all the arts are.

what’s next for mike willcox?

good things. i’m currently working on a new collection of paintings for an exhibition - aiming high with these - with hopes of further establishing myself. i’ve been writing more than anything in the last few years. i’m in the middle of a few feature-length comedy scripts and a short film that’s more dramatic and beautiful. i’m always making music too, with the hopes that i can tour around with it for a month or two a year. i’m also always working on more prints and wallpapers to be available in the shop at mikewillcox.com. also, as previously mentioned, i’m developing a subscriber channel on instagram where i’ll share some of my processes and methods for the arts. i’d like to be writing for snl and making movies more than anything… i’ve been meaning to start doing stand-up for a while now too, but i always do what i can within the circumstances i have going on in life. some priorities outweigh these aspirations. i’ve been caring for my mom for the last two years and that’s been a million times more important to me. i’m still dealing with some of the heaviest things in life with all of that, so i honestly might just disappear for a while and travel but likely would still be doing all these things while i do so because they’re a part of who i am.

interview by ralph arida

mike willcox: a mindful of art