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Justin Akeim Trapp | Episode 446
Justin Akeim Trapp is an Indianapolis native, transported to the Berkshires. Justin attended Herron School of Art and Design’s and graduated with a BFA in photography and ceramics. Maker, potter, and EMCEE, Justin is trying to make a life off his work. Currently Justin is exploring tableware, and he ebs and flows between functional and mixed media installation.
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What is one business skill you wish you had under your belt right now?
I would say financial responsibility and how that translates in to getting tools and materials and space to work independently of a job.
What is one art skill you wish you had?
Drawing, I have always really, really enjoyed other people’s drawings and I have hated my own.
What is one thing in the ceramic community that you feel is lacking or missing?
Diversity.
What kind of diversity?
Racial. We’re the under-represented groups. We generally have less access to that learning or those types of environments. Before I got to undergrad, I mean we had ceramics in my school but no one was ever really like, Hey you should try this. Where I have heard countless stories of people who have gone to school, Oh yeah, I started ceramics in high school. I was like, But how? It was totally foreign to me that you could even do that in high school.
Why are there less blacks involved in ceramics, at least in the United States?
Under-represented. I don’t think there is enough representation. I don’t think it is really presented to a lot of under-represented groups in school. I mean, for instance there was a school I went to in Georgia that was like, Do you work, don’t be a problem, and then graduate. You know. It was run like a prison essentially. I know that is how a lot of schools are and it sucks, man because there are a lot of kids there that are just dying to do something creative, but they are just told to sit down and shut up. Eventually that gets squashed down so much they don’t now what to do with it and they lash out in negative ways instead of positive ways.
You are a ceramic artist now. Where do you see yourself in six months?
Six months. The website will have launched, I will have a better understanding of what is sell-able and what is not. My skills will have grown that much more and I am really looking into learning the back end and administration side of the business.
Why are you choosing to sell through your website rather than through another platform like Etsy?
Man, okay so. Etsy, I got on there because I saw a whole lot of people sell through Etsy and I got on there being curious. I typed in ceramic handmade and just floods of ceramics came up. More often than not though, I was like, These are awful. I hate to say it, I will put it out there, but they were awful. I mean people were getting already made forms and slapping decals on them and I didn’t want my work to be anywhere near that.
Do you bring your passion to the clay or did you follow your passion to clay?
Man, I don’t know if I have ever thought of that before. I would say it is a little bit of both and it ebbs and flows. Sometimes I can go in there and I can be fired up about something and just bust through work and other times I don’t have anything that I am really thinking to make but I can get in there and just do the prep and that’s my work. I don’t know, that’s a really good question though. That is something I have to think about a little bit harder. I guess it’s the passion to create through whatever medium and I just happen to be good at ceramics. I think I learned to be good at ceramics, I don’t think I happen to be good at it.
If you couldn’t do clay, what else would you do?
Music. Yeah, absolutely. That was the first choice but I got really bogged down with the BS behind it. With bands you have to get the people together, or if you are not going to do it with people then you have to have the equipment to record and have the instruments enough to be able to record those instruments if you are going to play all those instruments. It means relying on other people and I just wanted to be a little more independent with how I create and what I create.
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