This week, we look at artworks—mostly dark and visionary—created by Jee-Shaun Wang, who also did the cover art for Milo’s (Rory Ferreira) double EP, Things That Happen At Day // Things That Happen At Night that came out January this year. On the occasion of this exhibition we asked the artists to say a few words about each other’s works.
Rory Ferreira on why he wanted Jee-Shaun Wang to design his cover:
Jee-Shuan makes neural nightmare maps. He's got a lock on what eludes me in my own music; namely, the weird shadow emotions that exist only in our peripheral vision. I was immediately enamored by his stuff and admire Jee-Shaun, as a person, immensely. He's a great friend.
Jee-Shaun’s thoughts on Rory’s record:
At first listen, Things That Happen At Day // Things That Happen At Night wasn't something that I really vibed with. I don't mean to say that it sounded bad or anything like that but it just wasn't the kind of thing that I was used to listening to. But as I listened to it more and more I liked it more and more. Its kind of like when you order a coffee and it's too hot, but then it gets really good because you get over the initial heat of the thing and then you drink it all up and wish you had more.
The flashbacks to older voices and beats seem to melt seamlessly into Rory's beats and flow. I listened to it while I was developing the artwork for the album cover and I wanted to have things reflect the way Milo raps by having all these layers of characters and subterranean ideas floating and crashing all around.
Jee-Shaun also shares a little bit about his working process:
I do all my work by hand, or traditionally, whatever the hell you want to call it. If I paint then I use gouache and a lot of other pieces are done in pen and ink. A lot of drawings come out of everyday conversations, things I overhear at work, things I eavesdrop on the street and often times ideas that present themselves at night. I don't have a studio but I do have a sketchbook that I mule around and I keep track of things in it like a journal.
And you can read a letter from Milo to John Maus on the former artist's decision to leave hip hop out of the discussion of American Experimental tradition here.
