Phoenix is brimming with creativity. And every other year, we put the spotlight on 100 of the city's creative forces. Leading up to the release of this year's Best of Phoenix issue, we're profiling 100 more. Welcome to the 2014 edition of 100 Creatives. Up today: 54. Bobby Zokaites.
Bobby Zokaites keeps farmer hours.
You might think the Tempe sculptor and recent master's graduate from ASU's Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts rises early because his large-scale installation pieces, which comprise woven repurposed seatbelt webbing, require any and all waking hours to complete. Instead, it's more about caffeine. "I'm normally up before dawn," Zokaites says. "I get to the studio by 7 mostly because that's where I keep my coffee pot."
See also: Phoenix Animator Lisa Poje: 100 Creatives
I came to Phoenix after a two-year stint as the grounds manager at Franconia Sculpture Park in Minnesota. Franconia is an arts residency located in Shafer, dedicated to the creation of large scale sculpture. So in two years I helped to facilitate the construction of over 100 large works. The energy I brought with me to Phoenix was substantial.
I make art because the challenge and spectacle of large scale sculpture requires the teamwork that is romanticized in frontier living I have found that the creation of art can help solidify a community.
I am most productive just before it rains.
Inspiration is something that I go looking for, it comes from my friends, it comes from the communities with which I work and the materials that I'm working with; It comes from the romanticization of the past and the hope that the future will have a physical and human quality about it.
I've learn the most from my peers, from keeping up with them in conversation. Really there is nothing more pleasurable than working next to someone on a project.
Good work isn't modest, it doesn't hide itself behind a closed door, in a conversation or an archaic subject. Good work, having a corporeal affect, creates its own space and changes its own surroundings.
The Phoenix art seen could use more ambition and audacity. The youths which are playing the Phoenix Valley are some of the best artists I've worked with. Investing in this community is a risk, but imagine about what the naivete of youth can achieve.
See the 2014 edition of 100 Creatives:
100. Bill Dambrova 99. Niki Blaker 98. Jeff Slim 97. Beth May 96. Doug Bell 95. Daniel Langhans 94. Nanibaa Beck 93. Nicole Royse 92. Ib Andersen 91. Casandra Hernandez 90. Chris Reed 89. Shelby Maticic 88. Olivia Timmons 87. Courtney Price 86. Travis Mills 85. Catrina Kahler 84. Angel Castro 83. Cole Reed 82. Lisa Albinger 81. Larry Madrigal 80. Julieta Felix 79. Lauren Strohacker 78. Levi Christiansen 77. Thomas Porter 76. Carrie Leigh Hobson 75. Cody Carpenter 74. Jon Jenkins 73. Aurelie Flores 72. Michelle Ponce 71. Devin Fleenor 70. Noelle Martinez 69. Bucky Miller 68. Liliana Gomez 67. Jake Friedman 66. Clarita Lulić 65. Randy Murray 64. Mo Neuharth 63. Jeremy Hamman 62. La Muñeca 61. Kevin Goldman 60. Emily Costello 59. Kerstin Dale 58. Vara Ayanna 57. Nathaniel Lewis 56. Ruben Gonzales 55. Lisa Poje
