Interview with May artist Troy Ayala

Introducing Troy Ayala, local artist and musician of the bands Stickers and White Coward, and Cairo's featured artist of the month!

Troy's show, titled Pussy Light: Wicklified, kicks of TONIGHT, May 9th, from 7-9 PM. 

Read up on Troy's influences and art practice, and then come tonight for art, drinks, and conversation!

Tell me a little about the art in this show.

The art in this show mostly consists of collage work based off of old magazines and books (lots of vintage penthouses) mashed together to form disturbing, crass, and funny characters with a little drawing included to add to the eye candy.

Who/what/which other artists inspired this work? 

My work has been influenced by the hilarity I find in vintage advertising, celebrities, and nudie magazines.  My primary influences are Art Chantry, Omar Pierce, and especially for this show Emily Denton, Gabriella Page Fort, and Colin Dawson...aka close buds and bandmates.

When did you start making art? 

I started making art about five years ago when I had a ton of free time on my hands and thought I was capable of making art just as good as other artists I'd watched over the years.  I'd always doubted my technical abilities but had the realization that it wasn't the most important attribute when creating something.

How would you best describe your creative body of work, thus far? 

I consider my work to be taken pretty lightly as I aim to make people have a giggle when they see it.  I just really enjoy making weird, awkward, sometimes crass characters that people can stare at for a long time.  I don't take myself too seriously and currently think of myself as the Riff Raff (rapper) of the Seattle art community. ;)

What is a medium you would like to try, but haven't yet?

I would try my hand at making and editing videos and I'd love to get back into photography which is something i used to love to do.

How has this city influenced your work? 

The city has really given me confidence to show my work in public and just be free to make anything that my brain wants to cook up.  I've had some amazing encouragement from amazing people throughout the years and am so thankful for what Seattle has done for me...it's pretty much made me not give a fuck in the best way ever.

See you tonight!