Artist Decoded By Yoshino

Ray Barbee is an American skateboarder, musician, and photographer originally from San Jose, California. He started skateboarding in 1984, when he was in seventh grade, and has grown to become one of the most iconic skateboarders of his generation. His passion and do-it-yourself attitude, which distinguish him as a musician and as a skateboarder, also define his photography. He has been developing his own photos for the last sixteen years. Rarely without his Leica M6, Ray brings the same unique perspective to the art of black and white film photography that he has brought to skateboarding. His pictures manage to capture both the loud and soft sounds of life. They document explorations, discoveries and experiences, while casually speaking of his own life at the same time. Ray’s seamless approach to capturing a moment while nurturing the image through the development process and bringing it to fruition in the darkroom make his photographs as humble and honest as the man behind the lens. He is also a recipient

Yulia Bas’s artwork explores the fragmentation of contemporary individuality, healing, and the body as a somatic memory tool. Across her paintings, sculptures, and installations, equilibrating between figuration and abstraction, Yulia employs unconventional materials to explore her perception of physical and mental thresholds, transitional states, and subjective wholeness. Guided by her personal journey of transformation through body therapy and meditation as well as her immigrant background, Yulia's work embodies her experience of multiplicity of self. She searches for ways to show the tension that comes from the necessity of coexisting with different identity faucets, real, digital, and imagined ones. Topics Discussed In This Episode: Yulia and Yoshino discuss creative struggles (00:03:05) How Yulia got her start in the arts (00:06:57) The importance of micro and macro decisions in life (00:10:15) Structuring and creating order, and knowing when to break out of it (00:15:02) Negative stereotypes of being

Iranian-American director and writer Saman Kesh has the most Vimeo staff picks, ever. He attributes this accolade to excessive consumption of rocket fuel and a knack for combining the human experience with a healthy dose of controlled chaos. Saman gained recognition with popular music videos like Cinnamon Chasers: Luv Deluxe (which won ‘Best Video’ at SXSW), Kygo: Stole The Show and Basement Jaxx: Never Say Never, along with videos for Calvin Harris, Ed Sheeran, and Placebo. He has also directed award-winning commercials for major brands like Zoom, Google, Uber, Toyota and Nintendo. Saman has written and directed industry-hailed short films, CONTROLLER and HIT TV, and is currently developing several feature films. On his off hours, he plays video games and trolls racists. Topics Discussed In This Episode: Yoshino and Saman catching up (00:02:14) Imbuing authenticity into commercial creations (00:05:54) Saman speaks about his experience shooting the “Azizam” music video for Ed Sheeran (00:20:38) Saman reflect

Tomas Watson (b.1971) is a British artist who has lived and worked in Greece since 1994. He studied at the Slade School of Art in London. In 1998, he won the BP Portrait Award and was subsequently commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to paint the author John Fowles. This portrait is in their permanent collection. He is represented by the Jill George Gallery in London (www.jillgeorgegallery.co.uk) and Accesso Galleria in Tuscany (www.accessogalleria.com) Topics Discussed In This Episode: Tomas recounts where his artistic journey began (00:02:11)  The importance of mentorship (00:07:46)  Tomas's experiences at Slade University in London from 1990 - 1994 (00:09:28)  Discussing mark-making (00:14:42)  Having the courage to trust your artistic vision and perspective (00:26:22)  Tomas winning the BP Portrait Award in 1998 (00:35:33)  Cultivating a creative community and creating collective dialogue (00:43:35)  Tomas discusses his process of creating carborundum etchings and using various other mediums (

Pasqual Gutierrez is a writer, director and actor. Sundance 2025 Comedy “Serious People” was his debut into feature filmmaking alongside veteran documentary filmmaker Ben Mullinkosson who co-wrote and directed. Gutierrez is also 1/2 of music video directing duo CLIQUA who has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry including The Weeknd, Bad Bunny, J Balvin, Rosalia, Madonna, and more. Gutierrez is developing his second feature, a sequel to Serious People. Ben Mullinkosson was raised in the suburbs of Chicago and trained in directing at Chapman University. After graduating Ben spent 15 years directing commercial work and documentary films between Los Angeles and Shanghai. Ben's newest film, SERIOUS PEOPLE, directed with Pasqual Gutierrez premiered at Sundance 2025 Film Festival. The film is sold by 2AM. He is most well known for his feature length film DON'T BE A DICK ABOUT IT which won the Audience Award at the International Documentary Film Festival of Amsterdam in 2018 and is currently distri

Shuchi Talati is a filmmaker from India whose work challenges dominant narratives around gender, sexuality, and South Asian identity. Her feature film, Girls Will Be Girls, premiered at Sundance where it won an Audience Award and a Special Jury Award. Shuchi was a Gotham Awards Breakthrough Director nominee and a John Cassavetes Award nominee at the Spirit Awards. During development, Girls was supported by the Aide Aux Cinémas du Monde and Sørfond grants, Gotham Week, Berlinale Project Market and Script Station, and Cine Qua Non Script Lab. Shuchi’s short film, A Period Piece, was selected for SXSW and her film Mae and Ash won numerous awards before becoming a Vimeo Staff Pick. Shuchi’s documentary credits include story producing the Emmy-nominated film Being Mary Tyler Moore which premiered at SXSW. Shuchi also story produced the vérité series, We Are: The Brooklyn Saints, directed by Rudy Valdez for Netflix, and Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas for HBO, where one of her episodes was nominated for a GLAAD Awar

Landon Van Soest is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, Fulbright Scholar, and two-time Sundance Fellow. His work presents social commentary through rich characters and immersive narratives. Landon recently directed the Hulu Original Documentary The Jewel Thief, which was the #1 most viewed movie on Hulu worldwide in the summer of 2023. His previous documentary, For Ahkeem, premiered at the 2017 Berlinale and Tribeca Film Festivals, won seven Best Documentary awards, opened theatrically in ten cities, and is being distributed by The Orchard and Amazon. His first documentary, Good Fortune, was broadcast on the award-winning PBS series POV, where it received an Emmy Award, the Witness Award for Human Rights and the Overseas Press Club’s Carl Spielvogel Award. Landon is a founder of the not-for-profit Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective and co-founder of Transient Pictures, where he has collaborated with non-profits and brands including Toyota, UNICEF, eBay, Facebook, 23andMe, Lincoln Center, ABC, National Geographic an

Growing up in Northern California, Jacob Rosenberg developed his passion for video and film as a skateboarder in the early 1990s, making acclaimed videos for Plan B Skateboards under the mentorship of the late founder Mike Ternasky. Upon his graduation from Emerson College, Rosenberg began his professional career directing music videos, short films, and commercials where he has directed and produced talent names such as LeBron James, Quincy Jones, Snoop Dogg, and Latto. Rosenberg served for a decade as a partner at the independent studio Bandito Brothers, spearheading forward-thinking digital workflows as their CTO and in-house director. He contributed expertise to productions such as Avatar and Act of Valor as well as numerous documentaries including Shine A Light and S.O.P.. In 2012, Rosenberg’s directorial debut, Waiting for Lightning, premiered at SXSW, going on to be released by Samuel Goldwyn Films. The documentary feature painted an intimate portrait of childhood friend and skateboard legend Danny Way

Joshua Hagler (b. 1979, Mountain Home AFB, Idaho) is a first-generation graduate with a graphic design degree from The University of Arizona. A 2018 grant recipient of the Roswell Artist in Residence Program, Hagler has since made New Mexico his permanent home. Currently, he lives with his wife and daughter in the high desert village of Placitas at the foot of the Sandia Mountains. In recent years, his practice has been guided by an approach he calls Nihil, a set of nine self-imposed principles that have grown out of solitary excursions throughout the state. These principles determine all aspects of the work from its imagery and process to the media and objects comprising it. Concept and meaning, as such, naturally unfold out of synchronistic experiences occurring over time. Topics Discussed In This Episode:  Romanticizing solitude and isolation (00:05:53) Joshua describes his meditative practice (00:09:06) Yoshino reflects on how names and labels impact our perception of reality (00:14:15) Joshua discusses

Yoshino is a multi-hyphenate artist and the host of Artist Decoded. Yoshino’s Links: yoshinostudios.com yoshino.substack.com instagram.com/yoshinostudios x.com/yoshinostudios

“As an artist, I am interested in observing the transmutation process of unconscious material moving into conscious awareness. I work in painting, photography, writing, performance and video. My paintings utilize inner visions and depth psychology to form works layered with symbolism and metaphor. In photography, I employ an experimental process on film that focuses on Jungian Intuitive and Feeling typology. By blurring, altering or disrupting the straight forward information in a photograph, the image moves from analysis to an abstraction - allowing the viewer’s point of focus to relax, moving closer to the body and the Self. This subtle shift of perception is why I describe my photographs as Portals of Feeling.” Nouel Riel is a Los Angeles based Artist. Following many years performing as a competitive gymnast she earned a full athletic scholarship to The University of Minnesota. There she studied Apparel Design, continuing that focus at The Art Institute of Portland. Since receiving her BFA from Santa Fe Un

Sah D'Simone is a dynamic spiritual leader and global humanitarian who has made profound contributions to mental health, spirituality, and social welfare. As the founder of the Somatic Dance Institute and creator of the Somatic Activated Healing (SAH) Method, he has empowered millions to heal from trauma and foster spiritual growth. Sah's work extends across multiple fields, from his role as a spiritual teacher to his achievements as an internationally acclaimed filmmaker, published author, and host of the podcast Solving the Riddle of Being Human. Blending Buddhist practices, contemplative psychotherapy, kinesthetic learning, and clinical spiritual care training from Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Sah’s trauma-informed approach has earned worldwide acclaim. His holistic perspective informs his humanitarian efforts, which have garnered recognition like the City of Los Angeles CARE Award. A prominent figure in media, Sah has been featured in major publications and has spoken at esteemed institutions such as Columbia

When I was a child, I was repulsed by my father’s smoking addiction. I can still smell the acrid scent of his clothes, laden with a residual stench that never quite went away. He used to carry an old handkerchief in his front shirt pocket. Even at a young age, I thought it was odd when he would blow his nose into it and then stuff it back. I found it even more disgusting when he would spit on it and then subsequently wipe my face with the same putrid handkerchief. I felt a sense of betrayal enter my body whenever he would do this. Maybe he thought of me as some sort of sick puppy, like how a dog licks the fur of it’s young as an act of compassion. Perhaps his dad did the same thing to him too? I guess I’ll never know. Around the age of six or seven, I asked my father if he would quit smoking. He replied, “I will quit when you turn nine.” Can you guess what happened when my ninth birthday came around? This cycle of broken promises continued for the next few years until he and my mother divorced when I was 14.

Jia Sung is a Singaporean Chinese artist and educator whose practice spans painting, artist books, textiles, printmaking, writing, and translation. Drawing on motifs from Chinese mythology and Buddhist iconography, Sung uses the familiar visual language of folklore to examine and subvert conventional archetypes of femininity, queerness and otherness. Her recent work explores threads of ecofeminism, ethnoecology, the ecological capacities of the body, invasive species as family, and the potentials of collective and constant human transformation through interspecies dynamics. Her approach draws from that of the Chinese zhiguai tradition, that genre of ‘strange tales’ cannot be translated directly through the lens of horror. The supernatural, the monstrous, the spiritual, seep into the tidy confines of ordinary existence, often humorous, arbitrary, smearing at the boundaries of our reality and then slinking away just as rapidly. Here is shapeshifter, here is trickster, things that inhabit liminal space and refus

Yoshino is a multi-hyphenate artist and the host of Artist Decoded. Yoshino’s Links: yoshinostudios.com yoshino.substack.com instagram.com/yoshinostudios twitter.com/yoshinostudios

“Born in the UK I now live and work in Los Angeles. I studied fine art at UCA just outside London in the early 90s then moved to Italy for 7 years to immerse myself in classical art. On my return to London I started a successful fashion career that took me around the world, shooting for esteemed clients and magazines for 15 years. In 2013 I decided to return to fine art. This coincided with a move to Los Angeles, where I built a studio practice that broadened my horizons to include sculpture, painting, installation and video works. And this is where I’ve landed and feel comfortable, in that liminal space between art and commerce, recording the body clothed and unclothed using photography, video and 3 dimensional form making. The merging of these disciplines is what inspires me, creating immersive installations that ask questions of who we are and how we interact with each other, how our bodies are perceived in societal roles and how we can move past these structured ideas.” - James Mountford Topics Discuss

Justin Tyler Close (b. 1984, Toronto, Canada) is an award-winning director, photographer & visual artist. Justin founded the internationally distributed arts publication The Lab Magazine and was the active editor-in-chief/creative director from 2010-2018. The interview magazine featured artists, designers, filmmakers, and activists such as Marina Abramovic, Wes Anderson and Noam Chomsky. In 2020, Justin created his audio-visual installation titled The Fifty Eleven Project, which was exhibited at the prestigious Copenhagen Contemporary Museum. Soon after, Justin wrote and directed two award-winning short films, Like Father Like Son and Where The Time Goes.  He is currently developing several projects, and set to direct his debut his feature film in the fall, 2025. Topics Discussed In This Episode:  Justin’s life in Athens, Greece (00:02:07) What Justin has been focusing on recently (00:05:09) The beginning stages of Justin’s painting process and nostalgia (00:08:45) Being nomadic, defining a home, an

Rose Ides is an artist from San Diego specializing in veristic surrealism, and a writer exploring the sociology of the arts in the United States. With a background in sociology, education, public health, and art, her work aims to participate in creative liberation and artistic compassion. She has published two illustrative projects with Running Press, the Oracle of Pluto deck and the illustrated astrological compendium The Cosmic Symposium, which you can pick up at all major book retailers. You can connect with her on Instagram at @idesofrose. Topics Discussed In This Episode:  Why Rose decided to pursue art full-time (00:02:08)  Artistic insecurities developing in childhood (00:04:49)  The history of the word “art” (00:11:15)  Breaking through illusions to simply “be” (00:15:24) Using our emotions to fuel our creativity (00:25:34) Translating the dreamworld (00:29:47)  Working through educational trauma and Rose wanting to begin her PhD program in Indigenous Rights (00:40:43)  Rose’s advice for the audience

Erik Davis, PhD, is an author, award-winning journalist, sometimes podcaster, and popular speaker based in San Francisco. He is the author of 6 books which include: Blotter: The Untold Story of an Acid Medium (MIT Press) High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the 70s (MIT Press/Strange Attractor Press). Nomad Codes: Adventures in Modern Esoterica (Yeti, 2010). The Visionary State: A Journey through California’s Spiritual Landscape (Chronicle, 2006), with photographs by Michael Rauner. Led Zeppelin IV (Continuum, 2005) - 33 1/3 volume. TechGnosis: Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information (Crown, 1998; republished by North Atlantic Press). Topics Discussed In This Episode:  Erik’s work and his areas of interest (00:04:37) Deciding what projects to dedicate his time to (00:06:36) Finding his authentic voice (00:13:27) The transformation of subcultural movements into mainstream cultural (00:13:18) Trying to make sense out of confusing times (00:24:22) Learning to appreciate

Explore the intersection of tarot, artistic creativity, and technical innovation in The Artist Decoded Tarot, a first-of-its-kind deluxe deck and guidebook set from author of Amenti Oracle Jennifer Sodini and artist Yoshino. Jennifer Sodini is an artist, writer, speaker, and producer whose creative endeavors span various realms of art and spirituality. She is the author of Amenti Oracle Feather Heart Deck and Guidebook and Everyday Amenti, and the co-creator of the Modern Nirvana Oracle. Jennifer explores the intersection of esoteric philosophy and cutting-edge technology, bridging the gap between ancient wisdom and modern innovation. Her work has been featured in Cosmopolitan, Oprah Daily, Rolling Stone, Vice, Sounds True, and Maxim. She splits her time between Los Angeles and Mexico. Yoshino is an art polymath with a direct focus on image-making, writing, and interviewing. He uses photography as a medium to capture poetry within an image, and attempts to create a confluence between his internal and externa