Saint is an artist who, since his arrival from Atlanta a year ago, immediately began connecting with the cultural and creative communities of Long Beach. Employed at Portfolio Coffeehouse on 4th and Junipero, he recently connected with the owners of the The GreenHouse, located on the corner of Broadway and Linden.

This Saturday, he’ll be exhibiting The Calm Before The Storm, a series of images there that depict a Buddhist themed fairy tale.

“Buddhism is a common theme in my work,” Saint said, “and, in this case, I wanted to add to the diaspora of Buddhist fairy tales. Something that isn’t so much fluff, nor anything that is crash-into-your-face obvious.

“The work will be a collection of Arabian, Buddhist, and shamanic art that’s been dropped into a soup to remake something new. I am not a mystical person, but I tend to look at mysticism and the metaphysical and such as fairytale-like junk food. I wanted to remove the religious aspect from my work because I see all mystical, metaphysical and religious works as make-believe for adults. Even adults need imaginary friends.

“I developed my facination with Buddism and Hinduism at a young age,” he explained. “The varitey of dieties was so much more interesting then the dieties Westerners have created. I was attracted to the diversity of gods, and I assume that the Buddhist teachings are less forced in the follies of hell for non believers, and more as a practice for any person of any faith. I guess it was the appeal of multiple arms, the wide color spectrum, the heroic tales, and the simpleness.

“I want to make new fairy tales for a new future humanity,” Saint said, “with some derange super-culture where there is no culture because it’s all infused, lost in newer pop culture, rewrapping the old civilization to sell new sugary cereal. I think making fairy tales, alongside comics and what not, adds to that mythology that is essential to humanity. It was our first recorded bits of constructed make believe. It was our first forms of entertainment. What, for eons, mankind has been passing down from generation to the next either written, oral, or drawn, and now filmed. I combine these elements to fuse something that I hope gets re-recorded through time, and lost in translation.”

I asked Saint if he grew up in a religious family.

“You could say that. I grew up, for the most part and for a large part, Muslim, and then I had a stint of Judaism, including a Bar Mitzvah at 13. You could say I wore a series of funny hats and odd hairstyles growing up. As a result, I now despise all hats and, at this moment, I have no religion.”

I asked Saint if his work falls into a specific style.

“I’m a self-taught pop surrealist with a background in comics, multi media, illustration, and ink. I am not an artist that has his fingers in everything. I don’t do music, or all that other stuff. Mainly comics and illustration.”

I asked Saint about his involvement with several local creative endeavours.

“My first showing here was at Berlin Coffeehouse,” Saint said. “Then, I had some work at the Expo Art Center, and that faired well. I also helped organize a group show at LB Skate, in partnership with Autism in Long Beach. Tim, the owner of LB Skate, was awesome.

“I am also a member of the exhibition committee for the Art Exchange. This a new beginning, with great people and lots to learn.

“The art scene is here,” Saint observed, “but, so far, what I have concluded is that there is an ocean of artists but not an ocean of exhibition options . There are attempts [to remedy this] from every angle, and many of those angles I am still understanding. I need more time to investigate but, so far, there is hope.”

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Check out some of Saint’s work at PhantomElectrik.com.

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