ARROGANT KEI

Angelic, Futuristic and Beautiful; Read about Kei and the origin of his astral, otherworldly style and the future of his creative visions.

I have been a fan of Kei's creations for a while now through Instagram. There is always something special about seeing someone make art that you instantly click with.

We have had mutual support for each others art online and I have always wanted to get to know him and his visions more in depth. Kei has a very distinct, visceral style to his designs; experimenting with angels, chrome and blurred, lofi styled pieces. I have a soft spot for futuristic, metallic art and so I asked Kei some questions to get into the story of him as an artist, choice for this specific style and how he views the world in his eyes.

What introduced you to 3D art?

"To be honest I'd always see the craziest videos and pictures of 3D, Y2K era things. I've always wondered how the hell did they make that, and why do I like it so much. I kind of feel like I've grown up in a completely digital era from the kind of music I listened to, to the shows and movies I'd love as a kid. Starting 3D art just felt perfect for me, because it's a cultivation of things I didn't realize how much I loved all my life. I'm able to myself fully through this medium and am eternally grateful for it."

Everyone has a different origin story to art and so I wanted to know about Kei's:

"I've always been into art! Literally, when everyone was panicking trying to figure out what they wanted to do with their lives and their first college majors, I wanted to be a graphic designer. I wanted to go to Kennesaw State in Georgia for graphic design but just couldn't bring myself to commit to a 4-year college for some reason. I used to be the kid in middle school that had the folder with drawings of weird art, distorted figures, and anime characters. Then that translated into the music I liked from Kanye West to Kid Cudi down to Travis Scott who all are artists that use art in their visuals and music. After that, I got into fashion and designers like Raf Simons, Rick Owens, Margiela, Bape, Supreme etc, and fell in love with art more. Honestly, I pay homage to Tumblr when it was huge. That app introduced me to a lot of things I've never seen before. Writing this is making me realize how much art has really dictated my life lmao."

Your art is very visceral and supernatural, expressing a lot of outer space environments, do you feel a connection with sci-fi expression at all and why?

"I do. It's an infinite amount of unexplored territory, so anything is possible. For some people, it may scare them, but I'm in love with the thought of it. One of my goals with 3D was to create my own worlds, so space was one place I felt like I could use as a blank canvas. Unorthodox figures and beings that could never come from the plane we're used to. And the craziest part about it is that I feel like we're all somehow connected with all of it. In my honest opinion, I don't feel like there is any difference between natural and supernatural, but that's a conversation for another day."

​There is a very evident use of surreal, cyber art in Kei's designs which made me wander what drew him to that type of self expression:

"I'd say it started around 2017. I was mainly a music producer at that time, and I was on Youtube selling beats. Of course, you need fire artwork to go along with your beats to get people drawn in quickly, so I was on the hunt for art that reflected my sounds well. I fell in love with the cyber aesthetic instantly. That along with anime. A lot of the anime I would watch would have visuals that already fit that mould like Ghost In The Shell or Akira. Even now you can go to my Youtube channel from years ago, and see hundreds of beat videos with only those visuals. For me feelings of nostalgia invoked emotion and was an easy way for me express myself and things I may have gone, or going through. I love any kind of art that would make me question what the hell it is, and why are my eyes drawn to it. Surreal expression was exactly that for me. Anything that went against the grain I fell in love with. Going outside the lines, breaking boundaries, and having no rules for expression. Also, I love when I look at something and it gives me strong emotion or attraction, but I have no idea why. That allows for the viewer to have their own interpretation that'll more than likely be completely different from the next."

Kei tends to add surrealism into realistic environments like his piece City Of Angels , I wanted to know why he chose to fuse surrealism and realism together, does he see the art when he walks around in real life and then make it?
 
"Wow, that's a good ass question that no one has ever asked me haha. But I choose to add that to pieces because it's my inner child coming out. The nerd kid that watched cartoons and anime all the time, and saw these unrealistic depictions of real life. This was my day-to-day media consumption, so I guess it just naturally translated to my art. And I kind of like the contrast it provides. The fact that it can make people ask the question, what would I do if this were to happen? And honestly, sometimes I do walk around in real life and envision pieces, but it doesn't always work out that easily haha, but what I can say is that I would look at places and things, and see if I can recreate them in the 3D world my way. The city of angels piece came from me wanting to visit NYC again. I wanted to create my own world of course, with my own figures that had their own stories to tell, but it also came from me wanting to be in a big, bustling city."

​As I have love for 3D art and make it myself, I always want to know where other 3D creatives wish there it was used more of:

"Fashion! It's already making its way back into music, but fashion would really go into an entire different world if it utilized more 3D art elements. I don't just mean cyber or Y2K art either. I see a few 3D artists doing commission work for clothing brands, and them using a 3D world to depict their clothing. I actually just finished one for a brand's fall/winter collection that I love, and I really think it's something special."

Kei uses a lot of angelic symbolism, like a fusion between ancient sculptures with a modern style, I wanted to know if there was a reason for this and where it originated from:

"I've always been obsessed with divine beings from angels to gods. A few things that influenced me were greek and norse mythology. That part of history class was the most interesting thing to me in school. My favorite video game of all time is God Of War. Also, I feel like we're all more than just flesh. I know we are, and we have strong souls and ties that make us unique. I feel like these things make each one of us our own angels and gods. As for the ancient sculpture references, that just plays more on the Gods aesthetic I've grown to love."

What do you wish you saw more of from the creative industry in general?

"Well, right now I love the direction a lot of the creative field is going. I see a lot more fully digital, surrealistic art being made, and being thrown into mediums like music and fashion. Well more so music, but fashion won't be too far off. Companies that specialize in visuals, or even just creative marketing, are getting weirder, taking more risks, and putting things on display that we have never seen before. I just want to see more of that. So much to where it's a weird thing for a video, campaign, or piece to just be "regular". Whatever regular may be from the viewer's perspective. Also, art is being taken a lot more seriously and respected than it has been in years. So many new artists are being born, and they aren't afraid to express themselves anymore. It's really crazy to see."

What advice would you give to other creatives?

"Experiment! Literally, majority of my pieces and the art style I'm trying to develop right now came from 50% planning and 50% experimentation. I learned a lot of cinema 4D and photoshop from Youtube tutorials, but if I left it at that, my stuff would look like someone already made it. I'd just be tracing their work if we all left it at that. I advise artists to change things around a bit. Look at your work from different perspectives. Yea it might look fire at the end, but flip the colours, maybe it would go even harder that way, who knows. Also, please know how valuable you are. Please realize these companies, brands, and agencies want something that only you can provide. Treat every commission very seriously no matter how big or small, and treat your art as an extension of yourself."

"I appreciate you so much for the opportunity! As for final remarks, I have tote bags coming out soon! The mock-ups look CRAZY, and it's the first piece of merchandise I've done so far, apart from prints. Extremely limited supply for now, but veryyyy excited to drop. Thank you for having me"

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