We’re looking forward to introducing you to Sage Phillips. Check out our conversation below.
Good morning Sage, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What battle are you avoiding?
The battle between me and cleaning my car,–which has slowly accumulated a lot of nonsense over the course of 5 years… inconvenient if you’re trying to feel minimalist/un-crusted, but convenient if you or someone you know needs a funny hat, children’s wooden blocks, a quarter-inch-to-aux adapter, an entire camping setup, a 2-liter of 7Up, ceramic cats, etc. etc.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hi! I’m Sage Phillips, an oil painter, curator, and general artist in Minneapolis. These days the stuff that gets public eyes (instead of being a secret,) are mostly paintings–but I also do video work, writing, music, or whatever else I decide I want to add to my oeuvre that week.
I moved to Minnesota from Illinois/Indiana in 2020, and have been here ever since. My work is usually concerned with animals and telling stories– I’m obsessed with both people and creatures, especially weird ones, and my art is just one part of my various attempts to psychically project inside everyone else’s heads on the daily… I just wanna know what’s in there!
As of writing this post, my work will be available to see/for sale at the MCAD Art Sale, November 20-22nd, and Gamut Gallery, through December 21st.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
Fundamentally strange–running around in the woods, eating peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwiches, obsessed with watching animated cat videos online, pretending to be an elf/fantasy badass/character from Sonic the Hedgehog, trying to be like everyone else while at the same time trying to be like nobody at all, feeling a lot of feelings and having no idea what to do with them, buying the most demented garment possible at the thrift store, reading 4 books a week, drawing 1,000 ponies and beautiful girls a day, scared of talking to other people, addicted to talking to other people.
People have probably told me I needed to do something about that, but I only read less books now.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
In the most optimistic way (somehow–) nobody is ever going to do anything For you, and sometimes nobody is going to be there when you need it. The only way out is through, and you’re the only person who can do it.
Also, your ugliest painting is going to sell the quickest.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What do you believe is true but cannot prove?
That the CEO of Kraft Mac-and-Cheese is speaking to me through the radio static that happens when the Bluetooth AUX in my car connects to my phone but I forget to turn music on.
Just kidding. That any canvas I paint under, like, 24 inches possesses an evil ephemeral energy shield that my brushes/brain/art acumen can’t pierce.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Could you give everything your best, even if no one ever praised you for it?
Honestly, probably not– our “best” is determined by everyone who is not us. “You” only exist so much as your relation to other people exists… Who do they think you are? What do they think you do? Is that art worthwhile or not? Whatever the answers to those questions are– it becomes how you exist in the world, and thus, “You.”
That’s kind of everyone’s folly throughout history and time– we are all trying extremely hard to get everyone else to understand Who We Are! What We Want! and What We Hope To Be! The fallacy of that desire is that literally nobody will ever be able to understand any of that– not “really.” Until they invent the mindmelding chip to install in our brainstems.
The only thing you can do, is WHATEVER YOU WANT! “Best” and “worst” are concepts that only exist when someone else is assigning them to you– if noone’s around to see it, I can only make, or do, or proceed. Which is the ideal situation, really.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sage.pictures
- Instagram: @wolfbitten
