Jack Soren Is An Artist You Should Know
Portraits by Alana Spencer
Jack Soren hired me a while back to write the bio for his website, and I think I did a bang up job on it if I do say so myself, so I’ve decided to repurpose it for his interview here:
Jack Soren is a wave-surfing, graffiti-spraying, mural-painting, Native Hawaiian artist, born, raised, and currently residing on the North Shore of the Hawaiian island of Oahu. As a child, Jack spent most of his time at the beach, his family possessing a deep-rooted connection to the ocean, and surfing in particular. As a teenager, he spent most of his time spray painting ditches, where he fell in love with artistry and the painted figure. Now, as an adult, Jack utilizes the lessons, techniques, and nuances of these two passions to create diverse, multifaceted works of art.
Working primarily with paint and pigment on canvas, Jack has produced several solo exhibitions, as well as contributed works to numerous group and collective shows since 2016. Having developed an extremely applicable style, Jack’s work has also been commissioned for major branding and marketing campaigns by organizations like the Vans Triple Crown, and companies like Hawaiian Airlines.
On a larger scale, Jack has become a prolific mural artist, having been commissioned to produce massive work for clients like The International Market Place and Bloomingdales. The grand scale and familiarity of painting on walls is what makes mural art the preferred application of Jack’s work. In pursuit of this preference - most notably, through institutions like Pow! Wow! and SprayseeLA - Jack has been a featured artist in mural festivals across the globe.
Hey Jack, how’s it going?
Going well, I’m good, thank you.
We’ve done interviews together before, we talk about this stuff all the time, so I’ll start easy and work our way up.
Okay, cool, sounds great.
Great. Question one: do you ever consider or worry that you sometimes utilize a style of artistic depictions of Hawaiiana that originates within the tourism industry and is therefore more palatable for Western audiences or do you feel that because you are Maori and Native Hawaiian that whatever sort of art you make will be intrinsically indigenous because it is your perspective crafting it much in the way that there is an argument to be made for Thor being a Maori movie because it is crafted through Taika Waititi’s perspective.
I knew these questions were coming. This is your first question?
Yeah, man. We talk about it often, let’s just dive in.
In the beginning of a career, the focus is business. It’s marketing. It’s, ‘how do I make money?’ You could be the most talented artist in the world but if you don’t know how to sell your art, you won’t profit, and in the beginning, I was looking for that. The problem that I saw in the beginning of my career was, ‘look at all of this tacky, ‘Hawaii’ art from non-Native artists-‘
Bullshit, yeah.
Yeah, ‘why is this on the wall in the hotel room? There’s no native soul in it.’ For me, if that’s something that the industry is lacking, that’s easy for me because I’ll just create. There’s soul in it from just creating it. Whatever I create, if it is culturally-facing, it will have the subject matter as well as the soul. I moved into the culturally-facing surf and art industries with the intent to sell. I know that if I don’t sell my work, I love art, I’ll still be making it. This art is being created [poorly] and this Native imagery is being created poorly by non-Native artists – it is better to pay the Hawaiian boys for their own imagery to then do what I’m doing now, which is trying to give back to the community.
With all of my monetary value, my experience with all of these companies and being able to make a living out of doing what I love – by being able to grow as a business and as a person and an artist, I am now able to go to Kahuku High School and – self funding and with investment – put on a mural festival there and put art on the walls.
You’re painting murals at Kahuku?
Yeah! The walls now look like shit. There’s paint peeling, there’s basically doo-doo on the walls, mold everywhere, the kids call it prison. They hate it. With my time I’ve spent in the industry working to make money, I can devote a lot of free time toward taking care of my community. That was always kind of the plan.
Because you’re in a comfortable place as an artist – especially within surf and skate and these niche industries – what do you think has been the most important thing you’ve done for yourself to get you there?
For myself? Hmmm…
I love interviewing you, man. This is fun. You have unusual insight.
It is fun. We’ve talked about this before, you ask questions and don’t give a shit, which is good. I recently read that book The Art of Not Giving a Fuck, and was like, ‘oh I give too many fucks to the wrong places.’ I think for me, believing in myself within this space, is what I’ve done best. When I was a kid, I’d watch other artists grow. I’d see myself within that growth. That manifestation type of thing was a big part of how I ended up here. It’s not a tangible thing we can really track, but I’ve always known that I’m going to do something great, and everything in my path is either a distraction or it’s going to get me there.
Like in The Alchemist, with all of the distractions in that journey, I think that I just stuck to me. At the end of the day, it’s super cliché to say, ‘just believe in yourself,’ but when that clicks, it makes perfect sense. We talk to our mentors and they give the blandest answers, and now I’m doing that because there is no tangible evidence- maybe that and just letting go of what I think is right and trusting the unknown has served me way more than trying to force my way. This morning, I was reading this morning this quote, ‘faith is something that can sometimes reward you more than talent and skill,’ and I’ve always had big faith in me and in god and in the unknown. Every time I trusted the unknown, the opportunities would come. As I’d step, there would be a stone placed under my foot. Operating from that perspective has gotten me the Vans and the big gigs.
Do you know who Mike Mills is? He’s this film director and artist and he said that one of the things he’s grateful for now was having the audacity to believe that he could be a writer/director and make movies.
Yeah, almost like a ignorance is bliss type of thing, like, ‘I don’t know all of the failures that will come into my life, I just know the great things that I will do.’
What has been the biggest lesson in your career so far? Someone reading this wants to be a successful artist, what do you think would be the biggest bit of wisdom?
I’m going to speak to my sixteen year old self because that’s honestly the only person that I’m doing this for. I have this video clip of me when I was fifteen years old doing an interview and talking about my dream being to make art for surf companies, and I use it as a little anchor for when I’m not feeling great. I just remember like, I made that sixteen year old’s dreams come true. We won the Triple Crown as an artist. That sixteen year old was the dreamer, but I have to be the doer. Maybe speaking to him, I would say that everything you’d ever want to accomplish in life is already there on the table for you, you just need to be consistent and go find it. Find where those dreams lie. Within that answer, there’s action. I can’t give anyone the right answers, but I can say that your work ethic and your adventuring into the unknown, you just need to take that journey forward. Don’t worry about the hardships, they’re only temporary. The eternal things that matter the most, are already there for you. Don’t worry. Just enjoy the ride. That’s it! Enjoy the journey and when you reach those rewards it will be so much more beautiful than if you got it easy or cut corners.
How do you remain authentic and genuine as a career artist?
That’s a tough one, and it’s taken me like the last five years to hone in on that. For me, that authenticity is always going to be the right answer. You know what I mean? Choosing authenticity – making things that are most authentic to you and your style and your art – will always be the right choice. What comes to mind is my learning to pay attention to quality. It’s so much more meaningful to take those extra few hours to think more about how you want to make something, and then give it your all. There is a goal here, and if that goal is never met – to release and share your work – the whole creativity will never be fully heard. There’s a balance between pulling the trigger and getting it done, and making sure that this is the best way that you could make it – the best way for you to make it.
Wherever you’re at now, that’s your best version of you that can do it now, but you need to get it out there. Don’t worry about the, ‘it’s not perfect, it’s not good enough.’ I used to do that, I’d hold back products and make half-assed work because I didn’t have an execution plan that was just right for it. I’ve had to learn to be able to do the work to get it to where I want it with a release date and make it the very best version of what I am capable of now. It is the most perfect at that time with where you’re at. It’s like a journal entry.
I put all of my best ideas into that Vans Triple Crown poster and I might look at it now and know what I would have done differently, but I also know that that was the best thing I could have made at that time, and I need to trust and accept that. The illustration that I put out today will be the best thing that I can do today, and that has to be enough.
So it’s about patience as much as it is about quality.
I think, like, it might not be my time yet, and I have to accept that. If you’re creating something for a client and you keep getting backed into a corner or denied, it might just not be your time for that opportunity, and you should focus on what you’re supposed to be doing. There are a few things you might need to work out, so be consistent and then another opportunity will come into your path and flow way more naturally. That’s when I do my best work, when I’m having fun and I’m in a good place, I’m not worried about my time in space or where I’m at. That’s when I create the most genuine work. With industry stuff, I want a lot. My new thing is asking myself, ‘what can I do to be put in a museum and be serious enough to be timeless?’ I want that now, but I know that I’m not ready for it. That time may come, but it’s not now, and since it isn’t now, I need to accept that it’s because I’m not ready for it- brah! There’s only ten minutes left on this call?
What advice would you give to a kid that wants to be successful in art and within these niche industries? Lay down the road map.
Alright, power statements only. For stuff like what I do, there are very technical things. There will be a lot of things that you don’t want to do. Like social media. It has benefited me so much, it is a free tool, use it. But you need to show your voice and find ways for it to be louder than the rest. Also, you need to show up. You need to be in the environment, meet people, make friends with people. Face to face or online. Have a community. Your community will really push you harder and get you further than if you were alone. Most artists are homebodies, and that’s where your work needs to speak loud for you. I know that some people, their character, they aren’t social. I’m not social, I struggle with being that, but the amount of people who have put me on- the friends that you have connect you with other people connect you with someone else who asks you to paint a mural. The best thing that you can do is find a community, be involved in it, serve it whenever you can, and it will serve you. I have mentors, friends - I couldn’t do this on my own.