Wedding Ritual #20: Jared Konopitski

 Jared Konopitski

is a visual artist based in Sacramento, California. A one-time contributor to my zine, Attack!!!!; Konoptski has been producing art professionally for thirteen years, while juggling the responsibilities of raising a family and the day-job. Online, he is boundlessly enthusiastic and always visibly celebrating others. Jared tells me, "I feel very fortunate for the opportunities I have had along the way"

Here is Jared Konopitski's Ritual, in his own words:

Something Old

Edge of the World

"This is one of my most successful pieces of all time. I made the version on the left almost ten years ago. It was a submission to Turning Art (a company that sends folks high quality prints for your home or office, and when you want something new, you send it back and they send you your next print in queue.) And this painting has been in hundreds of homes and I still receive royalties to this day. In fact, it was so popular, that someone from across the country wanted the original (which I had already sold) and commissioned me to paint it again in my current skill set at the time (the image on the right). I included these, because although I think the piece is fun, I have no idea why it garnered so much attention! I have tried to figure it out and haven't been able to replicate this exact success since. In a funny way, I joke it is my one hit wonder, ha ha!" 

Something New

"I have been honored enough to participate in my city's artist relief project and Covid messaging campaign. I, with a handful of other artists, created a coloring book around Covid Safety and also created 8 murals stressing the importance of certain safety measures around Covid. The coloring book can be downloaded here.  and the murals should be installed next month! I am excited!"

Something Borrowed

"One of my top heroes is 'Weird Al' Yankovic. I know, total geek out. But I admire his ability to basically create a completely unique career from scratch that most people would say is impossible, but became an icon doing it. From submitting some basement tapes to Dr. Demento, to selling the most comedy records ever, is amazing! There is only one position for his job, and Weird Al is it. If I told someone I was going to become a comedic legend by writing bizarre all-age-friendly parodies of popular music and my main tool would be accordion, I would be laughed out of the room. However, Weird Al somehow became a legend in his own time, while completely doing his own thing and never changing his vision. Remarkable!!! Something that brings me comfort and inspiration as I journey through my own art adventures. Plus, I got to meet him and paint him a small painting a few years back, and he was the nicest person ever!!! I have gone with his song Albuquerque because it feels like a freestyle of the weird and ridiculous written in a nonsensical memoir format. It is a perfect representation of why he is my hero"

Something Blue

"I actually just created a whole series of fake genitals for a Valentine's Day show, and thought these would be perfect for this! When I was a small child, I was told that everyone's below the belt parts were different (my parents were trying to vaguely and innocently explain the difference between boys and girls). However, my little kid mind thought that literally everyone's pieces were different. So my mind would always try to imagine the bizarre pieces other folks may have. This page is just a small sampling of the thousands of genitals I thought once existed, but sadly don't. Ha ha!"

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For more from Jared be sure to check his own website and follow his Instagram.

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Wedding Ritual is an ongoing series of artist profiles curated and edited by Wes Viola. For updates, follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook - orsubscribe to get one update in your email whenever a new post goes up. The blog is open to submissions from visual artists, sculptors, musicians, writers, dancers, sculptors, filmmakers and all kinds of creative practitioner. For more details of what's going on here, and especially if you'd like to feature yourself, check the always-popular 'what on earth is going on here?' page. For links to the Wedding Rituals performed by every artist featured to date, see Every Ritual.