Today we’d like to introduce you to KardiGaN BLaQ.
Hi KardiGaN, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always been a creative person, even when creativity wasn’t necessarily my full-time job. My path has taken me through a lot of different worlds, from culinary arts and the military to audio production, podcasting, visual art and eventually producing events. Through all of it, creativity has always been the thing I kept coming back to.
ARTKILL$ really grew out of my love for art, competition and community. I wanted to create something that made the creative process itself exciting to watch, not just the finished artwork hanging on a wall. The idea became a live art competition game show where artists create under pressure, audiences get involved, and music, performance and culture all become part of the experience.
What started as an idea has slowly grown into something much bigger. ARTKILL$ now includes live events, a podcast, ARTKILL$ TV, a digital zine and other projects designed to give artists more ways to be seen and discovered.
I’m still building it, learning as I go and figuring out what ARTKILL$ can become. But the mission has stayed pretty simple: create opportunities, build community and show people that sometimes the process of making art can be just as powerful as the finished piece. 🎨🔪
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. One of the biggest challenges has been trying to build something ambitious without a huge budget or team behind me. I work a full-time job while building ARTKILL$ independently, so a lot of this has meant learning how to make the most out of limited time, money and resources.
Another challenge has been getting people to understand the vision. ARTKILL$ isn’t just an art show or an exhibition. It combines art, competition, entertainment, music and community, so sometimes you have to show people what it is before they fully understand it.
I’ve also had to learn the business side as I go: finding venues, building partnerships, securing sponsors, marketing events and figuring out how to create opportunities for artists while keeping everything sustainable.
There have definitely been moments where I questioned whether I could pull all of this off. But every event, partnership and artist who believes in the idea gives me another reason to keep building. I’ve learned that you don’t always need to have everything figured out before you start. Sometimes you build the road while you’re already driving on it.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My work sits somewhere between artist, creative director, curator and producer. Through Blaq Artz Studios, I create projects that bring art, entertainment and community together, with ARTKILL$ becoming the biggest expression of that vision.
ARTKILL$ started as a live art competition game show, but it has grown into a larger creative platform. We produce live competitions, ARTKILL$ TV, ARTKILL$ THE PODCAST, ARTKILL$ ZINE and other projects that give artists different ways to showcase their work, personalities and creative process.
What I’m most proud of is creating opportunities for other artists. I don’t want ARTKILL$ to only celebrate artists who already have a following or gallery representation. I want someone incredibly talented who people haven’t discovered yet to have the same opportunity to step into the spotlight.
What sets ARTKILL$ apart is that we’re not just selling art. We’re selling the creative process. I want people to experience the pressure, personality, mistakes, decisions and energy that happen before a finished piece exists. The artwork matters, but the story of how it gets made matters too.
Ultimately, I think my specialty is taking ideas that normally live in separate worlds and figuring out how to make them collide: art, competition, music, media and community. That’s the space I’m building in.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success to me is freedom. The freedom to create, take care of the people I love, and spend my time doing something that actually means something to me.
Of course I want ARTKILL$ and my other projects to become financially successful, but money by itself isn’t the finish line. I want to build something sustainable that creates opportunities for artists, supports my family and eventually allows me to make creativity my full-time life.
A big part of success for me is also legacy. I have two daughters, and I want to build ARTKILL$ into something that can exist long after me and eventually be passed down to them. One of my personal goals is for their first jobs to be working in the ARTKILL$ Gallery. I want them to grow up seeing that something their dad once had as an idea became a real institution they can be part of, build on and someday make their own.
I also define success by impact. If an artist gets discovered, makes a connection, sells a piece, gains confidence or gets another opportunity because they were part of something I created, that matters to me.
I don’t think success is one big moment where you finally “make it.” For me, it’s being able to look back and realize that an idea that once only existed in my head became something real, helped other people and created something meaningful for my children to inherit.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Artkillstv.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kardiganblaq
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1LzCKjVnGM/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeston-long-1b75a159
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@artkillstv?si=RHSDa99-DhFscso_
