FIVE THINGS - SOY PANDAY
A true advocate of global perspective, Soy Panday has been looking to the horizon and letting creativity from all over the world inform his graphic work for years. As co founder of Magenta Skateboards with brothers Vivien and Jean Feil, Soy continues to push a more meaningful side to skateboarding.
We sat down with Soy at the tail end of Paris Fashion Week to get his “5 Things” /
What was the moment that changed your world ?
There’s many. My mom’s illness changed my perception of things very early on. The moment I discovered drawing, with comic books. Discovering skating from the backseat of my parents car at age 12. Meeting Vivien Feil and Sylvain Robineau. Benjamin Deberdt. My family and friends in general change my world everyday. Every trip to India, especially as a kid. Reading Anatoly Fomenko also changed my perception world. Going to Peru to drink ayahuasca in periods of trouble also changed not only my world, but also my art -which I can only hope to surpass my personal world.
I’m thankful for all these changes, with the exception of my mom’s illness. Still I’m thankful for the person it shaped me in.
Where in the world is your physical and spiritual home ?
My physical home is in Paris. My spiritual home is not quite in this world, it’s in the magic world of visions and imagination, which I place in a fourth dimension. I live in both simultaneously, but rent is definitely in Paris.
What does the world need now ?
Tough question. What do I know? Likely not much. Loyalty? Humility? Logic? Open mindedness? Sense of humour? I dunno..
Who and what rocks your world ?
Magenta Skateboards rocks my world, that’s where most of my mind is pretty much all the time. Skating rocks my world, I love to do it and I love to watch people do it. From all my friends known and unknown to my influences -all to numerous to list. Art also rocks my world daily, from Wu Tang’s music to Magritte’s paintings -to list only them in the ocean of artists that rock my world on a daily basis. Everyone who appreciates what I do in any kind of way, for without them I simply wouldn’t be able to do it.
How do you use the world to inspire your creative process?
My personal creative process starts with the eyes, and so I try to see and experience as much as I can. Eyes are like a mouth, with the mind being the digestive system. I believe an artist’s mission is to eat a problem, digest it with the mind, and shit out a solution. I try my best to have my eyes wide open, and to not dismiss a path because of popular belief. I try to question everything, and express my findings through my creative process.
So, everything I see enters the equation.
