About Tay Ghazi

Tay was born and raised just north of San Francisco, CA, in Marin County. At the age of 25 he moved to Los Angeles to pursue his passion as an actor. He still continues that passion with intense devotion.

As an actor, he is always searching for more color, expression, and exploration within his work and in 2015 he began exploring other forms of fine art. He quickly realized there was an obvious freedom of personal expression when painting and creating. In 2016, he began a career as a self taught artist.

Tay spends his days exploring all different mediums, taking classes, picking up something new and trying to learn as much as he can in order to expand his horizon as an artist.

A Letter From the Artist.

Even though it wasn't until my late 30's that I had even considered picking up a paint brush, I have lived a life engulfed in art for the better part of 30 years. My appreciation into the arts began as a young boy. Growing up a witness to my mother's exceptional talent with sewing,and crafts, and my father's brilliance with stained glass, I learned at an early age that art was a way to view life differently. As much as both of my parents appreciated art, they never began a life in painting. But they always encouraged me to stop, view, and enjoy the simpler things in life and view everything as art in some form or another. And so began my fascination with "dead trees".  I can vividly remember countless occurrences of me asking my parents to pull the car over so I could view this dead tree or that dead tree. They encouraged me to explore how they made me feel and to put into words what I was so fascinated by. To me, it was, as I described to them, the look, the feel, the presence, the angles, the purpose, the spirit, the sense of death amongst it. With unconditional acceptance, my parents continued to push me to view life with such detail and enthusiasm thus creating a vastly different perspective. Much like the "dead tree" effect, lightning posed a similar effect on me. Just the utter chaos and finality in lightning is so drastic in my mind that I often find myself daydreaming of it.

And it was effects on my mind such as these that propelled me further down that colorful road.

I remember the night vividly, bored and trolling the internet for some form of inspiration, I googled "dead trees and lightning." Low and behold a few pages down, I stumbled upon a unique effect called Lichtenberg Figures. In essence,  they are the branching electric discharges that sometimes appear on the surface or in the interior of an insulated material. More simply put, it is captured lightning! The very moment I read that, I flipped a circuit, no pun intended. My whole world changed. I began to learn more about these Lichtenberg Figures, and moreover how to attain them.

Learning that the transformers used in making these figures are found in microwave ovens and neon lights, I frantically searched for either of the two. I found a microwave on Craigslist for $20 and snatched it up. 

After burning through my first DIY transformer within four hours, I found a qualified electrician to make-shift a 15,000 volt industrial transformer for me.

Needless to say, the spark was lit inside me and my thrust into creating art using electricity, paint, canvas, wood, and everything else I could get my hands on was, and still is, on overdrive.

There are so many times in life when you find yourself questioning everything. The choices you've made. The people you surround yourself with. The relationships that are healthy. The relationships that aren't.

Albeit true, that you can't go through life without scraping your knee here and there, you can go through life asking these very questions.

There are no stupid questions when it comes to life.

While asking such important questions, I have to periodically stop myself and honor my own emotions in all of it.

I hurt. It must be honored.

I've caused pain. That must be honored.

I have loved. It is honored.

I smile and laugh. I honor both.

I find that the answer to all the questions and the very best way to honor all of the above is through art.