Hey kids! This is the last week of Joshua Petker’s show. So come in and see it while you still can!

We just received an interview from Lucas Soi. Already starting to prep for the October 9th show “Cradle Story” by Lucas Soi and “In Search Of New Land” by C3.

Check it out to get to an insight on Lucas Soi.

Your drawings appear to be a story that you are telling to the viewer. Where do you find inspiration for this narrative?

I conceived of “Cradle Stories” as a novel; instead of telling the story in words, I did it in pictures. Each drawing is a chapter. It’s kinda like a graphic novel without captions or word bubbles.

It all started in 2024 when I read this old article in “Fortune” where they estimated that by 2024 there would be 30 million teenagers in the U.S., the highest level since 1976. They said teens would spend $84 billion of their own money that year. I compared that figure with a report written in 2024 by market research firm Mintel that said teens were spending $175 billion annually. That’s a 100% increase in spending in the teen market in less than 10 years. American popular culture has been overtaken by the teen market and I wanted to create a series that addressed that.

You currently live in Vancouver. Did you grow up in a suburb?

Yeah, I grew up in West Vancouver, which is the richest neighborhood in Canada. That’s where “Cradle Stories” is set. Making this series was my way of purging myself of my past, a way to move on with my life, which is very different now. I spend a lot of time in the Downtown East Side, which is the poorest neighborhood in Canada. It’s where all the artists live, where everyone has their studios and exhibition spaces.

“Cradle Stories” is about suburban lifestyle focusing on female rights of passage and domestication. Female rights of passage are a personal and sensitive subject matter. As a male, how do you explain your use of female subjectivity?

I think like any novelist, whether it’s Nabokov writing “Lolita”, or Bret Easton Ellis writing in the first person as a female character in “The Informers”, you’re going to take liberties and use artistic license. I’m interested in people. Guys and girls, we’re all in the same boat.

What was a unique right of passage for you?

Well I’m 30 now, and I’ve found that every year there are new rights of passage, depending on how much you want to accomplish in life.

Stippling, the technique used in your drawings, seems very time consuming. How long do you spend on an average sized piece?

On average it’s 30 days, working 8 hours a day. But since I don’t work every day each drawing takes about two months to complete. Each drawing is filled with millions of 0.01 inch dots. I realize spending that amount of time on one piece is not very conducive to the demands of the market but, for me, it’s all about the work. After the money and the openings and the parties, all you’re left with is the work. So it better be good.

Describe the connection in your work between Satanism, domestication, suburbia, and female rights of passage.

I wanted to create a timeless story set in a contemporary setting. Using religious iconography was my way of rooting the stories in the past. We haven’t changed very much. Ancient myths are really eternal truths. Each generation is living the same life as the last. The cover of the book changes, but the story stays the same.