Smoking Lips Painting

Justin Ligeikis is a Los Angeles based artist whose technique has been heavily influenced by his family and their artistic styles. “I was always around art as a child” he said, “growing up, my dad had a great artistic sense and then that grew, first, into my older sisters’ passion. As I got older, the amazing works she did really made me want to create my own pieces with my own vision.” Born in Elmhurst, IL, Ligeikis was raised into the mindset of embracing creativity. “I remember being in the garage with my dad and just constructing, sanding down a new piece of antique furniture or whatever the project was that day. Whether it was photography, sketching, or design, I always kept an artistic state of mind.” But Ligeikis didn’t originally plan to become an artist. In 2005, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the television industry right after his father’s sudden passing. “Spending 10 years working in post production, I always knew it wasn’t right. I just felt I wasn’t getting the personal creativity that I needed. I wasn’t pursuing my passion for the arts or using the creativity that was instilled in me growing up. That was something that stuck with me.” Ligeikis’s life shifted directions when he decided to quit the industry and focus on his desire of that very thing, creating. “I’ve grown to find the simple things in life have the most influence - the pop of a bubble, the dripping of an ice cube or the way lips hit ice cream on a hot day. It’s all sexy and sensual, but simple. Art is really all about getting those visions out of your head and onto a sketch pad and then to canvas or wood and putting it out into the world. It’s a type of self-therapy and a way to cope. It takes your mind off life for a second.”