This week’s feature Original Griot is Braxton

Words and photography by Braxton

I don’t know if anyone has ever identified themselves as an Experiential Artist, however I see myself as one. No matter the art form I immerse myself in the experience. I don’t like titles which is the main reason I explain to people in conversations that I simply experience the art I enjoy.

Being born and raised in Toronto in at-risk, priority neighborhoods I struggled to find myself and figure out what was going on in my crazy world. I couldn’t just escape no matter how many people think that works, I needed to cope and maintain a level of balance. ART! I photograph everything from my beautiful girlfriend to the weird eye-catching aesthetic my eyes spot on a walk in Toronto’s downtown core.

The adrenaline rush that comes with seeking the next abandon building or funky alley is the most thrilling feeling. Film and video is a medium that allows me to transition the frozen image I once saw in to a fluid moving visual that can tell a story frame-by-frame or scene-by-scene. I have always had this love for using cameras and it wasn’t until second semester January 2015 of my first year in university that I got my hands on my own camera and began learning. No classes, no lessons, just the camera and my ambition.

Through high school I enjoyed writing and recording my own music but my time spent reviewing and covering music as a contributor for music blogs has driven me to enjoy and appreciate music rather than making the music. I still write every-now-and-then. The main reason I create is to experience something more than life as we know it. I live through my art to experience, not just a get away, but to create a whole new world I can be myself in and impulsively decide what I like with no boundaries.

For so long I let my insecurities and lack of experience and knowledge limit my drive to create. I am 20 years old now and it was when I was 13 Lost Lyrics took me in and pushed me forward and I’ve never looked back. Currently I am forming a business model for myself and look to network and collaborate with others in efforts to gain knowledge, experience, and a network of like-minded individuals. While I wrap this up I want to share that art is something I live and love, my main focus in life is to change the lives of youth and people seeking better and more experiential lives. My education paired with my pool of life experiences are the foundation and pillars for my growth and success.

Contact/Booking

• Email: braxtonwignall11@gmail.com
• Instagram: brx.tn
• Tel: 647 971 6511

Favourite and Most Relevant Songs as of late

• Chance the Rapper: Wonderful Everyday
• Donnie Trumpet ft. Chance the Rapper: Windows
• Cole: Love Yourz

Line from a song I wrote December 2014

• I been spilling feelings tryna make a killing / but this stress got me wishing I was never living / so I’m sipping these bottles, drowning these sorrows / praying that I don’t wake up, f*** tomorrow

The Original Griots is an internship program for the older students of Lost Lyrics who have grown up with Lost Lyrics. Our OG’s joined Lost Lyrics when they were ten, and now in their early adulthood, these young people are translating and expanding their knowledge into tangible skills.

The OG’s practice a range of different art forms from writing to fashion design to acting, and the list goes on. Each month we will feature an OG from our program.