Images by MStyles
'I have found artistic liberation in learning to forget who I am and just be.'
Russell Patrick Brown is a model yes, but calling him a model is a rather large understatement. Russell calls himself a performance artist but I think a more apt term would simply be creator. The Greenwich Village artist incorporates harp, song, dance, cirque/circus (rope/corde lisse, straps, Chinese pole and tumbling/gymnastics) and story into his performance. (search Youtube, they are indeed all combined in performance). Creator is the only way to really describe someone who writes, weaves and performs each of these skills into one performance, one message.
If there wasn't enough to love about Russell when I asked about his modeling, he had to throw out a Star Wars reference. As a Jedi geek myself finding any way to compare modeling with Star Wars gets bonus points in my book!
'As far as modeling goes.....it's an a part of my music, my movement, my acting, my storytelling.....me. They're all connected. They're like a council of Jedi Knights--each one is capable of putting up their own show, but they inform, teach, correct and inspire each other. And of course, they're all synchronized in the grand scheme of things because they're all rooted deeply in the Force versus coming from the Ego.'
As an artist, across all the media I work through, and that includes Irish Dance (two-time world Competitor), music (Harpist, Pianist, Singer, Composer, and Winds player), theater and film acting, aerial circus, modern/ballet/jazz, poetry, storytelling and more stuff I'm not remembering at this moment, across all this media I have discovered a unifying force of creation, with all of the same rules of operation, just with different forms of expression But it's still all one piece of art, much like a piece of music has many notes but is one song, a work art has many lines but is one painting or a story may have many characters but is still one novel. I call this five dimensional art: one beam of light bursting out through many different dimensions of space and time.
Russell says it is really not as difficult as it seems, most of us experience a wide array of culture each week, each day, even each hour. With life so busy, so stressful, often we don't actually internalize it. The ability to connect to it as it occurs is really the gift.
'In one day we can experience a Afro-Cuban beat from the cab driver, a Bollywood dance tune from the deli, Glam Rock from our iPod, surreal art on billboard, a Japanese and American fusion at dinner, a fantasy movie at night and then an American political docudrama when we get home.'
Although part of me wishes it were aerial circus (seriously such a beautiful art form....), with the long list of talents Russell's creativity channels forth from, it is music that holds his deepest passion. Music, and mabye more specifically his storytelling through song writing that is becoming his primary focus. Exactly what form the music on the album he is working on is going to take, and the accompanying art that will go with it, is not fully determined, you can get a distinct feel for what Russell is going for by listening to some of the tracks he has shared on his site.
'I don't want to discourage anyone from coming to their own conclusions to what the songs are about because I really don't know anyway--I'm just a secretary for the Muses, but to me they're about forgotten truths: Grace, Beauty, Sorrow, Revelation and Joy.'
Initially I was a little surprised listening to Russell's music, but the more I listened, (as when I profile Samuel Boux, I had in my ears as I put together the piece) the more it fell into place. There was something about his music, haunting, lyrical, profoundly sad, that somehow did not connect with the guy in the kilt flying through the air in the shots by Richard Rothstein (see below). Then of course I got it, like the Bollywood dance tune from the deli, the music is but one part of something bigger, a small piece of a larger creative whole.
I am not sure I have profiled anyone whose name brought such warmth through my virtual reality connections. All the photographers I emailed about using work with Russell expressed such positive responses and compliments about him. It was interesting to me that Russell struggles to take credit for his talent performing skills. Russell explains that it is not really him doing the entertaining, but instead it is him getting out of the way and allowing whatever energy of the audience flowing through whatever medium I'm presenting. I love the explanaion but think it is that and more. As a performer I know that the energy of an audience can propel an extraordinary performance. More often than not though, it is the energy on stage, from the one, that can generate the response and the energy in the many observers. Russell certainly has generated a positive response in those he has worked with and in me as I watched and listened to his work preparing this story. Thank you Russell!
Stop by Russell's site to check out his music and his story yourself!
All the images seen here were generously shared by Michael from MStyles. Russell, through his creativity is able to present a vast array of looks and emotions through his modeling work. The three photographers whose images I am using each use their talent, their lens to illustrate distinctly different sides of Russell.
Michael says he shoots with a mind towards creating cool interesting images. Cool is a word way overused and under deserved by most, in the case of Michael's work, it fits perfectly.
Michael likes the aesthetic of shooting his subjects where they live.
'The series, 'The Apartment Project' was born out of necessity, spurned on by the fact that I don't have a studio, and my space is too small and confined to work in. I hope each of my shots tells some kind of story, and the real stories that can be found in the subject's home are more interesting than anything a set designer can put together in a studio.'
I love how Michael's shots of Russell highlight both look and emotion. With a focus on face, Michael highlights Russell's delicate facial features and soulful brown eyes. In some shots Michael captured what he calls that perfect Abercrombie look through fashion and pose and in others something which is quite the opposite.
'While Russell's space was small, and a bit darker than usual (this shoot was done at night, I typically shoot during the daytime using natural light) it was imbued with his character and charm.While in some of the other images I've seen of him, Russell has a tendency to take on a character, in these he seems more relaxed, and freer to be himself. He's a lovely man with a great spirit, and I was lucky and happy to to have the opportunity to work with him.'
Check out more of MStyles work on ModelMayehm
& his blog and tumblr whose name I wish I had thought of, An Assumed Alias HERE: & HERE:
