Damian Agostini Episode #5: Silhouettes of Driftwood Creations

Hunting down driftwood is what Artist Damian Agostini describes himself as doing. When asked what he does he says he wakes up and he goes out and plays. He gets up really early, eager to make his whimsical sculptures of animals and furniture. Made entirely from objects and pieces of wood like driftwood he finds along the lakeshore in Toronto or in Trinidad, his other home.

Sharing some candid moments of how the public reacted when the city of Toronto asked him to move his sculptures from the Humber Bay shores. The reaction of the public was unbelievable at how incredibly supportive and moved they were by his sculptures. From laughing, crying, hugging, to gifts of food, drink, clothing, and money.

Damian has seen what a profound effect he has had both in Trinidad and Toronto, Canada. How both communities are incredibly grateful, yet in distinctly different ways. Agostini reflects on how he started as an amateur in school, had a career in making ice rinks for many famous and wealthy families in their yards. His family takes care of the business, allowing him to continue doing what he loves. 

Damian Agostini Podcast Credits:

Audio Links from https://freemusicarchive.org/
Podcast by Carolyn Botelho

Connect with Damian: agostinidamian

Transcript

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Creatively Thinking Podcast. Join Carolyn Botelho as she uncovers the inspirations behind some incredibly creative minds that are orbiting our local communities. Okay, hello Damien Agostini, is that it? All right, all right, I am happy to have you on the show.
 
 And to meet you, well digitally of course. I found you online and when I discovered how you work with driftwood, I had to connect with you. You have been making driftwood sculptures of animals along the lakeshore of Ontario and Humber Bay for years.
 
 These are incredibly whimsical creatures that enrich our communities. And you may have talked this to death already, but can we start with how Toronto asked you to remove your sculptures from Humber Bay Shore Park? Why did they request this from you? Well, the funny thing was I have never been in a place that had that much driftwood. See what happened, how I reached there, the story how I got to the Humber Bay was I was working about maybe 10, 15 minutes away from there and a guy saw me carving a black walnut bowl and he wanted to buy it.
 
 He lived in a penthouse in one of the big condos there. So when I finished the bowl, I called him and he told me to deliver it. So I went up and I delivered it up to his penthouse and he took me outside in his balcony, he showed me the beach and then he walked me down to the beach.
 
 He bought the bowl for me, he walked me down to the beach and really, I didn't leave there ever since. I stayed there for a month after because there was such an abundance of wood. Like you said, every piece of wood was calling, I saw something, an image of something and all I had to do was just kind of polish it up to bring it out.
 
 And I think they had an issue with me using screws, yeah, they had an issue with me using screws, a safety issue, I was told, ladder. It seemed like once my stuff was removed, they came up with about five different reasons, you know, a safety reason, a permit reason. But meanwhile, nothing had happened, you know, for the two months prior and the whole community really and truly loved it.
 
 Yeah, I actually thought they kind of adopted me, to be quite honest, they were bringing me, I mean, sunglasses and clothes and food and drinks. And I mean, literally every day I was getting showered with gifts and, you know, and even walking home with like two to three hundred dollars just in thank you gratuity, people just coming and dropping in and twenty just to show their appreciation. So, you know, I really wasn't doing it for money, I was doing it more to express my work and to, you know, get a feedback.
 
 That's usually why I like to engage in my public displays really and truly, more so a lot of people ask me a price and I would give them a price and then they would give me double what I asked, kind of thing, because, you know, literally I'm not thinking price. You know, once I finish a piece, I'm usually thinking about what's the next piece going to be, kind of thing. Yeah.
 
 So, yeah, you totally answered my second question right there. How did the public react? Well, there you go. They reacted, reacted so well, I mean, just so positively towards towards what you were doing, like you said, you weren't even asking for it or looking for recognition, but they.
 
 They just gave it to you so, so freely. Yeah. Yeah.
 
 Yeah, actually, it was unbelievable. I've never felt that type of support and that type of engagement with anybody. Like people were coming and smiling, laughing, crying, hugging.
 
 There was so much interaction with the work. Like this one lady actually came out, she was in her 70s and this one really touched me. She said, you know, I was just suffering depression and I hadn't left my house in two months. 
 
 And she said, I wasn't eating. And somebody called me and told me to come out and take a look at the artwork down on the beach. And she came out and she says, I've been coming out for the last week and two weeks to see your work now.
 
 And she gave me this hug like you wouldn't believe, like she squeezed the breath out of me like an anaconda. But it was, I'm telling you, and she was an older lady, but I just felt the, you know, the warmth and everything that was coming off of her. Yeah, I really, really engaged with some special moments, I must say, when I'm out there.
 
 Yeah. Yeah, well, it's like you really, you really touch these these people in a profound way that they just they want to reciprocate, you know, and so. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
 
 And that's even happening now in Trinidad, you know, cars are pulling over on the highway, horns blowing and they want to come. Oh, so you're doing so you're doing it. Oh, yeah, you're doing it over there.
 
 Yeah, we should give the audience a little a little more context about about your driftwood sculptures. But so you're right now you are in Trinidad and it's because you have sort of a commission. I have a commission, but my mom likes to leave the winter.
 
 She's in her late 80s, early 90s, about to be 90. And she likes to get away for the winter. So we come down for four months to get away from the winter every year for the past eight years or so.
 
 And so I guess, yeah, we should also indicate, well, I'm guessing that you're from Trinidad. Yes, that's right. Yeah. 
 
 So it's good to be back home. Yeah. So.
 
 Where did where did you start using driftwood as your medium? Was it an organic reaction to your surroundings, which I guess you kind of already answered that in a way, but or did you pick it up when you were younger? OK, I started working with wood about 10 years ago, and that was probably the first time I came to Trinidad after my grandmother passed away. And I came here and I made two reindeers. And when we were putting it in my friend's trunk, somebody drove up and asked to buy them. 
 
 They were going to Tobago and they wanted to buy them for a hundred US each. So that kind of kind of little light bulb. And then I just kept making and creating things passionately.
 
 I used to dabble in art a lot before, but as a because I retired as a way of, you know, bringing in a little bit of money and doing something that I love, I said, yeah, this would be something to get to do. And really, that was what started me off. And then I just been coming back and forth and dabbling with the wood.
 
 And then I found the driftwood on the beach and I noticed that it had a lot more character to it. And I didn't have to work as hard. It didn't need to be sanded.
 
 It didn't need to be treated for pests or anything. And the creatures were right there in front of you, just had to pull them out. So then I that's really when I started gravitating more around the driftwood, like I always liked woodworking, but driftwood seemed to give me a better end product for my art.
 
 Kind of ready for you, right? It was right there. Yeah, it was so ready for you, right? So like you said, you saw the the animals and stuff right there. So and literally I can walk on the beach and, you know, I can see the animals when they're on the ground. 
 
 I can see what I want to build. I don't know what it is, but it happens. Yeah, that's you being in touch with your creativity, right? Yeah. 
 
 I figure it's a gift from some some higher powers that I'm fortunate. And that's really what I like to share, you know, and and then exchange. Exchange whatever ideas, gifts, whatever conversation.
 
 It seems to stir up something. Well, yeah, as I was saying, it's you're you're you're touching people in a way that that just it just is so powerful and profound that they just yeah, it's it's almost like you can't put it into words. Yeah.
 
 He literally, you know, that's another thing somebody will ask me, how do you create that? It's really I don't I can't put it into words, I don't know how to say it, but I can tell them you can look and see, but it's very hard for me to explain what I do. And now I end up with the it just seems to happen really. I don't know if it's a well, I'm willing it to happen, but it's hard for me to explain in words. 
 
 But I'm sure if somebody was to look as a matter of fact, this guy in Trinidad here was looking at me and he brought over a couple of days ago this little creature that I was really impressed. And he didn't use screws. He he makes mask costumes for carnival bending wire.
 
 So he bent the wire to connect the wood together. And I thought it was amazing, to be quite honest. And I put it on with my stuff and everybody was liking it, like I was getting a lot of reactions for his work.
 
 And I told him I was quite proud to, you know, to inspire somebody to do something like that. And that's exactly how he learned was to just look. So, yeah, that's funny that you mentioned that because that just happened.
 
 Yeah. Some people just have that unique connection, right? Mm hmm. Yeah.
 
 And then it's the willingness to want to learn, too, I think. Yeah. He just just everybody else was eating their lunch and doing this and that.
 
 He was just focused. And then he came back with it with something, you know. So, yeah, that was pretty cool.
 
 And then there was another time this younger artist came by and he was really inspired with my work and he kind of sat down and I was wondering what he was doing. And he penciled in a sketch in about five minutes of me with all the animals I had laid out. You know, I had a horse, I had a reindeer, a couple of dogs, some furniture.
 
 He penciled it out and then he came back. I showed me the work and I was pretty impressed. But then he came back about two days later with this colorful painting on top of those that was really blown my mind, really.
 
 And it was just it was just a young kid, like 15, 16 years old. So those type of things is what really gets me going when when I see it brushing off on somebody else, you know, inspiring somebody else's creativity. Yeah, it's like you're spreading the.
 
 Spreading the inspiration to to continue, continue creating. Yeah, it's amazing. Yes, yes, I was what I was going to look for spreading the word was read at the tip of my tongue.
 
 Yeah. Yeah, I actually. Once I got into the woodworking, then I found out that the driftwood was the best thing to do, so I would find places that driftwood piles up like at the Humber, all the driftwood comes down from the Humber Bay and it washes on to just that one shore.
 
 It doesn't go to the left with Center Island. Then it goes to the right. And oh, yeah, it all piles up.
 
 And there's the tide. Exactly. And there's something similar in Tobago where on the Atlantic side of the island, you get more driftwood than the Caribbean side.
 
 And then Trinidad, I hear that there's the same thing down on the South Coast, down by Karen, as somebody was saying, that there's a beach where all the driftwood seems to pile up. So that's what I seem to do, hunt the driftwood down. And either that or a fallen tree.
 
 Yeah. What led you down this path? Was it working with your hands, your emotional insights or something else? I got really into sculpting into high school when I was at Humberside Collegiate, the first sculpture I ever did was a soapstone. And because soapstone is such a soft medium, it's like soap.
 
 I was able to manipulate it pretty good. And I carved literally an Inuit Indian Eskimo. And then I was told by my artist teacher, the art teacher, that maybe I shouldn't mimic the Indian art because they might not like it if a non-native is doing their stuff. 
 
 And then I started to do like hockey because I worked at a hockey rink as a youth. I would go behind the net in the warm room and then carve the goalies because they had that bolte, the pads, the mask and everything out of soapstone. And I was getting paid for it.
 
 So that was, you know, from the city while I was working. That was awesome. And I think that's where I acquired my carving skills.
 
 But this is more of sculpturing. It's more finding pieces and putting it together to get an image. And I combine it sometimes with carving where I carve the face and I sculpt the body.
 
 So I've come up with a new term called scalarving, part sculpting and part carving. And I believe that's what I do. Is working outside, engaging with your surroundings and the community part of your creative process? How would you say they add to your practice in a practical way? Is it more of an organic or ethereal experience? Almost something that can't really be explained.
 
 How can you explain it if you can't explain it? That's a silly question. Yeah, sorry, yeah, yeah, I got to stop you there. It's the only thing, it's the only thing I would want.
 
 I would not want to be stuck in a studio. To be quite honest, and I don't know if I would appreciate being in an art gallery. Uh, I really like being in public, in high profile spots.
 
 OK, all right. OK, what led you down this path, was it working with your hands, your emotional insights or something else? And for me, working, you know, the closer I am to Mother Nature and to the wood itself. It is usually it's the best, my best pieces usually come from those circumstances.
 
 Case in point, when I first came to Trinidad, I used to be walking to the Movietown theater and I kept walking by this tree, a huge tree was on the ground. Every time I walked by about three or four times, I would see this giraffe laying down on the ground, literally. And literally after the fourth day, I said, no, that's it.
 
 I came up with my tools and I put the giraffe up in about two hours because it was like five pieces of wood that just literally looked like a giraffe. You put them the right way. And that's the one I have up right now is the giraffe, and it took me about two hours only because I saw everything just laying in front of me.
 
 Is working outside, engaging with your surroundings and the community part of your creative process, how would you say they add to your practice in a practical way? Is it more of an organic or ethereal experience, almost something that can't really be explained? How can you explain it if you can't explain it? That's a silly question. So, yeah, that is kind of, you got me puzzled there on that last part. But outdoors, definitely, I need my stuff to be in an outdoor setting, grass, beach, stone, for it, I feel, to thrive.
 
 I feel it fits best in that surroundings. And for me, working, you know, the closer I am to Mother Nature and to the wood itself, is usually it's the best, my best pieces usually come from those circumstances. Now, I don't know if that answered the third and fourth question as well, but yeah, well, you know, I did do a piece at the Evergreen Brickworks in Toronto at the Don Valley, and I did it inside a big space.
 
 That was kind of cool, like a huge, empty brick factory. I had all night to do my, you know, my horse called Marengo at the time. And at the end of the day, that's probably one of my best pieces.
 
 And it's kind of funny because once I opened the door of this big, huge space, then I would just look up and I would see the whole supply of wood up the hill at the Don Valley. You know, just as soon as you open up the door, you'll be seeing the hill of the valley itself. So it was pretty cool knowing that I had the whole space indoor because it was freezing. 
 
 So it's nice to be inside and because it was for Christmas and then opening up to just go get my wood and to make the creatures for them. So, yeah, being around, it definitely helps to be outdoors around the supply. And it sounds like if you get that immediate feedback that, you know, something's not quite right, it's just you're not finished yet.
 
 Like, yeah, like thanks for telling me I'm not quite done. OK, I'll take that in. And we'll be right back.
 
 Just artists in a different way, if your family is more musical. No, I don't think we do. Most of our family roots are in the arts and stuff, not the musical part, not really the arts. 
 
 I'm probably one of the only Agostini that's an artist. Yeah, yeah, exactly. My father was into promotions and he used to bring bands back and forth, even from the William Morris Agency and bring them to the Caribbean.
 
 Acts like Otis Redding and Ridge Fox and stuff like that. And then there's a lot into the family business, pharmaceutical business and stuff. But, yeah, I'm probably the only one.
 
 I don't know if I'm the black sheep to be the artist on the road all the time. But, yeah. I got a poem from this one girl, I don't know if this relates to that, but she called me the vagrant artist, this girl from the Humber Bay.
 
 And she was from China. Yeah. And she just came over to enjoy freedom.
 
 She didn't know what it was like to be free and express herself in a free way. And she wrote this really, really nice poem. But at first, when I first read the headline, it said vagrant artist.
 
 And she said, but you said you go all over the world and you travel and you do your art. So that's why I use that term. And it wasn't until I looked at it under that light, you know, maybe it's not that bad but it's a really touching poem.
 
 Yeah, yeah. I was talking to another artist about that a little bit, how she she totally thinks that way, too, that, you know, we're just it's an untapped resource that we all we take the, you know, responsible pathway and we just. Yeah, like we think, oh, we need to be responsible, we need to be we need to take this sort of.
 
 Way of life, just just because it's, you know, we think it's more responsible and when why can't we get in touch with our creativity and and take that. Less easy way of life, right? Really, they are. Yeah.
 
 One couple in in. In Humber Bay, it's it's a different form of appreciation, the Caribbean appreciation and North American. One couple in when they found out that I had to leave and it was Halloween, they came by and they gave me this little envelope and a beautiful little envelope, all little stickers and stuff on it.
 
 Well, I opened it up and there was like five hundred dollars in fifties and I couldn't take it. I said, no, I can't take this. And, you know, tears started coming out of my eyes and I'm giving it back to them.
 
 And they wouldn't wouldn't take it. I said, well, you got to take something. You know, they didn't take anything.
 
 They didn't take a reindeer. They didn't take a dog. They said, no, we just want to show our appreciation.
 
 We enjoy your art. You know, down here, somebody will for them to show their appreciation, the guy will just drive by and he'll circle and he'll say, you're bad, you're bad. So, yeah, different cultures, exactly, exactly.
 
 But, you know, it's both both of them are showing their love in different ways. Have you been educated on sculpture in university or college or have you been self taught through experimentation and experience? Have you used your knowledge of sculpture to teach others? Yeah, I I have not been educated at college or university. I studied only in high school and then I just went off on my own and started carving different things with the soapstones.
 
 And then I went to work. And then I really it used to fascinate me to see that I could create. Something from nothing kind of, you know, and that's really what used to make me want to do another piece and another piece and another piece, and I still have that fascination up to now.
 
 So, yeah, it's a passion. And I I try to pass it on to the youths, I actually have been contacted from I did one Internet, one Internet event with a teacher that had students in different places and and another lady's contact me down here to come into her classroom and to teach the kids how to build a little animal. So, yeah, I do engage as much as I can, you know, even with the people that come around and look at the work, there'll be a little boy who'll want to start building something and start picking up sticks and putting a lean to tent or a little girl coming and making a little wheel.
 
 So, yeah, when it touches a little kid, it really inspires me. I get really a lot of gratification from that. And yeah.
 
 And then also, like you said, teaching them a little a little bit of how you exactly showing my techniques and stuff. And even that guy that I told you I work for the city and showed, you know, even he was able to create something. It seemed like I tapped into him, too, that he he has this creative energy that some people have it.
 
 They just need somebody to bring it out, you know. Yeah, yeah. I was talking to another artist about that a little bit, how she she totally thinks that way, too, that, you know, we're just it's an untapped resource that we we all we take the, you know, responsible, you know, pathway and just the easier way.
 
 Yeah, like we think, oh, we need to be responsible. We need to be we need to take this sort of. A way of life just just because it's, you know, we think it's more responsible and when why can't we get in touch with our creativity and and take that less easy way of life.
 
 Exactly. You know, it's funny, too, because prior to prior to this, if you don't mind me getting into this subject, prior to jumping into my art, I had a. A business putting in skating rinks in backyards, and at the time we were the only ones doing that. So we had the owner of Roots, Michael Budman.
 
 We had the owner of the Maple Leafs, Dale Lastman, the owner of LT Carpet. A lot of them were our customers, and we would come in and put a nice drink in their backyard with boards and they we would leave them with ice like glass. That was part of our slogan.
 
 And a lot of them would look at me and say, you know, Damien, that's that's an art form you have because not too many people could do that. So even in my other business, it was kind of like a sculpture, you know, we were putting things together and then putting layers of water to give them a nice smooth sheet of ice to skate on. And we had refrigeration pipes and everything.
 
 And now my son runs that business. And that's hence the reason me jumping into what I love. Plus, the amount of times that I got frostbite on my fingers and stuff.
 
 It's a lot easier working with driftwood, yeah, than flooding ice rinks. Yeah, yeah. Wood is a lot nicer to you than freezing cold temperatures.
 
 You know, honestly, I was telling somebody this, the money was great and everything, but I really there's nothing that makes me more happier than what I'm doing now. You know, I don't get up in the morning to work. I get up in the morning to play.
 
 Yes. You know, I'm a hunter gatherer. I gather what I need and then I create.
 
 So every day is an adventure, literally. Yeah, that's amazing to be in touch with all that. That's really great.
 
 I really feel I really feel gifted and fortunate and all of the above to be able to do what I love and, you know, be able to survive off that. Yeah, yeah, that's that's what I think a lot of people are are struggling with, especially now, because, you know, the cost of food and just finding a place to live is so, so expensive. The cost of living is just so much.
 
 Yeah, the cost of living. You know, if I can live on a driftwood beach and build my shack and just have access to running water, I would be a pretty happy guy. There you go.
 
 That doesn't mean much. That's a nice way of life, that's for sure. Yeah, but I know that can't happen all the time, but I'm going to see if I can do it as much as I can.
 
 How do you see yourself in relation to sculptors that are contained within galleries? Do you see a difference or are they using a different medium and presentation? Is this the only obvious difference or is there something we can't see? No, I see a difference because I do more street art. I'll pick up anything in my surroundings to make the horse or to make the giraffe. You know, I don't venture too far.
 
 It's really whatever is there. A gallery, if I was to do a gallery piece, I would probably want to work it down, sand it down, put more gloss on it and work it a little, enhance it a little more, buff it up a little more. Some of my pieces, I put a stain on it, but a lot of people really say, no, I like it raw kind of thing.
 
 They kind of like the raw art that I provide. So right now I'm sticking to that. But if I was to ever do a piece for galleries or a gallery thing, it would definitely be something I would take it on.
 
 But I would have to use different techniques to pull that one off. I don't know if my raw work would be suited for a gallery more so than the street art, if you understand what I'm saying. Yeah, yeah, it's really different.
 
 Yeah, only because the pieces that in a gallery, I think I would probably want to use more substantial pieces, more so than picking up maybe a coconut branch or something that's a little more whimsical, you know? Yeah, yeah. The galleries are much more polished. Exactly.
 
 And longer lasting, too. So I'd probably want to use richer wood like teaks and mahogany and more so than softwoods like pine and stuff like that. Yeah, but yeah, I would probably want to do one.
 
 I'm not going to rule that out. I just feel more comfortable right now, of course. I just feel I touch a lot more people and a wide range of that population from the vagrant on the street who will walk by and a smile will come out of his face and he's walking barefooted, you know? To that penthouse person, right? Exactly.
 
 To the penthouse person who pulls up in their, you know, Range Rover and grooves down their window to make a comment. So I prefer that. So I guess I ordered my questions wrong because I hear I'm asking you, have you had any of your driftwood pieces in a gallery? But you answered that already.
 
 Well, I did have I did at one time I was in a gallery a couple of times, but I found that it took so long to get my money because, you know, it would sit there, sit there. And then at that point, that was really my career. At that point, I really had to eat and stuff like that.
 
 So I couldn't. I'd probably be more comfortable now at this stage of my career to put it in the gallery. I did get a couple of requests.
 
 I just haven't had the time to sit down and do gallery work yet. Yeah, it's a much longer process, I guess. It is.
 
 It is. I would want to do one, but it would just be more. I would need time to do the pieces that I would want to put in the gallery.
 
 I wouldn't want to do like the pieces I do on the street. I would want to do something, kick it up a notch kind of thing. Mm hmm.
 
 So do you usually donate them to the community that they are displayed in then? The driftwood pieces? No, that's a funny thing because I chuckled in that when I read that question. And it's funny that you said that because both in Trinidad and in Toronto at Humber Bay, in a sense, they were donated to the city. Yeah.
 
 Because the city ended up removing them. So yeah, I guess in a sense, I could answer that. Yes.
 
 But what happens too is that the pieces that in Toronto that the city didn't take prior to them, it seemed to push sales even further. Like once the city told me I had to leave the Humber, most of my big pieces, they found homes really quick. People said, I'll take that.
 
 I'll take that one. You know, kind of thing. And yeah, so they kind of helped perpetuate sales.
 
 And then down here, when the city took it, the whole community had got together. And, you know, it went viral. And Namir got a few thousand people complaining on my behalf.
 
 And two weeks later, he ended up cutting me a check for $15,000. And he put it on the newspaper. And it was one of those big, big checks.
 
 So everybody could see. And he had it on TV and everything. So yeah, those are the only two things that I could say that donated in a sense.
 
 Yeah, because I was gonna say, how do you maintain a sense of ownership or style? If your works are primarily public pieces? Well, what I do, ownership is, once I create, I kind of let go, you know, and move on to the next piece mentally. So it's kind of like your children, you know, you're there in God's hands. You kind of leave them.
 
 When I leave my stuff on the street, I leave them there. I don't bring them in overnight. They stay out there.
 
 It's like they're complete as soon as they're done. And they sit out there all night, like in Trinidad and at the Humber. They were there 24-7.
 
 I didn't come back and pull them in at night. And I would come in the next morning. Every single thing would be there.
 
 In both cases, only the city was the only ones ever moving. Vagrants never picked up anything. Nobody ever picked up anything and walked away with anything.
 
 Little dogs, cats, everything was still there. Big horses, big giraffes. So, again, once I create it, I do give it up mentally and physically, in a sense.
 
 And that way, it's easier for me to part with them. If you understand what I mean. Well, yeah, because I'm thinking just of sort of the large public.
 
 It's like they're complete as soon as they're done. Those are just part of the city. Nobody ever thinks that, you know, they can do anything to them.
 
 They're just part of the city. That's right. Concrete and metal.
 
 Yeah, yeah, that's usually, yeah. The medium. Yeah, yeah, they're really heavy, heavy mediums.
 
 And they're the large sculptures. But you think that they're, yeah, they're just part of the city. Nobody ever thinks to walk away with them or anything.
 
 They're just part of the city, yeah. Has being such a public figure in the community with your sculptures led you to the larger and bigger projects? Have you been able to sustain your sculptures regionally and nationally? They're just part of the city. Nobody ever thinks that, you know, they can do anything to them.
 
 They're just part of the city. That's a lot of questions there. Yeah, just a few.
 
 I've been doing it for a very long time. It's been such an honor to be here. I've been doing it in the community for a long time.
 
 larger and bigger projects. That shows how passionate you are about it. Have you been able to sustain your sculptures regionally and nationally? Yeah. 
 
 How has your talent been able to showcase over the years in various locales and cities? I'm out of the house by 5.30. Just a few, you know, I want to keep you engaged with it. So, when I get to the site, yeah, when I get to the site, I don't know if I'm going to be able to work until I'm hungry, you know, or when I get to the site, I'm going to have a smoke break. And the next part of the question was, have you been able to sustain your sculptures regionally and nationally? Well, the only time it really gets to that national or regional is when I interact with the city and something happens in the news, to be quite honest, that's usually when I get national and regional coverage.
 
 Yeah, that shows how passionate you are about it. That it's not a job. It's just part of you. 
 
 Yeah. What am I going to do? And then the next day, about five, six doors open up. And I guess this case in point, how I met you, how we hooked up was part of that as well.
 
 And that would be the only regional, you know, local. Yeah. When I even come out here, I've only been here for two weeks. 
 
 Almost every day I come out, somebody has recognized me as being the artist. And we'll be right back. And we'll be right back.
 
 And then, you know, the Humber Bay, they're now calling me the Humber Bay artist instead of the, you know, Savannah artist, which is what I picked up in Trinidad from working on the Savannah, which is like their central park or our high park kind of thing. So it seems like the communities that I initially work around and gravitate around my work seems to adopt me that way, to literally call me their artist. Exactly. 
 
 Well, it's their product. It's coming off of their beach, you know, the Humber Bay and the Savannah. I was picking up the wood right there.
 
 I was just mentioning to somebody that I'm not in the Savannah in Trinidad now. I'm on the main street on the highway, Rice and Road. And we'll be right back.
 
 I actually made a clip yesterday to just put that on Facebook, just to let people know that the Savannah artist is not in the Savannah, he's on Rice and Road. And the next part of the question was, have you been able to sustain yourself regionally and nationally? How have you been able to communicate your creative practice beyond your driftwood sculptures? Have you found other mediums that you feel comfortable exploring? And can you translate creatively into drawing or even into computer graphics? No, for the computer graphics. And no, I can't draw. 
 
 I really cannot draw at all. But I'm starting to play with stones and add stones to my work. And I'm hopefully going to be doing a couple hundred percent stone projects shortly, once I hit the right beach.
 
 But I'll use them as part of the animal's face and as a nose. Or if I see something that looks like an eye or an ear, I'll try to implement stones as well. You know, driftwood stones or driftwood, the wood itself.
 
 And then I'll even use the glass that I find on the beach. Like the green glass with eyes and, you know, different colored glasses, parts of birds. I made a Christmas tree out of driftwood and stained glass.
 
 Well, not stained glass, but just glass from the beach that I use like a stained glass. Yeah, just different things. I like to, whatever.
 
 If I go to a beach and find some stuff, I'll use me implemented in one of my creatures or one of my furniture pieces. Well, that's how you're showcasing, right, over the years in these areas. Yeah, yeah, I'm starting to use really, if I see wire or even pieces of steel that has the right shape, I will use it.
 
 If I can affix it, that's the only thing is affixing it to my wood. I'll send you a photo and I'll ask you if you can find the spoons and my scoops, because I make spoons and scoops and stuff. And sometimes I'll need it for an ear, I need a spoon for a tongue.
 
 So a lot of my creatures do have stuff that I've made and say, you know what, it looks good there, let me use it here. That's good that you're able to not just use wood, but be able to incorporate whatever you find, right? Well, that's how you're showcasing, right, over the years in these areas. How have you been able to communicate your creative practice beyond your driftwood sculptures? Have you found other mediums that you feel comfortable exploring? And can you translate creatively into drawing or even into computer graphics? Implemented in one of my creatures or one of my furniture pieces.
 
 All the things that you need to use to get to the final product or the final sculpture. What are your thoughts on originality and authenticity? Is your creativity mostly understood through realism and forms that can be sculpted to represent what can be seen? Are you an advocate for animals and or climate change because of your connection with your subject matter? Absolutely. I'm an advocate for climate and animals. 
 
 And exactly so because of my subject matter. I really respect trees. I don't use live trees. 
 
 I use dead trees or driftwood. I won't cut a branch of a living tree. That's good. 
 
 If you could place your most prominent driftwood sculptures in an international gallery, what one do you think would be the best and why? Do you think your sculptures need national or global recognition? Or is your local Toronto approach, as well as to big Trinidad approach, what you feel is most effective? I'm very much into that. That's why I do what I do. There's not too many people.
 
 All the things that you need to use to get to the final product or the final sculpture. There's a few other people that I look up to that are quite great at what I do. But there's not too many people. 
 
 And case in point, just a couple of days ago, somebody was driving around saying, I know Damien Agostini's here. And they were literally yelling that out the window, looking for me. They couldn't see me, but they saw my artwork. 
 
 He drove around four times. What are your thoughts on originality and authenticity? Is your creativity mostly understood through realism and forms that can be sculpted to represent what can be seen? Are you an advocate for animals and or climate change because of your connection with your subject matter? And or climate change because of your connection with your subject matter? That's why I do what I do. There's not too many people.
 
 There's a few other people that I look up to that are quite great at what I do. But there's not too many people. And case in point, just a couple of days ago, somebody was driving around saying, I know Damien Agostini's here. 
 
 And they were literally yelling that out the window, looking for me. They couldn't see me, but they saw my artwork. He drove around four times, he bawling that out. 
 
 And I heard him the fourth time. I was sitting tucked away, carving in between some trees. And he finally did find me.
 
 He said, somebody called me and said, you're wearing a blue shirt and hiding under the tree. And he came and he found me. So, yeah, I believe my work, once you see my work, you'll be able to say, yeah, that's a Damien Agostini.
 
 Oh, I see. So you're helping them clean up by also. It's a whimsical approach. 
 
 I like people to see what I see. And, you know, art's in the eye of the beholder. If they don't see what I see, that's OK, too.
 
 One lady came and she, I made this cat. But she came up and said, she said, I love your owl. And before I could tell her it wasn't an owl, how much can I get it? And then she pulled out the money and paid me.
 
 And you know what? I didn't have the heart to tell her it wasn't an owl. She walked away. Your poems are sort of based on realism.
 
 It was an owl, so I let her go with it. Yep. You see a cat, she sees an owl.
 
 Exactly. Trinidad approach, what you feel is most effective. Do you think your sculptures need national or global recognition? Or is your local Toronto approach as well? If you could place your most prominent driftwood sculptures in an international gap, Trinidad approach, what you feel is most effective.
 
 And that your forms are sort of based on realism. No, but that's what I would, I would love to do it with their, on their terms, like go to their place, like if Puerto Rico had a hurricane, I would go there with my chainsaw and my tools, help them clean up and put a smile on their face by leaving. Oh, I see. 
 
 Yes. So you're helping them clean up by also creating from what, yeah, from what you're finding as well. Exactly.
 
 You know, like how there's some groups that will go there and feed the people and do different things, like in emergency cases, I would like to be that crew that comes in with a crew and do a cleanup, but leave animals and furniture and different things for the island to remember something good from the place. You know what I mean? Yeah. And then I'm sure they would, they would have a smile on their face when they see the work too, you know? Exactly.
 
 Yeah. Yeah. So kind of like bring some, some light into their darkness for that time.
 
 Yeah, that would be really nice. Well, you're putting the word out there right now, right? So maybe, maybe it'll, it'll come around. There you go. 
 
 There you go. There's a reason we hooked up, Carolyn. All right. 
 
 Well, we, we, we got to the end of our interview. Oh, that was quick. Yeah. 
 
 Yeah. Well, I was just going to ask you, is there anything you'd like to add? No, I think we probably hit it all. I talk too much, don't I? Oh, no. 
 
 The last, the last artist I was talking to, we were on for an hour and 20 minutes, so. Oh, okay. Yeah. 
 
 Conversations can just go whichever way, right? I hear you. Just keep talking about art till, you know. Oh, that's good. 
 
 That's good. That's so good. I love talking about art. 
 
 It's fun. Okay, great. All right. 
 
 So I will get this interview to you as quickly as I can. And yeah, and then. None of you, you got to be.
 
 Oh, all right. Awesome. Okay. 
 
 So you're very welcome. All right. And yeah, I'll get this to you as soon as, as soon as I can.
 
 And then, yeah, we'll, we'll chat in the future and maybe, you know, see where you're at later on. Sounds good. Thank you.
 
 Okay. All right. Okay.
 
 Sorry. Okay. And you know what? I didn't finish off my story about Marengo.
 
 That will be the piece that I want to put in the museum is Marengo. And that's my favorite piece. That's the piece I did for the Brickworks.
 
 And it's funny because that's the one I did inside the studio, but it wasn't a studio. It was a big, huge well. And I had it all to myself all night long.
 
 Oh, yeah. And that's the one you were saying. You could just open the door.
 
 Yes. Yes. So, yeah. 
 
 So you were, you could be outside. As much as you wanted to, because the door is right there. To all of, all of your creations to come.
 
 Okay. Well, I think you misunderstood that question because I was asking you what gallery did you want to go to internationally? Was there like a specific gallery you wanted to be at? I mean, telling me the piece you'd want in the gallery is good too, but. I would love, I would love to go to the Louvre.
 
 That's. Yeah. It is a nice one. 
 
 It's all glass. Yeah. Yeah. 
 
 There's some nice galleries out there. Especially the Frank Gehry ones. Those are.
 
 That's the one I would want to go to. And I've been to the New York museums too. I've been to New York museums quite a bit when I was younger.
 
 Yeah. And Washington had some nice ones too. They see.
 
 Yeah. I bet you there's a whole bunch of really good galleries out there. Just haven't.
 
 That's the one I would want to go to. I've been to the New York museums too. I've been to New York museums quite a bit when I was younger.
 
 And Washington had some nice ones too. They see. More historic, more historic and stuff.
 
 Smithsonian and stuff like that. There was a few times. Well, I probably could have, would have, and should have given up.
 
 And I did. Just kept going. Just kept me going.
 
 When I was going to give up the most of the pandemic. When I had psoriasis. And I was in pain.
 
 And I couldn't get out of bed. So I feel rejuvenated. And I feel gifted that I was able to come back and do it again.
 
 At this level. Cause I didn't think I was going to create any more after the pandemic. Yeah.
 
 I think the pandemic was really hard for a lot of artists. It was. Yeah.
 
 Yeah. Well, thanks for asking though. You're the.
 
 The very first artist asked me that. Cause she, she just reached out to me to do an interview. And then after that, I was like, I like this.
 
 This is fun. And I kept at it. That's exactly how I feel.
 
 So this happened to what you love. This is what you love. Yeah.
 
 Maybe I just like. I'm just adjacent to the artists. That's all.
 
 Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
 
 You're still there. Well, this has been a pleasure, Carolyn. This was a great conversation.
 
 All right. So yeah, I'll get that off to you. And.
 
 And yeah. And then you can sort of. Do the social media on your side.
 
 And have it for your community. And then we have, we can talk later and see where you're at. All right.
 
 All right. Have a good day, Damien. Bye.
 
 Thank you. You too. Bye.
 
 Join me next time as I go down another rabbit hole with another creative professional on their insights, their inspirations, and their ingenuity.