Josi Stephens

– INTERVIEW –

cultivating canvas

WORDS: JOSI STEPHENS PHOTOS: WADE DUNSTAN, SCOTT SERFAS

GRAPHICS: TIM TOMKINSON

Photo: Wade Dunstan

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Photo: Wade Dunstan

The life of Travis Rice has a lot in common with ‘the hero’s journey.’ The simple explanation of this plot line goes like this: We have our unassuming protagonist, he or she is called to a challenge (by either god, lover, tribe or all of the above), the task is considered impossibly insane, they then proceed to go through fire, they fail, get back up, and after much tribulation, they do the undoable. It is the oldest story in the book. Literally.

Travis’s tales are well documented and remarkable by any standards: the X-Games, his unfettered Wyoming upbringing, That’s It That’s All to The Art of Flight, Super/ Ultra Natural, the Christmas luge, and his landmark vision with Asymbol, the fruits of a hero’s journey. Those that know Travis speak of his bootstraps work ethic, uncompromising vision and generosity. Those that don’t know him consider him to be superhuman, crazy, or a combination of both. He is all of those things and more. It is specifically the ‘more’ part that is the most interesting element of any human, especially Travis Rice.

The difference between an enduring legend and just a cool story is the art of it; the details that add color to a moment, giving it life, allowing it to exist outside of context. A large piece of Travis – the ‘more’ part – is a fierce love of art, specifically the things made by our community of snow, water, and street loving people. That is where this part of his story begins. The desire to connect the art with the art lover was the challenge part of the journey. Building a company around and geared towards a demographic that most markets consider unimportant, that is the impossibly insane part. Inevitably the trial by fire is where the core of Asymbol, an art gallery founded by Travis and artist and snowboarder Mike Parillo that began on the interwebs, was forged. There have been failures and tribulations aplenty; leaving the only thing left, doing the undoable. The end of this tale is far from written (though it is never really about the end anyway). These are the conditions where Travis and his team shine the brightest.

It is unlikely that anyone could have imagined the art of our idols hanging on gallery walls or that a young blood would spend his allowance to cop a Jamie Lynn

Travis touches art at the Asymbol Gallery in downtown Jackson.

print. That is what makes the history of Asymbol more than just a cool story. That is what makes it art.

I sat down with Travis to discuss the community he nurtures so tirelessly and the future of Asymbol. Over a tasty glass of rosé we set about getting to the bottom of it (or at least to the middle).

JOSI STEPHENS: Asymbol has had some major changes this year; mainly the fact that it now has a home in downtown Jackson that is open to the public. What has that meant to you?

TRAVIS RICE: I continue to realize that it is a work in progress and will always be one. You need to keep an open mind because as an entity you have to listen to it and adapt to how it changes. More than anything I hope that the space can continue to empower and support artists and creative expression.

JOSI: How has Asymbol changed?

TRICE: Aside from the new space and products, internally it has evolved greatly. I have been busy on the film and have brought in a partner, Alex Hillinger, to help run things. Alex, along with Ashley Rice and Cam Foster, are leading a group of extremely competent individuals that I trust. We have empowered an incredible team that handles things behind the scenes, which is another element that gets us one step closer to reaching our goals.

JOSI: On that topic, where do you see the artistic content of Asymbol heading?

TRICE: Our focus is currently to continue to support and work with this incredible talent pool that we already have. There are absolutely some artists that I have been able to work with over the years that I’d love to see in Asymbol, but we have such an awesome group of people that we work with already. I want to stay true to our roots and where we come from. I think that we have more work to do with empowering our incredible list of talent that we represent currently. While working with already accomplished artists and photographers is in the cards on the longterm timeline, I think that before we go there we want to focus efforts on the people that have taken a chance on us.

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JOSI: What can people be expecting from the gallery in the months to come?

TRICE: I would say our big thing for 2015 is that we’ve been working on and plan on a couple of original shows coming to fruition. Locally, the idea is to have more of a show schedule, as well continue to support the artists and photographers of our community, which we already do quite a bit with the imaging side of our business. A lot of people don’t realize it but we have a full professional level imaging and print studio under the floorboards of Asymbol.

JOSI: Who/what in the art world is inspiring you at the moment?

TRICE: Andrew Schultz, Jeff Peters…I am inspired by the people that I personally interact with, artists that speak to my lifestyle. I just finished this incredible project with Jackson artist Tim Tomkinson, who is also one of the most gifted artists that I know. I am now an ambassador to

the state of Wyoming and one of the first things that Tim and I did was create three original pieces of art for and in tribute to my home. The art will be on a limited edition collection of snowboards this year. It’s been a really fun project that will lead to bigger things in the next few years.

JOSI: Is there a correlation between the physical and business adventure for you?

TRICE: Yes, absolutely. I am grateful that the majority of my life has been spent on the physical, and beyond, adventure. I’ve discovered that in the great outdoors you can’t really get ahead dishonestly; you have to put in the honest and conscious work to make your dreams and goals a reality. Often times there is no shortcut. In the business world there all kinds of weird little crafty ways you can slime your way through it but the result will reflect that energy. I have learned most of my lessons from adventures in the outdoors. Those same principles are applied to the business side of what we do.

JOSI: When mapping out this interview I asked a few local folks what they would like to know about you. The prevailing question was, “What fires you up?” And so…

TRICE: Follow-through really fires me up. It’s so easy to come up with ideas and whatif scenarios, that’s just a part of the creative process. But I think what really motivates me is the prospect of seeing those things through. Because when you put all of your effort into something and you don’t finish it, it becomes more of a weight and a burden than this awesome and inspiring concept. Pretty early on, in snowboarding especially, you know if something is achievable or not. Sometimes you see things through halfway, but you never know if something is going to stall out or be unattainable. Inevitably you learn from everything that you do and often times you learn way more from when you fail at doing something than when you succeed. If something is super easy, you breeze through it without a hiccup, while it feels great when things work out like this, I don’t find that you take much away from it.

JOSI: Have there been any major lessons along the way that are shaping your approach to Asymbol and your brand as a whole?

TRICE: I tend to find that if you do things in the workspace for the right reasons and put in genuine effort it seems to have a way of carrying that energy into what you are working towards. Whatever it is that you are doing, whether it’s creating a unique item or product or simply doing some menial task, whatever it is, the broad spectrum, you inevitably put the energy that you do the task with into what you produce.

“I’ve discovered that in the great outdoors you can’t really get ahead dishonestly; you have to put in the honest and conscious work to make your dreams and goals a reality.”

JOSI: You say, “When you do things for the right reasons.” What did you find to be a ‘right reason’ when moving forward with your creative endeavors?

TRICE: I have found that just like a flourishing ecosystem you need symbiosis in all areas of your workspace, from those that are doing the work to the consumer on the other end. If you can get it to a place where it’s beneficial to all those involved, I find that it ends up shining through in the end.

JOSI: Let’s catch the world up a bit on where you have been and what you have been up to this past year. Let’s have some highlights.

TRICE: From 30,000 feet, most of my time has been put into the movie I’m working on with Brain Farm, we are about halfway through it. I spent the majority of all last winter on the road filming and all of the summer… not at home.

We’ve been working for six or sevens years towards the goal of sailing into the Pacific and we spent five months doing just that. Traveling with wind power – in a completely different setting than the one I grew up with here in Jackson – is definitely a huge passion of mine. It is completely similar yet so starkly different than what I do during the course of the winter.

JOSI: Do you prefer one to the other? Sailing or riding?

TRICE: No. And I’m glad I don’t have to make that decision.

JOSI: What is on the horizon for you personally?

TRICE: Deep snow, hard work, happy places, happy faces!

REPORTER’S NOTE: When asked about the forthcoming Brain Farm film, Travis graciously declined comment. (What we do know is that it’s coming and that it is going to be good.)

REPORTER’S SECOND NOTE: In the spirit of ace journalism I posed the ever-relevant question of “Boxers or briefs?” Travis prefers ‘My Package,’ a hybrid of both that provides unbelievable comfort and structure.

Oregon born, raised by the sea, Josi Stephens is a writer of words, designer of clothes, doer of things at Asymbol, lover, fighter and renaissance woman. @mustang_josi

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Travis mellows out with a switch backside 540 following Ultra Natural in Nelson, BC.

Photo: Scott Serfas