December 10, 2019

The Artist’s Corner is a new weekly feature of the Addiction/Recovery eBulletin. We send our participants forty questions and ask them to choose twenty they would like to answer. It includes a short profile and a link to their website. We hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Addiction/Recovery eBulletin or its staff.

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PROFILE

Domenic Esposito is an artist and activist living in the Boston area.  Esposito is the son of immigrant Italian parents and was raised in both Boston and Italy. As an artist and social activist, the purpose of his work is to create haunting, sometimes dark but always memorable sculptures symbolic of injustices to humanity within our society. His goal is to create a deeply visceral disturbance in the soul that calls out for help. Recently embarking on his most ambitious, personal and controversial project with the creation of the Opioid Spoon, an eight hundred pound, ten foot metal replication of a simple household utensil modified for use as a tool to cook and inject opioids. The Spoon was crafted in honor of the struggles of both Domenic’s family and the thousands of families who have lost loved ones to this horrific crisis. The Opioid Spoon was dropped in front of OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma and it has since become a national symbol of drug activism.

DomenicEsposito

Q. At which classes or workshops did you learn the most?
A. The metal fabrication classes at Stonybrook Fine Arts in Jamaica Plain Massachusetts for sure. 

Q. Do you believe artists are made or born?
A. Ha ha, I think they are made.  Although it takes a certain person to open up and show emotions and passions via artwork. 

Q. Which film have you watched the most?
A. The Godfather

Q. Who is your favorite celebrity in recovery?
A. Courtney Love

Q. Do prefer living by the ocean, lake, river, mountaintop, or penthouse?
A. The Ocean

Q. What is your favorite hotel or resort?
A. Tiny rented huts in the jungles outside of Chang Mai Thailand.

Q. Where do you go to ‘get away”?
A. My art studio is that place for me.  No distractions and just fixated on making art

Q. What is your biggest or littlest pet peeve?
A. It is really just a small pet peeve.  When people say “honestly” before a statement.  As if everything else they said was a lie.

Q. How do you measure success?
A. Being content or satisfied with ones life. 

Q. If you had an extra million dollars, which charity would you donate it to?
A. The Boston Bulldogs Running Club

Q. Who was your biggest influence throughout your life?
A. I would say Father Linnehan.  He is a close friend that always gave great advice

Q. What is your current hobby?
A. Riding motorcycles on race tracks

Q. What prominent fe/male figure would you most like to date?
A. Angelina Jolie        

Q. If you were giving a dinner party for your 3 favorite authors, Living or dead, who would they be? (you can choose 4 if you think one might be too drunk or stoned to attend.)
A. Walter Isaacson, David McCullough, Edgar Allan Poe

Q. What is your favorite: Website?
A. The New York Times

Q. What is your favorite: TV/cable/digital series?
A. The Ozarks

Q. Who is your favorite: Film Director?
A. Quentin Tarantino

Q. What is your favorite: Non-fiction book genre?
A. Sci-Fi

Q. What is your favorite: Museum?
A. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Q. What is your favorite: Band/composer/musical artist?
A. Linkin Park

Q. What is your favorite: Broadway musical/play?
A. The Phantom of the Opera

Q. What is your favorite: Psychology or school of thought as related to psychology?
A. Stoicism,  The writings of Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus

Q. Who is your favorite: Activist?
A. Pussy Riot

Q. What is your favorite: App?
A. Facebook App

Q. What is your favorite: Cuisine?
A. Italian

Q. What is your favorite: Restaurant?
A. La Campania,  Waltham Massachusetts

Q. What is your favorite: City?
A. Berlin Germany

Q. Have you ever been arrested and, if so, what for?
A. No

Q. What is your favorite album of all time?
A. Hysteria, Def Leppard

Q. Do you have any children? Grandchildren?
A. No

Q. What’s your favorite radio show or Podcast?
A. NPR

Q. Who is your favorite novelist?
A. Hemingway

Q. What books are you reading now?
A. Permanent Record, by Edward Snowden

Q. What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
A. Think slow before acting

Q. Do you think addiction is an illness, a disease, a choice, or a wicked twist of fate?
A. I think it is a man-made disease

Q. What are five things you always carry with you?
A. credit card, license, phone

Q. What is your favorite concert venue?
A. Austin City Limits

Q. What’s the greatest risk you’ve ever taken?
A. Starting an art career

Q. What is your biggest mistake?
A. Trusting business partners

Q. What is the proudest moment in your life?
A. The day my daughters were born