Across the Studio with Daniel Tagbo

In the 19th episode of Across the Studio, Mia Schoolman sits down with Daniel Tagbo, a figurative surrealist artist based in Brooklyn, originally from St. Louis. Daniel creates work exploring psychological themes of journey, searching, and the American Dream through surrealism, mythology, and lived experience. His first collection, Fever Dreams, created in his bedroom after graduation, was a dream journal made visual: paintings about the high-speed fever dream of New York, where hopes and fears collide. His current collection draws from the Labyrinth and the Odyssey as metaphors for the search for freedom, using symbolism to question the myth of the promised land and the American Dream itself. Daniel approaches each painting spontaneously—no references, no studies, no plan. He starts with color or a line and builds intuitively, discovering meaning halfway through. He thinks of each collection as an album, each painting as a song. A gallery visit in Nigeria during his sophomore year changed everything: standing among hundreds of works, something clicked, and he switched his major to fine art. In this conversation: the moment in a Nigerian gallery when he realized he wanted to be an artist. How fear escalates when more people see your work. Why he abandoned music to pursue visual art. His creative ritual of filling pages with vertical lines and studying figure drawing. How he maintains discipline within spontaneous practice. What five to ten years looks like—building a creative organization that combines painting, film, music, and mentorship into one cohesive world. And why J. Cole's approach to storytelling through music is what he aspires to do through art. Follow Across the StudioInstagram @acrossthestudioTikTok @acrossthestudio Follow DanielInstagram @danieltagbo and thank you @everyartistco for helping film this episode!