140: Gabriel Urist – How To Stay Disciplined In Your Craft

Jewelry is not an organic kind of art: it’s a lot of measuring and calculating.
Today’s guest, Gabriel Urist, is a big name in streetwear world. A jewelry designer and artist, Gabriel has designed for LeBron James, Jay-Z, and has collaborated with Supreme, Nike, and other big brands.

In today’s show, we dive into Gabriel’s creative process, his background, and the story of how he got started and studied jewelry design. Hear how he connected with Nike for a collaboration, why he has mixed feelings about the jewelry industry, and the amazing project he’s working on right now.
I feel like I have a responsibility to be an artist.

Some things we learn in this podcast:

Gabriel’s upbringing and education at an arts school [3:20]
The influence of basketball on his craft [5:50]
How Gabriel started making money early in his career [9:45]
Why copying someone else’s work is weird [11:00]
How Gabriel transitioned to fashion and what he would learn [13:00]
Why Gabriel never feels like he’s quite in his groove [14:50]
How he got connected with Nike [17:35]
What Gabriel’s creative process is like and how it differs with custom jewelry [19:30]
What project he is working on now [20:50]
What freedom means to Gabriel [24:30]
Why the jewelry industry is dirty [25:40]
What Gabriel’s routine is like [30:20]
Love inspires him, anger inspires him [31:20]
What in his life allows Gabriel to create his own freedom [36:10]
Gabriel’s top three books right now [37:50]

Links mentioned:

Check out the Interlochen Center for the Arts
Learn more about the artists Gabriel mentioned:

Matthew Barney
Tom Otterness
Jeff Staple
Miguel Adrover


Read the books Gabriel mentioned:

The Shark’s Paintbrush by Jay Harman
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari



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