Rocket Science: Dozfy
On the relationship between art and medicine, Bruce Lee, and how everybody connects to drawings of dogs.
He’s a great doctor but an even better artist. Follow @dozfy and get your own Dozfy @dozfyworks.
You’re a medical doctor and a working artist, is it hard to keep those two lives separate? Or do they fit together naturally?
In the beginning, I tried to keep them separate, repress them. But I actually accepted each role, and I used their strengths to feed the other, which makes me as a person better.
Most artists I know, whether visual artists or musicians… they’re trying to solve their own journey and obstacles through their visual form. Being a doctor, it’s kind of the opposite. People present their problems and are asking you to solve them with your skill set.
Lately, I’ve been approaching art the same way by focusing on the audience. It’s gotten easier because I just have extensive years of analyzing what a client/patient is asking for. I already know that’s not necessarily what they want.
Here’s a perfect example. So, a patient comes in and says, “Hey, my arm hurts. Tell me what’s wrong.” I say, “Oh, it’s from the spine or shoulder or something like that, and the cause is probably this, this, and this.”
And they’re like, “Oh, good. What are you going to do about it?”
That is what they’re really asking you. In essence, they are saying, “Take my pain away.” They want a solution and to make sure they’re not going to die.
Same for people who want to commission art. They may want something very specific, but they really want something deeper. But we still go through a sort of diagnostic checklist to get there.
Your recent art embraces flora and fauna. Have you always been drawn to illustrating the organic?
I studied portraiture as my Fine Arts degree. The key lesson from that was learning how to convey emotion through art. Now I convey emotions when drawing plants and animals.
The advantage of animals and plants is the ability to connect to a broad audience. I can draw a dog, and different demographics can connect to it. Kids can connect to it. People from different cultural backgrounds and racial groups can connect to a dog.
You’re famous for drawing on restaurant menus. How did that start?
When I went to Atlanta to finish my training, my girlfriend at the time (who’s now my wife) is a foodie. So, we’d go to restaurants, and I would draw on the receipts while waiting for our food. And I would later throw them away.
One time, my friend was digging through the trash after throwing my drawings in the trash after I went to the restroom. I catch him and ask “What are you doing?” And he goes, “I love the artwork. I just want to keep it.”
In a fortuitous moment, my friend who works in the restaurant industry says, “Just draw on the menus. We print them out once a week.” So I did it at multiple restaurants, and little did I know that people loved it. Like, LOVE IT. The chef and line cooks would tape it on the refrigerator as if it were a drawing from their kid.
Eight years later, we are still known for the menuart. That tiny sheet of paper about food is actually describing these amazing stories about the chef and the restaurant. That’s what I’m trying to capture; Stories and emotions.
How do you track your ideas when they come to you? Do you carry a sketchbook or a journal?
I’ve been doing this for 30 years. So, it’s been a long arduous journey. In college, I would draw for four hours every night because I was unhappy despite having a full ride in architectural engineering.
So when I switched to art, I already kind of built this habit of drawing in a sketchbook constantly. This is crucial because journaling or sketchbooks is the best way to formulate and capture great ideas.
I stopped the sketchbook when I started menuart. Mainly because it’s kind of hard to bring your sketchbook and eat with your wife. Menuart became my new sketchbooks, and Instagram acted as my online catalog of my artwork and ideas.
Were you one of the only artists around when you were going to med school?
There were other really good musical artists, and some photographers. But in terms of visual arts, I was the only one in my class of 247 and very fortunate to make a living off of it. And I’m still doing medicine because I still love medicine.
I credit having good mentors and social media coming out at the same time. Instagram helped me to connect with an amazing audience. But more importantly, having Mentors was essential. They said, “Hey, this is what you love and you can create a business off of it. This is what you need to do to help maintain it.”
That made all the difference because I have a team that prepares me to make my best work whether it’s murals, live interactive art at events, or private commissions. We’re so busy we have to say “no” to projects to ensure we don’t get overwhelmed.
You worked on a deeply popular Bruce Lee mural, how did that come about?
It’s actually a power story because that’s where Bruce Lee ate when he went to the University of Washington. That’s the original restaurant he ate at. The owner loved Bruce Lee’s movies — Enter the Dragon and Game of Death.
We wanted a black and Asian icon to represent those films. The colors yellow and black are so iconic in martial arts … Bruce Lee’s known for his yellow jumpsuit, of course. We wanted to signify unification.
That mural’s been up since the pandemic and has become a staple of the community. It’s been vandalized once or twice. Somebody stole one of the panels, and we’ve rebuilt it.
But that’s a valuable lesson. It’s powerful to see how people reacted when it was gone. Painting it, rebuilding it, and putting it back, was just a symbol of how, if used correctly, art can represent the aspirations, goals, or values of a community.
Do you listen to music as you work?
Not as much anymore. I listen to audiobooks and podcasts a lot. I listen to the All In podcast for business insight. From a creative side, I’m listening to audiobooks.
Rick Rubin — the producer for Jay-Z, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Petty, all of them — has a book about the creative process that I highly recommend.
What’s a non-digital thing you own that’s designed really well?
The Uni-Ball micro pen 0.38. It’s a really fantastic pen to draw and write with. And I don’t think people really realize how versatile of a pen it is.
What’s one of your favorite buildings?
I’ll keep it simple. The Space Needle is actually a really impressive structure. Like the Eiffel Tower, when it was first built people hated it. Then, decades on, it has become iconic for the city. It’s what I would like to do with our art … be iconic.
You’ve just been commissioned to do a graphic novel on anything. What would it be about?
It would be about mental health. We talked about earlier how I kept being a doctor and artist separate. Once I tore that Wall down, I realized I had imposter syndrome.
It really unlocked what I was able to do with art, and opened the doors to trust other people to make Dozfy better. Reminds me of the African proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
I grew up with graphic novels, and telling a good story but from different perspectives is how I would approach it. The story of Batman is always repeated. The story of Superman is always repeated. The Bible, the Quran, all that stuff, they’re stories that people tell. I want to create iconic stories.
What’s a nonprofit we should donate to?
FareStart in Seattle. They do a fantastic job focusing on people who are homeless. They help them find a job, housing, transportation to get to work … anything to get structure back in their life.
But they also complement with a case manager or counselor to help with any type of personal trauma or mental health issues. The approach is very all-encompassing.
What’s a famous piece of entertainment that it feels like everybody loves, but you can’t get into?
Music.
That covers a lot of ground.
Yeah, because I have friends in the music industry. If people understand how the music industry works, it’s kind of sad. Pretty exploitative.
Once you understand business, it changes the whole game. A perfect example is this: Rihanna did an amazing Super Bowl halftime performance, right? And I didn’t realize how many hits she had.
But then, some people were like, “Well, why doesn’t she make more music?” You see what she’s done with her product line, she’s already one of the greatest R&B pop stars. But at the same time, she came out on top by creating a life that she’s not bound to the music industry. FREEDOM.
Talking about Tom Petty before, he hated going out in public. He was trapped in his own house and studio. I kind of understand why he made great music because, when he was trapped, he needed to find an outlet. People loved him for his music, but it bothered him that he couldn’t have a private life. He couldn’t just go out to eat at a restaurant.
I think that’s why I really enjoy making visual art. You can talk about a “Dozfy” and never know I’m in the vicinity listening.
