I am an LA native–born and raised, in the San Fernando Valley. I have been drawing, painting, creating for as long as I could remember but had not truly pursued the practice until High School, which like any good art class, I was heavily criticized, sometimes praised, discouraged by peers and family, but powered through. Therefore, after three years of college, attempting a degree in which I could not see a real future in, I left, returned to Los Angeles, and began my career in painting on my own.
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The paintings I create are direct influences from my experiences–whether that is a life event, inspiring film, an intriguing story I read, a story a friend told me, etc. I try to pay close attention to my environment and recreate that in my paintings.
I rarely sketch. Most of the time, I pretty much know what kind of message I want to convey, which colors I want to use, and if the work will be of a man, woman, or both. And If I get stuck, I look back at the masters (Carravaggio, Velasquez, Bacon) and to understand how to be simple, yet wildly expressive without giving anything away too quickly. That’s the most difficult part, I believe, that a lot of artists face, so many of my paintings are finished based on my determination to be expressive while lacking obvious expression of that message. Also, I keep my studio a mess and if everything was clean, I would be lost. I get a lot of criticism from people who come into my studio for that. Everyone’s got somethin’.
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Studio days are every day and they are tough, but well worth it. I live an hour away, entering Skid Row from Woodland Hills. I wave to the boys in the parking structure, offer my security guard coffee, climb four flights of stairs with a totebag that holds my laptop, charger, a book (usually Kitchen Confidential, Naked Lunch, or something by Joan Didion), and a notebook. I play music and work. Usually I have something that is already in the works, needing to be finished, but if that’s not the case, I grab my laptop and look at the screenshots of references I have in a folder titled “inspo” and work from there. “Going For a Ride” is a painting made up from a screenshot of Buster Scruggs, the UK show “Grand Tour”, my face, and my high school ex’s cool car. Everything comes usually together in the end.
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Not exactly. I mean, I have always drawn figures. I was not necessarily a landscape-art kind of person, although I just found an appreciation for that work. When I decided to be a painter, I figured the most challenging part would be developing a style someone could recognize while still being true to my own. I only just found that this year. My old work; paintings of my friends and family; were pretty much just helping me figure out which part of my process made me feel the best (or worst) and to go with that.
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I have always enjoyed painting people, but placing them into this universe that I have created and of which I vicariously live through is very new.
Not to sound cliche, which sounds cliche anyway; my inspiration comes from everywhere. Films, books, and other stories, like I said before, play a large roll. However, my message is almost always having to do with myself or someone in my life. This is heartbreak, loss, confusion, inequality, fear, joy, exhaustion, misunderstood, etc. I see that stuff everywhere; not just in my life; but I assume that I am not alone in these kinds of experiences. Maybe I just process them differently. So, the work is usually my coping mechanism. Rather than actually express emotion, literally, in real life, I paint. It is like those people who have a really difficult time saying “goodbye”. My work is kind of a method of my saying goodbye, in a way, when I really struggle with that.
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What source material do you base your work off of?
Living so far away, I often go out after I work to wait out the traffic. Often times, I meet people who are super fascinating, or beautiful, or both, or abhorrent, and I think that I want to paint them or my interaction with them. The time, the setting, the connection or lack there-of, already are helping me create a narrative for a painting in my head. That also does not mean going out all the time is great, but it’s..you know…educational?
I am a big film fan. I love good use of color, the unexpected narrative that flips you off your heels, and the style of frame that these men and women do in the film industry. So, I take a look at that a lot. I especially pay attention to Wes Anderson, Scorcese, Tarantino, and a ton of my friends who are incredible in that work. Attention to design really does help my narratives seem more expressive.
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Does your work reference any Art Historical movements?
Picasso’s primitive paintings were works that I had discovered later, but now influence me with almost every painting. The baroque and other renaissance work taught me a ton about how a shadow can make you feel. DADA work showed me you can have fun, be satirical, and not take anything too seriously except for self-respect and a drive to create. The current movement of this art-market has taught me that it is important to pay little attention to what is “popular” and to make that work because I love it and I know how to.
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What is next is just to keep working. I am enthusiastic about applying everything that I have learned in 2019, as a self-taught artist on my own, to what I will create in 2020.
Interview Camilla Engstrom and Jake Troll! They’re incredible artists and have a lot on their minds.