Interview with Takashi Iwasaki

q)So, can you tell me a little about yourself? Full name, age, some background info, etc?

a)Takashi Iwasaki, 24, born and raised in Japan until 20 years old, then came to Canada to study fine art and English.Graduated from the University of Manitoba BFA program, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada just this May, 2006.

q)How did you get started making art?

a)Like everybody else does, held a pencil at the age of three or something, and kept drawing and drawing, and somehow the habit stuck to me. I’m still drawing/painting/making something with my passion and desire of seeing something visually stimulating for me.

q)How would you describe your art?

a)My source of joy and playfulness, and hope they’re for the viewers too.

q)Where do you get the inspiration for your art?

a)From architecture, textile, fashion, and everything I can see and feel.

q)What are you working on now?

a)Smaller paintings, collages, and embroidery pieces with visual delicacy, intimacy, playfulness, and positive feelings, but lately I want to paint large again, very large!

q)Are there some web sites that you would like to recommend? Artists, art communities, xxx,...!?

a)http://andrewmorrow.com Andrew Morrow, he is an artist I recently met in Toronto. I haven’t seen his work in real life yet, but the energy and liveliness I can feel from the online images gave me goose bumps at the first sight. I got to see his work right in front of me one day!

q)What's your favorite medium to work in, and why?

a)Acrylic paints – vibrancy of the colors and the ease of cleaning up. I build up many layers of paints, so the short drying time of acrylic paints is very suitable for my work method. I can’t abandon oil paints – I love the richness of it, which acrylic doesn’t have.

q)What advice would you give to younger up and coming artist?

a)I’m the one to be advised, but if I can say something… Do what you want to do on your own responsibility and keep doing it until you get tired of it, or you may never get tired of it? And don’t forget to promote yourself! Hopefully this will get us somewhere.

q)What is your personal definition of life and art and everything else in between?

a)They’re all something important and unimportant at the same time. I don’t think the world would’ve been very different without me, but since I’ve got this life I’ll do my best to entertain myself. I try not to define anything specific about “art,” maybe because I don’t have enough knowledge to talk about it. Defining the meanings of life and art isn’t really important to me anyway. Whether defined or not, they’re there and I’m here. It’s the same difference to me. Many people tend to like clarifying and defining things, but I like keeping things vague and fluid. Life isn’t always about black and white.

q) If your persona were immortalized as a cartoon character, who would it be?

a)I want to die happily before I enter such a weird entity.

q)What are your artistic influences?

a)Between the page 123 of ARTFORUM and the hair of my girlfriend’s cat and everything else.

q) How are the reactions on your work in general?

a)People seem to think my work is uplifting, and that’s my intention. Some said that their 5-year-old son could paint like I do – I guess lots of people think like this, hahaha. They’ve got good kids.

q) What are you doing when you are not creating art?

a)I only make art – isn’t true. Cooking, taking a walk with my girlfriend, chatting with friends, spending way too much time on computer, working for money a little bit, managing my gallery space, chatting with friends again, and staying up late.

q) Tell us about a recent dream you had.

a)I see dreams once in a while, but often forget right after waking up. Sexual fantasies are always good, you know. Tell me about your recent dream.

q) What is freedom to you as an artist?

a)To be able to create anything I want without worrying about material cost and storage space.

q) Are there any particular works you've done that stand out as your favorites?

a)Everything I make somehow falls into the category of “my favorite” for a short time until I finish the next work.

q) Last Books you read?

a)I rarely read books. The last book I read is probably the anthropology textbook for my class two years ago. I read short online news everyday though.

q) Last records you bought?

a)I haven’t bought records lately, so I don’t even remember.

q) Who are your favourite artists & your favourite galleries?

a)I like Paul Klee, . I don’t have particular favorite galleries, but tend to like contemporary galleries. I like galleries with friendly directors/curators because they are the people I have to be friends with.

q) Which do you think make good art good? originality, or style? And, why?

a)I think both of them could be factors. Originality may mean uniquness, but doesn’t necessarily mean goodness because it may be uniquely bad. If one perticular style is popular, probably it’s proven that the style is thought to be good by the majority of people, but if it’s found everywhere, it becomes boring – like what often happens in the fashion industory. To me, good art is somehow distinctive, unique, and has potential of being the next popular style.

q) Your contacts….E-mail…Links

a)E-mail: takashiiwasaki@hotmail.com
Website: http://takashiiwasaki.info