Interview with Christian Curiel

Q)Something about you…what you want…

A) I live and work in Brooklyn, New York. Originally, I am from Miami Fl. I was born in Puerto Rico to Cuban parents which migrated there in the 70's. I want lots of things. But, mostly I really want to livenear a warm ocean. All in do time...

Q) What are your main goals when you create?

A) I am interested in creating an environment that conveys a strongmood and a variety of interpretations. I am also very interested in how I can apply paint in a different way every time I paint. I am always experimenting with the figure, colors, landscape,composition,and with the medium of paint.

Q) Do you rule by any tendency in your creative work, or you only follow what comes in your mind?

A) I often start with a general idea of sorts, a skeleton for a composition. But, I never really know what the outcome will be. That's kind of where I get my "fix". That is one of the aspects I love about painting. It's almost as if the work tells you what it needs as it develops.

Q)How has the internet and your website helped you spread your artwork to a wider audience?

A)You know, It really has helped me a lot. One needs to stay on course with the times. And digital is the easiest means to get information across rite now.

Q)How do you define your style and how would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

A) Style is to definitive of a word for me. I am always trying different things. And what really ties my work together is content and subject matter. Its always hard to describe ones work to someone who has not seen it, I often say something like. "I make large scale oil paintings that are figurative and deal with childhood memory and open ended narratives that's are often a bit magic realist". Or, I will ask to imagine a very strange acidic colorful "Lord Of The Flies"...

Q)What materials do you use to realize your creations?

A) Pretty much the very basics music, pencil, paper, oil paint, and canvas.

Q) What is your favorite a) taste b) sound c) sight d) scent e) tactile sensation?

A) Chocolate, The beach shore, Nature, My mother's cooking, Skin.

Q) What are you doing now…your current projects…

A) I have been working hard on my first major solo exhibit at Lehmann Maupin gallery in New York City for about a year and a half, its scheduled for the Spring of 2008. I am also doing a show in the project room at David Castillo Gallery in Miami,Fl on April14th 2007.

Q) Do you listen to music while you’re creating and what do you listen and what do you like to listen?

A) I listen to music a lot. I Listen to many kinds of music. I find myself listening to more low tempo kind of poetic lyrics that create lots imagery while I am working. I have been listening to M.Ward,ThomYorke, Modest Mouse, Wilco and always a little Blues, old Cuban song sand Hip Hop.

Q) Do you draw influences from a wide range of artists, musicians, books…?

A) I am always looking, reading, and listing for new things. It's anartist's nature to stay curious always, all the time.

Q)Name 3 things you couldn’t create without?

A) Music, art materials, food.

Q) Where have you show your art…?

A)I have shown in many venues. I remember my first one was in a small coffee shop in Miami Fl, called the Luna Star Cafe which was in front of the Museum of Contemporary Art. Man, I have come a long way. It funny how fast life moves. Always looking ahead.

Q) What haven’t you done yet that you definitely want to try someday?

A) I want to fly in to Madrid one day and drive all the way down toSevilla and stay there for a very long time.

Q) How important is self-promotion for an artist nowadays?

A) Well, What can I say an artist should be able to promote one selfwell with out giving away ones soul. It's important to have a business approach that is kind of separate from ones creative practice. Its a slippery slope, But you have to be in it to win it...

Q) Would you say that your work consciously reflects characters and situations found within your daily life?

A) Yes. My work is very situational. And I am always open to theworld around me. One of my favorite things to do is people watch. NewYork is great for people watching. My surroundings affect my work alot.

Q) Favourite book?

A) One Hundred Years Of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Márquez.

Q) Designers/Artists you admire?

A) My favorite artist of all time is Goya. I look at art history all the time for ideas and inspiration it is a very important aspect of my creative process and currently stylistically I like artist like PeterDoig, Daniel Richter, Neo Rauch, Kerry James Marshall, and Many others my tastes are always changing I love to rediscover artists over time.Its the magic of art, If its really good its timeless...

Q) Your contacts….e-mail…links…

A) You can find my contact info on my web site www.christiancuriel.com or the gallery's web site

www.lehmannmaupin.com also I work with a collaborative www.fecuop.com

check it out some time. The interview was fun, Thanks!

Interview with David Trulli

Q)Something about you…what you want…

A)I was born in 1960 in New York and have lived in Los Angeles, California since 1979. I used to be a cinematographer until 4 years ago, when I became a full-time artist. I work primarily in “scratchboard” – wood, covered with white clay, which is then covered with black ink. I use very fine knives to scratch through the ink, creating white lines.
I want to create the things I want to create, and still pay the rent. That’s all.

Q) What are your main goals when you create?

A)I hope to create art that means something to me and, hopefully, others. I don’t always know what it will mean in the end, but I want it to touch people in some way.

Q) Do you rule by any tendency in your creative work, or you only follow what comes in your mind?

A)I think I have a “world view,” a way that I look at things. That way of seeing informs all that I do. At times I might have a specific theme that is on my mind, but I try not to let that rule my work. I believe in working intuitively and allowing myself to go off on a tangent.

Q)How has the internet and your website helped you spread your artwork to a wider audience?

A)The viral nature of the internet is extremely powerful. My work has been exposed to people all over the world simply because they stumbled upon it. This interview wouldn’t have occurred if not for the internet. My website is a 24 hour a day gallery, open to all.
I also have a “myspace” page, which has introduced my work to even more people.

Q)How do you define your style and how would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

A)I described the medium above, so I’ll concentrate on the content.
I think my work illuminates the beauty, wonder, angst and terror of living in the modern, technological world.

Q)What materials do you use to realize your creations?

A)Wood, ink, clay and acrylic. I also do some etchings on copper and zinc plates.

Q) What is your favorite a) taste b) sound c) sight d) scent e) tactile sensation?

A)a-Almost any pasta dish (I am Italian-American, after all).
b-A cat purring
c-I find all women beautiful to look at
d-Coffee
e-Caressing my wife

Q) What are you doing now…your current projects…

A)I am always creating new scratchboard work. Since I just had a show I need to create a new body of work.
I am also involved with a project called “L.A. Ethos.” A gallery here has lined their walls with blank canvas and invited working Los Angeles based artists to paint on it during the gallery’s business hours. The artists are supposed to reflect on a series of questions regarding LA and art, and let that come out in there painting. It has been a lot of fun and is an interesting show.

Q) Do you listen to music while you’re creating and what do you listen and what do you like to listen?

A)Yes, I listen to music all the time. My tastes are varied and include jazz, classical and electronic, but mostly I listen to punk rock.

Q) Do you draw influences from a wide range of artists, musicians, books…?

A)Yes. I think my inspiration comes from the totality of my life, not just one or two artists. Art, music, books, movies are all important. Just walking around the city, watching the people and places, is important too.

Q)Name 3 things you couldn’t create without?

A)Time alone, a sensitivity to the world around me and a crushing self-awareness.

Q) Where have you show your art…?

A)I have had solo shows at the Copro/Nason Gallery, the Earl McGrath Gallery, Gallery 825 and Gallery Figueroa, all in Los Angeles. I have been in any group shows as well.

This year I hope to show my work in other cities and other countries.

Q) What haven’t you done yet that you definitely want to try someday?

A)I’ve never painted with oil paints. I would like to create a graphic novel someday too.

Q) How important is self-promotion for an artist nowadays?

A)It’s always been important.

Q) Would you say that your work consciously reflects characters and situations found within your daily life?

A)Yes, definitely.

Q) Favourite book?

A)“On the Road” by Jack Kerouac. “Sputnik Sweetheart” by Haruki Murakami

Q) Designers/Artists you admire?

A)George Tooker, Edward Hopper, wood enngravers Lynd Ward and Paul Landacre, just to name a few.

Q) Your contacts….e-mail…links…

A) Email: David@davidtrulli.com

http://www.DavidTrulli.com
http://www.myspace.com/davidtrulli

Interview with Paul Rumsey

Q)Something about you. ..What you want. ..

A)I was born in 1956 and live near Colchester, 60 miles NE of London. When I
was at school I wanted to paint monsters like Bosch, nudes like Rubens and
weird stuff like the Surrealists. I went to art college but didn't fit in-
the fashion at the time was for abstraction. I met my wife, the artist Terry
Curling, in 1977.Her tastes in art were similar to mine. Our twin daughters
were born in 1989. I started to exhibit my drawings in mixed shows in 1988
and had my first solo show in 1996.

Q)What are your main goals when you create ?

A)To finish a picture that I would be happy to hang on the wall and live with .
Once the picture is finished I scrutinise it for ages looking for anything
that catches my eye and needs to be corrected. The anatomies, spatial
relationships and light effects have to be right and the composition must
have movement and abstract design .

Q)Do you rule by any tendency in your creative work, or only follow what comes
in your mind?

A)First come the ideas- these are drawn in my sketchbooks which date back for
30 years or more, like a diary. Some of the drawings I am doing now I had
the idea for many years ago. I start drawing very loosely and invent as I
work. I make many alterations and never know what the picture will look like
until its finished .

Q)How has the internet and your website helped you spread your work to a wider
audience ?

A)Before the internet my audience was mostly local to the galleries. In 2003
my work was put on the Henry Boxer Gallery website, which specialises in
Outsider and Visionary art. Visitors to that site are more likely to be
receptive to my work and thus seek my website. I have an unusual name so its
easy for me to track my work as it appears on various blogs, etc around the
world, like "Monster Brains".

Q)How do you define your style and how would you describe your work to someone
who could not see it ?

A)Dark, atmospheric charcoal drawings, quite realistic, unusual subjects.

Q)What materials do you use to realise your creations ?

A)Charcoal, which is grey and transparent, compressed charcoal, which is black
and opaque, on thick printing paper or card, with a lot of rubbing with
erasers and scratching with sandpaper, plus a lot of fixative .

Q)What is your favourite a) taste b )sound c) sight d) scent e) tactile
sensation ?

A) a) Cold drink on a hot day b) My cats purring c) My wife d) My wife e) My
wife.

Q)What are you doing now, your current projects ?

A)I am doing drawings for my next solo show, at the Piers Feetham Gallery in
April 2007.

Q)Do you listen to music while you are drawing and what do you listen to ?

A)Velvet underground, Stooges, Cramps, Pixies, a lot of those 60s punk and
psychedelic groups like the Sonics and the Calico wall, they all keep me
awake while I am working .

Q)Do you draw influences from a wide range of artists, musicians and books ?

A)Yes, mostly from the tradition of the fantastic and grotesque, beginning
with the hybrid creatures of mythology and the writings of Lucian, whose
satires influenced Rabelais, Swift and the Tales of Baron Munchausen. From
the Renaissance: Bosch, Bruegel, Grunewald, Baldung Grien and Altdorfer and
the erotic mythological tradition from Giorgione, Titian and Dosso Dossi to
the nudes of Rubens.
From the
Mannerist period there are many strange artists, using unnatural colours,
distortions and elongations: Giulio Romano, Lelio Orsi, Spranger,
Archimboldo, Monsu Desiderio who specialised in night time views of ruined
cities, and from the Fontainbleu school, Rosso Fiorentino, Primaticcio,
Nicolo dell'Abate and Antoine Caron.
A darker more macabre tradition appears in prints: Holbein's
'Dance of Death', Urs Graf, Callot, through to Goya's "Disparates" and
Piranesi's "Prisons". The landscape etchings of Hercules Segers are amazing.
Book illustrations are also part of this tradition: the bizarre
juxtapositions in emblems, alchemical engravings, scientific and anatomical
illustration like Vesalius, d'Agoty and Ernst Haeckel. Also satiric prints:
the Topsy Turvey World engravings, Rowlandson, Gillray, though to
Grandville and Daumier- a tradition continued into the twentieth century by
A. Paul Weber.
Other influences include: Blake, Fuseli, Moreau, Redon, Bresdin, Dadd,
Wiertz, Ensor, Kubin and the Surrealists- especially Ernst, Leonora
Carrington and Jan Svankmajer. Because my range of influences is so wide I
don't think that a specific influence is dominant.

Q)Name three things you could not create without.

A)My wife, my sketchbooks and our library of art books.

Q)Where have you shown your art ?

A)East West Gallery London, 96, 98, Chappel Galleries near Colchester, 97, 99,
00, 02,and in 05 with a book of my work. Also two mixed shows with Henry
Boxer Gallery:-"Unquiet Voices" English and American Visionary Art 1903 to
2003, at the Horse Hospital London and "Inner Landscapes" Outsider and
Visionary Art, at the Plymouth Arts Centre 2006. Next, Piers Feetham
Gallery, April 2007.

Q)What haven't you done yet that you definitely want to try some day ?

A)I haven't done any painting for 20 years and I sometimes get a vague urge to
pick up a brush.

Q)How important is self promotion for an artist nowadays ?

A)I have been told that it is, but I am useless at it .

Q)Would you say your work consciously reflects characters and situations found
within your daily life ?

A)Sometimes it does, but I draw a wide variety of subjects so I think the
scope of my work is not limited to just my daily life, it also reflects the
outside world, stuff I see on the news, books I read, etc.

Q)Favourite book ?. ..

A)Ovid, Kafka, Alfred Kubin, Huysmans "Against Nature", Jean Ray
"Malpertuis".

Q)Designers, artists you admire ?

A)I mentioned some artists before, I have found a lot of great art on the websites "bibliodyssey" "Giornale Nuovo" and "Monster Brains".


Q)Your contacts, email, links.

A) http://www.angelfire.com/pa5/rumsey/ My website. (80 pictures).
My recent work at Chappel Galleries. (30 pictures).
http://www.chappelgalleries.co.uk/exhibitions-05/paul-rumsey/paul-rumsey.htm
http://www.outsiderart.co.uk/ Henry Boxer Gallery
http://www.piersfeethamgallery.com/ Solo show April 2007.
My wife's work at Chappel Galleries.
http://www.chappelgalleries.co.uk/front-room/terry-curling/terry-curling.htm
http://www.eastwestgallery.co.uk/ Has work in stock.
http://monsterbrains.blogspot.com/
http://www.jahsonic.com/FantasticArt.html
E-mail, terryrumsey@hotmail.com

Interview with Alika Cooper

Q)Something about you...what you want.

A)I live in Oakland, California. I play soccer. I liveright on a big lake in downtown Oakland. It’s a lakethat is really the ocean. There are seagulls and wildbirds that hang around my apartment. I like to playgames and dress up in costumes when I play them.

Q) What are your main goals when you create?

A)I try to make something I haven't seen myself alreadydo. I try to invent new techniques as I go. I try tomake something complex. I try to evoke.

Q) Do you rule by any tendency in your creative work, or you only follow what comes in your mind?

A)I work with very specific subject matter and sourcematerial. Like a specific scene in a film. So mypreparation is very thought out and labored. When Iactually paint, I am very loose and open to whateverhappens in the process of painting an image.

Q)How has the internet and your website helped you spread your artwork to a wider audience?

A)Artists and Art Directors and Art enthusiasts frequentArtist websites which creates a community andconnections you wouldnt otherwise make.

Q)How do you define your style and how would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

A)My work is similar in style to Luc Tuymans and EdwardHopper. I paint portraits of actresses, some of whichare quite strange and eerily decapitated. I paintrural landcapes, which in some cases are disconnectedand simple and stark.

Q)What materials do you use to realize your creations?

A)I work with gouache on printmaking paper. I also usefilm stills that I make from movies and photographs Ihave taken of my aunts property.

Q) What is your favorite a) taste b) sound c) sight d) scent e) tactile sensation?

A)Sight

Q) What are you doing now.Your current projects.

A)I’m working on an illustration for the New York Times.I have a solo show coming up this summer at MarkWolfe Gallery in San Francisco. I’m doing the LA/ART inNew York Art Fair this February with LightBox Gallery.

Q) Do you listen to music while you're creating and what do you listen and what do you like to listen?

A)Sometimes. Silence works too. I love soul. Anythingdancey or dramatic. I love Nina Simone.

Q) Do you draw influences from a wide range of artists, musicians, books.?

A)Books, I would say Hemingway, Steinbeck, ToniMorrison, Dostoyevsky, Raymond Carver. I get prettyobsessed with movies. I watch Grey Gardens alot.

Q)Name 3 things you couldn't create without?

A)Health, peace, desire

Q) Where have you show your art.?

A)Lots of alternative spaces. Im represented by Lightboxin Los Angeles and Mark Wolfe in San Francisco.

Q) What haven't you done yet that you definitely want to try someday?

A)I would like to make a documentary film.

Q) How important is self-promotion for an artist nowadays?

A)It’s very important, you have to be visible in order tobe found and to find people that make sense to workwith you.

Q) Would you say that your work consciously reflects characters and situations found within your daily life?

A)Definitely not consciously

Q) Favourite book?

A)The Secret History by Donna Tart and The Idiot byDostoyevsky, and Sula by Toni Morrison

Q) Designers/Artists you admire?

A)The Ashcan school, Robert Bechtle, Marlene Dumas,Cindy Sherman, Nan Goldin

Q) Your contacts..e-mail.links.

A)alikacooper.com

alikacooper@yahoo.com

lightbox.tv

Interview with Jan Bollaert

Q)Something about you…what you want…

A)SERENITY , ACCEPTANCE AND MAKING STUFF , NOT ONLY IN ART.
OH AND MORE THAN ENOUGH MONEY SO I CAN KEEP ON MAKING WHAT I WANT
TO MAKE, BUT THAT SEEMS TO WORK OUT VERY FINE TO MY EVER LASTING SURPRISE :-)

Q) What are your main goals when you create?

A)FUSE CLASSIC CRAFTMANSSHIP WITH THE CONTEMPORARY FREEDOM IN ART TO
MAKE AN ORIGINAL INTRIGUING BUT ALSO BEAUTIFULL WORK OF ART. ART FOR THE EYES ALSO,
NOT JUST FOR THE BRAIN !!

Q) Do you rule by any tendency in your creative work, or you only follow what comes in your mind?

A)MY ONLY RULE IS JUST TO FOLLOW WHAT COMES INTO MY MIND WITHOUT QUESTIONING IT
OR ANALYSING IT (UNLESS MAYBE LATER WHEN THE WORK IS FINISHED).
WELL MAYBE I DO HAVE A RULE: IF YOU HAVE TO PAINT IT, YOU BETTER PAINT IT AS GOOD AS YOU CAN !
I AM PRETTY SURE MI KIND OF ART WOULD NOT WORK IF IT WAS PAINTED BADLY.

Q)How has the internet and your website helped you spread your artwork to a wider audience?

A)VERY VERY MUCH, MY WORK IS SEEN BY ON AVERAGE 20.000 PEOPLE PER YEAR OUT OF MORE THAN
80 COUNTRIES. THIS WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT THE INTERNET.
IT’S ALSO MUCH EASIER TO SHOW NEW WORK TO GALLERIES AND ARTDEALERS.

Q)How do you define your style and how would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

A)THE CLOSESED I CAN GET TO A STYLE DEFINITION IS NEO-POPART OR MAYBE CONTEMPORARY
POPART. I DON’T WANT TO COPY THE STYLE OF THE FIRST GENERATION OF POP ART ARTISTS
BUT I DO USE THERE PHILOSOPHY OF GETTING MY IMAGES OUT OF POPULAR CULTURE AND
THE MEDIA. ALTHOUGH WHAT I DO WITH THEM IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT THEY
USED TO DO WITH IT. FOR THE REST I WOULD DESCRIBE IT AS VERY FIGURATIVE BUT NOT REALISTIC AT ALL.

Q)What materials do you use to realize your creations?

A)FIRST I ONLY USED ACRYLIC PAINT, NOW I MAINLY USE OILPAINT ALTHOUGH FROM TIME TO
TIME I STILL USE SOME ACRYLICS. THE REST IS JUST CANVAS AND A WOOD FOR THE STRECH FRAME. OH AND I ALSO
LIKE TO USE PATINATED OLD LEADFOIL TO MAKE MY FRAMES FROM TIME TO TIME.

Q) What is your favorite a) taste b) sound c) sight d) scent e) tactile sensation?

A)CHOCOLATE, A CHILD LAUGHING, A WOMAN HAVING AN ORGASM, LYLACS, WATER (cold)

Q) What are you doing now…your current projects…

A)I’M WORKING ON 3 PROJECTS. OR BETTER I PLAN TO WORK ON THREE PROJECTS IN 2007.
FIRST I WANT TO CONTINUE MY RECENT SERIES OF PORTRAITS COMBINED WITH PARTS OF
TEXTS ( PREFERABLY AS NEON SIGNS).
SECOND I WANT TO CONTINUE EXPLORING OTHER PAINTING TECHNIQUES AND COMBINATIONS
(SOMETHING I ALWAYS TRY TO DO INBETWEEN THE “REGULAR WORK”)
THIRD I WANT TO START A NEW PROJECT BASED ON OLD BAKELITE RADIOS. I HAVE BOUGHT
OVER 50 OF THEM LAST YEAR. I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE ACCUMULATIONS WITH THEM AND ALSO
PAINT THEM. WELL NOT PAINT THE RADIOS THEMSELVES BUT MAKE PAINTINGS OF THEM.

OH AND THERE IS MAYBE ONE MORE THING, I’M INVITED TO HAVE A SHOW IN A NEW GALLERY
VERY NEAR TO THE RED LIGHT DISTRICT OF ANTWERP. SO I WOULD USE THIS OCCASION TO MAYBE
MAKE A SERIES OF MORE EROTIC PAINTINGS (BUT AT THIS POINT I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY WILL
LOOK LIKE, I’M THINKING OF MAYBE FOR A CHANGE MAKING THEM VERY SMALL AND INTIMATE
BUT THEN I WANT TO PUT THEM IN A VERY BOLD FRAME , A BIT LIKE WHAT MARK RYDEN IS DOING.

Q) Do you listen to music while you’re painting and what do you listen and what do you like to listen?

A)ALWAYS, MOSTLY COOL AND SMOOTH JAZZ.

Q) Do you draw influences from a wide range of artists, musicians, books…?

A)MOST LIKELY BUT NOT INTENTIONALLY OR KNOWINGLY

Q)Name 3 things you couldn’t create without?

A)BEING ALONE. FEELING FREE. BUT MOSTLY THE CURIOSITY OF HOW MY NEXT PAINTING WILL LOOK LIKE.

Q) Where have you show your art…?

A)FROM A FURNITURE SHOWROOM NEARBY UP TO A GALLERY IN SEATTLE AND EVERYTHING INBETWEEN.
WELL THESE DAYS IT’S MOSTLY GALLERIES IN BELGIUM AND HOLLAND. AND I HAVE A LOT OF WORK
HANGING IN COMPANIES, SOME OF IT AS RENTAL, BUT ALSO AS PART OF THE COMPANY’S PERMANENT ARTCOLLECTION.

Q) What haven’t you done yet that you definitely want to try someday?

A)MAKE A HUGE PAINTING AND ALSO SCULPTURE BUT ALSO ON A GRAND SCALE COMBINING FOR
EXAMPLE FURNITURE WITH NEON LIGHTING AND ANIMAL SHAPES OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT

Q) How important is self-promotion for an artist nowadays?

A)IT’S AS IMPORTANT AS IT HAS EVER BEEN UNFORTUNATELY. THANK GOD I DIDN’T HAVE TO DO MUCH
OF IT SO FAR IT SEEMS THAT MY WORK IS SELLING ITSELF PRETTY GOOD WITHOUT ME PUSHING IT.
BUT FOR ME THE CONSEQUENCE IS THAT I MUST BE THE MOST SUCCESFULL UNKNOWN ARTIST IN BELGIUM.
THIS MIGHT CHANGE IN 2007 BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN ASKED TO MAKE A PAINTING THAT WILL BE USED FOR ALL PUBLICITY FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT SPORT EVENT IN BELGIUM. AND I AM THE FIRST UNKNOW ARTIST
THEY HAVE ASKED THIS.

Q) Would you say that your work consciously reflects characters and situations found within your daily life?

A)OH NO NOT AT ALL, NEVER !

Q) Favourite book?

A)ZEN, OR THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE

Q) Designers/Artists you admire?

A)RAUSCHENBERG, KOONS BUT MOST OF ALL AT THIS MOMENT NEO RAUCH
I THINK THAT’S THE ONLY ARTIST OF MY GENERATION THAT I ENVY.

Q) Your contacts….e-mail…links…

A)SORRY DON’T UNDERSTAND THIS LAST QUESTION. DO YOU WANT TO KNOW MY CONTACTS IN THE ARTWORLD
AND THEIR E-MAILS, AND LINKS TO THEM ???? IF SO I CAN BEST REFER YOU TO THE LINKS PAGE ON MY WEBSITE (http://www.janbollaert.com)

I WOULD LIKE TO ADD ON A PERSONAL NOTE THAT THESE WHERE VERY SMART AND TO THE POINT QUESTIONS.
NO PSYCHO BULLSHIT AND STUFF. I ENJOYED ANSWERING THEM AND IT WAS GOOD TO THINK A FEW THINGS OVER.
A NICE WAY TO REFLECT FOR MYSELF WHAT I AM DOING , WHY I AM DOING IT AND WHERE I WANT TO GO;

IF YOU HAVE ADITIONAL QUESTIONS OR WANT ME TO EXPAND ON CERTAIN THINGS PLEASE DON’T HESITATE TO ASK ME.

Interview with Marcos Chin

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

A) My name is Marcos Chin, I’m 31 years old. I graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design, in Toronto, where I am originally from, but currently live in New York City.

Q)How did you get started making art?

A)I have always loved to draw ever since I was a child. This interest of mine stayed with me throughout school – throughout my life – so when it came time to decide where to further my education after high school, I chose to apply to the Ontario College of Art and Design. It wasn’t until I was near the end of my first year at college, that I decided I wanted to pursue “drawing” – specifically illustration – for a living.

Q)How would you describe your art?

A) Much of the work that I do is for commercial clients, ie. editorial or advertising – oftentimes they call me to illustrate lifestyle or fashion inspired themes.

Q)Who is your biggest influence, both art and non-art related

A) It would be difficult for me to specify my biggest influence – there are so many things which inspire me and my work. Artists both living and passed have been a main source of inspiration for me, as are other illustrators, my own history, ethnicity, cartoons and comics, fashion and music, street culture, travelling, my friends. I know that as time passes, my tastes also shifts; so what may have been a previous source of inspiration for me, may no longer be the same – my influences continue to evolve.

Q) How do you approach the creation of a new piece... how does everything come together?

A)For my commercial work, I often receive some sort of artistic brief, as an article for a magazine for example. I read it over once and then jot down or highlight on the page, anything which might inspire me visually to create an image based on what I’ve read. I then do a second read over of the article and then basically create fast loose thumbnail drawings in my sketchbook of any ideas that I might have. This is the most important stage of development for me: my rough or brainstorming stage where I come up with the concepts of what I want to illustrate. Oftentimes, if I am stuck on an idea, then I close my sketchbook and then reinvestigate it later on – if there is some time, I will even sleep on it and wait until the next day to continue to do more brainstorming. After my idea work is done, I will peruse through my drawings and select one which I think will make a good final drawing. I redraw this idea sketch into a much cleaner and larger drawing, after which I will scan in the drawing into my computer and use it as a template to digitally redraw it using Adobe Illustrator.

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

A)I love to draw using brush and ink or a fine tip marker.

Q) What is your favourite art related web site?

A)Honestly, I really don’t have one.

Q) Is your work all hand done? Or do you use any computer tools to help out?

A) My drawings are a mix of digital vector work mixed with handmade.

Q) What, in your opinion, are the best and worst places to exhibit artwork?

A) I have limited experience with exhibit work so it is difficult for me to answer that question.

Q) I'm always interested in where an artist find their inspiration. Where do you find yours?

A)As mentioned in question 4, much of my inspiration comes from a variety of places. But to expand a bit on this, part of the reason why i chose to live in new york city was that it inspired me: the people, the sounds, the cityscape, the nightlife. It is always a new experience for me, getting up and leaving my apartment to go to the studio, things which i may experience along the way, feelings that I might have or the things that i might see or experience venturing out in the city on my time off will in some way appear in my work.

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

A)Both good and bad. Some people like it and some people don’t.

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

A)This is an appropriate question considering it is the New Year – one of my resolutions is to live more of a balanced life; to not work so much. When I am not creating art I try my best to do just that, things which keep me out of the studio – whether it is going to the gym, watching movies, hanging out with my friends, travelling… all of these things not typically art related I need to do in order to help fuel my later work.

Q)What are some of the greatest challenges that you think artists face today?

A) I think one of the greatest challenges that I face with my work constantly, is to try to keep it honest. I want to try to create pieces that “I want to create” and to not be swayed by the market, and what is seen as being popular versus unpopular. Of course we all need to live, and so the commercial work that I do for instance, provides me with the freedom to create personal images of mine maintain this sense of honesty.

Q) Do you believe that a person is born with a talent to produce art or can anyone can be taught?

A)Although I believe that most people can be taught to draw or paint, the ones who are better than average have some sort of X-factor that sets them apart from the majority.

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

A)This sounds really contrived but I don’t have any favourites… funny enough every time I go back and look at my work I think I could have done a better job.

Q) What are some current/upcoming projects you are working on or excited about?

A)Recently I completed 2 projects for Nieman Marcus in the U.S. for their annual Christmas Catalogue and another one that is due to come out in February. However, what I am very excited about is to go back to school – I am currently deciding whether or not I want to further my education, I have been out of school for about 7 years, but now I feel as though I want to learn more, and play more with different media etc.

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

A)One piece of advice that I would give to younger artists who want to pursue visual arts as a career is to work hard. Again, I know that sounds contrived, but it’s true. Just being talented isn’t good enough to “make it”… you need to have a strong work ethic: to constantly be driven to persist when times are difficult and to create new work when nobody is asking you to do so, it’s about becoming a business and knowing how to market yourself, and learning as much as you can about the industry in which you are in.

Q) Who are your favourite artists & Your favourite galleries?

A)I have been to many galleries… but it really depends on the show that is being exhibited which will determine if I would like to visit that gallery or not. That being said, one museum that was a favourite of mine solely for being a gallery was the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. I took a trip from Toronto to Bilbao a few years back and purposely visited that city in order to see the museum; it was incredible.

Q) Do you need others to tell you they like it before you feel validated?

A) It always feels good when somebody likes my work, but to have their comments validate what I do is not healthy.

Q)Tell us a little about some of the different types of jobs you've had over the years, before/while doing what you do now. For someone who is starting out in art, how would you recommend they go about making a career out of it?

A) I have been working ever since I was 10 years old – I had part time jobs delivering daily newspapers, working in a fast food restaurant, a supermarket, a daycare centre, a clothing store; I’ve done administrative work in offices… and although these jobs seem irrelevant to what I do now, the gains that I made from those experiences helped to fashion within me, a strong work ethic; it honed my communication skills and made me realize that I didn’t want to be doing any of those types of jobs ever again during the rest of my lifetime.
Starting out as an illustrator can be difficult because there is no protocol to finding work – at least not a structured one. There is nobody to submit your resume to, there is no human resources department, there is nobody telling you when to show up for your job or when to go on lunch; moreover, there is nobody testing your skills to determine whether or not you deserve a raise. Freelancing as an illustrator is so different, it is up to you to decide to whom you want to show your work, it is up to you to research who it is you want to work with in your industry, it is up to you to put together your own mailing list, it is up to you to put together your portfolio and show it to those in your industry. Basically at the beginning, that is what it is like, constantly trying to prove yourself and to connect with many people/art directors/art buyers to convince them that you are the one who they want to work with; there is nobody other than yourself who is responsible for this. That is how I began, I went into bookstores and took down the names and addresses of those art directors who I wanted to work with, I asked my professors for help in fixing my portfolio or suggestions on where I should show my portfolio. I called up advertising agencies and magazines to ask for mailing lists of the art directors who worked there, I looked through illustration award annuals to see if there were names of clients who I could send my work to, or call to make an appointment. I read books about the business of illustration and different ways to promote myself. But ultimately what I didn’t do was to give up; I constantly tried my hardest to continue to create new images even though nobody was calling me to do so. I thought that if I kept this up, then I would become better at my business and my craft.

Q)Your contacts….E-mail…links

A) www.marcoschin.com/