Interview with Arrington de Dionyso

q)Who are you? Where are you from and where do you live now?

a)I am Arrington de Dionyso. I live and work mostly in Olympia, Washington but I travel almost half of the year touring with my music performances, and sometimes doing art installations.

q)What is it that you do? What media do you use?

a)I like to find old and interesting kinds of paper, right now I am mostly using a combination of pen, brush, sumi ink, water colors and acrylic inks...

q)What do you think sets your work apart?

a)That is for other people to decide.

q)How long have you been showing your work for? Did you have a “big break?”

a)I show my work to anybody who is willing to look at it. I can't really call anything a "big break" but I have been getting a lot of help from Fabrica Fluxus in Bari, which is very nice.

q)What are some things that have inspired you?

a)Myth, mystery, beautiful women, pomegranates and the poetry of William Blake.

q)What have you been working on recently?

a)I make records by hand with an antique record lathe, and each of the covers is painted by hand. You can watch a short documentary about the record lathe at this link- http://vimeo.com/14892109. I have also had the opportunity to work on some mural projects that have been very exciting- very large walls for me, it's kind of a new experience to be able to work in such a space.

q)Do you listen to music while you create your work? If so, would you give some examples?

a)My work is synaesthetic, so my music and visual art are always linked together somehow- I will often be working on a painting by listening to recent recordings of music I am working on at the same time, this helps to create a more cohesive body of work.

q)Do you do work in any other media? Other projects not necessarily related to your main body of work?

a)I have also made a hand-bound silkscreened book with Le Dernier Cri in Marseille, France during a residency there about two years ago. I have decided that I want to make more hand-bound books, but I do not own any screening or printing equipment. Today I started making books by hand, by taking paintings and sewing them together!

q)What advice do you have for artists looking to show their work?

a)Be nice to the people who like your art and thank them for their support.

q)Do you have any upcoming exhibitions of your work that you can mention?

a)I'm going to be working more with Fabrica Fluxus, there may also be some small exhibits in Milan and Bologna because I contributed drawings for a book of Erotic Art published by Paper Resistance in March, and I will also have a new record being released in April with K Records in the US and Interbang in Italy.

q)Where can people see more of your work on the internet?

a)Most of the photos of new work will be found on facebook, but I need to try to create a more professional artist website. I don't really know anything about web design, so that is difficult for me to do by myself.