Interview with GREATeclectic, aka Kendrick Daye

q)Introduce yourself, name,age, location.

a)My name is GREATeclectic, aka Kendrick Daye, I'm 24 years old and based in Miami, Florida.

q) Can you describe your path to being an artist? When did you really get into it?

a)I was always creating and drawing, even as a kid. My mother caught on to this, and made sure she nurtured that talent. I was in Magnet art schools in Middle and High School. Even when I went away to College at Morehouse College in Atlanta to study English, I still was working on art, it was something I couldn't stop doing.

q) Describe your ideals and how they manifest in your work.

a)As an artist I blend the most abstractly familiar elements of life – love, envy, wealth, wrath, perception, desire, greed, necessity, lust, identity, indulgence, ideals, ego, morals, said bankruptcy, and fears – with the rawest veneer of famous faces. My pieces are pastiches – whole in-and-of themselves but even more so in context of one another. Pop & Politics are alive and well-contented bedfellows in this world. The personal space stands as the preeminent public place of judgment. Shadows dance in rigid rhythmic formation with neon strobes. The entire world coalesces into a kaleidoscopic cultural landscape… where we are presented with our own selves from before the mass-mediated mirror of Pop life.

q) Is music a part of your studio time? What do you listen to?

a)Music is a huge part of my studio time. I can't work without it. I listen to alot of mixes or songs I'm working on. But right now I've been re-exploring Fiona Apple's "Tidal," Missy Elliot's "Da Real World" and Duran Duran's "Red Carpet Massacre." I also can't get enough of Cassie's "King of Hearts."

q) How would you describe your work to someone?

a)It is arduous. It is bright. It is delusional. It is hidden in prismatic view. It is seeing roses through Reagan-colored sunglasses. It is waking up to the first Pink Friday after Sunday mourning. It is the scene sweet-tooth before and beneath the staid urban decay. It is everything in one place, in distorted focus, for no other reason than for you to see it; because we’ve been blinded by the guided light, because we need to throw shade if only to stargaze again.

q) Influences?

a)Andy Warhol. Jean-Michel Basquiat. Keith Haring. Ron English. Shepard Fairey. Banksy.


q) Describe your process for creating new work.

a)In the beginning stages of creating a new body of work I initially just have my materials around me and get to work on something. Later, after I begin to notice recurring themes and from that I go back to the drawing board and sketch more concrete ideas, edit, edit, edit and start over.

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

a)Be open to new avenues of showing your work starting out. Everyone would love that big gallery, with clean white walls, but don't shut out using coffee shops or lounges and other non-traditional venues. The idea is to have your work seen.

q) What are you really excited about right now?

a)I'm really excited about life. There's so much I have to look forward to


q) What do you love most about where you live?

a)I love that there is no such thing as Winter. I love that water is all around. I love that my family is here. I love that art and street art is huge here.


q) Best way to spend a day off?

a)I don't have days off. But if I did, I might go to the beach and just sit, sketch and people watch.


q) Upcoming shows/ projects?

a)Right now I'm prepping for my second solo exhibition. It's entitled "Kendrick is Dead," and it should be opening sometime Late Spring/Early Summer. I just released my first project of original music "Planet of the Ape$," which you can download here, and I'm currently working on the follow up entitled "Large Fears" which should be out the end of the Summer.

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

a)You can check out my website www.greateclectic.com it links to all my art and music and other social networking sites. I also post new work constantly on my Tumblr www.greateclectic.tumblr.com