1. First off give me a little bio of yourself, name, age, where you came from, how you got into art, if you have art degrees, if so where you got them etc.
I began my career at the age of 16 making punk flyers in San Francisco. Never being content with the prevailing trend, I quickly moved on to creating interactive theater parties. These events, created in the California counterculture millieu of the ’90s, were frenzied collaborative happenings that were seminal in their influence. “The Feast of Fools”, “St. Valentine’s Midnight Masquerade Debauch” and “The Secrets of Uranus” are a few of these productions.
I began the 21st century traveling through South East Asia in an effort to document trance and spirit possession ceremonies. The video and photos collected form the corpus of a film entitled: “Loose Spirits”.
Between 2003 and 2008 I devoted myself to 3D animation, and produced two short films: “The Bicycle Ride” (a tribute to Albert Hofmann) and “Pyramid” (a collaboration with Colin Angus), both of which are expressions of my deep appreciation for the psychedelic experience.
Currently my primary focus is on painting. I live in Stinson Beach, California with my wife, April Lelia, an Indonesian artist.
I don’t have any degree of any kind. I never did well in school because I did not respect authority and did not want to conform, and, often the curriculum was beneath my level.
I tried film school once, but was barred from continuing when it was discovered that I had never registered for the draft, and so I could not obtain further financial aid.
I am an autodidact in all things.
2. How does art come to you? Dreams, visions etc?
I just start drawing. It is not as though I were Moses atop Sinai receiving the word of God, or anything melodramatic like that. I am responsible for my work completely – there are no gods or spirits dictating to me. I reject the concept of “inspiration” as being innately religious, and prefer to think in terms of “creative process”, the latter being something that can be understood scientifically, as psychological studies of creativity have shown.
There is a connection between my hand and my imagination, and as I draw, things just occur to me spontaneously. Sometimes a quick drawing will suggest to me a more elaborate and formal composition. When I am composing I am always evaluating the composition and the content for “power” (i.e.; the facility to move the viewer emotionally, or to fascinate intellectually). If the composition is weak then the concept is lacking, and viceversa. So, at an initial level the invention of subject matter for a painting is intuitive, but as the work develops it becomes increasingly analytical.
3. What kind of materials do you use?
In theory I can use any kind of materials. The ability to visualize and process those visualizations into finished works is the fundamental skill. The media used is just a technicality. Of course it takes practice to master a specific medium, but if one understands the creative process, it is not that difficult to move from one medium to another. I can work in oil, acrylic, watercolor, pen & ink, charcoal, and more. I also have much experience in computer graphics such as 3D modeling and character animation. I can sculpt with ease also. I used to do a lot of assemblage and collage work. Currently I am focused on oil painting.
4. Where do you see your art going?
I am interested in “mapping” my psyche. Before there were cameras, painting was our means of depicting the outer world. To date, no one has invented a method of photographing thoughts inside the mind. Because of this, art still has a crucial role in depicting the psyche and it’s contents. I would like to take a systematic approach and utilize techniques of inducing altered states of consciousness (such as isolation tank, and/or psychotropic agents). Ideally a series of experiments would yield a series of paintings. It would be kind of like an expedition into the inner mind, wherein I would be my own Audubon there to carefully depict the “rare birds” to be discovered.
Technically, I am interested in a hybrid of computer graphics and painting. I want to be able to cycle drawings through the computer, and cycle computer derived images through traditional techniques with the result being compounds of printmaking and original painting. I have some definite strategies to implement . . .
5. Who inspires you?
Everyone that honestly portrays themselves, their inner beings, through their work. I don’t like work that is done just to sell, so, historically, I am not real crazy about portraiture since it was usually done to pay the bills.
A good example is Francisco Goya – I am not a huge fan of the many portraits of Spanish aristocrats that form a sizable portion of Goya’s oeuvre, however his etchings, such as the series, “Los Caprichos”, are some of the finest works of art I have ever seen (I had the good fortune of seeing the entire collection at the Met about 15 years ago). From my perspective, what distinguishes the Goya prints from the portraits is that the former is a personal statement of great passion and sincerity, whereas the latter is a commission completed for financial gain.
6. What is your favorite expression of art & which gives you the most freedom? digital, drawings, painting, sculptures etc?
Oil painting is my favorite currently. I have often thought that film is the master medium that incorporates all art forms into itself.
7. Who has the originals of your artwork? Do you plan on keeping these or are they up for sale as well with your prints?
I have the originals. They are up for sale at exorbitant prices. I see no benefit in letting them go cheaply.
8. Anything else you’d like to say or add?
Thanks for interviewing me, and featuring me on your website!!