What does Art means to you?
Comfort, sanity, a place to turn to.
Do you find more satisfying the creative process or the final result?
The final result. The creative process can sometimes be overwhelming and is often a battle for me. I sometimes get lost for hours trying to create. To see a finished piece I am happy with is extremely rewarding.
You are creating alternate realities dominated by a sense of disorientation. Often different tech devices absorb many of your subjects face. Does your work mean to be also socially reflective?
That series was definitely meant to be some form of social commentary. I was inspired by @dromsjel (Pierre Schmidt)’s melting techniques and knew there was a way to relate that effect to something societally based. In some parts, it’s also a reflection of me and what I do everyday. I sit in front of a screen and create art that I then release on a social media platform. People see it and stare into their phones saying WTF. In some ways I am part of the problem, but I hope someone has been inspired in the process.
In one of the past interviews you revealed that you were affected by a major depression during college years. Starting to experiment with art was a sort of cure for you. Do you think, in the future, art could be involved in helping people affected by emotional disorders?
From an emotional perspective, I think a majority of artists would agree that they feel a bit too much. I don’t want to speak for other artists but for me, turning to art was the most effective way of coping with the world. In regards to the future, I think there will always be a place for art in the medical community. Music is used in Alzheimer patients to help reduce stress. It’s thought that ones memory of music is unaffected by the disease. I think the creative process should be explored more, creating has always helped me get through the day.
You have created a daily habit that you don’t go to sleep before creating something new. How do you deal with creative blocks?
Creative blocks are nightmares. I push through them no matter the cost. Some days I create something in a few hours and the rest of the day is smooth sailing. Other times I’m up until 5 am just trying to make something I’m happy with. Lately its been a whole lot of creative blocks and little smooth sailing. Thats just part of the struggle I guess.
Give your personal definition of obsession.
An action or thought that is repeated over and over again despite the positive or negative outcome. The daily ritual of creating art incessantly has been an effective way for me to channel my obsessive nature despite the fact that sometimes it brings me great anxiety.
What stimulates your imagination?
A really beautiful picture in a dark corner of the internet that no one has laid eyes on in years.
Every day we witness on social media a sort of extension of people’s utopian ideals. What role does it play for you?
Personally, social media has been the most effective way to release art and create a living doing so. In this way, it can be a really powerful platform for visual artists. I try not to use social media for personal “social” reasons and a few years back I decided to delete my facebook and all other personal accounts. It’s extremely easy to create some sort of facade and I don’t think there is any benefit in this type of human behaviour.
Living in a fast society makes people feel under a constant overwhelming anxiety. Will this “speed” process incite human intelligence or will make it regress?
This is getting deep yo! I like it! I want to say that competition is good and technological advancement will only make us more intelligent, but at some point a dude like Elon Musk is going to put computer chips in our brains and there will be no reason for us to think for ourselves. We are already pretty close to that. We are constantly connected to a device that can answer any question at any time. Google is much smarter than me, why think about a difficult question when I can just look it up? On the other hand, maybe interfacing with technology is inevitable point in human evolution.
Should we worry more about advanced technology taking over or natural disasters?
I’m more worried about AI, its is pretty freaky stuff and there are a lot of really smart people who think its a terrible idea. Black Mirror, Ex Machina, and Westworld are some good examples of why we should be afraid of AI.
Ask us a question.
Who asked me these questions, they were well researched and thought out. 🙂
All images, courtesy of artist: Slimesunday
