Interview Susan Locht Images ioulex Styling Barbora Venckunaite
You had a show at the Acquavella Galleries in New York last fall named “Synesthesia, Parataxic Distortion, and the Shadow.” Can you tell us a bit about these ideas?
The title refers to the series of landscape paintings in the Acquavella show… I was trying to find images that combined the generic quality of second unit film shoots (the second unit photography crew goes on location and shoots establishing shots) and yet hopefully the images were specific enough to elicit personal recollections... The concept of synesthesia interests me in the sense that I was always holding my work up to the standard that dictated a painting was successful when it contained the ability to trigger senses not directly referenced in the composition. If you can smell smoke in the wind of a winter scene then the image is tapped into levels beyond purely observational.
Your launch into the art world was with the paintings you created based on film stills, correct?
Actually, my first success in the art world was from works created using found photos which I collaged into alternate realities; mixing advertisement as backgrounds with fashion or news photos… The second series of works were sampled directly from film and educated me on the art form itself. I studied the film cameras, lighting, set design as well as the art of matte painting and compositing. All of which greatly informed the third (current) series which I shot on digital SLR.
Tell us a bit about your transition into painting from your own photography.
I started by using the camera like a dowsing rod; I find and wander around potentially charged environments and look for the compositions, hoping for advantageous lighting and that elusive “moment.” After several years' worth of work, I have a library of images from which I can cull paintings. Each time I look through them I find different things that interest me. When I find an image that has to become permanent, I start a painting.
Your paintings (including both your early work and your most recent pieces) evoke a sense of eeriness, of foreboding even. Do you have a sense as to why you are attracted to this?
I am a fatalist, bordering on (and fighting) superstition… Life is scary; all that really holds us together is randomness and chaos... We are all looking for confirmation, security, comfort, yet there is no real system for guaranteeing any of it. Even the idea of karma has a loophole to explain this: if bad energy comes your way and you do not remember creating it, then it probably came from a past life... So it is random, which is the opposite of comforting. I am trying to capture that tightrope walk between pattern and randomness that is unavoidable in our lives.
Can you tell us something about your creative process, including the purpose of the moveable platform we photographed you on?
My younger brother is a photographer and he pointed me in the direction of the auto-poles; they are a great tool for quickly and conveniently mounting and controlling flat surfaces. The platform is a hydraulic lift that I covered to blend into the floor. It can be raised and lowered according to my exact needs so that I am always at the most comfortable position to work on any sized piece.
Can you tell us about what you are working on now? I understand that you plan to show more of your source photography - is that right?
I am currently fleshing out a complete series of the landscapes for a show in Germany and narrowing down the photo images for a narrative painting series as well as a future portrait series. I look forward to showing the photographs themselves when it is the appropriate time and place.
