Tell a little bit about how you first got into creating art.
Becoming an artist was an organic process for me from a very early age. I came from very meager beginnings and my mother who is also an artist would teach me and my siblings to draw for entertainment. Eventually, teachers noticed my artwork was different and encouraged me to be more creative. I followed that path because it freed my imagination and it was an escape. I started winning awards for art as a child, and that began my artistic career.
What artists or movements have had an impact on you?
Many artists work with one or two mediums most of their careers, so fitting into a category makes sense for them. I don’t really know who I would be compared to, because my work really takes on a life of its own. I use so many different techniques in my art that it makes it difficult to fit into a category.
I like to make artwork that a viewer can return to and see something new each time they view a piece
My work is inspired by many artists both living and not in a huge range of styles and movements. One of my personal favorites is Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work which opened a door for me to think about poetry, drawing, and painting, mixed with text and image, abstraction, symbolism, and historical ideas blended with a modern eye. He used social criticism in his paintings as a device for self-reflection, and for addressing his experiences in the Black community, as well as a weapon against injustice and systems of racism. His visual poetics were keenly political and aggressive in their judgment of imperialism and the foundation for class struggle.
it is important for artists to capture a moment in time and show it to the world through their unique lens
What is important to you about the visual experiences you create?
My artwork has always shared a deeper symbolic meaning in the detail of each piece I create. I like to make artwork that a viewer can return to and see something new each time they view a piece. Imagine watching a film and liking it the first time you see it and then several years go by and someone points out something in the picture that no one saw before, which makes you want to go back and watch it again. This same principle applies to my artwork.
I try to imagine having a single stationary piece of artwork on a wall, you might pass by it many times a day either at work or at home, how cool would it be to be able to see something new in that piece each time you look at it?
What is the significance of material and color?
Years ago, I started making art with materials that were available, and familiar to me. I used pencil, pen, ink, paint, ceramic clay, and wood and I didn’t deviate too much from that until my first art gallery show. From that point on, everything changed.
That show was a pivotal experience that introduced me to a wide range of new materials, colors, subject matters, and more.For many years, I tried to place myself into an artistic category. Oil painter, and illustrator, but I never felt fully comfortable explaining this to someone in a gallery setting because I did so much more. I felt like I was short-changing myself to be stuck in one category. Shouldn’t the very nature of being an artist be about change? Today, I seek out new materials and techniques to experiment with. In my new work, I am generating artwork using music, animatronics, film, animation, artificial intelligence, digital painting, and fractal design. The fractal portraits are of particular interest to me right now, they were created through infinitely complex patterns driven by recursion and applied digital paint layers. For now, I am simply an artist, I will let the critics decide what category I fit into.
Do you work from memory, life, photographs, or from other resources? Describe your creative process.
Yes, all of that. Making art for me is a process that I use to build on my last creative experience. Each new piece I create adds another layer of knowledge to my approach and my goal is to challenge myself out of my comfort zone. Some artists are content with using one or two overall techniques to create their art. I am never satisfied with doing things in just one way. Over the years I have created artwork using a wide range of materials including stone, leather, metal, fabric, plastic, paper, electronics, digital technology, and more. Most of these processes were not taught to me, but learned through trial and error. That is what makes it challenging.
What is your favorite art accident? Did it change your perspective?
I was working on an acrylic painting in my studio and spilled paint all over a print that was going to be shipped to a client. I attempted to clean it, but to no avail. I began painting over it with physical layers, then photographed it. One day I digitally added to the photo of the painting similar to a collage. My early options for combing the two processes were, first, making digital art, then printing it out on paper, and then drawing on top of it, or using it as a jumping-off point for different compositions.
Today digital technology has become incredible. Now, I begin with a traditional painting of my own design, I scan the artwork using a high-resolution flatbed scanner. I use my original work as a jumping-off point for new creations that include adding multiple layers of digital fractal work, motion animation, and more. After I have played with a painting long enough, it might have one hundred or more layers of digital artwork on top of a traditional painting. It is a very unique process. I have developed a method that I can stabilize animated layers, and then flatten everything to 8k resolution, I then print it out on a canvas as a giclée print and then begin again. The entire process takes weeks sometimes, but the end result is stunning with hundreds of layers of both digital and real paints added to the final piece.
Do you have any artistic goals for the future that you would like to share?
I have been working on a new series of animated, digital paintings for more than a year titled “Transmutation”. These digital creations are something from a psychedelic dream or a visit to another world. Each piece is unlike anything you’ve seen before. There are hundreds of layers of color, line art, moving elements, environmental factors, and effects along with an original music score for each one. This series is on schedule to be released after my museum show in South Korea later this year, or early next year. My fourth graphic novel is nearing completion after months of researchand intense illustration to get it right. I am probably over-excited, but It looks like it will be ready for my publisher in 2023.
What do you consider the role of an artist today?
Great question. I think the role of an artist is much bigger than just making pretty pictures. Yes, I do that too, but I think it is important for artists to capture a moment in time and show it to the world through their unique lens. Because humans are visual people, this creates a conversation among all types of individuals about that moment in time that can either be debated, embraced, or rejected. Sharing art like this creates a fresh look at something from an uncommon point of view, and if it’s engaging enough, we can hopefully take steps toward social progress.
