OVERSEXED

Accepting your individual idiosyncrasies

Why Art?

Well I was never an athletic child and always a bit of a weirdo so I drew, a lot.  It was something I was always encouraged to do, so I stuck with it. 

What kind of artwork do you do?

I like to think of it as humorously macabre portraiture.  I prefer oil paints but dabble in other traditional media as well.

What does your artwork aim to say?

I’ve never had a clear message.  Everything in life is a grey area and a contradiction to me.  I have general themes that I have in mind but I wouldn’t say I have a message.  Typically I’m playing with ideas of vanity and dark humor

What motivates and inspires you?

Other artist’s work.  Classical portraits always grabbed my attention the most visiting museums, a static snapshot of someone long dead showing so much personality and drama.  I’m also a big horror movie fan and get a lot of inspiration from practical effects artist.  There are so many people out there just making really cool stuff.

What process do you go through?

The hardest part is the start.  I am a champion procrastinator in everything I do, and as I said I never have a clear message that I want to portray, so usually I have to just force myself to throw some paint on a canvas in a vague theme.  Lately I’ve been making photo collages for each piece, digital idea boards that I’ll work off of.  Then The beginning of a piece is always a bit sluggish, and typically I hate it as several stages, but when it’s about 80% finished and I can get sucked into the details, that’s when I start to actually enjoy the process.

What role does the artist have in society?

That depends on the artists.  Art is one of those debatable words that doesn’t really mean anything.  There are so many different types artists out there, from simply ornating the world or making it more palatable, it could be purely self expression and therapeutic, and then again it could be political, actively fighting the system from the outside.

How do you navigate the art world?

I don’t much.  Every so often I will send out an email to galleries I like, sometimes people reach out to me.  I’m not a highly motivated person but I think that’s really just self doubt and procrastination.  I never really clicked with a lot of people in the “fine art” world as I have a lot of trouble taking things seriously.

How has your practice changed over time?

I’m a bit more relaxed about it,  for a while there I would really worry more about doing shows but these days I’m trying to work on my own time.

What is you biggest challenge of being artist?

Motivation and self esteem!  I’m a doubter and a worrier but the past few years I’ve been doing more events and expos and meeting all these people who are very positive about my work is a great confidence boost, highly suggest it.

What themes do you pursue?

These days I’m typically dealing with themes of outward appearance and modern femininity.  There is so much stress and pressure on people about how to look and act.  I focus on femme because it’s the point of view I have.   I don’t know if it's actually getting worse with social media but people are constantly judging each other and being judged.  We take so much for granted about what it is to be attractive and successful because we are fed the same ideals throughout our lives through popular media and now we are mirroring those ideals through shallow and often false personas.  What keeps me feeling somewhat ok is that I process the world through humor, which is very evident in my work.

What is your dream project?

I don’t have one.  I like working in my own comfortable space with mostly only myself to answer to.  

What superpower would you have and why?

I’d love to be able to fall asleep right away and wake up easy.  I see other people do it but that’s just a fantasy for me.  Imagine how much I’d get done.

What is the biggest mistake you have made within your career at this point?

Worrying too much about getting work out there but not putting forward the work I want to do.  I wouldn’t turn down group shows even with really short deadlines because they’d be in galleries I like or with artists I look up to and have ended up putting out work I just wasn’t happy with.  

How have other artists or genres influenced you sense of aesthetics?

Growing up I really only saw the classical stuff and cartoons, so I was really influenced by those, which I think melted into a sort of cartoon realism.  Then as I got older and started seeing other artists styles, I definitely would try to emulate them but always got back to where I started, with maybe small tweaks that stuck.  I’m always so impressed with styles that I can’t do, which is a lot.

How do you know when a work is finished?

As I said, I get really into the end stages, adding all the details and the layers that really make something pop, but after I get it close to where I’d like I’ll usually start getting bored again, and that’s when I know to wrap it up, that it’s good enough.  That being said, I do tend to overwork things, too, and often wish I could go back and leave things the way they were.  I’ve learned to just accept the outcomes and am often surprised at how well they are received.