q) Introduce yourself first please?a)Hello I'm Ash Lieb, I live in a City called Ballarat at the bottom of Australia.I'm mostly a digital artist though I incorporate all art forms into my work.
q) How did you get into art?
a)I've always been interested in Art from a young age, but it wasn't the traditional art.I was always drawn towards film and animation cells from Disney and Warner Brothers and I'm sure that has always been an influence.
q) Who has been the biggest influence on you?
a)My biggest influence is not an artist, it's comedian Mitch Hedberg.I relate to Mitch's observation style of humor and I've been creating artworks for year upon my own observations.I've admired artists Ray Caesar and Loretta Lux for a few years now and those old animation cells.
q) Do you rule by any tendency in your creative work, or you only follow what comes in your mind?
a)I think the idea rules the creation, so I'm never really sure what the artwork will look like until I have the idea.I might be working small one day, gigantic the next or Sepia one day and blue the next.Though I'm sure if I do have a tendency it would be to make the work entertaining and fun for the viewer.
q) Do you have a preferred medium to work on? Why?
a)My preferred medium has become the camera and computer only for their power to create truly surreal images.I love all art styles and mediums and try to work with all of them as much as possible, combining them wherever it feels right.
q) How much does your environment have an effect on your pictures?
a)I love to work outside, that's why I love photography.I think the more time I spend outside the more open my work is and if I get stuck inside for a week my work becomes claustrophobic.You can tell by looking at each artwork if I was outside that week or inside that week it's almost like diary of locations and thoughts and dreams.
q) Tell us about your studio space. Where do you work? Do you listen to certain types of music while working?
a)My studio space is a cube, there's a desk at one wall with windows in the corner. There's a piano by another wall and a lounge chair on another.There's an artwork on one wall with more than three thousand pins and needles in it, and there's also a door.I usually listen to music without lyrics as I get distracted by what they're saying and the fewer distractions the better.
q) Who are your favorite artists?a)I like art forms but my favorite artist's would have to be Loretta Lux,Ray Caesar and Joe Sorren as they are the first names of any artist's that come to mind.
q )When have you started using the internet and what role does this form of communication play for you, personally, for your art, and for your business?
a)I began using the internet in the early years of high school (1995-7)where I taught myself everything there was to know about making websites at the time.The internet has been the greatest promotional tool for my art and without it my work would be only known to little more than a hundred people rather than the thousands that it is.The internet has a lot of potential for artists and artworks, I'm sure there are an infinite number of ways that a viewer could interact with an artwork via the internet.
q) What books are on your nightstand?
a)I've been reading a lot lately, in my room you'll currently find a bunch of Bukowski books, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes and Chuck Palahniuk's Choke.
q) What's playing on your stereo?
a)Currently listening to a Jose Gonzalez' cd.. when that comes out it will either be Turin Brakes, Kaki King or Eliott Smith.
q) Any interesting "rituals" before you start creating?a)I try to avoid rituals if it's at all possible, though I often don't start working 'till everybody else is asleep and dreaming.
q) What is your favorite color?
a)I'm a fan of that faint champagne color or that surreal denim shade.
q) What is the best time in the day for you to work on a project? Is thereone, or is it more about the environment -- maybe the right mood?
a)If it were possible to live in a house on my own I imagine any time of the day would be perfect, but since there are others who whether they mean to or not distract me I usually work late at night.It's bets not to be too hot as that doesn't help anyone. I'd prefer it be a nice cool night, maybe with some rain in the background.
q) What projects mean a lot to you at the moment?a)I'm trying to work on some writing at the moment so that's been getting alot of my time.I have several stories on the go, one about a girl who's cat goes missing,one about abortion, and one about Nothing.But as always I'm always I'm working on getting my 'Meaning of life'artworks together for an unknown exhibition in an unknown future :)
q)Your contacts.
a) email Ash@ash-lieb.com
Awesome art :) And an interesting guy.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. Amazing artist & extremely interesting man.
ReplyDelete