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Monday, May 12, 2008

Interview with Martin Skauen

q)What is your name?

a)Martin Skauen

q) Where do you live and work?

a)I live and work in Berlin. At the moment I have an artist residency at the Kunstlerhaus Bethanien.

q)What is your creative process like?

a)It is like mentally putting together a story or constructing an image that makes my heart beat faster. Then its finding balance through adding or substracting elements, so that the image or story reaches a perfect ambivalence

q)What is your favorite medium?

a)Drawing and video.

q)What is your current favorite subject?

a)Faith, devotion and the misunderstanding of power.

q)How long does it take for you to finish a piece?

a)It depends on the size, one day to six months.

q)What has been your biggest accomplishment so far?

a)Accepting that I will never totally understand my work.

q)Are there any contemporary artists that you love?

a)Jorunn Hancke, my girlfriend.

q)Can we buy your art anywhere?

a)That would be through my galleries: Galleri MGM and Laura Bartlett Gallery.


q)Anything that people should know about that we don’t??

a)My band; Det Svenska Folket (The Swedish People). Get it at http://www.nosordo.com/, and the artist group: Tegneklubben. Find it at: http://www.tegneklubben.org/.

q)What is your best piece of advice for those who would like to rise in their level of artistry?

a)Keep working and not comparing own work with anybody elses.

q)What inspires you to keep going when the work gets frustrating or tough?

a)That usually when its frustrating the work ends up stronger.

q)How do you describe your work to those who are unfamiliar with it?

a)Classic old school detailed figurative pencil drawing. I often use video to make new stories out the drawings, filming straight off the drawing (no animation). The videos have soundtracks made by myself and my band.


q)What kind of training did you have which helped you achieve your current level of artistry?

a)Well, I went to the art academy for 4 years and prior to that 2 years of artschool. It would be wrong to say that that didn’t do anything, but I think learning to shake off all the information and the notion of being tought how to make art made things easier. I didn’t make drawings at all before two years after ended art education. I think all those years of school, experimenting and even running an artist space for several years helped build up what I’m doing now.

q)Is there a tool or material that you can’t imagine living without?

a)My imagination.


q)Who are your influences?

a)No one in particular. There are so many people and things that has an influence on me, what I do and how I think. Its hard to drop names.

q)What inspires you to create?

a)War, ignorant people, stupidity, thinking of death, women in burka, nature, Jesus, music, movies, strippers, money, family, presidents and dreams.


q)…your contacts…

a)If you want to look me up, see: http://www.martinskauen.com/

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