q) When did you start to make art?a)I showed a crayon drawing that I made when I was six in a talk recently so I guess maybe around then, It’s one I’m very proud of.
q) Explain your inspiration?
a)I’m inspired by not being inspired, boredom, aspiration and failure, trying to fit in.
q) In what way does your inspiration transform into ideas?
a)I think about things and then think again and then think about how these things relate to other things and then think about was is important in these things and think about what I want to say about these things and what I would be prepared to say about these things.
q) Could your ideas be portrayed in any other medium? If so which?
a)They could be but I still have a lot of ground to cover using drawing, painting and printmaking, so I tend to stick with these. I occasionally make sculptural work and have experimented with animation.
q) What does being an artist mean to you?
a)It’s something that I’m learning to accept. It’s not the best career path.
q) When does your art become successful?
a)For myself it is when I feel like I can’t work on it anymore, but this can create it’s own sense of failure.
q) Who prices your work? And how is the price decided upon?
a)I price the work myself, taking into consideration past sales and prices and how attached to a piece of work I feel. Pricing work is nortoriously difficult, you can under-price something and feel shitty if it sells or overprice something and it not sell and wish that you put a lower value on it.
q) What is your next; move, project, show etc?
a)I am working on a project with my friend Francisco Lobo that will take the form of an installation exploring the success and failure of immersive art works. It will include Francisco’s prints and constructions and a series of my mirror paintings.
I will take part in an exhibition at Ferreira Projects in London opening on December 6th and plan to show with the Whitecross gallery in London in February.
q) What are the pros and cons of the art market?
a)The London art scene can be very commercial which is a reflection of the London art market, too few people can afford to buy art and too many of the people who have the money are too influenced by hyped-up galleries and artists and see art as a financial investment or as decoration to match their designer sofa, or as a means to gain some kind of perceived status. On the good side there are still collectors that collect for the love of it.
q) Which pieces would you like to be remembered for?
a)I haven’t made them yet, I hope.
q) Who has been the biggest influence on you?
a)Friends and family, The People I meet.
q) Other visual artists that you like…
a)Chris Ware, Francisco Lobo, Emma Rendel, Matti Hagelberg, Andrea Buttner, Stephan Balkenhol, Thomas Smith, Lena Cronqvist, Francisco Goya, David Raymond Conroy, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Hieronymus Bosch, Bevis Martin and Charlie Yule, Bill Traylor…
q) How much do you think hype affects the public perception of what good art is?
a)1,000,000
q) Last CD you downloaded ?
a)The latest CD I listened to was Jonathon Richman Goes Country, which was a nice birthday gift.
q) What makes you happy?
a)Friendships, fireworks, snow, Finland, swimming, riding bikes, smoking.
q) What makes you sad?
a)Money, smoking.
q) Last book you read?
a)Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol
q) What else do like other than art?
a)The things that makes me happy, movies, music, books, TV.
q) Final thoughts...
a)Not yet.
q) Your contacts…
a)
mathew.newton@alumni.rca.ac.uk
Mathew
ReplyDeleteThank god for you. If I become rich I will buy lots of your drawings to match my sofa
lots of love
Charlie