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Spraygraphic Interview with Artist Ryan Verzaal
By Spraygraphic | August 29, 2008
Spraygraphic Interview with Ryan Verzaal
SG: Please tell us about yourself?
RV: Vegetarian, lover, friend.
SG: Where do you currently live and work?
RV: I currently live and work in San Francisco.
SG: What mediums do you work with?
RV: Sculpture, performance, installation, photography
SG: Describe your working process when creating a new work.
RV: I generally get ideas and try to rush into things which works to my disadvantage so I have to slow myself down and constantly re-evaluate what I’m trying to say and how to make singular objects the tightest object they can be. I generally find bouncing ideas off of non-artists to be the most helpful, because they can see the most blatant general ideas I missed being trapped in my own art practice.
SG: What kind of things do you do when you get blocked or find it hard to create something?
RV: Surf more, play my drums. Just do something physical that gets the body going and focused in another direction so it can free up the opposite side of your brain.
SG: Where are you currently finding your inspiration?
RV: Warriors games, Oakland, the Albany Landfill, Youtube.
SG: Can you please tell us a little about your Punks series?
RV: Punks is an attempt to extrapolate visual memes created and discarded by the actions and movements of a punk undercurrent. The hyperbolic presentation of its imagery is intended to serve as memento mori’s for a subculture that deny’s itself that.
SG: Can you please tell us a little about your Rome series?
RV: Rome was a transformation I put myself through to see if I could adapt an athlete lifestyle and become physically able to play a sport on the level of professional athletes. The skillset and abilities these athletes have surrounds them with a spectacle like setting like that of ancient Rome and the coliseum activities. I was attempting to merge the two mirror societies of Rome and the USA in documenting their exterior similarities. The photographic documentation was paired with sculptures and a performance to mirror these ideas.
SG: Where has your work been seen?
RV: Queens Nails Annex, Sao Paolo Museum of Contemporary Art, Marfa, Orlando Museum of Art
SG: Where will it be seen next?
SG: What is your dream art assignment?
RV: To make a movie with Christopher Guest about a german minimalist artist named “Dieter” as he mounts a retrospective.
SG: What is your favorite color?
RV: Gold
SG: Who is your favorite artist? And Why?
RV: Aaron Young. He can use so many different mediums to leave a marking and the performance always relates back to drawing techniques.
SG: What book/magazine are you reading this week?
RV: Relational Aesthetics
SG: Ever do a self portrait? Where is it now?
RV: Undergrad-2001. In a landfill
SG: Where is your favorite place to hang out?
RV: The beach
SG: Any final words of advice?
RV: Just don’t stop.
Topics: Artist Interviews, Photography, Sculpture Art |
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