![[Valid RSS]](valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed")
« Spraygraphic Pic(k) of the Day: Amanda Jeanne | Main | Z Spot Miami »
Spraygraphic Interview with Artist Wayne Wolfson
By Spraygraphic | October 3, 2008
Spraygraphic Interview with Wayne Wolfson
SG: Please tell us about yourself?
WW: I am a California/Paris based artist. My main thing is my writing, but I do other things to feed the stimulation for the pen: painting and some music collaborations. Stimulation is the main thing for me and everything feeds the pen.
SG: Where do you currently live and work?
WW: My main base of operation is California. I could not do what I do without also spending time in Paris every year. It truly is the holy land of poetry but I do not mean necessarily “poetry” in the strictest sense of the word; it is more an attitude and way of life: from good conversations with complete strangers over drinks, to watching a beautiful woman walk by knowing that it’s enough to enjoy the effect of her fleeting presence.
SG: What mediums do you work with?
WW: For my visual work I mainly use acrylic paint. I value how quickly they dry. What you see is what you get with them too. There are no surprises from mis-mixing or anything. I just started using gouache too which comes in little expensive tubes. I also have been doing some pastel pieces, oil pastels are very hard to control and if I come close to getting effects and emotions I want with them, then when I use paints it is easier. I have always been a compulsive doodler and still get great satisfaction from tattooing restaurant placemats.
With my writing, I am old school; I write all my stories out first in Moleskin notebooks then type them up. When I fill a Moleskin the spine gets a number and I get another.
SG: Describe your working process when creating a new work.
WW: When I write, I have never been one to plan out a plot or make a “skeleton” which I then flesh out. I may mull over a scene or plot point in my head and usually while I am doing that I paint or take a walk. Really, most of a story comes to me all at once; like being hit by lightening. My paintings do not necessarily directly correspond to what I am writing but there has at times been a definite cross pollination of story inspiring painting or vice versa.
SG: What kind of things do you do when you get blocked or find it hard to create something?
WW: I am never blocked (knock on wood) but I also am almost always doing something, whether its visual work or writing. I find that one thing can feed the other even if indirectly. My friends with straight jobs constantly joke that I am always at work.
SG: Where are you currently finding your inspiration?
WW: Music has always been my main source of inspiration, I am constantly listening to it; to what, depends upon my mood and what I am doing. I also read a lot. Even after all this time, there is a thrill discovering a new (to me) author or music. I am also a keen observer of the savage tragedy of the human condition.
SG: Can you please tell us a little about your anti-column in Outsideleft.
WW: That came about because of two Pauls. UK culture vulture Paul Hawkins had done an interview with me which appeared in Brick and several other places. Paul Lamont one of Outsideleft’s editors saw it and asked if I would be interested in contributing. Paul L has strong vision of what he wants his journal to be. He looks at what comes in with a critical eye designed not to keep anybody “down” nor be just a circle jerk for his friends but to present good art in several mediums. After my first piece he asked me if I would be interested in doing a column. It was dubbed an “anti-column” because it is not really a “look-at me-read my musings” type of deal. Really it is stories written in Paris with Paris serving as a sort of backdrop accompanied by some piece of my visual work. Since I started I have also written two pieces of non-fiction for Outsideleft too.
SG: Where has your work been seen?
WW: I have a CD titled Midnight Latitudes which is a sort of non-linear noirish story told in soundscapes, music and spoken word which is available world wide through amazon.com and all the usual suspects. I know parts of it have been on the radio on BBC, in Canada and Australia too. My writing appears world wide in journals as I currently shop around my novel. I have finally gotten brave enough with my visual art to start to put together a small show for some gallery.
SG: Where will it be seen next?
WW: Right now I have my monthly anti-column at Outsideleft and many journal appearances which vary from month to month. I am currently waiting word on the galleries.
SG: What is your dream art assignment?
WW: I would like to do another CD or maybe some of my words with a visual artist whom I admire.
SG: What is your favorite color?
WW: I like greens, there is so much one can do with different greens.
SG: Who is your favorite artist? And Why?
WW: I have a long list of artists whom I admire, the first one who comes to mind is Chaim Soutine (1894-1943). He was an Eastern European painter who mainly lived in Paris during the heady days of the Montmartre scene. His stuff initially was viewed by many as “primitive” and only later were some of the complexities of his colors and composition recognized; very much in some ways like Thelonious Monk’s (pianist/composer) reputation. He went from being an “artist’s artist” to being appreciated but only after it was too late. His works are rife with emotion and he creates in some of his pieces a sense of tension which is even more impressive by the fact of how natural it comes across. You really do not find much of his work in museums stateside and even the Centre George Pompideau (Paris) only has his portrait of a bellboy.
SG: What book/magazine are you reading this week?
WW: I am finishing book of essays by Paul Valery.
SG: Ever do a self portrait? Where is it now?
WW: I was out walking by Notre Dame one night, I had a digital camera which I was not adept at using and took an extended armed self portrait. Because it was so dark the shutter stayed open a long time. The resulting photo was surrealistic with weird lighting and trails. When I got back to California I painted my self portrait from that photo on giant canvas and it is now hanging on my wall. I think it’s too big for anyone to want to try to take/sell anyways.
SG: Where is your favorite place to hang out?
WW: For me, largely the appeal of a place is what is going on internally. Really, all I need is to be able to get one strong cup of coffee a day and a notepad and as for the rest I am pretty adaptable.
SG: Any final words of advice?
WW: For all of us, we can only be what we do and if you are worried about whether or not someone is seeing you do it, then you are doing it for the wrong reasons.
Topics: Artist Interviews, International-Art, Literature, Paintings, Sprayblog |
2 Responses to “Spraygraphic Interview with Artist Wayne Wolfson”
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
October 3rd, 2008 at 11:52 am
cool wayne, nice interview…….
that interview we did first appeared on NYC multi media webzine http://www.brink.com…..
Its undergone a complete makeover…..
ferreting out the bugs
hammering the cramps
They made me Music Editor
Anyone please send me some music….
I will listen and consider anything
anything thats tips us out of the green zone and into new sound madness
kep on burnin`
PHx
October 7th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Fabulous interview, Wayne. I love hearing about the cross-pollination between the various art forms you enjoy, and how Paris (and good coffee) fuel your work.