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Spraygraphic Interview with Artist Joshua Krause
By Spraygraphic | December 24, 2008
Spraygraphic Interview with Joshua Krause
SG: Please tell us about yourself?
JK: I’m grew up between the Northeast and Southeast, and escaped West six plus years ago. I’ve always been attracted to art making, and have realized its my way of unraveling and coping with the chaos.
SG: Where do you currently live and work?
JK: San Diego, CA
SG: What mediums do you work with?
JK: Acrylic, enamel, collage, ink, pencil, sand, and resin on wood and paper. But I’m open to anything that works. I’ve been revisiting printmaking and image transfer lately. I made two pieces last night with a bunch of linocuts.
SG: Describe your working process when creating a new work.
JK: I just sorta let it rip. I try to work from a dreamstate and let imagery and ideas develop however they need to. I treat the work as therapy, so by working in these very repetitive, basic, and primal ways of mark-making, a meditative quality starts to take over and the small parts become a whole. That’s not to say there is no process, or steps followed; I’ve just learned to trust myself, give myself over, even if it means a piece gets ruined…and they often do. I just guide the work and successful pieces reveal themselves.
SG: What kind of things do you do when you get blocked or find it hard to create something?
JK: The usual routines, but often, I just walk away for a while. Sometimes it’s important to power thru stagnation, but sometimes it’s more important to remove yourself from yourself. The well dries up, ya know?
I’m interested in a lot of things outside of art, like working out, cooking, metal, comedy, baseball, and often sleeping a lot sets me right.
SG: Where are you currently finding your inspiration?
JK: I’ve always found inspiration in chaos, and the world is ripe. I search for flashes of hope and humor, but sometimes it’s all about brutality and helplessness. People seem to find my work uplifting and comforting, or conversely aggressive and warlike. I like when “pretty decorations” have subtly unsettling qualities. Forgiveness is an emerging feeling, too.
SG: Where has your work been seen?
JK: I’ve done over 100 shows and art tours in the last 6 years, as well as a lot of illustration and design work, so its out there, I suppose…as Morrissey croons, “the more you ignore me, the closer I get.”
SG: Where will it be seen next?
JK: GardenFresh from Chicago will take some of my stuff to the Bridge Art Fair in Miami during Art Basel. I’m working with a new gallery in LA, and hooking up with a few new galleries…but we’ll see. (http://www.gardenfresh.org/)
Doing shows isn’t my top priority anymore. I’m more interested in developing a true body of work. I’ve found it’s crucial to step away from the scene and re-examine, re-develop, and re-invent from time to time. I’m working on some large panels, and some installation ideas.
SG: What is your dream art assignment?
JK: I don’t really think that way. I want to make work that hopefully connects to a vulnerability in others and cuts thru all the bullshit and malarky. It’s important for an artist to remind us of childlike curiosity.
SG: What is your favorite color?
JK: All of them…I am more partial to certain hues, values, and temperatures.
SG: Who is your favorite artist? And Why?
JK: I don’t have a favorite artist. My favorite artists’ all seem to be a mix of artist and philosopher, are rather obsessive practitioners, and are often maximalists. I like people who don’t give a fuck, not solely to rebel, but because they are following their internal compass and are guided by their individual spirit of vision. But, a few “name” contemporaries I enjoy are Lari Pittman, Fred Tomaselli, Wangechi Mutu, Phil Frost, Robert Hardgrave, Phillip Taaffe, and aboriginal and folk forms. Einstein is the greatest artist of all time.
SG: What book/magazine are you reading this week?
JK: I’m trying to get caught up on podcasts of the Adam Carolla Show and This American Life. I don’t read much these days…I started teaching high school art and am drained.
SG: Ever do a self portrait? Where is it now?
JK: All my work is version of a self-portrait. I just did one last night.
SG: Where is your favorite place to hang out?
JK: A pub called Toronado that has some of the wildest IPAs, a delightful (and cheap!) Moroccan lamb sausage, and Mastadon on the juke. I prefer to hang out alone or with my dog and girlfriend. I crave quiet and solitude. It can’t be internal and external chaos 24/7, now can it?
SG: Any final words of advice?
JK: Either have something to say in your work, or get the fuck out of the way (OR) more goats, less sheep.
Topics: Artist Interviews, Sprayblog |
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