Gallery Selections 2018 Artist Q&A
We asked our artists from this year’s “Gallery Selections” 2018 exhibition a series of questions regarding their definition of art and style, what drives them, and where they pull their inspiration.
Read on to learn about the creative processes of each artist in this exhibition.
What does art mean to you?
(“Waiting for the Night Soilman” Perry Vasquez)
Perry Vasquez: “My definition of art is ‘hard work over a long period of time’. To do this I try to make my process a mixture of losing and regaining control. That way it stays fresh, spontaneous and focused.”
(“My Moment” Khalid Alkaaby)
Khalid Alkaaby: “Art for me is the opportunity to disconnect from the world…the method of creating art acts as a mode of meditation, which allows me to disconnect. With art I learn more about myself and I learn about the power of art as a language that communicates to all–especially the core message of my work, which revolves around women’s rights and freedoms.”
Paul Hobson: “What does art mean to me? That should be an easy question to answer but it’s not. I’ve been involved in the creative process for so many years that it’s hard to imagine not being engaged in art making. I’m the most fulfilled when I’m working in my studio. Whether it’s executing a painting or designing a site specific artwork for a public art project, my motivation comes from the pursuit of solving a design problem.”
(“P1040932” Paul Hobson)
What ideas, concerns or objectives have motivated your work?
Marissa Quinn: “The daily experience of the interconnections between humans and the environment drives my work, and inspires me to seek ways to inspire global healing from the inside out, from the individual spirit to the collective spirit. I see the Earth in a constant state of ongoing becoming, one full of surprises and paradoxes, where even the darkness can be turned fruitful.”
(“Of The Night Soul’s Trust” Marissa Quinn)
Kaleidoskull (Monty Montgomery & Tony Philippou) “Currently, in our work we are exploring the relationship between fantasy and design. Drawing inspiration from the exotic silhouette’s of magnificent anthropomorphic beasts from Greek Mythology and how they contrast with other geometric and organic forms. The contrasting organic forms against the rigid structure of the geometric elements present combines to give our viewer something that we believe is quite intriguing.”
(“White Bellied Griffin” Kaleidoskull)
How would you describe your artistic style? And what artistic movements or artists have influenced you?
(“Ambiguous Anonymity” Brady Willmott)
Brady Willmott: ”Pop surrealism or modern surrealism would probably categorize me best, although when I need inspiration, I tend to look more toward artists like Reubens or Caravaggio, the old masters of the Renaissance.The inspiration obviously varies over the years; one of the first artists that I admired was Robert Williams for his hot rod art from the 1970’s and 80’s. While I was in college one of my favorites was American realist Winslow Homer and more recently I’ve been studying the 17th century Dutch landscape painters. When it comes down to it, the art that we make is the sum of our parts. Combine 17 years of tattooing, drawing and studying tattoos with a lifetime of painting and studying the art of many different artists and throw in all of the travel, life experiences and emotion, and you get my art. Call it what you want.”