So, what are you working on at the moment?
I usually work on several pieces at once but right this minute I am working on a child in a pink bassinet that is under the shroud of Santa Morte, (Saint Death) who is reclining on the hood of a black 1958 Lincoln Continental. It’s a very large piece that I come back to on and off on occasion. I am not sure what I will call it yet but the word "Eternity" seems to keep popping up. This will be one of the larger pieces for a show in June 2008 in New York.

What else are you working on for the show?
I am working on several very large print editions along with some single pieces on panel. I usually work on many different images and ideas at one time and never know which ones will take hold. There is a process of drawing and rather soft painterly digital studies that evolve into complex models that may be used in one piece initially but may end up in another. I have a definite feeling that after a certain point I am no longer in control of what the work decides to be and sometimes that flow stops and I have learned that the work will get done in its own time and not mine. One day I may be working on a figure sitting in a chair and along the way the figure decides to stand up and move to a different part of the room. Maybe the light is better there or maybe it wants to retreat into the dark. All my figures are set up for animation and posing and reposing them happens very quickly and I can sometimes not even be aware what has happened as the piece has changed entirely. I think that is how my work differs from painting as I get to walk around inside my picture viewing it from many different angles and in many kinds of light, and as the figure and the environment evolve, the picture I had in mind is gone and another has somehow taken its place. I have learned to love that surprise and I suppose my answer to your question of what I am working on for the show is: I am not quite sure because whoever is making that decision hasn't told me yet.

You seem to really enjoy the fact that your work grows quite organically, and sometimes out of your hands: is that down to the versatility of working digitally and having the freedom to quickly alter a pieces composition?
I think the joy I feel has to do with a very important lesson I learned to let the work become whatever it wants to be. To let go of the control and let an image flow in such a way that you aren’t even thinking what you are doing. You can work in a very controlled way but that way has no liaison with intuition. I love that relationship with that part of my mind that knows what should be done before my conscious mind has time to interfere.  I think for some, music is the same way or dance. As you let go of control you also let go of inhibitions and most importantly - you let go of fear.

 

you can find the rest of the interview in issue 4, available from
your local stockists or our online store.