I am an Artist: Matt Dolan, Michigan

Why are you an artist?
I believe in the process of creation; not just the end result. I think what makes me an artist is my inability to say no to new experiences and mediums of representation.


You are also a writer, musician, and a student of architecture-how does that effect your ART? I think in working through different mediums it allows for a new view of any one object/process/idea. It allows me a respite from banging my head against a wall when a painting is not turning out how I want, and on the other hand it makes me think all that much harder about what it is I am trying to accomplish. I can write a poem to express a feeling, but is that generally the best medium to accomplish that? It is almost a crux in that I tend to think too much and am then less prone to actually doing anything.


How is the creative process similar and or different being all four modes?
I think they all blend together after a while. I tend to do a lot of sketches with notes and annotations for my paintings, the same is true for writing stories, and most of the time all of these ideas are put into the same sketchbook. They all develop individually of each other yet are part of the same process.
I am also working on ekphrastic poetry, and sometimes the poem comes first, and other times it’s the painting. Other times the two develop individually from each other; I have made poems that I didn’t know what they were about, and then paint something, and later while reading the poem I look up at a painting and have this light-bulb moment, like, ‘Oh, they are both about family’. So in that regard it’s exciting to see how everything develops, and I think that is where the art happens, in those happy mistakes, its almost subconscious.

The Twins - oil and spray paint

Why do you use the medium that you use?
I use oil and spray paint in my work. I use oil because I am a romantic; it is the traditional medium for painting and I like that. But on the opposite side of that is spray paint, lose and flowing with a wild nature prone to be erratic at best. I like the juxtaposition of the two mediums together. I also think they work as a bridge between art styles, hopefully bringing something new to the canvas of what art is. I also like the semi-political nature of spray paint under the notion that graffiti is a means of representation dominated by the aerosol can, and I like to think that it bleeds over to my work.


Your Art work is seems to emanate expression through color-what does color mean to you?
Color is life. I used to be scared of it, keeping to a pretty safe pallet, but I was fortunate to have a teacher push me out of my comfort zone. I used to be a big believer in color theory and symbolism, but I think art lends itself more towards emotions, and you have to use everything at your disposal to evoke a response. You can be a person who sees things as black and white, but where is the fun in that?

Floating Together - oil and spray paint

What inspires your work?
Nature. A lot of my work has political undertones, but maybe it is not so much political as it is a personal mantra. I guess I don’t know, its hard to have an idea or viewpoint without being political these days, and I don’t know if that is a good thing or not.


What is the value of ART in our society?
I believe that art is the driving force behind culture. It influences how people think and react. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Society is a wave. The wave moves onward, but the water of which it is composed does not.” We the people are the water, and art is the wave, we may not change but we are moved, and it is because of changing perceptions, and that is due to art.


Where do you see yourself as an artist in 5 years?
Selling my work? Hopefully not living in a cardboard box. I don’t see myself giving up writing, painting, or playing music, I might have to work less in one or another, but I don’t see myself ever stopping.

Blown Away - oil and spray paint

What are your ultimate goals as an artist?
I would love to show my work to more people, really start a dialogue with society. I would love to have some influence and try and shape this world as I see it, but maybe that’s why I am an artist, I create and surround myself with object that I like; my own little utopia.

What does art mean to you?
Art is creativity, and what would life be without diversity?

Thanks for letting me be a part of your project, it means a lot to me.~Matt Dolan

quintessential quotes-Don't give up.

Don't do watercolors on cheap paper.

Don't use fugitive inks.

Don't put your brush in your mouth--or smoke.

Don't think it's going to get easier.

Don't lock yourself into anything.

Don't try to sell your work right away.

Don't sweat the small stuff; go for the big picture.

Don't worry when somebody says your work is not so hot.

Don't worry when somebody says your work is great.

Don't take yourself too seriously.

Don't be afraid to do something over and over.

Don't listen too much to perceived authority.

Don't be afraid to listen to your own intelligence.

Don't try to please anybody except yourself.

Don't be either too vain or too modest.

Don't talk about what you're going to do.

Don't be afraid to look at other people's stuff.

Don't think you're an undiscovered genius.

Don't use the words "don't", "can't," "won't," and "shouldn't."

Don't give up.

Robert Gwenn

I am Artist: Josh Downey, from the far northeast corner of Illinois

Why are you an artist?

Working with photography and design allows me to be an introvert. I can explore myself through the outlet of photography while capturing my expression in different settings. Art also allows me to create a dialog that I understand. Growing up, my family has never really understood where I got my ideas from, what I was expressing, why I did certain things that I do, and so forth. In photography I get to create a certain conversation with myself where the camera is my words and the image is my thought. Doing this, I am able to converse with someone that understands me by expressing myself in a way that only I need to understand. When I capture the image that I really try to express, I feel as though I have just had the greatest philosophical discussion. In short, art is a discussion with myself that helps to broaden my thought process. 

Why do you use the medium that you use?

 I have always enjoyed expression through the use of art, but I lack the steady hand and patience that it takes to draw, paint, sculpt, and build. Though I have been working with wood and carpentry since I was a child, my work has always been shotty, at best. Photography lets me capture a moment in a way that does not require such steady hands, but still demands the thought process that a painting or drawing requires. I get to use the camera as an extension of my hands in a way that I can not with a paintbrush, pen, or other tools.

What inspires your work?

While a great deal of other artists are inspired by other artists in similar functions, I get inspiration by words, music, and history more so than by other photographers or painters. When I hear a song and the beat or the lyrics 'click' with an image or thought in my mind or a feeling in the pit of my stomach, I expand on it. I take that initial thought or image and I create based on the feelings that I had at the moment that I 'clicked' with the words or the sound or the expression portrayed by that particular other artist. I have specific inspirations listed at http://www.joshdowneyphotos.com/cause-and-influences.html .

     My most recent inspired project was my Self-Portrait Series. I was watching a biography on the great John Belushi. His friends, family, and colleagues were describing how nobody really 'understood' Belushi. How he would do things that only he really understood, actions that even his closest friends didn't understand why he was doing them. I started to think about how Belushi was basically a lost figure that thrived on doing what was "Belushi." It clicked that I understand what he was feeling, what he was doing, and how he was portrayed. I felt as though I was Belushi at that moment. That Belushi and I were internally the same. So I started the Self-Portrait Series to capture emotions and feelings that I had, that I don't expect any others to really understand, until I got the image that made me feel the way that I was expressing myself in that image. But, to others, they may just be some awesome looking images, or some awful portrayals that they just don't understand. In either case, it doesn't matter to me because I understand what I see.

     In another case, music (http://www.myspace.com/thehotgarbage) inspired a series of mine where I recreated scenes that I read about with German Nazi science experiments and the treatment of the mentally ill through the mid-twentieth century.

You seem to be compositionally attracted to "action" and"movement" and freezing it.  Tell us why.

Did you ever hear the phrase, "those that don't understand history are bound to repeat it."? When I don't understand an action, a thought, a scientific elemental being, and so forth, I try to study it until I do.

In the case of my Fire Studies, I would take slow shutter speed images of the flames flailing in the wind and at the same time destroying the very fuel that allows it to exist. The lumber that the flame was feeding off of was giving fuel to the fire, yet the fire was destroying it to survive. This self-destruction was so intriguing to me that I needed to see it at just a moment to understand it. So I changed to a fast shutter speed to take just that split second shot of an object that destroys itself by expanding, and at the same time, destroys itself the instant that it stops expanding. Though this particular subject, an element that is so destructive and ruins the lives of incomprehensible amounts of people, will never be the same again, for that moment, for that instant, it was beautiful. When I finally understood how this destructive element is actually a beautiful and misunderstood figure, it clicked.

     In some of the series' that I create based on historical events, documents, people, eras, etc., I try to express the way that I understand the subject into an image that someone else will remember the subject matter. As a history major in college, I found that society as a whole, from the uneducated to the overly educated, doesn't understand history, doesn't find it important, doesn't feel it is necessary for survival, or simply doesn't want to believe aspects of history. I am not trying to be the savior of history, but I am expressing the importance of it, from the macabre and disgusting to the beautiful and peaceful elements that have shaped our society.

     There is also an element of surprise when working with fire. In Fire Studies: Softspoken, I found a great deal of images of fire that had hidden images of faces, people, bodies, actions, etc. Sometimes freezing a moment gives an element of intrigue and exploration. For instance, Fire Studies: Softspoken; Witch's Face, I clearly see the evil face of a screaming figure.

What does it feel like to take a self portrait?

Oddly enough, unsatisfying. Instead of having an influence that allowed me grow feelings for and from, I only had myself. When I did finally get the image that I wanted, I would be kind of un-nerved at why that particular emotion came out so bold and powerful. I constantly want to create the next image of myself.

What is the value of ART in our society?

Society has an inherent responsibility to preserve and respond to art. One can understand a great deal about an era in history based on the art that was preserved. At that time when the art was created, someone responded and purchased a piece of art because it 'moved' them, or inspired them, or they simply enjoyed it aesthetically. At that same era there were thousands, if not millions, of pieces of art that were tossed away and unpreserved. Those pieces did not elicit the response that society was looking for.

     On a purely expressional value of art in society it is something that can not be banished, oppressed, nor excommunicated. Those that want to express themselves through artistic measure will take all actions necessary to do so. Though the art created may not be understood or accepted from a societal viewpoint, it will be created. Art is not so much necessary for society to create, but for a person or group to create. Art is not for a person or group to preserve, but for society to preserve.

Where do you see yourself as an artist in 5 years?

I will still be creating and producing, but hopefully on a self-sustaining level.

What are your ultimate goals as an artist?

To expand and explore myself. I do not create works for others to understand, but to enjoy. When I see or hear a reaction from someone viewing my pieces in a positive manner, I feed off of it. So my ultimate goal is to always have others enjoying my works, to constantly be creating and producing, and to stop creating when I cease to enjoy it.

What does art mean to you?

 I view art as simple as being pleased. If a piece looks good to you, makes you feel a certain emotion when viewed, or inspires you in some manner, then it is art. Art does not have to be expensive nor cheap, popular nor unknown, moving or thoughtless, but simply pleasing. You have to be elicited with a response of some manner. Louis Armstrong said something along the lines of; 'everybody talks about rock music, jazz, blues, and whatnot. Music is simple, when you hear something, you like it, or you don't. It doesn't matter what genre it is.' That is exactly how I think of art, if you see something and like it, then you like it; if you see something and you don't like it, then you don't like it.

Experiments in Creativity #14 -"Seeing Beyond the Visual"

Experiments in Creativity #14 
"Seeing beyond the Visual"

I can only speak for myself, but I think for most of us as "visual" artists, we take for granted that are dominant mode of sensation and or communication is our visual perceptions. What if that went away-what do you think your ART would look like? Would you still create? And what would you create?
Recently, I read an interesting article on Art Info about an exhibition "In Ljubljana, a Picasso Exhibit for the Blind" which catered to the needs of the blind and visually-impaired. This concept of experiencing art without sight has inspired my next Experiment in Creativity. It brings me to this investigation as visual person, how can I "feel' and experience Art without my eyes?
For my Experiment in Creativity 
Simply: I would like you to create Art that caters to the needs of the blind and visually-impaired. And or I would like you to experience the creative process and manifestation of ART without your visual perceptions. 
I look forward to "seeing" and to "hearing" about your Art and your process. namaste -lisa