Matt Andrade, a Boston based artist and blogger, participates in the Artists Interview Artists Project. Below Matt responds to another artist's five questions (Adrian Parsons from Fairfax, VA). In order to participate, Matt had to provide me with five questions for some other artist to answer. The assigning of questions to artists is completely random. If you're an artist and interested in participating, let me know.
Ascension, copyright 2005 MJ Andrade
Acrylic on canvas
48" x 48"
1. Describe art in three (non-buzz) words.
Hmmm…three non-buzz words; as describing Art in its totality with three words would be, well difficult to say the least, (and an exercise in reductio ad absurdum) I will assume you mean my art, so here goes ...Ars Memento Mori
2. Your work is just sitting there, static. You're paying for studio time or a figure and you're blank. When you are tired of your work, how do you return to your work? What strategies do you use to re-engage?
There are enough things going on in my life right now that this is rarely a problem. If I can’t get things going in the studio then there is always something else to be done, until my head is ready to take on a painting. Other then that, I spend a great deal of time reading history, art history, and researching online or reading up on current events. Eventually all this stuff distills down into a new idea and I’m ready to go again. One thing I’ve always thought ironic is that I don’t get excited to create by looking at other artist’s paintings (although I do enjoy it) but a trip to the Society of Arts and Crafts gallery or some such place to look at ceramics or jewelry or one-of-a-kind furniture and then I’m raring to go and fight with a canvas.
3. Is the medium you use the best to convey your message? Does the medium matter?
My work is very narrative, very figurative. Because it is conceived in my head as an image from the start I suppose any pictorial medium would do, from Photoshop to crayons. I work with water-based media, mostly acrylics at this point, because it is familiar and I can spend my efforts on the image, not on learning the process. I do hope to start working in oils or egg tempera in the near future. When in the future will depend a lot on how much work I have to do and how much time I have to do it in.
4. Would you rather win the Turner, the Trawick, or hand the check right back?
I haven’t really thought much about any kind of competitions or prizes. The last couple of years have been very hectic and emotional, with a lot of family obligations and the passing of several relatives, and so not much painting has been done. Right now my goals are focused on producing new work. I have to admit, I’m much more jealous of an artist who’s prolific than one who gets headlines.
5. What comes next?
I have several running narratives/series of paintings going. The ‘Cathedral Series’ has gotten the most positive feedback, and will get the most attention from me for the next six months, but my other ideas are still brewing out there and if I can get enough done on the Cathedrals then I’ll be resurrecting some other concepts. What comes next is simply for me to paint - speaking of which…it's time for me to go to the studio.
Modern Theology, copyright 2005 MJ Andrade
Acrylic on canvas
48" x 72"
Previous Interviews:
Juno Doran (questions by James W. Bailey)
Josh Feldman (questions by Joseph Barbaccia)
Lisa Stephenson (questions by Whitney Lynn)
Joseph Barbaccia (questions by Josh Feldman)
James W. Bailey (questions by Matt Hollis)
Matt Hollis (questions by Juno Doran)
Carol Es (questions by James Leonard)
Alexandra Silverthorne (questions by Ami Lahoff)
Christine Buckton Tillman (questions by Carol Es)
Douglas Witmer (questions by Alexandra Silverthorne)
Sky Pape (questions by Douglas Witmer)
Whitney Lynn (questions by Lisa Stephenson)
Heather Levy (questions by Joanne Greenbaum)
Heather Lowe (questions by Samantha Wolov)
Samantha Wolov (questions by Heather Levy)
Timothy McClellan (questions by Heather Lowe)
James Leonard (questions by Sky Pape)
Joanne Greenbaum (questions by Timothy McClellan)
Richard Kooyman (questions by Robert Walton)
Candy Keegan (questions by Warren Craghead)
Robert Walton (questions by Candy Keegan)
John M. Adams (questions by Richard Kooyman)
Prescott Moore Lassman (questions by Mary Addison Hackett)
Mary Addison Hackett (questions by Prescott Moore Lassman)
Andrew Wodzianski (questions by Nathan Manuel & D.Billy)
Nathan Manuel & D.Billy (questions by Andrew Wodzianski)
Michael Janis (questions by Scott Listfield)
Scott Listfield (questions by Michael Janis)
F. Lennox Campello (questions by Sean Hennessy)
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