I'm very pleased to present an interview of Rob Wynne, a good friend of mine and an amazing artist....
www.robwynne.net/
1 - Dear Rob, could you please introduce yourself and
tell us what is your background? How did you become an artist?
As a young child I had dyslexia - which made it extremely
difficult to READ. Oddly, I could read music very easily……but knew that I would
not be able to excel as I wanted in that field. I could draw and when it came
time to go to college, I went to Art School (Pratt Institute, in Brooklyn NY)
After a long period of making abstract paintings - I took a long pause and
redirected my work to TEXT, challenging my childhood issues, and began working
with NARRATIVE . The ability to change my mind and point of view was for me a
life changing experience.
2 - Words mean a lot to you. They are the main subject
of your art, why?
See ABOVE!!!
3 - Why did you choose to use glass a main material?
I am NOT a classically trained "glass artist"
about 15 years ago, I was making an exhibition for Holly Solomon, my dealer at
that time. It was called "SLEEPWALKING" and was loosely based on an
early 19th century Opera, "La sonnambula" I had wallpapered the
entire gallery and made large scale silkscreen paintings on fabric….I wanted to
have a pair of GLASS FEET - to convey a sense of being and not being present.
Not knowing anything about glass working , I was put in touch with a trained
technician…and was able to make the FEET. After that I just started hanging
around the glass studio and watching and picking up bits of technique. I was
then invited to be a "visiting artist" at Pilchuck in Seattle, which is
the mecca of the studio glass art movement in the USA. I started to just fool
around with GLASS and tried to use it in unorthodox ways. That said, working
with glass is collaborative, insofar as you cannot do it alone. I have worked
with a crew of assistants since then…always trying to break rules and embrace
the imperfection in glass making, which runs contrary to the typical techniques
used.
4 - How do you position yourself compared to
Jean-Michel Othoniel and Angelo Filomeno who also use glass in their works?
Vis a vis Othoniel and Filomeno, whom I admire very
much…..I think the commonality that we share is that we are NOT "glass
artist's" in the traditional sense. Interestingly the range of
contemporary artists using glass as a material in their work is fairly
substantial: ie: Kiki Smith, Beverly Sims, Robert Gober, Mary Carlson, Joan
Jonas (in performance), etc. - some Modern Masters like Duchamp( The Bride
Stripped Bare) and Pollack ( who mixed glass in his pigment) also used glass.
For me, glass is another material to experiment with, albeit, one that does
need a large amount of knowledge to handle.
5 - How do you place yourself in the contemporary art
market? Do you feel any affiliation to one movement or another?
I don't place myself in the Art Market…I just try to make
things that interest me.
6 - Could you please tell us about your collaboration
with Dior?
The Architect Peter Marino ( a collector of my work)
approached me through JGM.Galerie some years ago about doing a piece for the
flagship DIOR boutique in Paris. Peter is in charge of the design of DIOR world
wide. He has since then asked me for pieces for other DIOR venues. They
typically tell me the perimeters and then I give them drawings of various
ideas in my Poured Glass work. Et Voila!
Thanks a lot my dear Rob. It's always a pleasure
No comments:
Post a Comment