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Artist Spotlight |
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This Month We Spotlight Fellow ArtBeacon Artist Les Phillips.
Les Philips is a photographer currently residing in San Francisco, California. Les' work can be seen and purchased from his web site:
"The Studios Of Les Phillips".
Q:Two things are most notable about your ArtBeacon site, your very original "Deconstructed Construction" series and your biography. What spurred you to pursue an education in the arts?
A: I have always been interested in making art. I first thought of being an artist at around 7 or 8 years old when I sat down and drew a picture of my aunt's car. When I showed her the picture she said "Oh, that's my car." I was very proud of myself because she knew it was her car not just any car. I could never leave anything as it was. With my first bicycle I removed everything from the frame, turned the frame upside down, added risers to the forks and seat post and replaced the handle bars with a car's steering wheel. The result was a very radical rolling sculpture. In high school my parents discouraged me from taking art classes because they wanted me to learn something that could assure me of gainful employment. But I was old enough when entering college to make my own decisions and decided to study art. Who needs gainful employment.
Q: Through out your educational career what lessons learned have been the most relevant and had the most impact on your work? Likewise what lessons learned have been the most relevant and had the most impact on your work in the classroom of life?
A: My years in college were marked by two very influential teachers. One taught me the value of understanding the rules, the other taught me the value of breaking the rules. My wife is a first grade school teacher and she tells me that the most important thing she can teach her children is to be independent, to think for themselves. I think that's one lesson I've learned from just living life. You can look at what others have done and how they solve a problem or approach a work but ultimately you have to do it your way. When I look at the work of an artist I admire, I try to think of how I might approached it.
Q: Who or what has had the greatest influence(s) in defining your artistic endeavors and style?
A: That's a good question. We are influenced by so many things, most of which we are unaware of. Everything from our teachers, television and peers to catching our parents making love or almost drowning while swimming has an influence on us. Even the economy has had some influence on what I am doing now. When I graduated from college I was renting a large studio doing large scale paintings and mixed media works. As rents went up much faster than my income, my studios began to shrink. I evolved into doing much of my work on a computer which requires a smaller workspace and that in turn has fostered an interest in using the technology. My works keep getting larger and larger anyway and now I'm searching for a larger space again. A former teacher and mentor once told me that artists make art no matter what their circumstances. He showed me a photo of a very small room he was living in while he was in college and a series of small paintings he had done there. The room was unimaginably small and the paintings exquisite.
Q: What role do you feel art plays in your life?
A: I guess art is my life. My wife and I are looking for a new home. The number one concern I have is where my studio goes. I am constantly searching for ideas and inspiration and never a day goes by that I don't do something creative, or at least that I think is creative.
Q: What inspired you to pursue your "Deconstruction Construction" series and did it take you long to develop the technique used? Do you look for particular subjects when creating these pieces?
A: The "Deconstruction Construction" series grew from a series of photographs I was doing of reflections. I did several pieces that showed SFMOMA in the windows of the Metreon. I liked the way the images of the buildings were broken yet still coherent. I began experimenting with the idea of breaking up the image of buildings that had nothing near them to reflect into. It took several weeks to come up with the technique I use now. Something else came out of this that I had not foreseen and that is that I could create very large works with great detail and clarity. This appealed to my sense of large scale and as a result my pieces are getting larger. The cost of producing the pieces is the only thing keeping them from getting even larger.
I try to bring several levels to my work. With the reflection series, I wanted to invite the viewer to look at something that is quite familiar in just a bit different way. By photographing reflections, I could capture the image of a solid object distorted into an impossible version of that object and thereby create a tension between the two versions, what our mind knows the object to be and what it is that our eyes reveal. With the "Deconstruction Construction" series I like to choose subjects that are not only interesting visually but also may be seen to represent an institution or organization. Thus when I do the San Francisco City Hall I not only invite the viewer to look at the building in a bit different way, but also to examine the institution it represents. If you think about the history of San Francisco City government it becomes far more interesting than just viewing the broken image of the building.
Q: Out of your portfolio, what pieces of artwork have you found strike a nerve with art enthusiasts the most?
A: The piece most commented on has been "Suspended". I think because of the recognizable image of the Golden Gate Bridge. Also the size, that piece is the largest so far measuring 56 inches by 80 inches.
Q: Which of your photo collages pieces was the most challenging to create? Why?
A: The most challenging from a technical point of view has been "Stations of the Cross". This piece is my latest and is a bit of a departure from the earlier pieces. I wanted to create the look of a stained glass window. I took close to a thousand shots to get the ones I used. I wasn't concerned with the subject matter of each individual shot, just the color and value. I wanted to emphasize the cross in the center and create the look and feel of a stained glass window.
Q: What has been the oddest comment(s) you've received in regard to your artwork?
A: Everyone says they look as though they are going through an earthquake, but that never entered my mind when I created them. Maybe that's why I'm beginning to move away from that approach. Or maybe not.
Q: Do you print your own work? If not how is your work printed?
A: I used to print my own works and still do with some of the smaller ones. But I don't have the equipment to print the larger ones so I use a couple of different printers that I work closely with to produce the prints. At the moment I am having the Giclée prints done with a print shop in Berkeley and the C prints done in San Francisco. I have been experimenting with different mediums including Giclée on canvas and in the case of "Stations of the Cross" transparency in a light box. The medium I use has to be archival, that's the one thing I insist on.
Q: Have you found particular challenges associated with printing your work? If so how were these challenges overcome?
A: The biggest challenge has been to satisfy my desire for larger works. Technology continues to advance and as it does, I like to use it to push the limits of what I can do. Until recently I was limited to about 42" in width on the Giclée prints. On a recent trip to Sadona, Arizona a found a printer that can print up to 60" wide. Most issues are solved by simply doing it again and again if need be. If the first printing isn't what I want, we do it till it is.
Q: What other types of projects are you interested in pursuing?
A: I never quite know where my art might take me. I know I will be doing things quite different from what I do now. For me the adventure is in doing it for the first time. Once I've done something it becomes like a familiar street that leads to the next adventure.
Q: How would you explain the evolution of digital art to those now entering it for the first time or just learning about it as an art enthusiast?
A: I think the interesting thing about digital art is the evolution. The technology continues to advance at a very rapid pace. If you think about traditional art making techniques such as oil or watercolor painting, the technical aspect evolved relatively slowly. Pigments are much the same as they have been for a very long time. That's not to say that they are not evolving, just not at the pace that digital technology is. The challenge for the digital artist is to not let the technology dictate what the art becomes but to learn to use the technology to create that which is unique to the artist and to the technology. It's not necessarily bad to simply do with digital that which can be done traditionally, but the real adventure is in doing that which can only be done digitally.
Q: Are you moving in a particular direction with digital art and/or digital photography or are you on for the ride? If moving in a particular direction how do you see your artwork evolving?
A: I think this was answered earlier but I really don't know if I will even be doing digital in the future. For now it holds a fascination for me and as long as it stimulates me I will be doing it. But for now I like to enjoy the adventure and let it take me where it may.
Q: Where can people see your artwork currently or in the very near future?
A: I have a show at Café Bianco at 39 Sutter St. until later this month (September). I also have pieces at Polarity Post Production at 69 Green St., Hotel Triton at the corner of Bush and Grant Sts. and at Bayshore Film and Stage Studios, 2178 Palou in San Francisco. My work can also be seen during San Francisco Open Studios event on October 9-10th, 2004 at the Castro Christmas Tree Lot (Market at Noe & 16th Street).
Q: As an off the wall ending to our interview... if you were to develop a technical term what would it be and how would it be defined?
A: Whoa, now you're asking me to think and I try not to do that very much, not sure it's healthy.
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Did You Know? - All ArtBeacon Artist Sites Are Listed Under "Resources"
In the navigation a top every ArtBeacon page is a link titled "Resources". Clicking on this link will bring you to a page with several resource types including "Artist Web Sites".
You can display "Artist Web Sites" results by Name or Location.
NOTE: Individual artist site results are displayed automatically once a site/store is published. Content for these automatic site/store references are pulled from "About The Store", "Store Name" (from your "Site/Store Settings" page) and "City"/"State" (from your "Account Information").
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We remind you that you can discuss account setup, business practices, recent site developments, and suggestions, with fellow members and the ArtBeacon Development Team in the ArtBeacon Forum. >> Access The Forum |
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