LOVE IS CONFUSING UPSIDE-DOWN  |
Tell us a little bit about your background… I’m a 22 year old artist, residing in
Melbourne, Australia. I’ve lived here and on the Mornington
Peninsula my whole life, and would never, ever live anywhere else.
Aside from art, I also write short fiction, terrible poetry and
worse songs. How do you define what you do and how did it all begin? What I do is simple. I make art. It can hardly be called design, it is just artwork for visual pleasure. I began making art when a friend of mine gave me photoshop for my 14th birthday and I started making (absolutely horrible) photomanipulations of pictures that friends took from parties. A few years later I discovered 3D programs quite by accident, and started intertwining the basic renders I had with my photoshop work. Fast forward six or so years and you get what I produce now. What is the origin of the name ‘superlover’? It’s actually the title of a song by an artist who released some music on depthcore.com (the name escapes me). The song itself was absolutely wicked and the catch phrase “I’m yo’ superlover!” kind of stuck in my head. I would have told you some wicked kinky story about bed time adventures, but it simply wouldn’t be true… You have Abstract Playboy of The Year as one of your awards in 2005 – can you shed some light on this? I absolutely can. I gave myself that award for throwing a Pimps ‘N Whores 21st, and forcing everyone I know to dress up in ludicrous costumes to celebrate my birth. I figured that was a fairly abstract playboy kind of thing to do… What kind of formal education, training or experience do you have that applies to what we see on superlover? Absolutely none. I am 100% self taught in all of my digital artwork. It’s been years of trial and error, finding combinations that work and extrapolating thereon. What materials/programs do you use to produce your work? I model the forms for my artwork in cinema4d,
apply textures and render in bryce before commencing post production
in photoshop. People write bryce off, but it’s render engine
is superlative. Apart from that, I also sporadically splice in
my own photography, something I have studied and have had formal
training in at the University of Melbourne. Your artwork is very unique and high energy, is this a reflection of your personality or simply a style that you enjoy working in? What factors do you think went into developing it? It is difficult to answers this question properly, as I feel a lot of my imagery is low key. The images that are ‘high energy’ are that way because they simply didn’t flow without that somewhat elusive element. I always try and make my works as unique as possible, and I never really have any difficulty in doing so. I guess the reason behind that is that my development process is simply based off creating something different to my previous artworks. I can’t stand having two pieces the same, and I suppose that is reflected in the work itself. Is there a philosophy behind it all? No. The images are created for personal expression,
and visual pleasure. The intention of each piece is different,
and I would never specify. The course I am taking is titled Creative Arts.
It sees me dabble in all aspects of art, from theatre to art history,
short fiction to poetry, music to script writing. I’m in
to all of it, and have had moderate amateur success with all. I
can’t see myself sharing any of it on superlover, as all
of it is for play, and not profit. This is a question I am going to be asking galleries myself. I think my artwork is medium transcendent, and would look just as good as a framed canvas as it does a computer background. As soon as I get the capital together I will be looking at producing my first artwork exhibition, after which I’ll be able to answer this with far more authority!
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Do you think there is a place for art like your own in the corporate world or do you think it is best to keep art/corporate work separated? Has your design been showcased in any corporate arenas? Another questions that needs to be answered
by corporations. In my opinion, there’s no reason why art
and corporate work can’t be blended to form a new and unique
style of media, but the likelihood of this rests in other hands.
To date, I have not had much corporate involvement, which I feel
is a shame, because I would love to find out exactly what kind
of relationship my artwork could have with a business context. I am influenced, more than anything, by my
city and my music. Melbourne & Morphine are behind nearly every
piece of artwork I’ve made in the last year. How do you keep yourself motivated and interested? The challenge of creating new and unique artwork is a never ending one – art itself is obviously limitless and to set oneself the task is to set oneself an impossible goal. Having done so personally, it’s kind of hard to lose motivation… You currently sell your design through deviantart.com, do you find this to be a good vehicle for getting your stuff out there? Do you use any Australian based avenues? I love deviantart.com and have found it to be a marvelous way of making new contacts and sharing my art. Currently speaking I do not utilize any Australian based avenues, but would be more than willing to do so if the opportunity presented itself! How did you first begin to sell/market your work? What are you finding to be the most effective means of promotion? I just started emailing anyone and everyone left right and centre, who I thought could help spread the word about my folio. You need to be completely unafraid of rejection and just share yourself with as many people as is possible! If you don’t believe in yourself enough to promote you, it’s unrealistic to expect that anyone else will. Make it happen yourself. And for any prospective clients out there, tell us what a dream project for you might be… I want to take your identity, pick it up, and slam it into a piece of artwork. Give me a picture of your product, a logo, a photo of your CEO, let me make it into something that has not been seen before. What is the most rewarding aspect of what you do? The most frustrating? I find it rewarding when I can see my own cultural influences shining through in my art. I find it frustrating when I’ve spent fifteen hours on a piece, and it looked better when I hadn’t done anything at all! Goals for the future, 2006? 2011? 2006 – Design a magazine cover. Dunk
a basketball. Any hot design tips, sites or words of wisdom you care to share for those pursuing similar creative goals? The key word is creative. Make the work your
own. Be inspired by other people, and use that inspiration to make
something that is entirely yours… Visit depthcore.com… If
all else fails, paint it black.
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