Can you give me a brief description of your artistic practice?
Sure! It normally starts with an unexpected association of some kind -- like a color that glows just so or a very specific texture -- and then I build from there. As those things begin to accumulate, the piece starts to establish its own parameters and expectations. I most often go off the rails by trying to force disagreeable objects together or by imposing a depiction on a picture before it can talk back. I make and then destroy a lot of images because of this! I know I’m finished when a piece has its own self-sustaining orbit and no longer cares what I think of it. Sometimes I don’t like it, but I can’t deny it.
Can you tell me a little about what you are showing at SooVAC in September?
It will be mostly paintings, and a handful of sculptures and drawings. My newer pieces are a little more mawkish and hair-brained than the comparatively sedate paintings I made in 2012 and 2013. I’m especially excited to exhibit a number of my new small ceramic figurines.
Looking at your work online I feel like I see the hint of a furry animal or other familiar objects painted indistinctly; can you tell me anything about this?
Yeah! I think of myself as a figurative painter who paints verbs instead of nouns, and most of the time my subjects are animals or vegetables. I spend a lot of time thinking about different types of time—glacial-time, plant-time, tortoise-time—and how a painting can capture that difference. The jittery or hesitating subject is one of my favorites, and I’ve always felt that the most immediate illustration of that is in the routines of a dog, the warble of bird song, or the pacing of territory.
Do you prefer to paint with watercolor? Why?
I do, though it’s somewhat disingenuous of me to call myself a “watercolorist.” I paint with watercolors almost as though they’re oil paints, as the watercolors on the synthetic paper have a lot of the same vibrancy as oils but are completely water-soluble and erasable. I can work through ideas quickly and take greater risks. I feel like the shorthand of “watercolorist” gives me a lot more credit than I deserve. But to whatever extent I am a part of that tradition (naturalist or otherwise) I’m honored. It’s in harmony with the kind of making and living I aspire to.
I was interested to read on your website that you are open to trading or bartering for your work and
Ha! Nobody’s attempted “the impassioned plea” as of yet. I am still open to it, though.
Do you not accept money for your work? If not, why?
I sell work. My trading page is all about setting up a more explicit alternative to that route, though, to make the idea of living with my artwork a more accessible thing. I’m lucky! I’ve got a day job I like and I don’t need to rely on my painting for income, so while selling paintings is great, the trading has been really direct and rewarding in a different way. I’ve met some interesting people and received all kinds of wonderful things -- everything from a 6-month supply of homemade bread to a set of beautiful photos of neurons.
What is your earliest art related childhood memory?
I don’t know! My family is pretty art-centric, so we were always looking at or doing something. I remember painting the finger painting that hangs over my mother’s desk when I was probably 3 or 4. I’ve been fascinated by the Audubon reproductions in my parents’ house for my whole life.
The Persistent Present: New Work by John Bell, runs September 12 to October 25
For more info CLICK HERE!
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