a series of interviews with the musicians and illustrators collaborating to bring us the story of the blot in sound and images. Check it out at: theblot.tumblr.com and theblot.bandcamp.com

Intro What is the blot

Squidface & the Meddler to the organizers, Ryan Carley and Casey Mecija:

SF&M – How did this project get started? What inspired the initial story of The Blot?

Ryan Carley

Late one snowy night this past November Casey and I were working away on a track intended for a Christmas collection by a blog in the UK. We had begun the session with the idea of making something dirty. Casey played through some ideas on guitar and gave us the feel. I followed it with some sputtery chords on my Juno. We intended to take it pretty far out of the holiday realm then bring it back in a jokey way by calling it “How the Grunge Stole Christmas.” By design it was a black hole carol, describing a monstrous antithesis to joy, with no move toward remittance at the close. Totally intense.

We hadn’t come up with any lyrics as yet and were fishing around for the heart of the song, a single image that would start us off. The Dr. Seuss story was on our brains, and we were excited by the image of a thief in the night, stealing some integral part of the spirit of a household. Next to my synthesizers is a shelf of my favourite books and they stared at us as we sat and pondered what this creature may be wanting to take from us. We both think and write a lot about words and the creative power of knowledge transference and myth-making held within them.

The Blot Begins by Jake Pauls

It was Casey who first suggested that what could be stolen from us is the stories we hold dear. I liked the idea of something unstoppable coming from afar and stripping the very ink out of our books. All of a sudden we had this monster that would get bigger, stronger, and smarter with every word it ate. A few minutes later Casey had written the first verse, describing the creation of our creature, and giving it a name. The Blot had begun.

Before we were halfway done the song we had happily given up the notion of meeting the deadline for the Christmas song compilation and were tossing around the idea of writing a rock opera with The Blot as the central character. It seemed like a wicked idea but something that would take forever if we mounted it on our own. I had been thinking for a while about starting a monthly digital single series that would pair two different composers or producers per track.

It seemed like a very natural move to merge this series structure with The Blot, knowing that in the hands of a number of talented creative partnerships, our creature could become something much richer than either Casey or I could imagine working alone. This allowed us to take on the roles of curators, simultaneously guiding and staying out of the way of the fantastic brains of our favourite musicians.

As we were discussing all this, our old friend Jake Pauls (with whom I shared a studio space at the time) offered to illustrate and add further depth to the ideas we were presenting in our song. This was a nice vote of confidence and spurred the idea that each song or chapter of the project should be interpreted by an illustrator. Jake had introduced me to the work of so many great artists in the year previous and I was excited for Casey and I to enter into that world.

“It seemed like a very natural move to merge this series structure with The Blot, knowing that in the hands of a number of talented creative partnerships”

SF&M – How are the visual artists paired with the musicians? Are they matched for compatible styles, or were you hoping to accidentally happen upon strange and exciting combinations?

Casey Mecija

This project is very much about the surprises that emerge from the visual and musical collaborations between strangers. Many of the artists paired up thus far have not known each other and I think because of this, there is a creative freedom in that uncertainty. When you are familiar with an artist then perhaps you might try and write or draw with their aesthetic in mind.

Ryan and I are trying to create unexpected surprises with each song and each illustration so starting each chapter with a new collaboration of strangers is really exciting for us.

At the end of each month we get to see how different musical and visual aesthetics collide to create a sensory narrative for our character The Blot. We see the character come to life in different shapes, colours, chord progressions and lyrics…it’s the best way to tell this particular story.

Casey Mecija of Ohbijou. The Great Hall in Toronto – December 21, 2011
© F Yang 2011 www.chromewaves.net

Ryan and I are trying to create unexpected surprises with each song and each illustration so starting each chapter with a new collaboration of strangers is really
exciting for us.

SF&M – Strangely enough, the story of the Blot seems to start with the creative potential of books and words, a medium not explicitly included in the project (apart from song lyrics). Any plans to bring in a written element to the story, maybe as part of the final songbook edition?

Ryan Carley

Well, we originally we conceived of The Blot as a storybook of sorts. We imagined song lyrics accompanied by an illustration for each chapter, and a pocket in the back with a download card for the music. It’s possible that we could write short transitions to fill in any gaps and help the reader from one chapter to the next, but I like the imperfect nature of the project. It is a hairy, wild beast, and I don’t think we’ll try to comb it or style it beyond what our teams accomplish month by month. The illustrations and music do so much to propel the story, and leave so much room for interpretation, which lets The Blot grow further and go farther in the minds of its readers.

Ryan Carley (image via thelineofbestfit.com )

Chapter 1 the blot begins

Squidface & the Meddler to the composers and artist, Casey Mecija, Ryan Carley & Jake Pauls:

SF&M – How did it feel composing words and music that would serve as the start of an ongoing story that other artists would pick up on? Was your process different knowing you were part of a larger collaboration?

Casey Mecija

When writing lyrics for the first chapter I definitely had it in mind that the song and words were a part of a larger collaboration. I wanted to start the story by laying out that the Blot was an ink blot and that it grew larger as it stole ink from books. To me the character is sinister, tenacious and mischeivious.

I wanted to create this personality through the words for the first song by writing phrases like: “Give me all your stories. I will show persistence. Getting so much bigger”. I definitely wanted to avoid telling too much of the story so as not to prevent the narrative from growing. The first song is an introduction to the character and in the next eleven chapters who knows how the character will evolve.

SF&M – We loved the lyrics for The Blot Begins! The Blot seems to have an insatiable hunger for words and ideas, but we had a hard time telling if he’s a sinister or benevolent character. Is he the hero or villain of this story?

Ryan Carley

This is a tough one, and something we’re still trying to figure out ourselves! At first I was sure that The Blot was nefarious in itself, or at least had sinister motives. We’re not quite sure it’s a creature acting on its own accord, or if it’s the puppet of some external force. The body of the ink is now the vehicle for something, but I feel as though it might have come from nothing. I think that it’s simply a force; neither hero nor villain. It may do things which we consider good or evil, but it likely doesn’t see the world in that way. So it might be difficult to call it a hero or villain.

I believe that there’s a potential for it to go one way or the other, but its consciousness is still forming. At this point it’s only feasted once, on one bookshelf. Who knows what those books contained, or how that information was interpreted. It could be looking at millions of words with no apparent connection to one another. Perhaps it hasn’t reached the critical mass of information necessary to bring it to an understanding of who it is or what it wants to do here besides eat our beloved books. But perhaps it’s more together than any of us know. It seems to realize that it exists, and is wondering at it all, which is a magnificent first step. I’m excited to see where it goes.

SF&M – How did you get involved with this project?

Jake Pauls

I’ve been friends with Casey and Ryan for a long time. Ryan and I were sharing a studio when he and Casey were first writing the song, so I was listening to it all happen while I was doing other drawings. When the idea started getting bigger, like as a project rather than just one song, they invited me to be a part. I love doing art for music projects and working with friends so it was a great fit. We’ve talked about bookending the project with another song/art collaboration between the three of us, so we’ll see if that happens. For now it is just nice to watch the project become something.

Illustrator Jake Pauls www.jakepauls.com

SF&M – What was it like working to Ryan Carley & Casey Mecija music and lyrics? What elements of the song resonated the most with you?

Jake Pauls

It was great. These are two people who I have always considered to be really talented musicians. There are a lot of things in the song that resonate with me. The tone of the song treads a really nice line between somber and uplifting. It has a dark edge that I appreciate. And the story itself is right up my alley…a being that builds itself out of words and ideas, so nice! It is fun to watch other people continue the story, but I sometimes wish that we had just keep it all to ourselves. I’d like the chance to interpret the character more.

Chapter 2 Winter Bloom

Ryan Carley & Casey Mecija to the composers, Dan Goldman & Daniela Gesundheit:

RC&CM – We learned in the first chapter that The Blot not only feeds and grows from the ink contained in books, but from the ideas as well. So it seems to follow that The Blot would have a lot to say after the feeding frenzy of the first chapter. What informed your decision to create an instrumental portrait of our character at this stage in the story?

Dan Goldman & Daniela Gesundheit

We wanted it to feel as though The Blot was out in the world for thefirst time post information-feeding-frenzy; in a state of gestation, like a python slowly digesting its prey. The initial moment of rapture, of ingesting all that information is done, and now, alone outside, it realizes its form. In this swell of awareness, The Blot is gathering its senses.

RC&CM – There seems to be a number of different elements at play in this piece. What sorts of compositional tools or techniques did you employ in the writing of Winter Bloom?

Dan treated it like a string quartet written for voices. We started with the vocal arrangement and worked backwards from there. We liked the idea of it sounding like a chorus from other peoples’ dreams, perhaps the sounds of the ancestors from The Blot’s original home speaking in tongues. We also aimed at having some thematic echoes of the first song written into the arrangement in order to give it a sense of continuity.

Dan Goldman & Daniela Gesundheit. luxurypond.com

RC&CM – What do you hope the listener will take away from your composition?

A sense of space, a moment of repose and introspection before the long journey ahead.

RC&CM – Do you tend to think in visuals while composing? What did you think when you first saw Juliana Neufeld’s visual response to your music?

Not really. We loved Juliana’s rendition. We felt it captured an electric stillness we were aiming at in the music.

Jake Pauls to the artist, Juliana Neufeld:

JP – How did you get involved with the project?

Juliana Neufeld

I was contacted by Casey Mecija of Obijou. I’m a fan of their music and love any chance to collaborate with musicians so it was an easy yes on my part.

JP – Were you familiar with the musicians you were working with, or were they totally new to you?

I hadn’t heard of SnowBlink in particular, but I was familiar with some of their previous work with other bands. The Toronto Indie music scene is pretty tight so I knew a bunch of bands they are associated with.

JP – I had lyrics to work from, but you were working with wordless music. Did that make it easier or harder for you?

I guess it was a bit harder in the beginning, when I was figuring out where I was going to take the story, but it ended up being a blessing. The track was so dreamy and open to interpretation that it let me feel free to indulge my imagination. It became more about a feeling than a narrative.

Illustration by Juliana Neufeld

“The song felt 100% outdoors at dawn, so I kind of went with that.”

JP – That’s interesting because you got to direct the story. You continued the narrative by putting the Blot out in the woods, rather than in the city or where-ever. Was that conscious? Did you imagine the progression of the story, or just a single image?

The song felt 100% outdoors at dawn, so I kind of went with that. I kept the city in the background so there was a reference to where the Blot could have come from and where it could go back to, but as soon as I had found a location it became all about the single image.

JP – Did you listen to the song while you worked? Where did your ideas start from?

Yep! I listened to it a few times each drawing session to get into the right frame of mind. The Blot’s character in my portion of the story is still very new to the world and SnowBlink’s track is light, mysterious and enchanting…everything together inspired the scene in the woods at dawn. A time when everything is quiet and the world feels like it is being born again each day.

JP – Your work is full of monsters/creatures, so this project seems like a good fit. What moves you to draw those things?

There are no specifics requirements when you draw a monster. I’m not confined to a particular human or animal feature. complete weirdo art freedom I guess. I can let my inner brain do the talking.

JP – If you could “feed” The Blot one book, what would it be and why?

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. Cause it’s absurd but still kind. I like that combination.

S&TM: Our sincerest thanks to Jake Pauls, Casey Mecija, Ryan Carley, Dan Goldman,
Daniela Gesundheit, and Juliana Neufeld for taking the time to do this elaborate game of interview tag!

All images © the originating artists cited accordingly.

Mark P. Hensel – Vortex #2

Vortex #2 delves into the strange, alien world the Miizzzard encountered in Vortex #1. Discover more about the world’s inhabitants – shape-shifting, ultra-violent beings who call themselves the Vortex – and see what they have hidden deep within their underground complex.

We’ve featured Mark’s amazing comics before on S&TM (Assault On Yurg). As well as a sneak peek of the first part of Vortex (Vortex #1). This is a preview of his latest edtion, Vortex #2. You can pick up a copy on Mark’s site for $7.5o (or a combo pack for $12.00).

Purchase Vortex #2 »

More comics by Mark P. Hensel »

Written and drawn by the crazy-talented artist Jesse Jacobs, the story follows the birth of life, humanity, and good and evil, as the unintended side effects of a game of show and tell between squabbling, god-like celestial beings.

Much like his previous book Even The Giants, the story and art do double duty, at once profound, meditative, but also gross and funny.

Cleverly structured and beautifully rendered in 2-tone blue and purple, the larger book format really brings out the trippy detail in Jesse Jacobs’ artwork.

More about By This Shall You Know Him on superstar Toronto publisher Koyama Press’s website!

Q. Everything about this book is gargantuan! The story touches on everything from the nature of the cosmos, the origins of life and humanity, to the struggle between good and evil… Seems like you had a lot on your mind when you were writing this! You start the book with the Don Delillo quote “The spectacle of the unmattered atom.” What inspired this story?

I draw a lot of weird doodles on scraps of paper and in sketchbooks and I wanted to create a story that allowed me to freely showcase all of the random things that I most enjoy drawing. The idea of featuring characters that can conjure an infinite number of shapes and patterns and creatures meant that I could work pretty much anything I wanted to draw into the project. Initially I was intending to make more of an art book, with separate stand-alone drawings, but as the pages evolved I ended up working a lot of the random stuff together into a cohesive narrative. This comic is a collection of my drawings over the last year couched in a familiar creation-story.

My sketchbooks are full of a lot of my own writing along with stuff I hear on the radio, in podcasts, or read in books. When I was looking though it for ideas I saw that line about the unmattered atoms and drew it into the opening page. After a google search I saw I must have written it in there when I was reading Underworld, which I enjoyed all right but isn’t one of my top books or anything. I just think that line works really well with the overall sprawl of the story and imagery- just a bunch of weird stuff floating around.

Q. Lots of great creatures in this book! What are the 2-legged dog-like beasts called? Were they modelled after your dog?

Thanks. I really tried to balance the geometric shapes with looser more organic characters. Those dog guys were coming out a lot in my drawings. Where they came from and what they’re called I’m not exactly certain. I guess they’re just prehistoric dogs. I wish my dog had such strong hind legs as those guys. I did draw my dog in the comic but she’s really small and you wouldn’t know her to see her among all the other animals. I probably referenced Desmond when drawing those doggy creatures at some point, I’m sure.

Q. The tone of the title is fairly Judeo-Christian, but really the whole thing feels kind of Greco-Roman (where humans are the playthings of a rather dysfunctional family of very flawed celestial beings). Was it tricky blending the scienc-y perspective with the philosophical side of the story?

I won’t say some parts were not difficult, but the making of this comic was very enjoyable. Probably due to the lack of restrictions I had given myself. If a certain scene was becoming boring to draw, I would just move onto something else and return to it later. Like the blending of the animal and nature drawings with the geometric shapes and patterns, the story itself is kind of an assortment of a few approaches. The celestial beings are so different from the early humans that it was almost like drawing two different stories. Generally I had a lot of fun drawing all the stuff. I had the loose idea for the story, and from there the drawings guided much of it.

Q. 88 pages is huge! How long was the whole process of making this book end to end? (We feel like we saw some of the art for this a year ago at the last TCAF). Will you be taking a vacation, or are you already onto your next endeavour?

I started drawing it a little over a year ago, and you did see that screen print I did last year, featuring that weird wormy character encased in the chamber. That was one of the first images I made for the comic, and that thing pops up throughout the book. That character takes longer to draw than any other, and that says a lot because most of them took a long time. All the patterns on the beings are hand drawn, which was time-consuming but satisfying to do. I picture those blue patterns flowing and moving on their “skin”, kind of like Rorschach’s mask. So I guess it took me about a year to complete, though I had huge breaks where I did other stuff as well. There were times when the narrative kind of slid away and I edited a lot of pages out of the book that afterwards seemed unnecessary. Anne Koyama was a big asset in helping with the editing.

I’ve been thinking about and sketching another comic that is still in its early stages. I’ve also got a few other small projects on the go. It’s gardening season so we’re getting into that now. It’s always easier to be productive in the winter, I find. Koyama is bringing me to CAKE (Chicago Alternative Comics Expo) next month and I’m looking forward to that.

Q. The book will be launching this weekend at TCAF! What are you most looking forward to at this year’s event? What other Jesse Jacobs goodies can we snag at your table?

I’m really excited that Gabriella Giandelli will be in attendance, and I plan on catching her retrospective exhibit. I love her comics so much.

I wish I could say I had a bunch of stuff to sell, but this year I’m really just focusing on the book. I’m actually in the middle of doing some more skateboards with Homegrown, with imagery loosely based from By This Shall You Know Him. They will be finished for CAKE, and I’ll make sure to hang onto a print for you guys.

S&TM: Huge, huge thanks to Jesse Jacobs for taking the time to do this on the eve of TCAF!

All images © 2012 Jesse Jacobs.

Britt Wilson – Buttsex

Britt Wilson is a 20-something illustrator living in Toronto, Ontario. She draws comics every so often, and even made a book with Conundrum Press, releasing early May.

» Britt Wilson’s website
» Britt Wilson at Conundrum Press

The most immediate impressions of Micah Lidberg’s work are of colour, complexity and movement. The whole of natural history finds its way into each of the images, populated by avian and reptilian creepy-crawlies, navigating their way through dense and dangerous wilderness.

There’s a timeline effect created by the flow of entangled characters and environments, kept in sharp relief by Micah’s vivid use of colour. Combined with a deft use of hand-drawn typography and delicate line-work, the stories in his pictures seem to be continually evolving every time you look again.

» Micah Lidberg portfolio
» Micah Lidberg tumblr
» Hugo & Marie store

“Nature is certainly one of the most common themes in my work. Not only is it the most common but it’s also the most fundamental theme.” ~ M.L.

Most of the scenes in your images seem to take place in some strange and frenzied wilderness (more than a few dinosaurs, monster birds, torrents of water and crawling vegetation). Is it silly to ask if nature in general is the main focus of your illustrations?

Micah: I don’t think it’s silly at all! Nature is certainly one of the most common themes in my work. Not only is it the most common but it’s also the most fundamental theme. For me, nature means everything – the universe, reality, all of it. I think the tangible parts like rocks, trees, and creatures are expressions of a deeper nature. That deeper nature is what I’m truly curious about. It happens to also be shrouded in mystery, so it’s hard to draw on a piece of paper. I draw the surface and tangible things but it’s always the intangible relationships between the things that intrigue me.

Photo via Nowbrow

Photo via Nowbrow

The lists I made were really personal. Any element or character that really resonated with me I wrote down.

UK-based painter Sophie Alda populates her images with the dreams and experiences of her physically and emotionally imperfect lumpy characters. Starting with a kaleidoscope of stories rooted in the mundane, her images evolve and take on spiritual dimensions, examining the connection between our everyday hopes and fears to the myths we create. Working in gouache, Sophie uses a delicate colour palette which works oddly well with the rough and tumble
subject-matter.

Q1. There are many references in your images (Demifloat and Totem Pole) to ancient myth and folklore (particularly gnosticism). What is it about these stories and world views that appeals to you, or draws you to explore them in your paintings?

Myths are interesting because they’re author-less and collective. They’re often very rich in imagery, I particularly like reading creation myths as they demonstrate alternative foundations of belief and explanations of existence that reflect the concerns of the communities that told and believed in them. And they’re often so complex! They demonstrate that cultures change and that stories change to provide the comforts we require. I particularly like the idea of the demiurge: the imperfect and artisan-like creator.

Totem Pole

Demifloat

Mothersick

Q2. There is something spectacular about the fragmented format that you tend to work in (images like Heavy Brains). It reminds us of pages from a comic, telling many stories simultaneously. What is it about this format that appeals to you?

Exactly that! I developed this format in an attempt to present a fragmented, implied narrative. Like different sides of the the same story to create a texture of place and activity.

Heavy Brains

Q3. We love the plump, long-nosed, small-eyed characters that you often draw. Was it a conscious choice to stylize your characters in this way, or something that tends to happen naturally?

It’s definitely an on-going progression – although I definitely like my characters to appear a little gross and lumpy. There’s nothing more boring than a drawing of a figure which is just cutesy and pretty when most people aren’t like that at all.

Bellygrope Heartbreak

Q4. Can you tell us a bit about your piece “Naked Summer’s Thigh” . What were some of the themes/ideas that your were exploring?

Naked Summer’s Thigh

While Box Brown‘s ongoing print and web comics series Everything Dies has run the gamut of examining varied religious beliefs and traditions, The Survivalist tells its story in the head-space of a conspiracy theory obsessed bunker-dweller.

As the story progresses, the initially unsympathetic character becomes increasingly human through his relationship with a fellow disaster survivor.

Fans of Everything Dies will love the longer, more involved story and beautifully detailed artwork.

» Purchase a copy of The Survivalist

Q. While the heart of the story in The Survivalist is essentially a personal journey for the main character, the context is made up of a lot of fringe political views and conspiracy theories. What inspired you to use these as a starting point for the story?

Box Brown When I was working on Everything Dies I was researching a lot of religious fundamentalists and really a lot of extremists in my opinion.

I’m fascinated by people who see the world in a way so contrary my own reality. So, I got into listening to these conspiracy talk radio shows. The host is a charismatic cult figure-head type but what stood out to me were the commercials.

The commercials were for all kinds of survival equipment. It was all stuff that would help you survive a crazy apocalypse. That got me really thinking about who the audience for the show really is. That listener is the central character in the Survivalist.

Q.The Survivalist is your first longer form, larger format comic. How was the experience of working on it compared to your earlier works Bellen! and the Everything Dies series?

Box Brown I had done longer stories in the print editions of Everything Dies but none as long as The Survivalist.

The Survivalist was drawn at twice the size of all my other comics and I drew each page on two separate sheets of bristol and assembled them in photoshop. So, it was drawn on 88 separate sheets of paper. In terms of story, it reminded me a lot of working on Bellen! because of the nature of the relationship of the two main characters.

Q.Can you tell us a bit about working with Blank Slate Books who published The Survivalist? Your earlier works are self-published, and you run your own publishing venture Retrofit Comics. Was there any kind of editorial or design collaboration involved in making The Survivalist

Box Brown I really enjoyed working with Blank Slate. They never forced any editorial changes on me but they made some suggestions along the way.

I did a few different covers before Kenny Penman finally sent me an email just kind of giving me his basic thoughts and understanding on what he thought a comic cover should be. I thought it was really insightful. The cover we ended up using is based on vintage patent application illustrations.

Q.Any plans to continue The Survivalist as a series? The end of the story feels very much like a teaser for things to come.

Box Brown I have some ideas on where the story is going. It could continue at any time! I wouldn’t mind returning to it.

Q.What items would you pack in your own survivalist kit?

Box Brown I’ve thought about buying the food packs that are supposed to last a long time just to try them out. I bet they’d make good snacks on the go.

Chaos and order collide in strange new ways in the isometric worlds of Netherlands-based illustrator Levi Jacobs.

» Visit Levi Jacobs’ website
» Buy Prints of Levi’s work!

Q1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself? What inspires you, and how you got started in art and illustration?

I began my ‘career’ when I was very young. I watched cartoons and played a lot of computer games. I started drawing cartoons. When I was in highschool the somewhat boring math classes were inspiring as well. I filled my excercise books with drawings inspired by isometry. My mathteacher always gave me trouble because my mathbooks contained more drawings then calculations and formulas.

The streets became my creative outlet, where I tried to brighten up the streetlife with my graffiti. It was mostly the action itself which gave me a kick. It’s a wonderful feeling when nobody is watching you when you are creating something.

My time in highschool was mainly about drawing, so after an education in graphic design I ended up at the Art Academy, where I studied illustration. I graduated almost a year ago, but most of the time I’m still working on my own work instead of assignments.

Levi Jacobs

Q2. The central characters in your images are most often animals rather than people. Can you tell us a bit about the stories you?re telling in Catburger, Tiger and Spaghettiman?

When I draw people I always have the feeling I have to have some comparison. That’s difficult for me. My solution was born out of necessity. For example when I don’t know how to draw an arm a certain way, it becomes a tentacle. I can’t draw a human the way I want to, so animal-like creatures are born.

My work has an alienating effect this way. In short, it’s really difficult for me to explain the story behind the illustrations, because the story creates itself while I’m working on it. Yes, there is a certain idea or fascination behind each illustration, but I like to leave the rest up to the viewers’ interpretation.

My way of creating illustrations is very intuitive and from the subconscience, which makes it hard to create illustrations for a client. I see myself more as an image creator than an illustrator.

Levi Jacobs

Q3. Your Lowlands Freakshow series of posters very cleverly incorporates typography into the illustrations. What role does design play in the way you put together illustrations?

As I said before, I have also studied graphic design, where I learned to use typography. With the graffiti, letter-design became more illustrative. I still love typography, but unfortunately I’m not using it as often as I want to.

Levi Jacobs

Q4. We loved the T-shirt design on your website. Can you tell us about that design, and where can we get one of those shirts?

In the design “captured cat” my fascination for isometry and organic forms flow together. I created this design and handmade the shirts with screen printing. I only made a small number of shirts and sweaters, which were sold out inmediately. I would like to create some more designs for t-shirts in the future.

Q5. Your use of colour is really striking! How do you approach deciding colours for your images?

I used to hate colouring when I was little. Especially when I was forced to colour within the lines. The use of the computer is perfect: the paint bucket is my best friend now. I experiment a lot with the use of colours. The colour-combination in my graffiti pieces were never crazy enough. Now when i’m finished with a illustration I ask myself wether or not it can be more extreme.

Q6. Given the opportunity, what would be a dream project for you?

I’m already doing what I love the most. So a dream project would be one i’m being paid for.

On your blog you document your adventures biking 5000 miles across the United States on your own, and now your journey to Antarctica working on a remote research station. Presumably there’s not much opportunity to make art while travelling that way. Can you tell us a bit about how you balance your life as an artist with your travelling?

Tessa Hulls: My short answer is that I don’t really differentiate between myself as an artist and myself as a traveler. I’m hugely reliant on a fairly constant influx of new horizons, so when I’m in active travel mode, I tend to think of myself as being out on a reconnaissance mission. With that mindset, I find it easy to content myself with working on sketches in my “field notebook,” and I don’t really miss my usual studio practice.

Years and years ago, I remember reading something about physics and stumbling upon the notion that there are three different types of equilibrium.

I drew you a picture because it works much better visually:

It’s a concept that has stuck with me ever since, and I am only happy if I keep myself in a state of dynamic equilibrium. I need my balance to be active, always on the cusp of falling off. It leads me to adhere to a self imposed project schedule/lifestyle that many people might call masochistically busy, but it’s what works for me, and I wither if I find myself in a place of neutrality or stasis.

From the series: Oh, That Sweet Unrest

These past few years I’ve really watched my friends struggle with the late twenties/early thirties existential crisis of “What am I supposed to do with my life? What is my passion? How do I make a meaningful contribution to my community?” and it’s made me extremely grateful for the fact that I’ve always known what it is I’m supposed to be doing. The older I get, the more I realize just what a gift that certainty is. So I feel that the very least I can do is always rearrange everything in my life to make room for art.

Finding time for art down here at McMurdo Station is actually extremely challenging because of the crazy social scene. You wouldn’t necessarily expect this of Antarctica, but I’ve never been anywhere where it would be easier to just fritter away all your free time drinking and pretending that you’re in a very icy Ke$ha video. I’ve been forced to become uncharacteristically antisocial to get work done down here.

I illustrated this for you:

I have actually made an art studio under my bed and spend a lot of time down there painting.

Many of the characters in your series Oh, That Sweet Unrest wear skeletal costumes reminiscent of Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations. Can you describe the role of these characters in a series that seems very much about yearning, and living in perpetual forward movement?

Tessa Hulls: A lot of the imagery for this particular series came out of spending so much time biking through the desert. I spent over a thousand miles basically following the Mexican border, and passing through a landscape of such haunting isolation was overwhelmingly inspiring. I felt like the desert was full of latent stories that it wanted me to express. All those miles of canyons and plateaus came with their own forgotten narratives, and when I finally sat down to start painting, they came rushing out as these delicately hulking beasts that didn’t really know the measure of their own strength.

This series was hugely personal for me. I’d spent the last few years making myself miserable trying to force myself into a settled life that I didn’t genuinely want, and I set off on my bike trip at a point where I was feeling like I’d lost track of myself. I was wrestling with the contradictions between my longing for a sense of home and my pull towards the joy of my own forward momentum, and these creatures were the synthesis of that struggle and the whispered stories of the desert.

A Kind of Fighting

From the series: Oh, That Sweet Unrest

The addition of text into many of the paintings makes Oh, That Sweet Unrest read like a poem. For series like this, do you begin with the writing, or are the words derived from how you feel about the images after they’re done?

Tessa Hulls: When I’m at home and have all my supplies and a sane amount of time to work, text and image evolve more or less concurrently. They each gather focus as the piece comes together. But in this case, I was stuck on my bike and couldn’t start painting, so I instead obsessively focused on the text and allowed it to take the reins. That was a huge departure from how I usually work. Ordinarily, I have almost no gap between getting an idea and charging off to make it happen, so this trip forced me to slow down and focus on theory instead of practice. Delayed gratification is something that is so thoroughly foreign to me that I imagine it’s probably a good character building exercise.

Mysterious Something

But Now We Are Not Sure We Should Have

Looking back over your body of work it feels like your style is becoming more graphic and simplified. The result is really striking! Do you have style influences that you take inspiration from?

Tessa Hulls: I wish I could say that the simplification was a deliberate choice, but honestly, I think it might have had more to do with the time frame: when I got back from my bike trip, I had three and a half weeks to put a solo show together. I spent my first night back in Seattle in my sleeping bag on an entirely empty living room floor, and the next morning I set up my drafting table and started painting 12 hours a day. So there was very little time to experiment and hit my stride, which definitely made things a bit more… er… sparse. I’m glad that you think it worked!

In terms of style influences, my list is pretty Northwest centric these days, just because there’s such a different level of impact in seeing work in person.

Stacey Rozich is a constant favorite of mine, and Gala Bent’s drawings (and the sources that inform them) never fail to fascinate me. Some other favorites are AJ Fosik, Evan B. Harris, Tim Karpinski, Mandy Greer, Jeremy Mangan and Justin Gibbens.

Theo Ellsworth is both a stylistic and philosophical role model for me. I stumbled upon his book Capacity at a point when I was feeling isolated from other artists and my own creative practice, and it gave me a sense of renewed artistic faith that I really needed. He has a part in Capacity where he talks about wearing an imaginary outfit over his clothes every Tuesday, and about how it’s changed the way he looks at the world. When I read that, I think I might have actually shouted out something to the effect of, “Ha! So I’m not the only one!”

I’m less drawn to looking at art than I’m drawn to looking at absolutely everything. That’s the thing about inspiration: you don’t know what is going to inspire you until it DOES inspire you. It’s a strange black box like that, and I’m always surprised and delighted to discover the weird things that set a project in motion. So I consider it my job to throw myself out into the world to experience the widest, most diverse swath possible.

We loved the photos on your blog of the roof-top mural you did in Marathon, Texas. Your work looks amazing at that scale. Are there other mediums or kinds of art you’ve been wanting to try your hand at?

Tessa Hulls: Thanks! I’ve actually done a fair amount of mural work over the years. When I was in college, I wrote my undergraduate thesis on murals and street art as community building alternatives to the traditional inaccessibility of the gallery system, and I still stand firmly behind the idea that art should be an integrated part of everyday life. Particularly for people who don’t consider themselves to be artists. Everyone starts out as an artist, but somewhere along the way they buy into the notion that they’re not, and that unnecessary dichotomy has always annoyed me.

Since getting to Antarctica, I seem to have developed an insatiable appetite for making comics. Again, a lot of that is probably just a reaction to circumstance.

I’m in the kitchen working ten hour days six days a week, and have taken on way too many projects (dynamic equilibrium forever!), so when I do eke out a moment to make something, it’s pretty quick and dirty. Which, to be honest, I am reaalllllyyy enjoying. I am definitely looking forward to exploring some more comic and graphic novel styles when I find myself with free time.

I’ve also been working on some projects lately that have reminded me how much I love ridiculous word play and absurdity, so I’m looking forward to getting back in touch with the more Edward (Gorey and Lear) influenced side of my creative practice.

xxx

You refer to The Wind in The Willows and The Once and Future King as inspirations for Oh, That Sweet Unrest. What are some of your favourite books?

Tessa Hulls: Oh man, that is an enormous can of worms. I have a lot of favorite books. Maybe even an unreasonable amount. I have fond memories of hiding under my desk at school so I could stay in and read during recess…

To name a brief few: Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood. Kitchen, by Banana Yoshimoto. Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, by Haruki Murakami. Not Fade Away, by Jim Dodge. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle. The Necessary Grace to Fall, by Gina Oschner. Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro. The Neverending Story, by Michael Ende. Capacity, by Theo Ellsworth. The Way Things Work, by David Macaulay.

I also cannot overstate the role that Calvin and Hobbes has played in how I turned out both as an artist and as a human being.

It’s been a while since I truly fell head over heels in love with a book. I’d love book recommendations. If anyone reading this points me in the direction of a book I end up loving, I will totally send you a thank you drawing!

Guardians

Anything coming up that we can look forward to from you?

Tessa Hulls: Why yes indeed! I’m glad you asked, because I’m currently in the middle of a participatory project and I would LOVE to have more people take part in it. Ever have one of those moments where you say something as a joke, and then pause and realize that it’s actually an idea that really needs to happen…? Well. I’ve turned my under the bed studio into the Under the Bed Gallery, and am curating local shows out of it complete with miniature art opening food—finger sized loaves of braided challah, wine from falcon tube science beakers…

In February I’m putting together a show of work about outside notions of Antarctica, and it looks like submissions are starting to come in from folks all over the US. I would love more tiny submissions (I will fit them in somehow!), so send ‘em my way. Here’s my address. I need them postmarked by January 1, 2012.

Tessa Hulls, NANA
McMurdo Station
PSC 469 Box 700
APO, AP 96599

Other than that, I’m really looking forward to getting back to Seattle and seeing what comes out of my strange new desire to establish a sense of place. The work that I’ve been making for the past handful of years has revolved around romanticizing escapism, so I have no idea what I’ll make when I’m actually craving some measure of roots.

I actually left to come down here at a bit of an odd point in my life. I’d just met this really intriguing pack of artists, and felt like I was at this place of exciting new beginnings, and I had to leave right in the middle of it to come down here. So I’m curious to see what happens when I go back.