THE LAST CAMPOUT II my mom did the shopping. I think a lot of the composition and stuff from movie posters really stuck with me. The shadowplay and the old masquerade stuff kind of jives with this theme I have with people’s surfaces versus their inner selves. We all have a surface self and an inner self, and we often contradict ourselves. We all are interested in identity. So I think those themes play out in a lot of my pieces because I’m drawn to the same stuff everyone else is. To Birdy, collage work is an essential art form that evolves or devolves imagination and ideas. We’re always baffled when it’s written off as “unoriginal,” when someone fails to see a truly new and unique idea, sound or vision born in this artform while dually paying homage to what has come before. Some of the best art, music and film is a reworking, remix or mash-up of an earlier idea. Why is collage work important and necessary for you? Because I can’t afford paint and art supplies. I’m only half-joking. I think collage operates on the same principles as jokes: surprising juxtapositions and irony. And I like art with humor in it, and collage often has an undercurrent of humor, even the angry political stuff. People said — and still say — the same thing about turntables, that it’s not real music-making. But turntables are a real instrument, and collage is a real art. Between your day job and being a father, what inspires you to sit down and create? Gonna be honest, I haven’t been able to sit down in a long while. My output has diminished to almost zero. But I have a second series of cards coming out with House of Roulx soon, and they paired me up with a much more established artist than myself. I’m supposed to make several “mash-ups” with their art, which they have graciously agreed to. So that’s terrifying, because I really want to do a good job, and there’s nothing like terror and desperation to make you get to work. How do you work through a creative block? I just keep working. I just don’t post the shitty shit I come up with when I’m in a rut. I have hard drives filled with shitty art that I could not bring myself to delete but that will never see the light of day. Biggest area of growth from when you started to now / something you wished you knew when you embarked on this journey? To quash my imposter syndrome. That shit doesn’t help. Artmaking is a process and it is also about processing. Do you find creating to be cathartic or therapeutic? I’m honestly not sure which one it is, or if it’s some mysterious third mode of fulfillment. But there’s nothing else that makes me feel the same way as after I just made something that I know is fucking awesome. You’re a digital collage artist who is so obviously inspired by all things analog. What you create truly appears to look like handmade paper collage work. What are your thoughts on digital and analog techniques working in tandem? I’m fine with all of it; I think some of the analog folks getting elitist is kinda dumb, to be honest. I collect comic books, and it reminds me of the “Slab vs Raw” fight that folks have on Reddit. I’m like, “C’mon, 11 INNER CHILD
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