Artist Interview
Introduction:
I chose to interview the wonderful Sarah Nicole Phillips, a freelance painter and print maker. Mrs. Phillips is a graduate of Brooklyn college and has moved here from Toronto ten years ago. I found her through a local art gallery where she had a print of a man inside of an ATM machine and it was quite the funniest little image I had scene for a long time. Mrs. Phillips has her paintings in galleries all over Brooklyn, and has been producing art for over 15.
Interview:
What is your name?
My name is Sarah Nicole Phillips
Is that two names Sarah, Nicole?
No, well, first name Sarah, middle name Nicole, last name Phillips, but my name, Sarah Phillips, is so common that for art purposes I throw in my middle name, to distinguish myself.
You studied in Toronto, right?
Yep
What did you study there?
At the University of Toronto I majored in Visual studies and minored in art history. Visual studies means art, like studio art, they just call it visual studies.
What made you study that major?
Uh, well, in high school I was always artistic, as a kid, but then after high school I had no idea what I wanted to study so I took three years off and traveled around the world. I lived in New Zealand and Australia, and then traveled around South East Asia. Well, the trip was two and a half years and well, but, anyway, in that time. (Laughing). After two and a half year I still did not know what I wanted to do so I just decided to do what I enjoyed doing. You know, to take classes I enjoyed in University. I just started taking more and more art classes.
Can you pick somebody, a time frame, or something that makes you love art, or did art just happen?
No, it was more gradual. I can’t point to a specific incident. No, it just started happening gradually and I didn’t have any control over it.
Do you use the art as a way to release frustration?
Right. That’s like a therapeutic form. Um, no. I have in the past created some art that has had therapeutic value, but as a general, no. When my brother died ten years ago, and that was a sudden and traumatic time, I did create some work just so I could “process” that experience for a lack of a better word, but besides that sort of one year, um, generally, my work is more, you know, I want it to be more cerebral. It has a concept, and it’s less to do with me personally processing than wanting to put information out in the world.
What is your biggest inspiration, or what was your biggest inspiration, or who has inspired you the most?
Um, I wouldn’t put it on a single person. I think my biggest inspiration is more just a desire. I feel that every person is born with an innate desire to work and to create, so whether that’s with your mind or ones hands, and, so, lets get that out of the way. And I like offering the world an alternative way of seeing something. So, you know, for instance, for the body of work I am doing right now, the discarded envelopes, which you’ve seen on my website,
the collage is made out of discarded envelopes, well the collage is made out of garbage, and so you know, this is a ubiquitous material that is mostly just thrown away or recycled, you know thrown in the bin, so I had a desire to highlight the beauty out of this you know throwaway object also to reuse the object to sort of demonstrate that things can have a life beyond their original intended use. And then also I do like enjoy aesthetics, making things that please people. Not all of my art is pleasing to look at; some of my art is weird and political. Yea, if it is not going to make you think, then I want it to be nice to look at in the worse case scenario, it is both nice to look at and makes you think and so my inspiration to … you’re going to get a lot of background sounds … it is not so much as inspired by a muse.
How do you art?
It starts off … I carry a notebook with me at all times and I just scribble things in it and sometimes it doubles as my to do list. I do sketches and stuff, but I write my shopping list or to remember pants that are being hemmed. So when I am out in the world and I am inspired by what I am seeing or even inspired by something that just happens I always got the book to scribble it down. Maybe one day Ill get a tablet, but for now I’m using my notebook. And I am sort of inspired by the phonetic life of the city, taking the subway, looking at people, looking at billboards umm … encounters on the street, whether they’re positive or negative, whether there is this tension and conflict that happens on the street, I don’t mean like conflicts on the street, but like tensions or maybe I see a pile of garbage and I am inspired or yea so. Look at this, there is no curb cut on the other side there, anyway. So I just start by observing, I’m observing and jotting things down. And to actually create a piece I a generally sort of … it takes time to synthesize all the ideas and thoughts I’ve had and sometimes the ideas are a phrase or something strange or a weird encounter. I often have just a doodle or a drawing and then out of all that raw information I may decide to create a piece. I will decide to create a piece and well 99% of it is garbage and should be ignored you know most of art ideas are dumb or obvious or just not worth pursuing anymore than wasn’t that an interesting encounter or wasn’t that neat you know that doesn’t have to be umm placed in amber and preserved for the rest of days. So lets say after a while I have a collection of ideas and then I sort of have a piece that is screaming to be made and so that turns to more … once I decide, alright I am going to make a piece of art that looks … I have a vision in my mind I do more sketches and then it becomes very technical and you know work, sitting down, sketching, more sketching … ok, the size is wrong, taking out an x-acto knife and cutting it out and sort of making a mock up of what I think the thing is going to be. It actually gets very boring and methodical, or possibly I am making a mock up on Photoshop um … and then once I decided … once I’m happy with the mockup with what the piece needs to be. so I don’t work emotionally or intuitively umm its very planned out labor intensive there’s very few happy accidents. It’s sort of anal in that way.
Would you say that there is a stereotype that all artists have to be intuitive?
I feel like there is a stereotype in pop culture that suggests that artists are more emotionally and intuitive umm … but a lot of the artists I know work sort of more like I do because its not about a cathartic release, but its more like I have a project to do, it’s a job, the final piece needs to look like this, and you know I have to set aside time and resources to actually complete this piece in a certain fashion. That’s not to say … I do know some artists who are painters and just look at a blank canvas and go for it, but I think in real life more of us are more methodical. You have to budget for materials and umm you know schedule time to work make sure you are properly fed and its much more planned out and I believe that folks who aren’t in the creative industry don’t really realize how seriously we take the work, our work, and thinking of it as a job, yea.
