Troy Lovegates “Other”
Still unknown to us, he came by Subaquatica to offer some linoleum prints he had done. Since them we have been following his truly amazing and definitely personal work from the distance and through the Internet. Troy Lovegates, aka Other (www.flickr.com/photos/other) is the guest artist this month and this is his interview.
First of all when, where, how and why you started to do work in the streets?
I statred painting on the streets in around 89 or 88 more to find the other people that were doing stuff in Toronto than anything. I didn’t understand how the tags and Graffiti just showed up at night without anyone seeing it. I wondered who it was so I started myself to find out.
You do that kind of work “outside” and I know you do linoleum prints and you do studio work from what I’ve seen in your flickr page. Do you feel that it’s all part of a same discourse or do you keep different approaches in concept and style when doing these different activities?
Work outside is how I found out about art. A lot of the time I find indoors work a bit pretentious and limited to an audience that is already interested in art hidden behind some walls out of reach. When I was younger I felt really shy and nervous to walk into a gallery. It was like this quiet precious place that spoke a language that I couldn’t understand relating to art or anything for that matter, that intellectual art garbage talk, explaining everything so it doesn’t make sense to anyone who doesn’t have a degree in art theory. My work indoors is practice for the real work outdoors. It pays me to wreck stuff outside.
I also know that you travel a lot. How would you say your art is different now as opposed as if you would have stayed in Canada and not travel around?
Yes I travel too much… I don’t know at this point if my travels have any real good changes on my art. It makes me feel more cut off and lost from a feeling of home which has been a big theme in my latest works. I guess that is good but I have stopped travelling as much and am trying to focus on my surroundings, where I grew up in and the strange land of Canada. This is where I suck more energy out of than anyplace else.
You are going to live in Australia for a while. How’s that?
I actually cancelled the trip. Who cancels a trip to Australia for free? I dont know why… but I did it.
Because of your travelling you seem to be very active collaborating with artists from other countries. What do you think you share with other artists from that same “scene”?
Well I find when I travel to all these different countries I paint more on the streets of the cities and this is not something I am so accustomed to. I am mainly a painter of the North American rail system so i feel a bit like it is doing something different and new to me.
Also, you are one of the few artists that I know with a style not quite typical Graffiti active in painting freight trains. I know there are many Graffiti writers doing that too but do you find pieces by other artists? Is there still a Hobo waxes and chalk tagging scene? How did you get into painting freight trains in the first place?
The North American freight system is clogged with art now, from Mexico and America and Canada. A lot of the monikers and hobo/train worker art (a culture that has been around since the 1800’s of leaving your name behind as you roam and illegaly hop trains around america) has no more room to flourish besides the corners of boxcars and on other trains that spray paint peoples don’t like to hit. I got introduced to painting trains about 15 years ago in Toronto by another friend who liked how they travelled 1000s of miles around North America.
Your use of color gives is of a “happy” type of feel to your work. Do you deliberately try to portray a happy, optimistic view of things with your work?
Well it is very colorful but I think the people in my work are missing something. They are usually sullen and reaching. Oddly I do not work with color much on trains. I would like to but it is so hard to see in those yards.
In your work there’s a predominance of overblown heads attached to small bodies. What’s with you and heads and faces?
I guess I just always stare at people. I’m always getting in trouble for staring too much. I like expressions. I don’t really pay attention to the body just stare at the faces of people walking by on the streets.
There’s a question that intrigues me from all artists in general and wanted to ask you about: How much of your personal visual universe comes from your childhood? Is the kid inside of you a big percentage of who you are as an artist?
When I think of the voice inside of me… my internal voice it sounds the same to me now as when I was young so I guess it is 100 percent of who I am now.
Not being an artist, every time I find an artist whose work I enjoy, I’m always intrigued on the creative process. In your case is it fast and wild and not rational at all or is it meticulous and slow, do you dismiss a lot of the stuff you do?… I don’t know, tell me a little bit about it.
Well the trains are pretty fast there is not much time… it is dark and sometimes they are moving and people in the yard and all of that comes to play on how the painting might come out… it could be rainy it could be full of mosquitos… my painting inside is like binges. I dont do anything all day I check my email and walk around and talk to people and then I feel it and work intensely for a few hours and then break out of it and do something else. It takes a long time to get a painting done. It is very mind numbing for me, not like the freedom of painting outside.
What have you been working on recently?
Same old same old.
And any interesting project coming up that you can tell us about?
Well, I received a big grant from the Canadian government to make a very small hand made pressing of one hundred books… a very time consuming project… that and painting trains.
Some project you would love to do but didn’t have the chance or nobody has asked you to do yet?
I love painting massive massive walls… but I dont get much opportunity to do those.
Can you turn us into some artists or something interesting that we should know about?
I am not much of a fan of art… I rarely get super inspired by visuals… music is much more interesting.
1 comment May 10th, 2008 06:48pm Administrador
