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Artist Steve C.
Some background information for
our readers, please.
Currently
I'm a research scientist who works in visualization at the
San Diego Supercomputer Center. My background is in Computer
Science and Mathematics. I have no training in the
arts or drawing.
I have a rather poor ability to draw. I've always been
fascinated with
mythology and fantasy. In particular the complex sophistication of
Indian mythology is really interesting and I just find myself very
drawn to it.
Did you
experience a sort of early “awakening” as an artist?
No, I've never thought of myself as an artist. That
word seems to
have so much baggage associated with it. The only people who I
have met who use that word to describe themselves have not
been
particularly pleasant. I prefer to think of myself as a designer.
I've been designing things all of my life. I spent large swaths of my
childhood not spent in front of the TV designing fanciful things that
I could make or that I could get someone else to make. As I get older
it becomes more and more important to me to put real effort into
getting the ideas in my head, and there are way too many, expressed in
some form or another.
Any special artist or artists who inspired you?
Comics, lots and lots of comics. As an adolescent I
read everything I
could get my hands on. Lots of comics, books and movies. So comics
were a big inspiration. I read a lot of Ursula K Le Guin's work. I
suspect that has had a profound impact on my worldview. Of course
Heinlen, Lester Del Rey, Poul Anderson, the cannon as it were. I read
all of the Tolkien works. Although I think Neil Hancock's Circle of
Light had a bigger impact on me. Also the works of Lloyd Alexander.
For visual artists I would say Nagel, Liechtenstein, Hayao Miyazaki,
and I'm sure many more that I can't remember have shaped the way my
warped mind works.
Your art on the site portrays Hindu gods &
goddess in contemporary urban
situations. Can you throw a little light on what inspired this vision?
Really it
was all inspired by that song 'What if God Was One of Us?'
by Joan Osborne. I just let my brain wander around the idea of that
song, what if god was one of us, what would he/she look like, how
would he act, how would we treat the person on the street if they
might be something more than we thought they were? Then I sort of
said, ok, using 'GOD' or Christ, or a singular form of a god would not
be very interesting. How could I sort of tell a story, lay out an
environment, a place for people to live and breath and act. Or
another way to look at it is how do I make Deities relevant to
downtown New York where the cars and noise and pollution tend to
make spiritualism the last thing
anyone ever thinks about…
me I really think the work is about compassion in unexpected places.
A few religious people have
raised objections about how you depict the deities. How do you feel about those
objections & answer the concerns?
I was really bothered by the complaints that were
raised. I think
they looked at the work in an extremely reactionary narrow view
point. Most of them were offended simply by the presence of
cigarettes
and alcohol near the deities but if you read the literature
of those
deities many of them did horrific, nightmarish things that are
terrifying and awful. These are not deities of pure light and beauty.
They all have a dark side. To ignore it is to really not understand
the theology and the message in the Hindu scriptures. Those thoughts
make me feel a bit better. Plus I got a wonderful letter from a
devotee of Kali who said the art was great specifically because it has
Cigarettes and Alcohol in it. So Hinduism isn't a monolithic entity
yet, thank God(s)!
How do you see the relationship between art &
society?
Oh god, now
that is loaded question isn't it! I don't really. I try
to do my art, present it and avoid explaining it to anyone. If they
like it I'm happy. If they don't then that’s too bad but personally I
don't think I can really explain the art any better than the work
itself. All I end up doing is trying explain to someone who probably
doesn't like it why he shouldn't be offended by it or why he should
like it but really if he doesn't like it then it wasn't for him and if
he is offended by it then I really don't want him to look at it. I'm
not trying to offend anyone I'm trying to make my designs and show
them to people who do like them. The world is very big and there is
a lot of room for a lot of
art. If you don't like some of it, don't
waste time complaining just go make your own. It's certainly a lot
more interesting than spending your life upset.
Is the web working out well for you in terms of
marketing?
Ho hum, kind of mediocre. I spent some money to
advertise on a site
but I'm not getting a return. I'm planning to rework my site and see
what I can do to improve it and increase sales but at this point I'm
going to focus on putting up stuff that I really like and making it
possible for people who do like it to have an easy way to access it…
What advice would you give to a young artist if they
asked how best to
earn a living at their craft?
Hmmm,
don't get married, don't have kids, work, work, work.
Just kidding. If you really
want to 'earn a living' at their craft. Go toa good art school.
Some place like CalArts. Really if you can you should I think. I
would have if I had had the opportunity. It’s worth it just for the
exposure to all the other people trying to do interesting creative
things.
The other thing I'd recommend:
Really view your craft as a craft. Run it from the start like a business
as much as you can. It is work. Train for it. Practice,
practice, practice. Do what the customer wants. Do your really fun
wacky stuff on your own time but be sure to do some.
Also don't take crappy deals from people hiring you.
I see that a lot. People for a chance at really big exposure will
completely give away all of their art and nothing comes from it but the loss of
the art. People try to go for the big million-dollar win too often.
Do you want to be rich or to do your art?
If you want to be rich go into banking. It's more
reliable.
If you want to do art, well keep a level head on you
shoulders,
do your art and take deals that compensate you properly
and don't fall for the 'It's great exposure so give it to
me for free' line.
If art is important to you then you should act like it and
not sell it on the cheap.
If the international spotlight were on you what
message would you like to
convey to the world today?
Eeek, let me run away! No thanks not interested just
let me make
some nice pictures ok?
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Updated 05/07