sixspacecaryn

This is an interview that occured over Instant Messager (so excuse any typos) between me and the Los Angeles based artist Sean Higgins in March 2007...

Sean Higgins explores how to imagine or create the unknown in his work. By depicting purposely-vague environments where location and situation is left to interpretation, Higgins creates an environment where the viewer has no place to stand and no solid sense of place. (His vague landscapes are constructed from images, either found or taken by the artist, that are transferred to the back of Plexiglas via an acrylic transfer process - the front of the Plexiglas is then hand-sanded by the artist to produce the desired hazy effect.) He attempts to deal with landscape in the contemporary world of "Google Earth" where people interact with landscapes and place in a very different way than previous generations. He is interested in constructing a place where cold technology, dreams, and maps all combine - whereby through this remote satellite visions, remembrances will seek into our subconscious and affect how we remember play and time.

The islands and landscapes in Higgins' new series, The Island of Relative Stability (seen at sixspace through April 7) are imaginary places represent a theoretical result - how does one get to and from this fictional place? How long does this place last? What rules govern it? Am I in the right place and can I make up my own rules?

Sean Higgins received his MFA from the University of Pennsylvania (1998) and his BFA from Moravian College, PA (1996). His work was featured in the acclaimed Rogue Wave 05 at L.A. Louver that included a review by David Pagel in the Los Angeles Times and an accompanying catalogue. He has also held exhibitions in Los Angeles, Pennsylvania, and New York. Sean Higgins currently lives and works in Los Angeles. Island of Relative Stability marks his first solo exhibition in Los Angeles.

Caryn Coleman: You're work involves a very unique process - it's one that people undoubtedly inquire about instantly. I think this is interesting because your work is all about the viewer questioning the environment. Do you think of the medium or the process as part of that questioning concept?

Sean Higgins: Yeah, people always ask first how they are made.

CC: They put their noses right up to it!

SH: A lot of people try to put there faces to the walls to try to see behind them. I see people do the strangest things to try to figure out how they are made but yes, to answer your question, the technique is part of that questioning. The fact that they are digital, but at the same time hand-made and obviously a bit rough is important to me. They are not straight-forward computer prints, but somehow translated by the process.

CC: People seem to have issues with digital work but, especially with your pieces, the involvement of your hand (and the fact that they're one of a kind) seems to put their minds at ease. There's not as much of the "tech" aspect as with straight photography.

SH: Yeah they somehow escape the "digital" judgement.

CC: Which leads to my next question...what do you consider the pieces? i think they're sculptural but I'm curious as to what you'd classify them.


SH: I think of them as paintings. I came to this process because I used to be a painter. I still think of them that way, I still want to make a 2-D object that hangs on the walls. I don't know, here is another ambiguity in my work as they sort of look like paintings and sort of look like photos and are hidden behind a layer of Plexi...So what are they? I think we are back to the first question...

CC: Exactly! I think that's what makes them interesting. I mean, on a basic level they're really beautiful to look at but on another level there is serious questioning about place, time - all that stuff you're interested in.

SH: Yeah, I am interested in showing you a few things to get you started but the interesting part to me (and hopefully to the viewer) is what I am not showing, what is not in the picture.

CC: So here's my next question - how do you go about picking what landscapes/environments to show?

SH: That is kind of a tough question.

CC: haha!



SH: A lot of times they come to me while traveling. I seem to get a lot of source material when I travel. I work in a very responsive way, a very intuitive way. I do a lot of searching through the internet too. The pieces can start off with some completely random image and the story behind the piece happens along the way. A lot of these pieces start off as something totally different than the finished product but during the hours and hours spent working on the images in Photoshop, something happens.

Shit I don't think I answered the question

CC: I think you answered it.

SH: The ideas for the piece or pieces usually comes first, like for this show, The Island of Relative Stability, comes from some obscure idea in nuclear physics, but then I start looking for things or places to make that idea concrete.

CC: Ok, so I know the new works aren't really about nuclear physics but you have this fascinating background in science. What's the deal with that?

SH: My background or the idea for the show?

CC: Your background.

SH: Well when I first went to college I was a Biology major. I have always been very interested in science ever since high school. Always with art too but I never figured I would choose a career in it. It wasn't until a little bit later in college did I end up committing to art. I hung out mostly with Chemists throughout college. Those guys were the real rebels of the science world. The chemists could really party.

Anyway, I still am very interested in science. You would be surprised how many people come to art through science. They are not that different in the end.

CC: I know. I remember when you told me about the "island of relative stability" I was like, god, who would want to read a science mag and you were like, "Me!" I felt bad!

SH: Ha ha. Both careers require serious creativity

CC: I hear you. I see the same thing happening with technology and art - even if the end product of the art isn't "technical" it's still an influencing power.

SH: Yeah, totally.

CC: New tools for the artist to use.

SH: Exactly.

CC: So do you think your new series (Island of Relative Stability) will be a concept you continue on with or will you keep trying to make the work even more abstract?

SH: Mostly I work in series. I don't think that this series is over yet. I think there are a few more pieces to be done.

As far as making the work more abstract, I think I am interested in the viewer being able to recognize something in the pictures, so there is definitely a limit to how far I am willing to distort the landscape. I definitely want the viewer to perceive that they [the pieces] are about a place, just not necessarily a place you can go to.

(Pause for a brief break to make some coffee)

CC: You brew your own beer and I think I'm the luckiest gallerist in the world to get amazing, home-made beer from one of my artists. How in the world did you get involved with that?

SH: My chemist buddies started brewing about a year or two before I did, but when I would go visit any of them they would always offer me the most deliciously intoxicating elixirs...I guess it is my way of pretending I am in the laboratory. So now I have been brewing beer for a couple years and the beer just keeps getting better and better...

I love to cook too, I think it has a lot to do with that as well. It is kinda like making soup.

CC: I guess that sometimes relates to your art!

SH: How do you mean?

CC: Well, the influence of science in creating something new - food, beer, art. Making good beer is definitely an art! And you're good at that too!!!
You're a beer artisan.

CC: So can you describe a bit of this acrylic transfer process that adheres to the back of your Plexiglas or is that a trademarked secret?

SH: Sure, it isn't a trade secret. It is actually very low tech. I finish the image in Photoshop and print it out with an archival Inkjet printer. Basically I adhere the prints to the back of the Plexiglas with a clear acrylic medium. So all the prints are glued down to the back of the Plexi and when this whole mess is dried I can remove the paper from the prints, leaving only the ink adhered to the Plexi.

This allows me to create a big transparency. At this point i can begin to work on the piece, applying paint behind the transfered ink. It's a bit complicated to explain, but basically a series of layers sandwiching the printed ink between the Plexi and the layers of paint behind the print.

CC: That makes sense. Do you see yourself experimenting with different kinds of Plexi?



SH: Yes, actually I use a few different types of Plexi now ranging almost completely opaque white to milky white and clear to ivory colored. The great thing for me about my process is that it's a bit like Christmas after the transfer happens because some interesting things can happen in the process. The transfers are not perfect at all - it allows a bit of error in, a bit of dirt in. Making digital work is so clean this allows me to mess it up a bit. I never quite know how the pieces will look until I transfer them and scrub the paper off.

CC: That's the magic!

SH: Yeah, that's the fun part...

CC: So do you have a bit of post-partum now that the show is up?

SH: Absolutely, it is really funny how that happens. I wonder if all artists get it...I know most of my friends get it. It is a good feeling though, a bit depressed, exhausted but happy. I feel really happy about how the show looks

CC: I think that most do - gallerists do too it's just that everything moves so fast for us we don't get a chance to dwell on it. Plus we're more removed. I think it's amazing how artists really put themselves out there - it's a hard thing to do.

SH: Yeah i never thought of that actually, you must feel that too
but every month instead of a couple times a year.

CC: Every...month...It's hard because you want to really live and experience this work and sometimes it goes by so fast. But really, in this day and age, shows last forever. We're constantly dealing with non-show or past-show press or inquiries.

SH: Right on...The post-partum isn't so bad for me this time around because I was finished with most of the show for a while and got to live with the work for a few weeks and get comfortable with it and comfortable with it leaving.

CC: Right. And I just extended it for another week which I'm really happy about.

SH: Me too.

CC: People are just so entranced by the work - never a bad reaction. Always curious. It's great to have a dialogue with almost everyone who walks in here.

SH: That makes me feel good to hear...I want people to ask questions.

CC: They definitely do! Sometimes too many - I'm like, stop, take a look, experience it! People want answers so quickly sometimes. I think that happens a lot in art - they want to know the backstory immediately instead of figuring it out themselves. But everyone has their "way of seeing" I guess. That said, to have something with such a solid concept is a good thing to have and to share with people.

SH: Yeah, I hear it... there are certain question that tick me off a bit when people ask them.

CC: People ask WEIRD questions, especially at the fairs.

SH: What's the weirdest?

CC: Um...with your work?

SH: Yeah, or anyone elses.

CC: People ask if the Plexi is wax and then touch it. As if if it were wax they should touch it.

SH: Like, if it was wax, it would be ok to touch?

CC: I know! Sometimes people want a confirmation that the place in the piece is the place they want it to be which is weird because it can be whatever they want. But they want to know for sure. I won't tell them. Not ever!

SH: Yeah, that comes up a lot...actually that used to tick me off. Not anymore though.

CC: Yeah, you gotta roll with it. I think it is a way for people to start a conversation...I think most people get that these aren't places, but they are curious about the source material.

SH: Exactly.

CC: I really like how artists are re-inventing the idea of the landscape since our contemporary idea of the landscape is displaced and globalized at the same time. What do you think?

SH: Yeah, I mean, there is so much to think about... so much to digest... we are seeing the world in so many different ways and yet we're searching for something familiar.