Phantasmaphile: Interview with Peter Lewis

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March 30, 2006

Interview with Peter Lewis

Peter Lewis "Free Your Mind" 2005

New Zealand collage artist Peter Lewis discusses symbols, scalpels, and the secret of his success:

Phantasmaphile: Your web site states that you've been doing collage since 1990. How did you begin?

Peter Lewis: I began by imitating the booklets that came with Dead Kennedys albums. I can't find a picture of one right now, but they were basically montages of weird news stories and photos. I found that it was pretty hard to collect that amount of weird news stories though, especially in sleepy small-town New Zealand, so I quickly moved on to collaging photos and illustrations instead. Around the same time I had a book about computers which used collaged illustrations made from Victorian etchings. These eventually inspired me to try similar things about five years ago when I discovered the Dover books of reproductions of Victorian etchings, and the collage work of Max Ernst.

Ph: Many of your works are rife with esoteric symbols and mythological references. Is esoterica something you have studied, or do these images simply resonate with you on an aesthetic level?

PL: For the most part they just resonate on an aethestic level, but I'm also inspired by Mark Ryden's paintings which are full of the same kind of symbols, making playhouses look like masonic temples. Here's an example. Sometimes the symbols and references have personal meaning, such as the portrait of my wife,"You're My Queen" - which is filled with things that are important to her, or "Planet Janet" - which includes a lot of my personal symbols / themes (cats, robots, combinations of the two, kitsch, science fiction). At the same time, the use of esoteric symbols is a comment, albeit a confused one, on the idea of hidden symbols and meanings in art - should a piece of art communicate itself immediately and clearly, or should it be necessary for the viewer to know something of the artist's background and themes in order be to able to understand their meaning? I think there's validity in both approaches, but at the same time, art without hidden depths risk being labelled as shallow, and art with hidden meaning risks being labelled exclusionary and esoteric.

Ph: I know that coming up with titles can be challenging for an artist. I love yours though. How do you come up with them?

PL: Hah, I pilfer a great deal of them from song titles, others are puns I makeup as needed. Looking at the latest ten works on my website, four of them have titles taken from songs and a couple of others are inspired by or even quoting directly from text that's in the collages themselves. Sometimes a title will come to me partway through the creation of a piece, but just as often it won't be until I've scanned the completed piece and am about to post it in my blog that I come up with a title.

Ph: You strike me as a bit of a treasure hunter. Where do you find all of these images? And are there ever any copywrite issues you need to be mindful of?

PL: I try to be careful not to use anything too recent or obviously-recognisable. While this doesn't exempt me from copyright issues, it does at least minimise the risk of running into trouble. Using older images almost exclusively is something I started doing for practical reasons, but it has become part of my style now, and I rarely use recent images at all now. There's also the Dover books which I use for my black-and-white / Victorian collages. You can use, I think, up to ten images from a single publication in a single collage without breaching their copyright conditions. While I don't keep a methodical count of how many I use, I have a lot of their books and try to use a range of them for each collage. I collect source material from a variety of sources - my wife is used to me asking for more Dover books for Christmas every year and I trawl junkshops and dusty bookstores for old childrens books and encyclopedias. The city I live in also has a 24 Hour Book Sale very year, which is an excellent place to get armfuls of books.

Ph: Having done a bit of collage myself, I know it is an extremely meticulous process. How long does it generally take you to create one piece, and what tools do you use?

PL: I use a scalpel for cutting and a glass sheet as a cutting surface, which provides a very smooth cutting surface. Each collage takes maybe five to ten hours, it's hard to estimate though as I don't usually do them in a single sitting.

Ph: Where do your ideas come from? Do you have a picture in mind, and then search for the appropriate elements? Or are the pieces dictated by whichever elements you happen to stumble upon?

PL: Sometimes I'll have a picture in mind, but it's usually been inspired by an image I've come across while working on a previous collage. I have a notebook where I scribble little notes like "fish, P65 'Space', with astronaut, P198 'Science Encyc 1966'", so that I don't forget them. The other images that end up in the final collage are dictated by whatever I stumble upon, but the overall design is usually spawned from an initial idea as described above. Sometimes I'll have a theme or subject in mind, but I try not to get too hung up on exactly how I want it to look before starting, otherwise I end up spending a long time looking for the perfect image that fits my vision rather than being flexible and 'going with the flow'. For the same reason, I'm cautious about accepting commissions and illustration work. I try to make sure that people know that I don't know in advance how a piece is going to turn out and that it's dictated by what images I have / can find, so if they're after something like "a blonde woman in a blue dress dancing with butterflies in Central Park", then they're better off going to someone who can draw that kind of thing from scratch!

Ph: In further detail, can you walk me through your process of creating a piece, from start to finish?

PL: I'll start by painting a canvas usually, which involves leaning it against some cardboard and spraying with diluted acrylic paint so that one end is covered and the excess runs across the rest of the canvas leaving coloured streaks. Once the first coat dries, I turn it up the other way and repeat the process using a different colour. After 6-8 coats it's ready, and I take it into my studio and start looking for images that inspire me and that suit the colour scheme of the canvas. Once I've found enough (usually the biggest ones that will form the focus of the collage and most of the medium-sized ones), I'll lay them out on the canvas and move them around (I call it 'auditioning') until I'm happy with the way they work together and that I'm going to keep them all for the final collage. I'll then cut them out with my trusty scalpel and glue them to the canvas with Mod Podge. This is tricky because Mod Podge can cause paper to curl, and once it's stuck down you can't remove and reposition it, even 10 seconds later! Once I've glued and smoothed the bigger pieces, I'll pile books on top of the collage to keep it pressed flat while the glue dries and spend a little while cutting out some more pieces ready for the next round of gluing. Once the piece is complete, I scan it, sign it, and then put a couple of layers of Mod Podge over the top to seal it.

Ph: As Winston Smith noted on your site, you are INCREDIBLY prolific. In addition to the dozens and dozens of collages you've created, you are also a musician and a writer. How do you find the time for all of this? And when do you decide to stop collaging and work on a song, or vice versa?

PL: I don't really do any writing any more, but manage to create a couple of collages and maybe a song each month, too. The secret? Don't watch TV! I watch about 3-4 hours of TV a week and so apart from household chores etc. I'm free to spend the rest of my not-at-work time working on creative projects. I usually do a couple of collages and then decide to do music for awhile, and after completing a song I'm back to collaging again. This will no doubt all change when our first child arrives at the end of the year, so I'm probably subconsciously working myself harder to produce as much work as I can while I have time to.

Ph: Do you work on several pieces at once?

PL: Very occasionally, but I've found it's usually less than successful - my attention and focus is spread between them both and consequently neither gets the attention it deserves. I tend to end up with two substandard pieces and so I've found it's better to just make notes about the second idea, and put any images I've found for it aside and concentrate on one idea at a time!

Ph: I noticed that octopi seem to resonate with you a great deal. Are there any other symbols you find yourself drawn to? And why do you think they have a particular resonance with you?

PL: Planets and spaceships, as well as fish and dinosaurs and miscellanous science fiction things. All things I was fascinated with as a kid, and therefore use to demonstrate my view of the world as a scene viewed through the subjective lens of bias and experience. On any number of levels, conscious and subconscious, we recognise the familiar and resonant in many situations, and that colours our perceptions and responses to those situations.

Ph: You have begun to do some collages on painted canvases, rather than paper. How did this transition come about, and what are the differences between the two mediums for you?

PL: It started as a cynical ploy to be taken more seriously as an artist because people seem to consider art to be Art (with a capital A) if it's on canvas. It also seemed like an easy way of making art that was ready to hang instead of just on paper, which carries an additional framing cost for me or for any potential purchaser. Using painted canvas backgrounds has meant that I've had to create collages that stand apart from, while still complementing, the background. With paper collage, the pasted images can become one with the background eg. if the background is a cityscape, I can paste people standing on top of the buildings, coming out of doorways etc. Here's an example. But with painted backgrounds there's nothing there to hang images onto, so I have to build the whole thing from scratch. Sometimes that's hard, but I usually enjoy the challenge! It also means that I'm not producing as much work as I did when I was working exclusively on paper, but the work I am producing is perhaps more well thought out.

Ph: You seem to be a true pioneer when it comes to harnessing the power of the internet to sell your work directly to your collectors. How has this platform changed the way you work?

PL: Hmm, it hasn't really changed the way I work as such, though it sometimes motivates me to create more work. I usually wait til I have five new pieces before updating my site, and if I've got four I'll usually try to put aside time to do a fifth so I can update the site. I haven't really found it all that effective as a selling tool, although I must admit to having spent no money advertising my work. There's just so many art sites out there, promising a lot for their fees, that it's hard to know which one is going to expose my work to the best audience. I'm not in a position to take a number of $100 gambles trying to find out. I still sell prints from time to time, though the response has been disappointing since I started offering Giclee prints on Kodak paper instead of just laser prints. While the internet is a great place to display and promote art, it's not always a great place to sell it - people are always looking for something for free or a cheap bargain.

Ph: Do you have any plans to exhibit here in New York?

PL: No specific plans, but if an affordable opportunity came up I'd certainly be interested in exhibiting in New York!

Ph: What inspires you?

PL: Bright and colourful things! I love bright colours, particularly blues and greens. Art with a good sense of humour, beauty in its many forms, cats, great art.

Ph: What is your favorite a) taste b) sound c) sight d) scent e) tactile sensation?

PL: a) Chocolate (to the detriment of my waistline) b) Big luscious synths c) Natural beauty d) Freshly-cut grass or damp roads e) Being tickled lightly on my upper back

Ph: Are you superstitious?

PL: Hmm, no, not really. Maybe a little, but I like black cats. In fact I like all cats.

Ph: Which current artists' work do you particularly like?

PL: Many of the so-called 'Lowbrow' artists like Mark Ryden, Todd Schorr, Robert Williams, Camille Rose Garcia, Angie Mason, Scott Saw. Also collage artists whose work I've discovered online, like Soma, Joyce, and Angelica.

Ph: Is there any news or work of yours would you like me to share with Phantasmaphile readers?

PL: Yes, as a matter of fact there is some news: I'm going to be featured in a documentary about Outsider Art being made here in New Zealand. I was contacted by the maker a couple of years ago about being involved, and he's finally secured funding and support from the main TV station here, so he's flying down to meet me this weekend to discuss filming. Here are a couple of recent canvas pieces, I consider them some of my best work yet: "Mrs. Fishes" and "We're a Happy Family."

Ph: I admit I know next to nothing about New Zealand, other than the Lord of the Rings frenzy which you must be sick to death of. What is the art scene like down there?

PL: Well, LOTR keeps all the short and hairy people here employed, posing as hobbits and scamming tourists. I can't tell you too much about the art scene to be honest, I'm not heavily involved in it. Probably like anywhere, there are the old guard whose time has passed, some genuinely brilliant and innovative artists, some artists of the "yesterday's rebel turned today's establishment star" variety, and a lot of talented unknowns waiting / hustling / pushing for their big break. I've met some really neat people, great artists and supportive enthusiasts, since I started showing my work. It's been really encouraging :)

March 30, 2006 in Interview | Permalink

Comments

You ask some very insightful questions in this piece. Where did you get your interviewing skills from?

Posted by: Emily | March 30, 2006 at 11:04 AM

Thanks! I just ask what I'm curious to know about. Nothing too fancy. ;-) -Pam

Posted by: Pam | March 30, 2006 at 11:35 AM

I just found the WarpArt website last night as I was Googling. I am also a collage and multi-media artist. I love Peter's work and appreciate that you provided such an interesting interview!!!

Posted by: Celeste Williams | April 01, 2006 at 10:39 AM

Thanks again for this Pam, very exciting to see it 'in print'!! :)

Posted by: Peter Lewis | April 02, 2006 at 05:18 PM

It was such a pleasure!

Posted by: Pam | April 02, 2006 at 08:54 PM

Posted by: Coleman | June 23, 2007 at 03:35 PM

I haven't been up to much these days. Such is life. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days, but I don't care.

Posted by: idea | September 24, 2007 at 02:31 AM

Prejudice will always be a part of society

Posted by: bab | October 06, 2007 at 03:03 PM

I haven't gotten anything done. Whatever. I just don't have anything to say.

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Steve Jackson was creating a game that would come very close to the actual plan of the Illuminati to delve the world into the New World Order.

Steve Jackson designed 3 playing cards that foretold the shocking events of 9/11.

He even knew the Plan so exactly in detail that he got a surprise visit from the Secret Service!!

They tried their best to shut him down and prevent him from publishing this game!!

On March 01 1990 without warning a force of armed Secret Service agents accompanied by the Austin police and at least one civilian expert from the phone company occupied the offices of Steve Jackson Games and began to search for computer equipment.

Steve Jackson fought back in court and finally won but nearly went under financially.

This highlights the fact that the Illuminist government and the Secret Service, then run by President George Bush senior was worried about something that Steve Jackson was up to and cooked up a reason to invade his office and confiscate materials.

I believe that the real reason the Secret Service invaded S.J. Games was to shut him down so they could not produce the card game: [b]Illuminati - New World Order[/b] cause it revealed too much of the plan that was still eleven years in the future.....

[url=http://nspd-51.com/universitas-dominion/how-did-the-illuminati-card-game-from-1995-predicted-911.htm] See How The Illuminati Card Game From 1995 Predicted 911 [/url]

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March 30, 2006

Interview with Peter Lewis

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