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Autumn Whitehurst Rhode Island born, New Orleans raised and Brooklyn based (phew!) artist and illustrator Autumn Whitehurst is on the phone. I think she's laughing because I'm rambling away like John Moschitta Jr with Tourette’s. I always do this with Americans, and I have no idea why. We agree that an email interview will be for the best and she laughs some more...
PIXELSURGEON: Tell us about yourself, give us the potted history...
AUTUMN: I grew up in New Orleans, about a block away from the Mississippi, across from the French Quarter. The heat in the summer there turns everything up and on, everything's louder and more saturated and you're soaking wet all of the time, so I stayed in and would read and draw and be the moody little thing that most young girls are. My dad's a boat captain and a metal sculptor, and my mother works in a university bookstore. We always had lots of fantastic books in the house to look at and lots of periodicals.
My dad would take me to local gallery openings and there was so much drinking and dancing, they tended to be really festive, so I was always very engaged, visually. Way back then, what I wanted to be when I grew up was a really hedonistic fashion designer and the majority of my scrawls were of these ludicrous looking characters done up to the nines. I still have those sketchbooks and looking at them is like a trip to the circus. I think that those may have been my first "illustrations".
When I got to college, though, I fell in love with painting. My second year rolled around, and I tried to major in illustration for a bit but the school's approach to it seemed very formal, if I can say that. The Visual Communications department had none of the stench of the Painting department, so I went back and that's where I stayed for years. But when I graduated the computer was beginning to make itself a real presence. Initially I resented it, but forced myself to become familiar so as not to get left in the mud. I did a couple of internships and took some really shitty jobs (pre-press boot-camp) to understand how it all worked and in the meantime fell in love with the Adobe programs. So now I do both: paint in the studio and paint on the computer, though the studio experience is much more personal.
I have a very small group of friends (like family away from family) that have been with me for years and if anything we keep each other from taking ourselves too seriously. We're all very happy and really obnoxious at times (which is great) and like anybody you need people like that so that you can screw up and it's alright...
I'd like to bet that you were exposed to a great deal of art and design while flicking through those books and magazines as a child. Has any particular image remained with you over the years, always there in the back of your mind as a source of inspiration?
One of my favorite images is Hokusai's The Hollow of the Wave Off the Coast of Kanagawa. It's probably on mugs and shower curtains all over Japan, but I never get tired of it. Whenever I'm about to go into the ocean for the first time every summer, I'm seized with a panic looking at those waves with the cold white fingers that want to pull me in and drown me right there in two feet of water. The print conveys that feeling. I'm really partial to the graphic quality of the Japanese woodblock prints, how economical the lines are and the faded flat hues. The awe I'm in when I look at those is immediate and genuine. But other things have riveted me with the same potency, like the drawings of George Grosz and the paintings of Dubuffet. I think one of the qualities these share is visual rhythm, the kind that you have an animal reaction to. You sit up straight, your ears stick up, and you drool.
You certainly seem to have the software under control, guiding it as opposed to it guiding you. Successful illustration (in my mind) is all about restraint; confidence in your application of whatever, knowing when to put that there, or leave this alone... that and a hefty dose of intuition. Would you agree?
Well, that's one of my favorite things about working digitally, how forgiving the entire editing process is. You can go too far and then go back and work on the color a bit and push it around and make it cohesive. Every program will dictate what we do to some degree and sometimes it's alright but other times I just want to drive my sneaker into the computer. I have to sit down in front of it and have some sort of preconception as to what the final product will look like. The programs want to do everything for us, like we could get an instant "look" if we use "this" filter, for example. To some degree it's unavoidable but it can be very agreeable if I can let the conversation that occurs during the process work in my favor. I mean, it might be nice to have a "Totally Random and Unpredictable Fuck Up Filter" that I could turn on at the beginning of each image and then all of the sudden, seven hours into my illustration... "Oh my God, What happened?". And I could either undo it or roll with it. That would be a good learning tool.
I do have to stop myself a lot while I'm working and question whether what I'm about to do is the result of healthy intuition or if it's impulsive, and how necessary it is. The folks out there who will be looking at these illustrations are totally capable of filling in the blanks if we leave them in there and I think it makes the finished piece more intriguing. Not everyone wants to be spoon-fed their information.
I'm sure that getting your hands dirty with paint is quite therapeutic, especially after grafting away with PhotoShop or Illustrator all day long...
Painting is therapeutic but for me it's much more challenging. It has history, and having gone to art school, I can't help but to think about what everybody before me has done so I become really selfish in the studio. It's about me, for me, so I'm really ridiculous when I go in there but I love it and I wish I had more time to do it. It's dirty and it smells (good) and there's a genuine mess to contend with so, you know, it's refreshing. At one point I considered doing illustration with traditional media but it was very difficult for me to make this "mine" and that "yours" so I drew the line down the middle and devoted my digital time to illustrating and my painting time to something reckless. The result is that one discipline defines the other. Many illustrators are blurring the line between fine art and illustration and it's great, because what you end up with is something a lot less ephemeral though sometimes it just happens (those words will make me some enemies). For me, the difference will always be as simple as what I do for others and what I do for myself.
How long have you been working as a 'professional' illustrator? Have clients been hammering at your door from day one, or has it been, as is nearly always the case, a long slow build?
It's definitely been a long slow build. When I graduated from college my first two full-time jobs were doing illustrations, first for a school that was designing an educational CD-ROM, and then for a design house. All of the work was done under very specific guidelines so there was very little creative freedom. Everything we did was so saccharin-sweet that it gave you cavities to just look at it. Not very thrilling stuff. When the opportunity to move up to NYC arose I ran with it and became a scenic painter, and then eventually moved into graphics production to make ends meet and to learn about what happened when things went to print. During that time I did some illustration work here and there for some local clients and for the companies I was working for, but only recently have I decided to put all of my eggs in one basket and go into it full time. It takes a leap of faith to make that transition but I get up in the morning, say hello to myself, bring myself a cup of coffee and get the day moving. It seems to be working out.
Client work aside (when it's just a case of meeting a deadline, and fast), how do you get 'in the mood' for working? Do you have to switch on the stereo, or go for a walk? Or is it just a case of "oh, that's a good idea! Quick, where are my paints?"
When I've been in front of the computer too long I feel a bit removed and desensitized, and I need a bit of life in me before I get working. That usually involves the music, the walk, some scrawling to loosen up, and some sugar... anything to get the blood pumping around in my head. Other times, the idea will be right between my eyes and I'm immediately ready. It totally varies. Music is the biggest stimulation, though. I've been listening to WFMU through my Real Player nearly everyday now. WFMU is like a long cold glass of ice tea on a hot hot day.
Which contemporary artists, designers and illustrators do you rate? Who's doing stuff that makes you stand up and freeze?
OhOh man. I haven't been paying a lot of attention to the contemporary art scene and rarely go to visit the galleries which is a shame because I live in a great city for it. My favorite contemporary painter is probably Inka Essenhigh. And Henry Darger is dead but contemporary enough, I like his stuff quite a lot. And Yoshitomo Nara's stuff is very enjoyable. A couple of years ago, the Gelatin art group from Austria was at the PS1 and they did some highly entertaining stuff. And very recently I saw a beautiful piece at the same place by Janet Cardiff. It was called Forty Party Motet. She'd set up a circle of speakers, each with one choir singer's voice coming through and as you moved around the room you experienced the sound in an entirely new way. That was beautiful. When I was in there the sun was going down and there were a ton of people just lying on the floor or walking around in circles in a state of awe. As for designers and illustrators, I'm overwhelmed with all the stuff I keep seeing so I can only mention a few that I enjoy. Jotto's site is one of my favorites and I admire Tomer Hanuka, Marie Caillou, and Brian Cronin amongst others. Bill Brissette, the brains behind Mellowvision, does some amazing work as well. He's a friend of mine and I don't understand half the stuff he's doing with his camera and computer but he does it with great results. Actually, at the moment we're collaborating on a piece. I also really like what's going on at Studio AKA and Burnfield (Burnfield did the Pluxemburg site). There's probably jillions of designer's out there whose stuff I'm not familiar with that I'd be partial to. I'm no tough critic.
We're always interested in finding out which movies our interviewees are into - are you a movie buff, do movies inspire you as much as anything else? Also, what about music, what are you listening to?
I'd be miserable if it weren't for movies and music. Movies: I'm not too critical (about a movie) in the way that if it leaves me feeling strongly, I'm happy and will love it despite the loopholes in the story or the rest of the populace's response to it. Let me reel them off for you (yeah I know that's not funny)... The best movie I've seen in ages (and it's my all time favorite) is The Celebration. Second to that is Midnight Cowboy. Then there's Bladerunner, Faces, Alien, Rushmore, The Shining, 101 Reykjavik, Withnail and I, Ghost in the Shell... I think that those are my favorites. I'm eagerly awaiting Neuromancer because I'm a big fan of Chris Cunningham's work, though I don't know how involved with that he still is, or even if they're still making it. That video he did for Bjork's All is Full of Love is fantastic, not to mention the videos for Aphex Twin.
Music: I've been listening to my most recent purchases a lot, like Vincent Gallo's When, Bjork's Vespertine, the new Fischerspooner, etc. But I'm also partial to Erik Satie, The Marine Girls, Oval, the Beastie Boys, old Bowie, Cat Power, the Velvet Underground, old Bollywood... My favorite CD, though, is a compilation of some beautiful/crazy stuff that my friend Jen put together for me of Oskar Sala, Clara Rockmore, Oliver Messiaen, etc. She also made me a CD of new Bjork b-sides that are great. And if there was a radio station dedicated to Dixieland jazz, it would be on a lot.
Finally, anything else you'd like to say. Anything been bothering you, any strong opinions on anything? Fire away...
Yeah, I'm forming some strong opinions right now as we speak based on an interview with Naomi Klein that I just read and am trying to figure out where I stand on them. My reality is not a high maintenance one, but as I am in the process of growing up I need to let these ideas gestate before I put myself in a situation where I'm welcoming any attacks from the more learned and politically-aware out there. When my exoskeleton has formed, I'll feel better about discussing it but until then I'm not stepping into the ring! No Way!
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