friday's child:: interview with artist chad wys

in the vast world of art, there are are over-consumed ideas, there are unoriginal ideas, there are even ideas that just don't make sense. artist chad wys is aware of this.

if you're not familiar with chad wys, you've most likely come into contact with his work at one time or another. whether it be browsing magazine covers in the bookstore, admiring opera posters in the city or watching modern family in the privacy of your own home.

his work can honestly be classified as a marvelous juxtaposition: combining classical reproductions with modern experiments. i, personally, have been a fan for quite a few years. he was kind enough to grant us an interview so that we can see just what's behind those antique prints and bold strokes.

hailing from and currently residing in peoria, illinois, wys owns his reclusive nature. after just finishing his MA in visual culture, he's spending the 'gap' year traveling and plotting his next moves; which he believes will ultimately lead him back to school once more to possibly pursue a PhD in some aspect of art history or visual theory. but for now he's meditating on his past and future, and is excited about deciding what his future will look like.

we asked a few pointed questions to help us get a better picture of chad wys and what inspires his work.

wanderlustings:: let's start from the beginning. do you recall the first piece of art you were truly taken with? what was it?
chad wys:: renoir's two sisters on a terrace is the artwork that comes to mind as a life-changer. as a child, and as an adult, i always thought it was an aesthetically magnificent work of art, but it was never a piece that i felt emotionally tied to. at a very young age, i visited the art institute in chicago for the first time and the very first artwork i saw when i walked up the entry stairway and into the front gallery was two sisters on a terrace. i was paralyzed. i was totally overcome by what i was seeing. no reproduction that i'd ever seen of that artwork before that moment, or after, can compare to the real thing. renoir's color palette is electric -- the oranges are absolutely neon. that was the first time i realized that you have to see artwork in person to fully receive and comprehend it. reproductions simply don't do art justice.


w:: it sounds like you appreciated art from a young age. what sort of things did you create as a child?
cw:: i constantly drew pictures before i knew how to read or write. i've never been a good draftsman, but i always enjoyed telling stories through images. as i grew, i turned to poetry and short creative fiction and left the fine arts more or less behind until reapplying them in adulthood. all the while, also, i experimented with computers in creative ways. i was a 'graphic designer' before i became a teenager -- creating logos for my imaginary companies. i very much lived in my own head, and creation was my way of acting out.

w:: that's awesome! nowadays, where would you say most of your inspiration is drawn from?
cw:: art history. i've formally and informally studied art history for the last couple decades. when other kids were playing sports, i was admiring the work of monet in some picture book.


w:: so let's talk a bit about your studies - you've had quite a bit of schooling; do you still consider yourself self-taught?
cw:: technically speaking i'm self-taught, but conceptually speaking i have been studying art history and visual theory academically for years. i believe the concepts i address with my work are the most important aspects, which is why i've never felt compelled to study studio arts in any great depth. i, personally, find more value in a critical theory class than i do in a drawing class. that doesn't mean someone else should follow the same path. one should follow the curriculum that best informs one's work.

w:: that's a very refreshing perspective. so if we were to look in your toolbox right now, what would we find?
cw:: i've got lots of domestic supplies like craft paint, super glue, glitter, craft paper, scissors, etc. but i've also got heaps of decorative objects that i've accumulated from thrift stores and garage sales. my studio looks like the combined sitting rooms of a couple dozen grandmothers. i've got figurines, china and garish wall art ebbing from every nook; those objects are my blank canvases.


w:: that's amazing - i would be in heaven with all of those awesome thrift store find you use! can you walk us through your process then from inception to execution to finished work?
cw:: not really, because my creative process tends to occur informally, unexpectedly and randomly. most of the time i act on impulse and chance, and i develop the form of my work as i progress. i seldom ever plot a work out to the minutest detail and then begin the process; in many ways my process is my work and i don't often know what it will end up looking like or saying. i may have a general idea of what i want to aesthetically accomplish, but how i accomplish something is always a new experience. i know what themes and concepts i wish to address with my work, but how the work materializes is very much a chance encounter with the formal elements.



w:: very interesting. so what themes or concepts are you trying to address in your work?
cw:: there are a lot of themes and ideas addressed by my work that i hope people ponder and consider. i will refrain from being too specific because i hope that viewers will react and respond to the work in their own way, without any direction from me. obviously, i play with art history and aestheticism and i subvert objects in strange ways. i do so to draw attention to ideas of identity and tradition. i'm obsessed with the decorative objects that we inundate our lives with, so i incorporate those objects in my work. i see that act as questioning what those objects mean in our lives. how the viewer responds to this visual discussion is entirely up to them.

w:: what would you say most influences your work?
cw:: other artists. nothing is original now; we must take and reform ideas into versions that are relatively 'fresh' -- but all artists borrow. i adore artists throughout all eras and i constantly look to them for inspiration.


w:: i'm glad that you 'own' that. most artists won't admit that they look to other current artists as sources of inspiration. it has an awful stigma but i think it's wonderful. so what artists then, living or dead, are you most influenced by?
cw:: there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, who influence me as a person and as an artist, but three that randomly come to mind are jean arp, gerhard richter and james whistler. each experimented with form, color and concept, pushing the boundaries of the respective eras they were born into.


w:: that definitely makes sense. your play on eras seems to be such a huge part of your work. do you yourself purchase original artwork?
cw:: absolutely. i was a collector years before i felt comfortable labeling myself an artist. i still very much am.  over the years, i've begun to specialize in works on paper by 19th and 20th century french artists, but i am open to anything that moves me.


w:: that sounds like quite a collection! when you're not creating or collecting art, what can you be found doing?
cw:: i'm always 'consuming' art. i read and i constantly study images. i constantly listen to music and watch films and television and i question what it means to me. other artists inspire me to no end, so my greatest hobby is admiring the work of others.

w:: now for a devil's advocate question. if you could effortlessly crossover into any other creative genre, what would it be and why?
cw:: for me, creative fields are quite fluid. i don't think of myself as restricted in any way to painting, or photography, or filmmaking, or graphic design, or writing, or any other creative category. they're all up for grabs. i think the best works often don't fit comfortably into any single category.


w:: that sounds like a good way to look at crossing-over. so do you have any creative motivators you can share with us? 
cw:: i often listen to music, but sometimes i'm so caught up in the moment that any silence goes unnoticed.  when i do make it a point to put some sounds on, i favor contemporary classical pieces -- like the work of alexandre desplat.


w:: well that brings me to my next question - what are the top five songs you listen to while you create?
cw:: 
"wong chia chi's theme" by alexandre desplat

"at the river" by groove armada
"the garden" by faithless
"dawn" by jean-yves thibaudet
"sebastian" by adrian johnston

w:: oooh, i'll have to check some of these out. how about movies? can you name the top three movies that inspire you?

cw:: 

1. pan's labyrinth
2. dogville
3. vertigo

w:: wow. talk about heavy-hitters: guillermo del toro, lars von trier AND alfred hitchcock. nice. now before you leave us today, can you give us three quirky things about yourself?

cw:: 

1. i'm a promising future agoraphobic recluse. (you think i'm kidding.)

2. i put a large amount of honey on almost everything i cook and prepare -- from pasta and pizza to salad.
3. i enjoy using the color pink ironically as much as possible.

a huge thank you to chad wys for granting wanderlustings this interview and for being so open to sharing history and process with us. 

check out all of his amazing artwork here.