Interview with Simon Peplow
q)Let's start with the basics; what's your full name, where do you live, and how old are you?a)Hello I'm Simon Peplow, I did until very recently live in the second largest city in the UK, Birmingham. However I've recently relocated to the South of England with my fairmaiden to a City called Exeter, it's a lovely place. I'm 28 years old.
q) Do you have any formal training?
a)Yep.I did the whole Art College thing after leaving school. In 1998 I took some time out to pursue my love of skateboarding, then in 2001 I decided to embark on a BA Honors in Visual Communication at The Birmingham Institute of Art & Design. The course covered everything from Graphic and Multimedia design, Photography, Moving Image and Illustration, in the second year we had to choose one specific creative discipline to specialize in which we would focus on for the remainder of the course. I'd already decided that I wanted to be an Illustrator.
q) Did the place you grew up in influence your image making?
a)I'm not sure Birmingham has had a major impact on my work, maybe subconsciously? my work tends to focus on the human condition and I'm a product of my environment so in some way I suppose it must have. Traveling around England and America however through skateboarding opened up my beady eyes to a variety of visual ephemera and definitely kick started my passion and fascination for image making.
q) How do you come up with your concepts?
a)Everything tends to just tumble from my imagination, I'll create a drawing from a random thought, a song, maybe a conversation I've overheard. It varies from day to day.
q) Describe your creations in a clear, concise and understandable sentence. What do you call them?
a)Lo-fi shenanigans with a motherly message.
q)What other mediums would you like to explore in your image making?
a)Woodcut printing, screen printing and perhaps large scale charcoal drawings at some stage.
q)What is the best time in the day for you to work on a project? Is there one, or is it more about the environment -- maybe the right mood?a)I'm a night owl so I tend to work best in the dead of night, anywhere between 10pm and 4am is good, no distractions, I just load up on coffee, good music and get fired up into a pen frenzy.
q) What are your artistic influences?...and generally who or what influences you the most?
a)My family, friends, the fairmaiden, skateboarding and the San Francisco Mission Street Artists.
q) Who are some of your favourite artists/designers/photographers?
a)Marcus Oakley, fellow members of The Outcrowd Collective: Log Roper, Vaughan Baker, Chris Bourke, Ben Javens & Stef Grindley. Thomas Campbell, Barry Mcgee, Geoff Mcfetridge and Steven Harrington.
q) What is your next project? Exhibition? Collaboration?
a)I'm currently working on a Running Amok zine for the independent bookstore 'Analogue' in Edinburgh, Scotland. Russell the owner has given me full reign to create whatever the hell I like, hence the zine title, so it's a really fun project.I entered a Carhartt competition in July which involved designing an ad for them, the comp was held in conjunction with The Illustrated Ape magazine, my design was selected and as part of the prize I have been given a small exhibition at their Covent Garden store in London in September, so I'll be creating some new work for that.
q)What are your plans for the future?
a)I tend to live day to day, so I very rarely make plans. I suppose ideally I'd like to be earning an honest and secure living from my Illustration work.
q)Are there some web sites that You would like to recommend? Artists, art communities, xxx,...!?q)What sort of music do you listen to?
a)These get a lot of airplay: Talking heads, Elliott Smith, The Chameleons, The Kinks, Neil Young, Donovan, Nick Drake, Belle & Sebastian, The Sea & Cake, Pinback, Herman Dune, Cat Power, Love, Ryan Adams and Tommy Guerrero.
q)Do you collect anything? If so what?
a)I guess I collect hats of various shapes and sizes, which adorn my head from time to time and the odd toy.
q)What do you do for fun?
a)Cycle, cook, skateboard, fool around with the fairmaiden.
q)Any advice you can pass onto aspiring artists/designers?a)Believe in your own abilities, follow your own path, surround yourself with inspiring people and just keep on keeping on...never give up!
q)Your contacts.
postato da Claudio Parentela @ 12:38
0 Commenti
0 Commenti:
Posta un commento
Iscriviti a Commenti sul post [Atom]
<< Home page