Sorry for posting old stuff, but Luke Chueh is one of my most favourite artists and I just stumbled upon this great interview from February on dailyDuJour. If you don’t know Luke, you should definitely check out his website cause his art work is incredible!
[On the eve of Luke Chueh’s ‘Contemptorary Art’ opening @ Corey Helford, we’re pleased to bring you Amanda Erlanson’s insightful interview with Luke, done as part of the Heroes and Villains project. It’s an excellent read which delves into the complexities of the man behind ‘the bear’.]Amanda Erlanson: You’ve described growing up in Fresno, California as a kind of hell on earth. Tell me a bit about your family and your upbringing. Was there anywhere you could go that served as a refuge from your isolation, fear and confusion?
Luke Chueh: I guess I found refuge in my art, in my pre-high school days, and in comics, manga and anime. In my high school days, mostly in music and my friends. Looking back, those days were very unpleasant, and for a while, I wondered if I would ever really get over it. When the Columbine tragedy happened, initially, part of me truly understood and maybe even sympathized with the boys. (Of course, now that more has been revealed about the circumstances behind the tragedy, my empathy for the boys has diminished considerably.) Fortunately, my college life was the exact opposite of my life in Fresno, and after some time, I was able to come to terms with those darker days. I don’t necessarily reflect on them with any pleasant sense of nostalgia, but now I wouldn’t change a thing in regard to my upbringing.Amanda: When you were about five years old, your mother taught you how to draw Mickey Mouse, which got you started down this path. Tell me a bit about your early drawings. Were there people in your life who encouraged your creative tendencies?
Luke: When I was still a child, I was inspired by the science fiction movies and television shows I got to see. Childishly rendered characters from Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, G-Force (Gatchaman), Galaxy Express 999, Captain Harlock, and many more filled the sheets of paper I drew on. My parents were very encouraging of my artistic talents, and had me participate in elementary-level art classes at the local art museum during the summer. I truly loved drawing because of the positive feedback I got from peers and family.
However, when I was 12, my parents enrolled me in a summer watercolor class. Little did we know that I was enrolled in a college-level class which would destroy whatever confidence I might have had in my artistic abilities. This watercolor class asked us to do a lot of still-life renderings, something I had never really done. All my drawings up to that time were from my memory or my imagination. To see these college-age students rendering their subjects with what seemed like photographic accuracy and comparing them to my clumsy child-level attempts smashed my self-esteem, and it wasn’t until I was 17 that I picked up a pencil to draw for myself again.
Amanda: Over the course of a number of interviews, I’ve come to realize that childhood experiences of racism have been a profound influence on many of the artists working in this scene. Do you think racial tensions were a formative influence on your development as a person, and as an artist?
Luke: Absolutely. I grew up in Fresno, in the San Joaquin Valley, a very conservative part of California, and I went to school in the Clovis Unified School District, a very conservative (and dare I say, “backward”) part of Fresno County. At the time, there were very few Asians residing in the area, and I don’t really get into describing the cruelty of children. But I really don’t think my work focuses on racism, or the kinds of discrimination I grew up with (with the exception of a couple of paintings).
Amanda: When you escaped Fresno to go to college at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, you decided to get a degree in graphic design, reasoning that it would provide you with the most reliable chance at making a living as a visual artist. Ironically, when you graduated, design work was hard to find – but your design sensibilities would serve you well, nonetheless. When you began to paint, you devised bold, accessible images that combined color theory with the minimalist appeal of products like Hello Kitty – in effect creating a Luke Chueh “brand identity.” What else did you learn in design school that has proven useful in your career?
Luke: A strong understanding of color theory and general composition were two important lessons I gained from my design education, but on a practical level, my understanding of print technology, and the ability to set up image files so they’re ready for press, were priceless lessons that made my life as a new artist so much easier. I was able to print and design my own business cards, postcards, and other promotional materials without having to turn to professional designers for their help – especially since I probably wouldn’t have been able to afford their services. I also learned web design at Cal Poly, and that has been vital in the design and maintenance of my personal website.
Amanda: Like many artists in this scene, you got your start showing at L. Croskey’s Cannibal Flower art parties. Tell me how you became involved with Cannibal Flower.
Luke: I want to start by crediting LC and Cannibal Flower for helping me establish my career as a painter. Without them, I don’t think I could have accomplished what I have, and in such little time. I was introduced to LC and Cannibal Flower by some friends (Syndrome Studios) who had shown at Cannibal Flower’s events. Cannibal Flower was an invaluable resource, and LC’s passion and enthusiasm for the arts, coupled with his years of personal experience on both ends of the art biz, have given him a vast, expansive wealth of knowledge – knowledge that he’s happy to share with others. The combination of the conversations LC and I had and my experiences with showing at Cannibal Flower were instrumental in the development of my artistic voice.
Amanda: In the beginning, because you had just started teaching yourself how to paint, the range of what you could depict was necessarily limited – yet your work was so unique in a room full of lowbrow paintings that it caught the attention of collectors almost instantaneously. Was the simplicity of your imagery in part a reaction to the overwrought aesthetic of the underground art scene?
Luke: Aside from my lack of painterly experience, one thing I credit as being essential toward the development of my voice as a painter is my experience in advertising design. While working at the Ernie Ball Company, I was taught that the average reader spends an average of 2.3 seconds on a magazine advertisement, and it was the job of the designer to communicate whatever it is you’re selling within this 2.3-second window. It’s the inclination of most companies to treat the space on a page like real estate, filling each and every inch of the page with information concerning their company and their product. My approach was to strip away any unnecessary graphic noise, and to catch the reader’s attention with bold colors and clever punch lines.
Amanda: After transferring images from your sketchbook, you begin your painting process with a panel primed with black gesso, and work from dark to light in acrylic, with your final touches being made in India ink. Your brushwork, when seen in person, has a startling roughness which belies many viewers’ expectations that minimalist imagery will be smoothly rendered. Tell me a bit about how you came to make these choices.
Luke: Again, I think some of the artistic choices were the result of my untrained hand. However, I also think the reason why I chose to handle my line and brush work roughly is because it contradicts people’s expectations for smooth, clean finishes. Something I regularly explore in my work is the contrast between opposites. For instance, smooth and rough, darkness and light, cute and brute, etc. It’s these contrasts that make the work interesting and maybe even deceptively “deep.”
Amanda: Much of your work illustrates wry takes on Western idioms, clever one-liners, or visual puns. In some ways, this approach reminds me of the classic single-panel cartoons of The New Yorker. Would you say Charles Addams, Gahan Wilson or any of the early gag cartoonists were influential?
Luke: I’m not sure if I would say I was directly influenced by these cartoonists, but I was definitely influenced in one way or another by comic culture. One of my first comic art memories is a Chinese comic my parents introduced to me called Lao Fu Zi. What made Lao Fu Zi special was the artist’s way of illustrating his strip without any written dialogue.
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