Interview with Artist Hilary Pecis

Spraygraphic Interview with Hilary Pecis

SG: Please tell us about yourself?

HP: My name Hilary Pecis. 29 years old. I am a landscape painter.

SG: Where do you currently live and work?

HP: I live and work in SF and am currently working on my Masters Degree at California College of the Arts .

SG: What mediums do you work with?

HP: I consider myself a painter, although I use very little paintreally. Mostly, I use a collage of  images from magazine advertisementsalong with ink drawings in the construction of my landscape(not)-paintings.

SG: Describe your working process when creating a new work.

HP: When I begin a painting I sketch out the basics of the landscapeand then work on the different structures independently. This allows meto focus on the minute details of line or color in an intimate way.After the partitioned spaces are collaged together, I can look at thepiece as a whole, tying it together with the last elements. Thepatterns have been with me for some time now. When I began using them,they were appropriated from a variety of sources, however, over timethey have morphed into a vocabulary disconnected from the original.

SG: What kind of things do you do when you get blocked or find it hard to create something?

HP: Well, I have set up a protocol of important elements to work on,and I generally am working on multiple pieces. When I don"t feel likedrawing, I can work on the collage parts of my work. And if I don'tfeel like getting paste all over my hands, I know that I willeventually need some more diamonds or whatever images from magazinesthat I am currently working with, so I get out the exacto and go towork. I try to keep busy… it keeps me out of trouble.

SG: Where are you currently finding your inspiration?

HP: Technological advancements and their rate of growth is oftensomething I am thinking of. The increased amount of time spent in cyberspace since its mass marketed introduction I find fascinating. Also,the construction of identities through television, advertising andother media forms which suggested a lifestyle that seems limitless,however, proves to be unfulfilling and superficial. I am interested inappropriating and misappropriating cultural images from advertisements,which have no depth, substance or historical connections into thelandscape. The current situation within the markets is forcing adagencies to consider new approaches within their campaigns, such assustainability over luxury. I think that in the next year we will bewitness to a significant shift in media and advertised lifestyles. Andfinally, I love looking at landscape paintings from periods such as theRenaissance and Romantic periods. As well as, being incrediblybeautiful and rich paintings, they posses the ideals present duringthat time. I hope to create not only an aesthetically pleasingpaintings, but also one supported by contemporary concerns.

SG: Where has your work been seen?

HP: It has been seen in Boston at Samson Projects , TAG in Tennessee, Roberts and Tilton in LA, , Receiver in SF, Fecal Face Gallery , Oakland Art Gallery , the SF Arts Commission , the Lab in SF, Cerasoli Gallery in LA and various other galleries.

SG: Where will it be seen next?

HP: It is currently up at the Luggage store in SF as well as 111 Minna in SF. In December it will be at the NADA fair in Miami. In January there will be a few pieces included in the exhibition as WhiteWalls Gallery in SF. Then in April I will have some work at Sincronisity in LA… and finally in July I will have a solo show at Triple Base Gallery in SF.

SG: What is your dream art assignment?

HP: I think I am dreaming right now. Things are going well.. betterthan I could have imagined. I don't have a dream assignment, just tohave the freedom to make work and not have to work a job for someoneelse.

SG: What is your favorite color?

HP: Sparkly, shiny, diamonds.

SG: Who is your favorite artist? And Why?

HP: I find myself drawn toward artists who have the ability to transform the way in which I view something. Jim Hodges , Jessica Stockholder , Jim Drain are some of my favorites. Collage artist such as Bjorn Copeland , and David Thorpe, who although work very differently, I find inspiring. I love Kristin Baker 's paintings as well as historic pieces by Pieter Bruegel. Tom Sachs' makes pieces that question my ability to make contemporaryart. It is all over the map really. I still value craft and investmentsin the making of art, so that would be the only common thread.

SG: What book/magazine are you reading this week?

HP: I'm in grad school, so it seems that it is all related to mythesis. The business pages of the NY Times are a constant. Delux/ HowLuxury Lost its Luster is good, um… Commodify your Dissent is alsogood. I look at soooo many magazines, because I use images from theirads to collage with, but I am not sure that quantifies reading.

SG: Ever do a self portrait? Where is it now?

HP: Yes, and it is in my closet.

SG: Where is your favorite place to hang out?

HP: My boyfriend, Andrew Schoultzis also a painter. we spend a lot of time looking and talking aboutart. when we are not making art or looking at someone else's art, weare probably watching Law and Order on the couch. Sometimes that is myfavorite place to chill out.