“Life is a struggle. For everyone. From the smallest insect to the greatest beast, we are determined by the success we seek, and how, in turn we measure that success. Each of us experiencing ups and downs. Peaks and troughs. Like a game of snakes and ladders.”__David Shillinglaw
Don't miss our exclusive interview, with this original and internationally admired, London-based, artist, below.
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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
WONDERLANCE: David, it’s a pleasure to have you participating in this interview, many thanks for answering our questions. You have a degree in Fine Art but you always comment that the best of what you’ve learned has been self-taught.
What do you think that could be introduced or changed within institutionalised learning as to help artists find and develop their own techniques and style as well as methods to make a living out of their passion, or there are things that cannot really be taught by others in a formal, pre-set environment?
DAVID SHILLINGLAW:There are definitely some things that cannot be taught. I think education is important to learning how to be an artist because it is vital to know about the history of art in order to make new art. When I did my degree there was a lot less practical learning, and more an emphasis on self direction which forced me to take matters in to my own hands. As a result a great deal of what I make relies on discovery in finding objects to work with, or realising ideas with trial and error, using mistakes and chance to enhance what I am making. I have always been interested in ‘outsider’ artists, and those who push the boundaries of the mainstream. I believe artists are the ones with the desire and passion to make things happen. The best idea is to learn as much as possible from others, while also teaching yourself and learning from your own mistakes.
WONDERLANCE: Both your parents are British but you were born in the Middle East and have had residencies in China, Japan, have also exhibited in New York and other places worldwide. Do you think that your delightful obsession with human nature, which is abundantly reflected in your art, comes from a deeper knowledge into it, acquired through your engaging with an array of diverse cultures throughout your life?
What would you say is the most dominant human factor across cultures and which the most recurrent in your art? Are they both the same or do they differ?
DAVID SHILLINGLAW: Travelling is something I love to do as much as possible. And this definitely inspires and informs the things I make.
Without a doubt the diversity and changing environments have given me a different kind of insight into what makes us the way we are, especially when you compare such different cultures as China with North Africa or New York with Tokyo. I am fascinated with how even though we are sometimes so different there are things that we all feel and experience, on a daily basis, and these things are often not subject to race, class, gender, religion or politics. The most dominant human factors are Love and Fear. We all share similar insecurities, desires, and pains; we are all full of the same holes. We compensate or celebrate these factors with food, relationships, jobs, fashion, entertainment, music, mythology, and the list goes on and on and becomes more specific to each person and each given moment. I try and illustrate this ongoing list.
WONDERLANCE: David, what was the first piece of art you sold. Do you remember?
DAVID SHILLINGLAW: It was a collage I sold to my next door neighbour.
WONDERLANCE: You like using different types of canvas and materials, and have indeed given expression to your art both in studio and street settings and from little handmade books to big scale wall murals. Does the first inspiration for a piece appear in your mind and changes into the final artwork as in a living metamorphosis or do you always have an exact idea of its start and end points and the materials to be used?
DAVID SHILLINGLAW: I usually start with an idea of composition and content. But I like and play with how this changes. It can also depend on how long the piece takes to make.
TITLE: 'Self Medication'
TITLE: 'Complex Nature'
Painting in street is very concentrated and often happens in one session so it has to be relatively planned. Whereas if something is in the studio long enough there’s a chance it will keep changing over time. I enjoy the difference between the two, being in the studio allows work to grow, and sometimes change altogether; a painting of a head may become a map of a city, or a painting might be cut in half and become two separate paintings.
"A painting is never finished - it simply stops in interesting places." - Paul Gardner"
WONDERLANCE: You love reading; Do you also find yourself inclined to writing, outside the messages embedded in your art, and if so, what’s your writing inclination, what form do you enjoy the most?
DAVID SHILLINGLAW: I write a lot of ramblings in little sketch books I keep on me all the time. Overheard conversations, passing thoughts, sound bites, advertisements, shopping lists etc, sometimes these become poems or short stories, or monologues or lyrics for songs. It depends on who reads the words, and where, when and how. I am interested in the mix of poetry, prose and journalism. In the same way photography can switch between personal snap shots, beautiful pieces of visual art, proper gander or documentation.
I have recently started writing for No new Enemies, and my fist article is here:
WONDERLANCE: It's great! And now onto film and music: you dig them, too, and you’re also very much involved in the latter. What’s your favourite film genre? Also, what is the first movie you can think of, from the top of your head like... right now?
DAVID SHILLINGLAW: My favourite movies growing up were 'Lost Boys', 'Weird Science' and 'Point Break'. When I think of favourite movies now I immediately think of 'La Haine', 'Old Boy' and 'City of God'.
WONDERLANCE: Please, you also have to tell us about The Moby Dicks because as far as sound goes…they do sound good; How does the band start and where are you gigging this summer?
DAVID SHILLINGLAW: The Moby dicks are a 3 man psychedelic blues explosion band. We are playing all over London throughout the summer, and should also be playing a few gigs in the Netherlands in October. We started making music together just over a year ago. The band keeps me busy and out of trouble. I have strong urges to howl and shout so (in theory) I save it all up and let it out on stage.
WONDERLANCE: Very sensible of you and it works. Do you have an ‘untouchable’ piece, a piece you’ll never sell or give away and if so, which one is it? And what’s your favourite mural, where can people find it?
DAVID SHILLINGLAW: One is ‘Dim Sum and Then Some’, I made it in China, and it is on the wall in my bedroom.
I am very happy with this recent street piece I made in Brooklyn. This piece is special because it is the entrance to the recording studio where 'The Travelling Band' recorded their first album. They are friends of mine and I have made several album covers for them. The song in the animation is by 'The Travelling Band'.
WONDERLANCE: Loving both, visual art and song. Your book ‘Colourful Condition’ is a 100 page collection of your selected works and it includes a Foreword by notorious Street Art writer King Adz, and an Introduction by Drew de Soto. What’s the year span of this collection and where is it currently available for purchase?
DAVID SHILLINGLAW: The book is a selection of works, exhibitions, murals and sketch books 2005-2010. Some of the works in the book are still available.
WONDERLANCE: Very soon, the 25th of August, we can all look forward to the opening of your showALL-YOU-LL-EVER-NEED at CEMENT Gallery in North East London. What’s your message behind this particular exhibition, David, and what’s the most common reaction you expect from the public?
DAVID SHILLINGLAW:The message is ‘want what you already have’. Continue reading a fuller explanation in the exhibition text. I hope it makes people’s brains smile and eyes dance.
ALL YOU’LL EVER NEED:
Fueled by the constant search for and consumption of that which makes us complete; human beings spend the majority of their lives struggling to survive, strive, succeed and find answers to their existential quest. These answers come in many forms, religion, full time jobs, children, addictions, fitness, meditation, relationships…the list goes on and translates into every language and culture.
“I see a dual-characteristic in all of us; the momentary instinct versus a conscious foresight; something like living-in-the-moment, while making a ten-year plan. We react to our environment and conditions, while formulating ideas about how to prepare for the future.
TITLE: 'Towers'
Our daily grind consumed with reactions, sensations and momentary conclusions. These conclusions feed us and fill the void; the decisions we make, act as stopping points on a larger, ever growing map."
"All You’ll Ever Need’ is a false prophesy; an advertisement, designed to entice an audience into believing there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but there is no pot of gold, only a rainbow. The exhibition attempts to highlight the chaos and contradictions we deal with, juggling what we need and what we want, the chaos of the moment set against the choices of the bigger picture.”
The artworks reflect a child-like view of an often dark place: the modern world. Deliberately naïve and flattened, mimicking the visual language of board games, maps, anatomical studies and automatic doodles. Mixing multiple influences and collections of received messages, image bites, image burns, and the after-glow of both the trivial and the significant. Sitting somewhere between abstraction, pop and surrealism, the exhibition presents a catalogue of older and recent works, all studies of the Human Condition.
WONDERLANCE: All the best for the show and thank you again for sharing your profound world and original art with Wonderlance! TITLE: 'Capital Chaos'
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