Social media influencers dominate the digital landscape with carefully curated shots and perfectly posed selfies. This artist is turning this modern phenomenon on its head by reimagining some of history’s most iconic artworks through a contemporary lens.

Meet UntitledSave, a digital collage artist from Porto, Portugal, who’s bridging the gap between classical art and modern social media culture. Through their innovative digital recreations, timeless masterpieces are transformed into what they might look like if their subjects were contemporary influencers.

The Art of Digital Transformation

UntitledSave’s work poses an intriguing question: What if the subjects of classical paintings had Instagram accounts? The results are both thought-provoking and surprisingly natural. Frida Kahlo becomes a self-aware selfie queen, while the enigmatic Mona Lisa transforms into a lifestyle blogger with that same mysterious smile we’ve wondered about for centuries.

These recreations do more than simply modernize classical works—they offer commentary on how self-presentation and artistic expression have evolved in the digital age. The artist cleverly maintains the essence of each original masterpiece while incorporating modern elements that feel surprisingly authentic to both time periods.

Notable Transformations Include:

• Frida Kahlo reimagined as a modern-day self-portrait artist and body positivity advocate
• The Mona Lisa as a lifestyle influencer, complete with subtle product placement
• Venus de Milo transformed into a fitness influencer
• Girl with a Pearl Earring as a jewelry and fashion blogger

The Untitled.Save Interview

What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Cyclist

What’s your background?
I attended a hairdressing course and have a degree in Product Design

What piece are you most proud of?
The one I’m yet to create

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
“Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today” (I rarely follow this advice)

What is one thing they tried to teach you in school that you knew immediately was wrong?
We all have the same rights

Who is the one person, dead or alive, that you would like to have dinner with and why?
I would love to have dinner with the artist JR at the yellow house in Brazil

Where is your favorite place?
It’s always wherever I’m not

Who are your biggest influences?
Salvador Dalí and Rui Reininho

Which current art world trends are you following?
I’m paying close attention to AI developments. I’ve tried it, but I haven’t yet found a personal identity in it, which is why I’ve never published anything

What can’t you live without?
Music

What is your dream project?
To have an exhibition or project in Portugal. So far, the opportunities I’ve had have always been abroad

What’s your favorite artwork?
It’s hard to pick just one, but for many months now, I’ve had Albrecht Dürer’s Praying Hands painting on the screen of my phone

What is currently on your playlist?
Vacances, L’Impératrice
Acorda, Cristina Massena
Sacatela, La Femme

What are your last three Google searches?
I don’t want to destroy my reputation haha

What gives you life?
Music

What is your superpower?
Knowing how to say no

What is your Kryptonite?
What’s that?

If you could visit any artist’s studio, whose would you visit and why?
Iryna Maksymova. In the midst of the war in Ukraine, she didn’t leave the country and continues to bring a little light to the world with her art

What ideas are you currently pondering or questioning?
How can the human race be so beautiful and twisted at the same time?

What do most people believe that you do not?
Zodiac signs

What is your favorite thing in the world?
Bacalhau à Brás

If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be, and why?
Banksy. Because of the anonymity of that collaboration

What’s next for you?
Dinner

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Where to find, follow, and collect:

Leffe Goldstein’s ‘Dreaming Demons’ present an alternative future. The drawings depict a black and white vision of an absurd world without humans; a world where only their demons have survived.

Intrigued by places that were once full of life and loved by their inhabitants and builders, Leffe’s drawings are based on real, existing places or objects. Architecture, pieces of machinery, planes, helicopters and vehicles that were left to decay; objects that were invented and served a purpose, built with the hands of real people. In Leffe’s universe, these people are no longer there and long forgotten. But take a good look and you can see their demons are still thriving, breeding an alternative future world.

“Most people see demons as their wildest fears while others seem to enjoy them but the lucky ones have both.”

Leffe Goldstein always starts sketching with pencil but the finished black and white works are drawn digitally. He uses the sketch as an under-layer and works endlessly on details to bring the demons to life. When finished the drawings are printed as a silkscreen print, or a Giclée.

Interview

ST: What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Quiet honestly I wanted to be a firefighter but soon after that I wanted to be Dali.

What’s your background?
I studied graphic design and photography and was a graphic designer for 20 years. 

What piece are you most proud of? and why?
I love the Bomber House from the last series it was an eyeopener for me to give these planes a new purpose. Same for the Sikorsky house.

Who is the one person, dead or alive, that you would like to have dinner with and why?
That would be David Lynch and share a Cherry Pie, Great director and artist. I love all his work it’s insane.

Where is your favorite place?
My Favorite place is a small island from Japan called Ishigigaki Jima 250 miles from Taiwan. It’s hot and humid but fantastic place for snorkeling and the people are so nice.

Who are your biggest influences?
Ouch that’s difficult but M.C. Escher, HR Giger, USUGROW Japanese artist, but also movies like Blade Runner. And my father who was an architect.

Which current art world trends are you following?
I follow a lot LOWBROW artists but also a lot of Pop-surreal Artists. Too many to mention.

What can’t you live without?
My morning walk, spotting dear.

What is your dream project?
This is my dream project.

What’s your favorite artwork?
It’s a work of USUGROW I bought in Tokyo at his exhibition at the Diesel Gallery a great skull in Black and white amazing details. It’s hanging ever since above the cough.

What is currently on your playlist?
Death in Vegas, Tool and Amon Tobin.

What gives you life?
Great art and Music, always.

If you could visit any artist’s studio, whose would you visit and why?
That would be HR Giger’s place that is so dark it makes you smile

What was the last thing you bought?
The latest Twin Peaks series on DVD, yeah I am way beyond

What ideas are you currently pondering or questioning?
I am working on more Demons Works and learning 3d modeling, still a lot to learn.

If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be, and why?
That would be again Ivo Schoof, an incredible kinetic and light artist from the Netherlands. He is just the smartest kid in the world never met someone with that kind of energy.

Exhibition

An exhibition of Dreaming Demons will take place from 7th of May until the 21st of June 2023. Location dB’s Utrecht, The Netherlands. Learn more at dreamingdemons.com

Mark Hopkins was Born in Poughkeepsie, in New York State. He attended St. Olaf College in Minnesota where he received a degree in fine art in 1981. In the following years he lived in Minneapolis where he painted scenery for theater and opera and freelanced as a muralist, portraitist, and interior designer. In 1987 he moved to Chiang Mai, Thailand. He taught English at Chiang Mai University for a year until he started a cabaret business called The Six-Pole House where contemporary artists, poets, and musicians exhibited their talents. At the same time he maintained an art studio in the upper floor the 100+ year old Chinese shophouse which housed the cabaret. It was at this time that Mark’s early style was formed. During those years he played minor roles in TV and movie productions, traveled to Burma, Indonesia, Vietnam, etc. where he saw some of the wonders of Asia like Borobudur and Bagan and initiated connections with established artists and musicians in the region. These experiences have played a lasting role in the inspiring Mark’s later artistic expression. The color, the styles of art, and the traditional forms and ways of life are a continual influence in Mark’s creative process. After a few years Mark moved to Bali where he took on work illustrating books on Asian architecture, culture, and natural beauty. He also started a business providing graphic design and mural decorations for companies around the region. In 1997 Mark moved to Singapore to expand his business into making props and costumes for events, providing art restoration services, and painting portraits for prominent families on the island. In 1998 he met his wife Maria and moved to the US a year later. Of late, Mark works as a muralist, portraitist, and art restorer while also painting personal works in studio. He currently resides in Rhinebeck NY, where he tends his gardens between travel excursions.

Artist Statement

Contemporary human culture is perceived by many to be dystopian: there is a sense of discontinuity between the person and their world, their truth, and their happiness. Isolation has been ubiquitous since long before Covid. Modern life is surrealistic: days and years unfold in dreamlike bubbles. Our perceptions are automated by algorithms that form our worldview and with media crafting a reality derived from what we watch but do not witness. Experience is fragmented. This is classic surrealism. My work seeks to knit the dissolving dystopia back into a coherent whole.

Interview with Mark Hopkins

SurrealismToday: This is your second time being featured on Surrealism Today. You were originally featured in 2019. What are you thinking about these days?

Mark Hopkins: Like many artists, I have been digesting the events and changes of the past three years. It feels like life has become more surreal; spaces divvied up and guided by directional arrows and faces hidden under protective masks or people encased within plastic barriers. We have seen our communities morph in interesting ways. People are more solitary and we interact more and more by proxies like phones and computers. Elon Musk makes the case that we are evolving into cyborgs; only our machine parts–for now–are external. One idea that I intend to use in upcoming work is how the nature of being ‘human’ is affected by the dynamics of these recent societal changes including the introduction of the Metaverse and AI augmentation. I find these trends both fascinating and a bit scary. Perfect for a good painting.

ST: How do you introduce yourself? 
MH: Lately I have adopted my website name ‘hopkinesque‘. It has a ring to it.

ST: What do you tell people when they ask about the ideas in your work?
MH: It’s tricky. Visual art is, by nature, a non-verbal mode of communication… otherwise we would be writers and story-tellers, right? So it’s a challenge to explain art and more specifically content-heavy art like Surrealism. I like talking with people about the general themes of my work; the myths and mysteries of ancient religions/culture, sacred geometry, the evolution of humanity in the 21st century, etc. Often the Ideas expressed in specific works are intentionally made ambiguous to prompt a viewer to explore a range of  meanings – or to posit their own into the work. With multiple interpretations possible for the same painting (not only from different viewers, but from a single viewer at different viewings) it’s more likely that I will ask people what ideas they see in a painting rather than tell them what I intended them to be. It makes for very interesting exchanges.

ST: Can you tell us about this latest series?

MH: I was thinking of the idea of the ‘Savior’ in a troubled world. Sometimes it feels like we are sinking into a morass of climate change, racial strife, all manner of social and societal changes and it would be nice to have a hero show up and sort the lot out. Who would that person/entity be? What would they do? Would they get it right? Maybe it takes not a hero, but a fool to do it.  Maybe it’s us… we are the fools… we are the ones we have been waiting for all along. Maybe we have the answers, the tools, and the grit to rescue ourselves. All we need to do is have the motivation and the confidence to get started.

Return of the Myth is a complex piece that grapples with free will, free choice, risk, consequences, and the infinity of chance. The Mandelbröt set is pictured in perspective under the bubble dome symbolizing the infinite or what some might call God. Footprints represent the journey to wisdom or the ‘return’ we embark on as we seek the divine or the ‘myth’ of the divine. We see a pair of Putti. One is tethered, his mind locked into the world of ‘reality’. The other is floating in a world of spontaneous freedom full of risk yet full of possibilities. A stylized zygote at the bottom is the binary opposition found in ‘male/female’, ‘light/dark’, ‘good/evil’, or the yin/yang of the Tao (nothing is known unless its complement is known.) The zygote also symbolizes birth/fertility where life and ideas begin. What the symbolic assemblage in this piece means is a question every person has a unique answer for.

In 2010 Carlos Santana returned to Woodstock (now called Bethel Woods) to play a concert. He began the show by walking onto the stage and saying; “Welcome to ground zero… of LOVE!” (We were closer to 9-11 then.) It was the start of an amazing concert – so alive in spirit and so beautifully played by a music-master of the 1960’s rock age.

I appreciated the way he inspired his audience with talk of unity and universal love. So, I decided to paint a piece for him as a gift. The image behind Santana is of the great Mayan calendar. (The calendar reached the end of one full cycle on 21 December 2012 and some thought the world would end at that time.) Santana floats in front of it as a Yogi in meditation. Thin wisps of pinkish mist represent the fragile time of a life on earth and the eyes within the mist are those of awareness and also those of Horus, ‘The all-seeing’. Below Santana is the Chinese character for ‘heart’ or ‘corazon’ in Spanish. Floating in the air are heavenly spheres,  symbols of the universe and of the Gods of old. My hope is to give it to Santana some day, but as yet I haven’t had the chance.

This one is a foray into abstraction. The meaning is entirely in the title: Xenophilia is the attraction one has to something completely different.

Michaelangelo painted God giving the spark of life to Adam in the Sistine Chapel. It’s one of my favorite images in art and the inspiration for this piece. In our 21st century reality Humans no longer live in the primordial world depicted on that Sistine ceiling. In our world we have become the creators. Push a button and worlds appear…. money flows… and reality shifts and alternates. The bytes in Adam’s Apple send emojis to Eve who is lost in the mall of Eden… the new temple. The snake is extinct. Old, fossilized gods watch in impotence as we step into a digital future. This painting loosely represents these thoughts and has a poem that adds a philosophical aspect to them:

Adam’s Apple

‘X’ is the space where Adam thinks…
And heeds temptation’s taunting
Took existence to the brink
His bites of knowledge haunting.

The viper Knew where best to strike
The heart of human pride
The staff, that rod, he used to spike
The rib where God’s forbidden fruits abide.

Adam’s Dad was not amused
The Master knows no laughter
Initial Sin, was he accused
And Grace came a-tumblin’ after.

Now we’re stuck in Eden’s crime
We wage the cosmic raffle
Take a leap or do the time
The prize is Adam’s apple.

SurrealismToday: What is the last painting you completed?
Mark Hopkins: The Last Supper. 

It’s a take-off of DaVinci’s Painting of Christ’s Seder before he was crucified. But this piece is inverted. Christ is missing. The sadducees are at the table, not the disciples. This is the eschatological dinner for the end of days. The characters in my painting are interesting personalities at the forefront of recent events and are drivers of the directional shift humanity is undergoing. It’s a huge piece (12 x 4 feet) with a lot of symbolic imagery to think about so everyone will understand it differently. The conversations I’ve had with people over The Last Supper have been amazing.

ST: What did you want to be when you were growing up? 
MH: I had no idea. It never occurred to me that I was going to be something or somebody until I had to apply for college. I threw a dart at the proverbial board and went for engineering. That lasted about three months before I quit and leapt into art.

SurrealismToday: What piece are you most proud of? and why? 
Mark Hopkins: Probably the piece called ‘Concentrate 666‘. It’s a magnum opus: it’s 7 feet tall and exhibits some of my best painting skills. I am pleased with the composition, the color work and the concept. It’s a statement on the crazy idea of waging war in a nuclear age and how true wisdom (the Buddha) sees past the machinations of humans for power and wealth and into the peaceful bliss of knowledge and love.

ST: What is the best piece of advice you have ever received? 
MH: “Conquer the small.” This is especially useful when young. Growing a career, working on complex stuff, conquering the fright of a blank canvas is easier in small manageable chunks.

ST: What is one thing they tried to teach you in school that you knew immediately was wrong? 
Mark Hopkins: Art! Ha ha! Art teachers can’t teach you art. They can teach skills and techniques, culture and history, how to critique and write well, how to knit ideas together, how to see… But they can’t teach that creative act called ‘art’. It has to develop on its own from practice and life experience.

ST: Who is the one person, dead or alive, that you would like to have dinner with and why?  
Mark Hopkins: Just one? John Lennon in his prime… maybe around 1964. But there are others. Many others.

SurrealismToday: Where is your favorite place? 
Mark Hopkins: In the past it was Bali. Today, it’s wherever I am at the moment.

ST: Who are your biggest influences? 
MH: My friends. They inspire me to be fearless in art, in living, and in love. And they put up with the result (me).

ST: Which current art world trends are you following? 
MH: Good question. Surrealism in digital art. I’ve been watching the shift from physical art into a world of digital art, video games, and NFT’s as people spend more of their lives online. People can now own, trade, store, and display multiple works in one place and they can interact with it as well. Will they want realistic digital art or choose photography? Will abstract art have the same impact on a screen as it does on a wall? Idea-heavy and symbolic work makes more sense in a virtual world, so it looks like surrealism has a strong future there. Beeple Crap is a good example of this trend. For me, I still love the aesthetics of painting; the smell of canvas, the feel of a brush, and the sensual beauty of oils. So I am not giving up my brushes just yet.

ST: What can’t you live without?
MH: Truth… and beer.

ST: What is your dream project?
MH: I’d like to make a painting that affects the world for the better and speaks to people in any future age.

ST: What’s your favorite artwork? 
Mark Hopkins: Probably Rembrandt’s ‘Death Of Lucretia‘ in the Walker Museum in Minneapolis. It’s a scene of Lucretia who has decided to take her life after being violated by Tarquin. She is sitting on her bed… or death-bed. She has just withdrawn a knife from her bosom and sits there as her life-force ebbs away in a growing stain of blood on her pure white gown.  In her face is a resolute sadness painted by Rembrandt with exquisite sensitivity. In viewing his portrayal of Lucretia one can imagine the intense grief of that moment. The painting moves me deeply 360 years after it was painted. It is a pinnacle of artistic expression. A close second is Vermeer’s ‘Girl With a Pearl Earring‘. Dali’s ‘Persistence of Memory‘ is a close third.

ST: What is currently on your playlist? 
MH: Game of Thrones’ reruns.

ST: What gives you life? 
MH: The creative process. It keeps me learning and researching. It keeps me plugged in to any and all things I can get my hands on. And it keeps me in contact with extraordinary people. Never is there a dull moment to fill.

ST: What is your superpower?
MH: I am bloody strong for my age. Does that count?

ST: What is your Kryptonite? 
Mark Hopkins: Good food. It’s hard to keep trim and fit with all the temptations around.

ST: If you could visit any artist’s studio, whose would you visit and why? 
MH: My friend Pranoto’s in Ubud, Bali. I love his work, he’s great to be around. There is always music and art going on, and twice a week he hosts models for figure drawing.

ST: What was an interesting thing you remember buying?
MH: A blanket woven by the Naga headhunters of northern Burma. Beautiful and a bit scary. It’s gorgeous.

ST: What ideas are you currently pondering? 
MH: Everything, really. All things are in flux and what we used to think was… isn’t. What wasn’t… might be. Heroes are acting villains for hire, science has become religion, religions are acting weird, and then there’s war, inflation, weather, the true nature of man (or not-man), and who, pray tell, built those bloody pyramids!!?? So much to ponder!

ST: What is one thing you believe that most people do not?
MH: That there was a very ancient culture that existed on earth before recorded history, that it was global in extent, and has left evidence in megalithic structures around the world. In addition, there seem to be threads of evidence of this forgotten culture in myths and early languages.

Surrealism Today: What imaginary place would you love to visit?
Mark Hopkins: Rivendell.

ST: What is your favorite thing in the world, and why?
MH: One of them is a painting by my best friend Richard A. Wilson who has passed away.

ST: If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be, and why?
MH: I always wanted to do a collaboration with my two best friends and my college mentor. One friend made poems of paint; beautiful lyrical pieces that really had soul. The other friend, Bruce Granquist, is an abstract painter whose work is precise, beautiful and fascinating in its concept. My mentor A Malcolm Gimse is a sculptor and a profound thinker. His work has multiple layers of meaning and often addresses the existential troubles of humans in a difficult world. My contribution would be the hallucinatory experience of ‘mind’. Together, our work would have made a formidable group show. Sadly one is dead, and the rest of us are separated by vast distances. Next life, perhaps.

ST: What’s next for you? 
MH: I’m planning a book featuring paintings and poems.  Look for that and some much-needed updates to my IG and website at hopkinesque.com by mid-year 2023. Of course there is always more art… a trip to South America to see ancient megalithic ruins… and, of course,  a solo show at MOMA! (LOL)

We’ve previously covered some of Barlowe’s visionary concept art here, and we are pleased to share the news of this retrospective and an exclusive interview.

November 19, 2022 – December 3, 2022
Opening Reception / Nov 19, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM

OPENING RECEPTION AT GALLERY NUCLEUS

• Nov 19, 5pm – 8pm
• Free admission / No RSVP needed
• Exclusive prints to be released

EXHIBITION FEATURES

• On display Nov 19 – Dec 3 (closed Mondays)
• Free admission / No RSVP needed
• Various reproductions from some of Wayne’s notable book projects and film work will be on display
• A curated selection of original drawings and paintings will be on display and available for purchase

ABOUT WAYNE BARLOWE

Wayne Barlowe is an American science fiction and fantasy writer, painter, and concept artist. Barlowe’s work focuses on esoteric landscapes and creatures, such as citizens of hell and alien worlds. He has painted over 300 book and magazine covers and illustrations for many major book publishers, as well as Life magazine, Time magazine, and Newsweek. His 1979 book Barlowe’s Guide to Extraterrestrials was nominated in 1980 for the Hugo Award for Best Related Non-Fiction Book, the first year that award category was awarded. It also won the 1980 Locus Award for Best Art or Illustrated Book. His 1991 speculative evolution book Expedition was nominated for the 1991 Chesley Award for Artistic Achievement.

Barlowe has worked as a concept artist for movies such as Galaxy Quest (1999), Avatar (2009), and Harry Potter 3 and 4, among others. He is known to have worked closely with Guillermo Del Toro, serving as a creature designer for the Hellboy film series and Pacific Rim (2013). His work on Hellboy (2004) awarding him a nomination for the 2005 Chesley Award for Product Illustration. Barlowe was the Initial Creature Designer for Avatar (2009) and worked on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022) Barlowe was the creator and executive producer of Alien Planet, a documentary adaptation of Expedition produced by Discovery Channel in 2005. He has written two fantasy novels: God’s Demon (Tor Books, 2007) and its sequel The Heart of Hell (2019).

See more art and info here: waynebarlowe.com

Wayne Barlowe Interview

SurrealismToday: What work are you most proud of? And why?
Wayne Barlowe: I suppose the best answer to that question would be my Hell series. While I started out primarily as a science fiction artist specializing to some degree in alien life forms, my work in Hell has challenged me in ways I could have never envisioned. EXPEDITION was my first foray into writing. It was foundational for me but was heavily augmented with a lot of artwork. With Hell, I took it up to the next level, writing actual novels that did not depend on artwork. Sure, the artwork was created before the books and established much of what I’d write, but the narratives are where I think I’ve challenged myself the most. And they are probably what I’m most proud of. It was world-building on an epic scale. The entire world of the fallen demons had to be created. And, it was a world that pre-existed before their Fall. That meant that an entire ecosystem had to be considered and represented both in words and art. Tying all of this together with consistency was and still is a great challenge. 

ST: What are you most inspired by today?
Wayne Barlowe: I’m steeped in the past. I am still mesmerized by late nineteenth century and its fin de siecle art. Orientalist and Symbolist painters, in particular. The Orientalists brought rendering skills to an almost unattainable apex. I’m not sure anyone can do what they did with paintbrushes anymore. At least not with the same authenticity. And, from a different perspective, the Symbolist movement, with its enigmatic imagery and beautifully subtle palettes also provides me with serious inspiration. To be honest, nothing being produced today pushes buttons in me as do those two schools of art. I can still look at a Ludwig Deutsch piece or a Khnopff or Hiremy-Hirschl with as much joy as I did when I first discovered them.

ST: What is one thing they tried to teach you in school that you knew immediately was wrong?
Barlowe: I had a pretty unfortunate college experience. Cooper Union in the late ‘70’s was not a safe harbor for wanna-be illustrators. To be fair, it was my own fault – I should have applied to a few more professionally oriented schools. For example, I had two drawing instructors. One asked his students to immediately draw like Matisse and the other asked her students to draw like her. Neither of these choices seemed right to me from the start, and I expressed my feelings to one of the instructors. I don’t think he was too pleased with my voiced rebellion. Add to that, no teaching of the fundamentals like composition and color theory, and I knew I was not getting what I wanted out of my education. Shortly thereafter I decided to leave. I briefly toyed with transferring to another, more conducive school. But I was getting work and saw no point in continuing in school.

ST: What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
WB: Draw every day. This, from my first instructor, Gustav Rehberger, at the Art Students League in NYC. Never better advice.

ST: What is your dream project?
WB: I’ve written a couple of screenplays that I’m extremely invested in. One is quite close to becoming a reality. This one is a traditional SF film. The other, also SF, is non-traditional. To see either or both come to fruition would be the fulfillment of my personal dreams.

ST: What is currently on your playlist? Do you listen to music when working?
Wayne Barlowe: I do listen to music when I paint and write. I grew up listening to nothing but classical music so I have a lot of that on my computer. Painting allows me to listen to wilder stuff. Nine Inch Nails is my favorite group so a ton of that goes down. I’m also a big soundtrack listener – I’ve probably got a couple of hundred on my flashdrive. Hans Zimmer – the man is brilliant. Almost anything by him is inspiring. When I write I need more atmospheric, somewhat quieter music. Lustmord, Jeff Greinke, A Winged Victory For The Sullen, Max Richter. I like a real variety of genres. If I hear it and like it, I don’t care where it’s from. Anyway, currently, it’s AWVFTS’s INVISIBLE CITIES, Zimmer’s various DUNE OSTs which are brilliant, Max Richter’s TABOO OST. Oh, and some BOARDS OF CANADA.

ST: If you could visit any artist’s studio, whose would you visit and why?
WB: Apart from going back in time and visiting my parent’s studio, you mean? I’m guessing you mean living. I don’t have a good answer for this one. I worked, briefly, alongside John Howe and Alan Lee in NZ. Both really good people and wonderful artists. Might be really fun to see their studios.

ST: What ideas are you currently pondering or questioning?
WB: I’ve got a few back-burner projects that I’m tinkering with. I’m not very interested in depicting Heaven – the Above as I named it in GOD’S DEMON – but I recently did a painting of an angel that opened a few interesting design doors. That said, I just don’t envision Heaven as being anywhere as interesting as the world I created in Hell.
I’ve also, relatively recently, created a new alien world in the same vein as Darwin IV from EXPEDITION. This new world, Gessner II, is inhabited solely by evolved plants some of which are intelligent. Creating creatures within this parameter is intriguing so I may pursue that one. Kind of an EXPEDITION II project.
As for questioning – nothing more or less than my place in the Universe.

ST: You’ve said previously: “Make sure you know how to draw because to me drawing is the beginning of everything all techniques spring from that.” What would be your advice for young artists inspired by narrative and figurative work who might be in educational environments pushing other types of work?
Wayne Barlowe: I’ve done a number of guest lectures in various schools. I always encourage students to create a back-burner project – something personal that they’re passionate enough about to keep working on in off hours. Maybe write a few lines that can become a catalyst for some narrative project that can be illustrated. Storytelling and world-building are the two elements that can grow a project into something of value later on. When I was in college, I invented an alien character named Thype. He was meant to be an itinerant, ronin-like god-killer on a journey of self-discovery. I did a series of drawings and paintings of him and his world that to this day, many decades later, still pique my interest. High fantasy in another world. I actually think Thype would be a great video game. I haven’t done anything with him in years, but I don’t rule out eventually figuring him out. Or doing the occasional painting related to him. But it’s that kind of project that can blossom into something unpredictable. And, that kind of project is what I wish for students.

ST: In a previous interview when asked about advice for would-be writers you suggested more originality was needed in the field: “I would say, please, please, be original. Enough with the Tolkien fantasies, enough with the Alien rip-offs, enough with the well-worn tropes of things that we have seen done a million times. And I would say this to screenwriters and game writers as well. We are sinking under the collective weight of commercially conservative ideas that lack any originality or creativity. Think outside the box with the price tag on it.“
What parts of your creative process do you attribute to helping you create original work throughout your career? Do you have any specific techniques to spice things up if you find yourself leaning too much on a formula? (Some artists have been big fans of introducing randomness in their work.) What have you done to get out of past creative ruts?

Barlowe: I hate the notion that anything I might do falls onto a well-trodden path. As a kid I used to dislike it when someone would ask me if I copied something or traced it. It rubbed me wrong. I try very hard not to fall into a formulaic, self-derivative approach to my work. Therein lies stagnation. Even though I have a few worlds that I populate with artwork, I try to not repeat myself either with subject matter or approach. It’s my way of trying to keep the imagery fresh and keep a viewer engaged. This is one reason I’m not entirely sure I fit comfortably into the gallery world. I have friends who are there and I get the impression that what they are doing is creating “the same but different” artwork because clients and potential customers want that. I wouldn’t enjoy cranking out the same image with subtle variations simply to keep product flowing. Maybe a bit short-sighted on my part but I know myself well enough to know what would very quickly become boring.

ST: What informs your work that most fans might find surprising?
Barlowe: I’m not sure this would really surprise anyone, but I’m a huge ancient history buff. And I love paleontology. Both of these elements find their way into my work in, sometimes, less than obvious ways.

SurrealismToday: I understand that Del Toro does a lot of the creature concept by hand, based on dreams that he has had. How does the concept work you do translate into the design process? Does it flow from wireframe to 3D model, etc?
Wayne Barlowe: I am a very pragmatic person, despite working in imaginative realism. So, when I don the hat of a concept artist I become slavishly interested in fulfilling a director’s vision. I’m particularly interested in hitting the marks with whatever language a director uses in describing what he/she/they want. This comes from my background as an illustrator. Whenever I was handed a manuscript I would always read it thoroughly and take notes. I didn’t want to be caught doing a cover that was in any way inaccurate.
So, the same applies to concept art. I see myself as a kind of pathfinder when it comes to designing creatures or characters. I don’t go into the process expecting whatever I’ve done to be entirely literally brought to the screen. If that happens – if something I’ve designed makes it through the many hands it passes through on its way to the screen, and it makes it without too many changes then, of course, I’m thrilled. But I don’t have that expectation. What I do is a careful drawing based on careful thinking. This then goes on to 3D artists with the input of a director or art director. Film work is always a team effort. You cannot lose sight of this, or else you won’t be happy working in that milieu.

ST: What is one thing you believe that most people do not?
Barlowe: I’m only just becoming aware of the block universe theory – that, in a few words, the past, present, and future all exist simultaneously. I’ve always believed this in my gut but never knew until recently that it was an actual theory. I’m guessing this isn’t a widely held belief.

ST: What have you been most happily surprised by in your career?
Barlowe: I’d have to say the reception I got from readers regarding my entry in authorship. EXPEDITION was my first foray into writing but because that book was so heavily dependent on artwork the challenges were not the same as those found in writing a novel. While I had a backlog of artwork to support GOD’S DEMON, none of those images were going to be published within the book. WHich meant, of course, that I had to describe everything that I’d either painted or drawn. As well as so much more. I like descriptive writing so this wasn’t a chore for me. But the fact that so many readers found the world so convincingly described was a thrill for me. Hell isn’t a pleasant place but, because I spent a lot of time describing it, I sense that a lot of readers would like to return. Which has encouraged me to attempt to finish up what I started with a third and final book – LUCIFER’S SOUL.

ST: What was a difficult art or career challenge that you faced and how did you overcome it?
Barlowe: Transitioning from pure illustrator to author – a title I still have trouble articulating. To me authors spend their entire lives learning and implementing their craft. I didn’t go to workshops or school to learn to write. So taking that leap so many years ago was scary and ambitious. I had had a bellyful of the paperback cover world and really needed to find another way to express myself. So, one day I conceived of EXPEDITION in an effort to pull myself away from that other world. I did a single painting and a two-page outline of what I thought a naturalist’s experiences on an alien world might be like. I walked into the publisher’s office, pitched it, and sold it. By today’s standards – a miracle. It was a leap of faith. Putting aside rent-paying work to complete what would take me close to two years to finish. A lot of uncertainty and hard work followed. But it was just the right decision at the right time. No regrets!

ST: Any words of advice for young artists and illustrators?
Barlowe: Well, I’m going to repeat myself a bit here. Be original in every way you can. If your work resembles someone else’s, retool it to be yours. Your own style will evolve over time so co-opting someone else’s doesn’t do you credit. Work to your strong points but expand them. Be influenced by your art heroes but don’t copy them verbatim. Perfect your craft by being relentlessly self-critical. The eraser and the undo button are your friends.
And, secondarily, find a passion project that excites you. Add to it with art and words. Make it your pet, back-burner project that one day might blossom into something bigger. Build on each piece with consistency and a bit of what came before. Every Hell piece I’ve ever done has the seed of the next piece in it. And every painting or drawing I did informed my writing. One hand inevitably washed the other. For me, a painting or drawing could act as a catalyst for my writing and vice versa.
With all of that in mind, go forth, be passionate and Create!

ST: What imaginary place would you most love to visit?
Barlowe: Maybe E. R. Eddison’s Mercury. THE WORM OUROBOROS is my favorite high fantasy novel. I’d love to see that world. 

SurrealismToday: What are you most looking forward to now?
Wayne Barlowe: Finishing my third novel, LUCIFER’S SOUL. It’s taking forever and is very heavy lifting. It’s more ambitious in its scope than the previous two novels. And I cannot wait to get it all out on paper!

Other Resources:
WayneBarlowe.com
Books on Amazon
Instagram.com/waynebarlowe_thedarkness
Our previous coverage of Wayne Barlowe

Min Kyung Kwon is an artist based in Adelaide, Australia creating art of otherworldly beings that are beyond physicality and can be only seen through our mind’s eyes.

Kwon’s portraits are inspired by mythology, legends, folk storybooks, science through contradicting images of eeriness and cuteness with a glimpse of sensuality & innocence in their gesture.

Min Kyung’s work contains mysterious and secretive ghost-like beings with rich and warm oil colors in a sharp, carefully executed vision. Her characters are vivid and colorful with an expression of anomaly and chaos yet with dreamy calm eyes.

“Paradox” from Kwon’s first series “Resurrection” was exhibited at Hive Gallery for its anniversary group show in 2017 named “Best of the Hive show”. Paradox was invited for the “CARDED!” show for Hot Art Wet City Gallery Vancouver in the same year.

Min Kyung was born in Daegu, Korea in 1978 then she grew up in Seoul watching Anime and reading comics (Manga) and she became interested in creating her characters. She started to draw and paint from an early age and attended after-school art/design classes throughout her teenage years which she learned the fundamentals of drawing and painting.

Kwon enrolled in Hongik University in Korea in 1998, where she received a B. A. in Industrial Design. After graduation, she started working for an exhibition company doing visual arts and designing show booths for major design conventions, Expos, and art fairs. Some of the clients include Samsung Electronics and LG Home Appliances.

G.H.O.S.T Series Artist Statement

The G.H.O.S.T series of work contains four paintings (Widow, Diabolica, Siren & Dawn) of spiritual beings, nymphs, inspired by Greek mythology, ancient folklore, and legend.

Each painting has its own distinct: predominant color; shapes; and creatures. The combination depicts physical and spiritual realms, and the feelings the mythological stories bring to me. Expressing the mythology, and my feelings in hearing these stories was my challenge and joy.

Widow

Series: G.H.O.S.T.
Year: 2019
Medium: Oil on Wood Panel
Size: 16″ X 20″

The widow was inspired by Arachne, (Greek: “Spider”) in Greek mythology, the daughter of Idmon of Colophon in Lydia, a dyer in purple. Arachne was a weaver who acquired such skill in her art that she ventured to challenge Athena, goddess of war, handicraft, and practical reason. The image of a girl looking through a purple fog came to my mind from the story. It would be a highly intuitive soul with wisdom in her deep purple eyes. She expresses her world through myriad spider webs with magnificent patterns and ever-changing abstraction

Diabolica

Series: G.H.O.S.T.
Year: 2019
Medium: Oil on Wood Panel
Size: 16″ X 20″

Diabolica (Idolomantis diabolical, a.k.a., the devil’s flower mantis) was inspired by African mythology. A unique characteristic of the mantis is that the female kills and eats the male after he has impregnated her. In myth, Mantis personifies the concept that creation is not only birth but death as well and that through death, life is renewed. Myths about Mantis often reveal him as a shapeshifter. Mantis is the most beloved incarnation of the San Creator god Kaggen. Kaggen could transform himself into any animal form, but the forms of the mantis and the eland (a type of antelope) were his favorite. In one myth, Eland was the well-loved first son of Mantis, who wept when Eland was killed. This myth taught the San to honor the death of an Eland, their master animal.

Siren

Series: G.H.O.S.T.
Year: 2019
Medium: Oil on Wood Panel
Size: 16″ X 20″

Siren was created based upon Greek mythology, the Sirens (Greek singular: Σειρήν Seirēn). Sirens were dangerous creatures, who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and singing voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. Roman poets placed them on some small islands called Sirenum scopuli. The vision I saw from the story was a beautiful young female who was heartbroken by someone she loved once and now all she has is the feelings of vengeance. Will she ever feel love again? Or will she always be a fearful spirit who would curse and destroy someone?

Dawn

Series: G.H.O.S.T.
Year: 2019
Medium: Oil on Wood Panel
Size: 16″ x 16″

Dawn was inspired and created by Greco-Roman mythology Eos(Greek) the personification of the dawn. According to the Greek poet Hesiod’s Theogony, She was the daughter of the Titan Hyperion and the Titaness Theia and sister of Helios, the sun god, and Selene, the moon goddess. Dawn is a visualization of a female goddess who brings hope at the end of a dark tunnel.

Her serenity makes the world feel more peaceful and calm.

Interview with Min Yung Kwon

Q: What are you thinking about these days?
In the last year both of my parents have passed away, this has brought many of my thoughts to the meaning of life, our consciousness of thought, and death. Pondering life and death has never been far from my thoughts throughout my life, even when I was young.
It is obvious what happens to our physical bodies when we die but we know so little about what happens to our minds when we are dead.  These days thanks to technology and the internet humans can connect without having to use our physical selves, time and space limits do not necessarily exist.  In part we can exist on a conscious level which may be similar to our existence after death, connecting to other passed loved ones and even loved ones that remain through our conscious thought.

Q: What do you tell people when they ask about the ideas in your work?
I am intrigued by human minds. I question myself, what happens after our physical bodies die? The characters who frequently appear in my works(spirits, ghosts, or nymphs) are the ones who not only live in one body but keep shapeshifting and can be anyone and everyone. I normally start getting inspired by those inner questions before painting.

Q: Tell us about this latest series?
The title got named G.H.O.S.T. What if, after our physical bodies have gone back to the dust after death, the minds and thoughts remain and they can have different shapes accordingly, what would happen?
And then, what if the beings such as insects, bugs, and sea creatures that are less dense in both physical & spiritual than humans could have human consciousness and shape how they would look? I then combined the stories from mythologies and legends with those creatures to come up with the visualization of the paintings.

Q: What’s your background?
I started to learn to draw & paint from an after-school art school at the age of 15, then I started to learn Industrial Design from the university at the age of 20. After graduation, I worked as a graphic designer at a design company. I still work as a UX/UI designer part-time. It’s not possible to pay bills without a daytime job at the moment. haha. Then I enjoy design work as much as I enjoy making art, too.

Q: Who is the one person, dead or alive, that you would like to have dinner with and why?
Dead: Hieronymus Bosch —> I am so mesmerized by his world of craziness. I would ask him questions about all those characters in his paintings all night long!!!
Alive: Mark Zuckerberg —> I’d try my best to steal ideas from him about Metaverse and make my own company and become a billionaire… haha

Q: Who are your biggest influences?
Steven King (the writer). The very first book I read from him was ‘Carrie’. – Maybe I watched the movie before I read the book – I just could not believe the story was written by a male writer, Carrie’s emotions and feelings were so precisely described. It’s the best of the best of any books out there, well at least to me it is. 
Also, there’s a book called ‘On writing’. It’s about writing but anyone who happens to ‘create’ something should all understand what he’s talking about. He made me laugh and cry at the same time! Strongly recommended book ever for any creators.

Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
“Write with the door closed. Rewrite with the door open.”
“Your stuff starts out being just for you, in other words, but then it goes out. Once you know what the story is and get it right — as of right as you can, anyway — it belongs to anyone who wants to read it.”
-Stephen King

Q: Which current art world trends are you following?
I don’t particularly follow any art trends as such, however, I have always been mesmerized by Lowbrow arts – all started by Mark Ryden – I’ve been a huge fan of pop surrealism as well as a painter of it.

Q: What can’t you live without?
A very easy question! My MacBook Pro!!!

Q: What is your dream project?
A collaboration with Banksy? Just the thought of it would keep me awake all night with excitement!

Q: What’s your favorite artwork?
‘My Bed’, Tracey Emin, 1998 | Tate’
One of the rare artworks that made me cringe (out of such joy and excitement) as soon as I saw it. I’ve always loved Tracey Emin. Such a strong female artist. I truly admire her wildness and courage to be herself at any time.

Q: What are your last three Google searches?
Min Kyung Kwon (haha)
Haunted places in the world
Crop circle

Q: What gives you life?
Creation. Inspiration. Humans.

Q: What was the last thing you bought?
Winsor & Newton – Liquid Original (It’s a fast-drying medium I use)

Q: What ideas are you currently pondering or questioning?
I’ve been thinking about my next series as to how I will go forward developing my unique style. The 1st and the 2nd came out a bit differently in styles. It will be my job to make my 3rd series somehow consolidate the 1 and 2 then turn into my style.

Q: What imaginary place would you love to visit?
Mars & Venus (I know they’re not imaginary places however I’ve always wanted to visit those two planets)

Q: What’s next for you?
I’ve been brainstorming for my 3rd series, the 2nd series was done in 2019 so I’m getting behind. I’m hoping to get started with the 3rd before the end of 2021.

Website: minkyungkwon.com
Facebook: facebook.com/minkyungkwonart

Bringing vibrant color to quite bleak subjects, Zubieta explores the millennial culture and its issues through pink-tinted glasses, neon colors, and dreamy characters. Zubieta found in Alice the perfect metaphor to explore the reality she was living in during the outburst of Covid-19.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland represents the child’s struggle to survive in the confusing world of adults. To understand our adult world, Alice has to overcome the open-mindedness that is characteristic of children. Apparently, adults need rules to live by. Going down the rabbit hole: in the book is a representation of going into the unconscious, connected with lockdown, Covid-19 seems to be the hole that has trapped us all at home, forcing us to deal with our inner monsters but also with the voice we listen to the most; the mass media.

Interview with Pop-Surrealist Marta Zubieta

Q. What did you want to be when you were growing up?
A. I wanted to be a veterinarian until the age of 10, then I brought my cat to be castrated and everything changed.

Q. What’s your background?
A. I studied fine arts in Sevilla, Spain, but I didn’t make the most of it or I didn’t know how I could ever get “real work” out of it so I started studying graphic design alongside. 
Before I moved to Bristol I was a poor long-time intern graphic designer during the day and session singer at night. Once in Bristol, with my “Spanglish” it was hard (impossible) to find a job in the design industry. I worked in hospitality for a long period while playing music and just trying to do illustration for fun, I even stopped painting for a while. But I think all that working at night, the music, the street art, and the collaborative spirit of the city gave me the push I needed to connect my passions into my paintings and illustrations which have now become my main work and which I am very grateful for now.

Q. What piece are you most proud of?
A. I particularly like my “Alice in Wonderland” series because I feel with it I really grasped the power that pop culture has for communicating controversial ideas.

Q. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
A. You can do everything you want, but just don’t get caught. (Not sure it is the best, but it makes me laugh.)

Q. What is one thing they tried to teach you in school that you knew immediately was wrong?
A. The hierarchy of power, The catholic religion, and Iceberg lettuce.

Q. Where is your favorite place?
A. Close to the water, the sea, or a river, when I am in a landscape that reminds me that we are one, then my problems and the noise in my head become smaller.

Q. Who are your biggest influences?
A. I find my roots in pop culture. Old cartoons and movies appear in my work without me even realizing it.  The other day I found myself rewatching the movie “Yellow Submarine” (one of my father’s favorite movies) and noticing how many connections of myself I could find in the imaginary world the movie had created.

Q. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
A. Love what you do.

Q. Which current art world trends are you following?
A. I really enjoy current artists’ aesthetics like James Jean and concepts of art activists like JR, I am interested in how they analyze nowadays issues through their own eyes and how their work impacts others. I also love to have a look at other artists like me on Instagram and how they develop their own storytelling.

Q. What can’t you live without?
A. Love & Music

Q. What is your dream project?
A. To collaborate with animators in a surreal music video for an artist I admire.

Q. What’s your favorite artwork of the collection?
A. I personally like La Petite Mort because it became the visual representation of a personal moment of change. When I started it I was in the middle of a big emotional hole and I stayed for a while in a loop just painting over and over the pink lines. 
As I started growing out of my personal situation I could also see the evolution of the painting, the changes in the face, and the flowers growing.

Q. What is currently on your playlist?
A. I love listening to Latin American music, especially Brazilian bossa, samba, and Peruvian cumbias. They really transport you into another world. I started my illustration career making posters in Bristol for the world music collective Worm Disco Club and making the merchandise for my own cumbia band Camo Clave, in both psychedelia and nature were very connected, so a big part of the inspiration for my colors and aesthetic comes from listening to these rhythms.

Q. What is your favorite piece of art?
A. This sounds like a cliche but I will always think of Hieronymous Bosh and his “The Garden of Earthly Delights”. I got in my hands one of his gallery books when I was very little and since then I was fascinated with the number of detailed characters that inhabit his pictures, I think of them as the TV of our era (now the internet), I imagine the rich families getting him to paint the most beautiful, twisted and fantastic stories of their times to entertain their days.

Q. What gives you life?
A. An amazing gig, playing music myself, running away from the city into new places, getting lost, and connecting with people. 

Q. What is your superpower?
A. Being stubborn is my superpower and my kryptonite. 

Q. What is your favorite thing in the world, and why? 
A. Finding inspiration, getting in the flow with things, and forgetting of the world around

Q. What ideas are you currently questioning?
A. How can the human race be so beautiful and twisted at the same time 

Q. Who is the one person, dead or alive, that you would like to have dinner with and why?
A. I would like to sit with my parents before they had me and ask them some questions about life.

Q. What’s next for you?
A. Dinner!

facebook.com/martazubieta
martazubieta.com
instagram.com/onirical_zubieta

Concetta utilizes her own photography as well as found and digital imagery to create surrealistic collage that make unexpected connections between line, form, space, and color. She explores these relationships and aims to both engage the viewer in the spontaneous process of finding meaning within the visual landscape and arouse a touch of mystery—this synergy she ultimately desires to achieve is the driving force behind why she creates. In her work, she touches upon themes of spirituality, magic and conjuring, the exploration of the human psyche, confession, art as therapy, and the surreal.

Interview with Michelle Concetta

Surrealism Today: What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Michelle Concetta: Growing up!? Still figuring out that bit. My younger years were fraught and I lacked the foundation and security to actualize but I have always been a creator focused on artistic expression. 

ST: What artwork are you most proud of, and why?
MC: The work I haven’t yet completed! It is a sign that I’m on the right path and the dream is alive.

ST: What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
MC: The solicited kind. Because I’m open to it. 

ST: What is one thing they tried to teach you in school that you knew immediately was wrong?
MC: That boys will be boys. 

ST: Who is the one person, dead or alive, that you would like to have dinner with and why?
MC: Lars Von Trier. I want to discuss the cinematic themes he explores.

Surrealism Today: Where is your favorite place?
Michelle Concetta: My dreams. Yes, I am a total escapist.

ST: Who are your biggest influences?
MC: Me, myself, and I. 

ST: What can’t you live without?
MC: The essential things invisible to the eye. Antoine de Saint-Exupery said something to that effect.

ST: What is your dream project?
MC: To create an exhibition of my project, I Only Wanted to Dream. Art, sculpture, interactive installations, and media combine to share a story of grief and trauma with the intent to move beyond victimhood through ritual practice.

Surrealism Today: What’s your favorite artwork?
Michelle Concetta: So many but a mixed-media piece created by Julia Soboleva, comes to mind. I will describe it to you. It features a behind with a hand pulling down black panties. On the left buttock it says “Being” and on the right cheek it says “Nothingness”.  I adore it.

ST: What is currently on your playlist?
MC: I haven’t been listening to much music these days when I am alone. I just returned with my guitar, which has been neglected for far too long.  I am planning on picking it up again and making my own music. 

ST: What are your last three Google searches?
MC: NFTs, Porto art scene, and the definition of bollard, which BTW is a British word for a post. 

ST: What gives you life?
MC: Love & Art.

Surrealism Today: What is your superpower?
Michelle Concetta: Empathy.

ST: What is your Kryptonite?
MC: Seeing people in pain.

ST: If you could visit any artist’s studio, whose would you visit and why?
MC: Natalie Huth, a Berlin collagist. She is an amazing artist living & working in an edgy, progressive city!

ST: What was the last thing you bought?
MC: A patio umbrella to shield my roof  from the scorching summer sun in Arabia.

Surrealism Today: What ideas are you currently pondering or questioning?
Michelle Concetta: Mortality and the question of making sacrifices in the moment for the future. 

ST: What do most people believe that you do not?
MC: That the older you get the harder it is to change. 

ST: What is one thing you believe that most people do not?
MC: That astrology is legit.

ST: What imaginary place would you love to visit?
MC: I visit them every night in my dreams!

ST: What is your favorite thing in the world, and why?
MC: Traveling with my partner and daughter when the stars align—it is a way for us to be together and share a love of exploration. That is, once I get over my initial anxiety and stress in preparation for travel!

ST: If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be, and why?
MC: Xeno and Oaklander, a synth and video duo. They are an experimental electronic band and really cool!  I would love to get out of my comfort zone and create artwork for their videos and/or album covers.

Surrealism Today: What is next for you?
Michelle Concetta: Keep on keeping on.

Website: drimartz.com
Social: Facebook | Instagram

Surrealism Today: Where were you born?
Vincent Fink: Houston, TX

Surrealism Today: What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Vincent Fink: A Renaissance Man. Like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins.

Surrealism Today: Is there an artwork here you are most proud of? Why?
Vincent Fink: I am usually most proud of my most recent work because I am always improving and pushing myself to be better. But I would have to say out of the Iterations, 77: A Fleshy Facade, A Cryptic Charade because its the most surreal and strange. It was also the largest at 4ft x 5ft and was a commission piece based off a sketch I doodled for fun, never intending it to be a large painting, so it really stretched me in new directions I want to continue to explore. And for Atlas Metamorphosis, I’d say Stage 1 of 4: Emperor Egg cause it was the last piece in a Tetralogy that took almost 10 years to complete. Feels good to have that kind of closure.

Surrealism Today: What is the best piece of advice you have ever received? What is the worst?
Vincent Fink: The best advice is definitely this: to work hard and find a mentor. Don’t wait for inspiration or the right time, just get to work. The worst advice was to take it easy and just let things happen. Nothing ever happens, or not much when you aren’t pushing at 100%.

Surrealism Today: Who is the one person, dead or alive, that you would like to have dinner with and why?
Vincent Fink: My father, because he was my hero.

Surrealism Today: Where is your favorite place? Where is home?
Vincent Fink: Wherever I can truly be me. For now that seems to be my studio. I moved back into the house I grew up in for now, and it sometimes doesn’t feel like home anymore. I don’t think I have a home other than wherever I am. As long as there’s shelter from the rain. I would rather be constantly moving but that is not feasible at this juncture.

Surrealism Today: Who are your biggest influences?
Vincent Fink: Rene Magritte, M.C. Esher, Rob Gonsalves, Peter Gric, Alex Grey, Mark Ryden, Marion Peck, H.R.
Giger.

Surrealism Today: What wouldn’t you do without?
Vincent Fink: A pencil and lots of paper. A guitar.

Surrealism Today: What is your dream project?
Vincent Fink: I want to make Atlas Metamorphosis
books and eventually movies, among many outlandish ideas.

Surrealism Today: What’s your favorite artwork?
Vincent Fink: I think this might be impossible to answer.

Surrealism Today: What is currently on your playlist?
Vincent Fink: A lot of people say they listen to everything, but then I ask if they like Death Metal and they say no.
I actually listen to every kind of music but I lean heavily towards
metal and rock. I have been jamming Vivaidi, Cannibal Corpse,
David Bowie, Scars on Broadway, Lotus Effect, Bon Jovi, Jonathan Davis/Korn, to name a few… I listen to my own songs too.

Surrealism Today: What are your last three Google searches?
Vincent Fink: I don’t use Google anymore because they spy, sell your info, and rig the search results to hide things they don’t want you to find. So I use a safe search engine and I suggest everyone do the same. I use
DuckDuckGo or Startpage. I have been researching galleries, finding more ways to make a living doing art such as finding patrons, so it would definitely be something related to that.

Surrealism Today: What gives you life?
Vincent Fink: Creating something beautifully different that
I’ve never seen done before. Expanding my knowledge of useful
subjects. Also, being one with nature. I love the great outdoors
and want to start Decentralizing my life by learning to live off the
land a bit more. I think it is important to become self-sustaining
and not depend on any government to take care of you.

Surrealism Today: What is your superpower? Kryptonite?
Vincent Fink: I have an infinite amount of ideas and ways of expressing myself. It is also my kryptonite because it makes it hard to focus on one thing or to do the analytical work that it takes to successfully run an art business. So I have to tame my creativity while extracting the best out of it. I have more ideas than I can ever get to, so I have to be selective.

Surrealism Today: If you could visit any artist’s studio, whose would you visit and why?
Vincent Fink: Peter Gric. His house looks fabulous.

Surrealism Today: What was the last thing you bought?
Vincent Fink: Art supplies. Always. That’s about all I ever ask for.

Surrealism Today: What is your favorite piece of clothing?
Vincent Fink: My Point506 hoodie or one of my many Point506 T-shirts. It’s all about that .506 gear.

Surrealism Today: What is hanging on your walls at home?
Vincent Fink: I have a lot of small local artist’s work. My favorite originals are by my deceased friend and amazing artist Michel Draper. Also, I love my Kevin Peterson giclee print of the painting he did that got used for the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ album cover for The Getaway. Kevin has a studio right down the hall from me and gave me some excellent advice about how to advance into galleries a few years back so I have great respect for him.

Surrealism Today: We all love a movie night, so what is your favorite film of all time?
Vincent Fink: Either The Matrix or Waking Life. I like movies that change the way you see the world. Ones that open the 3rd eye. You are never the same after those movies.

Surrealism Today: What is your favorite art gallery in the world and why?
Vincent Fink: I would say Dorothy Circus Gallery in Rome and London because they seem to have the best in surrealism today. I am under a consultancy with their owner, so you might see my work there at some point. Her professional advice has been invaluable. But for now, I have to give it to Corey Helford Gallery in L.A. for the same reason but also because they have actually dared to have my work in a show later this year!

Surrealism Today: If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be and why?
Vincent Fink: Other than dead people, I would love to collab with Mark Ryden on something like a public art sculpture. I was influenced by his
Dodecahedron when I made my 1st and 2nd Dodecahedron, the 2nd of which is temporarily on display at Heights Blvd. in Houston until this December. Large-scale geometric public art poses a huge challenge for me but it is extremely rewarding to pull off. Having created it also spawned my new performance art series inside the structure in response to the Covid-19 lockdown. I can only imagine what Ryden and I would cook up together. It would be insane!
Or Peter Gric because I think I would learn a lot from brushing shoulders with someone who has such a refined process to his art. I think we would see a little more eye to eye and connect more as humans so it would probably work better with him.

Surrealism Today: What is next for you?
Vincent Fink: So many things are on the horizon its hard to isolate what is next. I am pivoting in light of the lockdown so hopefully, that won’t cause me to just become an off-grid quaker, but as far as projects go; I’m refining my process and developing a new series of work that will synthesize everything I’ve done in the past into something fresh and different, yet at the same time, more consistent. I recently started experimenting with 3D software again so I’m thinking about stuff like augmented reality, but we’ll see if I ever get to that. Even though I’m ever sharpening my focus I still foresee more multimedia works of public art, murals, performance art, clothing design, tech-based stuff like animation, and sculptural/3D works. But definitely more shows featuring the drawings and paintings I’m working on right now.

This year is still my year in spite of all the chaos. This decade is ours to make of it what we want. I want to look back on this decade as the time when I finally put it all together and worked hard enough to make something truly marvelous that helped elevate the human condition.

Can you imagine what the world would be like if we all had that
mindset?

Editor’s Note: Vincent Fink’s limited edition prints are now available for purchase in the Surrealism Today online store.

Vincent Fink Elsewhere on the Web

• vincentfink.com
• instagram.com/vincentfink/
• facebook.com/vincentfinkart/

Statement

In this series, Zilberberg creates animal montages as an expression of self-therapy. As an urbanite, functioning day-to-day in a fast-paced, built environment can be emotionally unsettling. The artist regrounds herself in the sense of calm issued by these animals. These creatures reinstate a presence, a tranquility, and a grander perspective. The works are an amalgam of many photographs from different locations around the world, put together seamlessly by the artist in post-production. Their minimal aesthetic is metaphorical of striving for simplicity. Rather than ruminating on the past, or hypothesizing the future, Zilberberg’s works invite a meditative state, encouraging the viewer to stay still and find happiness in the moment.

20 Questions with Alice Zilberberg

SurrealismToday.com: What did you want to be when you were growing up?

Alice Zilberberg: I never had a specific profession picked, but I knew I was going to do something artistic.

ST: What artwork are you are most proud of, and why? 

AZ: I am very proud of all my works, as I know that even the less successful ones were part of the path to creating the top works, so I see all pieces as part of my work.

Who is the one person, dead or alive, that you would like to have dinner with and why?

AZ: Salvador Dali. I consider him one of the greatest artists. I would’ve loved to have a conversation with him, and I have a feeling he would be entertaining company.

Where is your favorite place?

AZ: The beaches in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Who are your biggest influences?

AZ: Many of the baroque painters like Frans Snyder, and Jan Weenix. Of course, the surrealists: Dali and Magritte. I am also in love with the works of many contemporary photographers such as Loretta Lux and Jill Greenberg. I look at a lot of contemporary paintings for inspiration as well.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

AZ: There have been many lessons leading my way, however, the lesson to always be kind to others has always stood out. In my experience, giving to others is really valuable.

What can’t you live without?

AZ: Nature. I’m always planning the next trip to get a dose.

What is your dream project?

AZ: My dream project is always the one I’m working on currently. I don’t settle for less with my work. I do whatever needs to be done to get my current vision out into the world.

What’s your favorite movie?

AZ: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

What is currently on your playlist?

AZ: A lot of techno.

What is your last Google search?

AZ: Iceland travel August 2020.

What gives you energy?

AZ: 9 hours of sleep every night.

If you could visit any artist’s studio, whose would you visit?

AZ: I would go back in time and visit Frida and Diego’s house in Mexico.    

What was the last thing you bought?

AZ: Plant-based chocolate fudge brownie ice-cream.

What ideas are you currently pondering or questioning?

AZ: I’m currently thinking a lot about the state of the natural environment and its future.

What is your favorite thing in the world, and why?

AZ: My favorite thing is when I’m in a good state of flow with my work. 

If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be, and why?

AZ: I would love to collaborate with a sculpture artist. I’ve always loved sculpture, and I’ve been thinking a lot about 3D artwork.

What helps you most in your work?

AZ: Maintaining my morning routine. I know the work will come when I have a schedule to work within.

What drives you to continue creating?

AZ: I always have ideas floating around that I am eager to try out, and I just know that they need to be created.

What is next for you?

AZ: I will likely continue to work with wildlife for a period of time, but I never know what can come up and inspire me.

Biography

Alice Zilberberg is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning artist, recognized by curators, collectors, and art patrons across the globe. Born in Tallinn, Estonia, and raised in Israel, she currently resides in Toronto, Canada. A graduate of Ryerson University’s Photography program, she began her artistic practice by painting: a verve which remains very much present in her digital works. The winner of numerous prestigious competitions, her accolades include 1^st place titles in competitions such as the International Photography Awards, the Julia Margaret Cameron Awards, and the Fine Art Photography Awards.

alicezilberberg.com
Alice Zilberberg on Saatchi Art

Electric Sheep is a distributed computing project for animating and evolving fractal flames, which are in turn distributed to the networked computers, which display them as a screensaver.
– Wikipedia

First created in 1999 by Scott Draves, the Electric Sheep is a form of artificial life, which is to say it is software that recreates the biological phenomena of evolution and reproduction through mathematics. The system is made up of man and machine, a cyborg mind with 450,000 participant computers and people all over the Internet.

This is a distributed system, with all participating computers working together to form a supercomputer that renders animations, called “sheep”, that everyone sees. The human participants guide the survival of the fittest by voting for their favorite animations in the flock. You can join this project by downloading the Electric Sheep Screensaver.

Each participating computer follows mathematical instructions, Draves’ Flame algorithm, to render its own piece of the larger work, as seen in the table at left. The images are sent back to a central server which compresses them into animations which are sent back out to the viewers. The electricsheep.org website shows the family tree for each sheep, including its parents and offspring, and viewers can track family resemblance. The artist’s Clade series shows a selection of family members in high resolution.

Like Draves’ other software art, the Electric Sheep code is open source, which has allowed it to benefit from code contributions from many enthusiastic programmers. Now Draves serves as head Shepherd on a project with many participants.

The most popular sheep from the current flock can be viewed on the live server, or you can browse the archive.

– via scottdraves.com

Scott Draves Interview with Surrealism Today

Surrealism Today: You have designed this technology, company & ecosystem. Electric Sheep has taken on a life of its own. In a sense, from a systems perspective, you have developed your own game rules rather than just being another player in someone else’s game. What in your thinking has made that possible?

Scott Draves: That’s right, I definitely think of the Sheep as generative world design. My approach is based on languages and metaprogramming, as a way to cross from finite to infinite. It was made possible by exposure to books like Gödel, Escher, Bach and SICP and my friends and colleagues at Brown and CMU SCS who taught me so much about computers and programming.

ST: In previous interviews, you mention Pollock, Gysin, and Burroughs as artists who inspire you. (Related: Cut-up Technique) Art has changed more in the past hundred years than it ever has, and likely will even more in the next hundred years, where would you like to see it go? Rather than create the content of art, will next-gen artists create algorithms that allows for infinite works of art? If that’s the future, you’ve actually been doing it for some time…

SD: I am loving the Cambrian explosion of software art going on. What are my wishes for art? The more the merrier. Algorithms and coding and infinite art are definitely growing and that’s great. But are they growing popularity in the art world? Maybe? I can’t imagine 100 years in the future. I will admit I’ve been doing this forever, I am old, and got an early start, releasing the first open source art in 1992.

Surrealism Today: Many of the Electric Sheep are reminiscent of mandalas in various religious traditions in both East and West as well as psychedelic and visionary art. These movements seem to have goals in common. Do you have an affinity with any spiritual traditions or movements?

Scott Draves: The Sheep have a meditative aspect for me and a spiritual aspect. Yes, there are goals in common, and affinities. Yoga. Zen. Negentropy. Positivism. Science.

ST: You’ve created this ecosystem of beautiful living mandalas that change over time and breed and evolve and die. Each sheep had DNA (code), its form, not to mention the memetic (conceptual) & cultural level. In what senses are the sheep alive?

SD: Thank you. They are alive because they have emergent complexity, at both the breeding, DNA, evolution level and also in the Flame algorithm, where the image emerges from the DNA. The memetic level kicks in with the open source and allowing others to create their own flames and sheep.

Surrealism Today: What non-intuitive things do you do, think or avoid that may have helped contribute to what you have created?

Scott Draves: When I started doing Open Source it was considered unamerican and anti-capitalist, and literally compared to “cancer”. It turns out sharing code has merit. Actually, that was always intuitive to me but most people just didn’t get it. These days it seems open source has taken over in some domains and is thriving.

On the other hand sharing everything may not be advisable. That was not obvious to me. It took me a long time to learn.

ST: William Gibson mentioned in one of his sci-fi books that instead of writing music, musicians wrote algorithms and the code would generate infinite, unique songs that never repeated themselves. Recently the iPhone app “H__r” got me excited… it loops sounds from the environment into a surreal listening experience. What being created today (that I can perhaps link to) has gotten you excited recently?

SD: Joshue Ott has a bunch of amazing av apps: https://intervalstudios.com/. A bit further afield: Alpha Go, https://deepmind.com/research/alphago/. This is an enormous breakthrough that promises so much to come.

Surrealism Today: I’m super excited about this recent high-resolution release of the sheep, and the subscription. What’s next?

Scott Draves: Thank you.

Dots! The real-time audio interactive version, which premiered last year at Creative Tech Week and is going to be in it again this year: http://creativetechweek.nyc/. The mixed reality party was on the 17th of April, 2017.

ST: Where can we find you on the internet?

https://gold.electricsheep.org/
http://scottdraves.com/
https://twitter.com/scott_draves
https://twitter.com/ElectricSHE3P
https://www.facebook.com/groups/82690628019