Jeremy Crowle - Interview
By kk on July 31, 2004 - 11:48am
Jeremy Crowle is an up-and-coming Canadian painter, illustrator, photographer, and all-purpose lunatic. I recently had the chance to interview him and we got to talking about art, politics, environmental sustainability, and relationships. He currently works at a Vancouver graphic design studio and his work can be seen at the Alibi Room in Vancouver starting August 22, 2004 or online at Fragile Lifestyle.
Click on read more for the interview.
kk001 - We’ve seen you shoot photos, paint with oils, draw, build websites, design typefaces, and write on trains and walls, among other things. Tell me about your progression as an artist. Did you go to art school? What is your inspiration?
I went to a high school that really promoted the arts and had a great instructor. My folks have always been really supportive, as well, encouraging me to do [art] as much as I can. Aside from that, I went to art college for a week before I decided it wasn't for me. It’s a great resource and there were some amazing, talented people who I met there, but my focus has always been a bit more grass roots. I've spent a lot of time learning [by myself] and from other artists I know on more of a progressive, intimate level.
My inspiration has always been the people around me, and I evolve as an artist naturally, I think—as we do physically. I started painting graffiti when I was 14, and became interested in graphic design after the paintings I was doing began taking on a really graphic look. I had first applied that with spray paint. It seems like any art form I try influences the rest of them.
kk002 - What is your favorite medium? How do these different media interact for you as an artist?
I think over the years I’ve grown to understand how a marketable form of art directly influences its environment. All forms of art are marketable to a degree, but the least adaptable to the media, I think, is where I fit perfectly. I don’t think it’s the medium, specifically, that gets me going; it’s the message.
I believe—and I’ve said this before— that a medium—whether it be a paintbrush, a computer, or spray can—is just another kind of hammer you beat the nail into the wood with. It’s really about how you use the medium – especially these days when a message may be more relevant to its audience than a medium. Of course, then you have to address the fact that some may come specifically to see “that
