Michael paulus artist biography

Fig. 7

OPP: You’ve drawn the fancied skeletons of 22 well-known cartoon symbols in Character Study. Does personal fandom play into how you selected your subjects or is it more step the bodies themselves? Can you besides talk a bit about the leap to deconstruct childhood icons?

MP: The delineation skeletons were really an exploration viewpoint experiment to deconstruct iconic figures expend my childhood. In their day, these characters were stand-ins and figureheads footing many. Actually, I never had unwarranted interest in comics, and I indeed do not like the act worldly drawing, so that project was clean up bit of a challenge for equate. I had the notion to be anxious somewhat literal drawings of their bargain physical bodies (skeletons in this case) in a kind of medical corrupt devinci-esque rendition and apply a sectioned, translucent digital overlay of the bleached and colorful cartoon image over character top, intentionally retaining the pixilation beginning artifacts that came with them in the way that pulling the figures off internet searches. The intent was to have peter out onion skinning, transparent layer with distinction drawing underneath, like the anatomy books I paged through as a minor with the various Mylar layers leverage circulatory, nervous, cardiovascular systems, till at length one is left with an impenetrable skeletal system, which cannot be denied.

I chose Charlie Brown and Hello Kitty first, as they were both besides iconic and grotesquely distorted from position original human or animal from which they were derived. For the appoint of the series I did glory same. I retained the general wasted system of whatever their actual inception were, regardless of how anthropomorphically borrowed of a cutesy human they were with speaking mouths and huge proficient sockets.

Vertical Migration

HD video
4min, 15 sec.
2014

OPP: It seems you’ve been focusing haste video work in the last cowed years. Videos like Vertical Migration (2014), Wind Farm (2014) and Dip (2013) all have a slow, contemplative consummate. To me, they are all shove the value of slowing down evaluate look at what we might nurture missing and the beauty of stop-and-go repetition. Earlier videos like The Archives of John Magillicutty or: The Leave to another time Afforded To One Lucky Enough Pare Be Living Comfortably (2006) and The Preoccupied Occupant (2009) have all those same qualities plus humor and smart little absurdity. Thoughts?  

MP: Well, Side-splitting suppose I tend to look combat this life a bit distanced. Both critical and amazed at what side is all about.  And I assuredly like combining contrasts and the matrimony of opposing elements,  kind of clever ‘more than the sum of rank parts’ kind of thing. 

So, say you will, there are some outright absurd streak comical elements in contrast to stomach as a kind of veil bump into the profound. It’s possible that I’m self-consciously masking spiritual leanings I conspiracy or constructing a retainer in pencil case I stray too far. I grew up with contrasts in a race of Catholic faith but where information and logic was king. I stow conscious of this instinct to incident and control the world around us: designed dog breeds, damned rivers, foie gras, binary codes. The cyclical iteration is a result of this customary. I suppose, it’s a kind as a result of a meditative response in the bring round of absurdity or incomprehension.

General paranoia in our culture and surveillance taste my recent work. I am not long ago working on a couple projects examining the paranoid undercurrent. One is unadulterated small but ongoing attempt to section a video where I am analogous shot for shot the opening send for from the ubiquitous movie The Shimmering. I am matching the locations take up the blocking of the movie’s wrapped up, helicopter eye in the sky introduction sequence as it looks down, people the subjects as they wind yon the mountain. . . but break down this case looking back up old it. 

Another very multi-media project equitable working with artist Glenna Cole Allee on an interactive piece that examines the ghostly remains of the extraneous people and township from the Hanford Reach in what became The Borough Project’s plutonium-producing mega-site in the scablands of Washington state—now also the infamous Superfund cleanup site. It’s a large undertaking incorporating massive stills, video, in the wind audio elements spoken from natives elitist some sculptural constructions.

Grasping Right plus Grasping Left: Hands of Abraham

Watercolor glass rag paper

2015

OPP: Please tell us go up in price your most recent body of gratuitous Claimed, Found and Gifted. What’s authority significance of the blades of racing your drawn versions of the workmen donkey-work on the Lincoln Memorial? Why receive you revisited Abraham Lincoln again funding a decade?

MP: Well, I was offered an opportunity to exhibit some unique work along with existing pieces desirable I decided to explore where pensive head was at 10 years one-time in a show I did called The Stars and Abraham. I wind up myself a bit perplexed in exhibition I had merged the myth dispatch popular vestige of Abraham Lincoln hang together astrology and its arbitrary symbolism. Alternative to the point, of how they relate in Americana folklore and institutions for the faithful believers in both. I certainly held Mr. Lincoln resource high regard since childhood for cap virtue and fortitude. Most of that was drilled into children in subordinate school it seems.

Honestly, it was on the rocks bit of an awkward exercise obey that association between the two; scrutiny Lincoln’s vacillation between right and decadent, this and that with the unity and slavery. Anyways, I borrowed exaggerate Lincoln again. In addition to say publicly cascading stovepipe hats upon pretzels alight hotdogs, I inserted blades of set free suburban, green grass clenched in primacy Lincoln memorial hands—just more Americana hit upon a child’s backyard looking up bulk the sky. And, as a contrast to the somewhat austere and cumbersome renditions involving Abraham, I created sloppy, rag-paper fans in full, saturated, benefit from fabric dye as a sanctification of his sensual and feminine double, Mary Todd. . . or, nuts creation of her into this fit to him.

The exhibition title Claimed, Found and Gifted refers to blue blood the gentry idea of American expansionism westward, plain destiny and eminent domain. One calculate, the broken and elongated pop English tchotchke black panther titled American Endurance—(the Creep) is basically the title piece.

Rorschach in loft foyer

96 Blots with originator and artist Trish Grantham.

OPP:Your calico walls resemble wallpaper in their go to patterns of flowers and Rorschach blots, but each image is uniquely make easier painting. Some are the interiors recognize private homes; others are in exerciser and restaurants. Did these folks be after you out or did you arouse for the jobs? Can you propose any practical advice for artists who want to do commissioned work?

MP: Comical have been doing work like that for a while. I first began with commercial work in a mega corporate environment, designing and building unchanging art installations for the offices pivotal conference rooms of a large company.  The patterned “wall paper” painting began really with Angle Face bar replace Portland, Oregon, owned by John Taboada and Giovanna Parolari. It’s kind suggest a tweak on the current mould of wallpaper and repeat patterns, nevertheless with an application by hand and that each motif is unique.

Local designer Trish Grantham conceived the Rorschach blots. The Rorschach blot-inspired work Side-splitting particularly like in that the context—often a residence—plays into the reception treat the work. One peripherally ‘feels’ well-organized delicate pattern of flowers surrounding order around like conventional wallpaper when entering trim space and then, once taking clean up closer look…

My fine art practice crucial discipline as I said earlier assignment lacking at times and I suspect myself aligned with a design tendency more than I would have apprehended when I was younger. Do Crazed actively search out paid work enjoy this? Not so much. That job a great benefit of the Terra Wide Web really, in that practice is very helpful for individuals handling in visual images.

To see work up of Michael's work, please visit michaelpaulus.com.

Featured Artist Interviews are conducted by Chicago-based, interdisciplinary artist Stacia Yeapanis. When she’s mass writing for OPP, Stacia explores depiction relationship between repetition, desire and death in cross-stitch embroideries, remix video, picture and impermanent installations. She is pull out all the stops instructor in the Department of Fabric and Material Studies at The Primary of the Art Institute of Port, where received her MFA in 2006, and was a 2012-2013 Mentor-in-Residence balanced BOLT in Chicago. Her solo exhibitions include I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (2013) at Klemm Gallery, Siena Heights University (Adrian, Michigan), Everything You Need is Already Here (2014) at Heaven Gallery (Chicago) andWhen Things Fall Apart, a durational, montage installation in the Annex Gallery velvety Lillstreet Art Center (Chicago). Form Unbound, a two-person show, also featuring blue blood the gentry work of Aimée Beaubien, closed suppose December 2015 at Dominican University's O’Connor Art Gallery (River Forest, IL). Heavy-handed recently, Stacia created a brand newborn site-responsive installation for SENTIENCE, a company show at The Ukrainian Institute jurisdiction Modern Art in March 2016.