Preparing for Solstice: A Summer Collective, ARTSPACE 8 sat down with artist Lexygius Calip whose work is featured in the exhibition that opens Friday, June 24.
ARTSPACE 8: AS8
Lexygius Calip: LC
AS8: What/who inspired you to be an artist? At what age?
LC: My grandmother. I was her precious grandbaby boy. I can recall a vivid memory of my grandmother asking me what I want to be when I grow up and I said, “I am going to be an artist,” and she said “Oh, no doubt you will be!” That time she was greatly admiring my three dimensional drawings of a water buffalo. I was 5 years old.
AS8: What are three words that describe your work?
LC: Conceptual, Experimental, and Contemporary.
AS8: Explain your creative process. Do you have a special routine to get your process started?
LC: My practice is process oriented, reactionary, exploratory, and experimental. I value my thought process which is an integral part of my art making. Of course, the discipline of conceptualizing and practicing art as often as I can always is a good exercise. It draws a fine line between what is acceptable and what is not with regard to the standards I set for myself.
AS8: What sources do you look to for inspiration?
LC: The most influential aspect and source of subject that drives my work on its course and direction are my personal occurrences. Yes, nostalgia has been considered a disease and a modern day cliché, yet it shapes everyone’s own history and how we contribute to society and culture through art that we make. I romanticize the idea of something that used to be present, but not physically there anymore; the void, notion of uncertainty, and the undesired and overlooked truth that life is random. I always try to make work that engages critical thinking.
AS8: Describe a typical day in your life as an artist.
LC: Lots of coffee, cigarettes, making art, and stimulating conversations about life and art with my favorite people.
AS8: What’s the most important item in your studio?
LC: A coffee mug. But in my case my studio is where I am physically present at any given moment. It may be in a studio space to make physical work, or in front of a computer, an empty basement for a performance, in editing software for video and sound, etc. I try not to define space in order to make work in my practice.
AS8: Do you listen to music while you work? If so, what are you listening to?
LC: It is very temperamental; I love listening to the sound of graphite scratching the surface of the paper (It is very calming and meditative), most of the time with music and sound that suits my sensibilities, always something that has substance and depth. I sometimes listen to something that is dear and meaningful to me.
AS8: What are your other interests or hobbies?
LC: Everything that I do everyday interests me. Whether it is productive or just doing nothing at all, for what falls in my daily practice is pretty much what I love doing anyway. And not knowing what to do next makes my days more interesting.
AS8: What project(s) are you currently working on?
LC: Currently working on sound, video, film, performance, paintings, drawings, and installations. I have curatorial projects lined up and collaborative projects with peers that share common and similar ideas and interests.
AS8: What was your most challenging commission?
LC: I greatly consider and make sure that everything I do is always challenging. It is hard to identify in my case, since my practice is multi-disciplinary. I do appreciate and set challenging projects that I think will push my practice and my art further in its own accord.
AS8: What is your most prized accomplishment as an artist?
LC: Well, I am and still get to make art and I think that says enough.