Work in progress: Stan Chisholm
We sit down with artist Stan Chisholm as he prepares his newest exhibition ThingsThatNeverReallyHappened, which opens at the Hyde Park Art Center on January 31 in Gallery 5.
What is the thought behind the exhibition? What does it entail? What can people expect to see?
One of the biggest things with this show that’s pretty well known in my work I don’t think is well known as far as my exhibitions go is sticking to strict line work. I’ll do relief sculptures or murals, but they usually start off as graphic line drawings. But this one I want to be strictly that. I want this show to be just a really solid step by step read, because it’s in a hallway and you expect it to be in a certain order, and you expect to be in a cold, almost comic strip (way). You expect to read it as that. I mean it’s not going to be one solid story, so a non-linear narrative, but it’s just on a linear format.
Can you explain what graphic line drawings look like visually?
For this show everything going to be on paper and cut out so it’s sort of a relief. Like they’ll still have real shadows, pieces will still float off the wall, but everything will be tight black lines. I might even introduce some color, but for the most part I want it to be pretty drab—black and white, grays, neutral pale, spoiled pastels. But yeah, just think about trying to take it straight from the sketch pad and blow it up. Make it a little more interesting, a little more worthwhile to see on the walls but still keeping it pretty true to its original form.
How many characters do you have?
In total I have about 700 I’ve been drawing over the past few years of these mascot characters as I call them. I started drawing them on paper plates and they were all just black and white. Sometimes I collage them straight from the original drawing, sometimes I would paste them down and paint over them or I would completely re-create them. It was always up in the air how I chose to treat them. But they were always hard, graphic characters. They usually didn’t have any specific destination. I would just draw them so I could create a library for myself. And I’ve slowed down on making as many, so I’ve been sitting on 700 for maybe a year or two. But now I’ve been making characters with a specific purpose—knowing exactly what story they’ll be telling or what show it’s going to be a part of. So that’s changed a little bit. Years ago I was stubborn about drawing the characters with no specific goal, but now I’m kinda glad that I made them the way I am (making them) now. They look a lot better and more figured out. Still kinda vague and weird, but better, if I’m allowed to say something as vague as my characters look better now.
Why do you draw characters? Why use narrative?
I guess it’s sort of how I like to observe things. Because I know and understand that everything’s connected and, you know, one thing pushes another. But as I walk around, or as I hang out with my friends I like thinking about things day by day just hanging out, seeing someone or seeing somewhere the interaction across the street and knowing that has nothing to do with me, say, waiting at the bus stop, but they happen in the same space is important. So, I don’t know, just thinking about how stories develop and how relevant they are to one another, I feel like you’re plugging more into these small situations, so they have to represent these bigger things if it’s important enough for you to pay attention to. It’s like painting a scenery, I feel like people make the scenery. Like what’s happening, what you do within the space is what makes the space
What was the first character you ever drew?
I used to draw dinosaurs all the time. I think that was the first thing I drew, drawing and knowing I was drawing it a certain way and going back to that certain way when I went to draw another one. I think the first character that I found myself drawing repeatedly that wasn’t my own was definitely Sonic the Hedgehog in first grade. Cause, you know, it was like me and a couple friends being like “who can draw Sonic better” or “who could draw Sonic doing something, who can draw Sonic running.”
Me drawing Looney Tune characters, that was probably my big thing. That was when I started collecting my drawings, keeping them in portfolios, saving them and giving them away to people you know that’s when it became a big deal. Making sure that I drew every single Looney Tunes character and looking into the ones that rarely show up. And I think just because Looney Tunes has a full cast it’s kind of the same way where there’s all these characters and they’re all a part of this bigger story and every character doesn’t make it into every episode. It’s like a weird toss up of who’s going to be in what. Just like seeing how they all related to each other was really interesting to me and why I chose certain ones over others. Like I just recently started liking Bugs Bunny. I used to hate bugs bunny until just recently. I started to understand now. I kinda always thought that he was a jerk because he got all the attention, but now I see that he means well. He’s just really good at avoiding things and I just thought he was really corny and I hate him but…I don’t know.
Do you start off sketching everything first?
It depends on what’s going to happen to them. Sometimes I’ll start with just ink. And I’ll just go through with no plan and what comes of the characters is what I get, and I just use them for whatever. But more recently, especially for this show, I sort of come up with scenarios first. And then I’ll come up with a really crummy, quick small drawing, then I go to pencil for the bigger one, then I got to pen. And to get really detailed, just paying attention to different textures, and just like, defining shadow with pattern in different ways, rather than just leaving them super flat and just like strictly outlined. So it’s kind of weird, becoming a little more realistic. I’m not sure how I feel about it yet but…
Do you find that the characters and the narrative always fit together really easily, or do you sometimes find that you have a character and a narrative and you thought that they went together but they don’t?
I usually try to draw things. Like if I’m trying to draw a real one I try to only draw it once and not go back to it. So after spending so much time, it’s sort of like do or die drawing these things. So if it looks bad I’ll keep it anyway. After doing that so much I feel obligated to nail it the first time. And plus, you know, I’ve kinda got that pencil step tucked in there just to make sure that the characters are going to match the emotions that they should. Or like, if I want it to be a fuzzy character that I can get my fuzz right, get the right energy for them before I go in with the ink. But once pen is in hand I don’t think mistakes are going to come up, at least I don’t expect any.
And what are you doing now? Can you explain what you’re doing right now and how that fits into getting the character from the sketch book into the actual final product?
Right now this is me hating paper. I’m used to doing installations with wood and foam, but usually when I have a big show I try to challenge myself with materials and how I handle space. And for years I’ve been afraid of paper. There’s a lot of weird things about it. But what I’m doing now is getting this paper prepared to use it the same way I’ve used wood in the past. So they’re still going to be like reliefs, and they’re going to be loosely collaged. Basically I’ll just draw different elements on different types of paper so I’ll draw the t-shirt, and then I’ll draw the arm to hang over the t-shirt on a different type of paper. But right now I’m trying to get this paper, it’s pretty much going to be the base for one of the characters that going to be in the show. I just have to get this stuff flat so I can actually collage it and cut it without it folding up on me. It sucks. This is terrible. But it’s what I’ve got to do. I gotta deal with it, I gotta face my fears!
To see more of Stan’s work visit his website at 18andcounting.com