Interview with Inky Dreadfuls (a.k.a. Michael Mararian)
q)Something on you ….
a)I was raised as an only child in Massachusetts and am primarily a self taught artist and was in the past a children’s theater playwright. I am a graduate of the Art and Theater program at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut as well having studied briefly at the Arts Student’s League in New York City. My work has previously been shown at The Corey Helford Gallery and Thinkspace Gallery in LosAngeles and currently I reside and practice my art here in Brooklyn, New York with my wife Elizabeth and our two cats 99 and Mavis although we did just by a home in Buffalo New York, so we may be moving there next year for a while.
a)I have been drawing since I was a child. Not sure if that constitutes making art - but I was drawing.
I have note books upon notebooks of ink drawings I have done over the years.
Only recently have I made it a point to get my work out there and it seems to have gained positive reactions do far.
q)Explain your inspiration?
a)Altering traditional concepts we find comforting has always attracted me. Finding a shocking twist to an innocent scenario
feeds my darker side and I love to share it with viewers. If I see sweet photograph of children looking all cute and wholesome - or "the perfect" family scenario, I just want to shake it up. Primarily for humorous results but ultimately as a comment on lost innocence. I feel like society can never regain innocence anymore. I had a good friend tell me before his child was born that he didn’t want to know what gender it was until it was born because he said it’s one of the few nice surprises left in life. Children are the only bit of innocence we have left and I like to play on that vulnerability. I tell people I like to imagine that the times we live in now are so fear ridden that they are actually creeping back into time — corrupting even eras we believe were the "Good Old Days"
q) In what way does your inspiration transform into ideas?
a)Lately it can be a easy as finding a fun vintage photo or cabinet card from the 1800’s of a cute or perhaps even wicked little child or infant. I imagine them in
a ghastly situation and go from there. It’s tricky however because I always have to be conscious that I am not too gratuitous or mean spirited. I want people to want these images - to collect them. so they have to be charming yet deviant enough to make my point.
q) Could your ideas be portrayed in any other medium? If so which?
a)I have thought about transitioning into paint to be able to do really large works if I felt so inclined. I only work in ink now so doing larger pieces is always a challenge.
I would never try to do my work as a sculpture but I could see someone doing what I do and creating dioramas that capture the feel of them. That might be fun to see.
q) What does being an artist mean to you?
a)For me personally it means freedom. For years I have worked in an office doing graphic design - I have always drawn my whole life but have never pursued it as a career. Finally in doing so I was able to leave the 9 to 5 office and be able to work on my own doing what I love. On a conceptual level being an artist is being a messenger. One who conveys their own unique ideas visually in a way that is entertaining, stimulating and hopefully well executed enough for viewers to understand the message. Mind you, not that a message is important but I do believe it is the foundation of art in general. To tell a story, express a feeling — herald artists are the one who can do that with their own specific style.
q) When does your art become successful?
a)I try very hard to show notions of lost innocence without ever being to overbearing or gratuitous like I mentioned before. I enjoy letting the view see the work and try to figure out what may be happening within the scene. I often do attach brass title plates to the frames to clarify or fill in the back-story. And violence that has occurred has happened off stage if you will - or the violence is about to happen. I try never to show anything gruesome or had to look at. When they become successful to me is if I can take something so virtuous and add a ghastly element to them and they become funny. Am I a humorist that can draw or an artist that is funny? I don’t know.
q) Who prices your work? And how is the price decided upon?
a)I usually start with a price I know I want back which includes the creation costs, frames and supplies - but in my last show the Gallery in Los Angeles raised all my suggested prices by a few hundred dollars. that’s always the hardest part for an artist because once you hit certain price points you can’t turn back - I know few artists who let galleries raise their prices so high they can’t be shown anymore at other galleries or they simply can’t sell them and they’re stuck.
q) What is your next; move,project,show etc?
a)Right now I am working on a few things that are going down to Art Basel, Miami in December. After that I have a show in Los Angeles slated at the Corey Helford Gallery in July 2008 and a solo show lined up for November 2008 at the McCaig Welles Gallery in Brooklyn, New York.
q) What are the pros and cons of the art market?
a)Well it’s really a living animal - at cat actually - it has moods - it changes it’s mind - it can scratch at you or cuddle right up to you - if it gets bored it will move on. It can be stubborn and cost a lot to maintain. But at the end of the day you can’t image living without it. You both mutually need each other.
q) Which pieces would you like to be remembered for?
a)I would like to be remembered more for my whole canon of work than a particular piece because I think when my collects by them - they often want more than one because they compliment each other on a wall and too see a few of them all together - you really get a sense of what they are all about
q) Who has been the biggest influence on you?
a)I love the witticisms of Edward Gorey and how he applies them to his work and I like Norman Rockwell for his paintings of innocent Americana. But most of all I contribute to photography and the human condition. I collect photography like Joel Peter Witkin, Mary Ellen Mark, Mario Giacomelli, and Shelby Lee Adams. I love journalistic photographers for the way they capture the human condition. I can appreciate artists like Joe Biel and his gentle techniques but at the end of the day if I see a photo that moves me - it really can stir up all these juices in me.
q)Other visual artists that you like…
a)Well, the few that I mentioned above of course. Other than that there are people I like for different reasons. I like Mel Kadel for her odd approach to her work and people like Daniel Peacock and Gary Taxali for their nostalgic influences. The early work of Camille Rose Garcia I love as well Shepard Fairey work which is graphically gorgeous. Oh and just recently I saw a show by an artist at the Max Protetch gallery in NYC named Saul Cherncik
q) How much do you think hype affects the public perception of what good art is?
a)Totally - if people start buying your work and others start seeing that, then everyone wants one….many times I’ll look at artists work that constantly sells and I don’t get it. I often think the art world is a microcosm of the fable the Emperor’s New Clothes. But you can’t say anything because ultimately it’s a matter of opinion but I do believe a lot of people just buy to resell so it’s easy for hype to play in - but I think it’s dangerous - it’s great for the artists because suddenly they’re making so much money but when that hype is over it’s really hard to regain that stature. Especially if you art is part of a trend or lacking in substance.
q) Last CD you downloaded ?
a)The last whole CD I download (I usually just do singles) was the White stripes New Album.
q) What makes you happy?
a)Art wise, it’s when I really do a great drawing - or what I think is a good one, that tops anything else I’ve done and also when people buy my art - not so much for monitory reasons but for the fact that people like them and want them in their homes - that the work spoke to them or made them smile enough to want it and pay for it. That makes me happy, naturally, and also being with my wife and our two cats. We have a great life together the four of us.
q) What makes you sad?
a)I am rarely sad but when I think of my parents who are very old leaving this world - that gets to me because I am an only child. Especially because they always wanted grandchildren and we don’t have any and most likely won’t. That’s a sad thought sometimes - I think that is why I am so close with the children I draw - they are all my children in a way
q) Last book you read?
a)God. Not enough. I don’t remember - oh wait yes, I read Cormac McCarthy’s "The Road". It was great. Sad - talk about sad, that made me sad because it’s probably going to happen to us.
q) What else do like other than art?
a)I collect old medical models and ephemera - I keep a journal religiously - I like a nice cigar when I’m taking a break from drawing. I love coffee or having a burger and a beer in a old bar in the middle of a sunny Saturday afternoon.
q) Final thoughts…
a)Thanks Claudio for your interest in having me chat with you…. and thanks to any fans I may have out there on your end.
q)Your contacts…
a)Inky Dreadfuls (a.k.a. Michael Mararian)
or info@inkydreadfuls.com
