With each exhibition, we will post interviews with the participating artists along with a photo of said artists in their studios and images of their work. In the future, we will post videos of artist interviews.
“Observing Observing (a white cup)” opens September 12th and continues through October 31, 2015
Curated by Eric Elliott, Michael Howard & Norman Lundin. More than twenty artists (both gallery artists and not) accepted the invitation to submit work.
Reception for the artists, Sept. 12, 2 – 4 pm
Artist Interview #21: Cable Griffith
Photo Credit: Ulysses Curry
1. How did you respond to the idea of the white cup?
I wanted to document and break down the time spent looking at an object as separate instances. Traditional observational painting tends to combine glances and moments of looking, over hours and days, into one focused image. I wanted to track the time looking at something while giving more of a sense of how both the object and myself occupy space and time.
2. Are you a full time artist, if not how do you support your art?
I also teach art at Cornish College of the Arts.
3. When did you consider yourself an artist?
I identified as an artist early in elementary school and wore a beret fairly often. I think I was expressing both my creativity and fantasy of being a paramilitary special ops soldier.
4. What are your influences?
Nature, life, art, mystery.
5. How big is your studio, what kind of lighting?
Maybe 200 square feet? It is very conveniently located in my basement and has track lighting with a mixture of warm and cool bulbs.
6. What is a typical day in the studio like for you? Do you listen to music, radio or tv in your studio?
I prefer to start in the the morning, after breakfast and work until lunch, maybe squeeze in an errand, then continue on until dinner. I almost always have some form of audio on. Sometimes music, or more often a podcast or an audiobook. I tend to get most of my “reading” done this way.
7. What is your preferred medium? Do you work on one project at a time or several?
Lately, I tend to use acrylic paint. Mainly, I like the drying time, easy cleanup and lack of fumes. I use Golden “Open” acrylics because they stay wet a bit longer than normal acrylics. Depending on the project, I’ll work on stretched canvas, hanging, raw canvas, or panel. I tend to work on several pieces at a time, rotating through them throughout the day. It’s good for me not to work something to death and have time to get away from and return to a piece. Also, I can get bored of working on the same piece all day. I like working different pieces and sometimes different bodies of work scattered throughout the day. It keeps things interesting for me and allow me to work through the day without losing my mind.
8. Do you have any special or unique tools, devices or process that you use in your art making?
I use an old overhead projector quite a lot. And I increasingly use Photoshop to work things out. Some recent paintings have come from digital photo collages. If I get stuck on a painting, I will often take of photo of the painting’s current state and play with ideas digitally with a stylus and tablet, before returning to the physical painting.
9. What do you do outside the studio, aside from a job?
This summer, I’ve been fortunate to travel, camp, hike, work in the garden, swim, kayak, and grill lots of food. My wife and I try to keep these things in a steady rotation whenever possible.
“White Cup, 64 Views”, 2015, acrylic on canvas, 24 x 24″
Cable’s work is shown courtesy of G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA
PROGRAPHICA: In the Mind of the Artist 