- Wooden Toy Features -

INTERVIEW WITH RIK LEE // Interview by Jay Chapman

Hello Rik. To get this ball rolling down the hill, tell us a little about yourself. Alright, I'm a freelance illustrator who lives and draws in Melbourne. I have a degree in graphic design, however when i finished my course i concentrated on illustration as that was my real passion. I've been working as an illustrator for quite a few years now. The money's no good but the job itself is awesome. I spend my days listening to music, drawing, procrastinating and trying not to fall off my BMX.

You have developed a distinct style to your work, Has it always been this way? Ultimately my style is derived from the mediums i use, my past and current influences. It's been something I've been working on for a long time and something that continues to develop and transform. I'm assuming it will continue to do so. I don't have a conscious plan of where my work is heading stylistically. I prefer to just draw and draw and let process guide me from one illustration to the next.

Since i was a kid pencil has always been my preffered medium and the one i've felt most confident with. I think the medium itself has had a big impact on my work stylistically. There are alot of limitations with pencil work. For awhile it really bugged me and i experimented with different mediums like painting. But man, I suck at painting. I've learnt to embrace pencil as my primary medium. The more i draw the more profficant i become technically which seems to translate to greater detail and intricacy within my work.

At university i did a process based thesis exploring illustration, focusing on the illustrative portrait work of old masters like Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele. Around the same time I got really into Art Nouveau, in particular Aubrey Beardsley and the Vogue cover art of the 1930's. Over the years i've tried to combine these classical influences with the modern interests like skateboarding, punk rock, teen angst and graphic design. I like to focus on the contrasts between my mediums, past and present subcultures and social trends with a regard for design. Each illustration is a clash of elements and influences that i attempt to present in one cohesive and visually attractive composition.

You cover and use a number of mediums in your work. Do you have a favorite? and what your process? Like i said, pencil is definitely my favourite medium and the one i feel most confident with. I like to experiment with different mediums, however i always seem to return to my trusty pencil box. HB pencils are the best. I have loads of old pencil stubs lying on my desk and forever have dirty fingernails from the lead. As far as the process goes, i almost always begin with pencil drawings of elements. I build the composition with these pencil drawings and then add colour and detail with other mediums. I have a whole bunch of mediums that i like to use, textas, ink, water colour, photoshop.... just whatever seems to work at the time really.

Who is your favorite character in Arrested Development? Easiest question so far: George 'Gob' Bleuth II. C'MON!

You use many different objects in you illustrations. Are these just randomly found or is there a deeper selection method? There are reaccuring themes in my work that influence the objects i illustrate. I'm fascinated by icons and images that reflect and categorise particular eras, genres and subcultures. I enjoy the symbolism of certain objects and the narratives you can achieve through combining and / or juxtoposing these objects.

Sometimes the thematic influences are quite obvious, like with a lot of the 50's / 60's inspired stuff i've been doing recently incorporating classic cars, pin-up style girls, diners and drive-ins etc. In other cases the correlation of objects is less clear, but for me all the objects have there place and reason for belonging in the artwork.

A repeating pattern in your subject matter is females and animals. Any reason behind this? Despite the inclusion of many varied objects in my work, I find illustrating living things more enjoyable then inanimate objects. So people (girls just seem easier to draw then dudes) and animals are the logical choice. When i'm drawing a living thing sometimes i can almost see it come to life on the paper in front of me. It's one of my favourite parts of my whole creative process. I've always been fascinated by people and body language. Mannerisms, facial expressions, fashion... An individuals character and idiosyncrasies are something i'm always attempting to capture in my drawings and the reason I studied classic portraiture artists back at university.Thematically my work tends to revolve around human relationships and conflict. Romanticism, angst, lust, violence, fate, death... all that good stuff. People and animals can represent these things so well both literally and metaphorically. When you take such a long time working on a particular piece you're always going to have all these underlying meanings and narratives going on within the imagery. Whether the viewer chooses to take any notice of these or not is totally up to them.
Also, i've been practicing drawing guys a lot more lately, so hopefully the gender balance will be more even in my future works.

Blue or Pink? Oh man. I use pink a lot in my work. I'd say pink for art and blue for almost everything else.

What artists are you digging at the moment? any one we should know about?I wouldn't know where to begin...? so much great stuff out there.

What was the last album you purchased? any good? Adolescents 1981 self titled album. very good.

Where is your "place of creation"? I work from my bedroom. I've tried studio spaces in the past but i prefer to work from my room. I like to be able to roll out of bed in the morning and straight to my desk. Likewise, i like to be able to roll from my desk straight into my bed at night.

You are a founding member of Andcollective. Whats this about? I helped found Andcollective with three of my closest friends back in 2001. The idealogy behind it was that our friends were all awesome artists but were finding it difficult to get there work out there and seen, so we put together an independent, self published book to showcase there work. Since its inception, Andcollective have crated four publications. It's grown from a a run of 50 we produced on ink jet printers in our bedrooms to a 1000 edition publication funded by Arts Victoria.

You recently had the opening of your solo show, One Last Late Night. How did it go? got anything in the works for the future? The show went really well. The weather held out and there was a good crowd. So, yeah, really happy with how it all went.

I have a few shows coming up later this year, two in Melbourne and two in the States. This October i'm involved in the Lyrics And Type exhibition at Gorker Gallery put on by the good folk at Wooden Toy Quarterly and Semi Permanent. I'm also exhibiting some works in the Tattoo Mystique Exhibition at Outre' Gallery. I'll be showing next to some incredibly awesome artists such as Angelique Houtkamp and Mike Giant which i'm really excited about and totally humbled by. Then I'm in The Fine Line in New York mid October and Paper Pushers in San Francisco this December. I'll be over in New York for that show which is going to be so rad.

Back to the Future 1, 2 or 3, and why? oh man... that's tough. I own the boxset and took it around to a friends place they other night and we argued over which is the best of the three. For me, it's always been a close call between 1 and 2. I think i'll have to say the original, number 1. That scene at the beginning when he's late for school and he skates there towing behind cars... Man, i thought that was so rad as a kid. The first record i ever bought was The Power Of Love single by Huey Lewis And The News because of that scene. Which is kinda embarrassing to admit. But really, that whole era of movies totally rule.

Bike or Car? I just got a new BMX which i'm pretty excited about so i'll say bike.

What's your Favorite desert? My mums chocolate cake, straight out of the oven with chocolate icing and topped with vanilla-bean ice cream melting on it. perfect.

You often use colour sparingly in you work, is there a reason behind this? Again this has a lot to do with the mediums i use. the pencil work is often so light and delicate that if i incorporate too much colour the line work and detail of the pencil is overwhelmed and lost. This is also why i tend to use lighter tones. It's weird because i'm not a pastels kind-of-a-guy. i don't think i'd ever wear a pastel coloured anything, and yet i use pastels in my work all the time.

Whats the biggest thing your proud of? Being able to do what i love doing for a living.

Favorite place in the world? There's this beach near my old house down the coast. I've been going there almost my whole life and moved down there a few years ago and lived there for 14 months. I'd go down there almost everyday and most times see no one at all. I plan to move back there in a few years.

Why the 67 Chevy Impala? Just a classic. It looks so good. it's like my perfect car.

Do you have any formal training?Just my graphic design degree.

Whats your favorite wooden object? My desk is wood, it's where i draw so i'll say that. my wooden drawing desk.

For more of Rik Lee head on over to HERE