Guest Interview with Michael deMeng

We have been waiting almost 3 months to share today's guest interview with you and he needs no introduction to the mixed media, collage or assemblage art world.  If you have not taken a workshop with him, you have read or heard about him for many years.  His artist statement reads:

My work is about transformations.  It is about the transformation of the common into the sacred.    Discarded materials find new and unexpected uses in my work; they are reassembled and conjoined with unlikely components, a form of rebirth from the ashes into new life and new meaning.   These assemblages are metaphors for the evolutions and  revolutions of existence:  from life to death to rebirth, from new to old to renewed, from construction to destruction to reconstruction.  These forms are examinations of the world in perpetual flux, where meaning and function are ever-changing.

MP:  What made you decide to become an artist and how old were you when you knew?

It was my very first book, no not Secrets of Rusty Things, but “Moon Monster”.  I was in preschool and I wrote this epic tale:  Scene one: Spaceman goes to the moon and lands safely. Scene two: he sees a giant cyclopean moon monster, that proceeds to crumple his rocket ship.  Scene 3:  Spaceman calls for help.  Sporty rocket ship shows up with his buddy, named Buddy.  Scene 4: Buddy shoots monster with raygun.  Monster dies and falls off moon.   Scene 5: The two astronauts head home.  On the way they pass the monster floating in space.  Scene 6:  They land in Hawaii (which is where I was living at the time) and are given leis.   The End.   So it was at this point I knew I was going to be an artist…that or a spaceman.

MP:  We all know you as the assemblage pro, tell us what draws you to assemblage?

Not having a blank canvas.  One of the biggest difficulties I have is starting.  When I was a painter, I hated staring at the big blank piece white.  It is very intimidating.  You have to create an entire universe from nothing, and that is tough.  Nice thing about assemblage is that part of the universe is already created.  There are certain existing structures that help direct me as an artist.  Before I was into assemblage, I used to paint by putting collage elements down first for this very reason.

MP:  You are an incredibly great teacher, how do you find time to teach and to make art?

Do I?  That is the tough part.  You just have to be disciplined.  Plus, my teaching schedule typically ends after my Oaxacan Day of the Dead workshop  in early Nov. and doesn’t start up again until Spring.  I tend to get quite a bit done in the winter months, and then hunker down between classes.  Discipline, discipline, discipline.

 

MP:  Do you have a favorite medium or technique that you use a lot in your work?

Well, I started as a painter, so for me nothing is done until paint is added.  The technique I use the most is doing layer upon layer of wash.  This is the effect that I use to create the rich depth and aged quality in my pieces.  Layer after layer of paint, it creates a feeling of layers of time.

MP:  What advice would you give an emerging artist?

Stick with it.  What people may not know about me is that I bartended to make ends meet until I was 39.  During that time I was still very diligent about making art and exhibiting art.  Art-making is a commitment.  During those years I spent at least 30 hrs a week in the studio regardless of what was going on.    Basically I made a commitment to myself that I would follow through with the whole art thing regardless of the outcome; if I was ninety and nothing became of it, then I was prepared for that.  Fortunately, for now, things are working out.

MP:  Do you have certain times of the day or night that you find your muse is at its best?

I work in waves.  Start off in the morning…work till things stop flowing come back after a bit…sometimes 5 minutes sometime five hours…repeat.  I have noticed that I tend to get the most with the least amount of artistic hassles if I start really really early in the moring, like 5 or so.  As you can imagine this is not always the easiest thing to do…in fact it is downright hard ,so it is not the norm, but when it happens it’s great.

MP:  If for just one day, you could be anyone from anytime in history, who would that be?

That is a really tough question.  I’m not one of those who wished I was Alexander the Great or the Red Baron or Margaret Thatcher,  but  have to say I would love to have been a spectator in certain events of time.  How amazing would it be to see Shakespeare’s “the Temptest” in the Globe Theater, or to watch Houdini dive into the ice of the Detroit River, shackled?  I’m  a café people watcher so for me it would have been really marvelous sitting in  Parisian café drinking absinthe chatting with Picasso and Hemmingway…in between hallucinations.

MP:  Are there artists whose career you follow?

One of my favorite artists is Daniel Martin Diaz, who does something that is a cross between Latin American retablos and tattoo style paintings.  Another artist that I really enjoy is Carlomagno Pedro Martínez, he is a Mexican artist from Oaxaca Mexico.  A number of years back I purchased a couple prints from him.  Now he seems to be working in mostly black pottery; I have a piece in my collection consisting of a group of clay skeletal women sitting on a park bench gossiping.  Beautiful.  My absolute favorite artist is Anselm Kiefer, he works large, and does a mixture of painting and assemblage.  In fact, he literally  paints with objects.  He’s does some of the chunkiest art around.

MP:  Do you have an affinity for any of the art masters of yesteryear? If so, who and why?

Art is like science., it grows from the bones of its predecessors.  You may not work in the same way, or even, like what particular artists of the past did but contemporary artists owe everything to them.  For instance, one of the most influential artists to me is Rothko, a color field painter.  Some might say that I have nothing in common with his work, but in truth, his painting style taught me how to use color and texture in the context that I do. 

Believe it or not much of my inspiration comes from early silent film.  Films like Nosferatu, Metropolis, and the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari were tremendously influential.  Film, of course, is a totally different medium than what I currently do, but what these films taught me is the use of light and shadow.  This is a good example of how you never know where an influence might come from.  That’s why even if I don’t care for a particular style of art from the past, I try and understand why it is significant and what I can learn from it.

MP:  Do you have any upcoming projects/books/events/etc we can look forward to seeing in the future?

Oh yes, I’ve been frantically working on my next book.  It is all about my interpretation of Mexican art forms.  It also gives me a chance to share strange, wonderful, and funny experiences that occurred while visiting that marvelous country south of the border.

MP:  Is there anything you would like the art world to know about you or your art that we did not cover in our interview?

Sure…I’m available to do commissions….

If you would like to see and learn more about Michael's work visit his website and blog.

Michael, thank you for taking time out of your very busy scheduled to share with our readers.  We look forward to being inspired by your future works.

Artwork courtesy of Michael.

Comments

[Roberta Karstetter]

What a wonderful, informative interview!! I love Michael's work, he is a great inspiration to me (as well as to thousands), I admire him greatly!

[Brenda Wampler]

Thanks to Michael for taking the time in his crazy schedule for this interview. It was very eye-opening, and educational. Really puts into perspective the time this can take!

[Judy Keefe]

Thanls for the great interview! It was very informative.

[Penny A]

Always a treat to learn more about artists we love! Thanks for a great feature! Michael, thanks for sharing some of the 'nuts and bolts' of your creative process :-)

[peggy gatto]

Michael is the best teacher!!!! He lets you follow your idea and makes suggestions, nothing is right or wrong and he gives you the tools, hints, and info to create.
If you ever have a chance to take a class from him please do yourself a favor and sign up!!!

[julee]

great article... michael is a huge influence on me as an artist and as a teacher. its not terribly obvious in my work, but its there... i so appreciate "hearing" these words and remembering, like Peggy said, all of the great things i've learned from his classes.

thanks, dude! ;) thanks MMCA!

xoxo
jul