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Take Away Project #9, Adam Estes Speaks with Naomi Steven
July 1, 2011 | Take Away Project
I had the pleasure of inteviewing local artist Adam Estes about his work and influences. I had no preconceived notions of what kind of person he would be, but he is a truly fantastic man. His artwork consists of abstract creatures and brilliant collaborations of colours. The first piece of his that caught my eye was Mordern Madonna with Child. It features a distorted looking creature with a hole her its stomach, clutching another small creature. When I asked him about this piece  he told me that it represented the attachments of mother and child in today’s society, including themes of abandonment due to outside factors. I had the opportunity of talking to him twice, once over the phone, and the second time over an email. Here is the email interview.
Q. Who was the first famous artist that inspired you?
A.  I don’t know that I can remember the first, but i would say that the art work of antiquity inspires me to paint. Hieronymus Bosch is definitely one of my favorites from European history as well as William Blake, but I cant specifically relate the inspiration to paint to any one famous artist.
Q.  If you had to pick 3 famous artists to be your favorites, who would you pick? Why did you pick these artists?
A. 3 is not enough but if i had to pick three at this moment in time as far as effecting my own work I would say.
Alfonse Mucha: Mucha pretty much is the start of Art Nuevo.  Before art Nouvo was a tern it was called the Mucha Style.  His work is both graphic and design oriented but his work has so much depth outside of the commercial application it has been used for.  Mucha used a lot of significant symbols and numbers in his art.  He was clearly driven to create and outside of that put a lot of thought into the deeper meaning behind his work even though so much of it was commercial oriented.  His Slav epic is probably one of the most under appreciated pieces of artwork, and to look at it now one can see he was ahead of his time his work touches on very intangible human ideas and deep symbolism which i find are greatly over looked not only is his work but in the art world in general.  Mucha spent most of his life trying to get his work accepted outside of those commercial applications and for people to recognize all of time thought and symbolism found in his work.  I love his use of geometry, i love the subtlety in his symbolism, and i love his color palette.
Bosch:  Bosch is an enigma very little of his work has survived and some work attributed to him might not even be his.  His epic Garden of Earthly Delights has been one of my favorite pieces of art since i was 6 years old.  Again like Mucha i enjoy the symbolism present in Boschs work.  I also like that his work is very busy.  There is always something new in his work each time i look at it.  His work is beautiful,  intensely detailed, and has a otherworldly nightmarish imagery.  His work to me is Iconoclastic in the way that William Blakes work is Iconoclastic and visionary.
Ludwig Wittgenstein:  I value Wittgestein not as an artist but as a philosopher.  I also believe that anything done well is art.  To me Wittgensteins philosophy is art.  In the last three months the Tractatus Logico Philosophicus has greatly effected my art work.  Wittgenstein has pulled back the veil covering lifes structures for me. I recommend exploring philosophy.  Reading anything will help with art.  If you are a cyclist and you ride your bike all the time and never walk  distances you sell your self short on the development of different muscles used for distance walking that help to improve the strength and dynamics of your cycling.  The same is true of art.  You must exercise other parts of the mind and introduce fresh ideas or your art will always fall short of your goals.
Q. What is the first thing you observe in a piece of artwork?
A. intention of craft (that the piece being represented as been thought about from beginning to end and a high attention to detail has been used to refine the artists ideas.  Each part of a painting must be treated with reverence toward the end result.)
Q. What is your favorite famous piece of art and why?
A.  I don’t have a favorite piece of art.  I find it very hard to pick just one piece because there is so much that has been created to exalt one piece of artwork over all others is impossible, and to list all the works I truly love…the list would be too long.  Instead I like to look at the work and compare an contrast its relevance to my own work and the ideas that I am trying to push forward.
Q.  If you had to be taught certain things and only one famous artist was to be your mentor, who would you pick?
A. Alfonse Mucha.  I would want to see his process.  His work is clean and titanic in its attention to detail and its hidden meanings.  His work is in my mind is a great synthesis of graphic elements and painterly thought and expression.  I want more of those things for my work.  Not so much the graphic aspect but the seamless blending of ideas into a cohesive new idea of expression.
Q. What are the most important aspects of a piece of artwork?
A. a.Time and care spent in preparing the substrate.  How can ideas be taken seriously if your intentions are not found in every aspect of the completed work.
b. Artwork should be visually evocative.  Artwork should illicit emotional response, it should speak to the mind and soul.  That is not to say that it must be intense but even in its subtly it should resonate with intention.
c. Concept:  Artwork should have concept outside of a pamphlet of information to be handed out while looking at the work.  A real work of art stands on its own and information garnered later about the process and ideas behind the work should only serve to add to its easily perceived depth .  The idea of conceptual art is a misnomer all art is conceptual at its inception.
Q. What is your favorite time period of art?
A. At the moment the medieval time period back to antiquity is my favorite area of research.
Q. How do other artists influence your work?
A. I have had the priveldge of meeting quite a few very important artists in my life and am lucky to call them friends as well.  Because of our continued interaction and affinity for each others work I have garnered mainly through conversation an appreciation for there process and for their differing ideas.  This kind of discourse helps to give greater depth to my own ideas and has pushed me to explore things and do things i might not have done otherwise.  No artist lives in a creative vacuum all art is based off of what has come before, and what is happening now.  Through interaction with other artists be it talking, going to see shows, or painting together you help to not only refine your own ideas but you assist others as well, often times in ways you would have never thought possible.
As you can see, Adam is a very thoughtful and expressive human being, and art is clearly extremely important to him. It has been wonderful talking to him and I highly suggest you try to contact him if you ever need to talk to any local artists!

estesI had the pleasure of interviewing local artist Adam Estes about his work and influences. I had no preconceived notions, but he is a fantastic man. His work consists of abstract creatures rendered in brilliant colors. The first piece of his that caught my eye was Modern Madonna with Child. It features a distorted looking creature with a hole her its stomach, clutching another small creature. When I asked him about this piece  he told me that it represented the attachments of mother and child in today’s society, including themes of abandonment due to outside factors. I interviewed him twice, once over the phone, and the second time through an email. The following is the email interview.

Naomi Steven: Who was the first famous artist that inspired you?

Adam Estes:  I don’t know that I can remember the first, but i would say that the art work of antiquity inspires me to paint. Hieronymus Bosch is definitely one of my favorites from European history as well as William Blake, but I cant specifically relate the inspiration to paint to any one famous artist.

NS.  If you had to pick three famous artists to be your favorites, who would you pick? Why did you pick these artists?

AE. Three is not enough but if i had to pick three at this moment in time as far as effecting my own work I would say:

1. Alfonse Mucha. Mucha pretty much is the start of Art Nuevo.  Before art Nouvo was a tern it was called the Mucha Style.  His work is both graphic and design oriented but his work has so much depth outside of the commercial application it has been used for.  Mucha used a lot of significant symbols and numbers in his art.  He was clearly driven to create and outside of that put a lot of thought into the deeper meaning behind his work even though so much of it was commercial oriented.  His Slav epic is probably one of the most under appreciated pieces of artwork, and to look at it now one can see he was ahead of his time his work touches on very intangible human ideas and deep symbolism which i find are greatly over looked not only is his work but in the art world in general.  Mucha spent most of his life trying to get his work accepted outside of those commercial applications and for people to recognize all of time thought and symbolism found in his work.  I love his use of geometry, i love the subtlety in his symbolism, and i love his color palette.

2. Bosch. Bosch is an enigma very little of his work has survived and some work attributed to him might not even be his.  His epic Garden of Earthly Delights has been one of my favorite pieces of art since i was 6 years old.  Again like Mucha i enjoy the symbolism present in Boschs work.  I also like that his work is very busy.  There is always something new in his work each time i look at it.  His work is beautiful,  intensely detailed, and has a otherworldly nightmarish imagery.  His work to me is Iconoclastic in the way that William Blakes work is Iconoclastic and visionary.

3. Ludwig Wittgenstein.  I value Wittgestein not as an artist but as a philosopher.  I also believe that anything done well is art.  To me Wittgensteins philosophy is art.  In the last three months the Tractatus Logico Philosophicus has greatly effected my art work.  Wittgenstein has pulled back the veil covering lifes structures for me. I recommend exploring philosophy.  Reading anything will help with art.  If you are a cyclist and you ride your bike all the time and never walk  distances you sell your self short on the development of different muscles used for distance walking that help to improve the strength and dynamics of your cycling.  The same is true of art.  You must exercise other parts of the mind and introduce fresh ideas or your art will always fall short of your goals.

NS. What is the first thing you observe in a piece of artwork?

AE. intention of craft (that the piece being represented as been thought about from beginning to end and a high attention to detail has been used to refine the artists ideas.  Each part of a painting must be treated with reverence toward the end result.)

NS. What is your favorite famous piece of art and why?

AE.  I don’t have a favorite piece of art.  I find it very hard to pick just one piece because there is so much that has been created to exalt one piece of artwork over all others is impossible, and to list all the works I truly love…the list would be too long.  Instead I like to look at the work and compare an contrast its relevance to my own work and the ideas that I am trying to push forward.

NS. If you had to be taught certain things and only one famous artist was to be your mentor, who would you pick?

AE. Alfonse Mucha.  I would want to see his process.  His work is clean and titanic in its attention to detail and its hidden meanings.  His work is in my mind is a great synthesis of graphic elements and painterly thought and expression.  I want more of those things for my work.  Not so much the graphic aspect but the seamless blending of ideas into a cohesive new idea of expression.

NS. What are the most important aspects of a piece of artwork?

AE: There are three—

a. Time and care spent in preparing the substrate.  How can ideas be taken seriously if your intentions are not found in every aspect of the completed work.

b.  Artwork should be visually evocative.  Artwork should illicit emotional response, it should speak to the mind and soul.  That is not to say that it must be intense but even in its subtly it should resonate with intention.

c.  Concept:  Artwork should have concept outside of a pamphlet of information to be handed out while looking at the work.  A real work of art stands on its own and information garnered later about the process and ideas behind the work should only serve to add to its easily perceived depth .  The idea of conceptual art is a misnomer all art is conceptual at its inception.

NS. What is your favorite time period of art?

AE. At the moment the medieval time period back to antiquity is my favorite area of research.

NS. How do other artists influence your work?

AE. I have had the priveldge of meeting quite a few very important artists in my life and am lucky to call them friends as well.  Because of our continued interaction and affinity for each others work I have garnered mainly through conversation an appreciation for their process and for their differing ideas.  This discourse gives greater depth to my own ideas and has pushed me to explore things and do things I might not have done otherwise.  No artist lives in a creative vacuum, all art is based off of what has come before—and what is happening now.  Through interaction with other artists be it talking, going to see shows, or painting together you help to not only refine your own ideas but you assist others as well, often times in ways you would have never thought possible.

To see Adams work go to: http://www.bakerartistawards.org/nomination/view/adamqestes




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