Interview by Jimon

1-One word to describe Wyatt Mills? Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice.

2-Where do you currently live and create? Currently stationed in Los Angeles… Lincoln Heights to be exact.

3-Who are of the artists or movements that have influenced your style? So many! The French New Realism movement, Décollage artists, and the many branches of Neo Expressionism have all played roles in shaping my approach to image making.. I love the immediacy and lack of preciousness of artists like Mimmo Rotella, Albert Oehlen, and Rauchenberg.. the figurative rawness of  Markus Lupertz, Marlene Dumas, Walter Dahn, and De Kooning. And the painterly wizardry of Eric Fischl, Jenny Saville, .. and the incoherent readymade dreams of Pieter Schoolwerth, Salle, RB Kitaj, or Neo Rauch.

4-Did you have any formal education or training? I would draw different aliens and monsters when I was 7 and write out their little biographies. By 10, I joined a weekend art class because I had a crush on a girl who was in it. Not long after that, I was obsessed with painting, particularly Claude Monet for some reason. I learned a lot of basic skills from going to that class on weekends, so between that and nonstop doodling throughout high school, I had developed a pretty good skillset by the time I went to college at SVA in New York.

5-Are there non-artistic influences that play a role in your creative process, such as literature, music, or nature? I try my best to exercise my awareness at all times of life, the small things that combine to create the moments, whether they are bland or alluring. That’s why artists never get time off, because every moment has something that could be worth adding into your visual arsenal.. Whether it is an attractive shadow, a movie scene, or a fly on my beer can, I try to see the world as an aesthetic phenomenon.

6-Can you walk us through your creative process, from initial concept to finished piece? I wish I could. I have tried making tree diagrams, tracing steps that led to a successful piece. It never works twice like that for me. It’s more like a fight, or a relationship, you enter each one unable to know if it will be your magnum opus, decent, or barely acceptable. I just have to be physically engaged in the creation of an illusion. The first impetus or brushmark is kind of like the Big Bang and what follows that is kind of unpredictable, which is the fun and scary part. Losing sense is freedom.

7-Do you follow a daily routine or ritual when creating art? I mostly just have to find any time I can around my other obligations. Sometimes it feels like everything else – laundry, birthday parties, dinners, etc-  is just in the way of me painting. I try my best to get minimum 6 hours in every day.

8-Is every piece you create pre planned or spontaneous? Emphasizing uncertainty is essential for my process. If I start with a plan, spontaneity is inevitable. If I start with randomness, it will lead to a plan. I think activity is a necessity — just painting and continuing to do so. I think it’s important to listen to the painting, while encouraging it to take risks.

9-Is there a message or emotion you’re trying to convey with your art? I want to appreciate, observe, and comment on the human experience. Paint lends itself to being a shorthand way of communicating. Whether I am conscious of it or not, a lot of raw emotions come through in the end and sometimes it takes me months to be able to see a painting clearly. Thoughts form matter, literally with painting, so I think it is inevitable that any artist will project some level of emotion or inner integrity into the piece. I enjoy small sentimental portraits, just a compelling reaction to a human being. But I want to continue expanding that intimate reflection into larger narratives.

10-What is the most challenging part of being an artist? Everyone thinking you are free to hang out as soon as they are off work.

11-What do you find most rewarding about being an artist? It’s like an evolved version of being a kid playing in the mud. I have to make sure I never get hesitant of jumping in puddles. I love a good mess.

12-How do you balance the commercial aspects of art with your creative vision? If I have to do a commercial project that can sufficiently provide funds toward my creative vision, that is fine with me. It has to be tasteful and I need artistic license. But as far as commercial endeavors go, artist’s must get  paid in $$$, not “exposure”.

13-How do you measure success as an artist? This is tough. Everyone has different settings..  like a speaker adjustment window but instead of treble, bass, etc , its things like  talent, dementia, sorrow, passion, socialite, financially inclined, family connections, length of commitment, resistance to failure. You can move the levers back and forth to different combinations that will be successful or not — but at the end of the day, it might just depend on luck.

14-What are some mistakes or lessons you’ve learned along the way? I was a feral child when I was 18 and I fell off a roof in Manhattan while fairly inebriated. I broke a lot of bones and my wrists still ache sometimes. I definitely regret that evening, although it changed the course of my life and made me reframe my direction towards being a more serious artist.

15-How do you stay motivated over long periods, especially when not actively exhibiting or selling work? I create deadlines even when there aren’t any. If there’s no show on the horizon, I make one up that is due in 6 weeks. Or I can look through my folders and sketchbooks of ideas and remember that I have hundreds of things I want to do, and there’s not enough time in the world to finish it all.

16-If you could collaborate with any artist, living or dead, who would it be and why? I’d like to see Carravagio paint to death metal. Or maybe if I could lock David Hockney and Johnathan Meese in a room together with a canvas and see what happens — maybe I could observe through a one way mirror or something.

17-What role do you think art plays in society? I think regardless of whether it’s bad or good, art is always a reflection of society.

18-If you weren’t an artist, what do you think you would be doing? I’d probably be living a nice stable life! But the rollercoaster thus far has been worth it.

19-The future is…: …. dependent on the present, the point of power.

20-You have unlimited money to buy one piece of art what would it be? Circe by Wright Baker

21-How would someone find you on social media? Instagram @Wyatt.mills