Interview: Andrew Hem

As LeBasse Projects gets ready for Andrew Hem’s solo exhibition at the gallery, our neighbor blog “Erratic Phenomena” has run another in depth interview with the artist. Here is an excerpt from the rare well developed interview:

“Andrew was still at work finishing up a few sculptures for the exhibit when he sat down to tell me a bit about where he’s coming from right now.

Erratic Phenomena: In our last interview, you said, “I love creating worlds that do not exist. A world where people don’t care about others’ appearance, and nobody has to worry about fitting in or being an outcast. Where everyone is accepted… I’ve experienced and witnessed too many times where people are disgusted with the different.” Growing up as one of the few Asians in a Hispanic Los Angeles neighborhood was not a particularly pleasant experience for you, and you didn’t really find acceptance there until you began to paint graffiti in high school. Is this dream of a world without bias an idea you’ve contemplated all your life? Do you make a conscious effort to draw attention to our ingrained xenophobia in your work?

Andrew Hem: I just enjoy seeing different cultures in one image. Every time I’m in LAX, I spend extra time looking around in the international section. That’s the only place I know where you have so many races in one place. For some strange reason, I enjoy being there. Maybe it’s because everybody’s so busy trying to catch a plane that they don’t really pay attention to their surroundings. You could find any ethnicity at any time at LAX, and nobody looks twice. I just want to transfer that feeling into my work.”

EP: When we last spoke about your influences, you said you found Van Gogh’s tragic life story and use of color inspiring. You’re also intrigued by the lonely life of Henry Darger – a reclusive eccentric who created a vast illustrated narrative that detailed an epic struggle for freedom by a group of fierce little girls. Both of these men were visionaries who lived tortured lives haunted by delusions and paranoia – yet produced stunningly original work that was revered by later generations, though it went unappreciated in their lifetimes. Do you think that creating truly groundbreaking work requires some strain of divine madness, eccentric genius or spiritual agony? Are artists who are literally “visionary” the ones who push our aesthetic boundaries outside the norm, driving us forward into new realms of artistic exploration?

AH: I think you can be a simple, normal person and create groundbreaking masterpieces. You just gain my utmost respect if you do it at a disadvantage. Their disadvantage is their inspiration, and that inspires me. Everyone plays the cards they are dealt. Creating “Starry Night” with a bad hand is truly remarkable. Most can’t even do it with a perfect hand. So yeah, I think they are indeed the ones who push our aesthetic boundaries.
Read the full interview at: commandax.blogspot.com