Jeffrey Hirst: Minneapolis Artist Interview

Lynette Haggard's Art Blog Weekly Interview

Minor
10 x 30, encaustic, oil on panel

Lynette (LH): Where do you live now and where do you make your art?
Jeffrey: I currently live and work in Minneapolis, MN.

LH: Did you receive any formal art training? If yes where and what did you major in?
Jeffrey: Yes. I have a BFA in printmaking from the University of Minnesota and an MFA in printmaking/ painting from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.  My printmaking experience was important as it taught me to think forwards/backwards-inside/out and I was able to experiment and combine multiple print media.  I still take a combined approach attitude in my artmaking.

LH: Was there a certain point when you decided you were primarily an artist? At what point in your life did you become interested in making art?
Jeffrey: I’ve made art and “things” since I was a child, but I reignited the bug when I took a ceramics class when I first went to college.  Soon after that I decided I would study art and I’ve been making work since.

Jeffrey Hirst in his studio

Landfield

28.5 x 26, encaustic, oil on panel

LH: What is your media?
Jeffrey: Currently I work primarily with encaustic paint, although I also work with mixed-media prints and drawings.  My encaustic paintings often contain elements of “mixed-media”.  For the last several years, I’ve screen printed onto/ into my encaustic work.

 Code and Table #5
10 x10, encaustic, oil on panel

Marsh

38 x 28,  encaustic, oil on panel

LH: Can you describe a bit about your work in general?
Jeffrey: I create abstract work that is based on an urban landscape that explore how man made objects and the natural environment can co-exist.
My interests include how land formations (sometimes unrelated ones) coexist and how it's possible to read vast landscapes in one glimpse. The correlation between urban decay and natural beauty (both at the micro and macro level) influences my work. Near my Minneapolis studio is a large metal salvage yard that rests on the banks of the Mississippi River. The metal yard grinds metal in a jarring, noisy procedure and I find the contrast between the natural beauty of the river and the metal plant of interest. Specifically, I am exploring the “buzz” or energy that develops when such opposing forces parallel each other.
Building, disassembling and reconstructing are also important elements of my work, as I reference ideas concerning excavation, synthesis of materials and the depiction of fragments that will ultimately reflect a whole.
I always work in a series format, and I am currently working on a series of sixty shaped panels that will be shown in an asymmetrical installation.  The installation of the shaped panels will represent an image within an image.  Like all of my encaustic work from the last several years, I am using a traditional hide-skin glue gesso that I tint to give a “prepared under-painting” to the work before any encaustic hits the surface.  I’ve been dyeing, staining, and burning the surfaces of my work since my early printmaking days when I would make and dye the paper prior to printing.  The shaped panel installation piece also has screen printed elements floating from panel to panel.

Pairs and Opposites
28.5 x 26, encaustic, oil on panel

LH: Do you ever get stuck with your work and how do you remedy this?
Jeffrey: I often get stuck with my work but, in fact, think that’s just part of the process.  The way I work is to get a painting to a certain point where it’s working pretty well and then push it over the edge and “wreck” it.  Then I start to re-build/ re-discover the work and this is where exciting things can happen and the work comes alive.  I am interested in having a sense of history in my work and by disassembling/ re-building the work I develop or realize that history.  I always tell people I scrape as much wax off the paintings as I put onto the work.  There are boxes of discarded wax balls around my studio that sometimes end up as darker colors. Sometimes I work on something and it just clicks very fast, but those times are rare.  I guess I’d be concerned if I didn’t get stuck as it might mean I’m not be pushing the work far enough.

Subshell

28.5 x 26, encaustic, oil on pane

LH: Do you have particular habits that you think support your art practice?
Jeffrey: I just work on a regular basis and try to stick to a certain work schedule.  I might have some coffee or tea and then get down to business.  I almost always listen to NPR and drift in and out of conversations/ programs while working.  Getting in a “groove” is not difficult-I just start working and usually I arrive there.  That’s not to say it’s always easy once I’m in that mind frame.

Water and Stones #5
19.5 x 15, encaustic, oil on panel

LH: Can you share with my readers a little about yourself? Where did you grow up and what (if any) were there any early influences on your work?
Jeffrey: I grew up in different areas of Illinois and Wisconsin and later moved to Minneapolis to attend the University of Minnesota. I lived in Baton Rouge while going to graduate school at LSU.
My dad was an engineer and he took a freewheeling approach towards making things-sometimes without hard-set plans-and I watched and learned about using tools when I was very young. I was always building things from wood that I scavengered and was good at piecing contraptions together. This role as builder is still fundamental to my art making.  I like the idea of using a circular saw and a router as a drawing tool and have made many woodcuts and collagraphs using these tools. There’s a bit of a lack of control where your hand is at a distance that I like when drawing with a circular saw.


LH: What is your workspace like? 
Jeffrey: I work in an old brewery building that was restored by the city of Minneapolis for artists/art related businesses during the mid-1990s and I’ve been in my studio since 1996.  It’s very nice-13 feet ceilings and two large windows overlooking the Mississippi River which is about 300 feet from the building.  

Hirst's studio

Water and Stones #18
19.5 x 15, encaustic, oil on panel

LH: What are you reading right now?
Jeffrey: What Painting Is and Pictures & Tears by James Elkins,  Art and Physics by Leonard Shlain and a novel by Adam Langer.

LH: Do you have other jobs other than making art?
Jeffrey: Yes, I work at an ad agency where I have a flexible schedule.  I also teach encaustic workshops at my studio and other locations.  I just taught a three-day class in northern Minnesota at Grand Marais Art Colony on Lake Superior.

LH: Where would you like to be in 5 years as far as your art making?
Jeffrey: Most importantly, I want my work to continue to evolve.  I have been selling work through consultants and want to continue on that path, but I also want to have multiple galleries representing and selling my work. I want to have a solo exhibition at a museum such as the Minneapolis Institute of Art; where there is a program designed for Minnesota artists exhibitions.  I have shown there in group shows, but not yet as a solo exhibition.

LH: Do you have any upcoming shows that you'd like to mention?
Jeffrey: Yes.  I have two solo exhibitions coming up, one in Minnesota in October and another in February in Wisconsin that I am currently working on. See details below:

Upcoming solo shows for Jeff Hirst

Oct 2010
Water & Stones
Myles Reif Performing Arts Center 
Grand Rapids, MN

Feb 2011
The Phipps Center for the Arts
Hudson, WI

LH: Do you have any web links/site/blog etc. you'd like to share that show your work?
My website is www.jeffreyhirst.com

Thanks Jeff!