ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: AN INTERVIEW WITH JJ LEVINE
Ivona Budrewicz | Nov 10, 2010 |
JJ Levine is a bay area artist specializing in unique and naturalistic works. His projects range from ink drawings and watercolor paintings to sculpture and installation art. His work has been exhibited in various galleries throughout the San Francisco bay area and Southern California, as well as in Santa Cruz and Boulder Creek. The work is reminiscent of the elements of nature that we as a society have disconnected from in this age of industry and modern technology. It seems so distant from our day to day reality, almost frightening in its mystery, and yet provokingly simple in its composition of the most basic natural elements. It seems that while his work is so separate from our world, it reminds us that we too belong to nature. It’s almost worrisome that we’ve separated ourselves from this concept so completely that this type of art can seem mysterious to us.
But of course, that is why we have artists such as JJ. It is work like this that reminds us of who we are and where we come from, and allows us to bear in mind our spiritual connection with the natural world. I interviewed JJ about his thought provoking artwork, hoping to gain insight into his expression of things so separated and yet so connected to our lives. Here is what he had to say:
But of course, that is why we have artists such as JJ. It is work like this that reminds us of who we are and where we come from, and allows us to bear in mind our spiritual connection with the natural world. I interviewed JJ about his thought provoking artwork, hoping to gain insight into his expression of things so separated and yet so connected to our lives. Here is what he had to say:
GlobalShift: Where do your influences come from?
JJ Levine: They usually come from deep within me, from realms of the subconscious or multi-dimensional fantasy/visionary exploration, be it dreams, archetypes, folk tales, or myths.
GS: What are you trying to show with your work?
JJ: People’s inherent connection with the natural and spirit world around them. I strive to make manifest that which is mysterious, primal, and invisible.
JJ: People’s inherent connection with the natural and spirit world around them. I strive to make manifest that which is mysterious, primal, and invisible.
GS: You connect your work to spirituality. Is there a spiritual method involved when you create it?
JJ: Absolutely. When I make art, I go about it from a sacred and honoring perspective, focusing intention not only on the artwork being made, but also on the space where I make it. I take time before I start to clear the space energetically where I am working. This means wiping my slate clean and starting from a place of clarity. Native traditions all over the world have their own ways of doing this, usually involving acknowledging the directions, whether 4, 5 or 7. The four directions; plus above, below and center.
JJ: Absolutely. When I make art, I go about it from a sacred and honoring perspective, focusing intention not only on the artwork being made, but also on the space where I make it. I take time before I start to clear the space energetically where I am working. This means wiping my slate clean and starting from a place of clarity. Native traditions all over the world have their own ways of doing this, usually involving acknowledging the directions, whether 4, 5 or 7. The four directions; plus above, below and center.
GS: Your sculptures seem to have a spiritual presence of their own. Have you gotten any frightened reactions from people?
JJ: Heh heh good question. They do and they have. Their presences really need to be experienced in person. They have this fantastic air about them, as if they are leftovers from a world that no longer exists, or a world that we have lost contact with. It’s fascinating to see how people react to the sculptures. It runs the gamut from wonder to inspiration, but somehow most people sense the otherworldly aspect of spirit, magic and memory.
Yes, people have gotten freaked out by the pieces. I believe this occurs because of the element of nature inherent within the artworks. I feel that they physically and spiritually represent a place outside of time and space that the viewer unwittingly ventures into. An unexpected journey into the deep dark heart of the forest without necessarily understanding the mystery.
GS: What’s the most dramatic reaction to your work that you’ve ever gotten from somebody?
JJ: Probably awe. Where I see the person in a state of amazement, like they are seeing something they have never seen before and are not sure how to process the experience. It has also shown up as wonder, disbelief, confusion, even being scared.
GS: Your ink drawings remind me of Ralph Steadman. Do you get that a lot? Good or Bad?
JJ: Oh yes, that’s totally fine with me.
Steadman was and still is influential. It started when I was trying to integrate painting with drawing and discovered watercolor. Seeing what he did with pen and ink alone was and still is pretty mind blowing. In fact I was just rewatching Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas awestruck at even the recreation of that zany madcap world of sensory overload. Like having your imagination get shingles. Eek.
And no, I don’t get that very often. I’m glad you noticed it.
GS: How long have you been an artist?
JJ: Since I was a child. It all started with sketching and drawing, went on to photography, oil painting, mixed media, watercolor, pen and ink drawing, sculpting, and some performance.
GS: Are you originally from SF?
JJ: No, I was born and raised in Los Angeles. I came to San Francisco to attend the San Francisco Art Institute. I burst open creatively when I discovered all the art making possibilities available to me. Although I was seasoned in photography and drawing, I was still somewhat caged in a two-dimensional realm of artistic evolution. Being around new media, and experimental ways of seeing broadened my horizons and my artist’s eye. Art for me became not only what I made, but also how I perceived the world. At last I claimed the identity of an artist beyond being a photographer, painter, or watercolorist.
GS: What are you studying in school?
JJ: I’m working on my Masters in Transformative Arts from John F. Kennedy University in Berkeley. This school differs from others because it emphasizes the process of art making rather than the product, or end result. It’s been a very powerful program for me, life changing even- making me more aware of how I see art and art making. The experience has become a deep and profound journey of excavation, trust and surrender. A hero’s journey you might say. I think this is because of how I approached the program; holding the intention that what would unfold would be for my greater purpose and for the world’s betterment. When I discovered the Transformative Arts program at JFKU, a lightning bolt went through me telling me that this was something that I needed to do, to take me to where I would prosper. I could feel it, and I knew that it was a higher calling. I clearly recall how matter of fact the whole concept was and in a sense that it was out of my hands. I felt to go to this school, in this program would be totally in purpose, in alignment with who I was born to be.
GS: Do you have a favorite piece?
JJ: Always. It is usually the most recent piece that I’ve made. Although, right now it is a large sculpture that is at my art studio that has been in creation for about two years. It is about ten feet tall and six or seven feet wide, comprised of driftwood, branches, rope, twine, thread, paper, paint, and some other elements I can’t think of right now. It is called Nature Ankh.
JJ: Always. It is usually the most recent piece that I’ve made. Although, right now it is a large sculpture that is at my art studio that has been in creation for about two years. It is about ten feet tall and six or seven feet wide, comprised of driftwood, branches, rope, twine, thread, paper, paint, and some other elements I can’t think of right now. It is called Nature Ankh.
GS: Anything else you would like to add?
JJ: I know what I’m doing, making, and exemplifying is integral to the shift happening of individual and global conscious evolution. Holding this intention as clearly as possible at any given moment allows a vision beyond what I can mentally understand to come forth.
