Hungry Eyeball Interviews Portland Artist Jason Graham

Jason Graham is going to be apart of the 1st Hungry Eyeball Art Show on Feb 19th, 2010 at Lyrik in Portland, Oregon.

You came from Fresno, CA. and now in Portland, OR. what’s different?
alot of things are different between the two. in general portland has clean fresh air, tons of beautiful parks, lots of great vegan food, tons of art, great music, and it’s really bike friendly. fresno really doesn’t have any of those things. one great thing that fresno does have is a small tight knit community of really talented artists and musicians that i was lucky enough to be part of and learn from for a few years. fresno is also very friendly to outdoor murals right now, downtown is covered with some really great murals from alot of my friends, check out muraldistrict.com to see a few of the murals. one major difference in the art scenes is that in fresno, if you were doing an art show you were probably the only one in town doing a show, and lots of people are hungry for art there, so the show would be packed. as opposed to portland where its so saturated with artists and venues to show art, its harder to stand out. don’t get me wrong, i love living in a city that is so supportive of art. i have a lot of love for both city’s.

How did ‘09 treat you as an artist?
2009 treated me pretty well. i stayed busy enough with making art to not have to go out and find a real grown up job, so that’s nice.

What are you hungry for in the year 2010?
i’m hungry for happiness, and vegan soyrizo burritos from the taco truck on 50th and division.

What are thinking or planning for the upcoming Lyrik show?
i’m working on some small really intricate pen and ink drawings. i will also have some watercolors, and i’m working on a larger acrylic painting as well. so i’m going to mix it up a bit as far as medium go’s but it should still have all have the same underlying feeling, and feel very cohesive. i’m looking forward to the show. i’m really happy to be showing with eatcho and klutch, two artists who’s work i’m a fan of. i feel sort of lame i don’t have a sassy nickname like them though.

If you were to have a one word name what would it be?
switchblade

I was looking at your past work and was wondering if you were claustrophobic or if you had any phobias?
i  have some anxiety problems, i’m not claustrophobic i’m probably more agoraphobic. i’ve become pretty reclusive, just painting and drawing in my little cave. i think a good move would be for me to get an art studio away from my home again. i’ve come to realize how important the separation of work space and home are to me… when i work at home i can never get out of my own head, if that makes sense. it’s just me and my headphones all the time.

Do you put yourself in your art, why or why not?
i do. i can’t help but put myself in my work. it’s been my coping mechanism and my therapy everyday since i can remember. i feel like all my work is very personal, but if someone asks me what a piece means i won’t say, because i like to let the viewer take what they want from it and assign their own meaning to it.

What’s your mission in life?
to improve as an artist, until i’m content with my work. to paint until my hands don’t work anymore. just to try and be happy.

Tags: art scenes, art show, artist Jason Graham, Eatcho, fresno art, fresno art scene, fresno ca, fresno murals, Jason Graham, Jason Graham art, Jason Graham artist, Jason Graham portland, Klutch, Lyrik, portland art scene, portland oregon, vegan food