Sunday, 25 April 2021

A Dye Hard Interview: Michael Wilson: Putting the work together

Photo: Susan Christine Spencer
                                                   

Michael Wilson is an assemblage artist who has always been heavy on techniques using artifacts and disassembled objects from an era long gone. He avoids plastics to make his assemblages look as though they were antiques themselves. Stuff from the dustbin, collected up and transformed. A solid piece needs to have electricity and some of them literally do. That's when a viewer’s responses can be very strong. Once in a while he puts away an art piece until he finds the right part or found object to give the assemblage that edge and  an 'outside the box' feel. He also makes castings of old parts of statues and adds them into the cohesion. The ultimate goal is to have depth and flow, which he oftentimes does, in hitting the 'mark' . He and his wife, artist Susan Spencer, open up their studios on occasion, so when in Northern California ring them up.

DH: How did you come to be an artist? How did you come to work in assemblage, and where do you find your materials?

MW: Growing up in the 1960s I was influenced by my father's art and love of jazz. He was a well- known animator and artist, so I grew up in an environment that proved a lifelong influence. Another big influence was André Breton. I took art classes at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and we got to display our work at the college art gallery. I was also in a graphic arts class and made my first billboard ‒ a double-sided sign reading ‘Ground Floor Gallery’‒ for a space I rented in Old Towne Pasadena, California. We sold few works, but soon found out we weren't salespeople. At that time, before gentrification, there were 400 artists living in a four-block area of Old Towne, in 1977.  

With my training and family background in art I was handed a baton to carry forward a never-ending art project that allowed creative ideas to flourish. Through my collecting junk and antiques I found it inspiring to give old objects a 'new life'. What may look like a series of broken pieces in front of you would ultimately grow to become an assemblage...More

Saturday, 24 April 2021

Monday, 19 April 2021

Coming soon from Dye Hard Press: To try scare them away by Alan Finlay

Dye Hard Press will soon publish To try scare them away, a chapbook of nine poems by Alan Finlay.

16 pages.

ISBN 978-0-9869982-9-4

Limited to 50 copies.

Alan Finlay has published several collections of poetry, most recently That kind of door (Deep South, 2017). He started two poetry journals — Bleksem and donga — and was also the editor of New Coin. He lives in Argentina, but travels to South Africa regularly. This is his fourth Dye Hard Press title. 

Due end of May: Outside the cave: selected poems by Gary Cummiskey

 

'Cummiskey writes devoid of the lyrical ego found in much of South African poetry. Perhaps his progenitor is Beiles, but this collection shows he is a much more consistent poet, and ultimately, I think a better one. I first read his poetry nearly 30 years ago – and have read his many chapbooks since. This powerful and exciting selection of poetry should as much as possible be read in one go. His poems accrue meaning.' - Alan Finlay

Outside the Cave: selected poems by Gary Cummiskey is due out at the end of May 2021. The poems are selected and introduced by Kobus Moolman.

164 pages.

ISBN 978-0-9869982-8-7

 

Friday, 16 April 2021

Earth mother


 

Thursday, 15 April 2021

Monday, 05 April 2021