#catapultmagazine

[toriwestonwriterartist]

#LitinPDX was awesome and by far THE best #awp19 event! @m.galbraith #catapultmagazine #penamerica #stonybrooksouthampton #benningtonwritingseminars #thesouthernreview (at Portland, Oregon) https://www.instagram.com/p/BvozB2knHtd/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=15dguy3tz6c72

[kauffmanmax]

Interview at Catapult Mag

http://issuu.com/catapultartmag/docs/catapult_0413.v20?mode=window

Heres the text from our talk if youre not good at the web/impatient. 

Max's work has an air of whimsy to it that invokes folk and fantasy, spirit and space, movement, and moments captured in time. Often reminding us of modern day cave painting, the depiction of the old and new coming together in recognition of each others cultures and beliefs, presented on a canvas rather than edged in a wall. All this is served up on a visual stage that allows appreciation even to those who cannot see the symbols that are obviously represented. Behind all this lay a great thinker, one who's contemplation of our progress as a whole is a direct reflection of the works presented.

questions:

1. Max, thank you for taking the time to speak with us. Perhaps you can start by giving us a little back story, where your from, and how you came about into the world of fine arts.

I was born in Chicago, IL and came of age in a land known as South Bend IN.   I always did art here and there, but skateboarding was my everything up to and briefly into college.  That  gave me that idea of a bigger picture in the world and as something to maybe work towards(like doing board graphics).  I don't think I had the  thought to show work in any measure until I was out of school.  I had a little show in my hometown and then started working at sending work out to various places.    Galleries didn't have as much of an internet presence then, so I remember looking at places in Chicago via a phone book…..

2. There are so many different abstracted and sometimes literal references in your work that speak to our civilization as a whole, and the belief systems in which it's all based on, can you tell us a bit about the thought process behind your work and it's inspiration?

  Ive sorta heaped different thoughts and back stories and ideology on my work over the years, so it becomes a sort of soup of several messages.   Its like vignettes of different eras of the same plane.   Maybe its our planet post apocalypse, maybe many years before we were the dominant species. Maybe its all Atlantis…

I had a minor in Anthropology in college and I think it was the most important thing I took from school.  

 So originally in the work I showed a land without people, and little buildings appearing as a sort of virus/fungus on the larger animals/beasts of the area.   Then gradually there were the two entwined, sometimes in discord, sometimes coexisting.   Then religion and ideology came into the work, and that took on a giant importance.  Never about a specific religion, but showing the importance of ritual, of things that are or are read as 'magic'. Im real influenced by/inspired by ancient cultures symbols and the old narrative through visual methods of storytelling.    Slowly in the last two years, Ive been working at phasing out to some degree the beasts and birds that I used to portray heavily, and now focus more on the things they created- their talismans, their structures, their places where they take refuge.     

3. You were rather involved in the art world at large behind the scenes in writing articles and doing interviews, how did this effect your work and process?

Well, its helped with learning how things work.  Can't say its directly impacted me much, but its a nice mitzvah.  I didn't have much support or guidance when I started out, so it feels good to cast light/promote/share people who's work I admire with to a larger audience.

4. You recently made the big move to the bay area, what brought this on and how is life in this new venture / location?

I felt for myself the need to interact with a larger audience, to go beyond what Id been doing in Denver.   It was an amazing place(and community of artists), but Id gotten into a place mentally where ah, low hanging fruit was an easy target.   I needed to be hungry again.   

5. When many of us were in our youth, the world was a much different place, art and music not being nearly as accessible as it is in this day and age. How has this modern day of technology changed your life in rewarding ways?

That I can play any random stretch of music Im thinking of at any given time.   That beautiful(and damaging) bliss of immediate gratification.   

6. On the note of accessibility, I know your a bit of a music nut, can you tell us the types of tunes that are playing when the brushes is moving and inspiration is high?

Its all over, but generally stuff I know when Im working on tight detail areas, and more experimental stuff or new to me music when I need to stretch out.    Current go to's for the last series of work were Umphrey's Mcgee, fall 98 Phish, Tame Impala, the new Big Boi, Ghostface, Shabazz Palaces and some weird Cut Chemist mixes.  Growing up I knew no artists, and didn't know many until I was in my 20s.  Always knew musicians though.  So their process for writing and creating made sense to me.  That style of building, especially as relating to improvisation.   Composed elements->improv->back to framework(at least as a general guide).

7. Are there any upcoming projects that you'd like to share with us? Or types of projects that you'd really like to get involved with that you'd like to put out there to the world?

A fun project with a pal from Denver.  We've been doing really immersed collaborative pieces and had talked about  a zine, but the level of the project is getting larger than expected so were hoping to do a book now.    No shows yet, though some plotting for 2014 is happening.    It'd be nice to do a show in LA this year with larger works…perfect world I suppose.        

8. Well thank you for taking the time to speak with us Max, are there any words of wisdom you'd like to leave us with or additional thoughts you'd like to note?

Thanks for having me, so appreciated!     Stay focused & stay hungry.    Thats all I have.