WALRUS COMIX PRESENTS 10 Questions with Artist Gretchen Wagoner

Gretchen Wagoner is an and upcoming artist currently finding a tremendous amount of success with whimsical pieces that combine the disciplines of paint and collage in a really unique way, and is garnering her much praise in the design circle as well as the art world. She was recently chosen to be part of the esteemed Tri County Arts Council 25th Annual National Small Works Exhibition. You can buy her work at the fashionable design boutique, SITE, located at 35-11 34th Avenue, Long Island City, NY, 718-626-6030, or visit her website: www.gretchenwagoner.com

1. Where are you from? 
I was born and raised in Wisconsin, I also lived in Minneapolis for about 7 years before moving to New York.

2. Did growing up in the midwest have any affect in the way you see the world?  Absolutely,  I think living in a small town made it more apparent to me how large the world is, I was always striving for the next big thing.  When I was young and would see New York portrayed in movies and on TV, I knew I wanted to live here.  It's completely different than the midwest, but it's actually the only city where I've truly felt like I was at home.  I find tons of inspiration here, the people, snippets of conversations you hear, the buildings, subways, everything.  However, when I first moved here it was sensory overload, I had a creative block for about a year and didn't make anything.

3. Whos your favourite painter and why? 
I don't think I have just one, it's more of a composite of a few. Hannah Hoch for her collages, Joseph Cornell for his collages and shadow boxes. Dorothea Tanning for her beautiful paintings, she is one of the few artists that I've seen mix abstract and representational imagery seemlessly. Picasso too, I especially love his drawings and am in awe of how prolific he was. I try not to be directly influenced by anyone though,  I want my work to look like mine, not another artist but I am certainly inspired by artists that I admire. Sometimes when I'm stuck with a problem in a collage I'm doing, I'll look at a Hannah Hoch book, that usually motivates me to think about the problem in a fresh way, to push the collage in a different direction. I'll have a "what would Hannah Hoch do?" moment.

4. I find that music and the visual arts go hand in hand, what music do you listen to? 
My taste in music is pretty diverse. I like listening to such artists as Gram Parsons, Elvis Costello, Ricki Lee Jones on my turntable. But I also enjoy newer artists like Amy Winehouse, Patty Griffin, and Dr. Dog.

5. Why collage?
For one, I find it very enjoyable.  To me, it's like solving a puzzle or riddle, and to pair it with my other favorite medium, painting, just seems natural. 

6. Your pieces remind me of short stories, perhaps its their size... they make an immediate impression and are focused, like a short story, are you conscious of this?  Yes, since I'm working so small I feel I need to convey something strong within the confines of a small area.  I want the piece to have a big impact but not tell a whole story, much like a short story.

7. Why do you work small? 
Working small allows me to create and complete something while I'm still in the head space where the idea first came to me.

8. How do you begin a piece?
I usually go through a stack of magazines and just start pulling images that appeal to me.  Sometimes these are just pages with textures, no real imagery.   Normally, I'll have a central image or "character" that I want to portray, then I'll try placing other components of around it until I feel the composition looks right and makes sense.

9. Animals seem to be the main theme of your recent pieces whereas your early work is far more abstract, can you explain your focus on the critters?
New York City is a gold mine of inspiration for an artist but after living in New York City for about seven years, I started to long for the nature of my childhood.   This thirst for wilderness was quenched by visits to my father in rural Wyoming or nature photographs that he would take and send to me.  I loved receiving these photographs and they started to drive my work away from abstract imagery towards more narrative compositions including wildlife.  I started to collect other images of animals that I could use for collage.

10. What's your favorite kind of animal? 
Currently, I'm quite smitten with the Capibara, it's the largest rodent in the world.

above: "Canyon", Collage, gouache, graphite, & resin on wood panel, 8"x8", June 2007