Transcript of interview with Forth Magazine:
Forth Magazine: What inspires you to create your gestural pieces? Are there any particular artists who you look up to?
Derek Overfield: I'm a bit of an expressionist and a classicist, with elements of humanism and romanticism, so... that being said, inspiration can come from many places! Primarily, I would say the mediums themselves, as well as the tragic and beautifully raw stories of humanity's myths, folklore and literature. Being a huge fan of figurative art from all times and places, and particularly antiquity and the Renaissance, it's no surprise that the most influential artist for me is Michelangelo. Once I decided to become a serious figurative artist, it's always been Michelangelo, as well as his figurative successor Rodin.
Forth Magazine: How did you develop your technique/style? Did you go through a series of progressions to get to where you are at or did it come about more naturally?
Derek Overfield: Yes, and no. I've been painting/drawing the figure seriously since college (that's been a ways back now) but my paintings weren't connecting to the drawings like I hoped they would. I was working in an acrylic impasto, and though I loved the result, I wanted them to connect even more. Back in college, I had an art professor that once told me "No one really paints like they draw, maybe try to be the artist that pulls that off." While I'm not claiming to have achieved that, a few years ago I put down the brushes and acrylics, picked up a can of latex paint and began "drawing" in paint with chisels and rags. The result was what I'd always been looking for.
Forth Magazine: Explain a bit about your journey as an artist or talk about what a typical day is like in the studio.
Derek Overfield: I grew up in a very rural area so access to fine art was limited. However, I had access to a wealth of dynamic figurative art at the grocery store newsstand in the form of comic books. It was from these books that I learned the "language of the body" as I call it. Once I got to college, I began to work with Lynn Boggess (his skill staggers me to this day) and he broke me out of the rigid tameness of beginner art. As I started to look at art history and I found that the heroism and power of comics had always been there. In fact, it was the basis for the heroism and power of comic books. This sounds obvious now, but to a kid, this was a revelation. I was determined to make art that had a foot in the contemporary and the ancient world.
Forth Magazine: How do you see your work evolving? What comes next?
Derek Overfield: I think all artists struggle with expectations - theirs and others' expectations about art making in general. Often when you're creating a piece you ask yourself if it is enough, or if it is powerful or sophisticated. I was reading a bio about Jackson Pollock, and his wife, the painter Lee Krasner, walked into his barn studio one day and looked at work in process. He asked her "Is this a painting?" She made sure to clarify to the biographer that he didn't ask, "Is this a good painting?" At that moment (and I believe this was after his rise to fame), he was questioning if what he was doing was even painting at all, in the general or historic sense. We all have those moments, of varying degree and influence over us. My hope is that I continue to listen even more to myself and not to let other voices drift in. My work feels authentic and right to me, and I hope to grow more in that respect for my own instincts. My aim is not to bend to others' mold of what a figure painting is, but to perhaps make their mold more sympathetic to my definition.
Forth Magazine: Any current/future exhibitions planned?
Derek Overfield: The last couple of years, I've been exhibiting less in physical places and concentrating more on releasing new work online by the month, as well as several "collections" or series that I release throughout the year. I currently have a couple of collections planned for this year.
Forth Magazine: What do you wish to achieve through your work?
Derek Overfield: Ha, isn't that the question? As I said, I am an admirer of all figurative art, and ultimately I simply want to be a part of that vast overarching story, however small that part might be. My greatest aim is to instill life, vitality, energy or "sacred fire" into the figure. I owe it that much, for all it has done for me.
Derek Overfield: I'm a bit of an expressionist and a classicist, with elements of humanism and romanticism, so... that being said, inspiration can come from many places! Primarily, I would say the mediums themselves, as well as the tragic and beautifully raw stories of humanity's myths, folklore and literature. Being a huge fan of figurative art from all times and places, and particularly antiquity and the Renaissance, it's no surprise that the most influential artist for me is Michelangelo. Once I decided to become a serious figurative artist, it's always been Michelangelo, as well as his figurative successor Rodin.
Forth Magazine: How did you develop your technique/style? Did you go through a series of progressions to get to where you are at or did it come about more naturally?
Derek Overfield: Yes, and no. I've been painting/drawing the figure seriously since college (that's been a ways back now) but my paintings weren't connecting to the drawings like I hoped they would. I was working in an acrylic impasto, and though I loved the result, I wanted them to connect even more. Back in college, I had an art professor that once told me "No one really paints like they draw, maybe try to be the artist that pulls that off." While I'm not claiming to have achieved that, a few years ago I put down the brushes and acrylics, picked up a can of latex paint and began "drawing" in paint with chisels and rags. The result was what I'd always been looking for.
Forth Magazine: Explain a bit about your journey as an artist or talk about what a typical day is like in the studio.
Derek Overfield: I grew up in a very rural area so access to fine art was limited. However, I had access to a wealth of dynamic figurative art at the grocery store newsstand in the form of comic books. It was from these books that I learned the "language of the body" as I call it. Once I got to college, I began to work with Lynn Boggess (his skill staggers me to this day) and he broke me out of the rigid tameness of beginner art. As I started to look at art history and I found that the heroism and power of comics had always been there. In fact, it was the basis for the heroism and power of comic books. This sounds obvious now, but to a kid, this was a revelation. I was determined to make art that had a foot in the contemporary and the ancient world.
Forth Magazine: How do you see your work evolving? What comes next?
Derek Overfield: I think all artists struggle with expectations - theirs and others' expectations about art making in general. Often when you're creating a piece you ask yourself if it is enough, or if it is powerful or sophisticated. I was reading a bio about Jackson Pollock, and his wife, the painter Lee Krasner, walked into his barn studio one day and looked at work in process. He asked her "Is this a painting?" She made sure to clarify to the biographer that he didn't ask, "Is this a good painting?" At that moment (and I believe this was after his rise to fame), he was questioning if what he was doing was even painting at all, in the general or historic sense. We all have those moments, of varying degree and influence over us. My hope is that I continue to listen even more to myself and not to let other voices drift in. My work feels authentic and right to me, and I hope to grow more in that respect for my own instincts. My aim is not to bend to others' mold of what a figure painting is, but to perhaps make their mold more sympathetic to my definition.
Forth Magazine: Any current/future exhibitions planned?
Derek Overfield: The last couple of years, I've been exhibiting less in physical places and concentrating more on releasing new work online by the month, as well as several "collections" or series that I release throughout the year. I currently have a couple of collections planned for this year.
Forth Magazine: What do you wish to achieve through your work?
Derek Overfield: Ha, isn't that the question? As I said, I am an admirer of all figurative art, and ultimately I simply want to be a part of that vast overarching story, however small that part might be. My greatest aim is to instill life, vitality, energy or "sacred fire" into the figure. I owe it that much, for all it has done for me.