Royal Jarmon is a painter/sculptor raised in the Midwest now living and working in Brooklyn, New York. His work has been included in various exhibitions in Western Canada and in the Midwest.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do. I was born in California but grew up in the Midwest for the most part, and have had a bit of a nomadic existence for most of my twenties, moving to various parts of the US, Canada, and SE Asia. I am now based in Brooklyn. I am a painter, but have been moving into sculpture. I enjoy making music, writing, and seeing new places.
If you had to explain your work to a stranger, what would you say? I would explain that I use collages of realism abstractly to communicate the concepts of human experience and material relations that I’ve examined so far in life.
What materials do you use in your work and what is your process like? I use acrylic, enamel, and dyes on canvas (primed and raw), and recently I’ve been using rope, foam, and found objects. I like to be flexible and keep the process intuitive. When I am creating there is always an equation that I am working through to solve. I can usually see some sort of image or idea in my mind and I have to to find the way to best express it.
What artists are you interested in right now? Landon Metz, Jeff Depner, and Austin Lee to name a few.
What’s your favorite thing about your city? My favorite thing about Brooklyn is that it’s easy to meet other artists. Being here makes most things to do with art very accessible.
What was the last exhibition you saw that stuck out to you? I recently went to the “Ducks” show at Greenpoint Terminal Gallery; it was a really cool show. I really like the selection of artists that the curator, Ryan Travis Christian, chose to exhibit. It was interesting to see how each artist expressed the subject.
What is your snack/beverage of choice when working in your studio? Coffee, coffee, salt and vinegar chips…
What do you do when you’re not working on art? I really like to make music. I read and write a lot and definitely travel as much as possible.
If you hadn’t become an artist what do you think you’d be doing? I guess I’d be traveling more, living in interesting places and working whatever kind of jobs that I fell into. Maybe doing product design.
What are you listening to right now? I’ve been listening to The Dodos, Deerhunter, Tame Impala, Alt-J, Washed Out, etc…