What is the driving force behind your work right now
I quit my day job.
Who are some of your favorite artists?
Walter De Maria, Gregor Schneider, Wolfgang Laib, Bruce Nauman
Describe your current studio or workspace.
A 200 square foot room that’s mostly empty, which is how I prefer it. There is a desk and a fire escape where I take smoke breaks. An anvil would be nice.
What are some recent, upcoming, or current projects you are excited about?
I recently launched an organization system titled Junk Drawer. I found it really personally useful and wanted to share it with everyone. Near the end of October, I will launch some new and old products via @basic.space; that should be cool.
What is one of the bigger challenges you are struggling with these days and how do you see it developing?
Paying rent or finding a nice apartment in New York.
I think one day I’ll laugh at the fact I worried about these things.
What do you do when you’re not working on your art?
Ride my bicycle or organize my personal belongings.
What have you been listening to lately?
The birds outside.
Can you talk about some of your earliest projects that you’re most proud of?
Early on, I was creating abstract compositions titled ‘the color red’. I think that was a pivotal moment for understanding how to place things next to one another.
How does your relationship with shape and form dictate the materials you work with?
Being that I don’t use much color, shape and form are everything. The materials in their rawest forms must have an appeal even before working with them. Most of my work is so minimal that the material or form does a lot of the talking.
What is your most unpopular opinion?
Things don’t need to be useful but they need to be beautiful.
If you had not become an artist what do you think you would be doing?
I’d be shearing sheep.
Have you always gravitated towards creating multifaceted work?
Yeah, because I’m kind of good at a lot of different things.
What is your creative process like when you’re collaborating with other artists?
It depends if the artist has hired me to communicate their message, or if we are collaborating on communicating a message together. The few real collaborations I have had consisted of a lot of unsolicited advice on where to place things, or what to add/remove. At some point in the process, I need to be in the same room as you. I like printing things out so we can both look at something within a specific context, outside of a screen.
How would your younger self react to the work you’re creating now?
He would probably save my images and upload them onto Tumblr.
Interview conducted and edited by Wonu Balogun.