Art Monsters - Interview With Neil Blevins

IA: When are they helpful to the artist and what is the danger behind them?

NB: Well, as I said, the danger is being too enamored with the process. For example, I've found that if I try designing on the computer the individual pieces of my creations will quickly start to look like variations on primitives because those are the easiest shapes to make. This is why I plan all my details on paper first where I can basically create any shapes I want to and quickly, and then replicate them in 3D. I find that process lets me create far more complex and interesting shapes.

IA: Do you think that your art which is based on forms and objects is more a job of assembling these forms, like a sculptor recuperating objects to carve them into a new masterpiece?

NB: I try and create new larger forms, and then build them out of smaller pieces to form a whole. I enjoy playing with the size and proportion of these forms to create interesting visual designs.

IA: Who and what are the greatest influences in your art?

NB: I have many influences. Some of my top influences would be Giger, Beksinski, Turner, and Dave McKean. I am also highly influenced by TV and movies, like the original Star Wars. Anime, such as Mazinger Z and Grendizer (I watched those as a pretty young child), and of course the Transformers has been very influential.

IA: Can you name works of artists that you admire (Classical or moderns, any field)?

NB: Joseph M.W. Turner, The Fighting Temeraire. Giger's New York series, Dave McKeans Fear Factory album artwork or anything in his two books "A Small Book of Black & White Lies" and "Option Click."

IA: If you have the chance to reinterpret a masterpiece, which one would you choose and why?

NB: Maybe one of Hieronymus Bosch's Hell pieces since his work thematically interests me, although his personal style is something quite different from my own.