Interview : Piero Macgowan     

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Piero Macgowan was born in 1983, son of an Argentine father and an American mother, in Valle de Bravo, a town (or small city, as many like to call it) located 2 hours southeast of Mexico City. He grew up and lived there through his childhood and for part of his youth. Ever since he was a small kid, Piero had artistic aspirations. His earliest art pieces, long lines of cars and trucks drawn on the beach sand when he was on vacation, didn't use any other instrument but his bare hands. As he grew up he got interested in Comics, which he soon started drawing, telling the imaginary adventures of his invented characters.

Piero's time at college provided him with the necessary education and tools to be a part of the professional world. He has been working as an illustrator and concept artist for the music video industry, and has been working on a long term personal film project. Although he enjoys working in the United States, he has not forgotten his origins; every time he can, he goes back home to Mexico, where he visits family and friends. He plans to eventually live there permanently.

I.A : Could you speak about your personal artwork?

Piero Macgowan : My artwork deals a lot with metaphors, especially in relation to current world situations. I like to address these social and environmental issues through narrative imagery.

I.A. : Can you speak about your creative process?

P.M. : I find it surprising how different my work process is when I work digitally compared to when I use traditional media. I started using the latter much earlier than computers, so I honestly have a special affinity with them that I have yet to find with a Wacom and a screen. Tangible materials give me a much different experience than digital tools; maybe they subconsciously feel more personal, because they have some uniqueness that artwork which can be reproduced endlessly simply does not have. However, I have found that working digitally allows for a lot of freedom. Creating a painting in Photoshop or Painter is as direct and seamless a connection with my creativity as I can have. The fact that I can instantly lay down any color, mark, and line I want, twist it around, delete it, undo it, crop it, move it, or assign it an exclusive layer while I do something else tight on top of it without affecting it is pretty amazing. This is why I usually keep my process pretty open when I work on the computer. Because I am completely uninhibited, I constantly favour drastic changes on the fly against illustrating a finished initial idea from beginning to end. This keeps it inspiring and engaging; anything can happen with the piece. The only real limit is imagination.

I.A. : I've been fascinated by Exodus and its colors and also very impressed by Rediscovery. You have several different styles, could you talk about them?

P.M. : I would rather say I have no style. I try to stay away from having my work fall into a formula. I just work on trying to represent the images I have in my head as best I can. If my work can be easily given a label then I have become just another producer of conventional images, not an artist. If a certain style comes through in a piece, it is a result of my influences and inspiration at that time. I just hope I can always produce work that is as honest as possible.

I.A. : You seem to always want the viewer to imagine a story behind each of your creations, why?

P.M. : Stories are essential for any illustration. If there is nothing being told, then the artwork becomes purely descriptive or diagrammatic. Having a story behind an image is a way to make the viewer become part of the piece. The longer the viewer spends exploring the world of the image in his head, the more successful the image is for me. A painting of a vase is different from a painting of a vase with dead flowers in it.