Ward Shelley
Artist
What do you make?
- I try to make sense. I don't find a lot of sense in the world we are presented with, so I am interested in where it comes from when we find it. And I think people make it, not find it. I make diagram paintings that are about the act of making sense out of what we call the past; how to structure that information so it makes sense. People call them my Timelines. My larger scale projects are about making sense too, even though at first they look absurd: I make architectural-scale installations that I live in during an exhibition. For me, they are about making choices about your life that gives it purpose - so that's about having your life make sense.
Where else on the web can we find you?
- I have a web site. I don't blog in a regular way, but I try to keep my web site up to date. Most of the paintings and projects I've done in the last 10 years are pretty well represented.
What did you dream about last night?
- Being inside a huge bubble environment with a predatory dinosaur chasing me. Sorry - you asked.
What inspires you?
In the simplest sense, I am inspired by possibility and my potential as a single person to act. But I believe that is all very influenced by my education and exposure to ideas, and by not watching TV. TV is a mind and inspiration killer. Grow your mind with books and the arts.
Where do you live and what do you like about it?
- Rent increases and greedy real estate business people have pushed me out of the city for now. I am working out of a 1200 square foot studio - it's pretty rough - connected to an old farmhouse in the Connecticut ex-burbs. It has a rural feel, even though the area is really becoming the home of affluent commuters. But I kept it pretty simple. I heated mostly with a wood stove and had a real snowy winter - that turned out to be really nice. There were winter birds so I kept a feeder full for them, and watched as the warm weather bird moved in for the spring season. It was my Season of Thoreau.
What is your biggest fear?
- I guess I am beginning to come to terms with this, but my greatest fear is that the human species is so powerful and so short-sighted that we're going to ruin everything. You know, ruin the planet, exterminate half the other species, ruin the lives of other people just so we can have more TVs. Greedy little monkeys - we confuse having lots of stuff with quality of life and we don't want to think about the consequences. Doesn't that scare you too?
Name a few of your favorite movies \ books \ websites \ bands:
- It has been a while since I rated my favs. You can tell by my answer: favorite band is XTC, favorite movie is "Brazil". But more recently, I think the TV series (despite my rant against TV) "The Wire" was incredible. I love all the big animation movies, like "Monsters, Inc." and "Ratatouille". L. A. "Crash" was a great movie.
The last book I read is "An End to Suffering" by Pankaj Mishra, which is an investigation into the history and meaning of buddhism. If you like hard Sci-Fi, try "A Fire Upon The Deep" by Vernor Vinge.
What are you really good at? What are you really bad at:
- I am really good a fixing things. I get a lot of satisfaction from figuring out what's wrong with something and repairing it. Normally I prefer things with a patina of use over brand new. Also, my Dad and grandfather were great fixers and saved parts and pieces of things that might come in handy. I seem to have inherited that.
- I am not normally drawn to crowds, social situations, or parties. My tolerance of social situations is quite low unless I am doing something meaningful - for instance, I really enjoy teaching, but I am impossibly bad at small talk. I feel like I am not such a comfortable person to hang with at a party or opening.
What is your favourite thing to eat?
- I am all about fiber now. I've had to cut way back on pizza and ice cream.
How would you like to be remembered?
- Besides those secret fantasies of me being finally revealed as a towering genius? I suppose I'd like to be remembered as someone who held few illusions about human shortcomings but still was able to be kind and sympathetic to others. I think kindness is on the highest level of moral development. It's the thing I respect the most in people and to which I aspire.
What is the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you?
- I felt pretty embarrassed about getting divorced, but most embarrassments - we adapt to them like they were new truths. I used to be pretty embarrassed about bodily things. Then I found myself in a hospital with tubes and nurses - I discovered I couldn't afford certain modesties. And self acceptance, which is an ever evolving process, just as the self is ever evolving - self acceptance means facing yourself and staring your embarrassments straight in the eye.