A.E. THESIS INTERVIEW
On Monday, April 27, 2015, Andrea K Eaton <aeaton@pugetsound.edu> wrote:
Hello!
My name is Andrea Eaton. I follow you on most forms of social media and I actually messaged you on Tumblr a long while ago about doing some sort of interview for my radio station. I just realized quite recently that you had responded to the message! But now I was wondering if you would be interested in being interviewed for a different reason. I have a project for my senior thesis class; basically we have to interview a contemporary artist that we admire and give a presentation on them. I really really love your internet presence and you art is amazing, so you were one of the first people I thought of!
Let me know if you would be interested!
Best,
Andrea
From: jesse spears
Sent: Monday, April 27, 2015 5:53 PM
To: Andrea K Eaton
Subject: Re: Interview
wow that is some kind words thank you!
yes of course im down, do you want to send me an email of questions? what are you studying?
On Tue, Apr 28, 2015 at 12:56 PM, Andrea K Eaton <aeaton@pugetsound.edu> wrote:
Wow, thanks for emailing back so quickly! I'm actually a printmaking major and a graduate in a couple weeks!
So, I tried to come up with some questions cause this presentation is fairly open ended. So here are some! Feel free to answer some or none, feel free to do whatever you want with the questions! Thank you so much again for doing this!
- So, I came across your art probably my junior year of high school, my friends Reese and Tyler were really into you and all the work your friends and you were producing, particularly Zines. We all got really into making zines and shit, it was a really cool way to make art without being stigmatized by the term “making art”. I was just wondering your thoughts on zines and their role in art, why they are important?
ok this is blowing my mind. i make art all the time but i dont really know how its being received or if people actually like it or get it so this is nice to hear. i like zines because everybody gets the same thing. and theyre like a good way to pass jokes. ive made some terrible ones though and thats kinda the messed up part about them. its a harsh feeling to realize something you have put out into the world sucks, ive made some really bad art but im ok with embarrassment i hope atleast it helps other people feel cool. zines can also kinda be like trash sometimes, like theyre usually not full color and theyre kinda just like pieces of shit. making zines that dont feel like trash is my goal.
- You are constantly making things, like I follow you on Snapchat and you are always posting things in your house and I’m just like “damn girl, get it!”. How do you do that? Like I have a really hard time just being like “fuck it, I’m going to do what I want and make things 24/7 and be happy with them”.
bottom line im insane. right now im trying to master the art of making art when im happy. i usually make art cus im feeling some fucked up emotions. when im happy the last thing i want to do is be inside alone sitting at my desk or facing a wall. art can be kinda stupid like that. when im working on paintings half way through the day im like oh shit ive been facing a wall for 5 hours and im not even in jail or anything. but when your emotions are so major its a type of prison and the only way out is to paint a sick looking evil car and then just look at it and be like hell yea i dont have to paint that anymore its done. also i gota do a lota type of things. sometimes i go a year without painting cus i just cant do it but its ok cus theres collages to make and books to write and albums to be a part of and drawings and movies and zines and photographs. thank god for social media its an instant gallery with no bs and no wait its so fast i love it.
- How did you start making art? When did you start considering yourself an artist?
my parents are both great artists and theres lots of artists in my family. my brother is an amazing artist i always wanted to be as cool as him. growing up with him he was always making the smartest funniest drawings and he still is and im just like in awe. i was told my whole life that i was an artist so it was never really like a big deal i just wanted to be as cool as my brother and my parents.
- What are you inspired by?
truth and love. when i see something that has a beautiful style, like a car or a person or a flower it inspires me to find more of my true style. im inspired by brave people who arent afraid to stand against an army of the same, i relate to them and its scary sometimes being so outnumbered but then i think about a historical badass like danzig and it helps me let go of the fear.
- I know you love cars, and that’s something I’m particularly drawn to in your art. I grew up around cars and car culture really inspires me. Why cars?
i love hauling ass. i love the way cars look. i love things that are fast, i feel like i resonate at this high speed and sometimes the only way i can calm down or feel normal and chill is if im going 100 with the windows down and some judas priest all the way turned up weaving through cars on the freeway. sex in cars is always fun too and when a cars interior is good i love that. pre 90s dash boards are stunning. and tires, i love tires. i dont think its cool to speed in neighborhoods though. im a nanny so i walk babies in strollers a lot and people can be so careless and stupid the way they speed on small streets its really lame. im for sure a hell raiser though and we all know the devil has a car collection. i especially love the scent they add to gasoline, thats a really great smell i want it as a perfume.
- Are you originally from LA? What’s it like being an artist in LA? What’s your rose and thorn of working in LA?
im from pasadena so yeah LA county. i think being an artist anywhere is probably pretty stupid. its a selfish thing to do, especially like the world has real problems and i dont ever want to be somebody who thinks they dont have to get their hands dirty. im not really a city person and im not into the program so living in LA is hard. its like the bullshit headquarters of the world, i just thank god im not in new york that would be terrible. the amount of silly stuff we all give importance to is frustrating for me, i lose it quiet often. LA is very beautiful though and its where im from so i'll always love it. the gallery system is just dumb though its all so silly like theres orphans on this planet, theres homeless people everywhere, theres police officers killing children on film and walking away from it free. i dont think its cool that some people have the right and the time to make art while other people are still fighting for their basic human rights. i dont care about the art world so much. also i think being an artist is kinda like having a drug problem. i was miserable for so many years because i was focusing on myself too much and i was trying to cure my misery by making art which is more focus on myself. its sick, i think artists should reconsider and most importantly take themselves off the pedestals they put themselves on. that being said i think art is super important and a human right in itself. i just have a hard time being free in a world where so many people arent.
- What’s your preferred medium? and why?
- What is it like presenting your art in a professional setting? I believe you were in Elephant Magazine (correct me if I'm wrong), with a huge spread about your work, that seems a bit intimidating...
i was but i dont really look at magazines anymore so i dont even know whats going on. im not intimidated to be in magazines and professional settings. the challenging part for me is the collaboration. im not into people writing about me especially journalists who dont know me at all. they try to define me and im not into that. so i sent them pictures i took myself and i asked them not to write about me or edit what i said or my grammar. its funny though sometimes like if you are in a euro mag they will change mom to mum like dude im from california we dont say mum or write colour, like thats so silly. honestly though the only settings for art that i really consider professional are museums. not that they are most important, just professional to the max and i would love to be in a museum, it doesnt scare me at all. singing in a band didnt scare me at all either even though i suck at singing. but ive been like actually embarrassed in my life so this stuff is like no big deal to me i dont get stage fright.
- Who do you think is the most underrated artist and why?
everybody who doesnt think theyre an artist
- If you had to fist fight an artist in history who would it be and why?
i dont want to get in fights anymore but there are artists i think are lame, mostly current ones. i dont know history so much ive been doing my best to forget about it. there arent really any artists from history that i think about who i wanna fight though, i think of them as beams of light in dark times.
- Do you have any advice for aspiring artists?
if you want to be an artist make art and try not to over cry and over think. u gota cry and think the right amount and if you get depressed do something to help somebody else.
thank you!
Thank you so much!
- Andrea Eaton