Written by Dowden
Tim Lane InterviewHere is an interview we are embarrassingly excited about! Tim Lane's wonderfully dark narrative works have been on our radar for some time now - we think that this young artist is on his way to being a household name very soon! We thought it was time to get to know Tim Lane a little better.
Tim Lane was born in Cheltenham and is now based in Bristol. He graduated from Falmouth College of Arts in 2004 with a first class (BA Hons) degree in Illustration.
If you had to explain your work to a stranger, how would you do it?
Dark, figurative, illustrative, traditional/classical style with a modern edge...someone said about my recent work: 'wrenchingly beautiful' which was very kind!
Your new works have a strong literary theme, what would be your top 5 essential reading list?
Definitely. I read alot for inspiration...and love music that is very lyric heavy... 5 books is really difficult... the most emotionally affecting and philosophically thought provoking and therefore most deeply inspiring for me artistically have been, so far at least...
'Straw Dogs' by John Gray
'The Road' Cormac McCarthy
'The Marriage Of Cadmus and Harmony' by Roberto Calasso
'The Master and Margarita' by Mikhail Bulgakov
'The Last Man' by Jean-Baptiste Francois Xavier Cousin de Grainville. (his name is half the novel!)
Describe your process of creating a new piece.
I read, listen to music, go out drinking (excessively) and dancing (ridiculously), then out of these altered states my subconscious goes to work. Then either when asleep or awake a germ of an idea begins and I sit at my black desk in front of a blank piece of paper and start drawing until something happens! Gradually after many abortive attempts and ages of staring from a distance at what I've done (either in horror or pleasure) the drawings get better until it clicks and the final piece is done...
What were you like at Uni?
Much the same... enjoyed a full social life, but was always serious about the opportunity to work hard for the course and to have the luxury of time to push my style, and was in everyday working. I did illustration at Falmouth College of Arts, which with the beach and sea was a great place to be for three years!
What artists have inspired you?
Walton Ford, Simon Bisley, Francis Bacon, Gustav Klimt, James Jean, Fransisco Goya, Paula Rego, Arthur Rackham, Michelangelo, Albrecht Durer, Bosch, Brueghel, Caravaggio, Bernini, H. R. Giger... etc
I think it's safe to say that your work is dark, what's the darkest thing you've ever done?
Not sure, probably an image of a hanging tree with bodies hanging off it... more gory than i usually do...
Bristol has a great creative scene what do you love most about the city?
I really love the live music scene the most, the amazing international bands that we get here, as well as the local talent, especially the 'Brashville', Blackheart Sessions stuff, the David Lynchy, vaudevillian, old rocker scene. i feel my work fits in better with that music scene than with the current 'art' scene! I'm really not a fan of the Banksy rip off/urban art scene, nor the conceptual art thing either...I feel that good art should have real emotional value, and that stuff just doesn't...
What are you really excited about right now?
The American Art Exhibition at the Bristol Museum currently on...
View and purchase Tim Lanes work at
www.timlane.co.uk
www.knifesmithgallery.co.uk