Andrew Hem

Andrew Hem is taking on portraits that rarely get the attention they deserve. Lots of masked graffers and old men. The color is adventurous and the subjects are simple.

Interview with Andrew Hem

Do your parents know you’re an artist?

nope, as long as i stay out of trouble they're happy with.

Where do you think you art will be in the next ten years?

hopefully museums, but i think it will just end up around local galleries.

Are you pretentious enough to call yourself a starving artist?

im a starving artist for sure, but that's by choice. i turn down jobs cause i think that it will just get in the way of my goal.

Do you think you have to suffer for your art?

no, but i do think that it becomes more powerful if you do suffer. just like a person's music.

Are you on any medication?

if you call art medication, then yes.

Has your art ever gotten you laid?

nah, i avoid girls like that.

If you weren't showing your work, what do you think you'd be doing?

teaching art.

If you had to get a tattoo at gunpoint, what would it be?

cambodian letters that would read my grandmas name.

What was your first big break?

getting first place in this years society of illustrators student competition.

How did you begin creating work?

writing on the walls in school bathroom.

What animal do you most want to pluck from the wild and keep?

a panda.

What does your play list for working consist of?

radiohead, cat stevens, mobb deep.

Do you go through any certain processes while trying to produce your work?

nah just the basic. quick sketch, final line then paint within the lines.

Had you always planned on being an artist [or had you other hopes]?

i wanted to become a architect, but after taking my first figure drawing class, i quickly changed my major.

Have you had any formal training in art (what was it, if any)?

after my first figure drawing class, i enrolled my self in art center college of design. i just graduated 5 weeks ago.