This is the original interview, without the magazine introduction. (The questions are marked in bold)

Interview to Steve DeFrank

1) Mirror mirror on the wall…
who am I, where am I?

2) Could you tell us about the series you are presenting at Margaret Thatcher Gallery? The series of paintings that I’m showing at MTP is my version of an enchanted forest. My weird and strange world where tree stumps grow hair and falling leaves have strange messages describing their fate. A magical world where fellow travelers have carved graffiti on wooden surfaces and lots and lots of fairy dust.

3) What was the process you followed for choosing the media for this series? I found the perfect medium for my paintings. After many years working in a labor intensive medium. Dying little pieces of plastic and creating a glowing (literally light up) mosaic. Each mosaic started with a small painted study. I painted these studies with a paint called caseins. A milk based paint. They act and feel a lot like oil paint but dry quickly to a mat velvety finish. They have been around for thousands of years. I think of my process like that of evolution. The big dinosaurs died (the mosaics) and then there was room for the tiny mammals to take a foot hold (the tiny casein paintings). The casein paints have a look like no other paint that I’ve worked with. The light hits the painting and is absorbed and holds itself in the paint. People often remark that the paintings seem to glow. So it seems fitting that these odd paintings have a magical glow to them.

4) Art School Confidential is a movie based on Daniel Clewes comic, this Comic, later on was transformed into a movie. If Clewes, knowing you are an instructor at one of the biggest schools in NY were to come up to you for some ideas, for a second movie which kind of situations would you like to have him write about? I loved that movie! It really got the feeling of art school with strange the students and the odd faculty. I thought the movie screwed up the the whole murder thing so I guess I would make part II focus on the characters that are attracted to the art world. Think of early John Waters movies meets Checkoff. My movie would be character driven with situations that happen only happen in art school. Naked models taking to nervous freshman. Watching students and teachers talking seriously about the most ridiculous things. In fact instead of a movie it needs to be a television series each week something funny and strange takes place.

5) What would you do if Rudy Giuliani showed up at your opening and asked you to sell him 9/11? If Rudy Giuliani walked in the gallery and wanted to buy my 9/11 paintings I would charge him 900,011.00 dollars. Each dollar equal to the number of times he mentioned 9/11 during his hilarious attempt to run for president.

6) If the painting Faglish were a story or a tale, which name of all of the ones you used would you use for the title, and what would the title be? Oh this is an easy one. I think of all the words in Faglish that would be used for a title for a tale would be PansyLand. It sound a lot like Disneyland. Just think of what kind of amusement park that would be! Imagine the the different rides you could have. The Ferris wheel would be called fairy wheel. I’m giggling to myself just thinking about a story about a middle American family vacation to PansyLand. The kids will never be the same.

7)Which are has been the wiser use of words that an article has used to describe your work? Margaret the owner of the gallery hired a young writer Leah Redfield to write about my paintings. I believe the last sentence of the press release sums up perfectly the look and feel of the show. “…this is a world much like Cinderella’s where despondency reigns but hope nevertheless persists”.

Steve, I truly want to thank you for your time to answer this questions. Best wishes for the exciting and upcoming opening. No thank you! I just wish my Spanish were better and I could have done this all in Spanish. La proxima vez.

Gabriela Alva Cal y Mayor
Intl. Collaborator for Indie Rocks
www.indie-rocks.com
leairbag@gmail.com
Mobile: 917 660 4650.