January/February 2015
Interviews
Miles Conrad
Interviewed by Margaret Suchland
Interviews
Miles Conrad
Interviewed by Margaret Suchland
Miles Conrad
Miles Conrad, Director and Curator of Conrad Wilde Gallery, has been a painter, sculptor and installation artist using encaustic and other experimental materials for over 23 years. His work is exhibited nationally and is held in numerous public collections including Tucson Museum of Art. He is also an educator, offering multi-level classes as well as private instruction in encaustic painting and sculpture in his studio at Conrad Wilde Gallery.
Margaret Suchland: Miles, I have been acquainted with you and your extraordinary work for many years. When and where did your journey as an artist begin?
Miles Conrad: Growing up, I used to make elaborate constructions out of cut and folded paper. I used to imagine a three dimensional space and I would sketch it out flat, cut it out, fold and glue it. I went into great detail. My other favorite pastime was collecting specimens and looking at them through a microscope. I suppose I’m still working in much the same way- if you think about the Ambivalent Pathologies series or some of my installations.
MS: What attracted you to Tucson and in what ways has your life in the Sonoran Desert affected your work?
MC: I came here to make a life for myself in the arts. I needed to slow down and simplify so I could focus on the things that really matter. I found a really vibrant creative community here. I also find that being out in the Sonoran Desert floods me with a sense of awe and respect for the land and animals and for the people who were here before me. I suppose this shows up most in my works that are abstractions based on the land.
Margaret Suchland: Miles, I have been acquainted with you and your extraordinary work for many years. When and where did your journey as an artist begin?
Miles Conrad: Growing up, I used to make elaborate constructions out of cut and folded paper. I used to imagine a three dimensional space and I would sketch it out flat, cut it out, fold and glue it. I went into great detail. My other favorite pastime was collecting specimens and looking at them through a microscope. I suppose I’m still working in much the same way- if you think about the Ambivalent Pathologies series or some of my installations.
MS: What attracted you to Tucson and in what ways has your life in the Sonoran Desert affected your work?
MC: I came here to make a life for myself in the arts. I needed to slow down and simplify so I could focus on the things that really matter. I found a really vibrant creative community here. I also find that being out in the Sonoran Desert floods me with a sense of awe and respect for the land and animals and for the people who were here before me. I suppose this shows up most in my works that are abstractions based on the land.
Miles Conrad_Insanity_
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MS: I read that the works of Kiki Smith, Louise Bourgeois and Robert Gober are among the artists who have influenced you. In what ways has their work inspired you?
MC: These are all artists who’ve made significant contributions by representing the body in ways that are ‘different’ or ‘other’ than an art historical, idealized norm. This is important because we still have a visual culture that gives us a very skewed and processed version of the body. Our society never tires of telling us that we need this product or that one to be acceptable. You can see this influence in my Self Help series. I’m really poking fun at the notion of pathological brokenness and at the idea of a ready-made solution. |
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MS: Most of us are familiar with your elegant encaustic work but you are also known for large, ambitious and finely detailed installations, namely Recurrent Infraction II which was featured in the Arizona Biennial in 2011. Do your future plans include more installation work? And, if time & finances didn’t have to be considered, which type of projects would be most gratifying for you?
MC: I’ve designed a series of miniature installations that are an extension of my previous work looking at institutional power. In this case, they are portable immersive environments that simulate the complete and utter loss of personhood. They are initially based on extraordinary rendition and secret prisons, but can be expanded much further. The project is on hold because of funding, but ultimately, I would choose to make this work and to tour it throughout the US. I want people to willingly enter these spaces and to temporarily consider what it means to become captive. |
Miles Conrad_Recurrent Infraction II_ v1
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Miles Conrad_Recurrent Infraction II_ v.2
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Miles Conrad_Current Infraction II_ v.3
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Miles Conrad_Recurrent Infraction II, v.4
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Miles Conrad_Recurrent Infraction II, v.5
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Miles Conrad_Recurrent Infraction II, v.6
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Miles Conrad_Recurrent Infraction II, v.7
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Miles Conrad_Modifications_
MS: You wear many hats. You are a parent, an artist, gallery owner, curator, educator as well as the purveyor of your own encaustic materials. What are the biggest challenges you encounter while undertaking these many roles?
MC: I do everything I do because I love it; but often these projects have emerged as a way to make ends meet- so I guess I’d say financial challenges are most pressing. I never planned on coming into my career during the biggest recession in recent history. Just staying motivated and positive is a huge feat on some days.
MS: What advice would you give young people today who hope to make their life as an artist
MC: You are unique in all place and time and your experience matters. Pay attention to who you are, what you do, and what matters to you. Make work that is authentic and brave and don’t give up no matter what. Find a way.
MS: An artist has the luxury of choosing to say nothing or very little about their work. To have it meet the world in silence within a gallery. But a curator has a responsibility to be the verbal interface between the mute object and the audience who wants to understand it. How difficult is this for you with the volume of artists you have on exhibition annually?
MC: I find this to be one of the most fulfilling and vital aspects of my work. I see my exhibition program as a kind of dial that tunes into a particular frequency and sharpens it so it can be transmitted to a receiver. The group exhibit format allows me to ‘tune in’ to more ‘stations’ at once. But I do find the pace to be a bit frenetic. My dream job would be to curate 4 exhibits a year, but to work harder on my ‘tuning’.
MC: I do everything I do because I love it; but often these projects have emerged as a way to make ends meet- so I guess I’d say financial challenges are most pressing. I never planned on coming into my career during the biggest recession in recent history. Just staying motivated and positive is a huge feat on some days.
MS: What advice would you give young people today who hope to make their life as an artist
MC: You are unique in all place and time and your experience matters. Pay attention to who you are, what you do, and what matters to you. Make work that is authentic and brave and don’t give up no matter what. Find a way.
MS: An artist has the luxury of choosing to say nothing or very little about their work. To have it meet the world in silence within a gallery. But a curator has a responsibility to be the verbal interface between the mute object and the audience who wants to understand it. How difficult is this for you with the volume of artists you have on exhibition annually?
MC: I find this to be one of the most fulfilling and vital aspects of my work. I see my exhibition program as a kind of dial that tunes into a particular frequency and sharpens it so it can be transmitted to a receiver. The group exhibit format allows me to ‘tune in’ to more ‘stations’ at once. But I do find the pace to be a bit frenetic. My dream job would be to curate 4 exhibits a year, but to work harder on my ‘tuning’.
Miles Conrad_Miasmic Encroachment_
MS: These are very exciting times for the Conrad Wilde Gallery. Earlier this year the gallery moved into an exquisite and much larger space within the 105 year-old Steinfeld Warehouse at 101 W. Sixth Street. This new space will enable you to expand exhibitions, workshops and community events. What can we look forward to in the future?
MC: We’ve started an artist group, “Go Pro” that meets on the 4th Saturday of the month. We’ve added an encaustic studio Drop-In session three times a week and now offer two 30 Minute Private Critiques each week. We’ve added to our classes and workshop scheduling, and we are adding more poetry and music back into our schedule.
MS: What do you think would make life better for artists in Tucson?
MC: We could be here for a while...this is something I feel passionate about.
Well, almost universally, artists need resources. Specifically, they need funding, studio space, and exhibition space. Arizona is ranked in the top five LOWEST states for arts funding per capita. The City of Tucson spends less money per-capita on the arts than almost all of our nation's other cities of comparable size. Tucson's choice to balance the budget by cutting arts funding several years in a row is a shortsighted one. First of all, nobody wants to live in a world without arts and culture. The intrinsic value of the arts is not even up for debate. The question here is actually: what are the economic impacts of the arts? There are multiple, reliable data sources clearly supporting the fact that the arts are a driver of local economies: boosting employment and advertising revenues, driving tourism and local spending on hotels, restaurants, etc., attracting businesses and trade conventions, improving property values in neglected neighborhoods, etc. The list is actually quite impressive.
If Tucson were to increase spending on the arts in keeping with other cities of its size, the effects would be dramatic. This would be a more livable city for everyone. I urge anyone who wants to learn more about the role of government agencies in arts funding to read this website:
http://www.nasaa-arts.org/Advocacy/Advocacy-Tools/Why-Government-Support/WhyGovSupport.pdf
MC: We’ve started an artist group, “Go Pro” that meets on the 4th Saturday of the month. We’ve added an encaustic studio Drop-In session three times a week and now offer two 30 Minute Private Critiques each week. We’ve added to our classes and workshop scheduling, and we are adding more poetry and music back into our schedule.
MS: What do you think would make life better for artists in Tucson?
MC: We could be here for a while...this is something I feel passionate about.
Well, almost universally, artists need resources. Specifically, they need funding, studio space, and exhibition space. Arizona is ranked in the top five LOWEST states for arts funding per capita. The City of Tucson spends less money per-capita on the arts than almost all of our nation's other cities of comparable size. Tucson's choice to balance the budget by cutting arts funding several years in a row is a shortsighted one. First of all, nobody wants to live in a world without arts and culture. The intrinsic value of the arts is not even up for debate. The question here is actually: what are the economic impacts of the arts? There are multiple, reliable data sources clearly supporting the fact that the arts are a driver of local economies: boosting employment and advertising revenues, driving tourism and local spending on hotels, restaurants, etc., attracting businesses and trade conventions, improving property values in neglected neighborhoods, etc. The list is actually quite impressive.
If Tucson were to increase spending on the arts in keeping with other cities of its size, the effects would be dramatic. This would be a more livable city for everyone. I urge anyone who wants to learn more about the role of government agencies in arts funding to read this website:
http://www.nasaa-arts.org/Advocacy/Advocacy-Tools/Why-Government-Support/WhyGovSupport.pdf
Sorry about the soap box- this is one issue I cannot say enough about Did you know that Tucson ranks as one of the top five poorest cities (over 500,000 people) in the nation? Most people don't know that.
http://time.com/3581716/poorest-cities/
Any city leader or citizen not wanting to invest one dollar to attract three to five more dollars is cutting off Tucson's nose to spite its face. If you had a family member with an illness and the doctor was cutting back on proven, life-saving treatments to protect the hospital's bottom line, you'd complain loud and often.
Anyone who wants to make a difference on the local level should contact their city council member and ask them to raise arts funding levels commensurate to other US cities of our size. And if they can't do that, they should at least commit to restoring the budget to pre-recession levels.
http://government.tucsonaz.gov/gov/ward-maps
We should also all support the Tucson Pima Arts Council. Not only do they distribute grants and provide technical support to arts organizations as well as individual project grants and professional development support directly to artists, they also advocate on behalf of the arts. There's also the Warehouse Arts Management Organization (WAMO), an artist-led nonprofit whose mission is to preserve, protect, promote, and program the Tucson Historic Warehouse Arts District. See more at:
http://www.tucsonpimaartscouncil.org
http://wamotucson.org/WAMO-TPAC-Study-of-the-Warehouse-Arts-District
http://time.com/3581716/poorest-cities/
Any city leader or citizen not wanting to invest one dollar to attract three to five more dollars is cutting off Tucson's nose to spite its face. If you had a family member with an illness and the doctor was cutting back on proven, life-saving treatments to protect the hospital's bottom line, you'd complain loud and often.
Anyone who wants to make a difference on the local level should contact their city council member and ask them to raise arts funding levels commensurate to other US cities of our size. And if they can't do that, they should at least commit to restoring the budget to pre-recession levels.
http://government.tucsonaz.gov/gov/ward-maps
We should also all support the Tucson Pima Arts Council. Not only do they distribute grants and provide technical support to arts organizations as well as individual project grants and professional development support directly to artists, they also advocate on behalf of the arts. There's also the Warehouse Arts Management Organization (WAMO), an artist-led nonprofit whose mission is to preserve, protect, promote, and program the Tucson Historic Warehouse Arts District. See more at:
http://www.tucsonpimaartscouncil.org
http://wamotucson.org/WAMO-TPAC-Study-of-the-Warehouse-Arts-District
And if you're one who fundamentally believes in less government altogether, there is also a vital role private enterprise can play in supporting the arts. There is an exciting new movement in which for-profit businesses are starting to understand the benefits of the arts to their employees in terms of recruitment and retention, morale, productivity, etc. This site talks about the role of business in partnering with the arts. I urge anyone who owns significant shares in any publicly traded company to ask that corporation's leaders how it supports the arts philanthropically and how it uses the arts to create a more productive and sustainable workforce. See:
http://www.partnershipmovement.org
Personally, I believe we need to apply every single one of these approaches in combination to solve what I consider to be a crisis in Tucson.
Ok, I think I'm done now :)...
MS: In 2015 the gallery will celebrate its 10th anniversary. Do you have any special event planned for this occasion?
I’m thinking I will host my 10th Annual Encaustic Invitational as a kind of “Greatest Hits” edition to highlight many of the talents who’ve made that show great over the years.
Thank you Miles for allowing us this time with you.
See more Miles Conrad’s artwork at http://www.milesconrad.com/ and at the Conrad Wilde Gallery http://www.conradwildegallery.com/milesConrad.html
Miles offers his custom encaustic supplies at www.custom-encaustics.com.
You can read more about Margaret Suchland interviewed by Beata Wehr on Sonoran Arts Network here>
http://www.partnershipmovement.org
Personally, I believe we need to apply every single one of these approaches in combination to solve what I consider to be a crisis in Tucson.
Ok, I think I'm done now :)...
MS: In 2015 the gallery will celebrate its 10th anniversary. Do you have any special event planned for this occasion?
I’m thinking I will host my 10th Annual Encaustic Invitational as a kind of “Greatest Hits” edition to highlight many of the talents who’ve made that show great over the years.
Thank you Miles for allowing us this time with you.
See more Miles Conrad’s artwork at http://www.milesconrad.com/ and at the Conrad Wilde Gallery http://www.conradwildegallery.com/milesConrad.html
Miles offers his custom encaustic supplies at www.custom-encaustics.com.
You can read more about Margaret Suchland interviewed by Beata Wehr on Sonoran Arts Network here>
