Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Anderson.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Eric. So, let’s start at the beginning, and we can move on from there.
Like most kids, I drew, colored, and sculpted all the time when I was younger. I guess all that really sets me apart is that I kept at it after everyone else put down their pencils and brushes to pursue other things. My life has taken me many places, from the middle of nowhere in Missouri where I was born, through many years in Northern California in my youth, and eventually to New York City where I earned my MFA and lived for a decade before moving to LA with my wife in 2015.
My painting skills are largely self-taught. My graduate work was primarily in drawing and printmaking, which always came more naturally to me than painting. I tend to think and perceive primarily in terms of line, which didn’t make painting an easy thing to get a handle on. I’ve had to kind of back myself into the discipline, I suppose. It’s only pretty recently, after painting for over ten years, that I’ve finally been able to begin to (I hope) successfully integrate my love of line into my paintings.
My interest in liturgical and religious art is also something fairly new, but also in a way represents a return to my earliest subject matter. I grew up in a religious household and learned to read quite young. We used to read the Bible aloud together as a family when I was small, and as a result, some of the earliest drawings I can remember making were of epic heavenly battles between angels and demons, and other sorts of Biblically-inspired scenes. In some ways, I guess my recent works are a way to revisit some of those early impulses and inspirations.
About ten years ago or so, one of my dearest friends became an Eastern Orthodox Christian. Through many, many hours of deep conversation, he has introduced me to a lot of that theology and its accompanying artistic traditions. The thing that has drawn my interest is that it’s a deeply integrated system, one that gives equal weight to both the word and the image. In our culture, the written and spoken word are given primacy, and the image is relegated to a supporting or illustrative role most of the time.
In Eastern Orthodoxy, image and text are on much more equal footing, which is immediately evident if you visit one of their churches, which are adorned top to bottom with very detailed and systematic iconography. I find this kind of unified system very attractive, and my own preliminary explorations of religious subject matter in my recent paintings obviously reflect that. The often fragmented and compartmentalized ways of viewing the world that we in our contemporary society hold, whether implicitly or explicitly, are born out in so many fracturing ways.
Our visual arts often reflect this. There is no framework of meaning from which to operate in a system that claims absolutely that all truth is relative, and that everything is ultimately a language game stemming from various kinds of power plays. That way of thinking about the world never sat well with me, and I’d venture to guess that given widespread apathy or even antipathy toward contemporary art, it doesn’t much resonate with most people.
In working with an eye toward more ancient and unified systems of understanding, I’m finding myself able to tap into a deep and vivifying stream of subject matter and meaning. For a long time, I couldn’t really find a hook to hang my artistic hat on, so to speak. Working in this more icon-inspired way has, at least for the time being, given me a view toward a means to continue making work that not only speaks to me or to an insular artistic community but hopefully can appeal to a larger audience, concerned with comprehensible and engaging narratives and symbolism.
Based on the responses I’ve been getting so far, that seems to be happening, which is really exciting.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Not at all. Making art is tough on every level.
Technically, it’s just hard to make good art. I went to school with phenomenally talented artists, and between that and the challenge of always looking to the best artists in any genre for inspiration, I can hold myself to standards that feel impossibly high. That can push me to improve, but it can also quickly turn into destructive perfectionism, so I have to be careful with balance in that area. Also, as most are aware, there’s not really a strong cultural support system for artists. That all goes back to my earlier point about the conceptual fragmentation of our society.
Obviously, it’s unlikely that we’re going back to a church-sponsored art culture anytime soon, and there are a host of difficulties associated with governmental programs for the arts, as with any top-down kind of system. All that to say, being an artist is just tough! A ton of time, work, and material cost goes into the making of any art, and it’s just not clear most of the time how we artists are supposed to go about covering all that. There’s no easy solution, but we all keep at it.
Most folks balk at the idea of paying several thousand dollars for a medium-sized painting, but when you break down all the associated costs (education, studio space, materials, time, etc.), most of the time the artist is making less than minimum wage even for works that are priced at a few thousand dollars! I’m actually going to try making an edition of prints for this show, which is something I’ve never done before.
Hopefully, that will allow people something at a lower price point, that will still enable me to cover some of my expenses as well. The business of art is not that glamorous, and it’s hard work, but ultimately it’s great to be able to share the work with folks who appreciate it.
We’d love to hear more about what you do.
Well, I’m a painter, so my business is making paintings, mainly. Selling them secondarily, I’m afraid. I’m not super product-driven and am more interested in making the best work I can and hoping for the best. That’s something I hope to improve upon in the future. Not necessarily making work just with the idea of selling it, but I could definitely do better at exploring avenues to generate revenue with my work.
Right now, I’m specializing in religious-themed paintings, based roughly on ideas of Byzantine iconography (as I best I understand it). In the past, I’ve done a lot of landscape and figurative work, as well as some nutty performance art shenanigans from time to time.
I once took a famous gallerist’s car on a joyride up and down Manhattan. Maybe that sets me apart! I suppose that serves an example of my willingness to do what I feel is the appropriate, bold thing in my practice. Not super worried about the existing conventions at this point.
Also, you should know about my upcoming show at Keystone Gallery, with my good friend Luke Whitlatch. It’s a show of paintings by the two of us, pairing his beautiful abstract paintings against my own highly-rendered figurative ones. It’s a really great show if I can brag on the both of us a little.
The opening is Saturday, March 16th, from 6 pm – 9 pm, and the show is up through Sunday, March 24th. More info can be found through my website, or by visiting www.keystoneartspace.com and clicking on the Calendar tab. I hope to see you there!
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Living a meaningful life, never ceasing in the pursuit of truth.
Markers? A clear conscience, and a strong body of work.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ericclintonanderson.com
- Instagram: @eric_clinton_anderson
Image Credit:
Mark Harvey
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