I am mystified by the process of artmaking; from the inception of creative ideas to the unfolding, to the finished product. I am most intrigued by the birth of ideas and the journey of the making. I like to talk about art and find it especially interesting and informative when I can sit down with an artist whose work deeply moves me and get inside the person’s thoughts, feelings, and personal stories.
Our next Tap-In guest is a dear friend of mine. Meet Andy Alexandre, an iPhone artist who resides in southern France. Andy and I first met virtually when both of our work was part of a mobile art group exhibition in London in 2012. It has been a privilege to get to know him, his work, and witness his artistic evolvement from an emerging artist to one with a definitive aesthetic that expresses the beauty, complexity, and mystery of being in a human form. Andy’s work focuses on portraiture and self-portraiture.
The style of this interview is a bit different from Tap-In interviews I have done in the past. Instead of Andy providing written responses to my questions, we had an actual conversation, albeit virtual, and I must commend Andy for his English speaking skills, which have gotten very good since we first met, plus his words have a poetic ring to them which I think you will enjoy. And my French… well, not so much. Here are some raw, real, and unpolished golden nuggets from our chat…
Susan: Tell us a little bit about your work. What is at the heart of it?
Andy: There are many things in fact, but maybe there are three things that exist at the heart of my work.
1. My love for visual things in general.
2. My fascination with the human form which I’ve had since childhood.
3. Maybe in a small, humble way the experience of attempting to be a model.
I’m not comfortable with words. It’s not my world. But pictures, movies, and music speak to me.
This one is a special collaboration with my friend @helenevienna from Instagram. We used a digital camera; no edit, only a little crop. We tried to create something pure, a natural mood between two faces, two bodies, two souls.
Susan: Tell us more about your interest in the human body as expressed through your art.
Andy: How to say. Not for a sexual side. Just because I find it beautiful. Intriguing and fascinating. Maybe here in France we are more open and comfortable with the body than some other cultures are.
Susan: What do you think makes the body beautiful?
Andy: Oh, we are all different. To be honest, I don’t have a typical body that I love. It all depends. It’s an equation about the person and their body. I think it’s beautiful when you can feel the existence of a connection between the soul and the body of the person. It’s a whole package.
When I work with my own body in my art, I am telling a story. When I work on a collaboration with another artist, where I work on a photo of their body, I never ask them for a particular type of photograph. I take what people send me and I try to find an equation.
Susan: Ah, I think we are getting at the heart of your work. This is what I hear you saying… You are exploring the equation; the connection between body and soul; the story within the body, as expressed through the body, no?
Andy: Yes, exactly! Many people have told me, “Wow, it’s crazy. It’s like you know me.” But I don’t. I just feel the image they give me and interpret with my vision.
Susan: So, you are intuitive?
Andy: Yes, I do all with feeling. I just know. I am a sensitive person. Often it feels painful… but I’ve learned to use it in a good way in my work.
Susan: I can relate. Being a sensitive person comes with immense joy as well as suffering. The two things are inseparable.
Andy: Exactly. Good cannot exist without bad. It’s life.
The one on the far left is a collab with a friend from Instagram @bliss_of_j.
Susan: Where do your artistic ideas come from?
Andy: I take in as much of my daily life as I can — structures, texture, what I observe on the street, something my eyes find beautiful or interesting. I then take my experiences with the world and mix them up into art, in a way that speaks to me.
Susan: Would you say that your state of mind or moods and emotions play into your work?
Andy: Oh yes. All the time. Sometimes I’m expressing my life through my art. Sometimes I’m expressing what I notice about another person’s life. Often my pieces are about a true story or a true feeling.
Susan: Music is often directly linked to our feelings. Are there any particular pieces of music you like to listen to when you work?
Andy: I love all types of music. We have to be open. Beauty exists everywhere. To be honest, I can’t work without music. Sometimes it acts like a support to open emotion. I notice some artists use drugs to alter their state of mind when making art, to open another level of view. Some use drugs. I don’t. I use music.
Susan: And, you yourself are a musician!
Andy: Yes. I play guitar…
This is a short video clip shot with IG’s 15 sec format. “It is interesting to try and make something coherent with only 15 seconds of time.” ~Andy Alexandre
Susan: When we first met, your moniker in the art world was ‘nobody’ — expressed as no_bo_dy on IG. Why did you refer to yourself as ‘nobody?’
Andy: It was my start. I was just getting into making mobile photo edits. I had no experience, no technical background, no art school. I had no point of reference. I didn’t know much about art. So I felt like ‘nobody’ in this way, you know?
Susan: I think I understand. So, does ‘nobody’ refer to being what’s known as an outsider artist? A raw artist? Those are some of the terms used to describe a self-taught artist on the fringes of the art world.
Andy: Exactly!
Susan: Very cool! Who are your mentors? Are there any artists you draw inspiration from?
Andy: Well, you know this artist Susan Tuttle?
Susan: You are so funny! Well, you know what? I think one of the reasons I am drawn to your work is that in many ways it is like the male counterpart of some of my iPhone artwork and vice versa. Do you know what I mean? Like Yin and Yang. And, maybe you have the same perception?
Andy: I do!
Sometimes I ask myself why people seem to like my work. It’s subtle. Not too much information. Not too much explosion or wow.
Susan: Ah, yes. There is beauty in the minimal. Plus, it leaves room for the viewer’s own interpretation, no?
Andy: That is what I think and what I’m going after in my work. I think there is a certain type of audience that enjoys minimalism. But sometimes I think people want big elaborate things and not to have to think.
Susan: I understand. In your work, you boil it down to an essential. You don’t want to tell others what to think when they view your work, no?
Andy: That’s right. I would like viewers to take time to understand. To find subtle detail. There is a raw, simple message in my work. I want people to identify with it and find a part of themselves within the story. It’s why I don’t give too much detail.
Susan: So, even though you are telling your own story, you wish for the viewer to see his or her own story, right? Also, within that is the notion that we are all connected. And, that we have similar stories.
Andy: Yes.
Susan: Your oeuvre is prolific. You seem to draw from a well of endless possibility. You never seem short for ideas. How does that happen?
Andy: Because I’m crazy. LOL. I think too much. There is so much time I have already lost, because I became an artist later in life. For now, I need this. Art. This is how my emotions come out.
Susan: You render your images in both black-and-white and color. Do you have a preference?
Andy: Some photos just look more amazing in black-and-white. Personally, I try to keep an open mind and play with both. We have to try both.
Susan: I am also intrigued by your experimental pieces where you take a still photo and convert portions of it into motion. Tell us more about this…
Andy: Oh, it’s just another part of me I want to explore. And I like discovering and trying new things, especially things I haven’t seen done before. And, trying them out with just a phone makes it extra interesting.
Susan: You like to utilize apps in unexpected, surprising ways. Would you share with us some of your favorite apps?
Andy: Sure. Mextures, Image Blender, and Art Studio. You can do so much with just these three apps.
Susan: Where do you see yourself and your work in the future?
Andy: I have not yet found the best place to display my work. Instagram has restrictions on nudity, even if it is art. I will probably lose my IG account yet again.
I am working on an exhibit with a fellow artist on IG. The group show will have all kinds of mobile photos. So, I’m like the alien between all the landscapes, street photos, baby and animal portraits, you know? LOL!
I will continue to experiment with my art. I hope to have a proposition. An opportunity to work on a project. Something interesting and big. That would be a good future.
Susan: Would you mind if I share with our audience what you do for a living?
Andy: My art does not give me money. It’s a big passion. I work in the financial department of a big corporation here in France. People don’t believe this when I tell them because they don’t see me that way.
Susan: Do you wear a suit and tie to work?
Andy: Hahahaha! Never. I found a good deal. A place where I can be me.
Susan: You know, it would add to your intrigue if you wore a suit and tie by day and then, well, nothing at all or not much by night when you make your art.
Andy: I do love paradox!
To find out more about Andy’s work visit his current Instagram account HERE.
Thank you Andy!