Christina Empedocles
Fine Artist, Home Studio, San Francisco
What age did you start
to feel like you were an artist?
I have always felt like an artist. Ever since I was a kid I
identified as an artist. I went to a small high school, and I was one of the
few 'art' kids huddled in the dark corners of teenage society. After graduating
from college I spent some time working as a geologist (I was a double major in
art and geology), but I left after a few years to try to get back into art. I
ended up working as a designer for a long time, and it wasn't until I was in my
30s that I decided to go back to school to get my MFA, setting me solidly back
on track towards being an artist. Now I spend full time on my practice, working
with galleries doing shows and art
fairs, but whenever someone asks me what I do, it feels so ridiculous saying
I'm an artist — It's such a vague title.
How did you make the hop from designer to fine artist?
It was like pulling off a Band-Aid. I had been designing
magazines for about eight years, I had a good job at a fine company, and I
could have stayed, and been successful, and well cared for there. But I got
bored and restless with what I was doing, so I just quit. I did a little bit of
traveling, and I went back to school. Sometimes I miss that stability, but now
in my career every day is different, and I have challenging and interesting
things to plan for. And I could never imagine giving this up.
Your art is really unique, how would you describe it?
I would describe it as obsessive. I really identify with
other obsessive artists. It takes me such a long time to finish each piece that
at some point it goes from being a drawing project to an act of endurance. I've
been gradually making my drawings larger, investing more time in fewer pieces.
It's normal now to spend 1-2 months on each piece.
The project I've been working on over the last few years
involves depicting a picture of a picture, many of which are nature scenes. I
let you know that I am not sitting outside with my easel directly observing the
world by showing the edges and mangled surface of the reference. It's a way
that I can describe my distance from nature, while also demonstrating my love
for it.
What inspires you?
This is such a big question. It takes a few different kinds
of inspiration to keep an art practice going. I love working for myself. It's
comes with its own sort of stress, but I feel that with every new piece I am
building something that can't be lost. And I love honing my skills. While
working on one drawing I have the distinct feeling that I am practicing for the
next. Once I finish something, I can see what I need to do to make the next one
better. But more than that, in order to complete all the work involved in these
larger pieces, I have a genuine desire to see what is going to happen — I want
to see what these things are going to look like.
What are your favorite tools?
I use only a few materials in my work. Prismacolor 935 black
pencils, Prismacolor kneaded rubber erasers, Sakura electric eraser, and
Fabriano Artistico 300lb bright white paper. I like depending on just a few
things, because it makes doing the work so much easier. I used to be an oil
painter — which I loved, and will always love — but the materials were such a
mess to deal with, and I hated breathing in all those chemicals. About six
years ago I was asked, out of the blue, to do a drawing for a show. I hadn't
drawn in years, but the directness and control of putting pencil to paper was
such a relief that I stopped painting, and have been drawing ever since. I keep
thinking that one day I'll get my brushes out again, but it hasn't happened
yet.
You work from home, Is it easy to separate home from
work?
It's very challenging. It's one of the things I struggle
with the most. I used to work out of a studio that I shared with other artists,
and I loved being there. It was so easy to focus, since there were nothing but
my tools, and no internet access in the building. But since my daughter was
born I've been working from home as a financial and logistical necessity. I
have no problem going into my studio, and shutting the door – completely
ignoring whatever chaos is on the other side. But having my computer and email
right next to me is a constant drain on my focus. There are a million things I
am working on at any given time, and it's so easy to get distracted from my
drawing because I have bills to pay, applications to send out, emails to
write... I find that I do my most focused work in the middle of the night when
there is no one to correspond with, and I rarely hear the ding of my email.
Can you tell us the story about the drawing you did of
you and your husband?
When my husband and I were first dating we came up with this
idea that we could create a record of time by taking a picture of ourselves
kissing on every occasion we met. We started doing this in the first couple
months of being together, and took a lot of pictures in the first 2 years. Now
that we're married, it's harder to remember to take them, but we still do
occasionally. The thought was that over the course of a lifetime the backgrounds
would change, and we would change, but the pose would stay the same. We've
taken hundreds of these kissing pictures, which include all the places we've
traveled to together, the birth of our daughter, and our wedding, and I think
it will be an incredible thing to look at in 40 years and beyond.
I decided to draw the photos when I was pregnant. It was for
a show that I had in New York which was going to include two different bodies
of work, and I was using is as a bridge between them. I had a series of movie
poster drawings, one of which showed Cary Grant and Kim Novak kissing in
exactly the same pose, and a series of drawings of personal documents. It was a
way to relate the two different sets, but also I know I was really just
incredibly emotional, and totally in love. It's one my favorite pieces of all
time.
Which artist's life are you most jealous of?
Louise Bourgeois. She lived a long life, had an incredible
career, and was finished her last piece just a week before she died at 98. She
was a mother, an activist, and she gave back to the arts community. You can't
do much more than that.
Describe SF in 3 words
This is home.
What do you think makes San Francisco special in
comparison to other cities?
It's hard for me to know, because I moved to San Francisco
the week after graduating from college, about 19 years ago, and have been here
ever since. I have been a visitor of many other cities, but this is the only
one I've lived in. Still, what I am so grateful for is that San Francisco is a
place you can reinvent yourself in time and time again. I've lived through many
phases, and I have always been able to find what I needed here. San Francisco
is large enough to be able to do anything, but it's also small enough that you
run into friends in unexpected places. My neighborhood Bernal Heights feels
like a small town, but when we go up and over the top of the hill with the city
stretched out in all directions, my daughter will say surprised, 'Is that the
city we live in?”
What is your favorite place to eat in San Francisco?
Right now I love going to the Liberty Cafe on Cortland
Street. It's lovely, and feels special, but is relaxed enough that I can go for
brunch with my 2-year-old, and not worry about making a scene. And I am
obsessed with their fish tacos. It's a perfect neighborhood restaurant, and
they do every meal well. Just thinking about the banana cream pie sends me half
insane...
Thank you so very much Christina for your time, and for showing me your work that I'm really fond of! All the info, work and next events directly on her website: http://christinaempedocles.com
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