Artist: Casey Roberts
Website: wildernessoverload.com

This May we get a wilderness overload, delivered by Casey Roberts. With the blood of an artist, Casey works like a chemist to create beautiful and fantastic landscapes, frequently introducing innuendos of a conflictive human presence. It’s a door to a world of plants and trees, lakes and mountains, fog and sea, inhabited by butterflies, hares, owls, wales, woodpeckers, and all else you feel present but there’s no sight of. To complement the interview, I’m posting a link to a short film Casey directed, called “I think I know what the problem is“, about a man who decides to live as an animal while still pursuing his human dreams.

Who?
Casey Roberts … 41.

What?
I’m a painter and drawer, and occasional printmaker. I try to make short videos and sculptures.

When?
I’m a night person; I get into the studio around noon and work till late. I do my best to multi-task, but generally focus on a body of work or a related series of paintings.

Where?
I have a great studio not far from my apartment in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Why?
I realized I wanted to do creative stuff as an impressionable 10 year old kid watching the Talking Heads video, “once in a lifetime”. I guess it was the first time I’d seen anything like it. It was suddenly obvious to me; artists can really do whatever they want, whatever makes them happy. Sounds naive, but it was super deep at the time and blew up my little brain. It’s pretty much just like that now; good or bad this stuff makes me excited and happy. I totally blame David Byrne.

How?
My paintings are mostly on paper and I use a variety of water based media. I usually start with cyanotype, typically it’s thought of as a photo process, but I paint with the light sensitive solution, once exposed and washed out it’s a beautiful blue. I can alter this blue with chemical reactions, for example to lighten it into the shades of green and golds I use a baking soda solution. I pretty much go back and forth, adding and subtracting till the image is in a state of awesomeness, hopefully.

Find Casey Roberts here:
Portfolio: wildernessoverload.com
Casey’s short film: I think I know what the problem is