Ryan Bowen: Do you remember when you first realized that you wanted to be an artist?

Sylvea Johnson: In fifth grade my passion for art was at the point where I started taking weekly oil painting lessons at night. That is when I realized it was something I was going to do my whole life. After that I started taking fused glass and acrylic painting classes at the Currier Museum School during the summer.

Ryan Bowen: When did you begin constructing your first artistic compositions?

Sylvea Johnson: Well, I've always been an artist, as a little kid I would dance and doodle, and I loved creating improv theater performances and making up words. So, after hopping from dance classes to painting lessons to theater camp and everywhere in between, everything just morphed together over the years.

RB: How long have you lived on the seacoast of NH?

SJ: All my life, except for a period when I was attending art school in Manchester, NH.

RB: Do you feel that living on the seacoast has had an influence on your work? I see a lot of wave like shapes in your Dream paintings and I was wondering if this was influenced by the ocean or by something else?

SJ: I grew up about five minutes away from the beach and have been watching the patterns of waves as a meditative pastime since childhood. I would say that it has definitely influenced my work. Although, I sort of regret having to say that - since I harbor (pun intended) a light resentment for the maritime and nautical art that is so prevalent in this area. It's just so tired.

RB: What high school did you attend? And did you take any art classes there?

SJ: When I was sixteen I was an honors student who hated school. I realized I could just cut right through the bullshit by studying with a tutor in Conway, NH and get my High School Diploma a year early. Then go to college to study art.

RB: I know that you attended NHIA (New Hampshire Institute of Art). How long did you attend and how would you describe your experience there?

SJ: I attended NHIA during the 2006/2007 academic year. Currently, I'm taking some time off to work on stuff and save up some money. NHIA was fun but when I was there their curriculum was geared more towards commercial arts like wedding photography, graphic design and illustration. They didn't have anything for fashion, performance art, film or new media. I felt myself drawn down the more experimental path. So, I finished up the year and decided to look around some more.

RB: I noticed that almost all of your abstract paintings in your myspace gallery carry the title "Dream". Could you please explain the meaning or inspiration behind this?

SJ: Rather than give them all "untitled" titles, the word dream remains indifferent so it doesn't influence the viewer by suggesting something, but still conveys to the viewer that the rules of our waking mind don't have to apply to the art. I mean, life is like a gallery of dreams isn't it? That's what I want it to feel like when you walk down a hallway of these paintings.

RB: When you sit down to create one of your abstract paintings can you already see the idea in your mind or is it something that develops as you work?

SJ: Well, both. I do have ideas that I turn into paintings, but most of the time they are purely spontaneous. Once they're started I'll often take week long breaks just to hang them up and stare at them for a while. As I spend time looking at them my brain is thinking about what I could do to take it further. Then I'll paint more, then take another break to meditate on it - and so on. Until eventually I look at it and can't think of anything else to do to it.

RB: How long does the average dream painting take to complete?

SJ: Anywhere from a week to a couple months. Sometimes when I realize that it isn't worth finishing I'll cut it up, then later I'll recycle the fragments into another piece. So some of them can have parts that are years old, but are brand new.

RB: You said previously that your work is influenced by the theory of, apophenia, and that you like to hypnotize the viewer into searching for a meaning in your works. I was wondering if in fact there is a hidden or subtle message in any of your paintings?

SJ: A lot of them allude to the same feeling or idea that everything can be anything. There are certain colors and shapes that I associate with various meanings, but they don't mean the same thing all the time. I can look at my work and see something different in it just like anyone else seeing it for the first time, which is fun.

RB: Have there been any artists that have had a major influence on your work or your approach to life?

SJ: I was really inspired by French animator Rene Laloux, particularly his film Planete Sauvage (Fantastic planet). And anyone who has the guts to go out of the box and live on the edge and be as weird as they want.

RB: Who are a couple of your favorite artists and why?

SJ: I love Greer Lankton's gruesome androgynous doll sculptures, garish and dripping with glamor and really freaky, but from an empathetic perspective. I'm also a huge fan of Remedios Varo, who was a Spanish/Mexican surrealist. Her work is very dark and dreamlike and almost abstract at times, while still incorporating portraits, figures or architecture. It's really amazing. I am also a fan of Assume Vivid Astro Focus, because they're just super kooky and psychedelic and really fun.

RB: I know that you are involved with the ellO Gallery in Portsmouth, NH. Are you also involved with some other galleries?

SJ: I've shown in a lot of galleries and places, but ellO was just the best. I'm good friends with the owners and was really sad when they closed. They had this great space where people were always creating art or making fun of awful movies. Now there's a collective called ellO projects, which is like the gallery but less commercial. The first project we did was a mobile art installation in a U-Haul called “The Vansion”. We did a dance party/light show night at Studio B789 in Rollinsford, but that's closed now too. All the cool galleries are closing around here!

RB: Are you working full time as an artist?

SJ: Art is really like a full time job for me with all the time and energy I put into it, but I still have to work on the side to pay the bills, especially now that ellO gallery is closed.

RB: Do you take commissions?

SJ: Absolutely!

RB: Do you have any upcoming shows or events that you would like to discuss?

SJ: I'm currently working on four pieces for the ArtPM challenge, which is a month long event that culminates with an exhibit in March of everyone's work at Buoy Gallery in Kittery, ME. I'm making these diamond shaped paintings that have stuffed arms and torsos and legs made of holographic papers melting off the canvas, or getting sucked in like a time warp.

RB: What would you say is your long term goal as an artist?

SJ: To make people realize that life is just as weird and garnished and transient as they suspect, and that it's never going back.

RB: Do you have any insight or advice for other young artists?

SJ: Art doesn't have to be commercial. Art is worth more than the money someone is willing to pay for it. It's always good to stay open to critiques, but make what you want to do first and don't worry if it will sell or if someone else will like it. Sometimes, they need to see something they don't like. And don't be afraid to make a lot of crap or worry that your piece will turn out ugly, just go for it.

Sylvea currently has a solo show at Adelle's Coffee House in Dover, NH. She is also is available for commissions. Contact info: myspace.com/sssylvea This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it article by: Ryan A Bowen