David Mah Interview

Dwayne Butcher: Artist Interview with David Mah 8/16/06

DB: What are your methods of visualization? How does your creative process begin?

DM: Because so much of what I do is commissioned work, site-specific murals and commissioned paintings, etc, I have to work within certain parameters and constraints, and a specific goal is usually required. This actually makes the creative process easier for me because it limits my choices and helps me to stay focused on what works and what doesn't for this particular project. I usually do a great deal of initial research, finding visual materials that can be a means of inspiration or can actually be used in the work itself. Once I have a source of inspiration in mind, my creativity comes into play and I make the found materials my own.

DB: You are known not only as a painter but also for your murals. How do painting these murals effect your time in the studio and how you approach a painting?

DM: For my personal work, I take a similar approach in finding visual resources for inspiration. But once I begin the work process, I work much more intuitively. With murals and commissioned works, very little is left to chance. I have an analytical, step-by-step approach to completing a project. I work in a very linear way. With my personal work, I try to lose that conscious control of what I am doing and leave things to chance. It happens rarely, but when I loose myself in my work and am unaware of what I am doing, I usually get the best results. Getting into that "zone" is the challenge. I cannot work in both ways at the same time.

DB: How do you select artists to show at your studio, www.davidmahstudio.com <http://www.davidmahstudio.com> ? Do you take submissions from artists?

DM: My studio is mostly used as a working space for my own personal needs. I am not a retailer and do not represent artists, as a commercial gallery does. Because I have a nice exhibition space and not enough work of my own to keep it filled most of the time, I will rent it out to artists to: (a) help supplement my income; (b) give artists who are not affiliated with an established gallery a place to exhibit their work in a professional gallery environment. Most of the artists who have shown at my gallery over the years were relatively young and un-established in the Memphis art world. I have some standards of what I will display in my windows because the exhibited work reflects upon me. Also, I have to look at it every day! My space can also be rented out for workshops, receptions, small parties, etc.

DB: Explain your work in five words or less.

DM: Orderly, subtle, detached, ambiguous, restrained

DB: What is your favorite - movie? book? color? smell? food?

DM: movie - Fellini's "8 and a half"
book - most anything by David Sedaris
color - crimson
smell - bacon frying and coffee brewing a close second
food - I love eating so many types of food that I could never narrow it down to just one; however, I am partial to Mediterranean cuisine.