Interview with Patrick van Vliet

q) Please introduce yourself.

a)Patrick van Vliet, 28 years old.

q) Where do you live and work?

a)I work and live in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

q) How would you describe your work to someone who has never seen it?

a)Psychedelic, colorful, acrylic, mind weirdness with a down to earth mentality.

q) How did you start in the arts? How/when did you realize you were an artist?

a)Probably when I had to fill in one of those immigration forms in the plane when I got to Indonesia last year. It had the ‘profession:’? question. I never considered me being a stereotype artist. Back in the days I was more into drawing and reading cartoons. It wasn’t really with any perspective whatsoever and I went to University. Gradually my interests changed to fine art. Now I’m sort of fulltime artist, but still have to work on the side. So I guess that makes me a genuine artist by now.

q) What are your favorite art materials and why?

a)That would be acrylic paint. Acrylics dry quickly and it allows me to paint pretty much anything I like to.

q) What/who influences you most?

a)Quite a lot of things actually. The place I grew up and the place I’m living at now. People on the street, on the news and those who are close to me. The movies I go to. The art that I see everyday on the Internet and in books, and the art that I come across in museums and galleries. Can’t say there’s a number one.

q) Describe a typical day of art making for you.

a)Get up early around 08.00 am, good breakfast with newspaper, get to my studio (which is in my house) and get to business. I try to stick to some sort of a weekly agenda, but that’s quite hard. I’m bad in focusing on one thing. Mostly that results in doing a lot of different things at the same time. I like to start the day with sketching and reading some online art forums or books. Often I work out some ideas in the morning, everything’s still fresh then. What happens in the midday/ evening is whatever happens.

q) Do you have goals, specific things you want to achieve with your art or in your career as an artist?

a)Making a living from it would be a nice start.

q) What contemporary artists or developments in art interest you?

a)Artist who?re looking for innovative ways of expressing themselves. Well, who doesn?t? Definitely like P Jay Fidler, Melle Oldeboerrigter, Ward Zwart, The Clayton Brothers, Dee Dee Cheriel, Neasden, Anne Faith Nicholls?

q) How long does it typically take you to finish a piece?

a)It could take 10 minutes to 2 months. Sometimes a piece isn’t finished for some reason and then it has to stand in a corner for a while. Most of the times, I’ll get some new ideas about it later.

q) Do you enjoy selling your pieces, or are you emotionally attached to them?

a)Never had a detaching problem. If a piece is not ‘good’ enough to sell, I probably wouldn’t.

q) Is music important to you? If so, what are some things you're listening to now?

a)Definitely. Played some songs from the Beatles, Thorir and Bowerbirds today. Music isn?t just important in the background, but it can also be inspiring. I play music all day long.

q) Books?

a)Kind of getting into reading more and more. It seems hard for me to sit back and read without falling asleep. But I’m making progress there. I really liked ‘Joe speedboot’ from the Dutch writer Tommy Wieringa.

q) What theories or beliefs do you have regarding creativity or the creative process?

a)That’s a toughie. I guess I believe in the spontaneous mistakes that lead to original paintings. For me, I try to control which direction I’m going to but leave space for crazy stuff. But I don’t think there’s a golden rule for being creative. Everyone has it’s own way.

q) What do you do (or what do you enjoy doing) when you're not creating?

a)In summertime I like to get a drink at a terrace, running, hang out with friends. Wintertime’s there for riding snow and drink hot chocolate.

q) Do you have any projects or shows coming up that you are particularly excited about?

a)Yes, looking forward doing a soloshow in Arnhem at ‘Goed.’ in September. They’re really letting the artist do almost anything to make it their own show. That’s going to be fun. And I’m going to sell some work online at littlepaperplans.com, looking forward for that as well.

q) Do you follow contemporary art scenes? If so, how? What websites, magazines, galleries do you prefer?

a)I try to keep up. There’s not much around for contemporary art in my own town, Amsterdam?s slightly better. Fortunately, there’re a lot of good museums in the Netherlands. Fecal face and Juxtapoz are two nice artsites.

q) Ask yourself a question you'd like to answer, and answer it.

a)Wash or dry the dishes?
I’m more of a dry the dishes-person.

q) Any advice for aspiring artists?

a)It’s not easy being green. Keep that in mind.

q) Where can we see more of your work online?

a)Patrickvanvliet.com is the place. And littlepaperplanes.com in a month or so.