Interview with Sculptor Herb Williams, Winner of Next Star Artist Competition – artmarketblog.com

Interview with Sculptor Herb Williams, Winner of Next Star Artist Competition – artmarketblog.com

Since winning the inaugural Next Star Artist competition (see http://www.nextstarartist.com) in June of this year, sculpture Herb Williams (http://www.herbwilliamsart.com) has been busy promoting his extremely successful show at Monsoon Galleries and preparing for a sols show at the prestigious RARE gallery in New York. Before his schedule becomes even more hectic I decided it was about time that I posted an interview with Herb so here it is, enjoy!!.

1. Tell us a bit about yourself- I’m an emerging artist in Nashville, TN.

2. How did you come to use crayons as a medium? – Through much experimentation. I love found object assemblages, especially when the medium and the concept gel. But, basically I made a lot of very awful artwork just trying to find my own voice. Eventually, I had alienated enough of my friends and family that I felt like giving up. I was so exhausted and depressed that I went to sleep in the middle of the day. My son woke me up in the middle of the night from a dream at just the right point where (I’ll get into the specifics of the craziest dream I’ve ever had in another interview) I saw a crayon sculpture. I don’t know too much about visions and lucid dreaming, but I do think that the subconscious works out what you can’t, if you just keep at it.

3. What is it about using crayons that you like most? – Where to start? I love how they are completely saturated color. You know how dilluted the color was when you put the crayon to paper in school? I feel like I’m sculpting with pure color. Although, I don’t really want to be known as the “Crayon Artist”. One of my favorite things about the crayons, is that if I use them in the right way, say, in the “Blues Room”, the fact that the medium is crayons becomes secondary. It’s just a very cool space that transcends the medium. The forms are so interesting and unfamiliar and new that I want to explore the boundaries of what they can do.

4. How would you describe yourself as an artist? – Interested in pushing the envelope. Maybe Post Post Post Pop? Triple PostPop, I like that. I love pop culture, but I also love art history. It’s just insane to view both with an awareness of the other. I’m interested in opening and exploring that dialougue.

5. What does the future hold for Herb Williams? – I would like to plan a few site-specific installations for a European Art Fair, and possibly a Museum. I see a lot of potential for experimentation and growth; – combinations of new materials, abstract forms may come into play, and the addition of video and film I can see coming into the mix.

6. What projects are you currently working on? – I am completing a commission for the Green Collection Trust out of Dallas, Texas. I am also working on sketches for the Project Room of the RARE in Chelsea, for an upcoming solo installation show.

**Nicholas Forrest is an art market analyst, art critic and journalist based in Sydney, Australia. He is the founder of http://www.artmarketblog.com, writes the art column for the magazine Antiques and Collectibles for Pleasure and Profit and contributes to many other publications

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