EXCLUSIVE STEVEN HARRINGTON INTERVIEW.

Your upcoming art show and the book related to it are entitled "Our Mountain". Why this title? What do those words mean to you?

“Our Mountain” is actually a large hill located in La Verne, California.  My dad used to take my brother and me there when we were four and five years old. We would hike to the top of our “mountain” every Saturday morning and drink hot chocolate and eat doughnuts while looking over our small town. From the top, as the sun rose, we could see our house, our school, a small airport, a lake and the towering San Gabriel Mountains  washed pink and purple in the morning sun.  For me it has since turned into a metaphor for many things  adventure, togetherness, and the sweet days of my chidhood gone by.It just fit. I’ve always dreamt of turning it back into something else, now I can hold onto the memory a little longer.

Please give us a clue about what we will see in the show, and in the book….

The show is a traveling exposition. It will open June 6th at the Lazy Dog Gallery in Paris and will be up for one month. We will take print editions from the Paris show and travel around Europe to scheduled galleries during the beginning of June our second stop will be at Lodown Gallery in Berlin on the 7th, then Milan on the 10th and we’ll finish in Barcelona on the 12th.  We had to screen-print all of the artwork up in editions since the show will hit so many different places. The pieces had to be able to be packed up and shipped easily; therefore, it will primarily be a print show. All of the three-dimensional installation work is exclusive for Paris, with the exception of some small surprises.

Along with a bunch of new prints, we will also be releasing my first solo book entitled “Our Mountain.” The book is 160 pages filled with personal works, writings and photographs.  Although he won’t admit it (and I had to twist his arm to throw his name in the thing) my brother John did an amazing job designing it. I owe him many beers.

What is the relationship between you and the brand Sixpack, who hosts the event? How did you meet and why did you decide to work with them?

Lionel Vivier at Sixpack France has been absolutely radical to work with. Sixpack is organizing and scheduling the event including rounding up sponsors, publishing the book and booking the show locations. I’m creating the artwork and imagery, building out the dimensional installation works and designing the book with my brother John.

I was introduced to Lionel through a mutual friend, Mr. Cody Hudson, and we just hit it off. I couldn’t imagine working with anyone else on this project  I am insanely stoked to have had the opportunity.

Now let’s talk about your work. Childhood is a very important theme in your art. You relate a lot to your personal child memories and besides that, your creative process itself is kind of playful. Is it important for you to keep a child’s soul, I mean…. because discovery and wonder are still possible at this stage of life?

My childhood has had a tremendous influence on my personal works. I constantly find myself digging back into my ‘memory banks’ for inspiration and ideas. I feel that young people have a natural ability to see the animate world around us; they relate to objects as if they had a character and as if they were alive. Later on you are taught quite the opposite: wood is dead, fruit can’t breathe, the wind isn’t a person, the only other relevant beings are humans. I guess I’m trying to find my way back to my younger days of thinking. I want to be able to see the world as it was before I was taught that reason and logic and science had to be superimposed on the universe. It seems like somewhere along the way most of the westernized world has lost the sense that fire, mountains, water, rocks and the whole of nature is a dynamic living organism.

It seems like you have a particular affection for Native Americans, and also for 60’s hippie culture. Right? Is this related to a kind of nostalgia of past times, whose dreams are today broken by political/economical realities?

Native American symbols have played a major role in my work lately. I feel these symbols and icons very much represent a strong sense of social community and connectivity, something which I feel we lack greatly today, especially in America. I guess incorporating these symbols into my work is just my way of trying to reflect a sense of community and connection amongst my viewers.

A little of it has to do with past times, and maybe it also has something to do with growing up with a hippy mom and a pair of hippy aunts. Also, the styles, colors, symbols and even sounds of the 60’s evoke and unmistakable sense of a certain time and place ¾ one that I’m very comfortable with.

Let me dig the previous question… Is this tribute to Native Americans and hippies also an allusion to the fact that nowadays individualism has won over community?

I guess that’s one way of looking at it. I think it’s a little more intuitive than that, though. A lot of my personal work is produced to create dialogue and to leave room for interpretation.

Your signature style is strongly linked to an anagogic aesthetic. The way you cut drawings and bring them to life in a real scenery. Why is it important for you to create tangible things?

Most of the work I make at the design studio during the day for clients is created within the computer, so I love being able to make things for myself by hand. By the time I get home to work on my own art I reach for a pen before a keyboard. I’m not saying that I don’t use the computer for personal work; I’ve just recently made an effort to try and do more drawings and make more dimensional work instead. The balance between the digital and the analog is a fine line. I feel it’s very important to always let my viewer know that there is a human being behind the work.

Okay, last question. Please tell us a bit about your upcoming clothing line that will release this fall at Sixpack. And about the new boards you’ve designed for Element…

I’m excited about the release of both collections!

I’ve been working with the magnificent Lionel Vivier from Sixpack on past pieces for a couple of seasons now. This next line will mark my first official full length collection. The collection is titled “Somehow, we all seem connected.” It will include two front-hit t-shirt graphics, one long sleeve knit, one all-over t-shirt print, and one all-over hoody print. Lionel has always done an amazing job in regards to printing, quality and craftsmanship. Sixpack spares no expense. Look out for the series this spring.

As for the Element Skateboard series, I’m really excited about those as well. I worked very closely with Brecht Cuppens on designing custom board shapes; he’s a true craftsman when it comes to the world of skateboard shape engineering.  We collaborated on the shape design and I applied the artwork. The series includes three cruiser “Our Mountain” decks printed and cut specifically for the show.  Big ups to Phil at Element Skateboards Europe for making this happen!

Thanks Steven! Any final words you’d like to say?

Vive la Paris! Can’t wait to see you there!

Interview by Miami 3000 for Sixpack France.

  www.sixpack.fr www.stevenharrington.com www.elementskateboards.com