Many of the people that may come across our site and journal are artist themselves. Is there any advice you would give to someone just starting out in the art world?

Once you decide what you want to do, be it painting, sculpture, filmmaking etc, never forget that that’s what you do. The only thing that’s going to make your work any good is its immediate identification with what it is. If you’re a musician, make music with the sole purpose of sounding excellent, sublime even, if you’re a painter, make paintings with the intention they look incredible or supreme. All the rest comes in retrospect, no one cares what an artist has to say or who they are even if their work isn’t any good in the first place. I certainly don’t want to come off as if my work has lived up to this or ever will, but this is the goal, and even trying to achieve this is asking more than enough for any artist. 

We like to highlight how an artist engages with their community. Could you describe a project or exhibition where you have interacted with the community or engaged viewers in an innovative way?

My canvas paintings have been up to this point only exhibited in gallery spaces. There certainly is a local, community element to this, and I really love meeting strangers who have come to the gallery because they are affiliated with it or basically it’s their local. I have been a part of some large-scale public art projects as a painter apart from my canvas works. I’ve painted 2 large scale indigenous murals in Darlinghurst and Erskineville, for Jason Wing and Maddie Gibbs, a large scale mural for the Aboriginal Design centre at the Al Faisal school in Austral and an apartment block in Waterloo for architect Richard Goodwin, which were a joy, not only to paint but see the effect large-scale murals like that can have on the local community, both the awe, the aesthetic revitalisation and the respect I felt being trusted to bring these important cultural works to fruition.    

Sustainability and art are increasingly intersecting. How do you consider environmental or ethical factors in your practice?

Hmm, it’s a tough question. I think a lot of artists with great intentions create art with the purpose of spreading certain messages about the environment and the negative effects humanity has on the climate, which I think is certainly moral. though I’ve always seen art as a kind of selfish pursuit which runs counter to the kind of activism seen globally on such issues. I’m not convinced a painter, sculptor, musician, or whatever kind of artist can really do much for the net gain of the world in the fight against climate change sitting in their studios making music or moving clay and paint around. I’m sure there’s plenty of people trying to make a difference though I’m yet to see any decent results, there are also huge developments happening on this front in basically all other sectors and institutions on earth, so I’m not holding my breath waiting for an artist to solve the problem. I was made privy to the fact in art school that there is a whole movement of ethical painters who reject oil painting for its damaging effects on the environment and as a predominantly acrylic painter I take solace in the fact that I’m helping in my own minute way haha. 

Wester is very passionate about the stories behind the art. Is there a piece of yours displayed in this exhibition that has a particularly meaningful backstory? Could you share it with us?

The interpretation of my paintings I believe is quite open. There have been times where I may think a certain painting has a certain meaning, and while painting it or seeing it some time later change my interpretation of it, there has also been a time where a friend has told me their interpretation of one of my works and I liked theirs so much better than mine that it became my interpretation. So having said that I certainly don’t think this is fixed, though my interpretation of the painting ‘Oedipus at Colonus’ for me is interesting and in ways sums up the whole series. The series really is about displaying contemporary subjects with a mythological or deep historical spin on them, with the titles, to bring out the banality or impossibility of really understanding what people look like today from any other period in history. I was thinking about pageantry and the spectacle of contemporary society and landed on the Met Gala as a kind of modern mecca of prestige and a somewhat pagan religious experience. I was also thinking in the deep past and mythologically, what do these people represent(?), that are so fawned over by the masses. I picked a particularly extravagant looking dress while I was rifling through old red-carpet pictures taken at the Met Gala, I honestly couldn’t tell you who the subjects are. After I started painting it, I was going through different Greek gods/ess and who would be best to assign these figures too, then I changed tact and thought no, these people are worldly, and the masses have an interest in their goings on. The camera people in the background for me is a kind of haunting all too familiar intrusion on one’s privacy but in this scene, it’s welcomed, encouraged even. I finally decided to take Sophocles most famous characters Oedipus and Antigone as the namesakes for the figures. The idea for me of not only identifying these contemporary figures with the past I also love thinking about how Oedipus and Antigone would be received in the contemporary world. Would the folk of New York lament the arrival of such a duo, would this be a re-emergence of the embattled father and daughter in a kind of PR stunt, or would it make Antigone’s actions a kind of banality which were only ever means for her to wear this incredible dress and pose on this most prestigious of red carpets. It makes me question all manner of things and characters of the past and how they would be received today. Rick Roderick made a great observation which stuck with me: that is, if Jesus was alive today, he’d most probably have a Nike sponsorship. 

The art world is coming a bit more collaborative. Is there an artist you would love to collaborate with, and what would you hope to create?

I’m not really interested in collaborating with any artists regarding painting. One of the reasons I am so interested in film is the collaborative side. I think film is one of the few arts that are truly collaborative, and I am keen to get into it in the not-too-distant future in any capacity really, whether behind the camera, in front or anything in between.

Finally, besides Wester, if you could have your next solo exhibition anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

Again, great question, these aren’t easy. At this stage I don’t have a preference. Anywhere that will have me. I’m very active and in the coming years want to be exhibiting as much as I can. The fact that any gallery, Wester Included of course! has given me the chance to exhibit in their space is deeply humbling. I don’t plan on stopping painting anytime soon, so whichever gallery will have me next would not only be a journey but a privilege. 

You can catch Chris' latest solo exhibition at Wester from Friday 10 May - 25 May, with the opening night reception Friday 10 May, 6pm - 8pm