Artist Airom Bleicher is an introspective Austral-Angeleno who likes to tinker with images that bubble up from the depths of his psyche and from the vast visual iconography of the aboriginal inhabitants of his quirky little continent down under.
Nathan Cartwright: So Airom, tell me a bit about your work and the unconscious…
Airom Bleicher: Freud and Jung were very clever fellows and much respect to them, but I feel like their ideas about having sex with your mum and a shared symbol-system are a little restrictive. I take a lot of influence from contemporary psychology. I try to tap into the primal electrical mind-forest and bring out the images of unconscious processes as they would look before being converted into a specific symbol or brought from memory as an idea.
Nathan Cartwright: Mr. Airom- From the primordial, internal sludge that you artistically delve into, what have you learned the most?
Airom Bleicher: That’s a tricky one; I’m still swimming in the sludgy sea. Its kind of a reinterpretation of reality rather than an alternate one I think. I’m learning about the process itself, how different mediums create different thought flows and how to follow that flow instead of creating a lie or illusion with it. There is a pure space between objects that gets ruined by a symbol or specific icon; I’m trying to look into that space.
Nathan Cartwright: I don’t know a whole lot about Australian art, what are your influences from your homeland?
Airom Bleicher: I started creating just for my own entertainment. I was brought up in the Australian bush with out a television or any artistic influences aside from storybooks. I am definitely influenced by some great Aussie artists- on the primordial end, Arthur Boyd and James Gleeson, on the conceptual and art process end: Brett Whitely, on both ends and in terms of artistic integrity: Gordon Bennett. I think the reason they appeal to me is their ability to balance their raw instinct with complex concepts.
Nathan Cartwright: I have studied a bit of aboriginal art and drawn upon its influences. What are your thoughts on Aboriginal Art and dream quests?
Airom Bleicher: I’m a big fan. I haven’t been consciously influenced by aboriginal art but I was raised on children’s books telling Aboriginal dreamtime stories. These books were illustrated with Aboriginal artwork portraying images of pre-human creatures bouncing on their tails, snakes that shaped mountains and murderous magpies. It’s a great compliment that a lot of (usually American) people have drawn parallels between my art and aboriginal art. I think its because the work comes from the same uncontrived grey area of the psyche. I’m influenced by Aboriginal techniques but I don’t use specific symbols or motifs because I kind of feel like I’d be stealing from their culture. My favorite aboriginal artist is Gordon Bennett.
Nathan Cartwright: What do you dreamquest for your Hive gallery featured show coming up in September?
Airom Bleicher: I’ve got all sorts of things stewing for that one. I’ve started bringing some sculptural elements in with the paint and building semi-sculptural works from clusters of smaller paintings. I want to create an installation of nests of paintings clustered together, with sculptural elements pulsating out. I think the space is perfect for some sort of art-nest or paintings-web. I’m really looking forward to it.
Airom Bleicher will be the featured artist alongside Catherine Brooks at The Hive Gallery and Studios, opening September 1st- 30th.