Chris Watts | ALL MIGHT Artist Interview — Transcript

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1. 0:06Hello everyone. My name is Chris Watts
2. 0:09and I am an artist of many voices and
3. 0:14dimensions and I'm here at the All Might
4. 0:17exhibition next to my work. Yeah.
5. 0:19>> Your work often explores spirituality,
6. 0:22symbolism, and personal reflection. How
7. 0:26did these themes first become central to
8. 0:28your artistic practice?
9. 0:31>> It's funny I was actually talking with
10. 0:33someone about this the other day. It was
11. 0:35I would say I mean as artists we're
12. 0:37always sort of reflecting and we're all
13. 0:40we are always sort of, you know, in our
14. 0:43own worlds, but I feel like in 2016 for
15. 0:48me
16. 0:49is when
17. 0:51spirituality started to enter into the
18. 0:53conversation and I was reading a lot of
19. 0:56books. I think the first book that kind
20. 0:58of got me on the road to really being
21. 1:00more spiritually inclined or having my
22. 1:03work be more spiritually inclined was
23. 1:06reading
24. 1:07It's called Accessing Higher
25. 1:09Consciousness, Ancient Egypt, and
26. 1:11Ancient Sumeria.
27. 1:13And I think after that I was just like
28. 1:15blown away. So, yeah. That was the first
29. 1:19I would say that's like the first
30. 1:21marker for me
31. 1:23when I started to actually begin to
32. 1:26>> Many viewers notice the unique visual
33. 1:29language within your work including
34. 1:31numbers, letters, and coded elements.
35. 1:34What role do these symbols play in your
36. 1:36storytelling?
37. 1:38>> It's a good question, but I love that
38. 1:39question because I to me symbols are
39. 1:41everything and they are they compose
40. 1:45they are basically I think the building
41. 1:48blocks of our world.
42. 1:49And so for me the symbols play a role as
43. 1:53like a conversation
44. 1:55between now and the past, but what I
45. 2:00always try to convey is that there those
46. 2:05words are not necessarily even a thing
47. 2:08because when you begin cuz I have
48. 2:10developed my own symbol language, once
49. 2:12you begin to kind of see them side by
50. 2:15side, you know, they kind of be just
51. 2:18become one, but at the same time there
52. 2:21is this like
53. 2:23for me this so to speak. It's almost
54. 2:25like a It's a conversation, but they're
55. 2:27echoing each other, you know, and for me
56. 2:30that's what That is the role that
57. 2:33symbols play within storytelling because
58. 2:37ultimately I feel like all symbols lead
59. 2:39to this kind of greater symbol within
60. 2:42life. So, yeah.
61. 2:43>> Can you describe your creative process
62. 2:45from the initial idea to the finished
63. 2:47piece?
64. 2:48>> I can. It's funny, yeah, I can actually.
65. 2:50So, all of my ideas actually come
66. 2:53through meditation of some sort or some
67. 2:56sort of reception of just
68. 2:59being with whatever's happening in the
69. 3:02moment, but they usually come
70. 3:05when I'm like meditating in the morning
71. 3:08or if I'm closing my eyes or throughout
72. 3:12the day just randomly they kind of just
73. 3:14come to me and then I record it and then
74. 3:19I finish it, do it exactly I do my best
75. 3:23to do it exactly how the piece comes to
76. 3:27me because I feel like the pieces
77. 3:29themselves are like entities in a way,
78. 3:32so they're coming to me to want to be
79. 3:34born
80. 3:35and expressed through me, so I do my
81. 3:37best to like bring that idea into form
82. 3:40and then also like make sure that I'm
83. 3:43kind of getting out of my own way the
84. 3:45same time
85. 3:47to just be
86. 3:48a receptor of the idea that wants to be
87. 3:51born. So, that is my creative process
88. 3:53from start to finish. No matter what I
89. 3:56do, it's literally like perception of
90. 3:59the idea and then maybe a day, not even,
91. 4:02maybe a couple hours later, it's just
92. 4:03like get it started. So, yeah.
93. 4:06>> How has fatherhood influenced your
94. 4:09perspective
95. 4:10as an artist and the subjects you choose
96. 4:13to explore?
97. 4:14>> Man, I think that fatherhood has opened
98. 4:17me up to It's opened me up to life
99. 4:20again. It's a sense of, you know, I I
100. 4:22felt like I was always open, but the
101. 4:24story is is for a year before my son was
102. 4:27born, I was strictly making digital
103. 4:30media and and a lot of the things that I
104. 4:33made I haven't even shown people and I
105. 4:36think that was really strange for me
106. 4:38because I think ultimately
107. 4:41I I was not in the greatest place, but
108. 4:44then
109. 4:45the day that my son was born or when my
110. 4:48son was born, no more than 2 weeks later
111. 4:51is when I started to physically painting
112. 4:52it. So, fatherhood and I would just say
113. 4:56the connection I have with my son has
114. 4:58really opened me up and breathed new
115. 5:01life into
116. 5:03my work. Even the work this work, he's a
117. 5:06big proponent of why it even exists. And
118. 5:09so, I'm really grateful that he even
119. 5:12came into being and has been a strong
120. 5:16influence on my work. And so, that's how
121. 5:18I would say fatherhood has shaped my
122. 5:22work and me. It just opened It's
123. 5:24breathed new life into me and breathed
124. 5:29new life into
125. 5:32purpose, so to speak.
126. 5:34>> Can you explain the piece behind you?
127. 5:36>> Yeah, I can I can do my best to give it
128. 5:39some shape. But this piece to me was
129. 5:42really fun working on it and I I this
130. 5:45idea before going to Mexico City to do a
131. 5:48residency and my question was to the
132. 5:51land of Mexico like
133. 5:53you know, what do you want me to create?
134. 5:54Again, it was like also I think a part
135. 5:57of the creative process is
136. 5:59questioning too for me and the question
137. 6:02with this piece was like, you know, it's
138. 6:03the land of Mexico communicating with
139. 6:05like, what do you want me to make?
140. 6:07What do you want to show me? And
141. 6:11then a day later I just not even it was
142. 6:15just later that night before going to
143. 6:16sleep I saw this vision of like two
144. 6:18serpents just like intertwined along the
145. 6:21column along this column but on the
146. 6:23other side
147. 6:24of the piece was like this skull with
148. 6:26Aztec glyphs and
149. 6:28so for me this piece is a marriage
150. 6:32between
151. 6:33the two mythologies because
152. 6:35I really love Kemetic or Egyptian
153. 6:37mythology and I don't even know if I can
154. 6:39call it mythology at this point cuz it's
155. 6:41like a way of life, you know, I think
156. 6:44and
157. 6:45but bringing those two together and
158. 6:48saying like, hey, there's actual
159. 6:50commonalities between these symbols and
160. 6:53I think that it's really cool the way
161. 6:55that the I don't even cool but the way
162. 6:58that they thought and
163. 7:01to be able to create a language based on
164. 7:04symbols to me is incredible but this
165. 7:07piece is just that dance between life
166. 7:09and death and the movement of it and
167. 7:14but also the liberation from that cycle
168. 7:16and not being and knowing
169. 7:19that it's not like death is not the end
170. 7:23it's a transition
171. 7:25but also there's also liberation from
172. 7:28the life and death cycle so
173. 7:31that's what this piece is speaking about
174. 7:34and how they're always the same. Life
175. 7:37and death cannot exist without each
176. 7:38other it's like natural so yeah.
177. 7:41>> Looking ahead, what themes, projects, or
178. 7:45creative goals are you most excited to
179. 7:48explore in the future? I know you're a
180. 7:50present guy.
181. 7:51>> Yeah.
182. 7:52>> But now it's about the future.
183. 7:53>> I mean, I But that's funny is cuz I
184. 7:55think about the future a lot. Like
185. 7:58I think about the future so much that I
186. 8:00think it forces me to be present. That
187. 8:02like it's I think about the future so
188. 8:05much, but I'm excited to just really
189. 8:08make work that challenges how we even
190. 8:12interact with art and how we interact
191. 8:16with each other. I really do want to
192. 8:18learn how to make pyramids, like
193. 8:22maybe not Well, I don't want to say big
194. 8:25ones, but I want to learn how to do it
195. 8:28because I think that is possible. I
196. 8:30think that's what I'm really excited
197. 8:31about is learning maybe how to do that.
198. 8:33But then there's so many other things
199. 8:35that I want to that I see in the future.
200. 8:39You know, I've always been thinking
201. 8:40about the future of art and how we
202. 8:41consume art and what is even art because
203. 8:45like artists get it, but I'm also
204. 8:48thinking about people who are just who
205. 8:52don't even necessarily like wouldn't
206. 8:54consider art in their day-to-day. So
207. 8:58it's like and I'm thinking about them
208. 9:00and I'm thinking about Okay, well, how
209. 9:03do we get them to like And it's not even
210. 9:06This is a question I ask myself, but
211. 9:07it's like how do we reach people who
212. 9:11would walk by a Basquiat and be like,
213. 9:13"Let's just like whatever." You know,
214. 9:15and And I think that is possible and I
215. 9:17think that in order for people to do
216. 9:19that you have to engage all of their
217. 9:21senses and all of their faculties. And
218. 9:23so what I'm really excited about in the
219. 9:25future is creating work that does that
220. 9:27complete synthesis of awakening the
221. 9:31senses. And I feel like I'm getting
222. 9:34there, especially with this idea. And
223. 9:36yeah, but that's what I'm excited about.
224. 9:38I'm just excited to just be a part of
225. 9:40the conversation of our history in the
226. 9:42future and shape the way that we view
227. 9:45and see and even interact with this
228. 9:48thing we call life and art. So,
229. 9:54>> Can you elaborate more on the floating
230. 9:57canvas technique?
231. 9:59>> Yes.
232. 10:00>> That you have.
233. 10:01>> Mhm.
234. 10:01>> It's very rare.
235. 10:02>> Thank you.
236. 10:04Yeah, so like back to the like
237. 10:06fatherhood connection, my son was
238. 10:10playing with a piece of canvas and I
239. 10:11think before then I was getting really
240. 10:14tired of just painting in general and I
241. 10:16was just like, man, this is crazy. I
242. 10:18mean, like you paint something and then
243. 10:21you have to do it again. You paint
244. 10:22something and then you have to do it
245. 10:23again.
246. 10:24But then this moment, this beautiful
247. 10:26moment, my son was crumpling up piece of
248. 10:29canvas and he threw it on the floor and
249. 10:32at the time I was thinking about
250. 10:33architectural models and trying to
251. 10:35figure out how to
252. 10:37create models with the materials that I
253. 10:39had and
254. 10:40when he did that, I was just like, my
255. 10:43gosh, like I can totally try to make a
256. 10:46structure
257. 10:47out of whatever this canvas by using
258. 10:50wire and painting on both sides. And so,
259. 10:54that's when the idea was born and ever
260. 10:56since then like I just have been
261. 11:00painting and creating work like that
262. 11:02because to me it is the beginning of
263. 11:06that previous question about what am I
264. 11:08most excited about in the future and
265. 11:11that is a different interaction with
266. 11:13art.
267. 11:15And even maybe even redefining what art
268. 11:18is and how we view art. And so, but the
269. 11:21floating canvases to me are they're like
270. 11:23sculptural pieces, but then
271. 11:25I'm also thinking about ways to make
272. 11:28structures out of them to even make
273. 11:31furniture out of them. There's so many
274. 11:33applications to this idea that I think
275. 11:35that I'm excited to
276. 11:38discover what the idea has for me. And
277. 11:42with the floating aspect to it and the
278. 11:44suspended nature of the work
279. 11:47to me is really exciting. And the fact
280. 11:49that like I can And the fact that I can
281. 11:52work the canvas in many different ways
282. 11:54and that is not just flat on the wall is
283. 11:56really fun to me. And
284. 11:59it helps me to like be interested in the
285. 12:02work because in the past I've painted
286. 12:04something and then I would paint it and
287. 12:08just literally a couple days be done
288. 12:10with it, onto the next painting. And now
289. 12:13it's still sort of the same way, but
290. 12:15when I unwrap a canvas like having to
291. 12:18unwrap this one, I was just like I was
292. 12:22just like, "Well, I have to I
293. 12:25have to do this in a different way than
294. 12:28what I originally had it because then at
295. 12:31that point, you know, it just becomes
296. 12:33more What's it called? It just becomes
297. 12:35more fun to be with and it becomes more
298. 12:39fun to for me to navigate and I just
299. 12:44really love
300. 12:46the work that I'm creating now because
301. 12:47it's also just like my son has breathed
302. 12:50new life into my world
303. 12:52and my just being, the work that I'm
304. 12:56creating and the idea that I received
305. 12:58through him is also breathing new life
306. 13:00into my practice
307. 13:01and in my perspective, so
308. 13:03yeah, that's what those are about.
309. 13:07>> Well done.
310. 13:08So Chris, where can your followers, your
311. 13:11supporters find you?
312. 13:14>> You can find me on the internet, the
313. 13:17vast web
314. 13:19at the creationist
315. 13:22on Instagram. And I think it's like
316. 13:25t.h.e. dot And then all of my stuff
317. 13:27should be there and then you can also
318. 13:29find me on it's a long website but it's
319. 13:31the creationist.framer.media
320. 13:34and I'm working on taking that part out
321. 13:36but the framer media but I kind of like
322. 13:38it because it is media and it's a really
323. 13:41beautiful fun tool to use so I think I
324. 13:43might keep it but that's where you can
325. 13:44find me. On social media at the
326. 13:47creationist and then I'm also on on
327. 13:50Twitter or X and that's what's Christ
328. 13:54but I have I'm not really using that.
329. 13:56I usually use that for astrological
330. 13:58purposes so but other than that that's
331. 14:00not that's where you can find me is
332. 14:03Instagram mainly.
333. 14:05So yeah
334. 14:07and you can find me out in the world
335. 14:08somewhere so yeah.
336. 14:10>> Thank you so much Christ.
337. 14:11>> Awesome. Thank you. This has been fun. I
338. 14:14really I really do love answering
339. 14:16questions and talking about work and
340. 14:19yeah just
341. 14:21expressing I mean I wouldn't even say
342. 14:22expressing just like speaking about the
343. 14:25work that I'm making because you know I
344. 14:27think it's important especially for the
345. 14:29future even though I do try to be
346. 14:31present and thinking about the future so
347. 14:33much like you have to be able to express
348. 14:37and explain what you're doing to anyone
349. 14:40and so I'm grateful for these questions
350. 14:42so thank you.
351. 14:43>> We appreciate you Christ.
352. 14:45>> And oh yeah I mean this work you can
353. 14:47find come to the exhibition on
354. 14:49Governor's Island the house is what 405A
355. 14:53New Earth Moves kind of filters art.
356. 14:57Thank you so much for this opportunity.
357. 15:00And thank you for this like platform too
358. 15:02to have our voices be heard cuz I think
359. 15:05that's really takes a big you know takes
360. 15:08a beautiful heart to do that and I thank
361. 15:11you for
362. 15:12allowing the space to do that and to
363. 15:14express myself so thank you yeah.