q)Introduce
yourself, name,age, location.
a)My
name is Danny van Ryswyk, 40 years of age. I am a Dutch surreal artist living
and working in the historic heart of Amsterdam
q)
Can you describe your path to being an artist? When did you really get into it?
a)You
don't 'become' an artist, it's not a profession like a computer programmer or
construction worker. You are born with a talent just as you are born with a
sexual orientation. It is something you are. But it needs an incredible amount
of dedication to develop this talent. Been born with a talent does not mean
that you can lay back and relax, it is not an easy life. It also means that I
am very one-dimensional in my talents and interests. This is what I understand
and do best. And I try to survive from within these boundaries. In the early
90ties I started working as a full time illustrator, specialized in
Photorealism. I did an incredible amount of packaging illustrations of fruit,
cookies, candies, you name it. The deadlines in the commercial field are always
tight and never far away form been totally unrealistic. I worked so hard for so
many years that I started to develop serious health problems like chronic
stress and RSI. How bad they might seem, it was important that it happened to
me as I needed to wake-up and understand that I was going the wrong way and was
completely destroying myself and my artistic integrity. It was then I began to
investigate how I could do the things I always wanted them to do, tell my own
story instead of telling the story of a cooky manufacturer.
q)
Describe your ideals and how they manifest in your work.
a)My
ideals do not manifest in my work. I try to have as little ideals and goals as
possible. It is important to
stay
away from such illusions. We humans have a habit of always looking at tomorrow
and have these future dreams. It is important we live in reality and not in
illusions. The fact is, we never know what might happen just a second away from
now.
q)
Is music a part of your studio time? What do you listen to?
a)Sure,
I listen to a wide variety of music styles. I highly prefer minimalistic dup
techno like Basic Channel, and electronic ambient music like the works of Thom
Brennan, it's hypnotic.
q)
How would you describe your work to someone?
a)Obscure surrealism. My work is best described as a fuse of absurdity,
melancholy and Victorian portraiture.
q)
Influences?
a)My
UFO encounter I had when I was a kid. This has a very important influence in my
life and work. This was the point I became interested in anything which is said
to exist 'above and beyond' nature.
I
have a large collection of books about paranormal and extraterrestrial
subjects. I love 19th century photography, especially hoaxed ghost 'spirit'
photography from that period. I just love weird things and odd antiques.
Dreams.
q)
Describe your process for creating new work.
a)I
have a mental image of an idea and I work from there. I never make a sketch, it
takes away intuition. I start in ZBrush, which is three dimensional software.
It is a complex program that allows the artist to 'sculpt' it's subjects in
virtual reality. It works almost like real clay and gives an incredible freedom
of expression. This is where my idea gets form and shape. After finishing my
3D-sculpture I import it in another three dimensional software program where I
set-up light, camera and texturing. At this point everything comes together.
Then I render the scene in high resolution and this is brought over in two
dimensional software: Photoshop. In Photoshop I start to paint and manipulate my
render for as long as needed to complete the right mood and obscure atmosphere
I am aiming at. The whole process from start to finish takes many weeks to
complete.
q)
What advice do you have for artists looking to show their work?
a)Dedication,
do something different. Stick to yourself and work from there.
q)
What are you really excited about right now?
a)A
holiday. I need a beach, a blue hawaii
q)
What do you love most about where you live?
a)I
live in the historic heart of Amsterdam
I
have traveled all over the world, but a place like Amsterdam
q)
Best way to spend a day off?
a)Spend
the day with my girlfriend, exploring the city, have some coffee, go to the
movies and having a diner.
q)
Upcoming shows/ projects?
a)I
am working hard on new works all the time.
q)
Where can people see more of your work on the internet?
a)I
don't keep track of where my work is published. All new work is published on my
site.
There
is an upcoming book of Dutch artists where my work will be published in, I
recently got
published
in an San Francisco
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