q)Please introduce yourself and tell us something
about yourself and
your background.
your background.
a) My name is J Swofford. The letter J is my full first name and that is
the way it appears on my birth certificate. My father's name is James Oscar Swofford
III. He wanted me to be the IVth but my mother protested. They named me J as a
sort of compromise. I grew up in rural Virginia
in the Eastern United States as a bit of an
isolated child. My family was good and caring but there were not other people
nearby and I had few friends. The nearest grocery store was a half hour's drive
away. My father is an artist and I grew up surrounded by art but I didn't
embrace it right away. I think a part of me wanted to find my own way without
feeling like I was mindlessly copying my father. I'm a contrarian at heart.
I'll sometimes make a decision just to go against popular sentiment. I've lived
all over the United States
but I've settled for the past fifteen years in dark and rainy Portland , Oregon Portland Art Museum
q)Talk about your art.
a) I am most
in love with analog photography. I enjoy working with film and developing
prints in the darkroom. Working with light and chemistry is a kind of magic.
q) What’s the central theme of
your work?
a) In everything I do I am
exploring the symbolic connotations of images. In 2005 I read Carl Jung's
"Man and His Symbols" and it changed my life. Since then I have been
using photography to explore the unconscious mind and the Archetypes. I am
fascinated with the idea that there is another intelligence hidden within my
mind that is akin to all the gods, devils, angels, and demons that have ever
been or ever will be.
q)
your most beautiful dream
a) Last night I
dreamt that I moved to Chicago
q) your worst nightmare
a) The first nightmare I ever had I dreamt when I was quite young, maybe
four or five years old. I remember shrinking smaller and smaller. My point of
view was under a faucet as a drop of water was gathering on the edge of the
opening, threatening to fall as it grew larger, and a deafening sound of static
grew louder and louder. I woke up yelling "no, no". So far it has
been the only nightmare I've had.
q) Best way to spend a day off?
a) When I get a day off from the museum I will often spend the day working
on collage. Sometimes I like to have beer for breakfast.
q)
who, what inspires you ....
a) I am greatly inspired by mythology and magic, both ancient and modern.
I read a bunch of occult blogs written by contemporary witches, alchemists, and
sorcerers. All the ancient Archetypes are still alive today and they probably
will be forever. I am inspired by dreams and hypnogogic visions. I am inspired
by the idea that, just like Joseph Campbell said, all the demons, all the
angels, all the heavens and all the hells are inside me. By being quiet and
learning how to listen to them they can all speak to me.
q)
books that you love….
a) Carl Jung's 'Man and His Symbols' and 'Psychology and Alchemy', Joseph
Heller's 'Catch-22', Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Silmarillion' and 'The
Hobbit' (This is the first book I remember being read to me as a child),
Grimm's Fairytales, Aesop's Fables, Bullfinch's 'Mythology', 'The Picatrix',
Crowley's 'Vision and the Voice' and the 'Book of Thoth', Ursela
LeGuin's 'Wizard of Earthsea', Julia Kristeva's 'Powers of Horror', Edward
Weston's 'Daybooks', Minor White's 'Zone System Manual', Israel Regardie's
'Golden Dawn', 'The Lemmegaton', Agrippa's 'Three Books of Occult Philosophy',
...
q)music…artists….that
you love
a) In music I tend to avoid Pop in all its forms, especially country but
almost everything else I listen to all the time- classical, rock, industrial,
metal, ambient noise, jazz, country, bluegrass. I love Mozart's 'Magic Flute',
David Bowie, The Smith's, Joy Division, The Cure, Avalanches, RJD2, Del Tha
Funky Homosapien, Femi Kuti, Frank Sinatra, Iggy Pop, Leonard Cohen, The
Minutemen, and so many more. In music I am guided by my mood. One day it will
be Snoop Dogg and
then next it will be Bach and then it will be Autechre.
In art all of it has something to teach me but I am especially drawn to all things ancient and Neo-Classism of the 19th Century. I also really enjoy some of the art coming out ofChina
In art all of it has something to teach me but I am especially drawn to all things ancient and Neo-Classism of the 19th Century. I also really enjoy some of the art coming out of
q)
What are you really excited about right now?
a) I've been following the court case of Prince vs Cariou with great
interest. Working in collage as I have been I think that case has far reaching
implications for appropriated art material. I've also been studying the Tarot
quite intently.
q)your
current projects….
a) For the past three years, and probably into the foreseeable future,
I've been working on 'The Riddle of the Echo' which is a photographic project
exploring the image making capacities of the unconscious mind. I've also
started to design my own tarot deck in the style of 'The Riddle of the Echo'. I
am also working on a digital project with the same themes to be sold on
Eachone.com in July 2013.
q)your
future projects….
a) For a while I've been kicking around the idea of illustrating the
Mansions of the Moon and the Astrological Decans using live models. I'm still
researching this idea so I've not gotten started on it yet.
q) Where can people see more of
your work on the internet?
a) You can see more of my work on my own website, abnormalimage.com,
although I am often slow to update it. My work is also featured on
nativepublications.com as well as artgypsytales.com (I am also interviewed on
this one). I have a Flickr.com page, www.flickr.com/abnormalimage/, my handle is
unconsciouseye. I also have a Tumblr.com page of my work at
http://unconsciouseye.tumblr.com/.
q) Final words?
a)
Final words... what can I say. I want
to thank everyone who looks at my work, especially those to whom it speaks. I
am always open to feedback and would love to hear from all of you.
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