Interview: Justin Novak
The first work of yours that we came across was The 21st Century Bunny series. We were fascinated by both its form and concept: little one-eyed bunnies with guns, trying to kill each other. You wrote on your website that the project is about “the pathological and cyclical nature of violent behaviour”. Can you explain us this idea? And why did you choose the bunny as a symbol?
“21st Century Bunny” seems to capture the paranoid spirit of our times. He is an archetype of fear. The extended ears and the peripheral vision of rabbits reflect a permanent state of alertness. “21c Bunny” is so terrified of being preyed upon that he has armed himself and turned himself into a predator. In this sense, his story is a perfect allegory for America, post-9/11. But it’s also, more broadly, a cautionary tale about the endlessly destructive cycle of violence. “Bunny” is born as a fluffy warm-blooded innocent that means no harm to anyone, it’s only the state of fear that causes his destructive behavior. The character’s aesthetic sensibilities are entirely influenced by vinyl toy collectibles, and I’ve intentionally imbued the narrative with the simplicity of a children’s fable.
When did you start to work with ceramics? It’s not a very common material among contemporary artists… Some of your works seem to take place at the intersection between art and design. What do you think about the relationship between these two fields of creativity?
My first training was in Communications Design, at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, and I’ve never lost my passion for exquisite design. I began sculpting in clay in the early 90s, after working for nearly ten years as a freelance illustrator in New York. The ceramic figurine seemed to be a natural medium for the transformation of my narrative drawings into three dimensions. Now I consciously strive for both the mass appeal of design practice and the poetic inquiry of contemporary art culture. My own methodology draws from equally from both disciplines, and most of the artist/designers that excite me seem to operate at that intersection.
