Interview
Shaun Forester
Shaun Forester is a Bio-Organic Artist working in Huntsville, Alabama. Shaun began his art career in his teen years, focusing mainly on painting. Developing an interest in biological subjects early on from his exposure to H.R. Giger and “Biomech” tattooing by the likes of Guy Aitchison and Markus Lenhard, he began painting horrors and science fiction designs, as well as surrealist anatomical studies in printmaking. Refining his approach led him to more and more abstraction, culminating in a series of charcoal wash paintings. From there, Shaun continued to refine his materiality, experimenting with combining mark-making techniques such as Impasto-Pointillism or oil glazing over pen-and-ink. Today, Shaun is pursuing his M.F.A. in Painting and Drawing at Athens State University, and seeks to bring more attention to biomechanical art.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I started my journey in the art world in a tattoo shop in North Alabama. I was 17 years old and had no drive or wider goals. However, being in that shop enchanted me. Seeing a bunch of cool guys drawing cool things all day, I thought to myself ‘Man, maybe I could give the arts thing a try!’ I attended my local art school for some basic drawing classes and found that I was very happy in a studio and in a classroom. From there, I pursued my Bachelor of Arts and worked in my school’s printmaking studio printing mostly relief. Today, I am currently pursuing my MFA in Painting and Drawing with an interest in Bio-Organic Abstraction, a style popular in the tattoo world, with my own fine arts materials-based approach.”
What inspires you?
“I am very inspired by the natural forms of anatomy and biology; bones, shells, muscles, sinew, root structures, cellular biology, plant life, nerves, unique quirks of evolution, and anything that shows an interesting form emerging from biological or natural factors. To me, the fact such interesting ‘designs’ can occur in our world shows a natural language I hope to capture. In the thoughts of Francis Bacon, nature can sometimes seem like ‘an ordered painting, brought about by chance.’”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“I describe the underlaying theme of my work as ‘Intimacy.’ I am most interested in producing artwork that enraptures an audience and rewards them for taking time to inspect my work more intimately than a cursory glance. This has led me to creating work that commands attention from a far viewer, and then gives a radically different visual experience once that person moves closer, usually through unorthodox mark-making. That participation, that alluring call, the power of a painting to draw you in from across a room, is at the heart of an intimate encounter with an artwork. I care more about that experience for my audience than anything.”
How would you describe your work?
“The way I label myself and describe my artwork has changed over the years, though I will usually settle on some variation of ‘Bio-Organic Art.’ I draw heavy inspiration from biomechanical artists and the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism. I want my work to be cinematic, personal, abstract, compositionally interesting, and enchanting, almost begging to be ‘solved,’ or at the very least inspected.”
Which artists influence you most?
“I could make an entire interview out of this question alone. H.R. Giger’s work on the film Alien first exposed me to biomechanical art, while the tattoos and work of Guy Aitchison and Markus Lenhard brought me to this style as an adult. From art history, I have a particular fondness for 20th century painting, namely Bacon, Max Ernst, Ernst Fuchs and the School of Fantastic Realism, Beksinski, and the indirect painting techniques of Seurat. Printmakers throughout history inspire me as well, and some things like a harsh graphic style with a focus on linework and mark-making make up a good chunk of my artistic DNA from my printmaking experience. Contemporary printmakers who inspire me are the Outlaw Printmakers, such as Tom Huck and Bill Fick, while my art history inspirations are Durer, Dore, and Hogarth in that order - more or less.”
What is your creative process like?
“My creative process is mainly informed by my understanding of historical indirect painting. That process can change wildly depending on the project, as I don’t believe in staying married to the process if deviating from it will produce a better artwork. For paintings, I will typically sketch, look at inspirations from those I’ve mentioned, identify elements I’d like to emulate, and then produce a design from there. This kind of work does not beg for strict process-driven steps in my opinion. I chose to instead have a materials-based approach and treat many of my works as a learning experience in the properties of my media. This reinforces my idea of ‘Intimacy;’ my audience gets to see my learning process for themselves, mistakes and all.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“I see the role of an artist in society as an enriching one, merchants of culture and experience. To me, living in a good world is just as important as living at all, making artwork just as important as any other infrastructure of society. For as long as we find humans, we find evidence of craftsmanship or art. There is clearly some inherent drive to engage with the arts in the psychology of humanity, across all cultures and eras. Artists today are the craftspeople that enrich your life, the salt and pepper of society. I believe strongly that the world would suffer immensely in our absence.”
Instagram: @nightmare.organica
