28th
by John McCaughey
There are very few artists in this world that can make my jaw drop. Andrew Au is one of those few. Andrew’s work is nothing short of amazing. He’s an artist currently stationed in Cincinnati, Ohio where he is an Assistant Professor at Miami University Middletown in Middletown, Ohio. I stumbled across his website and fell in love with the gorgeous etchings of odd creatures that would probably make you shit your pants if you ever encountered them in real life. What’s most amazing about his work is the level of detail and fine linear work that looks as if a computer had generated the images. Andrew has shown his art in some pretty prestigious institutions nationally and internationally – including the New Orleans Biennial at the Contemporary Arts Center and the Tallinn Triennial in Estonia – as well as many others in the United States. I was given the opportunity to interview this artist and I wasn’t disappointed. “I grew up in a Christian home, but I have been more agnostic than religious over the last decade. I really started reading more about evolution and about biology and genetics when the Creation Museum went up in Ohio. I would have to give credit to the Creation Museum for [inspiring] me to research evolution, urging me to listen to the God Delusion on audio book on a trip to Chicago and also becoming an atheist.” When talking about one of his series that I personally liked the most, The Binarians, he mentioned “The Binarians were reifications of the ideas that are presented in the fabricated controversy of Evolution vs. Intelligent Design. It is a bit esoteric, but the creatures are intended as a biological style-cataloging of the ideological facets of the arguments, like they are living creatures competing in the ideosphere.” Upon further questioning, I asked him if he approaches each piece as an experiment or if he has a predetermined idea of what he wants to depict. “I’m pretty clear at the onset of what I want the work to depict, the ideas are most important. The sketchbook is always running in the background, although I did shoot a couple of my plates with a shotgun for the Binarians. That wasn’t planned from the onset.” The irony of it all is the fact that his pieces look like blueprints from God himself, worked on and then rejected. I personally found a connection to this artist in the form of faith and how little we both have of it. I like the fact that his imagery is backed up with a thick load of controversy but does it in a very subtle way in which not to offend the viewer. However, I can’t help but feel like I’m looking at prototypes for a series of lab experiments. His work relates very much to the work from Leonardo Da Vinci’s sketchbooks and it’s no wonder that some of Andrew’s inspiration comes from the art of H.R. Giger. What I’m impressed with most is the level of skill in which he handles each plate and the use of line. Even the choice of paper seems just perfect for each piece. “I wanted my work to be kind of quarky, stylized, and fragmentary. When I was working on the History of Thugs series, I was looking at Theodore De Bry’s etchings of Native Americans and trying to emulate that historicity. I am also trying to slow down and maybe do fewer pieces but with more investment in each image. Earlier on, I was just trying to get the ideas out as quickly as possible. Now, when I look back on some of it I cringe because I can see how I would have done it differently. I think it is important to look at artists’ work through the stages of their career, though, and see how their mind is working through things.” He’s currently working on a new series that will include gouache painting/drawings, sculptural pieces and possibly animation. “…inspired heavily by the now defunct Designer’s Republic. I know the operating title of the project is either ‘the Republic of Dark’ or ‘Life Industries’. It will be along similar conceptual lines of a mechanistic biology like the last two series though.” I’m definitely psyched to see what this series will look like because, to me, each series seems to get better and better. No pressure on you, Mr. Au, but keep doing what you’re doing. To see more of Andrew Au’s work, visit his website:
http://www.au-purdum.com/
