Interview with Zach Johnsen

While working on „Western Conference“, © Zach Johnsen

I wrote about Zach Johnsen’s installation „The Hyper Stumps“ back in february (German only) which attracted my attention because actually Johnsen is known for his illustrations and sketches. However, I had to find that the internet didn’t really take notice of it and there was no statement by the artist about his work.

Reasons enough for me to ask him for an interview in which he does not only speak about his art in common but also about „The Hyper Stumps“ in particular and his love for nature.

Me: Hello and thank you for taking the time for this conversation!
In the United States you and your art are quite popular for a longer time – would you like to introduce yourself to the German readers?

Zach: My name is Zach Johnsen. I am an artist, illustrator, and designer currently living in Portland, Oregon in the pacific northwest. I am a visual artist most known for my frenetic pen & ink lines and loose, drippy watercolor, although I work in many other media including acrylics, pencil and gouache, mostly on paper, but also on wood and canvas. I love drawing and it is the basis of almost everything I do.

„Life under the Powerlines“, © Zach Johnsen

Me: You are a much-noticed illustrator for a couple of years now, have created designs for famous skate– and snowboard manufacturers and some other notable brands and take part in the designing process of your own T-shirt and apparel company „Tank Theory“ – everything branded with your own distinctive style. How difficult or how easy is it for you to reinvent yourself over and over again while keeping to give your personal touch to every work?

Zach: Oftentimes with freelance work, I take into account the style and feel that the client is looking for. Each freelance project is unique and I am usually given some direction which helps me hone in a style or technique. Regarding my own brand, Tank Theory, I create a theme for each line of tees that we come out with.
I do research and think about what I am trying to communicate with each theme. And dealing with a different visual language each time around becomes a unique project unto itself.. then I go to work solving the puzzle so to speak. It helps keep it fresh for me and the work constantly different.

Me: Your illustrations and sketches often remind me of street art characters. Sometimes one can find photos of several posters and stencils in your blog, which you discovered in the streets of a partly abandoned town near Pittsburgh. Is there a closer connection?

Zach: Well I was involved in graffiti for a number of years, so street art I guess crept in somewhere. But I don’t consider myself a street artist in any way, so there isn’t much of a connection anymore. I do appreciate it though and I am planning on getting more of my wooden characters out into the public soon. I guess that would be considered street art.

„The Wanderer Series“, © Zach Johnsen

Me: Your illustrations appear to have developed bit by bit from the motivation to see what may evolve during the process of drawing. Do you follow a particular approach when you start with a blank sheet of paper?

Zach: Indeed. I start out with an idea first and foremost.. a story I want to tell. I usually have a photo or live reference of some part of the main illustration and that’s where I usually start – sketching out the general shape of this main element as well as basic compositional parts. Once I have that down, I‘ll usually throw around some soft color to help fill it out.. then I‘ll get deeper into it with pen or pencil defining elements more clearly and really just creating drama and depth in the line work. From there, it’s tightening up the work little by little, adding more color, adding detail in pen and ink or pencil.. lastly I‘ll go in w/ gouache and add details until I feel like the work is done. Sometimes though, I‘m never sure when a work is done.. in that case, I‘ll work up until a point that I think if I went any further, I would go overboard.. then the work is done.

„Welcome to the Neighborhood“, © Zach Johnsen

Me: I was a bit surprised as I saw your installation „The Hyper Stumps“ for the first time since it is your first installation or at least the first you actually showed on your website. What was the reason to have a try at installation art?

Zach: Actually, probably the first installation I made public was my 2007 „Welcome to the Neighborhood“ installation at Foundation One Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia. This consisted of much of my character work made life size out of cut plywood. That was really the first time, I took my flat work and created it in real space. But the Hyper Stumps is a further progression in my installation work.
I am basically becoming more and more interested in bringing my drawing work and ideas on paper into real space. The inspiration for that work was really the pacific northwest of the United States where I recently moved at the time, it’s natural beauty and the clear cutting that was (and is) destroying much of that natural beauty for the sake of lumber and our building needs as a society. The wood came from the coast of Oregon, where I scavenged big drift logs from the beach, dried them, sanded them, then painted them stark white. I wanted the stumps to look like they had been recently cut and the wood’s natural energy was still visible from the cut. I was really happy with the end product, especially against the flat grey of the gallery floors.

Me: „The Hyper Stumps“ follows a quite subtle approach. Would you say it contributes to your illustrations and enhances their message or do you see it as a separate piece?

Zach: It’s definitely a contribution to the ongoing story my work creates, just in a different form.

„The Hyper Stumps“, © Zach Johnsen

Me: Tree stumps appear in your works every now and again and belong to the elements you constantly use. What do they mean?

Zach: I have had a strong connection to nature since I was very young. I grew up in the woods of the northern US, very close to Canada, where the trees were my backyard and playground. From an early age, it helped cultivate a deep respect for nature, not only for its beauty and therapeutic quality, but also its role in sustaining us as human beings. Everything we have comes from the earth we inhabit so it deserves our respect.. It’s a bit of almost a religious belief for me. So in my work, cut trees and tree stumps are almost like the work of the devil.. careless humans running around hastily taking down everything that the earth has put up.
And I realize that trees often need to be cut.. for wood, paper and all the things we use on a day to day basis.. I just feel that most of this deforestation is carelessly executed.
When people cut down trees, little spirits and ghouls emerge when that energy is cut.. that’s where a lot of my characters come from as well.

Me: Speaking of spirits and ghouls: Many of your characters seem to be mean or angry. This reminds me a lot of some of the movies of Hayao Miyazaki who used such characters in a quite impressing way to depict nature’s fury about mankind.
With your attitude towards deforestation in mind it appears that, besides human sins and malignity in common, our handling with our environment is one main topic of your works. Do you feel that the people appreciate you as someone who points a finger at environmental problems? Or, do you think, that most of your fans like your art just for the beautiful colors, ideas etc. – similar to what Miyazaki’s movies have been honored for.

Zach:I definitely think that some people appreciate the environmental issues that my work explores, but only those who reach out to me through email or talk to me at shows and really ask me what the work is about.
Otherwise, and unfortunately, I think most people really just appreciate the color and energy in the work.. which is ok too! But I definitely want the work to stand for more than something that is just „pretty“.

Me: When will be the next time we can hear from you?

Zach: Well I‘m in a bit of hibernation now while I work on some freelance work and try to gather up some funds for my next show. I will soon be working on a new series of drawings and paintings, so I‘ll be in touch when I have a whole new body of work to show!

Me: Thank you for the interview, Zach!

For some more infos on Zach Johnson and his art:

• Always worth a look: his website www.zenvironments.com and the corresponding blog.
• The T-shirt label Tank theory, of which he is the co-founder and co-designer.
• His Online-Shop, where you can buy some prints and stuff.
• Tow interviews from the past: in the Format Magazine and at Sour Harvest.