Matt Lock Embraces The Ugliness Of Reality

INTERVIEW BY BRUNO BAYLEY

Vice: When did you start making art?

Matt Lock:

I’ve been drawing since I was a kid. But I didn’t get serious about art until mid-2005.

What were wee Matt’s drawings like?

I mostly copied book covers, comic books, posters, and action-figure packages. I’d say about 40 percent of the subject matter was devoted to

Star Wars

. The rest was a jumble of superheroes, GI Joes, and dinosaurs. I drew a few original characters but they were nearly all rip-offs of

X-Men

and

Star Wars

. I still have a ton of childhood art in a big box. Whenever I go through that stuff I feel a little inspired.

Were you formally trained in art ever?

Nah. Well, I took art classes in high school, but I ended up disliking art for a while on account of them.

Are you a “full-time” artist?

I guess I am. I have a job but I haven’t been to work in over a month now. I’m told they are working on securing a big contract or some big project, but I reckon they will be out of business by the time they get it. The economy is turning to literal shit and they are a really small business.

What kind of business?

A data-processing company. You basically go in when you want, sit down and type, listen to music on headphones, whatever. It’s all very flexible and I don’t have to talk to anyone. On the downside, it’s unreliable and located about an hour away from where I live.

What are your main drawing inspirations?

Loneliness, urban decay or dismal cityscapes, crummy corner stores, and trash on the street. I am also inspired by a good amount of science fiction, music, morbid humor, postapocalyptic scenarios, tabletop RPG books, strange sculptures, beer, weird people… a lot of stuff.

Do other artists inspire you much or are they are all lazy layabouts who aren’t as good as you?

I think there are a lot of good artists out there, but I will only mention those who really appeal to my taste. I like Justin B. Williams, Kyle Field, Mehdi Hercberg, Leon Sadler, Jon Chandler, and Christopher Forgues. Ben Jones. E*Rock and Frédéric Fleury are really awesome too and I like Mark Delong and Jaret Penner’s work as well. Let’s not forget the old guys like Royal Robertson, Giger, Philippe Druillet, Frank Frazetta, and Vladimir Yankilevsky.

Oh OK, so basically you like everyone. What about old artists, like ones who used oil paint and stuff?

There is so much I don’t even know about yet. Bruegel, Bosch, Caravaggio, primitive medieval art, early American colonial art, and ancient Egyptian art are some of my favorites.

What are you working on at the moment?

A series of ten paintings for a book and a show with Frédéric Fleury and a bunch of other artists. It’s called

The Menace

.

What is your next big goal?

Probably to make a comic book. I’ve been wanting to make one for a while but I’m a perfectionist so that makes things difficult. I also have too many ideas and I have to start simple or I will be easily overwhelmed. I want to try sculpture and screenprinting too, but the materials for those experiments aren’t really affordable at the moment.

What kind of music do you listen to? Does it have much influence on your work?

I listen to a wide range of music. A good chunk of it is heavy metal. And metal subgenres and all in their original formats: New Wave of British Heavy Metal, early-90s death metal, and black metal. I also listen to a lot of prog rock, traditional folk, old electronic music, and classical stuff. It ties in quite well with my drawing style and it’s sometimes very obvious. There is a fair amount of disenchantment and escapism in my artwork and most of what I listen to either aids me in escaping reality or embraces the ugliness of reality and turns it into something beautiful and intelligent.

Do you describe yourself as an artist?

Yes. I am an artist, a somewhat picky and unsatisfied individual with a creative eye.