Interview with Kyle Pellet

q) Well, first of all please tell us a little about yourself.

a)Hey! I was born and raised in San Jose, California. I can't skate. I pretty much know how to cook. I don't look good in hats. I've got hairy knuckles.

q) Had you always planned on being an artist [or had you other hopes]?

a)I always figured I'd be doing something within the realm of visual communication. My backup plan was to become either a librarian or a bank robber, but both of those always sounded too unappealing to me.

q) Do you have a preferred medium to work on? Why?

a)I love paper and I love wood. Paper is cheap, compact, comes in a bunch of different colors, and laying paint and ink onto it just feels good. Wood is solid and fun to lay paint on as well. I currently don't really enjoy working on canvas.

q) How would you describe your style?

a)Squishy and optimistic!

q) Do you go through any certain processes while trying to produce your work?

a)Sometimes I sketch, make marks, doodle, and just mess around with scrap paper before producing work I intend on showing to the public. I generally work on 5 or more pieces at once, alternating while waiting for ink and paint to dry.

q) What are you working on at present?

a)Well, for the past year I've been working primarily on small pieces - most have been US Letter size or smaller. I'm currently working on some bigger pieces, mainly with housepaint and ink, for a solo exhibition in December.

q) What about recent sources of inspirations?

a)I've recently been looking at my family's history for inspiration; trying to figure out how they got here, and where I want to take things. My great-grandparents on my mother's side came to San Jose from Japan around 1915. I don't know many people whose families have resided in this city for nearly 100 years. My dad's family went from Indonesia to New Guinea to the Netherlands to South San Francisco. My dad's parents were put into concentration camps by the Japanese in WWII; one of my great-grandfathers was executed in one of those camps. My grandfather has all these gnarly stories about being in camp, people eating human flesh, eating dogs and monkeys, getting the shit beaten out of him by Japanese soldiers, etc., and he tells them almost as if they're jokes! He and my grandmother survived a horrific ordeal that pretty much nobody knows even happened. I don't know what to make out of this information, but something tells me that examining my family's past will help me figure out what to do with my future.

q) What are some of your obsessions?

a)UFOs, the Ramones, Jonathan Richman, girls with nice butts, dinosaurs, Wikipedia, donut shops, NPR, head massages.

q) Which galleries have you shown at and which galleries would you like to show at?

a)I've shown at Anno Domini in San Jose, Kaleid Gallery in San Jose Double Punch in San Francisco, and Space Gallery in San Francisco. My debut solo exhibition is with Empire Seven Studios in San Jose, California this coming December, which I'm very excited about. There's a very nice feel to the gallery, and every exhibition I've seen here feels very personal. They're going in a very unique direction. The curators of the gallery, Carlos Araujo and Jennifer Ahn, have been very proactive in developing a relationship with me while I work towards the show. I like that; I want to work with galleries interested in developing strong relationships and building together.

q) If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?

a)E-mail's pretty good.

q) Do you have any suggestions or advice for artists that are just starting out?

a)Unless you're a fucking genius, you're gonna stink until you've worked and worked and worked and worked some more, and you're not a fucking genius. Even then, you still might stink. I stink, but I'm really good at stinking.

q) Who are your favorite artists?

a)Tadanori Yokoo, Jack Kirby, Shel Silverstein, William Steig, Gary Panter, Spike Jonze, Dick Bruna, Tove Jannson, Yamatsuka Eye, Jack White, Jonathan Richman, Iggy Pop, Marcel Dzama.

Also, my friends who push me to go further, and who I hope I also push in some way:

Jesse Balmer, Andy Gouveia, Jake Kelly, Ryan Duggan, Colby Katz, Mike Lay, Sean Boyles, Trina Merry, Roan Victor, Kate Saturday, Lacey Bryant, Matthew Seigel; I could go on and on, but I should probably stop.

q) What books are on your nightstand?

a)I don't have a nightstand, unfortunately. And I don't read as much as one should, regretfully. I've been reading Gravity's Rainbow for about 5 years now, if that gives you an idea of my reading habits. Oh! I bought Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man back in December. Man, fuck that book and fuck intelligent people who are able to read that book. I also just remembered I was reading the Elements of Style, but I'm afraid it's under a pile of frames or boxes, because I don't see it anywhere in site as I type this.

q) To what weaknesses are you most indulgent?

a)Entertainment via YouTube, eating things that are absolutely horrible for me (i.e. donuts and burritos), pseudo-information via Wikipedia.

q)….your contacts…

a)kylepellet@yahoo.com