AGAINST THE GRAIN: YOU ARE SELF-TAUGHT—WHAT DID YOUR FIRST ATTEMPT AT A SCREENPRINT LOOK LIKE?
ROCKY GRIMES: Well, once I figured out how to get the image on the silkscreen, it looked like a bootlegged His Hero Is Gone (punk band) T-shirt.
WHO DID YOU LEARN FROM?
It was my younger brother, our mutual friend and myself that used the process of trial and error to make silkscreens. No one really taught us or showed us anything.
WHAT ADVANTAGES DOES SOMEONE WHO IS SELF-TAUGHT HAVE OVER SOMEONE WHO IS FORMALLY TRAINED?
First of all, I have problem with authority figures and people telling me what I need to do or how to do something. I like to figure things out for myself. Yeah, I make mistakes in all aspects of my life, but I learn from them and hopefully improve. I think people who are self taught have a more distinct style that is uniquely their own. I think those who are self taught are less inhibited about trying something new,or are less apt to seek approval of what they are doing and don't have the dialog of a teacher in their head. Rather they have a dialog with themselves, resulting in a more pure form of expression.
DID YOUR PARENTS NAME YOU ROCKY, OR WAS THAT A NAME YOU ACQUIRED?
Rocky is a nickname that I acquired before I can remember. I never get a straight answer from my parents as to why they started calling me that. However, my grandfather was a lightweight golden gloves boxer.
MONKEYS FEATURE IN YOUR WORK QUITE OFTEN—WHAT DO MONKEYS REPRESENT TO YOU?
For a while they were popping up, and quite possibly will again. Well this may sound disrespectful, but to me they really represent someone who is a follower with few solid ideas of their own. I believe the images that you have seen were a representation of our ex-president.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE YOU TO CREATE A SCREEN?
To physically create a screen it is about a 24 hour process for me, but I tend to create a bunch at one time. Once I created something ridiculous like 40 or 50 screens in 24 hours. Creating the art that goes on the screens is another story.
YOU HAVE YOUR OWN KIND OF SILKSCREENING PROCESS. WHAT ARE A FEW OF THE THINGS THAT YOU DO DIFFERENTLY?
All of the prints I have made thus far have been printed without the use of a press and are hand pulled by myself, even the recent ones that are filled with color. So it is a bit of an archaic process, lining up the different layers by eye, and using a transparency, looking at the previous layer through the screen making sure all the color layers are lining up properly and then pulling the ink through the screen. When I print live I have been known for layering multiple images on paper, shirts, ties, handbags or whatever lands in my path and spontaneously creating compositions with multiple images from different silkscreens. However, I am growing tired of seeing shirts mass produced on press with this aesthetic and sold to the masses. I started printing in this manner as kind of a screw you to the dictators of fashion, and now it has become a standard. Perhaps when I print live I will continue to print in this manner, but as I produce items out of the eye of the consumer (not live) and are for sale they will not be printed in a manner now mimicked by industry.
YOU PREFER TO SHOOT YOUR OWN PHOTOS—WHAT WAS THE LAST BUNCH OF THINGS YOU PHOTOGRAPHED?
Some landscapes taken in this dead end town that are representational of the effects of the current economic situation. Then the other night I posed for some images that will be collaged together, showing some pig figures kicking my teeth in.??
IN YOUR INTERVIEW WITH JUXTAPOZ YOU SAID THAT MASS PRODUCTION HAS REDUCED THE CHANCES OF HAPPY ACCIDENTS IN ART. WHAT'S THE HAPPIEST ACCIDENT YOU'VE EVER HAD AS AN ARTIST?
Resisting mass production on a conceptual level through my live printing method—and then having people appreciate the outcome.
WOULD YOU PUNCH AN ALIEN?
Probably not, but I can think of some humans I'd punch square in the eye. —Caroline Ryder / Against The Grain
