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The second interview in our LTRHDS interview series with Australian artist and Perth born low-brow art dirtbag, Kid Zoom.
Fresh from a recent trip to the states, where he was one of the youngest artists to contribute to the Nimbus Vapor group exhibition by Ron English, Zoom is joining LTRHDS to re-create the letter N.
Your works twist and contort like a childish nightmare. From what memories or inner tensions do these monsters emerge?Or are they horrors from the ‘real’ outside adult world?
I like to destroy and reconstruct icons and imagery from, yes, sometimes my childhood, sometimes from the ‘outside adult word’, though i wouldn’t say Im consciously making a distinction when i work.
Your vintage Playboy series caught my eye, in which you painted your gnarled caricatures directly onto musty old Playboy covers. Tell us about the way that sexuality is interpreted by your decrepit style.
I’m interested in sex as an after effect of being used as a form of human weakness to make money. But to me I’m not sure if Playboy is still really a relevant image of sexuality in this day and age, In my work It’s more interesting as an icon.
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I imagine you have a lot of fun creating such outrageously loose characters. What is it about drawing wrinkly decay that fascinates you?
It’s never really occurred to me to paint any other way.
When did you decide to turn your wild doodlings into an artistic career? Does it surprise you that people are so engaged by your art considering how visceral it is?
I’m constantly surprised when people buy my work. I don’t make the prettiest work, I cant imagine its easy art to live with.
It became a career by accident. I’ve always loved painting and I’d been painting on walls with mates since high school. After they all moved on I just kept going.
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Zoom’s reinterpretation of the letter N will feature in the LTRHDS show launching this February in Melbourne. check www.ltrhds.com for more details.
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