Lucien Shapiro and the Rough Machette

April 9, 2010 in ARTIST STUDIO VISITS

Lucien Shapiro is an enigma wrapped in a dream. He will be participating in the PROTOFORM on April 17th, 2010 at the opening of the Swee(t)Art Drawing Gallery. click here to link for show info. I met with Lucien (and gave him some extra yogurt from the farmer’s market where I work on saturdays) last week at the Hive and he let me look in the back of his truck to preview some of the work he will be displaying in the gallery. click here for the preview.

Obi: How does this work differ from your normal mode of working?

Lucien: I have always wanted to work with my feces and with this project I really had a chance to draw with my poop on paper and walls, ha ha ha just kidding. I have always drawn and doodled(with pens and pencils), but never really showed them to many people. With this project it was really a test, because I normally do not work with ceramic clay, so I took a chance with drawing images into the clay firing it , and then glazing them. My friend Dr. Weisbergh @derekweisbergh.com helped me with some simple techniques and uses. So i really didn’t know what I was doing. As for the paper work, some of this stuff I just tore out of a sketchbook and others were just quill pen drawlings.

Obi: Do you have a normal mode?

Lucien: I am told by other people I am not normal, so in an attempt to be normal I will explain my mode which may or may not differ from most sculptors. I don’t actually draw or do a rough machette I just start with an idea and build upon it, because I use resins, clays, and found objects most of the additional work is finding the right object that fits within the sculpted figure. build, change, take apart, repeat and then paint. If thats normal . is it? I think it is.

Obi: How did you come around to this manner of drawing?

Lucien: Well I believe for this project it was an email from you Obi the-lemon-yogurt Kaufmann and I think you mentioned trying to draw in clay so I decided to completely steal, bite, or thieve your suggestion and just pretend I came up with it. As for the paper works, I have always drank a lot of coffee which in turn created a loose sketchy style and it just happened to come out looking like that was the manner in which I drew.

Obi: How did you come up with these images?

Lucien: Most these images are just quick character sketches of me masturbating, having fun with that old quill pen of mine and scratching away like a neurotic space cadet. Other images were inspired by friends, vaginas, buttons, urinary tracks ohhh ohhh ohhhh and sheila but not in that ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh way more like oh.

To Link to Lucien Shapiro’s website, click here.