Raphael Vicenzi Interview

Chapter XL: Mythic

  Posted by Justin Maller  \  - @justinmaller   - justinmaller.com — on July 18, 2010
Raphael Vicenzi
be flag Brussels / Belgium

Justin Maller

Hi Raphael, congratulations on being dC's featured artist for MYTHIC. As you know, you're one of my very favourite artists, so I'm kinda chuffed to be doing this interview. Give us a rundown of your artistic journey; how did you get started? What role has it played in your life over the years?

SOLO WORK
Echo

Raphael Vicenzi

Thank you, it's an honour to be part of Depthcore. I wasn't born in an artistic family at all, I always wanted to be an artist but what kind exactly I wasn't so sure about. I discovered that I could work artistically with computers a few years ago and decided that I wanted to do just that. I thoughts I could be a web designer but there was too much code, then I thought that I could be a graphic designer but I have troubles with grids, then I realized that I could be an illustrator because I could whatever I wanted to do and mess things up and it could still look great !! It wasn't easy because I did not follow any education in that field but at the same time it helped me to find my own way of doing things. Now I am a freelance illustrator and it's great, sometimes it's not, but overall it's good.

Justin Maller

You are on of the few Depthcore members who live in Belgium. What's the creative scene like in Brussels? Do you participate much in it? Does your local environment manifest itself in your work?

Raphael Vicenzi

To be honest I don't know much about it. I know a few illustrators like Geraldine Georges or Julien "Veuch" but I know more what's going at the other side of the world than what's in my own town sometimes. I don't think that where I live is influencing me directly in my works but there is a certain, even if subdued, urban aspect in what I do.

Justin Maller

How do you spend your days as a freelance artist in Brussels? Run us through a typical work day...

Raphael Vicenzi

It's nothing special, I wake up early, I drive my wife and children to school and work. I smoke a bit, I start working, I take a break, I keep working some more. It's better than to work at the office for sure although it can get a bit lonely sometimes. It's a normal life.

Justin Maller

What has been the most enjoyable freelance project you have worked on to date?

Raphael Vicenzi

I really liked to work for popshot magazine lately, the poem was about how pornography supposedly liberated women but it's not the case so I tried to illustrate this to the best of my abilities. I especially like to work for clients who allows me to be creative as much as I'd like to be.

Justin Maller

What are your hobbies and passions in life aside from art and design? Do they find their way into your creative?

Raphael Vicenzi

I listen a lot of music, I watch a lot of movies and I read a lot of books on political, social and self-development topics. So all of these sources of inspiration feed my creative process. I am just trying to be a better man, to know myself and the world around me in an objective way and my work is a reflection of that somehow.

Justin Maller

What's stimulating you lately? Reading much? Any artists coming up strongly on your radar?

Raphael Vicenzi

I just finished reading "Empire of Illusion" by Chris Edges, which is about how american culture has become a constant escape into unreality with tv shows, porn, fake happiness and how politics have used these tools to plunder and steal while the masses keep asking for more. Although aimed at the US, it is happening everywhere in the world. It's quite a great book because it slaps you in the face. I am always looking for new artists and I like the works of Herve DieudonnÃ'© who I just found out that he is from Belgium !! http://www.behance.net/HerveDieudonne

Justin Maller

How do you approach your work? What's standard in the Dead Pony process?

SOLO WORK
Tall as giants

Raphael Vicenzi

It can go two ways, either I wrote down an idea that stick with me and I start working on it, building up the layers, cutting, adding things up until it clicks. Or I can start something then it turns into a better idea or direction that wasn't expected. I try to work everyday, even if sometimes there is no inspiration, just playing around, trying out new shapes, scanning hand-made doodles and so on. I try to stay open to a new ideas or a happy accident because that's what makes it interesting in the end. I have plenty of ideas but sometimes the motivation isn't there.

Justin Maller

Your work tends to involve a lot of feminine themes and content; what is it about the fairer sex that intrigues you so much artistically? Are there any concepts you have been looking forward to exploring?

Raphael Vicenzi

I don't know, it came easy to me to use a feminine figure and spirit into my works. I think I could express much more things in this way, maybe it's a way for me to reconnect with an unconscious part of me. I think it is also quite funny to do such works because I am a guy but I don't picture myself drawing cars, soccer players and guns. I have other ideas but they are based upon french puns or weird sentences but I haven't come around doing them yet, they are already half made in my head, I just need to push them through my fingers now.

Justin Maller

You have a very strong personal aesthetic? looking at a piece of artwork you have produced there is never any doubt as to whom the creator is. Would you consider your style influenced of inspired by any artists or art movements in particular, or is it more of an organic progression that you naturally stumbled across?

Raphael Vicenzi

I don't consider myself a great artist, I just found a way to express myself in this way.

It has its root in collage, street art, fashion illustration and paintings but it evolved naturally from there. I always wanted to to a little thing more than all of these styles and push it a little further in my own direction, that's why I decided to explore my own feelings or state of mind through the illustration by adding type and sentences, so it can be viewed in different ways depending of whom is watching it.

Justin Maller

What direction do you see your style developing in? Are you leaning towards incorporating more traditional elements or digital elements in your work? What percentage of each do you think your work is currently comprised of?

Raphael Vicenzi

It's hard to tell. I think collage is the base of what I do, even if it borrows heavily from different styles and does not look like a collage in the end. I don't think I can tell which way i'd like to go now, I think it will always be a bastard mix of digital and traditional, it is about 60 digital and 40 traditional but it changes with the topic I am exploring of the mood I am in.

Justin Maller

You've been in Depthcore for quite a long time now; what has being a part of the collective meant to you? What was your favourite chapter? Favourite artwork ever submitted? Who would you most like to collaborate with?

Raphael Vicenzi

A constant re-evaluation of what I do to keep it interesting. I think I like EVE and Mythic as well. It's difficult to say which artwork I prefer but I am fond Year one for example. I'd like to maybe collaborate with Diftype (Niklas) or Justin on the top of my head.

Justin Maller

Do you enjoy working in a collaborative collective environment like DC? How does it fit in to your life / creative process?

Raphael Vicenzi

Yes of course. I am glad there is such a diversity of styles and ideas, that's what makes it rich and interesting. It helps to have different point of views about one's work because it adds to the perspective.

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