Laura Horne-Gaul: What made you decide to be an artist?

 

 

Robert Farmer: I've always been a bit of a loner throughout my youth. From legos to drawing, to pretending that the common yard­rock was a massive battleship and this twig a tentacled space slug, including acting out imaginary scenarios from favourite pop culture influences, to repeating grades five and seven, I've always ventured further into the intellect over what everyone else was doing. Having not witnessed culture unless you include hockey games, bible readings or car­ meets as significant, I managed to find friendship within myself rather than seeking external acceptance from my peers. Only during the tumultuous teen years and beyond did I begin to shape my intent as having a career as an artist. Having been influenced by similarly creative but musically inclined friends in my early 20's led me towards shaping my own motivated pursuits albeit without others pursuing a similar practice.

 

LHG: Can you expand on your process, why you work with the mediums that you do and why you choose the consistent subject matter (with variations?)

 

 

RF: My process of working can be made as a connection to my experiences. I invest an unbiased perspective into the theme I am working with. By removing politically correct behaviour I remain completely open ­minded during my studious passage to enlightenment. My experiences thrive on and seek out those challenges residing on the moral edge of society, taboos such as cannibalism, polyamory, and eating GMO vegetables. I find mainstream interests too plain and boring. Sarcasm plays a consistent role as a means to get my message across, but I am not interested, nor feel responsible of providing any solution. A wacky, distorted surrealist ideal always shares vivid insight and reflection better interpreted as compared to a landscape or some idyllic passage of generality. Religion, race, and gender stereotypes play a constant role in my work. Having grown up surrounded by the myth of Christianity, I am always reminded of it as this recent body of work illustrates. I use oils in my paintings, to some degree mixed media including latex, acrylic, and paper. Oils are politically incorrect, so obviously its the best one to use.

 

 

LHG: Because you have been involved in the Toronto art scene for so long can you give me one positive and one negative observation?

 

 

RF: The art scene here is beneficial as it has many opportunities to connect with art investors, and due to a strong connection with my other pursuit as a house painter, am successfully avoiding the concept of acquiring exclusivity. Since I no longer think like a starving artist and am slowly embracing capitalistic behaviour, the opportunities have also increased. Again, I am embracing capitalism as an experience, not as a decision to be one. I no longer find it as important to network with artists. My developing ability to grow as a business owner, smashing through the tired and sadistically uninspiring methods of averageness has offered a continued improvement and widened scope of the art practice not only within the community but globally as well. Having been ingrained with the responsibility of funding 100% of my own projects without assistance, I am not too fond of the granting system currently in place for individuals. It does nothing to an artists' motivation if one cannot make that investment on their own, having to rely upon a grant system to get funding, and furthering the stereotype of remaining a helpless victimized artist. A loss of responsibility has stunted too many projects that end up being the distracted apocalypses that remind me of buffalo jumping over a cliff.

 

 

LHG: What is your favorite exhibition that you have seen this year?

 

 

RF: I juggle two pursuits on equal standing. Awakening at 4 am every day, I tend to work on my art till 9, then do the 'colour field' painting till 5 or 6. Usually working six or seven days per week has my opinions on this query sorely absent. My favourite display I consistently visit is the Ancient Egyptian Gallery at The Royal Ontario Museum.

 

 

LHG: What’s coming up next for you?

 

 

RF: Currently being overwhelmed with interpretations of The X­-Files as commission ­based work on appropriated paintings, and an X-­Files themed group exhibit at Atomic Toybot in Autumn 2015. I am in the planning stages of the next series of Stormtrooper paintings aptly referencing the trilogy of the Star Wars films. I am usually posting new work on the web too robertfarmerworld.blogspot.com and robertfarmeroriginalsin.blogspot.com.