Hamishi is that guy you always see with a massive smile on his face and a friendly hello – you know the guy – warm, friendly and who has time for most everyone. He’s also wonderfully driven and has a blissful dedication to pursuing his artistic talents – without a doubt, we are going to be seeing a lot of this mans work in years to come.
As an artist who wants nothing more than to be taken at face value, and whose wit is sharply armed, the work that Hamishi creates defies attempts at being pigeon holed. Whimsy seems a key aspect of it, yet a deeper level of emotion is obviously evident beneath the forms and beings that inhabit his neo-surrealistic worlds. These characters aren’t necessarily individuals, per se, and are more akin to blurred representations of quixotic experiences and ideals. This aspect of his work allows the viewer the opportunity to determine their own interpretation of each scenario, which is exactly as it should be.
We had the chance to visit him this week down at Paradise Hills as he was preparing for the opening of his show "Nothing Special" this weekend. Amongst a riot of pink and pastels, paint and circles, we had a great glimpse of what the night has in store.
So read on, and enjoy the world of Hamishi …
Background first! Tell us how you got started with painting and creating, and where all of that initial inspiration, drive and technique sprang from?
I drew a lot as a kid, I guess everyone says that. I think my drive came from a weird space I was in when I was 13 or 14. I was a weird kid, at that age I felt this fucked up responsibility to fix everything wrong in the world, I mean everything. It was really overwhelming and led to a pretty sad self-aware childhood. I had trouble sleeping so I’d stay awake all night walking and catching trains trying to connect with people I didn’t know, people that in my mind represented the general populous. I guess when they started liking my drawings it made me think I could create something people can relate to visually and I could encourage them to make art for themselves.
Without putting too fine a point on it, you are still at a relatively young age, and yet you have been making leaps and bounds with both your work and the attention it is receiving – you’ve obviously worked hard – what do you believe have been some of the keys to your burgeoning success as an artist, beyond the talent that is so evident in your work?
Well putting things into perspective I’m nowhere yet – it’s not easy being the most important Australian painter since Brett Whiteley. The art world is an aristocracy, but hopefully it doesn’t stop the right people meeting the right people. That’s not to say I acknowledge myself as a manipulative fuckwit that’s playing “the game”.
I think just being as honest as I can and putting myself out there has helped my cause. I try not to be intimidated, there’s a lot more than the art world to be scared of.
We particularly love the title for your upcoming show, "Nothing Special" – I’m sure that most people who see your art would probably think the exact opposite – what was the impetus behind the name, and what direction are you going in for the show itself?
Thanks. A lot of the time I try to think deterministically, so the minute, invisible variables that causes you to make certain decisions or cause certain things to happen to you interest me. The belief that we can never comprehend those variables and accepting what we will never understand is an underlying theme in a lot of my work. I put a lot of emphasis on naivety because I believe submitting yourself to accepting unknowingness is a lot more powerful than trying to understand everything. Because of this I don’t think one thing is any more essential than anything else. Nothing Superfluous, Nothing Special. Andy Warhol always wanted a T.V. show, he said if he ever had one he would name it “Nothing Special”.
I’m still not sure how I feel about him but I’ve always wanted a solo exhibition in a nice space. He’s pretty cool I guess but he never really got to name anything “Nothing Special”.
As for the show itself, I want to express the thoughts I’ve had since someone very close to me died last year and use them to back up my somewhat detached claim that nothing is special. To do this I’m trying to invalidate my work as unconducive to reality with a focus on the paradox of attempting to create a body of work unconducive to something it is inherently a part of.
I just want to paint commission flats and leave out all of the refugees.
You’ve been in a couple of shows over in the states, and you did a trip over there not so long ago, and spent some time in San Fran – can you tell us a bit more about your journey and what you saw?
I really like the US, I think it’s still a very relevant place for art. I’ve got a pretty huge group show coming up in Portland called “Space//Form” that I’m excited about, I don’t know how much I can talk about it at the moment.
Moving on - San Francisco is beautiful I got to stay with some really fantastic cats (Henry Gunderson, Michael Wild) who treated me perfect. When Reagan was in power he shut down the institutions and just let everyone out - the crazy people really stuck with me and they really saved my ass a few times, one of them was pretty special to me.
Everyone really appreciates art over there, it’s quite amazing, I could live there.
Can you tell us a bit more about some of the denizens that inhabit your work? They seem to comprise a unique set of characters and individuals, what is their genesis story, where did they evolve from, and how important a part do they play in your work?
The characters can be ideas, opinions, people, thoughts, experiences etc. I believe a person is an amalgamation of everything that has happened to them so they’re a dissection what I think makes a person. I like to keep them vague and sexless, it’s less and more relatable at the same time. They’ve played an important role in my work but for this show they’re a little less instrumental.
Where does painting walls fit into the picture for you? Do you utilise differing techniques when you’re doing mural and street work, or is it an expansion on the work you do on canvas? What part does public art play in your overall artistic communion.
I don’t call myself a street artist, I’d like to be more active in public art though (I did get out and paint a nice wall last night). I mostly don’t document it or tell anyone about it, it’s usually just an outlet for me when I get too much of any certain thing in my life. It’s nice to get some shit out of your system and just give it over to the world. I think street art is very romantic.
You’ve also had a bit of magazine and online exposure, ‘zines and online mags such as Fecal Face, Juxtapoz, Six Years Later have all pimped your work at some stage or another – how important to you is this form of exposure for your work and your journey as an artist?
Yeah I mean it’s definitely nice validation, but sometimes you have to watch out you can easily get pigeonholed as a “Juxtapoz Artist” or something along the lines of that. They can also misrepresent you to a lot of people experiencing your work for the first time. It’s funny when they try to read into your work and get it completely wrong.
Juxtapoz said my work was erotica, and an expression of my own eroticism. Haha.
Besides all the upcoming shows you have this year, what other projects and plans are you looking forward to? What does the future hold in store for Hamishi?
Nothing special – I’m going to get fit enough to dunk.
Real hops like Dr. J!
You can check out Hamishis website here, and head here for some more information on his show, Nothing Special.
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