Interview With Scott Rench

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By Adam Szrotek & Sylwia Banasiak

Can you please tell us how you came up with the idea of combining ceramics and computer generated prints?

This is not a short answer, it's really a series of events. In the earliest days of my schooling my Mom recalled that teachers said they had difficulty keeping my attention and many of my early report cards report I was more or less a difficult student. I always had a mind of my own. The common thread in these same report cards was that " Scott, seems to excel at art." One teacher early told my parents that I had an active imagination and talent in the arts and they should enroll me in the Art Institute of Chicago. My parents enrolled me into after school art classes and I made lots of work across many media. Time goes on and I get wrapped up in kid things and art takes a back seat for many many years. As I got older I did not really take art seriously, my interests shifted to skating pools and ramps and then BMX racing and running.

When I was 15 I saw a poster for a running 7 mile race around the lake where we lived. I went home and told my parents I was going to run this race. Now I had never run more than out the door at home so my parents laughed at me. I probably would not have run the race but once my parents reacted the way they did I think it fueled the defiant rebel youth within me. I ran the race and stayed with the leaders of the race for about 5 miles and ended up finishing 3rd in my age group. A new talent was revealed that day that would greatly shape my life. Few years later I would join our high school cross-country team. It was not long before universities all over the US were writing me offering scholarships. In the end I had been known around the US for my skill and amassed a large collection of ribbons, trophies and course records.

After graduation I accepted a scholarship to run for the University of Wisconsin. I went to Wisconsin with grand ideas of being a professional athlete. Having a great deal of immaturity did not take my studies real serious. I saw them as a means to get my professional running career started and then later endorsements from companies such as NIKE.

While attending University I took the basic classes toward a general degree. Art classes were part of this general breath of knowledge. As I started taking these art classes my interest in art was reborn. I started taking more and more art classes.

My passion for running and my less than flexible coach turned my passion for running into a job. In my third year of competitive I called it quits and gave up my scholarship. Not knowing what to do with my life I continued to pursue art classes. I fell in love with ceramics and painting and took as many as I could. At one point in the year something happened and I started painting paintings of my pots and painting paintings on my pots. This process evolved and later I would start air-brushing on my paintings and my pots. I really started getting into the whole Trompe Loi look of things, but being self-taught I was always disappointed in my ability to render things as "life-like." Upon graduation I tried to pursue a career in advertising but I was told by many that my work was too commercial and that I should try art fairs. Lost in life and not knowing what to do I decided to return to school and pursue a Masters Degree in Fine Art and either pursue a career as a professional artist or a teacher.

I applied late in the process which limited my choices. I was accepted to Edinboro University one of only two schools which I had applied. They had a very prestigious ceramics program and early on I thought it would be easier to sell cups to pay my rent than it would be to sell paintings. While at Edinboro I continued my exploration into imagery on clay. One day I was talking to a friend of mine who had a printing business and with him he had a piece of silkscreen. I looked at this screen with its detailed image and thought this would make a great stencil to air-brush through. For a time I tried using silkscreen material with my imagery.

I had some limited success with this process and one day while reflecting on my results and the process it dawned on me that perhaps I was not really using this process to its potential. I wondered about the results I'd get if I tried screen printing my imagery as opposed to air-brushing through the screens. At the same time I had befriended a student, named Larry, in the design department, he told me about this program called Photoshop and all the things he was able to do. I was so intrigued by the process, when I saw the computer and all the things Larry could do I was hooked.

I really wanted to explore this computer thing, the problem was Edinboro's design department was rather small and the computer lab had a handful of computers all with design majors waiting to get on. I briefly would get on only to have many sets of eyes burning a hole through me. I felt so uncomfortable in there that it often kept me away. It was not until a Christmas break, when the chair of the art department, gave me his building key, that I got to really sit in front of the computer. For the next 30 days me and my friend Jim would spend 15 or more hours a day in front of the computer. It was during this time that I taught myself Photoshop, Illustrator and QuarkXpress, to this day about 90% of what I know I learned during that 30 days. I was scanning things from books ad cleaning them up to make film positives used in silkscreen printing.

At this time I was only using the computer to cleanup images, I would compose the pieces as I created them. My work often takes several hours to make and since I print directly onto wet clay once I start I cannot stop. At the end of several pieces I realized the work would have been better had I place and image in a different place. It was at this time that I looked at the process again. I had decided like the silkscreen I was airbrushing through, I was not using the computer to its full potential. I started using the computer to compose my work, I found this very liberating. Using the computer allowed me to create a few versions of an idea then I could print them out to scale and tape them to the wall. This process saved a lot of heart ache and in the end makes for better work.

Where did your interest in ceramics come from?

My interest in ceramic probably came from those early ceramics classes I took out of advice from my early teachers.

Have you received any formal education in this field?

Yes, I have a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters Degree in Fine Art: ceramics.

Ceramics seems to be quite rare among young artists and designers. Where do you draw your inspiration from? Are there any other artists that inspire you?

I get my inspiration everywhere, from the things I see on TV, the web and the artworld. I am inspired by the artists such as: Juan Chavez, Cody Hudson (Struggle Inc.), Jeff Soto, Barry McGee (Twist), Evan Hecox, Brendan Monroe, Mark Ryder and Eric Feng to name a few.

Could you please shortly describe the process?

The process obviously starts with an idea or concept sometimes it starts with a single word others and image and from there it evolves.

I illustrate, photograph or render my images using programs used in commercial advertising such as Photoshop. I will work out the design problems on the computer, sometimes I create numerous versions of a single concept. Once I feel like I am at a good place I'll print the work to the scale I envision of the final piece. I tape them to the wall and soak it all in, I look to see what is working and what is not and take the best elements from each execution to arrive at the final version.

Once complete, I send out the digital files for film positives. I use the film positives to expose my silkscreens which have been coated with a light sensitive emulsion. Once the screens are prepared I can transfer my image to clay. I screen print my images using commercial based underglazes that I have modified for printing. I print onto wet slabs of clay so once I start I cannot stop, the process can take several hours all the while the clay is shrinking while it is drying which can make registration quite difficult at times. Once the printing part is complete I often incise or impress objects from lead movable type to fake wood grain textures. Then I will place the slab onto a foam form to give it shape and let dry. Once the piece is free of all moisture I place the work standing straight up and fire in a kiln.

The final piece can be displayed indoors or out and withstand the test of time and the elements.

Your art is strongly influenced by the oriental elements. Tell us about your fascination with Asian culture.

I guess my fascination with Asia started as kid watching shows like, Ultraman, Giant Robot, Gamera, and Godzilla.

I had a neighbor friend who had these great Asian toys that were always cooler than any US toys I had seen.

As I got older I became more fascinated with the intricacies of Asian culture. Asia places great honor in the arts, its feels to me like the US does not as a culture have such high regard for the arts. I often say there are two kinds of men Fathers don't want their daughters dating a bartender or an artist and for a time I was both. I would introduce myself to people and the conversation would always make its way to the fact that I was in Graduate School pursuing a Masters Degree. At the moment I mentioned my Masters Degree Fathers seemed to warm up to me. Then I would tell them I was going for ceramics there was always this awkward long silence. The silence seemed to last far to long, as if I would joking start laughing and tell him I was really going to be a lawyer I love the simplicity and symbolism in Asian art. I often use Asian characters on two levels, first, I see the characters as art elements that stand on their own and secondly they also have meaning. My work is heavily based on semiotics, telling narrative stories through symbolism. Since my work is often about my personal life there are layers that are easily understood and others that are buried in meaning.

You were one of many participants of "Get It Louder" exhibition that was held this year in China. How would you describe this experience?

I think it was great success, the curators really put together an impressive show. There is a great art/design scene in China which will only keep growing in notoriety. I am very proud to have been asked to be apart of this exhibit. I am hoping to help bring the Get It Louder to the US in 2007.

How important is the role of art in everyday life? Do you think it should become a part of everyday routine?

For me personally I would rather spend a little more money on something an artist created. I love the feel of a handmade cup in my hands, but lately I have been working on a more mass produced body of work that is at a price point that should appeal to a wider audience. People seem more inclined to buy work that also has a utilitarian use as well. I eat my breakfast everyday out of bowl my friend, Paul Scott, made. Paul opened my eyes to this utilitarian interaction and the joy art can bring. I have several of Paul's plates all of which hang on my wall, but it was not until he gave me the bowl that my eyes were truly opened.

Do you find your artistic approach as purely aesthetic or you try to give it some meaning?

I think much of my work is intuitive in nature, some things are thought and others I just let happen. In my work I like to create work that evokes emotion, I like to engage the viewer to think about what is going and to arrive at its meaning based on their life experience.

I am often surprised by the meaning others see.

Hands and arrows (cursors) often appear in your art. What do they represent?

To pay my rent I work in advertising and I spend hours upon hours at the computer so the computer and advertising have long been apart of my work in some way or another. The icons mean different things in different pieces. In "Everybody Wants It." the computer arrows symbolize people and their quest for love.

Globalization. How do you feel about this process and how, in your opinion is this gonna effect the future of art in general.

The Globalization of art will only make things richer. There was a show recently at the Chicago Museum of Modern Art by Chinese photographers and it was some of the most interesting pieces of work I have seen in a long time. The work made me excited about art and several pieces really moved me. I think we will hear a lot more about the art coming out of China in the near future.

Why is love a drug?

As I have mentioned before my work has become narrative over the years. In the piece "Love is a Drug: I sometimes take but always abuse" is a reflection on lost love. In many ways my imagery and work is a complex layering of semiotics. I have long been fascinated by Asian culture and its written language. I see the kanji as art objects first and its meaning second. I have chosen the cardboard texture to symbolize the box I sometimes feel trapped in. It appears dirty and beaten up as it has traveled many places and bares all the scars of its journey. Love is a drug speaks to my need to control, my loss of control and to say I'm sorry. I am torn by the extrovert who needs to express my feelings or emotions and the introvert who hides them.

Scott Rench
Interviewed by Adam Szrotek & Sylwia Banasiak

Artist Statement

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Scott Rench

My work represents the next generation of ceramic artists, who fuse today's technology with one of the oldest traditions in art. To some the computer is completely foreign while others have grown up in front of one. This familiarity will lead to the creation of new modes of expression in the ceramic arts.

During the day I work as an Art Director at a Chicago advertising agency. I use the computer to create a myriad of advertising elements. While at work I am exposed to programs and media that have direct applications for our clients. In the back of my mind I am wondering how can I apply this to my artwork. Upon returning home it is not long before I am situated in front of the computer again.

While I try to keep the two separate my ad work and my artwork influence each other. You will often see computer related imagery as it's part of my daily life and in some cases a part of our contemporary vernacular.

I use the computer in my artwork to illustrate, manipulate, and compose the elements for each piece. It allows me to create several versions of a concept while refining it along the way until there is a version that successfully conveys my vision. Over the years my work has become increasingly narrative with the subjects drawing from my personal life.

Once the concept is complete I send my computer files out for film positives. I use the film separations to create silkscreens used in transferring the images onto large sheets of wet clay. The process can takes several hours and is rather delicate as the clay is quite soft and records every push and pull. One accidental slip can ruin a piece. My printing medium is glaze and not ink which presents all sorts of challenges and contributes to the lengthy process.

I like to work wet on wet as it gives me freedom. I can emboss a cardboard trompe l'oeil effect on the surface of the clay fooling people into thinking its cardboard and not clay. Once the printing is complete I often give additional volume to the work so it pops off a wall when it is hung in place.

I like to make work that makes people think, being that much of my work deals with personal things in my life I often use a complex laying of semiotics to convey the meaning. The basic idea sits on the surface and with successive levels buried in symbolism. I give clues to the viewer and let them unravel the mystery.

Most if not all my pieces deal with themes that are common to the human experience and because of that people can relate to the message. I think the role of art is to convey or evoke emotion and I hope all of my work succeeds on this level.

In addition to the common experience each viewer brings their personal experiences to each piece of art. I am often pleasantly surprised by what others get from the meaning of the work. Through others I have seen things in the meaning of my work that had been transparent. I work rather intuitively and sometimes the meaning of things reveal themselves to me long after the work is completed.