STEVE BROWNE
How did you first get into art?
I started drawing when I was about 4 or 5, mainly copying Mickey Mouse and comics (Batman etc). When I hit 10 I started copying Astroboy, Star Wars Garfield and Inspector Gadget, then moved on to Anime, learning basic shapes and poses.
I found that I could create a world of my own, that no one could come in to and that I could control, so it became an escape. I studied art and failed based on the lecturers being unhappy with my turning every still life exercise in to a space station or swamp monster, so I figured I’d draw for myself again, rather than try to please anyone else.
It took me a while to let people see my work, but I was finally drawing for myself, which was cool.
I started drawing when I was about 4 or 5, mainly copying Mickey Mouse and comics (Batman etc). When I hit 10 I started copying Astroboy, Star Wars Garfield and Inspector Gadget, then moved on to Anime, learning basic shapes and poses.
I found that I could create a world of my own, that no one could come in to and that I could control, so it became an escape. I studied art and failed based on the lecturers being unhappy with my turning every still life exercise in to a space station or swamp monster, so I figured I’d draw for myself again, rather than try to please anyone else.
It took me a while to let people see my work, but I was finally drawing for myself, which was cool.
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The first time we met you at the gallery, you said you were stuck in a monsoon in South-East Asia and a heap of work was destroyed. We've seen some of your work on their walls, tell us about your travels and painting over there.
Oh, yeah, I got lost in KL on the way to paint a café and it hit pretty hard, so my visual diaries and sketchbooks got really wet. I saved a bunch with the hair dryer in my hotel, but some got stuck together and others have water marks but that’s life. I was just happy to be there. SE Asia is amazing. I’ve been to a few countries, including Cambodia, and have been pretty lucky enough to be able to put paint on walls for some really great people. Who's artwork are you hyped on at the moment?
Guys like Jeremy Geddes, James Jean and Sainer are on my constant stalk list, but really anyone who does anything gets me pretty amped. Pick up something, make a mark on something and I’m psyched on what you’ve done ha ha How do you feel about Perth's growing creative scene, it seems like the "Jump-Ship-To-Melbourne" move for young creatives is now on the decline
A growing creative scene anywhere is a great thing. As far as the ‘ship jumping’ goes, I guess the pendulum will swing where it wants to. I think Perth is a beautiful place and the more the merrier, so if people are deciding to stay, that’s a good sign. 
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You're heavily involved in music video and film making and even lecture it, how long have you been doing that for? I like pointing cameras at people and seeing what I can get away with making them to do. Not sure I’d call it film making, I’ll leave that title for the film makers but I like being a hack. I started playing with cameras in my tweens (had to attach a VHS recorder to the actual camera back in those days). I remember brother and I trying to see which angles hanging off of a fence would make us look as though we were hanging off of a building. Moved on to a bit of Super8 stuff as I got older, then made some crappy comedy videos before studying film and being asked to return to lecture on parts. Still make some videos and try to do low budget FX. Blood is fun. I enjoy the process more than the end result sometimes. What do you think social media has done for artists over the last year or two?
Hmmm, that’s hard to answer as a general thing. I guess if I see an artist, that I enjoy, ‘like’ another artist, I suppose I’ll check it out. I’m sure it’s the same for others. Certainly Instagram is an immediate way of sharing art through hash tags etc. I’ve heard from people over seas, solely from hasthagging (is that even a word?). So I over use it because I figure it gets a few more peoples attention. Haters gunna hate. There seems to be a lot of surreal/sci-fi landscapes and often twisted alien/robotic/monster figures. Where do you draw inspiration from for your illustrations?
The ‘Monsters.As.Friends’ label took a while to form. It’s based around embracing what you think you’re afraid of, and using those things as strengths to draw from instead. I will usually try to capture a moment, a lot of times using a circle to represent that moment coming back around on itself. I’ve had a fascination with time, from since I can remember, so bringing the past, future and present in to one moment was what I set out to do, early in the game. That lead to a lot of organic materials meshing with metals and man made objects, which is I guess how I feel we have grown/ evolved as a species. I now mix that foundation with the idea that fear shouldn’t exist, but that young people learn it as an emotion from adults that pass it down. So a lot of my more recent stuff revolves around young people being curious about an unknown object, rather than frightened by it. I suffer from Peter Pan syndrome. Any advice for young artists?
Sketch light, paint dark and always start with a circle. |