Max Edens

Interviewed by Eva Ramirez

Grade

12

Medium

Pencil, Charcoal, Oil

Classes Taken at Harriton

Art 1H, Art 2H, AP 2-D Art and Design

Interview

Art Focused Questions:

Can you briefly introduce yourself as an artist or person in general?

I'm Max Edens. I am a senior in high school right now. I've been doing art, like, as long as I can remember. Basically, the second I could start holding markers or crayons. I was really inspired by animals as a kid. They were basically my special interest, and so I would draw them all the time, and then it just kept kind of like evolving with all my interests that I wanted to get more and more into like just art in general. And now it's become like a really big part of my life. Even if I'm not going to school for it, it was definitely up there as like a consideration for it. I definitely want it to be something that I keep doing like even if I'm going to college for other stuff.

What artistic media do your primarily work with?

I do a lot of stuff just like with pencil. I work really well with like mark making and charcoal pencils and different type of graphite. So I really like that, it's very straightforward for me, I'm very comfortable with it. I do also really like oil paint, even though I'm still learning it, sort of, because it's a paint-in-the-ass medium. I do really enjoy it, I like the look it gets. It takes practice, but also there's so much you can do with it that once you start to get a refined look. I really enjoy it, and I'm really proud of some of my recent pieces that I've done with it.

Do you often plan out your artwork beforehand?

Like not really. Sometimes it just hits me of like “I want to make this”. A lot of times straight up I will get ideas, not just for like paintings but like any type of art piece, from a story. Anything like that or from dreams and it's like it just happens. Sometimes I feel like I don't have the skill set to make these pieces or these stories, but it's still something that I always keep in the back of my mind. It just happens, and that's just an idea that I have. Honestly, yeah, there really isn't a lot of planning. Once I get an idea, I'll spend a lot of time trying to find reference, but it's not necessarily planning stuff out. It's more just like, sometimes you really just gotta do it because otherwise you end up sitting there and not doing anything and just thinking about it instead. You have to just... like even if I wish I could make a piece on like a larger scale or do it digitally so I could like pay more attention to detail and start coloring it in and I don't have a lot of materials traditionally., sometimes I still just do it in my sketchbook because I'm like, I need to get it on the floor some way.

What do you believe are your strengths and weaknesses as an artist?

I think it's kind of like a double-edged sword of like I'm very passionate and very, what's the word, ambitious with my ideas and my art. Because I know I have the ability to come up with cool ideas and different ways of expressing myself and touching on topics that I find very interesting and I feel need to be talked about in art, but at the same time it's tough that I can then be a bit of a perfectionist of it needs to be perfect it needs to be done just right. And sometimes it's the execution of it requires a level of practice and skill level that I don't currently have and so it's like I still want to do it but I also want to do it perfectly the first time. And there's also time limits and practice with materials and stuff that realistically gets in the way. I'm not always able to actually execute it the way that I want to but it's still something that is always in the back of my mind of like I still really want to do this one day or yeah remake pieces if it ends up getting kind of botched

Who are your favorite visual artists?

Amy Dury is definitely up there. Her style of painting has definitely been inspirational to me, especially in AP. I've referenced her works a lot. She has a style of art that I feel like really jumps out at you. Even if you don't understand it the first time you look at it, there's clearly something, like some message there that is trying to be told. Her art style is very blocky. she uses a lot of clearly real subjects and then creates paintings out of these photos or even real subjects but the way that she does these paintings still like it has the appearance of it being from a memory and being very nostalgic and it's like clearly we are looking at a painting of real people in a real situation but there's something about it that is still blurring the lines of reality that's almost surreal that is like Clearly trying to draw something from the audience. Another artist that I really like is Kehinde Wiley. He did the very famous painting of Obama, and Ms. Jackson has one of his paintings, a print of his painting, right in her room. I think his work is really cool the way that he is like taking ancient stories and myths and portraiture of like historical figures and as used as a way of like expressing Minority specifically black people and that kind of stuff is always kind of drawn my attention of like one I think mythology and symbolism especially ancient symbolism is very interesting, but the fact that he takes it to bring in a new era to history and to art is amazing, and also his art style is just beautiful hands down. I also really just like some of David Lynch's paintings, some of the stuff that he does. Again, you can tell there is clearly something more than just what you're seeing there, but also like his pieces can be so like vulgar almost and like jarring that it makes the viewer uncomfortable. I don't remember where I heard it first, but the saying of art is made to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed is something that I try to keep in mind with my art, and it's definitely there with David Lynch, and it's a huge inspiration for me.

How do you see yourself in your art? Do you often depict yourself in your art?

I mean I try to like I said it's I try to in my art kind of incorporates some of my beliefs of like showing stuff that a lot of people are afraid of or feel insecure about or like just topics that is generally like pushed away in the spotlight. That's part of the reason why I like having a more realistic style and using a lot of reference because there's just so much stuff with beauty standards of like people are very specific about drawing the way that fat sits on people or facial hair or just the way the hair grows and stuff like that all different types of real life insecurities that is stuff that I like to focus on in my art not as like hyper focus on it but it's stuff that I like to include in drawing figures and character design and stuff like that because I like the realness of it and I feel like there's a beauty just to how the real world looks around us that I want to truly appreciate it's something that I like to incorporate a lot and also I mean there is stuff that I want to go more heavily into in the future with my art of like really getting into more aspects of horror just because I feel like it's a really good like genre to explore a lot of the topics that I'm into as like you know, stuff that people are afraid to look at sometimes, especially with like gender and oppression and stuff like that, and I think it's very important.

What advice do you have for students who relate to your experiences as an artist?

Never throw out your stuff, and don't try to avoid giving up on an art piece like, even if it's just a sketch um or doodle or something, it's something that I do very rarely like I try to not just um leave it unfinished I try to constantly push myself to like even if it's Like not half-ass Like don't give it half your Will to like to finish a piece like try it like try to push yourself because it's something that- it's essential learning how to work with deadlines. But also, like, even if you end up not liking it that much, just still keep pushing through because sometimes, if you keep working out of piece, There have been times where I was like, oh, I don't like how this is going but also I don't want to leave it unfinished because it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth and also like It's the sign of giving up, which I don't like doing. And so when I push myself through it, I end up liking a piece. I'm almost surprised with it. If you keep giving yourself time to find new bouts of creativity and new ideas with it, it can keep going. The same applies to discarding old pieces. Obviously, don't crowd yourself with all this old work. It's important not to forget your progress because you can always feel insecure about yourself. It happens to everyone, but sometimes, looking back at the things you used to do and seeing how much you've changed and evolved is important. I always think about it like, oh, when I was this younger kid who was making this art, I was very insecure. I wanted to do something bigger. And even if I'm still not meeting my expectations that I have currently, I'm still clearing beyond what I thought I was capable of when I was making this older art.

Do you listen to music while you’re creating? What’s your taste in music?

Yeah, I listen to music like all the time, not even just with art. I truly will listen to almost anything, including like country, rap, bluegrass. I'm not the type of person like I try not to be the type of person just like shut music down just because I don't get it at first And I feel like everything has its very unique style and very unique sound and I don't like to just shut that out even if it's not something that I would see myself personally like making if I were to make music it's still like It's listening to other people's stories in a way and like who they are as people. I like giving everything its chance and like Everything has its own mood of like oh maybe I wouldn't listen to this music on the regular because I mostly listen to metal and punk music and hardcore But there's still always days where it's like, you know what? No, this music feels exactly like what I need right now. Like this feels perfect and I can understand what this person is talking about and it feels very right in this moment. There's always like music for some moment and that's why I try to like and enjoy all types of music because there's such a wide range that like that's just a part of being human. I like listening to all of it.

What clubs or electives have you partaken in at Harriton?

I'm going to be honest, I haven't done a lot. I've been very focused in the past two years on AP classes, but Zenith and NAHS has absolutely been really fun to do. I highly recommend working with NAHS, especially with Winter Wonderland and Spring Fling. Winter Wonderland was super fun. I loved making the little peanuts village. I love Jill's idea for that. and it was just really fun to work on where it's just like a huge group of people who are all artists who are just hanging out who are working on one piece um it was kind of a similar vibe to when uh the seniors and anyone else was helping make the mural last year um it was just really enjoyable to like Making your own art is fun, but sometimes making stuff with other people is just also really enjoyable in its own way. You don't have to be stressed out. It's not all on you. It's not all your ideas. Working with other people can be really fun, especially if it's not your typical type of art and it's going out of your comfort zone. It's trying out something else and also enjoying the people around you.

Speed Round:

What is your favorite food?

Pho

Favorite drink/coffee/tea?

Calypso or Arizona

Favorite restaurant/ dining location/fast food chain?

Bella Italia

Favorite ice cream Topping?

I’ve only ever seen it in a couple of places, but like the little popping bubbles that you can get. Like Orbeez, but edible.