Julie Speed - Questions & Answers

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

In 1999 and 2000, the exhibition Queen of My Room: A Survey of Work by Julie Speed, 1989 -1999, organized by the Austin Museum of Art and curated by Elizabeth Ferrer, toured four Texas cities: Austin, Dallas, Galveston, and Corpus Christi. Because Speed is uncomfortable speaking in public, instead of the customary "artist's talk" she offered to answer museum visitors' questions in writing.

The museums each set up a desk stocked with writing materials in the galleries and invited questions and comments from the public. The public, as it turned out, had a great deal to say, and the project immediately ballooned into a much larger one than anyone had expected.

From the four Books of Conversation, Dr. Pillsbury selected just a few of the questions collected and asked Speed to edit and update her responses. In addition, he selected several partial questions and answers from a conversation Speed had with William Petroni in 2000.

1. What was the first painting you remember?

2. What are your influences and why?

3. Do you ever look at works by Hieronymous Bosch to inspire your paintings? It seems like some of your imagery and use of color refers to his work.

4. I was wondering how you come up with ideas for your paintings.

5. Do you think that an artist's life defines his/her art?

6. What is your relationship to surrealism? Do you admire the surrealist painters?

7. Do you consider yourself a realist?

8. What are your views on media? And is oil a contemporary medium?

9. What mediums, paints, brushes, and supports do you use? How long does a painting take? Do you draw a painting before it goes to canvas?

10. Where do you find the materials for the collages and constructions? Iis working on them the same as working on the oil paintings?

11. How do the etchings come about? Do you consider yourself a printmaker?

12. Have any works of poetry or fiction Influenced you as an artist?

13. Did you write the poems on The Chalkboard? if so, did you write them for the specific purpose of putting them in the painting?

14. Is photography important to you?

15. Are any of your influences women artists?

16. Does art run in your family?

17. Where did you learn to paint?

18. What is your favorite museum? Why?

19. Do you like the way you paint hands? Why are hands so prominent in your pictures?

20. As a painter, what do you think your limitations are?

21. What are you saying about humans in relation to animals? Is it a diabolical
relationship? Are humans likened to animals in their savagery?

22. What in Playing for the Monkey is the symbolism of the bandaged hand?
(Bitten by the monkey?) Is the monkey us, the viewer?

23. What religion were you raised upon?

24. Are you using the fish as a metaphor for Christ?

25. In the Holy See, why doesn't the man have an arm? Or is that not his hand?

26. You rarely paint nudes. Why?

27. Is there some significance to the color blue in your paintings?

28. Tell me about your relationship with fire.

29. You speak about your love of and preference for big open spaces. However, in many of your pictures, your characters are shown in small spaces, narrow rooms, or from a narrow focus. Tell me about proximity.

30. The "extra eye" or misaligned eyes in many of the paintings are very
effective (and disturbing). Can you say more about them?

31. There seems to be little joy in your paintings. Is this intentional as a theme throughout your work?

32. I teach high school art. What would you advise my artists who want to make their art their career?


	QUESTIONS & ANSWERS In 1999 and 2000, the exhibition Queen of My Room: A Survey of Work by Julie Speed, 1989 -1999, organized by the Austin Museum of Art and curated by Elizabeth Ferrer, toured four Texas cities: Austin, Dallas, Galveston, and Corpus Christi. Because Speed is uncomfortable speaking in public, instead of the customary "artist's talk" she offered to answer museum visitors' questions in writing. The museums each set up a desk stocked with writing materials in the galleries and invited questions and comments from the public. The public, as it turned out, had a great deal to say, and the project immediately ballooned into a much larger one than anyone had expected. From the four Books of Conversation, Dr. Pillsbury selected just a few of the questions collected and asked Speed to edit and update her responses. In addition, he selected several partial questions and answers from a conversation Speed had with William Petroni in 2000. 1. What was the first painting you remember? 2. What are your influences and why? 3. Do you ever look at works by Hieronymous Bosch to inspire your paintings? It seems like some of your imagery and use of color refers to his work. 4. I was wondering how you come up with ideas for your paintings. 5. Do you think that an artist's life defines his/her art? 6. What is your relationship to surrealism? Do you admire the surrealist painters? 7. Do you consider yourself a realist? 8. What are your views on media? And is oil a contemporary medium? 9. What mediums, paints, brushes, and supports do you use? How long does a painting take? Do you draw a painting before it goes to canvas? 10. Where do you find the materials for the collages and constructions? Iis working on them the same as working on the oil paintings? 11. How do the etchings come about? Do you consider yourself a printmaker? 12. Have any works of poetry or fiction Influenced you as an artist? 13. Did you write the poems on The Chalkboard? if so, did you write them for the specific purpose of putting them in the painting? 14. Is photography important to you? 15. Are any of your influences women artists? 16. Does art run in your family? 17. Where did you learn to paint? 18. What is your favorite museum? Why? 19. Do you like the way you paint hands? Why are hands so prominent in your pictures? 20. As a painter, what do you think your limitations are? 21. What are you saying about humans in relation to animals? Is it a diabolical relationship? Are humans likened to animals in their savagery? 22. What in Playing for the Monkey is the symbolism of the bandaged hand? (Bitten by the monkey?) Is the monkey us, the viewer? 23. What religion were you raised upon? 24. Are you using the fish as a metaphor for Christ? 25. In the Holy See, why doesn't the man have an arm? Or is that not his hand? 26. You rarely paint nudes. Why? 27. Is there some significance to the color blue in your paintings? 28. Tell me about your relationship with fire. 29. You speak about your love of and preference for big open spaces. However, in many of your pictures, your characters are shown in small spaces, narrow rooms, or from a narrow focus. Tell me about proximity. 30. The "extra eye" or misaligned eyes in many of the paintings are very effective (and disturbing). Can you say more about them? 31. There seems to be little joy in your paintings. Is this intentional as a theme throughout your work? 32. I teach high school art. What would you advise my artists who want to make their art their career?