Herb Williams
The Color of Luck
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Dear Herb,
how did you come up with the idea of using Crayola in your works? What ensured your success in having your own account with Crayola? I tried everything else. I grew up working carpentry with my Step-Dad, so using my hands and working with wood and steel came very naturally for me. In college I trained with a couple of local sculptors who created large-scale public works in stainless steel and bronze and it opened my eyes to the process of creating artwork for a larger audience. After college I started a job as a casting technician at a bronze foundry in West Palm Beach. While there I learned the art of lost-wax casting and ceramic shell investment molding, along with creating several hundred large bronze sculptures, including the last sculpture of Photorealist Duane Hanson before he died. |
photo: courtesy of the artist |
Then I moved to Nashville and carved out a space in a basement storage closet of an old apartment building where I syphoned electricity and started my own studio. I created several series of truly terrible works, exploring every different medium I could imagine. After many months of searching for my own style and feeling as though everything I created was just regurgitating my heroes, I burned several works and drank a fifth of Jack Daniels and promptly passed out. In the midst of that deep sleep I had one of the most powerful dreams I have ever had.
In the dream the San Francisco MoMA contacted me and asked for a retrospective of my artwork. I then went to the exhibit and saw sculptures of practically every medium imaginable and then walked by an iguana made of crayons and promptly woke right up. Luckily I had a sketchbook by the bed and the rest as they say, is history.
I tried casting my own crayons, but felt disingenuous by the fact that they had no scent. The scent of the Crayola brand is part of the draw for me. Everyone who smells the sculptures is taken back to their childhood. They are a gateway drug. I am one of the only sculptors I know that creates work that appeals to the olfactory senses. It’s very satisfying. Anyone can order crayons in a particular color from Crayola. They will hand-pack custom boxes of 64 for you, but it is also very expensive, about $10 a box. It takes approximately 9 crayons per square inch to create my sculptures, so that ends being A LOT of crayons. I worked fairly small for the first year, however I ordered so many crayons that eventually Crayola contacted me and let me know that I had ordered so many that I officially qualified as a wholesaler. Now I order my crayons in a 50lb box with 3000 of the same color. It makes a huge difference and enables me to think about installation-size works much easier.
In the dream the San Francisco MoMA contacted me and asked for a retrospective of my artwork. I then went to the exhibit and saw sculptures of practically every medium imaginable and then walked by an iguana made of crayons and promptly woke right up. Luckily I had a sketchbook by the bed and the rest as they say, is history.
I tried casting my own crayons, but felt disingenuous by the fact that they had no scent. The scent of the Crayola brand is part of the draw for me. Everyone who smells the sculptures is taken back to their childhood. They are a gateway drug. I am one of the only sculptors I know that creates work that appeals to the olfactory senses. It’s very satisfying. Anyone can order crayons in a particular color from Crayola. They will hand-pack custom boxes of 64 for you, but it is also very expensive, about $10 a box. It takes approximately 9 crayons per square inch to create my sculptures, so that ends being A LOT of crayons. I worked fairly small for the first year, however I ordered so many crayons that eventually Crayola contacted me and let me know that I had ordered so many that I officially qualified as a wholesaler. Now I order my crayons in a 50lb box with 3000 of the same color. It makes a huge difference and enables me to think about installation-size works much easier.
Why is Nashville, TN, an exciting city to live in and make art as a sculptor? When is the best time to visit Nashville especially for a taste of art offerings from local artists?
I think that Nashville is experiencing a real Halcyon time. So many creatives are moving here every day. The studios downtown are now renting for seven times what they were only a few years ago, it’s very surreal. Friends have compared it to Chelsea in the early 80’s.
I love Nashville for so many different reasons. It is the smallest big city, or biggest small city, however you want to look at it. It is small enough that if you work hard, then your voice can be heard. I think the sheer number of singer-songwriters here make it one of the best places on the planet. They are all so very genuine and friendly.
The best time to view new works and meet the artists in person is during the first Saturday of the month at the ArtCrawl. Either downtown or in the developing Wedgewood-Houston district you will definitely meet new people and find some truly inspiring artworks.
What is the most exciting places you’ve visited for exhibitions of your works? Who are the most interesting artists you’ve met and worked with?
Last year I was invited to put on a solo exhibit in Shanghai. The people there were very friendly, and extremely interested in the Western art scene. I got to visit amazing collections of art that included exhibits by Ai Weiwei, and Cai Guo-Qiang.
Wayne White is one of my favorite artists that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. Shepard Fairey is pretty damn cool too, and smart as a razor.
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What impact does sculpture have in raising awareness on important issues such as wildfires and preservation concerns?
The wildfires were the biggest risk I’ve ever taken. We built these 8-foot high bonfire looking sculptures out of hundreds of thousands of crayons and then let them melt in the Texas sun. It was just gorgeous.
The museum had the highest attendance they had ever recorded. The photographs taken of the sculptures were reblogged in almost every country. It was the most seen artwork that I have ever created. Schools brought out their students and it started some new conversations about preservation, prevention, and using art as a vehicle to move the whole dialog.
The Color of Luck was an idea that started with a commissioned work that paid me to deliver and install the sculpture in Las Vegas. The client put me up in a casino across from the Howard Hughes condos where I was to install. The work was very complex and took three days to complete. After going in and out of the casino lobby I began to see life-size sharks swimming through the crowds at about waist level. It freaked me out a little bit. I rented a convertible and drove down through the desert to visit my sister in Mesa, and then flew back home from there. I haven’t been back since.
The experience led me to create the entire series of the Color of Luck, thinking about art, like gambling, is a huge risk, and the house almost always wins.
the Blues Room - did you play a lot of blues when working on the Blues Room or do you prefer a mixed tape of all kinds of music, in general?
I rely on the taste of my assistants and interns usually. I like to pick bands that they will turn me onto and then plug that into Pandora to expand. I definitely like to mix up the musical style from day to day. You have to find a rhythm that works for you and I need variety.
What are some of the contemporary art pieces that have made a lasting impression on you?
Oh you really might regret that question. I remember specific works of art, but I’m usually drawn to specific exhibits on specific artists. I have a love affair with a different artist every year. I enjoy thinking that someday my work might be on a wall next to just one of my heroes. A few of my favorite artists are: H.C. Westermann, Fiona Rae, Jasper Johns, Jim Dine, Cai Guo-Qiang, Sandy Skoglund, Liza Lou, David Mach, Charles Ray, René Magritte, El Anutsui, Marcel Duchamp, Claes Oldenburg, Takashi Murakami, Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Robert Rauschenburg, Tim Hawkinson, Martin Wohrl, Tara Donovan, Banksy, Olafur Eliasson and Ai Weiwei.
What is the philosophy you live by and follow in your art?
Take enormous risks and create fearlessly. At the end of the day, art is all about ideas and all the rest is window dressing.