INTERVIEW / DAVE MORRIS

Irish-American artist Faith Guynes’s first exhibit, a series of striking, confrontational paintings regarding substance abuse and alcohol addiction, is currently on display at the Anne Kittrell Art Gallery in the Arkansas Union on campus at the University of Arkansas until October 13. The exhibit is sponsored by the University Programs Art Gallery Committee. Guynes, a 21 year old senior at the University, paints in oils in a bold and haunting style often with a retro feel and at times slightly reminiscent of pop art. She was kind enough to discuss her work via e-mail.

Okay so you’re Irish. How did you wind up in the States and specifically how did you wind up at the University of Arkansas?

I was actually born in Texas but moved around the States. I moved to Northern Ireland when I was about six with close family. I stayed there for ten years and things just eventually started to get rough. NI is a small country and I felt that I needed to move back to America in order to explore educational opportunities and see other family that still lived there. So I came back when I was 16, went to high school for a year, and then started college here in Fayetteville. I didn’t know much about the universities in America so I chose the University of Arkansas because it was close to family and had a great anthropology department.

According to your online bio, you’re an anthropology major but you want to pursue art as a career. Why not study art while you’re in college?

Ever since I was little I loved history and archaeology so I figured anthropology was the way to go. People always ask why I am not an art major and I guess it’s because I didn’t want painting to feel like a chore. 

How long have you been painting and what inspired you to start? Any particular influences you’d like to share? Does being Irish or being in Arkansas have any specific influence on your work or your process?

I painted with acrylic a lot in Northern Ireland but it was mostly just amateur work. When I moved back to the states I started using oils and suddenly my skills got better. Almost like magic. I’m not sure what inspired me to start painting. It always just seemed like something I had to do. Francis Bacon has been a big influence on my current work. His paintings and palette choice are often times warm and highly saturated; almost romantic. His subjects are usually grotesque and twisted but all I see is beauty, or perhaps the illusion of beauty- because of his color choice. I try to do the same in my paintings. 

How did the University Programs Art Gallery Committee come to select you and your work for exhibition?

I honestly just asked them if I could do a showing. I think the best thing you could do to be accepted is to develop a strong portfolio.

You current exhibit is about alcohol addiction and substance abuse. That’s pretty heavy subject matter. Why did you select this theme and what are you trying to accomplish with this work?

It was almost like an unconscious decision to focus on this subject matter. I doodle a lot to see what ideas come out. I used to doodle portraits of beautiful people or the common close up of an eye. About two years ago my portraits started to become twisted and unhappy, always with a bottle close to their side. I realized that these drawings were reflecting my life and becoming all that I know. I was drinking too much at the time and making a fool of myself every time I did. I used to think that all those drunken times were fun and were the best days of my life. Of course socializing while drinking did lead to new friends and some good times but for the most part it was all an illusion. I lost more friends than I gained and looking back at it all I always thought we were accomplishing something or even changing the world with our drunken antics and conversations. But in reality we were doing nothing. I was doing nothing but destroying my mind and body. So my current work is an attempt to examine such. Each painting is filled with different emotions or sayings regarding alcohol, some contradictory to others in order to illustrate the turbulent mind and perception one has when drinking. The finished painting isn’t supposed to be beautiful but to show the illusion of beauty that happens when reminiscing drunken times and choices. When you actually examine the subject matter it’s quite dark. But I mask the darkness with warm and bright colors. Overall, I just want to see if anyone falls for the illusion. 

As a young local artist, are there any of your contemporaries that you particularly admire or appreciate? Why? How do you feel about the artistic community at the University and in Northwest Arkansas?

There is a local artist called Joelle [Storet] that I haven’t met formally but really admire her work. She’s really great at drawing portraits and the human form in movement. 

I haven’t really become involved with particular persons of the artistic community at the UofA but took a 2D art class in the summer and felt that there is a lot of passionate people in the arts program. It would be nice to meet some people who focus on graphic design as it is something I have grown interest in. 

Aside from painting, do you have any other major interests? Do any of these interests inform your work as an artist?

Of course archaeology but I have found it difficult to incorporate into paintings. I’ve always wanted to learn a trade like woodworking but a Robert Frost poem has scared me away from power tools. Maybe that will change in the future. 

What’s next for you as an artist?

I have no idea. Maybe landscapes?

http://www.ugallery.com/faith-icus

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