Pink pigs wearing hats. Blue wolves wearing smirks. Green gorillas baring fangs. That’s typical imagery from the beastarium of printmaker Sean Starwars.
Ten years ago a Sean Starwars woodcut was acquired by collectors David and Michelle Holcombe of Alexandria, La. This year that fusty connection led to the Mississippi-based print artist, a member of the Outlaw Printmakers, being named an Attaway Fellow at Centenary College of Louisiana.
Meanwhile he has since produced a ton of art – goats on skateboards, hotdogs being expelled from the Garden of Eden, bats and wolves galore – and given workshops at art departments in schools across the country: examples being the University of Wisconsin, Madison, University of Oklahoma, University of Alabama, and Syracuse University.
Still a teen at heart, and despite having a wife and four children, his imagery is edgy and feels spontaneous. When he discovered Zippy the Chimp in an old magazine – Zippy was a live chimp who became a comedy fixture on dozens of network television programs (many of them live) during the 1950’s – placement of chimp and gorilla images in American life became one of his themes.
He has a monster work ethic – a woodcut a day is sort of where he starts and a woodcut an hour is where he peaks – and a charming bedside manner. Check his prints at Meadows Museum, Centenary campus and at Norsworthy Gallery, 214 Texas St., this month.
His work celebrates and satirizes Southern culture. It is cheap and highly collectible. The fun begins at seanstarwars.com.
Who are you?
My name is Sean Starwars, I live in Laurel, Miss. with my wife and four kids. I drink a lot of Mountain Dew and make a lot of woodcuts. I teach art at Heidelberg High School in Heidelberg, Miss., and am a part of a group of artists known as the Outlaw Printmakers.
Why woodcuts?
Well from the very beginning, when I was just starting to take art classes at Community College, I realized that I wasn’t very good at drawing, but when I started taking printmaking classes I recognized that the magical power of woodcuts could transform a bad drawing into a decent final image. There’s just something so powerful about physically imposing your will on a piece of wood. It takes force, energy, and effort to cut into a piece of wood. That energy is what makes the image come to life. Ever since that first relief print I made twenty three years ago, I knew this was for me, and that it was the only thing I’d really want to do for the rest of my life: keep making woodcuts! I love it!
Is your name really Sean Starwars, or did you have it legally changed?
In a lot of states if you live with a woman for seven years, she becomes your common-law-wife, you don‘t have to get married in front of a judge or a preacher. I’ve been using Sean Starwars for close to 20 years…. before I was even an artist I was calling myself Sean Starwars. I used to have a really respectable “Star Wars” collection. And whenever I’d go to a flea market or antique show, to save time I’d just say to the dealer, “Got any ‘Star Wars?’” When the doddering old fool would invariably come back with a pair of Spock Ears or some bogus toy from “Battlestar Galactica,” I’d say, “‘STAR WARS!’ I SAID ‘STAR WARS!’ Let me know if you have ‘STAR WARS’ TOYS YOU’RE TALKING TO SEAN STARWARS…” maybe I was a jerk when I was younger, but the name kind of stuck! Anyway I traded all my “Star Wars” stuff for Mountain Dew bottles and signage and other ephemera. It’s much more of a challenge to find something exciting and just seems less like I’m being manipulated. You know, like they don’t keep making more “collectibles” just because the market’s there. There are only so many Mountain Dews that still exist from 1947 for instance…
What’s the deal with Mountain Dew anyway?
I love the taste. I used to love the packaging and logos, although these days it’s pretty weak design. But the classic logo from the 70’s with the slightly psychedelic swirling letters in Green and Red have a magical effect on me. When the red is right next to the green like that, the eye temporarily creates a yellow line in between the two colors. It’s called color discord. When you are surrounded by hundreds of bottles and cans and that color discord is happening all around you, it makes for a nice bit of visual chaos. Plus I love the caffeine!
Tell me about the Outlaw Printmakers?
There are a handful of printmakers that have been very influential over the last twenty years. Tom Huck, Bill Fick, Dennis McNett, and a couple others. Eventually our mutual respect and admiration for one another coalesced into what is now known as the Outlaw Printmakers. The Outlaws are all image driven rather than process driven printmakers who, regardless of their impact on the academic world of printmaking, have all been able to penetrate beyond the enclosed walls of academia.
What all are you doing here in Shreveport?
Well, my primary reason for being here is for my exhibition at the Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College. It’s a great space – I’m having a great time trying to think of ways to take advantage of it. I know that I’ll have just about every woodcut I’ve made in the last 15 years hanging on the walls. It’s nice to be in a space that can accommodate that much work! We’ll also have an exhibition up over at Norsworthy Gallery in town. Beyond that, I’m giving a number of talks over at Centenary, including a woodcut workshop on Saturday and I’ll be spending the day working with the students at Caddo Magnet on Friday. I won’t have a lot of down time while I’m here but with a little luck I can get started on a new woodcut, it’s been a few days since I made one and I’m starting to miss it.