Christopher Tavares Silva Interview

How old are you?

I was born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico on March 20th, 1972.

Where do you currently live?

Chicago, Illinois.

What is your art training? If any.

Though there were definitely things I learned, I don't really feel like my experience with art school really shaped me as an artist as much my experiences outside of school did. But I do feel that I benefited from 20th Century Art History. I attended the American Academy of Art for three years and have an Associates Degree in Fine Art, whatever that means. After that I got a full year scholarship to Chicago's Columbia College and an art-Nazi expelled me from an advanced painting class in the middle of the second semester for "not painting seriously". It was at that point that I realized that I was through with school. That you would need a degree in art is one of the most ridiculous ideas I've ever heard of, since your work makes it very clear what your level of skill is. For the most part I just picked up things from friends, practice, and observation.

What inspires you to create?

I'm inspired by the fact that I can create, and by the fact that I can relate my thoughts and emotions through a multitude of forms. I'm inspired by honest works of art that you feel emotionally before you get any kind of cerebral, analytical activity going on in your head. Really raw, decayed things that have been shaped by the elements and are not even really viewed by most people as art inspire me. Nature is inspirational. I'm inspired by the events in my life, which trigger thoughts and feelings that build up inside me until it feels like I must get them out of me in one form or another. I think I'm really inspired by my perception of people walking around in this world with a shitload of psychological armor that prevents them from having real honest positive interactions with each other. I'm definitely guilty of giving into certain defense mechanisms myself. This observation inspires me to try and become one of those people that expresses their feelings freely, and doesn't hesitate to show that they have vulnerabilities. I think that those kind of people help other people to see that it's acceptable to be really open with your feelings and that you don't always have to appear as if you have everything together. I love when I encounter people like this because you can really see how they help to get people around them to open up. I'm able to expose my inner self really easily in my artwork but the real challenge is to keep it up in my everyday existence. In a way, the fact that I express myself so freely in my artwork makes it more difficult for me to do so in person.

Explain the excitement of graffiti.

I honestly have hardly done any real graffiti in about five years, but man, I love graffiti. I just love public artwork in general, but of course graffiti has that extra element of adventure to it that I really miss. One of my favorite feelings in the world was painting up on rooftops at night knowing that the next day all these people on the CTA trains were going to see some new strange imagery that's not even asking them to buy anything or vote for anyone. What? Then what's the point, right? I'm not too big a fan of a lot of the "graffiti art" murals that I see that are painted legally, they usually seem pretty shallow to me. Though I must admit, I'd rather have them be there than not to be. I suppose when it comes to graffiti I take a pretty purist stance on it. I prefer real graffiti to graffiti simulation. Even if I may not be deeply moved by a lot of art that I see I still love the fact that people do it. I learned a lot from my experiences in the graffiti world, not only about art but also about people and life.

My guess is that you are involved in several creative endeavors.

What do you have going this summer? I'm currently working on a mosaic in a small church with my friend Juan Chavez in La Junta, Chihuahua, Mexico. I've just finished a cover for a 12" single that's about to be released by my friend's band, Sonic Sum, and am currently designing their full-length album cover that'll be out later this year. I also make music and am putting together an album with some of my friends. We've recently been offered a little record deal by the Chocolate Industries label and are shooting for next spring to have a nice amount of material to put out. We're calling ourselves "Live At Home" since we don't plan on ever performing outside of our studio recordings. I produce some tracks, my friend Tony Janda produces others, I write all of the lyrics and also perform most of them along with some help from my singing friend, Heather Janits, keyboard assistance from Benny Bee, plus nice clean turntable cuts by my man Alex "Capital A" Turley. It should be a really weird album, really all over the place, but I'm predicting it to be strangely cohesive at the same time...from the most blatant jack-assery to the most serious, obviously heartfelt shit and whatever goes in between. I'm having a lot of fun with it. I'm also a part-time matador but I haven't been working much this summer due to my other commitments.

Do you have any public pieces that our readers might be able to find?

Sure, they can see more of my work at chrissilva.com and I have a resume section there that has locations of my public works among other information on my gallery showings, commissions, etc.

What is your favorite medium to work in?

It's really too hard to choose. Mostly I enjoy combining different media. Watercolor, India ink, charcoal, pen, pencil, correction fluid, acrylics, spray paint, different papers, cement, tiles, grout, glass, rocks, really anything.

Have you ever done any tattooing?

Nope.

Have you been influenced by tattoo art?

Can't say I have.

Your collage work is very interesting, I particularly like the piece, "How to respond" how do these collage pieces come about, is there a master plan or do they evolve?

That particular piece was done with drawings that I'd accumulated over time and hadn't previously known what to do with. I rarely ever have a master plan in any of my work, and when I do it tends to stop being fun for me. The whole fun of it is the great variety of different possible routes the materials suggest to me while I'm immersed in the work.

There are two pieces with the word love in the title. (Love transmit &Love) they are completely different. What's love got to do with it?

It's the most powerful thing in this life that I can think of. It creates the greatest pleasures and the greatest pains.

What do you do when you are not doing your art?

I'm a born again skateboarder. It used to be the focus of my life from ages 14-19 until I got all sucked into the world of graffiti. I just started again a couple years ago and it's probably the element of my life that's doing the best job of keeping me sane. I love skating and do not plan to quit again until my legs don't function.

What music do you listen to?

I listen to pretty much everything. I grew up on hip-hop, but although there is some good stuff out there if you really hunt for it, I can't say I'm too excited with the direction it's gone in general. I highly suggest listening to Sonic Sum. It's seriously some of the best new hip-hop music I've heard in a long time and I would say that even if they weren't my pals. Another cat I really like is Mike Ladd. My tastes in music have really gotten a lot softer as I've aged. The hardest stuff that I still play on the regular would be old Bad Brains, Black Sabbath, and Led Zeppelin. Other than that I listen to a lot of really chill old soul, jazz, reggae, and a lot of Latin music (salsa, son, boleros, etc.).

What is your girlfriend's name?

Assuming I'm heterosexual, huh? Well you're right, but I don't currently have a girlfriend, and that's been the source of most of my creations in the past couple of years. I had my heart broken pretty severely and have been on a pretty crazy roller coaster ever since. I made some really naive mistakes while we were together and really hurt her. The truth of the matter is that I was ready to marry her, but by the time I realized the true depth of my feelings she had already begun to shut me out and look elsewhere. She just got married a couple of months ago. I've been with a bunch of girls in the past 2 years, really nice girls too, but either I just haven't felt that magical mysterious spark yet or I just haven't been ready to really give myself entirely to someone new. As you can see, I'm a romantic idealist. I'm really on some "Where's that perfect girl? I want to get it right this time" type shit.

Do you draw your ex-girlfriend?

I've only drawn her once, but I've drawn and written about my experiences and feelings for her many times. 83% of the things I create on my own are autobiographical. My artwork is kind of a diary I suppose. Most of it illustrates or draws from personal experiences in my life. I employ a certain level of ambiguity and strive more to express the essence of an issue rather than the details. That way there's some space for the viewer to fill in with their own perspectives, and it can be something that they feel is speaking for them as well. I'm just trying to keep my work honest. A funny thing I keep on reminding myself of when I'm feeling depressed is that it's probably a savvy business move to be heartbroken as an artist. I've gotten so much inspiration to create from it. I think it's really inspired my writing the most. But don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of whiners, so I'm trying to make sure my stuff doesn't come across as me feeling sorry for myself because I truly don't at all. I actually feel really fortunate to just have the capacity to feel this much, pleasure or pain. When it comes down to it, I have total faith in life and the idea that there is an incredibly intricate web that is being woven that at times doesn't seem to make sense, but it really does if you look at it properly. I'm at a point right now that I can honestly say that I truly love my life. I just hope this happiness doesn't last too long...shit, I may have to start working for a greeting card company or something.

When did you decide you were an artist?

18 years old I think. When I realized that I didn't want to be anything else. After I stopped thinking that I was going to be a professional skateboarder. But what is an artist anyway? There are definitely skaters that take skateboarding to the level of art. There's people that paint, draw, act, make music, films, etc. that don't really strike me as artists but more as trades people. Then there are people that are teachers, farmers, chefs, parents, or whatever that put their soul into what they do and to me they become artists.

I see a Chinese influence...Asian anyways. Tell me about that.

I really like the quiet sense of space in a lot of Asian art and am also a huge fan of the calligraphic qualities of the brushwork. I think that calm quiet kind of composition is my response to the super cluttered background of the city that I'm so often exposed to. Sometimes I feel the need to create things that have a kind of calming effect and are really easy on the eyes in an attempt to create some kind of balance in my world.

"Dark angel" is a strong piece. Did you create it for something in particular?

Is that the drawing of the seductive woman with horns and a halo? What, you're not going to answer me just because this is a written interview? Okay, I see how it is...I drew that about five years ago after another breakup, just wallowing in self-pity or feeling horny or maybe both.

What is the story behind the piece titled "missionary"? It is really different, at least it is different than the samples I have. a) It is set in a background that is recognizable as sky, grass, rocks and trees. b) The two figures are interacting with each other. c) The one thing I noticed that is the same as in some of your other work, is that the figure on the left has a heart on his suit. There must be significance to the hearts. What is it?

That's a piece illustrating my personal mission; to pay attention to and follow my heart, and to do my best to try to show other people the benefits of doing so themselves; to "wear my heart on my sleeve" as they say and to try and project a warm non-fronting kind of vibe. I'm not always successful in this endeavor, believe me, but some of my drawings are kind of like little notes for me to remind myself to work on opening myself up to people so that hopefully they will in turn begin to open up as well.

What artists do you admire?

I really like those artists that add that extra soul effort to their art so that their art is not solely about how well they can paint, draw, sculpt, and sing or whatever. Although I definitely have a very cerebral side I tend to favor artists that put more of their heart into their work. If you can do both then that's wonderful, but I get kind of sick of seeing or hearing things that are done strictly for the sake of being the first person to come up with some new juxtaposition of elements that's never been done before. You know, the type of art or music that makes people nod their heads while holding their chins, saying things like, "Very interesting, I really have to say, this piece does point out a certain pre-post-post-modern aesthetic not thoroughly investigated in the context of blah-blah-blah..." No thanks. I prefer the stuff that just grabs your guts and makes you feel. But also, I can never make a rule for myself like this without experiencing something that creates an exception to it. I admire humble artists that take their work seriously but don't take themselves too seriously.

Tell me anything else that is on your mind that I have not covered.

Family, friends, Three Hearts Club, The Moderately Extreme, Uncle Frank's Grandparents, I love you all. Nothing other than that, I've probably babbled enough. Thanks a lot for featuring my artwork here. I sincerely appreciate it. Check out chrissilva.com. Suggest me for grants to do ambitious public art projects. Help me to make a living doing this crazy stuff, please...okay, I'm done. Gracias a Dios, y gracias. Adios!