Witt Fetter

BIO

Witt Fetter (b.1994, Los Angeles) is an artist based in Brooklyn, NY.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Each of the paintings in this series marks a moment of recognition between myself and the outside world. Each moment is a prism, refracting and enunciating reality through a spectrum of color. These are the patterns that emerge when opposing structures are seen against each other: an inversion layer of privilege and dysphoria, extreme identification trapped beneath acute alienation. Out of these overlapping frameworks, a third layer materializes as lines fold into parabolas and surfaces open to reveal trap doors. As the center falls into the periphery, pixels glitch, surfaces shimmer and the blue light of the screen shifts into technicolor.

Interview with Witt Fetter

Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you became interested in becoming an artist? Who or what were some of your most important early influences?

I’ve been creating things since I was a small child. Growing up in Santa Barbara, CA, I was lucky enough to attend a small elementary school that encouraged students to discover and learn through the process of creative expression. I remember being entranced by the possibility of transformation that art allowed. By merely combining materials, I could create entirely new forms and affects. I also grew up next door to my grandparents, and my granddad, a hobbyist painter, introduced me to the world of oil painting. I first learned to use oil paints en plein air, which immediately introduced me to the necessity of close observation.

Where are you currently based and what initially attracted you to working in this place? Are there any aspects of this specific location or community that have inspired aspects of your work?

I am currently based in New York City, and I have a studio space in Gowanus, Brooklyn. I attended college in California and I was excited to move to New York upon graduating to be somewhere with endless opportunities to experience and share art. I’ve been here for four years, which feels like nothing, and I only recently have begun to feel like I have my bearings, both in the city and in the art world. If anything, my work exists in opposition to the harsh and often gray reality of New York. I hope this opposition will fade as I find the spaces and communities in this city that offer a respite of safety and beauty in a sometimes difficult external environment.

Can you describe your studio space? What are some of the most crucial aspects of a studio that make it functional? Do any of these specific aspects directly affect your work?

My studio space is relatively small, but it has big windows which make it feel bigger. The most important aspect of the studio for me is having enough distance to stand back and see a painting from far away. Even if I’m just standing 15 feet away from the canvas, it gives me the perspective of seeing it from afar. The small details fade away and the architecture of the entire composition comes into focus.  I’m always pacing back and forth across my studio, studying the canvas from up close and afar. This is probably a form of procrastination, but I find it helps me keep the flow going.

What is a typical day like? If you don't have a typical day, what is an ideal day?

An ideal day would be one in which I get into the flow of painting early in the day. This is a rare occasion. Usually, I finally feel settled into a painting when it’s late at night or I have somewhere to be soon. I find that it helps if I have a specific task in mind when I enter the studio, whether it's tackling a certain part of the canvas or solving a compositional or color problem.

What gets you in a creative mindset?

I usually get most of my ideas for paintings outside of the studio. Throughout the day my mind will revisit the conceptual ideas that feel urgent or exciting to me at the time. When it comes to actually producing the work, I find that I often have to jump-start the creative process and convince myself to feel motivated before I actually do. Often times, once I pick up a paint brush and start working, that motivation kicks in. If it doesn’t, I end up lying down on the couch in my studio staring at the painting rather than working on it. I like to believe that the process of watching the painting serves me when I inevitably pick up the paint brush again.

What criteria do you follow for selecting materials? How long have you worked with this particular media or method?

I’ve worked in oil painting since I was in high school. I find that oil provides the widest range and depth of color. I also appreciate the slowness of the medium. As mediums of communication are increasing in peed all around us, oil paint maintains a measured pace. This allows me to slow down and move with the painting.

Can you walk us through your overall process? How long has this approach been a part of your practice?

My process begins with an image, either real or imagined. In the past, I only worked off of found images that were already circulating within media and visual culture. Increasingly, I am constructing my own images based on personal or collective memories. Once I have an image in my mind, I’ll sketch it out to understand the composition. From there, I take to the canvas and begin painting. I try to approach the canvas as a whole by giving each part of the composition my attention. I have a tendency to want to complete one part of the composition before moving on to the next, but I find that this impedes my ability to see each part as it relates to the other. The painting feels done when there are no longer any problems to solve. These problems usually come in the form of representational issues, such as perspective, shape or form, and issues of color. When I feel that the tone of the painting has reached an equilibrium between warm and cool, I decide that the work is finished.

Can you talk about some of the ongoing interests, imagery, and concepts that have informed your process and body of work over time? How do you anticipate your work progressing in the future?

My work has always been situated within the specific cultural landscape of the United States. I’m interested in how questions of identity, and feelings of belonging and loneliness, are informed by the images that circulate around us. Over time, my work has become more personal and specific as I explore the particular experience of being a white trans person in the U.S. I am constantly asking myself the question of how to represent the intersecting and sometimes contradictory layers of privilege and alienation that I experience on a daily basis. I expect my work to continue in this vein, just as I continue to move towards my own truth in my gender and artistic expression.

Do you pursue any collaborations, projects, or careers in addition to your studio practice? If so, can you tell us more about those projects, and are there connections between your studio practice and these endeavors?

I have worked as a studio assistant. I have found that this experience has given me insight into just how many ways there are to be an artist. I’ve learned a lot by watching other artists run their studios and using that as an example of what to do or not to do in my own practice.

As a result of the pandemic, many artists have experienced limited access to their studios or loss of exhibitions, income, or other opportunities. Has your way of working (or not working) shifted significantly during this time? Are there unexpected insights or particular challenges you’ve experienced?

I think I’ve been lucky to experience the pandemic during the beginning of my career, when the most important thing has been to make work and focus on honing my individual voice, rather than sharing my work with the outside world. I didn’t miss out on any opportunities to show my work because at the time I didn’t have any. In the past year, I have begun to have opportunities to show in New York and it feels exciting for this to be happening as the city restarts after being closed for over a year. It feels like there is a lot of energy and interest in hearing from new voices and perspectives.

Can you share some of your recent influences? Are there specific works—from visual art, literature, film, or music—that are important to you?

Lately, I’ve been looking a lot at Renaissance paintings and religious iconography. I’m interested in the contemporaneity of these images in their quest to seduce the viewer. I’ve also been thinking about Baroque art, which takes the idea of seduction even further. If one thinks of the Catholic Church as one of the original media empires, these images are not very different than those that circulate in the modern day world of late capitalist media advertising. I just completed my first triptych, which is an exciting form that I will continue to explore. The triptych reminds me of religious altarpieces and I’m drawn to the way an altarpiece can be a composite of many images that together tell a multi-pronged story.

I’m inspired by many forms of media, particularly films and music. The Wizard of Oz has been an important text for me since I first started painting again in college. When I watch it, I don’t really see it as a film, but rather as an amalgamation of many plastic forms, from the painted backdrops to all of the special effects that were used to make it. I have approached the film as a metaphor for crossing from the physical into the virtual. As Dorothy leaves behind her sepia-toned life for the technicolor of Oz, she rehearses a movement between dimensions that is akin to our contemporary travel in and out of virtual worlds and identities. Her journey represents the possibilities of emancipation, and also the risk of regression, that virtual worlds present to us.

Who are some contemporary artists you’re excited about? What are the best exhibitions you’ve seen in recent memory and why do they stand out?

The most exciting work that I’ve seen recently has been sculptural. I thought the New Museum Triennial in New York City offered some wonderful three-dimensional works, particularly the work of Brandon Ndife and Harry Gould Harvey IV. I’m currently in a group show at Simone Subal Gallery that includes some wonderful sculptural work by Sam Ekwurtzel and Sophie Friedman-Pappas. I’m excited by the potential of showing alongside artists working in sculpture, as I think the flatness of a painting is only enhanced by seeing work that exists in a totally different dimension.

Do you have any tips or advice that someone has shared with you that you have found particularly helpful?

I find myself coming back to a quote I heard from an artist’s interview–unfortunately I forget who said this–but they were talking about allowing the physical limitations they face in their practice to be productive rather than detrimental to their work. For me, one of those limitations is size. Particularly living in New York, I have found it is crucial to make paintings that I can easily transport myself. At first, I felt limited, but now, I see how this limitation has allowed me to condense my imagery into a smaller area. Part of my reason for making triptychs is that it allows to make a much larger work without compromising the ease of storing and transporting the paintings.

What are you working on in the studio right now? What’s coming up next for you?

I’m currently continuing themes that I began working on in the paintings seen here. I am continuing my series of gender reveal paintings, which are based on images of gender reveal parties gone wrong. These paintings are based on images I find online of such events. I hope to expand this series into a larger body of work that could be seen in its entirety. I’m also continuing to push myself to imagine compositions that go beyond representation and incorporate elements of abstraction. The gender reveal paintings allow me to toy between these two modes of painting, and I hope to develop those ideas further. I don’t know what is coming up next, but I hope to continue to share my work with the world and develop new relationships with other artists in New York City.

To find out more about Witt Fetter check out their Instagram and website.