John T. Lane

BIO

John T. Lane is a queer black artist working in Chicago and Buffalo. John is currently a graduating senior at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His interdisciplinary practice utilises photography and printmaking to delve into themes of race and Sexuality.

STATEMENT

My work addresses the intricacies of the black queer experience. With this as a thematic framework I delve into the specific parts of these experiences to bring a special nuance to ideas dealing with identity and race. The series “Notes on Digital Love” investigates the use of dating apps for dating. This ongoing body of work looks at dating apps as a place of intimacy and connection for queer individuals as well as the glorification and realities of these services.

Interview with John T. Lane

Written by Andreana Donahue

Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you became interested in becoming an artist? What were some early influences?

I grew up in a town called Amherst just outside of Buffalo, NY. Growing up my life didn’t feel all that interesting and everywhere else seemed much more interesting than where I lived. I passed the time by watching a lot of tv and movies. Watching these fantastical and crazy stories on my tv was very captivating and it mostly translated into my interest in storytelling. I started wanting to become an artist when I realized that I loved making things. I initially was interested in architecture but soon realized that I liked the art, imagination, and creational aspects of architecture much more than the technical aspects of it. From this initial interest in art, I really fell in love with art in art school. Art school showed me the vast possibilities as well as arts importance within society.

When I was first making art, I was influenced by different artists online who were making character art and concept art as well as different photography pages. When I think about what I draw and photograph today I know that artists on social media were a big influence for me. As I started to learn about different artists I was very taken by Salvador Dali and his surrealist paintings, Cindy Sherman and her film stills, and Takashi Murakami and his colorful paintings.

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

I’m currently in between places, but for the past four years I have been mainly based in Chicago. In terms of sourcing materials Chicago has so many different local places where you can get whatever you need. You can get everything from fabrics, to paper, to printmaking screens. Chicago has a lot of smaller gallery spaces and places to exhibit work around the city.

Can you tell us about your studio space? What are some of the most crucial aspects of a studio that make it workable for you?

I have just gotten out of school and I’m currently in the process of moving again and I don’t currently have a solidified studio space. But traditionally my studio space usually was my desk in my room and that was where I would go to plan things out and do some drawing. I would also use school facilities and studios for making different projects. So, I would have different studio spaces depending on what I was working on. But, I think a crucial part of every studio space is having something to sketch on, materials on hand to quickly use, and open space to work on or place things.

What is a typical day like?

Depending on what I have to do a typical day can change. If I’m doing a photoshoot, I usually have to figure the location ahead of time as well as do some planning on the look of the shoot what kind of camera I’ll use. Then I either go to the location first and start to set up or I go with my models. I set up the equipment, take a few test shots to get the right exposure at that time. And then we Begin the photoshoot. When I get back from the shoot, I go and I upload the pictures and look through them in bridge and organize them, then I’ll sometimes edit the pictures that day or leave it for the next day. If I have film, I unload the camera wrap up the film and I’ll take it to get developed the next day or develop it the next day or so.

With my other mediums a typical day would consist of doing research and gathering references for a piece. After that I would decide on what medium and materials I’ll use. Then I will sketch out a composition and write down plans and specifications for the materials and dimensions of the piece.  Then if I have the materials, I need I will continue this planning stage, but if need to get materials I will go to the store if its still open. By the end of the day, I will have a starting plan for the piece.

The second day is usually a nonstop studio day where I start drawing the final piece, cut out the collage materials, or finalize the print design. If the print design is finished, I will use the day as a printing day. A typical print day consists of getting the materials out, setting up the press or the screen, printing an edition, then cleaning up. Depending on the printing method I would need to prepare a stone, expose a screen, etch a plate, etc. and I would do that prep on the day of printing or if it is a longer process on the day before.

What gets you in a creative groove? What puts a damper on your groove?

I felt my most creative when I was in the middle of writing an essay. I don’t know why but I’d have this huge push to make art when I was in the middle of writing an essay. Another thing that always gets me in a creative mood is listening to music. Listening to music just gets me in my own world. I almost always listen to music when I make art.

On the other side, I know that I can’t make art when I’m forcing myself to make it. Whenever I force myself to make something I can’t make anything. So, feeling like I have to produce something really was counterproductive for me. Sometimes at school I would put pressure on myself to make something, which would result in me not making anything.

What criteria do you follow for selecting materials? Do you prefer to maintain a narrow focus or work across diverse media? How do you navigate the limitations and possibilities that result from this path?

Material is a hard decision to make and as an interdisciplinary artist I have a lot of different materials and mediums I could work with. I will usually start something with one medium and over time I will add other mediums to see what I can add. When working with a new body of work I typically like to start with a narrow focus on one medium and when I hit a wall, I try switching mediums to breathe new life into the idea. Each medium has a set of limitations to it and my way of getting around some of these limitations is switching and combining mediums.

Can you walk us through your overall process? How would you describe your approach to manipulating materials? What about decision-making and editing?

With all mediums my process largely involves some spontaneity. I have specific visions of how a piece could be, but I ultimately need and enjoy for a piece to develop as I make it. When I’m photographing people, I like to allow whoever I’m photographing to move in whatever way they feel natural. I do this in order to capture a composition more organically. With other mediums I take a collage approach by combining multiple elements and seeing what comes to be from that. I focus on 3 elements mostly: a figure, a background, and one extra element. I use this process for setting up collages, drawings, and print designs and it allows me a place to star with creating a composition.

When I am further down the line with a series of images, I edit based on what combination of images tells the best story.

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?

As I have made work over the years I have noticed this interest with this idea of perception and how people are perceived and how people project certain images of themselves to be perceived. That has lead me to creating characters in my work and having figure focused pieces. Photographically I am at heart a portrait photographer because I love photographing people and seeing how I can capture a person and how that person represents themselves in the way they present or don’t present a persona.

In the future I don’t quite know where I’ll be with my work because I am always interested in learning new things, different artistic processes, and exploring different ways of thinking. But at the moment I believe the future of my work lies with this current conceptual exploration in to personas. One thing I know for sure is that as my work develops, I’m completely dedicated to representation as black queer artist, and no matter what concept I focus on I will be dedicating time to exploring representations of black and queer culture inside of that concept because that is becoming more and more important to me as an artist and as a person.

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 think collaboration is part of my art process already. When I photograph a person, I see that as a collaborative process seeing as I like models to move and pose in a way that’s somewhat natural for them. So, with a process like that we create the poses and photo together. I enjoy collaborative atmospheres like that. Having been in art school for the past four years, a decent amount of time was spent collaborating with my friends and fellow artists.

I have not done any projects yet, but I am hoping to do so in the future. Especially within whatever community I end up being with next. Art is a hugely communal thing, and I would be very interested in doing different projects within my artist peers or with a community in a particular area.

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?

The pandemic showed me how much I could do with little access to all the facilities that I’m normally used to. When the pandemic hit, I was already beginning to focus more on a digital way of working with art. When I couldn’t make as much physical work like prints that I had been used to making before, I got into digital drawing. As things opened up, I continued to utilize this method of working when I was able to return to the facilities again.

The pandemic was a terrible moment for the artist community because it really switched everything because with art there is a huge emphasis with in-person experiences. But the pandemic forced the art world and the world at large to shift and adapt, and in most ways that was adapting to digital and online methods. In my opinion that switch allowed for a lot more connectivity with different events, and lectures, and gallery openings. Suddenly everyone can be at events they would normally miss, and it was fun for me to experience some of that.

Having to do art school online wasn’t an ideal experience but as artists we are in certain ways problem solvers and I took the pandemic as an interesting challenge to see how I could adapt my way of working. Sometimes I was successful and sometimes I wasn’t, but it was a somewhat productive time for me.

In a time that seems to be marked by uncertainty, collective anxiety, and increasing social unrest, why do you think the perspectives and contributions of artists remain meaningful? Do you feel a natural relationship exists between your work (or the role artists play more broadly) and confronting established systems—of power, cultural institutions, or otherwise?

I had a class where a teacher had us read James Baldwin’s “The Creative Process”. One of the points James Baldwin makes in this essay is that artists hold up a mirror to society and show it to itself. I completely agree with this idea, I think in a lot of ways that explains how artists have handled the pandemic. They have documented how the world changed and showcased those changes as well as questioned them. So, I believe that artists provide an important voice to these conversations around the civil unrest in the world, the pandemic and how that’s affecting different communities.

Artists provide diverse and creative perspectives on these issues and contextualize them with different conceptual frameworks.

I think in some ways there is a connection between my work in challenging established systems. My work has a decent amount to do with my identity and as a black and gay man which already goes against established systems. But I think that I have more developing to go in that department.

Broadly speaking I think artists on all levels have some connection to society as we depict what we see and know and research the things we don’t. So, I believe most artists are challenging established systems whether they know it or not.

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

Some recent influences have been Bisa Butler because after seeing her show I became much more interested in pattern and the possibilities of pattern in art. The way she uses these different patterns and colors to create figures and portraits is almost like making a painting. Getting to see them up close was very inspiring. In this same vein I have also been looking at Kehinde Wiley’s work recently and his use of patterns in some of the backgrounds of his paintings. 

I have also been influenced by Robert Mapplethorpe’s work. After watching a documentary on him I was intrigued when they brought up collages that he had made in the 70s. I had no idea that he had made collages and looking at them they are somewhat different from his later photographic work. He often used cutouts from magazines as well as a bunch of other found objects to create these mixed media collages. Seeing how he navigated found imagery is interesting to see. Collage work is always inspiring to me because it’s vastly interesting to see how other artists combine materials, what imagery they choose and what that imagery means to them.

Not too long ago, I watched the movie “The Lighthouse” and that movie is a contemporary film that is in black and white and was shot on 35 mm film. Outside of enjoying the movie’s plot I took a close look at the movie aesthetically and it really inspired me to try more photographing in black and white. The movie has a particular type of cinematic look that I think can be very beautiful and interesting aesthetically.

Who are some contemporary artists you’re excited about? What are the best exhibitions you’ve seen in recent memory?

One contemporary artist that I am excited about is Wardell Milan because some of his work utilizes collage as well as other mixed media. For me as an artist that sometimes uses collage in my work, it is very intriguing to see how he utilizes and recontextualizes images to support different narratives. I also love his usage of collage to abstract and distort the body. Another artist I’m excited about is Paul Mpagi Sepuya because of his use of the figure within his photographs as well as his interesting ways of constructing and confusing spaces with mirrors. He creates collage-like images sometimes but instead of making them post photographically, he creates these interventions while photographing. I think his pushing of portraiture as a medium is interesting to watch.

I haven’t seen many exhibitions lately, but the last exhibition I saw was the Bisa Butler exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago. This was my first encounter with her work, and I loved the show. I was first drawn to the bright colors and fabric patterns. Her tapestries depicting different portraits of black people using a multitude of different fabrics were truly breathtaking to see in person. I also found it interesting that she had crafted a playlist for the exhibition and each piece was paired with a particular song. In the halls between the rooms there were different wallpapers on the walls it was all really beautiful.

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

One piece of advice that was given to me was by one of my teachers and I’m paraphrasing but he told me that as an artist you don’t always have to be in a state of making to be productive as an artist. This was helpful to me because I would have moments where I wasn’t in a creative mood and I wasn’t creating something good. These moments would be stressful for me because I would feel like I wasn’t doing enough. But this piece of advice allowed me to be more comfortable with not making art sometimes.

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

At the moment I am getting back to working on my series about dating apps and how it functions as a queer space and how the intersectionality of blackness and queerness meet and work in this space. I also just graduated college, and what’s next is taking stock of the work that I have made and what things I can expand upon after this current series. I have an ongoing series of self-portraits that I plan on continuing.

To find out more about John T. Lane check out their Instagrams here and here.