10 Questions with Mike Goldberg

Mike Goldberg is a contemporary artist living in San Francisco, originally from NYC. After graduating from Boston University with a degree in Psychology, Mike studied art at Boston's Fenway Studios in the traditional French École Des Beaux-Arts academy style. Upon moving to Manhattan, Mike continued his art studies at the School Of Visual Arts, where he was exposed to more innovative approaches and techniques. Connecting with a like-minded art community in the West Village of Manhattan, Mike found a studio and built a following. Mike's work has been shown at the MVVO Art Show in NYC, which had a physical component at Sotheby's and a digital component that took place on more than 2000 digital displays all over the city. Mike was part of a group show at the Los Angeles Convention Center and a group show at Los Angeles BG Gallery. Mike has had solo shows at The First Person Gallery, the Elsewhere Gallery, and the Art Downtown Gallery in San Francisco. Mike's background also includes working as a frontline researcher in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and as the head mental health counselor in a locked psychiatric facility. And lastly, Mike is an accomplished commercial director in advertising.

mikegoldbergart.com | @mikegoldbergart

ARTIST STATEMENT

Mike has long found inspiration and beauty in the nooks and crannies of ordinary life, painting the untold stories of people he's encountered throughout the years. Mike explores how memories universally define and shape the human experience through his interactive installation that uses human senses to trigger emotional experiences connected to the past. Through his experience as a mental health counselor in a locked Psychiatric facility in Boston, Mike experienced incredible stories of unknown people that he felt should not go untold. His art is about giving validity to the people whose importance is no less valuable than any other.

Mike's installation works by placing his paintings painted on wood into enclosed plexiglass containers filled with seawater. The seawater dissolves the paintings into a pulp for months. Attached to the outside of the container is an iPod filled with snippets of recorded conversation and music representative of the subject. Essentially a soundtrack of the subject's life. Attached to the other side of the container is a plexiglass box filled with a scent from the subject's life, such as musty books, tobacco, leather, or a specific brand of gum. As in real life, our visual memories of even the most important people from our past fade, and Mike's portraits also disappear. We are left with only the scents and sounds which serve as powerful memory triggers to remind us of that person's existence and influence. When we come across those senses in the real world, we are transported into that specific memory bringing that person back to life even for just a moment. It's both a homage and a reflection of our connection to the past. There's importance in never forgetting.

INTERVIEW

First of all, tell us a little more about your background, and how did you begin making art?

It all began as a 12-year-old at summer camp, where I was introduced to art. I entered a light-filled room filled with huge blocks of clay, kilns, canvases on easels, giant tubes of colorful paints, and an array of brushes fanned out across tables. I was hooked. I had no idea this even existed. I was exposed to all of these incredible resources and quickly became obsessed with shaping clay with my hands and applying paint to canvas with brushes. I was completely absorbed in creating and began a new adventure. Apparently, the counselors were observing me because, during the camp awards ceremonies, I was given the arts award, and I never looked back.

Years later, I took my art to a new level as I studied with a highly accomplished portrait artist whose curriculum was based on the French Ecole Des Beaux-Arts style of drawing from life using north light. It was a very disciplined approach as I would spend 10 hours a day for three months working on a singular charcoal drawing using memorization techniques and a sharpened charcoal stick until I learned the subtleties of shadow and light. The studio was a beautifully purposed classic artist studio that was designed to capture stunning north light. 

My background also includes working in Boston hospitals, where I had a variety of roles with the intention of becoming a physician. Right out of college, I was the head mental health counselor in a locked Psychiatric unit responsible for 100 severely ill patients. I also worked in an emergency room, and I was a frontline researcher in a neonatal intensive care unit helping pre-mature infants. Another aspect of my background is that I’m a commercial director in advertising. 

Is there a piece you consider a “breakthrough” in your career? 

The piece I consider a breakthrough is my painting/installation “The Man On The M5 Bus On His Way To Nowhere In Particular.” This is where I went from portraiture to conceptual thinking.
The M5 bus runs along beautiful Riverside Drive in Manhattan, and as I rode the bus home from work on a daily basis, I kept running into one particular fascinating character. I took a few photos on my iPhone to keep for my records for a potential portrait. Eventually, I had small conversations with this person, and it occurred to me that there was so much more to this subject than just a two-dimensional portrait. I imagined an entire background story about him. And then one day I never saw him again.
And this struck a chord with me and reminded me of my time as a mental health counselor. It’s common to create intense short-term professional relationships with patients, and then the patients get better, and you never see them again, which is a good thing for them. There is a sense of loss, yet you are left with their story.
I thought about how to preserve my experience with the M5 Bus person. He always wore the same leather jacket, which had a very distinctive worn leather scent. Whenever I came across that same worn leather scent in everyday life, it reminded me of the man on the M5 bus. That was what triggered my transition from two-dimensional portraiture into a three-dimensional interactive installation. I was going to use elements from the subject and incorporate them into my art and create an interactive installation.

In your work you reflect upon the concept of memory and fading images. What is the scope of your work? 

What drives me is telling the untold stories of unknown people who have crossed my everyday life path. This is directly related to memory and how we process memories because these characters I paint have largely been forgotten. Their stories have not been told, and my art is about resurrecting memories of important stories that never get told. They are anything but celebrities, but their stories are no less important. 
This comes directly from my experience working in a psychiatric ward where I was responsible for the care of some incredible people whose stories would only be lost in that institution. Many years later, as I was finding my way as an artist, I felt compelled to resurrect those stories in painting and installation.
The scope of my work is a range of interactive installations that incorporate scent and sound. What occurred to me is that as time passed, my memories of these people faded. I think that’s a universal circumstance. That affected me because these people made an impact on me and should not be forgotten.
I discovered that when I randomly came across a specific scent or a certain piece of music in my everyday life, it triggered a clear memory of a specific person. And so they were essentially brought back to life for a few moments, and that inspired my interactive installation.
My installation works when I place my portraits, which are painted on wood, into an enclosed plexiglass container filled with seawater. The seawater dissolves the portraits into a pulp over a period of several months. Attached to the outside of the plexiglass container is an iPod filled with music that is representative of the subject. Essentially a soundtrack to the subject’s life.
Attached to the other side of the container is a plexiglass box filled with a scent from the subject’s life, such as musty books, worn leather, tobacco, cologne or a specific brand of gum. Our visual memories of even the most important people fade as in real life. So my portraits also disappear, leaving only the scents and sounds that serve as powerful memory triggers to remind us of that person’s existence and influence. When we come across those scents and sounds in the real world, we are gently stirred into a memory. It’s an opportunity to reminisce and appreciate that person. There’s importance in never forgetting.

Can you tell us about the process of creating your work? What aspect of your work do you pay particular attention to?

It starts with being inspired by a specific character that I encounter, whether from everyday life or a past memory. And When I see a story in that person’s face, I know I have the beginning of a painting. I don’t paint likeness portraits. The paintings are a combination of reality and my personal interpretation/distortion of that person.

The process starts with drawings. First, I have to know if this subject will be impactful from a simple drawing. I use thick Derwent 4B-8B pencils on cold press paper, make a series of drawings, and start the basic architecture of the subject. If that works, then I move on to finding the right piece of wood that matches the character. Wood is also part of the inspiration. While living in New York City, there are all types of discarded wood on practically every block. The wood needs to be rough and pockmarked with knots.

I paint right on the wood. I don’t use gesso or any undertones. I use Winsor & Newton oil bars and lay down the lights and darks, working the paint into the wood with my hands. It’s not a worthy painting unless I get a few splinters in the process. It’s important to me to be spontaneous and impressionistic. I embrace my mistakes and see where they take me.
My palette tends to be in the earth tones, from Yellow Ochre to Burnt umber and everything in between. Although lately, I’ve been expanding my palette.

Where do you find inspiration for your work?

I get inspired by new characters that I discover. I’m always paying attention to what’s around me. I look at faces. I look for characters. I lived in New York City for 23 years, riding subways, exploring new neighborhoods on my bicycle, and always having my camera ready. Sometimes I would sit on a bench in a park and discreetly draw quick impressionist drawings of people that I felt had a story to tell. I’ve even scoured the obituaries and found inspiration from the two-inch tall black and white newspaper photograph and the short biography attached to that photograph.

What do you think about the art community and market?

It’s certainly saturated and changed dramatically over the past few years with much greater access to social media, especially Instagram. For me, it’s about self curation. I take the same approach to the art market when I visit a museum. I focus on one artist and even sometimes on one piece of art. I hone in and try to learn as much as I can about the art and the artist without becoming distracted. One piece of art can deliver an excessive amount of information that I can learn from or enjoy and be fascinated by. There’s a lot of art out in the world right now, and I can only focus on what compels me. I go to galleries and museums every week. I seek out artists on Instagram that have meaning to me.

I also make a concerted effort to seek out art that is very different than my own. Simply because I love art, and I’m always open to learning and just enjoying and, if appropriate applying what I learned to my own work. In a saturated market, there’s going to be work that is not up to my standards, and so I’ve learned to curate the art world for myself and my tastes.

What advice can you give to beginning artists?

There are multiple components to this question.
My advice is to dig deep for a beginner artist to find your vision and your style. For me, in the beginning, it was a positive obsession. All I thought about, day and night, was finding my style.
If you feel confident that you know your style, then it’s about staying consistent and persistent because the deeper you go, the more you’ll uncover about your art. There are many layers to explore. There’s a balancing act. Never take your eyes off of your own vision, but you also have to pay attention to the world around you because there’s always something to learn from another artist.
Every painting starts off as a struggle for me because I purposely give myself a challenge, and as I shape the painting, it eventually becomes either something I want or something new that surprises me. So never stop challenging yourself. Don’t fall into familiar patterns.
And lastly, mistakes can be good opportunities if you are able to recognize them as new paths to explore. Be open to them.

There’s a lot of painting work on the market these days, how do you differentiate yours from the rest? 

Art is abundant on the market, and the way I differentiate myself is simply by being myself. I feel like I’ve done a good job of syncing my persona with what’s on the canvas. My art comes directly from my life experience and from my personality.
I also believe I found a unique executional application to my vision by combining multiple senses. This question is directly related to the next question.

What do you feel makes your work unique and truly your own?

The first thing that comes to mind is that I haven’t seen many artists willing to destroy their work in order to make an artistic statement. What makes my work unique is that it comes directly from my personal experience. From growing up on the streets of Boston to working in a locked psychiatric unit as a mental health counselor to my sensitivity towards other people, to my living in New York City and being exposed to everything New York offers. From all of the obstacles that I’ve encountered and overcome. All of this is woven in and filtered through me. That is where my artistic voice comes from. And lastly, I believe the physical implementation of my interactive installation is unique to me, but also the artistic vision behind it is original.

What are you working on now, and what are your plans for the future? 

I’m planning out a large-scale public installation of my interactive installation, which I’m fundraising for right now. My installations will have a greater impact on a larger scale. I’m looking to expand my installations into multiple mediums to create an immersive experience so that the viewer can truly get inside the head of my subjects. I’d like to create a series of rooms in a gallery, each filled with scents and sounds and music that comes directly from each of my subjects.
In addition, I’m looking to expand upon my abstract/surrealist ideas that I’ve been thinking about for years. It’s important to me that I explore new artistic paths and listen to my own advice of not staying stuck in the familiar.

Anything exciting you can tell us about?

I just got interviewed by Al-Tiba9 magazine, which is very exciting. I’m also in an upcoming group show at the San Francisco Art Fair, where thousands of international art patrons will be passing through. The show will be great exposure for my work, and I’m really excited about that. I just got a piece accepted into the O’Hanlon Art Center group show whose theme is monochrome. 

What do you wish to accomplish this year, both in terms of career goals and personal life? 

I would like to have large public displays of my installations. I would like to push my work in new directions. In the past, I might have said have a solo show at a reputable gallery, which I would still like, but the art world has truly changed, and now my objective is to get greater recognition by building a social media audience. I’m hoping to produce one of my films that comes directly out of my art and in my personal life. I want my creative life to be more in tune with my personal life.