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Artist Vance Diamond takes inspiration from outer space

 

With the Interact studio temporarily closed, we're revisiting some of the conversations we had with artists in late 2019. In this interview, Visual Arts instructor Brita Light and artist Vance Diamond sit down over hamburgers to discuss his interest in outer space, career aspirations, and the work he refers to as his psychic drawings.

 

Brita Light: So, can you tell me about how you start making a piece? Do you start with an idea?

Vance Diamond: No, I just go ahead and do it.

BL: How do you know where to start?

VD: I just write. Your hand does that.

 

Vance Diamond, Mississippi, 2017, pastel and graphite on paper, 20 x 14 inches

 

BL: What do you hope for when you make a piece, what do you want to see happen with your work?

VD: Leave it there [in the flatfile] until it is time to sell it.

BL: So is selling your work important to you?

VD: Yeah.

BL: Is it important to you to make work, even if you don't sell it?

VD: Yeah.

 

Vance Diamond, Earth, 2019, pastel on paper, 17 x 11 inches

 

BL: Are there other artists whose work you're interested in?

VD: Nah, I like them all.

BL: Any famous artists?

VD: Uh-uh. How about me? Am I famous?

BL: Well, maybe you will be after we finish this interview.

VD: Uh oh.

 

 Vance Diamond, Los Angeles, 2019, pastel and graphite on paper, 17 x 11 inches

 

BL: Do you have any advice for aspiring artists?

VD: Just make anything you want. 

BL: What do you hope people think when they see your work?

VD: "Ehnah, uh-uh."

(Laughter.)

BL: You hope they say that?

VD: Yeah.

 

Vance Diamond, Outer Space (detail), 2018, pastel on paper, 26 x 20 inches

 

BL: Can you tell me about your psychic drawings? How did you start thinking about the universe and getting interested in that?

VD: TV. 

BL: Any particular show?

VD: Stark Trek.

BL: So, do you think about outer space a lot?

VD: Yeah. It's quite different in outer space.

BL: When you say that they're psychic drawings, does that mean that it's you making them, or are you saying the inspiration comes from outer space?

VD: Outer space.

BL: That's how you know what to draw?

VD: Yeah.

BL: How does that work?

VD: Well, I do psychic drawings to see what's going on in the world.

 

Vance Diamond, Sun, 2019, pastel on paper, 17 x 11 inches

 

BL: Did you make them when you were a kid, too?

VD: No. It just came to me after I became psychic.

BL: How did you know you were psychic?

VD: There's a lady. Didn't get along with the family too well. She told me.

BL: Who was it?

VD: Her name was Barb. 

 

Vance Diamond, Space Cake, mixed media on paper, 2017, 20 x 14 inches

 

(Crinkling of food wrap.)

BL: Do you like the burger?

VD: Oh, yeah.

BL: I'm gonna eat, too.

VD: Yeah.

(Vance and Brita enjoy their food.)

BL: What else do you want people to know about your work?

VD: Well, I kind of like what I've been doing. So far I've said some pretty good things. 

BL: You've said some pretty good things. 

 

Vance Diamond has called Interact his studio since 2012. Primarily working in drawing and painting, Vance is inspired by outer space, which is where he gets ideas for much of his work. Recent exhibitions include Randomland at The White Page (Minneapolis, MN), Work with Your Quirk! at the Bridgewater (Minneapolis, MN), and Changing Landscapes at the Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota. You can find more of his work here.

Brita Light is a mixed media artist working across drawing, painting, printmaking, and sculpture. She is currently working on a series of miniature living spaces and exploring the emotional environment imbued in them. She has been a Visual Arts instructor at Interact since 2014. 

 

Since 1996, Interact artists and performers have been creating art that challenges perceptions of disability. To support us in this work, you can donate here.

 

Image credit: Special thanks to Xavier Tavera for taking Vance Diamond's portrait in 2019, shown above.