He absorbs his surroundings, takes in the culture he lives in and begins to break it down. Piece by piece he puts it back together to create something new. Not only to him but to all of us who view his work. The real beauty of what Dooby is doing is that he gives us all an opportunity to keep our own perspectives and run with them. In an age with an abundance of opinions and no shortage of people willing to have them, Dooby's work is refreshing. Unlike talking heads and political pundits Dooby isn't telling anyone how they should think.
He leaves that up to you and by doing that his work becomes even more relevant than the conclusions that people can come up with. A pluralist painter open to many interpretations,
I sat down with Dooby recently to discuss his work. Below you'll find the videos and transcipt. Enjoy!!
Interview with Dooby Tomkins Part 1
Interview with Dooby Tomkins part 2
RC: Why did Batman Steal Third?
DT: Why did Batman steal third? Ah yer supposed to tell me!
RC: lol!! I’m supposed to tell you.
DT: Yer supposed to tell me! That’s the whole make up of it!
RC: That’s awesome! Uh, okay! If I’m supposed to come up with why Batman stole third can you tell me what brought about that piece of work?
DT: It’s an amalgam of imagery and text I like to throw together to force or attempt to force each to address it...
RC: So in a sense, uh I might get metaphysical here, how...
DT: Yeah, talk about whatever!
RC: You know like how light refracts differently through different prisms from like different angles...
DT: Yeah, each person is a different prism is the idea.
RC: so based on where they come from or what they’re carrying with them, what they see it equals that.
DT: Right! Yeah, you know, not to be dark or graphic but if your mother was murdered on top of a pile of Batman comics or something you’re gonna view it a lot differently than someone who grew up watching the 60’s cartoon. It’s like all great!
RC: Very cool, very cool! Go through a little bit... Uh, the majority of the works we are focusing on in the blog are paintings, can you go through a little bit of your process of painting and what gets you there, what materials you use... the way you go about it?
DT: Materials I use, I’ll start off, I use anything from household paint to professional oil paints. Uh, I like to mix and match. A lot of my under layers are acrylics. They dry faster and it’s easier to work with them and then a lot of times I use oils cause you can get richer colors on top of that. I derive most of my source material from you know all over. If I see a pattern I like here at a Mexican restaurant I might take a picture of it and try to use it in a painting later or if I’m flipping through a magazine and see an image I like like a hand or you know something, anything! Than I might take that. You know, very Van Peric... I do a lot of collage. Like pre-work collage to try and get an idea, but it also helps to be able to rescale things you know what I mean? So like “Oh, what would this look like if it was huge!”
RC: So you would say that you probably... let’s say you do a painting that is 30”x30” or what ever... a larger painting, you may do a small thumbnail collage to give you some idea?
DT: sometimes.
RC: loosely, you know...
DT: loosely, sometimes... a lot of times I’ll gather the images and sketch out maybe an idea of how I want it and then other times to be totally honest I’ll start with something I just find that I really like and work around that so you know it’s a little bit of a push and pull as far as that goes.
RC: Um, if you look at your artwork immediately what people will see or notice without a doubt is they will start to see elements of pop culture...
DT: sure.
RC: So how does pop culture influence your work or you which then influences the work?
DT: Well man especially in this day and age where a lot of us are made up of a lot of pop culture. I mean I can’t speak for everyone but I probably know more about pop culture references than I do you know history...
...but it is all about being able to connect with or to feel some sort of connection to something. I mean, um even if it is something as vague as a billboard you and I both have driven by and then there is a connection, but then that prism as you called it acts a central that connects us! And it also is a universalizing agent a little bit... you know anyone can relate to it in a sense.
RC: The other thing that I noticed in your work which uh... well I say that with a grain because it may be something I noticed but it may not necessarily be there from the way that it is presented but sometimes there are elements of politics that sorta of might be woven in the fray of the work. How important is politics to you in regards to your art work of what you're trying to say?
DT: Umm... the longer I've done it I think the less I would call it important just because I've become less interested in politics probably.
RC: Sure.
DT: Umm... Yeah there's definitely some sneaky, subtle little things in there probably any artist puts in there, yeah maybe 90% of people might be totally in your face where you see that is the main figure or might be a little bit more avert that you may not notice I guess so in a way I would say it is not terrible important you know... it's more about how you feel about it so...
RC: Sure.
DT: So you can come in and see a picture of Hillary Clinton and say "awe I love this it's Hillary Clinton!" or come in and say "ew he painted that!" you know it's just like looking up at any portrait and say "look at that evil man!" or "look at that great figure of history!"
RC: Depending on who you are...
DT: Right!
RC: or how you see the world.
DT: Right.
RC: Kinda going in a fun direction, I kinda like to ask fun questions...
DT: Yes!
RC: If you had the opportunity to be a working painter/artist in a different decade or if you really feel the need to go back that far...
DT: I'm building a Delorean.
RC: Ha ha, if you're building a Delorean, ready to go, uh besides this one obviously being a working artist now, when would think would be a really great time for you to be an artist?
DT: To be an artist? Oh man that is good questions! I don't know. I think probably... i feel really related to my time now. As we get more and more media, more and more media friendly everyone has their iPod with a thousand songs on it, everybody has their laptop, it seems like we're being more and more inundated with this kind of confusion almost with imagery and sound and text you know it becomes... it becomes this other form and that's what I try to express in my art so...
RC: So you feel pretty at home in the now?
DT: I feel pretty at home with now and sure it would've been cool to be in the 60's or 70's or something!
RC: Sure... you know maybe sometimes...
DT: Maybe that was for different reasons though...
RC: Yeah could be for sure! I think sometimes it is interesting because we all feel a little at home in our time and sometime not at home you know...
DT: That's true too! Ask me on a different day!
RC: Yeah, but it is defiantly interesting to think about other times and what it would be like work in that time with the restrictions they had and also the freedoms they had to create...
DT: Sure it would of been great to be the first person to ever think of doing art this way you know!
RC: Yeah! Exactly! But then the question is would you of? You know?
DT: Yeah! Right exactly! In a way I kinda think originality is dead if that makes sense so.
RC: What makes you, since you said it, like what makes you feel, what signs do you have that make you feel that it's dead?
DT: Uh, a lot of things! I mean the only thing, I feel like the only thing we're doing this day and age is restructuring and reconfiguring things that already exist. If that makes sense.
RC: It's almost like taking all the picture that other people have made and taking them apart and gluing them back together...
DT: I mean yeah in a sense. In a sense not just pictures necessarily but ideas, philosophys...
RC: Yeah that is what I mean.
DT: ...even political views and things like that... um all seem to of become strange web were you pick and choose. I mean nothing a linear fasion anymore it's all over the place a little bit. And I even feel like peoples brains even work like that now.
RC: Do you think that is the.. you think that is a chicken vs the egg situation where as peoples brains work that way because of this or do you think because of this that is why now people think that way?
DT: Well it's hard to say cause you can get into a lot of socio-ecomonic political issues and part of it is living in America to! In a third world country it might be completely different. Their probably not innidated with so much media. I defiantly feel like I'm an American artist if that makes any sense. I like reflect what is around me, what I'm used too in a way. What I'm comfortable with.
RC: The other thing that I noticed in your work which uh... well I say that with a grain because it may be something I noticed but it may not necessarily be there from the way that it is presented but sometimes there are elements of politics that sorta of might be woven in the fray of the work. How important is politics to you in regards to your art work of what you're trying to say?
DT: Umm... the longer I've done it I think the less I would call it important just because I've become less interested in politics probably.
RC: Sure.
DT: Umm... Yeah there's definitely some sneaky, subtle little things in there probably any artist puts in there, yeah maybe 90% of people might be totally in your face where you see that is the main figure or might be a little bit more avert that you may not notice I guess so in a way I would say it is not terrible important you know... it's more about how you feel about it so...
RC: Sure.
DT: So you can come in and see a picture of Hillary Clinton and say "awe I love this it's Hillary Clinton!" or come in and say "ew he painted that!" you know it's just like looking up at any portrait and say "look at that evil man!" or "look at that great figure of history!"
RC: Depending on who you are...
DT: Right!
RC: or how you see the world.
DT: Right.
RC: Kinda going in a fun direction, I kinda like to ask fun questions...
DT: Yes!
RC: If you had the opportunity to be a working painter/artist in a different decade or if you really feel the need to go back that far...
DT: I'm building a Delorean.
RC: Ha ha, if you're building a Delorean, ready to go, uh besides this one obviously being a working artist now, when would think would be a really great time for you to be an artist?
DT: To be an artist? Oh man that is good questions! I don't know. I think probably... i feel really related to my time now. As we get more and more media, more and more media friendly everyone has their iPod with a thousand songs on it, everybody has their laptop, it seems like we're being more and more inundated with this kind of confusion almost with imagery and sound and text you know it becomes... it becomes this other form and that's what I try to express in my art so...
RC: So you feel pretty at home in the now?
DT: I feel pretty at home with now and sure it would've been cool to be in the 60's or 70's or something!
RC: Sure... you know maybe sometimes...
DT: Maybe that was for different reasons though...
RC: Yeah could be for sure! I think sometimes it is interesting because we all feel a little at home in our time and sometime not at home you know...
DT: That's true too! Ask me on a different day!
DT: Sure it would of been great to be the first person to ever think of doing art this way you know!
RC: Yeah! Exactly! But then the question is would you of? You know?
DT: Yeah! Right exactly! In a way I kinda think originality is dead if that makes sense so.
RC: What makes you, since you said it, like what makes you feel, what signs do you have that make you feel that it's dead?
DT: Uh, a lot of things! I mean the only thing, I feel like the only thing we're doing this day and age is restructuring and reconfiguring things that already exist. If that makes sense.
RC: It's almost like taking all the picture that other people have made and taking them apart and gluing them back together...
DT: I mean yeah in a sense. In a sense not just pictures necessarily but ideas, philosophys...
RC: Yeah that is what I mean.
DT: ...even political views and things like that... um all seem to of become strange web were you pick and choose. I mean nothing a linear fasion anymore it's all over the place a little bit. And I even feel like peoples brains even work like that now.
RC: Do you think that is the.. you think that is a chicken vs the egg situation where as peoples brains work that way because of this or do you think because of this that is why now people think that way?
DT: Well it's hard to say cause you can get into a lot of socio-ecomonic political issues and part of it is living in America to! In a third world country it might be completely different. Their probably not innidated with so much media. I defiantly feel like I'm an American artist if that makes any sense. I like reflect what is around me, what I'm used too in a way. What I'm comfortable with.
***End of Part 1**
RC: What quintessential of American Art...? You have the American artist like Jasper Johns in their time...
DT: Sure
RC: They were doing certain things that set them apart from artists we see in other areas in the world, like if you were....
DT: Do you know any artists that you consider quintessential American?
RC: I don’t know
DT: That’s it, there’s so many. There’s so much going on. If someone asked me like...have you heard any great new bands? Sure, I’ve heard 5 this week. There’s so much...how do you...and the way we make connections and I guess establish our “person” is through what we decide is important, what we dig out, what we hold on to, what becomes the focus of our interests.
RC: Exactly
DT: I guess, I don’t know. I guess I can’t answer that question.
RC: It’s probably not...
DT: It’s a little open ended.
RC: It’s definitely open ended. I think the first time I really started to feel that way, and you may relate with this, in the middle of this past decade, before Face book blew up and MySpace got popular, you started to realize that there were a billion bands on MySpace that were trying to make it and there’s like....
DT: And you start realizing how much there is out there. I mean we’re allowed to reach everything now.
RC: Yeah, so it’s mind boggling.
DT: It is mind boggling.
RC: It doesn’t make any sense...it really....
DT: I guess that’s a little bit of what I want in my art...a little bit mind boggling.
RC: Okay, well that’s interesting. I think....I think that’s cool because it a....it really sets you at a place in this time really well. And what I’ve seen of your artwork, it does that, because literally I can look at it and I can start having fun with it and say, okay I’m gonna put this piece together and this piece together and create this idea or thought or image or whatever, or if I really wanted to, I could look at it and like yeah I just don’t think it means anything!
DT: Right, right, well it’s man’s natural....
RC: Tendency.
DT: Tendency is to create a narrative of images...you know, or however it’s placed together to consider and I guess I’m trying to disrupt that to some extent.
RC: Sure. This is interesting, so ultimately this is what you do throughout your career. It seems to me that you have set up a cat and mouse game throughout your life or career.
DT: Sure
RC: And it’s playing this game constantly’ “I know you’re gonna turn this into something, so let’s see what you do”...even though it doesn’t...
DT: And people who, you know, have grown up with me know me very well can probably see some biographical elements in it, more so than, you know, Joe Shmo on the street.
RC: Yeah, we didn’t grow up together...
DT: Right, which I appreciate them noticing that and I appreciate that it’s something can do to someone else.
RC: Yeah. Very cool. What steps could you take to start out to get… you say you’re a bad self promoter, well I think a lot of people are bad self promoters so what steps did you take to break that cycle a little bit and get into some of these galleries that you did. You know.
DT: I’ve worked a little bit harder at putting together, you know, a packet of information about myself that I sent to several galleries, that was rejected or never replied to and in that way I think it was a lot easier to kind of get myself out there, than you know, knocking on someone’s door being face to face… so this day and age there’s so many ways to get your stuff out there without....you know if you’re a shy artist or you know...just don’t like people...
RC: Sure
DT: There’s so many ways
RC: There’s a lot more...
DT: Build a website...sell art out of your house... lots of people do it.
RC: They do.
DT: It’s a lot easier...it’s a lot easier world to get into and also in a lot of ways, a lot more difficult.
RC: Yeah, It’s so weird like... it feels like it’s so easy it still feels like you’re alone in a room yelling out.
DT: Well, and the problem is 90% of what is in your face is crap.
RC: So it makes people even less...
DT: Right, yeah more turned off with the idea of something in their face!
RC: Yeah, it’ll be interesting how that evolves into the navigation of what people do. Kind of bringing it down to here, this is Nashville Art Makers and you are a Nashville artist, what are your feelings about the Nashville art scene, it could be something as simple as how you’ve seen it change...you know, what are your thoughts?
DT: My thoughts are we’re headed in the right direction...I mean, Nashville is just not country music any more I don’t think...I feel it’s definitely interested in the arts, there are local, great artists working right now. I don’t know long enough to say “than ever before” but there’s definitely a scene, and think it’s very up and coming and has real potential.
RC: I would agree. The cool thing is we’ve done, you’ll be the 4th interview I’ve done for Nashville Art Makers and there’s definitely a consensus so far that people feel like that Nashville is going in the right direction...very positive about the ways have changed You know I moved here what I would say was probably the middle of the major of a… decade that really changed a lot.
DT: Sure.
RC: From the beginning of Frist Center opened...
DT: 2000 to now.
RC: Yeah, a lot has changed and it’s been really neat to see that. If you were to move away from painting into other mediums and other ways of expressions in art, what one’s are right now on the peripheral interest you?
DT: I’m a painter and drawer by nature, I’m drawn to 2D world, but in a sense I would see some sort of installation work, you know...
RC: Yeah.
DT: Eventually, I mean or along the same lines, maybe with some moving...I’m not going to give away all....
RC: Yeah, yeah
DT: But some moving parts. You know, I could definitely get into video or things like that.
RC: Sure.
DT: But I think it would always be connected in some way to a painting or to painting...I always wished I had learned animation.
RC: Animation. I always wanted to learn that too. Having your day job where you work actually setting up shows and putting things together and that whole process, how does that change the way you look at what you’re doing? Does it at all?
DT: At what I’m doing?
RC: Yes, as an artist and how you approach...
DT: I’d say the best thing is exposer.
RC: Exposer? I would agree. Any time you can constantly put things in your face that whether it inspires you or change the way you look. It’s gonna help.
DT: Yeah.
DT: Yeah...well books....reading....there’s a lot of other ways.
RC: Yeah, it’s really good, as like a songwriter, to read a lot because other people’s stories help you out with your stories.
DT: Right, anything you can find that’s in relation to it is important in some ways.
RC: Okay, well I guess my last question to put a bookend on it....what do you feel like or what are your goals for the next 5 years as an artist?
DT: As an artist?
RC: Yeah.
DT: Well I hope to....
RC: Or anything closer…
DT: I hope to get married to an artist, have artist babies...
RC: Nice!
DT: Buy an artist house...nah, I don’t know...
RC: An artist dog?
DT: An artist dog and a picket painted fence. I don’t know what yet, but it’s gonna be art.
RC: It’s gonna be a collage.
DT: Collage...but I don’t know man...that’s a hard question cause it’s not easy to keep yourself working...ya know?
RC: Yeah.
DT: 5 years from now? I hope I’m still working...how about that?
RC: Yeah, hope you’re still making....
DT: Hope I’m still making what I want to be making.
RC: Okay. Real quick, before we go, why don’t you go ahead and let everyone at Nashville Art Makers know some of the galleries you’ve shown at and if you have a website or anything.
DT: Yeah, sure. You can go to www.doobyt.com and I’m also with www.therymergallery.com and they’re down on 5th. Check them out anytime and a ...
RC: That’s it?
DT: I don’t know, you can be my Face book friend if you want.
RC: Yeah. All right, well thanks everybody for checking us out. I want to thank my friend, Dooby here for sitting down and talking and everyone here at the Fiesta Azteca Mexican Restaurant. We’re going to eat some delicious Mexican food....we hope you guys have a great time. Thanks. We’ll see ya. Bye. ***end of Part 2***
Open House Show
Nashville Education, Community & Arts Television, Peg Studio, 120 White Bridge Rd.,
Nashville, TN
The Art Of Protest
Vanderbilt Divinity School, 411 21st Ave. South, Nashville, TN –
Eye Candy Show
The Rymer Gallery, 233 5th Ave. N., Nashville, TN-
Rumble 2010
Rumble Art Fair, 1187 Coast Village Rd Suite 146, Montecito, CA- Rumble 2010
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