Molly McCall
Carmel Valley, California
Website
www.mollymccall.com
Social Media
Instagram
How would you describe your work?
My artwork is interdisciplinary, a blending of my interest with photography, painting, drawing, textile design, and collage. I have liked making things ever since I was a child so I always try to incorporate something that reflects “the hand” in my work.
What inspires you?
I am inspired by literature and poetry, nature, atmospheric changes, old movies, and beauty.
Can you speak about your process?
I begin my process with writing and drawing in Moleskin notebooks where I can empty out all my thoughts, sketches, scraps, quotes, curiosities, or anything that sparks my creative mind. These observations, influences, inspirations are noted in detail as a starting point to be explored and whatever path my mind takes, my hand follows.
These books have become the archive that I refer to again and again and are the source for all my projects.
As I begin to develop these fragments, I search through the notes/sketches to connect the dots; associations that I can translate into photographic form, either captured or found. As these relationships are discovered I work with what I find to create composites (layers and layers of photographs), paintings, or collages. I’m never quite sure of where a spark will take me, so I just try to get out of the way and let the direction unfold. Most of the time, the ideas begin complexly, and then I try to simplify and unify them hoping to discover a visual metaphor.
How did you become interested in art?
My grandfather was a watercolorist and illustrator who lived in Southern California in a small bungalow that he built on the Pacific Ocean. He painted beautiful seascapes with dramatic water and sky and was a Master with pen and ink. He used to send me little painted postcards in the mail, with scenes of his daily life or sea animals that he would watch from his front porch. One of my favorite artworks of his was a book of pen and ink drawings that he made of dogs, complete with a hand carved wooden cover and tied with leather string. His father was a watercolorist as well, and an Illustrator for the New York Times. His professional work was centered around painting beautiful maritime scenes with tall masted ships.
Do you have any favorite artists, movies, books, or quotes?
Painters have taught me more about seeing than any other art form. My favorite contemporary artists all work with some form of inspiration from photography/film within their painting process: Uwe Witter, Hughie O’Donohue, Laura Landcaster, Piet Raemdonck, Anslem Keiffer. I have an even longer list of painters from art history.
Favorite Movies: 1940’s-50’s Film Noir, and Westerns.
Favorite Books: Seven Nights, Everything and Nothing, Poems of the Night, written by Jorge Luis Borges, the Argentinian Godfather of magical realism. East of Eden and Pastures of Heaven by John Steinbeck.
Favorite Quotes:
“All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we may shape our art.” – Jorge Luis Borges
What advice do you have for younger artists?
Experience many forms of art- music, film, culinary, theatre, design, fashion, dance, architecture, etc., and bring their influences into your chosen art medium. Likewise, no matter what your chosen medium, study art history.
Any more thoughts about art, creativity, or anything else you would like to share?
In the last few years, a void seeped in to my creative rhythm; I had a block, and my work wasn’t reflecting my intentions. I ended up seeking out (and finding) a Mentor and spent a year methodically looking through my work (both past and present) and setting up a new foundation, looking closely at studio practice, influences, and self- made barriers. It was an invaluable experience to have an outside voice; a trusted artist whom I highly revered, pointing out strengths and weaknesses all with a healthy dose of wisdom. It was exactly what I needed to get my head cleared out and get my artwork back on track. I would recommend this process to anyone in need of support for their artistic course. My Mentor was the perfect combination of chicken soup and a velvet hammer, and her guidance and advice brought me back to my artmaking with a new perspective.
