RAPID FIRE QUESTIONS WITH ~ PATTY SPYRAKOS BY PABLO G. VILLAZAN

We are back with another great session of “Rapid Fire Questions” with of our League OTO family member - Pablo G. Villazan.

Today’s Q&A is with a very talented ceramics artist and painter, Patty Spyrakos.

So, Ready! Set! Gooooooo!

Who is Patty Spyrakos?

I ask myself that every day. What I can tell you is I’m a Scorpio sun, Gemini rising, artist, mom, Greek-American, Chicago by birth, SF by heart, post schizophrenic, psychic philanthropist, perpetual late bloomer, drifter of subcultures, and currently living and working in Iceland.

Did you always want to be an artist?

I think deep down I did but I was not really encouraged to pursue art. I had a very pragmatic upbringing where art did not fit in epigenetically - i.e. you had to do physical labor in order to eat and in order to survive in all past generations of my family. I wanted to study photography in college, but my parents paid my way- I thank them for that immensely. Photography was not allowed however, so I studied psychology, partially because I was expanding my mind with psychedelics and reading Robert Anton Wilson. The internet happened around then so I taught myself web/visual design and did that for several years before fully committing to ART.

Where does your inspiration come from?

Dreams, the supernatural, my children, my husband, the landscape around me, distress, anxiety, gothic solitude, comedy, grief, sorrow, sadness and depression, altered states of consciousness, meditation, my digestion and all other internal organs, the unified field, and gender issues.

Which artists have the greatest influence on your work?

Ray Yoshida, Ray Johnson, and Man Ray. ,Bilinda Butcher and Baldur (Helgason), Harriet Selma Baldursdottir, Harriet Wheeler, Harriet Tubman and Harry Nilsson, Petra Freyja Baldursdottir, Petra Von Kant and Freyja the Goddess, Devin Troy, Dev Hynes, and Devendra Banhart, Gus Gus and Gus Van Sant, David Lynch, David Bowie, Dave Gahan, David Hockney and David Tibet. Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Smith, Pamela Coleman Smith, Patti Smith, and The Smiths, Ian Curtis, Ian McKaye, Ian Brown, and Joan Brown, John Waters, Jonathan Meese, and Jean DuBuffet, Nick Cave and Nick Cave, Alice Neel and Alice in Wonderland, Betty Woodman and Betty Boop, Ron Nagle and Matthew Ronay, Trude Viken and Vikings, Gahee Park, Parker Posey, and Parks and Rec, Barbara Rossi and Martini and Rossi Asti Spumante (i.e.wine), Amy Goodman , Amy Sedaris, and Amy Linton, Christina Ramberg, Christina A. West, and Cornel West. JAH and Jodorowsky. Tschabalala Self and my shadow self. Ken Price and Yoko Ono.

What is your process to create your work?

Self loathing mostly, otherwise it starts when I wake up. I have to analyze my dreams before I get out of bed otherwise the world might not work (OCD). I’ll review my astrology, watch democracy now, at some point I try to meditate, and the rest depends on what I’m working on. Currently it involves getting materials ready, like rolling out of clay, mixing slips, salts, sands, slimes, and other concoctions to use as surface treatment...so more of the physical work of it. There is a lot of drying time of things involved, so I tend to work on a few pieces at once. A bit of mental BDSM comes into play between the two hemispheres of my brain and then I settle into things, let loose, listen to Yoko Ono telling me not to second guess myself and see where the next comedy/art/revised history podcast takes me.

Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?

Water. Whatever it is I end up working with, it’s messy stuff.

I’ve had to change where I work so often that it’s forced me to adapt. I’ve worked out of a ceramics studio, my basement, my kitchen, ...I’m actually now just finally moving into a proper studio here in Iceland. The lack of a set space so far has influenced what materials I have to work with and I kind of just have to roll with it. Things available to me in the states aren’t accessible here, or are far more expensive. That said, any kind of material I can mold into shapes.

What is the meaning behind your artwork? ART IS GOD!!! hahahaha. no really....

This fluctuates depending on my location and state of mind, and where or if the work is going to be shown, and the state of the world around me. With my last show in Iceland, the landscape and mythology were major factors, and due to the political state of the U.S. and the pandemic the underlying tone of the pieces represented states of transformation, reformation...

My work at La Luz de Jesus were all floam painting and sculpture - the material gave meaning as it reflected on my identity as a care giver- the need to find a medium that I can work with at my kitchen table but also something my kids have fun with. The content of the paintings was inspired by struggles with identity, an inner emotional world, and psychological struggles.

Imagine that your sculptures could talk, what would they say about you?

It would be a slow forced murmuring, like in a dream, where you are trying to get words out of your mouth but it feels like you are in slow motion and have no control over the muscles in your face but you manage to get some sounds out and then half wake up to realize you were probably audible outside of your head and sounding like a crazed and maniacal heave of flatulating flesh. You are a little bit embarrassed, but you wipe the drool off the side of your face and you carry on.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Sooo many things. depends on when. I could try some of this out: “Stop trying to please people, gather your confidence, and do what you want with your life” “You are important and worthy and you should eat something”

Also:
“Quit your job now”
“Stand up straight”
“You look great”
“That street doesn’t have an oncoming stop sign!” “Avoid him”, “Avoid him too”
“Don’t drink that!”

Do you find the social channel’s influence Positive or Negative?

Both!

Describe in 3 words how social channels affect you as an artist.

Subtle Brain Manipulation.

What is your dream project?

Sailing with a small party on a large oldy timey ship in the middle of the ocean during a horrible storm in the dark of night, drinking champagne, dancing to the all the jams, knowing that we will be ok.

Writing/directing a murder/mystery/comedy/magick series set in Iceland, kind of the Twin Peaks of Iceland but funnier...I have many thoughts on this already..hit me up.

A show at Padre Gallery in New York 2021.