Interview With Abby Powers
Abby Powers is a Utah based artist who goes to school at the University of Utah for psychology and fine art. Her Instagram @combustiblegarbage, demonstrates this very interesting blend of studies. Emotionally lead, she allows her art to speak what words cannot, which shows up prominently within her artwork. The feeling is very raw, real, and free, and as Salt Lily sat down with Powers, she tells us a little bit of why her creative process is the way that it is.
Q: What made you want to be an artist?
I think it started around 6th grade. My friend was really getting into art. I had never really been good at art, I was really pretty garbage at it, but there was this little studio that offered anime classes and I just started taking classes. Then from there it just started to become a lifelong thing, a hobby, a love, I guess.
Q: What are your inspirations?
I actually draw a lot of inspiration from tattoo artists now. Anka Lavriv is one of my favorite tattoo artists, she’s based out of Brooklyn and she’s amazing. I used to watch a lot of anime and that was where I got a lot of my inspiration. Now that my art is a little more sophisticated, it still has the Japanese [influence], I draw a lot of geisha’s and stuff like that, because I think it’s all very beautiful.
Q: What is your creative process like?
I just start drawing and it might be garbage, or it might be better. I feel like I usually have to be drawing for a pretty long period of time before. I’m still working on my artistic skills, so I can’t just have a thing in my head and put it on the paper. It’s definitely like, I start drawing and then I see something that could maybe be interesting, and I elaborate on that. It’s never a, ‘oh I’m just gonna decide this is how I’m gonna draw’…I just start, and it happens.
Q: What’s your favorite medium to use?
Pen and ink now. I used to be all graphite, but now I really like pen and ink. I’ve also been using more marker too, which has been fun.
Q: Do you have a good reason for using those?
I think it’s just because it’s where I started and I really just like the amount of precision that’s required with pen and ink, because it’s something I struggle with pretty frequently, so it’s a really good challenge. To force myself to make very precise and meaningful lines, instead of just sketching like crazy and erasing something.
Q: How would you describe your art style?
It’s like somewhat illustrative, also kind of surrealist in a way, but I also try and draw back to like a lot of my artistic ability through figure study. I think my focus is really a lot on human body and faces and just warping that and see how I can integrate it into other things.
Q: Do you have any goals coming up, as an artist?
There was a period of time where I did wanna try for a tattoo apprenticeship, once I finished school. You never know where you’re gonna be in a couple years, so I think my goals right now are just to keep improving and keep challenging myself and really just develop my skills, my hard skills as an artist. To be able to have that good base, instead of just kind of winging it and only sticking with what I’m good at, I really just want to challenge myself and become a more developed artist, so I can integrate more. It’s like once you know the rules you can break them more.
Q: What are you currently studying?
I’m at the University of Utah, I’m studying psychology, and then I’m doing a fine arts minor.
Q: Do you think there’s a difference between your style and the academic style taught?
Absolutely. Cause the academic style is teaching the rules, especially where I am right now, just starting…a lot of it is about how you make this kind of mark, and this is how you render this correctly. Everything is kind of about being correct and learning the concepts of everything and how to create that into the art. Whereas, I think my art style, there is no real rhyme or reason to it, there isn’t ever a goal in mind, it’s just drawing for the sake of doing something and then it ends up being something that I’m proud of.
Q: Why do you love drawing?
My pet peeve is when people say, ‘oh you’re so talented’, it’s like, actually I’m not. I was never a good artist when I was younger. I was never one of those kids that could naturally see something and draw it. I worked really hard. I took years and hours of classes, and I just got better. Looking back and seeing my progress is really a source of pride for me. I love to see my improvement, and I also just love it because it’s kind of an outlet to describe the feelings that I’m having, where words can’t.
Q: How do you use your art to channel those feelings?
Like I said, I kind of let whatever I’m feeling come out onto the page, I don’t really know how to describe how it happens, I just kind of start drawing, and I stick to something that I know. Like maybe a face, or maybe a body, or flowers, something, and then it’ll evolve based on how I’m feeling that night. Like, one night, I had really bad insomnia, so everything came out like weird and stressed out. It’s never really a, ‘oh I’m gonna draw a sad piece’, I just need to sit down to draw to occupy myself and then it will become whatever I’m feeling, usually.
Q: Has your insomnia influenced your art a lot?
Definitely, haha. I feel like the best stuff that I make is like at three o’clock in the morning.
