First things first, how would someone find you on Social media? Follow @gavindedraw on Instagram, @GavinSnider on Twitter and Sad American Night on Spotify.
Where were you born and where do you currently live and create? I was born in San Diego, California. I grew up in Mulvane, a small town in central Kansas. I currently live in Brooklyn. Wherever I am, I create. Lately that’s been New York.
How would you describe Gavin Snider? I’m an artist, designer and musician. I often find myself moving through life at a harrowing pace. I use art in an attempt to slow down the world. To notice things. To appreciate the people and the city around me. To capture moments and to express feelings that I may have otherwise overlooked.
What was your first experience with art as a kid? I started off creating imaginary worlds with my twin brother Grant. We each had one side of an easel, with a sheet of computer paper pinned to it. We’d draw dinosaurs and aliens and spaceships and pirates and asteroids. We were probably three or four years old. I’ve been trying to return to that feeling ever since, that impossible act of creation.
Where did you attend art school? I didn’t attend art school. I studied architecture at the University of Kansas. While that informed my art and certainly shaped my worldview, becoming an artist has been a lifelong practice. It’s something I’ve learned by doing, experimenting, observing, taking lessons from experience and from countless others around me.
Have you ever come across a piece of art that you could not or did not want to stop looking at? It happens all the time. I think the last time was at the MoMA. I went to draw Picasso but was captivated by James Ensor’s Tribulations of Saint Anthony. I couldn’t look away. It depicts Hell but it looks like Heaven. I felt like I was listening to a song that was writing itself, different tones and textures and timbres swelling in every corner.
Where/when do you get most inspired? I get most inspired when I’m moving through the city. Riding a bike through a neighborhood I’ve never visited. Turning onto a street I’ve never walked down. Running over a bridge when the sun is casting deep shadows on the buildings and the whole world seems full of possibility. After I visit an unfamiliar part of the city, I come home to find my own neighborhood changed, that my place in the world has shifted to encompass the newness that surrounds it.
If you had to watch one movie on repeat for eternity, what would it be? I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone, but if I had to choose, I guess I might watch Stop Making Sense. Better to experience a concert over and over than a movie. You’ve got Talking Heads at the peak of their musical output, from David Byrne with a tape deck and an acoustic guitar to a full-on nine-piece Fela-inspired Afrobeat onslaught. Jonathan Demme directed it. I can’t think of a more joyful expression of creativity. The songs are phenomenal, the energy is unmatched. On a side note, I have watched and will continue to watch It’s A Wonderful Life every Christmas for eternity.
First thing you think/do in the morning? And Last thing at night? In the morning I eat a bagel, drink a coffee, and check my email and Instagram.I get on a bike and ride over the Williamsburg Bridge to my studio, stopping by the coffee cart on the corner. Then I sit down at my desk, eat a donut, drink another coffee and check my email and Instagram again. As you can see there’s not much thinking involved. The last thing I do at night? Well that just depends on the night. I tend to brush my teeth on a fairly regular basis.
What is your least favorite part of the day? Right after a heavy lunch. If I can’t nap or work out or otherwise snap out of it, I lose focus and go down a social media rabbit-hole.
If you weren’t an artist, what would you have liked to be? A musician. Preferably a country singer. Someone who could wear a big cowboy hat without any misgivings. I’ve settled on weekly practices and a sporadic shows with my band Sad American Night. We’re not country, but we’re working on it.
Why make art? What better way to observe, process and record the world around you than by the impossible act of creation.
The future is _________? Not what it used to be.
If you could have dinner with 3 artists living/dead who would be at your table? I’d prefer three living artists to three dead ones. I think that would make for a better conversation.
Name three things you can’t live without in your studio? Good music. Good speakers. Someone to keep me company.
