1. Please introduce yourself, tell us a little bit about you.
-My name is Jesse Draxler. I currently live in Minneapolis, MN, USA. I do the damn thing.
2. Recent, current or future projects you are involved in that you would like to share with us?
-At the moment I am working on creating a series of masks for a fashion designer here in MPLS named Emma Berg (emmaberg.com). She will be showcasing them on her models for a few runway shows coming up near the end of the month. I’m also in the middle of collaborating with a few photographers and musicians, as well as personal works. Always several irons in the fire.
3. What kind of things influence your work?
– Every things.
4. What is your normal process of collaging? (idea or commission, where do you get your materials or find your images, which is your cutting technique, best way you have found to paste, where do you work and how, and very important: what do you do with your scraps)
– Where I get my imagery varies, especially lately. I used to work solely from found materials, but recently I started working with a few photographers. I’ve been using their printed photos to create truly original collages – which is opening up an entire new world as far as collaging goes.
I use an Xacto for cutting. Which I equate to the likes of drawing or subtractive sculpture – unlike with a scissors.
For smaller scale collage I use an Italian glue stick – Cocoina. On occasion, depending on scale and usage, I use gel mediums. I also recently started working with wheat paste.
I have a studio which I work out of. A large dual room in the back of my apartment.
If I saved all my scraps I would be sitting amongst mounds of paper.
5. What is your latest discovery in the collage world? What advice can you give to a collage beginner
– I’m not sure in what sense “discovery in the collage world” is meant, and I am not great at giving advice.
6. What do you do when you are not working on art?
– Everything is working on art.
7. Would you like to ask anything to John Baldessari? Shoot.
– Nah.
