wood, plaster, plastic flowers, electric candles, metal, fabric and a magic eight ball
wood, plaster, plastic flowers,
electric candles, metal, fabric and a magic eight ball
I am on my way from Novato, were it is close to 100 degrees, and I'm heading towards the City to interview artist and musician Mike Bragg. As I turned on Geary towards the beach I thank God for the fog wafting through the area. I had called Mike about a month ago and asked if he wanted to be interviewed for an on-line art magazine? He liked the idea of his work being seen and hedged about the "interview," but being the pushy person that I am, I talked him into it and made the appointment.
plaster, wood, sand and string
Mike and I have know each other for about two years. We met as co-employed waitpersons at Creekside Bistro in San Anselmo. I still pound the concrete weekends at Creekside, but Mike's motorcycle and that last bad winter helped decide his employment move -- to a fine-dining establishment in the City near his home.
I always make it known right away within the "circle" of wait people at a new restaurant that I am a choreographer, graphic artist, and recently an on-line interviewer. Usually, within a week of new employment 75% of the employees approach me with a smile and announce that they are also artists! And so it goes at every restaurant I have worked at for the past twenty years. Wait people are undercover musicians, authors, dancers, painters, performing artists, poets, exotic dancers, one private investigator, oh, and that girl who wanted to become a lion tamer... This is how I stumbled upon Mike Bragg and his Art.
cement, steel, burlap, straw and acrylic on wood
Mike Bragg, late twenties, brown short hair, six feet tall with an "I played football in high school frame" answers the door with flashing eyes, mischievous grin, and a close-cropped goatee. All that was missing was the black beret.
He leads me into the basement to see his new studio and living area. Couch, table, chairs, bed in the corner, guitars on stands, large pieces of his art work leaned against the wall, and his house mates' surf boards stored in the rafters overhead. While exchanging restaurant gossip and life updates we gravitate to his keyboards and "recording studio quality" production set-up which includes his new "baby," a Mac computer.
wine bottles and rubber gloves
We both take a seat and on goes the tape of the latest music piece he is working on. It's drums and American Indian style chanting layered together over a hypnotic beat. His music is just another facet of his many artistic abilities and always makes me want to choreograph on the spot. As we are listening, Mike opens a few computer files to show me some works in his new medium of choice -- Adobe PhotoShop. He explains that he is just getting started in the computer art arena but is enjoying all the different ways the program allows him to manipulate images. After looking at several files of remarkable "computer created" art, Mike goes to get the slides of his work to pick out pictures for the web site. While I wait, I listened to another new piece of his music; drumming, set to a child's Dr. Suess story recording. I turn in my chair to take in the room, the whole effect of Bragg Art.
acrylic on canvas
His latest creation grabs my full, emotional attention. It is a 4' x 6' canvas with what looks like muslin layered in 6 inch strips attached to it, painted over with a medley of dark greens and brown hues, somewhat peeling up on itself, and smack in the middle is painted a darker brown cross which almost covers the canvas. This piece shows his talent of mixing texture with form, giving a three dimensional effect. More than likely this piece has punctured my "nerve" of years of therapy to get over having been raised Catholic; and I started wondering if Mike is going through the rare "once in an artist's lifetime crucifixion phase." But, this is not an interview question I like to pose...the answer is likely to be too complicated.
I'm not surprised by this new facet of Bragg expression. The terrific thing about Bragg Art is when Mike gets touched by the Muse he creates piece of art that say "I am here, don't pass me by, I wasn't created to be subtle". I find his pieces awaken my senses just by the shear volume of textures, but without assaulting my sense of symmetry and space. I ask him what the new piece is called and Mike tells me that he doesn't like to put titles on his works, he just names them by what materials he's used to create them.
cast of cement plaster and stone
The music ends, we look at the time, and Mike says he's got to get going to meet a friend for dinner. I grab the slides, we say our good-byes, I make him promise to write some music for my dance company, and I head out into the cold night air to my car. As I turn onto 19th Avenue I realize I didn't ask Mike many questions for the online magazine.
But with Mike, as with Bragg Art, maybe it's not to be questioned, but to be experienced.
