Dawn Cerny

Dawn Cerny is an artist. She received a Washington State artists
fellowship and was nominated for a Neddy, whatever that is. But this
is about her and her awesome artwork.


Why do you create art?

(Laughing) I like lying. I like telling stories, I think that’s the reason. And I like making things, I’m a craft person, with my hands. Because I’m stupid, that’s why.

It’s easier than writing.

Yes, because I’m a horrible speller. I think I create art because it’s a very necessary-necessary thing to do in the world. It’s a really high calling, as kind of snotty as that sounds. I think it’s a really important thing to do. I feel called to it just as I would being a nun or a priest or a scientist. I think it’s something that really intrigues me. It’s an interesting problem.

What’s the problem?

At least with my own work, it’s the research of everything, from all time and finding the commonalities in those things are trying to figure out what fits. To kind of figure out what we have in common historically, with all people. The strings that link us together, that seems to be the problem of creating great art. Not being self-referential, not talking about what my problems are and my experiences but trying to look at all human nature and trying to create stories or experiences that delve into that idea of why we’re here, what we do, death and all of these things. I just think that understanding science and literature and math and all of that and trying to spin out into another abstract where you don’t necessarily know the answer directly but you can kind of intuitively feel what it could be, I think that’s an exciting problem. You can edit that.

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Let’s talk about some of the awards you haven’t won.

Alright.

Nobel prize.

I was nominated but I didn’t get it.

Grammy.

The American music awards nomination. Oscar.

How do you determine a price for your art?

That’s an interesting thing. I tell students to price it at what it would cost to never care if you saw it again. And that’s a pretty good rule of thumb, at least when you are starting out. But now I tend to think on an hourly basis. I try to pay myself $25 an hour and that goes into research and the time it takes me to sit with an idea. A lot of time goes into making these drawings that isn’t drawing time, it goes a lot into reading and research and then the drawing happens actually quite quickly. I probably price for the idea more than I do for the actual craftsmanship of it.

Is your goal to make a living as an artist?

I don’t know if that’s a goal, I think it’s just going to happen. I think that’s kind of a crazy thing. I’m not being a jerk, I probably being more dreamy and idealistic. I like to think that even if I’m in retail, I’ll still be an artist. It’s an interesting question because I’m kind of sitting on that right now: what is the cost of having art be your full time job? And this is why I’m on the fence with galleries too right now. I’m just telling them that I’m waiting because I don’t want to mix my chocolate with my peanut butter right now. I’m not ready yet to take that next step. And some people really are. Some people want to give up their day jobs. But the job I have right now is really perfect. It gives me a lot of time and I’m working in a print studio and I get to work on my own work in the print studio so I have a really good set up right now. I get scared of the idea of my expectation of what collectors want to buy because I need to eat. Does that make sense?

Sure.

It seems really scary to me right now.

What is your day job?

I work as a print art studio supervisor at Cornish.

How sad were you when Bob Ross died?

I wasn’t actually that sad. I was actually concerned because I thought he was dead already. But in a way, he’s never gone, really. I remember watching those with my grandma when I was younger and my grandmother was the one who taught me how to paint, Bob Ross style. So I actually owe quite a bit to him, I think.

What are you working on right now?

I’m working on three projects. One is like a fun vacation project, I’m doing window displays for this store called Mario’s in Seattle and Portland. I’m cutting out silhouettes for that. And I’m working on this piece for a show in 2007, September, about the relationship between Abraham Lincoln and his wife. It’s not so much about their relationship as it is exploring the dynamics of when you are committed to something greater than your relationship. In Lincoln’s case, if you knew that you were failing your wife by doing something that’s a greater commitment to America and then knowing you were kind of slowly destroying her. Or, in the case of his wife, what it would feel like to be married to a man who you knew was committed to something greater than you.

You’re talking about Lincoln being gay?

No, no. I don’t think he was really gay. I’ve read that, but my feeling is he was an extremely sensitive man and the social code of that time was much more open toward men holding hands. It was actually a little bit like how the Middle East is, where men aren’t really allowed to have sex with women and so they turn to each other with this abundant affection. I think that he was really an incredibly sensitive man and I think that he was probably crazy, but they’re an interesting couple. I’m kind of using them as a springboard to explore ideas of death and mourning and memories physically within the Civil war era and that obsession they had with death then. And now we don’t talk about death at all, we talk more about sex and death is very quiet. Although there’s also an argument to be made against that. So that’s the other thing that I’m working on. And then there’s other things as well. Maybe graduate school, that’s the other thing that I’m thinking of.