Framed Interview: Harrison Earl

Harrison Earl's new exhbition, Black Rainbow, opens this coming Thursday at Surry Hills' M2 Gallery, promising an "artistic dichotomy of the human form".It will deal with the idea of opposition and contrast through a dreamlike visio, forming a loose narrative, akin to a flashing series of hallucinations shrouded in obscurity, with recurring, out-of-this-world motifs. Through his focus on painting, the exhbition promises something completely different to anything he's done before, and we sent him a few questions to find out more about the man himself. Check it out below, and head to the event HERE.

A/S/L?

23/Male/Hell

Where are you now? What are your immediate surroundings?

I'm at home, standing in my lounge room, half watching a really bad show on TV called 'The News'.

Please describe a typical day:

On an average day in my life I get up and go to work a day job from Monday to Friday like nearly everyone else. There's seldom anything magical about it, trust me. I do try to save some part of every day, even if it's a small part, to work creatively on something. That's important to me.

What mediums do you use?

Acrylic paint, Aerosol Paint, Black Copic Multiliners, Black Sharpies, a mixture of Prismacolour and Crayola coloured pencils, and Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

Is there a particular time or place in your life that seems to generate a lot of your ideas?

Almost always when I am listening to music, and often in the night-time, when it is late and I am alone. But it can and does also happen at the most seemingly random times and places, and is always unexpected.

Who/what inspire you and your work the most?

My family, my closest friends, my girlfriend, 90s alt-rock and shoegaze music, David Lynch, Gorillaz, comic books and the people who illustrate them, Henry Rollins; in no particular order.

What have you been listening to lately and do you listen to music while you work?

The L-Shaped Man by Ceremony has been on heavy rotation lately, I feel like I really slept on this album when it dropped. Aside from that I've been listening to a lot of rap lately. I've enjoyed revisiting Earl Sweatshirt's I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside, and the latest mixtape from underground rapper BONES titled Unrendered is a current favourite.

And yes, I NEED to listen to music while I work. I genuinely feel uncomfortable without it.

What was the best piece of advice you have ever received?

My friend Dale Cooper once said to me, "Harry, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it. Don't wait for it. Just let it happen. It could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot black coffee."

Three artists/illustrators/creatives we should check out?

1. Jordan Hartigan; founder of BURMA - @jordan.hartigan/@burmamfg.

2. Ben Marcus; I recently bought his risograph comic book, 'Crisis Zone' and it's my new favourite independent comic - @ben_marcuz.

3. Uno Moralez; a pixel painter from Russia, and one of my all time favourite artists, whose work is otherworldly to say the least. 

What are your favourite and the best things to do in the city that you live in?

Honestly, going out to get brunch with my friends, or just really eating with my friends in general is one of my cherished times. Other than that, my close group of friends and I are mostly shut-ins I'd say.

Thanks a lot for your time! Any last words/shout outs?

Damn, thank you. Yo shout out my mums, shout out my pops, big shout out Ash, Adrian and the Fostered crew, and another big shout out my girl Kiana, shout out to my Monday to Sunday homies one time for your mind, shout to all the animals, shout out rainforests, shout out ecological sustainability, shout out nature in general really. Yeah, I think that's it.

Follow Harrison Earl: INSTAGRAM