Quite a few of us play an instrument, in a group or by ourselves. Some of us are painters, and have at least some past work to prove it. Fewer still of us are poets, least of all with enough work to fill even one anthology. Brian Lucas is all three. Playing bass in both psychedelic explorers, Dire Wolves, and the group of numinal frontiersmen known as Cloud Shepherd (our interview here), Lucas has his musical aspect locked down. A prolific abstract artist, specifically in the medium of painting and ink-work, he also boasts a lengthy back-catalogue of work, which have enjoyed presentation at the gallery level. Lastly, Lucas is a published poet, including several full-length works and chapbooks also. Safe to say there was no shortage to discuss when we corresponded in the following discourse. Enjoy. Interview by Daniel Sharman.
Q.) How and why did you first get into crafting
poetry?
A.) Like many adolescents I listened to a
lot of music. Once I got out of Top 40 radio I started paying more attention to
the lyrics. I liked Bob Dylan and Crass. A lot of dark, lyrical music. There
was a mention of the Beat poets in my US History textbook so I went to my high
school library and found a Ferlinghetti book. I read Poe and Plath, the Songs
of Solomon, and William Carlos Williams.
A close friend loaned me The Young American Poets anthology so I had exposure
to the NY School poets as a teen. I was pulled into the mysteries of poetry. I
moved to Santa Cruz and read a lot of contemporary, experimental poetry, most
of it typified by Nate Mackey’s journal Hambone, which is still going strong.
Q.) Who are your main influences as a poet?
A.) No main influences. Lately I’ve been
reading Julien Poirier’s new book, “Way too West,” and Frank Lima, Aase Berg. All
my poet-friends continuously blow my mind. Octavio Paz. Philip Lamantia and
Barbara Guest, as always. Cesar Vallejo.
Joseph Ceravolo. Norma Cole. Will Alexander. Spicer and Duncan. I like City Lights Books’ Spotlight Series of
contemporary poets. Aime Cesaire. Artaud. So-called “visionary poetry.” There’s
so much world literature that I miss out on, so I am thankful for translations.
I’m curious about what’s happening in Latin American poetry especially. I’ve
read some Venezuelan poets that are amazing.
Q.) You're a prolific abstract artist. What
motivates you towards the abstract?
A.) I started painting non-figurative,
non-realist paintings as an adolescent. I made deranged figurative works in my
early 20s then crept back into doing more abstract pieces a few years later. I find it the ideal mode. Photorealism or
figurative work doesn’t appeal to me. I find it didactic mostly. The micro and
macrocosmic, the biomorphic…some of it is what I call “eye-embroidery” … It
seems natural for me to paint the way I do. I’m not interrogating myself about
what motivates me and why. It feels innate. I’m self-taught, non-pedigreed, so
I didn’t go through art school or a writing program where one has to defend
what they are doing, bend it to someone else’s taste or expectation.
Q.) Who influences you as a painter?
A.) Enduring influences are the Dynaton
painters, especially Onslow-Ford and Lee Mullican; Francesco Clemente (an early
inspiration), Hilma af Klint, Agnes Pelton, Forrest Bess, Brion Gysin; the
artists around Semina, Leo Kenney, Mark Tobey, Paul Klee, William Burroughs,
Sigmar Polke, Charles Burchfield, Philip Taafe. Filmmakers
like Stan Brakhage, Harry Smith, Maya Deren,
and Jordan Belson. I’ve recently discovered Chris Martin, whose work I
like a lot. Fred Tomaselli’s epic collages. There’s also tons of art being
produced here in Oakland; it’s a very dynamic and motivated urban art scene.
Amazing murals and graffiti works. I try to get out and see what’s going on as
much as I can.
Q.) Building on the last question, what
connections do you see between your art/poetry and your musical work, such as
with Dire Wolves and Cloud Shepherd (whom we recently interviewed, see here)?
A.) Making music in a band is a
collaborative effort—both CS and DW traffic in improvised music, though both
are completely different. Writing and painting are very solitary activities.
They orbit around each other, but rarely do they ever touch for me.
I’m interested in the marvelous, the
numinous, and the undomesticated. I think my output in these three mediums
reflects that. I like rough edges and a bit of placenta to remain. “Good taste”
and clean lines are for commercials.
Q.) You upcoming work, Eclipse Babel (link here), combines
both your art and poetry. What do you see as the links between these two
mediums?
A.) Most of the drawings were done in Spain
and Morocco in September 2014. The text came about a month or two later back
home. There aren’t any inherent links between the two. The text doesn’t serve
as captions to the images, and the images don’t illuminate the text. Of course
there is a long tradition of the two being fused…Blake, Rene Char and Miro; and
Henri Michaux, of course. A year or two ago I did a couple artists books called
POETBOOK where I handwrote poets’ works and did very spontaneous watercolors
along with them. That was probably the genesis for doing Eclipse Babel, along with doing the drawings for Andrew Joron's chapbook, Force Fields (link to that here).
Q.) I've been following you on social media for
a while now, and noticed your inclination towards the esoteric, the occult, and
the bizarre. What do you feel causes this? (Zardos!)
A.) I think I was unknowingly initiated into
some esoteric order as a child. Ha! Fringe ideas and Fortean type phenomena intrigue
me. I have witnessed and experienced totally bizarre occurrences, especially
while living in Thailand. Reality is a highly debatable concept.
The world is irrational, fragmented,
disorderly, and can’t be explained adequately. I think it beneficial to have
multiple tools at our disposal to help navigate this morass. Thinking there is
only one way to explain or define the world is a mistake. There is a lot of
insight, a lot of teachings that shouldn’t be overlooked because they’re
unfashionable or unsupported by academia or “the establishment.” With that
said, I am also a sceptic.
Q.) What are you upcoming projects, and what
dates should people be watching out for?
A.) Dire Wolves has been in the basement recording recently. We play Sept 5th in San Francisco at the Lost Door Gallery. Nov 7th at The Hemlock in SF. There’ll be a reception on Sept 15th at Bird & Beckett bookstore (SF) for Eclipse Babel. I’ll be reading on Oct 3rd at Unnameable Books in Brooklyn and Oct 4th somewhere in Philadelphia (tentative?). I’ll have another art exhibition with Derek Fenner and Ava Koohbor in February 2016 here in Oakland. Cloud Shepherd is still alive!
Make sure to keep up to date with Brian's artistic output here.
DYEP? would like to thank Brian Lucas for taking the time to complete this interview!
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