Peter Suzuki Web Interview

Through the wonders of technology I bring you the Peter Suzuki Web Interview!  I got to know Peter a year ago in our last semester at The University of Hawaii.  My fondest memories with Peter consists of us and other "art-friends" having beers in the evenings in the Art Building.  This magical being is now residing in New York City and judging by the picture above, hes having a great time.  This entire interview has been coordinated through facebook and email, enjoy!


What is your full name?
Peter David Suzuki.

What are you doing in New York?
Basically the only reason that I'm out here is because my brother, sister and brother-in-law are amazing. My sister and her husband gave me two months rent at her old apartment and my brother is helping me learn my way around the city.  Hopefully I'll have enough and make enough money for two more months (my sister's lease ends ends in September).  I will be coming home for a little while because I will be having a little show at Minifest (a Chinatown bar) in October.  If I can find a good job and an affordable apartment, I may try to come back to the city after October.

What is your preferred medium?
Printmaking.

Square No. 33, Relief, 2010

Is there a common theme that runs through your work? If so, explain.
I feel that printmaking offers the ability to focus on process.  For example, sometimes one print can take over an hour to do.  This process does not include the time taken before to make the image, such as carving, etching, drawing, hammering, etc.  For me, it is the repetitive tasks of printmaking that I strangely enjoy.  So sometimes when I'm thinking of an idea, I am actually thinking of a way or process in which I can print an image, rather than the content of what that image will mean to me later.  It's like a challenge to see how hard and confusing a process I can make to push myself in printmaking.  So in that sense, process is one of my themes.  I also enjoy simplicity.  For example, I like a lot of negative space.  I think that it might just be a fad that I'm going through.  Another theme that I enjoy is memories.  There are so many different types of memories.  For example, a certain song can bring back a good or bad musical memory.  For me, it can be an extremely specific event down to the things that I saw and the feeling that I felt while I listened to a particular song.  Also, I like the idea of how scars can be like memories written on the body.  I feel that this also applies to objects.  There are memories within every dent, scratch, scuff and so on.  Some of my previous work was printing old tabletops, remote controles, books, a ski, and other things in the attempt to show a history and narrative of the object through it's "scars".

Temporary Happiness, Intaglio, 2010

What do you want people to take away when they view your work?
I would like them to leave with one of my works and less money in their pockets.  Nah, I guess I would like the person to enjoy my work and relate to it's process.  I like art that makes me think of something new.  So in that sense, it would be nice if my viewer came away with a wanting to make something creative.  However, I don't think that my art is inspirational or I don't make my art with the purpose to inspire someone.  In truth, right now I don't make my art for a certain viewer, but instead I make it for myself, the excitement of making it, and the hope that someone will enjoy or relate to what I'm making.

In your opinion, what challenges do young artists face in today's society?
I'm not really sure.  I feel very young right now and I am pretty sure that a young artist could still be someone twenty years older than me, I'm twenty four right now.  Therefore, I have a lot of time to think about this question because I really dont know.

For the Most Part I Hate Flying on Airplanes (part 2), Relief, 2011

What kind of Projects are you working on while you are in New York?
Right now I'm working on making circles from a square, a process in which I print a square block of wood multiple times, at different angles, until a circle is created.  It takes about fifteen to thirty runs though the press.  My ideal finished print for this process would result in a symmetrical circle which is created from a block carved at random.  I'm going to try to make at least eight of these while I'm here.

Rectangle No.5, Relief, 2010

Artistic Influences?
Hammering nails, ginger ale, Harper Lee, really awesome printmaking teachers and people, people, Jean Dubuffet, Don Quixote, this book that I have about the history of paper-making, family, friends, The Bourne movies, music...

Other things that inspire you?
Puffs Vick's plus lotion, audaciousness, carving tools, waterproof cameras, handmade things, dirty white shoes, Richard Serra, window plants, lists, my new little rice cooker, curvy glass bottles, The X-Files, J.D. Salinger, other people's art, good habits, sleep, radio, pockets, grad school, and being paid in cash.

Is That the Beat of the Universe?  The Devil Will Find You a Job., Intaglio, 2009

Do you still rock a mullet?
No, I cut it off to look more presentable.  I've been trying to get a job as a barista here in the city.  However, I just got a job at a t-shirt screen-printing shop and if you've ever worked in one of those then you'd know that you don't need to look presentable.  So I kind of miss my long hair.

What are your three most valued possessions?
Right now, an air conditioner, socks and my unlimited metrocard.

What would you like to be doing twenty years from now?
Sleeping earlier.

What is your favorite curse word?
"For the birds"

What are people saying over your casket?
That is a pretty nice mustache.

Yes, that is a pretty nice mustache.