Alan James Weiss is both an Architect/Designer and a truly amazing painter. We are so grateful to him not only for sharing his artwork with us but also for his vivid descriptions of the rich African environments he has enjoyed all his life, his great love for wildlife, and his perspective on the creative process itself.
How do you split your time between your career in Architecture & Design and your career as a painter?
At present, I am still very active in both fields, though I have become a far more devoted artist over the past few years, and in time art will be my only passion—until I cannot lift a brush I guess! Lucian Freud painted up until the day before died, and I would hope for a similar fate.
On reflection, having spent so much time designing buildings and 3D environments, I almost feel, at this point, that I am at the beginning of an art career, still always experimenting and looking forward without the narrow confines of a specific style. Art should always be about pushing boundaries and exploring possibilities.
Does the discipline required to work in Architecture & Design impact your artwork?
Yes, it does in terms of the time that I have available to allocate to painting. It is often challenging to spend significant time at the easel without having to back away in order to make some deadline on a building project.
Architecture & Design are disciplines that are inherently creative in their own right. This definitely keeps me on my toes and the requirement to always be conceptualizing and thinking in three dimensions does end up having a positive impact on my paintings. Proportion, perspective, spatial awareness, and color are relevant to both careers, so this synergy is a valuable one I believe.
Were you born and raised in Cape Town or did you move there? How important is your environment to your creative productivity?
I was born on what is known as ‘The Copper Belt,’ in a town called Kitwe in Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia) and lived there for the first nine years of my life until my parents returned to South Africa. Both my mother and father were born in Cape Town, where I now live and work.
These early formative years were important influencers for me, with vivid memories of fishing with my dad on the banks of the Kafue river, moving back from the water’s edge only when the hippos came too close for comfort. Not game farm experiences, but real life to me.
I remember flying to boarding school in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in an old Dakota propeller-driven aeroplane at the age of eight and spending hours on group excursions into the surrounding bush on the weekends with that pungent smell of African rain like clockwork in the afternoons bringing out the large black Matabele ants. These sights, sounds, and smells are ingrained into my psyche, and I am sure that the earthy colors that I predominantly use have their origins here. Cape Town and its surrounds, and Southern Africa itself, provide an unbelievably rich environment in which to live and work, and this influences my choice of subject matter—wildlife being one of my obsessions.
Most of your paintings are realistic but certainly not all of them. How hard is it to move from realism to impressionism?
Personally, I do not find this transition difficult and enjoy both approaches. Broken down into simplistic terms, realism is an act of copying what is seen as accurately as possible—so the technical skill required is high, and realism fails when this skillset is missing. Arguably it should be possible for anyone to be a realist, with sufficient training and application.
Impressionism, expressionism, and representation on the other hand require another level of mental and conceptual gymnastics, and here is where art can truly appeal to a viewer’s senses in ways that a photograph or realism cannot. Interpretation of this style of art by the viewer is much more subjective, and often more meaningful as a result. Manipulating real life, even in a small way, is as satisfying as it comes.
Do you know when you begin a new painting which direction you’ll go, or do you decide after you get started? Is it an emotional decision more than a practical one?
I will generally have a good idea of which path I will take with a painting before applying brush to canvas. However, on occasion I deviate; my painting RunRunRun was initially based on achieving a realistic image of a fast-moving greyhound, however, it progressed to being more representational and expressionistic, a style that I want to pursue going forward. Emotion is always present, and whilst realism is satisfying, applying my own interpretation is good for my soul.
Your work covers a very wide range of subject matter, from animated people and animated (sometimes to the point of being in combat) animals to serene landscapes. Do you paint in stages, regarding subject matter? Or do you bounce from one subject to the next depending on your mood?
I do not wish to be limited in my choice of subject matter, although a recurring theme throughout my career has been wildlife, particularly African wildlife. Creativity is emotive, and basic instincts, raw power, and grace are definitely values that I want to portray when painting animals. I do prefer to change my subject matter from painting to painting, so I do not paint in series at all.
Do you ever use a mannequin as a stand-in for models?
I do not use mannequins. I reference mostly photographs and my imagination to finalize compositions of people and animals.
Have you ever done a self-portrait?
Besides cartoonish characterizations of myself, I have not yet considered a self-portrait—perhaps believing this to be a bit narcissistic? I also vainly worry about how I would want to represent my image. (I am sure that this would not be a realistic painting, but rather an expressionistic one to obscure my more obvious physical deficiencies!) Some painters that I respect, including Rembrandt, van Gogh & John Singer Sargent, recorded themselves throughout their careers, so I would not rule out one or two self-portraits.
Do you ever do commissioned pieces? If yes, how difficult is it to have someone else choose the subject matter?
Whilst I have completed commissions early on I do not actively look for them. I get far more satisfaction from producing my own art and then (hopefully) having it appreciated as an unexpected revelation. My career in the field of architecture dictates my working towards a client’s (high) expectations, and this can prove very stressful. I like to approach my art as a way of relaxing, and as a means to release stress. Having said this, an interesting commission would not be turned down, particularly if art were my only source of income, but likely it would need to be on my terms.
Some great artists see the world in terms of things they want to paint or things they can dismiss because they know they never would want to paint them. Is it like that for you?
I suppose if time had no meaning we could be afforded the luxury of not being selective. Life is finite though, and the time I get to spend applying oil to canvas will always need to be focused on subjects closest to my heart.
Where can Occhi readers learn more about your work?
My art is currently able to be viewed online on saatchiart.com; my own website alanweissartist.com; artmo.com; southafricanartists.com and through my Instagram account, alanjweiss
Images, Courtesy of Alan James Weiss are Oil on Linen canvas stretched frames
Equus Caballus (Main) Size 35.25h x 40.15w x 1.7d in
James Weiss with Prelude to the Anthropocene Size: 38.6h x 66w x 1.6d in
Buffalo Sunset Size 38.6h x 66w x 1.6d in
The Hunt – Size :23.6h x 47.2w x 1d in
About Author
Simply wonderful work!