Les Phillips

I sold my first artwork, a drawing of my aunt’s car, when I was eight years old. A fellow who told me he collected art gave me two bucks for it and said “I’m hangin’ on to this kid, because someday you’re gonna be famous.” I’m not so sure about being famous but that’s when I became an artist. 

When I begin a new artwork, whether it’s a painting, sculpture, collage, or assemblage, I try to squeeze into that narrow crevice between art and life. From there I can pull from either those elements I wish to incorporate into my work. I learn from those who went before me, and from my own past work as well as my contemporaries.

I try not to start with an idea. An idea immediately limits me to the boundaries of the idea. I approach a piece as a search for a solution to an unknown problem. The ideal is for the problem and the solution to reveal themselves together.

I like using found objects. If I incorporate crushed cans or the netting from my avocados, I don’t want them to look like something they are not. They should look like crushed cans or the netting from my avocados… the detritus of industrial humanity.

My influences include Marcel Duchamp, Robert Rauschenberg, Ray Johnson, Seymour Locks, Robert Comings, the dadaists, and countless others.