BOULEVARD Magazine No.4 December 2013 | Page 56

A macabre journey through mind of an unique artist Interview with Jonathan Payne In the darkest corners of our minds, subconscious holds and cherishes fears we are to hide from and deny their existance. But what do we do when the monsters from our heads are been exposed and put in front of us to confront them? What happens when we are face to face with our own mortality? Is it death in its final form that gives us the creeps and the horror, is it the thought that we are to become just a pile of soulless flesh? Jonathan Payne reveals this issue in the form of sculpture and takes us on a ride with his playful macabre leaving us to make our own conclusions. Tell me something about yourself… My name is Jonathan Payne and I am an artist living and working in the Los Angeles area in the post production field. I was born and raised in Northwestern Montana. Although I maintain a day job to support my family, my passion is creature and character sculpture. I have been actively sculpting since 2008. Since that time I have studied under Jordu Schell (Avatar, Edward Scissorhands, Galaxy Quest), Simon Lee (Pacific Rim) and John Brown (Alien Resurrection). I work primarily in polymer and oil/wax based clays. Half of the time I design in 2D first, otherwise I design directly during the sculpting process. I believe improvisation is a very important skill that every artist needs to develop through practice. Lately I have been working on a family of surreal yet hyper realistic creatures named “Fleshlettes”. I strive to make all of my Fleshlettes appear to be living, combinations of random human body parts. This way they are both completely foreign and yet 56 | www.bulevarumetnosti.rs