Interview with Eddie Thiel

Fellow River’s Edge Gallery artist an all around cool guy Eddie Thiel was kind enought to answer a few questions for me about his art, life, and Detroit.

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Some of my favorite pieces of yours are from the Sisters of Mercy Series in which you depict cigarettes, beer, cans and skulls. Could you please explain the significance of these items within your work?
The skulls represent many things to people. For me as an artist it is a very interesting shape and has a muted color. Its sharp lines and soft hues play very well against bright colors and solid objects. There is a finality about the skulls, an absolute resolution and statement. As for the beer and cigarettes, I find minor vices to be these daily islands we all cling to in one way or another. It is not as though we have a shotgun shell and we are killing ourselves one grain at a time. It is more of a personal relationship we have with these products and everyone sees them on the peripheral of their daily lives.

Aside from the skull paintings you also produce classical still lifes. Do you have a personal preference between these and the skull paintings? Are the Sisters of Mercy paintings an evolution of your personal style, or are you consciously producing two different types of work?
I have no preference for my subject matter. I love anything that challenges me. The only rule I hold to is that it must be painted from life. Photographs defuse too much of the lighting for me. I have been doing mostly the modern work lately, it seems to be getting a good response. I still work on traditional still lifes, though not to the degree of the skulls at this point. To me it is the process rather than the subject. I am really into the “Low Brow” art scene these days. I feel I have the greatest comfort painting objects my generation can relate to.

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Could you please explain your process in producing one of your works?
I always work out the composition in a sketch first. I don’t worry about lighting, only shadow position. Then I lay out the objects in the piece. That is the most important part. Then I pencil objects and shadows in on the canvas. The more complex objects like glass of highly reflective objects I draw in a lot of the details for. Then I start to paint. I work left to right in most cases and comp up each object as I go along.

You went to art school in Pittsburgh, and have lived in many cities prior to moving to Detroit. What brought you to this area and how does the metro Detroit art culture differ from those of other places you have lived?
My wife Kristi took a job with the Fish and Wildlife department so we transferred here from Washington D.C. My favorite city so Far was NYC. I learned a great deal about my artistic process there. Detroit has an accessible art movement. It is like being at the beginning of something special here. NYC is a big wave that has been moving for hundreds of years culturally. Detroit is a battered angel crawling out of hell. I love the resolve here. It is a city of great hope. It makes you want to be a part of it, to build on it’s great past and to help shape the vision of its future.

Who influences and inspires you?
The painter I admire the most, one that I have worked with, is a man named Henry Wingate. He is from my hometown in Virginia.

Eddie’s current work, as well as an upcoming solo show can be seen at River’s Edge Gallery in Wyandotte, MI.

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