Interview by Jimon

1-Where do you reside and work currently? I live and work in my apartment in Chelsea, NYC.

2-How would you describe Andie Dinkin?  I’d describe myself as someone who is opinionated, playful, a dreamer, humorous and serious when necessary, but I never want to take myself too seriously. I include a lot of humor in my work.

3-When did you first start making art and what led you to start?  I have always been drawing. I took painting classes starting at 5 years old. My mom is a Canadian artist and encouraged me to pursue my art. I think I was just instinctively and naturally drawn to making things. I have always been a daydreamer and creating art had a way of grounding me.

4-Did you have any training for your art or is it inherent?  I do think it’s partially inherent, but I’ve had a lot of training, through figure drawing in high school and going to RISD for undergrad. I think, at least for myself, training was key.

5-Best Advice you ever received in regards to your art?  Hmm that is a hard one, but probably to let go and persevere.

6-What influences you as an artist?  I’d say my work is pretty narrative, but I like to sort of combine and flatten stories. I get a lot of my influences from books, stories, the movie Fantasia, Greek Mythology, other artists. I have been really drawn to Surrealism and female surrealist artists, for example Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varos. And also Hieronymous Bosch (I would call him a surrealist at heart) Dali, Frida Kahlo, and Paul Delvaux. I am in love with Florine Stettheimer, who was good friends with Marcel Duchamp. I also look at a lot of food images, particularly Laila Gohar and I love the Les Diner de Gala by Dali (Dali’s Surrealist Cookbook).

7-Your work seems to be extremely intricate and time consuming. What is the origin of this art?  I think I like to let my intuition dictate my drawings. I develop the stories of my drawings through layers, like a collage. I’m also a pretty anxious person, so it helps to translate my anxiety into these crazy details that I can make fun of and make a narrative out of.

8-Why make art?  Simply because art is my passion and a way I can express myself. It can become an outlet and a response from and to the current climate and world. It provides me with a freedom to create my own worlds and a state of mind I can momentarily enter into.

9-How do you describe success as an artist? I struggle with balancing. I would describe success for me when I am creating my own art, but equally soaking up a culture from other artists, traveling, cooking, living life, and painting in a coexistence. I still feel pretty guilty when I’m not “working” but I would like to learn how to feel that “living” is also essential to working.

10-Do you have a place/person/thing that you visit for inspiration? I always go back to Dali’s cookbook, Les Diners de Gala, Hieronymous Bosch, Florine Stettheimer. I feel a lot inspiration from the NYC streets at night and looking through all of the lit up windows with little stories inside each window.

11-If you were to be stranded on a deserted island and you could bring one piece of art what would it be? I initially thought Botticelli’s primavera, but I think I would take Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights”

12-Tell us something about the art world that you would like to change? Remove the whole idea of NFTs, please!

13-If a movie was to made about your life, where would it ideally take place and who would be the actor playing your part?  Hmmm it would probably be in LA, where I grew up, and obviously not comparing myself to her but I’d love for it to be played by Audrey Tautou.

14-If you could have dinner with 3 artists, living or dead, who would you have at your table? It’s so hard to limit to three, but my favorite current artist is Genieve Figgis, and I love Leonora Carrington and Florine Stettheimer too.

15-Name three things you can’t live without in your studio? Art books, a drop cloth, and wine.

16-If you were asking the questions, what question would you ask and please follow up with an answer.

16.1.Do you want to experiment with 3D sculpture work related to your drawings and paintings?  Yes, I would love to explore my paintings and drawings through other forms of medium.

16.2.Do you see yourself going to Grad School for an MFA?  I would absolutely love the chance to go to grad school to deepen my internal practice with my artworks.

16.3.How would you go about linking or promoting your artwork to climate change?  The leading cause of my anxiety is climate change. I think as artists, we are given a voice and I want to take it as an opportunity to show my strife regarding the current state of our environment and where we are headed. I applaud Robin Francis Williams (and love her art as well) for her environmental activism. I have just discovered on Instagram, she is part of a group  called Artists Commit, which is dedicated to the idea of “Artists committed to facing the intersectional climate crisis with immediate action.”

17-How would someone find you on social media? Instagram,  @andiedinkin

18-Please name the first thing that comes to your mind while reading the following:

Art=God

Food=Tradition

Sports=No

Politics=Anger

Poor=Help

God=Art

Rich=Fancy

Luxury=Painting

Sex=Freedom

Picasso=Prolific

Religion=Dionysus