Pandemonia in Full Swing!!!!!!! An Interview with the U.K.’s Premier Couture Provocateur…
M: What are you hiding?
P: Oh, only just about everything.
M: Oscar Wilde once said, "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth."
What truth are you expressing to us?
P: That's an interesting quote of Oscar’s. In my experience, I find people will say all kinds of stuff anomalously.
You know, even if I wore a mask I think everyone would recognise me right away. I recently started doing the big sunglass thing to avoid the attention of the paparazzi and it just made things worse.
So what am I expressing? I am an artist exploring the usual humanist themes: Who we are and how to represent the modern world. You talk of truth; for me truth implies absolutes, my work is continually evolving.
M: You have such a great penchant for serving sleek, even precious surfaces in your work. Are you not particularly interested in taking your audience beyond the immediate facade?
P: Life is full of façades. -sleek, shiny and perfect; I'm simply dishing up what they all want. I can't take people beyond the immediate but I can offer them a mystery.
M: Most artists are Machiavellian in their pursuit of fame. It is the artists' equivalent to power. If fame does matter, why does it matter and does it matter that you become famous?
P: I guess it depends on the individual artists motive.
For me, fame is a device. Our culture is obsessed with celebrity, if you want to communicate something it’s best to be endorsed by one or better still be one. Celebs wield a lot of influence through image and role model.
My work is a parody it questions our role models. I'm a fake celebrity; you could even say a false idol. Glossy magazines are the purveyors of myths and dreams. This is the most appropriate place to show my work. It communicates my ideas directly with a receptive audience. My Artwork is being exhibited in situ and functions within the media.
M: What is more truthful: that the fake is chic or that reality is so brutal that anything else will do?
P: It’s neither, we are just compelled to follow our nature. Fake chic can be brutal and we are driven to improve on reality. The West has always been interested going beyond reality. Look at ancient Greece, they were doing it then and we are still doing it now. In sculpture, they exaggerated the body to make it more beautiful, even removing some bones. We just do the same now though surgery and digital imaging. Our culture and aesthetics may be different now, but we still have the same motivation.
M: Tell me the most beautiful daydream or vision you've ever had...
P: I say, ‘Why dream when you can make it reality?’ Dreams are your aspirations. If you follow them, they might come true. You’re seeing mine slowly revealed.
M: Please come to visit New York soon, will you? You can stay in my apartment if you like and we could go spend countless hours at Dylans' Candy Bar, ok?
P: I would love to visit the Big Apple. If we went to Dylans' I might never step of that roundabout.
Thank you for your generous offer. Watch out for that knock on your door.
