Tommy Keenan
PK: Do you consider yourself fluctuating between art and fashion? If so In what terms?
TK: I tend to be influenced by fashion as a means of communicating with the body as sculpture. It also depends on what kind of fashion? – I tend to gear towards exploring how certain aesthetics become the staple of one’s identity.
PK: How do you prefer to approach new work; like a reset, start from scratch? Or is there always the ghosts of previous work embedded?
TK: New work is normally ignited from outside sources, but I’ve always considered the fragility of masculinity and the subjectivity of “Guilty By Association” there has always been this to – and – fro.
PK: Is there a right balance between frustration and enthusiasm in your? Which of the two is the more important to you?
TK: I think there is a mixture of both of these elements. Of course, frustration has a massive impact on how we sometimes wish to express ourselves within the compartmentalised sectors of culture, and I try to navigate these blurred areas via enthusiastic performances that seek to disarm, arouse and obfuscate.
TK:I think projects have always been personal matters. They’re usually a reactionary of experiences and scenarios of social awkwardness, and the overall P.V.C. leather-clad appearance is a gesture of that instability and how people liken it to certain subjectivity - as I’m more interested in a broader attitude of sexuality and identity rather than my own... kinda.
PK: How do you feel about being a practicing artist in regional England? Do you believe that being away from the concentrated noise of London as an art capital is good for your practice?
TK: I love the close-knit culture that is the Newcastle art scene. It’s more rewarding to be amongst a diverse amount attitudes within a small space. Perhaps this concentrated level of diversity leaves me with more to re-explore concepts surrounding the ‘other’
PK: Have you anything interesting planned in the near future you would like to share?
TK:I currently have set up a new studio at @NewBridge in Newcastle city centre. I am currently in the process of experimenting with kinetic sounds of domestic items influenced by 80’s industrial music. I then hope to use these sound pieces to produce video works.
