The Red Door

Mike Inglis solo show 'Transmit' opens here at The Red Door on Friday the 6th June. To give you all a little bit more information on Mike, we thought you might like to check out a few question we asked him.

Q - So that we get to know a bit about you - tell us some of the things that inspire you?

A - Comic books (but not superhero stuff), graffiti, cities, travel, cinema (I devour films), type, music, architecture (particularly the avante garde genius Daniel Libenskind), artists books, flea markets (althought I never bought a flea yet). Any kind of type - signage, printed, installation, motion type, I just love a nice bit of typo. William Burroughs and William Eggleston are my two favourite Williams. There are so many other artists that the list is endless.

Q - How long have you been a practicing artist?

A - It's only in the last couple of years that I've begun working seriously for myself. Not necessarily for a gallery space, but certainly not for a client or to a brief. The transition between graphic designer and artist has been a very long, evolving process. Working with a lot of clients who were artists on show concept and the resulting promotional work they required kind of blurred the boundaries of my graphic practice and my postition relative the either discipline.




Q - You work mostly with screenprinting. Do you have plans for any other mediums to creep into your work?

A - I work with screenprinting at the moment because I was producing a lot of work which was very graphic and quite illustrative and needed an output that suited those ideas. Screenprinting was an obvious route to realise these images. The process is so similar to graffiti and its immediacy appeals for those reasons. I am planning a new body of work at the moment which has more of a mixed media response involving a cabinet installation and a moving image piece utilising old super8 film loops. There will still be a large printed element to the project but it is really about executing the idea in the best possible way. In the past I have produced books which used found flyers, polaroid photos and deconstructed novels as well as one off personal collage pieces.

Q - Do you start with an idea or story and build around this as you go or do you always have a clear idea how a finished piece will look?

A - I don't consciously pick something; I just get hooked on something and begin to document it. The more I begin to collect the more the theme of an idea begins to emerge. I never really understand it fully until it's almost complete. There is an intuitive, sub-conscious flow that feeds my process and I never question this. I had a dream the other night that I made the most amazing little book. When I woke up I couldnt remember it, but I know it will come out somewhere along the line. Finding it will drive me on.

Q - What doe the future hold for Mike Inglis? Is there anything we can call look forward to?

A - I am keen to move on with my next project that I've been researching whilst finishing off this body of work. I have become fascinated by a great Aunt (who was a spiritualist) and her connection to me grandmother who lost her first child at a very young age. The new project has an installation centrered around a piece of furniture my grandmother had. I am hunting for a venue and playing around with old cine film. I'm enjoying the process and it all still links to belief systems in a way.

Please contact us to get a copy of the full interview with Mike Inglis.
'Transmit' opens with an exhibition preview and opening night on Friday 6th June from 6-8pm. Please come along and join us. x