Scott Hewicker Studio Visit & Interview

I’ve known Scott from having a brief but lovely conversations during the last couple of years, about music and the art scene around San Francisco (as he is super knowledgeable on these matters - and a true advocate of SF artists) and I’ve always found his views on current and past art and music refreshing. I also fancied his colorful set of paintings through the window of the Right Window art space in Valencia before the pandemic. There was the same quiet beauty about them that drew me to the posts on his Instagram feed too and I became increasingly curious about how and where he draws inspiration from in creating his art. I finally asked him if he’d model my clothes which I often imagine for artists to wear, and he graciously agreed.

Scott has been a multi-faceted artist based in San Francisco since the early 90s. He was one of the 12 original members of the exhibition expressing LGBTQ awareness at Kiki Gallery founded in 1993 by the artist and activist Rick Jacobsen in San Francisco. He also played in a couple of important independent bands, 'The Alps' and 'Aero-Mic’d’. Over the years, he's had a number of exhibitions including at Gallery 16, Jack Hanley Gallery, Deitch Projects NY, ICA Philadelphia, Galleri Christina Wilson in Copenhagen, and even curated one called ‘Hauntology’ at BAMPFA in Berkeley. He also co-edited and illustrated the book, ’Good Times, Bad Trips’ published by Gallery 16 editions in 2007 with Cliff Hengst. He had taught art classes at California College of the Arts. He now spends most of his time painting.

On a partly sunny end of a summer day, Scott opened the double-fenced doors of his Mission district studio. Once he unlocked the door, I stepped into a bright space filled with gentle natural light. The walls and the ceiling were painted in white, and a plethora of art supplies and a palette of paints mixed with a buildup of colors sat neatly on the large table on one side of the room. Some of his newer paintings were hung at eye level with ample space around them as in a gallery. On the wall closest to the window was a large canvas with soft bright colors in faint abstract shapes sporadically spread throughout its surface. He wore a T-shirt of the band “Inflatable Boy Clam”, an all-female art punk band from San Francisco (I’d like to have one!), dark rinse jeans, and a pair of sand-colored Nikes. I put one of my blue happy coats on him and we started taking pictures while we conversed.

Akiko: How would you describe yourself?

Scott: I usually say I am an artist, writer, and musician, but really these are all practices under the umbrella of painting. Everything I do is informed by the poetic, psychological, and perceptual qualities of painting.

A: Tell me a little about your recent work - the lighter color usage, show, etc.

S: I recently moved into a new studio where the light is brighter and I’ve been experimenting with newer materials such as fabric dye, oil, and vinyl paint in different and sometimes unpredictable combinations. Some of the new work can be categorized somewhat as abstracted landscape environments, what I have been calling “Feral Gardens”, as that is how I see my clouded train of thinking these past years coming out of the pandemic: Many ideas growing into each other without a clearly defined path forward. Lots of layers and lots of building up of the materials. Other works seem to do the opposite where I am emptying everything out of them to what’s essential. These will be shown at Right Window (992 Valencia) in October in an exhibit titled, “Recalled To Life”.

A: The bright colors - where do you draw inspiration from?

S: I have long been interested in the contrary qualities of color. My often highly-saturated palette comes mostly out of childhood experiences growing up in the Southern California of the seventies and eighties (the artifice of beach and mall culture during the Reagan era for example) and a youthful queer defiance against gender stereotypes. I like using bright or unusual color combinations to reflect complex or uneasy feelings.

A: Do you consume a lot of visual artworks and/or music from others? Favorite artists / authors?

S: My first art teacher engrained in me the importance of Art History as a tool of creative enrichment so I take vast inspiration from art periods and movements throughout history. But I’m drawn most to visionary artists such as Giotto, Gustave Moreau, James Ensor, Edvard Munch, Charles Burchfield, Hilma af Klint, Josef Albers, Alma Thomas, Marsden Hartley, Agnes Pelton, and Agnes Martin, to name just a few. Music and writing inspirations are equally as vast, but here are a jumble of names: Diane di Prima, Norma Cole, Dodie Bellamy, Valerie Willmer, Wilkie Collins, Tongo Eisen-Martin, Broadcast, Don Cherry, Pauline Oliveros, Clarice Lispector, Gabor Szabo, John Fahey, Velvet Underground & Nico.

A: What thoughts do you have about the teaching experience? What kind of class did you teach?

S: Teaching is equally rewarding and harrowing. It requires so much stamina and outright bravery to put yourself through the hierarchy of shit that is constantly thrown at you. Our educational institutions and our society do not uphold the value of teachers enough. I was a college level art teacher for 13 years, first teaching painting and drawing then teaching a 2D design class in color theory that helped shape and define most of my ideas about color and space. I loved teaching for giving me a platform to articulate and communicate these ideas to others, and working with the students individually to help find their own paths through it, but the precarity of the profession institutionally and financially as well as toxic leadership forced me to leave institutional teaching behind. I try when I can to teach my own courses or offer private lessons.

A: Music questions. The Alps band - what inspired you to form the band? How long did it last and where are they available?

S: The Alps happened to morph into being one summer in SF when my two friends, Alexis and Jefre came over to my place to jam one weekend and something interesting and kinetic transpired. We were all in other bands at a moment when we were all itching for something different. It transformed quickly, a few loose ramshackle shows opening for NNBB, Sir Richard Bishop and Jack Rose. A couple of record deals, two long recording sessions with Phil Manly, 3 albums, a handful of cd-rs and a final headlining performance at Cafe Du Nord for the On Land music festival in 2010. It was over in less than 3 years, when Jefre and Alexis moved to New York to pursue solo careers. You can hear the music on Spotify, our music was definitely painterly.

A: Can you tell me a little about the Jozef van Wissem & Aero Mic’d/sound at the Schindler House 14 years ago?

S: Aero-Mic’d was the electronic music project of my friend Wayne Smith, (we were in an earlier art band together called Plain) and whenever he was asked to perform live, he asked me and my husband Cliff to accompany him. Wayne often got invited to do shows at interesting spaces because of the “furniture music” nature of his work. We also performed at Grace Cathedral. The Schindler house is incredible. That particular music series programmed two different kinds of musical artists and after each set they asked the different artists to do a collaborative improvisation, so that is how we performed with Josef van Wissem. I remember it being a beautiful night in an amazing location, but I don’t think our collab was particularly stellar. Those things are often risky, though it’s probably not as bad as I remember it.

A: What instruments do you or did you play?

S: Piano, Organ, Guitar and Flute.

A: Light-hearted questions. What are other skills you have?

S: I lay name to no useful skill, but I’m an enthusiastic amateur and dabbler.

A: Your favorite movies, drinks, food.

S: Stalker, The Haunting, The Innocents. Paranoid cinema in general. A Moscow Mule is my favorite cocktail, though I‘ve been calling them a Kyiv Mule lately. Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies are my favorite food.

A: Fill in the blank. I can’t stand...…

S: No space is big enough to tell you all the things...

A: Philosophical questions. What are you not?

S: High Society.

A: You create art because ...

S: I can say so many things but the most honest one is I like spending time alone imagining the world differently.

Scott wearing “The Earth Fragile” necklace

Blue Happy Coat, painted red shirt, and “The Earth Fragile” Necklace: Akiko Tsuji at AKIKOTSUJI.COM. ”It’s not the end of the world” Pin: David Kramer for Days at DAYSZINE.COM. “Inflatable Boy Clams” T-shirt, jeans, and shoes: artist’s own.