Shelter Serra: On Creativity
Marianna
Do you have a routine for entering into a creative headspace?
Shelter
Most days start with coffee, reading, and talking with my wife, Miya Ando. Then I go to the studio. Ideally, this is my daily routine.
Marianna
Do you have habits you've built for yourself to foster creativity?
Shelter
I try to eliminate distractions. Turn the phone off. And if I'm wearing a hat I take it off when I get to my studio.
And I make lists. It is a good exercise to also pretend you are working for yourself as an employee, this maximizes my time.
Marianna
Where do you think ideas come from?
Shelter
Ideas to me are a hybrid of existing things presented in a new way. Never underestimate Simplicity.
Marianna
What does creativity mean to you?
Shelter
For me, creativity is dealing with a situation differently than the masses. A new stimuli. I think everyone is creative to some degree, but our society does seem to endorse a certain level of homogeneity to keep things in order. So “creativity" is often seen as that “other" or different wavelength attainable by a new approach.
Marianna
When do your best ideas hit you?
Shelter
Strangely, I usually get some good ideas as I am falling asleep and walking down the street.
Marianna
How would you describe your creative process?
Shelter
I synthesize.
Marianna
So many creatives are pivoting and finding ways to adjust their creative process during the quarantine.
1) How have you been channeling your creativity during this time?
Shelter
I have been going back to the basics, ink and paper, and oil on canvas. The first few weeks of the quarantine I stayed home every day. But eventually, I began riding a bike to my studio. My concept of time and priority was changed daily. Seeing the empty streets, then the boarded-up storefronts, made me think - life like our society is resilient but still fragile.
Marianna
2) Discover anything new or surprising about yourself?
Shelter
As an artist, I already spend most of my time alone so obviously there are constant bouts of self-examination already.
Marianna
Art and creativity reflect the current culture. How an artist wields the power to tell stories can be an effective act of rebellion. How have you been creating in the current cultural climate?
Shelter
I have been using the concept of the luxury watch as a trope, critiquing the tenets distilled upon our culture by mass consumerism.
Marianna
What unexpected turns did your life take to lead you to become who you are today?
Shelter
Having a twin brother and growing up in Bolinas, California certainly gave my life a different set of ideals. Also going to school at UC Santa Cruz in a very liberal environment helped strengthen the importance of asking questions. As for unexpected turns, probably being accepted into the MFA program at RISD has impacted my professional life and my art practice. I met some amazing people there.
Marianna
What sources of inspiration do you use to foster creativity in your work?
Shelter
I enjoy the books of Umberto Eco immensely. Stoic philosophy is grounding, and historic atlases are great, but traveling and seeing how other people live and work is probably the most inspiring thing. As people absorb and process their surroundings like a sponge, I think traveling adds to that reservoir to tap into at a future time and place.
Marianna
What creative projects are you most proud of?
Shelter
I did a poster for a project with the ACLU that I was proud of.
I've also done over 100 drawings for the Chanel boutiques designed by Peter Marino all over the world.
Marianna
How do you make sense of chaos in your life?
Shelter
Be positive! Prioritize your priorities and don’t waste time. Things could always be worse.
Marianna
Why do you think people get stuck on problems?
Shelter
It is very difficult to be objective with one’s own work, but it does help to try and see things from different perspectives.
Marianna
What advice would you offer those struggling with creative blocks?
Shelter
Intuition is powerful, don’t doubt yourself. Better to try and fail than not try at all. Read Theodore Roosevelt’s speech “Man in the Arena”.
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About Shelter Serra:
Shelter Serra’s, son of famed trial attorney J. Tony Serra, creates sculptures and drawings that explore notions of mass consumption and cultural identity. He juxtaposes objects that are both mundane and immediately recognizable: a 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor cast in plaster, a Best Buy cap plated in copper, and a designer handbag cast in resin, to name a few. Casting and plating these objects in unlikely materials—resin, plaster, platinum silicone, and copper—Serra strips them of their intended functionality, thereby highlighting their underlying cultural symbolism and transforming branded products into objects of aesthetic contemplation. “Refining an aesthetic and making beautiful objects, whether that be a dress, bag, or sculpture," says Serra, "is a celebration of pure creativity and personal vision.”
His Fake Gun series (2012) groups brightly-colored cast resin guns, of a make traditionally used by law enforcement, neatly displayed in small table-top vitrines. Presented outside of their usual setting, the guns are loaded with subliminal cues: Hollywood’s glamorized brand of violence, police brutality, and current debates about gun ownership. Most poignantly, gleaming guns are reminiscent of children’s toys. The result is a potent commentary on how we relate to the objects and images that bombard our daily lives and collective memory, as well as the repercussions of our pervasive consumer culture.
Serra, who is related to minimalist master Richard Serra, has collaborated with the Art Production Fund, Helmut Lang, Converse, and Chanel. Solo exhibitions of his work have been presented at Kantor Gallery in Los Angeles, Anonymous Gallery in Mexico City, and Beams B Gallery in Tokyo, among other galleries. His work has been included in group exhibitions at institutions such as Philadelphia’s ICA, Maryland Institute of Art in Baltimore, and Urbis Art Centre in Manchester.
Courtesy of Paul Kasmin Gallery
Portrait photography by Chris Luttrell