Morgan Mandala is a live painter born and raised outside of Chicago, Illinois, but has lived in Colorado for more than a decade. In addition to being known for her live paintings, Morgan’s style encompasses imagery of fantasy, naturalism and geometric forms.
Q: When did you become interested in art?
A: I became interested in art as a young child. After seeing my older brother, I started to draw, and it became a constant pastime. Since about 3 years old, my mom would bring a pen for me wherever we went, and I would draw things from life and copy drawings from books on napkins and scrap paper. Art was something I loved to do alone, with other people, and it was a way to connect and interact with different environments. Seeing my improvement with practice gave me a sense of self-accomplishment. Family and friends seemed to enjoy and encourage my interest in drawing, music, and other art forms, which further persuaded my continuation of it.
Q: When did you know you wanted to become a painter?
A: I’ve always enjoyed and been fascinated with all types of art and human expression. We are unique in our ability to consciously create, and I was always interested in indulging this very human instinct. Growing up in Chicago, my life was void of nature, full of all kinds of people, and I often felt disconnected. Art was my savior during dark times. Drawing, sculpture, photography, and music were all strong contenders to take the place of painting in my life when I had to make the decision to focus. It was very difficult to narrow my creative loves so that I could devote my time towards being a professional at one of them.
I was especially interested in painting at first because I could not paint nearly as well as I could draw. This made me want to get better. I knew I could spend a lifetime improving and exploring with medium of paint. There were so many textures, colors, and forms in painting that I could not create in my drawings, but, like drawing, the medium of painting still felt direct enough to have an uninterrupted hand-eye flow of thought-expression. Paintings are also sturdy, movable piece of art that can be rolled and re-stretched, which allows for more freedom to move around art with ease and less concern for damage. Painting seemed to be a wonderful mix of elements that I felt were important to incorporate into my future; a meditative practice and a form of expression that was contained enough to bring almost anywhere with little effort.
Q: What is your educational background?
A: I have a double BFA in Painting and Art History with a Minor in Philosophy from Colorado State University. My focus in Art History was indigenous art from around the world. I had special interest in Mysticism and Religious philosophy throughout the world, noticing how all early “art” was an integral part of. All of these influences continue to inform how I approach my paintings.
Q: When did you develop an interest in performance painting?
A: Many of my friends and roommates were musicians, and since High School, I would often draw and paint during friends’ band practices. I always loved creating art to music (especially live music!). My friends thought it would be a nice visual element on stage to have me make a painting during their concert. I thought it sounded like a lot of fun, and so it began!
Q: What was your first experienced like with performance painting? Where were you? What did you paint? Were you nervous?
A: My first experience live painting was on stage at the Aggie Theater in Fort Collins, Colorado, 2008. I was somewhat nervous, but I knew that as a painter, my back would be turned to the crowd, and that brought some comfort. Not having faces looking at me feels less abrasive, but the energy of the crowd and knowing their eyes were on my painting commanded action with no time to think. I was painting a primarily green mandala, inspired by the geometry of cell division and growth. This painting was one of my first non-representational paintings, and one of my first Mandala paintings. The experience was exhilarating. I was so jazzed up that just before the encore, I tried to adjust my easel, and my light came crashing down, breaking on stage, while my painting nearly fell on top of me. I was mortified! Luckily not too many people noticed, so I immediately got off stage after securing the painting. I still had a great time, and I learned an important lesson about having a secure setup!
Q: What’s the hardest part about performance painting?
A: There are different challenges depending on if I am performance painting outdoors or indoors…
The most challenging part of performance painting outside is working with the environment and anticipating all possible situations that you could encounter in any given place. Whether it’s rain, wind, or sun, the elements directly affect the performance, installation, and the painting. This involves a lot of preparation and anticipation for lighting, how the paint dries on the surface, and how much the painting surface may need shelter or structural reinforcements. While this can be difficult, and takes a lot of experience to navigate, I find it fun and fascinating to overcome these situations and be able to prepare for them. These challenges also provide opportunity for incredible things to happen during a performance that could not be expected or repeated in a controlled situation. These difficult aspects are often what force me into creative breakthroughs, and very special paintings.
The most challenging part of performance painting indoors usually has to do with having limited time. Often times, the indoor events may only last one or two days with limited hours. If I am doing a one-night performance, a plan needs to be devised for a large painting that is executable within a few hours’ time frame, and can be seen by people that may be a hundred rows back into the crowd. I like to have the painting performance be entertaining and constantly changing for a crowd. I think it’s also important for the flow and completed-ness of the painting to correspond to the music and acts that are simultaneously performing, so a loose plan that has a lot of wiggle room for environmental influence is essential.
Q: What is the most rewarding part of performance painting?
A: I always say I paint best when I don’t think. In the studio, it can take about three hours to get into that flow. The most rewarding part of performance painting is being forced to paint without thinking, and make big moves. The energy of the crowd gets you energized and moving. Once I can get into the flow, I try to transmute that energy into the painting. Even though moments seem to stretch out, you feel like you can’t paint fast enough. Every time I am done performing, I am always surprised at how much more finished the painting looks than if I had spent the same amount of time in a studio. On stage, there’s no time for my mind to interrupt with doubts. Trusting and continuing to move forward with the painting is the only option.
It’s similar to jamming in music—you have to just go with the flow, and trust that your heart knows which notes to play. When you’re done, the experience of the crowd, the music, and the energy is encapsulated in your painting. For me, that special souvenir is one of the most rewarding things, but I also love and value hearing the crowd’s experiences and interpretations of the performance and the painting. If I am collaborating, the most rewarding thing is successfully creating something that is different, bigger, and better than what we could have created alone.
Q: What inspires you creatively?
A: I think all things inspire me creatively; the ups and downs of life, nature, music, culture, and experiences. Our connection with nature and the world around us is a running theme in my art from the macro to the microcosm. On a cellular level and below, we are made of what we call “nature”. In our minds we tend to separate ourselves from the natural world, so I love to try and visually break those boundaries in my paintings.
I am also inspired my different cultures’ beliefs, traditions, symbols, and religious beliefs, all which directly influence their respective art and how they view the world. I am inspired by studying and witnessing an array of traditions’ individual forms of expression, but I am most interested in the common thread that sews them all together. I’m intrigued by archetypes and ideas that correspond to other separate traditions. In my paintings, I often try to create a more structuralist view of themes expressed throughout the human race. Meditation and visualizations are practices I use that I have learned throughout my studies, and I would highly recommend them as a creative person. Taking these archetypes and practices (after digesting them) has also inspired me to practice lucid dreaming and recording my dreams for visual imagery and interpretation.
Having the chance to collaborate with others while performance painting is not only incredible inspiring, but allows for work and breakthroughs in your artistic expression as well as becoming a better person. Working with someone you love and trust can create visual problems and lessons that you could have never been confronted with. Through collaboration, I’ve learned how to intimately work and communicate with other people, as well as learning their painting style and tools. I’ve been forced at times to truly let go of attachments, painting over work, and doing what’s necessary to create something that is a vision greater than just my own.
Q: What are your absolute favorite art tools?
A: I use mostly Liquitex and Golden acrylic paints, but I love Nova paints for larger scale work. I prefer synthetic brushes, and my favorite brush shape award has to go to the angle shader. I occasionally use filberts, liner brushes, and I love the x-tra large flat Liquitex brushes for murals (4+up inches).
I often employ a compass, protractor, ruler, and chalk line for large scale mandalas and geometry. I had mixed feelings about using tools in my paintings at first, but the end result always looks better when key points are accurate (especially when working with symmetrical subject matter). If you have the tools, use them!
Q: What advice would you give to aspiring artists?
A: Make 100 paintings (… or songs, or sculptures) to find your voice as an artist. Don’t be afraid to mess things up or create art you don’t like; it’s the best way to learn and expel unwanted feelings and ideas that needed to come out. See your art as a meditation, or a practice. Creation is a peaceful practice. When creating art, try to create a safe space with your own rituals to develop a non-attached, playful, creative indulgence leaving judgements outside the room.
For more information and to see more of Morgan’s work, visit www.morganmandala.com.
