Interview With Quinton Maldonado
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everything is somehow preserved (Installation View) 2020 LED Light, Paper, Wood, Fabric, 4-Channel Sound - Quinton Maldonado
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everything is somehow preserved (Installation View) 2020 LED Light, Paper, Wood, Fabric, 4-Channel Sound - Quinton Maldonado
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Screen Test (Lyssa) [Still] 2020 Digital Video - Quinton Maldonado
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Screen Test (Lyssa) [Still] 2020 Digital Video - Quinton Maldonado
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Screen Test (Lyssa) [Still] 2020 Digital Video - Quinton Maldonado
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only in my mind and from a safe distance (Still) 2020 Collaboration w/Jazmyn Crosby Digital Video - Quinton Maldonado
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only in my mind and from a safe distance (Still) 2020 Collaboration w/Jazmyn Crosby Digital Video - Quinton Maldonado
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only in my mind and from a safe distance (Still) 2020 Collaboration w/Jazmyn Crosby Digital Video - Quinton Maldonado
Before over-viewing, the interview questions here is a little bit about Quinton Maldonado,
Quinton Maldonado has completed his BFA in Studio Art with concentrations in Digital Art & Installation Art Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA Class of 2015. Currently, he is studying as an MFA candidate at the Tyler School of Art. Not only does he do photography, he also loves to listen, play, and make music. His work focuses on the ideas of alienation, presence, and self. He likes to drink strong coffee, loves loud music, and enjoys bad movies.
More of his artwork (view images above for example) can be seen on his website quintonmaldonado.com. His website includes all of his major series along with other side projects he has worked on. Quinton may also be followed on Instagram @quintonvm, where he posts live performances and workshop projects, and the occasional memes and music. “I also make music under my solo project Bathym (https://bathym.bandcamp.com/) as well as with my artistic collaborator, Jazmyn Crosby, in our band Artificial Campfires (https://artificialcampfires.bandcamp.com/releases)” – Quinton.
Now onto the questions:
Now onto the questions:
1) What’s your relationship to WWU?
[Quinton] I graduated from WWU in 2015 with a BFA in Studio Art.
2) How long have you been doing art?
[Quinton] I got my first camera when I was 16 and have been taking photos and making art ever since.
4) How has the Coronavirus pandemic impacted your ability to work on art?
[Quinton] As my work has had a digital component to it for a while so my practice hasn’t been affected too drastically.
5) Do you have a preference of style/theme when working on art?
[Quinton] It depends on the type of project that I’m working on as well as what materials that I have in front of me. There are some elements of my practice that I try to make more minimalist and subtle and other parts where I like to go loud and direct.
6) What type of mediums/materials do you preferably like to use when making art?
[Quinton] I love all types of materials. I worked at Dakota Art Store after I graduated WWU and it gave me a real appreciation for all types of materials I would never have tried to make with. Now I’m much more open to allowing the material to inspire the art.
7) Have you started on any new projects in this quarantine period?
[Quinton] I can’t say that I’ve started new projects. I’m picking back up an older video art series called, Less Than Nothing, that utilizes live streams, video feedback loops, and visual synthesizers as a way to explore our ever-changing relationship to the screen. That, and reading a lot.
8) What do you hope to have accomplished professionally and personally by the end of the year?
[Quinton] I think if anyone still has a profession by the end of the quarantine it will be a true accomplishment.
9) If you do photography, do you have a specific camera you like to use?
[Quinton] I mostly only shoot my Canon AE-1 or my Polaroid One-Step.
10) What currently motivates you to keep working?
[Quinton] Inertia
11) What would you tell someone who wants to start doing art professionally?
[Quinton] I would recommend anyone who wants to do art professionally to figure out what both “art,” and “professionally,” mean to them. The question then is to see if/how they can come together and whether or not it is worth it.
12) If so, how does your personality affect your art?
[Quinton] Personality affects everyone’s art as we bring ourselves to all that we do. But I also think that it’s a dialectical process. Surely my personality is affecting my work but I think my work changes my personality as well.
13) Anything you’re looking forward to anytime soon?
[Quinton] The new Charli XCX and Thao and The Get Down Stay Down albums.