Today we’d like to introduce you to Denniz Polk.
So, before we jump into specific questions about what you do, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I have been creating art my entire life. I can’t remember a time I didn’t draw, film, photograph or paint daily. I started making the cut and paste zines and flyers and shooting live bands and playing in punk bands in my teens and I guess I just never really stopped. I didn’t really start believing it was possible or an obtainable goal that I could make a living as an artist until about 2007 or 2008 when the Houston artist known as “Give Up” came along to the east coast on tour with my band Fight Pretty. We had a lot of time to talk on the epic van rides so I really saw how much of the street ethic he applied to the art world and it was like a veil was lifted. I was really inspired by his disdain for the high society element to the art world and realized for the first time that creating art while staying true to your own reality was as simple as just doing it. I started really gaining any sort of following or presence with art when I started doing concert posters more often. Then, I started doing music videos more often and photo sessions more often and showing them more often. Consistency has ultimately been what broke me out.
After getting on the radar as a visual artist, I think it was my dedication to my own emotions and sometimes surreal approach to the visualization of them that made a connection to the average viewer of art. I am still creating the same kind of art visually as I was when there was no one seeing it. I always just let it create itself through me. That’s what an artist should always do. Be honest, observe, feel, report back the results. I have a lot of layers and mystery to the art I create. I definitely would say that is a strong influence from Give Up. He always shows you what he finds to be the visual piece of the puzzle that is most striking, but he knows all the pieces around it are what are causing you that mental disturbance but he lets you work that out. In the meantime, you have the visual equivalent of a perfectly burned match. Not the fire itself or what it took. I find that approach to be what drives my art as well. I also grew up with an obsession of the unknown and Brian de Palma films so I know the attraction must come from there as well. All of my work has as much raw emotion as it does bootleg deadpan appeal. As much light as it has darkness. It’s as negative as it is positive.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I feel like all the struggles I’ve had along the way are self-imposed. Wouldn’t that be the story of the artist’s in general after all? I guess the long hours of work which in my case are very late at night every single night can make life a little rough. But the lack of sleep is definitely a factor in the lucid feel to the things I create so it’s all relevant.
Please tell us about Imbalancearts.
Imbalancearts is what I started calling anything I produced since about 2006. I create visuals. I paint, I collage, I draw, I write, I video and I photograph. I create a personal visual representation to whatever needs to be promoted or seen. I make short films, music videos, commercials, and film and edit live events and live music. I am probably most known for the concert posters I create.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have been as picky then with what I want to lend my art to as I am now. I also wish I never wasted so much energy on worrying about what other artists are doing or who’s biting my style this week. I recommend the art of restraint in where you want to do a gallery showing or art show and who you are working with. Your emotion and your vibe are really all you have.
Contact Info:
- Website: Imbalancearts.tumblr.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: Imbalancearts@instagram
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