Q&A with Dale Marshall

Thanks, speebe.  A massive thanks to Dale for taking the time to answer everyone's questions - there's some great insight into his work in there.  I've inserted in a few links and photos that I thought might be helpful and I'll post Dale's answers in three tranches over the next few days.

Does he have a pet? If so type and name. Also fav color socks?
We have two smooth fox terriers by the names of Willow and Pixie.  Socks? Black, although I usually wear odd.

Why did he drop the name Vermin?
I haven't dropped the name it is still the basis of my practice, it's just evolved into wounds and mark making.


When and where is your next show?
I will be exhibiting with Anno Domini CA in Oct as well as Lapada Art Fair in September with Lucas Rarities - a new found partnership with VB Fine Art.

I've seen recently that you rate Richard Diebenkorn as one of your favourite artists who else do you admire and which artists if any influenced you, particularly in the transition from graff writer to fine art?
Brion Gysin a self taught artist who I later found out went to school nearby would be a good artist to start with. Berthe Morisot and Joan Mitchell had a progressive influence in my earlier days of studying art. Joan Mitchell was an exceptional painter

Your favourite piece of your own and why?
That's a really hard question to answer because many resonate personally, I like hanging my children's little masterpieces.

Which artist, living or dead, you'd most like to collaborate with?
I would like to spend some time at Anselm Kiefer's studio with his direction on a work, bringing my own ideas though. Otherwise I would like to collaborate with artists in a different medium, sound preferably, it would be great to make a rendition of an album as a collection. I listen to 'Explosions in the Sky' a lot whilst painting and sometimes think about it.

Who have you learnt the most from?
My professor Marie Thibeault at California State University, she gave me confidence to believe in myself and taught me that my current practice was relevant i.e. taking graffiti into contextual fine art. She has changed the way I think about art. I'm ready now.

Will you be practicing for Upfest?
No, I didn't, I just made a large studio work, I didn't really feel it fitted the vibe of the festival, it lost its power, I have learned a lot from this, I have cut it up now to give it some new surgery. I'd like to thank Steve and the crew for their hospitality, great people..

Who is the most famous person who owns a piece of your art?
The rich and the poor own my work. There have been many careers built on celebrity name dropping and I like to think that I have more integrity than that. I would get more joy from my works being owned for humanitarian reasons rather than a false hierarchy that we've been conditioned to by media. We are all celebrity now, you, I, everyone. It's about time it all balances back out and we all understand/realise our own worth and contribution to society as equals

How long do your layered paintings take to do? Do you work concurrently or on one at a time?
It depends on what size, style, and medium. I would say over 100 hrs at times for the textured works. Again it depends on time, I prefer to work on one only so that nothing else conflicts in my studio, but it's becoming impossible.

Are commissions harder because they are made to order?
Yes they are.

Which was your favourite piece from the excellent Walls with Wounds exhibition and why?
I like the show as a whole as it was one narrative featuring objects of pivotal moments, the story of young graffiti artist, drugs, rock n roll, mental hospital, rehabilitation.


Watercolour, oils or aerosol?
At present, in that order. watercolour is the most rock n roll, oils have romance though..

Interested to hear you describe painting as fighting the canvas. Can you elaborate and does the canvas sometimes win?
The canvas is a reflection of myself. Yes, I have many works that will never be seen.

Do you ever do non abstract painting?
Not really. With abstract I find much more freedom with a journey and end point, the deconstruction and rebuild.

If you could only have one of ice cream, chocolate or sweets for the rest of your life, which one would you choose?
Ice cream.

Nice insight, cheers feralthings

feralthings Top

Many thanks to feralthings and Dale.

Cheers to feralthings for sorting this and to Dale as well 

Part 2 of 3

How do you feel about painting outdoors again at Upfest this year?
It was great to be back in Bristol, but it made me realise how detached I had become with the scene which started with graffiti. Graffiti is my roots but it was a whole commercial bubble down there that I find hard to relate to. I am not saying its right or wrong though, but things have changed for me. I was walking around the festival and I said to my partner that if I saw anymore pieces of seductive women faces, hoodies, paint masks, I am going to get depressed again. It just I felt that corporate advertising had really ingrained into some artists and it's crossed over into the street art scene, only it's spraypainted. My children loved it all though! Sorry for my honesty..


Does doing the stitching on your paintings feel like a cathartic and healing exercise or is it a painful reminder of the wounds themselves?
I am comfortable with who I am, there is just a desire to explore and advance, the past is what makes everyone of us individual and I cherish that. The stitching is a language and at times it is consolidation.

How do you get the ideas for new styles for your paintings? Do you see styles you like, and innovate?
It's a continuous journey and experiment. Nothings ever fully accomplished and that's the beauty of being a painter. We all get inspired subconsciously whether we think we are the most original or not.

If you could own an original by any artist - you're not allowed to sell it, just hang it and it's donated to a museum when you die - what would it be?
A nice little work on paper by Diebenkorn or a Joan Mitchell canvas.

If you had to choose one of your works to represent you to hang at the Tate Modern, which would it be....
It's not painted yet.

What do you find more inspiring, cities or rural areas?
Rural. Freedom, beauty, and no CCTV. The cities can be quite harsh nowadays which suits some. Here I work on my own and I am fully locked into my practice; it's meant to be, I feel. I went back to my old town in the summer, first foot out of the car, stepped in dog shit, that told me something. I need to concentrate on my practice so it's amazing to be in Wales.


When you start a painting, can you visualize how it will look when it's done, or is it more improvisational?
I do visualise but it always changes, there is a lot of improvisation towards the end. I build the concept, go through the process and then bring out systems to make one system which is the overall painting. It's like doing graff, the fill in's, the background, and then at the end the outline which makes the work. I love painting. Beginning, middle, end. Birth, death, rebirth.

If you had to make up the name of a new movement to describe your work (i.e. Cubism, Impressionism etc.) what would you call it?
I don't want to put my work in a box, that's for curators and historians.


Do you listen to music while you paint and if so, what?
I listen to all different kinds. I like dramatic music, classical even. Building up to the 'Beauty in the Wound' show I was listening to War Stories (Unkle) again.

Was it fun watching your painting be bid on at the arts and antique fair?
I didn't go, I went to the drinks afternoon, but didn't attend the auction. I am glad it raised a good contribution towards the charity for all involved. I am excited to be continuing a working relationship with Lucas Rarities and VB Fine Art, they are very professional. Vanessa has worked at the very top and I am extremely grateful and excited by the prospects moving forward.

Are your drawings or aquarelles, are for you sketches for a future canvas with fine oil or are they already little masterpieces on their own ( that you cherish too ;-) ?
I rarely sketch to make works, I just build them from scratch, memory.

You come from the world of graffiti, you think that Banksy, street-art fashion has helped artists (of all kinds, even the bad ones ;-)) "to get out" of darkness, to find their place in the "market", as Rotten and the punk did for rock bands who was playing in shadows of a cave ?
I feel graffiti is an excellent tool socially. Graffiti is punk, from the NY subway graffiti onwards. But much street art I cannot help but associate it with graphic design, advertising and self promotion which to me is the opposite of punk. Graffiti has given me something to re-channel, otherwise my life would of been much more different. But I am not here to criticise people's practice...I may get sued nowadays. Ask anyone about the difference between these cultures, the rawness of early graffiti or the mainstream street art, a huge difference.

Word. Fucking word, Dale.

Thank you Dale !
Thank you Feralthings !
Very instructive, I mean with passion, Dale shares to us his passion.
Smart, clever, with humility.
I'm really impressed !

Great Q & A..