The Dark Arts of Chet Zar

Aug 4, 2009 Daniel Mirante in Interviews 9 Comments Tags: Chet Zar, dark, gothic

“Chet’s art is beautiful & scary. His style has a modern twist crashing into a classical approach. I think Chet is a master painter on his way to making a great mark in our little world…”
– Adam Jones (TOOL)

Chet Zar interviewed by Daniel Mirante

Daniel mirante
Have you ever thought of painting paradise?

Chet Zar
Paradise realms…I honestly don’t know if I have it in me. The stuff I paint in a strange way is my kind of paradise.

Daniel mirante
When I explore your paintings on a deeper level, I find they’re not so dark at all, theres deep beauty overall and in the details (such as ‘Priest’)…

Chet Zar
Thanks. That is my feeling as well. I just find the work and the worlds beautiful. I don’t have any negative feelings attached to the imagery even though they appear to be dark on the surface. It’s almost like a transmutation of evil into good. I remember when I was younger and tripping on mushrooms, I had a vision that of hell yet it was not at all scary. It was more like a funhouse- if you know that there really is no evil and that god is just the devil in disguise, then the visual imagery that we associate with evil just becomes fun. I called it at the time “The Principle of Turning Hell into Disneyland”. I dunno, made sense at the time! Ha ha!

Daniel Mirante
So even the universe in its stages of destruction and decay become sources of beauty. Anything that threatens human life- like explosions, acid lakes, necrotic or diseased beings such as found in your work, we by habit tend to associate with ‘evil’, but its all just part of the cycle of energies. Our negative emotions and pain states are also part of the cycle of energy, necessary for us to orientate ourselves in life.

Do you ever think you in your painted beings that you are tuning into discarnate spirits or are they more like personifications of states of consciousness, either collective or personal ?

Chet Zar
In my fantasy, I am painting living entities that exist in another dimension that are communicating to me because they want people in our own reality to know that they exist. Part of me really likes to believe that could be a possibility. All I can really say is that when I create art I let my intuition guide me in a very non verbal way. There is really no ongoing dialogue in my head when I paint, it’s more a matter of feeling my way through. So from a rationalist viewpoint, I am painting my subconscious. But you never know!

Daniel Mirante
In terms of the subconscious, what cultural streams (movies, artists) and experiences do you feel most strongly influenced your painterly and thematic orientation ? What inspires you to create your own new imagery and worlds?

Chet Zar
I’ve always felt the urge to create just as far back as I can remember. Anytime I saw something I liked (a Mad magazine comic, an old horror film, some cool art, music) I immediately felt inspired to create something. It was like a trigger. That still hold true today- when I see something that really turns me on like a great film or a great band or a great art show, I run right home and start something new. I was always a dreamer fantasized about alternate realities and monsters. I was lucky that my parents were cool enough to support me with it. They never thought I was nuts, which is not always the case for a lot of other kids I knew.

I am very influenced by things I experienced in my childhood like sci fi and horror movies, Heavy Metal magazine, Eerie and Creepy comics, stuff like that. I never really grew out of my love for these kinds of things and they still give me inspiration. As I became a young adult I really
got into music, particularly a lot of punk and post punk kind of stuff. I really liked the sense of a community for outsiders and the whole DIY ethic. That aspect of it really inspires the way I run my business. The current art scene I am involved has that sense of community as well.

Chet Zar painting in his studio

Daniel Mirante
Why do you think some people have this creative urge that impels them to make things, paint, and create new worlds ?

Chet Zar
I am not sure. It feels genetic, like it’s something I can’t help. I think I had the impulse young and my parents were supportive so it developed from there. I’ve always had a vivid imagination and I have always been interested in how things work. I used to take apart anything I could get my hands on just to see how they worked. I also loved to build monster and car models. Actually, I loved to create just about anything, to work with my hands, to build things. So natural curiosity and imagination and the urge to create seemed to combine into an interest in art.

Daniel Mirante
What current exhibitions and projects do you have on the boil ?

Chet Zar
Right now I am working on painting for a small solo show at Copro Gallery in Santa Monica (www.copronason.com) which opens on October 3rd. It’s going to be called “Lilith” and all of my paintings are going to feature women as the main focal point, which is very different for me. My creatures are usually male or at least androgynous, so this will be a bit of a challenge for me. Of course the women are going to be painted in my style- they are still going to have that “dark and creepy” feeling that I love.

I am also in the process of getting new merch and limited edition prints up for sale on my website: www.chetzar.com. I am also hoping to get a book of my work together this year or maybe the beginning of next.