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| It is my pleasure to present our first interview at XFAD. We welcome X-Design member Kris of Imaginarium. What was it about The X-Files that appealed to you? I was born and raised a sci-fi geek. The first non-animated feature film I recall watching? "ET". Followed quickly by "Poltergeist". When XF began to show its face, I was intrigued. It was supposed to be scary - I cut my teeth on the horror genre. Monsters and aliens? COOL! But truth be told - had it not been for Mulder and Scully, I doubt I would have gotten so :::cough::: involved. THEY were the magic lasso that pulled me in. When did you first start watching the show? Religiously? Somewhere during the middle/end of season 3. Before that I was an occassional viewer. I was in HS at the time and XF was on Friday nights. I also happened to be in colorguard and spent my Friday nights at some game or another - be it football or basketball or whatever. I had too much appointment TV to try and keep up with one more show. As soon as I got out from under all my Friday commitments, I was hooked. First whole episode? "Erlenmeyer Flask". Next? "Tesos Dos Bichos". Then "Pusher". During summer vacations my cousin would try to get me involved by showing me taped episodes. I had a fairly good knowledge of the show up to Season 4...and the summer between 3 and 4, I caught up on everything I missed. Everything. Jolly good show, eh? <g> What is your favorite episode and why do you choose that one? The Jersey Devil. Don't look at me like that! 1) Scully was so badly dressed it hurt so good. 2) She actually got a date. 3) I have a theory that Scully and Mulder had a little fling on the floor of that warehouse. 4)"Keep that up, Mulder, and I'll hurt you like that beastwoman." What or who inspired you to start xf art? I dabbled for a long time, but it was Chronicle X that really worked me out. We needed a way to make it aesthetically pleasing and Shari told me it was my job. I had to think fast. I had to *work* fast. I designed the site with what little HTML knowledge I had. I made simple graphics. Then I started doing dustcovers for the "Can We Talk" novels. I really started to get a hang of my program and branched out a little bit. I'd make collages every once in a while and send them to Shari. Lo and behold, she told me about XDesign. I joined and as a result I grew as an artist immensely in the following months. As you can see, it was a very involved process. <g> What software program did you start with and have you upgraded since then? (I think we know the answer to this one!) I *started* with Corel Photopaint. I hated every second of it, though, because it always froze when I tried to save my work. I moved on to an old LE version of Micrografx. About a year later, I upgraded to Micrografx 8.0. Until about 2 weeks ago, that's what I used. Adobe Photoshop 6.0 and I are still...working out our differences. (Update - we've called a peace treaty. For now.) What is your best method of making a collage, such as what medium do you prefer? Brushes, layering, filters? Until photoshop, all of my art depended on messing with layers and blending methods. But my favorite blending method is gone in photoshop, so I'm having to completely rework my collage-making style. I still believe layers and blending are key...but I'm learning a lot about using brushes and different styles of filters. What is your favorite piece of work that you have made? I have an easier time picking a favorite of my children (dogs). <g> But I would still say, after all this time, that my favorite is a piece called "Butterfly Queen". There was something mythical in the way it was created - and I've never been able to recreate the feeling. Of all my pieces, this was the most...completely surprising and muse-driven. How has your style changed since you began creating? I stopped being so danged literal. When I started making XF collages, all I did was use pictures from the show. Then, at one point, I made a collage for "Amor Fati" and I used some stock photos that came with Micrografx. There ended up being like 25 or so layers with all the text and pictures. And I was so surprised by the outcome...these days, Mulder and Scully are just accents to my pieces, not always the sole meaning. And now my work is so much more..."personal" and has more emotion. At least, I'd like to think so... What was the hardest piece of work to create? Why? Anything XF I've created since September. Why was it so hard? I was so angry at the show, at Chris Carter, so hurt that I had no inspiration to create work for a show I dearly loved. And every time I did finish something XF, it was a major triumph. However, you can see the battle in any of my recent work. It all has a sense of loss about it. I wish I could make happy XF work again. I really wish I could. What is your favorite genre to collage? Mytharc, MSR, Other character? I would say MSR, but once someone was complimenting the Imaginarium, saying that it was a place anybody could go enjoy the art, because it was never overtly 'shippy'. That came as a surprise to *me*! <g> But I suppose it's true - I don't use a lot of the more "romantic" poses from publicity shots...and I have very few collages that utilize actual pics of them kissing or hugging. I'd like to think of myself as one who focuses the "journey" and their spirit of togetherness. And in most of my art, you can define "togetherness" however you want. What is the episode that has inspired you to create the most? All and none. Very few of my works focus on one episode. But they focus on the feel of whole seasons. I suppose season 7 made the strongest impression on me, especially in the space after "Requiem". I was emotional about the whole deal and it *really* shows in my work. Angst. Angst. And more angst. What is the most that you miss about running Chronicle X? Interaction with the authors. ChronX, being a rec archive, forced me to give feedback as regularly as possible. I had to email authors for permission and used that opportunity to tell them *why* I loved their stories. Everybody was *so* gracious, so thankful, so friendly. Now that I'm no longer doing recs, I barely read fanfiction. And when I do, I don't send feedback. I should, because the authors need to know I'm reading and enjoying. But I've slacked off. Out of the many dustjackets you have made, what was the most challenging dustjacket you've had to make? Will this get me in trouble? The dustjacket I made for the VS8. "Detente" by Xenith. We went into it with *completely* different ideas of what we wanted to do. What followed was at least 4 different variations of the cover. I was resisting doing what the author wanted, because I'm an artist and finicky like that, and the author stuck to the original idea that was pitched to me. I eventually gave in and the author was *thrilled* with the dustjacket. I realized I probably couldn't do this for a living because I didn't want to live by anybody's rules, even if the author's vision was exactly what was required for the story. I hope I managed to do the work justice, as I fought the whole way. What do you look for in the story to shape your dustjackets? The overall emotion of the story. Sometimes it's a moment in the prose that I'd like to see illustrated. One author is sweet enough to give me her "impressions" of what her story is going to be (On several occassions I've created covers for WIPs) and gives me free rein. Mostly, though, it's the "feeling" I get from the story. What fan fiction story would you like to see made into an episode? Revely's "Unfinished Universe". As casefiles go...well, it doesn't have one. But as for dealing with all the "stuff" between M/S? Oh, yeah. Describe your work environment? Would you change anything so that your work could be done better or faster? I work at a monstrous L-shaped desk in my bedroom. 3 feet from my bed, my entertainment center behind me. There are always dogs laying everywhere I turn. The workspace on my desk, presumably so I could finish my homework, was quickly displaced by a TV and VCR hooked up to my computer. Everything else is chaos. Books, tapes, CDs and zip disks all over the place. Lots of little wrappers from Hershey Special Dark bars. A "Boston Public" stress apple sits next to my monitor, so when I #O*!@ up a collage, I have something to bite. <g> I've got a picture of my horse and pics of my dogs, to remind me I *do* have a life outside these four walls. All in all it works well. I'm not sure I would change anything, except replace this computer with a bigger and faster one...<g> As close as we sometimes are on the group, tell us something about yourself that we may not know. I'm such a big mouth all the time, is there anything you don't know? <g> I'm an only child whose parents have been divorced since I was five. Consequently, I'm fairly spoiled. At 22, I still live at home and I have no job to speak of, other than maintaining a high GPA and my position on the honor role. When one of my collages was published in the Washington Post, my mom emailed me with one question "Are you sure you want to go to college?" For six months, I was employed by James Cameron as a dog trainer. I can cross my eyes. I can ride a horse backwards. I'm prone to chronic ear infections. Uhhh...<g> What would you have changed about The X-Files that would have led it to be a better show? I would have dumped that surfer a LONG time ago, let SCULLY carry the show for the majority of season 8 (not automatically hire a new guy, as if GA can't do it on her own...) and I would have ended the entire saga with the last scene from "Existence". Sounds heavenly, am I right? <g> If you could pick only one piece of XF art that would be your favorite which would it be and who made it? KJ's "Memories" Why is this your favorite? I love this piece not necessarily because of the technical achievement that it is (and it is one ass-kicking piece), but its the emotion she captured *so* perfectly. Everything that's beautiful and right about the show is in that work. I look at it and think, "Yup, this is why I loved the show". What message would you like to give to artists that are new? If there is thought, care, heart and soul in what you do, you can't fail. Collaging isn't just pictures shoved together on a palette with varying degrees of opacity. Make sure you realize that, though it's digital, it's *still artwork* and the same basic rules apply - it comes from your heart as well as your head. -Don't try to "compete" - this isn't a race or a competition. -Do what you do, the best way you know how. -Share your work, your knowledge and your friendship. ALWAYS be ready to learn something new. -Don't let yourself fall into a rut - it's hard to climb out. -Just because you don't have photoshop or paint shop pro or corel, doesn't mean you can't join the fray in the sandbox. -And finally, *experiment, experiment, experiment*. We're waiting for your debut. : ) <END> Thank you Kris for taking the time to share yourself with us. I hope that everyone will enjoy reading your interview as much as I have. Visit Kris's beautiful site at Imaginarium. |
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| INTERVIEW |