Derek Albeck is a hard working young artist, living and working in Los Angeles.  He’s engaging, very kind and unquestionably talented.  He was nice enough to respond to some questions I submitted to him via email.  It’s time that you get to know him.

Hey Derek, how are you?

I am well thank you, a little tired and anxious from a long day.

What have you been up to lately?

Currently I am preparing for a two-person exhibition at Fecal Face Gallery with my friend Marco Zamora. I have spent the last two months creating new drawings for the show that opens April fools day 2010.

You attended school at Northridge, right?

Correct, I studied printmaking and painting under two amazing professors with two completely different approaches to art making. Both professors have been a constant source of inspiration and influence on me to this day.

What materials do you work with?

These days I’ve been working mostly with graphite, colored pencil and gouache. I studied printmaking in college so I’ve always tried to incorporate that practice into my work as well. I also make sculptural work from time to time but right now I’m focusing mainly on drawing.

Tell me about your sculptural work.

The sculptural work is just more of an addition to my drawing, I haven’t made much of it but I’m really interested in exploring what I can do with it. I sometimes feel like drawing is so neat and clean, I think I’m just really into the idea of getting my hands dirty again.

Are you still active in printmaking?

I am when it fits what I’m working on. I do a lot of screen-printing for the zines that I create, and sometimes for editions but my work doesn’t translate as well with screen-printing these days. After I finish my show I’m going to start messing around with the lithography techniques I learned back in the day to see if I can get a better multiple from my drawings.

So, you start with a blank page … then what happens?

I don’t really ever start with a blank page. I usually start with a concept I have for a work. These days I spend a lot of time taking photos and a lot of these pictures end up finding themselves in my work. I compose almost all of my work digitally before I begin to draw, so I always have an idea of what the piece is going to look like before I even begin drawing. The work does change sometime while in the process of creating a piece but I usually have a clear cut idea of what I’m trying to accomplish in each work.

Your work clearly takes a lot of time to achieve. Is it about the journey? The destination?

Yeah the time issue is kind of crazy. I end up spending so much time drawing that by the end of an exhibit / project, I usually feel a sense of relief more than accomplishment. I guess I tend to look at things as one big project with a goal at the end of it, once I reach that goal I can then take the time to feel like I accomplished something, until then I’ll just keep working towards that goal.

The work you did for Vans Sky Gallery seemed to be a departure from the work that is mostly representative of you.

Well you kind of have it backwards. That project was from 2007 and at that time I had been working on a different body of artwork. The piece I created for that project was actually the last painting I did from that body of work, after the projects inception I began to develop the work that you see today.

You occasionally include yourself in your work.  Is that choice specific to piece?

Pretty much, since my work is fairly autobiographical I find myself ending up in a lot of my drawings. As I said before it really depends on the concept and what I’m trying to say in each drawing.

Have you ever exhibited your work internationally?  If so, where?  How was that?

I have yet to really exhibit my work internationally. I have been asked, but I have been very hesitant to do so because it can be quite the investment. I’m trying to be patient and let things happen, if something comes along that I feel is a good match for my work, and will take me somewhere new I will embrace it with open arms.

Tell me about the Dethkills collective.

Dethkills is a collective out of Los Angeles. It started in 2005 as a bunch of friends creating artwork together. Dethkills makes artwork, paints murals, publishes zines, screen printed editions and t-shirts, stickers poster and so on … Check it out: www.dethkills.com

So, about your fascination with Aleister Crowley.

He was just a super interesting person. My attraction to him first came from a misconception of him based on the idea that he was this horrible human being or “The Wickedest Man in the World”. Once I started doing research about him I found that he was a very intelligent and cultured person and because of his alternative take on life was pigeonholed as this terrible human being when in fact he was just doing his own thing. I am in no way trying to defend all that he was notorious for but I do feel that the alternative side of him, the writer, poet, painter, mountaineer, chess player etc it something that should be noted. I think the one sided misconception of him and the reputation is has garnered him is really where my fascination lies.

Anything in particular that’s been blowing your mind lately?

Human beings blow my mind everyday; it’s a constant source of humor and disappointment.

5 things you would take with you to a deserted island?

A dog. rope, knife, one awesome book, and a gun (for hunting and if necessary to kill myself)

Thanks for letting my pick your mind, Derek.

Thank you!