CURIOSITY
“One of my ‘bird helmet’
creations that I often draw
while on an aeroplane.
They’re a fun way to explore
a familiar concept.”FUNGUS COLLECTOR
“A macabre representation of feeling introverted. He collects only poisonous
shrooms to keep others away, while wearing a gas mask to stay immune.”DANDELION WANDERER
“While outside on a summer day
I started drawing the dandelions
and then this small creature
appeared to me.”
TIMOTHY VON RUEDEN
Social media has been so wonderful
and connecting, but it’s also been
detrimental for many artists
like Timothy has no problem
giving an honest answer to our
question because he makes art solely
to please himself. Not the case.
Timothy’s career is, in one sense,
very modern: he uses social media to
promote his own range of sketchbooks,
original artwork, prints and enamel
pins. However, he faces the same old
problem that artists have always faced.
The gallery is now Instagram. The
patron is now the follower. But the aim
is still the same: get the work seen and
get the work sold.
“Social media has been so
wonderful and connecting, but it’s also
been detrimental for many artists as
we feel a need to cater our work for a
reaction, whether it’s likes or shares.
I find that the top-followed artists are
no longer passionate about creating
work that’s inventive, from a place of
passion, but rather meeting quota and
filling expectations.
“So when an artist is just pumping
out female portraits, and it seems as if
they have to, rather than want to, that
is the difference for me. Great art
comes from a place of authenticity and
is often a marriage between a creative
pursuit and a technical prowess.”
It’s an annoyingly good answer. So
our new, slightly more awkward,
slightly more pretentious question is
this: how do you make great art – workthat comes from this place of passion,
this place of authenticity – and still get
likes, shares and make money?EXPLORING BIZARRE WORLDS
Timothy grew up in New Berlin
(“small-town Wisconsin”). His big
things were drawing and video games- particularly Final Fantasy X and
Twisted Metal Black. He was interested
in the “bizarre worlds” these games
created. For the same reason, he was
into movies like Spirited Away,