L’oiseau by Miroslav Weissmuller

More about Miroslav Weissmuller

ON THE
TECHNICAL
SIDE

How did you choose your means of expression?

I spent so much time reading comics when I was young that drawing came naturally to me.

Is this medium secondary to or closely linked to your subject?

No answer.

What equipment do you use and why?

I use a brush pen with a reservoir of Indian ink because the tip does not wear out and there is less risk of getting dirty than with a pot of ink. (I like ink for its fixity, which keeps me from being tempted to change it).

How does a work session take shape?

I first draw a pencil sketch, freely and rapidly, then I mark out the areas to be blackened with a felt-tip pen, before proceeding with the actual inking, very slowly.

Can you explain to me how your work has evolved since starting?

Yes: when I started, I drew traditionally, by outlining my shapes, whereas today, by dint of considering the white of the paper as a tone, I have given up outlines.

ON A
PERSONAL
NOTE

Do your origins and culture play a role in the works that you produce?

Yes, insofar as my taste for the plastic arts comes from my father, a painter in his spare time. And then my graphic style comes from the Franco-Belgian tradition.

Which events have influenced you most?

No answer.

What are your sources of inspiration?

Drawings by others, which I look at on the internet.

Are there any anecdotes that enable the genesis of your work to be understood?

No answer.

Are current events considered in your production or on the contrary do you distance yourself from them?

Current events have little influence on the nature of my work, but I am sometimes distracted from my work during election periods when my attention is drawn to the debates on contemporary controversial topics.

ON A MORE
PHILOSOPHICAL
NOTE

Are your works more of a dialogue, a trace or a denunciation?

They are both a dialogue with my colleagues and a record of the days spent producing them, but certainly not a denunciation.

Do you wish to make viewers wonder or do you prefer to question them?

I would rather please them. (I would also like to make them want to buy something).

IN
CONCLUSION

How do you view human beings, and consequently your work?

I look at humans, in the broadest sense of the word, with indulgence. As for the female half of the population, I admit that I sometimes look at them in a way that is akin to what is nowadays called the “male gaze”.

How would you compare your last work with the next?

I would say that the next one is more erotic than the previous one, and more domestic too.

Is art poetry or social intervention?

Probably poetry, although the definition of this term has always seemed rather vague to me.