“My studio looks like a big mess in the photos, but it’s only on the tables. The floor is clean and I have a lot of big drawers and boxes to store things in.”
HushMitNavn (RememberMyName) Danish artist, b. 1975, lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark.
FROM YOUR DESKS: How do you work?
HUSKMITNAVN: I work in my studio from 8.30 – 4 in the afternoon and again in the evening when I’m home. I don’t work on weekends. In my studio, I try to spend as much time possible drawing and painting. When I’m home in the evening I write emails and draw for various ongoing book projects and also Instagram and Facebook. I always try to have fun with what I do, but there’s always a ton of practical stuff that needs to be done when you work full time as an artist.
A totally clean city is scary.
FYD: What is your favorite sentimental object at your workspace and why?
HMN: I have a small wooden ship made by some prisoner a hundred years ago, that my dad left me. He passed away last year.
FYD: What is your favorite or most required work tool?
HMN: A pencil. Most of my work starts with a pencil drawing.
FYD: Talk about the creative chaos of your space. Can you find what you’re looking for when you need it?
HMN: When I buy materials, I always buy 10 of each thing. Ten pencil sharpeners, ten rulers and so on. This way, I can always find what I’m looking for.
FYD: How has your work evolved over the past decade?
HMN: It’s like a real job now but unusual since I can do whatever I like and don’t have a boss. Ten years ago, I worked all of the time when I was not partying. Now, I try to find time to do other things since the ‘party 3 days a week’ days are over.
Most of my work starts with a pencil drawing.
FYD: How have cartoons influenced your work? Did you identify with any zany characters or non-American pop cultural cartoon characters?
HMN: I was very influenced by Belgium cartoons as a kid. Lucky Luke and Asterix. And I used to read Donald Duck cartoons when I ate breakfast before going to school. I didn’t care about the text, I just looked at the drawings and made up my own stories. The way I draw comes from cartoons, but I hate drawing the same character twice, so I create paintings and single drawings instead.
FYD: What is the graffiti scene like in Copenhagen?
HMN: The graffiti scene in Copenhagen is alive and kicking. But people are getting old. We need more new blood.
FYD: What do you make of all these cities, like New York, sending out Graffiti Task Forces to erase the art?
HMN: It’s fine when graffiti is buffed once in a while. The city becomes like a fresh new canvas, but a totally clean city is scary.
FYD: If you could tag in any city besides home, where would we find you?
HMN: Any town in the arctic area of Greenland or Canada. I like it up north.
FYD: When you’re not working, what are you up to?
HMN: Because my job description is so loose, I’m focused on leading an ordinary life when I’m not working. Family, friends and bad television take up most of my time.