sacha @sachaeckes.com
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I was born in Bruges, Belgium but spent my youth in Wallonia (the French
speaking part of Belgium), Berkeley (CA), Bruges and Gent (Flemish speaking parts of Belgium). After graduating from 4 years studying printmaking
at Sint Lukas Gent (a total waste of time) I moved to San Francisco in
1993 I believed in the American Dream and was intent on 'making it' as
an artist I immersed myself in the Bay Area Arts Community, exhibiting
my work at any number of non-profit art spaces and artist run galleries.
I was very involved with curating art exhibitions one of my great loves being bringing people together. While in the Bay Area I also established myself as an editorial illustrator. A lot of this came crashing down when I
lost almost everything in a fire in August 2001. This event was followed by
9/11 and a dotcom bubble burst. So before the flames, having acquired a
bit of a local following I never quite made it over to the other side...
the highly succesful artist side. I decided to move to Detroit, where I
spent 2 years making art in a huge loft but I moved back to SF in 2004
After a relationship that left me devestated and a dip in my faith where
my life was headed, I decided to move back to Belgium with my cat V in
2007. Lured by the promise of health care and an easier life I had convinced myself that Belgium would be a better place for me as an artist.
I've been here for almost 2 years and life is not easier here, the cost
of living here is higher and it feels like the whole social structure is
going to crumble apart in a matter of years.
So, my whole life I've been searching for HOME. And what I've finally concluded is that HOME is where ... the baby is. Yeah, somehow I managed to get knocked up at the tender age of 36 and am expecting to give birth to a son at the end of August. So here I am, and I realize that life isn't perfect anywhere, that I can't escape its imperfections. I miss the Bay Area, but have resigned myself to living here for a while, hoping that my American Dream of 'making it' might still come true. Working hard at assuring Junior a future and at becoming a good role model. Sensing that if I keep pursuing what I love to do I may be able to buy my freedom and be able to live my life the way I want to and offer Junior a future full op possibilities. Because fulfiling my dream/'making it' to me means being able to break the shackles of a low wage job, to earn my way as an artist, to contribute my art to society, to do the things I love to do.
My art has always dealt with issues of belonging, identity, the search for love and communication. Rather than just paint a pretty picture I make drawings that help people reflect on the absurdities, the little pleasures and the little pains in life. I like to laugh and I really enjoy making people laugh. Stylistically my art finds its roots in comics, graphic art and painting. One of my creative goals is to bridge the gap between 'fine art' and 'graphic art'. Though my art makes many references to cartoons and contains a lot of illustrative elements I strive to create work that trancscends literal picture making. It's no surprise that some of my biggest influences include Raymond Pettibon, Philip Guston, Robert Crumb, Paul McCarthy, Gary Larson, Gary Baseman, Goya and illustrator Henrik Drescher. Currently I'm on a tyrade making fun of the art world: its overconsumptive nature, the trials and tribulations as an artist. I take advertisments from art magazines and leave my mark as it were: like a bathroom graffiti artist, like a dog on the street. The series I'm working on is called Fuck Art and I use mostly sexual images as they seem to be the most primal way for me to express my cynicism. Another series I'm working on is a series of drawings which are meant to be viewed in a horizontal strip, much like an animation reel. But here, you make your own story. You get a set of characters and several text panels, but it's up to the viewer to narrate. it's up to the viewer to animate his imagination.
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Antwerp, Belgium, July, 2008
