David Polka knows a career in art isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme. Polka comes from a family of artists and got a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in studio art. He’s had shows for the pieces he creates on multiple mediums including wood and paper. Polka said New Mexican art has influenced him without his realizing it, and he will incorporate that style into his future work.
Daily Lobo: What is your show at Cirq based on, and how did you get inspired for the show?
David Polka: It’s basically a body of work from the last year. For this particular show with the title “In Abandon,” I was really thinking about moving on from things. I’m getting ready to move from Albuquerque, so, it was understanding the things that I like about this place and also the things that I don’t like and leaving that behind. The name of my last show was “What We Left Behind,” and that one was more about growing up and what we left behind and those parts of yourself that you hold on to and the ones that you get rid of as you grow older. So I guess this show is similar, but the last show was more about other people, and this one is more about me.
DL: What types of mediums are you working on?
DP: I’ve been painting on wood for the past four years now, and it was kind of my shtick for a while, but I just got kind of bored and felt like branching out. I’ve been doing some stuff on paper lately. I did do a few large pieces on plywood for this one. I’ve gone smaller and have really zoomed in on my drawings. I’ve been doing smaller stuff on paper, but it was giving me headaches working on small papers all the time. I wanted to stretch out again and do something bigger. And I did a big mural in another gallery kind of on the same idea, and it’s a really huge space so I wanted to do my best to fill it.
DL: What’s your artistic history?
DP: I’ve always done art classes, and my parents are both artists, so they were really supportive of that. In high school was when I started getting into the idea of doing fine art and showing it in galleries. I had been writing graffiti for a few years up until that point. I wasn’t getting totally bored with it, but I knew there was more out there. I had this really amazing teacher in high school who really pushed me and helped me learn how to be an artist. Then I came to UNM and got a BFA in studio art, and then I’ve been showing here in Albuquerque every six months to a year since about 2006.
DP: It goes both ways. There’s a lot of really cool people here who know other people in other parts of the country. And it’s good to make an entrance, but as far as an art market there’s really not one at all, because it’s really limited in terms of the money. If it’s not southwestern, old-town friendly art, then there’s not that many people interested in buying it. That’s kind of hard, because if you don’t want to pigeonhole your style and really sort of sell yourself to that whole set of galleries, there’s not much money out of there.
DL: Where are you moving to from Albuquerque?
DP: I’m moving to Philadelphia in the spring and going to try and get some sort of job out there and continue to show art. I’m not expecting to get rich and famous any time soon, but you just have to keep doing it and keep showing it and eventually you’ll develop enough connections with people. But in the meantime I have to get a real job.
DL: Why did you choose Philadelphia?
DP: My parents are both from Pennsylvania, and I’m drawn to the east coast because the feel is really different than it is here. I felt like going to California would be cool, but the attitude out there is all kind of the same. Out on the East Coast it is faster and no-nonsense. I wanted to go somewhere different for a little while.
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DL: What is one of the most rewarding projects you’ve done in Albuquerque?
DP: I would say making album covers is probably the most fun. You get to do the full brochure, not just one little flier. I’ve seen that all the way through from the raw sketch to the finished project, and it’s pretty cool.
DL: Is that something you see yourself doing in the future?
DP: It’s something I know I will never get burned out on because there are always new projects and there’s a lot of creative freedom with it. Like I said, I’m not planning on getting rich any time soon, so the compromise is finding a job that you can be really creative with and still support yourself and be comfortable.
