Today we’d like to introduce you to Zachary Balousek.
Zachary, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I grew up on an old farmhouse in the country, with cornfields on all sides. It was a great place to let my imagination take over. In the summer I used to pull old scraps of material from the barn and build rafts that my friends and I would lug down to the creek. It was very “Sawyeresque.” When I wasn’t running around in the fields I drew up elaborate plans for treehouses and boats My ambitions often superseded my abilities–it seemed more likely that I would aspire to be an architect instead of an artist, but by the time I started college I was already on another path. I became very interested in music and anthropology and had grand ideas of becoming an ethnographer, but when I took a ceramics class I fell in love all over again. It was through clay that I found a way to be that ethnographer. We learned all about chemistry, physics, history and culture, all through working with our hands just as people had done for millennia. We learned how to mix raw materials to make glazes and how to control fire. I went on to earn my BFA in ceramics from Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville. Afterwards, I took up an artist’s residency at Terra Incognito in Oak Park, where I had the freedom to explore some of the more ambitious ideas in my work like incorporating wood and animal hide into my ceramics to make functional musical instruments.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
Most of my focus now is in making musical sculptures. A lot of the work ties into my background as a musician and my interest in early human society. Instruments are particularly interesting to me; because of the ephemeral nature of sound, we cannot hear the past but through these objects we can recreate it. What started off as making ocarinas and drums in clay blossomed into making large hybrid instruments involving pitched ceramic vessels, strings and a lot of goat skin. I am obsessed with learning about the past and so much of my process involves using primitive materials. I feel like it gives me a better understanding of that time and place but it also gives me some guidance while creating. I try to capture some of that aesthetic that blurs the lines between Neolithic and contemporary. I want the viewer to find something familiar in the work but with the same sense of discovery and intrigue as an archaeologist encountering these objects for the first time. I try to recreate and arouse the same curiosity in my audience that I feel when I attempt to connect our past with our present, tracing the hands of our distant elders on the eternal palimpsests of our history.
What would you recommend to an artist new to the city, or to art, in terms of meeting and connecting with other artists and creatives?
We are fortunate that in the current art world, social media offers so many opportunities to get your work out there. I would say besides the obvious of being active and connecting on social media, I recommend just physically going to an art show and meeting local artists like yourself. (Chicago Artist Resource is a great place to find shows, galleries, or artist spaces.) You never know when you will find connections to a perfect stranger. I have found that the art community here in Chicago can seem large and daunting, but over time it keeps feeling smaller and more welcoming. As you meet more people, they will know the same people you do, and you bond over that. It’s really a great feeling.
What do you think about conditions for artists today? Has life become easier or harder for artists in recent years? What can cities like ours do to encourage and help art and artists thrive?
I think to discuss the current conditions for artists today you have to mention the way that the internet and social media have made it so accessible to people everywhere. Overall, I think there has been a lot of positive change in that. Artists that may have never had an opportunity to have their work seen now have an audience at their fingertips, and in that regard, it is easier. It is also worth mentioning that there has been a renewed interest in the handmade, as evidenced by artists’ success on Etsy and Pinterest. I have to joke, when McDonald’s advertises their chicken sandwich as artisanal then you know there is a demand for it and in an ironic way there may be some hope in that.
I see some of the negative factors that are affecting young artists today are part of a larger economic problem. Many are graduating with enormous amounts of debt while simultaneously being stretched thinner by the inflated costs of housing. This is coupled with the added burden that most artists need, in addition to a place to live, a place to make their art and the financial freedom to have time to make their art. With that being the case, the majority of college educated artists today stop making after earning their degrees. Artists may have a larger audience than they ever had available, but no product to offer them.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
People can view my work any time on my website: www.zachbalousek.com. There are also links to my Instagram and Facebook pages on there where I announce shows and upcoming events. I also tend to post progress pictures of my work through my Instagram: the_balousek_acoustic. While I certainly appreciate those patrons that purchase my art, it is not the only way to support the work I do. I am much more interested in people having access to it and taking part in it. Some of my work is public and meant to be interacted with, but even if it is miles away I occasionally post videos and pictures of recent work through social media–the best thing is to see my work re-posted and shared with others. Getting the work out there is the hardest and most important thing for any artist.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1459 W. Blackhawk St., Unit 2F
Chicago, IL 60642 - Website: www.zachbalousek.com
- Phone: 708-214-1040
- Email: zbalou@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_balousek_acoustic/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theBalousekAcoustic/
Image Credit:
Zach Balousek
Danielle Wrobel
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