In Conversation with Eric Sesto

Sesto portrays human beings as roaming, digital-flesh creatures that project their mentality onto their environment wherever they go. In his paintings he establishes together a symbolic tapestry of images that explore narratives surrounding the artist’s interests in anatomy, geography, technology and psychology. By employing realism, surrealism and contemporary geometric abstraction; and through a constant interplay of scale and perspective; the paintings prompt questioning of the nature of reality, what it means to be human and what it is to see. The artist explores how human beings extend beyond their bodies and physical realms. The appreciation of the landscape and nature in his work is a homage to his childhood spent in regional Australia.

What’s your artistic background?

I discovered my interest in painting at a very early age. Since I was 5 years old I wanted to be an artist and I knew since then that paint was the medium I was most drawn to. I could explain my artist background in terms of my degree in Architectural Design, or the big travel I went on when I graduated: painting murals across Central and South America. But
the truth is my true artistic background is at age 5, at my grandmother’s house where she put paints and paper out for me every weekend. Most of what I know about art is what I have taught myself, and my love for the activity was ignited by my grandmother.

What’s integral to the work of an artist?

Reflection and patience. You need to constantly reflect on why you are making things and where you are going with them. You need to be patient as incredible things are made little by little.

 What role does the artist have in society?

I believe that it is the artist’s role to show us what is beautiful and meaningful about existence, even if that beauty or meaning can be grotesque or banal. In the current world, and the world of the last century it seems the art world has favoured the role of the artist as one to ‘challenge art’ and ‘deconstruct art’ which I find very superficial and restricted. Artists have the responsibility to respond to life, and not only to respond to art. I think being alive as a biological being is mind-blowing and it is the artist’s responsibility to point to all facets about life worth remembering, particularly if it exists outside the realm of language.

What art do you most identify with?

I identify most with surrealism and realism most dominantly as I believe human lived experience sits somewhere between the two.

What themes do you pursue?

General themes of anatomy, geography, psychology and technology are always present in different aspects of my work. Even if I do not depict people in an artwork, the work is still occupied with how people perceive a scene, or have interacted with it.
I believe the theme that runs most powerfully through my work is the way that people project themselves onto their environments. I will either paint a landscape or a room, that I see as a stage for a symbolic, psychological drama, even if that drama is as light as a feather or as elusive as a dream.

What’s your favourite art work?

I’m not sure which is my favourite but any self-portrait by Vincent Van Gogh is a contender. I also love Magritte’s paintings of houses inside houses.

Describe a real-life situation that inspired you?

Much of my art is inspired by scenes from my travels. For example I recently completed a 6-month road trip of my home country Australia, and have been bringing images, landscapes and ideas from my journey into my studio work. For me art is always a feed-back loop with real life.

What jobs have you done other than being an artist?

I have done so many different jobs to subsidize my art on my journey growing into a professional artist. I think if you really want to be an artist it is hard to avoid. But despite having jobs in education and customer relations at times, my creative pursuits have been what takes up a majority of my week.

 Why art?

Simply because I cannot live without it.

What is an artistic outlook on life?

One that is not fundamentally rooted in money, but instead to understand the world by your imagination and collective imaginations of it.

What memorable responses have you had to your work?

Someone once told me they go to visit one of my murals whenever they are sad.

What food, drink, song inspires you?

I drink a lot of coffee when I paint, and I usually have the CD player blasting either electronic or jazz music. “Sheath” by LFO, “Pop” by Gas, “Tomorrow’s Harvest” by Boards of Canada, and “Hazyville” by Actress are electronic albums that usually get the juices flowing. Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington are must-haves when painting to jazz.

 Is the artistic life lonely? What do you do to counteract it?

Artistic life is very lonely but I enjoy it that way, it gives me room to think. I counteract it by getting out of the house a lot either to go to the gym or soak up the neighbourhood. I don’t think there is a problem with being lonely, but there is a problem with spending all day in your head. I counteract it by being a body instead at different moments in my day.

What do you dislike about the art world?

I dislike the belief that artistic merit and genius is all about concepts. Ideas are important but we forget so much that art is a craft. Furthermore social media algorithms favour work that is made quickly and simply, as production of quick works lead to straightforward videos and regular posting. For this reason, quick and simple works are becoming increasingly promoted in the art world, but I never enjoy looking at anything when I can see it was made in a few hours by regurgitated, simple moves. Where is the love?

 What do you dislike about your work?

I dislike how long it takes when I have so many works to finish at once.

 What do you like about your work?

It’s really hard to say, but I find a quality in it that is quite original. It’s kinda airy and dreamy but tense and concrete at the same time.

 Should art be funded?

Yes !

What role does arts funding have?

Arts funding should have a responsibility to oversee not only community-based and accessible works being made available to the public, but the advancement of all good art within the funding area, whether or not that art is positive or negative or favoured by the majority.

What is your dream project?

To be given a gigantic wall to paint with all expenses paid, no brief nor deadline.

Name three artists you’d like to be compared to.

Rene’ Magritte, Jeffrey Smart, Fernando Botero.

Favourite or most inspirational place ?

The farm where i grew up as a child and adolescent, and the tiny town in which is was, are so filled with nostalgia for me that there could never be a physical environment to me which is more inspirational.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

The Australian artist Ivan Durant once told me that as soon as you make artwork in someone else’s style or by someone else’s tastes you have already failed. You need to stay true to yourself.

 Professionally, what’s your goal?

To take it as far as I can.

future plans?

I think getting lost in the momentum of the studio work and mural work that I do, will help generate plans for me naturally. Though I am thinking to visit Europe and some other regions of the world, my only solid future plan is to make as much work as I can and fall even more deeply in love with it.