The Interview : Stephen Mead
 

Rachna Singh, Editor, The Wise Owl, in conversation with Stephen Mead, who retired as a civil servant, having worked two decades for three state agencies. Before that his more personally fulfilling career was in healthcare. Throughout all this he was able to find time for writing and art. He is currently resident artist/curator for The Chroma Museum, artistic renderings of LGBTQI historical figures, organizations and allies predominantly before Stonewall. Currently he lives in Albany.

Thank you Stephen, for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to The Wise Owl

RS: You are an artist with your artwork spanning four decades. For the benefit of our readers please tell us a little about what made you gravitate towards art. Was there a defining moment that made you venture into art or was there a creative mentor who encouraged you to become an artist?

SM: Thank you, Rachna, for interviewing me and allowing me this chance to open up with The Wise Owl audience.  Like many, I feel I gravitated to art innately, especially given how children love to be spontaneously creative.  It was in my teen years that I found myself beginning to explore it further.  Perhaps this was an organic outlet for growing pains, but also because I was becoming more aware of art and artists as an important part of cultures/humanity.  When I was growing up there was a board game called "Masterpiece" which featured postcard-size replicas of works of international art from before the Renaissance through Cubism and later.  The artwork was auctioned and the players had fake money to bid with but sometimes it turns out the work turned out to be forgeries - which of course was not a good thing! In any case, I felt a real inner pull of wanting to create as these masters in the game did.  It seemed like an interesting way to live.

RS: Being a civil servant or a healthcare specialist is very demanding. I am curious to know how you found time to nurture your passions for writing and art? Were there specific experiences that fuelled your creativity during your civil service and healthcare work?

SM: Working in healthcare occurred when I was younger, up to my mid-30s before the career move to Civil Service.  I think in many ways it was a natural route for a creative person because taking care of others can be very spiritual and hopefully fuelled by empathy/sensitivity, and thus, like with art, I could sort of lose myself in others needs/feelings as I would while making art for hours.  Much of my art has been inspired by this hands-on caretaking and some of my art actually depicts it.  Being a Civil Servant presented a different challenge since that sort of personal passionate inspiration was cut off, and therefore I had to push myself to bring that part of my personality on some subterranean level into the 9 - 5 cubicle, while making sure the motivations for making art still came from an exploratory spiritual core quite separate really, than how I was making money!

RS: Your artwork spans various media—watercolour pencil, gouache, acrylics, pastels etc. What inspires your choice of medium for a particular piece?

SM: I've gone through different long phases with different mediums and some of that is due to what I could afford or had at hand at a certain age, and then much of it came about by becoming aware of these other mediums and wanting to try them out.  Still, I started mixing medias fairly early on - for example - maybe beginning a piece in chalk pastels or oil pastels and then seeing what would happen when I would wet it or place something like gouache or an acrylic glaze on top or next to it.  In many ways the creativity has been very intuitive and instinctive, including the choosing of texture, canvas vs. paper, being worked on- and a good deal of the process has been allowing the images to communicate with me on how they want to be shown.

RS: Many of your works centre around LGBTQI figures before the pivotal Stonewall riots. Is there a personal or historical figure you feel particularly connected to, and why?

SM:  There are so many it is hard to come down to just one.  I would say Harvey Milk was a big Post-Stonewall role model simply because here in the States he was one of the most bravely OUT when I was coming of age.  But then of course a person starts learning about history and what happened to people like Oscar Wilde so I believe a compassionate affinity cannot but be helped.

RS: As the resident artist/curator of The Chroma Museum, what was your vision when you began this project?

SM:  Actually, when I began the project - like a lot of my works which turn into part of a series - I had no idea it was going to turn into a project at all, let alone such a major one.  The first image came about circa 2014/2015, around the time same-sex marriage was becoming legal in the states.  I read an article about this couple in their late 70s, Eric Marcoux and Eugene Woodworth, who'd been together for decades and finally could have their relationship validated.  I'm kind of a magpie in the sense that I collect images as either collage paper cut-outs or things I've seen online and saved to my computer.  After doing the Eric and Eugene montage piece I began going through what images I had regarding same-sex love through the ages, pre-Stonewall, you know, seeing where the creative juices would take me, but then I really felt this sort of vocational urge to do research and educate myself and pay some sort of documented homage to those who came before.

RS: In today’s socio-political climate, how do you view the role of art in advocating for LGBTQI rights? Has your work with The Chroma Museum been shaped by any particular moments of activism?

SM: Whether the majority of people on earth realize it or not, Art of conscience is essential in every struggling age of humanity, and LGBTQI rights have always seemed to go hand in hand with creativity, including creative living - either to fit in or to take a stand.  I think art and causes just have a natural complimentary relationship since they stem from a passionate intrinsic core.  Since the work in The Chroma Museum is predominantly pre-Stonewall, the movement it encompasses is really more about individuals in their particular international circumstances and times in history, often isolated but also finding ways to come together while not necessarily aware others are also doing the same in a different part of the world.

RS: Reflecting on your career as a civil servant, healthcare worker, artist, and writer, what advice would you offer to someone who wants to pursue their passions while navigating multiple professional paths?

SM:  I would advise creative types to try and not be too hard on themselves, beating themselves up with the desire to create vs. the realities of being exhausted or the inner chant of not working hard enough on being creative.  The creative work will come in whatever channel it can come through and in its own time and fashion.  The not beating one's self up advice applies to anyone wearing many hats/duties such as parent or spouse or caretaker.  We are all only human and can stress and stretch ourselves too thin so perspective and balance are essential and are to be treasured when those moments of breathing space come.

RS: Are there any upcoming exhibitions, pieces, or writing projects you’re particularly excited about? How do you plan to further the work you’ve started at The Chroma Museum?

SM: Locally, out of the blue, an old friend has asked me to be part of an anti-pollution art show in the Spring, so I am happy about letting some ideas start germinating about that, and The Chroma Museum will continue to remain a work-in-progress as I remain a magpie staying alert and hoping to find one more LGBTQI story to creatively render.  That is why on the first page of the museum I ask others to contact me regarding anyone whom they would like to see the museum include.

RS: How do you hope your work, both in The Chroma Museum and your broader artistic output, contributes to the legacy of LGBTQI history and culture for future generations?

SM:  Well, as much as I try to squelch it like some sort of embarrassment, by nature to exist itself is to have some sort of ego and a person does want creative work validated and recognized.  To know it has touched another's life at some point is the most one came hope for realistically, whereas having some sort of legacy for future generations...that's sort of like playing a lottery with the wheel of fortune. I realistically admit that the Chroma Museum does not get much traffic and as an artist/writer type I remain pretty obscure and inconsequential. I just hope future generations are able to exist on an environmentally safe and stable planet where history and cultures of all are seen as having equal value.

Thank you Stephen for taking time out to talk to The Wise Owl. We wish you the very best in all your future creative endeavours.