SOFIA
FONZO INTERVIEW !
SOFIA FONZO - an illustration
student at savannah college of art - asked us these great
questions! we finally found some free time to sit down and
answer them!
What inspires you, are there
any certain books, comics, movies or television that inspired
you?
absolutely. television was our big
influence - at first. we had an old black and white television
in our basement - a zenith - that we could sometimes get
to work decent. all the neighborhood kids would come over
- drink sodas - watch looney tunes and disney shorts and
silk stalkings. one time my older brother brought over a
vhs of ren and stimpy that he taped from mtv - at a rich
friends house. it was the fire dogs episode. we were totally
jacked off by that show. it changed our lives forever. some
other moments - like that - were when we first heard wu-tang
clans 36 chambers album - when we first saw jim mahfoods
zombie kid comics - when we first watched wes andersons
bottle rocket movie. those were all things that changed
the way we thought about our lives and what was possible.
our biggest inspiration of all time - however - is the work
of mc escher. his prints are a perfect balance of style
and mentality that we aspire to capture with our drawings.
he's the one person that we relate to most in this life.
What are you passionate about?
having mutually satisfying sexual intercourse
with loved ones. we're also really into renewable energy
and big boobs. obviously we love to draw a wicked lot. we
like to think about spray painting things gold - but not
actually doing it cause of the smell. we're super passionate
about growing up during the 1980's - AIDS really blew up
back then - there was cocaine in coca cola - everyone had
a fresh pair of nike basketball shoes on - it was one of
the best decade we've ever seen.
Who are artists that have influenced
your work or you look up to?
well escher of course. also - OJ SIMPSON is a personal hero
of ours. nobody fucks with the juice - and we like that
a whole bunch. if the masons hadn't framed him for that
vegas sports memorabilia heist - he'd probably have been
the first black president by now.
What kind of working environment do you like to keep, basically
what is your studio/working space like?
we do a lot of work in the bath tub
- smoking marijuana mostly . sometimes we like to have adult
movies playing while we work - but we almost always listen
to audio books from the library. audiobooks really get us
in the creative mind-space continuum. there are usually
snacks all around us - as well as free weights for when
we want to get really pumped up. we're on and off the internet
a lot - being dynamic - talking on cellular phones to people
all over the world. it's a really high energy environment
for sure.
Can you give me a brief run through of your process in making
a piece?
sometimes an image just appears in
our head - like aliens probed it there. other times we figure
it out through sketching. we draw with a pencil on watercolor
paper - ink with a brush - and color it in photoshop. well
- that's how we do our illustration work anyway. the cartoon
stuff is all drawn with micron pens so we can really crank
it out fast and keep up with the rest of the production
team. sexy hot co-workers color our cartoon drawings - then
they are electronically mailed across the ocean to get animated
by super talented asian slaves in a sweatshop factory. the
show creators totally get to go on vacation at the animation
sweat shops - to make sure shit is gettin done right - but
they can't hit the slaves cause they might bring diseases
back to their families here in america. the animation industry
is really amazing!
What did you do after school?
we played basketball in the european
leagues for a while - and we were totally racking up the
huge stats - bustin on the huge racks - but then we got
deported on trumped up cock fighting allegations. after
that - we carried a trapper keeper of rad drawings in our
back packs and showed em around everywhere. we did a bunch
of work for the new york times that first year - for the
amazing art director steve heller - which was great. we
made some comics - drew some album covers - designed some
coffee labels. all sorts of stuff. we were figuring out
what we wanted to do. those were the salad days - we were
out there every day - making a name for ourselves on the
streets of new england. it seems like a life time ago. now
its all steak and eggs in hollywood - sleeping on sunset
boulevard - texting girls in long beach - we've really come
a long way.
How did you get to the point you are
today (i.e. jobs internships)
huge heart. anyone who gets to do what
they want every day either has a huge penis or a huge heart.
the internet also played a curcial part in people giving
us work. having a good web presence is maybe the most importantest
thing in todays futuristic technological universe. we draw
every day and we get those drawings out on the interworld.
most of our biggest jobs have come right to our email doorstep.
we do what we do - and people come and give us money for
that. a lot of old wives say: "it takes five years
to get established in a vocation - and only twenty seconds
to get pregnant". we'd say that sounds about right
- but we'd also like to add that you will never reach a
point where you've "arrived" or "made it"
- because you always want to be headed somewhere new. in
other words: if you're planning for retirement - you probably
picked the wrong career. we'll be buried with a pencil in
our hand - and also wearing a flavored condom - it's already
in the will.
What did you want to be as a child
(i.e. I wanted to be Indiana Jones)
a dinosaur and a mechanical engineer. also - probably a
necromancer.
What kind of things do you like to draw in your sketchbook,
do you focus on people, objects or crazy musings?
we sketch whatever we are planning
to draw. it could be anything - but if we're just sketching
to sketch it's usually escaped rapists - for the police
to use in solving crimes. having a safe community is still
really important these days.
Do you ever feel like you are in a slump, and if so what
do you do when that happens, I know at school me and my
friends will just run out of ideas or inspiration for a
week or two.
we have far too many ideas to keep up with - so we never
really get into slumps. if we did - we'd just break out
some inspirational movies - books - a sex doll. when you're
open and loose ideas will flow freely.
Why did you choose the name Ghost Shrimp, is there a special
meaning behind this name or a crazy story?
oh funny story there. this czech girl was giving us handjobs
on a boat one nite - and the only english phrase she knew
was: "go fish" - but in her broken english it
sounded just like "ghostshrimp". we all laughed
about it for a wicked long time and kept on saying it to
her all nite. it's sort of an inside joke.
When did you decide that you wanted to make your design
group go solar powered?
we realized how rad solar power was in like 2006 or something.
eben acreson and grease lightning really got us into it.
they were both using panels for electricity. acreson was
starting to run fort freedom on solar in those days - and
lightning was building panels in south america. as soon
as we saw what they were doing - we were hooked. its really
the most magical man made technology that exists. like electrical
photosynthesis.
What are your plans for the future of the Ghost Shrimp camp,
I know you are working on expanding?
huge plans. most of them are secret and require voodoo blood
wizardry and multiple wardrobe changes. for starters - we're
definitely going to live in an impregnable castle surrounded
by deadly traps that frighten off local law enforcement.
we're going to celebrate white history month - smoke pot
and talk about the bermuda triangle with 7th graders - build
a helicopter out of skeletons and fly over some remote trailer
parks. probably some more super realistic shit like - rope
bridges - stone towers - gasoline moats - piranha water
balloons - subterranean escape tunnels. basically we're
gonna do everything amazing all at once. some people think
we're exaggerating but we're actually not at all. they are
just jealous - cause their brains are broken - and all they
ever talk about is old red lobster commercials.
Do you watch either of the cartoon
shows you have designed for, I'm just asking out of curiosity?
yes we do. FLAPJACK is pretty great
- ADVENTURE TIME is even better!
Finally, do you have any
advice for people trying to get into the art world?
always do your best work - and never marry a girl who won't
do anal on the first date.
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