Joe Roberts
"I’m not trying to draw what I see really, all my stuff is kind of in code"
Joe Roberts (b. 1976, Madison, WI) was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Roberts studied at the San Francisco Art Institute. His works are manifestations of psychedelia. Exploring themes of pop culture, nature, and extraterrestrial life, his works transport viewers into a mind-bending universe. Selected solo presentations include Slow Culture, Los Angeles; Marlborough, New York City; Capital, San Francisco. His work was in group shows at The Luggage Store, San Francisco; SHRINE, New York City; MASH Gallery, Los Angeles; Galerie Steinsland Berliner, Stockholm, Sweden; and SITUATIONS, New York City. Roberts lives and works in San Francisco, CA.
MEPAINTSME: You live in San Francisco? How long have you been living there?
JOE ROBERTS: Oh wow, I’ve been living here for about 25 years.
MPM: You’re originally from Madison, Wisconsin correct? So what brought you out there?
JR: I came out to San Francisco just to skate, really - I came out here from Milwaukee. I lived in the Mission, then moved to Berkeley. An artist friend of mine said he was moving to New York and told me I could take his studio, so I ended up living there for a while.
MPM: So what got you interested in art?
JR: Well, it was something I always did. My father was a librarian and had a huge collection of comics, which I used to spend a ton of time looking at. Some of the stuff he had, like Zap comics, really blew my mind.
MPM: Some of that stuff is not exactly for kids!
JR: Yeah, but at the time I didn’t really know about it or care. He used to be a little more careful about Zap comix and keep them a bit hidden, but eventually I got a hold of them. My father and I would go to the comic book store, and eventually, I tuned into to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, right around when they were coming out. I also was very influenced by my grandfather who became an artist after he retired. He studied art at The University of Wisconsin (they eventually made him an honorary art professor). He used to do all kinds of art, made sculptures, drawings, collages, and paintings from found objects and homemade materials, even welding. He was really into sharing it with me. My parents used to drop me off at his house for the weekend and he would always tell me about art and show me things. I always kind of made stuff.
MPM: So you had no plan on becoming an artist?
JR: No, not at all.
MPM: I’ve been very interested in your work since I first saw it a couple of years ago. I think one of the things that draws people into your work, aside from being incredibly earnest and fantastic works of art on their own, is that the images you produce are for the most part interpretations or expressions of your rather deep involvement with psychedelics.
JR: Sure. I think people who’ve used psychedelics have a deep connection to them and anyone who hasn’t is equally curious about them. I’m not trying to draw what I see really, all my stuff is kind of in code.
MPM: The other thing that is unique is your avidness towards them.
JR: Yeah, well it changed my life.
MPM: I have some experience with Mushrooms and LSD - but it sounds like DMT is it’s own thing - can you describe how it’s different?
JR: Well the effects are really close to Mushrooms, but LSD is its own thing. The difference with DMT is that when you smoke it you feel like you’ve been dropped right at the peak… when you’re on Mushrooms.
MPM: I Was checking out your one person show you had at Guerrero Gallery in L.A. titled The Gopherwoods. What does the title refer to?
JR: Apparently gopherwood is what Noah built his ark out of. There isn’t any direct connection with the work other than I included animals, but I was reading about it and it felt related somehow.
MPM: You’ve been experimenting with more textural elements…?
JR: Yeah a little, somebody gave me a bunch of art supplies and there was this stuff called …uh…pumice. So I started adding the pumice to my work and then painting on it to give it more texture.
MPM: Have you ever done any sculpture?
JR: Not really. I used to make these little figures out of cardboard and sell them on the street.
MPM: What are you currently working on?
JR: I haven’t been doing much work in the studio lately because I’ve been painting a big mural in the Haight.
MPM: How did that come about?
JR: It was commissioned by Thrasher magazine.
MPM: So I was curious about the cartoon characters that run throughout your work, like Mickey Mouse. Are those characters like symbols of something bigger?
JR: The characters are sometimes representations of people and experiences I’ve had, some represent certain aspects of myself, but that’s ultimately not as important when you’re looking at the work. It’s a lot of shit, it’s all kinda personal but it’s nice to connect with people.
MPM: Are the turtles you draw a direct reference to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles you mentioned earlier?
JR: Yes! I was so into those early comics and still are influenced by them in certain ways. There was something so disturbing about them and how violent they were sometimes. Not anything like what they eventually turned into.
MPM: So how old’s your son? How’s that changed your art making?
JR: It’s been a real change obviously. I used to just disappear for days in the studio and of course now I have to be a little more regimented and I need to switch gears.
MPM: Now that you have a young boy are you actively into psychedelics?
JR: No, I’ve taken a pause on that.
MPM: But you must have an incredible amount of information from psychedelics that you can still draw from?
JR: Oh, I have a ton of stuff that I’ve drawn and written that I draw from, I don’t think that will ever leave me. What I took away from it was that it changes reality. It definitely altered my brain in some way.
MPM: Does your son make art?
JR: Oh sure, when the mood strikes him. He has his own easel next to mine in the studio. He asks me to draw things for him. I never drew anything like construction things but he’ll ask me to draw a dump truck or whatever and I’m like “O.K. I guess I’m drawing a dump truck.”
MPM: Last thing. Your old moniker and IG handle LSDworldpeace sort of disappeared. What happened to it?
JR: I got rid of that because it was causing me too many headaches really. People were DMing me all the time to help guide them or whatever and I was getting tired of it. I eventually just got rid of my IG account because I was so sick of it.
MPM: But you have an account now that you’re pretty active with.
JR: Yeah
MPM: What does your current IG handle 61ca3htta33w mean?
JR: It actually says ‘we eat the acid’ backwards.
MPM: Oh hah I never got that! Well it’s been fun, thanks for talking Joe.
JR: Oh sure man, thanks.
Check out these books on Joe Roberts’ art:
LSD Worldpeace, by Joe Roberts.
We Ate the Acid, by Joe Roberts.
Available for purchase at Bookshop.org, Amazon. #affilatelinks
Joe Roberts’ work is included in the current group exhibition, Slight of Hand, on view at mepaintsme.com.