My Gothamist interview with Tara McPherson, Illustrator and Painter

My Gothamist interview today is with very cool illustrator and painter Tara McPherson



Tara McPherson’s art is striking and memorable, often filled with Gothic images mixed with childlike whimsy, animals, and people grappling with emotional drama, smoking, crying, playing, sometimes with heart-shaped holes cut out of them. You may have seen her rock posters for bands such as Beck, Sleater-Kinney, The Shins, Green Day, Duran Duran and Modest Mouse or her album covers, or numerous comic book covers such as The Witching, The Sandman Presents: Thessaly and Lucifer #45. Her clients have included everyone from Fanta to Punk Planet to New York is Book Country, and her work appears in several books, including The Art of Modern Rock and SWAG. Coming this fall is a Lonely Heart Stationery Set from Dark Horse Comics, featuring four sheets of artwork which deconstruct the theme of a broken heart, literally tearing it up and rearranging it, adding vitality and nuance to this familiar situation. Her striking imagery is immediately recognizable, which is her goal. “I think the worst compliment someone can say is that my art looks just like someone else’s,” the 29-year-old painter, illustrator, businesswoman and bass player proclaims on her website. Gothamist spoke with the newly minted New Yorker, who moved here five months ago from Los Angeles, about limited editions, fans, being “sweetly creepy,” and artistic integrity, as she prepares to introduce her very first toy, a Circus Punk, to the world at the Toy Tokyo showroom on September 30th.

Read the whole thing here (Yes, I very shamelessly just made that entire thing a link, cause I want you to click on it)