Felix Semper - Believe In You And Don’t Give Up Because You Will Succeed (Artist)

I get inspired by what is around me everyday items such as a cereal box or a bag of Lay’s chips, I see art everywhere.

1. Tell us more about your background and journey.

I started making my paper sculpture after I lost my custom home building business in 2008, I have always loved and made art but in 2008 when the housing market collapsed I lost my construction business and went bankrupt, and in order to stay sane and not go crazy I started making art. 

I taught myself drawing, painting, one day it was snowing outside and I wanted to get out of the house so I started to make this snow sculpture bust (I had never created a sculpture of any kind before this) my wife and others saw it and they were astonished they all said I should pursue sculpting cause I had a natural gift for it, so I took a few weekend clay sculpting courses at my local college. 

I impressed everyone in the class including the teacher, soon realized if I wanted to be serious and make this a career so late in my life I had to create something radical, something no ones has ever seen before, so as I recalled my early days after high school.

I had a fascination with animation and Disney art but never really pursued it, so I got a job in a printshop as a paste-up artist and when the staff in the printshop needed extra help in the back I would help by cutting these blocks of paper and as cut them with a hydraulic paper cutter the paper would create design and shapes. 

I would daydream as to how could this could I transform this into art, sculpture or something like it, this was in the back of my mind all this time as I thought about it so now with that idea present I decided to take sheets of paper and glue them together to create a solid block of paper which I then started to carve and create this beautiful bust.

The problem was that I couldn’t prove it was paper so I kept experimenting with the glueing techniques until finally, I had a sculpture that looked traditional but wasn’t in any way an ordinary sculpture it could stretch. 

I decided to take it to NYC to Washington Square Park to get the reaction from the passers-by and as soon as I opened the sculpture and started to stretch mobs of people would gather around me to film and share with friends and they were fascinated the reviews were in and people couldn’t get enough of them. 

I felt like a snake charmer cause people where tranced as soon as the sculpture stretched their eyes were glued to my art.


2. When did you decide you wanted to be an artist?

I believe you are born with the gift of creating art, therefore I have always been an artist although it didn’t flourish later in my life.


3. Is it a financially stable career?

Being financially independent making Art can be challenging at first but if one persists and it is not only talented but business-savvy being financially stable can be achieved.


4. Who is your favourite illustrator and why?

I have always liked and been influenced by Jean-Michele Basquiat, I like the street-Influenced art and the spontaneous way in which he expressed himself and thoughts on canvases.


5. Where do you get inspired from to create art? 

I get inspired by what is around me everyday items such as a cereal box or a bag of Lay’s chips, I see art everywhere.


6. What piece of advice would you like to give to future aspiring artists?

I would say to stick to it and don’t listen to the discouraging advice you will may receive but learn from them and stay positive but mostly believe in you and don’t give up because you will succeed!!.


7. Which is your favourite book and why?

I really enjoyed ‘BOOM Mad Money, Mega Dealers, and the Rise of Contemporary Art” by Michael Shnayerson, it gives a good explanation and history of the art market and its artists.


- Felix Semper (Artist)

Felix Semper is an Internationally renown artist, his art reflects his culture and his experiences as he has travelled and lived internationally, he has been featured in National and International primetime television shows, radio, documentaries, and newspapers such as The New York Post, His work is collected and sought after by celebrities, royalty, corporations and International art collectors alike.

Website: http://www.felixsemper.com/index.html

Interviewed By Akshaya Rathinavadivel