Hey Jungle Painters,

Massive Voodoo is about to bring you some interesting interviews in the future of the jungle. Recently we had a really cool one with sculptor Pierre-Jean Chabert. 

With our interviews we want to go a little outside of the box of the miniature world as we think "our art and hobby" is something bigger than just miniatures. Very often all influances and inspiration that sorrounds our Miniature Art are related to different aspects of creativity. We have a collection of interviews on your massive jungle blog: You can read more of them here!

This time we'll take a closer look on David "Dust" Stegmann,
who is a well known Artist creating Contemporary // Urban Art // Designer Toys.

The interview was done by Roman.
Thanks to David for providing his photos for this interview!
We hope you enjoy the read!




Roman:
Tell us a bit about yourself, about the person behind "Dust"?

David:
(describtion in third person from Homepage/Press)


"David Stegmann (b. 1982, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany) is a Swiss-German contemporary artist. Stegmann's early work was heavily influenced by the street and urban art scene, adopting the moniker ‘dust’ in the year 2000. 

In his work, Stegmann deals with what he describes as a new understanding of life and existence of man on Earth. They are impulsive, fascinating images that are consistently developed throughout his oeuvre. His more abstract works seem like random creations, expressive compositions reminiscent of natural phenomena. Stegmann's works have a spectacular presence which forces the viewer to pause and reflect on the scenes before him. 

David Stegmann paints on canvas, wood, paper, and glass; creates sculptures and designer toys; and paints murals in public spaces. His new works with glass are witnesses of his irrepressible pioneering spirit and the consistent progression of his visual and design vocabulary." 

Interview, Artline Kunstmagazin, 2013:
"The common thread in my work is the return to the origin of nature, back to the symbiosis left by man. I depict the state of affairs after the apocalypse, or from a new sort of Big Bang, from which arises new life. I paint micro-macro-cosmos games with single and multi-cellular organisms."



Roman:
Contemporary Art can be a lot of different aspects. Where is your focus in your work and why?

David:
"My main focus is painting on canvas or wood. Outside of that, I love to paint on a large scale. Painting murals is still a very important part of my life because I came from street art, and my work developed more over the years into the direction of contemporary art. Sadly, I do not have the time at the moment to go paint outside; mostly because I have to paint a lot for all the exhibitions! What is free time??"



Roman:
You are also doing Custom Toys, which about we both connected first. Custom Toys are well known in the designer toys community, so how would you describe this passion in short to someone who does not know about it yet?

David:
"There are different materials like vinyl and resin, which the designer toys are made of. Plush, too, but that is a different arena. Basically, you take a regular toy and make something new in your own style – even if it's just a good paint job or a highly-detailed sculpting. The quality of the work dominates the result."

Roman: 
What could be of big interest for the readers of MV: How did you come to create Custom Toys?

David:
"It all began with the creation of the RAS (Radical Action Suit) back in 2006. The funny thing for me was that I didn't know anything about designer toys. I had no idea that there was a complex scene. 

I was just notified about that scene when some emails dropped in and people asked me where they could buy my designer toys. I was a bit confused and asked them where they found my designer toys. They told me that there were some reviews on the top designer toy blogs. The Internet can be pretty fast, haha. I just wanted to bring my characters to life by sculpting them. This was the start for numerous releases of different art toy series. Besides my main releases, I work a lot on different platforms (DIY – Do It Yourself) to create unique, designer toy customs."



Roman: 
What is your personal favourite of your work so far and why?

David: 
"I don’t have any real favourite piece of work. To me, it’s all more of a journey. Every creation I paint or sculpt is a unique piece of its own. And I try bring each piece to its own perfection…by bringing it needed love and detail."

Roman: 
Where do you get your inspiration from? Do you have rituals like music or something else if you are on the search for a new and unique idea?

David: 
"Most of my inspiration comes by itself, on its own. The main influence in my paintings comes from Mother Nature. In the case of the designer toys, it's heavily influenced by comics and thoughts of sci-fi. But, I always listen to a lot of music when I paint or sculpt, mostly rock.

Roman: 
Your favourite song of all time?

David: 
"Black Sabbath – “Paranoid”"


Roman: 
Tell us your most crazy moment you have encountered with your work at "Dust"?

David:
"There where countless crazy things that have happened over the years, but I don’t have any specific one in mind. 

Oh, one thing was very funny. I painted a huge mural in Freiburg, Germany, and the cops drove by every day, slowing down to look. I thought every minute that they would ask for my papers and permission, but they didn't. And then, the day I was finished after over a week of painting, I cleaned up and packed my stuff. A police car came by at full speed and slammed the brakes – I thought they were going to drive over me. I was like in the movies. They got out to bother me, and it was that typical bad cop good cop situation. I just started laughing...like what the fuck. You see me a painting for an entire week, and after it’s all said and done at the very end, you then start to harass me." 



Your recommendation for someone who is interested in getting into Custom Toys?

David: 
"Get yourself some DIY (Do-it-yourself) toys and start painting them or sculpting them into a new shape. Most of the DIY toys are made of vinyl, which is very easy to cut and drill. Try to develop something new. 

If you are not very familiar working freestyle, try to make a sketch first – like blueprint views from all sides. The best material for sculpting on designer toys is Milliput or Super Sculpey, but it has to be baked. But, you don’t have to sculpt; you can easily just start to paint them in the way you want it to look. You can use acrylic lacquer, or just pens based on laquer. Or spray paint, or whatever you prefer. (Paint is very good for the base coat)."



Roman: 
When and where is the next event that you are present?

David: 
"At the moment I am part of a group exhibition in Zürich (CH) at ART333 gallery. 

My current solo exhibition is in Braunschweig (DE), at Hugo45 gallery “Nature Strikes Back,” just ended. 

Then, next month, there will be another group exhibition in Bad Zurzach (CH) at Galerie Mauritsiushof, and I'm already painting a lot for my upcoming solo exhibition at Strzelski Galerie in Stuttgart (DE), a really fantastic gallery for abstract art."

Roman:
Thank you for a nice interview and your time, David.

You can find more work of David "Dust" Stegmann here:

https://de-de.facebook.com/dustHQ
http://www.davidstegmann.de/en/