by Chris Tsekouras
Hello, Sara Dread! I'm excited to be interviewing as my first visual artist for Dreyfest! Are you excited to be participating in the festivities?
Hey Chris! I'm excited to be being interviewed by you as your first visual artist for Dreyfest! Yes, I am very excited to be a part of this amazing event! I haven't attended Dreyfest before, but I already have a special place in my heart for Montana, and am very much looking forward to everything involved in this trip. Its going to be such an adventure!
Have you ever had the opportunity to visit Billings, MT, or will this be your first time?
I have briefly visited Billings, but have never spent very much time there. I have friends in Bozeman and Virginia City though, and have very much enjoyed all of the time I've spent traveling around Montana. I am just entranced by the landscapes and the intense vibrational energy they seem to hold. I'm really looking forward to being back there again, and to have a chance to check out Billings, I've only heard good things.
What sorts of wares will you have available in BIllings when Dreyfest rolls around?
OOOOOOHH!! I will have an assortment of witty and magical stickers, a few prints, some glass pillar candles that I made (ya know, for your altar!) and a few random other things. I may bring a few of my crafty items as well, time and space will tell!
Both of us are a part of what I am calling the "Oregon caravan." Can road trips be collaborative art projects?
Road trips are ABSOLUTELY a collaborative art project! A moving installation, if you will! I love to road trip, and especially love to caravan. Its the perfect chance to be real silly weirdos with your mates in public, and to make the day of every elderly woman behind the counter in a small town.
When is the last time you've used walkie-talkies? Do you know any Morse code? "SOS?" "Send Help"? "Where's my pizza?"?
It was last winter on a snowmachineing expedition last I used a Talkie. I expect this time will be quite a bit...lets say different...than the last time. I'll teach you the code for "I'm being chased by a bear" and "help, my drink is empty", those are the only ones I know.
Could you describe your art in more than 3 words but less than 7?
cosmic occult peanut butter
I would describe a lot of your work as having a very unique playful darkness to it. Where do you go to find inspiration for that?
I love that description, I'm absurdly blushing a little! I am undoubtedly drawn toward the darkness. My guts seem to not be able to stop seeking out what that gritty underbelly feels like. I want to be elbow-deep in the sludge that most try to wash off. I want to feel it and understand it, and to ask it some questions. It is also my favorite thing in the world to be silly and laugh till I pee my pants, and try to make a random persons day with a joke or a compliment, and to try to see every bit of beauty in the world as often as I possibly can, and ideally be able to share that with others. There cannot be light without shadows, and both are equally full of mystery and magnetism.
What's the most recent piece you've created that you subversively hid imagery or symbols in?
There ends up being some hidden images in pretty much every piece I make. To be honest with you, sometimes its even accidental. My favorites to sneak in the margins are symbols for prosperity or openness, or the elements. I am also currently very taken with triangles and pyramids, which have their own multi- faceted symbolism. Symbols and sigils are a powerful part of my magic and my art (which often go hand-in-hand). Keep in the forefront of your mind what it is you are working toward, and it will quickly begin to take shape. Symbols and sigils are a way to assign esoteric meaning to a physical/visual form which, when combined with intention and practice, build the foundation for the ritual that crafts us the life we are looking for. I usually even hide a triangle or two in the design or logo work that I do for other people, and put the plants in my garden according to the position of the moon, and in specific numbers and patterns. It kind of never stops.
You reside in the coastal Cascade range with your fellow Waste Witch, Laura. Are your dwellings earthquake-ready? Are your bookshelves secured to the walls? Are you prepared for THE BIG ONE?
I do, and we are! Our house is shaped like a triangle for maximum physical and cosmic stability. When the big one comes, we'll be perched up here comfortably riding out the wave. And if the Trask River rises up and sweeps us out into the bay, then we'll live in a triangle-shaped boat!
I've had the pleasure of visiting your farm, but from what I saw you might just be growing puppies. What other things pop out of the ground there?
It has kind of felt like that lately! Laura just got a puppy a couple of months ago, and it seems like ever since then, everyone is getting a puppy and coming up for a visit! I don't mind it one bit, and my 3 year old newfy/husky loves to be a nanny-dog. She is such a sweet Pickle. Right now we're growing a few different kind of lettuces, tomatos, and cucumbers (which I call my pickle plants, because PICKLES). We also have a pretty amazing selection of herbs for kitchen witchery going, and quite a few medicinal herbs and flowers, as well as a stand of Aronia trees, delicata squash, zucchinis, pumpkins, collards, kale, spinach, broccoli, green beans, beets, carrots...currants...raspberries and salmonberries...i hope i'm not forgetting anyone... oh, GOPHERS. Gophers are regularly popping out of the ground here also. We put a peppermint-hex on them recently though, so they’re starting to find other places to live that ISN'T in the middle of my vegetables...
Let's plug your stuff! Tell people where they can find you and how they can support you.
You can support me by putting all of your good thoughts into a heart-shaped box, spitting in it, and then throwing it into an open flame. Also by surfing on over to my website, saradread.com, and checking out some of the merch and stuff that I have there, as well a portfolio of some of the different media I work in. I occasionally have some one-of-a-kind crafty-type things on there as well, and am regularly putting new stuff in the store so make sure you check back regularly. There's some fun stuff in there including hats, shirts, hoodies, stickers, even a beach towel...lots of cool shit. Go look, do it now! Also follow me on instagram @sinistersistersara, where I mostly post pictures of the dope-ass property where I live...and also occasionally art. Now go out and crush this day!
