The artwork above is what you created for our Store on Tour, can you tell us how it came about?
The only guidelines were to use the material from the Alph(a) Khakis somehow in the work. I've been working with manipulated family photographs for over three years now. I'll take the photos, erase identities, and add lines or shapes coming out of the figures. I do it partially to create a sense of flux and disappearance, as well as creating ambiguous shapes, similar to thought bubbles coming out of cartoons. These shapes represent the figure's attempts to understand their surroundings. 

The pixelated images are a recent development. They represent the idea our physical reality is becoming more and more intertwined with the digital world. There is also a transformation that is almost cartoonish when the image is manually converted to a pixel image, reminiscent of childhood as well as old video games. And finally, in keeping with the theme of the work, the darker color of the khaki is the actual Dockers Alph(a) Khaki material, in its original form.

Describe the process that goes into your work.
I split my time working with pigment transfers, marker drawings, and acrylic paint on canvas. The initial work almost always begins on the computer, either manipulating an image or composing a composition from a previous photo (for something like a VHS drawing). Then I typically do a pigment transfer, which essentially transfers the pigment from a photocopy to acrylic paint, as a way to bring that digital image into the "real" world. If I'm happy with that image, I'll either work in marker (largely to make color decisions) or begin a larger acrylic painting. 

You use a lot of modern cultural artifacts in your work (like VHS tapes and cassette tapes). What are your two favorite pieces of technology, one from the present and one from the past?
I'd say the Nintendo is a favorite piece of older technology. I see video games as a modern form of story telling and adventure, something like the early stages of movies. I don't know if video games will ever have the art of movies, but I hope they have a chance. Those old games, there was a simplicity to seeing that structure of all the pixels, like the atoms of everything in that world. It is one of my personal attractions to the pixel images I'm working with.

As for modern technology, I would definitely choose the iPod. More specifically, the iPod classic. I actually just read today on CNN that it may be coming to an end. It is another step in both the physical world (CDs) becoming digital (mp3s) as well as the newer forms of technology (iPhones and iPod Touch) replacing the older (the classic iPod).

Your work makes us feel extremely nostalgic. Tell us a memory from your childhood!
One time, I was in a Big Wheel race (the small plastic tricycles that were popular in the early 80s). I had never ridden one. It was a race in downtown Aiken, with a lot of people. A large festival with the entire street closed off. The races were broken up in age group. I remember there were 4 of us in the race—two other boys and a girl. We all got on our Big Wheels and a lady came up behind us to adjust our seats. Unfortunately, she pushed my seat up too close. I could barely peddle the Big Wheel and I came in last place. Very last place. I probably finished a minute after everyone else (the race was probably 100 yards). I still have photos of the race. It is one of those memories that was so terrible and embarrassing when it happened but so funny now.

What is your favorite thing about living in South Carolina?
NASCAR and Southern Baptists! I'm kidding. It’s definitely the climate. Having four distinct seasons is wonderful, especially after living in Chicago for four years, where it is either cold or hot. Also the people and personalities. There are a lot of embarrassing stereotypes, but there is also a hospitality and quirkiness that is rare.

Our tour’s first stop is in Columbia. Where are your top five favorite places to go in Columbia?
If ART Gallery, Hunter-Gatherer Brewery & Alehouse, Art Bar, Nickelodeon Theatre, and the rapids behind Riverbanks Zoo.

If you could go see any artist on tour, past or present, who would it be?
Of any band, I'd like to see Boards of Canada live. They play so rarely and have been such an influence on the associations of innocence and childhood I make in my work. 

If you were to go on a tour of the United States, where would you go?
My wife is from California. Last year we drove a bit of the coast (from central coast to Redding). It was just a diverse, dynamic, beautiful drive. I'd like to see more of that.

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