We are all connected. Whether we’re family, friends, lovers, haters, or strangers, a bond exists between us all. In fact, this interview may not be your only connection to California-based artist Steven Harrington. He may be your old grade school chum, spurned romantic encounter, passerbyer, loud neighbor, secret admirer, or arch nemesis. Maybe you’ve shared an ice cream cone with him or engage in fisticuffs with one another. Maybe you’ve accidentally stepped on his heel or gawked as he crossed the street. Maybe you have a collection of reggae 7-inches that could rival the crates in his house. Maybe you get caught up in daydreams about the same things that he does. Maybe he found that old book you were hunting down in all the local thrift stores.

If this is your first introduction to Steven Harrington, be aware that one of his main interests is creating a new-world cult that revolves around this idea of connectivity. However, I’m sure you can find a common ground between his thoughts, ideas, and massive body of work because, yes, you are connected.

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Why don’t we start at a good point:the beginning?
I grew up in a small California suburb. It’s one of those classic suburban neighborhoods. I more or less grew up out there just trying to make what I could out of it. It’s just filled with strip malls and condos. I went to high school out there and hung out with a bunch of people who skated and were into punk rock and that whole small subculture scene. I got into art early on—in high school I guess. From there, I just started exploring.

Is that where you noticed your artistic talent?
I’ve drawn and painted all my life. It just did the whole progression from painting and drawing as a five-year-old and then on to high school.

So the progression was easy?
I think it was just really natural. A lot of the stuff I was making early on were things like mix tape cassette covers, stickers, and tshirts that we would iron on or screen print. It was always, with my art, a sort of “what can I turn this into?” thing, like how can my art live out in the world?

You seemed to like dimensionalthings, such as shapes.
Recently, I’ve been starting with shapes, usually very big shapes—like a triangle or just a horizon line. When I’m coming up with those words or phrases, at the same time I’ll start looking at shapes and using those as sketches or how I think I can create a composition that works best for that idea.

Is there a reason you choose these certain shapes?
During that preliminary stage of working up an idea you sometimes hit that wall. Personally, I hit this level of frustration where I’m trying to come up with these ideas, and I’m wondering what it is I’m even trying to communicate, or how I can communicate this thing. Typically when I reach that point it’s time to get away from developing an idea in that way. So, I’ll just jump to making an image, or I’ll jump right into the computer. I’ll start just drawing really big shapes to just kind of see what comes out of it. I think it’s just become a natural way of working.

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