Horror Reanimated… the home of Bloody Books

Interview with artist of the fantastic, Allison Theus by JD’L

December 8th, 2009

Some months ago I posted a free story here on HR titled ‘Lights out’. I wanted some art to accompany the tale and after trawling Google images I found exactly what I was looking for. The discovery made me very interested in Allison Theus, the creator of the image. I don’t believe in coincidences, so I spent some time looking at her other work, on her website and at deviant art. I knew I had to get her for an HR interview and here, after months of chasing this very busy and successful artist, is the result:

Joseph D’Lacey: Hi, Allison. And welcome to the cramped, dripping corridors of Horror Reanimated. After waiting all this time to interview you, it’s a real treat to finally have you here.

There are reasons why you’ve been otherwise occupied, though. Tell us what you’ve been doing since I first contacted you regarding ‘Face’…

Allison Theus: Hey Joseph, quite a bit has been going on. At the time you contacted me I was just finishing up grad school in Pittsburgh at Carnegie Mellon University, in their Entertainment Technology program. Immediately afterward I went to work at a start-up videogame company called Divide by Zero Games located in Seattle, WA. I spent a little over a year there doing concept art, illustration, texturing, UI design and some 2D and 3D animation on several projects. About 3 months ago I decided to strike out on my own to try a little freelancing, where I picked up work doing monster miniature concepts for Rackham Games and monster miniature schematics for Fantasy Flight Games as part of their Arkham Horror project. I’m currently working on illustrations for a children’s book and involved in a gig with Warner Bros. which, though not as fantastic as some of the monster stuff, is still really cool. Add to that the usual queue of private fantasy and sci-fi commissions, and it’s been pretty hectic!

JD’L: I have a theory that artists and musicians tend to know what they were destined to do from a very early age, whereas writers often don’t find out until later. Was that true of you?

AT: It was. Art had been a big part of my life from a very early age, and as the years went by it evolved and took over everything. It’s difficult to imagine what I would do without it.

JD’L: And were the themes you find attractive always in the realms of the fantastic?

AT: I suppose so. I found there to be a great deal of freedom in the fantastic, and that freedom allowed me to explore themes that were both of the fantastic and non-fantastic variety.

JD’L: Are you self-taught in the main or have you done a lot of formal study?

AT: I’m a pretty even mix of both. I’ve taken art classes throughout school (hell, I majored in Fine Art in undergrad), and for several years very early on I studied with a local painter, but the most important things that I have learned have been outside the classroom. I would spend hours playing with concepts and materials, figuring out new techniques, and learning what worked and what didn’t. While the classes were good, I believe I owe most of my progress to my own experimentation.

JD’L: If I were a creator of visual art, it would be my instinct to reinvent the world rather than show it as it is. After all, the real world is one no one can see, isn’t it – reality a drab cover for something astonishingly beautiful? Like everyone who creates art for a living, I know you’re tied to certain contractual commitments but if it was up to you how and what you created, what would you say the driving force is behind your gift? What do you want to see and what do you want us to see?

AT: It really depends. I’ve always possessed a strong feeling that my art was for something; that it would serve some sort of higher purpose (which is not to say I believe my art is the grandest thing since sliced bread, or that this purpose will ever reveal itself during my lifetime). It simply exists and provides a continuous urge to create. Simultaneously, my art has always been intertwined with my life. Think of it as one giant ongoing dialogue with yourself, where everything you’ve ever done or felt or learned has been recorded, IS being recorded and considered and at times disputed. A constant self-assessment, if you will.

I think what I really want to see in my art is some sort of resolution – perhaps the complete evolution of the self into something greater then what I am. For my audience, it’s less about what is seen and more about what is felt. At least for personal pieces, if someone can look at a piece and glean what I felt while making it (which is often the ‘why’ I made it), then that’s good stuff. It’s an odd way to share experiences, but I find it particularly rewarding.

JD’L: The first time I talked to you about this interview, you felt there wasn’t a great deal of horror in your work. When I look at it, I see both horror and fantasy. I didn’t mean that you set out to frighten in your work, merely that what you depict is unsettling and a spark to the dark imagination. Horror is, perhaps, more a sensation than a genre and if it was up to me, I wouldn’t hesitate to commission you for some cover art for one of my novels. I guess what I want to know is: What’s more important; how you see your work or how others see it?

AT: How I see my work, definitely. You’ve got to like it, or at least semi-like what you do to really want to do it all the time. The more involved you are, the better you will be able to convey your message(s). Besides, everybody’s different; I know and expect that people will interpret my work differently. That’s part of the fun!

JD’L: Who are your artist heroes, past and present?

AT: My very first artist hero was Robert Bakker, a well-known Paleontologist (I distinctly remember watching him explain the way sound travels through a Parasaurolophus’s nasal passageways as he was sketching the head of the creature on a TV program many, many years ago); his ability to be both scientist and artist was extremely inspiring. When I hit my wildlife stage I was very fond of Carl Brenders and Robert Bateman, one for his extreme realism and the other for his dramatic portrayals of nature. From there I forayed into the realm of sci-fi clutching Wayne Barlowe’s ‘Expedition,’ and picked up some inspiration later on down the line from Terryl Whitlatch and Iain McCaig. Currently, my present, and perhaps most influential hero to date is Zdzisław Beksiński, whose work manages not only to depict most of my long-standing nightmares but to do it in such a way that is both immensely beautiful and utterly terrifying.

JD’L: If you could pick your next employer, what would be your ideal paid project?

AT: I would absolutely love to get a chance to work inside Stan Winston Studios and make monsters come to life. That would be a dream come true for me, no joke. I would also be happy working for a variety of game companies, especially Blizzard.

JD’L: What is your favourite work of art?

AT: There are too many great artists and great works of art to choose from! I don’t know that I could ever settle on just one.

JD’L: Allison, it’s been a delight to finally have this time looking into your mind. Thank you for sharing your visions with us. All of us here at Horror Reanimated wish you great success for the future.

AT: Thank you!

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