F.A. Kritic: with Pecos Pryor
In the Studio 8-13-2018
FAK: Pecos, its great to finally meet you, I have often enjoyed encountering your work.
PP: Thank you Famous A. Kritic, this is a special day for me, I have learned so much from your interviews and thought provoking questions. You always make artists seem interesting…hopefully today will be the same (light laughter at self).
FAK: Thank you, it is a great job to have. First of all, give me that classic Bio everyone has on their websites written in the third person by the artist.
PP: Pecos Pryor grew up in Dripping Springs, TX and moved to Santa Barbara, CA where he received a BA in Studio Arts from Westmont College in 2010. After working construction, non-profit youth organizations, and various art related jobs, he received an MFA in Printmaking at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Awards include the Vreeland Award in Art for 2018, the Wendy Jane Bantam Graduate Exhibition Award, a Hixson-Lied Student Study Grant, Hixson-Lied Creative Activity Grant, and four semesters of Graduate Teaching Assistantships.
Pecos’ artwork explores the beauty and significance found in the rituals of daily life. The impetus for his drawings and prints is the art-making process itself. Using time and distance as self prescribed parameters, Pecos’ works meditate on and celebrate life's natural procession.
FAK: Ok, now to the important things: What is your favorite fruit?
PP: Mangos. But I can’t eat them everyday, too expensive in the States, so I treat myself to them ever once in awhile. I plan on living in Latin America someday. Then it will be everyday!
FAK: Thats great, what about your favorite color.
PP: Come on, I love so many colors! Colors are the best, I even like the color of graphite…if I had to choose, it would be blues. I enjoy Kandinsky’s theories on the spiritual correlations to each color and I resonate with blue as it is often considered a calm color that is mysteriously set back in the distance. It often brings me peace.
FAK: Good one. Alright, its obvious you love art, your life is dedicated to making and sharing it. But what else do you enjoy doing?
PP: Thanks for asking this question, I like a lot of things! Pretty much anything outside that gets my adrenaline going and especially that involves water. Surfing is my all time favorite activity. I’m currently learning to sail, which has been a life long dream. I skate, although not very well, concrete hurts. Mountain biking is super fun, rope swings and cliff jumping (into water of course). Basically things where I get to go fast. Have you ever seen a giraffe run?
FAK: No, tell me about it.
PP: They look like they are running in slow motion because they are so tall! I’m kinda tall and I am also a generally peaceful creature so I imagine from the outside I look slow in many of my favorite fast activities. But for my experience, I get a lot of cheap thrills due to the dramatic change of pace. Not sure if that makes sense.
FAK: Um…
PP: I enjoy pushing myself physically and mentally. I can often do much more then I think I can. Besides learning from my many wild friends, working in construction after undergraduate school taught me a ton. The crew and I would physically do things we probably shouldn’t have. I wish I had pictures of the beams we raised on our shoulders without the help of a crane. I thought I’d crush like an aluminum can.
Anyways, I like to read poetry and learn new things about people and the ways they like to live. I really like the podcast called On Being by Krista Tippett. I like (and require) a lot of alone time and silence. Oh, but I do really love music. I played the drums for a couple of bands a while back and look forward to the day I can play in a band again.
I enjoy all of these same things through making and viewing art so I’m not sure if I have answered your question “what else do you enjoy doing?”
FAK: Don’t worry, you’ve done great. We are about out of time, lastly I’ve got to know, where did your parents get your name?
PP: There is a river in west Texas called the Pecos River. There is also a town and a delicious cantaloup brand named Pecos. My grandfather went by the name of Cactus. He got this name from the name of the movie theater his father, Skinny Pryor, owned in Austin. So when my parents were looking for names, they wanted to keep the Texas theme.
FAK: (smiling and chuckling) Thats great.
PP: Thanks (big smile, then a lean in…) Can I tell you a secret?
FAK: Of course, I’ll only share it with the world wide web. If I were reading this interview, I wouldn’t get this far down, so your secret is safe with me.
PP: Ok, When I am meeting someone for the first time and they ask me about my name, I get excited and tell them something like I just told you, and without fail, I forget their name! It’s the worst.
FAK: Wow, I’m so sorry you suffer like that when people like your name. I don’t have that problem. People always think I had overly biased parents.
PP: (silent, not sure how to respond)
FAK: Welp, I think we covered it. We don’t want to bore our readers.
PP: Thanks so much for your time Famous A. Kritic, it's been fun.
FAK: I look forward to seeing your upcoming exhibition at MASS MOCA in 2033, thats what you said right?
PP: Yes, Summer of 2033, something like that.
PP: They look like they are running in slow motion because they are so tall! I’m kinda tall and I am also a generally peaceful creature so I imagine from the outside I look slow in many of my favorite fast activities. But for my experience, I get a lot of cheap thrills due to the dramatic change of pace. Not sure if that makes sense.
FAK: Um…
PP: I enjoy pushing myself physically and mentally. I can often do much more then I think I can. Besides learning from my many wild friends, working in construction after undergraduate school taught me a ton. The crew and I would physically do things we probably shouldn’t have. I wish I had pictures of the beams we raised on our shoulders without the help of a crane. I thought I’d crush like an aluminum can.
Anyways, I like to read poetry and learn new things about people and the ways they like to live. I really like the podcast called On Being by Krista Tippett. I like (and require) a lot of alone time and silence. Oh, but I do really love music. I played the drums for a couple of bands a while back and look forward to the day I can play in a band again.
I enjoy all of these same things through making and viewing art so I’m not sure if I have answered your question “what else do you enjoy doing?”
FAK: Don’t worry, you’ve done great. We are about out of time, lastly I’ve got to know, where did your parents get your name?
PP: There is a river in west Texas called the Pecos River. There is also a town and a delicious cantaloup brand named Pecos. My grandfather went by the name of Cactus. He got this name from the name of the movie theater his father, Skinny Pryor, owned in Austin. So when my parents were looking for names, they wanted to keep the Texas theme.
FAK: (smiling and chuckling) Thats great.
PP: Thanks (big smile, then a lean in…) Can I tell you a secret?
FAK: Of course, I’ll only share it with the world wide web. If I were reading this interview, I wouldn’t get this far down, so your secret is safe with me.
PP: Ok, When I am meeting someone for the first time and they ask me about my name, I get excited and tell them something like I just told you, and without fail, I forget their name! It’s the worst.
FAK: Wow, I’m so sorry you suffer like that when people like your name. I don’t have that problem. People always think I had overly biased parents.
PP: (silent, not sure how to respond)
FAK: Welp, I think we covered it. We don’t want to bore our readers.
PP: Thanks so much for your time Famous A. Kritic, it's been fun.
FAK: I look forward to seeing your upcoming exhibition at MASS MOCA in 2033, thats what you said right?
PP: Yes, Summer of 2033, something like that.
For more about Pecos and his art from actual articles: