AALM_Spotlight Carlisle Kellam

CARLISLE KELLAM

Carlisle Kellam is an intriguing artist. We wanted to know more about him. The following is his bio and some questions he answered for ARTS à la Mode:

Carlisle caught the art bug early, starting as a painter and a musician. His paintings were commissioned and sold all over the country ending up in collections from North Carolina to California. After a period studying painting, music, and photography, Carlisle later completed a two-year degree in architecture before changing course and graduating from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a double major in theatre and English, with a focus on writing and directing.

Carlisle eventually obtained his M.A. in philosophy. After working as a mural artist for a time, it was in a two-year film program—studying under the award-winning New York City commercial photographer/filmmaker George Cochran, that Carlisle discovered a true passion for filmmaking, an amalgamation of all the mediums he had studied before. Carlisle began to write and direct his own films, many of which went on to show in various festivals and receive numerous awards, being praised for their “intense, creative visual style.”

Carlisle’s day job consists of working as an independent photographer and graphic designer in the Charlotte, N.C. area. He is also a board member of Machine Theatre, a local theatre company that focuses on new works.

Visit Carlisle Kellam.com .....here and Machine Theatre.org .....here

1.) You have explored many art forms. Do you come from an artistic family? If so, what types of work do they focus on?
No, actually, as far as I know, my family had very little to do with the arts. My father played the tuba (I think it was the tuba) in his college marching band—if that counts; my mother took some piano lessons—I think that’s about the extent of it. Oh, and I should mention my brother is a musician and has always been into the arts; my sister is artsy as well. I’m not sure where that comes from. Perhaps we are all just narcissistic. Not really—I hope.

2.) How did your formative years inform your art today?
That’s hard to answer. I’ll try to answer this one by analogy. When I was a little younger, I took up the hobby of whitewater kayaking. The kayak roll is an essential part of kayaking, that is, if one wants to avoid a lot of swimming in the rapids. The roll is odd because it’s counter intuitive; when you’re underwater, sealed inside of a capsized boat, a first reaction is to try and lift your head out of the water; however, there is no worse choice. The way to roll is to do just the opposite, relax your arms, tuck your head and let the hips do what naturally one thinks the hips could never do. In order to do this one has to let go of what one feels would work intuitively, and do what works. It took me forever to learn how to roll a kayak.

I spent hours on the flat water thrashing around with a nose full of water, and still nothing. Until, one day, a kind of mentor of mine at the time, paddled out to me and said very simply, Carlisle, you have to let go. And so I did. And so I rolled. The same phrase was repeated to me in a drawing studio, Carlisle, you have to let go, learning to draw is much like learning to roll a kayak—one has to let go. The same phrase was also uttered to me in an acting class in college. The point being, my formative years informed my art mostly outside of the mediums themselves.

3.) Many artists, especially visual artists, see the world in a different way. How do you think your vision differs from the rest of us?
It’s hard to say simply because I’m not sure how most people see the world. I will say that I happen to notice distant trees at night being deep purple rather than black, or a distant horizon being light yellow rather than white. And I notice that everything, the world as a whole, has a theme.

4.) How would you describe what interests you visually?
Drama. I’ve always been drawn to very dramatic, intense, things visually. I’ve always been a huge fan of the baroque, and the use of chiaroscuro in general. I’m a sucker for anything noir. However, It seems like as I mature I start to find an intense drama in things that I formerly would have seen as being more mild or subtle.

5.) Filmmaking is considered a director's medium, how important do you consider story when undertaking a project?
I’m an Aristotelian at heart when it comes to story. Maybe I’m stating a platitude, but story is essential. I consider myself more of a narrative artist than a purely experimental (I guess you would call it) artist. In fact, being a photographer has always been hard for me because I always find myself trying to push the still frame beyond it’s limits into another medium—if that makes any sense. But, it’s not possible to do that because it would no longer be photography but something else. I love capturing a moment in time. I love telling a story with a single image; however, sometimes I forget what photography is and become a bit disappointed or unsatisfied with creating still photos. I know it’s a medium that needs to be respected for what it is, and I do respect it greatly. And one can tell a story with a single frame, no doubt. But sometimes I feel like I try to make up for this “disappointment” by creating very kinetic compositions, or compositions that freeze movement in a way that makes it easy for what happened before, and what would have happened after, that moment an easy thing to imagine. I try to capture moments that suggest or imply movement, or dramatic action, or story.
Although I may be digressing a bit, I think the point I’m trying to make is that I’m such a fan of story, narrative story, that I find myself trying to create a narrative in a still imagine. So it’s only that much more important to me when filmmaking. I consider story to be kind of like an essence. Story is in every part of filmmaking as far as I’m concerned. It’s in the photography, it’s in the set, it’s in the music, and most obviously, it’s in the story. I guess what I mean by that is that each of these individual elements portray a story of their own that, hopefully, ultimately work to support the over all story—to support the theme.

6.) How does theatre fit in with your other artistic pursuits? In what way do you find it is different/the same as filmmaking for you?
I have yet to find much difference, from medium to medium, in the essence of what makes a good piece of art. The difference, I notice, is simply in the tools used to create the art. To me, a good piece of music, a good visual piece, a good dramatic piece all find beauty essentially in the same way; however, the tools very. Symmetry, unity, contrast—or the sarcastic lack there of—are elements in all of them. I’ve always found it hard to refer to myself as any particular kind of artists simply because, to me, creating art means communicating something; and whatever medium best communicates what I’m trying to communicate is the medium that works for me.
I’ve never understood when people question one’s ability to, say, direct a film if they have directed theatre, painted, performed music, etc.. I understand there is a learning curve connected to the technical aspects of a particular medium, but that curve can easily be put aside. It’s the artistic and intellectual mind that’s hard to come by. Not that I have one, I’m just saying. I remember handing someone a resume sometime back with the following qualifications: Mural artists for 5 years, oil painter for many more. Degree in theatre and English, accomplished musician, M.A. in philosophy, professionals photographer. The person I gave the resume to said, that’s all interesting, but what does any of this have to do with film. What? I thought. So I made my own.

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7.) What are some of the most important things you want to communicate to audiences with your art?
Well, I think this varies depending on what I’m doing. There are some common denominators that weave through almost everything I do that suggest a certain style. That said, If I’m photographing something for a play, for example, I’m going to focus on taking the essence of the writer or directors vision for that particular show and reproduce it in a still image. I will say this though, I studied philosophy sometimes and my favorite off all the philosophers is, on most days, Socrates. I love the Socratic method, asking question and letting people come to the conclusion on their own. So, I would guess what I hope to communicate is a good and thoughtful question.

8.) With all the different kinds of work you do you must collaborate often with other artists. What is that experience like for you?
Heaven and hell, to use those terms lightly. There is so much to be learned from others, yet, as Clint Eastwood said, “A man’s got to know his limitations.”

9.) What would you like art supporters and/or regular people, to know about how you, as an artist, experience the world?
I experience the world hungry and broke—Naw, I think the world is basically good. I think everyone does what he or she does because they think it is ultimately, at least for themselves, some kind of good. I think this is what makes the artists’ job complex. However, I think there is a lot of bad going on—lying, cheating, stealing, and killing. I do believe there is a bad and a good, and what we sometimes consider to be good may very well be bad. I wouldn’t call myself a complete subjectivist. And I think this informs my work greatly. I think this goes back to the chiaroscuro I mentioned before. One of my favorite quotes off all time is a quote by Confucius: “Wisdom is knowing you know something when you know it and knowing you don’t know something when you don’t know it.”

10.) Can you tell us about some upcoming projects where people can view your work?
The theatre company I’m in just closed a show, “Mum’s the Word”. Next up is “Thom Thom: If that bird won’t sing”. For me alone, I’m doing a lot of writing, writing, writing. Which is o hard for me. It takes a lot of discipline, something I grew up with little of and have had to teach myself. I’m working on a feature film, a full length stage play, and a adaptation of some Flannery O’Connor short stories for a strange, experimental, kind of film/play hybrid thing. I have another short film that I hope to put into production soon. On the photography front, I’m doing some stuff for “Ice Fishing on Europa” and several other productions at CAST in addition to the everyday stuff I’m doing just to make a living. Take a chance on me! I may fail, but I won’t quit until I succeed! Ha ha.
Check me out at Carlisle Kellam.com .....here

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