Born and raised in Jerusalem, Tomer started his professional career as an artist after serving the Israeli military and moving to LA. In this <Part 2> of the interview, he talks about his process of paintings, the backstory and the philosophy behind it.
目次
Exposing the essence of people in the process of drawing – Incomplete Collection
――― I see some of your portrait pieces have the pencil drawing lines left on them. Can you tell us more about those pieces?
Tomer : I finished a collection in 2013 and it’s called Incomplete. It is a series of beautiful portraits of people that are partially sketched and partially painted. The reason why I did is because I wanted to expose the people through the process. If they see a painting like a face not partially sketched and painted, they cannot figure out what’s the process like. So the whole point of those paintings is purposely not to complete them.
Oil Painting on canvas
79in. x 56in. x 2in.
The spiritual explanation behind that is..we are definitely incomplete, we are not perfect. I believe when God made us, he specifically made us incomplete in order for us to be able to find the beauty in others. If we were completed, we were not gonna be able to find the beauty in other people. So the whole idea was to paint incomplete people, on the technical side it’s to expose the process and on the spiritual side with the philosophical explanation is to pretty much say thank you that we were incomplete and that we should be incomplete.
The other type of portraits that I have like 15 Minutes is (using) totally different technique and the canvas is almost fully painted. The process of 15 Minutes is that I get photos of the actual subject, I choose the photo and a few days before the live, I do the sketch on the canvas and I learn the painting. Like literally learning the actual face. Because it’s impossible to paint on 10 feet canvas in 15 minutes, don’t forget 10 feet is I think 3 meters and it’s huge.
I have to learn the painting because while I’m on the canvas and while I’m doing that(live painting), I can’t think and I can’t really take too much time on thinking where the things would be so I have to do everything by heart and it gotta be very very quick. I sketch before and usually after 15 minutes, I’m not really finishing and I’m not getting where I wanna get so I ask people for a few more minutes. Then I get 3-5 more mins to complete the painting. It doesn’t really finish in 15 minutes, it takes more than 15 minutes. But 15 Minutes project is like a show..the concept is what matters.
Telling the story of childhood and the military experiences in Israel – Unbreakable Collection
――― I believe one of your significant pieces from your older archive is known to be Play Time at the Gulf War. Can you tell us the story behind the piece and the impact of the years in the military on your art?
Tomer : I had a show called Unbreakable, it was from 10 years ago and the artworks there are talking about my time and experiences at the military and what made me wanting to be in the military. So “Play Time at the Gulf War” is basically a memory of me and my brother playing in the shelter with cubes and (toy) cars. Sitting with the gas masks inside our home when we were kids is like..well it’s just a gas mask, whatever, but when you grow up, move to a different country and talk to people about it then (you realize) it sounds like that is abnormal, that’s not something that people do. So yeah, it was one of my biggest memories from the gulf war.
Oil Painting on canvas
84in. x 53in. x 2in.
――― You mentioned that you didn’t have any teachers or professional experiences, but do you have any mentors or any other artists that you got inspirations and learned a lot from?
Tomer : Through my career, I met different people and I learned from them. Some of them I’m still in touch with, and some of them not. Actually most of the important people who taught me something and took me from one place to another as far as career, I’m still in touch with. I do have mentors. I have few people in my life whom I let tell me the truth. An artist doesn’t get the truth.
When an artist is asking people “hey, how is the painting” “how is the music”, everybody would say “oh, it’s beautiful” because it is said that “do not hurt artist’s feeling”. No one wants to tell the truth to an artist because an artist can get hurt badly..so I picked a few people to be my mentors and to tell me the truth, how good is my idea or not, how related my ideas are..and everything. Most of the things I do today, they know and they are part of them. Some of them are artists and some of them are not.
[List of mentors and art influences of Tomer] - International Street Artist JR - Photographer David LaChapelle - Photographer Lee Jeffries - Artist Salvador Dali
Idea of Minimalism that connects Tomer with Japan
――― You told us you’ve never been to Japan but do you have any personal connections to Japan or any ideas of Japan that you think about?
Tomer : I never ever had a bad experience with Japanese people. They are super sweet. I meet a lot of Japanese people around here. I don’t know a lot of about Japanese culture but I think it(Japan) is one of my top priority location to go to. And if you’d ask me “Tomer, if you could, put your finger (to point out) what culture you’d like to get involved with, the culture that you’re not familiar with, that you’ve never dealt with”, I think Japan is one of my top priorities because I don’t know a lot about and I’m impressed by a lot of things they(Japanese people) do, the style and the clothings..oh my gosh, the fashion of Japanese people here in LA is on top, they know what they do, they know how to dress. Very polite people, you’re not gonna find them yelling obviously or cutting you off(like Israeli), very respectful people. I think I have only good things to say about, and I’m not one of these people that only say good things..I have a big mouth.
――― That’s really great to hear. You know the idea of minimalism is a big thing in Japan. What do you think of this philosophy?
Tomer : Such an amazing topic to talk about. Minimalism..forget about what you see. Because when you say that word, the first thing that would come to your mind is usually design in minimalism but minimalism for me is not just a design, it’s a way of living. We don’t need too much to be happy. We don’t need too many things in our house to be happy, we don’t need too many people around us to be happy, we don’t need all that.
Oil Painting on canvas
79in. x 56in. x 2in.
If you understand what is the main thing, the minimum things you need to live in order to be happy with your family, if you’d be able to find it and pursue it, you’d probably be the happiest person in the world. But it’s one of those things that is super hard to do. It’s like to be honest. “Being honest” is an amazing word but it’s super hard for people to really be honest..not a lot of people are honest. I’m not 100% honest, I don’t know any person who’s 100% honest.
I don’t know a lot of people who are 100% minimalistic and following it strictly but I know a lot of people who are acting like they are. You get into their house and see “okay, minimalism..” that they are inspired but then when you get into their mind, they are not minimalistic at all..too much going on there.
Minimalism is a way of living..well I’m not the type of person that would go into a little room with just water and bread and would say “okay, this is minimalism”..no, that is not minimalism. Minimalism is about to be able to choose the things that you don’t really need, and to kick them out of your life and keep going. That’s my belief of minimalism and I’m all for it. Every time I see something in my house, I throw away. I don’t keep things.
――― Well if you ever come to Japan, you will really see minimalism here. The country itself is all about minimalism. We would love to welcome you here!
Tomer : That’s amazing. I’m really looking forward to it!
<Tomer Peretz Profile>
Tomer Peretz is a Los Angeles-based artist who creates with paint and mixed-media. His journey as a painter began at the age of fourteen, but experiencing his work makes it hard to believe that he is completely self-taught. He often does portraits of family, friends, and celebrities in a highly detailed and surrealist manner. However, his focus is on capturing the essence of his subjects regardless of their social status.
Born and raised in Jerusalem, he moved to America in his early twenties after serving four and a half years in the Israeli army. His work after his service had matured and was more fueled with passion. Whether Tomer is using oil, acrylic, graphite, or photography to convey his perspective, his artistic expression evokes emotion from his viewers.
Tomer has international representation through Fabrica Eos Gallery in Milan, Italy and Peimbert Gallery in Acapulco, Mexico. Peretz is a recipient of the Arthur Szyk Prize for Disruptive Thought, and his work has been showcased at Art Basel Miami and the LA Art Show.
