“I loved the curated strangeness”: An interview with david Lemm
As Extra Teeth readers already know, each issue of the magazine is illustrated by a guest artist, who draws inspiration from the stories and essays to set the tone of the whole issue. Our inaugural issue was beautifully illustrated by Maria Stoian, an Edinburgh-based illustrator who drew on themes in the stories that make us now fondly refer to Issue One as the ‘meat and sweets’ issue. For Issue Two, we’ve been lucky enough to work with the extraordinarily talented David Lemm, who has not only been tasked with taking the second magazine in a whole different direction artistically, but has also been working through, oh, um, a pandemic.
While Issue Two remains delayed (though we hope to be in a position to announce publication soon) we took the time to have a chat with David about how he’s found working on Extra Teeth, his practice and advice for aspiring illustrators. Including the first sneak peek at the illustrations for Issue Two!
You first saw Extra Teeth when you were working with our designer on a separate project, right? Can you tell us a bit about your first impressions of the magazine?
David Lemm: Yeah, that’s right. I thought it was really well designed and it looked great with the limited colour palette. I really enjoyed the stories, and how considered as a collection it was. I wasn’t expecting them to be so surreal and I loved the curated strangeness.
We asked you to respond to some or all of the pieces lined up for Issue Two and reflect in your illustrations. Did any recurring themes appear to you?
DL: Finding themes and connections between each text was how I started - I wanted to create a coherent visual language which referenced any repeat motifs or ideas in the texts. I found several crossovers, but eventually focused on the idea that each story deals with a transition from one state to another, some more explicitly than others. So I’ve tried to reference this in each illustration. It also feels quite apt given we will be transitioning out of this lockdown and our collective cages when the magazine eventually comes out.
How did you approach the conceptualisation of the elements of each story?
DL: I began by noting what I felt were interesting aspects or key moments in each story and then set about visualising these using set rules, a kind of visual grammar where I only allow myself to use certain forms to create compositions. I wanted to have a coherent approach across the texts, so the illustrations could work as a single body of work, but also allow each story to stand alone. I thumbnail a lot, distilling each idea into the most essential parts.
In general I like to create work that allows a certain openness and encourages the viewer to use their imagination to interpret the information being presented to them - in this case hopefully an additional layer of interest to the text, rather than a literal and closed representation.
David Lemm is a visual artist based in Edinburgh. Through a multidisciplinary and process driven approach, he creates context specific outcomes which are research led and often informed by particular environments, situations, or systems.
An example of David’s previous work, Waxing Moon, Setting Sun.
An example of David’s previous work, called Landmarks.
Has your creative journey had a deliberate direction, or did it just unfold?
DL: It has been a bit of a journey! I started working on concepts in my studio just before lockdown. But then I had to work from home, and with the change of working environment I realised I wasn’t happy with the direction and ended up trying a lot of different approaches whilst trying to deal with change to everyday. It was tricky finding a consistent visual language and the stories made for quite strange, changeable companions. In general I like to have a plan, but some of my favourite things I’ve done have come from being open to chance and particular circumstances informing the work.
Most of the illustrations are focused on the fictional pieces in the issue. Have you worked with fiction before in this way?
DL: A lot of my work explores narrative to a degree, and I like to make work which hints at a wider story. These can be fictional, usually based on exploring my own ideas or encountered experiences. i.e a previous work was based on a fictional cult in the future that worships fragments of plastic cups.
I have done a fair bit of editorial illustration over the years too, but I don’t think I’ve explicitly worked with fiction in this way before. I’d like to do more for sure.
What's your favourite word? (ours are pamphlet (esther), ululate (jules) and somnambulism (heather)
DL: Ah, tough question! It changes all the time, but I’d maybe say Dwam.
“In general I like to create work that allows a certain openness and encourages the viewer to use their imagination to interpret the information being presented to them - in this case hopefully an additional layer of interest to the text, rather than a literal and closed representation.”
What other exciting projects have you got going on right now? Has lockdown affected these in different ways?
DL: I’ve been working on a public art project in Shetland since the start of the year, which has been my main focus and I’m really excited about. It’s a sculpture using reclaimed steel and it was due to be installed in the summer, but I think that will be postponed now. There might be a couple of other things in the pipeline, but I’m equally excited to take a wee breath and re-assess things when I get back to the studio, building on some of the ideas and experiments I’ve been playing with during these contemplative times.
Oh, I also have been putting together a new website - studiolemm.co It’s focused on my illustration/design work and will be launching when the new issue comes out. There's an instagram too @david_lemm
Any tips for an illustrator starting out, especially in these times?
DL: I’d say focus on process and build a broad base of interests to draw from. Look outside of the illustration/design bubble and use your own experience as the basis to make work. Show the work you want to do more of and be honest with yourself when it comes to editing your portfolio. And setbacks/ rejections are inevitable - play the long game and keep on evaluating and developing your work and process. I think there are still plenty of opportunities out there for illustration, people need art and they need new stories.
A huge thank you to the brilliant David Lemm for taking the time to talk to us, as well as coping with all our excitable messages over the last few months as the illustrations have taken shape.
We’re delighted to say that the images are done, the typesetting is very nearly in place, and we are delighted to reveal the first sneak preview of the Issue Two illustrations below. this illustration is inspired by the short story ‘Our Milk’ by Nayrouz Qarmout and will appear in issue two.
We’re sure once you’ve seen it, you (like us!) absolutely can’t wait to see Issue Two in print. We hope to have an update on this very soon, and in the meantime you can subscribe here.
