Zac Campbell
“Made With Love” Interview
1. Where did you grow up and where do you live now?
I grew up in Greenbriar Acres, WV and I still reside there to this day.
2.How do you think your environment growing up made you who you are today?
Growing up in a middle class, blue collar neighborhood, I think was a blessing. My friends and I were
never materialistic people. Most of my best friends growing up were musicians, so I was alwayse surrounded by
music and art.
3.When did you start making art? Were you alwayse a creative person?
I started making actual art to display in galleries when I was 16yrs old. I’ve always had a really
good imagination. When I learned how to weld, shape and forge metal, it became an outlet for my
creativity.
4. Why did you want to work with your specific medium, metal?
I enjoy working with metal because I find it interesting about how it can be welded and shaped
in various ways. There are so many different techniques and applications that involve metal, be it copper,
stainless steel, mild steel, brass, titanium etc. It seems my imagination can run wild with shape and color
and there’s always some type of metal and technique to fill the void.
5.Have you worked with other mediums?
I’ve explored abstract expressionist painting. I find it intriguing how an image can be created
from the subconscious. I think a lot of my metal sculpture has an abstract expressionist feel. It’s really
in tune to how I think and how my imagination works.
6.What artist have influenced you?
I have been influenced by a lot of artists. The sculptors who are influenced me are Auguste Rodine and Alberto
Giacometti. The painters are Paul Jackson Pollock, Andre Masson, Van Gogh. The philosophers are Rene Descartes, Kahlil Gibran
Friedrich Nietzsche. The musicians are Paul Simon, John Lennon, my good friends Josh and Tony Merancio, and Red Hot Chili
Peppers, just to name a few.
I think all of these artists draw their ideas from the same basic place. They just have different outlets
for their creativity.
7. What about life inspires you?
I am mostly inspired by the beauty of nature. It seems to me that there is a certain wisdom that
exists in being in solitude in the outdoors, that can’t be obtained by reading a book or watching a TV show.
I think people all to often get wrapped up in a world that worships money and power and forget what life
is really about. I feel there is so much more to life than what our 5 senses perceive.
8. What do you do for fun besides create art?
Every once in awhile, some friends and I will get together, have a fire, play music and have some beers. I also enjoy being with my girlfriend and visiting the
beautiful natural attractions in West Virgina. Simple things like that are what I enjoy most.
9. What is your studio like?
My studio is pretty simple. Its filled with welders, blacksmith equipment, metal and my art.
10. What music do you listen to while you create?
I mostly listen to rock music. Nothing really in particular though.
11.What music do you like to see live?
My favorite live music by far, is my friends playing around the camp fire. The music, the emotion,
is just so real, if that makes any sense.
13. If you could give advice to other aspiring artists, what would it be?
My best advice would be to do what you love. Dont let money, material objects or peoples opinions
sway your art. Personally, I take negative criticism alot better than positive criticism. Ive alwayse felt
that if the majority of people enjoy and understand what your art is about, then you must certainly
be doing something wroung.
14. Where can we view or buy your creations?
You can view a lot of my art on my facebook at https://www.facebook.com/zac.campbell.127?ref=tn_tnmn
I have artwork on display and for sale at “Arts Monongahela”, located at 201 High St Morgantown, WV 26505.
Phone # 304-291-6720.
I will also have a wall sculpture on display at Tamarack Art Gallery in Beckley,WV,
during their “Best Of West Virginia” exhibition from 16-June-2013 to 2-Aug-2013.
You can also view and purchase my art at “Mountain Made Art Gallery” in Thomas, WV and on their website at
http://www.mountainmade.com/
I can also be contacted at ZcMetalArt@gmail.com or by phone at 304-629-4052.
15. What is your favorite quote?
My favorite quote is by Albert Einstein: ““Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is
limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever
will be to know and understand.”
