© Jordan Kerwick; Photo by Ed Mumford; Courtesy the artist and Vito Schnabel Gallery
PS How long have you been in France?
JK Three years. We live in a little village, adjoining a larger municipality. I don’t know why we moved here, to be honest. Just something to do, in terms of it being small and quiet.
PS Especially in comparison to where you’re from in Australia, very much the opposite?
JK It’s a bit more metropolitan in Australia, busier. It’s a little parallel version of the states. Go go go. There's not much happening here. It’s quiet. You can breathe.
PS Tell me about the work you’re making.
JK It’s playful, pretty raw. Bold. Something people can understand with relative ease. It’s not too complex. It’s relatable. We’ve all been kids and drawn fantastical things. Some people won’t necessarily see my desperation in trying to remain young, in the work that I install. I’m almost 40 and I don’t want to grow up. It hasn’ happened yet and I’m not too sure it’s going to happen now.
PS How would you define growing up? What part are you afraid of?
JK I think a lot of people model their definition of adulthood off of their parents. And mine were very responsible and had their shit in order. They made, you know, smart moves. My wife and I basically have done the opposite in a lot of ways. So as a model, I think if I compared myself to how my father was, I always feel very young, kind of stupid, irresponsible — you know you can only compare your life experiences off of the people you modeled at some point.
PS You’re creating a new model for your children.
JK Yeah that’s true. And I think there’s some good stuff in there. And there’s some parallel stuff in there as well. If they take a harder road, or they fuck up like I have, it’s not always a bad thing. But it does suck. It’s not fun, failing...