.aesthetic talk
PRESTON DOUGLAS BOYER
*Styling Hope
written + interview SAVANNAH WINANS
Preston Douglas Boyer is a multidisciplinary artist working across some of the most mutable disciplines: fashion, fine art and music. Between his independent art practice and his busy schedule of collaborative projects, Preston has no trouble keeping up with these ever-evolving industries.
So far in 2024, he’s staged several public art performances, curated a 12-artist exhibition at Wienholt Projects, had a museum exhibition at LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton, released his album REPURPOSED RELIGION on Spotify, and dropped his first series of NFTs on Wise.art—and he’s got more in the works. Preston provides insight into how he stays grounded in our fast-paced world, whilst working towards his vision of the future of culture and creativity.
Preston Douglas Boyer
seen by Zach Gold
Preston Douglas Boyer
Single scanned element for upcoming zipper painting
“The only real constant between shifting mediums is the deeper reason why I create: to make physical representations of the spiritual experience.”
Preston Douglas Boyer speaks with Savannah Winans
for LE MILE Dazed Edition - Nr. 37
Preston Douglas Boyer
Forcing Forgiveness, 2024
at CALIFORNIA LOVE, Wienholt Projects
seen by Anya Gta
Preston Douglas Boyer
Detail shot of Triumphal Entry, 2024
Savannah Winans
As a multidisciplinary artist, you wear a lot of hats: painter, fashion designer, performer, musician, curator, et al. When you’re switching between these roles, what stays constant?
Preston Douglas Boyer
The only real constant between shifting mediums is the deeper reason why I create: to make physical representations of the spiritual experience. An exploration of the search for intimacy with God through beauty, whatever I understand that to be at the time. The theme of darkness to light also is a consistent theme in all of my work. Those are some elements at the core of everything I do when getting down to true causes and conditions.
What changes would you like to see in both the fashion industry and the art world?
I love seeing the fashion industry embracing the idea of performance art, which fashion inherently is in many ways. I really loved Rick Owens’s latest runway show with all of the models in a communal parade of sorts. Haunting and hopeful at the same time. As far as the art world is concerned, opening the gallery doors to more mediums of art that aren’t just wall-based works, and being able to sell conceptual and or performance works by fostering a collector base for these works. I think this is the future. We all love beautiful works on our walls, but art goes beyond that. And there’s beauty in minimalism in the home.
You recently curated the group show CALIFORNIA LOVE at Wienholt Projects. What defines California artists?
In a way, contemporary California artists don’t rely as much on the “art world” because historically the art world hasn’t been here as much. Artists had more freedom to make all sorts of styles and mediums of work and not be limited to just being a “painter.” The space and sunlight has an effect on the work and overall there’s less visible darkness, but often through the beauty, there is an underlying sense of distress, which I really sense for example while driving around this city.
Your zipper paintings have these beautiful custom decals on the zipper pulls. Some of them read “HOPE IS ALIVE.” What does this phrase mean to you?
This mantra reminds me that optimism is a choice. We can live in hope or we can live in despair, it’s up to us to choose on a daily, hourly or minute-by-minute basis. Individually and collectively. In the face of fear, uncertainty and pain, we can still have hope.
Your paintings can be zipped or unzipped, and one of your collectors commented that this was effectively “styling the painting.” Since you’ve also designed clothes, how does styling a person differ from styling a painting?
A model inherently brings their energy to a fitting or photoshoot, which can be a great collaboration, but when I’m in the studio alone it’s much more of a self reflective and contemplative process. I love fashion because it is so collaborative. At the same time, I fell so deeply in love with painting because it was such an immediate and intimate ordeal with myself, my pain, suffering, anguish, and God, if I allow Him into the studio that day. I try to think of life, and therefore my work, as a collaboration with Spirit, i.e. the my will vs. thy will paradox, and things tend to work out better that way when I’m able to surrender.
Preston Douglas Boyer
seen by Zach Gold
Luke Kruger-Aimone recording vocals for REVIVAL
the next REPURPOSED RELIGION performance
seen by Alex Conradt
“This mantra reminds me that optimism is a choice. We can live in hope or we can live in despair, it’s up to us to choose on a daily, hourly or minute-by-minute basis.”
Preston Douglas Boyer speaks with Savannah Winans
for LE MILE Dazed Edition - Nr. 37
Your paintings often incorporate abstracted corporate logos; it’s a Warholian gesture with a twist. How do these logos change the overall aura of the painting?
On a physical level, these large blocks and swathes of mainly black-and-white abstracted text provide structure to the compositions. Viewers may not initially know that they are looking at a distorted Blackrock or Björk text logo, but when they either find it for themselves or hear me talk about the work, the aura definitely shifts. The work becomes less about beauty and more about cultural critique. I strive for works that have a real balance between the two. But then the zippers come into play, and we look beyond the surface to a blank white wall, and that’s where our truth really is.
How does your spirituality influence your perspective on corporatocracy and the ways you critique it?
Money is not inherently bad. The love of money is where we run astray. God wants all of us to be abundant, but we are so quick to make money our higher power. Money is an exchange of energy, and, to say the least, there are extremely disparate financial realities happening concurrently. LA is such a prime example to be witness to this. The art world serves the .01%, the people who really do have dominion in this physical realm. I see my role as serving these individuals and being a teacher in their lives through my art, in addition to the physical objects I create that inherently have these challenging questions in their spirit.
What aspects of culture do you find most interesting right now?
There seems to be some semblance of a revival starting to take place. We’ve been living in this “post-truth” reality for some time now, and with the ever-increasing dependence on technology, and intentionally divisive energy being mainlined into the veins of society, there seems to be a pushback from a primal, spiritual level. A revival of realizing who we really are when we strip away everything culture tells us who we should think we are.
What’s next for you?
My fiance and I are planning our wedding, which is a major performance piece in itself in many ways! We are also working on the next RR performance work entitled REVIVAL, that will hopefully debut in September, with a second performance in another city later in the fall. I’m painting every day recently, and honing in on these zipper paintings.