Hull-based artist, BAEL, sits down with Dom Smith and opens up about his career and creativity. BAEL’s artwork has been shown in London, Berlin, and Los Angeles, but his success has not clouded his love for his art. From his biggest challenges, to his biggest inspirations, BAEL bears all.
BAEL talks of his inspirations…
“He went to a school of art and design; he did technical illustration, so that he could go and work in British Airspace. They had some art courses as well and he sort of did those on the side. He has a technical skill where he can look at something, and he can nail it. So I used to take him things I wanted to see him draw, and I would just sit and watch how he did it so it was a case of seeing some mechanically, actually draw. He was a big inspiration for me, I always wanted to be a comic book artist, that was my big thing as a kid. I used to read X-Men 2000 AD, heavy metal. There was a really good comic book shop in Hull called Armadillo that was there for years and years, and they would have just racks of stuff – French comics, manga, all that kind of thing. So that was what I wanted to do, and when I was 16, I went to Hull College of Art. I think it was in my first week I was there, because they had a massive library, I would alphabetically work my way through it, and just pull out anything. It was a huge education of being able to get hold of books and just look through them. I must’ve got to the S-section and I found a book by Egon Schiele, and I pulled it out… I’ve only had two experiences quite like it, creatively, where I’ve seen something, and it’s made me feel high. I felt light-headed, I couldn’t stop moving my hands, things like that. I got the book, and it was like I’d seen in his work, a genesis. For a good long, solid couple of years, I dedicated myself to try and get that quality that his work had. It was nervous, it was angular, and it was accurate but it was done so quickly, and I just couldn’t get my head around it. The first artworks that I did, that were serious artworks, that got picked up and got shown in galleries, were just hugely inspired by him.”
On his biggest challenges…
“Artistically, I would say I’ve been very lucky, because there are a hell of a lot of very, very talented people out there. I think in a strange way, I’ve always had a kind of, not a belief in myself, but a belief that it’s worth having a go. When I first got picked up by galleries, I must’ve sent about 700 emails to 700 different galleries. As soon as I’d sent it, I didn’t care about it anymore. I never sat in the inbox, waiting for the rejection – I just did the next one, and the next one, and the next one. Out of the hundreds that I sent out, maybe two came back. One was the Signal Gallery in London – they were the first ones. I drove down to London in my Ford Ka, I wore a shirt and a pair of trousers, like I was getting a job or something, and I turned up with five pieces. We put them around the gallery, and he was like, ‘We’ve got a group show next month so we’ll put that one in it.’”
On the comfortability of his creativity…
“I hear a lot of people say that they make art and they find it relaxing, or that it’s a bit of a retreat for them, whereas for me, one of the biggest things that I use is music, so I always use music that has no lyrics, but a lot of stuff that is very heavy music – very atmospheric, very bleak, and I have to get into that mindspace. I can’t be distracted. I know some people can paint and draw with the TV on… I have to get absorbed into this music, and then put myself into the headspace that suits the art I make. I can’t listen to anything upbeat, or anything that has any kind of positivity. I’ve got a bit addicted to certain artists – one of them is called Lorn. The second something by Lorn kicks in, you feel like you’re in a nuclear power plant in Berlin.”
On his choice of music…
“Although I said I don’t listen to a lot of lyrics, there is probably my favourite band of all time – I found the album and it just shook my fillings out – Disorder by Joy Division. The first part of that, to this day, I’ve never lost the exhilarating feeling when I hear it. Again, it changes all the time. ‘Anvil’ by Lorn, that’s something I play on repeat. It’s thick, and it’s so heavy… there’s just so much to it. There’s an electronic musician called Rival Consoles that I really like, and he’s got a song called ‘Beginnings’. It’s not so much as full-of-dread or anything, but it’s got a rhythm and energy that I listen to quite a lot. ‘Dead Souls’ by Nine Inch Nails.”
On his success…
“The first show I ever did, it was a solo show in London. Those artworks were of humanoids, but they had claws, and there were scratches. They were really sinister artworks… I never expected them to get picked up, but those artworks were the ones that caught people’s attention. I think, in a weird way, it was like turning up to a music festival for one genre, and because you play a different genre, it just stuck in people’s heads. I often do something and don’t expect a lot of reaction.”
On unwinding from his creativity…
“That dark stuff… it’s almost like that is the corner of myself that creates. I would never listen to it in the car, I would never play it in the house when I’m just going around. I’d probably put on something that was more like 1950s jazz music, a lot of soul music. Films, I watch The Lost Boys, something like that, 80s horror movies. The bleak, industrial stuff has its place.”
On compartmentalisation of his work and his life…
“The way I dealt with lockdown was just to create. I’d say it was the most prolific period I’ve ever had. It was a gear change overnight, in terms of the style and the subject matter. The way I dealt with not being able to have a rich life was to pour my energy into it, but what it meant I was doing is, I was looking at imagery that was depressive and a little bit unsettling to get the inspiration. I was listening to the music more and more. The comfortable part of my life, of socialising and going to the movies, and hanging out, and laughing and joking… that wasn’t there anymore. So that sort of ominous, slightly unsettling stuff was bleeding very much into my life. I remember when as soon as we could go out, I made a point that I just wanted to put that behind me a little bit and try and enjoy things again. Not only was it easy creatively, but if you looked at the news, you’d get dragged into that negative mindframe… it was just everywhere. As soon as that began to slip out of society a little bit, I noticed that I’d become a bit engulfed in it.”
On the barriers to his success being from Hull…
“Well, I didn’t realise, until I went to London and started speaking to people, that although it’s not the case for everybody, there are a lot of people who are able to indulge in the pursuit of art because they have a degree of a safety net. I only know two people, in my sphere of friends and experience that have been privately educated, whereas when I went to London and I was hanging out with people, it seemed to be the norm that they were privately educated, the way boarding school kept coming up. Everyone was state-educated that I know, and they could be in London for long periods of time, they could luxuriate in it. I had to get the train, I had to crash on my friends floors, I had to make sure I drank all the free wine at the exhibitions because I didn’t have enough money. People noticed, and when you said Hull, a lot of the time, they didn’t really know where you meant. I wouldn’t say that I didn’t talk about it, but I was very vague about where I came from. It was a conscious thing that I picked up from people around me.”
A message to young people following in BAEL’s footsteps…
“If you don’t have nepotism on your side, it’s always gonna be a little bit harder. I would say one of the pitfalls I see a lot of artists deal with, especially with social media, is if you’re going to use it, I think it’s got to be about the work. I see a lot of artists… I’ll check their work out, and the next thing I’ll see is some video of them doing some stupid, goofy stuff, and that’s fine, but it’s a bit of a job interview as well. If somebody’s checking your work out and they’re in a position to help you out career-wise, if they see that, they get a feeling for your personality that’s not quite aligned with your work – that can be a bad thing sometimes. If you take your work seriously and present it seriously, people take you seriously. Social media is going to be a big part of what you do, keep it looking classy. Outside of social media, get yourself to shows, get yourself to cities – if there’s an artist showing in a city that you don’t live in, but you know they’ve got an opening, go to it.”
BAEL’s final notes…
“Keep your eyes open. There’s going to be a lot of new work coming out soon, so keep your eyes on social media. I’ve got prints available, have a look at those. If you see something you like, just let me know. The book is probably a good starting place, I’ve got a few left, and I can always get some more. Thanks for sticking around despite all the various changes!”
BAEL’s Website: https://www.bael.co.uk
Bael’s Playlist…
