Landon Pointer is a painter focusing on youth and pop culture to express feelings from childhood, whether that be joy, trauma, or the need to survive. Pointer talked to WOE about his process, which allows his art to have a collage look despite being painted; being chosen for a Ksubi show, which restored his faith in being an artist; self-portraits, which his painting “a thought on insanity” is, but not in the traditional sense and so much more.
So initially I thought your paintings were collages because of the edges of the figures. How'd you develop your current style?
It started off being very mask oriented. I would use masking tape and either use a razor blade or tear the tape in a really straight edge way. I mainly did it because as a kid I used to do a lot of collages, so there's definitely some inspiration from that aspect of my childhood. I'm still kind of evolving the masking technique to simplify it and make it a little bit easier. But right now what I'm using is masking tape and a razor blade. I'll put the blade to the canvas, which is a pretty stressful process, but it gets the best results right now.
Did you know what the outcome was gonna be when you started doing that? Or was it just experimentation?
I used to only make paintings on the spot. It was emotion based. Whatever came to my head, I would draw, but I’ve archived a lot of it and it's not really public work anymore. Within the last year or I've really been more focused on doing behind the scenes work before I even touch the canvas. So I'll spend damn near half the time creating a composition that feels really nice. Or if I'm using references, I'll dive through archival photography from libraries or the internet or family photos and references like that and then I'll create a composition that's gonna sit on the canvas.
Then once I kind of get that solidified, I try to work on technique and what style and mediums I want to incorporate. And that's honestly been more of a battle recently because I use a lot of different mediums and there's no specific reason for it. I just enjoy doing so many different things. I really enjoy airbrushing and that's probably my favorite tool right now, but then I also really love acrylics and oil paints and oil pastels. So it's more about what feels good. That’s how I choose my mediums more or less. Now I'm spending a lot more time focusing on what techniques work well together and what textures are gonna make sense after I get my actual composition down.
Landon Pointer, Opia, 2022
What's the initial jumping off point? When you have a blank slate, how do you start?
It varies. It's a weird mental state. I can go weeks without having an idea that feels worthy of painting. A lot of the time I have to remind myself that painting isn't some royal, precious thing. It's really just a canvas with paint on it at the end of the day. So it doesn't really have to have all this crazy weight, but that's usually how it's been starting recently. Just me having to remind myself that I don't have to make a masterpiece every time.
Where do ideas typically stem from?
A lot of the ideas will either come from childhood experiences or memories. It all boils down to personal experiences finding their own way to a canvas.
Do your paintings typically represent your state mind at a time?
Yes and no. It goes back and forth from being where I'm at mentally and then what painting would be fun to make. One of the paintings I had at the Good Mother show was “Toy,” which was an ode to this old video game I used to play called Marc Ecko’s Getting Up. I used to love playing that game, so it was more of an ode to something my younger self would really love. And I haven't really experimented with that kind of style of painting, so it was also bout me developing more of a technique with the airbrush.
Then sometimes I have to paint something for myself to get emotions out, but I usually don't share those. They kind of stay in the vault until I feel like sharing them.
Landon Pointer, OGPA, 2021
And sometimes your paintings have a narrative element and other times the story isn't really in the piece, how important storytelling to you?
I think storytelling is becoming a lot more important to me. Initially I think as a kid I was always painting because it's a good release. It feels good to paint and it emotionally and spiritually feels right. But I've been feeling this sense of urgency for making paintings that do have more historical importance, like paintings that are almost timeless in a sense.
I guess the beauty of it all is it's all super subjective. So anybody can kind of relate their own personal experience to something I've created.
But for me, it is torn between making extremely personal storytelling pieces versus making work that is merely to enjoy the process of painting. I think in the future you're gonna see a lot more narrative work. I think the deeper I move into the gallery world I'm more focused creating bodies of work instead of one painting at a time. Therefore creating a a narrative that's digestible.
How'd the Ksubi show come about?
Ksubi posted on their site ‘Hey, submit some work and we're gonna pick 5 to 10 artist or something’ and I submitted one of my favorite pieces at the time. I ended up getting selected. Then I flew out there for the opening and got to see a bunch of old friends and chop it up with some people.It was a pretty simple come about honestly. I was kind of shocked, but I think I didn't really have any expectations.
You had two paintings in a good mother gallery exhibit. How do you think it fits the theme “the end is near”?
For the Toy piece specifically, I envision complete lawlessness when everybody realizes the end is near. My form of lawlessness would probably be vandalism and leaving a mark on things.
Then Damn That's Bright, which was the other piece I put in the exhibit, was this super old archival photo I found at the Oakland library. It was the most beautiful photo of all these kids smiling. While I was painting it, I was thinking about my childhood and me and all my black friends growing up in and out of white neighborhoods and shit and almost feeling that the end is always near. In a weird way we used to have to play it extra safe, just because of the way we would be perceived. And so I think growing up mixed or black or any person of color, the end never feels that far away in a really weird sense. So that’s why I put that piece.
Landon Pointer, Toy, 2021
How do you think your paintings fit in that show?
I think the way the paintings were received was really good. I sold the one that I wanted to sell, which was the Toy piece. I think The Toy was well received because of the graffiti you put out here and Good Mothers really tapped in with the local art scene and all the graffiti heads. I'm in Oakland and since I moved out here, I definitely gained a whole new love for the graffiti scene. In New York, I was on that type of time, but I never really had a profound love or respect for graffiti until I really moved to the bay.People out here are on a whole different type of time for real. It's a whole artistry on top of vandalism and everything.
Then Damn, That’s Bright I wasn't really trying to let go of, so I didn't really try and sell it. That's a piece I still have with me right now. I think that one was also really well received. It was definitely a little more advanced as far as technique goes. I honestly put those two pieces in there to show the range in my skill set because I'm still currently finding my own voice.
Can you talk to me about how growing up impacted your art?
I grew up pretty poor with a single mom. So there was never really an option for therapy or anything. So the only real outlet that was feasible was art books, movies, photos, and more art related outlets were always readily available as opposed to therapy or counseling and shit like that. So I think always turning to doodling or painting or spray paint felt more natural growing up.
Landon Pointer, Last Pick, 2022
Was a study on insanity therapeutic?
Yeah, I think it was therapeutic in both the process and the end result.When I made it I was in a really, really bad space. It was the middle of the pandemic, so that was already kind of isolating. Then I was going through crazy family shit with my mom's mental health and her psychosis hitting. Then me having to help navigate through that while not really communicating with any of my friends or my girlfriend, the easiest thing to do was to put a painting on the wall and start painting. It was a painful piece to make, but I think it was exactly what I needed.
It's really interesting as far as timelines go. It was divine timing because that painting ended up getting bought by Ksubi. That was also the piece that led me to New York and opened up all these doors. They bought the painting and that reassured me that this is my path. I already knew that, but sometimes you can get caught up in personal shit like doubt. So that painting came about from a really dark place, but then ended up kind of creating this beautiful reminder and outlook that I didn't have. So I'm really grateful for that painting. I don't think I'm ever gonna see that painting again. It's in some headquarters at Ksubi now. And I'm sad that I'm never gonna fucking see it. It's weird to think about.
Landon Pointer, A Study On Insanity, 2021
Do you consider it a self-portrait?
I consider it a self portrait, but not in the traditional sense cause it doesn't fully resemble me. I wasn't painting my physical appearance. It sounds dramatic, but internally, I felt like ripping my face off. I remember wanting to be like an amoeba and rip off this layer that wasn't letting me communicate with my friends.I wanted to disappear. So I would call it an emotional self portrait, if anything. It's not a traditional self portrait, but I don't necessarily think self portraits all have to be your face.
My favorite self portrait is by Allen Jones and it looks absolutely nothing like him.
Yeah, for sure. It digs so much deeper than how you look. We all have our own personal experience and we all have what makes us who we are. Physical appearance, although it tends to matter in 21st century America, really doesn't hold too much weight when you actually think about it. When you can actually look outside of yourself, you can maybe then understand how little physicalities matter and how little physical objects matter. It's all metaphysical, I guess.
Landon Pointer, Yellow Post-It, 2021
You said you want to be the Teezo touchdown of visual art. What do you mean by that?
I stand by that. I probably will forever stand by that. I‘m inspired by the way he approaches things because it's not easy to do different styles and explore different genres and mediums and do it almost flawlessly. I've been a fan since probably 2018 or something. I kind of forgot about him for a little bit but then he was in the limelight for something I can’t remember, but I was like, ‘oh shit this is what he's been on? This is what he's been doing?’ I also had the honor of kicking it with him at the Ksubi show and he gave me his number and we chopped it up. I was able to tell him that he was an inspiration.
What do you hope to express in your paintings?
Right now, I think I'm trying to express my own feelings. It's kind of naive and maybe a little self-centered, but I think I'm painting right now more for myself than anybody. I'll probably keep doing that, but I think I almost want the message right now to all kids my age and younger to remember that it is all feasible. I've sacrificed a lot for art and I'm fine doing that. I feel like I would sacrifice everything to be able to paint full time.
I want everybody to know that it is possible. I'm not sure how I'm gonna end up expressing that on a canvas, but I think this next year or two will most likely be me working through experiences and events like traumas and joys and everything on a canvas. I want to kind of present it in a way where I'm not spoon feeding you all the information, so that way everybody can kind of have their own representation. So I'm trying to find a way to express these emotions in a digestible way. A perceivable way, but also trying to make it something that I'm happy with and something that looks good and feels good to me.