Interview: Kevin Bergkvist aka e.l.kludge

First few basic questions, who are you, what are you doing, where are you coming from?

I am Kevin Bergkvist, and also e.l. kludge when making art and being a lil weirdo.
I make art, I hang out with my wife and our dogs and cats a whole bunch, and lately, I’ve been driving a Zamboni at an ice arena for money. I live in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Your works are super punk and dirty, how did you find your ”style”?

After college, I was mostly focused on learning to be a proper “illustrator” of some sort. I really wanted to figure out a drawing style I could call my own so I was doing that most days. But I attended this little school program thing here in Minneapolis, and one of our assignments was to try and copy the work of a classmate. I was randomly assigned to copy the work of Dale Flattum (TOOTH) who is probably the best artist I’ve ever known. After that I was obsessed with collage and cut/paste stuff and punk flyers and the whole deal. The crucial thing was the process. I had never had nearly as much fun WHILE making something as I did during that project. Obviously, I couldn’t actually make work as good as he could, but after that, I could never just sit down and draw things by hand. I NEEDED to rip up paper and collage things and mess around in that super fast way, it was pretty addictive.

So that’s where the specific punk-looking stuff started, but obviously, I’ve found other artists and work to imitate and aspire to since then and it all mixes together and comes through my hands in a way that’s its own thing. And at this point, I do feel pretty comfortable with it being my own rather than just an imitation, but that did take a little while to happen which I think is pretty normal.

“I find that my dumbest impulses usually lead to the best work.”

Can you tell me about the process of making your work?

It sort of depends on what I’m making, but I start with finding and piling up images. I usually use the computer to make them black and white and high contrast. Then I print a bunch of stuff out and start cutting and pasting them together and on top of each other and seeing what looks interesting or makes me laugh. It’s really simple honestly, and I find that my dumbest impulses usually lead to the best work. If I try to be really smart or clever or have some bigger point to make it usually comes out really lame and forced. I think there’s something about quieting my mind and just sitting with the materials and letting them be what they are that works best. I can’t outsmart what already is there. It’s best when I think of myself as a helpful hand, like there’s a higher power or muse or ghost in the walls or someone that is actually CREATING the work, and they just need my physical hands to do the work. So it’s best I shut up and just do the work they want me to do and let whatever happens happen.

What’s your background? Have you always been involved in art?

I’ve always been into art I suppose. I really liked drawing as a kid but never took it seriously or aspired to be a capital A “artist” until the end of college. So like almost ten years now of really TRYING. I suppose I’ve always been involved in art my whole life though, but just in the way that most people are in that we all have our favorite songs and movies and books and all that. I was probably a little more obsessed with some of that stuff than a lot of my friends though.

I grew up playing hockey though. That was my biggest thing through my childhood and through college. It was my whole deal. Eventually being a serious hockey player came to an end and becoming an artist seemed like the right next move. it’s more interesting I suppose and I’m completely obsessed and think about it all day and night, but I still play pickup hockey once a week and that’s more fun than making art haha.

How do you boost your creativity? Do you have creative rituals?

I work on art in the mornings, that’s crucial for me. I’m so useless at night when it comes to creativity. I can do the labor parts of it if I need to, like screen printing a big edition or whatever, but I have to do the “making” and “creative” parts earlier in the day before I am tired or have lost all my optimism.

When I get burnt out need a boost, it’s often because I’m too focused on making stuff and not absorbing enough from elsewhere. So I need to look at other works that inspire me or read a book or see a movie or just go for a walk with my doggies and get outside my own head.

Do you have favorite materials, or do you like the challenge of working with something new?

I have favorites for sure. I like paper and ink and tape and a pencil for “smudgies”. I like screen printing and I love my screens and my ink and my squeegee. I’m very at home with all of that. Occasionally I’ll try a new material to print on or something maybe, but right now I’m pretty happy with the materials that I know. I’m sure eventually I’ll have to try some new stuff, but honestly, I think I haven’t made enough consistent work yet with the things I know, and I haven’t pushed the boundaries in those materials and limitations enough to where I’m bored of it or anything.

What do you look for when you go through the materials? What catches your attention?

Hmm… I guess I like lots of spooky stuff. Skulls are always fun. I don’t really like horror or anything that much, but I love the still images done in a punky aesthetic. I don’t know, it just lights me up. But I also like anything that has some sort of tone or mood or feeling or weird little bits about it. I like mostly older stuff. I think most new things that get made look terrible because everything is done so perfectly and correctly and the computer lets us achieve perfect angles and color balances and lines and all that too easily to the point that perfection isn’t an achievement it’s just the only accepted standard action or something and we lose all the personality and imperfections and strangeness in things… Blah blah blah I’m whining about stuff haha. But yeah I love to revisit older magazines and books and dig through the past and use that stuff in new work.

What kind of connection there is between your message and the actual way you create your art?

I guess I think the messages, if I have any in my work, are often just there and I only am supposed to let them be there in the final work as simply as possible. Because I’m doing collage and using found materials, it’s usually best to not overdo things and let the messages come out and then stop when they feel interesting or funny or whatever they were meant to be. I just like to play with and enjoy the materials until the message or mood reveals itself and then that’s the message.

Maybe it’s easier to explain what I don’t like to do. I don’t like to start with a message or an idea and then make work to express that, it never works. I have to start with the work and see what message it leads to, if any. I find the messages accidentally by making the work. It leads to better work, and it keeps things exciting so I don’t get bored and quit.

What has been your proudest moment with your art?

I think it’s any of the times that someone tells me that I’ve helped inspire or motivate them to make art or try something new that they are excited about. that makes me really happy and proud. I like to let people know how much fun I’m having with all this stuff and I’m really glad when they get to have that fun too.