Artist and Author Brian Catling discusses his writing and his art
Check the book out here https://amzn.to/3rmzinv
Interview Timeline
Brian Catling is a poet, sculptor, painter, and performance artist. He makes installations and paints portraits of imagined cyclops in egg tempera. Brian has had numerous solo shows and has recently published a new book. We spoke about the work, his writing, and the occult. Hollow (Vintage, 2021)
0:35 – Brian talks about why he wrote the book.
3:14 – Brian talks about Christian religion in Europe.
4:40 – Brian talks about the book.
7:40 – Brian talks about about the book being European in focus.
8:14 – Brian talks about his research into the period.
9:07 – Brian talks about poetry in the book.
10:55 – Brian talks about his writing style in the book.
11:46 – Brian talks about how he plans out his book.
12:11 – Brian talks about his approach to writing.
13:12 – Brian talks about describing scenes in his book.
14:51 – Brian talks about his inspirations.
16:08 – Brian talks about not being able to paint what he writes.
16:33 – Brian talks about the surroundings he prefers when he writes.
17:33 – Brian talks about the musical feel of the book.
19:41 – Brian talks about not taking a moral stance in his writing.
20:25 – Brian talks about religion in his work.
21:30 – Brian talks about his favorite characters to write.
23:16 – Brian talks about characters that have been difficult for him to write.
24:17 – Brian talks about writing characters different from himself.
26:11 – Brian talks about how his approach to writing has changed over time.
27:55 – Brian talks about editing his work.
30:27 – Brian talks about his tempura work.
32:31- Brian talks about painting cyclops’.
33:44 – Brian talks about being a fan of ancient and epic literature.
36:13 – Brian talks about things he can’t do.
37:28 – Brian talks about being adopted.
38:14 – Brian talks about his interest in the mysterious and magic.
44:28 – Brian talks about being inspired by the Elizabethan John Dee.
46:26 – Brian talks about what scares him.
48:41 – Brian talks about humans being terrifying.
50:51 – Brian talks about the mixture of cultures.
52:42 – Brian talks about characters whom he’d like to write.
55:27 – Brian talks about his current working project.
59:27 – Brian talks about fiction that he’s enjoyed.
1:02:08 – Brian can be found at bcatling.com.
Links of interest
https://amzn.to/3rmzinv
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/624397/hollow-by-b-catling/
https://www.bcatling.com/
Contact Information
For more “Full Contact Nerd” please follow me at crisalvarez.com, on Facebook at CrisAlvarezFCN, on youtube at Cris Alvarez on twitter @CrisAlvarezFCN, on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi, and on Apple Podcasts / Google Podcasts /