“There are several heroes, a ghost or two, a couple of villains, some victims, and comic relief characters in this show…in your version you might pick a different hero and shift all the roles, and I think that would be fantastic” — Adam Corbett
RED by Adam Corbett
Adam Corbett is no stranger to the Columbia art scene, having played concerts for years and now beginning to show his art at markets. For his first gallery show, he has curated ten pieces, ten characters, with unique stories to tell.
Learn more about Corbett, his background, and his current show in our recent interview.
JASPER: Did you grow up around art, or is it something you came to as an adult?
CORBETT: I grew up in Lexington. My mother is an artist, and my grandfather was as well. Mostly they would paint things for their own homes or gifts for someone, but it was for sure a part of my childhood. My family also ran an after-school art/activity program for most of my childhood.
JASPER: So, when did you begin to get into art, and where did you start?
CORBETT: Middle school band was my way into music, honestly. I had tried some things before that—mom and dad both play piano—but something about fifth grade band (with Mr. Rhodes) and that saxophone section really got my brain at the right time. I think I took up guitar that summer, and the cool factor was enough of an incentive there; I was hooked. I started performing and teaching lessons for pocket money around fifteen.
JASPER: You’ve worked as a musician for some time since then—what drew you to visual art from there?
CORBETT: Outside of greeting cards for my mom (family tradition), visual art was something I really just did for myself, to decompress or just pass time. That was until the pandemic happened. I absolutely escaped into carving, painting, cartoons, and little doodles during the most troubling times of 2020. Watercolor painting became a daily mental health thing very quickly. I’m always playing with different materials and art forms, but I don’t see myself giving up my watercolor practice anytime soon.
Vultura - Adam Corbett
JASPER: If you were to reflect on your visual and aural work, what would you say about their relationship to one another or what is unique about each method of creating?
CORBETT: To write and perform music is an exercise in vulnerability for me, even if the song is about something silly. I’ve been blessed to sing my songs to rooms full of people who knew the words and joined in. I’ve even had a couple of those moments at shows where I got to point the mic at a mass of people, and they took a chorus. With my paintings the rewarding part is different. With visual art, to me, a success happens when the creation is completed, and then there is a whole other accomplishment in the work being chosen, even if it’s just a “like” by someone. Then there is the big win of someone purchasing and displaying it in their space, wherever that is. The specific feeling of knowing a sad bat-clown man I painted is on display in a stranger’s home somewhere in Columbia is as strong a feeling as those singalong moments; it’s very different but just as strong.
JASPER: Do you find you pursue similar themes in your music and paintings, or does each hold an expression of different themes?
CORBETT: I feel about my themes like a deer feels about headlights. Humor, fantasy, sci-fi, whimsy—all with a heavy helping of grossness, I guess—are some of general themes I’m working with right now. With songs and lyrics, I feel like I’m telling you how I feel, and we feel something together about it. Music taught me that the audience decides what you meant, whether you meant it or not.
JASPER: When you sit down to create, regardless of medium, do you go through a specific mental process? Do you have any creation rituals, so to speak?
CORBETT: I have the most inconsistent creative process—calling it a process at all might be too much. I draw and paint in my kitchen at the counter. I write lyrics in my car a lot. There is something to those places typically being the messiest places in my day to day. Sometimes I'll make an awesome doodle at a social gathering or pull full verses and choruses out of the air. Sometimes a really great piece can go from nothing to done in 20 minutes (but we all know there was time invested prior to that). Other times, I work on a song or painting for months, and it might never see the light of day. The quality of the work doesn’t always go with how much time goes into it.
JASPER: How do you know when to walk away from a piece? When is it “done”?
CORBETT: Emotionally, song lyrics are like mantras; if you write a song to sing over and over you will hear those words more often than anyone. With painting there is this moment when a painting is done. The idea of adding more paint to it is out of the question. Lyrics never feel that way to me.
JASPER: When piecing together this show, how did you go about selecting works? Are there any larger ideas or concepts tying it together?
CORBETT: I painted “Red” to round out my show to ten pictures, and I selected the other nine from what work I had done over the last year. I picked out what images I thought told the most story individually while also telling a larger story as a group. There is a bit of a fantasy theme throughout. There are several heroes, a ghost or two, a couple of villains, some victims, and comic relief characters in this show. I think the story will be best if I let you (the audience) decide who is who. In your version you might pick a different hero and shift all the roles, and I think that would be fantastic.
Horns - Adam Corbett
JASPER: Looking back at showings you’ve had of your art; do you have a favorite memory?
CORBETT: At one of the first markets I did, there was this young kid, maybe like 11 years old. They thought all my art was cool and told me so. I haven’t received a better accolade yet.
Corbett’s show will be up until February 28th, and his work is available to peruse and purchase 24/7 via Jasper’s virtual gallery:
If you want to follow Corbett, check out his music here: https://adamcorbett.bandcamp.com/ and his art on Instagram @s4d4mz