MARK JASON WELCH

WHO OR WHAT ARE YOU?

…a word/music/image slave—but I struggle with labels, they can be very damaging. I’d like to think of myself as a dressed up punk…kinda anti-establishment, focused on doing the right thing, raising consciousness, etc.. A product of circumstance, a child of God, a sliver of the infinite universe…exceedingly blessed with unbounded potential.

WHY DO YOU DO WHAT YOU DO?

Because for some reason I have been inundated with this unshakable idea that I am an artist in every sense of the word, and nothing fulfills me more than the act of creating: banging things into shape until I can see manifest what was floating around in my head.

HOW DO YOU DO WHAT YOU DO?

Determination. Commitment to an idea.  Focus on technique and craft. If I don’t love something I am working on, I can’t expect that anyone else will. That’s the golden rule….

WHAT'S THE BIGGEST OBSTACLE FACING YOU REGARDING YOUR ART?

Obstacles are illusions. Everything just (usually) falls into place. You are often your worst enemy. In a small society, you are hampered by what people think/don’t think. That eats your soul.

EXCERPT

My young daughter yearns to feel the texture of grass.
She won’t stay quiet.
Irving Burgie’s garrulous rhythms seesaw in my head.
I don’t open my mouth.
There is a ripe guave,
The mottled bark is a sonnet in itself.
The sky is overcast.
She cools and climbs,
Pointing at the birds
Never giving me a moment to read
A single word of nation language,
Signed in tarnished pencil strokes;
Aged morphing creole tongues
That will one day be hers to share with her:
Da…da.
Do-do.
Darling.
—from "The Tractor" by Mark Jason Welch

WHO OR WHAT ARE YOUR BIGGEST INFLUENCES AND INSPIRATIONS?

Dostoyevsky, Marquez, Jim Morrison, Jeff Bridges, Radiohead, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Picasso—people who push the envelope and live, breathe, sleep in their medium.

WHAT’S YOUR LAST, LATEST OR NEXT BIG THING?

Continue writing like my life depended on it (which it does), get on as many film sets as I can, learn as much as I can, and climb that career ladder. I want to begin painting this year again, take up an instrument, maybe join a band…and then there’s talk of a play….

WHAT REALLY PLEASES YOU ABOUT YOUR WORK?

I just enjoy what I do. I never can tell what the big deal is or if there is one. I like the fact that for me OK is never good enough, and I can take all these disparate ideas and filter them into one congruent expression that somehow seems to touch people.

WHAT THRILLS YOU LESS ABOUT YOUR WORK? WHAT REMAINS A CHALLENGE OR CAUSES YOU TO SAY, "I'LL FAIL BETTER THE NEXT TIME"?

Some of the early acting work I did in some pretty awful plays. Boy, oh boy. I need to work more on acting; I find it fascinating and very fulfilling. Not so excited about administration, but people seem to think I am good at it.

WHOSE WORK ARE YOU INTO AT THE MOMENT?

Charles Bukowski, rediscovering Basquiat, the band Grizzly Bear, but generally there are a lot of fresh artists and ideas out there—it’s competitive and daunting but inspiring.

GET IT OFF YOUR CHEST

In Barbados, policy makers’ view of arts and culture is…well, primeval at best. There’s still this sun, sea and sand mentality, and the concept of a full-time artist is a laughable, unsupported notion. The education system is archaic and failing, and we still force our children to believe the myth that a doctor, lawyer or architect is the only way forward to a fulfilled life. There is no room for dreams or creativity. It’s all surface and gloss and status quo.

I also think that this back-to-Africa palaver is inverse racism. Just love who you are and get the job done—enough with the skin colour, enslaved for 400 years blah blah…just love yourself and get on with making the world a better place. Jeez. It would be so nice to see the country commit more to solar and other sustainable energies and other sustainable practices, like recycling, waste management, etc., which support the ideas of a progressive, mobile society that is serious about being independent.

CHOICE WORDS

Genome — the root of it all
Syllable — the currency I work in
Daughters — keep me grounded and striving to be better, which is a good thing, I suppose
Light — nothing happens without it
Love — it’s all you need, and…
Spirit. Focus. Faith.