Check out Ethan Roads’ Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ethan Roads.

Ethan, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
The long, convoluted story of mine began in a city that is not my hometown and continued to be in a migratory state until I was 18. The Greater Phoenix Area is the longest continuous spot I’ve lived in one span. Other than my adolescence spent in Japan and England for reasons out of my control, I have a pretty average story. I came to embracing art later than some; I still struggle to call myself an artist. I started with a camera, focused first at skateboarding, but I soon realized the world photographed can be a new world. After years of making images as a hobby, once I made it to ASU, I was spending more time in the photo lab than in the bio lab. After a while of that kind of scenario, an art degree seemed natural. It has been a few years since graduation, and I work full-time in an “art industry” with nothing to do with my degree. I took what I learned at school and went the other way. I continue to try new things, publish zines and books, experiment with junk, and combine photography with as many other mediums as possible.

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do? Why? And what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I am a photographer first, but I am also a text-driven person by nature. I carry a little 35mm p&s everywhere, shooting nothing in particular. From the visual information collected I collage, paint, digitally manipulate, stack, screenprint or anything else I can think of. I hardly print a straight photograph and call it done. I thoroughly enjoy recycling things, using what is available or what catches my eye. Since I enjoy experimenting and I don’t like wasting money, I like getting scraps and loose ends and seeing what comes together. I could go on about the how, but I like to keep the why pretty simple. I do what I do because I like being productive and it feels good. I am interested in humanity, the end of times, infrastructure, word and puns, and the idea of government. Most of the time I just hope people take something away from it.

Artists face many challenges, but what do you feel is the most pressing among them?
Capitalism, but that isn’t just a cloud over artists. If one wants to be a professional artist, the odds are against you, but the market is as big as its ever been. There are so many different definitions of success, but each requires sacrifice of a unique sort. The amount of awesome, enlightening, beautiful, educational and new art that is constantly being made shows me that others rise to these challenges, showing what is possible by many different paths. Currently, I am challenged by starting a lot of things and not finishing any of them.

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
I have my Instagram @ethan.roads. On my website,www.ethanroads.com, you can see photos from my last exhibition, Low Data. I have zines and a book at Wasted Ink Zine Distro and Palabras Bookstore! I also have a big cartel with prints and other stuff on there, https://ethanroads.bigcartel.com/.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ethanroads.com
• Instagram: @ethan.roads

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