Interview with Dan Levenson
by Abel Ibáñez G.
Which tools did you use for the creation of this piece?
A ruler, compass, pencil, paintbrush, and wooden dice.
What was the creative process behind it, from the beginning until it was finished?
I lay out a grid, do the underlying drawing, and then paint.
In the past couple years I’ve been adding “chance operations” to my work. In this case, the colors were chosen by rolling dice.
What were your references, influences or inspirations during your creative process?
Josef Albers’ color studies on paper were a big influence on this piece. I saw them at the Morgan Library in NYC in 2012.
What did you enjoy the most about the process?
Painting is always my favorite part.
What was the hardest thing for you and how did you solve it?
Maybe figuring out a grid system? None of it was really hard. Just time-consuming.
I was born in NYC, grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and currently live in Los Angeles.