Interview with Dionta McDade

Dionta McDade is a 23- (almost 24) year-old outsider artist currently participating in the ARTiculate program at VSA D.C. VSA D.C. is a community-based non-profit that develops, implements and supports arts-integrated education and employment programs for youth and adults with special needs.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing this inspired young man and discussing his artwork, process, and perspective on contemporary art. Enjoy!

Thanks for taking the time to chat, Dionta. To start, when did you first realize your artistic talents? 

   When I was in 3rd grade. I started drawing and sketching. I didn’t always understand my schoolwork and I could relate to art better. When I didn’t understand things in school, I just drew in the binder that I bring with me.

Do you need art to live? Do you consider it a necessary part of your daily life, or just a hobby? 

   Yes, I need it. I draw when I am bored or upset or happy, so, pretty much always. I draw all of the time. I keep a binder with me so that I can always have something to draw on. Drawing is the way that I express everything that I feel in life.

What is your approach to creating work? Do you produce imagery from your head, use live models, draw inspiration from photographs…? 

   It all comes from my head. I like to draw things from cartoons that I remember from television. I remember things and then they show up in my artwork.

What about cartoons inspires you and urges you to create work?

   I like that people know cartoons, not like other stuff in my head. I like it because I can draw them and people recognize them. I like to give people something they like, like maybe Spongebob but with a tattoo or mohawk or cornrows or something. It’s the same so that they know it, but different so that it’s interesting.

What, if anything, do you consistently draw inspiration from, other than cartoons?

   People. I like to draw faces and things like that.

What about people interests you?

   People are just interesting… their clothes, their hairstyles, their different looks. I see them all of the time and I remember them. They are everywhere.

Many of your pieces seem to contain an element of self-portraiture. Are you intentional about the fact that you are drawing and painting yourself?

   Some of them. Mostly they are about other people, I think. I look for people who are different than me but I guess I see myself more than any person so I guess I remember my face best in my head.

(a mixed media piece by Dionta, currently on display in the ARTiculate gallery)

Do you think that beauty has a place in contemporary artwork? In your art? 

   I think art is whatever you think it is. If you think it’s beautiful, and other people don’t think so, it’s just for you. Like maybe angels pointing are beautiful to you, or cars, like a Bentley. If you’re trying to sell, you just have to make what people want. What people want but they don’t have is what they think is beautiful. You have to ask them what they want and that will be beautiful to them.

In closing, how do you define success in your artwork?

   If it’s different and it’s not like what people have seen before. Be a risk taker. If you can tell people what you were thinking about when you made the piece without talking and they can see the thoughts in your head, it’s successful. People don’t like the same thing, so it’s just got to be different.

Thanks so much, Dionta!