The Inner Worlds of Andie Dinkin’s Chaotic Dinner Parties
There’s something about the feeling when you first arrive at a party and you don’t know what you are about to enter into. You’re letting go of expectations of any kind of normalcy, and enjoying the feeling of not knowing where the party will take you. You’re about to enter a world where the characters may be imaginary, alter ego’s emerge, fantasy’s come alive, the food is decadent and anything is possible. This is the world LA-based artist Andie Dinkin narrates whenever she is painting and seeing the scene from afar. It’s a never-ending affair and she wants to invite you into it.
“I’ve been drawing forever, since I could hold a pen. It was something I turned to whether I was bored or ever feeling insecure. I would create these imaginary worlds that I could escape into; or I would pretend like I was making my own little theater. It was always a different world that I could submerge myself into.” Dinkin says…
“When my dad passed away two years ago, he told me I should stop doing commissions and just focus on creating my own inner worlds. I really listened to that and needed to figure our how to make these changes after 10 years of me working on my own. You go through a lot of internal conflicts trying to find new directions, so right now I’ve been staying so true to myself on what I want to say to the world. While I still sometimes feel like I am finding myself in between phases, I am just trying to remain in painting mode. Lately I love creating alter ego versions of myself in crazy overcrowded dream-like spaces.”
What are your thoughts on going to art school?
When I graduated from RISD, I wanted a more traditional background of painting and illustration. After that I mostly worked a lot of commissions and freelance projects for many years — I’m very new to the gallery world. The people I met while in art school are still some of my best friends. It was all very collaborative and I learned so much from the other artists. The experience 100% transforms you and I don’t think I would be the same if I didn’t take a more traditional approach at first to being an artist. I think there is something to be taught, but a BFA or MFA is definitely not for everyone. I was more transformed by being in a community of people where it was the first place I saw myself developing socially.
I can also see how art school could make you almost… go backwards. They give you so much feedback and you might now know where to go. It could make you rethink everything. It’s very structured and you have to embrace negative feedback. Back then my style was totally different — I really liked to paint plants and animals and I really focused on topics around climate change and the environment. I played around with fluorescents and micro-drawings at a very large scale and imagined it as wallpaper.
How would you describe your tablescapes?
I’m still pursuing the same fundamental ideas of creating my own little world, and the imagination is everywhere. The scenes are very surreal and I want it to feel like I’m entering into these worlds that I am creating. That’s my goal for the viewer as well — to be transported into another place and time. I love long dinners and having too much wine at the table. I want the parties to feel like they are never ending. I love painting animals, women, food and pretty much any imaginary thing that I can piece together to have it somehow all make sense. I create narratives, but also want them to have a life of their own. There also needs to be enough space where I do not dictate the story so much — so they often turn into dreamscapes.
Who are some of the characters in your stories? What is the dialogue between you, as a creator and a viewer, and what you are trying to illustrate?
Some of my characters are recurring characters that I have personally developed relationships with over the years. I draw some inspiration from characters from old LIFE photos. I also incorporate weird figures from my dreams and I like to reference other artists in art history, particularly female surrealists, Leonara Carrinton and Remedios Varos. Florine Stettheimer is another one of my favorite artists, where I reference her characters. I love the liveliness and the realness she creates among a sort of chaos but calmness at the same time.
For me, when I start a canvas, I don't know where I'm going to go and I try to let the canvas and the paint kind of dictate what it wants from me, like a long Summer night unraveling itself. I want the viewer to be able to enter the scene on their own accord and take away what they'd like from my characters and the setting.
What is your studio playlist?
I actually like to watch shows: Twin Peaks, Mad Men and Downton Abbey
Where do you see yourself in a few years from now?
I would love to travel more and integrate those experiences into my paintings. I’m in a need for a little more freedom with that so I don’t feel so bound to my studio. I’d love to combine both of my worlds — the work I create for galleries and the murals I create for restaurants. Staying in the gallery world feels right, but also continuing to work with food and restaurants and hotels are wonderful side projects.
