Elliott Routledge, aka Numskull, is a busy boy. A contemporary Australian artist hailing from Sydney, and constantly traveling to make work around the world. He switches easily between large scale outdoor murals, and small(er) scale paintings and sculpture, all stamped with his own signature style.
His latest project is ‘All in the Front’, a solo exhibition at Backwoods Gallery in Melbourne, which opens tonight. His art borders abstraction, with elements reduced to their simplest graphic form, so on first glance, you’re likely not to realise this is his first show exploring portraiture. A second look, and you’ll find the identifying traits. With this body of work, he’s making a “deep investigation into the way we choose to project ourselves”.
Ahead of the opening tonight, we got Elliott on the text to learn more about this new work, and how he’s feeling about identity in the digital age.
Hey Nummy, thanks for making the time. I know you’re in the process of installing the show in Melbourne, and you just got back from London (which we’ll talk about in a separate piece next week). You must be feeling crazy jetlagged, and under the pump? What’s the schedule like right now, seems like you have a fair bit going on?
Hey mate. Nice to hear from you. London was last week, and I went pretty much from there, to home [Sydney], to spend a day with the fam. Then straight to Melbourne to setup and finish off this solo show at Backwoods. It’s been crazy, but I kind of like working this way sometimes. I get bored if there’s not a lot going on. It’s definitely pretty tiring at times, but I’m grateful to be doing it so I never complain.
Tell me about the show in Melbourne, with so much on the go, you must have been working on these paintings before London?
I created the London work, and this solo exhibition at Backwoods, at the same time.
There were a few things I’ve painted and made on site at the gallery here in Melbourne, but most of it was prepared a long time ago. It was nice creating two different sets of work at the same time and I’m really happy with both sets of work.
This is your first foray into portraiture, and the works are still quite abstract. You’re ‘exploring the deceptive nature of how we choose to portray ourselves, both consciously and subconsciously.’ Can you talk a little bit about how you arrived at this topic, how you approached portraiture within your style, and what lessons you’ve learned about how you portray yourself while working with, and reflecting on, this concept?
The works are still very abstract, but closer inspection reveals a face or portrait. This stems from a desire to create something from nothing. Using abstracted elements that can mean nothing at all, into something people can attach to, or attach personality to. This has come about via the influence having children has had on me. I’ve gained a perspective on life and myself and am curious on how we are formed and how we present ourselves and our ‘character’.
The first thing I notice about this body of work is a slight departure from the primary colour palette (bright red and blue) that I associate with your work. I know you’re not bound by these colours, but what’s your take on this? Is it a conscious evolution?
Sometime around 2014 I made a strong conscious decision to strip my palette back to just two or three colours. Red and blue have always appealed to me, so I chose to focus on them for a while. To see how I could produce large bodies of work, within a constrained colour environment. I think over the past year or so, I’ve experimented enough that I am only now allowing more colours to enter the space, and to even get rid of the red in some projects or paintings. I never want to be bound to one thing, so evolution needs to happen for sure. I’m just trying to slow the change down a bit.
The materials in this show sound pretty luxurious; fine Italian cotton framed with Tasmanian Oak. How do you like working with these materials?
Yeah, I guess they sound pretty luxurious. The cotton I use is just really nice and smooth, which works for my painting style, and the oak just feels so nice when you see it and touch it. I used to frame everything in white, but now I prefer to add this raw oak to give it a certain real or natural feeling.
And there’s some sculptures in this show too right? An all-blue frog sitting on a ball. Looks buzzy. You’ve been playing with sculpture a little bit over the last few years, can you talk about the earlier jaunts into sculpture, content, materials etc, and how that compares to the sculpture works in this show?
This new sculpture is titled ‘Self Portrait’. As it’s a new direction, I chose myself as the subject. I’m fascinated by frogs as animals, and even have two green tree frogs in my house. It boggles my mind that we keep these frogs as pets. I often get sad for them, but also enjoy having them in our environment and for the kids to look after them. This sculpture is a stack consisting of a raw rocky element, a smiley face, and a proud frog sits on top of it all. It’s a fairly personal piece, I guess, and is made from things I literally gathered from my house and transformed into large scale. Like ‘Honey I Shrunk the Kids’, but in reverse.
I am super excited about this new sculpture. I’ve always played with sculpture as a medium and every show I create there’s at least one sculptural or 3D piece. Up until this show, it’s been handmade, hand-carved, really raw materials like concrete or wood, and all been created really haphazardly in a kind of Homer Simpson style. Just find what I can and bash it together until I’m happy. Now I’m at a point where I’ve tried that, this new sculpture is more composed and considered. It’s how I’ve wanted to make sculpture the whole time, but done professionally. I’m really excited about it.
The theme of this show makes me think of the ultimate potentially-deceptive tool for portraying ourselves to the masses: social media. How did this play a part in your process? And how do you hope people approach their own portrayal of self after experiencing this work?
We live in a strange time. Social media is like a weird disease that has taken over the entire world. Identity is in flux and these digital devices play such a big part in how we portray ourselves to each other. This plays a major part in my art practice and is also something I’m really interested in and fascinated by. I just paint what I want to, and I think sometimes these themes make their way in as I’m sketching or painting.
I don’t try to force anything upon anyone, but I hope in even just mentioning the theme people can openly have a conversation about honest self-portrayal and mental health in the digital age.
What’s your favourite thing about Melbourne?
Melbourne has a good vibe. If it wasn’t so cold in winter, I’d probably live here, haha.
I’ve been back and forth here for so many years that I have made so many great friends. Trams are cool, and it’s nice and flat.
Best place to cop a feed down there?
Shop Ramen, Lazerpig, and The Rose. The Melbourne holy trinity.
What’s next for you?
Head home, hang with the kids, try and surf as much as possible, paint more, and another exciting exhibition at the end of the year in Sydney!
‘All in the Front’ opens tonight: Friday, 9 August at Backwoods Gallery in Melbourne. The exhibition continues until Sunday, 25 August. For more information, or to request a show catalogue, contact the gallery: backwoods.gallery
To stay updated with Elliott ‘Numskull’ Routledge, visit:
Instagram:@funskull
Website:www.funskull.com
Luke Shirlaw is the founder of Artillery Projects – a graffiti art publisher, and visual studio specialising in mural production, graphic design, and content creation. Follow him on Instagram, and subscribe to Artillery’s ‘The Drop’ for exclusive email interviews.