I’m fishing at dusk and staring at the water-paying attention to the weather. I’m taking time to watch the colors shift into autumn. What kinds of things are influencing your work right now? I’m listening to a lot of Angelo Badalamenti, Julee Cruise, Brian Eno and Aphex Twin. Nothing moves outside except for the wind and snow. I like to work later into the night at this time. It is really romantic and way easier for me to concentrate. Also, the isolation of being snowed in somehow turns my art brain on. The winter is just so brutal that I end up staying indoors, so it becomes a really great time to rage in the studio. It seems to be a good time to reflect on what got done during the year.

During this time I usually just fish and hang out a lot. I tend to slow down and take the summers off. How has living in Chicago affected your art practice? Chicago has turned me into a seasonal artist. I enjoy skateboarding, fishing and drinking beer with my friends when my other duties have been fulfilled. I am a painter of sorts, although my work drifts into notions of printmaking and collage and at random times, I find myself making sculpture and drawings. I am a stay-at-home dad to a wonderful daughter and a husband to Julie Rudder who received an MFA from Northwestern, hence my current residence. After that I traveled around a bit-Virginia, Baltimore, Vermont and New York City before landing in Chicago. I received an MFA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2004. Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do. I was born in Alabama and raised in North Georgia. He is represented by Cindy Rucker Gallery in NYC and currently lives and works in Evanston, IL. Shackleford’s work was also exhibited at Untitled in Miami. Recent solo exhibitions include Dream Feeder at Root ands Culture in Chicago and Repeater at Cindy Rucker Gallery in NYC. In 2014, Shackleford received the Wynn Newhouse Award. His work has been reviewed in Modern Painters, Beautiful Decay, Flavorpill, NewCity and Art F City. He has been a resident at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Vermont Studio Center (full fellowship) and Harold Arts. Rusty Shackleford received his MFA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2004.

Rusty shackleford