Bill Crisafi's Attitude Era
⤏ ILLUSTRATOR AND MULTI-MEDIA ARTIST BILL CRISAFI ON BECOMING HIS CHARACTERS, QUEER CULTURE, AND FAVORITE WWE WRESTLER
⤏ IN CONVERSATION WITH JAMIE MOOERS
⤏ PHOTOGRAPHY BY PAUL OCTAVIOUS
⤏ MASKS AND STYLING BY BILL CRISAFI
When Faye asked us to do this interview, we thought it would be a no-brainer. I already know everything there is to know about Bill. We've lived together, worked together, own a company together and have been best friends for exactly half of our lives. But, when the actual time came, I had a hard time thinking up questions to ask the one person I really have no questions for. To get us going, we decided to pretty much turn the interview into a recorded natural conversation that ended up being fueled by a couple of cocktails and a handful of questions submitted to us through instagram. Basically, we sat down one night and talked for an hour. Here's what we said:
JAMIE MOOERS: We do a lot of work together making jewelry and flowers. Do you have a favorite memory or a favorite part of working together?
BILL CRISAFI: Working together feels like second nature. We’ve worked together since I was 16! For those that don’t know, Jamie and I met when I was 16 working at a cafe. It was my first real job with a boss and a staff of people. Jamie was working the register and I waited in line to tell her it was my first day, and she was like, “You idiot.” [laughs] You were Wednesday Addams looking at me like “Uh okay?” and we were inseparable ever since.
My favorite memory is always when the pieces that we think of are realized. We would create new pieces, do a photoshoot, and create a whole atmosphere. Early days I think that was really special, to be able to do all of that without a whole “team.”
JM: Who was your very first influence as an artist? Someone that made you want to start creating? Has this changed over time or have you maintained the same influence?
BC: What comes to mind is movies. When I was a little kid, I would watch Hocus Pocus and want dolls of the Sanderson sisters. Or I’d watch a Tim Burton movie and I’d want to figure out how to make the characters. I feel like film was my biggest influence when I was younger. My first obsession was Tim Burton’s work because he was able to create entire worlds of people and places and make them come to life. That was my first introduction to wanting to really make things.
In terms of artists, I loved reading children’s books at the library. There was this one about a witch who delivered pizzas that had a bunch of cats. I remember loving those illustrations. As a kid, I was always drawing. I remember in kindergarten I would try to teach kids how to draw. I still like all of that stuff.
JM: Do you still find influence in new movies you watch?
BC: Yeah, I think so. When I want to make something new, maybe I’ll watch the same movie over and over again. Usually an older, more artsy film, or something I’m super drawn to. There’s this one version of A Midsummer Night's Dream that is black and white. I’m obsessed with that movie. I’m drawn to whatever is super whimsical [and] crazy. [My taste] goes from that to Death Becomes Her, so it’s a wide range.
JM: Do you think looking up to Tim Burton when you were young made you want to do stop-motion animation in college?
BC: Totally. I thought I was going to be a stop-motion animator, but ended up majoring in Fashion Design [laughs]. I should have also mentioned The Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal as huge inspirations when I was a kid. The idea of puppetry was really fascinating to me, and that definitely ties into how I create characters now — the masks and stuff. I thought I was going to do stop motion, but I get really exhausted by the process sometimes. I can make little short things, but I just couldn’t follow through for big projects.
JM: Because it’s too tedious?
BC: Yeah, I think so. I like to do concepts. I can’t do the rest.
JM: I remember back then I didn’t understand what went into [stop-motion]. You showed me Blood Tea and Red String like 15 years ago. I wasn’t understanding what was going on, but I knew it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. You mentioned making masks and enjoying puppetry. Your masks and illustrated work obviously tie into each other. What in your mind comes first?
BC: A lot of the time, the drawing comes first. Sometimes the illustration is a map for me to then create the character in real life. I’m sure it flip-flops sometimes. I like the idea of becoming the characters I’ve drawn, more than I do drawing them afterwards.
JM: Do your characters have personalities?
BC: Yeah, definitely. Each character is a mood that I’ve been in or a mood I’m trying to embody that day.
JM: Can you look back on those pieces when you’re not in that state of mind and still conjure those emotions?
BC: Oh, totally. I think for me that’s the point. My work helps me remind myself to be this bitch today or that person another day.
“I think for me that’s the point. My work helps me remind myself to be this bitch today or thAT person another day.”
JM: Do you think you’ll do more of the mask stuff in the future?
BC: I hope so! I like drawing and I’m so appreciative of people that enjoy my illustrations. But I do love the challenge of creating something in 3D. It’s almost like solving a puzzle when you’re faced with, “I have to make this character now. How am I going to do that?” If I’m making a horse, how do the muscles work in the face? Or how do I fake it to make it look a certain way? I do like figuring things out like that. It’s instantly rewarding — well not instantly rewarding because it takes time, but I do really like doing more 3D things in general. Hogan [McLaughlin] and I will hopefully be doing another collaboration with my masks and his gowns. I’m crossing my fingers that that works out because the [Alchemical for the Peabody Essex Museum] was a very fun and challenging project to take on.
JM: I was just going to ask what you are most proud of as far as your art goes and if Alchemical was it? That project — [your 8 original masks inspired by alchemical and mystical imagery to be worn by the mannequins in the Peabody Essex Museum]— was one of the most amazing things ever.
BC: That was definitely it. I've never made that many things at one time. It was crazy and scary and a great learning experience. I am kind of a “I can do it myself” kind of [person]. I insist I don’t need help, or I don’t want to ask for help, but there was no way I can do all of that completely alone. So, I had people help me with paper mache-ing or having something primed white for me. I didn’t realize how much time it saves [having help] until it’s done for you. I’d never done anything like that. It was awesome to see everything come to life, even if the final pieces were only 90% of my vision. There were things I had to cut out for being too insane or too far reaching with the time we had.
JM: Do you have any ideas for your next show?
BC: Well I first need to say, thank you for doing the flowers. You killed it and I think the marriage of everyone's creative abilities helped make that project the coolest. Hopefully this next one, if we are able to do another event, can be even more wild. We are thinking of a summer solstice pride event — a little bit of a midsummer bonfire ritual. All of Hogan’s garments would be white. I’m trying to figure out the masks still. I definitely want to do more full figure sculptures that aren’t just masks.
JM: Since that would be tied in with pride, what do you think draws you to the intersection of queer culture and your darker aesthetic?
BC: [That intersection] has always been inherently in me. I’ve always gravitated towards characters that are a little bit more camp, flamboyant, and outrageous. Like Ursula the Sea Witch, who was inspired by Divine the drag queen. When I started coming into my queerness — or whatever you want to call it — it sort of amplified that portion of me. [The queerness of my work] made me feel more comfortable in myself and it was always something that just made sense.
“[That intersection of queer culture and my darker aesthetic] has always been inherently in me. I’ve always gravitated towards characters that are a little bit more camp, flamboyant, and outrageous.”
JM: We put a poll online and one of the questions I liked was, ‘If you were dead, where would you haunt?’
BILL CRISAFI: I would want to haunt a lot of places. If you’re haunting somewhere you can’t leave, it can’t be an area it has to be a place, right? I don’t know because there’s too many places that I like. I’d haunt the Mandolin [Aegean Bistro] in Miami because I love their food so much, and we could be out in a courtyard in nice weather all the time.
JM: Yeah [laughs] that suits your personality. I like it. Do you think if you died before Hogan you would haunt him or let him live in peace?
BC: Absolutely I would haunt that bitch. He would be so upset everyday. I would wake him up right before his alarm every morning and I’d rearrange all of his things so he couldn’t find them. I do that now anyway. I’ll put things away so he can’t find them. Poor thing.
JM: Unrelated, who is your favorite WWE wrestler at the moment?
BC: Oh my god, not even at the moment, it is hands down, always will be Trish Stratus. When I was younger I was a massive wrestling fan. [The late 90’s in WWE] was called The Attitude Era. Specifically with female wrestlers at that time. Women were headlining more and being taken more seriously which I loved as a form of female empowerment. Trish was the wrestler who held the women’s championship title the most times which is so fucking awesome. All of the female wrestlers were badasses, but I just loved her because she worked her way up from being a manager to becoming the most popular female wrestler ever. She’s so fucking cool. And I loved Goldust because he looked really cool. He had platinum blonde wigs and a gold and black outfit. I used to think I wanted to be [one of] the Hardy Boyz because they had the different colored hair and wore the fishnet sleeves.
JM: What’s your favorite TV show right now and favorite character on the show?
BC: Because we were just talking about it and the finale just happened, it’s White Lotus and obviously Jennifer Coolidge’s character because she’s incredible. I’m impressed with everyone this season. It seems like it’s evolving in a different way, especially when Aubrey Plaza recreated a shot for shot scene of L'Avventura. It’s really thrilling. I feel like last season it was easier to figure out who is going to die and this season I have no clue. Jennifer Coolidge is just such a treat and I’m glad we get more of her in this series. She’s just so funny but also so heartwarming and real. She’s all of it.