Churn Magazine Interview - (5/2002)
(Originally published and conducted by Jeff Monje of Churn Magazine)

 "The dark lucid imagery of Mike Bohatch's artwork washes up on the infinite shorelines of man's unconscious dwellings flooding the guarded slanted stairways of our sanity. The sound of the knocking floorboards calls up the flickers of evil as one becomes intertwined while looking at his darkly splendid work. A subtle movement takes place behind the shadows of his eerie works so as to welcome any viewer to look even closer and become apart of the " dark " beyond the mirrors edge. His unique perspective captures nightmares twisted with the carcasses of lost souls and creeping things that slime out of the " void .twitching and giggling in the corner of your eye...truly scary! Welcome to the intriguing black world of Mike Bohatch.and pleasant dreams!  "

  1. With a multitude of subject matter to draw from when creating your work what compels you to cast a light on the dark side of man's world?
     For me, it comes from quite a few areas. I've generally always had this certain fascination with the unknown, the fantastical, the horrific and the strange. I tend to not buy into everything that is considered mainstream and prefer to stick with what I find personally interesting. I think that the same way music comes in all forms and translations, such should art. At an early age I really enjoyed drawing monsters and creatures for pure enjoyment and trying to capture haunting images from my imagination. I also found great pleasure in staying up late to watch all the late-night horror films. At first, the classic monster movies and then as movie-making developed the psycholigical thrillers and character based motion pictures. This of course grew as the years went by, but really I didn't decide to bring it into focus until about 6 years ago. I came to the realization that there is a need in the industry for fear related art in a number of medias. While still in art school,there were hints of the style in illustration that was starting to surface and at that time I was just finishing up with most of my major's but was well into the professional world od design, digital art and printing. I remember going to my teacher with some of these images of other artist work who had mad a name for themselves and asking what this was exactly. She of course didn't really know, and didnt give me the right answers so I took it upon myself to start experimenting, reading and studying. I was pretty much determined to learn on my own terms and my own basis. I would often attend art museums and just analyze the works of Bacon, Raushenberg, Dine, Dali, etc.. take notes...... and try to absorb that darkly sensation that I would get from viewing their works. I knew instantly at that point I would only find real happiness in creating works that had a nightmarish quality to them. I thought there was a general absence in the interpretation of what was available in the sense of surreal, scary, gothic art. Of course at the time their was Giger, Mckean, Potter, and Dinyer who were touching on it in various forms, but but not to the full exent as I wanted to see.I wanted to produce images that might make you stop and think for a moment. Something that carried over and stuck with you for awhile, like a mental snapshot When you look at pictures of ocean scenes or butterflies flying and mountainsides etc.....you usually don't find yourself thinking a hour later ...man, that image just spoke to me or wow something I saw today left me unsettled. So my fascination grew to produce with the intention of being disturbing without being overly obvious all the time. Darkenss is a part of hman nature as much as the fluff..so why noit illustratte that presnt it in a visible form without restraint. It's not about promoting evil, its about projecting human subconcuous and dreamstates into a viable, visual medium.

  2. Your images seem to contort visually bending and cracking the viewers sense of figures and space. What is the method you use to create this effect?
    I use a combination of traditional methods mixed with digital aspects. Now anyone who uses the computer for art knows that it's pretty easy to contort or twist around a composition. But for me, that isn't the end all solution to achieve that desired look. So I tend to use mediums such as chalk, paint, collage and sculpture creations to give an added sense of depth or contrasts. I might add some embellishments digitally later, but I try to keep that effect to a minimum and experiment with "physical" aspects that I can "scan" in later. Chalk is great because of it's blending aspect. I also like to play with acrylics by using my fingers rather than brush strokes. Since I don't do any photography "dark room work" the photographic aspects have to be performed on electronically, but the principles and desired outcomes are the same. Other things that come to mind would be using a copier machine and moving pictures or objects while it's scanning. All have their place...so to speak...it's just what you want in the desired outcome I think one of the problems art has faced is its tendency to limit itself to borders and not experiment enough with interesting compositional displays. Really if a 8.5 x 11 canvas has 4 borders it doesn't mean you have to stay within the box....as sometimes the most interesting part is only a small section of a larger piece. dreams and nightmares strike me as very flowing and un encompassed by strict shapes and lines....I guess that would be my inspiration for free -flowing presentations blended and intertwining with a hint of contortion..

  3. I see fanged teeth and skulls appearing and disappearing in some of your pieces. What is it about these body parts that intrigues you so much?
    Human anatomy, bones and body parts just strikes me as un-nerving and at times and down-right scary. It's that under the surface aspect and metaphor that in itself is part of that great unknown. It's that same cringe- factor that we experience when we see blood shed or bodies decomposed. It's materials we're all made of, we just aren't used to seeing them day to day. In addition, bones, fangs, and skulls have really become a major part of the horror genre. A symbol or suggestion that we can all relate to. Death is scary.....bones symbolize death. I guess if you saw a picture of a person cracked in 2 and all that was connecting them together was some steel pipes that would seem really weird and surreal but maybe not as scary. I very much am fascinated with the horror aspect and what scares people but presented in a different way. It's a basic human emotion that is equally as strong as any other. When you take an inanimate object such as a sculpture and apply a sense of realism through use of body parts it really is presenting that as something you aren't used to seeing. In the movie "Hellraiser" they used the phrase "We have such sites to show you"....now theres a challenge....theres something to work for.....theres something interesting. So open your mind and show me something amazing...something different, something I'm not used to seeing or if not different then give me your "own" interpretation in an original way.

  4. There is literally a shaking feeling which emanates from all your work like the birth of evil light. Do you plan your pieces to have this particular effect and if so why or why not does images like yours seem to captivate people?
    As an artist, I would love nothing more than to captivate people. If there is something artistically created that people find a relation to it is not always intentional though. My background comes from a guy who has seem just about every horror movie out there at one time. So I bring that relation with me and apply it to the out-pouring of work. I think by that kind of history, your bound to translate something that crosses over to someone on some level. maybe an indirect familiarity. Part of the shaking feeling you refer to is probably part of my own artistic process which involves sometimes applying a bit of motion sense or un stillness in a composition. This is just my own perspective on making a piece feel completed. I don't usually work within real "hard" lines like a comic artist might be disciplined to. There is a "blending" that softens edges a bit much like photography is. Again its just a choice of style and presentation. There's really no wrong or right ways, it just the measure of quality and conviction that you infer behind it and how far you willing to go to make your work something that your are comfortable with and at the same time can be showcased in a professional way. I've seen alot of work out there that looks like it was started with the right intentions but is given up on way to early before going on to the next piece............. and then the flip side which is "you should of quit while you were ahead....... now you've lost me and we're not sure what we are looking at. .

  5. Some people have said that they saw the face of evil coming out of the black burning open wound of the Twin Towers just before they collapsed in New York on September -11-2001. What did you see and are there any images that you have done that could be compared to it?
    I saw another exmple of our society being victimized by those who don't approve or are jealous of our way of life.In a sense, the term "it all came crahsing down" became a reality and not the kind any of us expected. I think the deep set feeling in all of us has been that something's going to change at the turn of the century and that we havent seen it all yet. Call it a gut feeling maybe..... but that was just an example what's to come in the sense of "real" darkness and evil. The kind that isn't based on mere fantasy. No, I didnt see any visions or look for ghosts in in the shadows but there was an all too fsamilar sense about it all that was not unlike the hundreds of movies that are put out year after year. An odd hting for me was I had created this surreal piece called "Naked City" which I uploaded to my site a couple months prior to the tragedy. It has the legs of a woman transforming into the twin towers in a city setting that was a weird fore-shadowing. I wasnt sure what to make of that besides the notion that "We" are all connected in some way. Though this is the material of nightmares.

  6. Shock art will always stimulate that part of ourselves we wish to bury or un-bury. What does your work mean to you?
    Freedom to create the kinds of images I would like to see myself. No art directors adding there 2 cents, no boundaries instilled upon by protocol and policies. No real consent on judgment other than my own before unleashing it to the masses. Shock, to me means a certain uncomfortableness.But shock also means intrigue, which can be a good thing. Yunno, the saying if a person shouts in the woods and no ones there to hear them are they really shouting.The same goes for art. If you create a piece but no one ever sees it, is it really art? Shock art means not only have they seen it but they were effected some way. That's a powerful notion. If you unbury something that goes beyond face value then you've really communicated something.
  7. What is really behind all your images ? Why do you create?
    I create because I have to and because I want to. Call it dedication or obsession but what it really is, is releasing all those images that build up over time onto a visual medium. Just because my work is dark doesn't mean that I am dark-natured, depressed, troubled or insane....it means that I have an over-active imagination that gives me great pleasure to covey in a tangible form. To produce is rewarding, to sit back and get old is depressing.........How do you spend your time? What have you done lately? Are you contributing to something or merely consuming? Questions that we all face..... there are alot of consumers but not enough dreamers. Is it so hard to turn off the television once in a while and sit down to make something from nothing. If first you don't succeed try again... I know it all sounds a bit preachy........ but really for me it's what its all about. Progression. Accomplishment. Production. I go to horror films because I enjoy it. I listen to industrial music because I enjoy it. I create dark images because I enjoy it. Simple enough.
  8. As you build your hall of fame of darkness what is happening for the future of Mike Bohatch?
    Well, until I get either overloaded or too busy with other projects...I'll continue to add to the collection with new and further developed art pieces as often as I can. It makes it easier to have alot of pre-done work so that magazines, book publishers and record labels can use my site as sort of virtual shopping cart, if you will. Plus I'm too impatient to just wait around for the next project to come along. There's much in the way of illustrating for literature which includes Third Alternative Magazine, Peepshow, Cemetary Dance..etc..and the on-going CD art jobs that come across.On the current burner of course is a big project which is the planning, production and creation of a feature length movie called "Eyes of Chaos" with the subtitle "The Art of Mike Bohatch". Now that I don't come across as pretentious, I was contacted by film producer Neil Jackson who runs 16:9 Productions who had this idea to produce a film based on the art, the creator and the sort of "dark movement" subculture around the genre and style. At first call, it sounds like a documentary, but it's really so much more than that In our discussion, we wanted to create this art film, using the art and some of the behind the scenes making of art in conjunction a sensibility of "The Cell, "Seven", Mimic, Lost Souls, Marilyn Manson video's and Stigmata.....which is a paradox in itself. A movie about an artist inspired by the movies and filmed in a style reminiscent of the movies he is inspired by... So yes, very surreal, hyper kinetic...lots of cool music...lots of art........ and very advant garde. It sounds like a tough project to pull off....so we're taking our time to try and do something to be proud of before presenting it to the world. Lastly, I'd like to begin to create a book for publication showcasing a number of my compositions. I have over 200 completed works so I'm not short on content. That may actually be a ways away with the current workload but definitely something that I envision for the future. So whatever comes first I suppose my own book published or an interested publisher to help with the financing and production.

  9. What scares you?
    My nightmares have long gone. I believe when you look at dark art as interesting and inspiring you tend to not be bothered by typical nightmare scenarios. You take alot of those thoughts and ideas and surface them into your work... the creatures, the emotions, the situations, the fantastical, .....they all become part of this mental bucket that you sort of let pour into making pictures.I remember my last "scary" nightmare ended with credits rolling by....so that's pretty much what it's come to. But really, what scares me on a personal level is not finding color in a sometimes grey world. Not following up with everything you "intended" to do. Becoming and accepting being a part of the masses rather than taking a chance and living a bit....it's those "Would I", "Could I", " Will I" things that I'm afraid could go unresolved. I'm really afraid of becoming bored and then accepting that.
  10. Have you done any sculptural pieces based from your images?
    Not in the sense of true finished, put on a pedestal sculptures, but I do work a bit with clay, wig heads and various found objects to make for a interesting composition to photograph as use in my work. You get this certain 3D and depth feel from those types of objects that is hard to reproduce as a flat image from scratch. I guess the closest thing that is being worked on as we speak is the film production house have decided to produce a doll based on one of my images to market in conjunction with the release of the film. It is based on a piece called "keepsakes" which i actually created a a 1-time sort of wicca doll to use in that piece to photograph. well are intention mow is to have 1 Wicca creep in every house-hold :)
  1. One of my favorite authors of science fiction is Philip Jose Farmer- " The Lovers ", The Dark Design ", " Time-Stop". He is a master writer of darkness. Are there any books that you would recommend for the readers that would give them more of an insight of what you do and why you do it?
    Well I'm a bit impatient as a reader. So I don't have any list of solid novels that I would recommend I love Clive Barker's stuff though. Pretty much my reading on the most part consists of art technique books which is not really fiction or literature. My inspiration comes more from the visual aspect of things.
  1. Can you give us your description of your work.?
    Well I've found there are many artist that deter from that sort of "dark art" label, but I upon the other hand don't believe n hiding behind generality..... So call it what you will horror art, dark art, gothic art but its' purpose is to present pieces that touch on disturbing areas, creatures, mythology, fantasy and real world inflections that are presented in a shadow world fashion. You've got to have focus otherwise your at the mercy of anything that comes along. Stand up for what you represent and tell the world.....Now as far as technique I use a little bit of everything from time to time to bring visualization to a concept. It sort of all goes into the pool and whatever works best comes out in the translation. I'm really a fan of Collage work and try and use bits of that style whenever i can. Of course my main compositing tool is Photoshop and notice I said "tool" because it does always begin there.
  1. Have you put yourself into any of your images subliminally?
    Why or why not?
    I guess I put myself into the art from a passion standpoint, but not so much physically. Each piece has a personal aspect to them but mostly from a fantastical aspect rather than a psychotic release. I think the series Kismet is the closet thing on my site that touches upon true emotional release. it very much was written as my closest thing to a sequential form of images that really examines a metaphysical approach to the subject of life, struggles and the search of a soul-mate.I'm usually not prone to projecting something so sensitive, but that was an exception.
  2. What would you like people to remember the most about your work?
    I would like them to say, he had a vision that he wasn't afraid to act upon. He believed in what he was creating and ultimately enjoyed it. I would hope that they find a sense of unique disturbance in the images that appeal to them on a different level. Most of all I would like them to keep an open mind into the aspects of the unknown regions that we tend to forget about and never get too far-gone to believe in the amazing.