Mike Leavitt

Apart from sculpting, what is your specialist subject ?

I’m a good painter. I know how to paint a portrait. I’m a good car mechanic. I’m an excellent engineer. I can fix stuff. I’m a problem solver. I’m a political activist. I know how the legal system works.

What one thing do you do better than anyone else you know ?

I’m the best house painter on the planet. I can cut a line of paint around a window faster and sharper than anyone I know.

What would the title of your autobiography be?

“A Rebel With Applause” or “Possessed: Making Things that Make Fun of Selling Things”

Who was your first movie crush ?

I was completely in love with Elizabeth Shue in Karate Kid. Oi! Then she showed up in Back to the Future! I swooned.

When was the last time you walked out of a movie ?

I’ve only walked out of one movie in my entire life. It was Guy Ritchie’s movie with Madonna “Swept Away”. Usually I can find value in any movie. I always have a reason to watch til the end even if I don’t like it. Or I get into a movie because it’s “so bad it’s good”. I like heckling, laughing and making fun of it. With “Swept Away” I couldn’t find any of that. Nothing even to make fun of.

Which film have you seen more than any other?

I’ve seen “Top Gun” more than any other movie I’ve ever watched. I’ve never tried to memorize the lines. I can just recite them from inside my brain. “Goose!” I think I’d seen it 7 times by the time I was 10 years old. That was 28 years ago.

Where do you draw inspiration from? How do you come up with new ideas?

I draw inspiration from politics and nature. I pay attention to news and current events. I get angry. I get happy. These things motivate me to take action with my art work. I spend a lot of time in nature. I can find the distilled essence of any complicated issue in the shapes of a leaf or the movement of ants. This is the beauty of life. People forget. They spend too much time on concrete with other humans. Soil, plants, trees, animals and insects are just as inspiring, beautiful and full of love as humanity.

What's your most inspirational place?

Large, open, clean beaches. Clean, quiet, dense forests.

Where do artists go when they're out of ideas?

I go outside. Fortunately I don’t have the problem of running out of ideas. Too many ideas rattle inside me constantly. My problem is sorting through all the ideas. I forget to look outside myself, outside my studio, outside my house. So I just go outside myself to sort out my ideas.

What's your favourite art work?

My favorite artwork is Stanley Kubrick’s “2001 Space Odyssey”. It’s better than Michelengelo or DaVinci.

What is your dream project?

I want to work in the movies sculpting stop-motion characters for Wes Anderson, Spike Jonze or Michel Gondry.

What does your art say about you?

My art says that I care. I care about the fate of the planet. I sculpt individual figures. They are alone. Each figure stands by itself. I want these individuals to connect. I want them to see their place on the planet.

If you had to save one sculpture from a fire, which one would it be and why?

I’d save the Miyazaki “King Cuts” sculpture from fire. “Spirited Away” and “Princess Mononoke” are two of my top 10 favorite films. No other director in the “King Cuts” show can claim that place. It’s also more of the direction I’d like my sculpture to go in general. It’s surreal and more roughly finished like an impressionist painting. I love Hayao!