Meet Alex Clayton Through Discussing Fluidity, His Commissions for Yung Lean and Channeling God

24 year-old London-based Alex Clayton (@alexcclayton) is one of those up-and-coming artists we can't believe some are still sleeping on. With a distinctive style, he explores the mediums of oil paint and airbrush through incredibly lavish pieces. Playing between abstract and character-like subjects, his paintings and one-of-one clothing pieces look like acid trips without being corny or campy. His visionary talent has been recognized by artists like EDEN and Yung Lean, commissioning pieces like quilts and airbrushed motorcycle helmets. Alex Clayton has already mastered his style and technique, but according to him; “This is only the beginning”. We sat down to talk more about his practice, the pursuit of perfection and the purpose of art; connecting with one another.

CLN: Hey Alex! So, you're clearly a multidisciplinary artist. Going from collage, to rugs, to those pen drawn boards to finally painting and clothing. Do you still work with those earlier methods sometimes or do you concentrate on one medium at a time?

AC: I am at a point where I am looking back and I am thinking of bringing things and mediums back from previous eras. But my medium choice has really been through a natural progression, a skill-based progression. It might not be obvious from my account, but at first I didn't know how to draw. My skill level was like stick-man. Through the earlier methods, I was really just trying to reach a point where i could do realistic paintings. Ultra-realistic. But now that I've achieved that, I do want to revisit past mediums. For now, I do balance my oil paintings and my airbrush clothing; the Present21c project.

CLN: Do you have difficulty with that balance? Do you ever feel guilty of allocating more time to one than the other?

AC: I think I've found a healthy balance now, specially by separating the two into different accounts. Also, the clothing is a lot quicker to make and more commercial in a way, while the paintings can take months. I really enjoy separating my time into these two projects, because when you work for a super long time on a painting, it's refreshing to have the option to stop and do a quick a beanie.

CLN: That reminds me of the introduction you wrote for your painting series “Vessels”. It truly struck a chord when you said how distant and soulless it becomes to work on one single piece for a long period of time. Trying to attain perfection, consequently losing the love and trust in the original concept. How do you make peace with imperfection in your work?

AC: It's just about putting your work out there. The more you publish, the easier it becomes to accept that your pieces won't always be perfect. Then again, it's really difficult when the value of our work is based on likes. It's tough when one post doesn't get as many likes. You start doubting the piece.

CLN: Don't take it too personally, the Instagram algorithm is total trash now!

AC: True. I mean, I'm very fortunate to be where I'm at in my career, but it is brutal. I've grinded to be where I am. It's hard not to compare ourselves. It's tough, but now I'm like; “If I like it, that's the only thing that matters”.

CLN: I spoke about your “Vessels” introduction, but I've also noticed you used to write short poems for your artwork on Instagram. Were they a before or after-thought? And same question for titles.

AC: Definitely an after-thought. Because my pieces are so fluid, they aren't planned. It's really only at the end, when all the pieces come together, that the painting takes meaning for me. But I'd love to try writing a poem and then creating a piece inspired by it. I might at some point also do a little poem book. We'll see!

CLN: It's true, your shapes are incredibly fluid, but at times are so detailed. How do you find that balance of intuitive yet meticulous strokes?

AC: Philip Guston used to say that he was sort of channelling God in his paintings and he has this famous quote that goes; “As if I ever had a choice in what I made”. It's the closest reasoning I could give to my technique. Everything I do just kind of is. They just feel right. It's funny because in my earlier work, like my collages, my shapes would only be angular. I religiously didn't do fluid shapes, I had a total distaste for them. And through my artistic progression, I've become obsessed with fluidity and less structural, more organic shapes.

CLN: You've clearly come a long way. What are some of your headliner moments of your career? The Yung Lean commission maybe?

AC: Yeah most definitely the Yung Lean commission. I've been a huge fan of him since like 2014. It started with his manager following me back on Instagram and eventually buying a quilt from me. I assume Yung Lean saw it in his apartment, because a couple months later, in the summertime of 2020, Yung Lean followed me. During that summer, we sent each other messages back and forth. By the way, he is the sweetest most humble dude. So he sent me a bunch of words, colour schemes and pictures to draw inspiration from to make a quilt. And then he made a second commission, for a painting, which was an amazing experience. Another thing that happened earlier this year, is I got recognized by a fan at a show. Which was a pretty cool yet absurd feeling.

CLN: That's wild. You're also known for your airbrush work, a medium really making a fresh comeback in the art world in the last couple of years. What do you like about the medium?

AC: Airbrush and oil painting are the two best mediums in my opinion. Airbrush has so many sub-genres and styles. It's the best if you're trying to build the layers of paint cause there's such a lack of gesture, leaving no strokes in the paint. At first, I was so scared because there's no coming back. Once you do a line, it's there forever. It takes a lot of practice and time to get good at it. It's truly a testament to putting in the work. And then once again, even if it's hard, you just have to stop comparing yourself to other artists that are great at it. Because they already put in the time to get that good, and now, so do you. You just gotta stop making excuses.

CLN: You just have to trust your vision. As long as it isn't too self-reflective or too broad, people will connect to it.

AC: I agree. You want your art to leave space for interpretation. When it's too referential, I personally have a hard time connecting to it. I don't want to make pieces that are trying to be ultra relatable or too intellectual either. I just want to make work that anyone can enjoy.

Find more of Alex Clayton's work here:

Website : https://www.alexclayton.org/

Instagram: @alexcclayton & @present21c