idsgn (a design blog)

Continuing our Fresh & Hungry series, Chris Rubino speaks with Kansas City-based illustrator Micah Lidberg.

CHRIS RUBINO: I love how seldom you use black, it’s so refreshing to see line work in such a wide range of beautiful colors. Do you abide at all by the law of nature that expresses a non-belief in true black?

MICAH LIDBERG: Yes! I do prefer to use color whenever I can. Conveniently, it’s pretty easy to avoid pure black. However, I don’t hate black. Who could? It's black after all. As for any laws of nature, I’m not convinced nature has any specific feeling towards true black. There’s usually an exception. Actually, back in 2008 a research team at Rice University developed a material that absorbs more than 99.9 percent of light. That material and the vacuum of space might qualify as true black, both of which I think would be fantastic to see in person.

Agreed! Those bastards at Rice apparently leave me standing corrected. For a guy living in the midwest you sure seem to be inspired by jungles & swamps, any thoughts on why? Jungles supposedly symbolize the perilous aspects of the unconsciousness, any thoughts that maybe you’re working through some sort of chaos?

That’s interesting. I certainly do draw a lot of jungly things. There is something special that happens when you look at a chaotic situation and realize the whole thing is alive. It’s even better when you realize you're a small but integral part of that whole thing. I believe that’s a big part of why I draw jungles, forests, and nature in general. The interconnectedness of everything is a very beautiful idea. Messy rooms and busy cities give a very similar experience but I’ve gravitated towards jungles and forests instead. I grew up watching a lot of nature documentaries and playing outside, so I think my brain might understand organic forms more readily.

There is something special that happens when you look at a chaotic situation and realize the whole thing is alive. It’s even better when you realize you're a small but integral part of that whole thing.

Those are better spaces to have a grasp on anyway. You’ve already produced quite an amazing body of work, what do you think is next for you?

I’m not exactly sure what’s next. I would like to play around with a few ideas and see where they take me. I haven't been able to experiment and play around with drawing like I used to so I'd really like to take some time and just explore. I really love what I do but I want to see what else it could be. You’ve got to keep yourself interested!

I have always wanted to make some large format storybooks. I have a special place in my heart for a classically illustrated story and I’d love to see what I can do with that medium. Also, working in two dimensions is fun, but I like to see what I can do with an additional one. Installations are intriguing to me as well as animation. There's a lot of room to grow and the possibilities are always exciting.

Agreed. I’m sure your books will be amazing, really looking forward to those in the future. Thank You Micah!

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To see more of Micah’s work, visit micahlidberg.com.

Explore the Fresh & Hungry series:

• Introduction
• Jessica Walsh
• Frank Chimero
• Tomas Mankovsky
• Micah Lidberg
• HelloVon
• Jennifer Daniel
• Christine Gignac
• Always With Honor

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Chris Rubino is a New York City-based artist/designer whose work has been exhibited in Europe, Japan, Hong Kong and the U.S. He likes to spend his vacations in the desert and has been in a number of motorcycle accidents. He would very much like to meet Lawrence Weiner one day. Visit his work at www.chrisrubino.com.