Show & Tell: Mike Perry reveals his dog, backpack and rock collection

Mike Perry is a man with fingers in many creative pies. An artist/illustrator/designer by trade, he has perfected his craft by utilising all manner of media, turning his New York studio into a laboratory for dynamic experimentation. It’s a potent formula, and one which he’s channelled into books about screen-printing, hand-drawn type and pattern, not to mention lectures, magazines and ad campaigns. It seems few can resist his inclusive belief in what he calls “the transformative power of making things” or the brightly-coloured aesthetic with which he creates them. Mike’s work has always suggested that he might be a secret hoarder, so we stopped by his studio to find out about some of the objects he keeps lying around and what they mean to him…

1. Bass the Dog My wife Anna and I have this jokey thing where we can’t move until Bass is dead. It’s a bit fucked up to think about it, but it’s a benchmark, you know? Bass is probably the most grounding of characters in my story right now because we could be loose and free and adventurous but she needs to be walked and fed twice a day. And when she wants attention you have to give it to her, so she’s pretty damn important. We’ve had her for three years and I love her to death. She’s not going anywhere until she’s old and no longer with us. And that is desperately sad – it will be the worst time ever – but that will mark another stage of our existence. Right now our lives are so tied down to being in Brooklyn and doing this, but someday it’d be cool just to travel to another place and be on holiday and not be thinking about her all the time. Having her has been amazing because it’s forced me to go outside. I think everyone could use a walk in the morning and a walk in the afternoon. You forget that sometimes you just need to breathe fresh air and stretch your legs. Dogs also have a beautiful ability to say hi to any strange dog they meet. They don’t have to know each other, they don’t care about the other dog’s income level or social status, they just want to smell each other’s assholes. That in turn engages me with a complete stranger who I don’t have anything in common with either – which has been great!
2. 0.9 mm Alvin Draft-Matic mechanical pencil I love mechanical pencils, because if I play my cards right I only need a couple of them. But I’m really into the Alvin Draft-Matic with the 0.9 mm lead. It’s got a good weight and is nice and sturdy. The feeling of pencil on paper is probably just one of the best things in the world. I think one of my most formative memories as a kid was at some random book fair where I convinced my mom to buy me these wooden coloured pencils and this book called Chuck Amuck about Looney Tunes and Chuck Jones and that whole universe. Those two things combined led to a summer of drawing Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny. As a kid I drew cartoons all the time, but when I became an angsty teenager I got more into realism, and I kind of lost the figure for a long time during that process as I got a bit more abstract and started doing things differently. But over the past few years I’ve really wanted to have humanoids in my work, and I think that’s the thing that I’m most excited about right now, going back to this drawing and animation thing. I’ve never done as many drawings as I’m doing right now. Some days it feels like I’m drawing eight hours a day.
3. Backpack full of handy items A couple of years ago I fully committed to carrying a backpack all the time. It felt kind of juvenile – like going back to my youth – but I was over the tote bag existence where everything just gets thrown in there and the bag doesn’t even matter. It’s been super practical, and with the backpack has come this whole idea of preparedness. Jay who works with me is always prepared so I’m trying to learn from him, trying to carry more things. It’s funny because it’s mostly just junk; a level, pens, extra framing wire, sunscreen – because when you paint murals you always forget that you need sunscreen! Everything is just there and ready, because you never know what you’re gonna need. My brother would always say I looked like I was going camping because I’d have my backpack with all my shit in it – tubes sticking out and things tied to it – and I’d just be walking the dog. It’s been good for me to learn how to be prepared though.
4. Painting by my grandfather I had this grandfather whose name was Thomas Williams. He was a bit estranged from my family so I didn’t see him a lot when I was a kid but he always had this artist’s presence that was around somehow. As a kid I always thought he was a crazy person, but then one day I was like, “Oh man, that’s me!” When I was 13 he gave me a tackle box filled with oil paints. I don’t think he even thought about it. It doesn’t matter either way. He lit this crazy fire when he gave me this box. It just went up in flames and I painted like crazy. He made so many paintings over the years and I only have this one but it’s really beautiful