Richmond’s beloved captain of the D.I.Y. underbelly, known simply as “Hippie”, opens his garage door for us and shares some of his art, coffee, and his daily creative process. Here are a few words and images from a hard working manufacturer of his own good times.
Name:
Hello, I’m Andrew Schrock.
Age:
I’m 23 years
Location:
My studio is in the scummy south side industrial parks of RVA, and I live in Church Hill
Title?
As far as an official title… I’m a self employed artist.
How many square feet is your garage space?
The studio is 170 give or take, enough to house the majority of my projects…
What’s the primary purpose of this space?
I use the space for multiple reasons, mainly as a sort of creative retreat, where I immerse myself in tools and projects of experimentation, expression and just plain ‘ol making things. It has also become a meeting spot for other creatives, skateboarders, cyclers and mopedders.
Can you give us a rundown of your sculptures, how you develop these ideas, etc?
My work is always changing, but I’ll elaborate on my current processes. I pull inspiration from various sources of machining techniques, fabrication and what I find exciting in our world. For instance, my most recent projects have been what I call “Hydroforms”. These sculptures are created by pumping massive amounts of water into a steel form that I’ve welded out of relatively thin gauge steel, resulting in an seemingly heavy industrial object contrasted with soft flowing eccentuations of the liquid that has shaped it from the inside out. These have been evolving to more amorphic creations nodding to a deeper subject matter.
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What kind of art background do you have, school, lifestyle etc?
Pretty much as far back as I can remember, I’ve been creating things one way or another, from skateboard ramps to make-shift hangliders(which didn’t work). Then when college time rolled around I really wanted to step things up, luckily I recived full scholarship plus essentially my own secluded studio for my Sculpture and Mixed Media BFA in DC. I also dabble in mechanical work mainly with mopeds, bikes and skateboarding, which are some of the many ways I develop my techniques.
Whats the story with the moped insurrection in Richmond VA?
Mopeds were for me throughout high-school a way to get around without a license or money, which is one of the main reasons why I think it’s so large in Richmond. In VA you don’t need a license, insurance or registration for a moped, all you need is a helmet, goggles, and a moped. The nature of a moped I think goes along well with the mentality of a lot of the natives here, a down and dirty fix it yourself kind of way to go about. If you’ve got a moped you’ll have to fix it pretty often. they’re essentially a 1970s weed-eater engine slapped on a beefed up bicycle/small motorcycle frame, so corrosion, wear and tear on old parts need to be eventually worked on. But once it’s fixed up, heavy steel and classy 70s styling, what’s not to love?
