AN INTERVIEW WITH COLIN OULIGHAN THE 22 MAGAZINE: So you grew up in Stamford, CT? Can you tell me a little about that experience?
COLIN OULIGHAN: I guess I don't have much basis for comparison. Where I grew up was very
suburban; a little bit in the woods. Stamford is mainly a commuter town for people who work in the city. Growing up my dad worked in the city.
22: How did you first get involved with painting? Any memorable experiences? CO: I was interested in art…always…I think. Maybe less in art and more in comic books. I got at it from that angle as a kid. I always liked video games, comic books, but not art with a capital A.
22: Were there any specific comic books? CO: To be honest I was never a really big fan of reading comic books, just looking at the drawings and
drawing my own. Mine were always really terrible, because I was only really interested in the drawing.
22: You went to R.I.S.D. after high school right? What was your experience there? CO: It was important. There’s a foundation year, which is good. It’s a lot of back to basics the first
year. It beats any preconceived ideas you had out of you, and then the second year you start to build back up from scratch. I actually started in illustration and then switched over to painting when I realized I didn’t want to make illustrations. That was a good choice for me.
22: So after R.I.S.D. you moved to Brooklyn? CO: Well I spent a year at my parents’ house to save money and worked at an auction house in Stam-
ford. I had my studio in the basement and I saved up a lot of money, moved here, and then didn’t find a job for a solid year. In the end it was good that I saved, otherwise I would have had to move straight back home.
22: Why did you choose Red Hook? CO: Mostly WORK Gallery. I was already aware of them. I knew the director of gallery through working with him. I helped him renovate the gallery awhile back. I was really familiar with this area in between Red Hook and Carroll Gardens. I liked it a lot and I knew I wanted to move here.
22: So you said you switched from illustration to painting? Was paint your main medium before switching?