We had the good fortune of connecting with Olivier Dubois-Cherrier and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Olivier, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?

My parents were not artists, but my paternal grandfather was a painter and my maternal grandmother was a sculptor. When I was a teenager I had a lot of admiration for those two grandparents and that is probably the reason why I knew how to draw naturally. I stopped drawing when I became a young adult, but I started working in my father’s screen printing factory where beside commercial works we also printed fine art in limited editions for artists, art publishers and museum shops. At the age of 43, I stopped working on a daily basis in the printing company I created myself 14 years earlier and I decided to become a full time artist.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

My art has been very inspired by philosophy for many years, and since I moved to Tucson with the intention to settle down for good after a nomadic existence I started writing philosophical notebooks in parallel with my visual work. The main idea behind this dual form of expression was to better understand the human condition and to set a new ecology in my personal life with the intention to tame my recurrent instability. Two extended notebooks have already been published and printed and I am actually about to finish the third one. This is definitely one of the most life changing experience I have ever accomplished so far. The visual work which has been produced in the mean time is, I believe, strong and coherent even if it isn’t very commercial.

The project of The Island In Tucson, which was for me the strongest way to assure my intimate stability, is becoming an alternative way to bring financial sustainability for my partner Emily and I without neglecting a strong ecological consciousness and a great respect for ancestral cultures from the Tucson’s area. We built an eco-friendly house on an 11 acres property located literally on the edge of the Saguaro National Park and created an exquisite guesthouse we are renting on Airbnb. Because of the great success with this first unit we are actually finishing to build a second one which should be listed by the end of February this year.

The Island In Tucson mission is to become an art space for a new paradigm and hopefully in the near future we should be able to welcome curated artists who will stay for free and who will produce meaningful and respectful artworks which would stay permanently outdoor.

The Island In Tucson has been funded so far entirely with the product of the sale of my former business. The project is too young to call it success, but the responses we are receiving from the public is bringing optimism. My personal experience as a former entrepreneur allows me to use the strategies I used by the past and which brought me a bit of success without being too greedy.

The capitalist system we have known so far is definitely killing us and is becoming unbearable for the majority of people on earth; the pyramidal structures of power are becoming inadequate and inhuman; people crave entertainment and virtual immediate gratification because they can’t find the meaning of their own lives; The Island In Tucson is then investigating a new form of existence on the edge of society. Those who are interested in the idea of a personal revolution, because waiting for the others to go into action is useless, are welcome to pay us a visit and share their personal experience; we will be happy in return to share with them the result of our experimentations.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If I had some friends visiting Tucson for a week I think I would take them to the Saguaro National Park, Biosphere 2, Kitt Peak observatory and of course to The Land With No Name. I would really recommend them to go specifically to the Saguaro National Park visitor center and watch the amazing 15 minutes film they show every hour and half. This film drastically changed my perception of the cultural and natural environment. We could eat and drink in the evening at Barrio Brewery, Maynard restaurant and Congress Hotel.
I don’t have many places I could recommend; Emily and I don’t hang out much at night, we enjoy more staying at home at The Island In Tucson surrounded by such a sublime landscape.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

Beside my two grandparents who silently inspired me, even if we never talked about art together, I would say that I owe most of what I have accomplished to my genuine intuition and my inexhaustible fascination with freedom.

Of course, some people supported me at various stages and for example when I arrived in Tucson I was, and still I am, greatly welcomed, encouraged, helped and loved by Kate Hodges and Ted Springer both co-owners of The Land With No Name, Sanctuary For Homeless Sculptures.

And because love is for me the quintessence of an happy life. I also want to dedicate my shoutout to Emily who has been by my side everyday during those last 4 years and with who I can have critical conversations about my thoughts, my work and my goals.

Website: www.theislandintucson.org & www.duboischerrier.com

Instagram: @theislandintucson

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