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# Illustrator Luke Ramsay’s Mind on Games
- URL: https://www.killscreen.com/picture-pages/
- Published: 2012-04-17T08:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2015-11-17T14:32:53.000Z
- Description: The artist Luke Ramsey takes the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words” to heart. Can you decipher his thoughts on videogames, zines, and spirituality?
- Author: Scott Wayne Indiana
- Tags: Interview, Picture Pages, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2024-07-26 09:39

There are but a handful of city blocks on Planet Earth that offer the complete triumvirate of videogames, toys, and comic books. On a recent visit to my hometown of Portland, Ore., I happily stumbled upon one such triad of play. Not only is[ Floating World Comics](http://www.floatingworldcomics.com/main/?ref=killscreen.com) a stone’s throw from the perfect retro arcade [Ground Kontrol](http://groundkontrol.com/?ref=killscreen.com), it also houses [Grass Hut Gallery](http://grasshutcorp.com/blog/?ref=killscreen.com), bringing together a refreshing set of Northwest zine and toy artists. I planned on browsing for 10 minutes and ended up dropping two hours and 50 bucks, a bulk of my time spent with the work of Canadian artist Luke Ramsey. His simple, handmade books have a clear sense of a visual conversation. I thought about artists or musicians who’ve said they prefer to let their work speak for itself, and wondered: What would an interview with Ramsey’s work look like?

Luke Ramsey’s thoughtful, often metaphysically charged drawings have appeared in his independent art zines; on giant, collaborative, outdoor murals; in more than a hundred gallery shows across Canada, the U.S., and Europe; and in the pages of *The New York Times*, *Bitch*, *Wired*, and many others. In 2006, with his wife, the artist Angela Conley, he cofounded [Islands Fold](http://www.islandsfold.com/index.php?p=&ref=killscreen.com), an online gallery, publisher, and artists’ residency on Pender Island, British Columbia. Greatly influenced by the late French comics artist Jean Giraud—especially by the work Giraud made under the pseudonym Mœbius—[Ramsey’s work](http://lukeramseystudio.com/?ref=killscreen.com) hums with a psychedelic glow. His expressive illustrations seem to call out for engagement with the reader, as though the subject matter, self-aware, wants more from its own existence on the page.

When Ramsey agreed to this interview, I suggested that he reply to my questions with a few sentences followed by sketches. “I was under the impression I’d be answering only with drawings,” he said. Following, then, is our discussion.

/ / /

*Do you ever design toys or videogames? And what are your thoughts about toys or videogames in general?*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/84/2584b75d-4bd6-4cce-8259-f1d1c65abbb5/content/images/previously/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/2.jpg)

*I clearly went far too broad. Allow me to rephrase: What are your thoughts about the value of the growing presence of videogames in our culture?*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/84/2584b75d-4bd6-4cce-8259-f1d1c65abbb5/content/images/previously/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/6.jpg)

  
*Do you have any interest in creating interactive zines?*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/84/2584b75d-4bd6-4cce-8259-f1d1c65abbb5/content/images/previously/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/3.jpg)

  
*So, if all your zines and art are already interactive, why not make some stories for a touchscreen device, complete with buttons and animations? Would you disagree that this is clearly the direction that all media is currently headed?*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/84/2584b75d-4bd6-4cce-8259-f1d1c65abbb5/content/images/previously/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/7.jpg)

  
*As you work on ideas, how much are you thinking about the great unknown?*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/84/2584b75d-4bd6-4cce-8259-f1d1c65abbb5/content/images/previously/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/4.jpg)

  
*But, interpreting visible reality as a way of thinking of the unknown misses possible bridges to the invisible and the mystical, no?*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/84/2584b75d-4bd6-4cce-8259-f1d1c65abbb5/content/images/previously/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/8.jpg)

  
*Many of your zines involve a spiritual quest. How’s your journey going?*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/84/2584b75d-4bd6-4cce-8259-f1d1c65abbb5/content/images/previously/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/1.jpg)

  
*So, a bit like a rollercoaster in the mind with distinct moments, hills and valleys, moments of darkness and illumination, however meaningful, along the way?*

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/84/2584b75d-4bd6-4cce-8259-f1d1c65abbb5/content/images/previously/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/5.jpg)

  
/ / /

*Luke Ramsey just finished a solo exhibition at [Madrona Gallery](http://madronagallery.com/luke-ramsey?ref=killscreen.com) in Victoria, BC, Canada. He’s working on a low-profile sci-fi illustrated story that’s been in the works for a few years, art for a stage backdrop for [The Thing in the Spring](http://www.thethinginthespring.com/?ref=killscreen.com) fest, and whatever intriguing things come along.*