Antone Dolezal is a visual artist and author whose body of work surveys the cultural and political dynamics of American folklore and mythology. Dolezal looks at the past to unpack the notion and development of myths and ideologies, and how these relate to contemporary society. By immersing himself in an inquisitive process, Dolezal creates layered narratives that take inspiration from archival material and observation.
Q > Tell us about the relevance of folklore to your work?
A > My family lives in rural Oklahoma and, growing up, I spent a lot of time living on my grandparents’ farm. They didn’t have a TV, so storytelling was an important aspect of our life. Storytelling was this form of communication we shared as a family and a lot of the stories were a way to entertain ourselves, but also served to express our shared experiences and beliefs. I see what I am doing now as a visual storyteller as being tied to that family tradition.
Folkloric stories are always changing with time. They’re malleable and, as an artist, I have found folklore and mythmaking a device I can use to discuss both historical events alongside contemporary realities. It seems the possibilities are endless as to how I can navigate within the folkloric tradition.
Q > Building upon research — tell us about your storytelling process and the different layers that shape it.
A > Whether it is my collaborations with Lara Shipley or my individual projects I am always involved in dense research. I’m looking at archival photos and historical records for reference and context and if the archival materials are visually dynamic, they will find a way into the presentation of the work. I’m also collecting audio and video interviews, sound bites and taking photos of my own that serve as the foundation for my projects. Once all these elements are complete, there is a long editing process to consider how these materials work together.
This sounds cliché, but I am generally imagining my work living in the book form. So, I make aesthetic and conceptual decisions based on how that can happen. The book really allows the viewer to have serious focus on how all these layers are speaking with one another.
Q > Could you give us an overview of your project ‘Part of Fortune and Part of Spirit’, and tell us which reactions you hoped to raise in the viewer?
A > This project is placed in Nevada and California and it’s something I am still working on. It focuses on new religious movements of the region, their beliefs and the origins of those beliefs. It’s complex, and from my research there are definite connections to the serious belief systems of many new religious movements alongside folklore of the American West, Sci-Fi cinema, global warming, secret government programmes and the appropriation of Indigenous mysticism.
By looking at how these newer religions develop and what their influences are, I aim to make connections reflective of the broader American culture. In the United States, it’s obvious we don’t all live in the same reality. Some of this is based on religion or could be purely political, but it’s causing a lot of strain on our relationships with one another and for the whole political system. Myths are powerful: they can give us meaning and construct the whole fabric of our identity and life. At the same time, I question the authenticity of these belief systems and the false saviours who fabricate them. While this work is focused on how belief and myth develop and influence their followers, it is also an allegorical response to what we are seeing across the United States with internet cults such as QAnon and political leaders that advocate for absurd superstitions and magical thinking.
Q > Tell us an intriguing, disturbing or inspiring story you refuse to forget.
A > I’m an immersive artist, so when I’m working, I am fully living it alongside the people I photograph. For me, this is how magic happens, to be a full participant in the environment of the story. It conjures some of the most beautiful, sublime experiences and some of the darkest and most frightening ones. This comes out in the work and I think it is strongly conveyed in my and Lara’s book, Devil’s Promenade.
A story that comes to mind is when Lara and I were photographing in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. We met a couple at a bar, Jerry and Jeannie, they were local musicians and very pleasant. The next day we were invited to their home, a home built by their own hands, many miles deep in the woods. Their water came from natural springs and their life was simple and beautiful. As human beings, I find the two of them and their generosity to be infinitely inspiring.
Q > Can you describe your project ‘The Naked Truth‘ — how did it come about and how did your collaborative process with Lara Shipley unfold?
A > Lara and I have been collaborating for the past 10 years. This year we published our new book Devil’s Promenade, which takes place in the rural Ozarks, a place we are both intimately familiar with. In 2016, on our last trip to photograph for the book, we came across an uncanny tale about a charlatan who loomed over the Ozark town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas during the Great Depression. Remember, in 2016 Trump had just become president and we were distraught about it. There were so many similarities between our charlatan, “Dr.” Norman Baker, and the former one-term President Donald Trump that we just dove right into making this work as a commentary for the moment.
The Naked Truth combines our own performative photographs in close dialogue with a historical archive, resurrecting the period of the Great Depression when the Victorian-era Crescent Hotel was turned into the illusion of a cancer curing hospital by Norman Baker, an egomaniacal trickster exploiting the terminally ill and economically desperate. Baker began his career as a traveling hypnotist and illusionist, later finding wealth and fame as an ambitious radio personality who railed against the American Medical Association and touted his own “cure” for cancer (a serum he stole from another charlatan).
We saw many similarities between Trump and Baker. And as we worked on this project, the similarities seemed more apparent as the United States experienced first-hand the horror of physical and economic reliance on a narcissist who touted misleading conspiracy theories and false medical cures for personal gain. By looking at this strange account of American history, we saw parallels with America today, a place that suffers from economic instability, questionable truths driving political discourse and dangerous magical thinking that offers easy solutions to complex realities.
Q > Connecting with ‘places’ through presence and absence — tell us about your journeys and experiences, and which places have triggered memorable emotions.
A > Places and people are complex and within my own work I present them in a way that is coloured by my own judgements and experience. I might be living out of the bed of my pickup for 8 weeks while I travel around a specific place to make work. One day I may be invited to stay in a beautiful Civil War-era home with amazing musicians who want to pass around moonshine all night and the next day I might find myself stumbling on a working meth lab in an abandoned farmhouse. Most of the time, traveling is mundane, and my days are spent approaching people to photograph or interview. I certainly process all these experiences and they shape how I interpret and tell these stories.
Q > Which questions do you often ask yourself in relation to your work?
A > I’m always asking myself how can I make each project aesthetically different from the last? The themes I engage with run through all my work. The underlying concepts seem cohesive to me. But I push myself on the form and aesthetics of each project. For me, it keeps the act of making images fun and it helps push the narratives and themes in my work. I allow myself to play, experiment or totally fail and the end result benefits from that approach.
Q > Do you have any other specific projects you are working on these days?
A > I am hoping to see both Part of Fortune and Part of Spirit and The Naked Truth take shape into a book within the next few years. There are a few other projects I have in the works but I’m keeping them close to the chest for now!
Antone Dolezal is an American visual artist. His work has been exhibited widely in the US and internationally and is held in notable public collections including the Museum of Contemporary Photography, New Mexico Museum of Art, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art — Special Collections. Dolezal is the author of several books including Devil’s Promenade (Overlapse, 2021), co-authored with long-time collaborator Lara Shipley and he is a recipient of the Syracuse University Visual & Performing Arts Fellowship, Daylight Photo Award Juror’s Pick, Urbanautica Institute Award and Gomma Grant.
Dolezal has lectured and taught workshops at academic and non-profit institutions throughout the United States and currently teaches at the University of Nevada, Reno.
