He was listening to Midday Edition on KPBS. IM Tom Fudge. Invisible people is a common expression used to describe the homeless. It's a term that artist Neil Shigley borrows is the title of his series of prints that focus on homeless in San Diego. His exhibit Invisible People, Invisible Structures will be on display at the San Diego history center in Balboa Park. He joins me in the studio. Neil Shigley thanks for being here. Thank you. When did you decide to focus on the homeless from your art? It was 2005 when I first did. I was trying to capture this incredible character this man had. I did another. And it kind of turned into a series. The story behind it is -- what is it? You encountered a homeless man and thought this would be a wonderful subject? I was walking into a gallery opening at Little Italy. On wiki Lancet this man and an artist friend of mine, and he's set we looked at each other -- we looked at each other and he said execution draw him. I found another man a couple days later and he was really the first. Is there something in the face of a homeless person you find interesting? I am selected a lot of them have pretty considerable character that is earned through many hard years on streets. It itches a lot of history into their face that I am attracted to. Speaking of etching you do block prints. Middle to describe what that is. It's a drawing onto some type of the surface that is carved. What is left is inked up imprinted onto paper. Are you carving into wood or some other material? I use Plexiglas with an electric flexible shaft drill. It's the same as a woodblock print for all intents and purposes but it is into Plexiglas. Look at your art I would guess I say they look like black-and-white portraits of homeless people were the picture is expressed in short start strokes of a knife or a chisel. That's accurate. Is that about right? I also do drawings, large-scale drawings that are part of the show as well. But most of the work are these large prints. You describe the process a bit more. It sounds like it starts with a photograph of the person you want to portray? It does. It usually starts with a walk around downtown. Once identify somebody that I am interested in, I will approach them and ask them if I can do their portrait. I'm pretty direct. Some say yes, some say no. I will take one photograph. I don't oppose them. I want to get the most honest portrayal as possible. I just have to have them facing into the sun so I have the shadow pattern that I can work with. I took the photo I do sketches and drawings. Once a up on I like, I will do a dry white into black which is basically a block print. Your carving out the white shapes. Then I will blowed up to the size that a carbon, which all my plates are 3 x 4' some of my images are nine times that. It is mosaic together with that size plate. My guest is Neil Shigley. He's a San Diego artist . His solo art exhibition called invisible people invisible structures will be on display at the San Diego history center -- is on display in Balboa Park. Tellis a little bit about this exhibition. I noticed that it's called Invisible People, Invisible Structures . Part of this exhibit is made up of some paintings and drawings of the temporary structures that people sleep in overnight. I don't want to call them shelters because I do not want to be mistaken with the larger shelters. But they are temporary shelters made of blankets, tarp is -- tarps thrown over a bush sometimes. We're just kind of running of the show to tell the story a little broader than just the people. I'm sorry, are these sculptures? No these are drawings. All drawings? Drawings and paintings. All of my portraits are pretty realistic. Of these are abstracted to some degree. You must have some relationship between the people and the places they live. I guess this is home to them. Yes in a very temporary way. I guess that is the interest. From time to time if I want to go back and find one of these people I've done portrait of, where do you look for somebody that does not have a home? These are very temporary so it's a challenge. ~Some stories of these folks. You've met quite a few. I don't know if you insist on getting their story, but what have you heard in terms of who these people are and where they come from? Well I don't insist on it but I do try to spend much time as I can and to speaking with them trying to get a sense of who they are. Hopefully that will be especially in the final product. Are you asking for individual accounts? Sure, somebody who story really moved to or unaffected you.'s neck it is a broad range, some are tragic summer epic summer Monday. -- Some are epic, some are Monday. There was one, he was on the street for quite a long time. Used to sell jewelry to the stars. I was doing inventory one day one day for Rolex watch. And one day, but they did audit in it was not there. So I asked him one box check changed your life? And he said that was the start of the problem. He had a drinking problem also. That is part of the problem for many, not all. I'm sure you've spoken with a lot of people who have drinking, drug, or mental health issues I met you spoke with a lot of them? Suspect yes. Of there are many. It's such a complex issue. It's all about these individuals that I am trying to focus on with my portraits that I spend hours on. But when people say homeless is like a group, it's not. It's him. It is her. That is the complexity. When you ask artists why you do what you do, they might say I want to create something beautiful. When it comes to the art that you do about the homeless, what is the point? I think it's probably satisfying me and my vision for my art. I realize a responsibility as an artist and the power that art can have to focus attention, in this case, on people who are homeless. It raises awareness. And with that, change can happen. The best case scenario is somebody is moved, touched, once to take any kind of action to do something. I don't have the answers myself. You call them invisible people, why are they invisible to us? Good question. I think we would have to ask everybody that. But a lot of people when they encounter somebody in the street, they actively make them invisible, they avoid them. They want to push them out of the side, out of my way kind of thing. You are not trying to solve the problem, who can, seems like it is so extensive. But if someone goes to see your exhibition, when they come out of it, you are hoping that they have learned something? Well if nothing else, I would hope in my -- and my dream would be that they would look at somebody and treat them with respect. Until somebody earns to not be treated with respect, -- I hope they can walk away and say that's another human being that I have respect for. Panel that will help tomorrow night at the exhibit is there is a number of people around the city who are dealing with homeless people all the time., Whose father Joe from the police department, there's a lot of people try to do work your. For me, it's incredibly satisfying to know that my art may have had any role in bringing that group together. Hopefully good things happen. The San Diego history center will be hosting a special event entitled humanizing homelessness in San Diego featuring Neil Shigley. And area experts, tomorrow at 6:30 PM. This is what you were just talking about correct? Correct. At the history center" Park. Neil Shigley is an artist from San Diego and his exhibit Invisible People, Invisible Structures will be on display and is on display at the San Diego history center in Balboa. Thank you for coming. My pleasure.
We've all seen them on the streets: weathered, worn-down, wired, dirty. And yet we often simply look past the homeless, not really seeing them at all.
They are invisible.
Neil Shigley: Invisible People, Invisible Structures is a solo art exhibition of work by San Diego artist Neil Shigley, who sees the homeless very clearly.
The exhibit, at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park through April 10, 2016, focuses on his portraits of San Diego's homeless through large-scale graphic block prints and graceful, hyper-detailed graphite drawings.
The exhibit also includes drawings of the temporary living spaces built and occupied by many of San Diego's homeless; ephemeral, abstracted architectural renderings that allude to the fleeting nature of the structures themselves.
Neil Shigley first got into drawing portraits of the homeless when, after an encounter with a homeless man, his friend said, "You ought to do that guy's portrait."
After his first portrait in 2005 he did another, and another, and pretty soon the original encounter grew into a series. At first, he said, he drew the homeless simply as an artist, to capture a likeness. He later came to view the project as one human being making contact with another, capturing a small corner of the human condition.
Now he hopes to focus attention on the homeless to raise awareness and acknowledgement of their existence, to overcome their invisibility.
