At first impression, Denise DeSpirito is a hippie, a little fun-loving forest-nymph-type.  The kind of sweet girl who makes photo collages of friends and builds long houses out of bark.  But underneath all that is a true creative.

Chief Magazine: You grew up on Long Island going to shows, going to the city, etc probably being totally over-stimulated at a really young age. Your work is so saturated with images. Are you trying to get everything out of your brain? Why is everything overlapping and interconnected?  

Denise DeSpirito: Well yes definitely over-stimulated but in a good way. Really the saturation of images is my way of making sense of it all, of trying to process everything I'm seeing. The overlapping and interconnectedness just kind of came about naturally… just a visual reflection of how people, lives and the universe are interconnected and overlap.     

I remember in your apartment you had these awesome, big photo collages of all these cut up photos of your friends, all layered on top of each other. I remember looking at that and feeling like I was looking at your equivalent of the Lascaux cave paintings (this is how I think at all times). Was I right? Or were you making work well before then?   

I like that you were thinking of those cave paintings in general. I did make those photo collages a really long time ago, I think around Junior High staying up late on nights when I was grounded. I had so many doubles of photos I didn't know what to do with. Cutting them up and rearranging people's limbs, faces, etc in a large collage seemed like a fun thing to do. Kind of the way I combine images currently, now that I think about it.... But I definitely was painting, drawing, making longhouses out of tree bark since I was a little kid waaaaay before that even. 

Long houses out of tree bark! What the fuck? Can we make one tomorrow?  

Totally! Except there aren't many trees with good thick bark to spare by my apartment, the few trees that do exist seem sick. They're always falling over. 

I know when you were young your grandma was always crocheting. From early on you saw that highly detail oriented craft and what it was to just sit and work and build something up. Was that a big influence for your process as well as aesthetic?  

I would say both. I mean, I love the way it was just something her hands did, like it was part of her nature, like she was born doing it. I love the use of repetition in the patterns and how it grows from a simple string into something totally different. 

What's grandma's name?  

Maria. But really just grandma. 

Did she teach you how to crochet? If so can you make me a plant holder?  

Unfortunately no, not really. The last time I was inspired to try crocheting was after watching Which Way is Up, an old Richard Pryor movie. There is one scene where he is with this beautiful hippie lady and she has crocheted, macramé, holders hanging down in her house. I can't remember if they were holding candles or plants but shortly after I tried to make some out of hemp but it wasn't as successful as I hoped. 

Oh totally. I know how to crochet. I'll teach you. 

I wouldn't expect drawing to be your primary focus. You're always doing or creating something… plants, little food things, piñatas… You always seem to be surrounded by little things or collecting something new and cute. I know you've said may times that one isn't an artist as an occupation, but you just are that. I think that you really, truly live that. Do you draw any line between your professional work and your personal work, aside from the natural one of what's published and what's not? Do you draw a line and say this is art and this is not?  

Kind of, I definitely refer to my painted drawings with gouache more as my art than the seashell wind-chime I made... but then again it is all stuff I kind of just do, forgetting that it is or isn't art. 

You have to be sort of secretive about your "job" job, but basically you work in the artist nonprofit industry, but I do think it's commendable that you work a lot within the art community, helping other artists along. I think it's pretty important that in any field, to give back and to make sure you're as involved as possible. 

I must admit, I'm doing my work at the nonprofit more for the paycheck then the karma. But I do think it is really important to give back so to speak because people have really helped me in so many ways from applying to residencies to getting shows. It is really amazing to be on the other side of a process that helps artists do amazing projects. When people call with questions I genuinely want to help since I have totally been there asking those questions too. As impenetrable as the world of art grants and funding seems to be, it really doesn't have to be so intimidating. There are a lot of resources out there for artists if you're not scared to look. 

Yeah I think if you come at it positively and a lot of drive that it's not as daunting. Well I know you're way into positive thinking. This is kind of like your positive doing. Did I say positive enough? 

Whoa, all I can think now is "Positively Positive" which is this song from this funny hardcore band called Good Clean Fun. Well as far as the positivity goes, I mean that's for real. Like if you consistently think something it will come true, so you better be thinking about things you really want to happen. I mean literally talking. The theory is that your subconscious mind is very impressionable so whatever your conscious mind tells it, it will make happen.