Maxwell Paternoster’s art is what would happen if you soaked R. Crumb’s brain in gasoline and LSD — at once deranged, poignant, and darkly humorous. Swap the ballooned manic breasts of Crumb’s characters with sweaty robots and laser skulls, and you’re most of the way there — a trip of contemporary malaise and satire mixed with some good ol’ fashioned strangeness. Max is an artist from the English countryside who makes awesome doodles for a living — doodles on paper, helmets, jackets, motorcycles, and even the occasional chainsaw. We had the pleasure of asking Max a few questions about his life, work, and whether he prefers nightshades or gourds — insightful stuff.
Gregory George Moore: Hello. Can you tell me who you are, what you do, where you’re from, and how to get rich?
Maxwell Paternoster: My name is Maxwell Paternoster. I’m an artist/illustrator based in London, UK. I actually grew up in Suffolk, England. I do 2D illustrations in a sort of line-drawn comic and cartoon-influenced style. I combine this with my enjoyment of motorcycles and vehicles of all types. This has resulted in me painting motorcycles, helmets, jackets, and the occasional car, as well as other things. I can’t tell you how to get rich, but I can advise quite knowledgeably regarding the opposite of that.
Chainsaws . . . What possessed you to make art out of a couple of old chainsaws?
I’ve actually for a few years been drawing chainsaws in my sketchpad. I just thought they were quite a cool thing to draw. I did grow up around them in the countryside. Not sure when I thought about customizing a saw in this way; I think it just seemed like an obvious cool thing to do. Years ago, I searched online for custom-painted saws but I could only find a picture of one painted with the Hello Kitty character. More recently, I’ve searched online and found more custom-painted saws. Also, I found out years ago about the competition chainsawing world and the “hot saws.”
What’s the story behind the “customization” of them? Those expansion chambers are wicked. And aimed right at the user’s muzzle . . .
With my idea of customizing the saws, I started doing a load of research. I looked online at loads of videos of competition chainsawing. It’s insane. Folks get huge logs and see who can cut through three times. The chainsaws are heavily modified (depending on what category they’re competing in). There are methanol chainsaws, large displacement saws, everyone has expansion chambers, etc. One of the most well-known competitions is the Stihl Timbersports events. There are all kinds of categories in various competitions. I’m no expert on that stuff, but I’ve seen motorcycle engine-powered saws, large displacement standard saws with expansion chambers, there are even V8 car engine saws operated by two people. I did notice that generally, the saws in the lower categories seem to be 100cc upward.
With regard to me sourcing a saw, turns out most home chainsaws are only like 35–55cc or around that, so it was going to be quite difficult to find a donor saw. I wanted the saws to be as close to the actual feasible competition size as possible. Not that there was any intention of competing with them — I just wanted that detail. I managed to find one saw in my father’s garden! It was just outside, sticking out of the undergrowth with grass growing through it. Turned out to be a 1980s 60cc Sachs Dolmar. Not quite 100cc, but I figured I’d just use it since it’s still bigger than a standard basic saw. Then, halfway through customizing it, while the crankcases were at the blasters, another saw came up — 95cc! And coincidentally, also a Sachs Dolmar from the ’80s, so I decided to get it and do both saws. Geoff Cain at Co-Built fabrication made the exhausts. It looks like they point into your grill, but they sort of poke out sideways.
Did you learn anything interesting about “chainsaw culture” while creating these pieces?
I did learn a lot, yes. Mainly about the timber sports stuff I mentioned earlier!
Where did your interest in twisted phrases and twisted characters come from?
Just growing up reading all sorts of comics, and I was really interested in surrealism and comedy. I enjoy a good turn of phrase. The surreal comedians Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer were a big early influence.
How did motorcycles and vehicles become a common thematic element of your art?
Growing up in the countryside, there was a lot of machinery around, from the ol’ farm tractors and all the mad farm equipment. I think being a typical kid drew me to this stuff. I got an old motorcycle to ride around the fields on when I was a kid. I started to draw bikes and cars in my illustration work, and it got noticed. The result was a bit of a niche in the bike world, I suppose.
You clearly don’t take yourself too seriously and there’s a lot of humor in your work. Can you tell us where that sense of humour comes from?
I’ve always been a bit immature . . .
Potatoes or squash? Why?
That depends on the contextual meaning of the word squash, I suppose. Also, whether the question is potatoes or squash as a general thought, or whether the question is potatoes or squash (depending on the meaning of the word squash) as some sort of decision to make in real life. If it’s potatoes as an existing object, or the game squash in general, I’d prefer the potatoes, whether that be a thought or a selection in some scenario where I had to avoid having anything to do with the game squash — because I don’t like the game squash.
In a scenario where I was given the choice to eat potatoes or drink the beverage squash, that would totally depend on whether I was hungry or thirsty. If the scenario were one where I had to decide whether the object in front of me was a potato or a squash (the drink in this case), that would then depend on which one I was presented with — unless I was blindfolded and had to guess without touching, I suppose. In terms of potato versus squash as a foodstuff, I’m based in the UK and as far as I know, squash as a foodstuff is not quite as prominent here as it is in the U.S. It’s used, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think I’ve ever eaten pumpkin, for example, and growing up, I thought only witches in children’s books actually ate pumpkin. I have eaten butternut squash, though. But I think I would choose potato at this time. As for being squashed, I choose potato.
What are your personal rides? Motorcycles, cars, a jet-powered Razor scooter? How does Max get around?
I’m a bit low on bikes at the moment. I only have my BSA (Lazer Death), which is a BSA M20 rigid frame with a B33 500cc engine that sports early Goldstar internals. I built it up piece by piece. It has a skull on the tank with lightning bolts in the eyes. I also have a 2002 Skoda Fabia.
What’s next for you? Are there any grand ambitions or projects on the horizon that we should keep an eye out for?
Ah, yea, dunno. Probably. There are a few things at a very early stage of development. Mainly video-based, actually.
And one final softball to round out our interview — what is the meaning of life?
Forty-two.
This article first appeared in Iron & Air Magazine, and is reproduced here under license.
Interview by Gregory George Moore | Art by Maxwell Paternoster | Instagram
