Conversations with Scott Dergance

Today we’d like to introduce you to Scott Dergance

Hi Scott, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My first profession is as an architect, but I’ve always been interested in the confluence of art and popular culture. Through my work in architecture and a brief stint in furniture design, I developed a variety of skills creating and manipulating digital images. I dabbled in digital art for a decade before deciding to focus on making something more out of my hobby two years ago.
The guiding idea of what I want to do is to create culturally and socially provocative art that is beautiful and accessible. My mantra “Art for Interesting People” is all about making something you love seeing hanging on your wall every day that makes you think at the same time. To me, so much of contemporary art is far too high-concept to be comprehendible to the average person. On top of that, so-called capital A “Art” is intentionally made scarce and precious and targeted at a wealthier clientele. I wanted to break those ideas by merging my artistic ideas with state-of-the-art (no pun intended) artificial intelligence image generation tools to be able to create large quantities of intellectually stimulating high-quality art. I believe this makes my art less precious (and therefore less expensive) and more relatable and it was something I could do at scale (making it less scarce). Instead of creating ten or twenty new pieces a year like a traditional artist, I can create hundreds of pieces that can be sold thousands of times without sacrificing quality.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I began this journey of turning my art into a business almost two years ago and the path to where I am now has been bumpy and rewarding at the same time. My entire first line of artwork was an abject failure. At my first juried art show, I sold exactly ZERO pieces and lost a few thousand dollars in the process. The first iteration of my website was a dud. The second version of my business plan didn’t work either. But now I think I’m onto something with promise, and having been through those difficult times makes my newfound success that much more satisfying.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My work is creating visually interesting, colorful, intellectually provocative artwork using a combination of digital photomontage and AI image generation tools. I produce themed micro-collections consisting of four pieces that are designed to be sold separately or together. I focus my ideas on popular culture and environmental issues. Examples of themes I explore include industrial farming, the home affordability crisis, mineral extraction, and the climate.
I sell my micro-collections in the form of museum-quality digital giclée pigment prints on deep matte, acid free paper. These high-quality materials ensure each artwork can be enjoyed for decades. Each piece can be purchased in three sizes (10”x10”, 20”x20” & 30”x30”) and are consciously designed to be mixed and matched with different collections and in different sizes. Ultimately, what differentiates me from others is Quality + Quantity.

Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
The most important lesson I’ve learned is to keep iterating—and do it quickly. Try an idea, test it out to see if it fails, then try something new. Keep doing that over and over again until you strike upon that finely balanced mix that leads to success.

Pricing:

• 10″x10″ Print: $29
• 20″x20″ Print: $129
• 30″x30″ Print: $229
• Buy a full micro-collection (4 pieces) get ~15% off
• Free shipping in continental US

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dergsart.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dergsart/

Image Credits
dergs.ART Limited