The fox is mischievous, the turtle slow and the dog faithful.. History and tales love to attribute human traits to animals as there is no better way to represent the human kind and his moral than through these comparism.  Jeremy Fish likes to use this concept in his illustrations to communicate.  Like a chameleon, he is able to swim in different waters and mixed media. One of his latest collaboration is a capsule collection and the Zipper board series, that reflects the characters of the Element skate team. We wanted to dig a little deeper and had  chat with the San Franciscan Mr Fish:

Hey Jeremy, first of all tell us about your relationship with the animal kingdom. Nearly all your drawings involved at least one animal and you seem very close to your cat – Mrs Brown Cat Fish – quite ironic name by the way. Do you think animals are better than humans – Peta’s thought - or they just reveal in a better way the human kind, like La Fontaine with his fables?

*I am not a crazy animal lover honestly, although I do find them fascinating. I use them in the same way the Brothers Grimm, Aesops Fables, or even Walt Disney used them in their work, to capture the human type qualities from  the animal kingdom. The owl is wise, the rabbit is quick, the tortoise is slow, the elephant never forgets, ect.

You get to travel all over the world but your home is San Francisco for the last twenty years. What is SF providing you that no other city can?

*San Francisco is in a very transitional phase right now. It is currently the most expensive city in the USA, and that has dramatically changed the artist community here over the last few years. Personally, I live in Little Italy, North Beach, and it is a very historic, super creative bubble in the oldest part of the city. I am attracted to the history, the food, the landscape, and the weather. The internet, Facebook, Twitter, Instragram, and Apple were all created here in the Bay area. I am sad that some artists can't afford to live here anymore, but I am proud to live in a progressive area that has re-invented the way humans communicate with each other, for better or worse. People in San Francisco are for the most part forward thinkers. We have always been a bit ahead of the curve.

How does your typical day look like?

*I wake up everyday around noon, and spend the day in the sunshine as much as possible. I get coffee at Caffe Trieste, the oldest espresso bar on the west coast. I run errands and take meetings most afternoons. Around 6pm I shut my phone off, close my studio door, and make art until around 3 or 4am. Then I play with my cat, Mrs. Brown and off to get some sleep.

One of your latest projects is a collaboration with Element called “Zipper”. How did this come about? Can you give us some more details?

*I have been using zippers in my artwork for the last 10 years or so. It is a device I use to open up a subject to see whats inside... animal, vehicle, person ect. For this Element series I wanted to focus on each pro riders personal "spirit animal". I asked the pros to each choose the animal they feel most similar to. Each animal in the series "unzips" to reveal the riders personal passions in life outside of skateboarding.

How did it work out to create the boards, did you meet each of the guys to add their characteristics? Please give us the story of one board of your choice as an example.

*Each pro provided me with his chosen "spirit animal" and a few things in life they were truly passionate about. This was great for me to get a better feeling for these athletes and their personal styles. For example Levi Brown's Spirit Animal is a bear. In his board graphic the bear "unzips" to reveal Levi's passion for growing his own fruits and vegetables, and his love for his dog. I met Levi recently and he seemed very happy with his new graphic, and was a really nice dude. My goal was to allow the consumer to get a better understanding of these pro skateboarders in their life outside of the sport.

You are very close to the rapper Aesop Rock and created several of his album covers. What are your influences for the designs? For instance do rap lyrics or the beats spark your creativity?

*Aesop Rock is a pretty talented visual artist as well as a musician. He has wonderful vivid ideas for most of his artwork, and has directed most of our projects together. It has been an honor to work with him. He was my favorite musician at the time we met, so you can imagine how fun our collaborations are for me. I listen to rap music almost exclusively. It is a form of music that is driven by aggression and adrenalin, and it tends to motivate me when I am drawing and painting.

You have collaborated with many different artists & brands and seem to like to play around with different media (murals, sculptures, canvas…). What do you prefer? What was the oddest material you worked on?

*In Milan maybe 10 years ago a bakery asked me to decorate a cake. I think working in frosting was my strangest medium to date. It was delicious, and makes for a wonderful memory and a funny story.

What is on the horizon for Jeremy Fish?

*I have just survived two brain surgeries on a brain aneurism that doctors discovered last November. As a result,  I have had to take more time off than ever before in my career. I am feeling better these days, and I am finally back to working full time. I have a solo show in July in Denver Colorado at the Black Book gallery. I am in a 3 person show in September at the Antonio Columbo Gallery in Milan. At the end of the year I have a huge solo show opening here at San Francisco City Hall. 100 drawings celebrating the 100 year anniversary of the construction of our City Hall.

itv. Juliette Estroumsa