#legend has posted their interview with Keanu Reeves for Shadows. Keanu said the following on the artistic exposures he had as a child:
I had a similar experience, but mine came from art books. We lived in a couple of homes that my grandmother had provided for the family, and there was a lot of Chinese furniture around us, and then the books and music. My grandfather worked at Encyclopaedia Britannica so those books were in my bedroom. There was some Shakespeare, and large-format art books. My mother really loved Klimt and Picasso. I don’t draw and I don’t take photographs, but as I got older I gained exposure to abstract expressionism. I was drawn to Zen poems and haiku, EE Cummings, Sexton, Bukowski, the translated works of Rilke.
Keanu said the following when asked if the writing for the book came easily to him:
I always wrote as a kid – creative writing, poems – and I still write them sometimes. I do love the written word. I have a few typewriters. I love fonts, Shakespeare, investigating and hearing words, words, words, words. I love them. I love how they sound and how we use sound to express ourselves and articulate these feelings into our cultural world.
There are 6 photos from the book.