A collection of articles for investors and fans of art on the subject of art buying, investing, and collecting. These articles are also published in various ArtAscent Art & Literature Journal issues.

ArtAscent Art Investor Tips article of the 2024 Emotion issue.

de Kooning’s Imagery of Vacancy: Plumbing the Depths of the Void

We might look at Abstract Expressionism, Modern Jazz, and Free Verse not only as indigenously American cultural phenomena but also as different stylistic branches on the same creative tree. Certainly, the heyday of these contemporaneous movements (from about the late 40s to the mid-60s) shows us a common element or spirit of expansion, of spontaneity, of some form of ambitious personal expression. In the works from these movements, it is frequently the personal and the idiosyncratic choices of the artist which make their mark more than any other criteria.

In the music of composers/musicians like Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, etc., we see the boundaries of the traditional arrangement being stretched farther and farther by the eccentricities, the flash, the inner logic of improvisation. Turning to the poetry of W. C. Williams, Charles Olsen, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gregory Corso etc., we discover a new poetic voice unencumbered by rigid meter and re-enlivened by the vernacular, the colloquial, and an unabashed willingness to describe subject matter previously considered socially inappropriate or distasteful, in much the same way the Ash Can School introduced tenement dwelling and behaviour, violating the sacred plane of the “idealized” image. When we examine the chief proponents of Abstract Expressionism, namely the work of de Kooning, Kandinsky, Kline, Gorky, and Pollock, we again encounter a preoccupation with abstract form, new ways of defining the biomorphic, the geometric, the cohesion of colour and shape, the role of pattern, of design and harmony.

Yet de Kooning’s brand of Abstract Expressionism is more like a gorgeously built windmill spinning without any practical function: the beauty of elaborate energy but without the usefulness of that energy; or like a piece of Charles Ives music, where a kind of intelligent noise appears to “accidentally” become articulate and expressive. Still more like a puzzle box, the work of this forerunner of Abstract Expressionism is often an exquisitely wrought expression of emptiness, of contradictoriness, of a kind of void.

In contrast to Kandinsky’s intricate articulation (in both theory and practice) of the spiritual purpose of form, de Kooning’s work is an interesting anomaly. It is curious that de Kooning, in this period of artistic uninhibitedness, is regarded by more than one critic as evoking a sort of vacancy in his work, a deliberate descent into visual paradox, an emptiness and a void. Dore Ashton says that de Kooning “describes an abstraction: vacancy,” and Thomas Hess maintains that the paintings are based on “contradictoriness kept contradictory.”

In Woman I (1952), there is his typically strident stroking style, creating angles from and evidence of the brush, and image appears to be a by-product of the accidents or happenings of paint. Very little happens in this “portrait” to bring the viewer into a specific world. We’re pulled and jerked by the luscious wash of colour, where primary tones play dramatically against shades and hues; the role of paint as an ultra-expressive conduit of free-flowing thought (the whole raison d’être of Abstract Expressionism) is here, but the painting seems to use this technique as a way of transporting us nowhere fast. The tension in this painting isn’t like the carefully orchestrated contrast of a Kandinsky, there is no delight in the opposition of forces here; rather, there is a strange disquiet, an “almost” quality that is neither essentially figurative or abstract, premeditated or aleatory, formal or picturesque.

De Kooning worked these motifs and methods throughout his formative and mature periods, returning again and again to this “woman” portrait series with intensifications and variations of his signature style. Here we find de Kooning at his best, producing in these portraits (as well as early attempts at total abstraction in smaller canvasses like Valentine, 1947 and Painting, 1948) a kind of “chunky” effect or stylized clutter, where no or very little negative space is allowed into the canvas, where a mass of tension and conflict seems to throw the reality of the image into limbo, where solid colour and washes of colour interact unexpectedly, and where (like Pollock) the totality of the canvas is the most important effect. But rather than the ebullient personal statement we associate with the music and poetry at this time, de Kooning’s canvasses create an image of not being an image, all the more so in the Woman series but generally reflected through all his work. There is a stubborn hollowness produced by his insistence on making the canvas a kind of stratagem for orderly chaos, a hollowness not bereft of beauty and intensity but certainly forlorn, ghostly, and ambiguous in its refusal to let the “logic” of image-making take over. Even Pollock’s work reveals a formulaic side once the viewer learns what the canvas demands of his or her eye. Like the philosophy of much Japanese painting in which “emptiness” is an aesthetic goal, de Kooning has bypassed the formal by hitting upon a kind of cram-it-all-in-anything-goes-Funhouse-irrational style. In a dialogue with Georges Duthuit about the Dutch painter Bram Van Velde, the Irish writer Samuel Beckett (known primarily in this country for his existential comedy Waiting for Godot) referred to Van Velde as an example of this kind of emptiness or void, saying that the painter’s work was “the expression that there is nothing to express.” Perhaps this too is part of de Kooning’s charm, and perhaps he has used the mantle of Abstract Expressionism for its baroque qualities only to express form and feeling on a much more subdued, ethereal level.

While some interesting canvasses shine through, there is a huge gap between the previous styles and these pictures, not so much in terms of an enlargement or sophistication of his methods, but a marked dilution or dissipation of effect. We find de Kooning apparently searching for a redefinition of his style by creating an amalgam of what has passed through the visual vocabulary of the past fifty years. From the Fauvist vibrancy of Untitled VI 1981 to the Matissean swoop of form in Untitled III 1981 and Untitled XII 1985 to the tubular form of Leger with a touch of Kirchner’s colour drama from Untitled XV 1982 and Untitled VII 1986 to the “spermatozoa” motifs of Miro in No Title 1984, de Kooning is obviously re-evaluating his imaginative powers. The result is largely dissatisfying. A great deal of negative space is employed in these paintings, and without the density of his prior canvasses, burdened to a great extent by these numerous pictorial “quotations” from other painters and styles, these works unfortunately dwell too long on the decision-making process: they don’t have the conviction or the effect of a consolidated effort.

De Kooning once said, “…if you take the attitude that it is not possible to do something, you have to prove it by doing it.” Certainly, an aspect of abstract painting in general, and Abstract Expressionism in particular, is the strain of the impossible measured against the assimilation of time and popular culture. What was considered revolutionary and outrageous in 1945 or 1955 in painting is now part of the graphics paintbox systems of digital home publishing software. Perhaps there is a latent decadence inherent in the attempt to harness and express the abstract through paint. Art history and the imagination of artists always run a relay race with one another. What is fascinating about de Kooning is his grasp of “impossible” ways of seeing; his exquisite, ironic combination of thick images producing vacant results; and his acquisition of part of the void of the mind through a style filled with mischief, clatter, contradiction, and revolt.

Peter J. Dellolio Born 1956 New York City; NYU 1978: BA Cinema Studies; BFA Film Production; poetry collections “A Box of Crazy Toys” 2018 Xenos Books; “Bloodstream is an Illusion of Rubies Counting Fireplaces” 2023 Cyberwit/Rochak Publishing.

Artist Interview with Marian Kaplun Shapiro

Artist Interview | Marian Kaplun Shapiro

Become acquainted with perhaps a few unknown dimensions – thoughts, ambitions, wisdoms, life changing moments – of this inspiring artist.

Artist Interview with Marian Kaplun Shapiro

When it comes to your writing, explain what you do.

I’ve come to define poetry as essence. As essence distilled. As the core of meaning. As the joining of me and the reader who brings themself to the work to which I have brought myself. It includes sound, space, rhythm, and each of our associations which come from each of our lives. It makes real magic.

What project are you working on now?

I have the first five poems for a new series tentatively titled Notes From The Underground. How long will the series be? Well, the last time I started a series I thought would consist of five or so poems, it took on a life of its own until, in a couple of months it had become Upbringing, a collection of 80 primarily graphic poems, which was published (Plain View Press) this January.

Why do you do what you do?

I can’t help it! I used to describe a poem by saying (totally by accident), “in this dream….” Can we help dreaming? 

What are your hobbies?

I have always been a musician. I play classical piano almost every night.

How has your practice changed over time?

I used to struggle with structure, counting syllables and so forth. Now I listen to the music and edit where the music is out of tune or where its rhythm makes me trip over it as I read it. 

Creative work by Marian Kaplun Shapiro

What’s the most indispensable item in your studio?

My computer. I write on my computer, mostly not on paper. I have many eye problems, and the computer can be adjusted to help me to see what I am writing. I am so grateful for it.

Do you make a living off of your art?

Absolutely NOT. I could buy, perhaps, a middle-level dinner from my earnings as a poet every year. Maybe. I earn my living as a psychologist.

What is your pet peeve about the art world?

I don’t have any peeves about the art world. About poetry—well, it should be easier to get visual poetry published. Most publishers don’t want the trouble of doing it. And almost no one will publish poetry that uses colour—too expensive. ArtAscent is a great journal and a great example of daring to commit to whatever is best for the work itself.

What is your strongest childhood memory?

Oh, so many of these—terrible ones, beautiful ones. I can’t choose one bad one and neglect another. So I’ll go the beautiful route.

I was two years younger than my classmates due to the process of skipping prevalent at the time. Being in love with choral music, I auditioned for the NYC high school chorus and was rejected because the conductor said my voice was too childish—I should come back next year. But next year, I’d be graduating! I came home desolate. My father opened the Arts section of the NY Times to a full-page picture of the famed Collegiate Chorale, which was open for auditions. He convinced me to try out—a large professional chorus wouldn’t care about the timbre of my 15-year-old voice—and I did, sitting in the hall at Carnegie Hall, hearing an opera singer precede me. The moment I received the letter accepting me to this fine group (in which the next youngest person was in their 20s) was a thrill I will never forget. Never mind childish—I sang in tune, sight read, and knew how to blend with my neighbour. YES!

Which place in the world do you find to be the most inspiring?

Two sorts of places—Paris, and Rangeley, Maine. Very different indeed! Paris is beautiful as a city; I love its streets, stores, food, wine, culture, and light, and being there with my husband fills me with joy. Rangeley is a rural little town—almost nothing to do but look at and canoe in its lake, walk in its (poison ivy free) woods, and be with my now multi-generational family. 

Creative work by Marian Kaplun Shapiro

What is your scariest experience?

Visiting my father—who was dying in a NY hospital—I was returning to my Lexington home by plane. I hailed a taxi, sat in the back seat and requested LaGuardia. The driver began to talk, as most cabbies did, but his conversation was alarming. He was obsessively talking about cutting off women’s heads and where he would bury them in Queens (where LaGuardia is located). He locked the back doors electronically—no way out at a traffic light, my first plan. I had nothing to use as a weapon, and I am a small, non-violent person anyway. Having grown up in a housing project, my strongest skill is dealing with all kinds of people. It’s a long-honed ability that I now use as a psychologist. So, I used my training to diagnose the driver (bipolar, manic stage) and directed his obsession to… POTHOLES. “I bet you know every pothole on this route,” I said, and off he went. As we got closer to the exit to the airport, I said, matter-of-factly, “Turn right,” and he did. “Stop here,” I said as we approached the airline doors. When he stopped, the door unlocked, and I exited in a hurry.
I quickly found a police officer whom I had to convince to act quickly before a tragedy occurred. Suddenly the cop got it, said OMG, and headed for his phone. I got on my plane, sat down, and shook all the way home.

What superpower would you like to have and why?

Oh, I would like to live forever, healthy, and full of spirit! Not very likely, however. 

What is your dream creative project?

A big book of all my best (from my perspective) work that can live on and change the world of poetry. How’s that for a swelled head?!

Creatively, where do you see yourself in the next five years?

I love to experiment with poetry. My latest book, Upbringing, consists of almost all poems combining drawings, cartoon-like speech, and thought bubbles. What will I do next? More experimenting, I’m sure.

Marian Kaplun Shapiro is currently based in Massachusettes, USA

Artist Techniques, Larry Wolf, coming at it from a different side

Artist Techniques | Larry Wolf

Larry Wolf, coming at it from a different side

Artist Techniques featuring Larry Wolf - Clean Silkscreen

Pick a painter, any painter. The odds are almost 100% that they paint on the FRONT of the canvas, right? Not me. I’m my own kind of odd: I paint on the BACK of the canvas!

For the past decade or so, I’ve been utilizing a unique process whereby I push paint through the back of a silkscreen material to achieve eye-catching, often unpredictable results with vivid colours and layered textures of acrylic paint.

Silkscreens, invented in China over 1,000 years ago, are thin canvas meshes (stretched taut over a wooden frame) that allow the paint to pass through. Artist Andy Warhol used silkscreens to make art prints, masking out portions of the silkscreen with glue so that paint couldn’t penetrate those blocked areas. Then he would take a squeegee and push paint through the remaining porous areas to create amazing art prints.

Today, silkscreens are commonly used for printing things like T-shirts. Stencils are placed over the canvas to block paint, and colours are applied one at a time, each passing through a different stencil to produce a consistent multi-colour image on each shirt or item. Then the silkscreen canvases are washed and reused countless times.

I looked at the silkscreen and saw something else entirely: not simply a tool for transferring paint to another surface but rather a full canvas unto itself.

Rather than washing and reusing my silkscreens, they become the canvases of my artworks.

Artist Techniques featuring Larry Wolf - Masked Areas

I begin with a blank silkscreen and then push paint through the back to the front. Sometimes I do this process freehand and freeform. But more often, I use pieces of masking tape to block off specific areas with various shapes, both large and small, that will be left without paint. Then I apply the paint with any number of spatula palette knives, pushing it from the back through to the front. Each new layer of paint builds thickness and adds textures in unpredictable ways.

Sometimes the paints mix and combine; other times, after removing the masking tape and opening up the blocked areas, new coloured shapes and textures can emerge with delineated borders adjacent to previously painted elements.

Eventually, I reach a point where I must decide on opacity. Unlike traditional canvas, because silkscreens are translucent, thinner areas of paint will allow the natural colour of the wall on which they hang to come through. Light from the front can pass through slightly, reflect back, and sometimes even give the piece a slight glow. But there are times when I don’t want such an effect. In these cases, I simply apply large swathes and layers of paint beneath what is already there. And because I am still painting from the back of the canvas, these new layers of paint form a thicker base underneath the textured shapes on the front of the canvas, making those areas more opaque to light.

Artist Techniques featuring Larry Wolf - View From The Back

Of course, opacity itself can then be manipulated through the use of colour.

A large swath of white paint allows more light to pass through than a large swath of some darker colour. On the other hand, a medium green or blue base layer can cool down the area above it, while a warm yellow or a hot red can produce the opposite effect. The possibilities are endless!

Artist Techniques featuring Larry Wolf - Finished Piece

When complete, the wooden frame of the silkscreen (which is necessary to hold the canvas taut) becomes the natural frame of the finished piece. The simplicity of the frames gives the pieces a modern, edgy quality while at the same time allowing the artwork to be the center of attention without distracting from it. Standard silkscreen frames usually measure around 22” x 19”, so the pieces turn out a uniform size and are small enough to transport easily and ship relatively cheaply. They also typically don’t take as long to complete as larger pieces.

To my knowledge, no other artist is currently using this technique, although I certainly don’t mind if others experiment with this fun and creative process.

Up until now, I’ve been focusing mainly on abstract works using these silkscreens since that is my preferred style. But lately, I’ve begun pushing myself to create more literal and recognizable subject matter like landscapes and common household objects. Who knows where my silkscreens will take me next!

I was born, raised, and am still living in Los Angeles, California. I spent more than 45 years here as a practicing criminal defence attorney. Over the past decade and a half, I have slowly and methodically transitioned my beloved painting hobby into a successful second career as an artist. My vibrant, colourful, and textured artwork, collected under the umbrella “A Brush with the Law,” attempts to convey the intensity of emotion and wealth of experience that I’ve gained through a lifetime of rich and expansive interactions with the world and the fascinating people who live in it.

My award-winning work has been displayed in galleries throughout Southern California, across the United States, and as far away as Germany and China. My pieces are currently carried for sale in the Laguna Art Gallery in Mission Viejo, CA, as well as the 3 Square Art Gallery in Colorado Springs, CO.

Larry Wolf, Los Angeles, California
https://www.abrushwiththelaw.com

Artist Interview with Ira Simidchievav

Artist Interview | Ira Simidchievav

Become acquainted with perhaps a few unknown dimensions – thoughts, ambitions, wisdoms, life changing moments – of this inspiring artist.

Artist interview with Ira Simidchieva

When it comes to your art, explain what you do.

I focus on contemporary abstract figurative art and abstraction, but I also have a strong interest in the landscape. I utilize an eclectic, contemporary approach and emphasis on shape and colour. My preferred media and materials are oil paints on canvas.

I maintain the view that an artwork is a metaphor, and everything in a painting is language: the colour talks, the shape talks and the different elements in the painting communicate among themselves. The whole painting communicates a non-verbal message that is transmitted to the perceiver. Painting is a way of expressing oneself, an inherent necessity.

What project are you working on now?

Currently, my art, inspired by the psychoanalytical thought, is experienced, just like psychoanalysis, as ongoing research of states of mind and feelings concerning their connections to reality. My last project’s concept deals with the psychoanalytical theory. The title, “Holding and Containment of a Good Enough Painting,” implies emotional nurturance and describes a complex mutual interaction between two human beings, a mother, child, psychoanalyst, patient etc. This theoretical concept is considered to be a core mechanism under which psychoanalysis works. Winnicott, a favourite writer of mine, who is considered to be a physician by education, but I think he was actually an artist by soul, talks about the terms as related to a “space between an inner and an outer world, which is also the space between people – the transitional space – that intimate relationships and creativity occur.” I take that psychoanalytical concept and apply it to the creative process between a painter and a painting.

Although my paintings are thematically related to psychoanalysis, and their titles are wordplays featuring key psychoanalytical terms and concepts, unlike Conceptual (Postmodern) Art, they do not need narrative to exist as artworks. They are open to viewers not familiar with the psychoanalytical theory.

Why do you do what you do?

Art has always been both medicine and food for me. It does not feed the physical body but does feed the inner world. Painting has always been, for me, something very intimate and personal that I can always return to no matter what. Painting is not only a profession but a necessity for me. I paint because I need to paint. 

How has your practice changed over time?

I paint for many years, and my paintings style changes over time. I am always surprised at how different each painting is every time. It feels like the painting has a life of its own. I do not think of a style when I paint. After all, an artist always paints herself or himself. Painting is a projection. Each and every piece of art is a projection of the inner worlds of the artists. The creative process is a unique combination of projections and introjections, a communication with oneself. 

Artist interview with Ira Simidchieva

What is your strongest childhood memory?

I remember that when I was a child, I had two dreams about what I wanted to become when I grew up. The first thing was to be like Pocahontas, and the second one was to become an artist. By fulfilling the second dream, becoming an artist, I actually fulfilled the first one as well. Because in and through art, I gave freedom to that little girl’s desires, I had the chance to invest all the energy steaming from her wish to live in the wild, ride horses, undergo rituals, hunt for a living, and understand the language of nature.

What is your scariest experience?

When I was a little girl, I was very scared of my friend’s father, who playfully pretended to be someone who eats children and wants to eat us up. I took his words seriously.

What superpower would you like to have and why?

I would like to have the power to create a world in which artists struggle less financially. A world in which artists can have a salary job, just like nurses or social workers. A world in which an artist is considered as important as any other occupation. 

What is your pet peeve about the art world?

The fact that Postmodern (Conceptual) art is entirely institutionalized and oil paint on canvas is considered old fashioned. 

Do you make a living off of your art?

Yes, New York was the place where I was able to start making a living off of my art.

Artist interview with Ira Simidchieva

Which place in the world do you find to be the most inspiring?

I grew up in Eastern Europe, in an environment of a long and agonizing transition between communism and democracy that affected all aspects of people’s lives, including artistically. Communism had encapsulated the artistic development for years, and Postmodern aesthetics and ideas found their way much later than they did in Western Europe and the USA. Modernism during the post-Soviet era was used as a way to demolish the harsh canon of the idealized naturalistic style of socialist idealism. Even though I grew up and progressed as an artist in times when socialist realism technically was far back in history, this was the artistic spirit I inherited. I received a professional art training in Bulgaria, Holland and the UK, which helped me furnish a generous and eclectic contemporary artistic style. New York was the place I really felt to be my true artistic (and not only artistic) home, the place to inspire me the most. My permanent relocation to New York was an act of freeing myself artistically and discovering myself. 

What’s the most indispensable item in your studio/practice?

My small and cozy studio in Queens, New York is usually filled with the scent of fresh coffee and piled with big colourful paintings (those of both mine and fellow artists), antique collections, a collection of handmade cloth dolls, and a library of various books mainly about art and psychoanalysis but also fiction. This is a place where apart from painting, I like having thoughtful conversations with colleagues and fellows about art, psychoanalysis and other topics. All of the above items, together with the paints and canvases, are indispensable. 

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

“If you hear a voice within you say “you cannot paint,” then, by all means, paint and that voice will be silenced.” – Vincent Van Gogh

What are your hobbies?

Apart from being an artist, I am also a psychoanalyst and practicing psychoanalytically orientated therapist. I find that art is very related to psychoanalysis in many ways. A detailed sense of my view about the topic can be gained from my article What Is Common Between Psychoanalysis And Art published in the Manhattan Instate for Psychoanalysis blog:
https://manhattanpsychoanalysis.com/blog-post/psychoanalysis-art

Creatively, where do you see yourself in the next five years?

In five years, I see myself working and exhibiting in NYC. 

Ira Simidchieva is currently based in New York.
Visit https://www.irasimidchieva.com

How Fine Art is Influencing Luxury Hotels and Retail Spaces

Art Investor Tips | How Fine Art is Influencing Luxury Hotels and Retail Spaces

Olyvia Kwok, founder of London art firm, Willstone Management

Aged just 22, Olyvia Kwok became well known in the art industry when she brought a Chinese scroll painting at an auction for $33,000 and later sold it at a Bangkok auction house for $220,000. Kwok knew the painting was valuable and worth far more than it was advertised for. She was confident she would make a profit, and her risk paid off, with her securing a huge return on her investment. That same year, Kwok opened her own successful art gallery in London specializing in emerging markets and later went on to build an art fund for a large private bank in Switzerland. Today, Kwok has over 15 years of experience in collecting and selling art. She set up her firm, Willstone Management, in 2011, where she now offers bespoke art investment services.

According to Kwok, the art industry is changing, with fine art being far more accessible in recent years. She comments, “Many interior designers use art to make spaces appear more cultured and luxurious, while some people simply use art to fill a white space. Art has now become a fundamental aspect of any stylish decor.” You no longer have to visit an art gallery to see stunning pieces of fine art. Beautiful pieces that were once reserved for the homes of wealthy art collectors or galleries can now be found in a huge variety of different venues all across the world. Many luxury hotels and retail spaces are now using fine art in their interior designs to create a sense of style, elegance, and sophistication. With this in mind, here are some key ways that fine art is influencing luxury hotels and retail spaces.

Virtosu Gallery, London

Retail

Luxury retail spaces around the globe are now incorporating fine art into their interior design. For instance, K11’s Art Mall in Hong Kong showcases the world’s first museum-retail concept. The stunning seven-storey shopping complex was unveiled ten years ago and created by famed art collector and entrepreneur Adiran Cheng. This fine art space showcases work by Hong Kong’s emerging artists, alongside famous art pieces by established artists including Damien Hirst. Retail spaces all around the world are now using fine art to attract customers, create a more luxurious feel, and enhance the overall shopping experience.

Hotels

Art is increasingly being used in hotels as a way of redefining luxury and standing out from the competition. Kwok notes, “Instead of simply leaving walls blank with spaces for artworks to be added later, forward-thinking hotels are incorporating art into the very fabric of the building with specially commissioned pieces integrated into the design of the building.” It is becoming increasingly common for hotels to invest in fine art in order to create a unique, standout decor and enhance their luxury credentials. You can now find highly valuable art pieces in some of the world’s top luxury hotels. For instance, La Colombe d’Or in France boasts a Picasso and Gramercy Park Hotel in New York is home to a Warhol and Hirst. Kwok adds, “Hotels are starting to be a bit braver in their artistic choices, with a move away from mass-produced abstract art, to more exciting, risk-taking works by both up-and-coming and established artists.” The Emperor Qianmen hotel in Beijing is a fantastic example, where the collaboration between the luxury hotel and local art community is particularly apparent.

Final Insights

Fine art is more accessible than ever, and many businesses are now strategically weaving art into their interior design in order to create a more luxurious, sophisticated, and high-end style. Hotels and retail spaces all around the world are recognizing the benefits of fine art and using it to improve their credentials, entice customers and set themselves apart from the competition in the fiercely competitive business world.

By Olyvia Kwok. Olivia is the founder of successful London art firm, Willstone Management and has over 15 years of professional experience collecting and selling art worldwide.

Artist Interview with Martin Jon Porter

Artist Interview | Martin Jon Porter

Become acquainted with perhaps a few unknown dimensions – thoughts, ambitions, wisdoms, life changing moments – of this inspiring artist.

Artist Interview with Martin Jon Porter, photo and bio

When it comes to your writing, explain what you do.

I’ve been writing poetry for nearly five years now. Stylistically, I’ve never been one to pigeonhole my work—this is for readers to decide. Although, when putting a manuscript together, I’m always conscious of variation in terms of length, formatting, and tone.

What is your most recent project?

My first full-length collection, No Home Like a Raft, has recently been published by Atmosphere Press.

Why do you do what you do?

For art to be authentic, it should be an extension of the artist’s self—not separate. Every poem I write contains a layer of my skin. It also helps me to be mindful, and to re-establish equilibrium when things become out of balance.

Artist Interview with Martin Jon Porter, book front cover

How has your practice changed over time?

Initially, the poems I wrote were quite visceral and image-based. Whereas now, I’m learning that emotions and imagery are just two elements in the process. A message needs to be embedded, and there’s a level of restraint required as well—like taming a wild horse, so then readers can pull on the reins and take the poem in any direction they like.

What is your scariest experience?

Nothing external but, on an internal level, confronting myself. You can’t expect other people to do this because you know yourself better than anyone else. It’s not easy but, otherwise, things get dismissed, which can make it difficult to move forward.

What is your strongest childhood memory?

Our backyard fence had a gate that led to a primary school oval. I always had the space and freedom to explore with my siblings.

Describe a real-life experience that inspired you.

Travelling through Latin America for three months. It was a sojourn that eventually formed the basis of No Home Like a Raft.

What is your dream creative project?

To be able to have a week of uninterrupted writing in a remote place, at one with nature.

What is your pet peeve about the art world?

It seems, at times, some literary opportunities are reserved for those with a reputation or academic title. A person’s portrayal of his or her world creates another one—an escapism that everyone deserves to indulge. Why should readers be denied of this diversity?

Which place in the world do you find to be the most inspiring?

Even though movement and new surroundings are inspiring, it’s not always possible. So observing the nuances of daily life and human behaviour are always intriguing.

Artist Interview with Martin Jon Porter, book back cover, partial

What’s the most indispensable item in your practice?

Even though my mobile phone is very handy for recording notes on the go, it’s probably our day bed. It’s such a comfortable, quiet place that’s tucked away in a nook of our house where there’s plenty of natural light, which is always nice in the winter months. I find it to be an ideal place for thinking and writing.

What superpower would you like to have and why?

It would be the ability to teleport. Not through time, because the past can’t be changed and the present determines our future, but from place to place. Experiencing other cultures is so enriching. I also regard reading as a kind of superpower, with how it can broaden the mind.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

“You wait, and if nothing happens, you wait some more. It’s like a bug high on the wall. You wait for it to come to you.” – Charles Bukowski

Creatively, where do you see yourself in the next five years?

Continuing to read widely, and being true to myself—if I’m being true to myself, then this will be reflected in my writing.

Martin Jon Porter is currently based in Melbourne, Australia.
Visit https://www.instagram.com/no_home_like_a_raft

Selected writer of the 2019 Water call for writers

Artist Interview | HOUDA BAKKALI

Become acquainted with perhaps a few unknown dimensions – thoughts, ambitions, wisdoms, life changing moments – of this inspiring artist.

Artist Interview with HOUDA

When it comes to your art, explain what you do

This work was presented in 2018. “Beautiful African Woman” is a tribute to the woman whose inspiration in my mother. I intend with this work to leave the legacy of doing things normally, in total equality, feeling free. It is a colourful, enthusiastic and optimistic vision, with two key pillars, the technique and soul of the work, with which I also seek to refute stereotypes about Arab culture. It is fair and necessary for people to know that not everything is from one extreme or another. I want to give visibility to the free, demanding woman, the owner of her own decisions and the mistress of her own life.

What project are you working on now?

I am working on different projects, including a new series based on Africa. 

Artist Interview with HOUDA

Why do you do what you do?

It’s a return to my first stage, I want to complete the series “Africa sweet and pop” with new artworks based on digital illustration.

How has your practice changed over time?

With time I am increasingly demanding and perfectionist. I spend more time on the little details.

What is your strongest childhood memory?

My neighbourhood, Lavapiés, the most multicultural neighbourhood in Madrid. I remember when I walked with my parents through the gardens of the Retiro. I remember the visits to the Prado Museum, the notebooks, the coloured pencils that they always gave me on my birthday. I remember when I first went to Venice with my parents. I left the train station and saw the canals of the city for the first time. It is an indelible image that I have always had the desire to reflect on my work, but it is a memory so special that I dare not turn into a material object.

What is your scariest experience?

My worst experience, without a doubt, is the absence of my parents. Especially the painful death of my mother that has marked my life and my work.

Artist Interview with HOUDA

Describe a real-life experience that inspired you.

All my work is inspired by the reality that surrounds me. From my first series Africa Sweet and Pop to Beautiful African Woman, all have in common a part of my life, of my memories, of my experience. And in all, there is a common bond: optimism. The colourful vision before the blows of life. I search and pay tribute to optimism. My artwork fights pain through colour and enthusiasm through simple lines and intense colours.

What superpower would you like to have and why?

I think one of my superpowers is the ability to survive and provide a positive vision in the face of the setbacks of life. That is the superpower that I would like never to lose. The ability to fight, to adapt to each moment, to each circumstance. The ability to enjoy the people around me, and empathize with them, understand them and bring them joy.

What is your pet peeve about the art world?

I believe that the world is art. Everything that surrounds us is art. The emotions, the sensations, the objects, the experiences, the happiness, the pain, the natural, the imaginable and the unimaginable things, I believe that we are surrounded by art.

What is your dream creative project?

My creative dream is never to stop creating.

Which place in the world do you find to be the most inspiring?

I believe that inspiration can appear at any time and anywhere. But there are indeed places where I feel a greater sensitivity to the world and more inspiration to create: the walks along the Ramblas in Barcelona, through the streets of Madrid and anywhere in Italy.

Do you make a living off of your art?

Yes, because I work as a creative. I direct artistic projects and visuals for different clients. So I am lucky to dedicate myself professionally to the creative and artistic world.

Artist Interview with HOUDA

What’s the most indispensable item in your studio/practice?

My work is based on digital art, so for me, the use of the latest technology is essential. In my studio, I always have my computer, iPad, a professional set of photography and a scanner.

What are your hobbies?

My great passion is the cinema. There is not a day when I do not enjoy the magic of one of the most significant artistic manifestations. Music is essential in my life and my artistic process. Reading is another of my passions, I would not understand life without a book and its stories and characters, the feel of its paper, and the smell of its pages. Reading is one of the most enriching experiences that exist. I also love travelling, meeting and conversing with people from different cultures, tasting the flavours of the world.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Work with passion. Insist on goals, nothing is impossible. Never be afraid of failure. Make good friends, always make the way in good company.

Creatively, where do you see yourself in the next five years?

Within five years, I hope to continue with the same enthusiasm and desire to create and share my soul with the world that I have today. Although I prefer to focus on the day-to-day. Enjoy each moment, from nearby and immediate projects.

HOUDA BAKKALI‘s creative studio is in Barcelona, Spain.
Visit https://hbakkali.es

Aritst interview with Theresa Wilshusen

Artist Interview | Theresa Wilshusen

Become acquainted with perhaps a few unknown dimensions – thoughts, ambitions, wisdoms, life changing moments – of this inspiring artist.

Profile of artist Theresa Wilshusen

When it comes to your art/writing, explain what you do in 100 words.

I am a multidisciplinary artist. I examine the importance of gender representation IN art as an approach to finding identity THROUGH art. Using a mixture of contemporary and traditional decorative methods on ceramics and non-traditional artistic methods in (instant) photography, I try to expose content that is explicit and sincere without discouraging rarity, abnormality, vulnerability, absence, etc. Specifically, The Gender Veil and Seeking Self depict abstract fragments of an array of identities displaying them in contemporary and non-conforming manners.

What project are you working on now?

Currently, I’m working on my Ph.D. in Art Production, which allows me to dig deep into the investigation. I’m currently working on multiple projects, but most notably Seeking Self, which is an instant photography project I have been working since April of 2018. The project is ongoing as I am travelling to different countries to gain insight into the cultural norms and, more importantly for me, anomalies. The atypical is usually what I find not only to be more interesting but which also resonates. People find their kinks, their pasts, their aspirations, and hopefully, their identities, or fractions of them in this series. Seeking Self has such a range of subjects that it’s not difficult to find yourself and piece it together, retracing major moments in your life that has constructed you. This project has subjects from all around the world and continues to expand. So far, I have collected subjects from three continents and more than ten countries, expanding every month. It’s a lot of work to find something artistic in the mundane, but it gives me a lot of joy being able to be an advocate for voices overlooked or unheard everywhere.

Seeking Self by Theresa Wilshusen

Why do you do what you do?

I work in many different art mediums, so luckily, I have a variety of forms to speak through. I like to let others speak through my work; to tell their stories. I don’t like being a filter for their voice. I’m also aware of the privilege I have and want to be a tool for others to see themselves represented, as I have always seen representation and supporters of people like me. As a person and an artist, supporting others and advocating for under-represented groups is the least I can do.

How has your practice changed over time?

In the past, much of my work revolved around telling stories of my subjects, like mini-biographies. That’s still true today, but in a more general sense. Over the years I have come to meet so many people from around the world with different experiences. My intention isn’t to generalize their stories, but to amplify them in a way that speaks for many, and allowing their story to be adapted to reflect a greater body of voices.

What is your strongest childhood memory?

My strongest childhood memory is probably a series of memories of when we were the poorest, or the poorest I can remember. They were the happiest times I can remember, and the simplest. My only worries were my crayons breaking and making it all the way down the hill on the back of the Tonka truck without falling. My goals were drawing the BEST horse and spelling all the words correctly for my self-published and self-illustrated book about unicorns while asking my mom how to spell each and every word in it. I aspired to be like one of my daycare teachers, because she taught me so many art lessons at the age of five, including that it was OK if it wasn’t perfect every time, which I had to ignore as a little perfectionist.

What is your scariest experience?

The scariest experience I’ve ever been through was not about me at all, but rather, about my mother. Watching my mother take her last breaths in front of me, while I held her hand, sobbing as I told her continuously how much I loved her in hopes she could still hear me and know. That was the scariest moment in my life. It all happened so fast. While I watched her slowly go, I sensed her fear, I felt her pain and confusion, and I understood her urge to hold on. It was terrifying knowing that in just moments I was about to lose the strongest woman I’ve ever known, my biggest supporter, my closest ally, my first love, my mom. It was prettifying knowing the world would never again hear her boisterous laugh, or hear any of her hilariously lame jokes. That I would never exchange another phone call, political conversation, or hug. I would never see her face light up when she picked me up from the airport year after year of living abroad. We would never have another “First Friday” art out together, a tradition we kept every visit I had home. This was the scariest experience of my life, never seeing my mom again and having to watch her leave this mortal coil.

Seeking Self by Theresa Wilshusen

Describe a real-life experience that inspired you.

Inspiration, for me, is derived from others and their amazingness. I am often inspired visually by the things around me, textures, sounds, etc. But real inspiration is born out of suffering, pain, strife, and uncomfortable situations. It’s not to say I have experienced that of which has inspired me, but certainly, it has shaped my thoughts and opinions about what suffering is. Through this, I tend to find interesting subjects, and they are usually those who have grown from a painful experience and had the courage to continue. I admire many of my subjects for this. They often have complex heritage, backgrounds, or intriguing connections. As an artist, and very much an empath, I often sense the need to advocate for them, and since I’m no real social justice leader, as an artist I do what I can in a way that best exhibits and calls attention to the cause at hand.

What superpower would you like to have and why?

If I could have a superpower, I would love to have the power of flight. It is such a liberating feeling. For a few years, while living in South Korea, I got my paragliding pilot’s license. It’s not flying technically, but it was as close as I could get. Though that experience was beautiful, and a bit reckless, I would do always do it again. Having the power of flight, to be able to fly over the world, see new places and be completely independent of others would be an amazing gift to have.

What is your pet peeve about the art world?

One of my biggest pet peeves in the art world is the gallery connection and representation craze. Would it be lovely to be represented by a gallery, absolutely, but the means of getting there can be quite exhaustive. It’s not only about your work, but about who you know. There are a lot of amazing artists that are over-looked by galleries because of their experience, while some hellacious work is being sold at incredibly inflated prices.

What is your dream creative project?

As I have slowly begun moving into installation work in the last four years, I think much more about expanding and creating projects on a greater scale. I do not have any particular project in mind, specifically. However, if I was given limitless possibilities I would create a massive installation with all of the smaller projects I have been working on over the past two years to tell a greater story.

Which place in the world do you find to be the most inspiring?

There is no one place that I find the most inspiring because it very much depends on where I am at the moment mentally, physically and emotionally. Being in a massive city for some would be overwhelming or overstimulating, but sometimes I just need to people watch for a while to become inspired while letting my thoughts run. Being in nature can be a relief and very stimulating and inspiring, but depending on your state of mind could mean too much silence, seclusion, or too habitual or mundane. I find that travelling is incredibly inspiring. You don’t have to go far, but when you can get out of your routine, it changes your perspective.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Some of the best advice I’ve collected over the years is literally the most basic advice:

  • Don’t let rejection hold you back or stop you from moving forward.
  • Don’t get discouraged if your work is criticized, not everyone is going to like your work, but someone will. It’s about finding your people.

Creatively, where do you see yourself in the next five years?

In the next five years, I do hope I am working on complex, profound projects with depth. I want to work on a larger scale, so I hope to be expanding little by little over the next few years. My experiences with people greatly influence my work, so continuing to travel and work on telling personal stories is my objective.

Theresa Wilshusen is currently based in Barcelona, Spain.
Visit www.twilshusen.com.

Artist Interview with Naga Cuddapah

Artist Interview | Naga Cuddapah

Become acquainted with perhaps a few unknown dimensions – thoughts, ambitions, wisdoms, life changing moments – of this inspiring artist.

Naga Vaishnavi, artist

When it comes to your art/writing, explain what you do.

Painting and sketching were some of my hobbies from my school days. I chose to paint using different mediums like oil and acrylic paints, poster colours and oil pastels, based on the concept, the background material and time. I generally do the artwork when I want to express something that I cannot express in words. I choose this to reflect my thoughts at that point in time. I was trained by my teacher, Mr. Mathews, for my art basics while I was in school. His classes inspired me to further pursue this as a strong hobby. I do it out of passion and love to do it.

What project are you working on now?

I am an architect by profession and an artist by passion. I am currently working on making paintings on the theme of Indian festivals, its essence and celebrations. I am inspired by the way each festival is depicted and celebrated across different states of India, with different cultures and traditions.

Why do you do what you do?

I do this out of passion and interest. The finished art piece and the reflection of thoughts in my mind on the canvas gives me pleasure and satisfaction.

Art by Naga Vaishnavi

What is your pet peeve about the art world?

Very unstable and lot of real talented artists do not get access to showcase their work. There are so many silenced artists who are way too far from recognition.

What is your strongest childhood memory?

My strongest memory dates back to when I scored a 3rd rank in the entrance exam for my bachelor’s course. I applied to a state university to pursue my degree in architecture. Choosing architecture, the composition of art and engineering,  was an unusual call that I made as the general norm of choice was between engineering or becoming a doctor in India back then. There were many who underestimated my competence and criticized my trial and choice. Thankfully my parents supported my choice and work. Ranking 3rd and gaining entry into the university was a strong answer. It instilled in me confidence and made my ideas more concrete, laying a path for my future.

What is your scariest experience?

There were so many incidents the past five years or so that made me stronger and confident. They instilled confidence in myself to take life as it comes, even if it’s hard to do so. A dad’s little princess transformed into a self-reliant, independent, confident girl. Even when facing tough situations, I knew that there was something better waiting ahead. Thankfully from mid-2018 there were positive changes in situations, or rather, now I had learned to turn the tables. 

Art by Naga Vaishnavi

Describe a real-life experience that inspired you.

I have always been in a very protective environment where I learned lot of valuable life lessons, such as love, education, ethics, values and equality. The time period between 2013 and 2018 broke that cocoon around me and let me face the harsh reality of life, or rather taught me lessons of the contrasting life situations within which I grew up. It taught me to value my talent. It opened new paths in my life. Love and equality of gender were major driving factors behind the change. What was once a care-free hobby is now a serious passion. It’s a very effective way of communicating your thoughts. Now art is a serious job. Now I even choose to write. I have written technical papers that are published in various international journals.

What’s the most indispensable item in your practice?

The most indispensable item is the urge to do and feel. When your heart wills you to do something at that moment, you can create art with whatever available material around you. You could use anything to create art if your heart is in it; you could use wasted materials and still create a beautiful mural. When your heart does not feel like creating something even if you have access to wide variety of material, nothing useful can be done. 

How has your practice changed over time?

I don’t have a commercial practice of art work. I do it out of interest. I paint only when my heart yearns to transform my thoughts onto a canvas. I paint when something strongly inspires me. During my hobby classes I used to paint on a regular basis. Then my pace of making paintings slowed down as I was a student of architecture. The creative works that we worked on during the graduation tenure were far ahead of the paintings I did. They were practical solutions coupled with creativity, whereas paintings and sketching could go outside of the box to a great extent and land you in a Utopian world. 

What superpower would you like to have and why?

I would like to have magical powers that can surpass the layers of political and economic systems, to let education reach everyone.

What is your dream creative project?

A project where we could make learning easy, interesting and understandable through sketches, pictures and art works, rather than bulky black and white text books. Pictures and figures convey the most and make learning logical and fun. Here concepts should be conveyed to the students, not the memorised text.

Which place in the world do you find to be the most inspiring?

I believe that it is not the place alone that inspires me; I try to draw inspiration from the world around me. But schools, universities and educational institutions are the major source of my happiness as they are the places where numerous faces, ideas and thoughts are generated. Innocence, inquisitiveness, creativity and the passion of the students who eventually make it big in the world keeps me drawn towards it.

Creatively, where do you see yourself in the next five years?

I want to develop my skills and use the art works to help make people educated and not just literate. I would like to try to use art as a strong medium of education.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

“Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached” – Swami Vivekananda. This quote was the best advice I have ever received.

Naga Vaishnavi is currently based in Bangalore, India. Visit https://www.facebook.com/arttvaish

Artist Interview with JT Thompson

Artist Interview | JT Thompson

Become acquainted with perhaps a few unknown dimensions – thoughts, ambitions, wisdoms, life changing moments – of this inspiring artist.

JT Thompson, artist

When it comes to your art, explain what you do.

My work employs multiple views of spaces and corridors, simplified and abstracted to produce a contemporary composition of geometric shapes and planes with graphic over-tones. Varied light sources are added to create an intriguing sense of spatial depth. Perspective is played with through overlapping layers, scale, and foreshortening, helping to create an illusion of spatial extent, and then breaking it.

This challenging framework offers the viewer a suggestion of space and perspective that seems disjointed or distorted. The shifting physical spaces mirror the shifting interplay between the varied psychological perspectives of the viewer’s mind.

Art by JT Thompson

What project are you working on now?

I have shows coming up in the new year in Chicago and in Ohio. In the New Year I have a mural project in the works in Columbus, Ohio.

How has your practice changed over time?

I still work every day in the studio, some days longer than others. My technique has changed. I used to use heavy brushwork but now in this new body of work, I have gotten away from brush work.

Describe a real-life experience that inspired you.

In my early years in college, my art teacher had us students copy the “isms” styles like the masters. I stayed in the “ism” style but made them my own. My teacher pointed this out in my review. This observation by my teacher was inspiring to me.

Art by JT Thompson

What superpower would you like to have?

The power to relieve pain and suffering. To help my fellow beings.

Why do you do what you do?

I work in a style I call Geometric Surrealism. I abstract and manipulate physical spaces to create a highly skewed vision of reality. For me, it is a metaphoric exploration of the mind’s process of constructing an understanding of the world, as influenced by the psyche.

The inspiration comes from looking at everyday life and shadows and translating that to my canvases. Some of the things you’ll see in my paintings are the off kilter use of one-point and two-point perspective. Some deal more with flat shapes and movement. Some have a surreal atmosphere and misleading horizon lines. I will use colour to move the eye through the composition and distort the space. 

The creative process just happens now. I don’t have a sketch to go by. Usually if I do make a sketch it transforms into something else on the canvas. It’s not a thought process, it’s more like I am a tool of the muse in laying down the line work and building a composition. I do collect reference images, but when I’m making the compositions, I don’t have anything in front of me, I just start breaking it out. I don’t have any plan going in, I just start mapping out the movement.

JT Thompson, artist

What is your strongest childhood memory?

It was my seventh-grade art teacher Mrs. Spindler who pushed me in an artistic direction. At the time I wasn’t too into art; I was more interested in talking to the girls I shared a table with in her class. I did too much flirting, and one time she got really mad at me and told me to go sit at a table by myself at the back of the room. She said, “I don’t care what it is, but you’d better have a drawing by the end of the class or I’m going to fail you.” I didn’t really have an idea of what to do, and I just took my shoe off, moved the laces around a little bit, and did a line drawing of the shoe. And it actually looked like my shoe. It was enough to impress Mrs. Spindler. She told me I should stop talking to girls and focus on art. This moment of being scolded by my middle school teacher precipitated an important shift in my self-understanding. Her positive feedback and encouragement allowed me to take art seriously, and as such has given me a mode of self-expression that has played a large role in my life.

What is your scariest experience?

I was working on a 17’x106’ mural and the ladder started to slide and was going to hit my co-artist, so I had to hold on so I could take the brunt of the pain to my shoulder.

What is your pet peeve about the art world?

Small-minded and hard to find representation!

What is your dream creative project?

My dream project to go around the world and create murals with the help of local communities.

Art by JT Thompson

Which place in the world do you find to be the most inspiring?

My studio, my imagination, and long walks through the city at night.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Simplicity can be a powerful technique.

What are your hobbies?

Searching for knowledge, outdoor activities.

Creatively, where do you see yourself in the next five years?

My plan is to be represented on the two coasts and in Chicago.

JT Thompson is currently based in Ohio, USA. Visit www.jtoriginals.net

Artist Interview with Patrice Stanley

Artist Interview | Patrice Stanley

Become acquainted with perhaps a few unknown dimensions – thoughts, ambitions, wisdoms, life changing moments – of this inspiring artist.

Artist Interview with Patrice Stanley

When it comes to your art, explain what you do.
As a landscape painter, my work is fundamentally connected to “place.” Each series I have undertaken has been derived from time spent away with site-specific influences that imbue my work, where I can fully absorb and consider how to apply what I am experiencing, seeing, and learning to pictorial representation. Residencies have enabled me to do some of my best work as well as afford me the time to evaluate and consider what is at the heart of my practice.

What project are you working on now?
I have just completed a new series entitled “Empyrean.” This series is scheduled for exhibition at the newly constructed Ottawa Art Gallery. The word Empyrean comes from the Medieval Latin empyreus, an adaptation from Ancient Greek meaning “belonging to or deriving from heaven, the celestial, ethereal or upper empyrean regions, the dwelling-place of God, the blessed, celestial beings so divine they are made of pure light, and the source of light and creation.” In this series, I am returning to some familiar themes seen in much of my earlier work with a new energy, style of execution and a more mature, seasoned, technical precision. It is a study of land, sky, and water, rendered on canvas, wood panel and Mylar. I am creating works that celebrate landscape and light, creating pathways that go nowhere and everywhere. I am exploring the typography of the land, experimenting with imagery constructed to challenge the individual view and perspective, as well as exploring compositional tensions within the painting, to further develop pictorial properties. Then, finally, translating this dynamic into larger surfaces that compel the viewer to reflect and consider their own personal beliefs about the land and the importance of preservation and managing the destructive aspects of climate change.

Art by Patrice Stanley

Why do you do what you do?
I paint landscapes. There is something in that distant line that divides the sky from the ground that compels me. What one sees in it depends on the person; it might be spiritual in nature, a fear of the unknown, or a yearning to travel. Whatever the attraction, it is my distillation of those fleeting atmospheric conditions that have the power to move me. I paint these images perhaps wanting to know what lies beyond. Having lived in Canada all my life, I have been fortunate to explore through my work, a variety of ecosystems, lakes, oceans, and forests. What one sees in my work, depends on the lived experience of the viewer. Working from specific locations and landscapes, I abstract from both direct observation and memory. In investigating the dynamics of each landscape and intentionally working and reworking the surface, I seek to merge this explicit physical world with the spiritual.

How has your practice changed over time?
I have been a painter all my life. Each year that goes by brings new experiences and ideas but mostly more knowledge and insights that I apply to my practice. The best times for me have been when I’m away at a residency. I have attended four so far and plan on applying for many more. At these residencies I can completely dedicate myself to the development of new work, focus all my energy on the task at hand, be free of distractions from my teaching practice and the responsibilities and pressures of daily life. This extremely rare and precious time of unrestricted reflection, hard work and experimentation have resulted in major developments in my work. At the end of each residency I have been able to work, gain more knowledge and insights, create artistic networking opportunities as well as advance my practice. Furthermore, being immersed in a setting for a prolonged period of time has enabled me to capture the essence of ”place,” which is intrinsic to my work. I am at a pivotal point in my career as I have a major solo exhibition at the Ottawa Art Gallery, after which I will be attending the Damsite Historic District Artist Residency Program in Elephant Butte, New Mexico to continue to develop more new work.

Art by Patrice Stanley

What is your strongest childhood memory?
Coming home directly after school and working at my “art table” until supper time. I loved making things since before I can remember. I hated going out for recess, since I wasn’t very athletic, so I would ask to stay indoors and help decorate the classroom with my teacher. I also fondly remember taking art classes with a lovely old English woman named Mrs. Meadows. She lived down the street in a fabulously large house, she had a gorgeous, wild, English garden, a lovely studio and she painted mainly watercolours. I adored her, she taught me so much. I have taken up the torch and have been an art educator now for over fifteen years, all thanks to Mrs. Meadows.

What is your scariest experience?
Arriving at an artist residency in the middle of a storm, in Newfoundland, in the middle of the night, driving an unfamiliar car. The studio was just a large, rather cold industrial space that included a mattress on the floor, a wood burning stove, something resembling a kitchen and an awful artist that was staying in the upstairs studio, who was incredibly unfriendly. I thought while I was driving the narrow roads, along steep cliffs in the rain, that I was going to die. But I didn’t and the residency ended up being an incredible six week experience that I will never, ever forget.

Art by Patrice Stanley

Describe a real-life experience that inspired you.
Meeting Betty Goodwin (March 19, 1923 – December 1, 2008), a Canadian printmaker, sculptor, painter and installation artist. Her work is represented in many public collections, including the City of Burnaby Permanent Art Collection, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, and the National Gallery of Canada and framing her work while I interned at a prestigious gallery in Toronto in the mid-80’s.

What is your pet peeve about the art world?
So many things bother me about the art world. For starters, the elitism and the hierarchy. The image of the “white-walled shrine” that some galleries project to the general public, the fact that “joe average” can have access to such places but generally doesn’t bother because he or she feels they don’t know anything about art. It’s unfortunate; art should be for the people, all people should be able to have access to it, as well as have opportunities to learn more about it. Galleries and museums need to up their game as far as education and outreach. The other pet peeve I have is the academic versus the non-academic status issue that is pervasive in the art world. Why does an artist have to have a master’s degree to show in certain galleries? A life long learner has just as much if not more experience and knowledge then someone who just so happens to have created a thesis.

Art by Patrice Stanley

Which place in the world do you find to be the most inspiring?
The Faroe Islands of the coast of Denmark are my muse these days, but it changes all the time.

What’s the most indispensable item in your studio/practice?
Music.

What are your hobbies?
Performing Burlesque, cooking and reading.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
This is more of a question answer. I was once asked if I woke up one morning and couldn’t sell another painting, would I still want to paint? This made me think seriously about what my practice was all about. Also, I was once told to collect art, to build my own well-selected collection which would help me in my golden years, as a means of investment.

Creatively, where do you see yourself in the next five years?
Hopefully selling enough work to live off of, to have several galleries in different cities, in Canada, the U.S. or even in Europe. To sell a painting through Saatchi, and to have had several solo exhibitions in highly visible cultural institutions.

What is your dream creative project?
To produce a series of extremely large paintings to be displayed in the same way Mark Rothko did his Chapel in Houston, Texas. To be able to paint at the same scale as Julian Schnabel.

Patrice Stanley was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1964, and is currently based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Visit www.patricestanley.com

Artist Interview Emily Hoerdemann

Artist Interview | Emily Hoerdemann

Become acquainted with perhaps a few unknown dimensions – thoughts, ambitions, wisdoms, life changing moments – of this inspiring artist.

When it comes to your art/writing, explain what you do.
Characterized by their small scale, my works are desktop paintings and photo collages culled from the pages of fashion magazines, advertisements, and contemporary art auction catalogs. The work draws on an obsession with organization, and as a result, each work is a delicate placing of aesthetics and colour.

What project are you working on now?
I’m working on a few bodies of work currently, but mostly collage studies on paper and photographs for my Photo Interventions series.

Why do you do what you do?
I’m feeding the creative impulse; I’ve made art all of my life. I grew up with an artistic mother and was always handed art materials to fill my time. I think that’s translated into a meditative practice. As I’ve grown older, I cannot now go for a long period of time without creating or thinking about creating.

What is your strongest childhood memory?
Midwest rainstorms—going with my mom to her art school studios during rainstorms and getting to play in the different mediums. This was my first access to art supplies other than crayons, and doing so was very informative. I have some photographs I snapped attending one of my mom’s field trips!

What is your scariest experience?
Packing up all of my things and moving to New York because I never lived anywhere except my hometown.

Describe a real-life experience that inspired you.
I feel like inspiration is always flying around the city. Going to see art is so important—and I’m very lucky to live in a city where creativity is constantly fed. Most recently, I did a walkthrough of a museum exhibition with the artist—hearing his stance on the work really inspired me to look differently at my own practice and thought processes.

What superpower would you like to have and why?
Teleportation—personally, so I could visit my family more, and professionally, so I can keep up with what is happening in the art world!

What is your pet peeve about the art world?
That it can be perceived as inaccessible, so it’s avoided. I think no matter what gift you have to share, you should share it!

What is your dream creative project?
I really want to write a book about the art collection I manage. The collection is absolutely incredible, and the collectors are amazing people.

Which place in the world do you find to be the most inspiring?
Home. Hands down. I can travel and see shows and experience new cities, but when it comes down to it, I really get the juices flowing at my worktable at home where I can get my hands moving and work through ideas.

Do you make a living off of your art?
I am lucky enough to have a career in the arts! When I am not managing a private collection, I’m creating art—and vice versa! Both worlds inspire me and inform each other. My job affords me the ability to have immense creative freedom—and that is priceless!

What’s the most indispensable item in your studio/practice?
A pair of scissors! Or maybe a stick of glue.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
Be patient and let your accolades reveal themselves in time (no one wants to listen to a bragger).

What are your hobbies?
I love to garden, and although it sounds silly, I love to organize and reorganize my space. I also read a lot and am in an art book club. We specifically read only art-related books!

Creatively, where do you see yourself in the next five years?
Right now I’m confined to doing small-scale work due to working in my Brooklyn loft—I would love to be able to translate my work into a bigger format.

Emily Hoerdemann was born in 1985 in Peoria, IL, USA and is currently based in Brooklyn, NY, USA. Visit www.emilyhoerdemann.com

Studio Spotlight Soteris Sam Roussi

Studio Spotlight | Soteris Sam Roussi

Catch a glimpse of the space in which creativity is born in this artist studio tour.

As a five-year-old, my focus was on making art. I mostly and exclusively painted in a spare room that served as an oasis and safe harbor for me—a place free of restrictions. I’ve found that there are practical advantages to this arrangement as the urge to create happens at all hours and for varying lengths of time from a few minutes to a half of a day of pondering.

My studios have always had the essentials—a sturdy wood panel used as an easel, paint-spattered rugs, half-spent jars of acrylics and tempera paint, and a bucket of murky residue that provides the subtlest range of grays. Finished paintings lean against the closet wall; older paintings hibernate on the attic floor.

There are oddities and rarities in my studio, resources that cram shelves and cover benches and boxes. They populate my studio as a multitude of “stuff” just like the newspaper clippings that covered the walls of my father’s Niagara Falls candy-making shop. At times these objects conspire to take the room over. Yet, when I’m not painting, I tinker with these odds and ends using scrapers, nippers, files, wires, glues, etcetera, to make “things” according to my earliest intention, to be ingenious and creative.

Soteris Sam Roussi was born in Niagara Falls, NY, USA, in 1945. He has an MFA in painting from Ohio State and is currently based in Westfield, MA, USA. Visit www.samroussi.com

Artist Interview with Trena Myers

Artist Interview | Trena Meyers

Become acquainted with perhaps a few unknown dimensions – thoughts, ambitions, wisdoms, life changing moments – of this inspiring artist.

Explain what you do.
My works are presented with the aim not to provide an idealistic view but to identify where light and the environment are important. The energy of a place and its emotional and spiritual vibrations are always important. The character, shape, or content of the presented artwork is secondary. The essential things are the momentary and the intention of presenting. Some of my works don’t reference recognizable form. The results are deconstructed to the extent that meaning is shifted and possible interpretation becomes multifaceted.

Why do you do it?
Art is a form of therapy for many facets of one’s life. I have an autoimmune disease, so painting is a form of therapy to relieve stress and alleviate the pain.

What project are you working on now?
I am currently working on an acrylic mural for the historical downtown Braselton district in Georgia. In addition, I am creating pieces for display in various galleries and juried events.

What superpower would you like to have and why?
My superpower would be healing because there is so much hurt in this world. I would like to be able to cure diseases, mend broken hearts, and eliminate mental illnesses.

Which place in the world do you find to be the most inspiring?
I have two favorite places to travel—Pensacola, Florida and Germany. They both bring peace and serenity to me.

What’s the most indispensable item in your practice?
My apron is my most indispensable item as I get pretty messy with painting.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
The best advice that I have ever been given is that it is all in perspective; just because one person doesn’t like or appreciate my artwork doesn’t mean that it is invaluable.

Creatively, where do you see yourself in the next five years?
I am working towards being more published and involved in national events.

Trena was born in 1974 in Wichita Falls, Texas, USA and is currently based in Suwanee, GA, USA. Visit www.designsbytrena.com

Artist Interview with Hayley Haddad

Artist Interview | Hayley Haddad

Become acquainted with perhaps a few unknown dimensions – thoughts, ambitions, wisdoms, life changing moments – of this inspiring artist.

When it comes to your art, explain what you do.
Fueled by my interest in history, my recent work depicts imaginary, or even dreamlike, cityscapes that portray a dynamic continuance of time. In my drawings, I am exploring the concept of history as a synthesis of the past and present in which multiple vantage points of numerous incidents are juxtaposed in a single visual expanse. The result is a multifaceted ephemeral panorama that meanders through space, time, and history. The large-scale drawings are comprised of a combination of printed images and found photographs seamlessly melded with pen, ink wash, and transfer techniques. The montage of images is superimposed, rendering dynamic scenes that traverse elements of the past, present, and future.

The compulsive layering and building of the imagery and narrative within the scenes are what I find most satisfying about my work. This highly involved process of construction and elimination and reconstruction allows for an almost meditative exploration of the materials within the drawings and the creative process.

What project are you working on now?
Currently, I am building upon a concept my professor and I were discussing in one of our final “one-on-ones” before graduation. I am working on a series of large panorama drawings that incorporate the figure into the cityscape, using similar techniques to my other work, but with more drawing and painting elements.

How has your practice changed over time?
My work has become more concept driven over the years, focusing more on process and idea, rather than simply technique. Art school has definitely made me more experimental in my approach, helping me become grounded and more self-driven. Professional attitude is everything. After slowing down on the art-making while my girls were babies (they are three and almost two), I am beyond eager to jump back in full force.

Why do you do what you do?
I create because that is what I have always done. As a toddler, at age three, I continuously watched my stepfather draw and studied the strokes that comprised the mythical creatures he created for me. I would eagerly follow in collaboration, colouring in the forms that he imaginatively put on paper. That is where it all began and my excitement for the arts never ceased. From that point on, I used every spare moment to nurture or indulge my newfound creative outlet. I could not get enough of this productive free-flowing form of expression and longed for the revolving process of practice and improvement.

What is your dream creative project?
My dream creative project would be an artist residency in a country such as France or Italy working on my large cityscape drawings while utilizing reference sketches and photos from life. Being immersed in a vastly different atmosphere and location would give my drawings a new depth and heightened energy.

What’s the most indispensable item in your practice?
I would have to say that my poetry books, my folders of cut images and paper scraps, and matte medium are the most indispensable items in my studio. I use a matte medium for everything, and I get most of my inspiration for the imagery and narrative within my drawings from poetry excerpts. Oh, and I can’t forget my Faber-Castell and Precise Pens!

Which place in the world do you find to be the most inspiring?
Though I have only visited the desert once, I have found it to be incredibly inspiring. The mountains and the valleys really do emit those vibrant tans and purple hues that you see in pictures. The landscape itself looks like a painting, and the towering old cacti that are scattered for miles become figurative in the barren terrain.

What are your hobbies?
Beyond drawing and painting, my hobbies include reading and writing poetry. I also love to visit my horse whenever I have the opportunity. Before college and having kids, I spent a majority of my time traveling with my grandparents and competing in rodeos and local barrel races. Those were the highlights of my adolescence. Recently, however, believe it or not, my favourite pastime is spent using sidewalk chalk to draw with my daughters. Because their ages are three and almost two, we spend the majority of our time in the backyard, and our evolving sidewalk drawings are now one of my favourite things.

What is your pet peeve about the art world?
My pet peeve about the art world would probably be the assumption surrounding the relevance and/or purpose of art as an occupation or field of study in society. I’ve lost count of the number of times I have been asked, “What will you do with an art degree?” I can reassure you that I didn’t spend many long nights studying, perfecting assignments, prepping for critique, and writing responses and research papers in order to play with coloured pencils and water colours for the rest of my life. I believe art, like any other discipline or field, requires dedication and drive; however, innovation is definitely key.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
The best advice I have been given comes from two of the most influential men in my life, my stepfather and my art school professor and mentor. Whenever I would confide to my stepfather, he would always encourage me to “empty my cup.” It works both ways. If you are overwhelmed, “empty your cup”; if you’re overconfident, “empty your cup.” That still gets me through day to day; you have to keep the momentum going. The other crucial piece of advice that everyone could (and should) utilize is to steal as many ideas as you can. This can be accomplished through research or simply learning from other artists and creatives around you. It’s imperative to grow and expose yourself to different ideas and concepts.

What are your strongest childhood memories?
My strongest childhood memories will always
revolve around my horses and ponies. Riding was my constant hobby, and at that time, I never stopped drawing horses.

What superpower would you like to have and why?
My superpower of choice would be the ability to freeze time… but only temporarily. I believe that there is an amazing quality in the ability to recognise the significance of a single (fleeting) moment and that an abundance of beauty can be found when exercising such keen awareness. I am sure we all have experienced those moments that we wish we could relive… or savour them just a little bit longer.

Describe a real-life experience that inspired you.
I am always finding inspiration in the smallest details throughout the day whether it be from just a moment of self-reflection and realization or by positively visualizing different scenarios in my mind. The next step in my educational career involves returning to school to obtain my MAT in Art Education. My daughters are definitely my inspiration behind this coming chapter.

Creatively, where do you see yourself in the next five years?
In the next five years, I see myself as an art professor, having obtained my master’s degree, and traveling to art festivals with my family in my spare time. I have two young daughters, and this is the kind of lifestyle and excitement that I would love to expose them to.

Hayley Haddad was born in 1989 in Memphis, TN, USA, where she currently resides. Visit Hayleyhaddadart.squarespace.com

Artist Interview | Andrew Norris

Become acquainted with perhaps a few unknown dimensions – thoughts, ambitions, wisdoms, life changing moments – of this inspiring artist.

What is your art about?

My work is about the representation of masculinity from my childhood into adulthood. My earliest memory of the expectations of men is based on comic book superheroes, which influenced my understanding that men are supposed to be strong and dominant. As I grew older, I realized that I still had self-esteem issues that were influenced by the visual representation of male bodies–like ones found in fitness and fashion magazines. I work with oil paint on canvas to create compositions of superheroes imposed over male celebrities that exaggerate the ideal macho culture of our society.

What project are you working on now?

I am going off the idea of the work from my series, Toxic Masculinity, and building upon it. I am still very much interested in the male form and painting advertisements found in magazines that promote the toxic manhood ideology. I have stepped away from flat backgrounds and colourful outlines for imagery from pages of my favorite comics growing up. My concepts are still familiar, but I am looking at my work in a more personal way now.

How has your practice changed over time?

In college, I took courses on painting such as the old masters learning the grisaille and the Venetian techniques. This way of painting was a slow process with a conservative outcome of a clean painting. As I continued painting each male figure in the series, I would shorten the process gradually by skipping steps as well as using different underpainting hues. The most prevalent difference in my work now is a shift from a general idea of masculinity to a more personal dialog about my gender expectations.

Creatively, where do you see yourself in the next five years?

Within five years I would have, hopefully, gotten my MFA degree from one of the nine universities I have applied to. I would like to think I would be employed by then as a professor or an adjunct professor, and if not, then work at a gallery or museum.

Describe a real-life experience that inspired you.

During college, I took a trip to Atlanta with a group of artists and went to a few galleries there. I was able to see a Phillip Guston and a Fahamu Pecou at the High Museum which was an incredible experience.

What is your strongest childhood memory?

The best memory that sticks out the most is my school’s book fair, which had a book that contained all of the notable X-men. This allowed me to draw a full body image of many of the characters that are in my work now. I was always drawing; as a kid, I would usually close myself away with my comic books and just draw each character multiple times.

Which place in the world do you find to be the most inspiring?

Of the few places I have been to in this world, upstate New York was a very inspiring place during my art residency. I didn’t do much work there because after graduation I needed a break.

What is your scariest experience?

In college, a group of some friends and I went into the lower levels of a building on campus. The building was abandoned and had a reputation for being haunted. It was around midnight when we went down the stairs, and we took out our phones to record the whole thing as we asked dumb questions. When we came back up we played the recording and a voice yelled back at us when we asked if anyone was there.

What superpower would you like to have and why?

I have always loved water-based abilities like Aquaman’s powers. Even though it’s not as impressive as Superman, there is always a job for Aquaman.

What’s the most indispensable item in your studio?

Other than the obvious paint and brush, it would be music in the background.

Why do you do what you do?

I have found my artwork is a way for me to communicate how I was raised in an environment that encouraged a traditionally straight, male lifestyle. In the south, much like many places across the U.S., there is an assumption that we will stay in our small towns and raise children. There is nothing wrong with living that way; it’s just not for me. I want to challenge those ideas by showing an overdose of maleness that achieves an almost homo-erotic visualization. For me, this environment also establishes that men do not really show their emotions or talk about what they are dealing with; my work helps me express what I am going through and hopefully encourages others.

Andrew Norris was born in 1993 in Kingsport, Tenn. USA, and is currently based in Fall Branch, Tenn. USA. Visit andrewstephennorris.weebly.com.

Artist Interview | Emily Hoerdemann

Become acquainted with perhaps a few unknown dimensions – thoughts, ambitions, wisdoms, life changing moments – of this inspiring artist.

When it comes to your art/writing, explain what you do in 100 words.
My work is characterized by its small scale, desktop paintings, and photo collages culled from the pages of fashion magazines and contemporary art auction catalogs. The fragmented photographs, absent of their identity, paired with anthropomorphic objects, organic cascading elements, and abstracted artworks by other artists are meant to address authorship, cultural curation, and sexual objectification. Without being overly sentimental, the collages capture the feeling of both glamour and despair, while maintaining a tenderness and composure.

What project are you working on now?
I am working on a few pieces of work that I’m really excited about. They all incorporate the same source materials—fashion magazines and art auction catalogs—so I consider them to be related. I’ve pushed away from my photography background for a while, but recently have embraced it in order to capture my desktop collages.

Why do you do what you do?
Because I have an intense drive to create. As obvious as it sounds, I think all artists have this intense drive to create—otherwise, what’s the point of doing what we do?

How has your practice changed over time?
I have allowed a bit of my over-controlled and rule-abiding practices to loosen a bit in order to embrace some more chance mark making and happy accidents.

What is your strongest childhood memory?
Painting next to my mom in her studio.

What is your scariest experience?
Moving to New York from my small mid-western town and only knowing a couple people. But it was the best thing I have ever done for myself!

Describe a real-life experience that inspired you.
I am constantly inspired by the people I surround myself with. I have a lucky job because I get to communicate with collectors, gallerists, and artists. Recently, I visited my undergrad college, Bradley University, and had the opportunity to walk through the painting class with Heather Brammeier who was my professor. It was very rewarding to be looking at the talent at my alma mater and talking with someone I admire greatly about my path since I was an undergrad. Hearing Heather tell me how proud she is about what I’ve accomplished pushes me to keep creating.

What superpower would you like to have and why?
I would want a photographic memory. I think I would have been a much better scholar if I had that talent!

What is your pet peeve about the art world?
The art world is massive and terribly small at the same time. No matter how much you think you know or have experienced, there is always someone that knows more, has experienced more, and/or can do more. I think championing positivity and encouragement is key—but that’s lost on some participants!

What is your dream creative project?
Collaborating with others that are just as hungry to create something as I am.

Which place in the world do you find to be the most inspiring?
My home studio. Honestly, I am a homebody, so for me being at home in my studio and just creating until it “clicks” is always best.

Do you make a living off of your art?
No, and I think that affords me to be more adventurous and take my time. I make a living caring for other people’s art, and that can be incredibly inspiring.

What’s the most indispensable item in your studio/practice?
Scissors! Everything is collage, whether it’s on paper, on wood, or photographed. Second would be my camera. Without it, I cannot make an entire body of work without my camera. My Photo Interventions series is analog collage work, but ultimately captured as a photograph and printed as an archival pigment print.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
Keep going. Apply yourself again and again. Ask questions. And don’t wear uncomfortable shoes.

What are your hobbies?
I love my garden. Growing herbs, veggies, and peppers on my rooftop garden in Brooklyn is a big luxury in this city!

Creatively, where do you see yourself in the next five years?
Ideally, having more time to be creative on my own work. But I love having my hands in many pots, so I go where the inspiration takes me.

Emily Hoerdemann is a US citizen, was born in 1985 in Peoria, Illinois, and is currently based in Brooklyn, New York. Visit www.emilyhoerdemann.com.

Artist Interview | Kate Stavniichuk

When it comes to your art/writing, explain what you do in 100 words:
I am superstitious about what I do. Art is not just the work I love to do; it’s magic that lets people feel or imagine something invisible and hidden that I’m trying to show. Every art piece done by me has a special meaning. Even when it’s a portrait, I write the whole story without words. And only if you look at the details carefully, can you reveal the secret. You might think I only do abstract art. No, I’m a realist artist. But who said that reality is not magic?

I hate being the same; that’s why I like to challenge myself and choose different themes. I do believe that we attract what we think about or what we do, so I’m very careful with my choices. Of course, it doesn’t mean that all my artworks are bright and cheerful because sometimes art is just a mirror of your soul.

What project are you working on now?
I’m working on a new solo exhibition. Can’t say a lot about it because it’s a secret project for now. But it’s going to be a new level of my work.

Why do you do what you do?
I’ve been drawing as far back as I can remember; my works were exhibited many times, but I never thought it would be my job. That’s why I never studied art. I’m not from a rich family originally, so my parents wanted me to have a stable, good-paying job. But I kept fighting for what I do now. And then it just happened. I remember being in the last years of school; I started to earn money from my art. I became completely immersed in it and couldn’t imagine doing anything else but art.

I believe in destiny… that what is meant to be will always happen. I always wanted to know my mission in life. Maybe I haven’t found it yet, and one day I will change my ways. But for now, art is my life.

How has your practice changed over time?
I became more daring and confident as I did my art. I’m using new techniques and styles, and my life experience greatly influenced my art.

What is your strongest childhood memory?
I remember when I was a five-year-old; I got a present for my birthday. It was a big, very expansive illustrated book called Barbie. I really loved leafing through that book, and as I did, I had a strong belief that I could make a much better book with my drawings and my own stories. I don’t know why I felt that way, but I did. I thought the Barbie book just wasn’t good enough. I made drawings of ladies and men on paper and glued them together. But I thought something was missing. So one night when nobody could see me, I cut some illustrations out of the Barbie book and added my own illustrations to the book. Barbie was completely damaged. My parents were so mad at me when they found out that I did that. I knew I would be punished, but at the same time, I was really proud of creating my own book. (Kate was laughing now as she said this.)

What was your scariest experience?
My scariest experience was my first solo show. I think a first show is a scary thing for every artist. You never know what to expect at your solo exhibition, especially your first time when you’re insanely nervous about literally everything… who’s going to come, what I’m going to say about my works, what if people don’t like my art or me? But at the end of the day, you’re tired and satisfied that so many people came to support you, and you realize they did love your paintings; and even if some of them didn’t, you don’t care anymore because you just completed a new step in your career. That feeling is amazing.

Describe a real-life experience that inspired you.
I think inspiration is always about the places you visit or the people you meet. Once I met a very good person who supported me in a hard time (sorry can’t say the name). I was about to quit doing art because I had so many problems at that time and it was really hard to continue. But the person made me believe that I had to keep going, that I had to be strong because I am strong. His words inspired me to put myself together, and I did. Six months later I had my first solo show.

What superpower would you like to have and why?
I am a woman. That’s my superpower.

What is your pet peeve about the art world?
Honestly, I don’t understand those artists who are chasing popularity on the social media. Those Facebook likes just make them crazy. They stop being themselves, stop being original, and start creating what attracts more people. Listen. People can’t tell you what is amazing and what is not and convince you according to their visions. Show the world your vision, what your soul is feeling.

What is your dream creative project?
My dream project is to own my own gallery and do workshops for artists and for those who just want to express themselves in art. I would love to help everyone believe in themselves and give them a push in the right direction.

Which place in the world do you find to be the most inspiring?
I think the most inspiring place in the world is where I am right now. And that goes for everyone else. People often complain that they are not in the right place, where they live doesn’t inspire them. But wherever you are, there is a reason why you’re there, so look around and you will see.

Do you make a living off of your art?
Yes, I’m a full-time artist.

What’s the most indispensable item in your studio/practice?
The most indispensable item in my studio is a compressed charcoal pencil. It’s my favorite!

What are your hobbies?
When I was younger I had many hobbies, but now art is almost everything to me. So I don’t have much time for something else. But I do like sports, dancing, watching movies, etc.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
Never give up. No matter what happens, always stay strong.

Visit www.katestavniichuk.com

Artist Techniques | Master Pastelist, Louise T. Webber, Shares Her Techniques

I prefer soft pastels over wax and oil pastels. They have been used by such notable artists as Degas, Delacroix, Millet, Manet, and Whistler and have been used for hundreds of years.

Soft pastels are a versatile dry-painting medium which comes in sticks and pencils. They are fragile and contain more pigment and less binder which gives them their velvety texture; their colours are rich and can be layered and blended easily, usually with a finger, tortillion, or stump. They don’t require the use of water, turpentine, or oils and there is no preparation required to start using them. Just pick up the stick of colour and start your painting. I especially like that there is no right or wrong way of using pastels, allowing me the freedom to experiment with their use.

I enjoy the texture of Canson Mi-Teintes coloured pastel archival and acid-free paper and pastelbord, feeling the tooth of the support as I work the pigment into my support with my fingers. This practice requires me to frequently wash my hands to keep the pigment from building up on my fingers and dulling other colours as I work on the piece. Extra pastel dust is knocked off of the painting by tapping the support instead of blowing it off as blowing can cause the dust to get in the air, and it can be a health issue if inhaled.

When my artwork is complete, I use Sennelier Soft Pastel Fixatif to protect it from smudging and environmental pollutants. In thin coats, it doesn’t change the colour of my pigments like most fixatives. The final step is framing. All my pastel paintings are matted and framed behind glass to further protect the artwork. The mat creates a space between the artwork and the glass so there is no rubbing and transfer of pigment to the glass, potentially ruining my artwork.

I sketch from life as well as using reference photos that I have taken. I keep a stockpile of photos from old magazines, books, newspapers, etc., that catch my interest. I use them to mix and match and build a composition and to get ideas when I have “artist block.” When I go for walks and drives, my Nikon is usually with me so I can take reference photos.

First, I decide the colour and type of support to use, considering my subject, the colours I want to use, and how they will relate to the background. I begin my painting by making a detailed sketch directly on the pastel paper with either a vine charcoal stick or pencil, a graphite pencil, or a pastel pencil.

After choosing my colours and separating them from my box of pastels, I start blocking in the background, using the colours throughout the skin tones to create colour harmony, defining the light and dark areas as I go.

I generally work from left to right to reduce the chance of smudging, completing each section as I go.

Completed painting sealed with Fixatif and ready to frame.

Louise T. Webber is a Canadian-born International award winning artist. Visit http://www.louisewebberarts.com

Artist Interview | Liisa Ahlfors

Become acquainted with perhaps a few unknown dimensions – thoughts, ambitions, wisdoms, life changing moments – of this inspiring artist.

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When it comes to your art, explain what you do.

I am a visual artist based in Tampere, Finland. My work is mainly inspired by the challenge of new environments. I am inspired by encounters with sites, situations, or objects, and I view each in its socio-political context; then I bind these stories together with simple shapes. I seek to separate the obvious things that attract my attention, disrupt the distinction between public and private space, and propose a temporal place where factual and sensitive realities coexist. Usually my works take a form of a durational installation made only for the space of its representation.

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What project are you working on now?

Currently I am an Artist-in-Residence at SÍM, Reykjavík, Iceland. I am also working on a project with my friend and colleague, Anastasia Artemeva. We are collaborating on the shared cultural history of the Finnish and the Russians, and summer cottages and dachas. The project will be a participatory installation at Gallery Huuto in Helsinki, Finland.

Why do you do what you do?

I am challenged by each new environment. Rather than following a line of systematic production, I cultivate my ability to respond specifically to each new situation, space, or context. I see each new environment as a unique challenge, and I approach it accordingly because what may have worked in one environment does not always work in another.  The on-going challenge of new environments keeps me going and doing what I do.

How has your practice changed over time?

I have studied at the Tampere University of Applied Sciences in Tampere, Finland, and graduated from the programme of Fine Arts in 2011. I also studied various practices from painting and drawing to photography. When I was in the Fine Arts programme, installation and environmental art were most appealing to me. I worked as an artist for a few years before entering my master studies at the Aalto University, School of Art, Design, and Architecture in Helsinki, Finland, in the programme of Environmental Art from which I graduated in 2015. There I reconsidered my relationship with the gallery space, and came to conclusion I am still “inside the white cube,” even if my work is not. This conclusion took my work in a slightly different direction as I am now also working with the gallery spaces. Recently I made a large-scale, text-based installation, so using text is now what interests me, aside from a more material-based working method.

Describe a real-life experience that inspired you:

I used to dance a lot when I was younger. I even wanted to be a professional dancer one day. I have been thinking that this time-and-space-related practice I used to do for years, and from such a young age, is one of the reasons I turned to becoming an installation/environmental artist, why it is so important for me to do work that is related to one particular time and space/place, and why I value more of that particular experience rather than the object.

What superpower would you like to have and why?

Invisibility. I sometimes withdraw in social situations to observe. Observing would be much easier if I had the ability to become invisible!

What is your strongest childhood memory?

Long summer holidays of solitude and dwelling into literary worlds with my books.

Which place in the world do you find to be the most inspiring?

Any place can be inspiring. The time that I spend in a place develops my relationship with that place; through that relationship I become inspired and create my art works.

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What is your dream creative project?

I would like to use a huge apartment house building (the façade or windows of it) as a site for my work.

What is your pet peeve about the art world?

For a long time the gallery and museum system was my pet peeve where the art world was concerned because I found it too limiting, too old-fashioned, and stiff. While this might still be true, I now consider “the white cube” as an interesting challenge and as something I have authorship to change.

Do you make a living off of your art?

Yes, at the moment I am funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation.

What’s the most indispensable item in your studio/practice?

The fact is… I do not have a studio. My works are always conceived on a site, so the environment, public space, or wherever the site exists is my studio. Creating ideas is more of a conceptual process for me, so I do my research at home. My work is divided into periods of research and other background work such as applying for funding and exhibitions, when I am mostly on my laptop writing. I am also into periods of more concrete artistic work which often takes place on the exhibition site. So my most indispensable items are my computer and my books since I would not do anything if I did not first do research on a topic.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

There is much art-related advice given to students from teachers and professors. To this day I still remember many of them and try to live up to them even after all of these years. I have always been encouraged by teachers and professors not to be limited to one technique, but to let the concept control the material and technique of each work. All my teachers and professors have also encouraged me to be the author of the system of practises of the art world as a whole, not solely an author of my own works.

What are your hobbies?

Reading, knitting, and second-hand shopping.

Creatively, where do you see yourself in the next five years?

I would like to be working on my PhD, perhaps at some university abroad. I would also like to be teaching instead of merely focusing on my own creative processes as I do now.

Liisa Ahlfors was born in 1985 in Finland and is currently based in Tampere, Finland. Visit http://www.liisahlfors.com