May 21, 2012

Name: Rebecca Rose
Studio Location: Lady Diana Studios: Orlando, FL
Practice: Sculpture & Metalsmithing
Website: www.sculpturings.com


Please give a brief bio. (Where are you from? How did you start? Is your background in art?)
In college at NAU, I saw similarities in both my Sculpture Foundry classes and my Jewelry/Metalsmithing classes. In both cases we started with an idea, and transformed that idea from concept to reality out of wax and burnable objects. In both cases we plaster coated the original, kiln fired it, melted metal, and poured it into the negative space. I saw that sculpture and jewelry were the same, interchangeable. The only difference between the two is that one form of art was heavier, more apt to be immobile and decorative, and that the other form was smaller, and more apt to be mobile and functional. What was missing was a way to bridge the two. I created my first Sculpturing in 1999 and have been plowing away since.
What continues to inspire you and keep you motivated in the studio?
I’ve kept motivated by systematically removing distractions around me. Ten years ago my focus was too broad, and I was being pulled in too many directions; television, work, painting, sculpture, printmaking, life-size installations, building lego cities, I was everywhere. And because of it, I found didn’t have a solid body of work, one over the other. Over the past five years, I removed everything out of my studio except my sculptures and sculpture related items, and it helped. Out of sight, out of mind. When I enter my studio I see only my Sculpturings, and don’t feel pulled away from them anymore. 
How do you work physically? 
Hunched over my trusty JH Rosberg bench from 1901, sporting chemistry class goggles to shield from flying wax, plastic, and metal shards. A pair of strong prescription contacts and a mounted magnifying glass help me create works on a miniature scale. My fingers have plenty of small scars from Dremel drills catching skin, and I used to feel like Johnny Tremain working with my wax injector, my arms and hands getting sprinkled with boiling wax. I’m much more cautious and aware of safety now, the lost wax casting process can be a dangerous one when not exercising great caution.
What do you find frustrating/ enjoy about your process?
It usually takes two or three casting attempts before a piece casts perfectly. For each finished piece, it might have been waxed multiple times to correct air pockets, carved again, re-invested with plaster, kiln fired, and cast all over again. The amount of detail put into the works embrace minutia, undercuts, lots of negative space, drastic thin to think areas, all kinds of variables that put the piece at risk for missing heads, arms, insect legs, wings, etc. Thankfully I have met experienced casters along the way who have helped and often send the most frustrating pieces to them for advice. When it casts perfectly, I tool into the metal, clean up sprue bumps, throw it in the tumbler for polishing and extract a brilliant, shiny new Sculpturing, my enjoyment for the process surfaces. 
What is your medium/ media of choice? Why?
I enjoy the idea of sculpture being so small and mobile that you can take it with you, and share it with others as it moves with it’s owner.I use precious metals to help guarantee collectors that the work will financially appreciate over time. Removing the guesswork and worry of investing releases the monetary focus on the work so more focus is on the themes, skill, compositions and messages themselves.
How has your practice evolved over the years? 
Earlier in my career I would solely make unique, one of a kind pieces. I primarily still do, but I’ve also begun to widen my approach and equate it with two dimensional artists, in that the unique sterling silver Sculpturing is like an original painting, as an edition of Bronze Sculpturings are to limited edition prints of the same painting. Some Sculpturings are still unique, and during the concept and design phase the uniqueness is taken into consideration, while some are intentionally designed as limited edition pieces. 
The presentation and display of the work has also evolved, growing from a tiny, velvet lined box to a hand blown, museum quality glass cloche dome and base, elevating the piece with an armature to have it float in mid air. Magnifying glasses near the pieces not only help guests and collectors see the detail clearly, but makes the experience between the art and the viewer more interactive and intimate.
Tell us about your creative and conceptual process. Where do your ideas come from/relate to?
Each piece begins with a philosophy/way of life that describes a current event, and I pair it with words that contain the word “ring”, usually as a suffix. As an example, “Puppeteering”, is about the Occupy Movements of last fall: 
The three figures on the left, ranging in age and gender, represent the majority view throughout the summer and fall of 2011. They band together, pointing the finger of blame, responsibility, and caution to the government’s puppeteering of our future. Government is represented by the soldier who rides the back of a big baby, representing our future which, at times, our nation’s future can seem like a big bumbling baby that needs to be led around. The pitchfork and hand trap the baby to symbolize the fine line between the evil actions of politics and the hasty actions of the public.
Who/ what motivates and influences your work and why? 
The greatest motivation is that this work is so much a part of me, I have no choice but to pursue it. I think about it daily, and look forward to seeing and working on it. There’s a true love affair between myself and the series. 
The body of work is also a nod to eccentric collectors of silver sculpture like Sam Wagstaff, whom desired to bring an artistic spotlight on silver sculpture as he did with photography, but died before having the chance.
Real life situations that inspire you?
Our world is too funny not to capture it in art. That’s how we cope, right? Real life situations inspire and shape my work daily, the long-term viability and relevance is built into the original concept. While emphasis on design is present, sculptural form and substance of message definitely takes priority, whether politically, allegorically, or satirically driven. World events, celebrations, and challenges evolve with each passing year, and my work will reflect the changes of our real time world along with classic ideas and hopes of people.
How do you think/ want people to respond to your work?
This is a tricky subject for sure, some see it as jewelry and only that, and some deem it craft instead of fine art. Thankfully, those with a broad vision and broad understanding of art see it as sculpture as well as a piece of art that can be worn, and those same minds have encouraged me to continue because of this clever, fresh approach they haven’t seen before. I call the work Sculpturings to give equal and due credit to the genres, not deeming it one genre more than the other. 
That’s how I hope people will respond, that the body of work bridges the gap between the two genres: Sculpture can be mobile instead of commonly viewed as heavy and immovable, and that jewelry can be accepted as fine art and a conduit of substance, meaning, and message.
What was the last show you saw that knocked your socks off?
I attended the Miami Basel this December connecting mostly to Freidrich Kunath’s isolated sculptures and sketched paintings on larger than life notebook paper, something we all relate to as kids, doodling on lined sheets of paper in school. At Scope NYC this March I found some true gems nestled on the walls of Red Truck Gallery, as a fan of miniatures, Jason D’Aquino’s tiny graphites on found objects fed my eyes full. Thinkspace Gallery’s selection at the LA Art Show in January was strong, knocking the socks off my feet and onto the ceiling, their roster of represented artists and the works produced are undoubtedly shaping today’s movements, much due respect to them.
Some upcoming shows that have stirred anticipation and I hope to view: Botanica at Genome Gallery this summer, as well as XL Gallery’s Faces show in Orlando near the end of June- upon hearing the announcement I had flutters of excitement in my gut the entire day, really anticipating that one.
Current adventures/ future plans? What’s next?
Some new works inspired by ideas of perseverance, tolerance, decadence, and acceptance. I’m very excited about the new grouping of works, and obsess about them daily, so I think it’s a good sign! I also unveiled a Bronze Collection in Los Angeles last month and some Sterling Silver Sculpturings are currently showing at Maximillian Gallery in West Hollywood. 
Any advice to other artists? What is the best piece of advice you have been given?
Any advice I can give? Hmm.. 
Don’t depend on luck, depend on strategy, dedication, and research.
Advice I’ve been given: Alan Bamberger from Artbusiness.com said to me the other day: 
Be open to opportunity and when something unusual happens, make the most of it, and don’t limit yourself with imaginary cognitive constraints.
Rebecca Rose is Ground Arts Organization’s Artist of the Month.

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Filed under: Rebecca Rose Studio Spoken Ground Arts Artist of the MOnth 
May 8, 2012

PAPER:WORK Exhibition Catalogue PART II.

at Ground Arts Organization with Interviews by Studio Spoken.

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Filed under: Paper:Work Exhibition Studio Spoken Ground Arts Organization Kelly Worman polly shindler Brad Guarino John O'Connor Xanda McCagg Theresa Byrnes Anna Sörenson 
May 8, 2012

PAPER:WORK Exhibition Catalogue PART I.

at Ground Arts Organization with Interviews by Studio Spoken.

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Filed under: Paper:Work Exhibition Ground Arts Organization Kelly Worman Studio Spoken John O'Connor Xanda McCagg Anna Sörenson polly shindler Brad Guarino Theresa Byrnes 
March 25, 2012

Name: Anthony Palocci Jr.

Studio Location: Pratt Institute, ELJ 509A

Practice: Painting

Website: www.anthonypaloccijr.com

Please give a brief bio. (Where are you from? How did you start? Is your background in art?)

I grew up in Beverly, Massachusetts.  My father built motorcycles and drag racing cars and I would help him out when I was a kid.  From early on I was making and taking things apart, putting them back together again and thinking about how they worked.  Whether it was a car, a model, or some paint, I have always had to have my hands in something.  Control and discipline was a big part learning to work with these things and also having the patience to figure out whatever whatever problems were in front of me. 

I got my undergraduate degree at Montserrat College of Art in painting and I am currently in my last semester of graduate school at Pratt Institute earning an MFA in painting. 

What continues to inspire you and keep you motivated in the studio?

I keep books around the studio and monographs of artists I love looking at.  I always have a book of the Francis Bacon interviews with David Sylvester in my studio.  I like to pick that up and just read whatever my eyes land on, it’s great, and I highly recommend it.

How do you work physically?

I make drawings of things in my life that I want to think about.  I then decide which of those drawings I would like to investigate more and figure out a way to start painting.  The paintings are made on an easel or the wall and beside me I have a table I put my paint on.  I like to keep things organized so I know where they are right when I need them.  I typically start pretty washy and react to what’s going on.  Sometimes I have an exact idea of what I want to do and lay it out accordingly, other times it’s more open.  Either way, changes happen, but I stick with the initial idea so I come out on the other end.

What do you find frustrating/ enjoy about your process?

I have a lot of ideas and in the past it has been difficult to pin one down and fully realize it without getting distracted.  I am getting better at that though.  Things take time, and if I don’t do it it will not get done.  I am lucky to have a pool to pull from, I just have to focus.

What is your medium/ media of choice? Why?

I paint with oil mostly because of the way it can move.  For a long time I used acrylic, but in order to get acrylic to move the way oil does can be exhausting.  Acrylic paint is more stiff and I prefer the fluidity of oil for what I am doing at the moment. Oil can do anything.  Things happen in the process of an oil painting that keep me going back.  If I change my mind I can wipe it out and start over, I can cover the surface in a breath, as quickly as I can change my mind, paint over paint over paint, it’s perfect.

How has your practice evolved over the years?

For a long time I would start a painting with no idea at all, and that could and did end up to be torturous more often than not.  I’d walk around thinking, “What the hell am I going to do with that awful thing in my studio.”  I lost sleep over it.  If it wasn’t anything, it could be ANYTHING.  And that kind of thinking didn’t help at all.  I’ve come to take myself more seriously and made sure that I am more organized now.  Going to paint with an idea, a philosophy, an intention gets things moving for me.  I’ve got ideas about what I want a painting to do, how I want it to feel and how I want to configure the space.  I’ve come to take up motifs I feel strongly about and working with and through that structure.  The work has a cohesiveness it never had before.  I now make paintings in a similar size and composition which has has helped me to focus and really tackle the problems I am concerned with.

Tell us about your creative and conceptual process.  Where do your ideas come from/relate to?

My ideas come from a way I look at my life.  Like a zooming out analysis.  That idea is directly connected to a series of paintings I have been working on of my bed.  I have removed myself from the situation and I have painted the bed from an areal view.  It is confusing at first because one never sees a bed like this and it forces an analysis of it.  It ceases to be a bed at that point.  It is an idea of a bed at it’s most literal, but it is also something more.

I like simple things that hold a lot of other thoughts in them.  Something like the empty bed or a cheeseburger can have a lot of power.  Recently I’ve been working with ideas like that, things that I pick out to symbolize something much larger.  We all have to eat, we all have to sleep.  That’s life essentially, there is then just a bunch of weird stuff that fills it up in between.

Who/ what motivates and influences your work and why?

I like seeing paintings and people being honest about their experiences, people invested in what they are doing.  I like it when people show me a new world.

Real life situations that inspire you?

I am sort of an imagist, and I like images and icons.  I love looking at baseball hats.  I love patterns too.  Stuff like wall paper, sweaters and flannel shirts.  I also reflect on moods, when I can stop and really think about situations.  Certain types of light induce that, like the beginning of the day, early in the morning when the sun is just coming out and shadows are really long, it’s quite a surreal moment. 

How do you think/ want people to respond to your work?

I like when people pay attention.  It’s nice to have someone talk about the work, even if they question it, “Why would he paint a cheeseburger?  What does that mean?”  It is nice when it brings up questions.  That is what I think art should do.

What was the last show you saw that knocked your socks off?

I really enjoyed looking at Calder’s circus at the Whitney.  His wire pieces are all such gems.  He says so much with so little there and makes these intricate mechanisms, genius.  There are great videos of Calder himself performing his circus.  You can tell this guy was very into what he was doing.  I have heard stories that he would walk around with a roll of wire in his pocket ready to go the minute he was impelled to bend some thought he was having into reality.  Really, the man had a disease, a real maker and thinker, a great artist.

Current adventures/ future plans? What’s next?

I’ve been stewing some ideas in my head for a while.  After I am finished with my thesis show I’ve wanted to complete a series of work called: Wrestlemania VI.  It consists of diptychs, showing the heads of each contender in the center with their names written out along the bottom of the composition in some plain font like helvetica.  They are all coupled as they were in each of their perspective matches.  I like the suspense there is before a match, I also like the mythology involved.  These wrestlers were like contemporary gods to their fans, each worshiped the wrestler they related to the most, the one they wanted to win.  Wrestlemania VI is a particularly great subject for this idea because it was the first time the two wrestlers who held the federations’ championship belts, The Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan, would compete to win what was advertised as the ultimate challenge.  I was only three years old at the time of this event but when I grew older and learned the history of it, it has always stuck with me.  Someone walks away with all the beans, someone else loses something dear to them.  It’s a great metaphor and an important life lesson.

Any advice to other artists? What is the best piece of advice you have been given?

Someone once said this to me, and I always thought it was good advice:

“Don’t stare at the blue lights when you’re on your way down the stairs.  That goes for when you move to New York too.  Pay attention, you might miss something.”

 

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Filed under: Anthony Palocci Jr. Kelly Worman Studio Spoken 
February 15, 2012

Name: Chelsea Mason

Studio Location: Brooklyn, NY

Practice: Painter

Website: www.chelseamason.com

Please give a brief bio. (Where are you from? How did you start? Is your background in art?)

When I was  five I told my mother that my favorite color was black and she told me that she was proud of me. For some reason that has always stuck out in my head as a turning point – at that moment I knew I was onto something.  I have a BA in studio art from Meredith College and graduated from Pratt with an MFA in the spring of 2011. In undergrad, my major changed a few times but always stayed within the arts.

What continues to inspire you and keep you motivated in the studio?

I am attracted to children’s literature. I read nursery rhymes, folklore, story books and short stories. I am constantly listening to music. I listen to a lot of “golden oldies,” but also jazz and folk music.

How do you work physically?

I work on the ground. My studio is essentially a pile of materials – torn pieces of paper, yards of felt, tangled balls of yarn, open sketch books, unfinished drawings, postcards, and random collected things. I really respond to the way things feel when I touch them so I have a lot of fibrous materials.  I like to sit amongst my collection of materials and let things happen by chance. Each piece might not be used but I value each equally. I think I work a lot like a bird making a nest, quickly, instinctively and intuitively. I try not to over think.

 What do you find frustrating/ enjoy about your process?

I am rarely frustrated. If I feel frustrated than I don’t push it, I just go and do something else. I go for a walk or go look at art. I never come to the studio thinking “I’m going to make some art today, I’m going to paint.” and I never expect to make anything great. I come to the studio to interact with my materials and create relationships between them. All of my materials are things and pieces of things that I like so my studio is kind of comforting to me in that way. I have fun, I experiment. If something comes out of it that I feel is worthy of sharing than that is great…..but to me it is more of an exercise.  I never expect to make art. When I work on paper (or a surface) that is too fancy and I get caught up in the end product, the energy is lost. I love chaos but I also value simplicity.

What is your medium/media of choice? Why?

Paper seems to be the only constant. I can’t stay away from it. I love it’s vulnerability and there are so many endless options in terms of color, size, thickness, durability etc. I am really attracted to newsprint. Paper is also immediate.  When I am feeling creative immediacy is really important to me. I don’t have the patience to build anything or wait for things to dry. When I work with paper I feel that I am working WITH it, not on it or against it. It  is easy for me  to engage in a dialogue with paper. It bends, folds, crinkles.  It reacts to the way you treat it. I enjoy that small window of fragility, if you push it too far it will reach a breaking point. That window is even smaller with a surface like newsprint, it is like walking on thin ice.

How has your process evolved over the years?

I don’t know how much my process has evolved. I think what I create now is much more raw and pure than it was before.  It is less filtered.  If I use paint now it’s because it is is necessary to the process not because I feel that I need to. I think I was once a prisoner to paint and the canvas. Using pencil and collage seems much more honest and true to my process and my aesthetic sensibilities. One thing that I always notice is that when I start to go in a new direction my work gets smaller and gradually increases in size until I reach something else new. When I am frustrated or constricted in other aspects of my life I would really rather work extremely small or only in a sketchbook.  I used to work with the figure, my work is still related to the figure but not as literally.

Tell us about your creative and conceptual process. Where do your ideas come from /relate to?

I have a really intense and vivid imagination. I am not very good at verbalizing my thoughts or ideas. I guess that is why I am drawn to simplified images and literature.  I am constantly making stories and relationships between things  in my head, I have always felt empathy toward inanimate objects. Gertrude Stein’s “The World is Round,” is the best example of something that feeds my imagination. It is a contradictory work; it was written for children but has dark, cynical undertones that appeal to a more mature audience. I feel the same way about Shel Silverstein. I am drawn to  things that are simultaneously humorous and tragic or things or things that me uncomfortable because of their paradoxical nature.

Who/ what motivates and influences your work and why?

I spend a lot of time with children and observing children. I don’t try to make childlike or naïve work, but I really admire the way children make decisions. It is as if the tool they are using doesn’t move fast enough for their brain. I guess in some ways I try to mimic those uninhibited ways of thinking but I don’t try to recreate anything that I see children making.
 
How do you think/ want people to respond to your work?

My work is successful if people make up stories to go along with the images. It is even more successful if people feel the freedom to express those stories.  If someone says “that pencil mark with that pink piece of yarn looks like a goose wearing a crown.” I get really excited. I think art can be funny. Actually, I prefer it to be.

What was the last show you saw that knocked your socks off?

Nick Cave, his work is funny and nostalgic. I like that balance. I went to the Children’s Museum of the Arts recently and I saw a popsicle stick crookedly hanging on the wall with three packing peanuts glued to it. I saw it from across the room and couldn’t stop staring at it. The piece was by a 13 month old child. I can’t stop thinking about it.

Current Adventures/ future plans? What is next?

Travel, but not concrete plans.

10:51pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZNNAfwGUlnTi
(Notes: 2)
  
Filed under: Chelsea Mason Kelly Worman Studio Spoken 
February 1, 2012

Name: Anna Sörenson

Studio Location: Pratt Institute, ELJ building, studio 409

Practice: Painter

Website: www.annasorenson.se


Please give a breif bio. (Where are you from? How did you start? Is your background in art?)

I am born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden. My mother is a theater critic and my father writes about architecture so I and my two brothers grow up in a home surrounded by culture. We traveled a lot looking at art, theater, dance and architecture and I tried to keep track of my impressions by drawing, painting and taking photos.

  I have my BFA in Fine Art from Umeå University, a school located in the north part of Sweden. During my three year program I arranged an exchange semester with Parsons the New School for Design in Manhattan, an amazing experience where I learned both new things about myself both as a painter and as a person. I was determined to return to New York and with a Fulbright Scholarship I started my MFA at Pratt where I will graduate form this spring.  

What continues to inspire you and keep you motivated in the studio?

I inspired by what I call a kind of every day mystery. Things we as humans do everyday without even reflecting over it; open door with keys, doing the dishes and tie our shoes. We carry so much knowledge in our body and in our memory, but rarely reflect over it or use our capacities for something purposeful. I am interested in how we coexist and try to understand each other. I think try to pick something a part and examine it, make small things iconic or something scary into something beautiful, transform it or maybe just look at something a different way.   

How do you work physically?

I work in my studio space with various sizes of paper. I have three to four formats that I like to work with, all at the same time. Usually I have a couple of bigger work (around 40 x 40 inches) going so I can move a round if I get stuck. Since I work on paper it is easy to cut up failed drawings and paintings, I use it for collage material. I sometimes saw pieces of paper together in the smaller format. One favorite size is a marked up square on a 16 x 12 inch paper, it is an unpretentious size to try out ideas.         

What do you find frustrating/ enjoy about your process?

I am a very environmental conscious person and sometimes I stress over that I produce more things into this world. Why make more things? I can get sad when I see the painting pile up; all this with no use. But then my mind wonders, I start thinking about a shape or a gesture, or I see a color in my watercolor box. I feel I just need to try something, a “what-happens-if…” feeling. When I am in that process all other concerns disappear, I disappear, time disappears. It is a feeling of thrill and peace at the same time.    

What is your medium/ media of choice? Why?

I work with all kinds of paints but lately it is mostly water based media. I love to work on paper, because it is so easy to transform the surface. I like to layer transparent paint, soak the paper, stain it and combine with mark making and no other surface takes all this different techniques like paper. Watercolor, acrylic, gouache and, my latest discovery, casein (milk based paint) all carry different qualities and blend very well. I like to push my material to see how far it can take me, or rather, the painting.

How has your practice evolved over the years?

I started as a figurative painter influenced by painters like Karin Mamma Andersson, James Ensor and Dick Benktsson. I always tried to capture an atmosphere or a certain mood, something I still think I am looking for. When I painted figuratively I started to feel that the image stood in the way for the open read I wanted of the picture, it felt directed, and there was no “room” for the viewer to enter. When I moved to New York I had a new kind of freedom, no one knew my history so I could be whatever kind of painter I wanted to be. I was an empowering feeling and it was a joy to paint again. I was and still am very influenced by the American abstract painters like Agnes Martin, Morris Louis and Mary Heilman, the later who I heard lecture when I was at Parsons.       

Tell us about your creative and conceptual process.  Where do your ideas come from/relate to?

My ideas come from all kinds of sources. Being from Sweden I think I have a strong tie to nature. My home town Stockholm is one of the biggest archipelagos in the world; to navigate water you need to be aware of many things; the waves, the wind, the weather and also what is under the water surface.  All this becomes a mental image, an abstract picture, and that excites me. Combining different kind of knowledge and three dimensional spaces into a painting is an impassibility that inspires me. I also like to read theory and philosophy, and study different kinds of culture. I think the mix of nature and culture is the foundation of my work.  That said, maybe it is the case for all artists.  

Who/ what motivates and influences your work and why?

I get a lot of inspiration from fiction and some of my favorite authors are Haruki Murakami, Louis Bourges and Italio Calvino. Growing up I read a lot of Greek mythology and I think my love for fiction, the star constellations and all kind of epic storytelling had, and still has, a special place among my influences.  

Real life situations that inspire you?

I can be inspired by everything between toady’s weather too the color of a cardigan. 

How do you think/ want people to respond to your work?

I don’t have an ideal respond in mind and I want to keep my work open. People often tell me that when they see my work they want to paint themselves and that makes me happy, it makes me feel inspiring.  

What was the last show you saw that knocked your socks off?

“The Wonder of an Age”, a show with Indian miniature painting at the Met. It is mostly water based media on paper and in a modest scales but completely breathtaking. So many amazing artists and so many different kinds of paintings and depictions but within the same size concept. The level abstraction, the mood and the colors…it was a well of inspiration! 

Current adventures/ future plans? What’s next?

I am going too graduate in May and looking forward to my thesis show! After graduation I have been awarded a scholarship from the American Embassy in Sweden to travel in the United States and look at land art, something I dreamt of for a while. First up is of course Robert Smithson´s Spiral Jetty! 

Any advice to other artists? What is the best piece of advice you have been given?

When I moved to New York a friend a friend of mine gave me a watch with the meal and sleep time marked out with cute stickers. It is helpful; eat three times a day and sleep at night. It is not rocket science but I think that was very sane advice. 

6:32pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZNNAfwFkb5Sr
(Notes: 3)
  
Filed under: Anna Sörenson Kelly Worman Studio Spoken Karin Mamma Andersson James Ensor Dick Benktsson 
January 15, 2012

Name: Jack Henry

Studio Location: Brooklyn, NY

Practice: Sculpture

Website: www.jackhenryartist.com


Please give a brief bio. (Where are you from? How did you start? Is your background in art?)

Although born in Mississippi, I grew up in Vero Beach, Florida and Flint, Michigan. My father is an art museum director and my mother is an interior designer so I was introduced to art from an early age. Visiting art museums, galleries and artist’s studios was a regular occurrence. I received my BFA from Florida Atlantic University and an MFA from the University of Maryland. I now live and work in Brooklyn, NY.

What continues to inspire you and keep you motivated in the studio?

I moved from Vero Beach to Flint when I was eleven years old. There was an obvious contrast between the landscapes of these two places. As a teenager, the aesthetic of post industrial, mid-Michigan had a strong influence on me and continues to influence my work today. The history shown on the worn surfaces of abandoned buildings in Flint carries a nostalgia and solemnity that comes with disaffection, yet these structures only developed more character with age. Through my interest in these types of structures I came across the Japanese aesthetic called ‘wabi-sabi’, which roughly translates to the sublime beauty of an object in it’s natural state of decay. It originated as a way to describe an object that has become better with wear, like a wooden spoon that fits into the user’s hand perfectly due to erosion from extensive use. These objects have an element of pathos and remind us of our own mortality. I get inspired when an object can evoke such a feeling and take on a new purpose once it has fallen into disrepair. I get excited when I see a chance grouping of discarded objects that looks like a piece of contemporary sculpture, or a tattered billboard that makes a great collage. In my work I use discarded objects as elements for creating a composition and I try to replicate the feeling I get when I find these curiosities.

How do you work physically?

I start with my sketchbook and photographs. I gather reference material and sketch until something sticks. Once I have an idea for a project, I start the extensive search for objects. Most of these things I find on the sidewalk within several square blocks of my studio. For most other things I go to second hand and 99 cent stores. I choose the objects based solely on their aesthetic; size, shape and color, and I try to stay away from things that carry a heavy-handed association of any kind. Once I have my materials I begin to build molds, pour resin, adhere objects together or collage images. This is the most gratifying part of the process: I get to be in my studio and work through a project.

What do you find frustrating/ enjoy about your process?

The most exciting and frustrating aspect of my process is the element of chance. The search for objects doesn’t always yield good results.  And for my most recent castings, I pour resin layer by layer into a wooden mold, so I can’t see the results until the piece breaks from the mold.Usually my favorite details of a piece are the ones I didn’t plan for, but, I do get anxious that before each piece is taken out of the mold as I only have an estimate and plan for what it might look like.

The drawings also involve an element of chance. I take found images printed on cardboard and attempt to make a photo transfer. The transfer is always irregular and a lot of the cardboard gets pulled up as well. This leaves a mess of cardboard and pigment on the page. With pen and ink I draw into those elements to make a cohesive composition on the page. Unfortunately, some of the transfers are not successful and I ruin the paper.

How has your practice evolved over the years?

As my work has developed I have integrated more techniques and materials. I started by making sculpture only using found objects, binding them together with other found material. I would go to empty lots and take all of the objects laying around and assemble them into a sculpture on site, photograph them, and leave them to fall apart. Since then I began to incorporate resin, hand-building, and welding techniques. The new techniques have allowed for more experimentation and the freedom to convey an idea.

My drawings have become more involved as well, they started as graphite on paper realistic studies and now involve pen and ink, photo-transfer, and decollage. Plus, my MFA really gave me the opportunity to experiment and my work grew a lot during that time. I was able to try out a lot of different techniques and work through new concepts in an environment where I received a lot of feedback which was cool. My move to New York put me in an environment that brings to mind the same kind of aesthetic interests I had in Flint and my work has gotten in touch with those concepts again.

What is your medium/ media of choice? Why?

I use resin, plaster and cement to bind the elements together and create the shapes and layers that I want. Resin is versatile and easy-to-use requiring just a simple mixture, it can be pigmented any color and requires little time to dry. It is also very durable and can be placed outside. For my drawings I enjoy using pen and ink because of the rich blacks and fine variance of line they can achieve.

Who/ what motivates and influences your work and why?

I am a big fan of Richard Hughes and Rudolf Stingel because they both have a knack for creating objects that look as though they have been found but have an element of wonder to them. Edward Burtynsky’s photographs affect me in a similar way. I also really admire Isa Genzken and the great sensibility she has for materials.

What was the last show you saw that knocked your socks off?

The Sterling Ruby/Lucio Fontana show at Andrea Rosen Gallery in October was really good. I especially like the sculptures of Sterling Ruby, the aesthetic is one that I am after but his forms are so much more ambiguous that I am left thinking about them for a while, trying to figure them out. It’s good when a show has you thinking about it months after.

How do you think/ want people to respond to your work?

I want to give the viewer something to spend time with and explore. There are small details throughout my work that are revealed as you continue to look, and i hope that is what makes my work compelling to the viewer. I hope the sculptures give the viewer a nostalgia for the America of the working class and that the seascape drawings give a sense of contemporary romanticism. And I hope it makes the viewer consider how our landscape is changing due to human intervention.

Any advice to other artists? What is the best piece of advice you have been given?

I was stressed out in grad school once and my Dad said, “It’s an artist’s job to just make work. Don’t spend too much time worrying about the other stuff. Just make work.”  It calmed me down.

  

1:02pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZNNAfwEpLbjY
Filed under: Jack Henry Studio Spoken Kelly Worman Sculpture 
January 1, 2012

Name:  Nikki Nolan

Studio Location:  33 Withers, Brooklyn NY 11211

Practice:  New Media / Installation 

Website: http://nnolan.com

Please give a brief bio. (Where are you from? How did you start? Is your background in art?)

I was born in Denver, Colorado.  I have always been on the more creative side when it came to handling anything, and so my family, unlike many people I know, pushed me into making art.  In undergrad I studied business for two years, because my family really wanted me to study art, and business seemed like the rebellious thing to do.  However I didn’t find my studies interesting, so I took one art class, just to make my parents happy.  The next day I switched my major to art.  I graduated with a BFA in Sculpture and Photography, with a minor in Art History and Theatre.  After undergrad I got an artist residency at a not for profit art gallery in Denver, and took a certificate class in web development at the Art Institute of Colorado.  Then I applied for graduate school.  I got into Pratt for photography, but felt a bit restricted, I transferred to the Digital art department, so I could learn more technologic skills, to add to what I knew. I graduated in December 2011, with my MFA in interactive media.  

What continues to inspire you and keep you motivated in the studio?

I gather most of my inspiration from reading. I like to read a lot of books, and articles in a short period of time so I can form links between broader spectrums of information.   Then I get to work creating objects and installations that come to the surface while I was reading.  

How do you work physically? 

I create drawings and then I link them together to form something that is conceptually interesting to me.  Then I will go into Photoshop or Maya and make a mock up of the spatial construction that I formed in my head.  Most of my work requires research into different method of execution since, the work is right now mostly digital, and technology is constantly changing.  

What do you find frustrating/ enjoy about your process?

It’s incredibly frustrating to work digitally.  I actually used to hate digital; I would only work in analogue forms, because it was much easier for my brain to understand the process. I dove into digital because I thought that I needed to understand this form that I had such anger towards.  Now having studied the medium more thoroughly I understand the advantages and limitations more fully.   

What I enjoy about the process is how challenging it becomes to create things, even if they appear simple. The consciousness that it takes for proper execution brings my brain to a more complex understanding of the digital world we live in.  I feel the work I am creating is something that could only have been formed in the last five to ten years because computers just couldn’t process the amount of information we can throw at them today. 

What is your medium/ media of choice? Why?

Right now I am working in the digital spectrum, most of my work is interactive media, mixed with digital photography and video.   I have come to this medium because it seems as if it is what our society has chosen to surround itself with. Digital looks like the current medium and it still has so much room for growth and experimentation because we don’t have a formal language to talk about it. Artist like Joan Jonas and Dan Graham are extremely influential in my process and the mediums they work within is video, which is a digital format.  However, I find drawing and making physical sculptures to be much more enjoyable of an experience. 

How has your practice evolved over the years?

My early work was sculpture mixed with photography.  I was exploring notions of identity; I was highly opposed to digital.  When people created digital works I became highly critical of their methods of exploration. My early thoughts were formed before cameras in cell phones were a norm. Over time I read a lot, which formed my ideas and found methods that conveyed those ideas.  Which took me to a place where I wanted to explore the process of the human brain and its relationship to the external world.  I am right now working on exploration of human memory in relationship to video and photography. I see these mediums becoming more influential on memory than actual experiences.

Tell us about your creative and conceptual process.  Where do your ideas come from/relate to?

My work falls into a conceptual territory: the aesthetic emerges from an organic, real-time process of creation rather than any staged attempt to control or manufacture a predetermined set of emotions and reactions.  With my work I try to incorporate ideas from both the late 1960’s and 70’s video artists Andy Warhol, Joan Jonas, Vito Acconci, and Dan Graham, as well as our contemporary culture of Ipad and smart phones. 

In my work I am trying to explore our new brain, which has emerged—because of the invention of the Internet, video, and digital photography—through visual arts. My work has become a network of images linked and interwoven, leading, non-linearly—from one show to the next.  Every new installation has fragments from previous shows, manifested in prints and objects, carried over and situated in a new context. This is my attempt of mirroring our mode of integrating new experiences and observing the associative connections that arise regardless of their relevance to authenticity.

Who/ what motivates and influences your work and why?

My inspiration comes from a lot of different places, mostly writer and scientist. However, the initial exposure to most of the writers and scientists came from the podcast Radio Lab.  I started listing to the show online, back in 2007.   The first episode I heard was about memory, called Memory and Forgetting. During the episodes they talked to scientists Joe LeDoux, Karim Nader, Oliver Sacks, Eric Kandel, and Elizabeth Loftus along with science writer Jonah Lehrer.

Jonah Lehrer has been the main influence into why I continue to make art.  In Lehrer’s book, Proust Was A Neuroscientist, he makes the argument for the arts and how it gives a dynamic and more reflective description of the world, both internally and externally, through the non-formulation of exploration. 

I wanted to explore this notion of artist explorations of the world and of the different mediums that interest me.  Joan Jonas created a video piece called Left Side Right Side (1972), which allowed her to gain a better understanding of the medium of video and its spatial distortion, which happens because of the immediacy of the medium.  She watched herself on a TV monitor and was trying to draw on her face using the TV as a mirror; this caused her to have spatial distortion of where she was located in space. 

Another work Boomerang (1974), a video piece made by the collaboration of Richard Serra and Nancy Holt, exposed a similar medium disorientation.  As Nancy Holts is trying to explain her experience of listening to herself talk, in head phones, with a slight delay, she become confused and unable to effectively communicate because she becomes almost trapped in her own words.  As Holts states in the video piece, “ The words forming in my mind are somewhat detached from my normal thinking process. I have the feeling that, I am not where I am.  I feel that this place is removed from reality, although it is a reality already removed from the normal reality.  The words keep tumbling out of me because I want to hear my words, I want to hear them pouring back in on top of me.”    Those words almost seem like a poem, but they were formed live while she was trying to explain her experience that was happening, which became nearly impossible. 

I believe these early video artists tapped into an extremely profound awareness of the digital immediate medium, and their deliberate exploration now guides and inspires further experimentation in digital photography, video and the Internet.

Real life situations that inspire you?

The content stems from a few places, one being the first time I remember being documented, which prompted a sensation of self-doubt as to whether I was recalling my own experience or had substituted a detached replication of the event, after I had viewed the photographs of the experience. As Sontag writes, “Taking photographs has set up a chronic voyeuristic relation to the world which levels the meaning of all events…After the event has ended, the picture will still, exist, conferring on the event a kind of immortality (and importance) it would never otherwise have enjoyed.”

The immediate availability of digital photos and video via ubiquitous internet access and cell phone cameras creates a constantly updated stream of information which daily outperforms our fragile human memory in both scale and accuracy.  Our pursuit thereof is challenged both by our limited potential to understand and our expanding capacity to digitally record. We align and adapt our understanding of the event - yielding to and assimilating the impartial record.  My installations demonstrate the alienating effects of this process in microcosm.

How do you think/ want people to respond to your work?

I want people to be challenged in a way that allows them to make new connections. I try to (non-forcefully) lead the observer into a heighten awareness of themselves and their own relationship to the technological world.  We our so bombarded by media, these days, that it becomes hard to think clearly, I tried to make spaces where people can be both immersed in technological landscape but have the control to think more clearly by not giving them so much information that they become overwhelmed.   

What was the last show you saw that knocked your socks off?

They are few and far between, but last years Christian Boltanski, showed No Man’s Land at Park Avenue Armory.   Beyond words.  I felt a deep sadness for how much loss there has been in the world. I spent almost the entire day at the exhibit, which made me question my own existence.    

Current adventures/ future plans? What’s next?

I just graduated, and I am waiting to hear back on some artist residencies for next year.  I am also looking for a new studio space. Right now I have been working out of my apartment, which is restricting. I have also changed modes and plan on creating more sculptural work to adjust to this new transition of not being in school for the first time since I was five years old. 

12:00am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZNNAfwE9JMZG
Filed under: Nikki Nolan Studio Spoken Kelly Worman 
December 15, 2011

Name: WonJung Kim

Studio Location: 395 Washington Ave,  Brooklyn, NY, 11238

Practice: Painter

Website: www.kimwonjung.com

 

Please give a breif bio. (Where are you from? How did you start? Is your background in art?)

I was born in 1981 in Goseong, which is a rural town in South Korea. Growing up  in a rural area, I spent most of my time in nature by myself, and painting was the only way to represent my emotions and thoughts; this experience has inspired me to study Painting in my life. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts Education, in Korea. Now, I have been living in Brooklyn, NY.

What continues to inspire you and keep you motivated in the studio?

The aged walls of the buildings, and the harmony of the environment with everyday objects - the empty space and their placement within - have become my essential inspiration. The aged cracks in the walls and the daily objects appear as simplified lines and shapes; they correspond with the blank space in my drawings. Also, Children’s drawing, Africa sculpture and natural and antique colors inspire me a lot.

 How do you work physically?

Recently, I start to draw small size of drawings. My little studio has influenced me to work in small size works, which are done on my table. But usually, I like to work with 2~4 drawings at the same time on a wall.

What do you find frustrating/ enjoy about your process?

Mostly, I enjoy every processes of making artworks: research, conceptualized, preparation and visualized. Even though drawing is the best part, it’s also hard to get a satisfying result.

What is your medium/ media of choice? Why?

My favorite materials are charcoal, pencil, oil pastel and acrylic. Especially I’d prefer using pencil and charcoal for drawings because I like the feeling of vividness, roughness and rawness. To me, oil pastel is always one of my favorite materials because the material arouses my nostalgic childhood.

Tell us about your creative and conceptual process.  Where do your ideas come from/relate to?

Generally, my painting represents my emotions and personal stories. For instance, I seek the re-creation of images that I have seen in dreams, the emotions involved in relationships with others and their individual characters, and my own interpretation of daily objects and my cultural background. These elements are expressed as characters, lines, letters, and symbols in my drawings.

Who/ what motivates and influences your work and why?

In the beginning my drawing style was inspired by Jean Dubuffet and Jean Michel Basquiat’s footloose style. Also, Cy Twombly’s unrestricted paintings inspired me to create artworks more freely, simply, and abstractly.

Real life situations that inspire you?

Of course! Generally, I seek ideas and materials for my creations from my personal experience, such as walking on the street, talking with someone, shopping in a market, and watching movies etc. Every daily activities or situations inspire me a lot. I try to represent my thoughts and opinions on our daily lives. Furthermore, I became concerned with the ways in which relationships between humans affect a person emotionally, as does being in different environments.

How do you think/ want people to respond to your work?

I try to open each viewer’s imagination though the creation of ambiguous characters that are intended to be suggestions. They are open to interpretation from each person’s perspective. I feel that each line I create is essential to my work and breathes life into my drawings and at the same time my works are open-ended and dependent on the perception of others.

 Current adventures/ future plans? What’s next?

I am going to finish MFA at Pratt end of this year and I am planning to stay in New York for a while to continue my work. 

Any advice to other artists? What is the best piece of advice you have been given?

 Instead of my words, I’d like to share one of my favorite quotations.

Paul Klee notes, “Art does not reproduce the visible; rather, it makes visible.”

This quotation has become my biggest inspiration and helps me a lot when I am under pressure.  

12:00am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZNNAfwDLfDdy
Filed under: WonJung Kim Kelly Worman Studio Spoken 
December 1, 2011

Name: Scott Malbaurn

Studio Location: Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Practice: Painting

Website: www.scottmalbaurn.com 

Please give a breif bio. (Where are you from? How did you start? Is your background in art?)

I am from Groton, Connecticut

That is in South Eastern Connecticut, on the water, near Rhode Island, in the county of New London-a great place for music and art.

Like many artists, I got started in art at a very young age; just about as far back as I can remember.  

What continues to inspire you and keep you motivated in the studio?

The poetics and dynamics found in the mundane.

How do you work physically?

I work flat on a table. I walk around the table cross-hatching out my brush strokes with large paint brushes, working in many layers of paint and constantly sanding and repainting. I also make my own paint, except for the more hazardous materials, such as Cadmium and Cobalt. 

What do you find frustrating/ enjoy about your process?

The more you refine the work, the more you must refine the next painting, and the next, and so on. It takes longer to make each painting. You get addicted to the process and outcome and the work becomes more demanding. I am now attempting to dial it back a bit.

What is your medium/ media of choice? Why?

I work with acrylic on canvas or linen that may be stretched over panel. For myself, it serves hard-edged painting best. There are also many mediums that can be used with acrylic such as high grade silicas and urethanes. I make most of my own paint with these mediums, liquid dispersions and powdered pigments. This allows me to control the paint from start to finish. The viscosity and quality of the paint are both important.

How has your practice evolved over the years?

I believe that the technical aspect has grown. This comes from both the practice of painting and chemistry of materials. There have been many new materials recently introduced to the market that has leant evolution to the work.

Tell us about your creative and conceptual process.  Where do your ideas come from/relate to?

Most recently the concepts derived from Department of Transportation road signs and street markings; the chevron in particular.  I begin with drawings. I may deconstruct and then reconstruct or just look at things in a linear way, as well as both micro and macro. I will extrapolate forms and place them in different contexts, always looking for a balance between contrived and arbitrary. New ideas begin to emerge and grow from here.

Who/ what motivates and influences your work and why?

Day to day, it is the basics, music and art. But I am most inspired by creative thinkers, conceptual problem solvers and the individual—people who I consider modest geniuses.

Real life situations that inspire you?

Seeing people reach their goals, make discoveries; perceive things in new ways, and creating new boundaries.

How do you think/ want people to respond to your work?

I would like people to take their time when looking at the work. To allow themselves to open up to what they see and feel. I hope that they have a reaction that strikes an accord within them. One piece may be dynamic giving a strong reaction and another may be a subtle gesture towards an idea.

What was the last show you saw that knocked your socks off?

There are so many…

The America Abstract Artists exhibition, “ABSTRACTION∞(Abstraction to the Power of Infinity)” curated by Janet Kurnatowski at The Icebox and Grey Area at Crane Arts in Philadelphia.

Don Voisine at McKenzie Fine Art this past summer

The three person exhibition of Douglas Melini, Gary Perterson, and Sarah Walker also at McKenzie Fine Art this past September.

“A Romance of Many Dimensions” curated by Brent Hallard at the Brooklyn Artists Gym

Current adventures/ future plans? What’s next?

Current Adventure: Working as the Acting Assistant Chairperson of Fine Arts at Pratt Institute. Future Plans: Keep making art, develop, grow, and meet more, new and exciting people with interesting ideas.

Any advice to other artists? What is the best piece of advice you have been given?

My advice for other artists is to take advantage of, and say yes to, opportunities even if you think that there is nothing to gain from them. Some of my best opportunities derived from the ones I really wanted to say no to.

The best advice I was given is to keep track of your hours in the studio each week. Be sure to be working. An accountant may work 40 hours a week, a lawyer 80, how many hours are you working? Do you think of yourself as a full-time artist?

12:00am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZNNAfwCqHqiC
Filed under: Scott Malbaurn Kelly Worman Studio Spoken 
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