Interview with Dhruvi Acharya

q) Please introduce yourself.

a)Hi I'm Dhruvi Acharya.

q) Where do you live and work?

a)Last few years I've been spending time mainly in Mumbai. Before that, it was 10 years in the US

q) How would you describe your work to someone who has never seen it?

a)My work is figurative but not realistic, rather it is comic book based – I find it hard to describe so if possible, do visit dhruvi.com

q) How did you start in the arts? How/when did you realize you were an artist?

a)I was extremely homesick when I first got to the USA so I began drawing and painting my memories of home. That is when I realized it was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

q) What are your favorite art materials and why?

a)I like paints. I started with gauche, then used oils for several years. Now I enjoy using synthetic polymer paints (acrylics) and watercolours because I can layer with them and they dry quickly.

q) What/who influences you most?

a)Life. And many other artists work.

q) Describe a typical day of art making for you.

a)On weekdays I send my boys to school, exercise and then work in the studio (one flight up from my residence) from 9am to 2pm. In the afternoons and evenings I spend time with my sons and work on the computer at home. From 9pm until I can stay up, I usually go back to the studio or work at home on my computer. Unless there is a big show coming up, family is priority on the weekends although I think I usually work everyday.

q) Do you have goals, specific things you want to achieve with your art or in your career as an artist?

a)I want to be a better painter today than I was yesterday. Of course it would be great to show in museums I love visiting!!

q) What contemporary artists or developments in art interest you?

a)I like humour in art and I like art that has a graphic quality. I realy enjoy the work of Lari Pittman, Takashi Murakami, Barry McGee, NS Harsha, Os Gemeos, Margaret Kilgallen, Julie Meheretu among others.

q) How long does it typically take you to finish a piece?

a)I set aside a month (working mom time) for a 4x4 foot canvas, during which time I also may work on a couple of 6x6inch paintings and a few watercolours.

q) Do you enjoy selling your pieces, or are you emotionally attached to them?

a)I am extremely attached to most of my works and once I started to make enough to afford to not sell everything I paint, I keep what I simply cannot part with. But often collectors give me feedback and it feels great to know my work gives others as much pleasure as the works by other arists in my collection gives me.

q) Is music important to you? If so, what are some things you're listening to now?

a)I always have music on when I work. I listen to various kinds of music including Nina Simone, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Simon & Garfunkle, Hindi film soundtracks, current pop singers (whoever that may be) but think Coldplay and U2 are my perpetual favourites.

q) Books?

a)I enjoy reading and am constantly reading magazines, art books and journals. I read novels only during holidays as if I start a good one during workdays I begin to shorten my studio hours.

q) What theories or beliefs do you have regarding creativity or the creative process?

a)I think creativity flourishes when one spends time in the workplace everyday.

q)What do you do (or what do you enjoy doing) when you're not creating?

a)Spending time with my sons, reading, watching movies.

q) Do you have any projects or shows coming up that you are particularly excited about?

a)I am currently working on a large-scale digital print for the Mumbai International airport.

q) Do you follow contemporary art scenes? If so, how? What websites, magazines, galleries do you prefer?

a)I subscribe to Art Forum, Art News, Art in America, Juxtapose, Art India and Gallerie. I read the New York Times online and also visit several websites from time to time. When in New York I enjoy the MOMA, PS1, the Met and the galleries in Chelsea. In Mumbai I visit the several private galleries about once a fornight.

q) Any advice for aspiring artists?

a)I think NIKE put it well – "Just Do It". Often some unfounded "fear" or simply being unsure stops one from doing something new, but I am slowly finding out you if just trust your instincts and give it a try, things often work out in a surprising way.

q) Where can we see more of your work online?

a) www.dhruvi.com

Interview with Jesse Balmer

q)Please introduce yourself.

a)My name is Jesse Balmer. I'm 22 years old,

and I was born in San Juan Capistrano,

California.

q)Where do you live and work?

a)I've been living in San Francisco for

a little over a year and a half now, and

it's been treating me very well.

q)How would you describe your work

to someone who has never seen it?

a)My work changes pretty rapidly

as various influences come and go,

but right now I'm trying to explore

the fluidity
with which life fades in and out

of the physical universe and what the infinite void

surrounding it might look like.
I think the stars are clearer there.

q)How did you start in the arts?

How/when did you realize you were an artist?

a)In kindergarten everyone in the class

was drawing this crab from a book we'd just read...

and the teacher said that
she especially liked the detail in mine.

I must have put extra spines on the legs or something...

but that was the first
complement I remember receiving about

my drawing and I've been drawing instead

of paying attention to my obligations ever since.

q)What are your favorite art materials and why?

a)In my sketchbooks I use ballpoint pens and

Tombow brush pens almost exclusively.

Nothing feels better than drawing with
a brush pen on a smooth sheet of newsprint.

Highly recommended for releasing tension.

When I'm getting
serious with a piece, I use Stonehenge paper,

gouache, ink, colored pencils and micron pens.

I like to keep things pretty simple.

q)What/who influences you most?

a)Nothing influences anybody more than

the vast number of things things they experience

on a day to day basis...and I'm no
different. Also, artists in this day and age are on

a quest to make the average zoned out

human being stop and think for a moment
about something other than themselves.

As far as the who goes...Dr. Seuss and

Shel Silverstein are two big ones.

The strong connection that exist
between their words and drawings is

something that I was shaped by as a

child and is something that I now really envy.

q)Describe a typical day of art making for you.

a)Get up, go to work, come home, go to bed,

find self unable to sleep due to idea

banging around in head, stay up until
4 executing idea on paper.

q)Do you have goals, specific things you want

to achieve with your art or in your career as an artist?

a)I'd like to start writing and illustrating my own comics.

I do it on a small scale in my sketchbook,
but I've yet to create a world with the kind of continuity

that allows for a story to unfold. That world is finally starting

to take
shape though, which is exciting.

q)What contemporary artists or developments

in art interest you?

a)When I was in high school that whole

Beautiful Losers thing happened, which got me

seriously thinking about making artwork
beyond what I did every day in my sketchbooks

which up until then was just a tool to keep

myself entertained in class or wherever
I was. And there are so many incredible artists that

I discover every single day that it'd take way too long

to list them all...
but the fact remains that I'm blown away all the time.

I've recently had the pleasure of seeing two of my

favorite artists working
in their element: Matt Furie and

Maxwell Loren Holyoke Hirsch. It's incredible

to see the work ethic of a working artist. I have
a long way to go.

q)How long does it typically take you to finish a piece?

a)Somewhere between fifteen minutes and eight hours.

q)Do you enjoy selling your pieces, or are you

emotionally attached to them?

a)I am certainly attached to everything...

which has resulted in many drawers full of old

shitty drawings. I don't know if it's good or bad.
They'll need it for the retrospective they publish when I die,

right? No. I'll need it all to show my kids when
I'm forcing them to be artists like their dad.

As far as selling work goes,

if somebody likes a piece enough to hang it in
their home, parting with it becomes pretty easy.

q)Is music important to you? If so,

what are some things you're listening to now?

a)There are so many bands. Animal Collective

and Panda Bear are my favorite things to draw to.

q)Books?

a)Been reading a lot of comics lately.

Paul Pope is incredible. Alan Moore, of course...

and I'm a big huge batman fan. The best
novel I read recently was East of Eden by Steinbeck.

Holy shit. Mind expanding on so many levels.

Or maybe I just don't get out
enough.

q)What theories or beliefs do you have

regarding creativity or the creative process?

a)I think that the creative process is

something that's essential to the sane human mind.

And I don't just mean the traditional list
of creative outlets(music, writing, cooking, drawing etc).

I think there are many hundreds or thousands

of ways to release that energy...

but what's important is that it gets released.

If I didn't draw I don't know what I'd do.

I'd go nuts or I'd find another outlet.

I think there are a lot of
people in the world looking for the thing

that satisfies the creative side of their brain.

I think those are the people who don't
know what they want to be when they grow up.

I feel very lucky to have found something

that makes me so happy...and even luckier to
to have been born into one of the few places

where people have time to even think about art.

q)What do you do (or what do you enjoy doing)

when you're not creating?

a)Frisbee, reading comics, Super Smash Bros 64,

the bike, picnicking in golden gate park,

movies for free, and taking trips to Los
Angeles/Orange County to visit

my long lost friends and family.

q)Do you have any projects or

shows coming up that you are

particularly excited about?

a)I have a show with Bwana Spoons,

Martin Ontiveros and Grant Gilliland called

The Continuous Spectrum coming up at

Double Punch which is one of those trendy expensive vinyl

figure stores here in SF...and I have a collaborative show

in the works with another local artist who

works in three dimensions. It's
not totally fleshed out and we don't have dates

or anything so I don't want to get too into it,

but I'm very excited about that one.

q)Do you follow contemporary art scenes?

If so, how? What websites, magazines, galleries do you prefer?

a)I browse FecalFace.com on a pretty regular

basis and I post my work on the forums at conceptart.org.

Both are very excellent places to go if you're looking for inspiration.

q)Ask yourself a question you'd like to answer, and answer it.

a)What do you think about artists who back themselves

into a stylistic corner in order to fit a certain interest group

specifically to make money? Art making should be about

doing what's satisfying to you and hoping

that people relate to it enough to want to make it a

part of their lives. It's a mistake to think too strongly

about the business end of things. As of now I have no idea

what it's like to make any sort of money via my art.

I just do it because I've always done it. But I'm certainly

at that point where I'd like to start working less and making

art more. If you're doing your own thing and you're good at it,

people will eventually recognize and appreciate

your work, which is when an artist starts to become successful.

q)Any advice for aspiring artists?

a)I think I just answered that question sort of...

but go get yourself a sketchbook and start developing

something all your own. Always keep it with you

and draw in that thing every day. You don't have to get

a degree but it's a good idea to at least take

classes at your local community college to keep

fresh thoughts and ideas running through your head.

q)Where can we see more of your work online?

a)On flickr or on myspace for the time being as

my website is currently "under construction."

Interview with Maia Palileo

q)Please introduce yourself.

a)Hello, my name is Maia Palileo.

q)Where do you live and work?

a)Brooklyn, NY

q)How would you describe your work to someone who has never seen it?

a)I make paintings, sculptures, and installations based on my Filipino family. A couple years ago, I converted my studio into my grandparents’ living room from Fort Wayne Indiana that was a mix of hand made things like cardboard and contact paper wood panelling and Styrofoam bricks, replicated and existing artwork and bric-a-brac. From there, I started painting based on old family photographs, then made a cast of a couch with life size figures from the paintings, and am now painting again.

q)How did you start in the arts? How/when did you realize you were an artist?

a)I took a photography class in high school and thought I wanted to be a photographer. When I got to college, the school didn’t offer photography, so I ended up in a drawing class. My mom died in the spring of my second year of college and then my best friend killed himself that same summer. When I went back to school the next fall, I spent almost all of my time, even cutting classes, in the studio. It was the only way I could handle what I was going through. It wasn’t until I went to graduate school seven years later that I came to the realization that this was not only what I want to do with my life, but that it’s what I need to do. I feel like I don’t have a choice.

q)What are your favorite art materials and why?

a)I like making things up, like thinking about how can I make that out of regular, household things, or how can I use a traditional material and make it look nothing like what it actually is (for sculpture, that is). I’m not a huge fan of traditional sculpture materials. As far as painting, I like to find a way to make marks that are indirect like painting on a piece of paper and then transferring it onto another paper or using carbon paper to draw instead of directly drawing onto the paper. It feels less predictable and less perfect. I was also using house paint for a while, but am now trying out gouache.

q)What/who influences you most?

a)Memory and loss.

q)Describe a typical day of art making for you.

a)It usually takes me at least three hours to start to feel like I’m doing something. After the first three hours, I succumb to my day and begin to get focused on whatever I’m working on. I try not to take my computer to the studio unless I need it for the work because I get distracted by the internet. I recently got a printer that is also a copy machine, so I’ve been using it to enlarge collages and drawings a lot and using carbon paper to transfer those images onto the paintings.

q)Do you have goals, specific things you want to achieve with your art or in your career as an artist?

a)My main goal is to be honest in the work, always. And then I want to share it with the world.

q)What contemporary artists or developments in art interest you?

a)Some of my favourites are Louise Bourgois, Kiki Smith, Eva Hesse, Sally Mann, Mamma Andersson, Peter Doig, Kerry James Marshall, Shigeko Kubota, Ann Liv Young, Ryan Trecartin, Kara Walker, wooden santos/religious imagery, folk art, performance and experimental theatre.

q)How long does it typically take you to finish a piece?

a)It depends on what it is, I spent over six months making my grandparents living room, sculptures take forever too, but not six months, maybe a few weeks on each piece, but they’re usually all being worked on at the same time. Painting is different, I make a lot of crappy paintings for a few months and then finally figure out how to make the paintings I want to make and then work manically and fairly quickly once the connection happens.

q)Do you enjoy selling your pieces, or are you emotionally attached to them?

a)Yes! Let me know if you’re interested!

q)Is music important to you? If so, what are some things you're listening to now?

a)I listen to music while I’m working until I get sick of the music on my ipod. Most played recently are Jenny Lewis, Feist, Electrelane, and Joan as Policewoman.

q)Books?

a)I used to spend hours in the art library in grad school when I felt like I couldn’t do any work in the studio. I just re-read some of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales, I love how dark and sad they are. One book from the library that I was obsessed with for a while was a book about Puerto Rican santos. They were so amazing to me, how the wood was worn and the layers of paint always looked like they were rotting off, and how artisans from different colonized countries, including the Philippines, took the Santo and made it their own.

q)What theories or beliefs do you have regarding creativity or the creative process?

a)No theories, really, I just think that it is necessary and essential not only in my life, but also in the world. Especially art because it doesn’t require words or explanations.

q)What do you do (or what do you enjoy doing) when you're not creating?

a)If I’m not working at my job, I like to hang around my house, see movies, and harass my cats and girlfriend.

q)Do you have any projects or shows coming up that you are particularly excited about?

a)I just took down an installation in a window gallery where I got to combine parts of the installation of my grandparents’ living room with sculptures of life-size family members and a paper couch. The gallery was in an area where you wouldn’t expect to see art, it was sort of like a public art installation, so I liked that it was removed from the typical places one would find art. It was also cool to combine two different works in a way that made a different piece.

Also, my girlfriend is an actor/performer and we are planning on collaborating soon. I don’t know what it will be, but I’m so excited! It will most likely explore gender and sexuality, things I don’t normally address in my work.

q)Do you follow contemporary art scenes? If so, how? What websites, magazines, galleries do you prefer?

a)Yes, I try to get out to galleries, performances, and museums but not often enough…I subscribe to the following magazines: Bomb, Art Forum, Art in America, and will be featured in this month’s issue of Contemporary Art Philippines.

q)Ask yourself a question you'd like to answer, and answer it.

a)Yes, I will make my way to the Philippines soon.

q)Any advice for aspiring artists?

a)Just be honest.

q)Where can we see more of your work online?

a) www.maiapalileo.com