Interview with Kris Trappeniers

q)Let’s start with the basics; what's your full name, where do you live, and how old are you?

a)Kris Trappeniers, 40 years old, living in Belgium.

q) Do you have any formal training?

a)Phd in Chemistry. Art history, advertising art, screenprinting at the royal academy of Leuven, Belgium.

q) Did the place you grew up in influence your image making?

a)Not the place - but growing up in the eighties definitely shaped my feeling for graphic design. My passion for monochromatic design is related to the dark eighties.

q) How do you come up with your concepts?

a)They mostly fall into my mind while walking, cycling, watching a movie or during a conversation. I'm not really thinking or brainstorming about concepts, they just come and go. Usually everywhere I go I take a small sketchbook with me where I write down ideas and opinions.

q) Describe your creations in a clear, concise and understandable sentence. What do you call them?

a)Detailed photography based papercut portraits, occasionally used as stencil.

q)What other mediums would you like to explore in your image making?

a)Screenprinting, 3D street installations.

q)What is the best time in the day for you to work on a project? Is there one, or is it more about the environment -- maybe the right mood?

a)Very early in the morning, as the sunlight breaks directly into my studio. I mostly wake up very early around six in the morning and start work right away. In the evening I reserve some time for answering emails and blogging some photos.

q) What are your artistic influences?...and …generally who or what influences you the most?

a)Japanese paper crafts (Kiri-e and origami), clair-obscur paintings, calligraphy, poetry,

q) Who are some of your favourite artists/designers/photographers?

a)Ernest Pignon Ernest, C215, Velasquez, Pollock, Swoon, Richter, Blek le Rat

q) What is your next project?Exhibition?Collaboration?

a)In 2001 I have two solo exhibs coming up in Louvain and Cologne and group shows in Bern and Paris. I'm looking forward to collaborate with a body painter (Fluxser Manser).

q)What are your plans for the future?

a)None, I don't make plans on a long term, I'm already glad to have my day planned.

q)Are there some web sites that You would like to recomend? Artists, art communities, xxx,...!?

a)http://www.dudecraft.com/

http://www.stencilhistoryx.com/

http://www.souljazzrecords.co.uk/

http://www.veggiebelly.com/

http://www.carhartt-wip.com/

q)What sort of music do you listen to?

a)Jazz-funk, hip hop and deep house. While I work some modern classical music does the job.

q)Do you collect anything?If so what?

a)Magazines and newspapers from the fifties and sixties, preferably National Geographic and Photo Magazine

q)What do you do for fun?

a)Surfing, visiting flee markets and city trips

q)Any advice you can pass onto aspiring artists/designers?

a)Be patient .. Blek Le Rat and Jef Aerosol have been spraying stencils for 35 years and have just recently been recognized as founders of stencil graffiti. If you would like your art to be noticed you need to develop step by step until you have something unique to show. But if you work with full passion, it doesn't really matter how long it takes before getting recognized.

Interview with Christine Morren

1)Let’s start with the basics; what's your full name, where do you live, and how old are you?

1)My full name is Christine Morren. I live in Belgium and i am 45.

2) Do you have any formal training?

2)+/- 7 years ago, I have been painting during one year at the atelier of Maarten Boffé to learn the oilpainting techniques. After that i started discovering my own language and later collaboration/study in Jef Bertels' atelier, refined my vision.

3) Did the place you grew up in influence your image making?

3)I don't think so.

4) How do you come up with your concepts?

4)It just didn't come up at once. It is searching and searching... It's a process that is taking years and once it feels good, it grows..

5) Describe your creations in a clear, concise and understandable sentence. What do you call them?

5)My world is full of creatures. They vary in intensity, emotion and dimensions. They live everywhere and it looks like they come out of a dream. So you can call my work visionary.

6)What other mediums would you like to explore in your image making?

6)I would like to try out the watermixable oils. I did a little test and i think it will do fine :)

7)What is the best time in the day for you to work on a project? Is there one, or is it more about the environment -- maybe the right mood?

7)It can be any moment, as long as i have the time to concentrate. I need to be relaxed. Most of the time i'm painting in the evening (with a daylight lamp ;) )

Stress or very busy moments are no good for me when i want to paint.

8) What are your artistic influences?...and …generally who or what influences you the most?

8)Nature, people, emotions, ... are inspiring to me.

And the paint itself, the abstract first layer is very important.

9) Who are some of your favourite artists/designers/photographers?

9)I love the work of Octaaf Landuyt, Beksinski, Chris Mars, Joe Sorren, Marc Janssens, Kalvis Zuters, Chris Berens.. Oh so many !! :)

10) What is your next project?Exhibition?Collaboration?

10)I participate the Sketchbook project http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject

There are a few groupshows planned at Gallery NovaBelgica http://www.novabelgica.com/

And i will participate the Freak Show at Denmark in march 2012.

11)What are your plans for the future?

11)The only thing i know for sure is that i always will be painting. :-)

12)Are there some web sites that You would like to recomend? Artists, art communities, xxx,...!?

12)www.deviantart.com

http://visionaryartgallery.weebly.com/

http://www.projectmailartbooks.com/index.html

http://dev.openartcollection.com/

http://santiagoribeiro.ning.com/

13)What sort of music do you listen to?

13)I like different kinds of music. I like lounge music, rock music, ..

14)Do you collect anything?If so what?

14)I have a very little collection old doll heads. And some little antique dolls. Very tiny ones.

15)What do you do for fun?

15)I like visiting exhibitions, spending time with friends and having fun with friends and family, .. And painting of course. :)

16)Any advice you can pass onto aspiring artists/designers?

16)Never give up and always be yourself!

17)Your contacts…

17) www.christinemorren.com

Interview with Christopher "ILTH" Erickson

q)Please tell us your name and where you practice.

a) Christopher "ILTH" Erickson. Chicago, IL.

q) Why do you make art?

a) i make what i'd like to see. something to reflect who i am others can't or won't see. Materialization of the mind, imagination, emotions into the visual plane.

it's also serves as a sort of diary. i know what they might mean at the time and then what they mean to me later. this might lead to a later discovery of what i was thinking/feeling.

so, its very theraputic. i make the collages and assemblages first and formost for myself. then if it provokes the imagination in others, and further success. thats what the art i've love/d has done to me.

q) How do you work ?

a) slowly & attentively

q) What´s your background?

a) in art training? as of 2011: none. otherwise my background is whats behind me.

q) What role does the artist have in society?

a) money & power. everyone looks up to the artist, especially in America. we sit at the top of the heap.

q) What was a seminal experience for you ?

a) living in an apartment in the dead of winter with no heat. lived in the closet with my two cats and a space heater. no work and a broken hand. i had been drawing all my life and playing music but neither fully satisfied me. in my kitchen in the dark i made my first collage. shortly after i was visited by looming black spirits above me in the closet. i read gold glowing hyroglyphics on the wall. this was a mental break through or breakdown but in all the dark there came a light and i've continued to seek it since. i've sumerized it as: "To shed light on the dark recesses of the mind".

q) Has your practice changed over time ?

a) im more careful and focused. my detail might not always be overloaded with multiple perspectives. but this isn't always the case.

q) What art do you most identify with ?

a) symbolism, dada, surrealism....more than that but that's a few movements i love

q) What´s your strongest memory of your childhood ?

a) a house teetering back and forth on the point of a mountain. this is how i rocked myself to sleep.

q) What themes do you pursue ?

a) death and identifying what remains unknown.

q) Describe a real life experience that inspired you.

a) refere to the winter experiance above. Also, i was greatly insipred by the old masters as a child inaddition to antiquity. as i got older i've been interested in old music which led me to older music and eventually to Dada and surreaslism. i also like junk/antiques and that continues to inspire me. old junk rattles my imagination and provokes lost time in my mind leading to parrallel , imaginary worlds.

q) What´s your most embarrassing moment ?

a)...

q) What jobs have you done other than being an artist ?

a) junk/antique picker, worked in junk/antique shops, physical labour.

q) What responses have you had to your work ?

a) punk/underground bands have asked me to do artwerk for them. i love that. other than that poeple have responded positivly.

q) What do you dislike about the artworld ?

a)nothing yet, from what i know of it first hand. im working with 5 Peice Gallery in Switzerland and so far so good. i able to reach someone when i need too. the experiance has been good so far. otherwise i've dealt with underground gallerys here in chicago and thats always worked out fine.

q) What research do you do ?

a) lately i've been interested in politics. i've read alot about dada, Surrealism, music, psychology, and fiction of all sorts. human condition/the search for meaning. my dreams.

q) What is your dream project?

a)...

q) What´s the best piece of advice you have been given ?

a) wipe your ass

q) What couldn’t you do without?

a) oxygen, food, water, warmth

q) What makes you angry?

a) ...

q) What is your worst quality?

a) lack of finacial independence.

q)Dogs or Cats ?

a) cats

q) Making art is a lot like being on lsd. Know what I mean ?

a) sure

q) What does “ copy” mean to you ?

a) clone

q) What´s your favorite cuss word?

a) FUCK