COWard33&sNEEze15

Interview with Rael Brian

2012-01-26T02:28:00.000-08:00

q) Well, first of all please tell us a little about yourself.

a)my name is Rael Brian, i'm 23, i live in Brusque, Brazil. im not part of anything.

q)How would you describe your work?

a)in my work i try to work on the theme "portrait" using collage as foundation
i think intensity and sincerity are the keywords to my work

q) Did somebody encourage you to become an artist?

a)no, nobody. was a choice i made on my own

q) Generally speaking, where do your ideas come from?

a)dont know, my head is too confused, i suffer from anxiety and bipolar disorder
i have a lot of hate and love for things at the same time
my art carries a bucket of emotions that i live

q) How long does it take to complete a piece?

a)im a bit relaxed
sometimes i take 3 days to finish a piece
sometimes i take few hours
its relative
and sometimes i spend weeks without doing anything
doing stuff that i enjoy like skatebording, surfing, reading and playing electric guitar
besides sleeping, which is a very good thing

q) Who are your favorite artists…and who are some artists you are currently looking/listening to?

a)basquiat, was a huge influence at first, jason adams, tim kerr, francis bacon, mikey welsh, tide hellmeister, dash snow.

are artists with sincere and inspiring art
and there are some friends and people i know that are doing art with content and inspiring me as well, such as alex vieira, sesper, carlos dias
kaue garcia, carol brandi, filipe guimaraes
cabu valente, geo, flavio grao, fabio aka desde69, etc

i have a lot of inspiration from music, i keep listening and researching all the time
literature is another thing that influences me, like george orwell, nietzsche, and i really enjoy reading biographies, like nirvana and kurt cobain, which i must've read like 100 times

q) Are you represented by a gallery? Do you have any upcoming exhibits?

a)i'm having an exhibition on february in sao paulo along two friends of mine
i'm not represented by any gallery but i want to someday work with some serious gallery

q) Do you have any 'studio rituals'? As in, do you listen to certain types of music while working? What helps to get you in the mood for working?

a)maybe, i like to listen to miles davis' bitches brew to create, fugazi's intrument, Lungfish Articial Horizon

don't have many rituals, only put up some records, take a look on magazines that are spreaded on the floor, messing up the ambient and i start to work

q) What is your favorite a) taste, b) sound, c) sight, d) smell, and e) tactile sensation?

a)crooked punk rock, i like the sight of the sunset on the beach, the smell of the salty water and the texture of old magazines

q) Do you have goals that you are trying to reach as an artist, what is your 'drive'? What would you like to accomplish in your 'profession'?

a)my goal is to evolve my art without losing my identity and being known for a quality work and who knows someday make some money to live with no worries

q) When have you started using the internet and what role does this form of communication play for you, personally, for your art, and for your business?

a)the internet is very important for my work, i've met a lot of interesting people seriously involved with art and it also helps the disclosure of my work in a very large scale

q) What do you obsess over?

a)stay away from an ordinary job that wastes my mind

q) Do you have prefered working hours? Do you pay attention to the time of the day or maybe specific lighting?

a)i like to work in the afternoon until the night, in the morning i like to sleep
and in the afternoon the light seems to have a softer shade that pleases me

q) Do you do commissioned works?

a)yes, it depends on what the client wants and if there's anyone interested in ordering or buying any work my email is raelbrian@hotmail.com

q) Any tips for emerging artists?

a)do what you think is right without worrying about what others say

q)…Your contacts

a)raelbrian@hotmail.com
www.raelbrian.blogspot.com
www.flickr.com/photos/30469764@N03/
find me on facebook

Interview with Jenny G

2011-12-22T13:50:00.000-08:00

q) Well, first of all please tell us a little about yourself.
 
 
a)I was born in Vancouver 27 years ago, and just moved back here a few
months ago. For the past 6 years, I lived in Montreal and San Francisco.
At the moment I'm working as a fulltime artist, and I'm applying for grad
school in the U.S. for Fall 2012.
 
 
q)How would you describe your work?
 
 
a)My work takes advantage of process and material. Working on large scale,
un-evenly cut paper, my work unfolds upon a visible layered mark making.
By availing myself to the discomfort that comes with following the
intuitive thought process, I like to tread in the area between
representation and abstraction.
 
 
 
q) Did somebody encourage you to become an artist?
 
 
a)I never really thought that I would be able to be a fulltime artist and
make a living of it. That is to say, I didn't know it was even possible
until I started taking art classes in College. My plan was to pursue
Mathematics or Physics, only because I was decent at it. I completely
abandoned that once I discovered that it's very possible to make art for a
living...although not easy. It just so happens that the problem solving
approach has been transfered from my education in Math and Science into my
art practice.
 
 
 
q) What is your favorite medium?
 
 
a)I like to work on paper. Not only does it allow for direct contact, but
it also holds up to aggressive mark making. It's easy to cut or add more
surface quickly, so there's a sense of spontaneity that melds well with
my process. All my work is on some sort of paper, and I use a wide range
of mediums on top of that; oil paint, oil stick, pastels, acrylic paint,
spray paint, ink, graphite, charcoal. My newest project involves working
uniquely on a tablet in photoshop, and then printing them out as digital
c-prints. It's exciting for me to start thinking about the process of
working large scale in the physical world and living through the process,
versus creating within the perimeter of a tablet and not seeing the final
product until it's done. Both are good.
 
 
q) Generally speaking, where do your ideas come from?
 
 
a)Basically, my ideas come from my own work. I'd like to say it's completely
self perpetuating, but of course there are aspects of my life and
experiences that come through. For example, when I was living in Montreal,
I was making work with sunny-beachy imagery. And while I was living in
California, I was making images that appear more wintery-christmassy. And
now it's sort of a mix of the two. This wasn't something I was fully aware
of at the time, so I guess it was somehow intuited. I like to think of art
making like an event over time. Within the time it takes to make one
piece, within a year, 10 years, a lifetime...that way there's a sense of
failure and success built into each piece. It's the thing keeps it
exciting...to see an evolution and continuous growth.
 
 
q) How long does it take to complete a piece?
 
 
a)It varies. On average, I'd say it takes 3 months. I work on many pieces at
the same time and go back and forth. I have some pieces that I've been
working on for over a year.
 
 
q) Who are your favorite artists…and who are some artists you are
currently looking/listening to?
 
 
a)Carroll Dunham, Josh Smith, Tal R, are some of my favorite artists. Their
working method and outlook on the creation process are very inspirational.
I just came back from LA, and there I saw a collaborative exhibition by
Aaron Curry and Richard Hawkins at David Kordansky Gallery. I was blown
away!
 
 
q) Are you represented by a gallery? Do you have any upcoming exhibits?
 
 
a)I am not represented by a gallery...yet. Right now, I'm working on
applications for grad school as well as residencies in Canada and USA.
 
 
q) Do you have any 'studio rituals'? As in, do you listen to certain types
of music while working? What helps to get you in the mood for working?
 
 
a)I don't have any rituals. I find that variety serves me well in the
studio. Sometimes I work along with music or the radio, sometimes in
silence. Forcing myself to work everyday, even if I'm not in the mood, is
important. If I just  waited for inspiration, I would never make anything.
It all comes from working.
 
 
q) What is your favorite a) taste, b) sound, c) sight, d) smell, and e)
tactile sensation?
 
 
a)That's an odd question! I couldn't even start to answer it.
 
 
q) Do you have goals that you are trying to reach as an artist, what is
your 'drive'? What would you like to accomplish in your 'profession'?
 
 
a)The main goal is to be fulfilled within myself and to be constantly
challenged. Of course I can't live off of self-fulfillment, I need money!
I'm going to grad school so that I can be a fulltime artist. To be
immersed in a vibrant and inquisitive community of other artists, gain
exposure, and have opportunities to participate alongside innovative
practices....that's what I want to accomplish.
 
 
q) When have you started using the internet and what role does this form
of communication play for you, personally, for your art, and for your
business?
 
 
a)It plays a big part. I don't use the internet to help with my creation
process, but it is useful in terms of keeping up with events ;
exhibitions, openings, lectures. And of course, I'm always looking for new
opportunities to show or apply for grants. I recently got my website up
and it's nice when people contact me about my work or blog it.  It all
helps to get your work seen throughout the world.
 
 
 
q) What do you obsess over?
 
 
a)Time.
 
 
q) Do you have prefered working hours? Do you pay attention to the time of
the day or maybe specific lighting?
 
 
a)I'm definitely a morning person. I use the daytime hours to mainly
think/write. During the night hours, I am more able to let loose. The
thinking and making states of mind are quite separate for me and things
work best when I'm capable of letting go of what seems most logical.
 
 
q) Do you do commissioned works?
 
 
a)I have in the past, but not of late.
 
 
q) Any tips for emerging artists?
 
 
a)Work work work work work
 
 
q)…Your contacts
 
 
a)www.gjennyg.com

Interview with Quadreria Romantico Seriale

2011-12-03T00:49:00.000-08:00

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

a)Quadreria Romantico Seriale is an impersonal name: the use of the "we" is related to this choice. Our project has an european identity with deep roots in a mediaeval pilgrimage route named Via Francigena, in the apennine mountains of the north Italy.

q) Why do you make art?

a)Above all, we make art for the aesthetic pleasure to affirming our conception of being between tradition, myth and symbols. Our artworks want to be an evidence of this "act of will. Then, we make art to mark our radical, anthropological diversity from this anemic and "civilized" system of life. Each artwork by Quadreria Romantico Seriale is a relic of a re-appropriating ritual, performed among serial images and indirect perceptions generated by this immense narcotic entertainment.

q) How do you work ?

a)The oil painting is the technic more used by us. It's a discipline, a mental gymnastics, a cultural choice. We work only on pre-existent images, often taken from agencies or archives. The pics are "sampled" on computer, projected on the canvas and painted in the "obscurity", with only a directional light illuminating the surface. In these conditions, we are more concentrated on the interiority of the work. Also our progressive chromatic reduction has this same finality.

q) What´s your background?

a)We have an Indo-european backgruond, originated in Urheimat. This information is much more characterizing than to list artistic experiences, schools or academies.

q) What role does the artist have in society?

a)Usually, the artists are only entertainers. They are good citizens or "lounge rebels" perfectly functional to the actual value system: relativism, universalism, market. Maybe, the only one possibility for an artist to be more incisive is to define an integral culture. Art as social sculpture. Philosophy as spiritual strategy. Politics as aesthetic realization. Every aspect of the life is "material" to be shaped. The Doric world, as described by Gottried Benn, is an important reference.

q) What was a seminal experience for you ?

a)We don't have a "seminal experience" but we have a "seminal system", erected by ourselves day by day through actions and ideas. It creates our destiny.

q) Has your practice changed over time ?

a)Quadreria Romantico Seriale is a uniform realized for a specific mission. But sometime there are actions that require a camouflage.

q) What art do you most identify with ?

a)Where we are living it's a wasteland. Our concept is part of a perennial tradition, but our works don't identify with anything. This condition is also represented by our symbol: an hyperborean swan that cross obscure waters.

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

a)We prefer don't talk about our private memories. We are here as artistic project: we want to be only masks.

q) What themes do you pursue ?

a)Sacredness and Oblivion. Purity and Decadence. Discipline and Apocalypse. At the end, the Quadreria Romantico Seriale pursues a form of elevation.

q) Describe a real life experience that inspired you.

a)It's our opinion that a single fact, more inspiring than others, doesn't exit. There are only different planes of perception and elaboration. Also, we believe that every kind of experience is an element of the real life.

q) What´s your most embarrassing moment ?

a)The entire modernity, with its system of relationships, is an embarrassing moment. Our daily life has become a frenetic magma where it's very difficult to find significant episodes. For many existences, often, the death is the only one moment of authentic vitality. This kind of civilization have lost the sense of Tragic, supplanted by anxiety, sense of inadequacy and "embarrassments" among an infinity of irrelevant facts. We live in a panic at low intensity.

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

a)We are all "contractors". It's curious, but this aseptic term is used also to indicate "mercenary". It's not a moral judgment, it's only an observation about the inconsistence of our language. Surely, "mercenary" is much more literary than "contractor".

q) What responses have you had to your work ?

a)We are very satisfied with the support that we receive from persons near to our activity.

For us they are the fundamental reason to continue to make art. We are proud of them.

q) What do you dislike about the artworld ?

a)Directly, nothing. The artworld is only an organism generated by anemic post-ideologies, nothing else. There is a legion of promoters which producing a mass of erudite vacuities as meetings, studies, stages, exhibitions. It's the paroxysm of the empty. Everything is undifferentiated, fragmented, "without a center", as Sedlmayr wrote. This is the cultural relativism, that's all.

q) What research do you do ?

a)Our activity is not concentrated on formal questions. We are searching to realize a symbolic style without intimacies. The QRS works are devotional objects related to an Idea above them. They are "tensions", sometime obsessions, between order and nihilism.

q) What is your dream project?

a)The extinction of the actual alienating form of civil society, supplanted by territorial communities with a strong and defined cultural identity (Ferdinand Tönnies could be an important guide). The extinction of the actual meant of "art" (as "art of the artworks"), supplanted by the Art as form of existence. Each of these events is a consequence of the other.

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

a)It doesn't exit. There is only a long process of awareness, very often with bloody spiritual battles.

q) What couldn’t you do without?

a)Light.

q) What makes you angry?

a)Nothing makes us angry. But in aesthetic field (for us an aesthetic is also an ethic), we don't like what is shapeless and slovenliness: both these features are lack of style, boldness and spiritual rank. Then, we don't like the human activities without identity and ideality; what is cynically wordily, conventionally incorrect and formally friendly. This "weak ethic", aesthetically ugly, is typical of the liberal societies.

q) What is your worst quality?

a)Anyone can decide it reading these answers.

q) Dogs or Cats ?

a)Wolfs and Lynxes.

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

a)We don't know. The acid imaginary is completely different from our nature. Quadreria Romantico Seriale is influenced by the gnostic cultures. For us, making art is like to ordering a legion of obscure and luminous interior creatures. It's care and rule. About lsd question, there are important exceptions near to our sensibility, like Philip Dick and Ernst Junger: artists, mystics and soldiers who lived on superior levels of consciousness.

q) What does “copy” mean to you ?

a)This modernity is founded on the "copy". As the situationists known, this time prefers the "copy" instead the "original" and the truth is a moment of the fake. In this form of civilization, it's an illusion to create new "originals". Conceptually, also QRS artworks are fakes, deviating copies. Apart from that, the important and crucial point is to realize new senses of interpretation, new methods of diffusion, new synthesis, not "new" images.

q) What´s your favorite cuss word ?

a)Liberal.

Interview with Kris Trappeniers

2011-11-15T04:24:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-11T12:27:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-03T04:51:00.000-07:00

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

Interview with Crajes

2011-10-24T12:49:00.000-07:00

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

a)We are Crajes, Carla Rendon and Jessica Ruiz from Barcelona (Spain).

q) Why do you make art?

a)We are art lovers since we were children. We need to create and show what we think and feel about society and everything around us. This is the natural way for us.

q) How do you work ?

a)We work with mixed media, everyday, full time, at our studio. We are two so it's not the usual way, everybody asks us how we work together, it's a little hard to explain because it's something normal for us. Here you can watch a little:

q) What´s your background?

a)We are self-taught.

q) What role does the artist have in society?

a)It's a delicate issue. Here in Spain, people have lost "art culture" and interest for art.

Children aren't educated to appreciate it. So people thinks about it as a hobby. But we think that the art and artists are very important for a health society growth.

q) What was a seminal experience for you ?

a)We had some problems as teenages and when we realized that we didn't wanted that kind of life. We started to work as hard as possible to make a living with something that make us happy.

q) Has your practice changed over time ?

a)Yes, and we try to learn new techniques always.

q) What art do you most identify with ?

a)Pop Surrealism.

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

a)Carla: My mom use to put on "Cannibal Holocaust" film for me to be calm because I was a very nervous child.

Jessica: I remember all the days spend with all my sisters and brother at the countryside.

q) What themes do you pursue ?

a)We are really obsessive, so it depends. Right now we are searching a lot of information about Pre-raphaelite, nature and abandoned places. But always there is duality.

q) Describe a real life experience that inspired you.

a)More like a vital experience.

q) What´s your most embarrassing moment ?

a)Wow!! There would be to many for me to just pick up one.

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

a)Private tutor, McDonalds, Fruit Market, Model ...

q) What responses have you had to your work ?

a)We have got like mixed views. Mix we create between the beautiful and the weird sometimes can be awkward. We hope to recibe a lot more opinions about our work.

q) What do you dislike about the artworld ?

a)For us, young artists, is really hard to get a chance.

q) What research do you do ?

a)We like to find out about the subject that we are going to be dealing with books, internet, films, ...

q) What is your dream project?

a)We have always dreamt about doing our paintings on a much bigger scale, especially in a wall.

And of course showing our work woldwide.

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

a)Don't trust anyone ^^

q) What couldn’t you do without?

a)Eachother and our moleskine

q) What makes you angry?

a)Unjustice

q) What is your worst quality?

a)Carla: I am very anxious and perfectionist.

Jessica: obssesive and perfectionist.

q) Dogs or Cats ?

a)Dogs but we are obssesed with Sphynx cats. They are amazing!!

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

a)Yes, the artist creates its own world and this world is whatever it can imagine.

q) What does “ copy” mean to you ?

a)Not creating things from your mind and experience. You can use references but not copy exactly the same.

q) What´s your favorite cuss word ?

a)Basura and coño!!!

InPrint Magazine

2011-09-22T02:26:00.001-07:00

.....the new issue of''InPrint Magazine'' is out!!!!!Naturally I'm on with my art....with other fantastic artists....go now to watch it!!!!!!!!

http://www.inprint-mag.com/

Interview with Mimi Leung

2011-09-06T04:38:00.000-07:00

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

a)Mimi Leung, Alice Springs (Australia)

q) Why do you make art?

a)I need to.

q) How do you work ?

a)Compulsively

q) What´s your background?

a)Hong Kong-born Australian via 20 years of Great British education.
q) What role does the artist have in society?

a)ways of seeing, experiencing, understanding, communicating things that are different from the median.

q) What was a seminal experience for you ?

a)Waking from a coma.
q) Has your practice changed over time ?

a)Yes.

q) What art do you most identify with ?

a)brutal, crude, ridiculous, untamed,cute, vulnerably aggressive.

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

a)Sitting under a piano crying because I’d realised that one day my parents would die.

q) What themes do you pursue ?

a)not sure at the moment – life, mind, soul, brains n guts maybe?

q) Describe a real life experience that inspired you.

a)I saw a dog licking its unsheathed penis whilst urinating and scratching its head at the same time.

q) What´s your most embarrassing moment ?

a)Too many to choose from.

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

a)teacher, workshop leader, cafe, supermarket check-out, social
worker in aboriginal communities, English voice-over for Hong Kong exam tapes, face-painter, chip shop, video store, software trainer, artist assistant, clay model-maker...

q) What responses have you had to your work ?

a)Good, bad, sometimes confused. The worst is no reaction. Someone composed a poem about my work which they'd hand written onto 20 A4 pages for me once. I have it somewhere.

q) What do you dislike about the artworld ?

a)The posing and the words.

q) What research do you do ?

a)I like to see and experience things.

q) What is your dream project?

a)Build a theme park, maybe converted from an old nuclear power station – design all the rides, the look, the everything. And I get to go for free.

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

a)‘Just do it’

q) What couldn’t you do without?

a)Imagination. Having the freedom to draw and paint and think about whatever I want.

q) What makes you angry?

a)Bad guys on tv shows, Two and a Half Men.

q) What is your worst quality?

a)Dickheadedness.

q) Dogs or Cats ?

a)Dogs. Cats suck.

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

a)No.

q) What does “ copy” mean to you ?

a)Apple C

q) What´s your favorite cuss word ?

a)CUNTCHOPS

Interview with Labuenaylamala

2011-08-26T09:16:00.000-07:00

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

a) I'm Raquel but my working name is Labuenaylamala. I live and work in Barcelona.

q) Why do you make art?

a) I do art to try and get the best out of myself.

q) How do you work?

a) My way of working until now has been quite coarse, improvised, impulsive and even intuitive I would say... In general I never do sketches beforehand (except if I'm preparing a project), I do not use moulds for my sculptures either, I just put my hands to work. Some nights I get insomnia and many ideas come to my head, so I write them down and the next day or as soon as possible, I start work on them.

q) What’s your background?

a) I born in Córdoba, Spain. I studied ceramics with Hisae Yanase, in 2003 I began to make metal thread sculptures, a year later I moved to Barcelona, where I keep working.

q) What role does the artist have in society?

a) I cannot conceive of a world without art, so I believe it's very important. It doesn't matter wich discipline, whether sculpture, painting, street art, music, dance, architecture, cookery, writing…

Art has always formed a part of our lives, and our culture. There is art everywhere, it’s the voice of many different people, a part of their hearts.

q) What was a seminal experience for you?

a) I would say the first day that I understood sculpture in a different way to the way they had taught me and as I had known it till then, and it became something light and mobile.

q) Has your practice changed over time ?

a) Yes, loads, and I hope it continues that way. Always for the better, of course.

q) What art do you most identify with?

a) Definitely sculpture, especially in public spaces.

q) Has your practice changed over time ?

a) Those endless summer nights playing with my friends in the street, while our mothers sat outside their houses on their folding chairs, with potato tortillas, gazpacho and watermelon, chatting in the cool of the night, while we children were coming and going. The south is like that!

q) What themes do you pursue?

a) Balance.

Describe a real life experience that inspired you.

a) Break-ups. When my heart breaks is when I express everything, good and bad.

q) What´s your most embarrassing moment ?

a) I'm going to lie and say I haven't had any. If I were to tell you, this very moment would become my most embarrassing moment!

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

a) Well, before deciding to devote myself exclusively to art, I had several other jobs, but my problem was that I did not last in any of them for long. For some reason, after about nine months maximum, something would happen, like I was lacking air. I'd have to leave. The job I liked the most was working in cinema and TV, in the art department. A very active world!

q) What responses have you had to your work?

a) I haven't been showing my work publicly for long, that is to say to a public other than my circle of friends or relatives, but the response I’ve had has been good, people like mobile sculptures, especially the sculptural intervention I created for some open-air partition walls in the city of Cordoba. It makes me feel very good when people I don’t know come up to me and say positive things about my work.

q) What do you dislike about the art world?

a) The art world is the same like any world, always there are things that you like and not. En general, I don’t like when you trust someone and they don’t respond to you in the way that you were expecting. But something positive always comes out of a negative experience.

q) What research do you do?

a) I am constantly looking for answers to everything in Google!

q) What is your dream project?

a) I want to do large-scale sculptures for public spaces, and earn my living doing it. I want to evolve and learn more every day, and above all, I do not want to stop dreaming.

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

a) “Be patient, and never give up”.

q) What couldn’t you do without?

a) There are many things without which I couldn't do anything... but if I had to choose only one thing, I would choose love, which moves everything.

q) What makes you angry?

a) Lies, and people doing things badly out of laziness, rather than doing their best.

q) What is your worst quality?

a) I think not always being very gentle with the people I love, not being able to express myself with the right words and tone. I hope some day I’ll be more sweet-natured.

q) Dogs or Cats?

a) I prefer dogs, but the ones with personality like cats, independent, roguish, who play hard to get. I adore animals in general. I can relate to them. A long time ago, I lived by myself in a caravan in the countryside for two years, with a horse and five dogs. It was a great experience, a bit like Pippi Långstrump!

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

a) Yes, it is similar, though I believe that it is healthier to hallucinate and travel by doing art without having to take anything else.

q) What does “copy” mean to you?

a) It means not to stretch your brain enough.

q) What´s your favorite cuss word?

a)I don’t have one, any will do at a particular moment.

q)Your contacts…

a)www.labuenaylamala.com

Interview with Katerina Gorokhova

2011-07-21T08:05:00.000-07:00

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

a)Katerina Gorokhova, Moscow area.

q) Why do you make art?

a)It is an output for ideas.

q) How do you work?

a)The way I work always mutating, so each time it can be different. I take photos from which I work, or I can find a picture on internet or in a magazine, and use it for my paintings.

q) What´s your background?

a)I got my BA and Postgraduate of Fine Art at the Byam Shaw – St.Martin’s in London.

q) What role does the artist have in society?

a)Artist decides for himself/herself what role he/she carries in the society. I personally think that artist should be careful about subjects that he/she portrays. It is important to what we, as artists, give an advert to...

q) What was a seminal experience for you?

a)Coming to London...

q) Has your practice changed over time?

a)For the last ten years that I’ve been practicing art, I’ve done sculpture, installation, video-art, digital collages and painting.

q) What art do you most identify with?

a)Figurative, colourful, social...

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

a)When I was eight, I killed a mouse by spaying it with hairspray.

q) What themes do you pursue?

a)Family, society, truth, something that is real

q) Describe a real life experience that inspired you.

a)Working nights at London Astoria and Jazz Cafe, listening to the best bands alive, and then making art at the Byam Shaw daytime

q) What´s your most embarrassing moment?

a)I killed a mouse by spraying it with a hairspray.

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

a)Barmen, Bar Supervisor, Babysitter, clerk in the fashion showroom, I sold swimming suits, then I curated an exhibition at the R.K. Burt gallery in London, I was a curator at the Russian Academy of Arts, and now I will pursue teaching art.

q) What responses have you had to your work?

a)Good ones and bad ones, I am grateful to all sorts of comments!!

q) What do you dislike about the art world?

a)The art world is no different from the rest of the world. One can ask what I dislike about the world?!

q) What research do you do?

a)It depends on the type of series that I work on. I can search on internet or go to the library, or just take my camera and go outside. Usually when I travel by train or in subway, I can get ideas just by being around ordinary people. I get inspired by simplicity.

q) What is your dream project?

a)The one I am working on at the moment.

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

a)Don’t think!

q) What couldn’t you do without?

a)Love

q) What makes you angry?

a)Most of the time I feel sorry for people, rather then anger.

q) What is your worst quality?

a)I am not money driven

q) Dogs or Cats?

a)Both, every living creature on this planet, exept for bugs, I have a slight fear of them.

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

a)To my mind, art resembles a scientific process with an enlightment, then one needs to put a lot of hard work. So, I can’t realy compare it with an effect of being on a drug.

q) What does “copy” mean to you?

a)I can not relate to the word copy, as I’ve never done any copies. My pencil drawings from Durer and Bosch, still carry a different manner.

q) What´s your favourite cuss word?

a)I don’t like swearing and I don’t like when people swear around me. I think it’s a weakness.

q)Your contacts….

a) http://www.katerinagorokhova.ru