Interview with Shawn Eisenach

q)please tell us a brief info about yourself.

a)My name is Shawn Eisenach, I live in Northern California and like to draw and make prints.

q)Tell us about your humble beginnings, When did you you first realise that you wanted to be an artist?

a)I didn’t start pursuing art seriously until college. I took an etching class and it clicked somehow.

q)What are your tools of the trade and why?

a)For the last couple of years I’ve been drawing primarily with rapidograph and fountain pens. I like using a fountain pen to get the contours in place and using the rapidograph for detail and hatching. Using the fountain pen makes for quicker drawing, and a wider range of line quality. These days, unless I’m working on a show, I only draw in a sketchbook. I like keep the drawings in black and white so they reproduce better. I can then post them online, burn them to silkscreens/lithograph or use them as guides for etching.

q)Who or what gives you inspiration on your morbid art?

a)I’m a big people watcher.

q)Is your artistic background self-taught or did you go to college to study?

a)I went to college and have a BFA and MFA in printmaking.

q)How do you keep “fresh” within your industry?

a)I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about that.

q)What are some of your current projects?

a)Right now I’m working on some drawings for Canteen (http://canteenlife.com/) in Ottawa for an Alice in Wonderland group show.

q)Which of your works are you the most proud of? And why?

a)I’m pretty obsessive with my sketchbooks. With my artwork I find that after a while I hate all of it. But I never get tired of looking through the sketchbooks.

q)Are there any areas, techniques, mediums, projects in your field that you have yet to try?

a)I’ve always wanted to learn engraving... Its one printmaking technique I’ve never really gotten a handle on. I’ve been looking at a lot of commercial prints from the turn of the century and just really enjoy that specific type of line.

q)What do you do to keep yourself motivated and avoid burn-out?

a)Reading helps. You’ve got to fill the well somehow. I find that traveling or just being somewhere new is great for inspiration. The biggest thing is to just work through the burn-out.

q)how do you spend most of your free time?

a)If I’m not drawing, I’m probably reading, wasting time on the internet, or watching a film.

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

a)I’m looking forward to the SFMOMA’s Luc Tuymans retrospective in February. But lately I’ve been more interested in older artists then new. That being said, I’ve really enjoyed the resurgence in zines and artist books.

q)We really like some of your pictures, how can we get our hands on them? Do you sell them? How?

a)You can go to my web site www.wholewheattoast.com, or Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/wholewheattoast/. Recently I’ve been excited by services like Society6 or Magcloud for providing print on demand options.

Warten auf Sol Invictus

The project consist in the realization of a propitious exhibition for the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, the most important Observance in ancient times, that was celebrate in very different ways all around the planet, but everywhere on 25th December. The collection of the art pieces to expose want to be very heterogeneous, creating so a right and proper homage to Sol Invictus and on the same time a commemoration of all the different celebrations for his “natalis”. EXHIBITING: Alberto Raiteri | Alessia Cocca | Andreco | Ango The Meek Dead | Claudio Parentela | Cristina Pancini | Elena Armellini | Exiff | Francesco Bancheri | Francesco D'Isa | Irina Novarese | Lys Lydia Selimalhigazi | Luiza LaPupazza | Martha Sklodowska | Silvio Streddi

Cell63 artgallery
Allerstr 38 12049 Berlin
www.okidokigallery.com

Interview with Salvatore Scrivo

q)Please tell us a brief info about yourself.


a)I am 61 years old. I was born and raised in Freeport, NY, a suburb of New York City, right after World War II. I was the only child. I have been married for 40 years and have 3 children who are all grown. For the past 5 years since my retirement from teaching elementary school, I have become a full-time working artist. I like to make sculptures which are diorama boxes. When I am not doing that I am making paintings which are usually large and have a three dimensional element to them. My favourite subject matter is Greco-Roman mythology, Bible stories and/or Fairy Tales. They emphasize human interaction and the dynamics that people have with each other.


q)Tell us about your humble beginnings, When did you you first realized that you wanted to be an artist?


a)When I was 2 or 3 years old, I saw a documentary on television about marionette making. While other little boys wanted to be firemen, or baseball players when they grew up, I found myself wanting to be a puppet maker like Geppetto in the story Pinocchio. There seems to be something in my genes, because I come from a long line of creative people. My father designed monuments and my mother was an amateur painter. My grandfather was a composer and my grandmother was a concert pianist. My parents used to like to paint together and they bought me a little easel so that I could work along with them. So while they were making landscapes with oil paints I was drawing happy faces with tempra.


q)What are your tools of the trade and why?


a)Paintbrushes and canvases, acrylic clay, polymer paints, acrylic paint, decorative papers, bees wax, conte crayons, gold leaf, you name it, whatever it takes to complete a work. The term mixed media really applies to me. I also like using found objects.


q)Who or what gives you inspiration on your morbid art?


a)Well, life is a dish that is both bitter and sweet. So when I create a work of art I like to have elements of both extremes. My inspiration is drawn from human interaction, there is usually good and bad, positive and negative. When mixed, these offer an interesting story. When you put the darker side next to sweet and lovely, it enhances the visual taste of the message you are trying to put forth. Usually my works are illustrations of Greek myths or Fairy Tales. These embody the hopes, wants and challenges of everyone’s life. Hopefully everyone can see a little bit of themselves in each work of art that I do. In my shadow box The Death of Hyacinth, the hero the God Apollo, expresses both anxiety and remorse after he realizes he has killed his best friend Hyacinth by accident. Everybody has made a mistake in their own life that was done inadvertently and at the same time experiences guilt from it. Visually, a lot of things inspire me like church art, the Mannerist movement of the 1500’s and pop art. I like combining elements from these to make an interesting visual statement.


q)Is your artistic background self-taught or did you go to college to study?


a)A combination of both. My college education taught me some things, but actually most of my abilities have been acquired through trial and error and just jumping in and doing it myself and learning from my mistakes. I feel you learn more from failure than success. But if you never have any success you have no motivation.


q)How do you keep “fresh” within your industry?


a)I am constantly researching artists. I make trips to New York City 2 or 3 times a year and I am constantly finding out about the newest innovations in art supplies.


q)What are some of your current projects?


a)Right now I am working on a combination piece based on the image of St. Sebastian combined with a Victorian knick knack shelf. I’m also doing a new sculptural box called Sweet Laudanum which I am likening to a fairy tale image of a girl confronted by a massive amount of delicious candy. Laudanum was a Victorian era drug.


q)Which of your works are you the most proud of? And why?


a) Whatever my latest work is. It’s almost like the birth of a new child, while you are creating it and in its conception, you fall totally in love with it.


q)Are there any areas, techniques, mediums, projects in your field that you have yet to try?


a)I would like to start creating three dimensional art installations that would go along with any gallery shows I might be involved in. I want to get involved with more complicated pieces that incorporate both painting and sculpture.


q)What do you do to keep yourself motivated and avoid burn-out?


a)Because I have dedicated the first thirty three years of my adult life to my job, the build up of wanting to be a creating artist keeps spewing forth and so far I haven’t had that problem. I’m also constantly stimulating myself as an artist by visiting art museums and galleries, and the art section of bookstores.


q)How do you spend most of your free time?


a)Books, movies. Im interested in many things like flea markets, antique shops and hanging out with my wife and two Boston Terriers. I enjoy looking at the objects in the flea market and getting inspiration from them. Right now I am taking a trompe l'oeil class with my wife, with a great artist named John Yerger.


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


a)I enjoy the Mannerist painters 1520-1580 and the pop art artists of the 1960s. I also like the Pre Raphaelites, Art Deco, Mexican Retablos, and I’m crazy for the Pop Surrealists, especially Mark Ryden and Ray Cesar.


q)We really like some of your pictures, how can we get our hands on them? Do you sell them? How?


a)I sell my work through shows that I am in and also anyone can contact me directly through my website salvatorescrivo.com.

Interview with Kiko Alcazar

q)please tell us a brief info about yourself.

a)Well, I'm Kiko Alcazar. I live in Tarragona, a town near Barcelona. I am a photographer, but my pictures are beyond the simple picture, since I attempt to have a magical, dreamlike aura.

q)Tell us about your humble beginnings, When did you you first realized that you wanted to be an artist?

a)Since my childhood I inclined to drawing, crafts and everything related to art but almost without knowing it. Later I became interested in photography and notticed that this field could accomplish my needs because it gave me all the points I needed to express myself. At first, I didn’t realize that I wanted to be an artist, it just came out by itself. I think that beeing an artist is something you’re born with.

q)What are your tools of the trade and why?

a)My tools are my camera and Photoshop. I use the camera to catch the moment I need,to then tranfer it to my own world using Photoshop.

q)Who or what gives you inspiration on your morbid art?

a)I am inspired by my dreams, my fantasies and often the portrayed character. Each person inspires you something different, which they emanate. It’s like a symbiosis.

q)Is your artistic background self-taught or did you go to college to study?

a)I consider myself an autodidact, because I only spent one year at a photography school. It was a very frustrating experience. They seeked to address me to their own idea of photography, and I couldn’t adapt to that. I’ve always been a rebel, so I decided to quit. From then, I started learning photography techniques and Photoshop on my own.

q)How do you keep “fresh” within your industry?

a)Being true to myself and my style, trying not to follow fads, not beeing

a clone. I think that’s what brings the freshness. Otherwise you have to adapt your work to the trends and that makes you lose spontaneity.

q)What are some of your current projects?

a)Now I am preparing an exhibition for the gay film festival in Madrid, the “Lesgaicinemad”, and other two exhibitions in Mallorca andBarcelona on January.

Besides the exhibitions, I am preparing some photos for a book that will be released on 2010 and several pictures for some outstanding spanish actors and actresses.

q)Which of your works are you the most proud of? And why?

a)I am very proud of a picture that won a London Tate Modern contest.It was exposed with the other winners, and also included in “Street and Studio”,

a photography book published by Tate.
Besides this, I'm also proud of each photo I shot.

q)Are there any areas, techniques, mediums, projects in your field that you have yet to try?

a)Well, I must admit that there are areas that doesn’t motivate me and I’m not interestd in, but over time I hope to try some other fields.

I think that my style would work perfectly on the audiovisual area, for example.

q)What do you do to keep yourself motivated and avoid burn-out?

a)Each project and each picture is a motivation, a challenge. If you are passionate about what you do, it’s not easy to burn-out.

q)How do you spend most of your free time?

a)Well, I like listening to music, reading, going to art galleries, stroll and to party! Being surrounded by my friends and my partner.

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

a)I really like painting, illustration, photography and audiovisual projects.
Steven Meisel (already a modern classic), Steven Klein .. Illustrators like Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, etc.

q)We really like some of your pictures, how can we get our hands on them? Do you sell them? How?

a)Yes, the photos are available. You can get them if you contact me via email on kikoalcazarphoto@gmail.com. You can also get some more stuff related with my work on my online store

www.kikoalcazar/bigcartel.com

http://www.flickr.com/kikoalcazar

http://www.kikoalcazar.com

Interview with Lachlann Rattray

q)please tell us a brief info about yourself.

a)Hello, My name is Lachlann Rattray and I enjoy making gross drawings, t-shirts, websites, music and animations.

q)Tell us about your humble beginnings, When did you you first realized that you wanted to be an artist?

a)Hahaha i wish my beginnings weren't humble! I started drawing at first year of university I studied computer science which was really dull so most of my lectures were spent doodling. After University I moved into a flat with my good buddy Joe Howe (Ben Butler and Mouse Pad) we started making zines and music together and I find it is a really good way of keeping out of trouble and making sure i dont fall in with a bad crowd.

q)What are your tools of the trade and why?

a)When I make art work i tend to use photoshop becuase it is super dooper powerful and lets me do everything i need to. I also enjoy pen and ink i dont get as good results but i find it very soothing. When i make tshirts i use my brand new heat press! and when i am animating i use a combination of flash and quick time.

q)Who or what gives you inspiration on your morbid art?

a)I don't know really, as a kid i had terrible nightmares so could never really watch scary movies or anything perhaps i am venting my frustration. I don't really think my art is very morbid I try to be tongue in cheek and humorous with it, I am influenced a lot by the early thrash and metal bands like Judas priest and Mercyful fate, bands that took themselves too seriously I wish i could make my art that pompus.

q)Is your artistic background self-taught or did you go to college to study?

a)No i never took any art classes or anything my boss at my old job taught me the basics of photo-shop and i picked bits and bobs up from elsewhere, in terms of my free hand work that has just come with practice and doing my best to rip off r crumb and Jim woodring.

q)How do you keep “fresh” within your industry?

a)I don't really think about it to be honest, making art work isn't something i do for a living so i feel no pressure that way to be cutting edge, i think the flickr community is pretty great for keeping things sharp i never get complacent becouse i constantly want to upload work that my peers will like.

q)What are some of your current projects?

a)At the beginning of the year i was part of an exhibition in Brooklyn in New York called "ready made or not" I am also participating in the upcoming group exhibition at Pageant gallery in Edinburgh which opens at the end of this month. I also just got new zine i have been working on back from the printers so that will be available soon to. My band "Gay Against You" also have an album coming out this month "Righteous Signals, Sour Dudes" and we will be touring that in the UK next year.

q)Which of your works are you the most proud of? And why?

a)That is a hard one! Although i really enjoy making them i am constantly disappointed with the level of my own work, I wish i was better! I really like a t shirt design i did recently which is the melting face of Elvis Presley and underneath it reads "anus" i thought that was hilarious!

q)Are there any areas, techniques, mediums, projects in your field that you have yet to try?

a)Although i have tried it Screen Printing is something i wish i had the patience to get better at the results you can get with it are amazing! also 3d modeling is something i am working on getting better at.

q)What do you do to keep yourself motivated and avoid burn-out?

a)Looking other peoples art work keeps me inspired guys like brecht vandenbroucke, llcooljo, shoboshobo. Also because i am never satisfied with anything i do i keep having to try harder and that helps.

q)how do you spend most of your free time?

a)Skateboarding! my friends and i have formed a skate gang called scorpion scabers.

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

a)The guys i mentioned above im also interested in further expansion of online communities how once valuable commodities now have no worth, the idea of copyright as applied to images and data shared online.

q)We really like some of your pictures, how can we get our hands on them? Do you sell them? How?

a)Thanks! I have a new online store coming soon at www.dreamguts.com I also have a mysoti account http://www.mysoti.com/mysoti/designer/Dreamguts