ACME Dec./Jan. 2011 Issue
Cover image by Ari Abramcyzk.
Letters from the Editors Within the first two weeks of Acme’s issue one release, Acme had already gained several hundred views and quite a lot of likes from Facebook. This was a milestone for Acme and for me as well. I was ecstatic at the amount of feedback Acme received in such a short amount of time, while still being a new publication. Now, I am excited to share this second issue of Acme, filled with particularly amazing artists, which my new partner Angela and I worked very hard on. Like I said before, this magazine is filled with nothing but love and amazing people who deserve the exposure. So kick back and relax, maybe with a cup of green tea and your pet cat by your side, and browse through these pages overflowing with amazing artwork. L-o-v-e, Natalie Liao Hi, my name is Angela Shields, the new Creative Director. of Acme Magazine. I was extremely excited when Natalie offered me a position on Acme magazine. I’ve known Natalie since freshman year, and she is an extremely talented and inspirational girl. This was my first time making a magazine, and for that matter, my first time working with Adobe Indesign. I’ve put a lot of hard work into the layouts and spreads, emphasizing the pictures and text through the use of simplicity. I’m excited to keep working on Acme magazine, improving my skills as Creative Director. Hopefully in the future, Acme Magazine will amalgamate with bright and new faces, creating a team rather than a partnership. As of now, Acme Magazine will aspire to be a wonderful read, giving exposure to artists from around the world. Please enjoy yourself, because I know I have. Lots of Love, Angela Shields
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DECEMBER JANUARY
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ACME
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Ari Abramcyzk A. First off, tell us a little bit about your-
self.
AA. I am a 26 year old photographer living in Los Angeles with my husband (Will) and two cats (Lindsey Lohan and Shrimp). My favorite creature is the Jellyfish, and I like watching science shows and reading Tom Robbins. A. How and when did you get started in
photography?
AA. My grandfather was a photographer, and I was allowed to use my mother’s camera when I was very young. I didn’t develop a serious interest in it until High School, but I knew it would be my profession in September 11, 2001. I lived 6 blocks away from the World Trade Center at the time. I have pictures of the first tower falling, the second plane entering the second building, and the second tower falling. I took pictures of the candle light vigils, the protests and the city
for weeks afterwards. I saved my money for several years and enrolled in Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara. A. What do you shoot with? AA. I shoot with a Canon 5D. In the water I use an Ikelite housing and a 14mm lens. Above water I use a 50mm, and a 24-105mm. When I can, I shoot with my Cambo 4x5 and type 55 Polaroids. I also have a Holga that I use for fun on photo adventures. A. What is it with photography that attracts
you so much, why?
AA. Underwater photography is an incredibly fun, challenging, exhausting and deeply rewarding process. You simply cannot duplicate an underwater image. Each moment is unique and beautiful. You must really love this to keep coming back to it. I am completely in love with it.
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A: Describe a typical day in the life of Ari Abramczyk.
AA: I drink coffee and watch the news. I go into the office and I move the cat off of my keyboard. I liste I check my emails, The Sartorialist, and aphotoeditor.com. I edit images, contact clients, arrange shoo intern. I move the cat off of my keyboard. I listen to Howlin Wolf while I research magazines, editors a sketch new ideas. I let the cat sit in my lap.
A: How do you put together a shoot, what is the process behind it? AA: Each shoot is unique. Sometimes I begin with the model, sometimes with a concept or theme, sometimes with the wardrobe, and sometimes with the location. Once I have the first thing in place, I build everything else around it, contacting everyone I need to execute the concept. I build teams of creative people who I trust and love to work with. We share ideas and together we create something that is better and stronger than any of us could have accomplished alone. A: In the photography world, who is your muse/inspiration, why? AA: I have several muses. My boy muse is Kris Kidd. He is one of the most amazing models I have ever worked with, and he is a dear friend. He trusts me enough to be honest with me in front of the camera, which is quite rare. He is a constant source of inspiration. I am also very inspired by paintings, sculpture, movies and music. I love Rodin, Degas and Klimt. When I lived in New York I went to the MET every weekend. I recently finished a shoot inspired by Fever Ray.
en to Daft Punk while ots and wish I had an and potential clients. I
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A: Tell us the story behind
one of your favorite photographs. AA: This is my favorite photograph right now. The model is Alli from Photogenics. She is so pale she is nearly transparent. We only had a half-day with her, so we tried to squeeze in as many looks as we could. She had never modeled underwater before,
but she took to it very quickly. She was so professional. The clothes kept falling off of her in the water, but she made it look great! My friend and lighting guru, Nick Kane, was in the water with us the whole time with a large mirror. He tred water while reflecting the sunlight back onto Alli. When everyone is excited about the project and willing to do whatever it
takes to get the perfect image, wonderful things happen. A: Have you had any kind of
formal training?
AA: I have an AA in Photojournalism and a BA in Commercial Photography from Brooks Institute of Photography.
A: We absolutely love your
underwater photos, describe the behind-the-scenes for these photos. AA: Thank you so much! On an underwater shoot day, I wake up early because I’m too excited to sleep. I’ve prepared and cleaned my equipment the day before, so I check that I have everything and load it up into the car.
I get the biggest cup of coffee I can find and buy food for my crew. I show up early and drink my coffee and put my camera into the housing. I shoot in a heated pool. I like it around 85 degrees. I don’t wear a wet suit and I hold my breath when I go under. I practice swimming and hyperventilating so I can hold my breath for several minutes. I have a small
heart attack every time I submerge my camera to check for bubbles that indicate a leak in the housing. I begin to breathe again when I know it’s safe and then I dive in. I coach the model on breathing techniques and movement, and we practice together until he or she is completely comfortable. The rest of the day is a dream.
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A: What is the feeling that you try to portray
A: Where do you want to be in four years?
AA: Whatever the viewer feels, I want them to feel SOMETHING when looking at my images. I play music when I shoot, and I hope you can hear it when you look at the photograph.
AA: I hope that in four years I am traveling even more for photoshoots. I would love to be working consistently in New York and in Europe. I would like to be represented again. I want to shoot an ad campaign for Rodarte.
when shooting?
http://www.ariabramczyk.com
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A: Introduce yourself. D: My name is Diego and my friends call me dié. I´m 21 years old and I love birds, bears, and broken things. A: When/how did you get started in
drawing?
D: Since I was a child ... I used to watch a lot of cartoons and copy them, so I like drawing since I was a little boy. A: What is your process of creating an
illustration?
D: I don´t have an especific process, I don´t know what I will do next. I lost control of everything for moments. I want to be surprised by my own art. A: I see that your artwork is centered
mostly around nature, what draws you to it? how does it inspire you? D: I love nature in pure. And when I´m doing collages, I lose myself, and I feel in a natural way. I don´t know what I want to do, and I don´t want to know it. it goes natural. I feel like an animal. I feel like a tree or like water.
Diego 15
A: what are you trying to tell the world through your artwork?
A: why do you draw? what is the magic?
D: I don´t have something special to tell. I have something to show... some chaos of papers trying to be beautiful and/or dramatic... You just have to see it, there´s no message. I think there´s a lot of people trying to say something and there are a lot of messages everywhere. I do something for people who want to see and enjoy. There is no message behind.
D: I think the magic come with the act of create. Everybody can take some things and create. Drawings, paintings, songs, anything. Maybe you will like it, maybe you won´t. But I think it’s wonderfull that everyone would do it in a different way.
A: Tell us the story behind one of your favorite illustrations. D: One of my favourite illustrations is my first collage. It was very fun. And it was the first time that I felt so free. I was in the kitchen that night and when I started to do it, I didn´t know what I wanted to do. I was looking for some fun. Then I pasted some papers. And burnt them a little. At first time I thought that it was chaotic, but then I realized that I had had a fantastic time doing it. So I continued doing the rest of my collages like this way.
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A: What is your favourite media to use
D: I love Yoshitomo Nara. I like sigur ros, and I like hear to them when I´m drawing.
D: I love handmade collages. I try not to use the computer. I want to have a direct contact with things. Touching the papers, smelling them. I love when they are old, they have an special smell.
A: Where do you want to be in five years?
A: Do you have any particular artist(s) who
http://www.diedie.com.ar/
when drawing?
inspires you?
D: In five years I want to be living in Europe, drawing all the day with my girlfriend.
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Grace Denis
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A: First off, tell us a little bit
about yourself.
GD: My name is Grace Denis. I’m twenty years old and live in San Francisco. A: How and when did you get
started in photography?
GD: My father got me my first camera when I was eleven years old before we went to Belgium for the summer and I just remember being so thrilled to be able to capture all the beautiful things we saw there. Ever since then I’ve kind of used photography as a way to visualize my memories. A: What do you shoot with? GD: Usually a nikon FM10, minolta 110, or a disposable.
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A: What is it with photog-
raphy that attracts you so much, why? GD: I love being able to share my vision with the world, for me its a form of documentation as well as visual expression. A: Describe a typical day in
the life of Grace Denis.
GD: My life changes quite a lot day to day but usually includes rushing to class, drink copious amounts of tea, and if I’m lucky going on a hike. A: How do you put together
a shoot, what is the process behind it?
GD: I rarely ever plan shoots, unless its for my online store. Most of my photos are just
spontaneous snapshots from my adventures. A: In the photography world,
who is your muse/inspiration, why?
GD: I’m really inspired by the work of Ann Brigman, she’s probably my favorite photographer. I love her ability to depict the female form in the natural world in such
a dreamy manner. I also really admire the work of Bellocq and more contemporarily Todd Hido. A: Tell us the story behind one
of your favorite photographs.
GD: One of my favorite photographs is one I took of my roommate Alison down in this sinking ghost town with what used to be her collection
of porcelain cats right before she had me smash them all for a film she’s making. It was pretty fun being in the middle of nowhere and throwing porcelain cats everywhere. A: Have you had any kind of
formal training?
GD: Not yet, although hopefully this autumn I’ll be learning more technicalities.
A: Where do you want to be
in four years?
GD: Ideally, living completely self reliantly in a house that I want to build with a friend and a dog on some farm land up in Washington.
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A: We love your use of film and captures of
unique moments. What is the feeling that you try to portray when shooting? GD: I just try to capture my direct experience in that moment as genuinely as I can in each photograph. I think there is so much simple beauty in the everyday that is often overlooked, I’m enamored by the in between moments of life and try to share them through my photos.
http://gracegloria.tumblr.com/
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A: First off, tell us a little bit about
yourself.
LL: Hi I’m Luigi Loquarto and I exist. A: How and when did you get started
in drawing/painting?
LL: I have painted and drawn since I was a little kid. That has always been the way to have fun and I confess that, especially for my illustration, I haven’t yet lost my “child’s eye” because, as you can see from my artwork, they seem to be drawn by a child. A: What is your process of creating
an illustration?
LL: For my illustrations the first stage is to find something real or unreal in which carries my personal patchwork. This is made by lots of particles of color that becomes a new skin for my subjects. After that I create a grid with colors that enhance the tri-dimensionality.
Luigi Loquarto
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A: I see that your artwork is very abstract, what draws you to it? How does it inspire you? LL: Artistic research of my artworks is more introspective and free in comparison with my illustrations. I think that lyrical abstraction is the best way to carry out what you feel without any scheme or constraint that comes from outside. In many cases, however, I start from something that exists and from that it becomes, at a second stage, abstract. A: What are you trying to express/tell the world through your artwork? LL: Sincerely I’ve got no plan; I express what I feel at the moment that I paint without the intent or the urgency to communicate my feelings. Even if that happens sometimes, what the viewer feels while looking at my artworks coincide with my feelings, I leave the viewer free to have their own interpretation. This is the reason why sometimes I leave my work untitled.
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A: Tell us the story behind one of your favorite illustrations. LL: This illustration is the story of my love. From that moment I began to see everything colored. A: What is your favorite media to use when drawing? LL: When I draw I use only markers.
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A: Why do you make art? What
is so thrilling about it?
LL: I really don’t know. For me it’s like eat or sleep or make love. It’s necessary. A: Describe a typical day in the
life of Luigi Loquarto.
LL: I’m like the other person. My life is not very different from others. A: In the art world, who is/are
your muses/inspirations and why?
LL: Lyrical abstractionists are obviously my source of inspiration because I share the same ways of expression. When you watch a lyrical abstraction painting it’s like being in connection with the author or with your deep feelings. You have two chances: you can imagine its personality or you can read your feelings. A: How is your artwork different
from others?
LL: My artworks are different from others because they reflect
my personality. Every person is different from others and every person is original in this way. A: Where do you want to be in
four years?
LL: First I’m going to decide what to do today. http://luigiloquarto.carbonmade.com/
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A: First off, tell us a little bit about yourself. OL: I am twenty years old and grew up in the woods of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. I spent eighteen years in the woods and two years in NYC. A: How and when did you get started in
photography?
OL: I made snapshots throughout high school of my friends and things I found interesting. I got serious with my craft late in 2007 when I received a Fed Ex delivery containing a Nikkormat ft2 and several lenses, sent from a stranger who was a follower of my blog-life. I was super stoked, my parents on the other hand were totally freaked out. I have been taking photographs since. A: What do you shoot with? OL: 35mm/4x5/ and some digital. A: What is it with photography that at-
tracts you so much, why?
OL: With photography I can create little fantasy worlds. A: Describe a typical day in the life of Ol-
ivia Locher.
Olivia Locher 45
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OL: Always exploring and drinking a lot of coffee along the way. A: How do you put together a shoot, what
is the process behind it?
OL: I photograph my friends. I get everything ready by first finding a location, decide who I want to photograph, buy outfits/ props, and finally shoot. And we have a lot of fun. A: In the photography world, who is your
muse/inspiration?
OL: Ryan McGinley. I love what he does. He creates a world photographically where, no one is old, it’s always summer, and everyone’s having fun. Who wouldn’t want to live there?
A: Tell us the story behind one of your favorite photographs. OL: During an outdoor nude shoot I did in November, I made a photograph of my friend Julie standing naked in the woods with a discoball tied to a tree. The weather was lovely providing a rain/snow mix and it was absoulty freezing, I was shooting her while another friend (model) of mine was holding an umbrella over me to protect my camera. We were were blasting music from the car to keep us going, basically it was a bunch of naked girls who were freezing dancing around in the cold.
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A: Have you had any kind of
formal training?
OL: Sure, I am halfway through my second year of photography school. I go to School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. A: We like the rawness in
your photos and how ev-
erything is so uncensored. What is the feeling that you try to portray when shooting? OL: Youth, freedom, I make photographs so I can remember how much fun I am having. A: Where do you want to
be in four years? OL: What I’m doing now, making photographs of my friends.
http://olivialocher.com/
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A: First off, tell us a little bit about yourself. CS: I’m a 21 year old girl obsessed with vintage clothing and film. I’m from Australia, currently living by the ocean, and I work as an illustrator. A: How and when did you get started in drawing/painting? CS: I have a family who are extremely creative on both sides, and so growing up I was encouraged to draw and make crafts and wasn’t berated too badly for drawing on walls with lipstick. I always loved to draw mermaids and fairies and ballerinas and as I got older I became more and more interested in creating people on paper. I spent all of my time in high school focused on drawing and painting, as a way to escape a situation I despised. It became my solace. After graduation I spent a year studying fine arts in Sydney, but after expecting the world from art school I just didn’t end up feeling quite at home. I decided to drop out and spent the next two years working as an illustrator and selling my artwork. And that leads us up to now! 2011. A: What is your process of creating an illustration? CS: Usually I sit down at my desk with some nice piano music in the background and decide on a mood or a certain kind of scene to be portrayed, and begin to draw with lead pencil and rub out heaps of lines and marks until i get an outline i am happy with. Then I paint everything with watercolor paint, gouache and ink and go over any details in lead pencil at the end.
Caitlin Shearer
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A: I see that your work is of women
and very fashion editorial-esque, what draws you to it? How does it inspire you? CS: I guess I’m just obsessed with old time glamour! And femininity! I find the latter very mysterious and a never ending stream of inspiration. I’m very inspired by vintage fashion and the costumes in 1940’s and 50’s cinema. I love the attention to detail, the glimmering of jewels filmed in technicolour, the decadent fabrics and puffed skirts, the flattering tailor made shapes that accentuate curves. I adore things that are a bit fancy and special, and I think part of the allure is that this elegantly refined style is so scarce thesedays, so one of the ways I can possess and bring it into my life/ this era is to re-create it with my paintbrush. A: What are you trying to express
through your artwork?
CS: I think that I’m trying to invent people on paper who don’t exist in this world whilst at the same trying to investigate my own brain and what it is to be a girl.
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A: Tell us the story behind one of your favorite illustrations. CS: Night tide - this painting leaked onto the paper soon after I had made my first move from the ocean to the city. A lifelong love of mermaids and a subconscious realization that I was far away from home and the people that mattered to me propelled this drawing without having to think too hard about it. I suppose it is important to me because it’s almost like a diary in that it has captured a certain period of my life, and when I look at the painting there is a poignancy there that I can now reflect on.
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A: What is your favorite media to use when
drawing?
CS: Pacer pencils and watercolour paints. Oh and cotton paper! A: Why do you make art? What is so thrill-
ing about it?
CS: I make art because otherwise I would go crazy. I feel this intense need to make my imagination into a tangible thing so that I can have a piece of my brain that I can literally share and examine. Creating is thrilling because I am able to build a world of people and places around myself that only usually exist in dreams. A: Describe a typical day in the life of
Caitlin Shearer.
CS: When I live at my parents’ house, I wake up and drink peppermint tea and fuss around with the computer and then do some painting and perhaps some yoga or go walking on the beach. I’ll do some reading or more drawing and then make dinner for the family and then watch a movie and go to sleep again. When I’m living in the city it’s usually the same, only I drink cider with friends and go out dancing and have a ton more fun.
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A: In the art world, who is/are your muses/in-
spirations and why?
CS: I admire people who are able to create amazingly beautiful images out of thin air and people who also view the world with an individual eye and are able to translate that into their art making. so... J.W. Waterhouse, Klimt, Enoch Bolles, Coby Whitmore, Sofia Coppola, David Lynch, Vivienne Westwood, David Downton, Yayoi Kusama, MGM musicals, Olympia Le Tan, Charles Anastase, Tim Walker, George Petty, John Willy, Olivia Berardinis ...the list goes on. I also find inspiration in many people who are not strictly in the ‘art’ world... Dita Von Teese, Rita Hayworth, Bettie Page, James Stewart, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Garland, Winona Ryder, Marilyn Monroe, Fred Astaire.... I’m in love with them all. A: How is your artwork different from others? CS: I suppose it is different from anyone else’s simply because it comes from my hands and my heart. Each person is diametrically different and I believe that these nuances show themselves in whatever one genuinely creates. A: Where do you want to be in four years? CS: In love.
www.caitlinquiet.blogspot.com
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ACME EDITOR Natalie Liao
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Angela Shields
CONTACT acmemag.tumblr.com theacmemag@gmail.com Submissions are welcomed and will be published if approved.