ARTiculAction Art Review June 2014 by ARTiculAction Art Review

June 2014

April 2014

SPECIAL ISSUE

CHRISTINA MASSEY GISELA HAMMER AINO KAARINA PAJARI AVIVA BEIGEL BARRY GROSE LAURA GUOKE RITA DIANNI KALEEL ALFONSO BATALLA Gisela Hammer (Germany)

SUMMARY

ARTiculA Action ART Feel free to submit your artworks: just write to articulaction@post.com J

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IN THIS ISSUE

Alfonso Batalla

(Spain)

4 My work tries to invite the viewer to discover true nature of beings through empty and decaying places and to understad also that only things subject to fall and decay can hold beauty.

Laura Guoke

(Lithuania)

Christina Massey

(USA)

Any work that I have created in the past is subject to be reworked again in the future in some way shape or form as my own tastes and opinions change, my body of work continues to evolve with me.

Aviva Beigel

(Israel)

Benjamin's work in recent years has revolved around time and labor intensive game projects . Although the theoretical basis of his works varies from project to project, at the undertone of each is a need to blur the binary between fantasy and reality.

Barry Grose

(USA)

SUMMARY

(Germany)

Gisela Hammer

A central theme of my artwork – since years – is Africa. Since my first trips this continent is fascinating me with his experiences. I am deeply impressed by the people and their aesthetic appeal, which I found in the natural dignity of their attitude, in their interaction, in the colors of clothing and of course in their faces.

(Finland)

Aino-Kaarina Pajari

Aino-Kaarina Pajari's themes are dealing with plants, vegetables and landscapes, especially seashore, fjeld and field sceneries. She collects the themes of her works by taking photographs of things she sees in her trips, on the roadsides or in her own garden.

(USA)

Rita Dianni Kaleel

Rita Dianni-Kaleel's award winning work has been exhibited in local, national and international galleries for many years. She continues to learn from life experiences, broadening her perspectives which are constantly changing, bringing forth new ways of seeing.

(Montenegro)

Milena Joviceviv

“My work is inspired by everyday- life situations and paradoxes of contemporary society and world we live, that strange place saturated with the media, with an exaggerated production and exaggerated consumption.”

(USA)

Jana Charl

“My longest enduring fascination is to capture the human form and psyche utilizing multiple media. Often my interpretation of the female form is anatomically exaggerated, emphasizing the curves that distinguish women as well as define feminine beauty and fertility.”

(Turkey)

“ My artwork is based on personal history, on relationships and memory (dreams, space, geography, land). It is broadly related to memory, dreams, space and connotations. These topics are drawn from daily life as much as from unconscious thoughts. Essentially, I’m attempting to create images according to my own psychological needs. “

Çiğdem Menteşoğlu

From the ESPACIOS CON MEMORIA series, Encapsulated inks on Photopaper plus acrylic glass

Krista Nassi

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Alfonso Batalla

From existentialism and later philosophic evolution I understand than we, human beings, life in two different "modes". "Being there" which is our usual state in which we are inmersed in our regular family, work, joy lifes and "being oneself" when we are aware of true nature of things around us and of our true being. Angusig, distress, is what occasionaly moves to our true being discovery. And our true being is "falling" and finaly death. My work tries to invite the viewer to discover true nature of beings through empty and decaying places and to understad also that only things subject to fall and decay can hold beauty. Gold, (background detail) Mixed Media on canvas, 2012

ARTiculAction

Alfonso Batalla

An interview with

Alfonso Batalla Hello Alfonso, and welcome to ARTiculAction. I would start this interview with my usual introductory question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? And moreover, what could be the features that mark the contemporariness of an artwork?

This sounds to the classic "ART vs Photography" which, in a world where photography is an art but, at the same time, is a procedure which can be used for many different things, has an answer as simple as hard to understand. For me the key is the artist will" to create art. Nothing else. Had the photographer a "language" strong enough no make viewers feel, then his art creation is succesfull, otherwise is a fail. If in the other hand, if that language owns a kind of signature that links his different creations with him, then he is suceeding as an artist. Would you like to tell us something about your background? Are there any experiences that have particularly impacted on the way you produce your art nowadays? By the way, I would like to ask your point about formal training... I sometimes happen to ask to myself if a certain kind of training could even stifle an artist's creativity...

Alfonso Batalla

a different way of looking at something. I am mostly selft tought on photography but I admit I rush for Scott Kelby online lessons as soon as there is a signifficant change in the software I use.

My background is quite unothodox. I have a degree in Law and other one in Economics. I suppose that as Law becomes less creative my need to create has grown. I have played classicar guitar and later piano, so I have always had this need.

Before starting to elaborate about your production, would you like to tell to our readers something about your process and set up for making your artworks? In particular, what technical aspects do you mainly focus on your work? And how much preparation and time do you put in before and during the process of creating a piece?

Altohugh I dont think I am blessed with synesthesia many times I identify places, colours or tonal gradations with music I know or I have played. My skill to miss keys, numbers, or my usual doubts on how the spelling of a normal word is may show traces of dyslexia which helps with

Most of my work is dependent on location, either

Jennifer Sims 6

Alfonso Batalla

ARTiculAction

From the ESPACIOS CON MEMORIA series, Encapsulated inks on Photopaper plus acrylic glass

as a source for inspiration of as the subject of architectural photograpy. I usually shoot in places which are not in use, decaying or under construction or destruction. So, as soon as I have some news I do a lot or research and, if possible, try to get permission or find the easiest place to climb a fence :).

development and database software. Some are post processed, finished and added to existing collections.

I dont go to every place I know but try to keep some files on places and choose because of works in progress and, I admit, perhaps the closer the better. Once there I use a full frame camera, Tilt&Shift lenses for architecture, and a strong but light tripod. Camera placement and level are quite obsesive so a geared tripod head is used. Every shot in Raw and manual exposure and focus modes not because I have something against automatic but because it is fastest and safest this way. Ah, I forgot, thats because almost all my photographs come from stiching of several shots taken with those T&S lenses. Files are inmediately stiched Aviva converted to dng and Beigel stored with Lightroom deve-

From the ESPACIOS CON MEMORIA series

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Alfonso Batalla

From the ESPACIOS CON MEMORIA series, Encapsulated inks on Photopaper plus acrylic glass

us through your creative process when starting this stimulating project?

Other ones are kept for future use. And some are uploaded to Facebook, Flickr...to share and find a fast answer for my usual viewers. From time to time I review files for an exhibit or because they have been sold and I do some tweaking of the processing depending on the size of the final print and on how it is going to be printed of exhibited. Some of my works are pretty fast, other ones take weeks...

Architextures is a demanding work in terms of post processing, but it is quite relaxing as a work in progress. It looked like a must, an evolution of other series. This time the space is recreated to end with and abstract and surreal world. Its curious how much post processing some pictures need and how other ones need less to look aout of contex or even out of this world. I am not stressed at all with this series, I know it grows by its own. When I find a place, or even a file, which might work I start several combinations tweaking the photographs or borrowing pieces from another places. As in every other word architecture is very present here although as an invented o recreated world.

Now let's focus on your artworks: I would like to start with your Architexturas series, an interesting project that our readers have started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article, and I would suggest to our readers to visit your website directly at http://www.alfonsobatalla.com/fotografia/morethan-reality/architexturas/ in order to get a wider idea of it... in the meanwhile, could you take

Jennifer Sims 8

Alfonso Batalla

ARTiculAction

From the ESPACIOS CON MEMORIA series, Encapsulated inks on Photopaper plus acrylic glass

Although it might seem apparently static a feature of Espacios con Memoria (view it at

through what we show which is in Spacios con Memoria, reality with almost no transformation in post processing. Key here is show what I feel, and make viewers feel, by showing reality.

http://www.alfonsobatalla.com/fotografia/reality/espacios-conmemoria/content/jurasic_park_pool_large.html ) that has

particularly impacted on me is a subtle reference to a dynamic human element: so I would like to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indespensable part of a creative process, both for ceonceiving an artwork and in order to enjoy it... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience? By the way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces?

I have always thought that human beings are dsiturbing: they work for a profit, run, make noise, transform things...they are better observed by photographing what is left when they are not in the near by. This is why there are no people in my pictures, human presence prevents from contemplating true nature of things , being them raw of transformed by men. On the other hand, reality is quite stubborn and photography is not the easiest art to transform it, so we must suggest

Captions 6

Jennifer Sims

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Alfonso Batalla

From the ESPACIOS CON MEMORIA series, Encapsulated inks on Photopaper plus acrylic glass

Of course the choice of location, point of view and even framing depends on personal experience because it makes me feel in one or other way, but even how I feel a specific day may change the work a lot. In fact two inspiration moments are needed: one to shoot and other one to process and post process the files under their final stage.

Art is never a laboratory, as I said will, and hence, soul are involved. So dis-conected art is impossible for me. I try to imagine my works in collector places but somehow that is an extrapolation of my own feelings. I ask for fedback as often as possible and that would lead to a common question "why are your photographs so sad?" and although I prefer "poetic" or "nostalgic" to "sad" I have always the same answer ready: ask people to sing the favourite music works (most classical) and listen: most will be adagios, allegrettos, melancolic pieces. There are brilliant and artistic fast and full of joy works but more often art lives in the twilight.

May I invite to have a look to "Ad caelum et ad infernum" a close work to "Espacios con memoria" in which looking upward or downward transform pour vission. http://www.alfonsobatalla.com/fotografia/reality/adcaelum-et-ad-infernum/

Jennifer Sims 10

Alfonso Batalla

ARTiculAction

From the ESPACIOS CON MEMORIA series, Encapsulated inks on Photopaper plus acrylic glass

Another interesting works of yours that has particularly impacted on me and on which I would like to spend some words are from the Prefabricated Lifes series that we can view at http://www.alfonsobatalla.com/fotografia/back-toreality/prefabricated-lifes/: this work has reminded me the concept of non-place elaborated by French anthropologist Marc AugĂ&#x2C6;. And even though I'm aware that this would sound a bit naif, I'm wondering if one of the hidden aims of your Art could be to search the missing significance into a non-place...

(titles are never a direct translation between Spanish and English, Spanish title is "Lugares de Ausencia"). Idea here is more an absence, understood as a no-presence, or the presence of a missing human being. These rooms are disquiet, something is missing. You, the viewer, is what is missing and you are invited to enter and stand in the middle of the room (the standard view-point in these photographs) and fill it with your own feelings and rememberings. An aditional element in Prefabricated Lifes, is that these rooms and buildings are really prefabricated and rooms identical to each other.

Sure. In fact Prefabricated Lifes was born from part 1 of Rooms of Solitude, named "No-people places"

From the Espacio con Memoria series

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Alfonso Batalla

From the ESPACIOS CON MEMORIA series

A common joke among their inhabitants was that whe dinning in other family house you didnt need to as were the toilet was. Created identical, these rooms grew different because of the minial decoration of their onwers and later for the random decay after being left. In the end the no-place and the no-person in the place may be the same thing. These were permanent, non places of transience, but that uniformity evoques he same mood and

From the ESPACIOS CON MEMORIA series

suggest that a family may move from a two room to a three room home (with identical rooms ) as their status improved within the Comunist party. That houses make me think a lot of exitencialism, the difference betwen being onetself and being there, our true nature and, from other point of view, how humans are different from each other even under the most alienating of the systems. A feature that I recognize in your work, is the perception of the common in our environment and the challenging of it in order to create a new multitude of points of views: I would like to stop for a moment to consider the "function" of the landscape, which most of the times in

From the ESPACIOS CON MEMORIA series

Alfonso Batalla

your works do not play just as a passive background... I'm sort of convinced that some informations & ideas are hidden, or even "encrypted" in the environment we live in, so we need -in a way- to decipher them. Maybe that one of the roles of an artist could be to reveal unexpected sides of Nature, especially of our inner Nature... what's your opinion about this?

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piano suite) which shows how the Universe is repeated at different scales. So, it is all about hidden messages to reveal true nature of things which will lead us to search for our true nature. And true nature of the "being" is fall as in Heideger so true beauty can only be found on things (and persons) subject to decay and eventual death. And I couldn't do without mentioning The Sunken Cathedral and especially Artist Mind, an extremely interesting piece that have really impacted on me... I appreciate the way you have been capable of establishing such a synergy between recall to the freedom suggested by (background detail) abstract and the severeGold, plasticity of the shapes

I have even a work called "The words of the prophets" which tries to unveil numbers, cahracters, paintings left on the walls like the neon sign in "Sounds of silence" song. And other one, called "Mikrokosmos" (this time named under Bartok

Jennifer Sims

Mixed Media on canvas, 2012

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Alfonso Batalla

that seems to imprison creativity with such a "call to real"...

I am quite new to sculpture. I started as a way to add some 3D perception to my main photographic stream. After spending some months wondering what to do with a hammer and a piece of marble I discovered what I wanted to do. I use mostly parts I find and pieces I design in steel or COR-TEN steel and I visit a friend work sho when we weld them...or better I say "hey, weld the mere, I am an idiot with a soldering gun in my hand. Sunken cathedral reminds me of my Urbografias photograps which curiously work in the oposite way as spected: turning 3D objets into almost 2D, like architectural elevations. Again I can almost hear the bell ringing under the water of those churches which habe been sunken in giant water reservoirs. It evoques that incredible composition by Debussy from which I borrowed the name. Despite the joke in artist mind (the piece of wood inside reads "vacia" which means empty in Spanish) you are right pointing the contradictions between freedom and jail. We would feel no need for freedom if we were unable of whatever imprision us. We need that jail to react and create to escape and, beacuse of that reason, the jail is a plastic and beautiful object. Anyway these sculptures are the beggining point of others which are under construction, planned of that still live in my mind. So far your works have been exhibited in several occasions and as your recent solo Spaces in transition at the Hanmi Gallery, in London... It goes without saying that feedbacks and especially awards are capable of supporting an artist, I was just wondering if an award -or better, the expectation of positive feedbackcould even influence the process of an artist... what' your point about this? By the way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to who will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces?

I need my work to be shared so I need to exhibit it. And, as I need someone who whants to hold that exhibition my work should be able to be sold. That closes the circle. Exhibition in a Gallery (or fewer works in an International Fair as ARCO in Madrid) is not only a goal but also a challenge. First of all because it is usually the way to show a new work and see how people, curators, professionals like it. Secondly because is a test for the coherence of the work and for the hability to choose among its photographs which ones react to each other. Finaly because an external element to the work (the space, its shape, the lighting, the kind of viewers they spect) adds interest to the whole thing. And, of course, the knowledge and experience of gallerists is a tremendous bonus. I really adore to plan an exhibit and hang the photographs on the walls. I am not of that kind of

Jennifer Sims 16

Alfonso Batalla

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artists who are convinced of the quality of their work. I feel always unsure and most time lost, and have a tendency to find other people photographs better than mine. It is only when I plan a book, an exhibit, a set of pictures to be published, when I feel at home with my workflow. So feedback is mandatory for me. Awards are a different word. Not only because there are different kind of photographs for different kind of awards, but also because there are photographs which work best on their own and photographs which work better as a part of a set which I am more interested in. I am quite new to awards and normaly I only enter competitions to show my work to people in the jury I find interesting: more to be discovered that to win. And, in fact I am more fond of Art competitions than for Photography ones, although I know that betwen a painting and a photograph jury will choose the painting nine times out of ten. Thank for your time and for sharing with us your thoughts, Alfonso. My last question deals with your future plans: what's next for you? Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

Fist of all, thanks to you. You have made an impressive and well tought study on my work and revealed me a lot of things. My current series will continue growing. Possibly a new one called "O let the soul her slumbers break" (from Jorge Manrique poem Stanzas about the Death of his Father). My own father passed away a month ago and I collected some of my walking robot old toys and decided to "insert" them in decaying places as in my "Landscape Under Construction" work. http://www.alfonsobatalla.com/fotografia/morethan-reality/landscape-under-construction/ I have some designs for new scultures including a brand new idea of reinvented pieces from cardboards, plastics usued in packaging to be made with silicon moulds in polyester and epoxi. I n the short term some exhibts of cuerrent work, some publishing, some sales through Galleries or Saatchi Art which is a great opening to foreing collectors http://www.saatchiart.com/peopleinpixels and I am starting to think what to exhibit as a new work in my main gallery in Galeria Vanguardia in Bilbao http://www.galeriavanguardia.com/lang/es/index.php in 2015...and praying to be discovered abroad. I die to hang my photographs in international fairs in Europe or across the Seas. Thanks again for your deep job, for your time and questions and for a great media. I feel more than honured to be shown here.

Artist's Mind

The way to build a wall 2 sides, hand made mosaic on wood, cement.

Laura Guoke (Lithuania)

Sunaikinta Visata / Destructed Universe

“That which stands or hangs here did not previously exist in the world”. Paul Wunderlich. An artist is always vis-à-vis de rien, naked at the moment of existence, and always in a zone of “nil”. The same as Armand Schultness, having segregated himself from the civilization and created one of the most amazing psychotopies of 20th century, in the woods not far from Auressi settlement in Switzerland. In the land area of 18 000 square meters he planted a cosmogonic garden, enlaced with a web of wild thoughts. Every tree, bush and stone had a small metal plate fixed to it with scientific ideas written in five languages, connected to each other with an intricate web of strands and obsessing cross-shaped indications. Schulthess combined together all possible areas of human existence and scientific disciplines. Starting from art, music, poetry and ending with psychoanalysis and parapsychology, cosmobiology and cybernetics. He collected and made at least 70 different albums on ideas of sexuality and love, including particularly detailed anatomical and erotic drawings made by means of collage. In September 1972, an accident took place and after an unfortunate falling Schultness is found dead. The first year after his death, all the experience and knowledge accumulated by him is destroyed, demounted and ruined by his relatives (everything was burnt off)… My project is based on the story of Schulthess (for example, on one of his parts destroyed, namely the albums which analysed the topic of sexuality). However, it is just one out of the aspects discussing existence. Gently, by invoking body and sexuality, the shapes of perversions, I will test our perception on the socially engaged topics of identity, sexuality and sex. It is a visual research which comprises such ageless subjects as beauty, ethics, death and faith, while creating an integral narration, story (installation). I mean the human existence and searches for its perception through the images saturated with carnality and presentiment of inevitable demise. Physical condition of the objects depicted by myself is constantly changing; although, very often their usual functions are striven to put to silence. Despite that, they disappear nowhere, and invisible feelings later may turn (and often do) into substance. Texts written, inscribed on a body as the metaphor of needless words, fictitious complex systems and relations which are completely senseless, destructive, finally becoming suicidal. It reminds a spectator that the world in which human sensations are perceived as true in reality are always ambiguous and vague. Therefore, everything is only about life and its disability in the presence of death... Laura Guokėe

Krista Nassi

ARTiculAction

Gold, (background detail)

Sunaikinta Visata / Destructed Universe Mixed Media on canvas, 2012

Installation

ARTiculAction

Laura Guoke

An interview with

Laura Guoke Hello Laura, and welcome to ARTiculAction. I would start this interview with my usual introductory question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? By the way, what could be the features that mark an artworks as a piece of Contemporary Art? Do you think that there's a dichotomy between tradition and contemporariness?

Hello, its my great pleasure to be here. Creation for me is the Existence. Contemporary art should never be involved only in the production of „images“. It comes into the world from the experience being outlived/ which was outlived, from something which touches, hurts or agitates. Therefore, as it was said by Paul Wunderlich, while creating it is important “That which stands or hangs here did not previously exist in the world”. Would you like to tell us something about your background? You hold a Master of Arts that you have received from the Siauliai University: how has this experience impacted on the way you currently produce your artworks? By the way, I would ask your point about formal training: I sometimes wonder if a certain kind of training could even stifle a young artist's creativity... since you are a lecturer at the Department of Art in the Faculty of Arts at Šiauliai University, I think that our reaers will find interesting your point about this...

Laura Guoke

I was taught graphic arts by D.Dauknytė who is a great artist and lecturer and by prof. V.Janulis in Šiauliai. I was taught painting by J.Juodzevičius, composition by A.Gelūnas. The most important thing was that none of them pressed their own opinion on me and let me freely choose what I wanted to do or to create.

Being a modern artist and also having a strong traditional foundation, I enjoy combining traditional art and modern technologies together. In my practice this would be impossible without the practical knowledge of traditional artistic disciplines.

An artist should have a huge inner desire to create, an energy to strive for the set goals and only one percent of talent which is necessary irrespective of the fact whether you finished any studies or not.

In my opinion, first of all, an artist should learn drawing. I learnt from an excellent professor teaching in the Academy of Arts, namely prof. R.Žiupka.

Jennifer Sims 20

Laura Guoke

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I have always thought that to speak through a â&#x20AC;&#x17E;flatâ&#x20AC;&#x153; image is simply impossible. A natural exchange takes place in my creation, not only topics are changed but also the form itself and I know that it would continue changing again and again... I wish to speak through all possible means, such as sound, image, modern dance and, of course, the silence... The most interesting pieces of art for me are such which combine several scientific and artistic fields. While creating my pieces I always refer to some specific inventions or knowldege of technical sciences. To draw with pastels on metal or to shoot a video in a complete darkness where a subject turns into light only when glowing water starts running (prepared beforehand, non-toxic)... Since I change my work techniques and materials very often, I need additional time for the assimilation of the new technologies. Installations of the recent years and the most recent pieces of art were created and exhibited in the dark for which the

Currently, together with the MA students studing graphic arts we are preparing the exhibition in a well-known Lithuanian sculptor, A.Montis museum, in Palanga. It is a great pleasure to see, how within the last few years their artistic language has changed along with the topics analysed and the strong inner urge to create. Therefore, while working with students my aim is to encourage them to experiment in a wide sense of the word. I am sure that we can create something only when experimenting. So, if you do not do this, perhaps youBeigel are ... not alive? Aviva

Destructed Universe, Installation

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Laura Guoke

from Destructed Universe

installation, photography, `(size vary),2012

dark for which the special illumination and other diverse equipment are required. Thus, preparation and planning do take a lot of time.

start from Destructed Universe, a recent project that our reader have already started to admire in the introductory pages of this article: and I would suggest to visit your website http://www.lauraguoke.com/#!destructed-universe in order to get a wider idea of your recent production. In the meanwhile, would you tell us something about the genesis of this work? What was your initial inspiration?

As for example, recently, in order to reveal and fully justify my video installation work, I needed to make a transparent screen, the image projected to which could be seen by a spectator from both sides, which is a light, fine as a wind-blowing fabric. Now I feel very content that I managed to realise this project.

I found out about Armand in spring of 2012, when I was listing various publications in a bookshop in

Now let's focus on your art production: I would

Jennifer Sims 22

Laura Guoke

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This could have been another story of another man, but it was this information which I got into my hands and this thought has been developed further. Some facts about Armand: Armand Schultness, having segregated himself from the civilization and created one of the most amazing psychotopies of 20th century, in the woods not far from Auressi settlement in Switzerland. In the land area of 18 000 square meters he planted a cosmogonic garden, enlaced with a web of wild thoughts. Every tree, bush and stone had a small metal plate fixed to it with scientific ideas written in five languages, connected to each other with an intricate web of strands and obsessing cross-shaped indications. Schulthess combined together all possible areas of human existence and scientific disciplines. Starting from art, music, poetry and ending with psychoanalysis and parapsychology, cosmobiology and cybernetics. He collected and made at least 70 different albums on ideas of sexuality and love, including particularly detailed anatomical and erotic drawings made by means of collage.

In September 1972, an accident took place and after an unfortunate falling Schultness is found dead. The first year after his death, all the experience and knowledge accumulated by him is destroyed, demounted and ruined by his relatives (everything was burnt off)â&#x20AC;Ś from Destructed Universe installation, photography, `(size vary),2012

London (amazing story and surprising visual resemblance to my uncle...). Afterwards, I started reading and deepening my knowledge... Most important thing for me was the fact that almost everything was destroyed by his relatives. Due to one or another reason, a man refuses the usual world and creates another, his own world, a miracle which in any way tends to be destroyed, no matter whether through time or by people. Of course, his relatives did this earlier... On the other hand, if this did not happen, we would have not talked about it now...

From Destructed Universe Jennifer Sims

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Laura Guoke

One of the features that has mostly impacted on me of this stimulating project, is the way you have been effectively capable of re-contextualizing the idea of environment an the mutual feedbacks that are established with "human experience"... I daresay that your work reveals intertwined, evocative dream landscapes and questions environmental and existen-tial topics... so I would like to stop for a moment to consider the "function" of the landscape suggested by your work: most of the times it doesn't seem to be just a passive background... and I'm sort of convinced that some informations & ideas are hidden, or even "encrypted" in the environment we live in, so we need -in a way- to decipher them. Maybe that one of the roles of an artist could be to reveal unexpected sides of Nature, especially of our inner Nature... what's your point about this?

From Destructed Universe installation, drawing, 200x300cm,2013

Destructed Universe is a visual research which comprises such ageless subjects as beauty, ethics, death and faith, while creating an integral narration, story and installation work.

systems and relations which are completely senseless, destructive and fighting for something which is totally waste and temporal. It reminds a spectator that the world in which human sensations are perceived as true in reality are always ambiguous and vague.

I mean the human existence and searches for its perception through the images saturated with carnality and presentiment of inevitable demise. Physical condition of the objects depicted by myself is constantly changing; although, very often their usual functions are striven to put to silence. Despite that, they disappear nowhere, and invisible feelings later may turn (and often do) into substance. Texts written, inscribed on a body (the body through which we live, love, etc.) as the metaphor of needless words, fictitious complex

In this case, I tell the story which is common to all of us. Through all my pieces of art I talk about existence since art cannot talk about anything else but existence. Therefore, everything is only about life and its disability in the presence of death... I noticed that many of your pieces often reveals such an inner struggle and a silent but intense involvement... I would like to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indespensable part of a creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

In my opinion, creation comes only from some individual life experience. I needed some specific length of time in order to realise that the images created by myself substantially do not differ from any another people who fix their close people and who did not finish any artistic studies and whose practice is totally unrelated to the contemporary art. The image creation process for me is the wish to fix the people whom I love and who are close to me and the opportunity to become and stay myself

From Destructed Universe

Jennifer Sims 24

Laura Guoke

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From There, where you are installation, 300x800cm drawing, 2014

as much as possible. The principal function of the images created by us â&#x20AC;&#x201C; they are like receptacles of our souls. Only this way we are capable to catch the human essence, to grasp the human glowing which we often feel only during some sorrowful experiences. To retain the soul, to stop the life, to preserve the feelings since they do not vanish and do not die.

one of the largest global megapolis or in a town in some small country. We are all related to the same energy and consciously or unconsciously wish to share it. Method of illumination in my work is the symbol of our look at world, life and creation itself. Duality of life is clearly felt here: black and white, subsistence â&#x20AC;&#x201C; non-subsistence, everything is always close, sorely together. Moreover, you never know when an easily programmed button would be pressed and you would be transferred to another, most likely undiscovered space. Therefore, for my pieces of art I use the colour glowing in the dark since it is the expression of that invisible energy which every single moment we send to those we

Because in today's life, there are so few chances and so little time on the whole to simply stop, to take a breath and to give a listen. To objectively have a look at others and yourself, to realise that there are some special interlinks relating all people, irrespective of the fact, whether you are and where you come from, whether you live in 25

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Laura Guoke

love and appreciate, to other people and to the whole world. The dark space is an open field dedicated for meditation, the space in which a spectator may perceive and outlive the moment of creative impulse itself which is experienced by the artist. The space in which it is possible to relax, to forget some events of own life and to be yourself. I am going to continue these thoughts in the installation of my most recent works, There, where you are.

Presentiment nr 7, drawing, sikscreen, 2011

While admiring the pieces from your Presentiment series I can appreciate the way you skillfully create a space to let the light spring out... I have been struck with the effective mix between dark tones that seem to prepare a prelude to light: what technique have you used in order to reach such outcome? By the way, any comments on your choice of your pallette and how it has changed over time?

In Presentiment series I used hand-pulled silkscreen print and charcoal drawing. All image is created mainly by a drawing then second layer of color is applied. Those who tried silk-screen printing know that in order to achieve some colour shifting, it is necessary to dissociate the colours into CMYK and to print every colour separately, not making a slightest error since in the final result you may get moirĂŠs.

single frame from There, where you are video work, 2014

Jennifer Sims 26

Laura Guoke

ARTiculAction

Presentiment,

100x95 latex, vakuum silkscreen, pencil, pastel

drawing sikscreen, 100x95cm, 2011

Thus, all these fragile, slightly transparent colour nuances were printed by means of silkscreen. I am not a typical graphic artist since various colours were and still are important to me.

Despite this, I sometimes notice abuse cases and absence of narration in a piece of art which is attempted to shade in by using some most up-todate technologies... It will be interesting after several years to turn back to the things we are doing now. Perhaps, to burst out laughing... or to wipe off a tear...

By the way, I'm sort of convinced that new media art will definitely fill the dichotomy between art and technology and I will dare to say that Art and Technology are going to assimilate one to each other... what's your point about this?

I think it's important to remark that although you often shift between media: you have also produced interesting pieces as Fluidity of Bodies that has particularly impressed me and that you have created with a technique of your own: while crossing the borders of different artistic fields have you ever happened to realize that a synergy between different disciplines is the only way to achieve some results, to express some concepts?

I absolutely agree with you. I truly admire meaningful and ambitious, integral art. I catch my breath only from the thought, how many surprising things we are able to create having all possibilities of modern technologies and some scientific knowledge. This process has reached a full acceleration and is simply â&#x20AC;&#x17E;frizzlingâ&#x20AC;&#x153; from the abundance of opportunities.

Jennifer Sims I have been always experimenting, whether star27

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Laura Guoke

ting with these series of works or finishing with my most recent pieces of art. However, I do not do this just for the experiment itself; everything takes place while having a clear idea and seeing the final result. Therefore, I need some unusal photo sessions, materials and many other things. A story of the experiment which happened a week ago and had a happy ending: I had to take some photos in the dark under uv illumination and since at that time there was also my newly opened exhibition, I did not have any illumination equipment, the full installation was in the gallery. I did not wish to waste money and so having only UV 400W lamp we made a spotlight. However, most likely some connections were incorrect... Approximately after ten minutes the lamp exploded, splintering into abundance of larger and smaller pieces which were also very hot. Thanks to a happy coincidence, at that very moment I turned to another side, although was standing near that lamp and a sitter get quitted just for a scratch. It is good when the life lessons are so unpainful, it might have been much worse. Your artworks have been exhibited in many occasions, both in Germany and in the USA... it goes without saying that feedbacks and especially awards are capable of supporting an artist: I was just wondering if an award -or just the expectation of positive feedbackcould even influence the process of an artist... By the way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces? I sometimes wonder if it could ever exist a genuine relationship between business and Art...

I suppose that responses about his pieces of art change the life of an artist. However, I do not speak about any positive reviews. The substantial thing for me is that a person who comes to my exhibition, perceives the story that you wished to share, through your pieces of art gives a sense to own experience since it is the human existence that we talk about. Also, when you hear thank you for what you do. A phrase pronounced that a spectator has never seen anything like this... that he simply felt good being in the world created by you. A person coming to my exhibition is very important to me, that is why currently I am creating the installations which are also an open air dedicated for meditation. My aim is to create the space such that a spectator may simply stay in it. Now it lasts for about 15-30 minutes. I hope that in the future I will manage to â&#x20AC;&#x17E;catchâ&#x20AC;&#x153; you for few hours and even longer.

Jennifer Sims 28

Laura Guoke Laura Guoke

ARTiculAction

Fluidity of Bodies, 2012

This is the meaning of the piece of art which I see, namely to create a platform for the alternative perception of the reality. I will perhaps digress from the last question, however when talking bout the link between business and art... For my last exhibition I needed many special led uv illuminators the renting of which is rather expensive, even more that you need them not just for few days. So, a businessman renting these illuminators helped me, letting me use the most modern technical equipment during all time of my exhibition. It is always possible to find a solution, we only need to have a sincere wish to help each other. Thanks a lot for your time and your thoughts, My last question deals with your future plans: what's next for you? Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

My personal exhibition â&#x20AC;&#x17E;There, where you areâ&#x20AC;&#x153; has just finished in Lithuania. In May, I will be creating in NordArt 2014 symposium in Germany, where the installation created by me could be seen until October. For more information please visit my homepage www.lauraguoke.com. Thank you very much for having me in ARTiculAction. Fluidity of Bodies 2012 29

ARTiculAction

Christina Massey (USA) an artist’s statement

Using methods of constructing and deconstructing, I am constantly re-using and re-purposing my own artwork. One series literally leads to another, where previous series of works are cut, torn and sewn or woven back together again into new series of works, which may again be reconstructed into yet another art form. The past always present in the current and future works, they tell a story of my progression as an Artist, and question the finality of Art. I often use word play and general political topics as a way to communicate opinions that ultimately define an observation about the Art world itself. Painting as a medium, having taken the largest “beating” so to speak from the critical art world has been my primary focus of material, be it acrylic or oil on paper or canvas. I “kill” my traditionally framed paintings by cutting and tearing them apart, then mend them together by thread, a series of knots or weaving them together again giving them new life as a different form. How I choose what works to re-work, and what works to remain is a difficult process. Often it is work that has sat around for too long, perhaps “failed” in some way, by not showing or selling or simply no longer satisfying my creative desires. There are “favorites” so to speak that will stick around for years and not be touched, however, on occasion, even these “favorites” sometimes get the ax if it’s what I feel the new work requires. It’s a therapeutic process of letting go in order to move forward. Ultimately, any work that I have created in the past is subject to be re-worked again in the future in some way shape or form as my own tastes and opinions change, my body of work continues to evolve with me. Christina Massey

www.cmasseyart.com

Krista Nassi

ARTiculAction

Gold, (background detail) Mixed Media on canvas, 2012 Business & Pleasure 7 Mixed Media, 2011

ARTiculAction

Christina Massey

An interview with

Christina Massey Hello Christina, and a warm welcome to ARTiculAction. I would start this interview with my usual ice breaker question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? By the way, what could be in your opinion the features that mark an artworks as a piece of Contemporary Art? Do you think that there's a dichotomy between tradition and contemporariness?

I think the definition of what is or isn't Art is always evolving and changing which is always fascinating. However, there is a certain creative intent that is always beneath anything we attempt to discuss the topic around. We tend to say the phrase that something “looks like a piece of Art” when it occurs naturally, but it only becomes Art when an Artist creatively changes or alters that natural experience somehow. So inevitably, there is always a relationship to tradition and the past, particularly when work is attempting to push any preconceived artistic boundaries. So no matter if you’re painting on top of a new TV or on canvas, you’re subject to the conversation as the progression of redefining what Art is is ironically a somewhat "traditional" topic. Would you like to tell us something about your background? By the way, you hold a BFA, that you received years ago from the California State University Chico. How has this experience impacted on the way you currently produce your artworks? By the way, I sometimes I wonder if a certain kind of formal training could even stifle a young artist's creativity... what's your point?

Christina Massey

tion and personal growth that I think is really important for a young artist. In my opinion, formal training really only stifle’s a young artists creativity when the financial burdens keep the artist from the act of creating. Even with the most strict of professors, the true artist always finds a way to “break the rules” a little while staying in the lines of a class assignment. Something that I think lends itself well to the real world of creating Art.

I grew up in Northern California which is where I attended college as well. While my choice of colleges was primarily based on affordability, since then I’ve come to realize and appreciate what a really amazing deal I got. Not only were the facilities just as good if not better than a lot of the big name Art schools, but the staff was open and encouraging to experimenta-

Christina Massey

ARTiculAction

ment. Something that I think lends itself well to the real world of creating Art. I still like doing something I’m not “supposed” to do, but remaiining true to the act of creating an object. Before starting to elaborate about your production, would you like to tell to our readers something about your process and set up for making your artworks? In particular, what technical aspects do you mainly focus on your work? And how much preparation and time do you put in before and during the process of creating a piece?

In my work I’m constantly re-using and re-purposing my own past work. As I am primarily a painter, this typically involves paint on paper or canvas. The first step is deciding what past work is no longer “working” for me so to speak. It’s a bit of a therapeutic process, the letting go in order to move forward. Then as I begin, that particular work that I am re-using often informs the direction the new work will take. If it is work that is being hand sewn, preparation time can be quite lengthly, but if it is work that is knotted or woven, the preparation process is a little quicker.

I still like doing something I’m not “supposed” to do, but remaiining true to the act of creating an object.tion and personal growth that I think is really important for a young artist. In my opinion, formal training really only stifle’s a young artists creativity when the financial burdens keep the artist from the act of creating. Even with the most strict of professors, the true artist always finds a way to “break the rules” a little while staying in the lines of a class assign-

Business & Pleasure 13 Mixed Media, 2011

ARTiculAction

Christina Massey

Now let's focus on your art production: I would start from your "Business and Pleasure" series, we have already started to admire in the introductory pages of this article: and I would suggest our readers to visit your website at http://www.cmasseyart.com/paintings/businessplea sure/ in order to get a wider idea of this interesting work. In the meanwhile, would you tell us something about the genesis of this project? What was your initial inspiration?

This series was inspired by the Recession and Bank Bail Outs in the US. I had personally lost a job and felt a deep connection to the issue. I began to collect business clothing from bank employees, ties, shirts, khaki’s, that sort of thing and incorporated that into my work. I started to “destroy” much of my larger canvases and created the series so that the influence and presence of the business attire would be sometimes subtle, and sometimes obvious as a reminder on the ever present influence money has on the creation of Art.

Obligatory: Holiday Party Acrylic & Oil on Canvas, Collared Shirt, Khaki's, & Neck Tie, 24'' x 24'', 2014

Another interesting project of yours that has particularly impressed me and on which I would like to spend some words is entitled "Tied Up" and of the features of it that has mostly impacted on me is the effective mix of colors that gives autonomous life to the piece... Although endowed with a stimulating abstract feeling, I noticed that many of your pieces are focused on "human" subjects, often reveals such an inner struggle and intense involvement... I would like to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indespensable part of a creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

That’s an interesting question. While many artist focus on global topics, it ultimately comes does down to the creators opinion of an experience of that topic. Even in process driven work, an artist will select a medium, process, colors, textures and

Business & Pleasure 14, Mixed Media, 2011

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Christina Massey

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Tied the Knot: Plus One"ì

Roped Into: Class Reunion

Acrylic & Oil on Canvas, Collared Shirt,

Khaki's, & Neck Tie, 24'' x 24'', 2014

techniques that for whatever reason resonate with that artist. I’ve actually really enjoyed seeing work where artists have attempted to disconnect themselves from the process of creating altogether, making machines that create the drawings/paintings etc. Yet the act of creating the machine itself and the desire to separate the acts is ultimately a reflection on a personal connection of the artist to the Art created.

When someone recognizes a surface from my past work in the new and are able to pull from that recognition a deeper understanding of the work, it’s really something special. For the new viewer to understand the history and process is almost a reverse thread, they try to visualize or discover how the Artwork came to be in the state it is now, or additionally how it could be re-purposed again in the future.

As you have remarked in the starting lines of your artist's statement, using methods of constructing and deconstructing, you are constantly re-using and re-purposing your own artwork: I daresay that your creative process is capable of discovering such an Ariadne's Thread that links together different stories, establishing a channel of communication between apparentely "separated realities"...

This connection to an artworks path through history, the present and future is something I find particularly intriguing in the process of creating work for each time I re-purpose something it forever changes the path of how it could be reused again in the future. Multidisciplinarity is a crucial aspect of your Art, which ranges in a variety of genres: and I would take this occasion to focus on your recent series of watercolors. As I can clearly recognize,Jennifer its imagery is taken from details of Sims

That’s true. I love when someone discovers that path (or thread so to speak) of a particular canvas.

ARTiculAction

Christina Massey

Meat Market, Oil on Canvas_2010.

the aforesaid "Business & Pleasure" ... while crossing the borders of different artistic fields have you ever happened to realize that a synergy between different disciplines is the only way to achieve some results, to express some concepts?

in oil paint, but drawings could have easily had a similar result. And I couldn't do without mentioning "The Meat Market" series that I have to admit is one of my favourite project of yours... I can recognize such a subtle but effective social criticism in it... and I'm sort of convinced that Art in these days could play an effective role not only making aware public opinion about socio political issues: I would go as far as to say that nowadays Art can even steer people's behavior... I would take this chance to ask your point about this. Do you think that it's an exaggeration? And what could be in your opinion the role that an artist could play in our society?

No, I don’t think it’s the only way, though depending on the concept, it may be necessary to use a different discipline. I think an artist can use different disciplines as a tool to assist in relaying some concepts, but its by no means the only way to do so. In the series of watercolors you mention, I was interested in the stigma attached to the medium as something less than, and it’s historical context as something used as a study for a larger oil painting. By reversing the process I was relaying a particular concept that I’m pretty sure would not have had the same effect had I done detail paintings

I think an artwork is successful if it can make someone pause for even a moment, and ideally con-

Jennifer Sims 36

Christina Massey

ARTiculAction

Details, details..., watercolor, 2013 During these years you have exhibited in several occasions, and moreover, you have been awarded as well: I think it's important to mention that you have recently received The Weaving Hand Studio Residency Award...

tinue to think about it after the moment in front of it has passed. If that artwork has the power to actually make a person think about something from an alternative viewpoint or as you say “steer” their behavior that is an excellent achievement. Artists by nature have a certain need to create, to be “heard” through the act of viewing, and as we demand the attention of the viewing public, I do think we have a certain obligation to them. I think Art should be more meaningful than something “pretty”, and if not a social criticism, then it should at least be attempting to stimulate the viewer in a unique manner.

it goes without saying that feedbacks and especially awards are capable of supporting an artist: I was just wondering if an award -or just the expectation of positive feedbackcould even influence the process of an artist... By the way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces? I sometimes wonder if it could

ARTiculAction ever exist a genuine relationship between business and Art...

Yes, I do think that sometimes the award itself can influence an artist. Awards that have certain obligations an artist must work within clearly are influencing the work that is created, however this is sometimes just allowing the artist the space to create or tools that they would lack otherwise. The award mentioned is this type of award so it is of course influencing the work created while there as I am taking advantage of access to space and equipment I may not have later. I think it’s important however to remember that Art is a business. Particularly in an environment where purchasing Art or awarding an artist has become akin to buying stocks in a company. The investors are looking for return on their investment, be that the awarding foundation being able to promote themselves off an artist success, or the collector being able to re-sell work at inflated values. Positive feedback is always rewarding, but I think it’s important to remember to be self critical to remain true to the work over falling into the realm of “supply and demand.” Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Christina. My last question deals with your future plans: what's next for you? Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

I have a solo show at Dacia Gallery April 24th – May 8th 2014 in NYC that I’m very exited about. I will also be a part of the Fiber Arts Festival, World of Threads in Canada next Fall. Otherwise I am in the midst of the above mentioned studio residency at Weaving Hand where I am learning new techniques and applying those to my practice. For the summer I will be focusing on producing this new series of works.

An interview by articulaction@post.com

ARTiculAction

Aviva Beigel (Israel) an artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statement

Studying Medieval Art revealed me the rich colorful mosaic techniques used in the Early Byzantine Art. Gothic vitrag'es showed me the possibility of gathering small pieces to a large complete piece, and to appreciate the role of light in Art. Antonio Gaudi, the twentieth century genius Spanish artist, inspired me to make wild and free combinations, like those he made in Park Guell, Barcelona. All these have helped me to create my own special style. In my works I adopt the GESTALT Theory : "The whole is more than its parts". "GESTALT" is a German word which means: a structure, a shape, a pattern. It suggests that understanding a structure as a whole, depends on our ability to see all its parts, but the full comprehension of it will always show us a richer structure than a simple combination of its parts. My artworks are based on these principles, I create a combination of fragments and the final consequence usually creates a new, richer and different "whole". In my earlier mosaic works I have used broken China, glass and a selection of decorative elements from a range of materials that were carefully displaced on tables, cabinets, mirrors and more. Then I begin to create my own mosaic from hand painted patterns made of clay. I choose the clay because of its special qualities, at first it is soft, but during the baking process it hardens and gains a new quality, like some processes that change and harden the inner-self of people. Each clay pattern is unique. After I have finished the baking process I usually create the composition on a wooden form according to my chosen idea. The Human form appears in my mosaic works as well as in other mediums: painting, sculpture relief and installation, in different sizes and physical states: incomplete, bound and broken. X-rays conceal our fate and our future, and this is their power. Deciphering them by experts grant them their full significance. My X-RAY mix media drawings are intimate, secret, and their goal is to bring the viewer to an inner and mysterious world where the experience of deciphering remains individual. They are an instrument to look inside the human body, and projecting light through it enables me to focus on areas that are painful for me and maybe for the viewer too. The Human Figure, or, what is happening to us as human beings in the physical and mental aspects, becomes to be the main motif in my artworks. Urban Audio Aviva Beigel

Krista Nassi

He Knowsâ&#x20AC;Ś, mixmedia on perspex, 60X80 cm, 2013 41

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Aviva Beigel

An interview with

Aviva Beigel Hello Aviva, and welcome to ARTiculAction. I would start this interview with my usual ice breaker question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? By the way, what could be in your opinion the features that mark an artworks as a piece of Contemporary Art? Do you think that there's a dichotomy between tradition and contemporariness?

Honestly, I am not so sure it is possible to have an exact definition for a work of art. Does a work of art need to have specific materials, technique or theme? In the past, the definition of "work of art" was inflexible. In Contemporary Art, the meaning for this term has been widely expanded, and includes a variety of expression possibilities: installation, video art and body art are just a few examples. Today, a work of art need not necessarily be hung on a wall, but it can also be documented in photographs or video. Artists use a wide range of materials that in the past were unavailable or inaccessible to them. Regarding your question about the dichotomy between tradition and contemporariness, I don't believe that such dichotomy actually exists. Rather, I do believe that the one term derives from the other. Obviously, without tradition there is no innovation. By breaking tradition one can reach new means of artistic expression. Although I cannot find one definition for a work of art, I would say that it must contain the artist's personal say about her external or internal world. Without such a say, you cannot name it a work of art. The question whether the work is good, interesting or challenging should be left for the judgment of the public. Would you like to tell us something about your background? Are there any particular expe-riences that have particularly impacted on the way you currently produce your artworks? By the way, I sometimes I wonder if a certain kind of formal training could even stifle a young artist's creativity... as a self-taught artist, what's your point?

I earned my B.A. in Art History from Tel Aviv University. After completion of my studies, I worked at the Tel Aviv Museum of Modern Art as an art guide for teachers, adults and children. No one has ever taught me what to do or how to do. Therefore, I consider myself an autodiduct artist. I believe that formal training could indeed stifle an artist. This is even more relevant to young artists who are not confident about which way to go.

Jennifer Sims 42

Aviva Beigel

ARTiculAction

Departure, 60X80 cm, 2013

In LoveDeparture, 2013

mixmedia on perspex

mixmedia on perspex, 60X80 cm,

I have often witnessed young artists who followed the style of their mature and charismatic teachers, resulting in their losing the ability to express their own creativity. Before starting to elaborate about your pro-duction, would you like to tell to our readers something about your process and set up for making your artworks? In particular, what tech-nical aspects do you mainly focus on your work? And how much preparation and time do you put in before and during the process of creating a piece?

In my early works I adopt the Gestalt Theory: "The whole is more than its parts." "Gestalt" is a German word that means a structure, a shape, a pattern. It suggests that understanding a structure as a whole, depends on our ability to see all its parts, but the full comprehension of it will always show us a richer structure than a simple combination of its parts. My artworks are based on these princi-ples. I create a combination of fragments and the final consequence usually creates a new, richer and different "whole." My use of clay in my mosaic works is a good example for the way I implement the Gestalt Theory.

Aviva Beigel

I began to create my own mosaic from hand painted patterns made of clay. I chose clay because of its special qualities: at first it is soft, but during the baking process it hardens and gains a new quality, like some processes that change and harden the inner-self of people. Each clay pattern is unique. After I have finished the baking process I create the composition on a wooden form according to my chosen idea. 43

ARTiculAction

Aviva Beigel

In that sense, in the end of this lengthy process, I create a new "whole" that is more meaningful that the sum of its single components. Now let's focus on your art production: I would start from "Status: in a relationship", a recent series that our readers have already strated to admire in the introductory pages of this article: I would suggest our readers to visit directly http://www.avivabeigel.com/ in order to get a wider idea your artistic production. In the meanwhile, would you tell us something about the genesis of this project? What was your initial inspiration?

One day I saw on Facebook an advertisment from the 60's. Immediately, I became curious and decided to look for similar ads. Since I have a special interest in issues connected to women, including women's power and their status in our "men's world", contemplating these ads made me mad. Especially, I found the attitude towards women in these ads to be very offensive. Women were presented as though they were inferior to men. These outrageos ads together with the color-fullness, joy and laissez-faire attitude that charac-terize so much the 60's, made me decide on making a series of works that are based on these sexist ads. However, I did not stop at the 60's. I made my own interpretation for the sexist ads by importing them to here and now, especially by using modern techniques and materials. During the process I devide each work to small screens full of colors, similar to those we use for television or iphone screens. Aware of today's evolving media, this technique helped me create an illusion of quick movement that will catch the viewer's attention. Each work contains several layers: the alterd ad, the perspex, the slide and the paint, playing hide-and-seek with the figures, the ornaments and the sexist messages.

Girl Around the House, 60X80 cm, 2013 From the "status: in a relationship" series mixmedia on perspex,

attitude towards women in modern societies? No matter what will be the answer to these questions, one can say confidently that feelings such as love, hatred, fear, anger, jealousy and admiration that are demonstrated in my artworks, are certainly a common characteristic of relationships in both the 60's and nowadays.

"STATUS - IN A RELATIONSHIP" is a well-known Facebook status line that much indicates today's non-stop involvment in relationships. But, this status line raises a number of questions for the viewer: Where does the need to publish this status line stem from? What negative elements of relationships are concealed by this seemingly positive declaration? What change has been made since the ads were published with regard to our

Another interesting pieces of yours that have particularly impacted on me and which I would like to spend some words are Girl Around The House and Men's World one of the features of these works that has mostly impacted on me is the effective mix of colors that gives life to the canvas: I have been struck with the way you have been capable of merging delicate and Jennifer Sims thoughtful tone of colors with nuances of red 44

Aviva Beigel

ARTiculAction

Men's World, 60X80 cm, 2013

Darling, 60X80 cm, 2013

From the "status: in a relationship" series

mixmedia on perspex,

which turns from a delicate tone to an intense one which turns to saturate the canvas and that seems to reveal such a deep tension and intense emotions... any comments on your choice of "palette" ?

the following way: whereas in the past artists consistently tried to imitate the sense of light in their artworks, I am somewhat making a direct use of the light in my works. The light is an integral part of the work and not a subject of immitation. Regarding my "palette," it usally involves strong and basic colores: a lot of red, white, black and blue. It is important to mention that I usually use the basic form of the color as I find it to be more expressive, thus creating a stronger impact. This charecterizes all of my works, former and more recent. However, although my palette has not much changed in the course of the years, I have constantly changed the materials that I use for my Jennifer Sims works: mosaics, X-rays, wood, canvas, paper and perspex.

First let me made a correction. As I mentioned before the layer of these works is actually perspex and not canvas. I understand that it is hard to identify the exact material through a photocopy. The transparency of the perspex along with the colorful slides enable me to achieve the changing tone, the nuances and the strong tension that is conveyed to the viewer through my works. The light flowing through the perspex layer adds a special impact to the work. Let us think of this in 45

ARTiculAction

Aviva Beigel

Know your place, 60X80 cm, 2013

Housewife, 60X80 cm, 2013

From the "status: in a relationship" series

mixmedia on perspex,

Although endowed with a stimulating abstract feeling, I noticed that many of your pieces as Know Your Place and Darling are focused on "human" subjects, often reveals such an inner struggle and intense involvement, as the interesting Worried... I would like to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indespensable part of a creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

Regarding personal experiences, Rachel the Poetesse, Israel's national poettess, in one of her most famous poems wrote: "I could not say anything than about myself." I truly identify myself with this poem as I believe that whatever we create stems from our thoughts, feelings, dreams, and struggels. Our different experiences in life are the essence of our creation. And I couldn't do without mentioning your stimulating installations Containment and Don't Cry: I like very much these piece and even though I'm aware that this might sound a bit naif, I have to admit that they unsettles me... it's an effective mix between anguish and thou-

Human and Humanity are both central motives of my artistic creation. I would say that one common theme that ties many of my works together is a humanist view of the world - tolerance, respectfulness and caring for people.

Jennifer Sims 46

Aviva Beigel

ARTiculAction

Containments, details from Installation, mix a on perspex. 160x58x20 cm, 2008.

ghtless happiness... and I daresay that there's such a subtle socio political feature in them: I'm sort of convinced that Art these days could play an effective role not only making aware public opinion,but even to steer people's behavior... what's your point about this? Do you think that it's an exaggeration?

which I am very sensitive. In "Containment" I am asking various questions: Is it really possible nowadays to protect the innocencets? Is the protection we provide enough for them to have normal life? Does overprotection impede their development? What is the equili-brium point between protecting someone and letting him build his or her independence.

Although I create from a personal level, I am not disconnected from the world I live in and as such my works are much affected from social experiences. Alongside the world's endless beauties, ugliness and horrors are also integral parts of it. I cannot ignore reality's injustice and I cannot close my eyes even when it is unpleasant. That brings me to the subject matter of children to

Frankly, I do not believe that art can change people's behavior. This would be too extreme in my view. However, I do hope that people who contemplate Art are affected by what they see in the sense that it triggers in them new thoughts, feelings and emotions.

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Aviva Beigel

Don't Cry, five glass containers, mix media. each container: 40x15x15 cm. 2008

By the way, your Art practice ranges from "traditional" painting -if you forgive this unpleasant adjective- to installations as the aforesaid one, to Photography and even to X-Ray painting... while crossing the borders of different artistic fields have you ever happened to realize that a synergy between different disciplines is the only way to achieve some results, to express some concepts?

Crossing the border is indeed an integral part of my personality. Personally, as an artist, I wouldn't wish to be classified into one specific artistic genre. I always feel more intrigued to try new materials and techniques and I am curious to find out what use I can make with them to express myself in a different way. As I am attracted to changes and evolvements, the immediate access that I have to multiple materials and techniques as being a contemporary artist is very appealing to me. I am not sure that "synergy" is the right term to define

One of nine, hand made mosaic on wood, cement. 100X100 cm, 2003.

Ivonne Dippmann

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The way to build adetail) wall Gold, (background

Jennifer Sims

2 sides, hand made mosaic on wood, cement. Mixed Media on canvas, 2012 30X190X150 cm, 2006. 10

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Ivonne Dippmann

my crossing from one discipline to another. I would rather say that different subjects require different techniques. Such requirement dictates the "cros-sing the borders" you refer to, and helps me better express my concepts in different sets. During these years you have exhibited both in Tel-Aviv where you are currently based and abroad, as in New York, Barcelona, Beijing, Paris and Miami... it goes without saying that feedbacks and especially awards are capable of supporting an artist: I was just wondering if an award -or better, the expectation of an award- could even influence the process of an artist...

First let me be very clear about that - I create Art as a consequence of my internal need to express myself. That's the reason why in the process of the creation I deal with my own perception of the subject matter rather than with others'. Certainly, it is wonderful to be granted an award. However, a potential award is not a consideration for me while creating my Art and, accordingly, it cannot influence my process. By the way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces? I sometimes wonder if it could ever exist a genuine relationship between business and Art...

In my view, feedback is crucial for artists mainly due to the fact that artists live and create among people around them. Personally, I am curious to hear what people have to say about my works. I am more than happy to discover that viewers contemplating my Art have different interpretations to my works, sometimes different than my own preliminary perception of them. Also, I am joyful to watch children looking at my works, examining them with their open and innocent heart, but nevertheless with endless curious mind. Thanks a lot for your time and your thoughts, Aviva. My last question deals with your future plans: what's next for you? Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

Thank you very much for an interesting interview. I was happy to discover that you were interested in my works and found them intriguing. Regarding my future plans, between September 10, 2014 and September 15, 2014 I will be paripicating in International Art show Munich, to be held in the Prater Insel in Munich, Germany. This is a large exhibition that will host approximately 200 Israeli artists. You are all invited.

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Ivonne Dippmann

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The way to build a wall 2 sides, hand made mosaic on wood, cement. 30X190X150 cm, 2006.

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Barry Grose (USA) an artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s statement

I am interested in the dualities of experience and the dynamics of uncertainty, including finding happiness through sadness, warmth when cold, and light amid darkness. Such juxtapositions create an emotional narrative of lingering ambiguity through all of my work. Among my artistic influences are georgia O'Keefe, Rotchko, Warhol and Cristo and Jeanne-Claude. Yet my work is as much influenced by Architecture, Design and Fashion as it is more traditional painterly motivators. masters such as Charles and Ray Eames, John Lautner and files set designers Ken Adams hall all shaped me.

Barry Grose

Krista Nassi

He Knowsâ&#x20AC;Ś, mixmedia on perspex, 60X80 cm, 2013

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From the Landscape series

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Barry Grose

An interview with

Barry Grose Hello Barry, and welcome to ARTiculAction. I would start this interview with my usual introductory question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? By the way, what could be the features that mark an artworks as a piece of Contemporary Art?

Hello, and thank you. Having the opportunity to talk with ARTiculAction is a true honor and pleasure. A work of art is something that effectively does it's job, and art's job, to borrow from Alain de Botton, is to be an 'apothecary for the soul.' Further, contemporary art would be an apothecary for our souls in contemporary times. Would you like to tell us something about your background? As a painter, you are largely self-taught, however, you hold a Master's degree that you have received from the University of Chicago: how has this experience impacted on the way you currently produce your artworks? By the way, I would ask your point about formal training: I sometimes wonder if a certain kind of training could even stifle a young artist's creativity...

Barry Grose

You have done your homework, and I'm flattered. Yes, I hold a Master's degree in business from the University of Chicago. I arrived there via a one line application letter, which stated, "I don't fit in here [among your typical students], that's why you should accept me." As impertinent as that may sound, I was accepted. To this day, I believe the University's acceptance of me speaks volumes about the aplomb of such an intellectual institution. They are very open thinkers, and very comfortable with themselves.

So, yes, I think you're on to something. Young artists should should carefully consider their own process and the training that best serves them. For what it's worth, having attended both art and business school, I believe some business students could benefit from art school, and some artists could benefit from business school. Sometimes we are attracted to the familiar, when we need something very different.

Subsequently, I matriculated into a painting program at the The School of Art Institute of Chicago. While there, my advisor took me aside and said, "You have already developed your [artistic] 'voice.' If you stay, you will learn a lot, but you will never again paint as you do now." I said, "Thank you, and goodbye."

Jennifer Sims

Barry Grose

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From the Landscape series

you put in before and during the process of creating a piece?

scrap books, and even just quietly painting the stretchers with gesso are great 'warm-ups' to the bigger project. Materials and time are so costly, it's good to 'know where you're going' before one starts. I go many weeks, and sometimes months, in a state of 'gestation,' pulling together compositions and materials before I begin.

Perhaps our readers would agree that with the demands many of us face day to day, finding the time, energy and resources (not to mention inspiration) to create art, can be difficult. When I first started out, I thought each studio session had to be filled with full-on, dramatic painterly activity; throwing paint around, like in a movie. I have found a more effective reality by starting with note books, Aviva Beigel

Now let's focus on your art production: I would start from your Landscape series that our readers have already started to admire in the intro55

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Barry Grose

From the Landscape series

ductory pages of this article: and I would suggest to our readers to visit your website directly at http://barrygrose.com/paintings/ in order to get a wider idea of your recent production. In the meanwhile, would you tell us something about the genesis of this interesting project? What was your initial inspiration?

feedbacks that are established with "human experience"... so I would like to stop for a moment to consider the "function" of the landscape suggested by your work: most of the times it doesn't seem to be just a passive background... and I'm sort of convinced that some informations & ideas are hidden, or even "encrypted" in the environment we live in, so we need -in a way- to decipher them. Maybe that one of the roles of an artist could be to reveal unexpected sides of Nature, especially of our inner Nature... what's your point about this?

You have chosen well, as the Landscape series is in fact where I started painting. America's favorite story is Cinderella, and I can honestly say that I truly started with nothing physical with which to work, but I did have a lot of emotion to channel.

You are very perceptive, and you have a very keen eye. Robert Henri's 'The Art Spirit,' (which I think all young artists should at least flip through), was interpreted by me as a set of 'directives' when I started. I recall the recommendation to 'keep working and reworking backgrounds,' which I took to be something I must do, just because I must.

My goal was to create an emotional connection with viewers, almost to ask, through paint, "Are you feeling this, too?" 'Red Autumn' was my first painting I ever completed, which I created with the canvas sitting on my lap as I didn't have an easel or even a table on which to work. I had one brush that came with a basic paint kit, so I used kitchen sponges I cut-up with scissors. I had a few art books from the library featuring works by Degas and Van Gogh. That was it.

What I came to realize, however, is that those backgrounds are fertile ground for layering emotion. With time, over many days, the emotions one feels change. Placing those emotions one at a time on canvas with hues and brush strokes, over and over, creates that depth of emotion. It's all there, like a time capsule. I believe this is what gives my work a longJennifer 'half life' Sims for viewing.

One of the features that has mostly impacted on me of the aforesaid works, is the way you have been effectively capable of re-contextualizing the idea of environment an the mutual 56

Barry Grose

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From the Word series

Another interesting series that has particularly Jennifer Sims impressed me and on which I would like to spend

Specifically, over time, the viewer will see and experience more and more. 57

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From the Word series

some words is your Word series: I have highly appreciated the way you have been capable of establishing a synergy between between Tradition and Contemporariness... By the way, I have read that among your artistic influences are Georgia O'Keefe, Rothko and that yet your work is as much influenced by more traditional painters... so I would ask you if in your opinion there's still an inner dichotomy between tradition and contempo-rariness...

As you have remarked in your artist's statement, you are interested in the duality of experience and the dynamic of uncertainty, ranging from several different subjects, your work bridges the spectrum of human motions and senses and their often ambiguous sum total... I would like to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indespensable part of a creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

Thank you. The Word paintings were, and continue to be, an effort to get a bit uncomfortable and outside of my comfort zone.

That's a very good question. A fundamental rule of logic is to know what one doesn't know, and I'd like to think that I hold myself to the rigor of awareness of an unknown space separate from experience.

I start with shaping thoughts or statements and composing them on canvas. I thought it wouldn't be difficult, but they are quite a bit of effort as the layering and backgrounds tend to run deep.

A very challenging space indeed, perhaps the most transformative. I'd like to keep myself open to affirming others' paths that may exclude experience as we know it, and perhaps even for myself. I do think a creative process can be disconnected from direct experience. And I think the challenge of mapping a path there for the viewer, perhaps

So, yes, you're right, they merge what appears to be a contemporary design with a more traditional painterly delivery.

Jennifer Sims

Barry Grose

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From the Seascape series

on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?

with an artistic statement, could be formidable as well. My bias for human connection is in full relief, no? [laughs]

Thank you. The Seascape series is a favorite of mine as well. I grew up in the Great Lakes region of the U.S.. The light can be very beautiful there, particularly in upstate New York. The seascapes represent a full meditation for me, reflecting my very being. Palettes are very important, as I do see myself as a colorist, of sorts. My palettes do shift. I'm not entirely sure why, but certain hues do conduct different emotions at different times.

And I couldn't do without mentioning your Seascape series, that I have to admit it's one of my favourite work of yours...I have been struck with the way you have been capable of merging delicate and thoughtful tone of blue which create such a prelude to the light which seems to be enclosed in your skillful brushstrokes, waiting... By the way, any comments 59

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Barry Grose

I think it's important to remark that although you are basically a painter, you often shift between media: you are also a photographer and a writer: while crossing the borders of different artistic fields have you ever happened to realize that a synergy between different disciplines is the only way to achieve some results, to express some concepts?

Yes, I would agree with the notion of synergy. I help support myself by writing professionally. I'm not the best writer around, however I do have a focus on the reader, which much like my painting and photography, helps form connectivity. 10) Your artworks have been exhibited in several important occasions around the United States and you travel a lot to promote your work...It goes without saying that feedbacks and especially awards are capable of supporting an artist: I was just wondering if an award -or just the expectation of positive feedbackcould even influence the process of an artist... By the way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces? I sometimes wonder if it could ever

From the Flower series

From the Flower series Jennifer Sims

Barry Grose

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From the Seasscape series

exist a genuine relationship between business and Art...

The diversity of my work tends to draw highly varied opinions. Some people like some of the work, and yet are quite strident in expressing how much the don't like other work. I wouldn't have predicted this, but that actually pleases me. First, that people feel comfortable enough to express their experience, and for most, they have found something that resonates with them. There's nothing quite like doing an installation for someone and seeing the look of contentment on their faces, and knowing that their satisfaction will grow as their eye sees more and more over time. Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts , Barry. Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

Thank you. This has been terrific. For those interested, be sure to be on the lookout for a number of new pieces that have been completed and are now being photographed and prepared to be shared on www.barrygrose.com and other media channels. As always, I welcome hearing Jennifer Sims everyone to find the from viewers and encourage benefits of art in one's life. 61

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Gisela Hammer (Germany) an artist’s statement

Since my childhood the paintings of Vincent van Gogh are fascinating me, especially his very expressive self- portraits. Grown up near Munich, I soon followed the colorful images of the Expressionists. Especially Alexei Jawlensky with his early portraits. It was no coincidence that I was working for many years in the creative advertising and marketing business. Since 1996 Fine Arts is the center of my creative work. In an intensive process of external and self-educated study, in close contact with several artists and as founding member of the group "theART -IST six" I developed my work continuously. Colors attract me like a magnet; all clear tones - red, blue, yellow - intuitive set with wide brushes and mostly heavy duct, probably in subliminal inspiration of the expressionist painters. With great emotion, the picture developed intuitive in process. Layer by layer built, seen, rejected, destroyed and redeveloped. This process continues until to the decision: The picture is finished. A central theme of my artwork – since years – is Africa. Since my first trips this continent is fascinating me with his experiences. I am deeply impressed by the people and their aesthetic appeal, which I found in the natural dignity of their attitude, in their interaction, in the colors of clothing and of course in their faces. I am captivated by the serenity and warmth of its people, but also of their daily recurring struggle for survival. All this inspired me so intensely that I have to express my feelings with a diverse and colorful range of characters and moods. Especially my portrait images are reflecting primal joy but also deep thoughtfulness painted in various techniques and sizes. I want to express the different physiognomies in their whole individuality. But more importantly for me is to capture the mood and to create painted snapshots - without folklore and "ethno-kitsch", but always with respect and distance. I work in Germany and Mallorca/Spain. My paintings have been shown in the past 15 years in Germany, Austria, Italy, Croatia, Spain and France.

Gisela Hammer 62

Krista Nassi

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Gold, (background detail) Ankunft Mixed Media on canvas,Canarias 2012 Business & Pleasure 7 Mixed Media, 2011 3x150x50cm

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Gisela Hammer

An interview with

Gisela Hammer Hello Gisela, and welcome to ARTiculAction. I would start this interview with my usual introductory question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? By the way, what could be the features that mark an artworks as a piece of Contemporary Art?

For me, art is the attempt of the human beeing, to organize, interpret and to express the world, as he experiences and feels it. Would you like to tell us something about your background? As a painter, you are largely self-taught: are there any experiences that impacted on the way you currently produce your artworks? By the way, I would ask your point about formal training: I sometimes wonder if a certain kind of training could even stifle a young artist's creativity...

In my early youth I was very impressed by Vincent van Gogh, without knowing who it represents. Intuitively I stored the image of Van Gogh 's "The Sower" deep in my consciousness. A print of it was hanging in my grandmother’s house and had my enduring attention. Till today continues my enthusiasm for Vincent. Like all children, I was painting. But I stuck with it and fought with the watercolor technique, because at that time there was no alternative for me. Somehow I had the feeling that – with my temperament - I can develop myself in this technique no longer. Until – about 20 years ago - I started working with acrylic paints, wide brushes and big screens. Perfect for my highly intuitive and impetuous working manner. The paint dries so quickly it can be continued speedily. That's the reason why I do not paint with oil, I think I would lose all my spontaneity. Regarding your question about a "formal training", my opinion is that you cannot learn creativity!

Gisela Hammer

You can learn techniques, but this has nothing to do with art. Often you can recognize this in a painting. It doesn’t contain life, uniqueness; is soulless. Before starting to elaborate about your production, would you like to tell to our readers something about your process and set up for ma-

Gisela Hammer

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Volle Kraft voraus 80x100 cm.

tinent have drawn me into its spell. It is the human being, the natural dignity , joy , warmth , melancholy, passion , pride, but also the daily struggle for survival that has become a recurring theme for my work. From all these encounters and impressions , the ever present experience after all these years, I develop my projects, ideas and put everything together like pieces of a mosaic . Usually I work on several subjects simultaneously, like "A woman’s heavy load" or "Stranded” or "Children of Africa", etc. , in addition to general events like situations on the market or fishermen in their boat. They remind me of people I met somewhere in Africa who appear spontaneously in my mind's eye , with exact memory of place , situation, smells, colors, sounds and voices. Almost unconsciously I choose picture size and colors - the process begins . Intuitively and spontaneous.

making your artworks? In particular, what technical aspects do you mainly focus on your work? And how much preparation and time do you put in before and during the process of creating a piece?

First I obliterate the white innocense of the canvas in a haphazard way by the application of several layers. Slowly the subject evolves; then it seems to disappear, under a “gestural” layer and is brought back to the surface again .

As you have correctly noticed, Africa has been my topic for years. Several trips to this fascinating con-

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Gisela Hammer

Coffee Time, 100x80 cm.

Very carefully and consciously I start to refine the work, always taking care not to destroy my carefree spontaneity. When I start working on a picture, I stay with it. Only then will the mood be consisent with what I felt at the beginning of the painting process . Now let's focus on your art production: I would start from Kissidougou and Coffee Time that our readers have already started to admire in the introductory pages of this article: and I would suggest to our readers to visit directly http://www.gisela-hammer.de/galerie.html in order to get a wider idea of your recent production. In the meanwhile, would you tell us something about the genesis of this interesting project? What was your initial inspiration?

Kissidougou, 120x140 cm.

Tourism does not exist in this very unspoilt country. Foreigners, especially white travelers, are relatively rare. It happened, that in 14 days we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t meet a single white person. Perhaps because of this fact, people seem to be still very natural , open-minded, relaxed. They notice you, but normally theyJennifer disregardSims you. Some are a little curious

In the beginning there was a very intense journey with a small group to Guinea , West Africa. 66

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The subject sat with his coffee in a dark corner of the hut, lost deeply within himself , not taking any notice of us, alone at a table , together with several empty cups . Had he met with some people and he was the last one still there? Why? Or are the cups there, without having anything to do with him? For me it was a curious situation. "Kissidougou": The painting I have named Kissidougou after a town in central Guinea , which has a colorful market and just such women. These three were sitting comfortably in the shade under a tree and were chatting relaxed - perhaps after a successful market day or because they had not met each other for a long time. A bit surprised , they looked at me when they saw me. But they only briefly interrupted their conversation â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I was too unimportant and of little interest to them . They continued their conversation without taking further notice of me.

but only very few make you feel like an invader in their closed universe. Armed with this knowledge and memories I am able to develop my pictures. "Coffee Time" for excample: a bar , more like a shack , situated a little village in northern Guinea . We came as a group of White people into the bar to have a coffee .

Jennifer Sims Mende. Die Last der Frauen. 100x80cm

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Gisela Hammer

Volle Kraft voraus. Full speed ahead

80x100 cm Mixed on canvas

It goes without saying that a central theme of your artwork is Africa that, as you have remarked in your artist' statement, since your first tripsis fascinating you... One of the features that has mostly impacted on me of your works, is the way you have been effectively capable of re-contextualizing the idea of "human experience"... and I'm sort of convinced that some informations & ideas are hidden, or even "encrypted" in the environment we live in, so we need -in a way- to decipher them. Maybe

that one of the roles of an artist could be to reveal unexpected sides of Nature, especially of our inner Nature... what's your point about this?

I think our environment is too cryptic, hidden and distorted in our surroundings. Many things we touch superficially , do not think about them. Perhaps it is the artist’s mission to find the right key. Especially, because we are dealing with a subject intensively and can bring it to light in a new way , a new perspective , through our individual nature and possibility of visualization. For me personally , I can only say yes ! You mention my paintings “Volle Kraft voraus”... "Full speed ahead" . There is much more in it than just a boat with some men. But to philosophize about it , would lead us too far afield . In any case, it is something very archaic and despite all the colors very existential, very serious. The daily struggle for survival. But perhaps also the irrepressible pride to have a boat and the independence to go out on the lake for fishing. Or my picture "Mende" . I am reflecting a woman of the tribe named “Mende” in Sierra Leone. Her wrinkles are like an open book and tell her life marked by her daily struggle , but not bitter or

Gestrandet. Stranded. 100x140cm.

Jennifer Sims

Gisela Hammer

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Volle Kraft voraus. Full speed ahead. 80x100 cm Mixed on canvas

spend some words are Ripa and Malou: in particular, I have higly appreciated the way you have been capable of establishing a synergy between between Tradition and Contemporariness... By the way, I have read that among your artistic influences are Vincent Van Gogh and Alexei Jawlensky with his early portraits... so I would ask you if in your opinion there's still

haggard , as many times in our latitudes. Carrying heavy loads, also meant symbolically, because women are the main load -carrier. Breadearner for the family and mother, in some tribes they are also responsible for the construction and maintenance of their huts. Another interesting pieces of yours that have impressed me and on which I would like to 69

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Gisela Hammer

Ripa, 60x80 cm

an inner dichotomy between tradition and contemporariness...

The Expressionism just defines a particular style among others. In my work the expression is more important than nature-identical reproduction or anatomical correctness . I use colors to create moods without imitating nature. Artistic techniques are always changing. My work, although referred to as "expressionism " is contemporary. For example, my mixing and setting the paint are significantly different compared to the classic expressionists such as Alexey Jawlensky & Co. Jennifer Sims

For me it 's not at all a dichotomy. Also there is no break with the history of art in the past, but a continuous development with such outstanding artists as Paul Cezanne in the 19th century, as the founder of the Modern Art or Vincent van Gogh , the single frame from There, where you are pioneer of the "expressionism ". And as for my work, I video wouldwork, call it2014 expressionistic - however contemporary. 70

Gisela Hammer

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Jennifer Sims

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Gisela Hammer

Ajamu. 60x80 cm

I noticed that most of your pieces are focused on "human" subjects, or - I'd better say- human contemplation"- that - as in Conakry and Ajamu- often reveals such an inner struggle anda silent but intense involvement... I would like to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indespen-sable part of a creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

the only existing elementary and indivisible criterion for my creative process. For example see my picture "Conakry": The backgrond-story is as following: We arrived at the hotel in Conakry, Guinea, very late, about midnight. The doors shut behind us. Next morning, the big door to the street was open.... me ... I am always curious, took a look outside and saw this lady sitting on a stone in front of the entrance. We looked at each other.... both of us were surprised at the first glance... coming from different worlds.... sheSims at first a little bit doubtJennifer

What concerns my daily involvement with painting, I can only give one explicit answer: my personal adventure, my individual experience, are 72

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Gisela Hammer

ful.... me too... I thought..... perhaps I am disturbing her in "something" or because of my camera in my hand... I gave her a sign for taking a photo... she started smiling at me... the ice was broken.... we were shaking hands, were laughing together.... she felt happy... me too.... While admiring Die Last der Frauen and Sammy I have been struck with the way you have been capable of merging delicate and thoughtful tone of colors with nuances of red which turns from a delicate tone to an intense, almost flooding one, which turns to saturate the canvas as in Ankunft Canarias, a wonderful piece that I have to admit it's one of my favourite work of yours… By the way, any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?

The selection of my colors is highly intuitive. Sometimes, however, I have a color in my mind, to reinforce the desired expression at the emotional level . For example the cautious but determined set “red” in my first picture for the series " A woman’s heavy load". With the very dominant set fields in red-variations in "Ankunft Canarias....was nun? " ("Arrived on Canarian Islands ... and now ?") I increased the drama of the situation. Consciously , I painted the faces like masks, depicted in a surreal blue to express the hopelessness , frustration and emptiness of life-threatening years of escape through Africa.

Die Last Frauen, 80x100 cm

way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces? I sometimes wonder if it could ever exist a genuine relationship between business and Art...

Sure, a positive feedback, moreover, "crowned" with an award, gives a good sense of confirmation that the work has touched the viewer and is appreciated. After all, when one is alone in the studio and struggles, constantly troubled by self-doubt and always between euphoria and resignation.

To use red in different shades and variations , is always an exciting challenge for me. Red means fight , love, blood. From the very beginning I have been working subconsciously with a recurring color combination , of course, with several variations , depending on the theme , mood and inspiration. And yet there is a continuity. Not least because of the color palette I used my pictures have a high recognition value.

A positive response motivates me eminently to keep working and not to be distracted by the outside. That's why I rarely attend exhibition openings etc. to accommodate any inspirations that come from the outside and not from my innermost heart. Feedback is confirmation, but no more. You ask about the economic aspect. This can and must be only a minor matter if you want to remain authentic and would like to create genuine pure art.

During the past 15 years, your artworks have been exhibited in several important occasions around Europe: from Germany and Spain, where you are currently ased, to Italy, Austria and France... It goes without saying that feedbacks and especially awards are capable supporting single frame from There, where youof are an artist: I was just wondering if an award -or video work, 2014 just the expectation of positive feedbackcould even influence the process of an artist... By the

Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts with us, Gisela. My last question deals with your future plans: what's next for you? Anything coming up for you professionalJennifer Sims 74

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Gisela Hammer

Dubiety" ("Ungewissheit"). A13-15. size: 80 x 100 cm, Acrylics on canvas, 2013

ly that you would like readers to be aware of?

summer of 2015 . Luckily, some other interesting projects are also on my agenda. The approval of my work is a great motivator that keeps me on my chosen path to remain going forward with the utmost sensitivity and open eyes, and allowing nothing to stand in the way of my development .

It is paramount: To continue working and get serious opportunities to show my work to a wider public. So I'm participating in August at the 1st International Fair for Contemporary Art in Tetuรกn, Morocco, with 9 images from my series "On the way to the market .... somewhere in Africa" and I am preparing a large solo exhibition in Berlin in the

An interview by Dario Rutigliano articulaction@post.com

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Aino-Kaarina Pajari (Finland)

Aino-Kaarina Pajari (b. 1957) was for a long time well known for her colourfull, painting-like, large size and more or less abstract carborundum works. In 2008 Pajari started to combine carborundum with woodcuts and then concentrated merely in woodcut. Her themes are dealing with plants, vegetables and landscapes, especially seashore, fjeld and field sceneries. She collects the themes of her works by taking photographs of things she sees in her trips, on the roadsides or in her own garden. She prints her bright coloured woodcuts usually by etching press on thick etching paper, which makes the works three dimensional. Jukka Partanen

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Aino-Kaarina Pajari

An interview with

Aino-Kaarina Pajari Hello Aino, and welcome to ARTiculAction: to start this interview, would you like to tell us something about your background? You have formal training, and besides your studies at the Lahti School of Fine Arts you also attended classes of Pedagogy... how have these experiences impacted on the way you currently produce your artworks? By the way, I sometimes I wonder if a certain kind of formal training in artistic disciplines could even stifle a young artist's creativity...

I was born in a farmhouse in Tervola, in the North of Finland. When I was 16 I began my art studies at the art school of Kankaanp채채, thenI continued the Lahti School of Fine Arts. After the end of my studies, I worked for many years as a graphic designer at advertising offices in Oulu. I also did freelancer works in Oulu City Theatre and the City Orchestra. In leisure times I did my own pieces of art. I just got some scholarships, which allowed for longer periods of artistic work. I moved to Jyv채skyl채in 1996. In our town we have the Ratamo Centre for printmaking and Photography, so the print maker is here like at home, it was easy to sign up. I have worked as a teacher of art for several years.

Aino-Kaarina Pajari

work? And how much preparation and time do you put in before and during the process of creating a piece?

I take a lot of photographs, in my travels, home garden and walking trips. On these basis I draw the picture of photo to plate. My favorite topics are vast landscapes and the plants. On the plate I make the picture with several scarvings and the final print is ready after several printing sessions. My technic is slow and time consuming. The end result is often a surprise, a far cry from the original image. I like to do multiple image compilations for my exhibions.

Pedagogical studies were related to the teaching of my work. Teaching is the source of livelihood for many of the artist, as well as for me. Before starting to elaborate about your production, would you like to tell to our readers something about your process and set up for making your artworks? In particular, what technical aspects do you mainly focus on your

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Aino-Kaarina Pajari

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Castle Cliff 4, 2013, woodcut, 79x109 cm

in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. There I cycled and walked the seaside scenery. I took photographs mainly in the rugged coastal scenery and fields.

Now let's focus on your art production: I would start from Castle Cliff, a recent series that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article: an I would suggest to our readers to visit directly http://www.akpajari.com/2013.htm in order to get a wider idea of this stimulating project... In the meanwhile, would you like to tell us something about the genesis of these pieces? What was your initial inspiration?

I was fascinated by the landscape of the space, the ever-floating humid climate and the clouds to provide illumination for the variation in the landscape. On the basis of a series of photos from the landscapes, I implemented the woodcuts.

I visited in the fall of 2010 in artistÂ´s residence Aviva Beigel 79

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Aino-Kaarina Pajari

Lonesome tree, 2012, woodcut, 79x109 cm

Long Nap, 2012, woodcut, 79x109 cm

In the wind, 2012, woodcut, 79x109 cm

Aino-Kaarina Pajari

Blue Vibrations 2, 2013

Blue Vibrations 1, 2013

woodcut/carborundum, 44x44 cm

Another interesting project of yours that have particularly impacted on me and on which I would like to spend some words is entitled Blue Vibrations an extemely stimulating work that I have to admit is one of my favourite one of yours: far from being the usual deep blue that we should expect to see in a series with such title, it's a thoughtful nuance... and what has mostly impressed me is that it is capable of establishing such a dialogue, a synergy with all the other tones instead of a contrast... By the way, any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?

The Blue Vibrations series is one part of the work as a whole, which I did to the local summer exhibition in Jyv채skyl채. The works were born from a combination of the old carborundum prints and woodcuts. The color scheme of my works is considerably enriched with colorful prints. Today, I work with colors as a painter. I dont use black ink at all, I like to use clear and clean colours.

Blue Vibrations 3, 2013

Jennifer Sims woodcut/carborundum, 44x44 cm 81

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In the world 1, 2013, inkjet print, 25x25 cm

Aviva Beigel

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In the world 2, 2013, inkjet print, 25x25 cm

In your Maailmassa series you have elaborate the subject of landescape: this work is capable of establishing such an atmosphere of memories, using just little reminders of human existance... I would like to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indespensable part of a creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

Maailmassa (In the world) series began, in the summer of 2013, when I was walking with my dog in the surrounding of our summer house. I noticed with my eyes the ugly backyards of the industrial areas in the countryside. I continued the series over the winter until my dogÂ´s death. The world series was, therefore, also in memory of my dog and our common walking tours. 83

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Aino-Kaarina Pajari

Buds 1, 2014, woodcut, 54x76 cm

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Jennifer Sims

By the way, I'm sort of convinced that some informations & ideas are hidden, or even "encrypted" in the environment we live in, so we need -in a way- to decipher them. Maybe that one of the roles of an artist could be to reveal unexpected sides of Nature, especially of our inner Nature... what's your point about this?

I have no idea to tell anything special in my art. I might even describe a cabbage if it seems interesting for me. I make pictures of the surrounding world. Travelling is exception, then I like to pick up landscapes that surrounded me. Multidisciplinarity is a crucial aspect of your art practice: besides the carborundum technique that you master, you have recently started to use photographic techniques... while crossing the borders of different artistic fields have you ever happened to realize that a synergy between different disciplines is the only way to achieve some results, to express some concepts?

I started working on the carborundum through the 1990s and did some large works, the most important of which is the Jyv채skyl채 Polytechnic Untitled, 2013,

Jennifer Sims

woodcut, 44x44 cm

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Aino-Kaarina Pajari

Lily, 2014, woodcut, 54x76 cm

ordered a Brain Storm, 15 meters high. I started the 2008 award by woodcut printmaker to the existing carborundum prints. Eventually, carborundum was left out altogether and I do now mostly woodcuts. Photography for me has been and will always be a nice hobby. Besides producing your artworks, you also teach since 1980: how this influences your career as an artist? And have you ever happened to be inspired by your students?

Since I teach mainly the techniques that I use myself, it is a pedagogical work, often interactive. I might get carried away by the pupils ' works, Yes, but yes, it still is just a way to earn a living as a teacher. During these years you have received a lot of awards and you works have been exhibited in several important occasions both in your country and abroad, and I think it's important to remark that few years a go you took part to the 7th Ă&#x2030;vora Printmaking Festival - International Biennial... It goes without saying that feedbacks and especially awards are capable of supporting an artist: I was just wondering if the expectation of a positive feedbackcould even influence the process of an artist... and I sometimes

Aino-Kaarina Pajari

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wonder if it could ever exist a genuine relationship between business and Art... By the way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces?

Of course, feedback is always important. Given some feedback is better than nothing. Solo artist also sees himself more clearly the results of its work and of the respective entity. Her Studio is often so full off unfinished projects and mess, so the works in the exhibions are also necessary for the development of the new works. I don't think any of the target groups of art making, commissions are the exception. I have participated in many international graphic exhibitions, of which the most prestigious is probably assessing International Print Triennial of Krakow, in Poland. Moreover, I'm glad to announce that my work “Castle Cliff 11” has been admitted to the final round of the International Biennial Print Exhibit: 2014 ROC Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Aino. My last question deals with your future plans: what's next for you? Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

My exhibitions in 2014: Solo exhibition in Galleria Å, Turku, Finland, Nowember Group exhibition with six print makers in Vilna, Latvia, June

Prain Storm, 2004, IT-Dynamo, Jyväskylä Polytecnic (carborundum, 1500x200 cm, 19 parts), (photo: Martti Kapanen)

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Rita Dianni-Kaleel (USA)

Rita Dianni-Kaleel's award winning work has been exhibited in local, national and international galleries for many years. Her private studies began with The Carol Cameron Studio and continued with the Drisi Studio Of Fine Art, Gerald Merfeld, Brookwood Studio and KohVarilla Guild. She continues to learn from life experiences, broadening her perspectives which are constantly changing, bringing forth new ways of seeing. She served as president of the Professional Artists' Alliance from 1987-90, and as board member of the Municipal Art League of Chicago 1990-91. Since 1991 up until the present time she serves on the board of the Chicago Society Of Artists, Inc. Rita has had many solo exhibitions as well as having been included in numerous national and local group shows. Among her corporate and public exhibitions are Unilever, O'Hare Airport International, Time Life Building of Chicago, and Midway Airport.

Rita Dianni-Kaleel #196 Winter 1

Fractal Journey triptych 72x36 oil/g.leaf/canvas From the How to disappear completely series: POEM #55 Inspired by the growth of fractals in Nature 2

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Rita Dianni-Kaleel

An interview with

Rita Dianni-Kaleel Hello Rita, and welcome to ARTiculAction. I would start this interview with my usual introductory question: what in your opinion defines a work of Art? By the way, what could be the features that mark an artworks as a piece of Contemporary Art? By the way, do you think that there's a dichotomy between tradition and contemporariness?

A work of art to me is one that the viewer can be part of in that he/she can identify and associate their inner feelings in a personal way. Art is a human expression, however, I feel all creatures have a sense of beauty within their own species therefore, the common denominator is all Art forms. We can close our eyes and hear music or sounds of nature, touch an interview witha sculpture and discern shapes, see a painting and feel itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s impact, attend a play or dance and be moved. These expressions of Art do not identify the artist as being different, but part of the living world. Contemporary Art for me is a way of telling future generations of what is going on in our present world, so there is no dichotomy between tradition and contemporaries. Would you like to tell us something about your background? Are there any experiences that have particularly impacted on the way you currently produce your artworks? By the way, I would ask your point about formal training: I sometimes wonder if a certain kind of training could even stifle a young artist's creativity...

I was born and raised in Chicago and have been fascinated by Art from my earliest memories. I've studied privately for many years learning traditional skills in painting and sculpture. I believe a fledgling artist can be stifled by a linear approach to Art.

Rita Dianni-Kaleel

Creativity should have the freedom to explore and technique is only a small part of the process. 88

Rita Dianni-Kaleel and develop his personal way of expression. My work is influenced by many philosophies and techniques and being a contemporary artist, inspiration derives from the beauty of Nature, not only the exterior, but that which lives within. I attempt to visualize the unseen fractal growth by using abstract/realism in my work, for the colors of our world are colors of ourselves and although we are uniquely different, we are also the same. The line of gold leaf in much of my work represents the value of life and our link to the future. I am presently working on an extension of my Lifethread Series (which is ongoing) incorporating The Seen & Unseen and Natural Patterns which is the abstract expression of this work. Before starting to elaborate about your production, would you like to tell to our readers something about your process and set up for making your artworks? In particular, what technical aspects do you mainly focus on your work? And how much preparation and time do you put in before and during the process of creating a piece?

The purpose of my work is to reach the viewer in a meaningful way. When starting a new piece, I am influenced by the world around me because there is always a fresh perspective to examine. Whether it’s about a new natural discovery or approach to a way for positive change, this sparks research and thinking of how to make it visually meaningful. I have found that if I delve too much into a subject, it will stunt my art into trying to be perfectly accurate, so my imagination also plays a part. As for the amount of time spent on the work, it’s difficult to say because much depends on what I see in the development, and is directed by color, movement, brushwork, surface, etc. which has to be studied during the process.

Now let's focus on your art production: I would start from I Can See You and Point of

Once a young artist experiences many technical ways of working, he can digest what he’s learned 89

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Rita Dianni-Kaleel

I Can See You

Impact, 226x323 View, a couple of interesting pieces our readers have already started to admire in the introductory pages of this article: and I would suggest to visit your website directly at http://www.diannifineart.com/ in order to get a wider idea of your recent production. In the meanwhile, would you tell us something about the genesis of these works? What was your initial inspiration?

different ways we have of seeing. The abstraction is a means of connection so that to really see beyond the object is to look at the unseen as well. I noticed that many of your pieces as Indivisible and Impact often reveal such an inner struggle and a silent but intense involvement... And moreover I have highly appreciated the way you refer to oniric elements and mix them together with "call-to-reality" as in Keepers Of The Flame, which I have to admit is one of my favourite pieces of your... so I would like to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indespensable part of a creati-

“I Can See You” is a work done in memory of a dear artist friend who knew her time was limited and wrote a love poem to her husband which told him she would be felt in the sky, the trees, the wind, the sea, the earth, and the animals after her passing. “Point of View” is a self-portrait representing the

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Rita Dianni-Kaleel

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Jennifer Sims Point Of View oil/g.leaf/canvas 30x24 6

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Rita Dianni-Kaleel

Keepers Of The Flame

ve process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

“Indivisible” was done with the thought of the challenges we all experience in our lives and still remain strong and experience hope. (The line of gold leaf represents the value of life and our link to the future). “Impact” is the abstract inner struggle we endure so realism and abstraction seem to impart the same feeling. (To me realism and abstraction are one and the same since we are abstract when conceived, develop into reality and again become abstract in death). “Keepers Of The Flame” represents children of all ethnic groups connected by abstract shapes and colors who hold the future destiny of our world (also with a line of gold leaf). Personal experience being absolutely indispensable for the creative process is necessary because without it, the work will be ineffective and without feeling.

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Rita Dianni-Kaleel

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Angie's Passion, 251x349

While admiring your recent pieces entitled Angie's Passion and The Flight Of Louis U I have been struck with the way you have been capable of merging delicate and thoughtful tone of colors with nuances of yellow which turns from a delicate tone to an intense, almost flooding one, which turns to saturate the canvas as in the aforesaid Impact... By the way, any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?

“Angie’s Passion” is also a work of remembrance of my cousin, whose passion was Irises and the abstract connection to her love of them.

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Rita Dianni-Kaleel

The Flight Of Louis U-220x338

Same Fabric Different Shades

“The Flight Of Louis U” is another experience of losing a friend who was remembered at his memorial by many butterflies, which in some cultures are significant. (Representing the spiritual journey)

As our readers have already noticed at http://www.diannifineart.com/: besides paintings you produce interesting relief sculptures and giclee' prints multidisciplinarity is a recurrent feature of your artistic production and If I have been asked to choose an adjective that could sum up in a single word your art, I would say that your it's "kaleidoscopic": while crossing the borders of different artistic fields have you ever happened to realize that a synergy between different disciplines is the only

My use of color is unlimited and I have always had at least twenty five different colors on my palette. (Which is a mess, but I can’t work if it’s too neat) I love color and can’t imagine a world without it.

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Rita Dianni-Kaleel

way to achieve some results, to express some concepts?

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ces, so your question of crossing the borders of different artistic fields requires an answer of “yes”.

I also love to sculpt because of the tactile experience and dimension it offers. I have done three dimensional works as well as relief sculptures however, my working space does not allow for larger pieces.

Since 1991 up until these days your artworks have been exhibited in local, national and international galleries and moreover you have been recently awarded as well... it goes without saying that feedbacks and especially awards are capable of supporting an artist: I was just wondering if an award -or just the expectation of positive feedbackcould even

The sculpting experience offers an opportunity to experiment with two dimensional surfaces and I find myself “seeing” relief pieces on these surfa-

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Rita Dianni-Kaleel

influence the process of an artist... By the way, how much important is for you the feedback of your audience? Do you ever think to whom will enjoy your Art when you conceive your pieces? I sometimes wonder if it could ever exist a genuine relationship between business and Art...

As for expectations, I would be happy with positive feedback but whatever feedback there is, my work canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be influenced because it would be compromised and not be genuine. Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts with us, Rita. My last question deals with your future plans: what's next for you? Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

My hope for the future is to have a retrospective of my work in a gallery setting. Presently I am networking with the Chicago area and have still to find a suitable place for this to happen. In the meantime, I will still strive to do the best I can with my work. Thank you for this opportunity and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Fractal Journey

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Rita Dianni-Kaleel

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