Anniversary Edition
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A work by Pablo Caviedes
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Ivana Živić
Pablo Caviedes
Carlie Sherry
Jamie Ashman
Helena Tahir
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Bizarre, strange and unusual; each painting unveils the hidden reality within the mind. The subconscious is constructed like a giant web, which as a whole defines an individual. If one were to examine each individual piece, they would realize it’s composed of multiple ideas, memories and feelings which are constantly shifting. It’s this shift within our subconscious that changes our perception of reality. It’s why each of us can respond differently to a multitude of situations. Using automatic painting techniques, my mind enters a meditative state.
With her cycle of paintings named ‘The Rooms of Water’ Ivana Živić makes all experiences of enclosed spaces in which we live – public or private, spaces of intimacy or meeting points – visually tangible and real. Interpreted as scenery, the walls we move within become interior spaces of desire and contemplation. The presence of water with its multiple symbolic meanings emphasizes magical and surreal atmosphere of the paintings. Water is the first form of matter, the liquid of life. In religions of the world it is an indispensable part of the rituals and prayers.
My artistic process reflects my life experience in that it is constantly shifting and being shaped by the cultures of the places in which I have lived. It developed through the study of concepts and subjects that either touched or intrigued me, such as the coexistence of human beings with nature. Some address issues involving social matters, such as the serious political and economic crisis that led to the largest migration in Ecuador, and, in my latest series, the complexity of the origins and identity of the American people as a product of on-going immigration, while others are explorations in aesthetics, such as my study of monochromatic colors.
Dichotomies exist within my own histories, creating tensions between my religion and my body. I am empowered by my femininity—yet remain vulnerable. Disobeying God, mouth delightfully open, and eyes closed shut, I look to Eve ashe takes a bite from the tree of knowledge. After Eve ingests the fruit and seduces Adam to do the same, they become aware of their nakedness and are ashamed of their own bodies. She is then ultimately blamed for bringing temptation and sin upon mankind. From the start of my religious upbringing, Eve’s impactful story ultimately shaped unrealistic notions of purity. Perpetuating feeling shame for nakedness, temptation, and sin.
Jamie Ashman's paintings are mainly of Iconic people, the style and content of which are a reaction to the many art movements of the past mixed with: Punk, Acid house, Rock and roll, Fashion Magazine, Comic book and Celluloid influences. With a a strong line and vivid colour, the iconic subjects of the paintings identify the Zeitgeist that evolved in each era. He paints Idols and Legends from modern history and refers to Warhol's interest in Pop Art, fame and celebrity. Jamie's style is a unique combination of classicism and kitsch.
The central backgrounds of my artistic practice are eternal themes and dilemmas of the individual, who finds himself in confusing world trying to validate his identity and existence. I am interested in applying contradictory concepts (such as reality vs fantasy, meaning vs absurdness, light vs darkness, belonging vs displacement, etc.) in a lyric and poetic way. As an artist, my interest is to capture my understanding of beauty and expose the pattern of human figure as a medium of subjective meaning. My work is about revealing my subconscious and hopefully the viewer one's too.
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Jerome Chia-Horng Lin 4 lives and works in Taiwan
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Carlie Sherry lives and works in New York City, USA
Pablo Caviedes
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lives and works in New York City, USA
Ivana Živić
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lives and works in Belgrade, Serbia
Javiye Bentley
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lives and works in Dayton, Ohio, USA
Jamie Ashman Catherine A. Lair
Jerome Chia-Horng Lin
Javiye Bentley
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Taiwan
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I have conflicts as a artist, that I believe most humans have in life. The calling of being reclusive in natural wildlands, that stirs my ancestral urges. And the need to be a part of community, family, and the tide of humanity. My art is sometimes abstract, primal, vibrant with color. Then sometimes reserved, copycats of the ingredients in nature, with a minor torque on color. I start abstracts without any vision. In the end, somehow my genes of Aztec and Spanish coincide with my gender, and developes a drawing. I believe it's time to figure out this conflict, and humankinds need to change or control unnaturally. In my own way, even if just one person that perceives this message, through my art, means I have also created awareness.
Art has always been a part of my life. It reflects the evolution of my thoughts and life experiences. Many viewers are often curious about how artists create their art. For an artist like myself, engaged in practice for decades, I constantly search for a true answer to that question. No matter what part of the world you are from, there is a common inner notion that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. I see the beauty actually lying in the mind of the beholder, not just on the surface, but in the subconscious too. For myself, I am fascinated by the wonders of Mother Nature. Moreover, I am also attracted by the vastness of the human mind.
Javiye Bentley's love for art began in elementary . Developing a keen eye for detail, sparked his 6th grade art teachers attention to insist enrollment in Stivers School for the arts. Afterwards he pursued an education in architecture, but sitting in those classes he discovered this insatiable thirst to rebel and create what he considered art. His style could be described as a paradox, he uses acrylic to create these very colorful, detailed works yet constructs these very odd, unorthodox wood pieces that he uses for his canvas. The vision is to create a bridge for the youth and the elderly, all the while attempting to change the way art is approached as well as perceived.
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lives and works in London, United Kingdom
Helena Tahir
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lives and works in Ljubljana, Slovenia
Catherine A. Lair
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lives and works in Mendocino County, California
Chris Boyko
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lives and works in Atlanta, USA On the cover a work by Pablo Caviedes
Special thanks to Haylee Lenkey, Martin Gantman , Krzysztof Kaczmar, Joshua White, Nicolas Vionnet, Genevieve Favre Petroff, Sandra Hunter, MyLoan Dinh, John Moran, Marya Vyrra, Gemma Pepper, Michael Nelson, Hannah Hiaseen, Scarlett Bowman, Yelena York Tonoyan, Haylee Lenkey, Martin Gantman , Krzysztof Kaczmar and Robyn Ellenbogen.
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J erome Chia-Horng Lin Lives and works in both Taipei and Taichung city, Taiwan
An artist's statement
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rt has always been a part of my life. It reflects the evolution of my thoughts and life experiences. Many viewers are often curious about how artists create their art. For an artist like myself, engaged in practice for decades, I constantly search for a true answer to that question. No matter what part of the world you are from, there is a common inner notion that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. I see the beauty actually lying in the mind of the beholder, not just on the surface, but in the subconscious too. For myself, I am fascinated by the wonders of Mother Nature. Moreover, I am also attracted by the vastness of the human mind. While I find scenarios in nature captivating, the exploration of the images generated by our mind is sometimes more mysterious and enticing. My work has a soul. I love to create that which calls into question our perception of reality and of ourselves. I do a lot of
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research with certain phenomena to grasp certain concepts in my work. I spend just as much time gathering and interpreting data as I do creating from it. Sometimes I try to comprehend and unveil the hidden messages through the mechanism of psychological analysis. Other times, I keep it simple, and allow Nature to provide inspiration. I like to believe that I am on a spiritual journey, but I am reluctant to clearly define that path. So, I constantly explore and am open to the possibilities of my art. Over the past few years, I continue to create a series of works based on the theme of “Water”. I have no idea when it will end. I know the time will come when there is another topic more enticing to me. After all art creation is sensational and spontaneous…and you never know where you will end up next.
Jerome Chia-Horng Lin
The Keyhole of life Oil on Canvas 100x80cm 2015
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Jerome Chia-Horng Lin An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Barbara Scott, curator articulaction@post.com
Marked out with an effective combination with abstraction and reference to perceptual reality, artist Jerome Chia-Horng Lin's work provides the viewers with a multilayered experience capable of triggering their most limbic parameters to establish a channel of communication between perceptual reality and the subconscious sphere. In The Water Series that we'll be discussing in the following pages, he elaborated a stimulating narrative that gives a visually tangible feature to a wide variety of experiences and feelings. One of the most convincing aspects of Lin's work is his successful attempt to walk the viewers from real situations to a dream-like dimension: we are very pleased to introduce our readers to his stimulating artistic production. Hello Jerome, and a warm welcome to ARTiculAction: we would start this interview posing you a couple of questions about your background. You have a solid formal training and after your studies in Fine-Arts you nurtured your education with a MFA of Computer Graphics and Interactive Media, that you received from the prestigious Pratt Institute, in Brooklyn. How do these experiences influence your evolution as an artist? And in particular, how does your cultural substratum dued to your
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Taiwanese roots inform the way you deal with the aesthetic problem in general?
For starters, I currently teach at Dept. of Visual Communication Design, Chaoyang University of Technology. The primary media I use are oil paintings and computer animations. I receive most of my education and art trainings in Taiwan where is a multi-cultured island full of colonized remnants. It has been ruled by Dutch East India Company, Japan and Chines authority over the past few centuries. Although majority of people and the cultural influrence migrant from the mianland China historically, the cultural identity is as contentious as it's political and legal status. I am enthusiastic about this issue because it defines the regional identity as a whole and the position I fit in as an artist. I am an artist full of curiosity and seeks for answers all the time. As I landed my feet on the Big Apple where I got to meet plenty of immigrants from all over the world. I finally had the opportunity to engage the intellectual conversation with them, learning about their identity confusion as well as their individual discovery. Besides that, I learned to look at myself from various perspectives in order to further pursuit my style and my own path. The experience enriched me in every aespects, urging me to continuously explore more possibilities in many directions.
The Door within Doors Oil on Canvas 100x80cm 2015
Jerome Chia-Horng Lin
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You are a versatile artist and your pratice shows an organic synergy between a variety of expressive capabilities. Before starting to elaborate about your production, we would suggest to our readers to visit http://www.jeromelin.net in order to get a synoptic view of your multifaceted artistic production: would you like to tell to our readers something about your process and set up? In particular, would you tell our readers us something about the evolution of your style?
I started my art training in an art program since I was in junior high school. In addition, I went to National Taiwan Normal University for my BFA study, needless to say which is traditional and conservative, especially when it comes to artistic directions. At that period, I developed my interest in Surrealism, obsessing works from artists such as Salvador Dali, RenÊ Fransçois Ghislain Magritte and etc. Also I was intrigued by the theory of subconsciousness by Sigmund Freud. Psychologically, it should have something to do with my childhood and teenager experiences that lead me into the dreamy and surreal world. Soon after that, I became a high school art teacher, in the mean time, I started my first Dragon and Phoenix Series. I adapted these two major totems as the backbone of my creation. The icons of Dragon and Phoenix evolved throughout different dynasties, reflecting the culture and mindset of each specific era. I can't stop wondering why the patterns of them ceases to evolve today? I thought of many possible explaniations including modernization, globalization affecting our mentality. Dragon and Phoenix used to
represent imperial powers. Nowadays their application seems to penerate into daily life without rigid rules and customs. Therefore I decided to create a series of works to discuss their meanings. This series took me a year and then I served in the Army. After I finished my two-year army duty, the follwoing one is The Heaven and The Earth Series. Unlike monotheistic Christianity swept most part of Europe and America, Asians in general live in pantheisic life style instead of one strict religious belief. The heaven and the earth are symbols for all sacred gods, spiritual beings and the mundane. A typical dichotomy widely used by Chinese culture to indicate multiple metaphors such as Yang and Yin, Black and White, Male and Female, Dominance and Submission.....I was young and cynical back then, intending to be judgemental and extreme. The traditional Chinese culture is so profound and pervasive but we live in a westernized world that confuses me. I need to clearify my confusion via reading which is part of my creative process and I need to collect enough data before I move on. I don't know about the others, I used to feel discontent and frustarted about the society and surroundings. Therefore I had more criticisim and sarcasm in my paintings when I was young. As I grow older I learn a more mature way to look at the world in an underatnding matter. A lot of absud bureaucratic system of this society still function today because we haven't figure out better solutions. Often many corrupted conducts or discriminated mind are hidden by confused and dreadful subconsciousness. So are many other inappropriate
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behaviours. The reasons are not as simple as they appear to be. Evidently, the usage of sarcasm and criticisim in contemporary art is predominant over subtle and obscure styles. And the abrupt and straightforward approaches are prefered in contemporary art activities. The direct interpreting and narration causing viewers immediate reaction, that's also why it becomes trendy. Over the years, I prefer my style with more depth and subtlety. I never improve my provocative or sarcastic techniques further. I am aware of the downside of this choice. I simply follow the development of my character. I beileve it's time to take a turn to overthrow the self-denial, depressive, destructive approaches in common contemporary art practices. After all we are dealing with a new world and we should marche towards a new stage. For this special issue of ARTiculAction we have selected The Water Series, a stimulating body of works that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article. What has at once caught our attention of this stimulating project is the way it accomplishes the difficult task of creating a channel of communication between the conscious sphere and the subconscious sphere. When walking our readers through the genesis of The Water Series, would you shed a light about the role of metaphors in your process?
I have practiced Ch'i nearly two decades. Most people confuse Ch'i with Tai-Chi, simplly because their pronunciation and spellings. Tai-Chi is an internal martial arts practicing for defense and health benefits. While Ch'i on the other hand, literally means energy force, breath and air in Chinese character. Concept similar to Ch'i
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The memory from ancient ocean Oil on Canvas 91x116.5cm 2014
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Water serves all regardless of monotheism or pantheism Oil on Canvas 112x162cm 2014
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can be found in many cultures including Hinduism, ancient Greece, Hawaiian culture, Tibetan Buddhism, indigenous peoples of the Americas, Jewish culture..... Ch'i practice in reality gets involved with many forms such as external exercises and meditation. I belive in spiritual connection. Let me use modern technology to illustrate the idea. Each body of ours is like a computer, a cell phone or a unit in this wireless network. These devices are capable of emiting and receiving codes and information through intangible waves. We were born with this function and nature talent. What we need to do is to unveil the body's default setting. Every one of us are connected spiritually as a unity, either you are aware of it or not. Ch'i practice provides certain techniques to gradually reach the state. For most Asians, this is a widely accepted common sense. In my The Heaven and The Earth serise, I had many paintings pertaining linking bodies which is a reflection of this concept. And also the connection could last more than one life time, forming an endless cycle in the unverse. As I keep working on this topic, I realize water in essence, is the ultimate substance to carry on the spirtuality. I always fantasize about water with its beauty beyond anything I can ever imagine of. I strated to do this The Water Series a decade ago. Actually I didn't have specific plan to begin with. Furthermore, I was inspired by a book by a Japanese researcher Emoto Masaru whose experiments proves that water was a "blueprint for our reality" and that emotional "energies" and "vibrations"
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could change the physical structure of water. His water crystal experiments indicate that water can respond to text, speech and thoughts resulting water crystal in different aesthetic prosperities. He also published many microscopic photos revealing their diverse structure. I was pretty amazed by his research and my imagination went wild. As an artist, I immediately assumed that water has its own will since it responds to our thought. Of course it's not a scientific fact, but I could use it for my artistic context like surreal scenery. Therefore I gradually come up more and more images beyond my expectations. I just follow my instinct and keep doing it.. A lot of my ideas come to me when I am meditating while practicing Ch'i. Take Neither Upward, Nor Downward for an example whose image appeared in my mind when I was in that state. Unlike dreams you intend to forget the content next morning, but in meditation, you stay awake and relaxed. I found the contents from my meditation are far more original than the images I try to compose using my brain. The image consists of two water pipes entwined in the center then flowing towards two sides, suggesting they have their own gravity force. I don't exactly know the subconscious explanation. But I do know the metaphor can be used to represent the struggles that everyone dealing with on the daily basis. We constantly have all kind of dilemma or confusion to jiggle with. As I finished that painting, I start to consider the possibilities of extending that concept further. So I change the water pines into more than two. I try different directions and I also make them drip into cubes, places and other forms. Many
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The Journey of water within Roses, Video/3D Animation
pieces of artworks derive from this concept. The fun part of art creation is that I get to play with all kind of combinations. What I do is like scientists conducting experiments with aesthetic concern.
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. HD 1920x1080, 1'40", 2013
For years I rely on producing 3D animations for my source of income. They are primarily used for commercial purposes. I always want to do it for artistic creations. Eventually by the time of 2012 I got the chance to execute my ideas into three animation pieces. I
exhibit them in Art Taipei 2013 and later obtain numerous awards and selection into many international film festivals. Among them, The Path of Water consists of many metaphors within a variety of moving images. There is no solid storyline. The theme actually reflects my
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The path of Water, Video/3D Animation, HD 1920x1080, 4'51", 2013
mental responses towards the world, conveying my value system throughout years of experiences. This work somehow implied that water has its own will, deciding where to flow regardless of any obstacle it may encounter. It will detour or penetrate in order to reach its
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destination. Regardless of how we perceive the image of water, it flows along its own path in a long cycle with or without human intervention. When inquiring into human perceptual process, your work establishes direct relations with the viewers: the
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process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?
multilayered experience to whom you invite the spectatorship gives a permanence to the intrinsic ephemeral nature of the feelings you convey in your canvass. So we would take this occasion to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indespensable part of a creative
I think experience always link to the creative process in various ways. For me, it will probably take a very long time to digest, transform and reshape them. I was working in Financial Discrict where the terrist attack 911 took place. My office faces twin towers and I saw them every day. I ran away with fellow workers covering dusts and debris all over me when the towers collapsed. It was a near death experience I can't deal with. It also changed my career path and I moved back to Taiwan because of its collateral damage. I rather not to paint it until a decade later. In Memory of 911 serves as a way to release my complicated emotions about the major event in my life. There are many symbolic images in the painting, for instance, the water gun represents violence and the lower left corner is me wanting to have an opportunity to prosper. I spread a batch of water transforming into an entwined heart which links to the soaring career (the bird), social status (the chair), relationship (the girl) and etc. All of these are vaporized by the incident (the gun) over night. This is to commemorate my experience in the incident and to pacify myself, further as a reminder for me to move forward. There are multilayered experiences for artist to nurture their art. I see many pople use the same topic for their works. It would be easier for me if I personally was not affected. I often observe objects or things either around me or far away, adapting them for my art. In this scenario, I paint them without emotion attached too much. Sometimes they are experiences from
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Rose fishes leap among love gates. Oil on Canvas, 91x116.5cm, 2014
friends or acquaintances. I define the sort of creative input as the most commom one. The basic technique when every young artist started their trainings. Psychologically, when the impact of the incident reaches to some extent, somehow it forces me to elude from the stress. But it's like planting a seed in the soil which will grow eventually, either in a very straightforward way or a devious manner. I think my preference is the
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latter one due to my ideology. I think the pursuit of permanence to the intrinsic ephemeral nature is a classical mentality by many ancient masters. The difference is that modern cameras are able to capture the phenomenon of water movements in the fraction of 1/1000 second. There is no way I could witness them with my naked eyes. After years of using these photos for my painting reference, I gradually internalize the
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A place without gods and spirit. Oil on Canvas, 145.5cmx112cm, 2009
water appeal in my mind. I don't heavily rely on the photos so much to paint any more. When it comes to 3D animation, it's a totally different story. I had experiences dealing with commerical assignments. But this time my goal is set to a seldomly touched direction. There are not many artists dealing with this kind of water creation in digital tools, 3D animation in particular. I use available softwares to play with water. To me, they
are experiments but very painful ones. Practically, it's not a big deal of tooking me 5 days to simulate a 10 second of water movements in one computer. When the result doesn't reach my expectation, I have to start all over again. Luckily I had several computers to run these calculations. It's a totally different mindset for an artist to create art using digital tools. I will never advise other artists to go through the same tidious
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The horse in need for two eggs, Oil on Canvas, 45.5x53cm, 2015
learning curves. Because it will somehow jeopardise the creative production flow. For the past two decades, I do 3D animation for living. It turns out to be a precious experience for me as an artist. I tapped into this computer world with art dreams. In reality the complexity of art
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appliance is beyond words. If I had never forced to take a detour, I would never do these artistic animations in the end. It's also one of the reasons why I name it The Path of Water because it's like my path, too.
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Water flowing into four directions, Oil on Canvas, 50x60.5cm, 2016
As you have remarked once, you spend just as much time gathering and interpreting data as I do creating from it: conveying both metaphoric and descriptive research, your practice constructs of a concrete aesthetic. As the late Franz West did in his installations, your artistic production
unconventional features in the way it deconstructs perceptual images in order to assemble them in a collective imagery, urging the viewers to a process of self-reflection. Artists are always interested in probing to see what is beneath the surface: maybe one of the roles of an artist could be to reveal
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unexpected sides of Nature, especially of our inner Nature... what's your view about this?
You remind me of the situation in Taiwan around 90's and it's probably common in Japan and many parts of Asia. Impressionist or post-impressionist paintings were overwhelming at that time. Audience didn't prefer surreal, unexpected and unfamilar nature in paintings. As soon as I arrived New York, I started to see the different scenario. I can't help wondering what kind of mindset to be attracted by such an unreal, exotic and surprising nature. I learned that everyone is guided to appreciate art and their favorates are the reflection their mentality. The surrounding nature is eyecatching for most public beause it's secure and familiar. It's not surpspring to see art beginners swept by realistic paintings becuase of their fantastic technique. I always have the preference to pursuit newness and creavitity. I am also drawn by beautiful arts and their techniques, too. But I know the urge to create will push artists further beyond the skill level. I believe in spiritual connection will act as an important mechanism to attract right audience to the right arts. An artist told me that an artwork found its own collector, not the other way around. I totally agree with him.
Either Right or Left, Video/3D Animation, HD 1920x1080
We appreciate your successful attempt to produce a dialectical fusion that operates as a system of symbols creates a compelling non linear narrative that, walking the thin line between conceptual and literal meanings, allows to the viewers to unveil the common inner notion that beauty lies in the eyes of the
beholder. German multidisciplinary artist Thomas Demand once stated that "nowadays art can no longer rely so much on symbolic strategies and has to probe psychological, narrative elements within the medium instead". What is
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, 3'15", 2013"
your opinion about it? And in particular how do you conceive the narrative for your works?
I am interested in Psychology and quite enjoy watching people since I was young.
Plus being a teacher grants me the opportunities to get to know many students and to further observe their state of mind through their behaviours. Neurons connect to each other to form neural networks which looks like tree
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The fish of illusion Oil on Canvas, 80x80cm, 2015
structure or computer network. As a matter of fact, our mind often function in a very nonlinear narrative, random way just like the neural networks. We all have the
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experience of surfing the Internet and we spontaneously jump to irrelevant sites for no reason. We learn to organize, to reason and to obey social orders through
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education. Art offers an outlet for our instrincts to relinquish the constraint. As an artist, I simply follow the human nature. Symbolic strategies are essential for communication purposes because most of us recognize certain cultural protocols via symbols. Some artists invent their own syntax of symbols as if it's a new language. I found it very interesting and amazing. I also think the overwhleming mass media including internet spur this trend further. On top of that, general public are thrilled by tempestuous information and loose the patience on virtually everything. Obscure and subtle metaphors in art are getting harder to draw attention, no mention about media report. The usage of psychological, narrative elements in art is not a new idea. Take Hieronymus Bosch(1450~1516) for example whose work is known for its fantastic imagery, detailed landscapes, and illustrations of religious concepts and narratives. If you study his art more, you might rediscovery the Contemporariness within his creation. Historically art repeat itself in a regular pattern but never the same. If we define the Contemporariness as a way of thinking, they were there for centuries. As to the last question, I have to say it's an interesting journey for me. When I was a fine-arts major in college, my interpretation of narrative has nothing to do with timeline. It's like taking a photograph you intend to seize a moment and rearrange it to the canvas. After I receive trainings and hand-on practices on animation production, I learn a very clear awareness of timeline for my canvas. It's a
very different mentality before and after. I intend to do both ways. One process is that I slice stills from the movement to compose my paintings. Another is I have the paintings in related sequences, then I try to animate them. Typical animation production is using the latter technique. But the mainstream animation storytelling emphasizes on the story structure and down-to-earth appeal while I am into abstract and surreal atmosphere. The experience of animation gives me a different way of thinking. The dialogue established by colors and texture is a crucial part of your style: in particular, the effective combination between intense nuances of tones sums up the mixture of thoughts and emotions. How much does your own psychological make-up determine the nuances of tones you decide to use in a piece and in particular, how do you develop a painting’s texture? Moreover, any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?
Nowadays I usually stare at the ongoing painting for a while to sense it's need. It seems to possess it's own soul to enage a visual conversation with me. For me mind is more powerful than brain. I used to think a lot when I paint. Gradually I learned to 'listen' and feel the paintings than to use my brain. One thing I know for sure is my pallette relfects my emotion of every different era. As I look back at my paintings years ago. I recalled those memories at that time, knowing how I feel at that moment and particular event triggering that concept.
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I was more judgemental and cynical in my 20 something. I was young, frustrated and confused. Those who went through such youth once probably understand what I am referring to. Overtime, I gain life experience and joyful colors appear more in my paintings. Now I have positive attitude on my life in general. Your pieces encapsulate both traditional techniques and modern imagery you blend together to create a coherent unity, that rejects any conventional classification and that invites the viewer to explore the liminal area between Tradition and a vivacious contemporary approach. What is in your opinoin the relationship between Tradition and Contemporariness? Do you think there's a contrast or do you rather think that Contemporariness could be considered an evolutive stage of Tradition?
In Taiwan, as a young art student, I learned both western media as well as Chinese paintings. I also studied both art history in equal proportions. The backbone of the whole art education unquestionably is western point of view as the mainstream. I have no doubt to follow the lead all the way. When I study in New York, I realize the art history remains the same European centered perspectives. Arts from other culture are more or less the appendage to the mainstream art world as exotic fantasy. For instance, the book Styles of Ornament by Alexander Speltz is a representation of nineteenth century thinking. Regardless the fact that China has over thousands years of history, the collections of Chinese ornaments occupies only 11 pages while European ornaments have hundreds pages of detailed introdcutions based on different regions and era.
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Another example such as Edward Said's analysis in Orientalism, the West essentializes these societies as static and undeveloped—thereby fabricating a view of Oriental culture that can be studied, depicted, and reproduced. Implicit in this fabrication, writes Said, is the idea that Western society is developed, rational, flexible, and superior, while Oriental societies embody the opposite values. In today's Globalizational world, in my opinion, a lot of curators reinforces traditional mentality from European superior perspectives. It's another form of post-colonization status, with new media and techniques. So I have to pinpoint out one fundamental question that either Tradition is defined by the current Art History textbooks or the undocumented and ignored Traditions in all civilizations. The way I see Tradition has been reborn in a fresh look. Optimistically, Contemporariness is always a vague term to include wide range aspects of arts. While strong attachment to European centered art history remains in text book, new awakening rises in many corners of the world. I am proud of being one to provoke this discussion. When Orientalisim is used to justify Western imperialism at 18th and 19th century, Europeans definitely don't define their misconducts until centuries later. Social brutality and violence is always the basic regulation of history. Inevitably, culture and arts are the extension or disguise of it's cruel core. In conclusion, this question itself is quite complicated. Tradition isn't a single one, neither isn't the Contemporariness. Contemporariness is clearly an evolutive stage of Western Tradition. As to the rest
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Leap Oil on Canvas, 100x80cm, 2009
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The Ocean is bluer on the other globe Oil on Canvas Diameter 50cm 2015
of other Tradition, I doubt about it. For me, I try to discuss some of these complicated issues in my art.
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Over these years you works have been exhibited in several occasions: you had eight solos and you recently participated
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Republic of Globe Oil on Canvas Diameter 50cm 2015
at “Transformation" Art 15, in London. Your art practice is strictly connected to the chance of establishing a direct
involvement with the viewers, who are called to evolve from a mere spectatorship to conscious participants
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on an intellectual level, so before leaving this conversation I would like to pose a question about the nature of the relationship of your art with your audience. Do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial component of your decision-making process, in terms of what type of language is used in a particular context?
Musicians often said their music isn't completed until the audience listen and respond to it. Visaul arts have fundamenatlly different nature. But as the art genres grow, the boundary starts to fade away for things like interactive media. I have participated in several interactive media projects getting involved with computer animations, programming and devices. There are currently some obstacles for me to produce such media as art becasue of budget range and technological inability. On the other hand, 3D animations are the tools I am comfortable with, so is oil painting. In the future, when I have more resources, I will explore more on this field. The feedbacks of audience always inspire me, not only spiritually but also pratically. I assume children appreciate cartoon and cute animations. I am also very thrilled to see them respond to my abstract animations very well. It's quite unexpectated at all. In my several exhibitions of The Water Series, many scientists and engineers shared their technical infomations and knowledge about water with me. I also learn a lot from them. Audience reception leads me into new directions, ideas and concepts. They may not have the skill to create arts, but they do have the imagination to think of new ideas. Over time I take advices from them in my mind, eventually I modify some
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ideas in return. Sometimes I deliver the ideas clearly, aometimes I rather remain mysterious and vague. Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Jerome. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects. How do you see your work evolving?
I am working on oil paintings for two upcoming art fairs around the end of this year in Miami Beach, USA. The first one is Aqua Art Miami with Starry Night Exposure Gallery. Another is Scope Art Miami 2016 with Arte Ponte Gallery. Both fairs are at the end of Nov. and early Dec. I am going to showcase several oil paintings on their booths. Also I am experimenting new customized devices in combining both animation and painting. I sort of think them as imagery sculptures. The topic is still about water, too. I just have some new attempts on techniques and contents. In summary, from my early obsession with Surrealism to Dragon and Phoenix Series and The Heaven and The Earth Series, then The Water Series, I have gone through several phases. No matter how I experiment with the techniqes and methods, I keep on making new art with curiousity and passion.
An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Barbara Scott, curator articulaction@post.com
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Horse-Headed world Oil on Canvas, 53x45.5cm, 2015
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C arlie Sherry Lives and works in New York City, USA
An artist's statement
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ichotomies exist within my own histories, creating tensions between my religion and my body. I am empowered by my femininity— yet remain vulnerable. Disobeying God, mouth delightfully open, and eyes closed shut, I look to Eve ashe takes a bite from the tree of knowledge. After Eve ingests the fruit and seduces Adam to do the same, they become aware of their nakedness and are ashamed of their own bodies. She is then ultimately blamed for bringing temptation and sin upon mankind. From the start of my religious upbringing, Eve’s impactful story ultimately shaped unrealistic notions of purity. Perpetuating
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feeling shame for nakedness, temptation, and sin. Budding into a young sexual woman, this message remained contradictory in my moral consciousness. Traditions blur my reality. Expectations impeding upon my body. Here I genuflect under a system of patriarchy that tempts to shape women’s issues ile the system lacks women’s voice; a system that stifles women’s sexual wholeness and understanding of the self. As the church remains out of touch with modern life, I paint. My truth
Carlie Sherry
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Carlie Sherry An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Barbara Scott, curator articulaction@post.com
Hello Carlie and welcome to ARTiculAction: we would start this interview with a couple of questions about your multifaceted background. You have a solid formal training and after having earned your BFA you nurtured your education with a MFA that you received from the Syracuse University, NY: how do these experience influence the way you currently conceive and produce your works? And in particular, how does your cultural substratum inform the way you relate yourself to art making and to the aesthetic problem in general? My undergraduate degree taught me how to paint but my graduate degree introduced me to the importance of research and theory relational to my art practice. As a Master of Fine Arts candidate, I learned how to find relationships between personal concerns and social concerns, and how to address those concerns through art making. My current body of work has been influenced by an art and activism class, where I studied how various artists use their work as a platform to promote social change. Through other course work I became more informed about current feminist issues. Curious how these issues specifically affected
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my everyday life, I delved into my experiences and personal histories. While each individual woman has specific experiences and histories that shape their own identities, I was interested in the idea that groups of women may find commonalities within our journeys.
In regards to my cultural substratum, I grew up in a small city named Ogdensburg, NY. I stem from a large, extended Catholic family on both my mother’s and my father’s side. My upbringing in the Catholic Church specifically lends to the content of my new work, including my obsession with the body. Much of the aesthetic problem deals with making art for the sake of idealistic beauty. Rather than concerning myself with solely making art beautiful, my art is created in opposition of social constructs from communities that took a part in shaping my identity. Over these years you have experimented with a wide variety of different materials. The figurative language you convey in your paintings is the result of a constant evolution of your searching for new means to express the ideas you explore in your works: your inquiry into the expressive potential of colors combines together figurative as subtle abstract feature
Contemplating Mary
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experience we have ever had shapes identities that exist within. We reveal certain identities to certain social groups and communities, and hide the same parts of identity in a different community. In order to relate this concept to material, I layered frosted pieces of Mylar on top of one another to build up “masks�, only allowing some parts of the identity to show through. Meanwhile with my paint, I was constantly fragmenting and breaking my brush stroke. It was a physical build up and break down of identity within the materials itself.
Patriarch Mary
into a coherent balance. We we would suggest to our readers to visit http://carliesherry.com in order to get a synoptic view of your work: in the meanwhile, would you like to tell to our readers something about the evolution of your style? In particular, would you shed light on your usual process and set up?
My stylistic choices are made by considering the inseparable relationship between content and material. For example, I did a series of faces based on the concept of identity, and how identity was built up by social constructs. Every
Eventually I became interested in specific aspects of identity such as: religion as identity, the stereotyped identity of women within a Christian context, and the idea of women’s sexual wholeness as a form of identity. For this series I chose to reference Christian art historical paintings, by drawing and painting with a focus on central compositions and using more traditional materials. My process of art making includes, working from life and or photography. This includes setting up dynamic lighting situations on the figure and objects. I spend time researching artists and writers who speak a similar language to my work. I also try to journal about the work itself once a series is completed. The body of works that we have selected for this special edition of ARTiculAction and that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article are centered on the theme of the
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Garden of Eden and what has at once captured our attention is their dynamic and autonomous aesthetics: in particular, it seems to communicate a successful attempt to transform tension to harmony, While walking our readers through the genesis of this recent series, would you tell us what is the role of metaphors in your work?
Before I begin a series, I start by asking a question or multiple questions. I then attempt to answer those questions throughout the creative process. The Garden of Eden began in the same way. Asking questions such as: What role do women play in Catholicism? How has this role shaped women of faith? What is the long lasting psychological effect of this part of our identity? Reflecting back on biblical narrative I knew I would find answers to my questions within Eve. Through my art I also became interested in what may exist in between binaries. Creating a sensation of tensionharmony, harmony-tension, examines that as humans we experience both comfort and discomfort within aspects of who we are; that there are many emotions and psychological states between tension and harmony. Using metaphors prevents my artwork from solely illustrating the story we have heard before, and prevents being too literal within the context of narrative. Instead, the artwork may contain some sense of ambiguity, inviting the viewer to ask questions about each piece and then to develop their own multi-layered interpretations of those questions.
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Cigar Smoking Mary
Discussing a few specific pieces, the pomegranate in Eves first Bite is a metaphor for the sexual, including reproduction. The Snake is a great example of dualistic metaphor. In the traditional narrative the snake convinces eve to take a bite from the tree of knowledge. This serpent is supposedly a symbol for evil. Instead of an actual serpent I chose to draw a phallus. It asks the viewer to interpret whether or not the phallus represents the snake as sexual or is it a critique of the patriarchal system of the church? If the metaphor leans towards the
Duck Face Mary
Who I Are
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sexual, does this make the snake inherently “evil� or is it the patriarchal theology of the church that is to blame for constructing questionable ideologies? You exploration of the notion of multiple identities that exist within a single person reveals a successful attempt to accomplishes the difficult task of establishing a channel of communication between the subconscious sphere and the conscious one, to unveil the manifold nature of human perceptual categories and to draw the viewers into a multilayered experience. So we would take this occasion to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indispensable part of a creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?
All human experiences shape individual identities as well as interests we may have. I do believe those experiences filter into the creative process for most artists. The question is whether or not the artist is conscious of this while making the work. Since my personal experiences make up the majority of my content, personal experience is absolutely an indispensable part of creative process, and lies in the conscious of my mind. Although this is true for myself I do believe many artists would argue against my point, and say that their work has nothing to do with their experiences. Some artists may say they make a painting for the sake of painting, purely enjoying the process end of the
work. I would argue that their personal experiences up to that point led them to painting in the first place. Personal experience is not something some artists may think about while making art, but I believe that it still lies in their subconscious mind. When masking, unmasking, build up, and break down of the human form in relation to the build up and break down of one's identity you develope an effective non linear narrative. In particular, when walking the liminal area between absractin and representation of real elements, you establish direct relations with the viewers that goes beyond any conventional symbolism: German multidisciplinary artist Thomas Demand once stated that "nowadays art can no longer rely so much on symbolic strategies and has to probe psychological, narrative elements within the medium instead". What is your opinion about it? And in particular how do you conceive the narrative for your works?
I agree with Thomas Demand on this. The original function of using symbolism in art during the Renaissance was to tell the narrative to the illiterate. From time to time I do use symbolic references in my art, mostly for myself. Expecting the viewers to understand the meaning of all symbols would be unreasonable. For me, the psychological aspects are dealt with in the forms, especially the body. In The Garden of Eden series, I am interested in showing glimpses of the body rather than the form as a whole. This form of abstraction probes the psychological in its own regard.
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Creation of Eve
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I conceive my narratives as I delve into my personal histories. I think to understand one’s identity one must attempt to understand and learn from their past, recalling memory. This is why I shape my work around personal identity and the autobiographical. I use self-portraiture to reflect upon my own story; using religious context to investigate contradictions of the church relational to contemporary life and womanhood. This is why in some pieces
of art I play the role of myself, while in others I play the role of someone else, such as The Virgin Mary or Eve.
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Once I get a better understanding of my own identity, I can advocate for women’s issues beyond myself. I try to be genuine to my experience, not to assume that all women have the same histories as myself, but rather that many women may relate. I am interested in ways we can advocate for each other to prevent marginalization of
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socio•political criticism in their works: your approach seems to invite the viewers Do you consider that your works could be considered political in a certain sense or did you seek to maintain a more neutral approach? And in particular, what could be in our opinion the role that an artist could play in the contemporary society?
Shame on Eve
women that exists within the communities to which they belong. When inquirinig into the sphere of ethical reflection regarding their religious tradition and sexual ethics, you seem to address the viewers to a process of self-reflection that may lead to subvert a variety of usual, almost stereotyped cultural categories. Lots of artists from the contemporary scene, as Ai WeiWei or more recently Jennifer Linton, use to convey open
The feminist argument, “the personal is political,” certainly applies to my art. The Catholic Church attempts to shape women’s issues while completely lacking women’s voice. This usually originates from literal interpretations of the bible, and long standing traditions that are out of touch with modern life. It includes issues of abstinence, family planning, and women’s general sexual wholeness. The Catholic Church also has a firm stance on political platforms that exist outside the church such as marriage and family life for LGBTQ couples, birth control, and abortion. All of which marginalizes women and LGBTQ families. It also distorts how young women see and experience their own bodies, including feeling shame and guilt about sexuality. As women we should have the choice to create our own paths regarding our bodies, without having to give up our religious identities as well. As the church continues to remain out of touch with modern life, the younger generation numbers dwindle. Considering some change in outdated traditions could promote a more welcoming environment, and prevent marginalization of its own community members. As an artist in contemporary society I hope to promote change for
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outdated ideologies and stereotyped constructs; to continuously be progressive in thought. While exhibiting a captivating vibrancy, your pieces often to reject an explicit explanatory strategy: you rather seem to invite the viewer to find personal interpretations to the feelings that you convey into your paintings. When developing a multilayered language, you capture non•sharpness and bring to a new level of significance the elusive still ubiquitous relationship between experience and memory. What is the role of memory in your process?
I have fond memories of Catholic Mass from my childhood. I can recall the smell of burning incense, tastes of the Eucharist, the feel of my own hands clasping in prayer. I often think of the spectacle of the holy men in robes conducting rituals on the altar, and can still hear the melodies of the choir singing hymns. These memories are shaped from experiences I had in a moment of time, experiences that were fleeting as soon as they happened. What I find interesting about memory is the dissolution of memory throughout time. Our memory alters itself as we continue to experience new things in the present, making original memories faulty. We remember things how we want to remember them. I wonder if I still identify as a Catholic because I hold onto false memories as a source of comfort in familial traditions. My artwork is always a play between the past and the present. I often wonder how I remember my upbringing versus how it actually happened, compared to how my memories shape my identity, to how
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present experiences change those memories. Certainly, the viewer brings their own experiences, and altered memories to the art. I always welcome open interpretations that cue the viewer’s emotional response. In the art itself, we see rendered objects from contemporary space, such as Eve wearing glasses, or potted plants rather than a landscaped space. This is a play on the past and present. We also see moments of transparency within the application of the materials. The Garden of Eden series questions whether or not we are seeing in the now or are we seeing fleeting memories of the past. I often render the body completely with form, as the body is physical, and present in the moment. It is the external and outside forces that fade in and out of memory. This can be seen in the plants, a metaphor for non- permanence of those memories. The plants are fading and transparent; gone in a moment, and forever changing. The effective combination between both delicate and thoughtful nuances of tones sums up the mixture of thoughts and emotions. How much does your own psychological make-up determine the nuances of tones you decide to use in a piece and in particular, how do you develop a painting’s texture? Moreover, any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?
Use of tone is related to my own psychological make up more so in the identity series than in The Garden of
Shame on Eve
The Snake
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Eden series. Though the Garden of Eden series is a personal and emotional body of work, the art is also about the political nature of the body. So while making this particular series I have been interested how nuances in tone can create a physical nature to the flesh. With that said, I am also aware that the nuances in tone do strike up emotions as well, which I am sure can affect the psychological make up of the viewer. Developing texture has varied from series to series often based upon what I am trying to convey. Some series have thick textures, where others remain thin. For example, the Garden of Eden series partly references historical paintings and have a tighter approach as far as rendering but there is little to its physical texture, the areas with paint is thin and transparent, a reference to memory and the passage of time. My palette tends to change with large consideration of what each piece calls for. Usually my palette choices are made by considering how color relates to the human condition. Over these years you have exhibited your works in several occasions around the United States, including your recent show Identity and Self/Us. One of the hallmarks of your work is the capability to create a direct involvement with the viewers, who are urged to evolve from a condition of mere spectatorship. So before leaving this conversation we would like to pose a question about the nature of the relationship of your art with your audience. Do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial
component of your decision•making process, in terms of what type of language is used in a particular context?
I try not to think about the audience when making decisions about my creative process, and choices. When I have done that in the past, it makes the work itself less honest. Overthinking the audience can almost make me feel selfconscious about what others may think. Once the work is completed, however, and it enters into the world I am always hyperaware of responses from the audience, including how some people find the work highly offensive, while others have found it overwhelmingly relatable to their personal histories. Although I try not to let the audience affect my decision making process in the studio, I do believe my art has a specific and intended audience. Viewers who relate to my art the most tend to be women. Even though my language is filtered through a Catholic lens, my audience widens itself to those who may have experienced marginalization within religion. Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Carlie. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving?
Currently in my studio, I am thinking a lot about how gender language is used to shape political nuances in the church. Including the use of male pronouns when presumably God is to be genderless. This often times contributes
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to the gendered relationship to the church and its members.
working with women’s based issues outside of a religious context or even issues that relate to the human condition in general, including issues of alcoholism.
As far as my work evolving, I will continue to discuss issues of gender, sexuality, and religion, until I feel I have nothing left to say on the subject. Once I have done that, I am interested in
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Thank you for taking an interest in my art and sharing it with your readers.
Bliss in the Garden
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P ablo Caviedes Lives and works in Manhattan, New York, USA
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Born in 1971 in Cotacachi, Ecuador, Pablo Caviedes is universally recognized as a preeminent force within the emerging 21st Century US-Latino transcultural art-scene. He has been exhibiting his work for more than twenty five years. In fact, since 1990, his amazing images have graced several prominent venues in Ecuador; in addition to prestigious exhibits in Paris, France; Barcelona and Madrid, Spain; Warsaw and Lublin, Poland; Lecce and Trento, Italy; Washington, D.C.; Oakland, California; and Ponce, Puerto Rico. After moving to Manhattan in 2001, he’s been regularly displaying his imaginative, shamanic, and animistic work throughout New York City, along with participating in critically acclaimed group and solo shows within the greater metropolitan area. Like so many firstrate Ecuadorian artists (e.g., Gilberto Almeida, Edgar Reascos, Fernando Torres, Miguel Arcos and Rosy Revelo), he received his artistic training at the esteemed College of Plastic Arts, Daniel Reyes in San Antonio de Ibarra, Ecuador. Afterward, he studied at the prestigious École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France. In 1994, he received the highly-desirable Paris Prize. Consequently, in 1998 in Paris, France, he was one of ten artists, under 40 years-of-age, selected for the critically acclaimed, art historically significant, comprehensive and pivotal exhibit titled Emergent Artists from Latin America and the Caribbean, identifying a new generation of important up-andcoming Latino artists. Then, in 2002, during the second Biennial International of Painting in Barcelona, he was awarded an honorable-mention in Vilassar de Mar, Spain. In 2009, he was selected for an exhibition titled: Fusion: American Classics Meet Latin American Art, at the Biggs Museum of American Art, Dover, Delaware, USA. Also that
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year, he was selected for the illustrious Ecuadorian Contemporary Art Show at the United Nations, New York. In 2010, his art installation was selected for the 2nd Bronx Latin American Art Biennial in New York City. Around this time, LRACC instigated his visual artistic and poetic participation in the We Are You (WAY) Project, Jersey City, New Jersey, a group whose aesthetic focus spotlights 21st Century immigration reform themes. This participation directly inspired his initial "On the Map" image. This bold image was originally created in 2011 for the inaugural WAY Project International Exhibit, Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba, New York City, along with inspiring all subsequent "On the Map" variations illuminating this book. In 2012, his animated-film "On the Map" was selected for the renowned A Frame Apart 2 Short-Film Festival, Queens Museum of Art, New York City. Moreover, this film amazed viewers at the International Exhibition on Human Rights, Lecce, Italy; as well as the worldwide #Migrantes Exhibition, Trento, Italy; 2013. In 2014, back in New York again, the film was selected at the 4th Bronx Latin American Art Biennial and presented at two venues, Edgar Allan Poe Park Visitor Center Gallery and Bronx Museum of the Arts. In 2015, Caviedes presented his works at the AQ Art Fair in Quito, Ecuador. That same year, he also exhibited his sculptures at the Remembering Things Past Exhibition at the Islip Art Museum, New York. In 2016 Caviedes presented his Nomada series in a solo show at the Quantum Gallery in Warsaw, Poland. At the same time his new, short animation movie Pop Art - On the Map, was selected at the International Exhibition on Human Rights Diversity in Trento, Italy and more recently, at the International project Navigare i confini/MigrArti, in Cagliari,
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Pablo Caviedes An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Barbara Scott, curator articulaction@post.com
Pablo Caviedes is universally recognized as a preeminent force within the emerging 21st Century US-Latino transcultural art-scene: in his recent body of works entitled On The Map that we'll be discussing in the following pages, he accomplishes an insightful exploration of the phenomenon of immigration and its impact on the development of the United States, walking the viewers through a captivating multilayered experience. One of the most convincing aspect of Caviedes' practice is the way it explores the liminal space in which representation and sociopolitical analysis find an unexpected, compelling point of convergence: we are very pleased to introduce our readers to his multifaceted artistic production. Hello Pablo and welcome to ARTiculAction. To start this interview, we would you like to pose you a couple of questions about your background: you have a solid formal training and after having attended the esteemed College of Plastic Arts, Daniel Reyes in San Antonio de Ibarra, you nurtured your education at the prestigious École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, in Paris. How do these experiences influence the way you currently conceive and produce your works?
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I’m aware of having luck to have the opportunity of receiving my formal academic art education in both art Institutions. In Ecuador, College of Plastic Arts, Daniel Reyes provided me with the basic steps – theories, techniques, art movements and experimentation. I had a privilege to study with two great art teachers, who later became my friends, Jorge Ortega and Edgar Reascos. They fuelled my desire to experiment and encouraged my determination and confidence to become an artist. I then started showing my art, supporting myself with art works and be open to challenging art competition. As a result, I won the “Paris Award“ the most important prize for Ecuadorean artists under 40. This success led me to Paris and the scholarship at its École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. This was also my first encounter with the international world art, museums, galleries “first hand.” At the Beaux Art, I had the opportunity to study under the direction of Jean Pierre Tanguy who opened to me the exciting world of etching. During that time I developed the series titled “Ungules” which drew the attention of the important gallery in the heart of Paris, La Hune-Brenner at St Germain des Press where I had my first international solo show. Since then life was not the same… In a way it got me to New York.
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Your approach reveals an incessant search of an organic investigation about a variety of issues that affect our ever changing and unstable contemporary age: the results convey together a coherent and consistent sense of harmony and unity. Before starting to elaborate about your production, we would suggest to our readers to visit http://www.pablocaviedes.com in order to get a synoptic view of your multifaceted artistic production: in the meanwhile, would you like to walk us through your process and set up? What are your main sources of inspiration?
My artistic process reflects my life experience in that it is constantly shifting and being shaped by the cultures of the places in which I have lived - Ecuador (my native country), Paris, Barcelona, and currently New York. It developed through the study of concepts and subjects that either touched or intrigued me, such as the coexistence of human beings with nature. This is evident in my longer series of works "Entre blanco oscuro y Negros claros," "Los Ungulados," "Griots," "Silencio," "Bridges and Ways," "Mannequin," "Nomada," and more recently "On the Map. " Some address issues involving social matters, such as the serious political and economic crisis that led to the largest migration in Ecuador, and, in my latest series, the complexity of the origins and identity of the American people as a product of on-going immigration, while others are explorations in aesthetics, such as my study of monochromatic colors. Through each work, I sought to provoke some kind of reaction from the viewer - reflection, questioning, empathy, sensitivity – with which to form the basis of a new understanding or
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perspective on the topic. The mediums I use have been greatly influenced by my exposure to various cultures, which has widened my horizons and led to the adoption of various techniques. While I use mainly painting, drawing, etching, sculpture, art object, and installations, I have also used digital art, 3D painting, and animation video to develop a visual language. These techniques have enabled me to express my philosophy of life. For this special edition of ARTiculAction we have selected On The Map, an extremely interesting project that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article. The inquiry into the phenomenon of immigration and its impact on the development of the United States that you accomplished in this work allows you to capture nonsharpness with an universal kind of language: when walking our readers though the genesis of On The Map, would you shed light on your usual process and set up? In particular, what is the role of metaphors in your process?
This long project that began five years ago and which I chose to title "On the Map," represents a personal view of immigration, that is, a graphic perspective of what I consider to be a common denominator of our American identity. My interest in immigration came about after my participation in an exhibition that was presented in the spring of 2012 in the Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba in New York City by the "We Are You" project, an art collective of immigrant artists who display their work in venues across the
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country. This showing was the catalyst that inspired me to explore this subject matter in depth and to experiment with
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new mediums such as sculptures in plexiglass, 3D paintings, and animation videos. This series is comprised of three
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parts represented by three faces which act as a visual metaphor of this country’s historical situation. In the first part, my
self-portrait is representative of a firstgeneration immigrant, a newcomer faced with multiple and converging
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experiences such as the process of cultural, legal, economic, and linguistic assimilation, as well as other hurdles
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newcomers have to overcome in their new home. Secondly, the portrait of President Obama represents second-
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their role and contributions to society at large. Lastly, the portrait of Andy Warhol, the iconic figure in the arts and culture of this country, easily recognized but whose immigrant origins are lesser known, represents the second generation of immigrants who left an enormous cultural legacy with his new artistic paradigm that revolutionized the arts in the seventies. The effective combination between both delicate and intense nuances of tones sums up the mixture of thoughts and emotions. How much does your own psychological make-up determine the nuances of tones you decide to use in a piece and in particular, how do you develop a painting’s texture? Moreover, any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?
generation immigrants, the children of immigrant parents, and highlights the positive effect they have on this nation,
My palette has been changing, often in accordance with different periods in my life. For example, the social economical and political crisis in my country in the late nineties had strong psychological impact on me and the choices of tones and color in my work. This was an extremely complicated time that resulted in two million people leaving the country in search for a better life abroad. The feeling of emptiness, pessimism and the lack of hope as well as the pain shared by many separated families strongly touched me and inspired the series of works Silencio/Silence. Independently, texture gets changed in accordance with the concept of the project. I want my texture to be organic, to breath and to almost be inviting to touch the painting and before starting work with the palette I focus on
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establishing the desired richness of both visual or tactile surface on my painting. On The Map also accomplishes the difficult task of constructing a concrete aesthetic from experience, working on both subconscious and conscious level. So we would take this occasion to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is absolutely indispensable as part of the creative process? Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?
My art has a strong connection with my personal experience both consciously, in the conceptual stage of the process and subconsciously when I let my subconscious play and influence decision making and giving space to fragments of my inner world not directly connected with the present experience. I don’t think my “On the Map” series would have happened if haven’t experienced immigration first hand. That experience has changed me and became an organic part of my personality, enriched with cultural diversity and new esthetic languages. I don’t think one can completely disconnect that aspect of life from the creative process. Edwidge Danticat, author of Claire of the Sea Light, stated once that all immigrants are artists, assuming that "re-creating your entire life is a form of reinvention on par with the greatest works of art". Do you agree with this statement? And in particular, how do you consider the impact of immigration on the making of our contemporary societies?
Immigration requires courage and openness for the new. Finding yourself in
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a completely new environment forces you to find new alternatives of living within a new culture, language, landscape, system of values. That requires a lot of sacrifice and demands creativity. Being successful in that process does not only mean the skills for adjustment and adaptation but, in my opinion, the ability to prevent the loss of your own identity. Immigration has always had impact on building societies.
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Today we have been witnessing the complexity and challenges of migrations almost everywhere. To illustrate the powerful and creative influence on culture change in America I’m referring to the phenomenon of Andy Warhol’s impact on the revolutionary pop art movement which spread all over the world. Warhol´s working class parents came from Slovakia to live in America around 1920´s and settled in a poor
neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Like many other immigrants they faced challenges of adjusting to life in the foreign country. Those did not prevent Andy Warhol from having the power of transforming the view of American art and culture. On The Map is a successful attempt to create a work that stand as record of existence: when, capable of bringing to
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a new level of significance the elusive still ubiquitous relationship between experience and memory, to establish direct relations with the spectatorship: What is the role of memory in your process? We are particularly interested in the role of the relationship between your Ecuadorian roots and cultural substratum of the places you have lived on the way you relate yourself to the aesthetic problem in general.
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I have always had sentiment and even passion for the past. Being raised in a big family I have a strong memory of exploring the house filled with many people of different generations and remember how attracted I felt listening to the senior members, their stories and the history that they shared. With the child’s eyes that old house seemed gigantic and had many mystery spots. I was intrigued and sometimes scared but
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identity in my creative process. The memory concept Is reflected in many of my paintings, including those from the “Silence” series e.g.: Memorias del ayer, Memoria en fotografía, Salvando una fuga de memoria. Or in the NOMADA series in which I share the Memories of my magical realistic nostalgia for the past while changing places. Your practice is pervaded with a subtle still effective sociopolitical criticism: while lots of artists from the contemporary scene, as Ai WeiWei or more recently Jennifer Linton, use to convey open socio-political criticism in their works, you seem more interested to hint the direction, inviting the viewers to a process of self-reflection that may lead to subvert a variety of usual, almost stereotyped cultural categories. Do you consider that your works could be considered political in a certain sense or do you seek to maintain a more neutral approach? And in particular, what could be in your opinion the role that an artist could play in the contemporary society?
also exited to face those secretive territories mostly on the back of the house… Equally exciting where the history lessons at the school when my teacher’s descriptions took me on the imaginary trips to the places of my ancestors. My connection with history seems constant and my art is filled with memory and my roots – as a subject or when telling a story. I’m conscious of the importance of memory and preserving
I’m a humanist, sensitive to human issues and have social and environmental concerns. I don’t live in isolation and, like most other people, I have an easy access to information as well as a personal approach to select the knowledge which I interiorize. Art gives me a tool to share my deepest concerns and hopes. A metaphor seems to me be an ideal, unimposing way to deliver my view with a hope that it opens the door for reflection without a force and to a further development of ideas and response. An artist, through variety of medium and often in a very synthetic
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way, has a power to provoke thought, wake-up conscience and inspire action. Over these years your works have been international showcased in several occasions, including your participation at the 2nd Bronx Latin American Art Biennial in New York City. Nowadays your pieces are regularly displayed throughout New York City, along with participating in critically acclaimed group and solo shows within the greater metropolitan area: one of the features that marks out your artistic production is your capability to create a direct involvement with the viewers, who are urged to evolve from a condition of mere spectatorship. So before leaving this conversation we would like to pose a question about the nature of the relationship of your art with your audience. Do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial component of your decision-making process, in terms of what type of language is used in a particular context?
When I create I always have in mind some sort of audience, sometimes my art is specifically directed to a concrete spectator and in other cases I open myself to a wider group of viewers depending on the concept of my work. With the “On the Map� series in which I chose images of different generations immigrants, including myself, on the surface of the U.S.A. map to support the statement that America has a face, I hoped to speak on behalf of many immigrants, some of whom have no means to express their opinion and some others who might have forgotten that in fact we are all immigrants in this
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country. I believe that I have delivered that message in an universal language.
something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving?
Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Pablo. Finally, would you like to tell us readers
I have just finished the final works on the book project, titled “On the Map”, with the texts by Dr. José Rodeiro, the Art
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Historian. This book (dual language format, English and Spanish), in addition to the “On the Map” series of works, is a result of the five years process and I hope to be published in a near future. As a continuation of this series, I have also
been working on two public art installation projects which I wish to show in New York City. Finally, I need to explore the possible venues to exhibit the complete “On the Map” series and open it up to the public.
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I vana Živić Lives and works in Belgrade, Serbia
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ith her cycle of paintings named ‘The Rooms of Water’ Ivana Živić makes all experiences of enclosed spaces in which we live – public or private, spaces of intimacy or meeting points – visually tangible and real. Interpreted as scenery, the walls we move within become interior spaces of desire and contemplation.
The works that belong to The Rooms of Water are based on the photos of swimmers in the pool. The swimmers’ bodies were removed from the pool and placed in an interior of completely different meaning. Dressed in accordance with the environment and situation, the bodies still have fluid distortion created by a movement through the water or a view through the space filled with fluid. The act of swimming, as the sole form of movement through the space of a painting, imposes a strong experience of forgotten, sunken space or even space of a dream. The water is not painted – its fluid and the atmosphere of underwater reality create and expand the swimmers themselves. The ease and freedom of the movement of their bodies is contrary to the experience of incarceration and loneliness of the painted space. The rooms of water suggest soaking, sinking and drowning, but searching as well. Dislocation of the individual into the submerged, lonely world of urban living refers to reconsideration of life choices, relationships and environments. The presence of water with its multiple symbolic meanings emphasizes magical and surreal atmosphere of the paintings. Water is the first form of matter, the liquid of life. In religions of the world it is an indispensable part of the rituals and prayers. By soaking and immersing water washes away, regenerates and sanctifies. It is attributed with the power of adaptation and persistence; it is a symbol of spirituality, subconscious and inner life. Using realism and narrative detail Ivana Živić has achieved poetic and enchanted dimension of the image. The premises are carefully selected and the colors and ambience posses visual and symbolic function, binding to everyday life, personal and
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cultural history. The unreal interiors are rich in symbols, while the lone figure stands in a deliberate comparison with the space through which it moves without retention. The oil on canvas paintings bear names like The Gold Room, The Room of Light, The Room below the Ceiling That Peels, The Red Room, The Ambience of the Hotel on the Way to Room 237, Disco, and there is a pastoral landscape of The Children's Room... While swimmers of different ages and sexes float through the space of visual stories and images, our thought explores. Unexpectedly, the work on The Rooms of Water coincided with large-scale floods which occurred in Serbia and its surroundings during 2014. High waters as well as their outpour symbolize great adversity in religious as well as other interpretations of symbols. A flood symbolizes disappearance and deletion, but also a new beginning: one age disappears while another emerges, suggesting the death of a culturalhistorical period. The Rooms of Water confront us with sinking of the individual and a state of disorientation, loneliness and exclusion, without support, air or confidence in the future. Nothing is what it seems. Apocalyptic dimension of the notion is mitigated by ease and waviness, by continuous movement of swimmers who are swimming from room to room, looking for a way out of sleep. The work of Ivana Živić begins with creative play and ends with thought-out visual story. Conceptually and technically masterfully resolved, it confronts us with deep-seated notions of painting and art, of art and its function. It problematizes the role of the individual in the society and community. Not at all indifferent to the fact that she lives in fluid, uncertain and sunken world of today where art is Ivana’s choice and necessity, The Rooms of Water represent her artistic maturity, visually and poetically inspired. Dreamlike, narrative and ambiguous, the paintings talk to us in their clear voice as the world of the subconscious outbursts from their edges.
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Ivana Živić An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C.Hilborn, curator articulaction@post.com
Marked out with an effective reference to contemporary surrealism, Belgrade based artist Ivana Živić's work provides the viewers with a multilayered experience capable of triggering their most limbic parameters to establish a channel of communication between perceptual reality and the subconscious sphere. In The Room of Water series that we'll be discussing in the following pages, she elaborated a stimulating narrative that gives a visually tangible feature to a wide variety of experiences and feelings. One of the most convincing aspects of Živić's work is her successful attempt to walk the viewers from real situations to a dreamlike dimension: we are very pleased to introduce our readers to her stimulating artistic production. Hello Ivana, and a warm welcome to ARTiculAction: we would start this interview posing you a couple of questions about your background. You have a solid formal training and you hold a MA that you received from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade. How has this experience influenced your evolution as an artist? And in particular, how does your cultural substratum dued to your Serbian roots
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inform the way you deal with the aesthetic problem in general?
Thank you for inviting me to this interview. Reading your previous issues I noticed that Serbian artists speak about their education here as conventional. I think the Belgrade Faculty of Fine Arts quite follows the trends in its own way. So it is not an extreme one that only forces tradition. There are many talented people in this environment. I think the people here in Serbia due to wars, social and economic situation, political and cultural turmoil, now as well as before, and throughout history, simply forced to be "more alive". To suffer more, to bear more, to fight more, think more, to be more sympathetic, or they have simply undergone more. When life is hard, art is an ideal medium for sublimation. You are an artist here not to make living of it, not to make a career of it, or to get rich, you are an artist here to give your life a meaning. You are a versatile artist and your media ranges from painting, illustration and land art, showing an organic synergy between a variety of expressive capabilities. Before starting to elaborate about your production, we would suggest to our readers to visit http://www.saatchiart.com/ivanazivicj in order to get a synoptic view of your multifaceted artistic production: would
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you like to tell to our readers something about your process and set up? In particular, would you tell our readers us something about the evolution of your style?
During my artistic development I experimented a lot with both styles and the techniques. Not everything I have created turned aut to be an "artprodukt". My beginnings involved more modern media such as video, photography, print, installation ... I was changing media, styles, as well as concepts. It was not very practical, but it was worth considering the result that I have today. Now I like to paint in the traditional way in oil on canvas. Perhaps it doesnt seem like that at the first glance, but the way I paint is similar to Byzantine painthing. First I chuse middle tone color for each surface, and then add the light and dark aspects ... On the other hand I approach to each painthing as a project. I base my painthings on real spaces and models, and instead of useing drawingas sketches, I use a camera and montage in computer programs. I puts emphasis on skills, as well as the quality and durability of the work. For this special issue of ARTiculAction we have selected The Room of Water, a stimulating series that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article. What has at once caught our attention of this stimulating project is the way it accomplishes the difficult task of creating a channel of communication between the conscious sphere and the subconscious sphere. When walking our readers through the genesis of The
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Room of Water, would you shed a light about the role of metaphors in your process?
Water is a metaphor for spirituality, subconscious, inner life. It is an inevitable part of ritual and prayer in the worlds religions. For me, it is a metaphor for emotions. In the life of every individual and in all areas of social life emotions have an enormous significance. To understand them means not only to know yourself better, but the other persone as well. I consider emotions are the result of thought, ie beliefs. Although they are abstract, beliefs are said to be our mental pictures.I will also called my painthings mental images. The act of swimming imposes a strong experience of forgotten space: the multilayered experience to whom you invite the viewers gives a permanence to the intrinsic ephemeral nature of the feelings you convey in your canvass. So we would take this occasion 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?
I think not. If experience is understood in the general sense. Paintings Room of water conceived as mental images of the mind. They combine peacefulness and feeling of freedom that swimming gives on the one hand and a sense of claustrophobia, prison, imposed by interiors. They communicate with the viewer so well, because we have all undergone that kind of experience. But essentially they are surreal and
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dreamlike. It is interesting to compare these painting with some real experience. For example, in May 2014. Serbia was hit by enormous flood. Obrenovac was one of the towns that
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was damaged the most. In parts of the city water flooded the entire houses. One of them was the house of my grandparents. At the time this was happening my painting are interpreted,
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how personal experience works on creativity process. Your paintings are rich of evokative references: how would you describe the role of memory in your process?
Time is an important principle that we all think about. The feeling of time passing by is very individual. How do we spend our time? Do we live at the moment or do we bring up the past into our present? How do we treat our feelings? The dislocation of an individual into the submerged, lonely world of urban living refers to a review of life choices, relationships and surroundings. Water, diving, the impression of depth and sunken space remind of the attempt to recall something. Perhaps who are we actually?
almost like a real and terrible. When water receded, I made a painting,, Room of Light II,, based on authentic space of the family house. I wanted to search
As you have remarked once, your work begins with creative play and ends with thought-out visual story: we ahve appreciate your successful attempt to produce a dialectical fusion that operates as a system of symbols creates a compelling non linear narrative that, walking the thin line between conceptual and literal meanings, establishes direct relations with the viewers. German multidisciplinary artist Thomas Demand once stated that "nowadays art can no longer rely so much on symbolic strategies and has to probe psychological, narrative elements within the medium instead". What is your opinion about it? And in particular how do you conceive the narrative for your works?
It seems that symbols used to be been understood differently than today. There used to be a code of what the symbols
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mean, and what they were combine with. As the expansion of science began on the account of religion, symbols sank into the background and their meanings were forgotten. But not their power to make impact us. I prefer watching the symbols in terms of psychology. Motives for my paintings I look for around my
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surroundings. .The spaces I choose are those I have taken photos of on my travels or those I have traveled intentionally to get shoot, such as the Spicer Castle in Beocin or abandoned textile industry in Belgrade.
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The dialogue established by colors and texture is a crucial part of your style: in particular, the effective combination between intense nuances of tones sums up the mixture of thoughts and emotions. How much does your own psychological make-up determine the nuances of tones you decide to use in a piece and in particular, how do you
develop a painting’s texture? Moreover, any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?
When something goes easily, you rarely putt the focus on it. Colors and textures are for me, like walking or breathing,
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something natural, something that I let myself to. I have used more intensive colors before and it is possible that I will again. Your pieces encapsulate both traditional techniques and modern imagery you blend together to create a coherent unity, that rejects any conventional classification and that invites the viewer to explore the liminal area between Tradition and a vivacious contemporary approach. What is in your opinoin the relationship between Tradition ad Contemporariness? Do you think there's a contrast or do you rather think that Contemporariness could be considered an evolutive stage of Tradition?
I'm glad that I create nowadays, because the differences between the styles, and opposing views in art loosened. Contemporary art has definitely evolved from the tradition. It is might be more obvious in my work than in some others, however, the connection can always be found. The Element of art which used to be mach more respected and which is still extremely important to is originality. It appears that today, due to globalization as well as accessibility and speed of the flow of information at every step, it is almost impossible to be original. But it isn’t like that. Those of us who seek a deeper manage to be original. Over these years you works have been exhibited in several occasions: your work is strictly connected to the chance of establishing a direct involvement with the viewers, who are called to evolve from a mere spectatorship to
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conscious participants on an intellectual level, so before leaving this conversation I would like to pose a question about the nature of the relationship of your art with your audience. Do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial component of your decision-making process, in terms of what type of language is used in a particular context?
This is an interesting question. When I plan my work I catch commonplaces that everyone can understand, but at the same time I m telling my intimate story. Since as artists we depend on admission to the galleries, the art market , art fairs, we have a difficult task to please ourselves and do what we love, in a way most convenient for us on one hand, and that our "product" is accepted by art critics , gallery owners, art collectors, buyers and observers on the other hand. Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Ivana. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects. How do you see your work evolving?
I'm going to have two solo exhibitions in Belgrade next year and I hope to expose abroad. I applied for several Artist in Residence program and I hope that I will be elected for one. In the future I plan to carry out my ideas in the form of photos or digital prints.
An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C.Hilborn, curator articulaction@post.com
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aviye Bentley is a 25 year old artist from Dayton Ohio. His love for art began in elementary with the rental of a how to draw book and many attempts to recreate his favorite characters from a television series (Dragonball z). Developing a keen eye for detail, sparked his 6th grade art teachers attention to insist enrollment in Stivers School for the arts. Afterwards he pursued an education in architecture, but sitting in those classes he discovered this insatiable thirst to rebel and create what he considered art. His style could be described as a paradox, he uses acrylic to create these very colorful, detailed works yet constructs these very odd, unorthodox wood pieces that he uses for his canvas. The vision is to create a bridge for the youth and the elderly, all the while attempting to change the way art is approached as well as perceived.
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Javiye Bentley An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Barbara Scott, curator articulaction@post.com
Ohio based artist Javiye Bentley's explore the expressive potential of an unorthodox combination of materials to challenge the viewers' perceptual parameters to draw them through a multilayered experience. His works are marked with a captivating narrative that reflects his observation of the nature, to bring to a new level of significance the notion of rapresentation. What mostly impressed of Bentley's practice is the way it accomplishes the difficult task of creating a bridge for the youth and the elderly, unveiling subtle connections between art producing and audience's reception. We are particularly pleased to introduce our readers to his multifaceted artistic production. Hello Javiye and welcome to ARTiculAction: to start this interview, we would like to pose you a question about your background. You have a solid
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formal training and after having graduated from the School for the arts you nurtured your education in architecture: how do these experiences influence your evolution as an artist? In particular, how does your cultural substratum inform the way you relate yourself to art making and to the aesthetic problem in general?
It was a culture shock, I developed a dulled perception growing up. Dayton, Ohio wasn't the most flourishing city, so it had its limitiations. So making that transition to an art school, where there was a melting pot of culture, was an adjustment. It transformed me, it shaped my perception, language, and even my appearance. I developed a deeper sense of empathy, which of course translated into the way I expressed myself artistically. When I understood that despite one’s location, there was a generalized pain that was experienced. From that pain, you
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create art, that not only speaks to that pain, but conveys it in a way that eases that pain. You are a versatile artist and your approach reveals a stimulating search of an organic symbiosis between a variety of viewpoints that you convey with a captivating, paradoxical vision. The results convey together a coherent sense of unity, that rejects any conventional classification. Before starting to elaborate about your production, we would suggest to our readers to visit https://www.instagram.com/Javiy eBentley/ in order to get a synoptic view of your multifaceted artistic production: while walking our readers through your process, we would like to ask you of you how you developed your unique style.
A lot of trial and error, hours and hours of wasted canvas, paint and wood, did i mention a lot of trial and error. My art school experiences allowed me to recollect how i felt viewing art, how extremely bored i was with most of it. So in a way im trying to create somethng i didnt see, that speaks to that inner child who decided the museum was a playground instead of a
stimulating experience. I can say that my style is inspired by Picasso of course, Brian(kaws)Donnelly, and Karim Rashid. Aesthetically, I love the way Mr. Picasso creates these unorthodoxed images of his world, its almost as if he takes a photo, rips it apart, then pieces them back together, its incredible. I mean Mr. Donnelly is brilliant, besides the aesthetic explosion he delivers, the ambiguity in his expression, you can almost become lost in the world he has created. Mr. Rashid has done successfully what ive seen very few artists do, which is take his art into design, and completely deconstruct the way we pereceive our world. I mean not only does he design furniture, but spaces in resturants, bars, and homes. So for me, its about taking all these inspirations, packaging them up and creating something that will someday inspire someone the same way im inspired. For this special issue of ARTiculAction we have selected Helium balloon and Helium
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balloon, a couple of stimulating works that our readers have already stared to get to know in the introductory pages of this article. What has at once caught our attention of these works is the way they create an harmonic mix between a vivid approach to the evokative reminders conveyed by the materials you combine together: when walking our readers through the genesis of these pieces would you shed a light about the role of metaphors in your process?
Helium Balloon was inspired by a song from a hip hop artist Wale. The idea is that Joe is a talented artist and his friends believe in him and want him to do great things, they want Joe to soar to new heights. Heres the thing, Joe can be great and Joe can ascend but only if Joe takes them with him. They fill Joe with so much love that he begins to ascend but its only ok for Joe to fly if hes within reach and they can pull him back down. They and Joe know the only way he can fly, is if they let him go and he leaves them behind. I find the most difficult part of the process is trying to create something that challenges the viewer without losing them. I
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Javiye Bentley
Javiye Bentley
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believe visual artists have one of the most difficult jobs, because its an artists job to evoke emotion with limited sensory stimulation. You only have a limited window to effect the viewer so you have to create something ambigious, otherwise what you’ve created becomes another thing they saw in that one gallery or museum. As you have remarked in your artist's statement, We have really appreciated your successful attempt to create a bridge for the youth and the elderly. So we would take this occasion to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is absolutely indispensable as part of the creative process? Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?
The creative process is a reaction to an experience, generally a painful one. When you create, you create with the intent to relieve yourself of that pain. Without that need for escapism would one spend those hours meticulously crafting away? The real question is without pain would we create? The dialogue established by colors and materials is a crucial
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Javiye Bentley
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part of your style: in particular, the effective combination between both intense and thoughtful nuances of tones sums up the mixture of thoughts and emotions. How much does your own psychological make-up determine the nuances of tones you decide to use in a piece and in particular, how do you develop a painting’s texture? Moreover, any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?
You can feel the energy in an art piece, you can feel the emotion that was evoked to create it. The tones of the art pieces adapt to the psychological state of the artist. To touch on the previous question, my grandmother and father passed recently, and because of that pieces such as Anger and Depression were created. The colors were a direct relation to my psychological state. As my state of mind changed pieces such as Acceptance are created. Your works invite the viewers to challenge their perceptual parameters, accomplishing the difficult task of constructing a concrete aesthetic from tactile materials, working on both subconscious and conscious level. What has lead you to
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choose unorthodox wood pieces as central material for your Art?
I wanted to make something that jumped out and affected you. So even if im situated in a group show next to, say a basquiat, youre going to take notice to the strange shaped wood. It also became a way to give my audience an undeniable way to distinguish my work from those of my peers. As the late Franz West did in his installations, your work shows unconventional features in the way it deconstructs perceptual images in order to assemble them in a collective imagery, urging the viewers to a process of selfreflection. Artists are always interested in probing to see what is beneath the surface: maybe one of the roles of an artist could be to reveal unexpected sides of Nature, especially of our inner Nature... what's your view about this?
Absolutely, film makers are experts when it comes to this artistry. They construct a mirror that illuminates our vulnerabilities. This mirror provides us a front row seat into the things about ourselves we choose to bury deep
and construct a wall around. I believe thats the allure of artistry, the “I can't believe this person is brave enough to say/do this/that or strong enough to get through this/that� idea that inspires us to face our inner turmoil to become better versions of ourselves. Your approach condenses both traditional techniques and contemporary sensitiveness and your works are pervaded with an effective narrative, that draws the viewers into an immersive experience. German multidisciplinary artist Thomas Demand once stated that "nowadays art can no longer rely so much on symbolic strategies and has to probe psychological, narrative elements within the medium instead". What is your opinion about it? And in particular how do you conceive the narrative and especially the visual unity for your works?
By creating an ambiguous visual experience, it creates a story within itself. It provides an immersive experience for the viewer. The way Thomas Demand uses everyday environments allows the viewer to create new perceptions about the everyday
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rooms they inhabit yet are so detached from. I approach my work in a similar fashion, the idea is to challenge the viewers perception of art, of what they’ve been told art is supposed to be. So when they remove themeselves from the work they have developed a new perception. One of the hallmarks of your works is the capability to establish direct relation with the audience, deleting any conventional barrier between the idea you explore and who receipt and consequently elaborate them. So before taking leave from this interesting conversation I would like to pose a question about the nature of the relation with your audience: in particular, do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial component of your decisionmaking process in terms of what type of language for a particular context?
It's the most important. It's really the only thing that matters, the portait of the beautiful woman crying speaks directly to the viewer, and in that moment the art and the viewer have developed
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a relationship. Sure they might not cry with her, but her pain reminds them of a loss they suffered, of a moment in time when they were that woman. The viewer has to feel something, they have to empathize with the art, otherwise whats the purpose? Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Javiye: would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving?
No, thank you! I really appreciate the opportunity. Right now, im focused on showing the world im serious about what im doing. Ive been trying to establish a residency, potentially a solo show, some group shows, you know just trying to spread the word about my art. As far as my work is concerned, this is just a taste of what i have in store, i promise this is nothing compared to the things i plan to do.
An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Barbara Scott, curator articulaction@post.com
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J amie Ashman Lives and works in London, United Kingdom
An artist's statement
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amie Ashman's paintings are mainly of Iconic people, the style and content of which are a reaction to the many art movements of the past mixed with: Punk, Acid house, Rock and roll, Fashion Magazine, Comic book and Celluloid influences. With a a strong line and vivid colour, the iconic subjects of the paintings identify the Zeitgeist that evolved in each era. He paints Idols and Legends from modern history and refers to Warhol's interest in Pop Art, fame and celebrity. Jamie's style is a unique combination of classicism and kitsch. Jamie graduated from Saint Martins school of Art in
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1989 with a Degree in Fashion design. For a number of years he worked in the world of Fashion; as an Internationally published Trend Predictor and Fashion Design Tutor. While at Art School studying Jamie realised that his real passion was for painting and subsequently focuses full time on Art; expressing ideas about culture and identity and addressing questions related to race, class, gender and religion. The paintings fulfill a desire to immortalise the glamour and edginess of some of the people who have shaped the C20 and C21 through their work and creativity.
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Jamie Ashman An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Barbara Scott, curator articulaction@post.com
London based artist Jamie Ashman's work reveals a stimulating fusion between classicism and kitsch, showing a visual harmony and unconventional storytelling. His paintings are marked out with vivid tones and the references to iconic contemporary imagery provide the spectatorship with a multilayered experience. Ashman's approach rejects any conventional classification and crosses the elusive boundary that defines the area of perception from the realms of experience: one of the most impressive aspects of his work is his successful attempt to immortalise the glamour and edginess of some of the people who have shaped the contemporary age through their work and creativity. We are very pleased to introduce our readers to his multifaceted artistic production. Hello Jamie and welcome to ARTiculAction: to start this interview we would pose you a couple of introductory questions about your background. You have a solid formal training and you graduated from the prestigious Saint Martins School of Art with a Degree in Fashion design.How has this experience influenced your evolution as an artist? Moreover, after your studies you started a successful career in the world of Fashion as an internationally published
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Trend Predictor and Fashion Design Tutor: how does it inform the way you relate yourself to art making and to the aesthetic problem in general?
Hello and thank you for inviting me to talk about my work. Saint Martins taught me to 'Know what I like' in Art and Design. To make decisions about style and taste, not to conform to the mainstream and to aim for originality. I had the space to develop my Painting style and think about Art with the help of a disciplined Design background. Working as a Trend Predictor and being published in sixteen Countries of the world was an instinctive thing for me, being aware of what was happening and suggesting the trends of the future to Design Studios around the Globe through my drawings and paintings. I took the principle of communicating information visually into my painting very seriously which I used to do alongside my Fashion work but now Art is a full time occupation. My Fashion background taught me amongst other things to sketch from a Model, concentrating on my drawing skills and to research in Art Galleries and Museums; so I have extensively studied Paintings in The National Portrait Gallery and The Wallace Collection in London particularly looking at Fash-ionable Portrait Painters through out history. I took the ideal of Fashion illustration; creating images of 'human
High class
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World Peace Rocks
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perfection' as an influence, mixed with classicism, tradi-tion and kitsch.
The Punk ethos of 'do it yourself' has been a big inspiration to me, both as a teenager and today. I love the attitude and the 'Homemade' Fanzine culture. Fantasy made possible; I paint in the traditional medium of Oil on canvas, portraying Superstars from the worlds of entertainment and spirituality who have enriched popular consiousness, chosen for what they do in the World and paying homage to Andy Warhol but in a 'homespun' way. I research and edit photographs mainly of Icons and Celebrities on the World Wide Web from the spheres of TV, Music, Fash-ion and Entertainment often with a nostalgic look at famous people who have influ-enced the world in previous eras. Sometimes
Your paintings reveal an insightful combination between classicism and kitsch you mix together into effective balance: the results convey together a consistent sense of unity that rejects any conventional classification. We would suggest to our readers to visit http://www.jamieashman.com in order to get a synoptic view of your multifaceted artistic production. While walking our readers through your process, we would like to ask you to shed light on your usual process and set up. In particular, what are you main source of inspiration?
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style and how do you conceive your works.
Punk Icon
these images are black and white so I imagine the colours and then design how the Painting will look. Controlling the actual production of the Paintings means that I am producing what is eventually seen by people and is not reliant on other factors like money and Politics. For this special issue of ARTiculAction we have selected Japanese Artist and Falling in Love Again, a couple of stimulating works from your recent production that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article: when walking our readers through the genesis of these paintings we would like to ask you how did you develope your
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My style developed through experimentation and years of Fashion Illustration and Painting and looking at Art, Fashion and Photography. I try to retain my naivety as an Artist and as Picasso said "Every child is an Artist; the problem is how to re-main an Artist once he grows up." 'Japanese Artist' is a portrait of Yayoi Kusama in the 1960's as a young Performance Artist in New York who obsessively body painted naked people with coloured spots to achieve 'oblivion'. While 'Falling in love again' depicts the legendary Marlene Dietrich wrapped in Fur; a prerequisite trend and sta-tus symbol for Movie stars in the twentieth Century. Commenting on the importance of Cinema and Hollywood with regards to popular lifestyle and the way in which many people copy and emulate Film Stars and Fashion Designers and how cul-tures are shaped in the Modern world through Film, TV and the Media. This is why I sometimes embellish the portraits with messages of 'Love and Peace'. You draw a lot from universal imagery: your paintings are rich of symbols and evokative elements. When playing with the evokative power of reminders to Iconic people you establish direct relations with the viewers that goes beyond any conventional symbolism: German multidisciplinary artist Thomas Demand once stated that "nowadays art can no longer rely so much on symbolic strategies and has to probe psychological, narrative elements within the medium instead". What is your opinion about it? And in
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…What shall I do
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A strange and bitter cry
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particular how do you conceive the narrative that pervades your works?
Punk movement. In my eyes she becomes immortalised in Oil paint, a medium not obviously associated with Punk but more often associated with depicting Kings and Queens, Saints and Prophets highlighting her importance to our cultural history. `Soul Diva' is a portrait of the tragic Soul singer Amy Winehouse. She was a twenty first Century talent that I felt moved to paint almost a mixture between Goya's Spanish Lady and Tretchikov; a woman of the people. It plays with the idea of the Artist being the fan, paying tribute to someone they admire in a naive way but painted with a classical line and composition. it becomes almost a symbol of Amy to remember her and her body of work in her wake.
Symbols are illustrative and have meanings which are important to me in my Artwork; I have always enjoyed Film, Music Video's and Theatre and sometimes see my paintings as "stills" which have become iconified through paint. They are usually taken from part of a story and become symbolic of the subject, the era and the genre. New symbols and images are created as a retrospective of the previous Century to analyse History and what may be worth keeping and remember-ing from the past. 'Punk Icon' is a painting of Jordan; a Punk Celebrity in the 1970's who symbolises the spirt of the time and the
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motif for the Civil rights movement whilst retaining her beauty and glamour. What shall I do' is a Portrait of the Actress Vivienne Leigh in 'Gone with the wind' and shows Scarlett O'Hara in a red feathery gown later to utter those words of despair to Rhett Butler "Where shall I go? what shall I do". Though extremely beautiful and witty, the Actress was plagued with mental health issues in real life, and it is this poignancy and transient quality that I have tried to capture in oils. Again a story about the deep south and slavery, War and destruction but this time from a white Woman's perspective.
Actor
By the way, how do you see the relationship between public sphere and the role of art in public space? In particular, how much do you consider the immersive nature of the viewing experience?
I think it is very important to have Public Art Spaces and funding to exhibit works that can express and explore Political and Social themes. To analyse what is happening in the World today and to assess the direction in which a Civilisation is moving through the Artist's eyes. 'A strange and bitter cry' is a Painting of Jazz Singer-Songwriter Billie Holliday singing about the horrors of the Slave trade and the abuse of black people in history. It becomes possibly a
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While exhibiting a captivating vibrancy, your paintings seem to reject an explicit explanatory strategy. This quality marks out a considerable part of your production: how much does your own psychological make-up determine the nuances of tones you decide to use in a piece and in particular, how do you develop a painting’s texture? Moreover, any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?
My psychological make up loves Fashion, glamour and the imaginative world of Art. I tend to see the world through rose tinted spectacles even when dealing with dark subjects and try make them look beautiful. I portray people at their best rather than creating macabre or depressing images. 'Actor' is a portrait of Marlon Brando as a 1950's Rebel dressed in a black Motorbike Jacket and Cap. He becomes an icon for youth rebellion to this day. A template for the young to identify with and show their values. He paved the way for the youth of today. That is why I decided to make an icon of him. `Art Star' is my second portrait of
Pop Star
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Your works are always pervaded with an effective narrative and the stories you represent are surrounded by visual beauties: your paintings could be considered as visual biographies of the people who have shaped the C20 and C21 through their work and creativity. How much important is narrative for your works and how do you develope it?
Chinese Star
Yayoi Kusama an Artist who harnessed her hallucinations and Mental illness to create Avant garde Art, influencing her generation with performance Art and Painting. She is seen in the picture as a beautiful young Japanese woman in a dot painted leotard. The Painting is quite psycadellic in colour to echo her later paintings and sculptures. I usually paint with only three or four colours in my pallette for maximum visual impact and design the painting with simplicity in mind, influenced a bit by the great Artists Picasso and Mattisse. Whatever the subliminal messages, I like the images to have style even if that style is not conforming to everybody's taste of something to hang in their home.
Narrative is very important to me in my work. My paintings are often like Film `stills' edited from a sequence of events. Although I don't feel the need to capture reality through the lens of a Camera. The paintings tell a story about past and present Centuries.There is an element of Folk Art which I love, of passing down stories through the generations. Telling stories, the paintings are usually derived from well known Film, TV programmes or Rock/Pop songs and become trademark motifs for these famous or even sometimes obscure narratives. One of many images edited to encapsulate the 'bigger picture' of the story that they are part of. In the case of `Chinese Star' the Chinese Actress is photographed on the red carpet emulating European trends in Fashion and Cinema living in a Culture which has moved from a Communist to Capitalist Regime. Your painting capture non-sharpness with an universal kind of language, capable of bringing to a new level of significance the elusive but ubiquitous relationship between experience and memory, to create direct relations with the spectatorship: What is the role of memory in your process? We are particularly interested if you try to achieve a faithful translation of your
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previous experiences or if you rather use memory as starting point to create.
My work is often nostalgic, retrospective; remembering the best of the past. Trying to keep memories of worthwhile things to remind the viewer of ideas that have worked before rather than always striving for the modern, the untried, for the sake of being modern. Memories and photography are a starting point for my creations which become unique images through painting. Expressing myself through the colours I choose, the style and composition and what I decide to omit in a picture. There is an element of the high vs low art question to my Art and a questioning of taste and style which refers to cutural trends and the history of Art. Painting TV Stars for instance in traditional Oil on canvas in the same way as an Artist would have portrayed an important person such as a Religous figure in days gone by. A 'sampled' Iconography, referring to Acid House music and Beat Poetry cut ups. Over these five years your works have been showcased in several occasion, both in London and in New York City. One of the hallmarks of your practice is the capability to create a direct involvement with the viewers, who are urged to evolve from a condition of mere spectatorship. So before leaving this conversation we would like to pose a question about the nature of the relationship of your art with your audience. Do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial component of your decision-making process, in terms of what type of language is used in a particular context?
The audience's reaction is important to me, although I don't pander to convention and in many ways it is the reason that I have
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chosen to draw and paint mainly popular Icons and celebrities. We live in a 'throw way' Culture, saturated with images on a daily basis, bombarded by advertising and social media. I believe it is right to stop and slow down to take time to think about images and not mimick our fast paced contemporary culture. To create one off images like with Haute Couture gowns but with the the subject matter being democratic and non elitist. I hope that many people from all walks of life and cultures can enjoy and appreciate my work although I think with a knowledge of Art history the paintings
become more significant. Some works might be considered provocative but it is more from the desire to embrace diversity in the world than to shock for the sake of shock. Galleries are the primary context to experience my Paintings although they have also been viewed as Posters in the London Underground.
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H elena Tahir Lives and works in Jesenice and Ljubljana in Slovenia
An artist's statement
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he central backgrounds of my artistic practice are eternal themes and dilemmas of the individual, who finds himself in confusing world trying to validate his identity and existence. I am interested in applying contradictory concepts (such as reality vs fantasy, meaning vs absurdness, light vs darkness, belonging vs displacement, etc.) in a lyric and poetic way. As an artist, my interest is to capture my understanding of beauty and expose the pattern of human figure as a medium of subjective meaning. Helena Tahir
Helena Tahir is a visual artist that has recently come back from
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Portugal upon finishing her last year of bachelor studies in Faculty of Fine arts in Porto. In september 2015, Tahir graduated with honers from the department of painting and printmaking in ALUO, Academy of Fine Arts and Design Ljubljana, Slovenia. Tahir's main interests are printmaking, drawing, painting and analog photography, within these fields as the emerging Slovenian artist to watch out for, she has been included in a number of exhibitions. Tahir has already participated in international exhibition in Venice Art House. She is currently living and working in Jesenice and Ljubljana in Slovenia.
from Illumination series, 2014, colored pencils, 60x50 cm
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Helena Tahir An interview by Melissa C. Hilborn, curator and Barbara Scott, curator articulaction@post.com
Slovenian artist Helena Tahir's practice ranges from printmaking, drawing, painting and analog photography to accomplish an insightful investigation about the notions of home, beauty, oneness and displacement: in her recent Destruction series that we'll be discussing in the following pages she accomplishes an insightful journey to trigger the viewers' perceptual parameters in order to draw them into an multilayered experience. One of the most convincing aspects of Tahir's work is her successful attempt to capture beauty and expose the pattern of human figure as a medium of subjective meaning: we are very pleased to introduce our readers to his multifaceted artistic production. Hello Helena and welcome to ARTiculAction: to start this interview, we would pose you a couple of introductory questions about your background. You have a solid formal training and you recently graduated with honers from the department of painting and printmaking of the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana: you also nurtured your education attending the faculty of Fine Arts in Porto: How do these experiences influence your evolution as an artist? And in particular, how does your cultural anda familiar substratum inform the way you relate
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yourself to art making and to the aesthetic problem in general? Moreover,
Going to study abroad did not help me only to achieve better and wider understanding of what I want to do in my art, but also of who I am and who I want to be. Since these two aspects are interdependent, my artistic articulation reflects exploration of my identity. It was an experience that changed me completely, shaped my character, increase my confidence, made me a more tolerant person and sure, a better artist. I grew up in small town in Slovenia as a multiracial child. In my early adolescence I started to feel disconnected and excluded from society and I am sure that this affected my personal development. Probably it was also one of the reasons why I have become interested in psychology of the individual, which is clearly shown through my art. In my series Illumination I used some elements which are quite exotic, some of them are oriental, so I could say that selection of the elements is also reflecting my national identity. Ranging from printmaking and drawing, your approach coherently encapsulates different techniques and reveals a search of an organic symbiosis between a variety of viewpoints. The results convey together a coherent and consistent sense of harmony and unity.
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from Illumination series, 2015, colored linocut and handmade print, 50x70 cm
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from Illumination series, 2014, graphite and colored pencils, 50x60 cm
Before starting to elaborate about your production, we would suggest to our readers to visit http://cargocollective.com/helenatahir in order to get a synoptic view of your multifaceted artistic production: while walking our readers through your process, we would like to ask you what
has lead you to center a part of your work on colored pencil technique.
I chose the technique of coloured pencils because it suits well my formal and conceptual interests. It allows me to compose an artwork which is rich in details. The selection of elements and
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from Illumination series, 2014, graphite and colored pencils, 50x60 cm
motifs of my compositions was not based only on its conceptual groundwork but also on it's visual effects. Because I wanted to explore volume, details, uniformity of contrast and light effects (which are fundamental for aesthetic sensation of my work.), I searched for
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rich value of colours and light in selected elements, so I could apply this technique. I believe that using the colour pencil technique can open some important questions such as the difference between professional vs. amateur articulation. Since the line between is sometimes very
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from Illumination series, 2015, colored linocut and handmade print, 50x70 cm
thin, I consider that the difference lays mostly in vision (particular selection of motifs or concept) and after in small technical interventions or details that can strongly affect one's work and change it into the opposite.
For this special edition of ARTiculAction we have selected the Destruction series, a recent project that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article. What has at once captured our attention of these pieces is the way the insightful juxtaposition between intense tones provide the canvasses with a dynamic
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Destruction, 2016, colored pencils, 175 x 100 cm
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from Illumination series, 2014, colored pencils, 50x60 cm
and autonomous aesthetics, to communicate an attempt to transform
series, would you shed light on your main source of inspiration?
tension to harmony, and it's really captivating. While walking our readers through the genesis of the Destruction
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The central contexts of my work Destruction are the counterpoints of the
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from Illumination series, 2015, colored linocut and handmade print, 50x70 cm
individual who finds himself in a confused world. I believe this problem is very present in our society. One good example is how refugees experience belonging. When i was developing the idea of this project I was actually not thinking so much about refugees, but more about my own experience which is shown in my
work through symbols. The world and ruins are visual metaphors of a personal inner happening. Your technique allows you to mix colors and visual patterns into an unconventional combination, in which we can recognize a dialogue that sums
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up a mixture of thoughts and emotions. How much does your own psychological make-up determine the nuances of tones you decide to use in a piece and in particular any comments on your choice of photographic "palette" and how it has changed over time?
When I start to create, I first think about the idea, meaning and concept which I want to explore. Through time and experiences I realized that I can get very limited with committing too much to the concept. I could claim that I prefer to feel than to think. So, when I choose an object to be a part of my painting I do it because it feels like it belongs there; and sometimes I even do not know why. My work is about revealing my subconscious and hopefully the viewer one's too. There is another aspect of my work which has more formal nature. I believe that you can have an amazing idea but it has no importance if it is not articulated effectively. I am trying to find the right balance between thinking and feeling. My thoughts are changing all the time, so does my art. The Destruction series is a successful attempt to communicate without words, to unveil the flow of information through an effective non linear narrative, establishing direct relations with the viewers: German multidisciplinary artist Thomas Demand once stated that "nowadays art can no longer rely so much on symbolic strategies and has to probe psychological, narrative elements within the medium instead". What is your opinion about it? And in particular how do you conceive the narrative for your works?
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serije Osvetlitve, 2015
I agree that symbolic strategies are not enough to create a great piece of art, especially nowadays that technology is developing so quickly. But symbolic strategies can be also a big part in narrative. I use symbolic strategies to express my artistic vision through poetical narrative. The Destruction series accomplishes the difficult task of establishing direct relations with the viewers: how do you see the relationship between public sphere and the role of art in public space? In particular, how much do you consider the immersive nature of the viewing experience?
Helena Tahir
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from Illumination series, 2014, colored pencils, 60x50 cm
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from Illumination series, 2014, graphite and colored pencils, 60x50 cm
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from Illumination series, 2015, colored linocut and handmade print, 50x70 cm
The role of art in public sphere can be very different from artist to artist. The answer can vary also from artwork to artwork. Some artists are trying to provoke the political and social structures, while others stay interested in personal
concepts. the philosophical nature of this question makes it hard to explain it, there are too many ways to answer this question. In my case, I can say that I am focusing on eternal and archetypical themes of the individual. I am trying to reveal the collective subconscious of
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public sphere through the individuals it consists of. Your work is always pervaded with a subtle but effective narrative that in the interesting Illumination series captures non-sharpness with an universal kind of language, capable of bringing to a new level of significance the elusive but ubiquitous relationship between experience and memory, to create direct relations with the spectatorship. What is the role of memory in your process? We are particularly interested if you try to achieve a faithful translation of your previous experiences or if you rather use memory as starting point to create.
Memory plays a big role as a starting point but the concept of my projects usually develops through the process. What has at once caught our attention of the Illumination series is the way your inquiry into the elusive notion of beauty is capable of discovering the beauty we could find it in the nature. This aspect of your work challenges the manifold nature of human perceptual categories in relation with daily experience. So we would take this occasion to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indispensable part of a creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?
The work is not necessary an illustration of direct personal experience but the personal experience always has a role in the process. One of the hallmarks of your practice is the capability to create a deep involvement with the viewers, who are
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urged to evolve from a condition of mere spectatorship. So before leaving this conversation we would like to pose a question about the nature of the relationship of your art with your audience. Do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial component of your decision-making process, in terms of what type of language is used in a particular context?
As artists we cannot absolutely determine the perception of the viewers. we can control it to some point, but in the end perception is a very subjective concept. symbolic recognition is always a matter of personal experience. and my job is to articulate in a visual effective way, so the work can catch the viewer's eye and make them think about the work, relate to it and hopefully discover something new about their own personal experiences. Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Helena. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving?
In September I am going to start my studies in HGB Leipzig in Germany and I am sure this will affect my future production. But for now, I have the wish of extending my portfolio with different mediums: painting, drawing, photography and installation. And the most important: gain as much life experiences as I can and transform them into my art.
An interview by Melissa C. Hilborn, curator and Barbara Scott, curator articulaction@post.com
Helena Tahir
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C atherine A. Lair Lives and works in Mendocino County, California
An artist's statement
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have conflicts as a artist, that I believe most humans have in life. The calling of being reclusive in natural wildlands, that stirs my ancestral urges. And the need to be a part of community, family, and the tide of humanity. My art is sometimes abstract, primal, vibrant with color. Then sometimes reserved, copycats of the ingredients in nature, with a minor torque on color. I start abstracts without any vision. In the end, somehow my genes of Aztec and Spanish coincide with my gender, and developes a drawing. Obvious in the pieces, "The Souls of a Woman", "Puzzle of Life", and "Aztec Genes, Resurrected".
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The POWER OF ART, has been proven to last, from the authentic Sphinx, to the photos of Ansel Adams, and paintings by O'Keeffe. City fray, or creek randomness, but in this block of time, we could lose the choice of nature. In my abstract "Souls of a Woman", it's absurd, that three out of four women souls, have dealt with cancer. My family has molded my life love of nature. I believe it's time to figure out this conflict, and humankinds need to change or control unaturally. In my own way, even if just one person that perceives this message, through my art, means I have also created awareness. Catherine A. Lair
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Catherine A. Lair An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Barbara Scott, curator articulaction@post.com
Catherine A. Lair's work combines both abstract and figurative sensitiveness to speak of emotions and conflict. In her Souls of a Woman that we'll be discussing in the following pages, she accomplished an insightful investigation about the process that is necessary to produce colors out of plants. Her work provides the spectatorship with an unconventional experience that draws them to the liminal area in which subconscious level establishes a symbiosis between the conscious sphere. Drawing from universal imagery, Lair's approach triggers both memory and imagination, creating a compelling narrative: we are very pleased to introduce our readers to her stimulating artistic production. Hello Catherine and welcome to ARTiculAction: before starting to elaborate about your artistic production would you like to tell us something about your background? Are there any specific experiences that has influenced your evolution as an artist? And in particular, how does your substratum inform the way you relate yourself to art making and to the aesthetic problem in general?
I cannot say particularly I am self taught, because I have had many teachers. In
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early years my family and teachers, knew my soul was quiet in nature and not aggressive. So without my knowledge, entered my work in contests and at local competitions. I was always surprized to see my art, with a ribbon attached, in a show, I hadn't even entered. They, without any apprehension, felt the need to push me out of my cocoon, and into the light. I had quite a imagination. And I was a insationable reader of fairtales and classics, with old illlustrative prints and Dicken's scences, imbedded forever, in my childs brain. I had an instructor, that even though fellow students were a bit critical of my pieces,chose to show one of my monochromatic brown ocean scenes, of all things, out into public. Then he commented how I was learning to see things differently, how I had learned values and textures, which was his lesson. I was always in nature, visiting the "Childrens Forest" a place of fairy rings and tall redwoods, where two children hid, to their passing, only to be found asleep forever, in the woods. So the supreme forest trail was named, in their honor. I was at the top of mountians, in valleys deep, by ponds and rivers, exploring an almost infintesimal space, of the wilderness areas of Northern California. I believe it impregnated me with the colors and processes, I always looked for primary
Pomo Arrowhead Study, Crescent Bay
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colors in nature, a green, a purple shadow, a narly brown, and I now bristle many layers of colors, onto a canvas or sheet. I underpaint constantly, because I see the mystery and magic of primary and secondary colors, seeping into the arura of living things. And I learned all things in nature are alive. I attended watercolor classes with local college and adult school. I have also chosen to seek workshops at the Grace Hudson Museum. My piece "Anderson Marsh in the Snow" was in the Mendocino County Artist Association retro 60 years exhibit. And I currently attend open studio with other local artist, that has also have projected me into production. Adelle Pruitt did one on Arbitrary Color, she sought me out, and encouraged me with her confidence. Each artist, teaches a process of their own and a suggestion, which I can use or not, without repremand. I always loved learning, but I always felt some teachers only paid close attention to those that painted a lot like them. So I began to rebel, to repel, to realize what my instuctor, in my early years, his name was Mr. Hamilton, that I mentioned in above paragraph. Was that is his greatest lesson of all, is that my art. is my path and in no way, let others to control it. The loss of my mother, at a younger age, caused a simultanious rift and drive for confidence. I did a show called "Women of Art". I did a exhibit of "Nature's Guardians" at the Ukiah Art Center, and commision work of animals. That is the conflict, that I discuss, the nature of humans to follow other humans, then rebel to be individual and alone on their path. Wolves are very symbolic of that conflict. Which brings me to my
experiences. The wolf that only came within seven feet of me, while walking through Anderson Road, or the beaches of Lake County. I never once touched him. He belonged to a neighbor and came to my home for some reason. I was never afraid of him. I believe he knew that I was a friend, not foe. I had a deer named Mollly, that ate scaps, out of my fridge. And raccoons and many other things, including scorpions. But the wolf I named Shiloh, stirred that mystery, the curiosity in myself, about the conflicts of our times. A trip to Yosemite, seeing a bear about five feet behind me, which wandered away as I ran, which I wasn't supposed to do, also brought significant change to my work. I sold Southwestern Art, sculpture, at "La Galleria", in Calistoga, California, Napa Valley. The landscapes of Alaska, so enormous, the Redwoods in my neighborhood. the love of my mother, grandmother, sisters, and future child, came out in "The Souls of a Woman". I just dont care if it's corny to some, because the village of family, is what creates our path and ancestors are a part of our processes, everyday. My mother a seamtress, my father a fisherman. My whole life learning, patterns and textiles, added to playing in nature, both influenced my work to be different. My pain after a injury, the knowing that no matter what the world, or life took from me, I aways had ART, was a significant foundation support. Which brings me to the layer underneath, my purpose, my drive is to save nature, even if just a drop of water, in a ocean of humans. Sometimes in pain, I took out my anger on a canvas. Or in elations of scenes before me, as I walked. Now closer to home, I sit quietly
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obseving wildlife. Joined Cornell to help birdlife. Photograh wildflowers. Grow organic vegetables. Sometimes I did abstact to put my questions, into images. And my work is very personal, but everyone, I believe can relate to the diviant fractures of life, and love of family history, like I do. "Puzzle of Life", came after a miscariage. Most in public perception, seem to have no idea the pain of women, at that time. I don't talk much about it. But I know it is part of the circle and mystery of life. And even though it's personal and extremely subdued, by our society, it is a event that needs some type of closure. I got mine, through art. Women throughout the ages have been taught to bearing burdens gracefully, to buck up, to move on, to not scream. Art was my way of asking the question. So onto paper, came "Puzzle of Life". Your approach to painting is very personal and your technique condenses a variety of viewpoints, that you combine together into a coherent balance. We would suggest to our readers to visit http://www.mendocinoartassn.org/galler y/Lair/90.html in order to get a synoptic view of your work: in the meanwhile, would you like to tell to our readers something about your process and set up? In particular, would you tell our readers something about the evolution of your style?
I always listen to Music, Rock, U2, Enya, Handel and classical ballet pieces. I took ballet for years and Modern dance. Always moving in my past. Camping and hiking, reaching solitary places like Tahoe Forest or Russian River, Lake
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Snow in Anderson Marsh, Lower Lake
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Pilsbury or creek by my home. The music and the art together, take me away, into the realm of between concious and unconsious. I allow my brain to release, to flow, to take over everything while painting. I have a bad habit of tunning people out, when working. But its easy for me to do this, because I have trained myself to focus solely on the piece. I do the math. Proportions, analize this, repair that, systemically paint a underpainting of primary and secondary color, then leaving only a hint in certain areas, have no idea why I do this,its a lot more work. But the end result pleases myself. I feel overwhelmed by natures scenary at times, have to convey that feeling onto canvas mostly for myself. Because I want that memory to live on, forever. But I also want others to exsperience the pure physical electricty, of the bodies response, to the last bastions of natural wilderness. I wrote a poem once, the line that states, "If we'd only listen to natures voice, the search happiness, is our own choice"." Talk to your heart, part of the world".I don't get the nuances we as humans, are somehow different, unattached. We are supposed to be here, and I want people to appreciate our gift, with my ethereal spaces, my quiet waters, my whisper snows. So I take pictures, study the form, the colors, and go to the place of nothingness, where my brain takes over my hand. my being, until I have to rest. I don't know if my work has changed much, I have a prolific amount of drawings, paintings, watercolors, studies, so many it's absurd. I guess it's called practice. We would start to focus on your artistic production beginning from Souls of a Woman, an interesting work that our readers have already started to admire in the introductory pages of this article. What
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has at once captured our attention of this piece is the way your inquiry into the development of the color provides it with dynamic and autonomous aesthetic. While walking our readers through the genesis of Souls of a Woman, would you shed light to your main source of inspirations?
As I began "Souls of a Woman", I really had no idea where I was gravitating to, or even what my drawing would be. I just let my spirit take me wherever and what direction, felt right. I love the color wheel, the building blocks of mixing, but I also love the contrast of black with basic color. When I finished, I realized my subconsious had taken over the process and guided me into the realm of anatomy, with women wrapped in robes of native dress and the ancestoral links between generations of the women in the family. Mother, Grandmother, Sisters and future child, all to my observation, were dipicted in the drawing. And at a far distance, a cohesive genesis of flowing color and striations leading to a more close up anatomy of woman. A womans body is not only beautiful, but brings life. The colors were a surprise to myself, because of my almost obssesive focus on just drawing with not other stimuli excluding music. Almost like the tether in some books, my tether to the subconsious brought this picture to life. I cannot explain completely, what happens, it just happens. The dialogue established by the variety of tones that you combine together is a crucial part of your style: in particular, the effective mix between vivid but at the same time thoughtfuk nuances of tones sums up the mixture of thoughts
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and emotions. How much does your own psychological make-up determine the nuances of tones you decide to use in a piece and in particular, how do you develop a painting’s texture? Moreover, any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?
In reference to my Abstracts, I tend toward Cubism. I draw, fill in the voids or borders, see what has come from the drawing instinctually. "Puzzle of Life" is a basically a mirad of lines, filled in with those subconsious colors, then glued together as if pieces of a puzzle, which fit together on purpose. But nothing was intentional or on purpose. It was all random, choas, with the added casualness of pure joy to draw. Texture comes form working with fabric, weaves, patterns, rocks strewn my backyard pathways and a tool made from a native, living back in time, found on a beach of sand and the thought of that person possibly using that tool is so impossible to explain the power of art. Sometimes I feel the paint, on the canvas, to acheive some form of three dimension. I want to draw a persons eye into the snow walk, into the body, into the eyes of a wolf. My pallette has only been in large public for the last twenty years, but I did become empowered by the fear of death, the need to have a voice and the confidence of saying yes to oneself, at the risk of no, from others. If I say no to myself in exhibiting my work out in public, it isn't the public saying no to my work, it's myself. And I can take no from the public because in art, it really dosen't matter. Because the process is my process, my path, my life changes detailed, my trips archived, my appreciation of this planet. is mine. If others see past themselves, or
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Roses
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Yosemite Park, lighter version
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hear my voice of concern, through art, then I am very pleased. But if not, then I have only done the best possible work for myself, which is also.a definite emotional high. With my landscapes, I am more involved with a exacting process of begining photo, plus memory, underpainting layer, then large brush to small. I use white or yellows, with reckless abandon in the end , but I always use every possible color of a pallette, that call my attention. I always see colors of the spectrum which no one else sees, they have to be in the underpainting for my own satisfaction. Since injury, it is painful to do landscapes which I love, so I balance with abstracts which give freedom from tedious strokes. I use a lot of brush strokes. Also the conflict of raw, basic, carefree, to trying to follow the Masters, some of Tonalism, Luminism, Exspressionism and Realism. As you have remarked once, you start abstracts without any vision: while exhibiting a captivating vibrancy, you seem to reject an explicit explanatory strategy: rather, you seem to invite the viewer to find personal interpretations to the feelings that you convey into your paintings. This quality marks out a considerable part of your production, that are in a certain sense representative of the relationship between emotion and memory. What is the role of memory in your process? And in particular, do you try to achieve a faithful visual translation of your feelings?
I don't really know what memory has to do with my abstracts. I do remember getting told, I wasn't good at drawing, when a child, because I stayed within the lines. Oddly my abstracts are random lines, interconnecting, then a fill in of color, picked for I have know idea what reason, except the subconsious
manipulating my hand. The state of total focus, on my work, at the time of drawing an oil pastel abstract, probably induces memories and a form of rebellion, as of sorts. Like many people I want to be precieved as strong, forceful and confident to the world, my abstracts reflect that. But as the shy child and student, I tend allow myself total freedom and mercy, with my abstract productions. And I do feel the translation is vivid and coherant in flow, but usually only intended for my sense of completion. The language of my art is not limited to any rules anymore, I find that since I have admitted, I have, limited instruction and bad attendence. Years of physical limits, causing the rotation between hermit and nature traveler, has made me very sporatic in my art, and is challenging. But I continue to strive, to learn, to always use whatever tools are available. The internet opened up instruction of a different sort and I use it to study other artist lives and work. It's a revelation. I believe I have an unusual sense of experimentation and a need sometimes for uncommoness. Another interesting piece that has particularly impressed us and on which we would ike to spend some words is entitled AZTEC Steps: have appreciated the fusion you achieved between apparently simple geometries and a juxtaposition of patterns that seems to draw from the subconscious sphere, inviting the viewers to challenge their primordial, almost limbic parameters. We are particularly interested to trigger the viewers' perception as starting point to expand their perceptual parameters.
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My Aztec Steps were commented on in process of Open Studio, so I finished at the privacy of my home, in order to not be distracted by the curiosities of others. But it is a compliment for others to be curious, just like in detective novels, of which I read thousands of. The mystery is the funnest part of starting and finishing a abstract. What will my mind come up with this time? Where will my subconsious take my hand, what colors will appear and how will the final result reflect my emotion? No matter how Aztec Steps is viewed, it appears as steps, with oblivion or infinity weave. I admire the courage of the pallette, of the native tribes of Mexico and Spain, or even the garments of Peru. Ancient peoples, had so much ritual interwoven into their apparel and tools. I am absoulutley inspired, by that aspect of past and some present, civilizations. We have appreciated the way your paintings shows a coherent equilibrium concerning the composition: you inveite the viewers to a multilayered experience that provides with a sense of permanence the ephemeral nature of the moments you capture, as you did in Blue Wolf and Maddy's Wife Wolf. So we would take this occasion 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?
I did Maddy's White Wolf for my grandaughter named Madison. She has a family dog that resembles a wolf. I choose the palette of purple and pink, swirled in a frenzy of wind as the underpainting, then added the layer of
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natural color, leaving a aura around her white wolf dog. Children are drawn to colors and nature. So I entwinned them in this painting, to give the wolf a feeling of fantasy or essence of majic. The wolves are extremely vegrant and symbolically transend the border of reality and the past. Wild ones can only be seen in a fleeting moment, as if just a flash of presence for us to glimpse. I paint their eyes with a plea, a yearning
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of space for them to live, and roam to hunt as they are supposed to. I morn the change for them in this world, where humans live amoung them, yet despise their natural instincts. I believe Personal exsperience in my opinion only, is tied from memory and influence, to every picture. Even if painted later or in a different pallette. I knew Shiloh, a wolf, he taught me the nature and conflict of all living creatures, at this time. He was
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a symbol of the inert need to be free, to be oneself and how it can be perceived as wrong or anti social, because and only because, of others needs to deny natures rules. Shiloh hunted deer, squirrels and anything that moved, yet he was chained, for the very action, that in the past forest, of the America's, would have kept him alive. We as humans do the same to soldiers, when necessary we ask for a unexplicable
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amount of loyalty and protection, yet when not deamed for our own benefit, we find it distasteful or somehow the attributes as not warrented. Again, the conflict of our times, trapping humans in a snare of contrary values, yet all humans throughout time, know the necessity of protection. How dare many abuse with callous judgement, that aspect of necessary human nature, that honorable work of protection, the fallen warriors of peace and civilizations needs. So every wolf, and animal, has that lesson for me to teach. The need to one with others, yet separate.
My husband and partner in life, has propped me up when I have doubts and has propelled me into a place of confidence and provides a total environment of support. And observes in awe, the Pelicans of Bodega Bay, flying in the breeze or the lovely shade of Benbow Inn trees, under the rock balconies of wine surencified guests. He loves nature also, like I do.
We have appreciated the way your references to environment: your landscapes never play the role of mere background, but seeem to convey a message. How do you choose the landscapes that you paint?
Before leaving this conversation we would like to pose a question about the nature of the relationship with your spectatorship: in particular, do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial component of your decision-making process, in terms of what type of language is used in a particular context?
All of them I visited, and exsperienced. The peace of the wildnerness compares to nothing else in this world. Each, was where, I felt, the presense of God, the absoulute creator of art. I once wrote "the Forest is my Church". Spirituality is a core piece of my being. But it sometimes brings a road block to audience perception and acceptence. But as with my art, I choose to be honest with myself and others. I am only copying the masters work, not creating it. And the tether is from that energy and quality of light that guides me and leaves me art, in times of joy or sorrow. I choose to see as much, as I possibly can, of nature as it was intended look, before it's changed or is challenged, by world pollution or progress.. And I want just one person to believe we can preserve our wildlands, natural habitat's, but also, we can live together, on this planet. To meld with nature, to synthesize.
I feel this answer maybe a double standard. My abstracts are uniquely my creation, my colors, my style, and my emotions. So I don't even consider the audiences reception. On the other hand, my wild animals, the landscapes I have visited, I am very consious of my decision making process. I want to bring the memory of that particular place to life for myself, but also to show a group of humanity, how even a serene walk, in the snowy woods, can bring a feeling of peace, or a whisper of white flakes can change a young group of cragly oaks, into an icing coated wonderland. Yet, my abstracts get a the same oh's and ah's, as fireworks. So that does make me think about how my abstracts strike a cord in humanities music. But only when viewed in final form, not before. And the personal factoro of my abstracts, makes it harder for myself to show them, raw and so from deep inside.
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Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Catherine. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving?
I am a member of the Mendocino County Artist Association and I have been in contact with the International Wolf Center, to download and have asked permission to paint their on site wolves, in order to sell and donate proceeds to their Center. I have donated paintings to some natural catastrophes in our area, including the "Valley Fire" which was near where I lived and walked with Shiloh in my earlier years. Also I have donated to Habitat of Humanity and a cancer patients benefit. I will continue to do this. I just compiled a list of Northern California areas to visit, take pictures of, and paint for the future. Because of the "Valley Fire", I suddenly realized places do change or go away, as they were, in art, as we have seen in Yosemite Park, scenes can live forever, in a painting. I want to bring Luminism, and some Tonalism to my work. I will try to stimulate young minds, the need for preserving community wildlands and parks for wildlife, fuana, and our future generations. I have started these venues of change, to include coffee cups for major company and ideas of graphcs including my works, for benefits of the preservation of the earth. And lastly, to keep being motivated to produce, even while in the midst of my physical changes.
An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Barbara Scott, curator articulaction@post.com
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C hris Boyko Lives and works in Atlanta, USA
An artist's statement
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izarre, strange and unusual; each painting unveils the hidden reality within the mind. The subconscious is constructed like a giant web, which as a whole defines an individual. If one were to examine each individual piece, they would realize it’s composed of multiple ideas, memories and feelings which are constantly shifting. It’s this shift within our subconscious that changes our perception of reality. It’s why each of us can respond differently to a multitude of situations.
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Using automatic painting techniques, my mind enters a meditative state. As I begin to follow the strings of the subconscious web, the organic forms develop within the painting. One form leads to another, like a trail of thoughts. It’s as if my mind and the paint are in sync with each other. As I explore my own mind, gaining an understanding of myself; I’m also gaining an understanding of the forms. Through this process, I develop a very intimate connection with each painting. Chris Boyko
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Chris Boyko An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Barbara Scott, curator articulaction@post.com
Marked out with a stimulating abstract feature, Chris Boyko's work explores the hidden reality and its channel of communication with the subconscious sphere. In his Suspend: retain, pause, retreat that we'll be discussing in the following pages he draws the viewers through a multilayered experience capable of challenging their perceptual parameters, conveying a variety of ideas, memories and feelings . Drawing from the point of convergence from abstraction and universal imagery, Boyko's approach triggers both memory and imagination, creating captivating artworks: we are very pleased to introduce our readers to his stimulating artistic production. Hello Chris and welcome to ARTiculAction: before starting to elaborate about your artistic production would you like to tell us something about your background? You have a solid formal training and you hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) degree in Visual Arts that you received from the Kennesaw State University: how do this experience influence the way you currently conceive and produce your artworks? And in particular, how does your substratum inform the way you relate yourself to art making and to the aesthetic problem in general?
Luckily, my professors at Kennesaw State University were fantastic. I highly
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recommend the program to any dedicated artist. Each professor had their own unique teaching style which one can learn from. One professor in particular, Robert Sherer was very supportive of my work. Already knowing my hasty production methods, he allowed me to explore my studies independently, while offering insightful criticism. Through the constant production of artwork comes trial and error. By taking chances and listening to the criticism given, I’ve grown as an artist. Your approach is very personal and the way you use automatic techniques condenses a variety of viewpoints, that you combine together into consistent balance. We would suggest to our readers to visit http://www.boykoart.com in order to get a synoptic view of your work: in the meanwhile, would you like to tell to our readers something about your process and set up? In particular, would you tell our readers us something about the evolution of your style?
Thinking of myself as a factory, I’m constantly producing artwork. I strive to have overlap between the production of one piece and the planning of the following piece. By the time a painting is finished, I already have an idea ready to begin production. During the initial stage, I’m jotting my ideas through a combination of writing and gesture drawing in my sketchbook. I find this process benefical because it allows me
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paced, and sets up the basic groundwork for the painting. Loosly I define the composition of the piece, not wasting time worrying over details. Finally, entering the automatic painting stage, the piece comes to life. As I continue producing new work, I can defiantly see an evolution in my style. The way I depict the figure and environment has changed. On my website, I actually post my paintings, in the order they were produced. If interested, check out the evolution of my paintings. We would start to focus on your artistic production beginning from Suspend: retain, pause, retreat, an interesting work that our readers have already started to admire in the introductory pages of this article. What has at once captured our attention of this work is the way your exploration of your own mind provides this piece with a dynamic and autonomous aesthetic and it's really captivating. While walking our readers through the genesis of Suspend: retain, pause, retreat, would you shed light to your main source of inspirations?
to visually see the evolution of my thoughts. It’s very similar to my automatic painting technique which I’ll go more in depth later on. Soon after, I begin the underpainting, where I’m blocking in color. This process is fast
I was interested in the idea of preserving a memory. A majority of my inspiration springs from a trail of thoughts. In Suspend: retain, pause, retreat, I started by asking myself a series of questions. I began pondering why the mind holds onto the memory, how to show visual representation of a memory and the perception of a memory. I wanted to enlighten why an individual may hold onto the memory, exploring the value it may have. Thinking of it as a sanctuary; that one may retreat to when feeling discomfort. A secluded space; where no one can reach you. Other words like secret and personal came to mind as
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well. The next challenge was visually symbolizing a memory. My first thought was a box full of photographs hidden under the bed. It made sense considering a photograph is a still image of the past. My second thought was a projector; relating a memory to one’s own perception. Lastly I decided a projection of the mind, with the memory suspended in a spotlight. Finally, I began to wonder how we precieve a memory. As the present turns into the past, our mind develops memories, abstract thoughts based on ones own perception. The mind can never remember the whole event, only selection of information. I didn’t want the memory to be a specific person or object. Instead I wanted to represent a moment that signified comfort. I depicted the memory as two extended arms, with its palms facing outward as a welcoming gesture. The dialogue established by colors and texture is a crucial part of your style: in particular, the effective combination between intense nuances of tones sums up the mixture of thoughts and emotions. How much does your own psychological make-up determine the nuances of tones you decide to use in a piece and in particular, how do you develop a painting’s texture? Moreover, any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?
When examining my choice of color, one could look at the instinct and intellectual side of human nature. My choice of color is solely based on myself, although I’m very knowledgeable on the use of color. In the moment before I begin painting, I decide which colors feel right, but with a sense of awareness. While the palette
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may seem odd, it’s also harmonized. Usually I twist traditional color schemes, making it complex. As I’ve progressed as an artist, so has my ability to harmonize unusually color schemes. The plethora of organic
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exploration of your mind: your pieces combine thoughtful nuances of tones wisely balanced with abstract shapes: while exhibiting a captivating vibrancy, you seem to reject an explicit explanatory strategy: rather, you seem to invite the viewer to find personal interpretations to the feelings that you convey into your paintings. This quality marks out a considerable part of your production, that are in a certain sense representative of the relationship between emotion and memory. What is the role of memory in your process? And in particular, do you try to achieve a faithful visual translation of your feelings?
shapes within each piece, aren’t preplanned. Using automatic painting techniques I develop the oozing texture. There’s a connection between the movement of my hand guiding the brush and my thought process. Within the paint, my mind envisions organic shapes. I then define it by moving my brush as if I’m sculpting the form. Wandering within my thoughts becomes second nature during the paint process. As I’m pushing paint on the canvas, I’m also moving through my own mind. My thoughts and forms are in sync with one another, developing at the same time. As you have remarked once your practice could be considered as an
Consciously, I don’t question how I should depict my emotions visually. Presumably, one would process their feelings into thoughts by doing so. During the countless hours spent painting I may feel an entire spectrum of emotions. Instead, I express emotion through my body movement during the act of painting. Those that have seen me paint know I tend to move around a lot. Naturally, I’m applying my feelings through the movement of my body while painting. I believe it’s more faithful, rather than analyzing if the paint matches my emotions. When inquiring into the realm of the hidden reality, you draw from the subconscious, almost oniric sphere, inviting the viewers to challenge their primordial, almost limbic parameters to get involved into a multilayered experience. This is particularly evident in Inhalation: saturation, intake, consumption: your approach allows you to capture non- sharpness of physicality with an universal kind of language that brings to a new level of significance the
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elusive but ubiquitous relationship between experience and memory: what is the role of memory in your process? We are particularly interested if you try to achieve to trigger the viewers' memory as starting point to expand their perceptual parameters.
To create honest work, it requires a certain level of self awareness. I achieve this by discovering relations within the subconscious. By looking at the moment and the memory; one will recognize the underlying similarity between the two. Making the connections forms the trail of thoughts during the creative process. By piecing information together, I’m linking various interactions and functions. I want to ignite thoughts within the mind of the observer. Without trying, the viewer’s interpretations will relate to their own perception. In a similar manner, they too are connecting the moment and the memory. I’ve been given a wide range of responses as to what others see in my work. I find it very intriguing because I understand each painting fluently. We have appreciated the way your paintings shows a coherent equilibrium concerning the composition: the multilayered experience to whom you invite the viewers gives a permanence to the intrinsic ephemeral nature of the feelings you convey in your canvass. So we would take this occasion 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 terms of personal experience, I believe the range of creativity we’re given as a
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child is crucial. For example, a child that was allowed to color outside the lines will think more easily in abstract terms. It prepares the brain to comprehend beyond the surface context. Whereas, enforcing to color within the lines, becomes very analytical. It’s basically reporting information. Growing up, I was given creative freewill. I worked from my mind, creating stories as I was drawing. I clearly see a correlation between my creativity today and as a child. I don’t believe it could be disconnected because it’s woven into our mind. The creative process is a way of thinking. Learning from our experiences, we apply it to the creative process. There isn’t a defining moment that gave birth
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to my creativity. Having experienced creative freewill; allowed my creativity to grow over time. Your captivating exploration of the expressive potential of abstract compositions you have accomplished in Prelude: distance, departure, revival seems to address the viewers to relate themselves with your work in personal way, your work shows an effective combination between experience and imagination and triggers our limbic parameters concerning our relation with physicality: as Gerhard Richter once remarked, "my concern is never art, but always what art can be used for": what is your opinion about the functional aspect of Art in the contemporary age?
Art still retains importance in an age defined by technology. Nowadays we’re constantly looking at our phones and being bombarded with advertisement. Art offers a positive alternative. It continues to offer new perspectives to the viewer, regardless of the subject matter. Sharing ideas with society brings forward new innovative ideas. Those that have worked in an artistic community have probably seen this effect occur. If it were to happen on a much larger scale, I believe society would prosper from it. Over these years your works have been exhibited in several occasions, including your recent solo exhibition at the Peachtree Branch Library. One of the hallmarks of your work is the capability to create a direct involvement with the viewers, who are urged to evolve from a condition of mere spectatorship. So before leaving this conversation we would like to pose a question about the
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nature of the relationship of your art with your audience. Do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial component of your decisionmaking process, in terms of what type of language is used in a particular context?
I take into consideration the visual tools used to convey the message to the audience. For example, I use composition, symbolism and body language as methods of communication. If the viewer is interested then they’re going to explore the piece. I’m not concerned if each painting will have a postive or negative resception from the audience. Worrying would hinder my decision-making process. However I’m grateful for those that take interest in my work. I just strive to make each painting better then the last. Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Chris. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving?
Thank you for give me opportunity to share my artwork in this amazing magazine. I have plenty wild ideas for the future but I wouldn’t want to spoil anything. You’ll just have to follow me to see what’s happens next.
An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Barbara Scott, curator articulaction@post.com
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