CREATIVPAPER Magazine
Vol 3
Issue 014
Welcome
If there is one thing that we have learnt in 2019, that is creating under stress is never a good idea. Not only are you in a vicious cycle of self-sabotage, it can also take a toll on your physical health and everyone around you. It is in times like this that you have to take a step back to look at the bigger picture. Impart a stoic approach to the obstacles in front of you. Is this something you can control? If not all you can do is focus on controlling your emotions and their outcome. This, as we all know, is easier said than done. Never underestimate the impact of your mental health on creativity. Harness those dark moments, transfer them on to paper, canvas, glass or earth. Whatever your medium may be. The artists we have worked with in this issue have all pushed through these strenuous moments and come through victorious, stronger and more resilient than before. We hope you enjoy browsing through the pages of this issue and remember, no matter how impossible things may be, you are never alone, and there is a solution on the horizon, failures are only different outcomes and new beginnings. Its all a matter of perception. CreativPaper
Cover: Ronald Ownbey, Body Dwellers, Oil on Canvas, 20 X 20 inches, 2016
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Above: Jefferson Pires
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Contents
06 RONALD OWNBEY 10 JOHN SPROUL 16 SAMI GJUKA 20 DR. MARTIN RASKOVSKY 26 ART AS RELIGION 30 ALISE LOEBELSOHN 34 TODD JONES 38 MICHELLE HOLD 42 VALERIE REY 48 KRISZTINA HORVATH 54 MARTINA MANALO 56 GEORGE EMIL ODTHERMAT
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Cover Artist
RONALD OWNBEY ronownbeyartist.com
Born in West Hollywood, California in 1938, artist Ronald Ownbey spent his summers surrounded by the beauty of the Sierra Nevada mountains on his grandparents’ fruit ranch. His first steps into the art world were born during this time. Early subjects included Indians, mythological and historical sites, people and the vistas around him. His very first oil was a paint by numbers composition of two parrots when he was fourteen years old. The late fifties were followed by military enlistment during which Ronald spent time in Europe on tour, visiting galleries and museums, soaking up the rich heritage of art. This inspired him to pursue a career in the arts when he came back home. After graduating from the Otis Arts Institute, Ronald began his career as a teacher, imparting his knowledge of the arts. After a successful career Ronald, now retired has gone back to being a full-time artist. Re-igniting the passion that took root in the mountains decades ago.
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Above: Internal Connections, Oil & Color Pencil, on panel, 10 X 10 inches, 2018
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Above: Quiet Movements, Oil & Color Pencil, on panel, 10 X 10 inches, 2018
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Above: Twisted Thorny Vines, Oil & Color Pencil, on panel, 10 X 10 inches, 2019
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Interview
JOHN SPROUL johnsproul.com
We might all come from different corners of the world, speak different languages but our bodies all speak the same vocabulary. A nod, gesture or posture. They all speak volumes where language can often seem dermal. Every movement reveals more about ourselves and our thoughts that we can comprehend. Artist John Sproul is interested in this element of human communication. A professional artist for twenty-five years, John has exhibited extensively across the United States, parts of Europe and Malaysia. John’s personal experiences coupled with his studies in eastern/western philosophy, psychology, religion, sociology and behavioural science have brought him to an understanding that a lot of our communication is done through the body and that we are all connected together through its language. His work is a visual discourse of the collective self.
We live in a time that is driven extensively by image, or at least the impression we try to give online. What are your thoughts about that as an artist? On the one hand, it has become easier over the last 20 years to represent one’s work and distribute that representation, but one can get so caught up in their online presence and how they or their work appears to others that they lose sight of what is essential. An artist needs to be ever engaged in questioning and digging deeper into themselves, into the way they see the world, into the way the world sees things, into the way things are, and so on. Asking the questions that are answered by still more questions. Getting caught up in
how others see us takes us away from that and can keep us on a superficial level. Also, I have a concern that because of the unending imagery that we experience and the speed at which we can and often do go through it we can lose sensitivity to seeing, we can come to a point where we don’t see what we are looking at. Another side is that we can become so accustomed to the second or third-hand experience that an image represents, that our minds will treat it as a first-hand experience. The authentic first-hand experience of artwork will be seen as unnecessary, and the beautiful experience of seeing a Rembrandt or a Richard Serra (for example) in person will be lost. 10
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How important is nonverbal communication in your opinion? My experience tells me that nonverbal communication is vital to connect to someone. One only needs to look at the difference between the knowledge of a conversation in person and an experience of a conversation through texting to note that nonverbal communication is significantly crucial in how we converse and connect. I believe most of our communication is through the body, its language and tonality. Without it, the clarity of communication becomes more and more unclear with gaps in understanding ever widening as we move further and further away from the “in person” experience. Could you tell us a bit about your body of work titled ‘Black’ and the inspiration behind it? That body of work was influenced by the totemic resonance of Stone Henge and a desire to find that resonance and meaning
through the figure. I felt that I could only do this through the depth and beauty of black and a base and reductive approach to drawing. Do you think contemporary art places more importance on aesthetics than meaning? The art of our time is so expansive and diverse that I don’t think I could put a blanket statement on it. There is some intense and amazing work being done now, but I believe that there is a lot of work being done that remains only on the surface of aesthetics without going into meaning or depth. I imagine that there are many reasons for that, but I see one reason being that it is easier to market and sell and it reaches a much wider audience. There may even be a particular formula that has been formed like there is in pop music. I don’t think that if you look back into art history that it has ever been very different though, it seems to me that there has 14
always been work that only deals with aesthetics or the surface of things, there is just a lot more of it now. There is a lot more of everything now.
uses bodies to portray a presence and understanding that cannot be spoken, and It falls in line with my endeavours as an artist.
As someone who has been creating art for the last 25 years are there elements of the modern art world that frustrates you? I guess that many things could frustrate me if I allowed it, but I find that allowing that to happen doesn’t get me anywhere that I want to be. There is never enough support or importance given to the arts (at least in the United States), but I see that there are more opportunities for artists to do what they do then there were 20 or 10 years ago, and it seems to be ever getting better.
Food is a ritual for me; it is a social ritual and a creative one. I find fulfilment in discovering new places to eat with others, new cuisines and new ways to make it and share it with others. I also find comfort in familiar places and familiar ways of eating.
Aside from art, what moves you? My wife and children – family is essential to me, and they come first in my life. My extended family and friends follows close behind.
What does John look forward to after a long day in the studio? At the end of the day, I look forward to being with my wife, my three boys and my daughter. At the very end of the day, I look forward to reading a good book. END
People – I believe that the most important thing about art is the people and the relationships through art that I have with them.
I grew up outside, and although I have become an urbanite to the core the love of nature is still with me, and I feel a need to be in the mountains communing with nature enjoying the vitality that comes with such experiences.
I come from a family of musicians and music has always been a big part of my life, and I seek it out as much as I do the art of others – I am always looking for more ways to hear, feel and understand it. I first found kindred spirits in my youth through literature, and that has continued all my life. That has grown to include studying philosophy, psychology, and behavioural science. I desire to ever more gain a better understanding of myself and those around me and my journey through the written word helps to satisfy that desire. The first time I saw modern dance I was overwhelmed with emotion by the beauty and profundity of it. Contemporary dance 15
Artist Feature
SAMI GJUKA sami-gjuka.dk
Born in Peje, Kosovo in 1953, artist Sami Gjuka obtained his art education in his home town. Influenced by the Italian masters, his natural curiosity took him to Amsterdam and Brussels to investigate Flemish painting and Turkey for two years, researching colours and light. This research and attention to detail are reflected in his pieces. The visual poetry in his paintings highlights his grasp of surrealism and symbolism. Impossible to pin down, Sami continues to create a niche of his own, a very personal interpretation of classical art. Sami was a finalist at the 2017 Global Art awards in Dubai. He currently lives and works in Denmark.
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Above: Nude, Oil on Canvas, 85x65 cm
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Above: Night in Forest. Soft Pastel on Paper, 64x50 cm
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Above: Moonlight, Soft Pastel on Paper, 64x50 cm
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Interview
MARTIN RASKOVSKY martinr-art.com
When you first set your eyes on Dr Martin Raskovskys work, what might first appear as a painting is in fact photography. His dreamlike, ethereal, fluid landscapes draw the viewer in. His passion for photography started at a young age, using a darkroom built in his parent’s bathroom, developing and with the advent of digital photography using manipulation to change how we all look at photographs. He is known to sleep with a camera by his bedside, ready to capture and interpret dreams. His images always characterised by imagination, surrealism and impressionism. A computer scientist by profession, Dr Raskovsky had initially refused to share his work with the public and in 2016 saw the debut of his work presented to the public at the Brick Lane Gallery, London.
There is a certain fluidity and mystery in your images, has that always been the case? Since early childhood, photography has been in my heart. During the early days, in a darkroom built on the bathroom of my parents home to the present days of digital manipulation, my work has always been characterised by imagination, surrealism and impressionism. In the darkroom, I used to manipulate images by masking light at the time of enlargement, a conventional photographic technique which in effect involves “massaging” light. The net effect during those early days - was a break from reality to my “dream world’. Later on, when working with colour with “slides” - 35mm transparencies - I sandwiched more than one image bringing together different locations and different times into one image
achieving a similar effect. Digital manipulation arrived at my desk in the mid-’90s; since then, my images captured movement and got closer to “paintings.” Could you talk us through your artistic workflow? There are no patterns; rarely I do the same; however, the observer will see me first travelling with my camera, like a tourist, shooting everywhere. During endless walks in forests, climbing hills and mountains, riding a bicycle, always with the camera ready. Taking a photo is equated to “capturing reality”. I do not do “staging”, so reality comes straight into the camera. Later on, back at home, certain images are chosen for no particular reason, they do not even have to be good photographs, they only have to hint a detail that triggers my 20
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imagination, or Evoque a dream, something which captures my eyes. The image is brought to my computer and then is when the fun starts. Using different applications - I do not have one in particular that I like - it is like choosing a brush to paint on canvas. A journey of digital manipulation takes me for days, weeks, months and in some cases years (noticeable, Mermaid, took me 30 years to complete, from early days as a 35mm slide to be finally concluded a couple of years ago). During that journey, I explore, I search for a solution to a problem I don’t know its solution. It is like travelling through a tunnel. Sometimes you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, other times - as it is in my case - the tunnel goes through curves, and the end is not visible; however, you know that there is an end, you know if you continue you will see the light at the end of the tunnel. That is how my journey is, unknown goal, but the knowledge that you are on the right path. Sometimes, many times, I get lost and have to backtrack and start again from some fork in the path. Many times, I end up with different versions of the journey, occasionally to the point that it is difficult to decide which one is the final product. The important time in the journey is the moment when in trying to define the image, in searching for a solution, something happens in the image I am creating that has an echo in my heart, in my body, I know then I am in the right path, I continue until a moment where the “Eureka” effect takes place. That moment, when I realise I have arrived at the elusive destination is delicious, is sensual, is orgasmic. Would it be safe to say that you are changing people’s perceptions about photography as a creative tool? Digital Manipulation is an outstanding innovation to photographic art. After centuries of technical and technological evolution, the progress of the optical
instrument that revolutionised our lives seems to deserve a new dimension. Impressionist painters accelerated the gesture of their brush strokes to capture the ephemeral and immediate nuances of light, while I carry out the process in reverse: I already own reality and, with the appropriate vision and imagination, I transform photography into post-impressionistic imaginary that matches my emotions. What are your thoughts on the rapid advancement of computer technology and its role in creativity? I am a software engineer, and I have a degree in Philosophy, a PhD in Computing Science. My first steps in the computer arena go back to the late sixties. So you can say that I grew up with software in my fingertips. From the early days of “punch cards” and “magnetic tapes” spinning backwards and forwards in huge computer systems occupying large rooms with operators with white robes and air conditioning as I am sure you have seen in early films denoting the introduction of computers into our lives to the present days of smartphones providing in one hand more power than those huge systems. I have been a lecturer at Essex University and a research fellow at Oxford University. During all those years, the evolution of computer technology for me was a natural step forwards; I was part of its innovation. At the same time, I have developed my other passion in life, photography, as a parallel development. It was a pleasure recently, to merge both activities into one. Having departed the workforce as a software engineer and joined the ranks as a full-time artist. What I bring to the arts, it is not more than a tool, a brush that allows me to “paint” light through my imagery.
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Is it true that you hesitated to share your art with the world for quite some time? No, I did not hesitate; I was simply not interested. A mistake? Maybe. It was only after my first exhibition in 2016, in the Brick Lane Gallery in London, that I understood what art is. Before that, my work was not more than a piece of colour in the wall. Only when the observer expressed emotions emanating from my job I understood that at that moment, the section of colour in the wall became art. It is dialectic; a piece of art needs the observer returning emotions to become art. What advice would you give other artists who are reluctant to share their work? My life has changed completely, to the point that I say I started in 2017, at the age of 67 a new life which gives me tremendous enjoyment, and very important, contact to the world, a social life I did not have before when working on my own, both as a scientist and as an artist to be. I became an
artist when I started to exhibit. We believe you were exhibiting your work extensively in 2018, what was that experience like? Every exhibition provides a tremendous pleasure. People engaging in conversation feed, not only my ego but confirms the value of my work regardless of the economic return, necessary to finance the exhibitions themselves. Does Dr Martin have a dream location to photograph? Nature, everywhere, I have been from the southern tip in South America, near Antarctica to the northern close to the north pole area of Iceland, through the beauty of islands like the Canaries, and in particular La Gomera. England with the gorgeous colours of each season. The Mediterranean with the dreamy blues. Everywhere. END
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Artist Feature
ART AS RELIGION peterbucklin.com
Art is the greatest religion humans will ever have or know. It speaks to our spirits in ways no dogma can ever penetrate. It is light, seeping past shadows, opening into the vast darkness of what lies beyond suppressed imaginations. It illuminates the mysteries of wonder that too often only children seem to recognise. Art redeems, changes, moves, energises, provokes us to seeing beauty, again, and to being shocked awake to the painful truths of how quickly life overwhelms us, diminishes us, steals our ability to be curious, to be present and to choose peace and love. Art is the opposite of religion; the worship of fear and wrongness. Art is the opening to possibility. Art is a gift that transcends the smallness of human thinking and cultural barriers. Art opens us to opportunities to see and to believe in the more prominent presence of the connectedness of life. Art offers experiences to be connected to wholeness, connecting to what we all are as oneness and simultaneously to ourselves as individuals. Art is enlightenment that nourishes our souls, our aliveness, and our reason for being. Art offers the real possibility of discovering that heaven is free to all in the beauty of its gifts.
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Above: Untitled, 16” x 20” x 1”
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Above: Untitled, 16� x 20� x 1�
We, the artists, are the emancipators of dull, fearful thinking, shallow existence, rushed living that pushes us aside from the truly meaningful. We, the artists, provide reasons to pause, to question, and to think more openly, to be willing to be different. We, the artists, push the boundaries that limit our existence with whatever medium chooses to uplift us in our love of finding that little piece inside ourselves asking for attention; challenging others to be attentive. We, the artists, give love. Art is a gift of life-giving-energy, for those willing to receive; for one must be open, present, ready to see, to hear, to sense, to be let in, to take in, to be fully alive. Art gives to those willing to participate in the dance of life and joy and sorrow and hope. Art gives to those who venture into the unknown with courage and yearning for all that seems somehow beyond us but is merely awaiting our arrival. Art gives meaning. Art gives the possibility to be a part of a world of breathtaking beauty that seems so easy to be taken irreverently. Art is love. Words and Artwork by Peter Bucklin 28
Above: Untitled, 16” x 20” x 1”
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Artist Feature
ALISE LOEBELSOHN aliseloebelsohn.com
Perched on top of Times Square in New York City, artist Alise Loebelsohn spent hours painting billboards while the world passed her below. Digital screens may have taken their place, but the skills learnt by Alise were invaluable. Her medium of choice is Venetian plaster. Once layered, this is followed by sanding and burnishing to build up patina and shine before the colours are introduced. She is also known to incorporate mica powders and waxes in her practice. In 2001 Alise started her own mural and decorative painting company called Pompeii Studios LLC. Since then she has been hired for a diverse range of commercial, corporate and private projects including the Jonathon Woodner Housing Complex, Washington Square Hotel and Bryant Park.
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Interview
TODD JONES taahd.com
The colour palette can be an exciting place; one can literally spend hours playing with colour combinations, creating new hues, finding combinations that work in parallel and if all else fails you just add more black pigment! Columbus, Ohio based artist Todd Jones incorporates an experimental approach to his creativity. Using painting, drawing and sculpture, he uses a combination of traditional and modern techniques to explore the application of paint. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts and double majored in studio art and psychology at Florida State University. Since graduating, he has been an artist-in-residence at Studio 209 in Thomasville, GA and has attended the Summer Painting and Sculpture Intensive hosted by the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, PA.
Could you tell us a bit more about your body of work titled ‘Lasting Impressions’? Lasting Impressions is one of two bodies of work that I created for my thesis show while at Florida State University. I wanted to create a series of portraits of individuals who had a major impact on me during my time in college. With this work, I experimented with the techniques of Suminagashi, the ancient art of Japanese paper marbling. I wanted to infuse this process with my watercolor painting. Suminagashi is unique in that it’s a softer way to marble and mimics the saturation of watercolor. What materials are you currently experimenting with? My work is moving into abstraction, which I am experimenting with through paintings
with translucent surfaces, such as screen and fabric. These materials allow the infrastructure to become the image underneath. Paint is applied to the surface in order to build different layers that can be either opaque and translucent. The frame and wall are exposed through the surface becoming part of the image while also disrupting it. How important is color when it comes to your work? Color and the underlying meanings of colors play a huge role in my art. In order to further develop my work, I began studying how color relates to personality and incorporated this into my portraits. The hues are selected to define the personalities of each subject and reveal the internal self.
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Above: Lasting Impressions: 1, Ink and Watercolor on Watercolor Paper, 22 x 30 inches
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Above: Lasting Impressions: 2, Ink and Watercolor on Watercolor Paper, 22 x 30 inches
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The use of colors on each individual is a short visual summary of prominent characteristics. This approach allowed me to infuse my work and research into creating personality portraits. In your experience would you say that the art of painting is a constant battle between control and spontaneity? Yes, and I try to demonstrate this in my work. I was drawn to the process of paper marbling for this very reason. What I love about this process is the inability to replicate the same design. In my mind, every piece is a collaboration between the marbling and myself. With this method, I combined the process of marbling with my portraiture in order to bring more visual interest to my work. My realistic renderings could be juxtaposed with the organic patterns of the paper marbling. A dialogue is created between controlled watercolor and the unexpected outcomes of marbling, giving the work a mind of its own. I plan to continue experimenting with this idea of control versus spontaneity, even as I delve into different bodies of work.
How has education in psychology changed you as an artist? In psychology, a scientific approach is used to learn about behavior and mental processes. I use the same approach to making art. I see myself as process-driven and view my artistic practice as scientific experimentation. You’ve mentioned the importance of color with regards to personality, especially in your paintings. If you had to use one color to describe yourself, which one would it be? Once color that describes myself would be blue. However, I have a particular color scheme that I use for self-portraits. For myself, I use the colors, black, blue, and yellow. I feel that not one color captures my personality fully.
What was Todd’s favorite cartoon growing up? I had so many favorites growing up that my Saturdays were typically taken up by the tv. I would probably say Courage the Cowardly Dog. The show would scare me as a kid, but never prevented me from watching it. Do you have any advice for artists that Now that I am older, I appreciate the show’s might be struggling with regards to the use of a dog’s point of view to tell a story. previous question? Cartoons and animation are what got me Allow yourself to let go. It’s not easy, but interested in art and pushed me to be a when you get there it’s worth it. Not all work better artist. END has to have a sense of control. Be vulnerable and step out of your comfort zone. Some of the best work is created unexpectedly. For myself, finding a process that required me to relinquish control opened me up to new possibilities for my work. What is your favorite part of your job? My favorite part of being an artist is developing my own processes for creating work. When I create something with a technique that no one else has done, I feel a sense of accomplishment. Not all pieces I create are successful, but I view them as a learning experience. 37
Artist Feature
MICHELLE HOLD michellehold.com
After briefly studying Architecture in Austria, Artist Michelle Hold fell into the world of modelling which allowed her to travel around the world, spending time in Paris, New York, Hong Kong and Munich. Designing dresses from the tender age of 10, she enrolled in various art and textile design classes and worked as a textile designer in Milan. A few years ago, Michelle stepped into the world of being a full-time artist; She paints drawing her inspiration from everything around her. She taps into scientific discoveries, fashion, nature and humanities as she layers colours on her canvases. Each piece, full of vibrant colours, energises its viewers. Offering a balance of beauty and well being. Michelle’s paintings can be called a balance between aesthetic contemplation and poetic narrative, a visible declaration of an archaic language of the soul.
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Above: Open Nature’s code, Acrylics, Pigments on Canvas, 120 x 80cm, 2019
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Above: Different Timelines, Arylics, Pigments on Canvas, 120 x 150cm, 2019
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Above: Attracted to the Unknowm, Acrylics, Pigments on Canvas, 100 x 100cm, 2019
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Artist Feature
VALERIE REY valerierey.com
Born in Paris in 1965, artist Valerie Rey gained her education in her hometown. This was followed by ten years as a designer for various textile factories specialising in African fabrics. She later worked as an architect designer, decorator and graphic designer. In 1999 Valerie made the decision to move to Costa Rica which would mark an important milestone in her life. This new beginning, amongst the tropical beauty of her home, was the stimulus she needed, triggering the desire for personal expression. Her previous work with African textiles gave her a sense of familiarity against the backdrop of flowers and tropical plants. In 2013 she progressed to experimenting with glass. Many of her current pieces combine organic materials with glass and splashes of gold, transforming everyday objects into brilliant works of art.
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Interview
KRISZTINA HORVATH krisztinahorvath.nl
Born in Hungary, Budapest in 1966, artist Krisztina Horvath cites art as her first love. This passion developed when she studied classical ballet and went to a ballet academy until she was 16. This moved on to a career in law as an Environmental Lawyer. The yearning to create was always there during this time, so eventually, Krisztina returned to being a full-time artist. Starting with photography, she progressed to different mediums and styles, especially abstraction which gave her the best tools to express herself. Intuitive, expressive and full of movement and energy, her pieces often create a dialogue between humans and their relationship with the environment. Oriental art and art inspired by Zen are a significant source of inspiration for her.
Could you tell us a bit about your time studying ballet as a child? Well, I was seven years old when I started taking ballet classes at a ballet school in Amsterdam, and when I was nine years old my teacher encouraged me to do an audition at the ballet academy, and I was accepted. The academy was tough, 6 days a week we had classes, and we had to put in a lot of effort and discipline to keep up with the requirements.
whom Oberon, the King of the Fairies and Titania, his wife, quarrelled. I can still smell the dry ice that was used on stage to create a mist in the forest when I had to come up the stage, running through the scenes.
My most beautiful experience was performing with the Dutch National Ballet. I had a small role in the ballet A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a two-act ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Felix Mendelssohn’s music to Shakespeare’s play of the same name. I played the role of a little Indian prince over
When I was 16 years old, I was a rebellious teenager and stopped abruptly with the ballet academy and never went back. When I grew older I would sometimes miss ballet when visiting a ballet performance, but that emotion has left through time, and now I enjoy going to performances. How did ballet influence your creativity? I think the love for movement and energy that comes from dance never left me and is still influencing me in what I paint and how I paint.
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Above: Nocturnes #2, Acrylic and Ink on Canvas, 100 H x 70 W x 2,5 D cm
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Above: Dontwastewater (Zen Study), Acrylic on Canvas, 80 H x 100 W x 4 D cm
I never sit when painting; it’s almost impossible for me to sit down. I often play some dance music that gives me the energy to paint energetic strokes on the canvas. It could be fun for an audience to see me paint, but it’s become very natural to me. Once I saw a video of the Dutch painter Karel Appel and saw that he was dancing to music when painting. This convinced me that it is not so strange at all, the way I do it. What is it about abstraction that makes it such a great tool for expression in your opinion? Many feelings, emotions and thoughts are (for me) not easy to express in a figurative style. Like with dancing or classical music, a feeling or an idea is elaborated upon with a tone or a movement. Like in painting it is elaborated from colour, gestures and a medium. For me, abstract art is better at reflecting an expression, but also, equally important, gives the viewer the freedom to create their idea or emotion induced by
the piece they are looking at. If you look at a figurative portrait, you have to see a portrait, and it can’t become anything else. With abstraction, you can see much more what you want to see reflected by who you are. Are there any artists that you look up to? Yes, of course, many! In the past, I looked at so many artists in books, museums and galleries and often fell in love with their art instantly. They influenced me and sometimes even confused me. But that time has passed, I am searching for my inner drive and style, and little by little I get to know what that is. Nevertheless, Japanese aesthetics are still essential to me, like calligraphy and the painters of the Gutai movement, such as Kazuo Shiraga. In the past, Edvard Munch influenced me greatly, although he is not an abstract painter. The American abstract expressionistic painters, such as Willem de Kooning, Cy Twombly and Joan Mitchell have been and still are very inspirational. 50
Above: Reaching For Rigpa, Acrylic and Household on Canvas, 70 H x 90 W x 2,5 cm
You briefly worked as an environmental lawyer, what was that experience like? When I studied law at the VU University Amsterdam in the second half of the eighties, I encountered environmental law and was immediately determined to work in that field. Environmental law was upcoming then, and it gave me the opportunity to work in this niche. First as a lawyer for an environmental NGO, after that as a law- and policymaker for the Dutch Ministry of Environment and finally ended up working as a lawyer in Brussels at the European Commission.
I am not a fatalist or pessimist, but when I was a child, I already had my concerns about the future of nature and humanity on our planet. I think we want to conquer nature because we are afraid of it and want to rule it, forgetting that we are just part of nature itself and can’t live without it. For me, there are three scenarios.
I loved my work, but after all, I am glad that I did stop after a while because my wish to become an artist never left me. Now as an artist I can also express my concerns and ideals about our approach to nature and the environment.
The first is the most beautiful we find a way to change our approach in time and save nature and ourselves. Second is the most horrible: we do not change our behaviour, and sooner or later life and humans will vanish from the earth. Third: very science fiction, but not impossible: we will leave our sick planet and search for other liveable places in space. I hope it will be the first scenario, but I am a little sceptic about it.
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Above: We Are Endangered (Zen Study), Acrylic and Ink on Canvas, 140 H x 210 W x 1 D cm
Could you name three valuable lessons that the art of Zen has taught you? The Seven Characteristics of Zen art which are described in the book Zen And The Fine Arts, written by Shin’ichi Hisamatsu mean a lot to me. One of the characteristics which I find inspirational is Asymmetry. This means being irregular, crooked or unbalanced and gives the viewer the feeling of informality. Symmetry evokes the sense of being perfect and formal. Art that is not seeking for symmetry is therefore not striving for perfection and breaks through these ‘ideal’ formal forms. Zen paintings have a freedom that is no longer concerned with such forms, unconcerned with perfection.
Another essential characteristic is naturalness, which means not being artificial. As an environmentalist, I, of course, love this principle too. But on a more serious note, the meaning is broader, it also means unstrained, with no intent, never forced, pure and concentrated. What was Krisztina’s favourite breakfast trip growing up as a child? Semolina porridge with cocoa. END
Simplicity is another characteristic. “Simplicity in colour means that colours are unobtrusive and that diversity is avoided”. The simplest colour in the painting is black. I often choose black or grey as the only colour to use in a painting and love the simple but strong effect of it. Simplicity also has something in common with abandonment rather than deliberateness. 52
Above: To My Future Self #3, Acrylic and Graphite on Canvas, 120 H x 100 W x 4 D cm
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Artist Feature
MARTINA MANALO martinamanalo.com
There is something amount the performing arts that cannot translate into words. The sheer beauty of movement is emphasised, creating a symphony for the senses. Delicate, poignant or aggressive, we’ve all fallen for its spell. Self-taught artist Martina Manalo graduated from the Commonwealth Society of Teachers of Dancing and has professionally trained under the Russian-Vaganova Method. Having received several accolades globally, Martina was awarded by the Philippines’ National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) as a “Young Achiever Awardee for Dance and Ballet Excellence” in 2006. She began dancing at the age of three and teaching at fifteen. She continued to dance professionally until the age of twenty-five dancing as a company artist and faculty in Ballet Manila. At present, Martina continues to teach dance to children and adults in Hong Kong, sharing her knowledge, talent and creativity.
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Artist Feature
GEORGE EMIL ODTHERMAT fotofine.de
The monotony of life can be never-ending. The excitement of a new situation or person quickly transforms into a chore. As humans, we crave change and progress. It has given us the impetus to achieve what no other species has before us. But in this race, we often miss out on the finer details and transitions around us. Artist George Odthermat focuses on these very moments in his work. Capturing and re-creating fleeting emotions through his pieces. A self-taught photographer, George loves to experiment with mixed media. We were particularly taken by the lucid qualities of his images giving them an almost ethereal feel. To him the etheral feel would mean, that every human overcomes personal obstacles, if enchanted by one’s own inner source of non dual, transpersonal consciousness.
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