Level 25 Artjournal; Issue #2

Level 25 ArtJournal

Level 25 Artjournal

Ileana Arnoutou Sabine Blodorn Marcel Burger Sarah-Mace Dennis Sally Jones Betsy van Die Chien-Yang Wang October 2013

Issue #2; December 2013

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Ileana ARNAOUTOU...4

Cover Artist Sabine BLODORN...14

Marcel BURGER...20

Sarah-Mace DENNIS...26

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Nina FALK...36

Sally JONES...44

Betsy van DIE...52

Chien-Yang WANG...60

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Ileana Arnaoutou (Greece)

“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance” --Aristotle

This quote represents exactly my personal interpretation of art. In the last 3 years involved with art, none of my projects has emerged without research, study and thorough thinking. My expression through art mainly emerges through the creation of 3D pieces and installations, using empty spaces and the idea of working on these intrigues my creativity. A theatrical touch is also implied, something which helps viewers to interpret and become part of the work easier as I feel that my work is completed through interaction with the public. Communication with viewers is one of the forces that urge me to create, as one of my targets is to convince them to meet the state of self-realization, personally believing that it is the optimum one. This personal belief was further reinforced through my research on Jannis Kounelis work, which has deeply inspired my art practice. As you become an integral part of the art works while being a viewer, they travel you through your thoughts and mem

My projects begin during a walk. The materials I mostly use are objects I collect from rubbish bins, places with discarded elem these pieces to create art, I feel the objects come alive and something unwanted becomes extremely valuable. Due to my count through the ages, so using these my work gains meaning and becomes a source of positive energy, a way of retaining the value symbols, and all symbols combined together create a harmonic concept. Symbolism linked with poetry, emerged through the

I realized the importance of hidden details, the significance of symbolism and the magic of poetry. I don’t hesitate to use langu I continually use as it broadens my way of expression and makes me feel freer. Art is a field that continually devolves and chan my ambitions, to engage technology (new techniques, video) in my art works has evolved through my Extended Essay project Artwork but introduced me to the fascinating usability of lenses. I lately developed a passion for photography and my camera for my creations.

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Cover Artist

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mories, aiming to link them with their symbolism.

ments and pieces, and constructions. Through this, my work gains value for me, as by using, dismantling or reconstructing try of origin and its culture, I believe that objects, even more old objects, have their history, a hidden secret that has to travel e of memories, as objects carry them. The application and significance of symbolism in my work is apparent; objects become study of Greek Literature, during the two years of my International Baccalaureate education.

uage and more specifically my own lyrics in my work in order to complete my concept. This is an aspect of my work, which nges. The conventional perception about art has now been eroded and new things are introduced expanding the field. One of based on the film of the artist Shirin Neshad “women without men” which not only taught me how to write and research into became the way through which I discover the world. The outcome of my photographic interest has formed the stepping stone

“Leveled Up” 280 cm x 150 cm (approx.)

Discarded wooden piece; rusty metal springs; light bulbs; wire; sacks; coal Ileana Arnaoutou

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“Horizontal and Vertical Axis” 230 cm x 120 cm Discarded wooden ladder; bicycle wheel; paper potato sacks; wool; lamp bulbs; wire Ileana Arnaoutou

Level 25 ArtJournal Your works have this “found objects” quality about them. As an artist, do you view the world as one big treasure hunt, full of discarded and ignored items for which you see potential?

IA: I was always interested in objects, people, places, anything that was unwanted by others. I am interested in how I can “use” these unwanted elements and aspects in order to create something else, in order to create art and draw the attention on them.

The starting point of all of my pieces was and continues to be a walk, a random walk, during which I think, observe and collect. I believe that art exists within our world, within us, that’s why I seek for my “raw materials” out there, in the streets, in scrap yards, in disposal areas, in abandoned houses and places. I see the word as a huge pallet, a pallet full of colours, this pallet is my treasure. I feel that my “obligation” as an artist is to choose, combine and use these “colours” in order to create something out of them. Our whole life is a treasure hunt, a hunt for happiness, success, love, power, wealth, depending on the person’s aspirations. The thing is that the treasure might be hidden in the most unobvious places. And what if the treasure is something that someone else ignored or discarded? What if one’s obsolete element is another’s treasure…

Greece is obviously a country with a phenomenally rich artistic history. Tell us, do you feel that connection to the past even while you are creating your contemporary-style pieces?

IA: Art and culture has emerged in Greece, from the ancient times and onwards. By using the word art, I refer to the whole spectrum of it. From architecture, theater, sculpture, poetry, even philosophy. This vast amount of creativity, I feel, is given to us, contemporary Greeks, as a jewel, as a treasure. I personally feel that this treasure follows us in everything, regardless the field anyone focuses on. More specifically, focusing on my practice, I feel that the line that divides past and present is quite transparent so elements pass through giving me more food for thought and enhancing my influences. Not to mention that because I currently live and create in the UK, I always feel the urge to reflect this Greek atmosphere through my pieces, in order to emerge viewers ,apart from other aspects, in a journey, a subconscious journey. So getting back to the question of course I feel a great connection and I feel that is connection creates a chain which will continue, because through this way history is created and everything is interrelated, something which I believe intriguers my the most. How in life, everything links to something, which will link to something else, and through a weird sequence and connection everything makes sense…

What I love about “Decoding” is the fact that one of the barcoded pieces has the symbol for Woman and the other barcoded piece has the symbol for Man. I imagine you are making a statement about how men and women often have trouble understanding one another and the communication styles between the sexes is often cryptic.

Speak about, please, how art can be used to encourage more open communication between men and women.

IA: Issues concerning genders and there inter-relationship, began to interest me and intrigued my creativity, after a film a saw. A film by the artist Shirin Neshat called, “Women without Men”. I wrote an essay on this film, analyzing such issues, something that created a massive inspirational foundation for my art. Throughout this film, which is based in Iran, such gender issues are raised. The lack of communication and understanding in between them is a major aspect of this movie.

Focusing on my work, and the specific piece “DeCoding”, I believe that communication can be (continued...)

Our whole life is a treasure hunt...

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“Decoding�

75 cm x 77 cm x 4 cm Discarded parts of wooden reels; bronze pumping fittings; glass chemical tubes; LED light; black and white paint Ileana Arnaoutou

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Level 25 ArtJournal (continued from page 7...) accomplished not only through a verbal or physical, sexual way. Sometimes the existence of a “third party” in this case art, can play the pivotal role of a catalyst, in to order to reach to completion of the “reaction”, which in this case is the achievement of communication. Art “speaks” to everyone one of us in a different way, however the vibe and “statement” that should be passed on to the viewer is basically the same. I feel that an artwork can be the starting point of the creation of a lot of relationships and dialogues, dialogues achieved through the engagement with the piece and the understanding of it.

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“The Key To The Spirit World” 130cm x 50 cm x 58 cm Discarded country chair; rusty iron bars; black and white paint Ileana Arnaoutou

Level 25 ArtJournal I always like to ask artists about the creation story of at least one of their works of art. Tell us about “Key to the Spirit World,” please. How did it evolve from concept to creation? Tell us also what you want us to see in it.

IA: A major aspect of my concept research is Ancient Egypt, and more specifically ancient Egyptian symbolism and the connection this society had with spirituality. Through this research and study, the symbol of the Ankh (the Egyptian cross), stuck into my head. I was so sure I wanted to use this symbol in my work, first due to its structure. (continued...)

“The Key To The Spirit World” (Detail) Ileana Arnaoutou

Art “speaks” to everyone of us in a different way.

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Level 25 ArtJournal (continued from page 11...) The Ankh is made out of linear parts and a curve, something that relates to my art, as I always seek to create contrast within my compositions. Moreover the symbol of the ankh stands for the connection of humans with the World of Heavens. The Ankh is meant to be the Key into the Spirit World.

Getting back to the treasure hunt for materials, I felt I wanted to create a piece, based on the symbolism of the ankh and the way this can be “found”… Therefore, during a walk of mine, I found this chair. The thing that drew my attention to this chair was the loop that was created in the back of it. This loop made me think about the ankh and suddenly everything clicked together. The ankh would be hidden within the discarded chair, something which meant that “keys” in life can be found everywhere, in the most random places.

My major aim, concerning this piece, was to create a kind of sculpture, which could “give out” information and hints about its concept systematically. This is a major thing for my, as I believe that the more time you send “with” an art piece, the more it “gives” you, and the more deeper to its concept you can go…I believe this has been achieved, as in order to recognize the ankh, you need some time with the piece. That’s why I also used text, in order to “help out” the viewer to engage with the concept.

Lastly, the aspect of this piece, which I worked on a lot, was materiality.

I wanted to reflect this contrast that the symbol has onto the sculpture it self. That’s why I painted the chair white and used rusted metal pieces for the half of the symbol. Materials in this piece enhanced the concept, as the white chair blended with the white wall of the background and more emphasis is given the “half ” shape.

I love your notion, mentioned in your Artist’s Statement, of wanting your viewers to become part of your works. That is such a wonderful concept! What is it you feel when you notice a visitor become deeply engaged in your installations?

IA: My final aim, which I want to accomplish, through making art, is to provide viewers with an experience, a personal experience. This experience is not always achieved through physical interaction but primarily through metal interaction and engagement. When I have the opportunity to exhibit my work, or any opportunity which leads to the exposure of my work to viewers, I always like to have a personal contact with the viewers in order to get feed back from my work. I feel that this kind of feed back, becomes part of my practice, as its an integral aspect of my concept.

Back to the question, when I see a visitor engaging with my pieces, I am touched and I feel that my goal is accomplished. This feeling gives me strength and influence in order to continue my practice, and develop further my concepts and techniques. I believe that this feeling becomes one of the most important forces, which motivates me towards the development of my practice.

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“The Upper, the Lower and the Human” 250 cm x 200 cm stic protector; light bulbs; wire; coal; shovel; wooden ladder Model: Avra Alevropoulou Ileana Arnaoutou

Level 25 ArtJournal When you find an object out in the world, do you immediately know what you will do with it? Or does it have to live with you for a while before you finally see how you will use it?

The procedure of finding and collecting objects is part of my weekly program, as it is the initial point of my practice. I find objects nearly all the time, while going to university, during walks with friends…Sometimes I stop and collect them on the spot, others I keep the location in mind and come back.

Not collecting them on the spot sometimes makes it more risky but I personally find it intriguing, as you never know if it will still be there. Some objects have been laying all over my house or studio for ages; others have been used immediately, depending on the piece I am working on. One of the examples is the chair used for the “Key to the Spirit World”, where the idea and concept emerged right after I saw and collected the chair. However one year ago a collected some car lights. I had no idea what to do with them, so I left them in a corner, and I just began working on them. Consequently, it always depends on my current ideas and influences. On the whole I have noticed that with the parts or objects that I don’t use immediately I “create” a kind of relationship, through the process of thinking about how to use them. They become part of my everyday life, something that makes my concept even stronger, when I actually use them.

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Sabine Blodorn (Australia)

It’s the combination of desire, passion and love that continually provides my art with wild combinations of color on canvas, paper or board. This passion within me has resulted in the production of mostly loud work, with a strong relationship between land, life and beyond. I attempt to innovate and continually create surprising works with a sequence of theme.

Being flexible and not constrained to a certain style, while still remaining faithful to a particular subject/topic, has resulted in some very experimental work by using color and canvas as a foundation of expression.

My current series “The Net” is about connectedness and based on an encounter of a huge spider web in our backyard. I took a photo and studied it later in detail. Pondering and inspired by this natural creation I concluded, that apart from new technologies, physics or theories there is and always has been a natural presence of connection. As soon as we are born, we are falling into a kind of safety net and over time, all the open ends will connect to different environments or scenarios.

This series is my attempt to reflect on “The Net” by using its structure as a polarising background, capturing an imagined snapshot and connect a given circumstance with a network.

“Circus” 100 cm x 120 cm Mixed media on canvas Sabine Blodorn

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“The King in His Kingdom” 100 cm x 80 cm Mixed media on canvas Sabine Blodorn

Level 25 ArtJournal To begin, your works have a very kinetic feel to them because of all the shapes and colors and lines. Is that sense of energy indicative of your personality or your view on life or of the way you work.

SB: Positive energy, imagination, love for color, shape, form, life itself, combined with personal views and experiences are driving forces in my life and work. Being an expressionistic artist I document themes or circumstances that are circling in my head, real or unreal and then I manifest these visions or fantasies on canvas, paper or board. Therefore much of my work certainly mirrors aspects of my personality, unifying personal reflections of the past, present or future.

Tell us, please, about the evolution of your style of painting.

SB: During my first years I was drawn to water colors, producing work hovering between the abstract, naïve to primitive, designed on paper for family or friends. Around 3 years ago my love to play with imaginations, fantasies, color, texture and perception of the natural world, real or unreal, intensified and reflected in my mixed media pieces, interplayed with objects such as mirrors, stones or glitter. However, I like to experiment and by not being constrained to a certain style, my body of work seem to be wondrous expressions of imagination and the abstract, combining the elements of desire, passion and love in a smorgasbord of vibrant color and texture.

Your statement mentions “The Net”. It started with an encounter with a spider web which, after much reflection, you turned into a metaphor on Life and Creation. What are some of the themes and things in your own life which connects strongly with your art?

SB: Today we are living in a world that is globalised and interconnected – but to a degree it always has been like this. Life is an amazing labyrinthine journey through space and time, filled with thoughts, events or experiences we all share, only our perception differs. The series “The Net” is a thematic reflection, depicting snapshots of my thoughts, using the structure of a net or web as a polarizing background.

Life is an amazing labrynthine journey through space and time...

“Artificiality” 100 cm x 120 cm Mixed media on canvas Sabine Blodorn

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Level 25 ArtJournal Your Sugarbaker painting is a fun piece to look at. Speaking for myself, when I look at that piece it is like looking at one of those hidden images, puzzles: you know, Can you find the rabbit? Can you find the duck. But that’s just me and I am sure other people tell you different things about Sugarbaker. I’d like you to introduce us to Sugarbaker, please.

SB: Sugar is sweet. Sugar is a natural product. Sugar fields are, as any other crop, planted and harvested. Sugar is processed in factories. Sugar is distributed globally. I don’t want to lecture but we are all connected to this product in so many ways, good and bad, depending on the amount of consumption. As a wife, mother and consumer I use sugar and so do most of us. My Sugarbaker stands as a metaphor for production and consumption of sugar worldwide. In today’s health conscious society sugar, fats, salts and so forth often are hidden in the so called small prints, therefore I feel that the Sugarbaker should be decoded and seen as an abstract documentation of reality. And as you say, everyone is welcome to their own interpretation, and yes, “HE” is in there.

Your paintings have a complexity to them, which is a good thing. I’d like to know how long it typically takes you to complete a piece.

SB: As soon I start working I am hooked, addicted to what I have started. I treat my work as babies without giving them much time to reach adulthood. I work fast. Putting a time frame on production, depending on size, complexity/drying time and my time; generally I need two to three days, but no piece ever took longer than a week to finish.

When people think about the centres of the art world they naturally think about New York, Italy, Paris. However, describe the art scene in Australia and whether you feel Australia is poised to be considered a centre of art.

SB: Australia is a ´new ‘country with a population mix of about 22.5 Million people. Australia has been isolated from the rest of the world for a long time. I migrated from Germany to Australia some 20 odd years ago to live with my family on the Gold Coast, regional Queensland. This place is about tourism, sand, surf and fun under the sun.

Though there are plans to create an art hub . To catch up with culture, a visit to the main cities of Australia is necessary. Well, having spent much time living and travelling through Europe, Asia, America and South America, in my opinion the Australian major capitals are on their way but not there yet.

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“Bird of Paradise” 120 cm x 90 cm Mixed media on canvas Sabine Blodorn

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“Sugarbaker” 100 cm x 120 cm Mixed media on canvas Sabine Blodorn

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Marcel Burger (The Netherlands) In 2012 started painting in acrylic paint, on canvas. Current style: colorful, modern, abstract with the occasional touch of pop art. The original designs are characterized by their own power, simplicity and balance. Lover of contrasting and often primary colors.

You live and work in the Netherlands but the color palette of the works you submitted to us is very reminiscent of what one would find in the art and architecture of Miami, Florida. How did you develop your color palette and what do you feel all those bright colors say about your artwork?

MB: That’s nice to hear! I think it’s more some kind of coincidence, though I would love to visit Miami sometime in the future! The color palette I’m currently using has evolved from time to time. When I was a child I already tried to draw, but at that time I mostly used crayons or ink. No colors were used then, just black and white and gray tones.

When I got older I started to discover airbrushing. I did airbrush portraits or shiny, colorful objects like cars. Very time consuming but fun to do! The colors I used then were already more brightly. I also did some oil paintings at the time, landscapes for instance, they were painted in darker colors. Only recently (for the past two years) I’m painting with acrylics. Creating your own style is quite a challenge but I think I’m on the right track now. I did get some inspiration by painters like Burton Morris, Sonya Paz and Martina Shapiro. I try to express myself through paintings which are colorful and bright. I use as much contrast in colors as possible to make my artworks stand out. I want to transfer positive feelings, in a world that sadly isn’t always that bright nowadays.

The Netherlands has obviously produced some of the greatest artists in history. Do you feel the weight of their legacy as you work to create your own mark on the art world?

MB: No I can’t really say I feel the weight of their legacy. They were indeed fabulous painters and artists, and I’m very proud to be living in the Netherlands. But it’s another time now and at the moment I’m still busy developing my own style. That doesn’t mean I’ve got a great deal of respect for them!

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“Why” 80 cm x 60 cm Acrylics on canvas Marcel Burger

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“Silence” 60 cm x 60 cm Acrylics on canvas Marcel Burger

Level 25 ArtJournal The women you create on your canvases...

Are they models or friends? Women you know? Or do they just spring from your imagination?

MB: That’s a bit complicated… Mostly I get inspired by pictures from magazines or images from the internet. Other times I get my inspiration through daily life (for example I travel by train, I can get inspired then…).

Sometimes I just notice how a woman wears her hair and I can use that later in a painting.

At other times it’s just pure imagination.

Let’s talk now about specific works. “Silence” is a striking piece and it can superficially define itself depending on who is looking at it. What does it truly represent?

MB: I painted ‘Silence’ a little while ago. As you may notice the style and color usage has some similarities with my other paintings, but the subject is a bit different. I did that on purpose, more like some kind of experiment.

I was trying to evoke some different comments on my painting. Some people thought about it negatively, like the girl was retained. Or the girl was having a black eye. It was never intended as a negative thing, more like a painting which has some slight (erotic)tension in it.

Creating your own style is quite a challenge but I think I’m on the right track now...

“Art Girl Flower” 60 cm x 60 cm Acrylics on canvas Marcel Burger

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“Girl” and “Why” show women whose eyes want to tell stories. Tell us about the creation of those pieces. Then, tell us, please, was it difficult to get the eyes just right because they are such an important part of those paintings?

MB: Girl’ and ‘Why’ are the first paintings I painted in my new style. ‘Why’ was the first (after I made a portrait study). First I made a few sketches on paper with pencils. Then I sketched the outlines on canvas (80x80cm) first with a pencil, later on with a thick black marker. Then I started to paint, roughly following my own paper sketch. In the end I changed some of the colors in the painting, trying to get a bit more contrast. To paint the eyes right in a painting can be difficult, but for now it worked well. No extra effort this time. Usually I paint the eyes in the end because of their difficulties.

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“Art Girl Blue” 60 cm x 60 cm Acrylics on canvas Marcel Burger

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Looking ahead, what other themes are you interested in exploring in your artwork during the coming years?

MB: Looking ahead I will try to preserve and develop my own style some more. I think I’ll be painting some more animals in a bit of pop-art style like I already did. I paint animals on canvas board, which I later fasten on 3D canvas to make the animal sort of pop out of the painting. Or maybe I’ll use a bigger part of the female body to paint in my own style beside the female portraits. I’m not really sure yet. We shall see what the future will bring!

“Girl” 40 cm x 40 cm Acrylics on canvas Marcel Burger

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Sarah-Mace Dennis (UK) The transformation of social and spatial histories into dynamic narrative spaces conceptually anchors much of her creative process. Exploring relationships between embodiment, perception and architectural space, she embeds real and speculative fictions inside screen media platforms. Using performance and storytelling devices to illustrate her ideas, embodied sensations are interwoven with personal histories, imagined stories, and an exploration of cultural events. Ultimately, her creative work aims to develop accessible narrative situations that allow people to reflect deeply on themselves and their surrounding worlds.

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“Nothing Will Have Taken Place�

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Level 25 ArtJournal You are obviously a very eclectic artist. Has it always been that way for you, or did that develop with age and experience?

SD: Well even in the nineties while I was still at school I was studying drawing and painting and film and television at the Balmoral Arts Academy in Brisbane. So I went to school for three full days and two half days, and spent the other half of those two days out at Balmoral making art. This is where I met Eleanor C Logan, and together we made our first short film when we were only 16. It was called Hoarfrost. I wrote the script and Elea and I were the two person crew. So that was an important experience. I think making that film introduced me to the possibilities of lens based media and performance, and that really affected the way I would come to approach my practice After this I trained in collaborative, cross-disciplinary arts practice at the School of Arts, Griffith University. And this wasn’t a traditional degree. We had the freedom to work across different areas of practice such as contemporary art, video, writing and critical theory. It was an amazing place, where I was taught to follow ideas where they needed to take me. So I guess a lot of what I do is quite concept driven, and I just try and find the tools that will best convey the idea, whether that be video, or film, or installation, or performance.

Even though your piece “Swallow” is quite muted, the remaining pieces we have featured in Level 25 this month burst with vibrant colors. Color means different things to different people. Tell us about your relationship with color, please.

SD: Well I suppose it depends on the work and what it is trying to say. At the moment, Swallow is a project that I have in development. As it takes shape, it is unfolding through a series of video projections and still images.

Conceptually, this work comes from a personal experience. In 2008, after a near fatal car accident, I sustained very severe brain trauma, which, for a short time, left me physically and mentally paralyzed. I guess the title comes from those memories of waking up and being paralyzed, and never being able to swallow that kind of experience. The only way that I can try and describe it is to say that it didn’t have much colour and that it was filled with a lot of noise. (continued...)

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...I was taught to follow ideas wh

here they needed to take me.

Level 25 ArtJournal “Swallow�

Sarah-Mace Dennis

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“Drafting Season�

Level 25 ArtJournal (commissioned for Kick Off, a curated program of contemporary video art. This project received financial assistance from the Queensland Government through art+place Queensland Public Art Fund.)

Sarah-Mace Dennis

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Level 25 ArtJournal (continued from page 28...)

In the past I’ve used quite strong colour palettes because I because I’ve been interested in creating almost magical visual worlds that would show something more than what people see when they look into their everyday landscapes. Swallow describes a perceptual atmosphere that was really very surreal, but because that experience was embedded inside such severe neurological trauma, it was magical in a very different way. So the colours in that world were more muted, or echoic, but it was still a very transcendental experience.

You have relocated clear across the world from Australia to England. As an artist, did you feel there was a risk in doing that? Was there a period of acclimation involved wherein you had to rediscover a sense of being “settled” and “belonging” before you were able to create at such a high level again?

SD: I suppose you can call that a risk, but I think art making and risk taking go hand in hand. And so in this way, risk taking is also about opening up new possibilities and discovering things you didn’t know about before.

I left Australia 5 months ago and I came to London via South Africa and New York. So the whole journey was really quite exploratory I guess. But those experiences are so important. Being somewhere else really allows you to reflect differently on your place in the world.

I’ve done a lot of work over the past five years that emerged from a really distinct relationship with Australian histories and landscapes. So I think there is something really important about experiencing a new culture and world, and seeing how that influences the conceptual and aesthetic direction of my practice.

I’ve been working on sketches and traces of new projects ever since I left in June. Because I work mainly with digital media, I can do things while I’m on the road. And I’ve really tried to get used to being able to function creatively inside this kind of transient space. But it is nice to be situated in one place again and to be bringing all of those traces together. I’ve been here for about three and a half months now, so I guess it is quite early in the experience. But I’m sure the effects of being in a new place will start to show as I continue to work on new ideas.

Now let me ask about specific pieces of yours. I would like to start with “Monkey Hill” and “The Two Sarahs.” I look at those two pieces and I see an ironic, almost satirical, take on a Grant Woods style American art, with their whimsical attacks on folksiness and suggestions of a bygone era. But that is just me. I am sure people in Australia or England or wherever have a different opinion. So tell us about those two pieces and what they are meant to say.

SD: These images were made in and around Hill End, a remote Gold mining village in regional NSW. It is an important site for Australian art, because painters like Russell Drysdale and Donald Friend used to go up there a lot, and the landscape features in many of their paintings. It is an interesting place, because a lot of it was built in the 1870s, and what remains is now a historic site owned by National Parks and Wildlife Service. Most of the town, which is still home to a small group of residents, many of them artists, is heritage listed, so driving up there is really like going back in time.

I spent a lot of time there between 2005 and 2007, and this is when I made the work. I suppose what I am doing in these images is exploring the complexity of that history, and what it means to go back and experience the traces of a historic landscape over a hundred years later.

But I think what I’m also trying to do is to position myself as an artist working with screen and photo media inside that landscape in the 21st century. There are hints of magic in these images that are about experiencing the glimpses of a past that in many other Australian towns has simply vanished. But there is also something more there, about negotiating the representations of this town that already echo through much of the work created by well known artists in the 1950s, like Drysdale and Friend. So maybe there is a sense of naivety, or even irony in these images, because I’m not a painter, so what I am trying to do is to imagine the landscape in a slightly different way. (Continued...)

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“Monkey Hill” Sarah-Mace Dennis

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Level 25 ArtJournal (continued from page 32...)

What happens in these images then, is somehow a reflection on the material aspects of that landscape, but also a response to the painted traces that were layered into my psyche every time I looked at those older paintings that were made in and around the town.

What is great about “Nothing Will Have Taken Place” is that it offers more questions than answers.

One day I look at that photograph and I see the woman falling; the next day I see her being raised up.

Was there foul play? Is she having fun? On and on… Talk about the ambiguity of that piece.

SD: This idea for this work actually came from reading the poetry of Stephanie Mallarme, particularly Un coup de des jamais n’abolira le hasard (A throw of the dice will never abolish chance). This is a poem where the works are separated by blanks, and arranged spatially, they seem to fall across the page. I was always intrigued by the way that the spaces between the words in that poem were just as important as the words. The take on a kind of silence that somehow gives the words rhythm. But also, it is this silence, or space between that somehow gives the words a meaning that is variable, or unfixed.

Nothing will have taken place was really about exploring that technique with the use of the female body.

I was interested in not only how that body could be positioned, but also how the space that surrounded it could give it meaning. And that space is just as important as the body itself – it is the thing that gives the body rhythm and meaning. So I guess I can’t say whether she is falling or being lifted up. I suppose that all that I can say about the bodies that appear in these images is that they are in between.

Your statement aside, what is it you want people to know about the art of Sarah-Mace Dennis?

SD: Well I think that people can change anything. Our bodies, our cells, our neural pathways, all of these things are changing every second of the day. So I guess in regards to my practice, there are some tangibles that are there, but I hope they will continue to change and evolve.

I hope that people will look at my work and notice something about the world that they hadn’t noticed before.

I hope that people look at my work and notice something about the world that they hadn’t noticed before.

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“The Two Sarahs” Sarah-Mace Dennis

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Nina Falk (UK) Having been in the ballet industry from an early age shaped the way I see and use the body. After being shaped into the “perfect” body and pushed every parts of it to the limit, has effect the way I see the ‘beauty-pressure’ through pain.

I do not only stitch myself to provoke unexpected feelings and manipulation of expectations, but also to find some meaning within the ideas of self- actualisation and the evolution of identity as a reaction to external pressure. A pressure, constructed and performed within political, social, economic and cultural spheres.

(Un)Conscious Deformation also address the grey areas between medical and aesthetic modifications. How far can we go to create ourselves? When do I stop being me? Does it matter if the alterations are voluntary or not? How much can I change, alter and remove? Can I re-construct, de-construct, and even construct my own identity? This is all an underlying thread; is an artificial disfiguration and manipulation of ourselves now a part of our identity?

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“Change Me” Photograph Nina Falk

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Level 25 ArtJournal Tell us about yourself; I mean the things that are not included in your Artist’s Statement. Who are you? What drives you? What are some of your passions and your dislikes?

NF: I was born in Sweden and have lived at places such as Africa, Great Britain and Japan but I am currently living in Edinburgh where I am running a Contemporary Textile Collective with a group called Kalopsia. I have studied ‘Fashion and Tailoring’ in Stockholm, ‘Textiles’ at Norwich University of the Arts in England, ‘Textiles art’ at Osaka Seikei University Faculty of the Arts in Japan and I just finished my Master in Contemporary Art Theory from Edinburgh College of Art. My work often breaks the boundaries between fashion, textiles and art - moving away from the labels that we often are given. This is something that I find really interesting – the labels within art are something that I often come across when I exhibit my work.

Even though I have shown my work at places such at Moscow Museum of Modern Art to New Designers in London I always find myself justifying what I do. Is it art or is it design?

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“Stitch Alteration” Still image from video installation Nina Falk

Level 25 ArtJournal I use my art work as a communication tool to share my thoughts and ideas. At the moment my big drive and passion is to open the debate about how the artist is taught in major institution sand the elitism within this. This is a key influence on young artists and I believe this has led to stagnations and conformatie within a group that should be one if the most unique and interesting within our society.

Your statement provocatively alludes to you “having been in the ballet industry from an early age.” I would like to learn more about your ballet career and more about how it shapes you now as a woman.

I always find myself justifying what I do.

I started dancing when I was three or four years old and I was quickly drawn into the world of ‘perfection’ and the strive to push oneself. You can always be better, be the best! You are brought up thinking ‘what is the point otherwise?’ and without having this mentality you fail. It wasn’t until I was a teenager, having been at the Swedish Royal Ballet School and done plies for, what felt like 100 years, that I realised that it wasn’t for me. I quit a few years later and the only thing that stayed with me was the constant realisation of the pushing – the perfection. I have never found that perfection and I am now moving towards the fragmentations of it. (Continued...)

“Alterations” Still image from video installation Nina Falk

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“(Un)Conscious Deformation” Photograph Nina Falk

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Level 25 ArtJournal (continued from page 39...)

To answer the question regarding the shaping me as a woman, I don’t really know. The only thing that I can remember from this is my scarily skinny body and all negative aspects that comes with this; delayed periods and an awkward unshaped body. But I guess this is something that shapes men as well, not the late periods of course.

Today, I am very glad that I stopped dancing for many reasons. The major one being diagnosed with MS. This is now a key influence on my ideas about alterations as it is a constant uncontrollable force, constantly changing my behaviour and my body.

Your photographs are so startling yet so poetic; disturbing yet so beautiful to gaze upon. Before I begin asking about specific works, please tell us about your creative process. How do you create one of your photographs, from beginning to end?

NF: To be frank, it is a rather painful process. But this was also an important aspect to the final photograph – to show some sort of pain as the thread was pushing and moving my skin every time I did the smallest movement. The preparation before stitching myself was filled with adrenaline. When I stitched myself I always did so in front of a mirror and sometimes with a few people around me. The mirror was there to push me - I saw myself changing and I wanted more – it was very difficult to stop. When was I done? Is there such a thing as a final stitch? This is something that I can see a parallel with in plastic surgery for example. When is the time to stop? You always forget the pain and it is difficult to look at your self in a mirror and say ‘done’. It is always something that you can alter.

The woman in “Unconscious Deformation” is looking at us with these big and beautiful eyes which seem to dare us to comment about her appearance, her transformation. Do you feel a lot of women feel the need to defend themselves whenever they change even the slightest thing about their appearance?

NF: It is a very good question. I believe so, but only in different circumstances. These can reflect our social and cultural ‘rules’ that makes some changes more acceptable over others. These accepted changes might be something we have less need to defend. Lets take the tattoo as an example, this is something that is trendy, accepted and very ‘common’ change today, which most people wouldn’t even think about.

In my experience with this piece, I found to my surprise with this piece that I had to defend my appearance for the opposite reason that you might usually expect. My appearance was for many not extreme enough to ‘fit’ with how people believe the creator of this piece should look. I then had to defend my choice to look reserved they were expecting someone maybe more aggressive in their appearance and got quite annoyed and confused when I didn’t fit to the stereotype they had set me. Even though my piece is about the beauty, changes, aesthetic and the conscious or unconscious choice to change, or not change your appearance, I was still consider not to look right by the public.

Many people also believe that my work is about Feminism. Yes, it can be seen as that, but I am purely talking about the ideas of alterations regardless to gender. I often find the work of female artists, especially with the use of the body, is in many cases labeled as feminism before the content even has been considered. By doing so, the ideas and meanings are being lost.

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Your piece, “Arm,” makes me think less of cosmetic alterations and more of a cadaver in the morgue after an autopsy. I’d like to connect this to something you ask in your Statement: “When do I stop being me?” Do you believe that too many alterations to a person eventually leads to a form of death of that person?

NF: This is a question that I constantly keep asking myself and something that I am very intrigued about. I sometimes believed that you change each time you are being altered as the word ‘altered’ also means ‘change’ or ‘adjustment’. Even so, I do believe that this is not always a negative thing. It becomes negative when the action for the alteration was caused by a negative act.

Finally, what steps do you take to ensure that you are not “altered” too much, either by your own hand or, even worse, by others?

NF: I think it is very difficult to guard yourself towards alterations from others in many or at lest some cases. It will always be that human instinct to wane fit in, or the opposite, to break from the rules and guidance for ‘normal’ and continue to be your own self.

Then is the changes that you can’t stop. Then it is things like MS, age, culture, upbringing, child birth, economy that you can’t predict and control. Things that can have a huge impact and alter and change you.

I think awareness is the key to not changing too much for the negative. Not feeling that you should. But I also know that it is very easy to say and less so to do as very are often pressured in to doing so.

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key to not changing too he negative.

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“Tear Me Up” Photograph Nina Falk

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Sally Jones (UK) My work is generally figurative and although varied, thematically, it often takes found images or familiar objects as its starting point, often transforming them to alter interpretation and confound stereotype.

Using the tradition of portraiture these paintings have been adapted from fiction, on the surface the image is taken from a photographic source but the image is allowed to develop through the process of applying the paint; gestural brush marks and the heightened use of colour add an emotional and expressive dynamic to the work.

I am interested in capturing moments of expression that portray the human psyche, of blurring the boundary between fact and fiction; also in the relationship between the title and image. I tend to think of these paintings as ‘character studies’ rather than portraits. They are not ‘posed’ as in a traditional stereotypical portrait but captured and reinterpreted.

By taking an isolated image out of context and using the dialogue (or subtitles) as the images title – I’m hoping to create a friction or ambiguity in the reading of the image –interpreted in different ways by different viewers depending on their personality and viewpoints and what they bring to their understanding of the subject.

I am using paint in different ways and experimenting so that the process becomes as much a part of the final image as the subject does.

Subjects of recent work are the female leads of selected European crime dramas and thrillers, women frequently portrayed as in a state of inner conflict.

These are women who are strong, dominant and seemingly aloof, routinely cast as unable to form lasting relationships and for whom a private life and a work life are at odds (an issue rarely touched on in male character leads). They are fascinating, flawed, avowedly anti-feminine subjects; subjects who refuse objectification. I hope to capture a moment, a gesture, an expression that conveys some of their pragmatism and turmoil and also their strength and beauty. The fiction of the character is heightened by an exaggerated use of colour and the use of dialogue which becomes the title of the work. This series is an attempt to capture the action of expression out of context. Unlike the women of magazine adverts - inert, amiable and awaiting the impressions of the viewer - these gestures are unselfconscious, everyday, universal and not intended for immortalisation. In the absence of any storyline the viewer must project their own personal drama.

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“Do What You Like. I Don’t Care” 122 cm x 122 cm Oil on Canvas Sally Jones

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Level 25 ArtJournal You flatly state that you are a figurative artist (which I happen to be also). But a lot of us figurative artists are accused of being old-fashioned, in not truly exploring the limitless possibilities that can be found in art the way those who create abstract pieces do. How do you respond to that?

SJ: When I say I’m a figurative artist I am referring to the fact that I tend to work with the figure and real objects and with a certain amount of representation. I don’t think it is old-fashioned (there are those that said that ‘painting’ was dead and old-fashioned too but it continues to exist and seems to be having a resurgence?). I like to think it is a way for me to experiment with paint and mark making – if you look closely at the paintwork on my paintings you will see that the marks are quite abstract in a lot of ways and that the image only comes together when you move away from the painting. What I am saying is that I don’t believe art has to be totally abstract in order to explore possibilities. Abstraction is something that may

“Let’s Get 46 It Over With” 56 cm x 71 cm Oil on canvas Sally Jones

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Level 25 ArtJournal come as a result of that exploration.

...I don’t believe art has to be totally abstract to explore possibilities.

It is the process of creating the painting, of seeing the form take shape, that is the most intriguing and exciting part for the artist; there is a point that hooks you with the excitement of possibilities, you become immersed in it.

As a painter I am always looking for ways to keep exploring to free-up and improve the gestural quality of the painting, to keep the intrigue for longer, to keep the surface and image dynamic; to feel the energy is still apparent.

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Level 25 ArtJournal You mention the “women of magazine adverts” in your statement… For a long time, women artists have been railing against those adverts and trying to use their own art to help force a change in the perception of women. How do you think that struggle is going, and what more can be done?

SJ: Well, in terms of the ‘struggle’ - I think that it is ongoing. In terms of my work - I wouldn’t say that ‘helping to force a change in the perception of women’ is something that consumes my work. I paint as a woman, from a woman’s perspective so the interpretation that comes through is bound to be influenced by my own perceptions. Although I am painting as a woman I don’t want to exclude men (either as viewers or subjects).

I’m drawn to expressions and emotions that are not consciously posed or coy.

I like to see a personality with actions and reactions, sometimes confrontational and sometimes questioning; I guess emotional conflict.

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Level 25 ArtJournal What I love about your art is that by your methodology it seems like you are trying to reinvent portraiture. So let’s examine this more: do you feel that portraiture needs to be elevated more beyond its traditional definition?

SJ: I’m not sure that it’s a re-invention as such – I don’t really think of these paintings as portraits but as character studies. I use captured moments of expression rather than traditional poses associated with portraiture – to this end working from photographs becomes a necessity, unlike traditional portraiture.

Also, we should not forget that these are ‘acted’ scenes, in effect – fiction. I suppose, by then isolating a scene, and creating a painting from it I am adding further to the fiction. The titles of the pieces are from dialogue rather than a description of the actual subject, as oppose to traditional portraiture. This fabrication of story, image and text interests me. We don’t get the whole story but a glimpse into the character portrayed. Hinting that it is a part of something else and therefore encouraging the viewer to consider a sequence or story from which it came.

I suppose my point is that ‘portraits’ are usually regarded as being based on some sort of factual representation, a real person. These paintings are of people who are in the process of acting a part; Real people, in fictional roles, so are they portraits?

It seems instead of answering your question I have posed another one – sorry.

Your painting “This Is Hopeless” is incredible. I look at it frequently and it touches me in so many ways. First, I’m amazed at how well it is executed. Then I love how it suggests so many different stories to me. Additionally, it makes me want to be a hero to that woman—to help her, to be her knight in shining armor! But that is just my reaction. Based on your statement we can surmise that this was painted from an image featured in a European crime drama. Why don’t you tell us about the woman in “This Is Hopeless” and how much did the painting differ from the original still image?

SJ: Firstly I’d like to say thanks for your comments about this painting, the fact people react in different ways and read different stories into the images is something that I am keen on, I don’t want a passive observer, I want to create an interaction, a response or a reading that is more personal to the viewer.

The woman in this image is the character Laure Berthaud (being played by the actress Caroline Proust) in the series Spiral or ‘Engrenages’ as it’s known in France, she is a female cop heading a team of male officers who she loves but who at the same time, exasperate her, she’s straight talking with quite a masculine attitude. … ‘her knight in shining armour’ is lovely idea but I dare say that ‘she’ the character of Laure Berthaud, would be more likely to be the knight …..

The title is taken from a later scene to the one in the painting (she is obviously not speaking in this shot, as her hand is where it is), but it seemed to fit with this image. In fact it’s one of the few scenes when she displays a sense of vulnerability.

Perhaps I should stop there before it becomes a synopsis. Maybe it’s better not to know that much about the subject in order to keep the mystery and your own interpretation intact.

“Not Really, No” 100 cm x 70 cm Oil on canvas Sally Jones

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“This Is Hopeless” 94 cm x 86.5 cm Oil on canvas Sally Jones This series of yours, “Leading Ladies,” can go on forever, couldn’t it, considering the wealth of source material available in the form of movies and TV shows. However, I am curious: how will you know when you are ready to be finished with it?

SJ: Yes, you are right it could, I have to remember that it is a means to progress my painting techniques not just a subject source and who knows where it will ‘lead’.

By the way I have done a few male characters since too – but that’s another story

Interestingly I find it hard to express myself, perhaps this is why I deal with expression...

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Level 25 ArtJournal I imagine that for your “Leading Ladies” series you choose still images from crime dramas which have struck you for some reason speak to you on a deep level. Tell us, of the five images you submitted to Level 25 this month, which one is the painting you most identify with?

SJ: To address your first point about image selection: I am not using promotional photographs but taking my own – so they capture a split second in the action, not intended to necessarily be stared at for any length of time. I then select those shots that are intriguing or ambiguous and seem to suggest a whole, unknown, story to work on as subjects for my paintings. The fact that they are from the crime dramas is not that important, it is the characters expression that holds the interest – the crime dramas were chosen as sources because the women were cast in interesting roles which allows for the actors to develop characters whose emotions come through and the cinematography exploiting close-ups on the characters work well for me.

The one I identify the most with – well that would be ‘This is Hopeless’, strangely enough I find myself putting my hand across my mouth quite a lot, as the character is doing in the painting, I hadn’t realised I did it before. Someone even asked me if it was a self-portrait, which I was surprised at because she doesn’t look like me.

Interestingly I find it quite hard to express myself perhaps this is why I deal with expression – maybe some of these characters are a visual representation of what I find so difficult to say in words?

“I Had To Come Up With A Story” 104 cm x 83 cm Oil on canvas Sally Jones

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Betsy van Die (US)

I have been photographing gritty, graffiti-etched, debris-covered sites in cities including Chicago and NYC since the late 1970s. My site-specific series is an extension of my urban photography, combining photographic images with objects recovered from the site in mixed media collages. I enjoy recycling and transforming common found objects through a nuanced layering of mediums, colors and textures. Among the sites are condemned buildings slated for the wrecking ball, decaying facades, abandoned factories, and graffiti-strewn walls. While I have created pieces from other locales, Chicago has yielded a rich and endless array of urban decay and site relics. In more global terms, this work is about excavating/recycling an ephemeral landscape and preserving it – 90 percent of the sites I have documented disappeared within weeks or months.

In some cases, the retrieval of objects carries some risk because of the location, condition of the site, or the fact that the area has been cordoned off and I photograph and pick up objects covertly. I have been followed or watched, and even asked to vacate the premises – this is all part of the experience that I take back with me to the studio when creating these mixed media collages.

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“Rogers and Damen Lot--East Rogers Park” 16 in x 20 in Mixed Media Betsy van Die

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Level 25 ArtJournal Your work is wonderfully urban. Has the urban setting always been a part of your life or are you a reformed rural woman who fell in love with what cities have to offer?

BvD: Thank you for the compliment. The city is deeply ingrained in my psyche and soul, and I mean city in the global sense, although Chicago and New York City are very close to my heart. As a young child growing up in suburban Chicago, I spent a good deal of time in downtown Chicago – by the time I was 10, I was taking the bus downtown by myself. Just a few years later, I went on photography expeditions in Chicago with my first 35mm camera, a used Canon FTb that my dad gave me. The photography of Lewis Hine, Walker Evans, Berenice Abbott, Harry Callahan, and others was already on my radar by the time I was 12. I knew one day I wanted to hit the pavement in New York City to retrace the steps of these master photographers. Times Square in the late 1970s – those seedy XXX-rated shops, peep shows, pimps, panhandlers, and hookers repulsed and entranced me. I walked Broadway, my brand new Nikon in hand, summoning the spirits of Arbus and Weegee – the city that never sleeps fueled my imagination then and still does now.

Your statement does a great job of letting us glimpse what it is like for you to gather the objects used in your art. Tell us, please, about an instance when you were chased away during your gathering.

BvD: My very first site-specific piece was created from a site in Rockord, Illinois. Rockford is the second largest city in Illinois and the most populous urban area in the state outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area. My husband and I decided to go to a few flea markets that turned out to be decimated shells of what they once were. The disappointment I felt quickly evaporated when I spied a decrepit, crumbling turquoise blue façade next door to the nearly deserted flea market. There were large pieces of this beautiful, decaying wood peeling off what was once a nightclub. I started photographing and picking up pieces – in all honesty, I had to give a few of the planks a helping hand, albeit a gentle one. An intimidating looking gentleman came towards us and asked not so nicely what I was doing.

He said I shouldn’t be touching the building unless I wanted to make an offer on it. When I said that was not my intention, he told me to leave the premises. He said it was not his property, but that he was a neighboring business owner and keeping an eye on things.

My husband explained that I was an artist and meant no harm – that did the trick and he retreated.

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Level 25 ArtJournal I am an urban guy, born and raised in New York City. I think I have a good handle on what defines urban but I’d like to hear your own definition. For the benefit of those readers of ours who perhaps don’t spend time in cities or whose artistic tastes tend toward the pastoral, what makes art “urban?”

BvD: While I truly believe that artists can completely embrace any setting, whether pastoral or urban, my art is about seeing beauty in what many people would overlook or consider ugly. Urban art by modern definition is subversive or covert, and most people think of street art or graffiti. I recently discovered the work of the late Robert Nichols, a wonderful collage artist whose work feels very urban to me. Although he used scraps of paper and discarded pieces from the street, his work is elegant and understated. I feel that recycling detritus and transforming it into a thing of beauty is an integral component of creating urban art. Personally for me, urban art is about embracing the rapid pace of the city, uncovering hidden gems amid neglect, and capturing the ephemeral underbelly that makes the city pulse with life – before progress completely obliterates it. Time is ever fleeting and photography is a medium that inherently possesses the magical power of “stopping” time. The urban landscape is very transient and it is my goal to capture and transform these vistas before they disappear forever from the mind’s eye.

While I love photographing the city, I feel that incorporating discarded pieces of life infuses my work with an ethereal, three-dimensional quality that photography alone does not achieve.

...my art is about seeing beauty in what many people would overlook or consider ugly.

“Closed Gas Station--North Elston Avenue” 12 in x 16 in Mixed Media Betsy van Die

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This was a case of pure serendipity...

One of things I like to do here is ask an artist about the creation of a specific piece. In your case, I would like to ask about “South Prairie Avenue Dumpster.” I enjoy looking at that piece because it seems to be full of surprises. Tell us about the creation of “South Prairie Avenue Dumpster,” please.

BvD: South Prairie Avenue Dumpster was a case of wonderful happenstance that I needed at a difficult time in my life. I had just lost my fulltime communications job and had fled the suburbs to stay with my daughter in the South Loop for a couple of days. She works in the health food industry and I was walking from her apartment to McCormick Place to meet her at a trade show. I spotted this incredible dumpster in a vacant lot behind an old building surrounded by a chain link fence. I could not believe my luck that the gate was unlocked and I took at least 20 photographs of this paint encrusted dumpster spilling out its contents. Everything was coated in a thick film of peachy pink paint – incongruous juxtapositions such as this really inspire me. Broken beer bottles, spider webs, and pieces of signage all coated in this Miami Beach like color made for a fantastic composition. I didn’t want to walk all the way back to my daughter’s apartment, so I dragged some rather large detritus rescued from the dumpster with me to the trade show. This was a case of true serendipity – the following week there wasn’t a trace of the dumpster, the fence was locked, and the lot was totally impenetrable.

“Sourth Prairie Avenue Dumpster” 16 in x 20 in Mixed Media Betsy van Die

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“Manhattan Debris--Bowery” 12 in x 16 in Mixed Media Betsy van Die Finally, what else will Betsy van Die be branching out into, artistically? What is in the works?

BvD: While the site-specific pieces represent my largest, most cohesive body of work, there are several other artistic avenues that I am pursuing concurrently. The commonality of all my work is that it is collage-based. Human anatomy is an area of fascination that harkens back to childhood when I perused my dad’s medical schoolbooks and attempted to draw anatomical anomalies. A fine arts degree from RISD and a PR career in the medical field have led me on a circuitous route back to my passion for anatomy and creating anatomical-inspired art. I find inspiration in phenomenal antique medical illustrations and wax models, harkening all the way back to the 17th century. I have started making shadow boxes and wearable pocket watch collages inspired by one of my favorite artists – the great Joseph Cornell. In addition to human anatomy, my collage work incorporates references to pop culture, cinema, history, music, and other influential elements that have left an indelible mark on my life. A lifelong collector and antique dealer on the side, I now incorporate bits of vintage ephemera in my collages – some of which I have possessed since I was a child. While I have exhibited my work in dozens of juried group shows over the last few years, my ultimate goal is to attain gallery representation and sell my work.

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“Manhattan Debris--Lower East Side” 16 in x 20 in Mixed Media Betsy van Die

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Chien-Yang Wang (Taiwan)

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Level 25 ArtJournal During high school, Yang enjoyed break dancing, and was able to accomplish some difficult gymnastic movements.

In the summer of 2009, Yang stripped naked and crawled into a bookshelf, and had his girlfriend take pictures of him.

This marked the beginning of the series, House.

In the Chinese language of today, the concept behind “house (zhai)” actually originates from the Japanese notion of an “otaku.” And, from there, the slang, “stay-at-home person (zhai ren),” “stay-at-home boy (zhai nan),” “stay-athome girl (zhai nu),” and even, the so-called “stay-at-home economy (zhai jing ji)” came into being. A “house” is the personal universe of people from the Internet age. However, Yang’s series of works, House, does not just invoke the otaku concept of “house,” but also truly points to the residence or house that people take shelter in for their everyday lives. It is that substantive space which enters and extends into the video images of the Internet - where the virtual becomes confused with the real.

Comprised of works that combine staged and candid photography, the Universe Adventure series is what brought Yang to fame. A cartoonish and game-like space is constructed where models are in state of play. People jumping are a recurring theme within this series. The models look as if they are happily leaping and flying through mid-air. It is hard to imagine that the amateur models used for these photo shoots had to jump around the space for more than fifty or sixty times before Yang would feel satisfied with a shot. Cartoons and candies form the underlying theme for the Universe Adventure series. They provide the background with joyous, youthful, playful, and sweet characteristics while capturing the aesthetics for this generation of youths.

“Fantasia--Spanish Bullfighter” Photograph Chien-Yang Wang

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Level 25 ArtJournal Your photographs marry the surreal with the world of fantasy. Tell us about how you came to envision this style of photo art.

C-YW: I started the “HOUSE” series 4 years ago. HOUSE is a private place to everyone. It is a place where one can relax, free oneself from restrain, and does whatever one wants. It started in an unbearable hot summer, in which I took off all my clothes, walked around in my house and had fun. I felt a sense of release. I felt like I could do something, something which is crazy. So I made one shooting at my place. And then I thought it would be great if others could join me. People all wondered why it has to be naked photos initially. But then taking off their clothes makes it seem like going back to the initial state of birth, a state that is simple and clean. It seems like revealing a real me, free from restrain, so that the real me can come out and say hi. And I am in my house, which is safe and comfortable.

“HOUSE” series is Zhai (宅) in Chinese. It is a trendy word initially comes from Japanese “otaku”, represents a particular group of people staying at home most of the time, isolating themself from the society, spending their life in their own way; they also particularly enjoy reading comics, watching films and playing games. I am somewhat like them: I work at home, I live at home; I communicate with people through the network and various electronic devices, and I love comics, cartoons and films. I was inspired by what I have read and seen. I fantasize them with my imagination. Imagination can actually bring one to another world, far away from one’s home space. It is a world of surreal but full of joys and energy, and these are the main characteristics of my works.

All my works are about people and HOUSE. The initial thinking is very simple: people can do crazy and funny things at home (I stay at home most of the time). So I started with myself, and then my friends and their houses. HOUSE becomes a stage of creation, full of imagination and joy. Later I want more to be crazy and unrealistic, so I add more elements from comics, toys, and modern advertisements; I pull all the stuff that I can catch in my daily life into my creation, to make it real and unique.

In four of the five pieces you submitted to Level 25 Artjournal there is at least one woman aloft, captured suspended in the air as though flying. Is there significance for you as an artist in the image of a woman up above the ground?

C-YW: I like to capture people suspending in the air. It is related to my experience. I used to shoot dancing performance in college. I enjoy capturing the moment at which dancer jumps as if flying whereas time freezes; that particular moment is kept in the pictures forever. Aloft people is one of the characteristics of my work, it represents imagination, surreal, freedom and happiness. Models fly in the sky, feeling being free. Their jumping is energetic, full of joys. You can see happiness is all over their face, their body. This is another feeling that I want to keep in my works.

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...people can do crazy a home

and funny things at e...

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“Miffy and Ballerinas�

Photograph Chien-Yang Wang

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Level 25 ArtJournal

Your photographs create these miniature worlds which look like so much fun. Do you ever wish you could live inside one of them and participate in the madcap fun?

C-YW: I would definitely like to live inside one of my miniature world. It will be a great fun!!! However, it was quite difficult to keep my home that clean and tidy. My home is now full of stuff, toys, decorating tools and artwork in real life I only appeared in the earliest collection of the “HOUSE” series. I am more interested in shooting other people in their places later.

But I did enjoy staying inside and making fun. So one day if right scene and right timing come, I will probably do it again. Of course I have to keep fit first.

So, I cannot have a feature article about you without having you explain, in detail, all the steps involved in creating one of your photographs. Thus, I would like you to tell us how you created “Alice in Wonderland,” from start to finish.

C-YW: Most of the shootings were unplanned. I did not used to envision the scene beforehand, in other words, I never know what the works will be before I really shoot it. It is somewhat different from making film or advertisement. There is no fixed framework/ blueprint for my work. I start my creation right at the scene, including all the decorations, placement, role and posture of models.

So it usually takes me a very long time to make a perfect shooting.

Every work is a surprise to me.

“Alice in Wonderland” is an unusual one. I want to create a unique and private HOUSE at the later stage of my creation. I have thought about the framework beforehand. I wanted to recreate “Alice in Wonderland” in my own way. So I wanted to present Alice and her friends in a different way. I collected the related toys, customs and tools. I looked for a suitable scene. I eventually found an old building with the right atmosphere, with the black and white floor. Models and I worked together to re-decorated it, put in everything that we could imagined, making it a true wonderland. My shooting captured the moment at which the time was frozen and the adventure began. It took us more than 8 hours to prepare the background, and took another 8 hours to “dress up” the jokers and place every role. Models and I kept inspiring each other. We adjusted and fine toned the posture, the facial expression, changed the decoration till everything was perfect. We finally finished it at dawn. It was an exhausting but valuable experience.

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“Alice in Wonderland” Photograph Chien-Yang Wang

Level 25 ArtJournal

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Level 25 ArtJournal In four of the five pieces you submitted to Level 25 Art journal contain Asian models. However, “Twins” contains two Western or European models. I’m sure that is not the only time you have worked with Western or European models but I need to ask: how do you determine if a certain photograph should contain a certain ethnic type for the models?

C-YW: I started “HOUSE” series in my country, Taiwan. “HOUSE” represents our local culture and people, a Taiwanese style. It is about how people interact with the environment. It is about what people could do in their protected secret place. So I shoot in Taiwanese’s home with Taiwanese. And then I was luckily invited to have exhibitions overseas, so I extended my project out of Taiwan. “Twins” was shot in Melbourne during my exhibition there. I stayed in Melbourne for a couple of weeks to look for local models and homes who would like to join my project. I showed them my works, inviting them to join me. I also did some shooting in Beijing while joining another exhibition last year. Lately, I did the France and London series, too. I do think it is a very good way to experience and learn different culture during travel. Now I am very looking forward to extending my projects to all over the world. I am very welcome different ethnic types of models to join my project. Anyone who would like to have the shooting can contact me through email: yang700202@gmail.com.

Tell us what it is like working with your models. How do they react to your ideas? How do they cope with the endless reshoots? Is there often difficulty in getting them to understand your vision? Do they feel it was all worth it once they see the finished images?

C-YW: I usually work out with the models right at the scene while shooting. I will encourage the models to feel the atmosphere and imagine that they are staying inside their private little space. They are allowed to do any crazy thing as they wanted. And then we would start shooting, try different postures, and adjust all the fine details in order to fit them into each specific environment. Actually all my models were well prepared for jumping in my shooting, I did explain to them at thebeginning. Most of them are not dancer or professional models. They are shy and probably never did this before. But they do try very hard! They probably need to jump 50 to 100 times to get a perfect shooting. They get tired at the later stage, however, they all would like to make a perfect one, they want to end it; they relax their body, they forget about shyness, their expression and posture gradually become more natural; finally they would push themselves to the edge and release their talents. It is amazing. They felt worthwhile after they see the works. They were impressed by what they have done. They made lots of fun in joining the project of “HOUSE”.

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“Twins” Photograph Chien-Yang Wang

Level 25 ArtJournal

“I Love Ice Cream�

Photograph Chien-Yang Wang

...finally they would push themselves to the edge and release their talents...

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