Emily Davidson - Studio Visit

Name: Emily Davidson

Place of Birth: Indianapolis, IN

Current Residence: Philadelphia, PA

Who and/or what is currently inspiring you: I saw Kay Sage paintings recently in Katonah, New York that have been a real source of inspiration--she was an American surrealist who painted with gravity, and was fixated on tragedy. John Divola's photo projects make me want to teleport to L.A. thirty years ago--and the recent Luigi Ghirri images at Matthew Marks were really heartbreaking for me, too. I spend a lot of time photographing signs, windows, building façades in Philly--a recent favorite is the FOREVER Granite and marble clapboard sign in Port Richmond, which looks amazing and totally eerie at sunset.

Saying: I have been reading Flannery O'Connor short stories lately, and jot down the dark, insightful things she says, like: Where you come from is gone, where you thought you were going to never was there, and where you are is no good unless you can get away from it.

Noah Towery - Artisit interview currently residing in New York

Tell us about your upbringing

I grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. My parents are both liberal, reformed-hippie types –though I doubt that they would love that description. We didn’t go to church. They pretty much let my sister and I learn about religion and politics ourselves. Our house was always busy with people. Both my parents and I have friends who are musicians, writers, artists, educators, entrepreneurs –it’s an interesting, creative community.

I’ve always liked to make things, to draw and write. When I was a kid I made comic books with my own menagerie of characters. But it wasn’t until pretty recently that I took up painting with a real passion. Memphis has a wealth of artists and musicians especially, but it still lacks the institutional resources to really nurture the visual arts. It is a privilege to live in a place that has major museums and spaces for contemporary art. That being the case, it wasn’t until I spent time living in Madrid and then moved to Chicago that I got to see a lot of painting in the flesh. That was around 2006.

In Chicago I was lucky to have couple of good teachers who helped me focus and actually get into the craft of painting. I decided to go to graduate school because I was naïve and curious about contemporary art, and I wanted to be influenced.

In the last year you have been making tons of work. What has driven this last body of work and where do you see it going from here?

It’s just been about getting back into a routine of making things. When I first got out of graduate school I worked on the same two painting surfaces for over a year. There wasn’t much space or materials available to me, so when I finished something I’d just start painting over it again. When I finally got a job, I was able to produce more. I tend to fill up canvases about as fast as I can get them, so I don’t worry much about what’s driving it.

As far as where it’s going, I don’t know how much trust I place in my own narrative of what I do, but I like to think that I work through ideas and then move on. And if I feel I’m repeating myself or treading on tired ground I stop and do something else.

Explain more in depth the works on paper in charcoal being condensed translations.

I was reading about how Hans Hofmann ran his figure drawing class. His students would use the same piece of paper to do charcoal drawings for the entire length of the class –not hours, but weeks or months. They’d draw and wipe away the drawing again and again until the paper literally fell apart. There’s a lesson about nonattachment somewhere in there, but also about seeing what happens as a work develops: the immediate imagery isn’t the only subject. I wanted to attempt something like that, but without wiping out each successive drawing and just letting a pile of discreet images build up into their own thing. A simple procedural rule like that can have unexpected results.

Beyond that, the task of translation fascinates me. It’s something we do constantly in one form or another. And if you only have access to a condensed translation, you don’t really know what is missing. Someone else has made that decision for you. And that may lead you to question its authenticity, something I would like to encourage.

Where do you see you paintings residing?

It would be nice to see them reside on walls; given that most of what’s left is hiding under a bed in Tennessee.

The variety of mark making, subject, and influences from certain veins of abstraction, to Japanese ink drawings, and particular eras of history run throughout your work. Tell us who you are looking at, and what your current interests are?

I’m omnivorous in my interests. I tend to get obsessed with certain subjects –artists, objects, genres, historical events, anything- and work through them. That process has more to do with indulging my own curiosity than with producing work. It doesn’t usually produce immediate results, but it comes back later. Let me give you an example.

About four years ago got really into this series of 15^th century battle paintings by Paolo Uccello, famous today mainly as an example of the development of perspective. But I just really enjoyed the way he drew people and horses. They have tons of personality, despite or perhaps because they’re locked into such rigid compositions. Anyway, I spent weeks making drawings of these paintings, of all the characters individually, in small groups, little details. Eventually, I thought I needed to make some big painting of the whole mess to somehow justify this obsession. And it was awful, just really bad. It wasn’t the first lousy painting I made and surely won’t be the last. But I feel like I know something about that artist now that I couldn’t have gotten any other way, like perhaps how to use his lines to describe a contemporary scene.

That’s how I work through pictorial subject matter, but I work through materials in very much the same way. I don’t feel engaged unless I feel I’m also honing a craft and working on something new –new at least for me. For a long time I worked only with one ink brush. I put that aside when I started to feel like the limited associations with calligraphy were fighting too much with the imagery. But I still use those drawings as launching points for paintings.

As far as current interests, I’ve been trying to learn more about urban planning and sustainable development practices –a stretch to relate to my recent drawings and paintings, to be sure. But I’ve just moved and don’t currently have access to a studio, so that’s what I’m doing right now. Also recently I began using the computer as a drawing tool. I’ve had to learn all this design software for my job, and it’s been slowly creeping into my practice. I feed it my drawings and it feeds me something else. I’m not sure yet where that’s headed, but I’m excited about it.

What do you wish to accomplish in a work of art?

That’s a tough one. When the conversation gets to the level of generality of art, I feel all this doubt well up. And when I try to reason from the ends in terms of accomplishments, I almost immediately stop thinking about the work itself. Right now it seems like a luxury to ask that a work of art get up and go accomplish things, that people take x away from it, and so on. It’s a big question, though. There’s more to say about this, but maybe another time.

  

Varda Caivano: How do I love thee?

Rema Ghuloum - Artist Interview currently residing in LA

Tells us a little about your up bringing.

I am a California native. I was born in North Hollywood and grew up in Orange County. I am the eldest of five kids and was raised in a very large middle eastern family. I am first generation Arab American. My mother is originally from Lebanon and my father is from Kuwait.

In 2010 you graduated with a M.F.A. Degree at California College of the Arts, San Francisco, and was a Joan Mitchell recipient that year. How was the transition from your masters to studio practice on your own?

I think that the transition from C.C.A. to working outside of school was relatively easy. I was fortunate enough to move into a studio right away with friends from C.C.A. I believe that helped keep the momentum going. I also think that being employed through out graduate school allowed me to mange my studio time more efficiently. I developed a routine pretty early on.

You were able to travel during this period where did you go and how did it influence your work?

Traveling has always influenced my work in some form or another. In February, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit India. This trip was a personal challenge. I wasn't sure what I would be inspired by and didn't have any expectations. I wanted to get lost in an unfamiliar territory. This definitely happened multiple times. While traveling, I found myself attracted to the contemplative sites that were dispersed all around and found reprieve from within as well as beside these varied (many make-shift) devotional spaces. I was mesmerized by the light. It was reflected from the exterior to the interior of the shrines and appeared calculated and transformative. I found the sacred and diverse rituals, still preserved and performed, compelling. These aspects of my trip became points of interest. Prior to arriving in India, I decided that I throughout the duration of my trip, would I record my first recollection of each day as a drawing. Upon returning home in March, this collection of 37 drawings became a book and a visual resource for a forthcoming piece- my own provisional version of a devotional object. I called this Shrine, and with Monet’s, Rouen Cathedral series in mind I exposed it to different light conditions and produced a painting from observation each day for 31 days. My intention with this series of works was to represent these paintings/fragments of Shrine as an actual space/installation that was activated like a painting.

You have now relocated from San Francisco back to Los Angeles. As environment and place is important to your work, how has the transition back to LA influenced your current work?

I am sure moving back to Los Angeles, has affected my work, but I am not certain how to articulate the shift clearly yet. I just finished a series of paintings that seem to be more specially complex. They also seem crammed. I think that has to do more with the physical space that I am occupying in my studio and at home. I live right by LACMA and paintings that I see there are creeping in to my work. That is exciting!

As a Gallery Manager for George Lawson Gallery do you engage and conceptualize shows together? Tell us what a typical day or week looks like working at the gallery.

George Lawson is the Director of the gallery and has planned future exhibitions through 2013. My job is to assist with making these exhibitions happen. Along with exhibiting artists' work, the gallery also designs and publishes artist's books in-house. The books are usually produced each month with a few exceptions. My average week at the gallery varies. It usually consists of managing inventory, assisting with designing books, preparing for future exhibitions, conducting clerical tasks. The installation/ de-installation process happens once a month and usually lasts a few days. It is always exciting to install a new show and get to discover first hand the power that each body of work exudes. The openings are always an exciting burst of energy. It is always great to observe the enthusiasm surrounding an exhibition and discuss the artwork with people who appreciate it.

Who are you looking at right now, and who or what is inspiring you?

Lately, I have been very inspired by Gold Leaf, scribes, and Alexej von Jawlensky. I discovered Jawlensky again at LACMA. A tiny painting called Variations VII sparked my interest. He also produced a series of portraits called Meditations that I can't stop thinking about. I also read an article yesterday about Charlotte Bronte's recently discovered manuscript which contains more than 4,000 words and is half the size of a credit card. I am compelled by the lengths that people take to record their thoughts.

http://remaghuloum.com/

Haley Pearl Josephs - Studio Visit

There is a imaginative painting beauty in the Viking Mill studios. She paints spirit animals and eccentrics of many. 

Name: Haley Pearl Josephs

Place of Birth: Seattle, WA

Current Residence: Philadelphia, PA

Who and/or what is currently inspiring you: Dennis Klocek, Rudulf Steiner, Edgar Cayce, The world, what lies beyond, the Great Passage, Spirits. And Paul Thek!

Saying: "No fear, no envy, no meanness."

Dan Schein - Artist Interview

You have an interesting up bring. Moved a lot in various locations around the world. Tell us about your family and travels.

I moved around quite a bit as a kid. I was born In Johannesburg, South Africa. Moved to Israel when I was five and stayed there for 3 years.

Then moved to Brook field Wisconsin, then ended up living out the remainder of my teens from age 11-18 in Staten Island New York.

You know sometimes people have to move where the jobs and opportunities are plentiful. Other personal family events caused these moves to occur.

You know then I went to College at SUNY Purchase to pursue a BFA while my parents finally settled in small town North Western Wisconsin. 

The last couple of years you were living in Philadelphia. Did this impact you work as a painter?

I think any place affects ones work. I definitely found lots of the "grit" of Philadelphia having an impact on my work.

Lots of greys and fences and dilapidated buildings. Some poverty stricken areas almost seemed like they were devastated by bombings, like those photos one sees

of ruined German cities in WW2 . Well maybe not as bad as that, but a place where lots of things have just been left to fall apart slowly, and seeing people live in places like that, making it their home.

I mean of course It wasn't a first hand experience , just things I saw and got my mind starting to associate.

Empty lots, houses stuck together like long trains on a street. ..and so on..

What were some of the central themes you were dealing with being a graduate student at Tyler School of Art?

Well in grad school I feel like I was trying to continue working on paintings. Simple as that. I haven't been painting for a long time(started seriously pursuing painting when I was junior in College) So it seemed like I was just getting the hang of things so to speak. I often worked with ideas of absurdity, every day life of specific people. For example this idea of the slaughterhouse. People killing animals for a living. They work like machines treating animals like machines. On one hand its all pretty horrific, but perhaps to that person, its his job you know. Something to keep him alive. Something that needs to be done as depressing and bleak as that is. I think many people strive for absurd goals. I mean one can analyze many things in life to the point of static meaningless. ..I think so at least.

I guess I wanted to create powerful imagery that's humanistic but also, cynical but not! if that makes any sense. . Not necessarily condemning acts but just trying to tell little stories with each painting. Like the Waitress painting, or the couple sexually pleasuring themselves in the backyard whilst BBQing and drinking, and in the background a dog is chained to this little pole.

Now that you have completed your Maters in Painting and currently an artist in residence at Stein Am Rhein Chretzeturm, Switzerland, what is caring through to these works and what has become less important.?

I feel like the same themes are carrying through. I don't necessarily think I have successfully dealt with any of these things I think about which is probably why I keep on thinking of the same things. I find recently being more concerned with weather. Weather in the paintings. I think this started in my last semester at Grad School, but im more conscious about the time of the day in the paintings, and how it affects light. Is it raining? did it just finish raining? Im also trying to be more specific with the figures in the paintings... but then again I could do a painting that doesn't adhere to these thoughts or concerns. Just trying to move forward with the work in a direction that I feel will make them stronger. Not really sure of the specifics on how that happens but when it does..I know when it does. Or I will know.

Tells us your daily routine in Switzerland, places you may pass by to go to the studio, where you eat at, who are walking by, what are in the streets, where you find your self at any given moment?

Wake up,

Drink Tea

Eat Cereal ..go paint..

go running

go for walks..

I am staying in a city owned house that has a studio on the ground floor. Stein Am Rhein is a historic town on the Rhein River. Its made up of old houses and cobble stone streets.

Gets rather touristy in the summers and there are many churches here with bell towers. Kind of feels like a fantasy town sometimes. Very Picturesque one might say. Many forest paths and farms surround the town. Cozy and rustic feel to the whole place.

food..

paint.

draw.

Sleep

Observe things...

On occasion ..go to cities like Zurich or Winterthur to the museums..I have yet to go to Basel or Bern.but will very shortly..

Also I have plans to go to German cities as well and see as much PAINTING I can. Already been to Stuttgart Museum.. ..

Who are you looking at right now?

Sometimes a dangerous thing. Sometimes very inspiring. 

This constantly changes by the way.

David Park
Eddie Martinez

Old Van Gogh

Rembrandt drawings

Corot

Kyle Staver

Over the top Fantasy Illustrations ..

Do you have any shows lined up, or projects in the future?

I have an upcoming show in Late February in Copenhagen. I don't have the exact details yet but will def let you know when that time comes.

Check back on my website.( danschein.com) Will post all the details there. 

Lastly, what is your greatest concern as an artist?

The Fear of waking up one day and not wanting to do it anymore.

Studio Shots- Crane Arts, Philadelphia

                                                                          outside of the Crane Arts building

                                                                                              a pile of paintings

                                                                                         view outside one of the windows

                                                              a portrait of Marshall Applewhite incomplete