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.