Interview with Featured Artist: Ivan Bridges

“I just had the most beautiful dream; I was out there, over the Grand Canyon, in the sky. Out there in the universe. Dark, but there were stars. It was like we were in bed at night, talking in the dark. But somehow above the world as well, in the dark. We laid down, the two of us, on what felt like the sky and went to sleep. On a clear surface that was totally invisible. In the dream, I also met an older lady and I threw up a little bit inside her mouth, like a bird, and she liked it. A video camera is what I saw at the end of my dream.” – Ivan

Rae: Tell me about your artwork, what does it represent for you personally?

Ivan: I really identify with Duchamp when he says that all of art making is an urge, and the thing that just can’t be explained any more than that. I do see it fundamentally as an urge, so personally it represents to me some type of obsessive urge, maybe destructive? Maybe not. It’s hard to tell, you know, but I’ve never been able to quit so much, so it seems to put it in it’s place as an urge.

Rae: Can you recall a memory of when you first started making art? How did you start being serious about it?

Ivan: I’ve always been interested in drawing. I remember one of my teachers in elementary school saying to me that she hoped I’d never stop drawing. I wrote a poem too when I was very young and it was being read in the auditorium of the school during some kind of rally. I don’t remember much about it, but they picked my poem somehow. I remembered being both embarrassed and also deeply connected to that moment of hearing it spoken.

Rae: What do you love most about being an artist living in San Francisco?

Ivan: I love walking around at night thinking to myself as I look up at all the lights on inside the rooms I pass, maybe south of market or on Polk street, thinking to myself as I see the high ceilings and shadows cast what possibilities all these spaces have. I keep imagining different lives I’d live in each one of these open windows I pass in China town, the clothes hanging out the window, I imagine a room with a subject, a painting, a camera, a typewriter, I see it all.

Rae: Which cities have you lived in? Traveled to?

Ivan: I’ve lived in London, I grew up in New Orleans, I have a second life in Costa Rica with my father. I’ve seen Rome, Florence, Madrid, and spent a week inside an old convent with my cousin in Siena.

Rae: Having been in class with you at SFAI, I know that you grew up in New Orleans. How do you think living there had influenced you in your art making?

Ivan: New Orleans is a dark place. And I remember I used to walk to school before the sun rose and then standing in that schoolyard looking at the large brick building I’d always hear these crows cawing. It’s also a religious place, that elementary school was named Holy Name of Jesus. Being originally born in Portland, Oregon and then transplanted to New Orleans at eight years old to live for the next ten years in this religious school system had a deep effect on me. I became obsessed in my own way with the symbolism of the church, only to find when as I got older that my own relationship to that symbolism was somehow not okay with the specific dogma of the church. I eventually broke with the identification as a Christian probably when I was eleven or twelve years old, but that experience has deeply shaped my inner life.

Rae: Studying at San Francisco Art Institute, who was an influential teacher of yours? What did he/she teach you most about?

Ivan: Rob Halpern, the class was called “The Dead and the Living, paranormal messages in literary texts,” and I’m pretty sure I’ve never been the same again. Well, English classes have had that effect on me and I just don’t see how engaging deeply with literature or theory could not affect ones life deeply. But to talk about a few of the things I learned, the notebook being a primitive technology is one, also that I can grieve while reading. I learned that with Primo Levy.

Rae: What about their program, attracted you to go to SFAI?

Ivan: The idea that you can’t teach art.

Rae: Has your style changed at all through the years?

Ivan: yes, sometimes it’s the limits or constraints that keep me changing. For example, I used to be very hung up on the idea that for me, painting or art making had to do with oil painting. And it was when I had the lucky opportunity to be invited into a shared studio situation that I was unable to paint in oil, the times I was allowed in were infrequent at best and the time in this studio was filled with my supposed partner talking to me more about the news than what would inspire me to paint. It’s one of those experiences that sounds amazing, beautiful studio great location, but there is a catch, all my oils are going to be locked up most of the time leaving me to have to find another outlet. It ended up that I started using watercolor, as a way to cope with this, and that became my primary medium, which I use today. I’m actually going through that same process right now where all my watercolor stuff is in another studio, this time it’s my own, and I’ve been thinking about writing instead! Maybe renting an art studio for me is a great way to discard a medium.

Rae: Speaking of motivation, is there anything or anyone that exceptionally inspires your artwork at the moment?

Ivan: Proust, and Georges Bataille, both of these writers exhibit a type of freedom in their prose, a pure unfolding deeply provocative material that dwells below the surface. I think, of the human experience. It’s given me a little bit of extra courage to move more deeply into my own hidden drives or fears about what might come up if I really push myself to show what I’m terrified to show in my art.

Rae: Any other artists you would love to collaborate with in the future?

Ivan: Sophie Calle, Nalini Malini

Rae: Describe your process for creating a new piece and what sorts of materials you prefer to use?

Ivan: I love to collage; I also like taking pictures, writing, video. It’s funny someone told me recently that the foe artists have a hand in everything, so I guess I’m not a real artist then.

Rae: Any amazing gallery that you love in the bay area?

Ivan: Honestly, I’m not too familiar with galleries in the Bay area, but I do love certain bookstores, the Green Apple is one, I think of it as a type of church. I also love Forest Books on 16th street; The Ocean is a great place to go as well on a foggy day or night.

Rae: When is your most creative….time of day?

Ivan: It’s either early in the morning or late at night, but I think creativity is such a mystery really. None of this stuff really makes any sense does it, but I do think it’s important to remember where you are when you get ideas. For me I walk late at night through soma or up Polk Street. I also have a couch in a room where stacks of books cover the walls; I lay there and think as well.

Rae: What inspires you to continue making art?

Ivan: I just can’t imagine not doing it. I would say that for me it’s a matter of psychological health.

Rae: Could you talk about your latest series of work and what you are trying to achieve with them?

Ivan: My latest project is a video; these are some of the initial ideas around it:

• I wanted to crawl up into the smell in the hallway, it reminded me of the bath with Terri, I peed in it and she saw and asked me if I did, I said no. Millaudon Street New Orleans, I’m 17. I miss it, those mornings. But tonight is something new. I’ve painted. Terri is gone. She’s the one I can’t seem to get over. But they weren’t exactly days of roses and I feel the green sunlight of a photograph I know well, I don’t remember the day but the photograph for sure. I also remember that porch, waiting for the night to begin. At night we took drugs and in the day we waited. I lived for most of it like that but oh I never knew her all that well and besides she never even loved me. I’ve never known anyone all that well except for artists, ones who are dead who I can think about. This primitive notebook, I can feel it opening to me, take me in your arms. I want to give all of myself, good and bad.

Rae: Any good advice you want to give to other artists?

Ivan: Don’t give up. Unfortunately it may take people a long time to realize the value in what you are doing. You have to see it yourself, and you have that be the sole guide for why you continue.

Rae: What type of music or bands are you listening to right now while making your pieces?

Ivan: ????

Rae: Tell us about new upcoming projects, solo/group shows, or trips you are working on.

Ivan: I’m working on publishing a talk Marcel Duchamp gave in San Francisco in 1949; also I’m currently writing for video work.

Rae: Finally, what do you do for fun? How do you relax?

Ivan: I go somewhere once a week with myself, it’s my way of taking care of myself. Almost always, I try to avoid it but all of my best ideas have come on these excursions. The idea is to have a good time and not work when I’m out on these excursions, and also I can’t bring anyone with me, it’s like tagging along with you and your Dad’s new girlfriend. It’s a way to reconnect with what I enjoy.

Rae: Last one. Favorite quote?

Ivan: “Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace, and power in it.” – Goethe

Rae: Thank you for the interview Ivan.

Here is Ivan’s performance video:

ivanbridges.com underconstruction…..e-mail at ivbridges@gmail.com for any inquiry at the moment

Ivan Bridges is an artist based in San Francisco, Ca.

You are what you eat

Walk up from your laptop and take a look inside your refrigerator.

What can you tell about you, or your household, from gazing inside?

Mark Menjivar takes pictures of the inside of peoples’ fridges. Each photo has a one sentence caption, like “Food Artist | New York, New York | 1-Person Household | Runs a vegan bakery from her apartment.”

The collection is captivating. And inspired me to clean out some leftovers.

College Students| Waco, TX | 3-Person Household | Drummer for death metal band.

Community Volunteer | San Angelo, TX | 1-Person Household | Completely blind and lives alone.

Controversy in local and regional art

Artlarking readers, I have something a little bit more personal to write about this week. I’ll preface this post with this brief disclaimer: Some of you will not agree with my point-of-view in this post, and that’s great! Please continue the dialogue with by commenting, discussing these issues with friends/family members/significant others/the guy you always see on Muni, etc. There will never be a full-stop neatly concluding any subject within the contemporary art world. Diverse opinions that challenge my own are part of the reason I fell in love with studying art, and this blog will share of few of those points-of-view with you.

Staircase, 2010 by Verese Lazyers

I feel as though the artwork has gone topsy-turvy in recent weeks, and I sincerely wish I could attribute it to a lunar alignment. SF’s own Ritual Roasters on Valencia removed Verese Layzers photographs because they was perceived by the owner to be “too serious.” The SFist quoted an e-mail from the owner to Layzers saying art in cafes should be “fluffier stuff, stuff that doesn’t make people think about the tough questions in life.” Layzers photographic series deals with losing a loved one, and isn’t that something we can all universally relate to? It’s unclear if the owner objected to the work itself or the artist’s statement, regardless, I think Ritual Roasters patrons missed out on seeing a high quality exhibition.

I don’t know about you, but whenever I’m in a coffee shop, casually enjoying an iced coffee, I usually take note of how incredibly mundane or tacky coffee shop art can be (not unlike paintings and photos in hotel rooms, woof!). I would enjoy seeing more works of art that challenge me, and draw me in by a greater theme. In fact, I think it would make for fabulous conversation over coffee. This particularly irks me because I recently mentioned Ritual Roasters in a previous blog post, complementing them on bring art to the general public. My opinion of Ritual Roasters still stands, but heavy sigh.

I recently finished reading Marcia Tucker’s memoir, and as the founding director of the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, she had seen a lot of ground-breaking, unconventional contemporary art works in her career. I agree completely with her sentiment on works of art that challenge its viewers:

The work I like most is always the art that I don’t understand—the stuff that sticks in my mind but eludes me in every other way. It nags at me, making sure that when I least expect it, it’ll interrupt my dinner or my sleep with stupid questions like, “Why do I make you uncomfortable? Why can’t you just accept me as I am? (Marcia Tucker, A Short Life of Trouble: Forty Years in the New York Art World, Prologue, page 1)

Moving on to another art world scuffle on the opposite end of the spectrum: An artist I worked with last year presented a public art installation so well-received that the idea is being stolen. Literally. I coordinated a public art program for the 2010 01SJ Biennial titled “Play Me, I’m Yours” by UK-based artist, Luke Jerram in which upright pianos are placed around cities, decorated by the community, and made available for the public to play and enjoy. The installation has traveled around the world, and shortly before the San Jose iteration of the installation, “Play Me, I’m Yours” had a brief stint in NYC. This year, New York has brought back the project, bigger and grander than ever… and dropped Luke in the process. The New York Times recently covered the issue, and I have to admit I read the article more than once because I was in such shock. Sing for Hope, a performing arts non-profit, will host another iteration of “Play Me, I’m Yours” without giving Luke any credit or consulting him on the project. There isn’t even a thinly veiled public relations campaign to convince the people that they are modifying the idea and making it their own. Same city, same project.

Removal of the mural by the Italian street artist known as Blu. Commissioned by MOCA as part of the "Art in the Streets" exhibition.

Finally, and in my opinion the most controversial event featured in this post, the censorship of art in LA. The MOCA commissioned a piece by Blu, a notable street artist, for the “Art in the Streets” show that has garnered a flurry of media attention. The LA Times reported that the anti-war mural was painted over by the very institution that commissioned it. It’s no secret to anyone that Blu has an anti-capitalistic bent to his work, and this particular work certainly sparks further investigation and reflection. At the very least, I think the MOCA could have moderated a discuss on the work even if they were committed to removing it. Maybe the fleeting existence of the physical work only goes to serve Blu’s agenda on the relationship between money, power and influence.

Art is inherently emotional, and when it comes to expressing our feelings about a work of art, there is no wrong answer. I’ve always been of the opinion that the greatest works of art the take ideas you’re uncomfortable with and shove them underneath your noise so you can’t help by confront them. Similarly, I find value in works of art that I don’t find immediately aesthetically pleasing (the phrase “aesthetically pleasing” also opens up a whole new can of worms when it comes to debates about art and its function). I’ll wrap up this post with a quote from Leo Steinberg, “If a work of art disturbs you, it probably a good work. If you hate it, it’s probably great.”

I’ll turn it over to you Artlarking readers, what do you think?

Road Blocks- Amateur Adventures in Letterpress Print

The amateur I refer to is me. I’m an amateur observer of letterpress print. Last night I and my housemate, a talented illustrator and printer herself,  headed over to the Curiosity Shoppe  to check out an art opening. It featured posters and print by artists from all over the country. The shoppe is an art and design focused retailer of beautiful things. They called the exhibit the Sunshine Letterpress Show.

The first thing I noticed about the prints was that they were pleasant to look at. The thick color sucks you in. Lines are definite, as is the use of empty space.

Rad Poster From F-2 Designs

Type is so familiar. It conjures memories of Sesame Street, or reading your first book with mom, before you knew what any of it meant. Augmented, expanded, and hyper-colored type becomes a new language. The letter A is its own character, like a Chinese pictograph. A phrase, printed in this way, transmits  much more emotion than the words alone.

Because the printing press affects the paper, creating creases and indents, it often looks three-dimensional. A glass of wine altered my perception just enough to perceive the subtlety, sans  3-D glasses.

By Studio On Fire, Courtesy of The Curiousity Shoppe

Outside the shop, a great white van with an open door invited us in. The Type-Truck is part of a project called Movable Type, started by Kyle Durrie, a letterpress printer from Portland, Oregon and the proprietor of Power and Light Press.

The Type-Truck

Inside the van, a clean cut workshop sported wood drawers full of every possible kind of type block. There were printing presses of old. “They stopped making this kind in the 60’s”, Durrie said. And another one she demoed was made in the 1800’s.

"They stopped making these in the 60's"

The nostalgia was tangible as volunteers took their time to apply paint and roll the old press by hand. The result was satisfying- a thick yellow sun along with the words “Let It In”. Despite the usual SF fog, the image reminded me that it was indeed summer.

Images courtesy of the Curiosity Shoppe

Interview with Featured Artist: Fonda Yoshimoto

Fonda Yoshimoto is an artist based in Oakland, Ca.

“The quality that we call beauty….must always grow from the realities of life, and our ancestors, forced to live in dark rooms, presently came to discover beauty in shadows, ultimately to guide shadows towards beauty’s ends.“- Jun’ichiro Tanizaki (1977)

Title of your warehouse show: 10th Street Open Studios

Rae: Can you recall a memory of when you first started making art? How did you start being serious about it?

Fonda: The first memory I have of making is when I was around 4 years old. I made a small house-like structure. I remember carefully collecting spare wood from around the shack my family and I lived in. I knew what I wanted to make and struggled so much with fitting all of the disparate pieces together. I was fascinated by the whole process: the idea, the struggle, and the outcome. I started off like many children do with painting and drawing. My mother always encouraged me to create, although we did not have much money we were always able to find materials to make things with. I started really understanding how serious art is to me in college when I was around 20 years old. I took Art Studio and Art History courses in college and started to realize how powerful art can be, what an incredible form of communication it is. I was able to express my ideas and emotions through art in ways that I could not through words.

Rae: Which cities have you lived in?

Fonda: I have lived in over 30 houses in many different cities. Honolulu, HI; Laguna Beach, Santa Rosa, and Davis, CA; Providence, RI to name a few.

Rae: What do you love most about being an artist in Oakland?

Fonda: I love the range of different venues from professional galleries to coffee shops to improvised spaces. I love how accessible art is, especially with the Oakland Museum, First Fridays, and all of the murals and public art.

Rae: What inspires you to continue making art?

Fonda: Making is a way of thinking. I connect with materials and develop ideas through making. It is also something I share with my ancestors, who were all makers in their own way. They worked hard to support themselves and their families and engaged in art when they could, because the need to create is so strong. My mom once wrote to me, “I am excited for your ability to create and do what you love.” Her words inspire me to continue making art.

Rae: Any influential artist that you love and admire?

Fonda: Linda Sormin, Shannon Goff, Ambromovitch, and Eva Hesse.

Rae: When you were studying at UC Davis who was an influential teacher of yours? What did he/she teach you most about?

Fonda: Annabeth Rosen, Professor at UC Davis, was an incredible influence on me and my work. She really did teach me what hard work looks like. She is so dedicated to her work and to her students. She encourages her students to gain inspiration from their own lives, the environment around them, and to work beyond their comfort zone.

Rae: What impressed you most about the art department in UC Davis?

Fonda: The Art Department at UC Davis has incredible faculty who create a supportive yet rigorous environment. In terms of Ceramics, UC Davis is steeped in history. TB9, the ceramics building, has great facilities. We were encouraged to take advantage of the space, and size of the kilns, to make work ranging from small to large.

Rae: You also studied at RISD. How did studying there influence your art making now?

Fonda: At RISD one of the first questions I was asked is ,”why clay?” I started grad school with an interest in working with different materials, but while I was there I was able to learn how to work with wood, metal, textiles, as well as video, and drawing. When I felt like I needed to learn about a new medium or technique I was able to because I had access to classes, facilities, faculty, and other students. I keep that belief that you can learn just about anything with me, I am curious and want to continue learning forever. At RISD I was able to break my own boundaries of what I considered art, as well as what I considered I was capable of. My work expanded into the room or the environment it was in, I began making work that the viewer could see, walk around, and walk through. I am excited about making work that people can connect with visually and physically.

Rae: What is your most favorite medium to work with? Why?

Fonda: My favorite medium to work with is Ceramics, it has such a tactility and versatility. I love working with different types of clay, all having different qualities and personalities. Working with clay is mental, physical, emotional. I just feel really alive when I work with clay, the way the material responds to you, and demands time and attention.

Rae: Is there any artist you want to collaborate with in the future?

Fonda: My studio-mate from grad school, Sarah Gross, and I collaborated on curating a show at RISD. We are currently in discussion about collaborating again.

Rae: Any new upcoming projects you are working on?

Fonda: One of my pieces in the 10th Street Studios show is a knitted piece. I am really excited about the potential of drawing through knitting and am continuing to explore that. My goal is to use the knitted pieces to create a space that people could stand in, and walk through.

Rae: Please tell me about what your artwork, what does it represent for you personally?

Vein is a drawing on translucent rice paper. There are three layers so you can see into the drawing. I am interested in drawing in ways that are physically three-dimensional. The ink lines wind around the page, connecting and clustering in areas.

Fonda:
My work is intuitive and imaginative but is inspired by architecture, objects, and function. I have been exploring mark making and patterning through my work. Drawing with ink on paper and also three-dimensionally with ceramics and textiles. Ornamentation in my work is voracious, constricting and expanding, winding through space and on every surface. Ornamentation can express identity, can mark belonging to a time, space, era, tribe, region or home. The patterning takes over, I make marks out of need, a kind of anxious comfort. The space defines me, caught between creating pattern and scratching, wiping, willing it away. The mark making becomes a palimpsest, layers and layers of history, of motion, are visible. There is a psychological tension in this process, it also becomes a ritual. I see my work as somewhere between a dream and a nightmare, inside and outside, here and there, healthy and unhealthy,
engineered and makeshift, safe and dangerous, sheltering and eerie.

Rae: Describe your process for creating a new piece and what sorts of materials you prefer to use?

Fonda: I always start a new piece with a loose sketch or drawing based on an idea, feeling, pattern, or movement. I often start working directly with clay after that, I do not use many tools. When I am working larger I will sketch diagrams, make maquettes, or models. I will work back and forth from the individual components and the plan of how it will all come together. My favorite materials are paper, ink, clay, fabric, cotton cord, old scrap wood, copper wire, and, bricks.

Rae: Any amazing gallery that you love here in the bay area?

Fonda: I am still exploring the area and have a lot to see. I really do love going to the student galleries, especially at CCA. The shows rotate every week, there is an incredible amount of energy and ideas cycling around constantly.

Rae: When are you most creative……time of day?

Fonda: I am most creative in the evening and at night. I tend to do a lot of thinking and sketching during the day but most of the production happens at night.

Rae: Lastly, what type of music or bands are you listening to right now while making your pieces?

Fonda: I have been listening to a lot of Cibo Matto, Boards of Canada, and Major Laser.

Rae: Thank you for the interview Fonda!

Check out Fonda website at  http://fondayoshimoto.blogspot.com

Lei is made out of porcelain blossoms, strung with copper wire. The strands hang from the wall, casting shadows, making high pitched sounds as they are pushed together by the breeze.

Featured Artist: Kristen “Bug Lady” Rieke

Kristen Rieke

Kristen Rieke is undoubtedly an artist to watch. Her series on the role of the bumble bee in our environment has earned her the affectionate nickname, “The Bug Lady.” Her work is technically masterful and beautiful, we can’t wait to share it with you at the upcoming “Neon Nature and New Currency” show on June 4th at the Box Factory. Until then, w invite you to get getter acquainted with Kristen. If you’re an artist who would like to collaborate with her in the future, look her up at Artlarking.com.

When did you realize your artistic talent? What that the same time you realized you wanted to be an artist?

I am pretty certain I tapped into my artistic talent at the age of 6. My sister, my best friend, and I would spend hours in my forest-clearing-like backyard constructing intricate and functional houses for fairies. We would turn flowers, sticks, leaves, and grasses into tiny furniture, lamps, and structures. It was awesome. We never took any pictures of them, though–what a mistake! However, we did document them and the fairies that would inhabit them using drawings in consecrated composition notebooks. I didn’t decide to be an artist at the time (I decided to become one during my sophomore year of college), but come on, my parents probably saw that coming every since the miniature-house-building obsession. (of note: my best friend who was involved, Cassidy, has also become an artist, and my sister has become a woodworker. Coincidence?)

"Honeybee, Preserved." Oil on panel with cast resin, 19"x19," 2011.

Where do you find inspiration for your work?
Well, the fairy houses are a great source of inspiration. I still carry out similar activities each time I go hiking or exploring. I also find inspiration in old National Geographic magazines, the woods of the Northwest and Northern California, and at the Farmer’s Market.

Are there any artists in particular who have inspired you?
Yes. My fellow Santa Clara University Art Majors are one hundred percent inspiring. So is my friend and mentor, Aleksandra Zee; she creates amazing mixed media installations, and continually inspires and pushes me to become a better and more adventurous artist!

What do you want people to take away from seeing your work at the Box Factory?
I would like to prompt people to walk outside with no purpose other than to explore, look down and around, and experience the rewarding task of loving the intricate creations made by our friends, the insects! I also would like to inspire them to find some beekeepers to hang out with.

What is your preferred medium: paining, mix media or installation?
I love painting on wood panel. It is so great how the raw wood sucks in the oil, and then you can sand things away  that you messed up on, and later act like it was on purpose.

Untitled collaborative piece using Katie's photograph, rice paper/wire honeycombs, and actual wasp's nest, beeswax, and a found shadowbox (thanks to Renee Billingslea!)

Has collaboration ever played a role in your work?
Yes. Most of the mixed media pieces I have created have involved collaboration with other artists and friends, especially those who just enjoy making things. My boyfriend, Christian, deserves one hundred pats on the head for being willing to help me do things like cast giant pieces of resin and dragging huge branches into small indoor spaces.

If you could collaborate with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?
I would like to somehow collaborate with Jo Whaley; she embodies a lost art with her Cabinets of Curiosity, and makes these into beautiful dioramas and photographs. I also know that she, too, is a finder and collector, which would be a fun activity to do together.

Do you have any works in progress you’re excited about?
I am in the middle of creating some great vandyke prints on used coffee filters. I really love the way they look; I have been either sewing them together or putting them inside 3-dimensional wooden frames shaped like honeycombs that I build.

Thanks, Kristen!

Featured Artist: Cole Willsea, Connoisseur of Collage

Cole Willsea

Cole Willsea is a visual artist featured in Artlarking’s upcoming show “Neon Nature and New Currency.” Here’s a sneak peak of his work and what he’s all about.

When did you realize your artistic talent? What that the same time you realized you wanted to be an artist?

When I was a kid and we had to write about what we wanted to be when we grew up I always picked graphic designer even though I didn’t really know what that meant and it ended up sticking with me in some form.

Where do you find inspiration for your work?

Inspiration comes and goes, I tend to work in quick bursts of activity amid long periods of idleness. Art blogs and Flickr are both good places to discover new techniques and styles, but the direct inspiration for any work usually comes from the images being manipulated.

Are there any artists in particular who have inspired you?

Marcel Duchamp and Kanye West.

What do you want people to take away from seeing your work at the Box Factory?

The distinction between nature and culture is cultural, not natural, and is thus subject to change.

Would you say you’re more of a visual artist or a musician these days?

I’m definitely more of a visual artist at the moment. About a year ago I felt like I hit a wall with music where all I could do was repeat myself, and around the same time the music scene in Santa Cruz was falling apart due to everyone moving to Oakland. It’s nice to be able to switch between creative pursuits, and what I learn from one often teaches me something about the other.

Has collaboration ever played a role in your work?

Only in the sense that I’m basically collaborating with the people who created the books and magazines I’m using, though I’d like to work more directly with photographers.

If you could collaborate with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?

I would have Werner Herzog narrate a series of collages with an absurd amount of the Ken Burns effect applied.

Dodge, collage 2011

Do you have any works in progress you’re excited about?

I’m working on collages of beer cans and whiskey bottles for an eventual party-themed art show.

Why collage? How did you get in to that and where do you find your best materials?

To be perfectly honest, I’m terrible at drawing and painting.  I’ve been making collages for as long as I can remember, but it probably started in grade school art classes. Santa Cruz has a large “free-pile” culture going on and I’ve been lucky enough to find multiple collections of magazines on the street. My most recent works come from a box of National Geographic magazines that were inexplicably found in my recycling bin.

Intrigued by Cole’s work? Come see it in person and have a chat with him yourself at Artlarking’s “Neon Nature and New Currency” show Saturday, June 4 at the Box Factory.

The Art of Food Photography

Do you take pictures of your food in restaurants? Or maybe when you’ve made something especially delicious at home, to be able to look back fondly at that one time you cooked?

Edward W. Quigley, "Peas in a Pod" (1935) courtesy Getty.edu

Photography, so instantaneously gratifying, is perhaps best suited to capture the brief moments of an edible dish, from pan to plate. But so often we see it in the context of selling something (ads) or telling us how to do something (recipes) that it’s easy to forget food as a subject allows photographers to challenge their viewers by rendering a familiar object exotic.

Edward W. Quigley was one such artist, working both as a commercial and independent artist in the United States in the 1930s. His 1935 vision of peas is practically abstract, playing with sense of proportion and size.

William Eggleston, "Dinner" courtesy London Food Film Fiesta

William Eggleston is best known as one of the great innovators in color photography. His picture “Dinner” captures a weeknight meal, the pinks and dull greens staring down the viewer. This food is not meant to be appetizing.

Want more? 

If you’re into food on film, check out the Getty Museum’s 2010 show In Focus: Tasteful Pictures, and a write-up of a panel discussing the show. London Food Film Fiesta also has additional artists to check out.

The Interview: Textile Artist Kristin Jeanette Petiford

Kristin Petiford is an emerging textile feminist artist based in Oakland, California. She recently had received her BFA in Textile at CCA Oakland. She does needlework, weaving, sculpture, drawing, painting, and screen printing.

Rae: Any cool nicknames you’ve been given?

Kristin: My school friends call me Kiki! My sister calls me Poopy, but that’s not very cool.

Rae: Which cities have you lived in?

Kristin: I grew up in L.A. and Orange Country, then moved to Berkeley and eventually settled in Oakland. So far, I love Oakland the most!

Rae: What influenced you to work with textiles? What do you love about it?

Kristin: I had always been into sewing, but I fell in love with Textiles as a whole during an Intro to Textiles course I took at CCA. I loved the tediousness of it and the manipulation of the fibers: the repetition and the tactility. And the history! When you pick up a needle, you are tapping into this huge expanse of history in women’s work and feminist art and that’s just so exciting! Rozsika Parker’s The Subversive Stitch is a great book on that subject.

Rae: I’m going to have to check that book out myself! Did you have role models that you were aspiring to emulate? If so, who? And Why?

Kristin: I’ve had the opportunity to study under some amazing people at CCA, so I think I aspire to be a mish-mash of them, my mom (she’s the nicest person alive), Louise Bourgeois (I am just obsessed with her pink marble sculptures and their bodily forms), Ghada Amer (I love her use of text and the way she describes embroidery as a feminine language), Alison Smith (for her collections), Kathleen Hanna (who wouldn’t want to be like her!) and Lena Corwin (for living the dream of making cute things, having a great blog and doing it with substance)

Rae: Why did you pick CCA Oakland to get your BFA in Textiles? What is it about their program that enticed you to go there?

Kristin: I actually went to CCA for Illustration, but took Intro to Textiles as an elective my first semester there. After falling head over heels for Textiles, I switched majors! I like the freedom of the Textiles program at CCA….you can really tailor it to fit your interests. There is a lot of versatility in being able to use different processes (weaving, embroidery, lace making, screen printing, fiber sculpture) to express what it is you want to express. I feel like I was able to get a very well rounded education. The faculty is really great too. And CCA is basically the hub of Craft theory right now!

”]Rae: Any new upcoming projects you are working on?

Kristin: I have decided to spend the summer reading all the books I have accumulated on my “to-read” list: Carol Gilligan’s The Birth of Pleasure is the first! I am doing the Renegade Craft Fair for the first time in July…I’m making some very ladylike prints and accoutrements to sell. I’m currently collaborating on a zine called Girly Magazine that’s about femininity and feminism. We’re making an online version and we’ll be distributing it locally soon! As far as art-making goes I’m working on some material studies in wood and silk..I was able to create some fleshy forms through wood-turning for my show and I am itching to do more with that through carving. Lace and silk are two of my favorite things so I am interested in snagging and tearing the threads of silk fabric, inspired by Reticella, to create lace-like structures. Ok, I have a lot of upcoming projects.

Rae: How have your expectations changed over the years?

Kristin: I think I was a little bit afraid of the art world for a long time. I loved to paint and draw for myself, but I always figured I’d go into design or illustration. After doing some of that, I realized that I am so much happier making art…at least for now. So, my expectations for myself have changed quite a bit and will continue to change, I’m sure.

Rae: I really like the statement you made about your BFA thesis exhibition.  Why did you pick this topic, and what influenced you in commenting about ladies and their roles in society?

"Clean & Dainty" installation view

Kristin: Thanks! Oh, I could talk about this for hours….but I’ll give you the abridged version. I had been doing work that was about heirlooms and ideas of femininity passed from woman to woman…feminine lineage. I sent letters to the women in my life asking them about their views of femininity and my Granny sent me this long story about how when she went to college, they had social advisors who made sure the girls were turning out to be “proper and educated southern belles.” So I became really interested in etiquette and how women and girls are constantly being told what to do, how to look, and how to be. The name for my show, Clean & Dainty, came from Joan Brumberg’s The Body Project, in her chapter about the way American girls have learned to menstruate (sorry to the boys reading this right now!) She talks about how girls are not taught about the sexual and emotional changes in becoming a woman, but are instead taught to be clean and dainty. She also describes how girls’ bodies have become public….how magazines and advertisements have weaseled their way into being the authority on girls’ looks and demeanors: teaching girls to sit pretty and be decorative objects, basically. So the exhibition was a critique on that, but it was also an homage to the feminine, and a celebration of being able to subscribe to these “rules,” but doing so in a way that is personal and empowering. As I wrote in the statement, the show became “a space of conflicting morals: where modestly hosed legs sit beneath raised hemlines and perfectly polished nails grasp glasses of whiskey.”

Rae: Wow, that sounds intense, heavy, and interesting. I’m going to have to check out that book as well! Did your family encourage your creativity?

Kristin: Yes! My mom majored in Art at Cal State Long Beach, so she always encouraged me to paint and draw and sew. My sisters have always been very supportive as well…my older sister still has a pen & ink drawing displayed in her house that I did 10 years ago! My aunt does some amazing watercolors and just gifted me her old Glimakra table loom, yay!

Rae: What will you be doing now, having graduated from CCA?

Kristin: I want to be involved in some group shows! I’m also really looking forward to taking classes at community college…like Anthropology or French. I’m looking forward to playing my ukulele more. Grad school is on my mind, too…..

Rae: What do you consider to be the key factors to be an emerging artist in today’s world?

Kristin: The one thing that I am always trying to keep in mind is to have confidence in what you are doing. If you are doing it, you are doing it for a reason! And to know at least some of the history of what you’re doing. I am also learning that it is very important (and kind of fun!) to have a web presence…I just got the internet in my apartment, so I’m snazzing up my website and my blog a bit!

Rae: And lastly, music is a huge help with my art-making. What type of music or bands do you listen to while making art?

Kristin: I really like listening to Motown when I work!

Rae: Thanks for the interview Kristin. Check out her website at

http://kristinpetiford.com/home.html

The Art of No Fear: Jennifer Maria Harris

I interviewed artist Jennifer Maria Harris last week at Samovar Tea Lounge about social action, childhood, persisting as an artist, and her upcoming collaborative work.  An exhibition for her Fear Not Project  is currently on display at the Red Poppy Art House.

Harris will also be contributing to Artlarking’s June Neon/Nature and the New Currency show  in collaboration with local band Cartoon Justice.  They will be doing a live musical remix of audio files from the Fear Not radio project, where people call a hotline with voicemails to spread the No Fear message.  Check it out June 4th at the Box Factory (865 Florida @ 21st, SF)!  And read….

The Interview!

Alison Dale: Your site is tallpainter.com.  So who is this tall painter?

Jennifer M. Harris: When I was first working as an artist, I was just doing painting, for probably the first 5, maybe even ten years.  When I was in school I’d always done many many different things and enjoyed them.  But interestingly at one point one of my main painting instructors had expressed the opinion that you shouldn’t cross-craft and diversify, and you should focus.  And although I think there was value to that, that is not the way that I work.  I actually really benefit from doing many different things.  So… straight out of school I was listening to him and I think it also made sense just for me to kind of hone my craft… and I also just love it.  But as time passed I got more and more drawn to other projects from the past:  ….printmaking, but primarily doing different projects that would be installations, public art, social action- I was always really interested in that.

The Man in the Napoleon Hat, the Dog, the Lamb, and the Cat by Jennifer Maria Harris

AD: Yes, I’ve noticed you have done quite a bit of conceptual art pieces. A few of them are chalk based projects- what was that about?

JMH: Yeah- growing up as a teenager during the time of the birth of graffiti art, I did a bit of graffiti.  But I got more interested in doing this kind of impermanent, unsophisticated, and in many ways uncool street art -chalk on sidewalks, like children do.  I figured the benefits are: no one’s going to arrest you for it, you can do it pretty much wherever you want, and it’s this very benign entity.  I also got interested in the fact that it disappears over time.  All of the pieces I did were about sharing stories and how they affect us over time, so that made sense with the medium, as something people would run into and then they slowly disappeared as they walked over it.  And I love seeing how over time the older ones would fade and the newer ones would be the strongest, but it was a nice gradual process.

AD:You were trained as a painter- where did you attend school?

JMH: I initially  went to Virginia Commonwealth University.  I got really lucky getting into their program – I had no idea how good it was, but it’s a fabulous program.  And as part of it, I was able to get a scholarship to study abroad at Loughborough College of Art and Design in the UK.

AD: How did you decide initially that you wanted to be an artist?

JMH: I always wanted to be an artist, was always drawing as a kid….  When I was really small, 3-4 years old, my mother ran a  hair salon.  At one point she had me enrolled in this daycare where kids were running around screaming at each other, and I don’t really remember any adults being present- I”m sure they were, but …. i was really unhappy.  At one point she peeked through the window and saw that I was sitting in the corner crying, kids were hitting eachother, all this chaos.  So she pulled me out and made a deal with me that if I could quietly entertain myself in the salon I wouldn’t have to go to the daycare.  One of the big things that i did was to draw people and animals to keep myself company, because it would get very boring.  I always think of this as an important stage, because a really important aspect of art to me has been creating characters-  many of them are animals, so… entities, beings?  that I really wanted to spend time with but who did not yet exist in the world.   It’s almost like that feeling of missing somebody, and then you see them after a long time- that was how I always felt working.

AD:  How did you decide on art school, officially?

JMH:  Going to art school and choosing it as a profession was a random process, and a bit of a surprise.  In high school I was not in the healthiest place, didn’t apply to colleges.  The process of application at VCU was quick enough that I could commit to it- Literally you just go for an interview, one day, and they told you if you got in.  I think I did my portfolio staying up all night the night before, my typical procrastination at the time, went there, and thankfully got in.   Everything changed for me.  Once I got there, I just got healthy on all kinds of levels .  One of the most healthy parts was learning how to commit 500 percent to what you love.  In terms of artwork, that should always be first and foremost in what youre thinking – not what’s gonna sell, or what other people  will like , but what you love.  And secondly, how to communicate that clearly, so that everyone can hear it.

AD:  Would you absolutely recommend art school to aspiring artists?

JMH:  Yes, because the best way to learn is through lots of other people.  When other people have gone before you doing all of these things, then you can learn quickly from the environment.  VCU accepted around 70 percent of their applicants, which I think is a great idea because who can tell who really has “art skills” when they’re 18?  Because you know, it’s not all about draftsmanship, and how can you tell who’s going to do what?  So they would accept 70 percent and just really kick your butt your first year, so it was all about who cared enough to persist.  And that’s a good way, because when you really get out there it’s the same- I’d say that almost all of the people I know who are working as artists now are really the ones who care enough to persist.

AD:  How do you define art? What is art to you?

JMH:  An interesting thing I recently read about the word art is that the root of it has to do with the place where two things join- almost like the word “joint”, just this place where two things connect and where they articulate- where they connect and move…. I thought that was really cool.  Etymology is obviously really interesting to me.

AD:  One  of your current projects is the Fear Not project.  Can you explain this concept a little bit?

JMH:  The Fear Not Project is based on this idea: iif we were all paying attention to both looking for anti-fear messages in the media and the world around us, and also focusing on sharing those messages with each other, we would benefit.  This, rather than what I think our natural inclination is, which his to look for things that we need to be afraid of, and share that information about what to be afraid of.  I think especially in our current times there’s just so much information everywhere that I think you can end up getting an incorrect view of what the world is like.  And that’s not to say that there aren’t things to be afraid of out there, or really difficult situations, but I do think that our level of focus on fear is not only bad for us, but affects our view of other people.  It makes us more likely to be afraid of other people.  Boundaries like race, religion, politics- for those to be stronger, and more negative because of the emphasis on fear.  Part of the idea behind having people share these anti-fear words is about having them say those words- there’s a nice thing about hearing hundreds of people telling you not to be afraid.

Fear Not Library at Root Division, from fearnot.com

AD:  That’s one thing I’ve seen as a common thread throughout your work, storytelling about that larger connection to people.   JMH:  I really at the heart of it, it’s about having people connect with each other and be united in a goal, without caring about if that other person agrees with them on abortion, or if that other person shares their religion, or is a democrat, or is liberal enough, or republican enough, all of these things.  Because I think in reality the world is a much less scary place when you are connecting with people without regard for those things.  And I know that when people have been willing to connect with me, even if I know that on some deep level they may disagree with how I live my life- that makes me feel so much more inspired with everything that I do, and just safe!  It’s sttange but it’s true, that one person can actually make a difference.

AD:  People can connect to your work May 2nd to June 13th is an exhibition of Fear Not at the Red Poppy Art House (the opening reception was on May 11).
What can we expect at the exhibition?

JMH:  The ongoing exhibition will have over 150 images of Fear Not indirect mail, the hand-written part of the project where people send me written messages that I turn into magnets and put them on the street for other people to find, and the finder can report the find on the website, and also share a little bit about themselves and what they think of it.  Fear Not radio is a sound installation of people who call in to verbally assure us to have no fear to this Hotline:   1-888-END2FEAR (1-888-363-2332)  And Fear Not library is 18 of the best selling books of all time- so that includes books like the Bible, and Quotations from Chairman Mao, but also books like Harry Potter, and Jonathan Livingston Seagull- all of the text in these books has been whited out except for the words “do not be afraid” or similar messages (the Bible has 366 instances of this phrase).

AD:  What are some upcoming projects on your horizon?

JMH:  I’m currently working on a collaboration with Dr. Gino Dante Borges, who has a project called The Wild Self (http://www.thewildself.com/).  The Fear Not/ Wild Self collaboration is going to be called the Yip and Yelp project (a website will launch in June @ http://www.yipandyelp.com).  It’s about connecting with the wild part of our nature and finding a voice to maintain a connection with the animal part of our nature; embracing the uncivilized.  It will be a safe place for people to experiment with this idea.  We will have a toll-free hotline to call as well (1-888-yipyelp) where people can call in and record their wild sounds- all sounds will be anonymous.  These sounds will then be divided by location on an interactive map online.  When hearing these sounds, it will be interesting because it can bring us back to our unseparated, animal nature- like, “is that my accountant, or a the guy from the gas station?”  We also plan to do flashmob-style events to bring the wild nature of people to a public space.

AD:  How did you begin this collaboration?

JMH:  Well, I’ve done very few collaborations- not since I was out of art school, really.  This year is all about bringing more people into my art space.  Gino and I met at a show we were both in at Trickster Art Salon, and then we contacted each other at the same time, kind of serendipitously.

AD:  What is the benefit of collaboration and what is your process?

JMH:  No one told me in art school how collaborations can be important- but they are.  In collaborating with someone, you get a better sense of what you bring creatively, because of how your work can be shown in contrast to theirs.  Also working with people that closely you get to learn so much- they can be great teachers.  Gino Borges is a philosopher- he also brings an awareness of marketing and organization to the table.  I’m more timid at getting people to participate in art projects, and he’s more marketing oriented- together we strike a good balance between coaching people and being a little more aggressive, and being cautious and non-pushy.

We meet once a week at Samovar tea lounge, work 2-3 hours together and discuss, separate tasks for the week, and email throughout when needed.  I feel like collaboration has energized and amplified my work- it’s become a great deal of what I want to do with my artwork as the ideas from Fear Not Project have developed.Thanks to Jennifer Maria Harris for the interview!