Art Space Talk: Alex Golden

Alex Golden attended William’s College, graduating Phi Beta Kappa with majors in studio art and psychology in 2004. After graduating from Williams and working in Brooklyn as an artist’s assistant, Alex spent a year studying drawing and painting in Toronto, Ontario. He is currently enrolled in the Master of Fine Arts program at Hunter College in New York City and expects to graduate in December of 2008.

Though still in school, Alex has exhibited his work intermittently in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Toronto, and New York. He has recently been presented to the Master's program at Christie's as a promising emerging artist, and he was also included in a presentation on the range of contemporary images of the Annunciation at Saint Elizabeth’s College in Morristown, NJ. Alex’s work is in several private collections, including that of renowned collector, John Pigozzi.

Untitled, oil and archival inkjet on canvas mounted to panel, 43 x 57 inches, 2006

Brian Sherwin: Alex, I understand that you are currently enrolled in the Master of Fine Arts program at Hunter College in New York City. Have you enjoyed your studies at Hunter College? Who are your instructors and how have they influenced you?

Alex Golden: Yes, I have really enjoyed being at Hunter. It is a thriving artistic community, filled with smart individuals who are passionate about making art and/or contributing to the field. Not to mention that these are good people, and I have made a lot of good friends. The structure of the program, in my opinion, is pretty much unbeatable: When I came into the program, students were allowed four years to complete the degree (though it has since been lowered to three). That means four years of paying low, public school tuition on a per credit basis and being given a beautiful studio space in the middle of Manhattan for the entire time at no extra cost. Having such a long time to develop ideas and techniques allows artists to really explore their options, to take risks without the pressure of being thrust out into the much-less-forgiving commercial art world. It allows more exposure to the huge variety of artists that makes up the Hunter MFA community as well as to the art world community of New York.

I have had many great instructors at Hunter. Each one has influenced me in a very different way, as each one looks at and makes work in very different ways. I have worked with video artists, mixed media artists, color field painters, post-modern abstract painters and an academic figurative painter. Hunter requires that each MFA student work intensively with at least 6 different professors before choosing one of them to be a thesis advisor.

The Hell of the Present is His Kingdom at Last, oil and archival inkjet on canvas mounted to panel, 58 x 58 inches, 2007

BS: Alex, where else have you studied art? What can you tell us about those experiences?

AG: I did my undergraduate degree at Williams College, getting a B.A. with a double major in art and psychology. Williams was a great place to get my feet wet in my study of art. Because it is a liberal arts program, art was not my sole focus there, though over time, it certainly became my greatest interest. Williams encouraged its art majors to try different media and emphasized conceptual thinking over technique.

After Williams, I studied painting and drawing at the Toronto School of Art in Toronto, Ontario. I did a one-year independent studio program in order to get a portfolio together for grad school applications. It was basically independent work with the guidance of my advisor, painter, Gillian Illes. I also took a figure drawing and anatomy classes while I was there.

BS: I've read that you worked as an artist's assistant to Liza Johnson. What was that experience like? What did you learn from her?

AG: Liza Johnson was my video professor at Williams College (My thesis at Williams consisted of paintings, videos and photographs). I worked for Liza a few times a week for several months doing things like editing on Final Cut and helping her with some film shoots. I particularly enjoyed helping her with the shoots, as it exposed me to an entirely different realm of art making. It was a short lived experience, but one that I look back on fondly.

Index, oil and archival inkjet on canvas mounted to panel, 43 x 57 inches, 2006

BS: You have been a very active artist outside of the classroom-- having exhibited widely -- you were included in a presentation on the range of contemporary images of the Annunciation at Saint Elizabeth's College, your work can be found in several private collection, including that of renowned collector Jean Pigozzi, and you were recently presented to the Master's program at Christie's as a promising emerging artist. In you own words, how did you get to where you are today? Would you say that it takes a great deal of ambition to become a successful artist? Is it fate, luck, or simply the ability to endure?

AG: I definitely make an effort to stay active both in and out of my studio. That said, my top priority right now is my education and continuing to develop my work. I am not in a hurry to get myself out there too quickly, and I actually think that is apparent in my résumé. Every once in a while, I’ll submit slides or jpegs to something because it seems like my work might be a fit (hence, the presentation at St. Elizabeth’s). Also, being at Hunter provides tremendous exposure, particularly at the once-a-semester Open Studios. That is where I have sold some of my work, including to Jean Pigozzi, and that is where one of the Masters students from Christies saw my work.

Becoming a successful artist depends on your definition of "successful." If success is about having some people appreciate what you are doing, then I think it is mixture of dedication, hard work, and luck. If your definition of success includes widespread recognition and monetary stability, then get back to me in 30 years and I’ll let you know if that ever happened!

Purple Ink, oil and archival inkjet on canvas mounted to panel, 43 x 57 inches, 2006

BS: Alex, let us discuss the philosophy and motives behind your work. Based on what I've read, you view yourself as an outsider who takes part in society rather than simply 'looking in', so to speak. You accept the truths-- the norms of society --even though you don't fully accept them. In a sense, you go through the motions-- you walk the walk -- throwing aside your inner questions and doubts in order to embrace outward meaning-- which often means nothing. Can you go into further detail about this-- why these ideas have become the focus of your work? Do correct me if I'm wrong in my interpretation.

AG: I never fully cast aside my questions and doubts about the systems of society, but I try to. I think my work is, at heart, ironic and critical, but I try to get in there and join in what I sometimes perceive to be the absurdity of various belief systems. It is an effort to understand the human propensity to find meaning and then to believe in it, often wholeheartedly and without doubt. Why do we subscribe to the norms that cultures generate for us, even when they seem outdated? Why are we seduced by celebrity and branding? How is it possible for ideological warfare to be waged in the 21st century?

These are the kinds of questions that inspire my work and which I try to answer not with a statement of fact, but with a reflection on experience. It is always a bit of a catch 22 to make critical work, as it implies that the author of the work is somehow exempt from the socio-cultural forces on which s/he is commenting. Though I do feel that my personal experience as a gay man gives me some distance from which to question culture, in no way do I think of myself as exempt or absolved from the human tendency to subscribe to cultural systems. So, my work is more of a reflection on this contradiction in myself, but more importantly, in people in general.
This inquiry seems especially important to me now, at a time when world conflict over belief systems is particularly salient. It is at times like these that belief systems simultaneously crumble under the weight of being challenged and also garner strength as people desperately attempt to preserve them. I try to address the experience of this paradox in light of its absurdity, its humor, and its tragedy.

untitled, oil and inkjet on canvas, 44 x 85 inches, 2006

untitled, oil and inkjet on canvas, 44 x 85 inches, 2006

BS: There seems to be a great deal of psychology buried within your work-- I suppose that can be said of all art --but with your work it seems to be reaching out from within-- pulling at anyone who cares to observe it for those qualities. How exactly has the study of psychology influenced you? By any chance, are you interested in the theories of Carl Jung?

AG: I agree that psychology is a big part of my work. The experience of the paradox I mentioned previously is mostly an existential one, but the psychological component of that is huge. I understand completely why you asked me if I’m interested in Jung, as it could be argued that my work is about how people define themselves, collectively and as individuals. Also, my work often depicts a human drama, one filled with the theatricality of archetypal characters, with a particular emphasis on the Self and the Shadow. That said, Jung is not someone I have thought about until you mentioned him. Looks like I have some reading to do ;)

BS: Past interviewers have noted your distance in that you refuse to answer certain questions or dodge specific topics. Would you say that you prefer that your work speak for you? Can viewers find traces of your inner secrets within your work? When viewed as a whole, do they embody the essence of who you are, who you desire to be, and who you fear becoming?

AG: I, too, like to get inside an artist’s head, just a little bit. But I like to be able to do that by looking at his or her work. While knowing something about an artist’s context can be an important tool for interpretation, knowing all the sensational details of an artist’s life is not always necessary.

phone series installation, oil on canvas and linen, each panel is 24 x 24", 2005-2006

BS: Alex, allow me to ask some questions about your artistic practice. In recent years you have utilized digital photographs and other aspects of photography and technology within the context of your painting practice. Some of these works involve oil paint used directly on digital photographs. However, in the past--based on what I've read --you worked predominately with oil on canvas. Why did you make the move toward different mediums within the context of your painting practice? Was this a sudden change?

AG: I have always been fascinated by photography, and I have always incorporated elements of photography into my paintings. I am interested in the photograph as an artifact of culture, an index of a specific place and time. Regardless of how savvy we get with the manipulation of photography, there is always an initial sense of reality and a suggestion of truth due to its photomechanical process. While the photographer’s decisions influence every picture taken, there is no escaping the sense of reality that comes from the knowledge that the object in a photograph is or was real. I am interested in pitting the sense of reality in a photograph against the more noticeable construction of the painted image. For this reason, I came to a point in my work where the logical next step seemed to be to incorporate the photograph itself into my paintings.

BS: Do you consider yourself a private person as far as creating art is concerned? Or do you openly seek interaction with others about your work? In other words, is your studio door closed or open when you are working?

AG: I shared a studio for two years before moving to a private one this past summer. So, by default, my studio door was always open…until recently. Now, I love being able to choose when I want feedback, and when I don’t. In general, I am pretty private until I get to a point in my work where I need some fresh eyes.

BS: What type of studio routine do you follow? Is your studio practice structured or do you work sporadically? How is that work ethic reflected within the context of your art?

AG: I go to the studio 5 – 6 days per week in the mornings and I work as a private tutor in the afternoons and evenings. Oh, and I do go to classes a few times per week as well. I definitely have periods of intense work in the studio followed by periods that are less productive. A lot of my recent work is extremely time consuming and labor intensive, so once I get on a role with a piece or two, I am usually quite productive. When I’m in between pieces or series, I often have long periods of research and planning.

BS: What are the preliminary steps that you take when thinking about a new piece? Do you keep a sketch journal?

AG: I start with either an idea or an image and work from there. I always make a sketch, often upwards of ten sketches, using Photoshop before I commit to something bigger. I have a whole file of sketches for projects that never happened.

Homage to F.G.T., oil and archival inkjet print on photo paper mounted on Sintra, 22 x 40 inches, 2007

BS: Alex, what are you working on at this time? Also, do you have any exhibits planned for 2008?

AG: I am working on a couple of things. First, I am working on a photographic portrait that is a hybrid of Tammy Faye and myself. It will be an archival inkjet print with some gold leafing in the style of Christian Icon painting. This may be the start of a series, depending on how it turns out. Second, I am making an large (7 feet tall) mixed media version of The Assumption of Tammy Faye.

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to tell our readers about your art?

AG: No, I think we covered it!

You can learn more about Alex Golden by visiting his website-- http://www.alexgolden.net/. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space News: Russian Art Boom at Sotheby's

"Bluebells", an avant-garde piece by Natalia Goncharova and the most valuable work sold.

Over the past two days Sotheby's in London sold 79.8 million dollars worth of Russian art. The work included Orthodox icons, Russian paintings, works in porcelain and Faberge works. The large some of money set a record as being the most successful sale of Russian art to date. The record was formerly held by Christie's International-- which broke the record in 2006.

Sotheby's record breaking Russian art sale is due in part to the growing economy in Russia-- where there has been an annual 15 percent increase in millionaires each year since the late 1990s. Many of Russia's wealthiest feel that it is their duty to buy pieces of their national heritage. This growth in wealth and nationalism has caused Russian art prices to skyrocket. You can learn more about Sotheby's by visiting the Sotheby's website: www.sothebys.com

Art Space Talk: James Robert Ford

James Robert Ford is a contemporary British mixed media and installation artist. James attended Goldsmiths College, London. His artwork is often based around social interaction and include elements of game play, participation, communication and humor, and is recognizable in form by its heavy use of the Internet as a means of creating, displaying and promoting artworks.

I am not a fridge, Fridge door, magnetic letters, 52 x 80 x 11 cm, 2007

Brian Sherwin: James, you studied at Goldsmiths College. Who were your instructors at that time? Where else have you studied art?

James Robert Ford: When I was at Goldsmiths my tutors included Gerard Hemsworth, Jemima Stehli, Milly Thompson and Andy Harper, among others. I also studied at Nottingham Trent Uni for my BA and Winchester School of Art for my Foundation.

BS: James, it has been said that your work is concerned with the loss of innocence and the "endearment of the loser". Would you like to add to that description?

JRF: Those terms are based around the notion of replaying childhood past-times, pursuits and obsessions. Endearment of the loser infers that we should feel compassion towards the "losers" of society but also acknowledge that everyone is a bit of a loser. We all have a hobby or interest that we do not openly talk about for fear of ridicule. I openly display my regressive interests in my art and hope that the "loser" aspect of collecting toy cars, filming my cat or jumping around a house will allow the viewer to get past the pretension barrier of art and see the work in a new light.

BS: James, can you go into more detail about why you infuse your work with humor and a sense of play? Would you say that people need to remember that art can be fun and serious at the same time?

JRF: Exactly - as I was saying before, there needs to be a way into the art for the audience. Be that collective memories, humour, playfulness or some other connection. This "key" is very important. Without a way to unlock the door to a piece of art, you can't begin to see all the other levels it may be operating on.

BS: I understand that you made a British version of the General Lee... can you tell us about that? How did you create it and what was the motive behind it?

JRF: The piece was called "General Carbuncle" and it was an assemblage sculpture - 4,500 toy cars glued to a 2nd hand Ford Capri, made to look like the General Lee car. This work was 3 years in the making, way before there was any talk of a Dukes of Hazzard film. It took a long time to build because of problems with finding the right Capri, storing it, sourcing and buying all the toy cars, receiving donated toy cars and applying for funding. At the time (and still now) I was annoyed that American TV seemed to be wanting our successful British comedy shows but re-casting them and re-scripting them for an American audience. Shows like Absolutely Fabulous, The Office, etc. So I wanted to make a clumsy (as Americans stereotype the British as bumbling idiots) British version of an American screen symbol. Hence the General Lee and all it's accompanying non political correctness.

Six Degrees of Smoking, social interaction, web project, 2005-present

BS: James, some of your other works have involved Bond film plot structure, tracking the lives of lost cigarette lighters... can you discuss a few of these works and the motives behind them?

JFR: A lot of ideas in my work come from childhood experiences or everyday peculiarities. For the lighter project, I noted that I was constantly be asked by fellow smokers if they could borrow my lighter (because they had lost theirs). I would then sometimes forget to ask for it back, and hence loose my own. One day in Italy I lent my lighter to a girl from Finland who was flying home the next day. I never got it back and this got me thinking - I'd traveled with a lighter from England to Italy, and now the lighter was on it's way to Finland, all through getting passed on between smokers. So I set up a website and labeled up 250 lighters with instructions for the smoker to photograph themselves with the lighter, email or text the photo to me and then pass it on, to see where the lighters all ended up. Inevitably, many of the lighters never made it past the first person and were instantly lost down the back of a sofa or dropped in the street on a night out. I remember one instance in particular where I received an email from a participant in the project saying he wouldn't be passing the lighter on as he wanted to keep hold of it in case I became famous and he could sell it!

9 Rotating Rainbow Cranes, Animated screensaver

BS: What are you working on at this time? Can you give us any details?

JRF: At the moment I'm working toward a group show in January and my first solo show in London in May. It's at a relatively new gallery called FERREIRA PROJECTS in Shoreditch (www.ferreiraprojects.com). I'm producing a whole new body of work based around Origami cranes. It's a progression from the paper folding I've used in my work in the past - for example Homage to a Crap Capri was a 1/4 size replica of a Ford Capri folded from one sheet of cardboard, and Fortune Tower was an online animation based on the Fortune Teller object that you used to make and play with your friends at school. It's the mystery of these folded objects that intrigues me - even if you are given a folded crane, a car or a fortune teller, you won't be able to figure out how to make it unless you are shown.

Homage to a crap Capri, cardboard, resin, paint, 107 x 32 x 38 cm, 2007

BS: James, from what I've read you expect participation from people who view your work. Due to this you often utilize the Internet as a way to 'connect' people to your work. Would you say that you draw inspiration from viewer activity? Does the opinions of viewers give you a sense of energy that you take into the next piece?

JRF: The Internet is a great way to connect and interact with viewers of the work. Testament to this was the House Gymnastics project that I did back in 2002 that is still ticking over in the background. Created out of boredom from being jobless, myself and Spencer Harrison started to literally climb the walls of our house. We began to create positions and give them names. We'd show people at parties and they'd want to see more so we set up a website. Friends would tell their friends about it and soon we were getting images of strangers performing the moves we'd invented and even creating new ones, which we published online. This site turned into a cult hit and spored a TV pilot, a published book and some art exhibitions. Audience input and effective collaboration does create a lot of energy because it shows that people are interested in the work and their involvement enhances the art.

House Gymnastics, performance, photography, publication, sculpture, website, 2002-present www.housegymnastics.com

BS: James, how important of a role do you think the Internet will play in the lives of artists from this point on? Most people tend to feel that the Internet empowers artists... do you think it can harm artists as well? What is your opinion?

JRF: It's definitely empowered me and a lot of my generation of artists - we were graduating when the Internet first started being used for arts promotion so it was new, exciting and untapped. It can harm artists in the way that nowadays almost every artist has a website or online profile. It's harder for the viewer and potential buyers to filter through the drudge. Not saying that my work is better than drudge, but if someone thought it was good they'd have to sift through a lot of other artists' profiles to get to mine. And this process can be overwhelming for the viewer - take for example the Saatchi gallery website. A great idea that has allowed thousands of artist to exhibit there work online. But trying to find something "good" is like picking through a massive tin of Quality Street for the last elusive Strawberry Cream.

BS: What other thoughts do you have about technology and art?

JRF: Technology can enhance art but it can also be detrimental to it. "New media" art (I despise that term) can become too hung up on how new and clever it is. New methods and outputs for artistic practice need to be married with creativity and great ideas.

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to tell us about your work?

JRF: The work I'm making now is some of the best I've made. Initially I started folding paper cranes as a way to escape - Origami to me was like what playing chess was to Duchamp, although I never intended to retire at this point.

You can learn more about James Robert Ford by visiting his website-- www.jamesrobertford.com. You can take part in his blog project by visiting www.33thingstodobeforeyouare10.co.uk. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Lynn Digby

Lynn Digby describes herself as a contemporary realist. Much of her work is focused on the search for harmony in complexity-- realism serves as her vehicle. Awareness of the paint surface and tactile qualities of brush and canvas are key to her approach. Lynn explains that she wants her paintings to obviously be what they are without being overly derivative, photographic, or formulaic.

Sharpie Chic, oil on canvas, 20" x 16"

Brian Sherwin: Lynn, tell us about your early years-- your early artistic influences?

Lynn Digby: I think I’ve always drawn. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t making art. As a child, I remember looking at wonderful art from the National Gallery, and various collections from all over the world in books at my aunt’s house. I remember being just transfixed at the paintings, and wanting to paint.

BS: Lynn, where did you study? Can you tell us about that experience?

LD: I went to college and graduated from Mount Union College, majoring in art education. I have never "studied" studio art as such. I am self-taught for the most part.

Pierced Portrait, oil on canvas, 16" x 12"

BS: Lynn, you have stated that realism serves as your vehicle in discovering harmony and complexity. You went on to say that you do not want your work to be overly derivative, photographic, or formulaic. Can you go into further detail about your goal in painting? The direction you have taken?

LD: I had decided a long time ago not to be overly worried about what was "in style" or what particular movement was the current rage. That never made sense because I feel that making art is personal and relevant only in the context of my personal view. My personal view is, of course, influenced by my exposure to art and to my environment. But other than that influence, I can’t jump on bandwagons and still make art that is authentic to me. So, my interests have led me to want to communicate a kind of richness that I see in a way that facilitates that message.

I have worked with abstract, non-objective pieces in the past (trying to be novel and relevant to what was considered modern and cutting edge, I suppose), but they have left me unhappy because they can’t quite get to the essence of what I am trying to convey. I understand this approach, but it’s not a vehicle of any use for my work now.

Working with realism is risky because there is so much of it out there that IS derivative, a copy of something better left as a photograph. But for me, the photograph is the beginning only. I use it to give me information that allows me to overlay a sort of ordered saturation. I start with an idea, and use conceptual sketches, photos and direct observation to get me where I need to go.

I think this is what is misunderstood in good photo-realist art, too. I’m not a photo-realist myself, but I know some darn fine ones, and the reason they are, is that they take the image and make it both hyper-real and personal at the same time. They create little worlds within the outwardly detailed world of the photo. They give it MORE.

I try to do the same thing. I like the idea of using a classical painting approach that has proven its immediacy and effectiveness over centuries. I feel no need to reinvent the wheel, or create a new artistic language, because this one resonates with me and serves my needs. I find it exciting to take the well- established language and use it to say what I want to say today. The use of photographic references is a stepping-stone to the concept I’ve envisioned for the painting. I make and manipulate many photographs to give me what I need for my basic idea. Then, the photographs are used as jumping off points to help me achieve my goal for the work. In some ways it’s cool not to worry too much about the process, too. I am really not process driven. I’m concept driven, I suppose. I want the product to stand on its own and the process to take a back seat.

In Your Face, oil on canvas, 11" x 14"

BS: Lynn, you have also stated that you look for serenity and stillness within chaos. You must admit that to some degree we live in chaotic times... how is this reflected in your portraits? While conveying this chaos... how do you find calm?

LD: I love to take absolute chaos of texture, color, form and movement and delve into this, but at the same time, find a sense of unity and calm that keeps it all together. I think this has to do with ordering values carefully as much as anything. But I am also trying to achieve an overall sense of quiet, of focus.

I’m struggling with this all the time. I want there to be another more hidden layer of emotion. I guess I’m looking for a kind of spiritual thing. It frustrates me constantly! People are endlessly complex and in motion, but there is always an essence that isn’t. It’s the constant. I want that to be what presents itself through the outward embellishments and decorations people display.

BS: Lynn, you do not attempt to glamorize the subjects of your portraits... in a sense, you focus on capturing the authentic person that you see. Do you see this as a critical practice? Are you looking for the outward or inner flaws of the individual?

LD: I guess I come from the place of really liking people. I enjoy seeing how people decorate themselves, but I tend to look past the outward "stuff" and want to meet the person within. I find people with interesting features, well, more interesting. I don’t see flaws, as such. People are people, and usually quite interesting and attractive, despite not having perfect features. I’d like to think that the fact that I like my subjects comes through. I don’t glamorize because there is no need, and it’s inherently dishonest to do so. Instead, I try to give an honest, but sympathetic presentation of the real person. (It just occurred to me that I wouldn’t want to paint someone I didn’t like…something to consider!)

I just see no point in negativity or derision for their own sakes. The path can be walked between cynicism and sugarcoated glamorization. The unembellished truth of a person’s appearance is far more interesting to me.

BS: People often hide aspects of themselves while in public. Do you try to convey this in your work? Are these portraits a study in psychology?

LD: I don’t think so. I am just trying to convey who these people are to me, their personality, and their liveliness. I sometimes choose subjects that have outward extreme body decorations, because we tend to stare at those and not get past them. I find it interesting to try to get past all that and make the center of interest something else.

BS: Would you say that they are an exploration of spirituality?

LD: I think so, more and more. Recently, I became aware of symbolist Gail Potocki’s work, and her work has become a major influence in my way of thinking approaches for new work. I like the idea of subliminal, and symbolic elements within the work used to convey a deeper layer of meaning.

BS: Lynn, can you tell us about your studio practice? Do you follow a routine?

LD: Routine? What’s that? I am a total failure at work ethic. It’s my Achilles’ heel. I am trying to force myself to work within a routine, because I know I need that, but so far, I’m all over the place.

BS: In regards to painting-- what is the medium that you prefer the most?

LD: I love oil paint. I’ve only worked for 3 years in this medium, so I’m really still learning the basics of it, but it’s sumptuous and sticky, and so buttery to blend. And I love the rich color, too. I used to do a lot of watercolor, and the transition to oil was remarkably easy. I am pretty sure I’ll never look back.

The Red Dress, oil on canvas, 24" x 12"

BS: Can you discuss some more of your influences? What artists or art movements have inspired you?

LD: Historic artists that have influenced me deeply are: Vermeer, Sargent, Carravagio, Velasquez, and Rembrandt to name only a few. As I mentioned before, recently Gail Potocki’s work has made me very excited. But some other living artists whose work I love (I can’t name them all. There are so many!) are Alex Kanevsky, Sean Cheetham, Jeremy Lipking, Hanjo Schmidt, Marti Jones Dixon, Nahem Shoa, Rose Fremuth-Frazier, and many others. One of the wonderful things about networking online is that I have been able to "meet" some of these people and discuss art with them. This is an amazing and tremendously useful thing!

BS: What is your goal as an artist? What do you hope to achieve with your work?

LD: I want to be able to communicate something that is beneath the surface, I suppose. It’s hard to find words to describe, I’m afraid. It’s like an underlying buzz of something else that lies just below the surface of the senses. Something not visible, really, but present. I didn’t say that very well.

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your art?

LD: I think I’d like to say that I am comfortable with having a small voice. I don’t think my work will ever set the art world on fire, but to me, this isn’t what making art is about. I am really happy to pursue my own ideas and play with their expression in paint. My wish is that people who see them enjoy them, and that some of what I am trying to do is made clear. That’s about it, I guess.

You can learn more about Lynn Digby by visiting the following page-- www.lynndigby.artspan.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Sylvia Sleigh

Sylvia Sleigh is considered by many to be a living legend of the art world. Her work has graced the pages of important art publications and can be found in several college text books. Sylvia inspired a generation of artists by making some of the first major cracks in the 'glass ceiling' of the art world. Sylvia explains that her paintings stress the equality of men and women-- they portray man and woman as thoughtful and intelligent by capturing a sense of dignity and humanism. These works emphasize love and joy.

Sylvia made her mark in the 1970s when she painted a series of works reversing stereotypical artistic themes involving nude figures. Sylvia's paintings depicted naked men in poses usually associated with women. Some of these paintings directly alluded to existing works, such as her gender-reversed version of Ingres's The Turkish Bath-- the reclining man in her version is her husband, Laurence Alloway. Philip Golub Reclining alludes similarly to the Rokeby Venus by Velazquez. However, other works equalize the roles of men and women, such as the 1976 Concert Champetre, in which all of the figures are nude, unlike its similarly composed namesake by Titian, in which only the women are nude.

Situation Group Portrait by Sylvia Sleigh

Brian Sherwin: Sylvia, can you tell our readers about your early years? Can you recall any experiences from your childhood that influenced your decision to pursue art as an adult? Did any of your family members influence you?

Sylvia Sleigh: My mother, Katherine Miller, commonly known as Kitty, has been a tremendous influence on me all my life. She created a beautiful bed sitting room in a large room at the top of my Grandmother’s house with fascinating books of European paintings & fine art magazines with beautiful color illustrations. (The color illustrations were unusual at this time, because of the expense – so, this was even more precious.) She read me French fairy tales and the Iliad and The Odyssey. She was also a great story teller.

My mother went to South Africa when I was nine and came back five years later. Prior to her departure to South Africa, mother sold all the books and furniture in large room. She left me with a kind and loving governess, Frances Simmonds, a clergyman’s daughter who taught me water colors. We lived in Hove in Sussex, England. And in those days the country was only walking distance away. We were close to the The Downs, so we picked wild flowers and painted them when we came home. Unfortunately she did not stay very long as grandma sent her away. She often sent people away when I was fond of them.

Soon after my mother returned from Africa she went to live in the extreme southeast corner of France -Les Alpes Maritimes. In a small walled town called Vence in the mountains.Vence is famous for being home to artists, sculptors and painters, including Matisse, who painted my half sister. There I painted my first landscapes. My mother gave me my first box of oil paints when I was 14 years old with a palate, canvas and brushes. The first thing that I painted was from my imagination, the head of a young woman with long brown hair in tears. There I painted my first landscapes in watercolors and oils.

Just before I went to Brighton School of Art when I was just 17, my school friend Frances Kirkhope and I took some lessons from an elderly RA (Royal Academician) who was a talented portrait painter and when we went to France to stay with mother we painted portraits of each other (on different canvas) reclining in evening dresses. Which I was very pleased with at the time. On another occasion I painted a portrait of my step father (head and shoulders) Joseph Canceda.

Maureen Conner and Paul Rosano: Venus and Mars by Sylvia Sleigh

BS: Sylvia, I've read that you were still living in Europe during WWII. How did those years impact you as a person and as an artist?

SS: I was not in Europe during the war. I was in Brighton, England. At the age of 23 I had a Shop, I made hats, coats and dresses. I moved in-land during the war. So, there was no real impact. I just could not do anything. I moved back to Brighton a few months later as we realized that England would not be invaded and we would be secure. I lived in a beautiful coast guard cottage. I did not reopen my shop. I did paint during this time.

I married my first husband Michael Greenwood in November 1941 and reluctantly I moved to London with him. I met Michael while I attended school at Brighton School of Art. Back in London, if there was an air raid warning I would put on my tin hat and with one of my neighbors, we kept watch in the streets for the "doodle bug" or the Vergeltungswaffe, The V-1, German guided missile.

Lawrence Alloway with Bowtie by Sylvia Sleigh

BS: Sylvia, why did you decide to move to the States? Did you feel any sort of isolation upon arriving? Can you recall any of your first experiences in the United States? How did that influence you as an artist?

SS: I did not really decide to move to the States. Lawrence Alloway, my husband, was offered a job teaching Modern Art history at Bennington College, Vermont. As he was badly in need of work he was delighted and honored to go. He was offered a year and had always wanted to go. He had his wish in 1958 he had a Foreign Leader Grant and for a month traveled all over the states and visited Bennington because Clement Greenberg told him Betty Parsons was driving to Bennington the next day where there was a show of Barnet Newman.

When he arrived he met the chairmen of the Art Department, Gene Gossens and the faculty. We had met Clement Greenberg in England and he came to see us when he arrived. As the visit was only a school year. I did not mind. I had not wanted to come to America. I asked Lawrence to be sure to come from home in a year. I was very lonely at first as Lawrence was teaching or in his office most of the day and I did not know anyone. But I did do a lot of painting. It had a beautiful landscape. I soon got to know people by painting portraits of the art faculty. We also were friendly with the drama faculty as one of the other new members was as new as we were. He was the playwright in residence.

By the time the year was up I was very happy in the States and did not want to come home. The art scene was particularly exciting and we were especially friendly with Barnet Newman and Alex Lieberman who were encouraging and interested in my work. I felt very stimulated and eager to do large paintings! I even got some useful advice from Clement Greenburg!

The Turkish Bath by Sylvia Sleigh

BS: Sylvia, in the 1970s you painted a series of works that reversed stereotypical artistic themes by featuring naked mean in poses that are traditionally associated with women. Some directly alluded to existing works, such as your gender-reversed version of Ingres's The Turkish Bath. Some of your other works, such as Concert Champetre, equalize the roles of men and women by displaying the entire figures nude. I'm certain that you have been asked countless times about the motive behind these works-- however, can you recall anything about them that you may not have shared before?

SS: Although I think that through the Ages in most countries women have been treated rather badly it is important not to hate men – they are here to stay! Throughout my career I have found many kind and helpful men, including my second husband. I think we need to explain our position. I asked Lawrence when we were courting if he thought I am inferior to the most stupid and unpleasant men you can think of you ought not be with me.

BS: As you know, the art world has been faced with gender related issues. At one time the art world was very male-dominated. However, it would seem that the art world has been more equal than ever before in recent years. Would you agree with that statement? Or do feel that there is more that needs to be done to even the playing field, so to speak? What changes have you noticed? What changes still need to be made?

SS: I do think things have improved for women in general there are many more women in Government, in law and corporate jobs, but its very difficult in the art world for women to find a gallery.

Philip Golub Reclining by Sylvia Sleigh

BS: Sylvia, I've read that when you were an art student you were told that you had no talent by an instructor. Obviously you have a great deal of talent-- having received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation. Do you have any words of encouragement for art students who are degraded by their instructors or peers? Perhaps you have some words of wisdom for art students in general?

SS: I can only say that one has to be very single minded, if not obstinate and think that just doing the work is important though one does really need some encouragement. However one usually has something one needs, to express which gives one great satisfaction and there is a pleasure of knowing other artists.

BS: Sylvia, you mentioned that it is difficult in the art world for women to find a gallery. Do you think this will change in the near future? In your opinion, what steps can men and women take together to improve upon this?

SS: Although I think many men can be censored for their bad attitude and bad treatment of women. I have found a number of men understanding and helpful. I think we should explain to them our many difficulties and try to help them to understand that equality would really be helpful to them too. A real partnership would strengthen both genders and save men the trouble of trying to be superior. They need to feel secure then they would not feel threatened. Mother and teachers could help there.

Annunciation by Sylvia Sleigh

BS: Sylvia, what is your view on the art star mentality that seems to have taken over the art world-- young artists earning thousands of dollars for their work straight out of art school with little to no reputation to warrant that price? Many of these artists are driven into obscurity after their moment of instant fame has passed. In regards to the business side of art... is this practice damaging to the art world as a whole? Should young artists be wary of instant success?

SS: Some things in the 60s were similar to today’s situation, but on a much smaller scale. I am sure the galleries love to have 50% of the large sums of money the students earn. I hope some are female. Any artist having instant success should enjoy it! Remembering at the same time that the situation is so momentary it is not to be depended on.

A.I.R Group Portrait by Sylvia Sleigh

BS: Sylvia, when all is said and done... what do you hope that future generations gain from your art?

SS: A friend of mine asked me to say in two words what my work was about and was very Surprised when I said, "Love and Joy". I have always felt so strongly that there are so many wonderful things to enjoy we could all have a happy and satisfying life. But of course with global warming and the horrible political scene who knows. In 2003 I decided that I needed a motto well mottoes are usually in Latin which gives them Grandeur & prestige. So, I chose a line from an old time popular song "Remember you’re the one who can fill the world with sunshine." A kind friend translated it into Latin: "Tene memoria tu es quisdam quie mundum cum luce solis compiere potes."

You can learn more about Sylvia Sleigh by visiting her website-- www.sylviasleigh.com. Information about Sylvia can also be found on the I-20 Gallery website-- www.i-20.com. A huge thanks goes to Douglas John for helping during the interview process. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Sonya Sklaroff

Sonya Sklaroff is inspired by the urban landscape. From her studio in SoHo she captures the energy and character of New York City. Her paintings frequently include water towers, fire escapes, street lamps, and other seemingly mundane elements of the NYC infrastructure. However, these structures are just one aspect of her paintings-- at the core of her work is a strong interest in abstraction. Sonya challenges herself with different methods of composition, contrasting elements of light and dark, complementarycolors, and negative space.

School Bus in Times Square, oil on panel, 36x48

Brian Sherwin: Sonya, you studied at Rhode Island School of Design and Parsons School of Design. Can you tell us about these experiences? Who were your instructors? What kind of student were you?

Sonya Sklaroff: Studying at RISD was an amazing experience. I was surrounded by students who were so similar to me: dedicated and creative artists who enjoyed working in the studio all day and all night. The Freshman Foundation program was one of the most challenging and best years of my life; I was forced to use new materials and think in a whole new way. I carved a rock, made a paper mache tree installation, learned to bind a book, learned to use a glue gun, and sculpted in foam core.

During my junior year I concentrated on painting portraits. Of all the instructors who supported and influenced my work, one to single out is David Frazer. He was positive and energetic; we keep in touch and he continues to be an inspiration. Additionally Susan Vander Closter, my literature professor, opened up a whole new world for me with books by Nobakov, Wharton, Gogol, Stendhal, and so many others. I remember working on a portrait in painting class, and when the model would take a break, I’d whip out and read a page or two of Virginia Woolf!

I had already spent a few years as a professional artist by the time I did my graduate work at the Parsons School of Design. The best aspect of Parsons was the visiting faculty: each week I’d have a different well-known artist in my studio to critique my work. One of the highlights was having Faith Ringgold as a graduate critic. Her encouragement and her insights had a great influence on me.

Five Water Towers at Dusk, oil on panel, 30x30

BS: Sonya, in regards to the European Honors Program in Rome, Italy... can you tell us about RISD's selection process? How did your experience in Rome influence you as an artist?

SS: RISD selected 25 students to attend the one-year program in Rome. Candidates were required to have excellent grades and also have written recommendations from RISD faculty. In Providence, I had focused my junior year on portraiture. But during my senior year in Rome, I was fascinated by the architecture and the daily life in Italy. After a while, I set aside my portrait painting and instead opted to go out and draw in my sketchbook all day long. I drew the buildings, the people in the piazzas, sculptures, the cafes, and churches. I still look back at these sketchbooks. I realized during my year in Rome that I needed to explore and record the outside world, transferring a larger space onto a canvas.

BS: Sonya, you have stated that the urban landscape inspires you-- have you always had a love for it? Why does it touch you?

SS: The urban landscape supplies me with an excuse to play with light and shadow, complementary color, and composition. I never tire of New York City because it continually provides me with new images depending on the time of day, the weather, and my mood. The city has an intense intermingling of light and darkness, and the architecture creates a wide variety of negative space shapes like you don’t really find anywhere else.

Three Water Towers and Red Sky, oil on panel, 30x30

BS: Sonya, would you like to discuss how you mesh a realistic or representational approach with an abstract perspective? Your work is not simply about buildings and the NYC infrastructure... tell us what is at the core of these works...

SS: Even though my paintings are derived from life, I focus on abstract ideas. Composition is the most important element to my paintings. I may start a painting and if it is not working, then I may add or subtract something to enhance the composition. In this way I am not relying solely on realism. I also will not remain true to life when I’m working on the color. If a sky is a warm tone, I may change it to red. If a building is sunlit, I may exaggerate the color of it. The subjects and scene are only a starting point.

Water Tower and Lamp Post, oil on panel, 30x30

BS: In your work you often capture aspects of the city that are overlooked by most people. Upon viewing your work the viewer is reminded of what can be conveyed through the most mundane of structures. How do you 'see' the city, so to speak-- how do you decide upon the sections that you utilize within the context of your work?

SS: I am drawn to the more rugged and older parts of the city. Like any living organism, a building or neighborhood must mature; it develops character over time. I love the silhouetted dark shapes of the water towers against the bright sky, or the patterns of the fires capes. Many who envision New York, think of the Empire State Building or the skyline. I love to paint the New York that people tend to walk by. If I do paint the Empire State Building or another famous landmark, it is generally not the main focus of the painting.

BS: Can you discuss your process? How do you start a painting? Do you see the image in your mind first? Do you draw it out? When do you know that you have observed something that you must capture?

SS: I know when I have to paint something by the feeling I get when I look at the scene. It may be one particular element – like a sliver of light hitting the street at an angle. I work on a colored burnt sienna or yellow ochre ground, and usually sketch out the composition with an ultramarine blue wash mixed with a lot of turpentine directly onto the panel. I’ve been using a lot of Windsor and Newton Liquin, a fast drying medium that gives the paint a rich viscosity and varies the shine of the paint. I also work on panel and not canvas. I love the firmness of the panel and how it provides me with a slick surface and no bounce as I’m painting.

Cafe in the Snow, oil on panel, 24x24

BS: Sonya, what are you working on at this time?

SS: Right now I’m working on lots of paintings for my upcoming solo shows in 2008 and 2009. While the work for these shows is almost all cityscapes, I also find time to go out to the country to paint outdoors, en plein air, and work on smaller colorful paintings of the fall foliage, old Victorian houses, and quaint towns. My last two painting trips were to Nyack, New York, and Gloucester, Massachusetts. Focusing on a different subject matter helps to keep my work fresh. I try to travel often to constantly add new subjects to my visual vocabulary. This adds a new dimension to my cityscapes.

BS: Where can our readers observe your work? Are you represented by a gallery? Do you have a website?

SS: My personal website is www.sonyasklaroff.com. I am currently represented by a number of galleries: David Findlay Galleries in New York; Jenkins Johnson Gallery in San Francisco, CA; Sparts Gallery in Paris, France; Cavalier Galleries in Nantucket, MA and Greenwich, CT; Lagalery in St. Paul de Vence, France; and Galerie des Remparts in Bordeaux, France. I also have an art agent in New York, Odile Gorse, whose website is www.goartonline.com. Until February 2008 you can see my work on view at the Corning Gallery at Steuben Glass (667 Madison Avenue) in New York.

Winner on Canal, oil on panel, 36x48

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your work or your love for NYC?

SS: I love New York City because of its architecture, the people, and the endless inspiration that it supplies me for my work. But I think the things I love most about New York are the little things that I notice when I’m walking out my door every morning to go to my studio. The taxicabs rushing by, the trash trucks collecting garbage, the people walking briskly to work, the smell of the street vendors selling roasted chestnuts and pretzels and hot dogs, the rumble of the subway under my feet, the steam seeping out of street manhole covers… I walk outside every morning and think how lucky I am to be here.

You can learn more about Sonya Sklaroff by visiting her website-- www.sonyasklaroff.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Henry Horenstein

Henry Horenstein has worked as a photographer, teacher, and author since the early 1970s-- his career as a teacher started at Harvard in 1974. Henry is author of over 30 books, including many monographs (HONKY TONK, HUMANS, CREATURES, AQUATICS, CANINE, RACING DAYS). His newest book CLOSE RELATIONS was recently published by powerHouse Books; it’s a collection of photographs he made as a student of Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind’s at RISD in the early 1970s. Henry's textbooks have been widely used by hundreds of thousands of photography students over past 30 years. Henry lives in Boston where he continues to photography, exhibit, publish, and teach at the Rhode Island School of Design, where he is professor of photography. He is known for being one of the most influential photography educators in the United States.

Brian Sherwin: Henry, tell us about your background-- are there any early experiences you would like to share in regards to your first years working with photography? When did you decide to first pick up a camera?

Henry Horenstein: I started out as a history student at University of Chicago. It was the late 1960s and everyone, including me, felt a little restless. A roommate showed me how to use a camera and I was hooked. Taking pictures was a lot more interactive, and a lot more fun, than study in the library stacks.

BS: Henry, you have worked as a photographer, author, and teacher since the early 1970s. How were you able to find balance while working in so many directions? Would you say that one pursuit feeds off the next, so to speak?

HH: For me, it's one of the same. My professional work is teaching and photographing and I enjoy them equally. More fun and rewarding than just teaching or just taking pictures. The books are the natural outlets for my ideas about teaching, thus the textbooks, and my personal photography, thus the monographs.

BS: You studied under Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind at RISD in the early 1970s. Can you discuss how they influenced you as a young photographer? Did they inspire you to be come a professor of photography at RISD?

HH: They were both great teachers, with very different styles. I think I learned from Aaron to try hard to be supportive of students and to not lord my experience over them. I learned from Harry that hard works get results. And I learned from both of them that the life of a teacher/photographer was a life worth pursuing. Sounds a little silly now, but in the early 1970s there weren't that many role models for this kind of career goal. As for teaching at RISD, this was blind luck. I taught at several schools before returning to RISD as a teacher, then a job came available and I got it.

BS: Henry, your textbooks have been widely used by hundreds of thousands of photography students over the past 30 years. How do you feel knowing that you inspire young minds to create-- that you have taken part in their instruction?

HH: I feel very appreciative and lucky. When I wrote my first textbook, schools were just beginning to offer a lot of photography classes, so there was need for such a book. Timing, as they say, is everything.

BS: Are you writing anything at this time? Also, where is the best place for our readers to find your books if they are interested?

HH: Working on books of my own work—one called ANIMALIA, out spring 08, is a compilation of my animal photos. Another is on burlesque. Always revising a textbook, it seems. If people have an independent bookstore nearby, I suggest supporting them. Otherwise, AMAZON or some other online retailer is probably the best place to find my books.

BS: Henry, you are known for you unique manner of capturing your subject matter. For example, your photographs of the animal kingdom-- often characterized by shooting very close to the subject -- are at times difficult to identify at first glance. Can you discuss why you capture subjects in this manner?

HH: Well, I'm trying to find a different way to see the animals. So many good pictures from so many great photographers of these subjects over the years. Otherwise why bother? I am trying to bring a more intimate look, to see if the animals can "tell" us something, not necessarily about them, but maybe us. There's a photo of a texas-map turtle, for example, treading water. That's how so many of us feel so often ,I think.

BS: Henry, your Humans series of photographs explore the human body as a form of landscape. These images have been noted for never giving way to aesthetic perfection. We live in a fairly open society, yet the general public is still often wary of nudity. Would you say that part of your goal with Humans is to challenge viewpoints concerning the nude human form? Can you go into detail about this series of photographs-- the motive behind them?

HH: Really they are extensions of the animal photos. I like the roughness (grain, contrast, varying focus planes) because they show another side of the human body. And I try to show man and women, not just one or the other. But these pictures have little to do with the people or sexuality or the usual things nude photos are about. They are meant to see their subjects in a different light and maybe suggest something about ourselves.

BS: Henry, how do you decide on a theme to explore? The possibilities seem endless-- how do you decide what to focus on?

HH: They are endless. I just pick subjects that interest me and that make good photographic subjects. Simple. I am not working for a client, in the traditional sense. Bad news: I may never get paid. Good news: I get to do what I want.

BS: What are you working on at this time with your photography? Also, will you be exhibiting in the near future?

HH: The books I mentioned above. Yes, some shows. Always trying. There's animal work up in Cambridge, MA now at the Harvrad Museum of Natural History www.hmnh.harvard.edu and at Gallery 339 in Philadelphia www.gallery339.com in the spring. Also, some work in Paris in a group show called Bettes et Hommes www.villette.com/fr/mainprog.htm.

BS: Henry, what kind of equipment do you use?

HH: Canon 35mm film cameras and 5D digital. Fuji 645 and Mamiya 6 medium-format film cameras.

BS: Finally, do you have any advice for photographers who are just starting out?

HH: My advice is a cliche, I'm afraid, but here goes: Be yourself. Don't let other talk you out of what you want to do. Listen. Consider. Make your own way. There are many ways to skin a cat.

You can learn more about Henry Horenstein by visiting his website-- www.henryhorenstein.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Brian Alfred

Brian Alfred lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. He received his Masters of Fine Arts from Yale University in 1999. Since that time he has enjoyed solo exhibitions at the Mary Boone Gallery, Max Protetch Gallery, Sandroni Rey Gallery, SCAI the Bathhouse, and Haunch of Venison. Alfred's work has garnered many awards including a Joan Mitchell Foundation Award and a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. His work is represented in many important collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum.

Spray by Brian Alfred

Brian Sherwin: Brian, it is my understanding that you were born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-- you now live in Brooklyn, New York. How did moving to Brooklyn influence your work? Would you say that your experiences in Brooklyn have helped your work to mature?

Brian Alfred: I imagine growing up in Pittsburgh has had an effect on my work more so than anywhere else. There’s a certain feel and aesthetic to Pittsburgh that I think comes through my work subconsciously. I travel a lot and I think that also has a big influence on my work.

BS: Brian, you obtained a BFA from Pennsylvania State University and an MFA from Yale University. Can you tell us about your academic years? Who were your instructors at that time? How did the art departments influence you during those early years?

BA: For me, school was a great opportunity to work out idea after idea without worry of failure. At Penn State my teachers who really impacted me were Robert Yarber, Helen O’Leary and Julie Heffernan. At Yale, Mel Bochner, Rochelle Feinstein and a long list of great visiting artists were very valuable in the studio. I tried to really utilize every moment and every resource to develop my work and really immerse myself in all aspects of art making.

Surveillance Plane by Brian Alfred

BS: Brian, you are represented by the Mary Boone Gallery. How long have been represented there? Are you represented by any other galleries?

BA: I have been at Mary Boone for a couple years now. I am also represented by Haunch of Venison London/Zurich/Berlin, Studio La Citta in Verona, and SCAI the Bathhouse in Tokyo.

BS: Brian, you have accomplished a lot in recent years. You were awarded a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 2003, a Joan Mitchell Foundation Award in 2006-- and during that same time frame you were reviewed by major publications like Art in America and the New York times-- your work can be found in the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art. What would you say contributes to your success?

BA: I hope that any success that I have had comes from my work connecting with people and the way they look at our world. I feel like I have been given opportunities that have helped me continue to work hard and share my ideas with a lot of people, and that’s really all I could ask for.

Matsumoto by Brian Alfred

BS: Brian, let us talk about your art. Your work often involves banal, urban structures and spaces. However, you also create portraits-- I really enjoyed viewing Tanaka and Matsumoto. How are the portraits connected to you more dominate work? Should your work be seen as a whole?

BA: I have painted landscapes for many years. I really think of these spaces as descriptions of who we are as people by what we create and what surrounds us. Recently I started a project of painting portraits of people who have been in my mind over the years in the studio. I paint paintings, make paper collages, make sculpture/installations and animations. I see all my work as one whole. To me, the differences between two images or the differences in the way they are created is as much of the content as the image itself.

Tanaka by Brian Alfred

BS: How do you decide upon your next venture? Do you keep a journal-- sketchbook? Do ideas pop into your mind, so to speak? When you are running the errands of your daily life do you 'see' future pieces before you? In other words, is a walk down the street just a walk down the street... or do you gain new ideas with with each passing block? Give us some insight into how your mind works.

BA: I usually get ideas as I am working. I think all the things I see when I am traveling or out and about get stored in my mind and as I am working on things in the studio, they just seem to come out. I am definitely not one who sits and waits for the idea to come to me. I need to create and ideas come from working through things. I think my journal is my laptop. I make most of my drawings on it.

BS: Brian, can you go into further detail about the philosophy behind your work? I've read that you are influenced by the Utopian sensibilities of avant-garde early-Modernists like Wassily Kandinsky, is that so? Can you describe that connection?

BA: I really like to think of my work as being influenced by everything. My work could be about anything from the beauty of a tree to the chaos of an earthquake to utopic ideals to conspiracy theories to meteor showers to corporate life, etc, etc…It’s basically all about our world.

Double Rainbow by Brian Alfred

BS: What other artists or art movements have inspired you? Is it important for your work to have a connection to pivotal points in art history or are you more interested in the 'now', so to speak? In other words, is the study of past artists a crucial part of your research or do you feel that the experiences of present day are more vital to what you are conveying within context of your art?

BA: I have a love for history and art history and the impact that the past has had on our work today. That said, I agree that art has to be of one’s own time, and I hope that my work connects with our world today in an unconscious and meaningful way. As far as movements, I have affinities for Pop Art, Constructivism, Minimalism, Conceptual Art, Propaganda Art, but nothing comes close to the love I have for Ukiyo-e. There’s something about those images that connect with me that no other work does.

Larry Young by Brian Alfred

BS: Speaking of the future, I've read that you are preparing for a solo show titled 'Millions Now Living Will Never Die'. Can you tell us about your plans for the exhibit? Where will it be held? Will you be exhibiting new work?

BA: ‘Millions’ will open in January at Haunch of Venison Berlin. I have been working on the work for this show for almost three years. It’s the longest I have ever worked on one show. It will consist of 333 painted portraits of people who have been in my head in my studio over the years. There will also be 33 paper collage portraits, a group of animated portraits, an installation of ‘book portraits’ and a group of ‘protest paintings.’ It’s really about all these people who have an impact on you or who influence you and it never directly comes out in your work aesthetically. People tend to think the only people who must impact you as an artist are those who create work that looks very similar to your own. This project attempts to blow that out of the water.

A self-portrait by Brian Alfred

BS: Do you have any other exhibits planned for 2008? Can you give us details?

BA: I have a group show about landscape at the Shizuoka Museum of Art in Japan and a group show about mapping and cartography at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati.

BS: Brian, do you have any advice for art students-- any survival tips?

BA: Work hard. My motto has always been work, work work. If your not 150% into what you are doing, there’s not much chance other people will be.

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your art?

BA: I hope it makes you think.

You can learn more about Brian Alfred by visiting his website-- www.paintchanger.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Amir Fallah

Artist and designer, Amir H. Fallah, lives and works in Los Angeles, California. At the age of sixteen, he founded Beautiful/Decay magazine, and has seen it evolve from a black & white xeroxed zine into an internationally distributed publication. As the Creative Director of Beautiful/Decay, Amir has molded the magazine into one of today's most well respected and reputable independent Publications.

Amir's aesthetic, knowledge and creative intuition is sought after internationally. His CV includes creating illustrations for numerous publications, speaking on panels at colleges and universities, and orchestrating and revitalizing entire brand identities and events.

After receiving a Bachelor Of Fine Arts from The Maryland Institute College of Art, Amir went on to complete his Masters Of Fine Art at UCLA in 2005. His past exhibits include shows at 4-F gallery, M.Y. Art Prospects, Laband Gallery,Cherrydelosreyes, Overtones gallery and the Scope Miami Art Fair. He is currently represented by the Third Line Gallery in Dubai, UAE.

Brian Sherwin: Amir, you are the founder of Beautiful/Decay magazine. Can you tell our readers how B/D came into being?

Amir Fallah: I started Beautiful/Decay with my best friend Jay when I was 16 years old .It was a small black and white zine that we made to pass time and to connect with other artists around the D.C. area. I stopped making the zine after a few issues and Jay and I went our separate ways to college. During my last year of college I restarted Beautiful/Decay as a full color magazine. After the first 2 issues I met my current business partners Ben Osher and Fubz. They both had a zine called Manifest in the Baltimore area. They first came on to help with advertising and marketing. After a few more issues I made them my partners and we have been running the magazine together ever since. The three of us oversee all the various aspects of the business.

BS: What was your original intention for B/D-- how has the publication matured since those early years?

AF: In the beginning it was just something for fun. Now it’s a real business with employees, bills, offices on both coasts and an international following. The magazine has matured in every aspect. It’s come a long way from being a black and white zine made on a copy machine. It’s been a rewarding process as I’ve learned a lifetimes worth of lessons from the various achievements and the occasional mistakes that we’ve made.

BS: B/D is one of the most well-respected independent publications. B/D has been involved with several events-- for example, last year B/D worked with Scope New York. Can you tell us about that association?

AF: We’re always looking for collaborative opportunities with new companies and artists. The event with Scope progressed very naturally. We had distributed magazines at their various fairs in the past and somewhere along the way we discussed doing an event together. Since we have an office in NYC and hold parties regularly in the city it was easy for us to come in and work with them on the official scope opening.

We have a whole list of upcoming events coming up for the rest of 2007 and all of 2008. We will be working with a wide range of partners to produce more in-depth events such as our Vis/Ed screening which will take place on November 20th at the Anthology Film Archives in NYC. For Vis/Ed we have invited Brand New School, The Happy Corp and Coolhunting.com to screen and discuss inspiring videos, films, and animations from their personal collection. We hope to expand Vis/Ed into a traveling screening that will be showing in various venues nationally.

BS: Can you explain a little bit about the creative forum, Vis/Ed, you're producing on Nov. 20th? How did it come about? Why did you select the three creative companies you did?

AF: In the last several years videos have become such a large staple in the creative community as video friendly computers and sites like youtube.com have become popular. Vis/Ed came about as a reaction to the popularity of video. You no longer needed millions of dollars and a huge staff to produce quality videos. You could produce, create, and distribute video now with a click of a button on your Mac. Coolhunting.com, Brand New School, and The Happy Corp are three companies that I’ve always admired. They all have amazing reputations in the creative community and have been working with moving images in a variety of ways. Vis/Ed is a unique opportunity to not only watch and discuss the work that they have made but also work by other artists and designers that they admire.

Example of B/D Apparel

BS: Your Fall Apparel Line will be hitting stores soon- what can we expect? What are some of your favorite pieces from the new collection?

AF: Our fall line of apparel is amazing. I’m very proud of how the apparel is shaping up. We started the Apparel division of B/D with only 4 shirts and within a year it has grown into a 40+ piece collection. My favorite pieces would have to be our exclusive Aya Kato line. We’ve been big fans of her work for ages and its great to put out the line with her.

BS: Amir, you participated in a panel discussion entitled "UNBOUND: How L.A.'s Art Magazines are Changing the Face of Popular Culture"-- In your opinion, how are publications like B/D influencing popular culture?

AF: Independent art and culture magazines are powerful in that they document and publicize a wide array of artists and designers without the restrictions and politics that most mainstream magazines run into. We don’t have to answer to a publisher so we can print what we want when we want. This gives us the freedom to put unknown artists on our cover and to give emerging talent a break that they wouldn’t get in larger, corporate publications.

Works 2, acrylic, ink, watercolor, pencil on paper mounted to canvas, 24 x 30 in., 2007

BS: Amir, you are an artist as well. Your work was displayed at The Third Line Gallery in Dubai for the first ever Gulf Art Fair. Can you tell our readers about that experience? What can you tell us about the Gulf Art Fair?

AF: I’ve been to Dubai twice now and it has always been a pleasure. It really is an amazing place with not just a rapidly growing economy but also a burgeoning art scene. I’m lucky in that The Third Line is one of the best galleries in the region and has been extremely supportive of my work. I didn’t get to attend the Gulf Art Fair last year. The Third Line took my work to it. However this year I will be flying out for the fair to build a site specific installation.

BS: Amir, can you tell our readers about your youth? I've read that you started out as a graffiti artist, is that so? Can you recall any youthful experiences that continue to drive you in the direction you are going today-- with the publication and your art?

AF: I was never interested in art until I began doing graffiti. I did tons of graffiti for over 12 years. Some of the best memories and experiences iv’e had have been a direct result of painting graffiti. Graffiti taught me to create for myself first. I was never thinking about galleries or an audience when I was painting. I was doing it for the pure joy of making something. I’ve carried this mentality over to my artwork as well as b/d. Its like the cheesy saying " you can’t love anyone until you love yourself. " I’d like to think that others won’t love your magazine if you don’t love it yourself.

Kissing the Suns, acrylic, ink, pencil, color pencil on paper mounted to canvas, 24 x 30 in., 2007

BS: With that said, can you tell us about your artistic practice? For example, your paintings and drawings-- can you tell us about the process that goes into creating them?

AF: I have 2 modes of practice when I make art. The first mode is research and development. I read a lot, conduct surveys and interviews, and make preparatory plans before each body of work. Once I feel comfortable about the content I’m dealing with I put the research aside and start to make things. I try not to over think the work too much. You can do all the research you’d like but once you start making art it usually takes on its own life. I let all the research filter through me to make the work. Most of the time the end result is good but every once in a while I’ll end up having to scrap a piece and start over.

Venice Beach- Gender Neutral, acrylic, ink, pencil, color pencil on paper mounted to canvas, 36 x 48 in., 2007

BS: You often use images of forts in your work-- can you tell us about the symbology behind the use of those structures? What other forms of symbolism do you utilize within the context of your art?

AF: When I was a kid I used to love to build forts and tree houses. They were places to get away and play pretend. I would hang out in them for hours and goof off, day dream of girls that I’ve had crushes on and look at the occasional nudie magazine. In a weird way the forts were like a gallery or performance space where anything and everything could happen. I’ve also started to paint my cacti collection into the paintings. The cacti function as placeholders for people in the work. Sometimes they are in the shelter of the forts and sometimes they are painted alone in a deserted landscape to fend for themselves.

(The Greater Velocity) The Greater Risk of Hurt, acrylic, ink, pencil on paper mounted to canvas, 36 x 48 in., 2007

BS: Amir, where else do you draw inspiration from?-- what artists or art movements have influenced you?

AF: I’m inspired by many artists across many genres. I collect books on many of the artists that I’m currently interested in. I just picked up the catalog for the Matthew Monahan show at the MOCA here in LA and the last Lari Pittman show at Regen projects was amazing! He continually blows me away with his work. It’s completely seamless.

BS: Finally, is it difficult finding balance between the work you do for B/D and the passion you have for your art? Or would you say that they feed off of each other? Has the work you've done with B/D made you a better artist, so to speak?

AF: It’s not easy juggling my art with the magazine but I can’t see doing one without the other. I’ve had to come up with creative scheduling so that I can give both areas equal time. Running the magazine also gives me access to artists that I admire. Over the years I’ve had the chance to interview and meet some of my favorites. This probably wouldn’t be possible if the magazine wasn’t around.

You can learn more about Amir Fallah and his art by visiting his website--
www.hybridheart.com. You can learn more about Beautiful/Decay magazine by visiting B/D's official website-- www.beautifuldecay.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Opinions: David Lee on Current Art Movements

David Lee is a British art critic who was once the editor of Art Review magazine. He is now the publisher and editor of The Jackdaw-- an art magazine that is satirical, opinionated and often vitriolic. www.thejackdaw.co.uk

Brian Sherwin: David, with the advent of the Internet contemporary art movements have increased in number. For example, the art movement Stuckism, founded by Charles Thomson and Billy Childish, has splinter groups around the globe-- the movement is represented in over 40 countries. In Japan the Superflat art movement, founded by the artist Takashi Murakami, has influenced a generation of young artists. In Ireland the Defastenist art movement continues to expand both in artistic and political ideology. These groups continue to reach out to new members on networking sites like myspace.com and facebook.com. There is no doubt that their numbers will grow.

What is your opinion about art movements that are fueled by the Internet? Should we question the validity of these movements-- is it harmful for artists to become involved with movements in this manner? Can they be successful? What is your opinion in regards to this issue?

David Lee: Brian, I have no knowledge of most of these 'movements' and no desire to see them. I go to see works only that interest me, and that rarely. Life is too short for the rest of it. 99.99% of what I've seen in the last 25 years is shite. And even among the small number of things I think I might want to see a large proportion is rubbish.

In October I saw the Turner Prize in Liverpool. With the exception of Mike Nelson the work on show was indistinguishable from that of students piss-poor ones. At the Yorkshire Sculpture Park I saw 'Sheep Drawings' by Andy Goldsworthy that would have shamed a children's workshop... I have interest only in individual works seen face to face. Movements are for amateurs who need camaraderie and mutual support for the crap work they produce I mean just look at the paintings produced by the Stuckists!

Self-styled movements are in the end bound to be restrictive precisely because they are prescriptive. Vantongerloo, van Doesburg and Mondrian are interesting individuals way before they are interesting De Stijl-ists or Constructivists. As far as recent movements are concerned I look forward to the day when someone writes a polemic about Modern Art entitled 'From Impressionism to Opportunism'.


Stuckism www.stuckism.com
Superflat www.kaikaikiki.co.jp
Defastenism www.defastenism.4t.com

Art Space Talk: Patricia Hagen

Patricia Hagen's mixed media paintings begin with images abstracted from natural forms such as cells, bacteria, viruses, seed pods, and plants. These images are starting points for her language of forms. These forms are abstracted and put together into "systems" which seem sometimes to be on a microscopic level, other times on a bodily level, and yet other times on a galactic level.

Patricia is interested in apparent contradictions in life. Her pictures pit clarity versus obscurity, familiarity versus strangeness, repulsion versus attraction, humor versus tragedy. These opposing forces represent for her the essence of being human; we are heroic and we are degenerate. Patricia's aim is to marry beauty and deformity, pleasure and fear. These pictures embrace the intrinsic beauty found in the natural world. They also address the fears and anxieties that pervade our time.

Brian Sherwin: Patricia, tell us about your educational background. Do you have formal training in art? If so, who were your instructors and how did they influence you?

Patricia Hagen: I have a BFA from Miami University in Oxford Ohio, and a MFA from California College of the Arts in San Francisco. At Miami, I worked mostly with a wonderful professor by the name of Crossan Curry. He taught us to take our work seriously and to think about what we were doing and why. I worked with several different people at California College of the Arts. Interestingly, not many painters. I worked with the photographer Larry Sultan who turned me on to Roland Barthes and the sculptor, Dennis Leon who taught me about the importance of scale in my paintings.

Array- oil on acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48", 2007

BS: Patricia, tell us about your early artistic influences and experiences. When did you decide to pursue art?

PH: I have the distinct memory of going to a Saturday art class when I was very young, maybe four or five and leaving the first session incredibly excited . I was totally engaged and knew I had found something that was important to me.

BS: With that said, how would you say that your work has advanced since that time?

PH: My work has gone through countless stages since that time. I did allot of representational work, mostly people and landscapes when I was in junior high and high school. In undergraduate school, things became more abstract and have continued to do so ever since.

Adrift- oil on acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48", 2007

BS: Patricia, can you go into detail about your artistic process? How do you begin a piece? When do you know that a piece is finished?

PH: I work in series and will do many pieces using the same set of forms. I have been working for about six years now with forms that were inspired by electron-microscope photos of cancer cells, AIDS viruses, different bacteria , and other natural forms. The forms become abstracted and evolve into what becomes my visual language. I try to be very open when beginning a painting. I start working and then react to what I have done. It is a pretty intuitive process for me. I know that a piece is finished when it has a life or presence.

Rabble- oil on acrylic on canvas, 48" x 60", 2007

BS: Patricia, how does current world events influence your work? In other words, how does contemporary life impact your creative practice?

PH: I am always doing Google image searches for different items that are in the news:the Aids virus, anthrax, avian flu,influenza, different types of cancer cells, etc. These images then work their way into new paintings.

BS: Patricia, tell us more about the philosophy behind your art. What motivates you to create?

PH: I would love to say that I feel a need to make the world a better place through my art, but truthfully, it is more like I am addicted to the high of creating something that is new to me or that surprises me.

BS: Why did you choose to work in the medium(s) that you utilize? Also, can you tell us about your studio routine? Do you work in silence-- listen to music..

PH: I love the challenge of making something two dimensional come to life and have a real presence. I also do sculpture sometimes, but drawing and painting are somehow more satisfying to me. I usually listen to music when I am in the studio. I like to listen to sort of dark and quirky music like Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Firewater ,Kings of Leon, and Devotchka.

Brink- oil on acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48", 2007

BS: Patricia, what are you working on at this time?

PH: I am doing a group of watercolors on heavy (300 lb.) Arches watercolor paper using the forms I discussed earlier.

BS: Are you involved with any upcoming exhibits? Where can our readers view your work?

PH: I just had a solo show at Punch Gallery here in Seattle. My work can be seen in the 2007 Pacific Coast Edition of" New American Painting "which was curated by Alma Ruiz of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and will be in the books stores December 1st.

BS: In your opinion, what are some of the problems facing artists today?

PH: Same as it ever was: making a living while remaining true to your work.


BS: The Internet is changing how we discover and view art. In your opinion, how have sites like myartspace.com empowered artists?

PH: On the Internet, I have found other artists working with similar ideas as mine, working with those ideas in different ways and that is re-affirming and exciting for me as an artist. I also use the Internet to scout out galleries that might be appropriate for my work.

BS: Finally, what are your goals as an artist? What do you hope to accomplish with your work?

PH: I have the same desires as many people to be successful in my profession, but it always comes back to the work. I mostly want the work to continue to improve and become more clear in intention. It is a continual process.

You can learn more about Patricia Hagen by visiting her website-- www.plhagen-art.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Anne Wilson

Anne Wilson is a Chicago based visual artist who creates sculpture, drawings, Internet projects, and DVD stop motion animations that explore themes of time, loss, private and social rituals. She uses found materials (table linen, bed sheets, human hair, lace, thread, and wire) that are familiar and rich with cultural meanings. Wilson's work is represented by Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago and Paul Kotula Projects, Detroit. She is a Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Topologies-- Anne Wilson

Brian Sherwin: Anne, tell us about your educational background. Who were your instructors?

Anne Wilson: BFA, Cranbrook Academy of Art; MFA, California College of the Arts. Gerhardt Knodel was an amazing teacher and mentor at Cranbrook; Bella Feldman and Ruth Boyer at CCA.

BS: Tell us about your early artistic influences and experiences. When did you decide to pursue art?

AW: At 15, I began to be challenged and radicalized in many ways after leaving my childhood home in Detroit to attend a Quaker boarding school, George School, in Pennsylvania. I was deeply moved by my training in passive resistance techniques and their philosophical basis: Gandhi's teachings on non-violent politics. Especially moving to me was his exhortation to all Indians to practice spinning -- for social, political, economic and spiritual reasons. That struck me as profoundly important, as did Betty Friedan's book The Feminine Mystique. As well, at this same time, I worked with an ambitious painter/teacher, Robert Dodge, who encouraged me as an artist.

Chronicle-- Anne Wilson

BS: Anne, Why did you choose to work in the medium(s) that you use? Can you discuss the inspiration that set you on the path that you have been exploring with your work?

AW: In Berkeley in the 70's I developed, with my colleagues, a warrior-like spirit about the relevance of fiber and textile processes in art making alongside more conventional fine art materials and techniques. An accomplished weaver for my own art, I taught weaving privately to support myself and curated museum exhibitions of historic textiles. Inspired by contemporary art discourse, feminism, multi-culturalism, the art fabric movement, and Arte Povera, I participated with commitment to expand boundaries of process and materiality in art.

Topologies-- Anne Wilson

BS: Anne, can you go into detail about the artistic process behind your work? Perhaps you could discuss the materials that you have utilized and the meaning behind it?

AW: One period comes to mind: Grieving my father's death (beginning in 1995), along with the loss of friends with AIDS, was a deeply wrenching, lengthy process for me. I spent much of that time alone in my studio, often overwhelmed by feelings of sadness and loss. Eventually, I was able to make some of my most deeply felt and poignant work that used worn family linens that represented security, stability, propriety and formality -- stitched through with human hair that represented the visceral, the unkempt, the disruptive, the deadly. In this work I expressed the inevitability of losing what one loves.

I think of much of my art of the past 15 years as a kind of conjunction between visual art concepts and material culture where the histories embedded in materials and the way things are made are critical to the content of the work.

The ongoing installation, Topologies, first presented at the 2002 Whitney Biennial, was a breakthrough for me. I was able to continue using found textile materials, in a complex and layered manner. The work is organized conceptually in three ways: 1) as a kind of living, growing biological system; 2) like an architectonic of seemingly unending urban sprawl; and 3), as a complex networked system represented visually. Rebuilt at each new exhibition site, Topologies is a "materialized drawing" that evolves and changes each time it is created.

Portable City-- Anne Wilson

BS: Anne, can you tell us about what you are working on at this time? Any new projects? If so, can you tell us about the philosophy behind this new work. What motivates you to create it?

AW: A new project called Portable City is related to Topologies in that it is also a horizontal topography -- at once sculpture, textile, and a materialized drawing. With destruction surrounding us, this work is a meditation on building, and rebuilding, and building again.

Portable City proposes liaisons between textiles and the built environment. Comprised of a horizontal field of 48 mobile platforms, each platform holds a structure of thread or wire filament constructed of knit, crochet, or lines under tension, suspension, compression, or collapse. Elements of ancient handwork participate in new thinking about the viability of lightweight mesh structures to create temporary and portable architectures.

A city is imagined as tensile networks, deflated domes, skeletal igloos, flattened tents, elevated canopies, schematic cooling towers, linear pathways, rubble from collapse, stacks and parts to rebuild. Portable City is not a utopian projection; the overall field suggests a macrocosm of detailed worlds of connections where ideas and implications may emerge of both usefulness (possibilities of useful application) as well as complete disjunction.

BS: Can you go into detail about your studio routine? Do you work in silence-- listen to music.

AW: Music/sound is very important to my studio process, both as inspiration and pacing while making work, and as part of the work itself. I have been collaborating with Shawn Decker, Chicago sound artist and composer, on several projects. Our newest collaboration is called Notations. We are thinking about the relationships that exist between the pacing and rhythms of textile hand processing and sound.

Errant Behaviors-- Anne Wilson

BS: Anne, do you have any upcoming exhibits? Where can our readers view your work?

AW: I am in a 7-artist exhibition opening at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London November 13, 2007, and a solo show at the Rhona Hoffman Gallery in Chicago opening January 25, 2008. This web site has information about recent projects: www.annewilsonartist.com

BS: Anne, the Internet is changing how we discover and view art. In your opinion, how have sites like myartspace.com empowered artists?

AW: The opportunities for timely open communication and exchange are fabulous!

You can learn more about Anne Wilson by visiting her website-- www.annewilsonartist.com. You can read more of my interview by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Marcus Lanyon

Marcus Lanyon utilizes a hybrid language of materials to create a 'seductive disquiet'; a simultaneous sense of attraction and repulsion. Themes of mortality, preservation, innocence and violence create narratives that are contemporary and ancient, familiar yet subversive. Like scenes from a fairytale or a chilling dream, the work lures us in only to quietly lift a knife to our back.

Brian Sherwin: Marcus, you were chosen as one of Saatchi's 4 New Sensations. How did you feel upon learning that you had been selected? Also, can you tell us anything about the project created for Channel 4?

Marcus Lanyon: Well, I was rather pleased of course, especially with the judges they had. A prestigious panel. I did run around the studio shouting for a while, then eventually sat down and got back to thinking deep artistic thoughts.

The work I created is entitled ‘Enjoy It While It Lasts’. It was actually an extension of an idea that had been in my sketchbook a few years ago but I had never had the resources to actually make it. It is essentially an idyllic family picnic scene, with every last possible bit of it bound in cloth – mummified, so to speak. The binding is at once loving in its preservation but sadistic; it’s the opposition I really wanted, such a precious, delicate, universal moment kept in place so forcefully.

There is a sense of nostalgia and loss, almost a contemporary relic, how things should be or once were but have long since left us. Certain angles of arms and legs are actually almost ‘noosed’ into place – there is a sense of controlling panic about it – this is how happiness should look and such. I’m very interested in our relationship with memories, objects, our emotional attachments to them, and our attempts to preserve, keep safe.

Enjoy It While It Lasts by Marcus Lanyon

BS: Can you tell our readers about your background. When did you know that you wanted to be an artist? Where did you study? Who were your mentors and early influences?

ML: Well, it’s a very mixed bag. I initially started out as an actor, then became a musician (bands such as my solo project Tarantella Serpentine and for a brief time with Sheep On Drugs) and then I finally found my real passion in art. I still act, play & DJ of course. I’d always seen myself as an artist though, I was always too peripatetic to stick to one particular tag, so I’d always envisioned ending up as an artist. I took my undergraduate degree at the University of Gloucestershire and my Masters at the Royal College of Art, London.

In terms of mentors and influences, when I was young there were two that really seeped into my head. The painter Robert Lenkiewicz was a friend of the family and his ways were of great interest to me; he was a complete bibliophile and I used to spend hours in his library whilst he worked. He had a very particular view of the world, which I didn’t always agree with but that analytical, debated angle he had influenced me strongly. There are some great stories about him too, as he was such a character but that’s for another time.

The other was my grandfather Peter Lanyon, the painter, who I also absorbed through books as he died in 1964 (and who bizarrely met Lenkiewicz as a young man a few weeks before he died), but his ways of working, thinking and seeing were fascinating, especially when it is a blood relation like that.

Enjoy It While It Lasts (detail) by Marcus Lanyon

BS: Aside from influences... what else motivates you to keep working?

ML: There isn’t a motivating factor as such; I just have to do it. No choice in the matter.

BS: Marcus, can you go into further detail about your personal philosophy in regards to art and artistic creation?

ML: We are at an interesting point now, especially the British art scene. My generation certainly have really moved away from that whole YBA fuck-off advertising aesthetic and I’ve noticed a sincere resurgence of quieter, more considered approaches. I’m certainly part of that. I’ve said before I’m far more interested in the whisper than the shout. Whilst I value ‘shock’ as a reaction, due to the fact that it proves you still care, I’m far more interested in discussing the ‘unpleasant’, in its widest sense, than using it as the visual element per se.

In terms of artistic creation, well, whatever suits what I’m doing. If it needs assistants or if I have to hire someone or I need to take a course to work out how to do it myself, then there you go. I do need to get my paws dirty though, I couldn’t be completely hands off.

Enjoy It While It Lasts (detail) by Marcus Lanyon

BS: Marcus, I'm certain that you have been very busy lately. Have you found it difficult to find balance between your recent success and remaining devoted to your artistic process?

ML: Well, its fine once you stop drinking all the damned free wine! But seriously, you just level out with it really; you have to maintain a certain impetus and focus and make sure you have someone standing next to you to poke you in the eye when you start acting like a twat.

BS: Marcus, tell us about your studio. Where do you work? Do you follow a routine or do you work in a sporadic manner?

ML: I’m currently moving studios actually. It is generally an organised mess, with lots of stuff knocking around and very loud music playing. I work in north London. It’s sparky and full of character, so to speak. I don’t follow a routine as such; when I’m working its generally for short, very intense periods – I work very quickly by nature and a lot of my processes are manually repetitive or really, really detailed and fiddly. Hopefully the passion and the deadline don’t bump into each other and have a nasty fight over clocking-in and getting paid the right amount of overtime.

BS: How do you start a piece? Do you draw up plans? Do you write it out? Tell us a little about the process itself.

ML: Almost without fail they arrive in a sort of vision. I just see them like a scene from a film and do my best to get to that image. Otherwise they develop from writing. I really don’t draw much, so I just write, write, write instead or start sticking bits of stuff together. Much more satisfying for me. But then sometimes I can get sucked into a painting or a really focused line drawing and I’m having a whale of a time, so I’m a bit of a contradiction. In my view, everything I make is part of some huge narrative, so I perceive my own practice as chapters in a book, moving forward but interdependent and responsive to everything that preceded it.

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your art or the art world?

ML: If you don’t know what you are doing, then stop bloody doing it.

You can learn more about Marcus Lanyon by visiting his website-- www.marcuslanyon.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Gordon Cheung

Gordon Cheung is an emerging star of the British contemporary art scene. Gordon's art reveals an apocalyptic vision of our globalized world. His work captures the chaos of our contemporary lives in a surreal manner that reminds one of psychedelic hallucinations. Gordon has been featured in several publications-- including, Frieze, Art Review, and Flux-- and has exhibited internationally.

In 2006 Gordon was included in the John Moores 24 Painting Exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery during the Liverpool Biennial. Gordon was chosen as a prize finalist having been selected by Tracey Emin, Sir Peter Blake, Jason Brookes, Ann Bukantas and Andrea Rose.

Manifest Destiny, Stock listings, Ink, Enamel, Acrylic Gel and Spray on canvas183 x 274cm / 72 x 108inches / 2007

Brian Sherwin: The art critic David Lee mentioned you to me. It is obvious that you are making your mark in the British scene. Do you have any upcoming exhibits? If so, care to tell us about them?

Gordon Cheung: I currently (29 Oct 2007) have solo exhibitions called ‘1000 Yard Stare’ at the Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth and ‘God is on Our Side’ at Unosunove Gallery, Rome. I’ve also curated an exhibition at Primo Alonso Gallery, London called the Lucifer Effect. My forthcoming solo shows will be ‘Death by a Thousand Cuts’ at the Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester and ‘Paradise Lost’ at Alan Cristea Gallery, London both in January 2008.

BS: What other accomplishments have you had in the last few years in regards to your art?

GC: Being the first British Born Chinese to be included in the British Art Show, 2005 was a pivotal moment for me.

Presiding at the Infernal Council, Stock listings, Ink, Acrylic, Gel and Spray on canvas76 x 122cm / 2007

BS: Gordon, your website mentions that you are of Hong Kong origin- born in London. Have you ever experienced a 'clash of cultures', so to speak? Is this reflected in your work? I've spoken with several artists, including Stella Lai, who have mentioned that they feel a sense of conflict between their 'roots' and contemporary society... is this an issue for you as well?

GC: When I think back to my childhood and particularly between 10-16 years old I was the only ethnic in my school and the racism made me feel very isolated resulting with some very negative internalised emotions. I suppose I found solace in art – a world in which I was able to throw myself into and express. My experiences of racism inevitably created cultural conflict and were difficult to deal with – my answer was to bury deep and work hard. I couldn’t wait to go to college and there I found a more tolerable and multi-cultural culture. But those experiences never led me to making identity-based art. Instead I have always been drawn to the idea of an in-between space and eventually it led me to making work about the virtual spaces in which we all exist. If the work I make is a map of my psyche then my feelings of being in-between 2 cultures paradoxically belonging and not, have certainly influenced the direction that I have taken.

The Creation of Light, Stock listings, Ink, Acrylic, Gel and Spray on canvas76 x 122cm / 2007

BS: You have mentioned that your work is focused on the hallucinations between the virtual and actual realities of a globalized world oscillating between Utopia and Dystopia. Can you go into further detail about this and how it is conveyed in your work? Do you have a form of symbolism in your work, a use of certain images, that reveal a solid narration between one piece and the next?

GC: I use the Financial Times newspaper stock listings as I think of the stock market as a global dream-world that literally flows through all of us. This for me is a contemporary form of landscape from where I take inspiration and fuse images from the Internet on computer before printing directly onto sections of the stock listings to jigsaw back together on canvas.

When I started using the stock listings around 12 years ago we were going through a digital and communications revolution. Mobile phone technology and the Internet were being made readily available and this totally reconfigured our perception of space time into a state of constant flux. There was talk about globalisation, cyberspace, global villages, information superhighways and digital frontiers – we experienced a kind of digital euphoria over the prospect of a potential Utopia. This of course dissipated with the tech stock dot com millionaire crash which was followed by the techno-hysteria over the Millennium bug. We then experienced the twin tower attacks that consequently gave us the War on Terror. So for me I am taking inspiration from what is around us rooted in that Utopic technological revolution and the consequent threatening waves of apocalypse.

If you look through the body of work recurring motifs do exist such as the ruinous skyscrapers, luminous voids and rainbows. They’re all symbols of hope and despair brought together into a beautiful dark ambiguity.

Eve's Dream, Stock listings, Ink, Acrylic, Gel and Spray on canvas76 x 122cm / 2007

BS: Gordon, do you feel that your paintings are best viewed together- as a whole?

GC: Yes if someone wanted to truly find out where it all comes from and how the ideas and visual developments have taken root. However, each work is made to stand autonomously and to also be seen as such. I think of looking at art a bit like getting to know a friend. Only over time do we eventually see the multi-facets of someone and so I hope that viewers would like to return and each time have greater understanding.

BS: In your paintings you utilize spray paint, oil, acrylic, pastels, stock listings and ink. These mixed mediums collide in your work to form, as you put it, epic techno-sublime vistas. When did you decide to work in this manner? Also, do you ever have any concern that the material will not work together? Or is that just part of the process?

GC: When I left the Royal College in 2001 I was quite honestly lost and didn’t know what I was really doing. I was frustrated with the way my work was going and felt I had a bunch of stuffed ideas in my head that couldn’t come out. In 2003 I applied for a bunch of residencies and was accepted for a few and that became the catalyst for changes in the work that you see today.

It was in these residencies that I explored the use of different mediums in a totally liberal way. The thing was that I had totally overdosed on art theory and philosophy and being away I was able to free myself from the restrictions I had unknowingly placed on myself. Now I use absolutely any inspiration I find which extended to the materials that I was using.

Currently I am collaborating with some digital artists to make some Internet based works which is a logical extension of my practice. All the materials and mediums that I use are choices that I make with confidence and exploring whether they will work or not is definitely part of the process. In fact it energizes the work for the long term and is always exciting for me which I feel translates into the work.

Millgram's Progress, Stock Listings, Ink, Acrylic Gel and Spray on Canvas274 x 600cm / 108 x 240inches (4 canvases each 274 x 150cm / 108 x 60inches)Commissioned by Sally Lai and Yuen Fong Ling for URBIS on the occassion of the exhibition Arrivals and Departures: New Art Perspectives of Hong Kong, 2007

BS: In regards to your use of spray paint... did you practice street art when you were younger? I'm interested as to why you decided to utilize spray paint as a medium. Also, what do you think of Banksy's work? Is he an influence?

GC: Me? Vandalise the streets? If I did I certainly wouldn’t admit to it so no, I never did but was always struck by graffiti’s ‘cartoon’ world on the urban environment. It’s rebellious creativeness I suppose is a spirit that I felt within myself. The spray paint however is a late development in my work.

It appeared around 4 years ago. Previously I had restricted myself to only using collage to create ‘simulated’ paintings so that I was questioning the medium itself. Works that from a distance looked like paintings or drawings but up close were actually labour intensive cut ups of newsprint and graph paper. They were kind of monochromatic works and when I look back I think I have a compulsive obsessive part of me that drove these works on. But I did become somewhat tired of taking so long just to make one small work and it took me a year of feeling frustrated to finally make a huge change in my work and that was to use paints.

Suddenly my works were scorched open with colour spray painted voids. They were like virtual dimensions in the sepia like landscapes that I was making. The contrast between the handmade collage sections and the mechanically sprayed areas was something that I found visually very interesting which has remained up to this day. About Banksy I am aware of his work but he’s never been a conscious influence on my own.

Neon Shadows, Financial Times, Ink, Acrylic Gel and Spray on canvasDiptych each 250 x 225cm (total: 250 x 450cm) / 2006

BS: With that said, who are your influences? What artists have had an impact on you?

GC: At the moment artists like Matthew Barney and Pierre Huyghe come to mind. Authors such as JG Ballard and Philip K Dick. David Lynch and Stanly Jubrick are also a huge influence.

BS: Gordon, while a student at the Royal College of Art you instigated and was a main organizer of Assembly- exhibiting 172 MA art graduates in two disused Victorian school buildings. Why did you decide to take on this task? Also, who were your mentors at the Royal College of Art?

GC: A property developer who was friends with Peter Doig approached the Royal College of Art to offer the chance to organise an art event in 2 disused buildings that he had just stripped out to an empty shell. The opportunity was passed from department to department and no-one wanted to take it on as it was massive. At one stage there was talk about Anselm Kiefer doing something there. One day my professor approached me and offered it to me as he knew that I was very proactive when it came to curating exhibitions and when I saw the space I immediately knew that I had to do something here.

I proposed a huge London art school collaboration with the idea of breaking down rivalries to create dialogue. Afterall these were my peers but just in different schools. I was naive and idealistic and had to narrow the remit to 3 schools after quickly realising that it was a huge undertaking. I invited a group of Goldsmiths students and created a committee which unfortunately collapsed because of political infighting mainly caused by 2 Goldsmiths students who wanted full control. So it eventually boiled down to one Goldsmiths representative and me to organise what turned out to be a one year project with 3 months after care.

The exhibition involved only MA or phd students and recent graduates and was an open submission. The final numbers were approx 95 Royal College, 47 Goldsmiths and 30 Chelsea. It was a huge learning curve that took a hell of a lot out of me but something I think of as being my rites of passage into the art world. I didn’t have mentors at the Royal College. I was always looking out for one but it never happened. I learnt much more from my peers.

Courts of God, Stock listings, Ink, Acrylic, Gel and Spray on canvas76 x 122cm / 2007

BS: Your work can be found in the collections of the Hirshhorn Museum, Whitworth Museum, ASU Art Museum and UBS Collection. Where else can our readers find your work?

GC: The best place to look for where my stuff is being shown is on my website.

BS: Finally, is there anything else that you would like to say about your art or the artworld?

GC: It’s beautiful and mad. I love it.

You can learn more about Gordon Cheung by visiting his website-- www.gordoncheung.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Corrine Bot

Corrine Bot is an emerging video artist and a producer of videoclips for experimental, minimal, industrial, house and other (electronic) music projects.


Skippy Bunny-- Corrine Bot

Brian Sherwin: Corrine, can you tell us about your background? How have your life experiences shaped the work you create today?

Corrine Bot: When I was 20 I went to study Psychology. After that I did not know what to do. The study was very interesting but I didn’t see myself working in the field. I had to take a test in order to find out what I wanted. The test results showed that I had an interest in the creative field. I thought okay that’s nice, but can I also produce creative stuff?
But it went out all-right. I did go to the Art Academy and graduated last year at the age of 33.

BS: Corrine, you studied psychology at the University of Leiden and Audiovisual at the Art Academy of Rotterdam. How did those studies come together within the context of the art you create today?

CB: I was a little disappointed about the fact that at the Art Academy they didn’t put a lot of emphasis on concept. I guess a study Psychology does come in handy concerning conceptualization.


R.E.M.-- Corrine Bot

BS: Would you say that your video art is based on the psychology of the human condition? What are the specific themes you deal with in your work?

CB: In the beginning my themes were more coming from my inner self and the struggles I had with every day life. Now I see a more distant approach to my work. Every work is different from the other so it is difficult for me to mention a specific theme or themes. But if I must: individuality, identity, gender, escapism, "the dark"… I guess my work is a combination of horror and humor. I like to create other, strange worlds.

BS: Corrine, what else influences your art? What inspires you?

CB: Watching bad (horror) movies, reading horror stories, listening to music, doing nothing, wandering around at the beach, in the woods…

BS: You've mentioned that you are often bored with life-- the trivial aspects of daily living --would you say that your work is a way for you to discovery who you are-- to find the excitement and interest you need to keep going, so to speak?

CB: At first it was a way of communicating, of showing who I was and what was going on inside me. Now it’s just a way of passing time till I die.


Driven by Boredom-- Corrine Bot

BS: Corrine, when I view your work I sense a certain loathing for consumerism-- for the things people do each day in order to 'fit in'-- in order to be popular. This message seems very clear in Driven by Boredom(2004). Am I correct in my assumption? If so, can you discuss this aspect of your work further?

CB: I don’t like consumerism, but I wasn’t aware of the fact that this message was hidden in my movies. Driven by Boredom is about my vision that we have a life and we have to fill that life in order to avoid "the void". Everything we do is – in my opinion – a way to kill time until our deaths. I make my movies to pass the time. But I don’t mean this as a bad thing. I chose to pass this time the way I like it.

BS: How does your work come into being? Can you tell us a little about that side of the creative process? Do you draw out the scenes in your mind or on paper... how do you get from point A to point C, so to speak?

CB: I get an idea and then I clearly visualize that in my mind. I then draw it out on paper. I am not the best drawer in the world but at least I understand it and I am the only one that needs to. So I make a plan about the camera point of views and then I start filming. I put the camera in one position and then film myself. Then I put the camera in another position and do the same thing again. I go on like this until I have done all the scenes.


But You Cannot Hide-- Corrine Bot

BS: Tell us about some of the exhibits you've had. Where have you shown your work? Also, what do you enjoy most when people are viewing your art?

CB: I have about 4 screenings a month. My films are shown in small independent film festivals worldwide (Italy, Germany, USA, UK, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Greece, Serbia). Last weekend I went to Osnabruck in Germany where Skippy Bunny was shown. I rarely go to screenings because I don’t like traveling (only mentally ;-)

I don’t make work that a lot of people like. So when people do like it and are intrigued by it I enjoy that. It gives me a feeling that they understand me, at least, a little ;-)

BS: Has your work ever been censored? If so, how did you deal with that controversy?

CB: Eh, no. At least, not that I know. I guess a lot of people think of my work as weird, but I don’t think it is that shocking.

BS: Corrine, what kind of equipment do you use with your work?

CB: I have a small Sony DCR-PC 9 Handycam. About a year ago I bought a Sony PD 150, but somehow I keep using the smaller camera. I sometimes use a wide lens.

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your art?

CB: NO. Just Watch It...

You can learn more about Corrine Bot by visiting the following site-- www.corrinebot.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Myartspace NY NY 2007 Competition Group Show in Chelsea

A sea of faces for a world of talent...

Myartspace.com, the premier online social network for the art world, reveals once again that it is a progressive site for art collectors, gallery owners, and artists.The opening reception for the Myartspace.com "New York, New York 2007" Competition Group Show in Chelsea was a great success! The group show opened at the McCormack Gallery in Chelsea, New York on November 1st. The show will be on display through November 22nd.

Minkyung Lee, winner and Young Wook Song, Finalist of NY NY 2007 Competition at the opening reception.

Three winners were selected from a list of 50 finalists from the myartspace "New York, New York 2007" competition-- Vincent Como, Minkyung Lee, and Masha Ryskin. The finalists were chosen by three very respected members of the global art community-- Jessica Morgan, curator of contemporary art at the Tate Modern, James Rondeau, curator of contemporary art at the Art Institute of Chicago and Steven Zevitas, Publish and Editor of New American Paintings. Also showing is video work by myartspace finalist Chadwick Gibson and past competition winners Susan Cook, Ilona Niemi , Scott Talley and Micke Tong.

The exhibit at the McCormack Gallery offers a unique blend of art to observe. Gallery patrons, which included curators, established artists, and members of the press, noted the diversity of work on display. Each artist revealed work that was solid in execution and concept-- each artist stood out and made his or her own mark within the context of the exhibit space. The exhibit was designed to focus on the individual talents of the exhibiting artists and to reveal the progressive nature of Myartspace.com in general.

Crowds gather around the work of Vincent Como, NY NY 2007 Winner.

It is rare to find an exhibit that has a degree of focus on the mechanics of what an exhibit can be. In many ways the New York, New York 2007 exhibit redefines the traditional model of what is expected from a gallery exhibit in Chelsea . The progressive nature of this venue is evident upon entering the McCormack Gallery. The exhibit focuses on the individual artists instead of a unified theme. In a sense, the theme of the exhibit is the artists themselves-- their ambition and will to be seen and heard-- emerging artists who grasped at the chance to succeed in territory that is often dominated by established artists.

The ambition of the finalists combined with the progressive thinking of Catherine McCormack-Skiba and the Myartspace staff was well rewarded. More than 500 people attended the opening reception, which was sponsored by Tiger Beer and Christiania Vodka. Catherine McCormack-Skiba, the founder of Myartspace commented "These events held in the heart of Chelsea, New York help solidify Myartspace's growing importance and influence in the art world".

Masha Ryskin, winner of the NY NY 2007 Competition mingles. Her installation is in the background.

In regards to the purpose of Myartspace.com McCormack-Skiba went on to say, "Our goal is to provide great opportunities for the Myartspace community. The New York, New York 2007 Competition allowed our global community to send four very talented people to New York to show off their best work. We think the exhibit could be a great springboard for those artists to further their art careers. I am proud of the exhibiting artists and look forward to representing future competition winners."

Art Space Talk: Morwenna Catt

Morwenna Catt uses childhood iconography to examine the roots of our desires and fears. Morwenna is interested in using these fractured displays of youthful innocence in order to explore the disparity between the mythologies of childhood and the reality of our world. She examines our collective relationship to objects and memory, nostalgia and psychosis by presenting the recognizable icons of our infancy in a manner that is sometime alarming and at other times disturbingly charming.

Betrayal by Morwenna Catt

Brian Sherwin: Morwenna, tell us about your educational background. Do you have formal training in art? If so, who were your instructors and how did they influence you?

Morwenna Catt: I studied at art college, first for a BA in Art & design where my specialisms were Painting and Illustration. I quickly discovered a love of 3D and textile work but my tutors were indulgent and allowed me to experiment with those media within my chosen practice areas. I went on to do an MA in Fine Art at Leeds. I cant say that any particular tutor was an influence though we did have some great visiting lecturers. My favorite was Marcus Coates who comes up with fantastically original projects and injects humour and humanity into everything he does.

Phrenology II (mother) by Morwenna Catt

BS: Morwenna, tell us about your early artistic influences and experiences. When did you decide to pursue art?

MC: I’ve drawn and created since a child, scribbling into the flyleaves of books and peeling back wallpaper in my bedroom to doodle on the walls. My mother used to write poems and illustrate these with tiny drawings and I can remember my father, with varying degrees of success, making sculptures. My grandfather was an artist, he painted landscapes and drew beautifully. He couldn’t go to art college because he had to get a job and earn a living so he worked for a company sign-writing and painting huge advertising images onto the sides of lorries, giant tubes of sweets etc, in the days when all these advertisements were done by hand. I think it frustrated him that he couldn’t spend more time on his own work but I always remember him working on some painting or drawing at home.

My first powerful memory of seeing art in a gallery context is at Kelvingrove Museum in Glasgow. I turned into a dark corridor and at the end was Salvadore Dalis Christ of St John of the Cross. I’ve never had any religious feeling and I’m not even keen on Dali particularly, but there was something so luminous and beautiful about that painting I was compelled to ransack the gift shop for postcards, jigsaws – anything I could get my hands on. I suppose that experience showed me how powerful art can be on the senses and emotions.

I went to art college relatively late, I was in my mid twenties and before that had been working in a Theatre and Arts Centre making props/scenery and hanging artists work in the galleries they ran. It was hanging other peoples work that convinced me to pursue my own practice more seriously.

Phrenology III (child) by Morwenna Catt

BS: With that said, how would you say that your work has advanced since that time?

MC: I’m much more confident about my work now and I’ve found the areas that I’m interested in investigating. My work is very personal and I’m not necessarily confident about bearing my soul in public. I think through the years though I’ve developed a visual language which has helped me overcome this and now I’m comfortable with what I do.

I tend to work across media and move between painting and drawing through to textiles and light boxes as the work demands. I used to think I should concentrate on mastering one artform instead of dipping in and out as I do but now I see it as a necessary part of my practice. Textiles develop from drawings, paintings develop from textiles, everything is from me and has its roots in the same memories and experiences so each part of what I do informs the other areas.

I think my work has an emotional content now which people respond to and that to me is the most important thing. People are touched or angered or relate to pieces on a personal level and you can’t really ask for more than that.

Shot by Morwenna Catt

BS: Morwenna, can you go into detail about your artistic process? How do you begin a piece? When do you know that a piece is finished?

MC: I tend to work on several pieces at the same time, so I will have maybe a large scale painting in progress near me as I stitch or draw. I do work in sketchbooks but I tend to be precious about them and want to produce finished pieces of artwork rather than rough ideas so my rough sketches for 3D works tend to be scribbled diagrams on the backs of envelopes that are then discarded. I have books of scraps which I find interesting or inspiring, newspaper articles, postcards, bits of text heard off the radio, photographs etc. I only have to revisit these books to find something that I can use in my work. Eventually I guess everything gets used in some way, it might be years afterward but when the time is right it pops up.

Usually with a 3D work I have a pretty good idea of what the finished article should look like and feel like before I start. It’s just a case of finding the right materials and manipulating it into the original idea. Paintings I find more difficult to ‘finish’. I love paintings that have a rough or unfinished quality but I struggle to leave my own in that state and often think I overwork. That’s why leaving a painting and working on something else helps me. I can revisit it and be more detached because my hands are busy elsewhere and not feverishly trying to get the painting right.

Moving Stories-- Installation/Projection

BS: Morwenna, how does current world events influence your work? In other words, how does contemporary life impact your creative practice?

MC: I’m influenced by political and social events but as they affect us on an emotional level. I tend to filter down from the wide angle of an anodyne news report and find empathy with the people who are directly affected by it. A lot of my work is related to childhood, or uses childhood artifacts that in some way symbolize our vulnerability and innocence, or loss of innocence in some cases. I play on the nostalgia that we have for childhood and contrast this with the reality that exists for some.

I worked up an installation during the latest gulf war. One of my brothers was in the marines at the time and was sent to fight (though he says he himself disagreed with it), the other brother ended up going out to Baghdad as private security. I was opposed to the conflict and was going down to the anti-war protests in London and I began to stitch an army net of stuffed camouflage fabric rabbits, it was a ritual of waiting really– I worked on it while listening avidly to the news reports from Iraq and ended up with 200 of them, it reminded me of an American patchwork quilt. It symbolized the waste of life on both sides that we could all see in the media 24 hours a day and also the powerlessness of waiting at home and not having a voice.

Love Light as a Feather- Rabbit by Morwenna Catt

BS: Morwenna, tell us more about the philosophy behind your art. What motivates you to create?

MC: On a basic level - I’ve never really been any good at doing anything else, it doesn’t occur to me that I would do anything other than this. If I had another job totally removed from art I would still have to spend my spare time creating because its part of who I am. I like having an idea and seeing it through to its conclusion, also seeing something grow physically from bits of fabric and objects I’ve collected.

I’m not interested in creating something pretty or beautiful but I am interested in an emotive depth. Much of my work is battered and bruised and screams of the handmade or childish, I’m interested in achieving some kind of authenticity, not kitemarked perfection. My work could be seen as cathartic in some ways because it usually comes from such personal experience, but I’m more interested in the reactions and dialogue that springs from that, in the shared experience and triggers that affect us all in some way.

Love Light as a Feather- Fox by Morwenna Catt

BS: Why did you choose to work in the medium(s) that you use?

MC: I select media to fit the project and in that way I fell into using xrays and textiles. I’m not a fantastic seamstress, although I suppose I’ve got better with practice. For me its more about the materiality of the media, the sensory qualities of it or the deeper nostalgic connotations of the feel or smell of something. Even with my paintings I tend to stitch into them and leave raw threads hanging.

BS: Morwenna, what is your studio like? Can you go into detail about your studio routine? Do you work in silence-- listen to music?

MC: I have a small studio in a old Victorian Mill. We set it up as a collective several years ago and share the bills and rent. We each have a small studio of our own and shared communal space for working on larger projects. It works very well and there’s a good mix of other artists in there to talk to.

My studio is packed with materials and work and I’ve probably outgrown it, I’m not a terribly organized person by nature but I have to make a vague attempt at it in my space because it would be impossible to work in there otherwise. I work opposite another artist Duncan Burnett, we collaborate on projects sometimes and have similar working routines and both work with textiles. Because our studios are open across the front they’ve become kind of annexed to each other and we share resources and discuss projects while we’re working.

I tend to work late into the night, I’m not much of a morning person and mostly I’ll start in the afternoon and carry on till midnight or into the early hours if I’m feeling things are going well. I like to have some background noise, usually BBC Radio 4, it’s a constant stream of voices; plays, news, arts etc and I you can absorb it and tune in and out to the interesting bits without distraction.

Heel by Morwenna Catt

BS: What are you working on at this time?

MC: In the studio, I’m continuing with my ‘poison’ series of works. I have a textile child-sized figure in progress and I’m working on this alongside a series of paintings based on my drawings. The other side of my practice, which funds my studio work, is public and community art. I’m currently working on a sculptural exterior piece for a town centre which should be unveiled in March next year, I’m also finishing installing some floor designs for a psychiatric hospital garden.

BS: Morwenna, are you involved with any upcoming exhibits? Where can our readers view your work?

MC: I’m showing my phrenology heads at The Museum of Art and Design in New York in an exhibition called ‘Pricked: Extreme embroidery’. The show opens on the 8th of November and runs through till March 9th. I’ll also have work in a show at Ntama Gallery in Todmorden, Lancs through December and at Bracken Hall Museum in Bradford till February.

People can see more of my work on my website at www.morwennacatt.co.uk or on my, sadly neglected at the moment, blog at www.channelfur.blogspot.com . The first site is my official site and the blog was created more specifically for my drawings and to test out new work, though I also put images from community or public arts projects on there along with exhibition news etc.

BS: In your opinion, what are some of the problems facing artists today?

MC: For most artists I think funding their practice is still an issue. There’s a large investment in time and money to produce new work and it can be a struggle. Commercial galleries seem to charge exhibiting fees as well as a commission on sales in some cases so I tend to show in publicly funded spaces, especially as my work is not stereotypically commercial. Most artists I know have to work either on day jobs to survive or work, as I do, on public art and community projects to fund their studio work. When I first left college I didn’t really feel I knew what to do with my degree, the college was great because it gave you the luxury of experimenting and exploring ideas, but it didn’t really prepare you for the reality of earning a living.

Dead Cloud by Morwenna Catt

BS: Morwenna, the Internet is changing how we discover and view art. In your opinion, how have sites like myartspace.com empowered artists?

MC: The Internet has given us a platform to show what we do on our own terms in a very personal way without any interference or agenda from any outside institutions. I have a site to show my practice and a more personal blog. These have enabled me to build contacts and opportunities I wouldn’t otherwise have had.

The Internet seems to dilute the capitalcentric nature of the art world and there’s an equality to the Internet which I love. Sites like myartspace are great because they take some of the isolation out of working as an artist. Its fantastic to be able to network with artists across the world and see such a wide variety of ideas at the click of a button. It gives a good insight into methods of working and how other people are managing their practice.

BS: Finally, what are your goals as an artist? What do you hope to accomplish with your work?

MC: I’m happy with the progression of my practice and I see it as a natural evolution which continues as I explore the media and ideas behind my work. I want people to understand my work and connect to it in some emotional way. I don’t measure the success of my work through sales and have refused to sell if I felt the buyer didn’t really get the point of the work.

Practically, I’d like to alter the balance of my work so I spend more time in the studio and less on public or community ‘money’ projects. I want to exhibit abroad more and I’m interested in taking on more residencies so I can work in a concentrated way on projects without distraction.

You can learn more about Morwenna Catt by visiting her website-- www.morwennacatt.co.uk. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Whitney Wood

Whitney Wood was raised in Perry Georgia. She received a BFA degree in Painting from Auburn University in 2005. While earning her undergraduate degree, Whitney studied with the University of Georgia in Cortona, Italy. Following graduation from Auburn, she studied with Rhode Island School of Design in Pont-Aven, France. Moving back to the states she interned with Paul Kasmin Gallery and studied under painter Larry Poons in New York City. Whitney's change in environment has always been an inspiration to her. Currently, Whitney lives in Atlanta, GA, where she is working on her MFA degree at SCAD Atlanta, for painting.


Brian Sherwin: Whitney, what can you tell us about your educational background. Do you have formal training in art? If so, who were your instructors and how did they influence you?

Whitney Wood: I did. I received my BFA in painting from Auburn University. During the time that I was there I studied with UGA in Cortona, Italy. The painting professor that I had there was one of the most influential people I had ever met. After graduating, I went to Pont Aven, France with Rhode Island School of Design. I studied under Victor Kord. Learning from him proved to be the most defining experience for me. Those professors encouraged me to move to New York for a few years. So I did. I worked at Paul Kasmin Gallery and painted and studied under Larry Poons. After two years I returned to the south and am currently an MFA candidate in painting at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Atlanta, Georgia.

BS: What about your early artistic influences and experiences. When did you decide to pursue art?

WW: My grandmother was a painter. When I was a child, I would experience a sense of wonderment each time that I viewed one of her beautiful, explosive paintings. The visceral quality of the thickly endowed medium was always so seductive to me. So I began art classes under numerous painters. I continued this throughout my childhood.

BS: With that said, how would you say that your work has advanced since that time?

WW: My work has matured since then and has maintained a constant state of evolution and growth. My subject matter has moved from the literal to the more interpretative, which in my opinion is more poetic than the literal copying of a thing.

BS: Whitney, is there anything else you would like to tell us about your background in regards to how your art has matured?

WW: I spent some time in Shanghai, China a few years ago. I had a small exhibition at a gallery there and this was the start of something really wonderful and refreshing for me. It was there that I discovered this child like fascination with non-traditional materials on traditional surfaces and vice versa.

BS: Whitney, can you go into detail about your artistic process? How do you begin a piece? When do you know that a piece is finished?

WW: I create an under painting that requires a unique process that I have developed over the past 4 years. It is only after this under painting has been made that the painting begins. I then bring out the forms by removing forms. Process has become very seductive for me.

BS: How does current world events influence your work? In other words, how does contemporary life impact your creative practice?

WW: My work has always been very responsive to my surroundings and travels.

BS: Tell us more about the philosophy behind your art. What motivates you to create?

WW: Nature has endured industrial and architectural developments throughout history and will remain a perfectly functioning system even as our cities are deconstructed and reconstructed over and over again. I have always been fascinated with natural systems. Also the history of architecture, its reflection of cultures as well as urban planning, construction, and destruction.

BS: Whitney, why did you choose to work in the medium(s) that you use?

WW: I am currently using toxic materials along with more traditional medium. I love the ability of these materials to respond to my touch and direction. The initial reaction of the more toxic materials is less controlled. There is a sense of humility that comes with incorporating elements into my work that rely on gravitational pull rather than my own hand.

BS: Whitney, what is your studio like? Can you go into detail about your studio routine? Do you work in silence-- listen to music.

WW: My paintings undergo many different stages that require specific processes. The under paintings stage is more intuitive so I will listen to some great music or an interesting lecture. When I need to be more contemplative and the process becomes strategic, I will usually work in silence.

BS: What are you working on at this time?

WW: I have been creating imagined environments including architectural mutations that have been freed from practical concerns. By mimicking natural structure, these building-like forms express an enthusiasm in connecting with nature. The forms are suggestive of a future post cataclysmic/apocalyptic city structure that reveals the superiority of nature and in turn symbolizes a purer and more tranquil world. These hypothetical environments, where architecture exists harmoniously with nature while suggesting its supremacy, convey a sensory experience of the space itself. "Nature has that in her which compels us to invent giants." -- C.S. Lewis

BS: Where can our readers view your work?

WW: I have a website that is currently under construction. It will be finished within the next few weeks. Information regarding upcoming exhibitions will be found there. www.whitneywood.com

BS: Whitney, the Internet is changing how we discover and view art. In your opinion, how have sites like myartspace.com empowered artists?

WW: It is so important for an artist to immerse themselves in artistic community. Of course one does this by cultivating relationships but Internet sites like myartspace.com is a wonderful tool for connecting to a diverse group of artists from all over.

BS: Finally, what are your goals as an artist? What do you hope to accomplish with your work?

WW: I am concerned with art and life, which leads to experience. I want to live the art that I make everyday. I am content as long as my work is suggestive of a reality that exists outside of normal human experience. My faith is grafted to the root of my work as well as who I am. I consider my work to be successful as long as my faith is inherent in it. Any work that remains strong in its convictions, no matter what those convictions are, is strong itself.

You can learn more about Whitney Wood by visiting her website-- www.whitneywood.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Scott Silvey

Scott Silvey currently lives and works in Tokyo, Japan. Originally from Indiana, Scott has an MFA in Sculpture from Georgia State University and has shown his work in various venues in the United States and Japan.

Brian Sherwin: Scott, you studied sculpture at Georgia State University. Who were your mentors at that time? Also, how has your work developed since then?

Scott Silvey: I feel very fortunate to have been in Atlanta during a time when the art community there was beginning to develop a strong sense of it’s own worth both nationally and internationally. During the years following the 1996 Olympics, the artists in Atlanta nurtured an already budding artistic community into something much more complex and multi-faceted.

Within Georgia State itself, my three main mentors were my professors, George Beasley, Michael Murrell, and Pam Longobardi. their guidance and encouragement was invaluable to me. Outside of school I was a part of an extensive network of both artists and musicians whose creations were certainly fodder for my own creative output. I believe though it was the ideas and comments of my closest friends at the time that truly helped me to shape my aesthetic.

Since graduating from Georgia State I have continued to pursue many of the same subjects I did while in school. History, natural systems, resonance, architecture, spirituality, authenticity, interconnectedness, mortality, liminality, sexuality, perception, and the essential nature of things all continue to be influential themes in my work. During the last several years however, my treatment of them has become more refined and my technical skills for realizing my ideas have continued to improve.

Nourished by Change, steel, suitcases, soil, 49.5 ft. x 11 ft. x 7.5 ft., 1999

BS: Before going to school for sculpture you studied psychology at Earlham College. How have your studies in psychology influenced your art?

SS: I’m not sure my studies in psychology influenced my art necessarily but rather my interests in art and psychology sort of both sprang from the same source. I believe both fields find their origins in the pursuit of understanding. Whether it is the relationship of cognition to behavior or figure to ground, both endeavor to make sense of the world.

BS: Scott, I've noticed that you have been involved with several group exhibitions in Japan. Based on your experience, can you explain some of the differences on how art is viewed in Japan compared to in the States? Is there a noticeable difference in tastes, so to speak?

SS: To be perfectly honest, I haven’t noticed any fundamental difference in the way that art is viewed or made in Japan versus anywhere else I have been. Because of the Internet I think a kind of global aesthetic has developed among the artists of the world. Perhaps, themes and images from Japanese history appear more regularly in the work made here but beyond that, I think it would be difficult to place the work geographically. Concerning the way the work is viewed, the only difference I might site is the fact that the Japanese audience might be a little more hesitant to approach the artist personally and ask them a question about their work.

The Twilight Juncture, soil, steel, wood, felt, dimensions variable, 2000

BS: You were involved with an exhibit sponsored by Takashi Murakami. As you know, he appropriates popular themes from mass media and pop culture, then turns them into thirty-foot sculptures, "Superflat" paintings, or marketable commercial goods such as figurines or phone caddies. He is also credited with starting the Superflat style. Would you like to share some memories about this exhibition?

SS: The event was akin to many of the international art fairs one can currently find around the world. It was a big, multi-media affair with hundreds of artists represented and an even larger audience. The work there was pretty varied however it became clear how many Japanese artists are influenced by manga and anime when viewing them as a group. There were a few other foreigners represented but I think our numbers added up to less than ten.

It was a great opportunity to have a very large number of people view my work in a short amount of time. I met some nice people there and made some good contacts. However, I left the event having some mixed feelings about Murakami’s intentions for creating the event. The exhibition was only one day and every artist that participated had to pay a substantial amount of money to show their work. Murakami promotes the event as a chance for young artists to be exposed to a large audience. In the end though, the event seemed less like an opportunity for young artists and more like an advertisement for Murakami.

Developing what seems at the expense of what is, steel, mirror, mahogany, walnut, 4.5 ft. x 6 ft. x 11ft., 1998

BS: Scott, in what others ways have your travels influenced your work?

SS: Probably the two biggest ways my travels have influenced my work is in my use of space and symbology. I am very interested in the cultural adaptation of space especially within residential and religious architecture. Every culture has traditionally developed spacial relationships that reflect the social, economic, spiritual and physical foundations of their societies. Seeing how each country with it’s own unique circumstances deals with the issue of space has enriched my thinking about spacial relationships in my own work. Also, the folk culture and tales of the countries I have visited have at times become sources for symbols that appear in my pieces.

For example, I lived in Seoul, Korea for a year before moving to Japan. While living in Korea I discovered that according to Korean folklore a magpie landing on one’s house was a sign that a visitor would soon be coming. In a series of paintings called "the vain indispensable," I took the image of the magpie and mixed it with images drawn from Dutch vanitas symbolism to create a conceptual situation in which the visitor coming might be one’s own realization of the brevity of life.

BS: Scott, in 2001 you did some collaborative work with Beacon Dance at the Atlanta Contemporary Arts Center. Can you tell us about that project? Also, what do you enjoy about collaborative work? Do you plan to do something like that again in the near future?

SS: In 2001, Beacon Dance was in the middle of a four-year cycle of performances each dealing with one of the four cardinal elements. I was lucky enough to have Patton White, the leader of that group, see my work at the time and invite me to create the set for the "Fire" installment. It was a very invigorating and enlightening process for me. My work for the piece grew in proportion to the development of the dance and the conversations between the dancers and myself. The potential for the direct engagement of my work by another human being was very exciting to think about.

In addition to that piece, I have also collaborated with my father John Silvey, Mio Sasanotti, and the video artist John Daniel Walsh. I always enjoy the potential for surprising new configurations that can develop because of the confluence of ideas and styles. I would definitely be interested in doing more collaborative work in the future but at this time I have nothing planned.

subSensory (with John Daniel Walsh), steel, automotive paint, wood, fabric, video cameras, video projectors, speakers, dimensions variable

BS: Scott, tell us more about your artistic process and the philosophy behind your work? What is your motivation for creating?

SS: Like most artists, I was born with a natural curiosity about the way things are or could be. Art-making is for me a way to make sense of the things around me. I seek new connections between, ways to synthesize or distill the information I encounter. At times, creating work is also just about the joy of bringing something new into the world.

My process for creating is somewhat different depending on the media I use. For painting, the ideas and images for the work usually grow out of the particular geography and environment of the place I happen to be at the time. The sculptural/ installation work that I do is more concept driven. As a consequence, the work usually starts as an idea and then the imagery is developed from there.

BS: Where is your studio? Do you follow a routine when working? Do you work alone or do you prefer company?

SS: Because space is at an absolute premium in Japan I am currently working directly out of my apartment. The fabrication of the kind of sculpture I do requires bulky power tools and a large studio so consequently I am making no sculpture at this time. I have been on the search for some space for fabrication and storage but currently it’s ongoing.

I don’t really follow a strict routine when working. Like most artists, whatever project I am working on at a given time is always very present in my mind. The process of resolution takes place on train platforms and temple steps, wherever I have a chance to reflect on the work. The bulk of my studio practice however happens on the weekends.

My studio time is generally solitary. As I said before I like to collaborate, and a good critique is extremely important to me, but when I am physically executing a work I don’t like to be distracted by others. The proper tools and some good music are all I need.

Ginseng (from "Civic Remedies"), acrylic/ carbon on panel, 53 cm. x 45.5 cm., 2007

BS: Scott what are you working on at this time? Also, do you have any upcoming exhibitions?

SS: I am currently working on a series of paintings called "Civic Remedies." The pieces imagine Tokyo as a city devoid of it’s former human inhabitants. All that remains are their skeletal homes and symbols of their consumption. Vending machines, meters, and electrical lines stand like ghostly artifacts of the ones who created them. Within this spectral landscape soil and medicinal herbs are gathering in abundance. Their restorative potential has returned to heal an urban landscape that has become sick.

Presently, I am in the process of arranging an exhibition of this series at a Buddhist temple here in Tokyo. The chief priest of this particular temple is a patron of the arts and often exhibits artist’s work in a gallery on the temple grounds. In addition to that I am scouting for a gallery space in the United States to show "Civic Remedies." At this time I have a few places in mind for the exhibition but nothing is concrete yet.

Violet (from "Civic Remedies"), acrylic/ carbon on panel, 65 cm. x 53 cm., 2007

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your art or the artworld?

SS: I endeavor to make work that can be appreciated on a number of different levels. It is my desire that everyone from a layperson to a studied art historian might be able to find something valuable in it. I always keep the image of a flower at the forefront of my mind when I am creating. On the surface it can be appreciated merely for it’s superficial form and beauty, however, if one is willing to go below the soil a much deeper reason for it’s being can be found.



You can learn more about Scott Silvey by doing a search for his name on the main site. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Sarah Maple

I Heart Jihad, Digital Print

Sarah Maple has been called many things due to her art-- some people have lashed out at her with vulgar anonymous messages, others have praised her for her bravery and humor, some have called her the heir to Tracey Emin's throne. This is my second interview with Sarah and I am pleased to call her 'friend'.

Brian Sherwin: Sarah, last time we chatted you had just found out that you were one of the four finalists in the 4 New Sensations competition launched by Channel 4 and The Saatchi Gallery. Just days ago you found out that you were the winner of the finalist circle. I remember we communicated just days before the competition came to a close and you seemed a little nervous. Did you have doubts?

Sarah Maple: Yes I was quite nervous about it. I think because of the work I had made was this 'Vote For Me' campaign, many people knew about what I was doing. There felt like a lot of pressure to win had built up, it wasn't like I could just slip away and hide if I didn't win! Also not only about finding out about winning but the way my whole life for the past few months felt like it was waiting for the climax of this show. So it was quite a strange feeling that it was all gonna be over!

BS: For those who don't know, 4 New Sensations is a brand new art prize instigated to find the most imaginative and talented artists graduating in the UK. How does it feel to know that you, by winning, have set the standard for that competition?

SM: It feels really great, it's great to be the first person that won it. They're going to do it every year now I think. I hope it becomes a really big prize.

She Has a Very Hot Arse, Digital Print

BS: An exhibition of all twenty finalists was held at The Truman Brewery Brick Lane to coincide with Frieze art Fair. What was that experience like?

SM: It was good because I think we did get quite a lot of traffic from Frieze which was excellent. I had quite a few people coming up to me at Frieze who recognized me from the show, so I did feel like a bit of a Z list celebrity which was great fun! Haha! I really liked the Truman Brewery as a location as well, I'd like to do a show again there in the future.

BS: The works by Marcus Lanyon and Mark Melvin have been acquired by the Zabludowicz Collection and Mie Olise Kjaergaard's work has been purchased by a private collector. Your work will become part of Channel 4's art collection, Art4. Tell me, did you have much contact with the other finalists throughout this process? Would you say there was a form of camaraderie among the four of you or was it every man for himself, so to speak?

SM: We didn't really get the chance! I thought they may organise an occasion for us to meet but it didn't happen which was a shame. The private view was so packed, I couldn't spot any of them, I happened to bump into Marcus on the stairs and then I bumped into Mie at Frieze! Mie and I were chatting before we even knew we had been shortlisted so I think there was a little camaraderie amongst us girls!

BS: Sarah, I understand there was a bit of an exposure blitz during the final days of the competition. The four of you found creative ways to capture votes. What exactly did you do?

SM: Was there? Oh! Well as my work as a political campaign part of my work was this 'Rally' I had been planning on doing but put off because I was a bit scared!! Basically I went round London with a friend, a megaphone, Vote For Me t-shirts and a load of flyer's and campaigned like a politician. It was hilarious. We got thrown of South Bank and Trafalgar Square as we didn't have permission. It was a great day though and I made a few friends out of it, haha! We spent more time in the pub then actually campaigning but it did get me a few more votes AND I didn't get arrested which was great. Other things I did was a 'Vote For Me' myspace and a 'Vote For Me' facebook group which was all part of the work. The word seemed to spread quite fast. I always make my own publicity anyway, I am a self confessed media whore.

BS: Where were you at when you found out that you had won? Who informed you that you had won? Can you describe how you felt? Also, who was the first person you told?

SM: Well I was actually at work. On a Monday I work in a little shop in the Brighton lanes. They called me up and a bit of wee came out when the phone went and I saw a London number. It was Annabel from Saatchi who informed me. It felt amazing when she told me, I was so happy. And relieved! The first person I called was my boyfriend, then obviously my Mum who was in a meeting!! I spent the whole day on the phone getting texts and phone calls! For a moment I was worried that I might get fired but then I thought 'Fuck it if I get fired I'm Saatchi's whore!' It is an amazing feeling to win but I know that it doesn't guarantee future success for me. Now the real hard work starts!

BS: Sarah, do you have any other experiences that you would like to share with our readers? I'm certain you have met some interesting people in the last few weeks...

SM: Yes. Er keep your feet on the ground and be careful who you do business with.

Women Bleed, 50 x 80 cm, C-Type Print

BS: How do you think winning 4 New Sensations will change your life? It would seem that the ball is in your court...

SM: I must say it has totally changed everything for me. It has got me that attention I needed to kick start my career. It is a dream come true, i couldn't ask for a better start, it is absolutely incredible. But like I said earlier it is never going to be easy, I need to work even harder now to show I deserved it and to gain that longevity as an artist I am craving. There are some very exciting things being offered to me now but I'm not going to get carried away until it happens for sure! I'm staying realistic!

BS: During this time have you still been productive with your art? What have you been working on? Is it true that you are painting again?

SM: Yes I have tried to keep on doing my art but I've had to have a part time job while this has been going on to support myself so I just didn't have the time that I had when I was a student. But luckily with the money I've got from Charlie I can concentrate more on my art work then shop work! I still continued to take photos during this time - the occasional new one would pop up on my myspace! But I have lots of ideas for paintings at the moment so that is what I am concentrating on. I have so many ideas but not enough time to keep up with myself! But now yes I am returning to painting for a bit which I am really excited about. I just painted Miss K Moss and she looks fab (even though she never stays still, the minx).

Swearing is Cool, 50 x 80 cm, C-Type Print

BS: Sarah, you are the perfect example of how the Internet is changing the way that we view art. Artists have more opportunities than ever before due to the Internet. Do you have anything that you would like to add to that view-- in your opinion, how important is the Internet for artists?

SM: So so important, I cannot stress that enough. Since i got my website and set up my myspace in June everything has changed, so many opportunities have come my way. I would say 99% of things I have achieved this year is because I really went for it online and really put myself out there. The key to success is the right exposure so that is what artists need to start doing. A website is the key! (er, and good art, haha)

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to tell us about the competition or your art? Perhaps you would like to take this time to thank a few people?

SM: Um I would like to thank everyone that took part in the show, everyone at Saatchi and Tiger Aspect, the judges, and most importantly everyone who voted for me, sent me messages and really supported me and my art, I am so grateful!

You can learn more about Sarah Maple by visiting her website-- www.sarahmaple.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin