Interview with Minna Komi

q)Introduce yourself, name,age, location.

a)I'm Minna Komi, 23. I live and study in Helsinki, Finland

q) Can you describe your path to being an artist? When did you really get into it?

a)I have always been interested in drawing and painting. The interest has deepened in the last three years that I have been studying painting in Free Art School. I think during the last year or so some things have just lodged into place, or more into place than they were before, and painting has become even more important to me - the most important thing.

q) Describe your ideals and how they manifest in your work.

a)Painting, for me, is about maintaining the organic feel of the work, it’s about keeping everything raw and fresh. What I'm interested in most is how to get more depth into the work - for that is the only direction you can take, just going deeper into the meanings of the painting, and the feel of it.

q) Is music a part of your studio time? What do you listen to?

a)Music plays quite a big part in my painting process, even though sometimes it's only a barrier to help me block other things out. I mostly listen to instrumental music, and more than often the same songs on repeat. “The Arrival of the Birds” by the Cinematic Orchestra is one of the songs that has stuck with me for over a year now.

q) How would you describe your work to someone?

a)I primarily work with oil colors. I'm interested in the human form, faces and nature. My work right now is mostly quite subtle and silent. I'm interested in hidden meanings, secrets inside secrets, the feel of invisibility.

q) Influences?

a)Some of my favorite painters at the moment are Markus Eek, Peter Doig and René Magritte. Some poems and books often play a part in my process too. I've been thinking about the beginning of T.S. Eliot's poem “The waste land” for quite a long time now. I must know it by heart by now.

q) Describe your process for creating new work.

a)I start with the blank canvas and some paint, and just enjoy how painting feels like. I rarely have a definite idea about what I’m going to paint. The process itself usually leads me to some place, and things that have been on my mind, maybe not even that consciously, come through.

The painting process never sleeps; most things in my life are in some way connected to painting. I usually work on many paintings at the same time. Sometimes I may throw a lot of things away, if I’m not satisfied with them. I like to keep things fresh.

Painting, for me, is about discovering myself – but at the same time I have an urge to hide away from it. I rarely am able to continue a painting after the feelings and thoughts have run their course. I need to be in tight connection with my paintings for the whole time I work.

q) What advice do you have for artists looking to show their work?

a)It's always good to try all the venues that you have. It's quite hard to find a good space, so group exhibitions and competitions are a good opportunity.

q) What are you really excited about right now?

a)I'm looking forward to just continue painting, that's the one thing I'm most passionate about. I have an urge to paint. I'm working on different things right now, and I'm most excited to just see where the paintings lead me, what they want to become.

q) What do you love most about where you live?

a)I love the nature and how the seasons change. But most of all, all the people close to me close by.

q) Best way to spend a day off?

a)With a good friend.

q) Upcoming shows/ projects?

a)Right now I want to focus only on painting, even though I have a few projects in consideration.

q) Where can people see more of your work on the internet?

a)I have a website that I update regularly with new work and information about upcoming exhibitions, www.minnakomi.net

Interview with Fernando Villalvazo

q) Well, first of all please tell us a little about yourself.

a)Hello I am FV and I am living in Monterrey (Mexico) right now, i have 3 afghan hounds, and I love my wife.

q)How would you describe your work?

a)Ok, let me try - we need a blender to make my work: let's put some inspiration with a little bit of kitsch, a pinch of surrealism, naïve, and pop, then a few drops of symbolism with a spoonful of lowbrow 'Et Voilá' this is my own bitter-sweet cocktail

q) Did somebody encourage you to become an artist?

a)Nobody, just the opposite

q) What is your favorite medium?

a)Drawing

q) Generally speaking, where do your ideas come from?

a)From my distopyan world

q) How long does it take to complete a piece?

a)That’s depends, if i want a paper draw or a big painting on canvas - 15 minutes, one day, never knows

q) Who are your favorite artists…and who are some artists you are currently looking/listening to?

a)Let me think… maybe Arnold Bocklin, Jean Delville, Max Ernst, Joan Miró, Hieronymus Bosch, Matthias Grünewald, millais, etc. etc. etc. etc.

q) Are you represented by a gallery? Do you have any upcoming exhibits?

a)I was represented in several galleries actually I'm independent right now because I don’t believe too much in that old fashion-model.

q) Do you have any 'studio rituals'? As in, do you listen to certain types of music while working? What helps to get

you in the mood for working?

a)Just need listen music: jazz, dub, trip hop or maybe IDM – but always I need my 3 dogs near to me.

q) What is your favorite a) taste, b) sound, c) sight, d) smell, and e) tactile sensation?

a)Mio dio!!!

q) Do you have goals that you are trying to reach as an artist, what is your 'drive'? What would you like to accomplish in your 'profession'?

a)If you can't understand your goal, you'll never reach it. With the coming of a fresh year people always strive hard to have a good beginning, it's simple to me, as always, I have many painting techniques that I'll have develop this year.

q) When have you started using the Internet and what role does this form of communication play for you, personally, for your art, and for your business?

a)Internet is definitely a great tool for independent artists

q) What do you obsess over?

a)Information, Art, Books, Love.

q) Do you have prefered working hours? Do you pay attention to the time of the day or maybe specific lighting?

a)I don’t know what time and what day is today, so, no matter what time it is to do my artwork

q) Do you do commissioned works?

a)Just If I have libero arbitrio

q) Any tips for emerging artists?

a)If you don't find your artwork meaningful and rewarding, find another job

Cheers!

Interview with Etienne Zerah

q) Let’s start with the basics; what's your full name, where do you live, and how old are you?

a)I’m Etienne Zerah; Etienne is an art name and Zerah is my real surname, that has mixed origins: jewish, tunisian, french, but I am Italian born and bred. I am currently living in a multiethnic district of Berlin and I came from Genoa (Italy), where I spent my last ten years. I was born in autumn 1977.

q) Do you have any formal training?

a)Sure, I attended the Artistic High School and the Fine Art Academy in Genoa, having a background as painter, only later I was interested in photography and digital works, but since I was a child, I’ve always had a strong attitude to drawing and being fashinated by art.

q) Did the place you grew up in influence your image making?

a)I was born I a small town and grown up in the country, I used to play in the woods during my childhood, for this reason I have a close relationship with nature; reacting to this I’m very fascinated by tecnology and the possibilities that it can give, so I think you can find a mix of these elements in my works.

I’m glad to have found this mix in the city where I live, so this can keep on influencing me as I like.

q) How do you come up with your concepts?

a)I’m influenced by daily facts, by news and gossips, whatever I see in the world or in the streets that hits me or annoys me, it can be a real fact or a sensation in the air; so after thinking a lot, I reach an image in my mind, that only after several shoots, tests and changes, becomes the definitive work.

At the end I just need to express my point of view.

q) Describe your creations in a clear, concise and understandable sentence. What do you call them?

a)Basically it’s a research of the visual impact and equilibrium in the images. I think these are the factors to get the objective beauty in a visual work.

q) What other mediums would you like to explore in your image making?

a)Video, surely. I’ve already tried to do something, but I need more time and I think I still have to actualize many ideas with photography before…maybe I will start with video when I will be tired of photography!

But sincerely I don't know, i'm used to live at the time and follow my instict about art.

a)) What is the best time in the day for you to work on a project? Is there one, or is it more about the environment -- maybe the right mood?

a)There is not a specific time, I simply like to have time, because I know when I start, but I have no idea when I can finish; sometimes I can spend a lot of hours working on a image, during the day, the night and the day after again without any pause.

Usually I need some day to complete a work, but it’s happened that I needed months, too.

q) What are your artistic influences?...and …generally who or what influences you the most?

a)I was born as painter and i've always studied paintings, so this started to influence me, the colors and materiality of a painting, like Expressionism for example. About the subjects, the Renaissance had a strong influence during my studies. Now I feel to be influenced by the images I see around me, I like advertisings images, billboards, music and movie covers.

q) Who are some of your favourite artists/designers/photographers?

a)When i began to photograph, my first guru was Robert Mapplethorpe because of the lights use and of the human subjects. Currently i can say that my favourite artists are Pierre et Gilles, Erwin Olaf and David LaChapelle, i also love two italians, Matteo Basilè and Giacomo Costa.

q) What is your next project? Exhibition? Collaboration?

a)The current work in progress is a series of avatars of myself, a collection of selfportraits more or less reworked, where the images are strictly connected with my being and where I can see my face change in the time.

After this, my next project will involve other models and it will be about fetish attitudes and looks in Tom of Finland’s style.

q) What are your plans for the future?

a)Sincerely I live from day by day and react to what happens, so my plans can change, if I have them; anyway, in the future I would like to work with medias.

q) Are there some web sites that You would like to recomend? Artists, art communities, xxx,...!?

a)I can share my favourite artists homepages:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pierre-et-Gilles/60959875180

http://www.lachapellestudio.com/

http://www.aes-group.org/default.asp

http://www.erwinolaf.com/

http://www.giacomocosta.com/

http://www.matteobasile.com/newsite/

http://www.mapplethorpe.org/

q) What sort of music do you listen to?

a)Music is very important for me, I always listen to music, especially working on pictures; I love electronic, alternative and experimental music…I think is the same as for art: I feel attracted by new stuff, by the researches, by the experiments to find something new, fresh and on the same wave of our contemporary time.

q) Do you collect anything? If so what?

a)Yes, I collect music of course; I have a very big collection of Björk’s material and a lot of cd and lp from other artists. When I was young I collected sugar sachets and leaves.

q) What do you do for fun?

a)Hey, this is a personale question!

Anyway, I like to spend time with my friends of course, but I also love to be alone, maybe in the nature, to woods or lakes with my camera and mp3 player. I like to watch movies and to travel.

And usually i have fun watching people in the metro.

q) Any advice you can pass onto aspiring artists/designers?

a)I don’t think to be yet in the position to give advices!

Right now I can say to experiment and test many things to find the right ones and don’t be shy to show what one really thinks.

q) Your contacts…

a)You can find everything on www.etiennezerah.com, also my Facebook account and the qualified galeries.

Interview with Sean Lyman

q)Please tell us your name and where you practice.

a)My Name is Sean Lyman. I live and work in Springfield, Missouri.

q) Why do you make art?

a)I make drawings as a way to communicate… I see the drawings as a form of language that I am unable to otherwise speak. I have been drawing since I was a child. When I was young, my brother and I use to get a magazine called ZOO Books. For a while we each got to pick a picture and our Mother would draw them for us. Eventually, she started to make me draw my own… I just remember that I wanted mine to look as good as her drawing was. This was an important realization for me as I look back, whether I knew it or not, I was being critical of what I was making. I wanted it to have value/meaning.

q) How do you work ?

a)I work from both photographs I take and from images I find. As I have continued working I am finding these images to be more of a support and less of what the drawing actually becomes.

q) What´s your background?

a)I got my BFA at Wichita State University and my MFA at the University of Kansas. Currently I am a Associate Professor of Painting and Drawing at Missouri State University.

q) What role does the artist have in society?

a)I feel that the artist has a responsibility to be honest when most in that society will not. The honesty does not need be earth shattering or prophetic… it can be but it also can be perverse and degenerate. I think that is up to the individual.

q) What was a seminal experience for you ?

a)Last year I had a show at NICE/NICE Exhibition Space in Hannover, Germany. I was able to go over for the opening. It was really interesting to me to see the type response I got about the work. It was the first time I had been to Europe and was really unsure how the work would go over. I was excited to see that people responded to it.

q) Has your practice changed over time ?

a)To an extent yes, I focus more now on only using imagery that I know will eventually only be a supportive tool. In that I mean the drawing will end up being something entirely different than explicitly a drawing of the photo.

q) What art do you most identify with ?

a)Subversive types of art… but also at the same time I have spent a lot of time recently re-finding Dutch Still-Life painting. There is something magical about that work.

q) What´s your strongest memory of your childhood ?

a)(see second Question)

q) What themes do you pursue ?

a)Identity, culture, opposites, masculinity and femininity, vanity, perversion, and social constructs.

q) Describe a real life experience that inspired you.

a)Ten years ago I was in a wheelchair for two months… it was the first time I was something other than “normal” I was able to experience the ugliness that people are able to possess without actively knowing that they/we are doing it. I go back to this experience often as a moment of clarity. I know that now the way I perceive this time is now the way I want to remember it… it too is a construct. These types of constructs influence me daily.

q) What´s your most embarrassing moment ?

a)Shit, I think it would depend on who you asked… there is not just one coming to mind.

q) What jobs have you done other than being an artist ?

a)I had a lot of odd jobs before I came to work at the University. I waited tables, worked at a golf shop, landscaped, sales person, cook, framer at a frame shop… just to think of a few.

q) What responses have you had to your work ?

a)Generally people respond well, they want to know why the people have bags/masks on their heads. I also have people think that the drawings are creepy… which I enjoy, makes me smile.

Interview with Crin

q) Well, first of all please tell us a little about yourself.

a)Hi, my name is Crin. I'm an itlian artist but I currently work and

live in Berlin.

q)How would you describe your work?

a)Tangle!

q) Did somebody encourage you to become an artist?

a)Not actually, art is a passion that I always had since I can remember. However, my family never hindered me

q)What is your favorite medium?

a)I principally use acrylic colors and markers and often I add some spray.

I paint always on canvas or heavy paper, but lately I´m doing a series of works on cardboard, and I like it as material. Mostly because of the contrast that it comes out between the material itself and my typically plain colors

q) Generally speaking, where do your ideas come from?

a)Normally I get inspired from everything that sourrounds me, I actually chose this city cause I thought that it could give me a lot, visually speaking too.

At the moment I'm working on a project that is growing and developing day by day and it has started just by looking at some balls of wool that I found at home. I began drawing them in a very simple way till I created new and always different concepts that I ' m still processing, I'm very courious about what comes next. I can say that lately my ideas come from these balls of wool.

q) How long does it take to complete a piece?

a)It depends on the size and on the complexity of the work. It could take from a day to a week, but not for longer otherweise I get bored.

q) Who are your favorite artists…and who are some artists you are currently looking/listening to?

a)I follow the street art scene, I could mention the most famous like Roa, Blu,Daim, Os Gemeos, they are the first that pop up in my mind, but I could enumerate many more that I constantly look at. But part of me is still attached to the surrealist trend of Dalí, Magritte, Ernst and Miró, their world has always charmed me.

q) Are you represented by a gallery? Do you have any upcoming exhibits?

a)At the moment I 'm not represented by any gallery, but some of my works are travelling around some european cities with the urban arts award ARTAQ. The exhibit in Paris just closed and the next will be in Bruxelles in December.

q) Do you have any 'studio rituals'? As in, do you listen to certain types of music while working? What helps to get you in the mood for working?

a)I listen to a lot of music while I'm working, mostly electronic, but it depends on my mood. Sometimes I listen to history or science documentaries. Other days silence is better instead.

q) What is your favorite a) taste, b) sound, c) sight, d) smell, and e) tactile sensation?

a)Quick answer, Salty, ,colors, wet paint, feathers,

q) Do you have goals that you are trying to reach as an artist, what is your 'drive'? What would you like to accomplish in your 'profession'?

a)I haven't a precise goal, but I'd like to reach as many people as possible through my works, and I'd like to spread them everywhere.

q) When have you started using the internet and what role does this form of communication play for you, personally, for your art, and for your business?

a)I think I started using internet since I got the chance, it always got me in. I belive it is a great way to spread your own ideas, your knowledge and, in my case, your works. Internet is a good platform for cultural, social and entertaining share. And it is also important to keep in contact with the other people. Regarding my art, the web has surely given me a big shot to make myself known and to meet people. Right now, I couldn't do without it and I feel very lucky to live in this era of digital revolution.

q) What do you obsess over?

a)I don't think to have any obsession.

q) Do you have prefered working hours? Do you pay attention to the time of the day or maybe specific lighting?

a)I'm more concentrated from the evening till late at night. I wake up pretty late, so I spend the first hours doing my ordinary stuff and then I commit myself to my work for the rest of the day. I'd rather stay without any schedule and limits, I do what feel to do.

q) Do you do commissioned works?

a)Yes, it often happens that I work on commission and it's not something that I really like, but it brings money to which you can't say no.

q) Any tips for emerging artists?

a)Insist und never give up! Truly believe in what you do, no matter all the problems you may have. It is a tip that I give also to myself, being an emerging artist.

q)…Your contacts

a)I'm full of contacts, I'll give you the most important: my website www.crinart.com and the blog http://crin-art.blogspot.com/ , there you can find more links to the other pages.