Interview with Inga Liksaite

q) For the people who don't know your work - how would you describe it ?

a)I make sewings which are most often two-color graphic drawings. Sewing machine I see as a proper tool to draw in stitches, to create a new surface, a texture, a picture. That way allows me to merge my eye-mind imagination with a passion for texturing.

q) What are the key themes running through your practice?

a)In my practice I like continuation, but together - rolling around and back to the same. So maybe the key-themes may be called slow motion and repetition. For instance, I am sewing folds and giving them three dimention perspective, I form them by using horizontal line rhyme, it contradicts the fold sequence direction, which gives the whole picture a depth and vibration, attracts to explore a whole image and a surface in detail. I use it in all my motives, such as faces, folds or circles. I wish my works were not to shock but to balance.

q) Your favorite place on earth?

a)A place where I am at that moment

q) What influences your work?

a)A bit of all what I meet on my way, it is visual thinking in general situation and everywhere I go. Whatever: photography, cinema, walls, light, good discussion, people. I am also mad about textures, surface tactuallity, simple linen makes me inspired if it falls softly and heavily, gets nice light effects. Probably this combination of observing and crafting lays down and reflects on my canvases.

q)  What music are you into right now?

a)I am listening always a whole bunch of things. Often happens the day starts with radio classic, if they give me Swan Lake, I am thrilled. Then I like to check out what's up on Sound Cloud. After watching Django Unchained I found out to me this guy Jim Croce who died young in '70s. Nearby all I have most favorite recent composers, I can listen to them whenever and for ever, their works somewhat fit my tune, taste and understanding of sound:

Nr.1 is Bustler

Nr.2 is Jonny Ripper

Nr.3 is Darius Green

they all might be found on Soundcloud.com

q) Describe your thought & design process...

a)It is somewhat that I pick an image to use and thinking parallel about the way how it will be converted into the stitches. Hard to say what comes first, particular image or the whole concept of a canvas. Often I keep in my mind the whole canvas impression in advance. I carry a smoky idea of the whole picture including its' size, color amount, idea of composition. Then I start drawing and editing with a software and get more precise in every detail, adjust technical part. I always prepare several versions to pick one at the end. Then choosing a proper thread size and background fabric texture, so the stitch lays nice way on it. My works are mostly graphic images made of two colors, I am choosing carefully a relation of background and stitch color, also tensity of lines, to receive a wanted sfumato and chiaroscuro effect. At the end it is very technical and dry part to make it real and to stitch precisely.

Also there are other works which have a preliminar plan, but after experimenting directly on a canvas, using all predictable and coincidental together, gets a new way during the process, dictates further ideas, it always takes more time than expected and makes feel like an explorer. In circles I see endless possibilities when painting or sewing them. Happens that I have a nice piece of linen or wool prompting itself for what should come on it, so I work straight on it.

q) Which emerging artists are you looking forward to seeing more of?

a)I really like japanese artist Macoto Muroyamas' botanical drawings. I'm blown away about these thin and precise lines, cross-sections and measure notes of real nature plants, they are beautiful.

Also Monika Grzymala, I am not sure if one may call her emerging, she is emerged and established. I love her tape installations.

q) Favorite place on the internet?

a)I would like to burn internet ha ha

q) Do you have any upcoming projects/exhibitions we should know about?

a)I am working on a new big piece. It is time consuming and also a challenge to me. But it's to early to talk about it. And I am making a year break without exhibitions, so at the moment no shows scheduled. I will start thinking about it again when some fresh works are finished.

q) Tell us something we don't know - but should...

a)Have no idea how to impress:)

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

a)Many of my works are here: liksaite.blogspot.com

Interview with Gel Jamlang

q)For the people who don't know your work - how would you describe it ?

a)My most recent works are in watercolor. They started out as warped portraits and slowly developed into pictures in my mind. 

They are imaginations dipped in water.

q)What are the key themes running through your practice?

a)I love painting people and faces, and playing with it. 

q)Your favorite place on earth?

a)I would love to travel more and roam the earth, but right now, my favorite place is always a warm bed with a big window. 

q)What influences your work?

a)I love the unexpected and simple things. I am inspired by masters like Picasso, Dali, Magritte, Georgia O'Keefe. I am also inspired by looking a photographs, nature and fashion. 

q)What music are you into right now?

a)I love Jack White not only because of his music, but because he's a persona and he treats his career like art. 

  

q)Do you have any upcoming projects/exhibitions we should know about?

a)I have a solo show at The Laughing Pint at downtown Baltimore on Jan. 5, 2013. 

Other than that, just stay tuned to my website: www.geljamlang.com for other events!

q)Tell us something we don't know - but should...

a)My work. ;-) Haha. 

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

a)geljamlang.com

Interview with C3

q)Introduce yourself, name,age, location.

a)My name is Christopher Charles Curtis, aka C3, and I currently live and work in San Francisco, CA.

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

a)I’ve been drawing ever since I could pick up a crayon. I really saw it as a possible career choice when I got to high school and a couple teachers started implying that I had talent.

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

a)I value my friendships to a great degree so my friends tend to show up in my work. They often appear as comrades in a war against aristocratic peoples. I really question government and the idea that just a handful of people can control most everything. That tends to show up in my work although I don’t think it’s very obvious.

q) Describe your process for creating new work.

a)I tend to think of a body of work as a story or a portion of a larger whole. I try to invision parts of that story that would make for an interesting and/or mysterious image.  When working from found images it’s a some what different approach. I let the image I’m working from inspire the route I eventually take.

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

a)Don’t stop working on your art! As much fun as you think it is to be an artist it is still work and the more you work the better you’ll become. Getting a gallery can be tricky and I hate to say this but it’s who you know that matters. Not to say the work doesn’t count but to get a gallery owner to pay attention to you it helps if they know you first. Go to shows, meet people, and eventually start showing them your work.

q) What are you really excited about right now?

a)I’m excited to be showing in a moleskin show in Dec. at Spoke Art here in the city. There are about 50 artists in the show and I’m friends with a lot of them so that’s exciting. They’re all great artist as well!

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

a)I love living by the water and having access to good food and great shows. I’ve been able to see so many bands that I otherwise wouldn’t get the opportunity to see.

q) Best way to spend a day off?

a)I usually stay indoors since I’m a major hermit which helps when doing the kind of art I like to do. However I do enjoy long walks and beers in the park.

q) Upcoming shows/ projects?

a)Like I said earlier, I’m in a moleskin show soon. Next year I’ll be in a show at Shooting Gallery here in the city sometime in May. I might also be showing with another artist and friend, Christopher Burch, in Oakland next year. Haven’t figured that one out as of yet.

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

a)Music is a huge thing for me. I tend to listen to very dark and ritualistic sounding music when I work. I can’t stop listening to Chelsea Wolfe lately. Besides her I listen to The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath a Cloud, Death in June, Coil, Swans, Iggy Pop, Sonic Youth, and Nocturnal Emissions to name a few. The list goes on and on . . .

q) How would you describe your work to someone?

a)It’s a fairytale western/horror film that has a lot to do with the real world. In some ways it’s a personal journal that depicts my own struggles with the world however shown on a grander scale.

q) Influences?

a)I’m extremely influenced by music and film. David Lynch has always inspired me to think outside the box and to really explore my own mind, as scary as that can be sometimes. Life itself is an influence and an inspiration. My relationships with people often manifest themselves in my work which can get a little personal at times. My on going fear and understanding of death has and will continue to take my work in a particular direction.

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

a)My work is kind of hard to locate since I have yet to get a proper website. However I am on facebook and I have an artist page there. Here is the link: http://www.facebook.com/C3artist?ref=hl . My website at the moment is under C3artist.com and you can find me on the Shooting Gallery website under artist. 

Interview with Nidhi Agarwal

q)Introduce yourself, name,age, location.

 

a) Nidhi Agarwal, 40 yrs, New Delhi India

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

 

a)Painting is my childhood passion but got to know it from close when i was in art college and saw the various Exhibitions . Freedom involved was the basic pull.

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

a)W De Kooning, Francis Bacon, other German artists and F N Souza from India did influence my work to a great extent. My work relates Expressionism with bold strokes and aggressive ,vivid themes. At times i also see myself inspired by tribal arts from Africa.

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

a)Yes, I need loud music when I work. It is usually something which can be easily understood without taking much attention . The hot peppy songs with dance beats  are my favourite at this time.

q) How would you describe your work to someone?

a)Too much happening within the spaces. Colour pallatte is very important to me. Colours are vibrant. I use thick impasto. The Faces have mouths wide open as if screaming, shouting or confronting also with sexual gestures. Figures are entwined. There are animalistic forms too .  Actions like Dancing Smoking, sipping and kissing are there. I believe life is all about playing,celebrating and relationships .

q) Influences?

a)I am least influenced by Indian Art and the reason is it is slow and has religious themes with earthy colours in most of the cases.

Yet I am more impressed by the western and European artists simply because they are bold .

I believe in the global trends  which display multiplicity in Experimentation & medium.

q) Describe your process for creating new work.

a)Each time i start with something new, I check on myself that it should not be repetitive. It should have a new colour scheme.

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

a)I believe in experimentation. I see artist displaying works quiet repetitive in terms of medium , size ,themes and strokes. So, my idea is to show something new every time. There’s no point inviting people to show yet another series which is a lookalike. Also one can add some installation or 3 dimensinal work which credits your series to break the monotony of a solo show. Don’t show too often.

q) What are you really excited about right now?

a) Right now I am taking a short summer break and i am really excited about this plus I am constructing my own studio space which is surrounded by sprawling greens.

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

a)I see various birds around myself, though I also luv these stray dogs, cats and various other animals in the  colony park in front .I luv their sounds , their struggle for survival and the way they play . The trees are beautiful. Especially at this time of year they are blooming with pure cadmium yellow colour flowers. When i am moving in the city there are all kinds of coloured trees which I believe are ecxeptionally beautiful. Lot of kids playing around this area makes the day interesting.

q) Best way to spend a day off?

a)with a close friend chilling and  going shopping around in the city

q) Upcoming shows/ projects?

a)there are two group shows coming up and one solo show this year and another one in the next year.

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

a)One can simply Google or log on to www.nidhiagarwal.inwww.nidhiagarwal.in /http://www.facebook.com/artistnidhi

Interview with Amanda Baron

q)Introduce yourself, name,age, location.

a)My name is Amanda Baron, I am 21 years old, currently residing in Toronto, Ontario, finishing my BFA in Drawing and Painting at OCAD University.

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

a)My mother is an artist herself and has been my greatest influence as I grew up doing crafts with her almost every afternoon. However I had the ambition to become a writer and lost touch with the visual arts for a long time.  In my final years of highschool I spent a lot of my time drawing in my sketchbook and became more and more invested in art.  Although, it wasn’t until I heard about OCAD University that I actually considered going to school for art rather than for my writing.

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

a)I believe in art as a source of self-therapy, as a playing ground in which errors can be made and overcome in a creative fashion.  I personally am invested in art based in process, intuiton and experimentation.

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

a)Music is definitely important to my studio time.  I love being in a studio with other people and sharing music, or even just putting on my headphones and going at it.  I mostly like to listen to pyschedelic rock, krautrock, alternative and prog rock when I am making art and listening to my headphones.  However the past few weeks I have been really into Parov Stelar, which is a dance, jazz and swing mix, great for painting.  Usually, it depends on what I am working on, and the environment I am in, but music always has to be available.

q) How would you describe your work to someone?

a)It’s really hard for me to describe my work to someone who has never seen it.  Usually I describe my process with collage and recently, with digital painting.  However, I will relate myself to Francis Bacon, Daniel Richter, Picasso or Munch, because many people have described my work in relation to them before.

q) Influences?

a)Besides Bacon, Richter, Picasso and Munch, my favorite artist is Max Ernst.  His explorations in collage and frottage are hughly influential to my work. Although, I have many influences that are not necessarily art related.  I am mostly interested in theories stemming from pyschology and existentialism.  Jean-Paul Sartre and his “Being and Nothingness” has been highly influential to me as of late.  As well as science fiction and alien folklore, I enjoy the mystery of the unknown, the neon qualities of sci-fi and the manifestation of myth in our everyday world.  But I love poetry, fictional stories and strange films, with a hint of macabre. 

Above all, my artistic peers are probably my greatest influence. I love being surrounded by interesting and passionate people who want to create beautiful and insightful art and music.  The Toronto art scene is fantadtic because there are so many artists working with ideas of hybridity and digitalism, collage and multi-media explorations.  I feel very privaledged to be in the community I am in.

q) Describe your process for creating new work.

a)My process has always been a variation of collaging and drawing/painting.  Lately I have been working digitally and using images I have found in old magazines and from youtube, I collage these images together on the computer, and manipulate colour hues and paint with the image using various distortion tools.  I enjoy this process because it feels like the image is always in a liquid state, and can constantly be manipulated.  After the work is printed I like to use my hands to draw or paint into it, it gives the work a human quality the computer cannot reproduce.

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

a)Easiest thing to do is start a blog, it allows you to show your work freely and keep people up to date with what you are doing.  Also, find other artists whome you feel you relate to or compliment your work and start group shows in your area.  Attend as many art openings as possible, look at what these galleries are interested in and see where your art fits in relationship to theirs.  Make connections and stay public.

q) What are you really excited about right now?

a)I have just finished my thesis year at OCAD University, so I am most excited about showing the work I have made over the past year.   But I am also really excited about creating new work, influenced by what I have learned from my thesis.  Amongst all this I want to show my work as much as possible over the coming summer, and invest in the artistic community outside of school.

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

a)Toronto is a multi-cultural hub, and it shows greatly in the artistic community.  There are so many people making great, thought provoking work, that you would not see together in any other part of the world.  There are also amazing digital experimentations happening at the moment.  People are excited about using the digital technology and referencing gaming and Internet culture, as well as exploring the past. Toronto art seems very much to be in a state of hybridity, anything goes, and that is what makes it so interesting.

q) Best way to spend a day off?

a)Catching up on some sleep!

q) Upcoming shows/ projects?

a)I will be in the OCAD University Graduation Exhibition on May 3^rd to 6^th; it will be amazing to see all of our hard work in one place.  Other than that I am working on being involved in various group shows with my peers over the summer.

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

a)I update my blog frequently, amandabaron.blogspot.ca, also on facebook my art page is Amanda e. Baron.  But I also like to use the Saatchi Online gallery.

Interview with Brian Kokoska

q)Introduce yourself, name, age, location.

a)Brian Kokoska. Born November 8 1988, Scorpio, 8th zodiac (lucky Chinese 8's). I live and work in New York.

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

a)I guess the idea of being an artist was always in the back of my mind. I was a very curious child. Then I went to art school in Canada. But since moving away to New York I've developed new ideas. I'm really just now getting into it all.

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

a)Currently I'm working on a series of new paintings. They reference portraits, but they're a little wonkier. My new faces play with a sort of 'feminine' beauty rather than the boyish imagery I'm known for. And masks are still prevalent in my work.

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

a)I love all kinds of music, yes, but it's not always present when I'm working. It's more of an outside inspiration rather than something direct. I was just recently in Miami and fell in love with Mykki Blanco's outdoor performance at The Vagabond. So sensual, so tropical, but raw.

q) How would you describe your work to someone?

a)I've always found it really quite difficult. I'd probably say something like: Nina-Simone-sensuality mixed with ghoulish-teen-nightmare meets dress-up Play-Doh fantasy portrait experience.

q) Influences?

a)Not many right now to be honest. Real people influence my work though. I'm also constantly imagining pretend people in my head... people that I would love to meet. Then I draw from these visions when I begin making new work.

q) Describe your process for creating new work.

a)I've really freed myself up as far as process is concerned. My new paintings are predominantly loose and playful. There's no real predicted image in mind. I kind of just form the character or composition as I go along.

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

a)I always think it makes sense to just be real with yourself, and make work that is honest. Don't do anything that feels too forced. Usually good things come to people when they become totally comfortable in their own skin.

q) What are you really excited about right now?

a)I've been thinking a lot lately about incorporating sculpture and video into my work. I really love working with painting, and want to become more playful with the installation process. I have so many ideas but I don't feel rushed.

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

a)New York in general is really special. There's so much happening here, art and otherwise. It has all kinds of environments too, which I like. I spend most of my time in the city, in Brooklyn, and in the summer I setup a studio out on Long Island which is a beautiful escape.

q) Best way to spend a day off?

a)I'm pretty low-key most of the time. I like to relax and hang out with my boyfriend. I take some pretty weird day trips.

q) Upcoming shows/ projects?

a)I've got lots of stuff coming up. I have a solo show at Preteen Gallery, Mexico City, which opens mid May. Then I'm doing a big two-person show with Jonathan VanDyke at Vox Populi Gallery, Philadelphia. That one opens beginning of June.

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

a)www.briankokoska.com

www.twitter.com/BrianKokoska

www.facebook.com/briankokoska

www.facebook.com/BrianKokoskaArtist

www.youtube.com/BrianKokoska

And my representation in Canada:

www.blanketgallery.com

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