Interview with Helena Blomqvist

q)Please introduce yourself.

a)My name is Helena Blomqvist.

q)Where do you live and work?

a)I live and work in Stockholm, Sweden.

q)How would you describe your work to someone who has never seen it?

a)A surreal photography with haunting and strange apparitions. The main contenders of my works are unlikely heroes playing out in a comedy or tragedy, a philosophical observation of the human condition.

q)How did you start in the arts? How/when did you realize you were an artist?

a)I guess I started in the arts during my time at art school (School of Photography, Gothenburg University) sometime in the end of the 1990´s. I think I´ve always known that I´m an artist.

q)What are your favorite art materials and why?

a)I use to buy vintage clothes to make costumes for my photographs, and balsa tree is a great material for building small models.

q)What/who influences you most?

a)I work intuitivley and get imressions from my surroundings. One motif that comes back in my work is how fragile and lonely a person can be, either it´s a chimpanzee or an old lady. I get alot of influence from music too.

q)Describe a typical day of art making for you?

a)It depends on where I am in the process of making a picture, but usually I go to my studio and answer some emails and drink some tee. Then I work with some prop, small model of a house or a diarama landscape. It´s a slow process, takes a long time to prepair for one photograph. The photosession goes really quick compared with all the work before and after. When the photographs for the picture are taken I work with it in my computer for some time until it feels finished.

q)Do you have goals, specific things you want to achieve with your art or in your career as an artist?

a)I always want to develop my photography, to surpass myself in every new image.

q)What contemporary artists or developments in art interest you?

a)I really can´t say.

q)How long does it typically take you to finish a piece?

a)About a month.

q)Do you enjoy selling your pieces, or are you emotionally attached to them?

a)Since I have an edition of five or six and I always keep one artist proof there is no problem for me to sell my pieces.

q)Is music important to you? If so, what are some things you're listening to now?

a)Music is really important for me and I always listen yo music when I work. Right now I´m listening to the music from Wes Andersons films such as The Darjeeling Limited, and old french singers; Yves Montand and Barbara.

q)Books?

a)Right now I´m reading ”Mrs Dalloway” by Virginia Woolf.

q)What theories or beliefs do you have regarding creativity or the creative process?

a)I try not to have so many theories, I just work, and enjoy to be creative.

q)What do you do (or what do you enjoy doing) when you're not creating?

a)I enjoy being with my family and friends, see movies, and to live an outdoor life.

q)Do you have any projects or shows coming up that you are particularly excited about?

a)I´m really enjoying starting to work with my new serie of photographs.

q)Do you follow contemporary art scenes? If so, how? What websites, magazines, galleries do you prefer?

a)I really can´t say no one in particulair.

q)Any advice for aspiring artists?

a)Be naive and never give up!

q)Where can we see more of your work online?

a)My website www.helenablomqvist.com

Interview with Cameron Michel

q)Please introduce yourself.

a)My name is Cameron Michel and I'm 30 years of age q)Where do you live and work? a)I currently live in New York City and work in the Live With Animals Art Space in Brooklyn.

q)How would you describe your work to someone who has never seen it?

a)People always refer to the collages as paintings by mistake and they are put together like a puzzle without overlapping pieces, so I guess a puzzle of my photos that feels more like a painting.

q)How did you start in the arts? How/when did you realize you were an artist?

a)Two years ago I was really depressed and unsatisfied with the mental place I was in for some time. I was listening to a Crass record and admiring the poster that Gee Voucher made for the record. I wanted to focus on something to rid of feeling a little crazy and decided to make something that I thought Crass would like. I took hundreds of photos in the past few years so I decided to use the photos and a old book my grandfather gave me and make a collage. I had no idea what I was doing but when I finished it made me happy and felt good. Just the exercise of making something was therapeutic and I have something in the end.

q)What are your favorite art materials and why?

a)The Materials I use are usually photos from the darkroom, glass, wood, bugs, fish, Resins, paints, fur, fabric and light. With the pieces I try to use materials that will hold up if you tossed it off a building. They have a lot of weight to them. I figure art only lives as long as it is held up, so make the pieces really durable and clean so if people want to keep it around then it will be in top shape.

q)What/who influences you most?

a)Live With Animals Gallery/Art Space (An art space I work out of in Brooklyn, New York), my friends Raul De Nieves, Micki Pellerano, Vashti Windish, Architecture, and Antoni Gaudí

q)Describe a typical day of art making for you.

a)I will wake up a feel a little crazy and walk to my studio. My studio is within the Live With Animals gallery, which is in the building known as Monster Island in NY. The whole building is an arts building with people working on music and art all the time. I will either start working right away for usually 6 or 7 hours or I'll spend time looking at the art in the gallery space or talking to my friend Raul De Nieves, who works in my studio. I usually take breaks and look in the other spaces in the building at the art or make music recordings in the gallery space.

q)Do you have goals, specific things you want to achieve with your art or in your career as an artist?

a)I would like to influence and see something develop and unfold.

q)What contemporary artists or developments in art interest you?

a)My studio mate Raul De Nieves is working on really good work. My friend Micki Pellerano will be legendary. I'm interested in experiencing art in many different environments. Architecture and more esoteric traditions interest me.

q)How long does it typically take you to finish a piece?

a)Usually a few days.

q)Do you enjoy selling your pieces, or are you emotionally attached to them?

a)I am very attached, but it feels good to let it have a life.

q)Is music important to you? If so, what are some things you're listening to now?

a)Yes, I listen to music everywhere. Maya Hardinge, Georgiana Starlington, Golden Triangle, Cult of Youth and many records made before my time.

q)Books?

a)Two simple reads have made things simple, The Alchemist and Fantastic Architecture by Vostell Higgins

q)What theories or beliefs do you have regarding creativity or the creative process?

a)I always believe that no one really knows what he or she is doing and as long as you feel strength and balance through what you are creating then if you feed it maybe it will grow and guide you.

q)What do you do (or what do you enjoy doing) when you're not creating?

a)I love being entertained by friends projects, going to Museums, making music.

q)Do you have any projects or shows coming up that you are particularly excited about?

a)I am going to be in a couple of shows in Mexico City in the next coming months. I'll be working on a music project and working on lots more work for summer.

q)Do you follow contemporary art scenes? If so, how? What websites, magazines, galleries do you prefer?

a)I mostly stay within my little world in my art space and see whats going on in New York when I cross it. I don't really follow the art world to much. I know very little about collage art.

q)Ask yourself a question you'd like to answer, and answer it.

a)Will you write something here? Everyone is their own genius. People are more scared of success than failure.

q)Any advice for aspiring artists?

a)You can't get things by force. Let the body work on its own.

q)Where can we see more of your work online?

a)People have posted images from past shows online. My website will be updated with recent work and shows in February and will be updated with various projects bi-weekly. I don't post any work online that is waiting for upcoming shows.

Interview with Christopher Reiger

q) What is your name and what do you do?

a)My name is Christopher Reiger. I am an artist and writer.

q)When did you really get into art?

a)Like most children, I loved to draw. Unlike most children, I never stopped doing it. Because art is a vocation, I think that's a familiar story among artists.

q)How did you come to the realization that you should try your luck at art on a more serious level?

a)I was in my teens when I decided that I would pursue art professionally, but I wasn't so much thinking that I should "try my luck at art" as I was accepting that I was compelled to take the creative path, for better or worse.

q)How did you discover the particular style that you have?

a)I believe that style and content are outgrowths of our individual nature-nurture development. It's an evolution. Therefore, I don't feel that I "discovered" my current style; rather, it just grew out of my experience and my makeup.

q)How would you describe your style?

a)Because of my adolescent love of comic books and cartoons (both of which I still hold in high regard), I cultivated a graphic style early on. Today, a bold or sharp line continues to feature prominently in my work. Also, I've long been enamored of antique scientific or diagrammatic illustrations. As a result, my color and compositional choices are guided by illustration, though the concepts "illustrated" in my drawings are enigmatic or poetic.

q)Who or what influences your art?

a)The list of my influences and inspirations is long and varied. Some of my very favorite celebrated artists are Hieronymous Bosch, Albrecht Durer, and Egon Schiele, as well as contemporaries such as Walton Ford, Tom Uttech and a host of others whose stock rises and falls day by day. I also adore a predominantly anonymous cast of antique illustrators and artistically inclined biologists, as well as a great many comic book and strip artists.

Moreover, my artwork is indebted to ideas drawn from anthropology, biology, theology and philosophy texts. The ever-growing book piles in my apartment are the richest wellspring.

q)How often do you create a new piece?

a)I produce artwork inconsistently. One week, I'll complete two or three drawings and work for many hours on a larger painting. The next week, I might work on a number of pieces, but finish nothing. Whatever the case, I'm always working in the studio and, even when I can't be there, I mull over my art and writing projects.

q)What kind of success have you had with your art?

a)I'm proud that I've exhibited nationally and internationally, and I'm pleased that interest in my work continues to grow. I don't dismiss what I've accomplished so far, but I'd like to be involved with many more projects and exhibitions, particularly those exploring and reinvigorating the social role of art making. I feel strongly that contemporary art should not be an arm of the luxury market. Artists shouldn't prioritize their career; instead, they should prioritize their art and their role as mediators and facilitators. Sadly, this is not a majority opinion and vigilance is required of those artists who do feel strongly about this cause. We need to juggle a commitment to the integrity of our own artwork and an obligation to help heal the damaged relationship between art and society.

q)What would be the ultimate goal for you and your art?

a)I hope to exhibit regularly and to involve myself with exciting cross-disciplinary projects. I don't have an "ultimate goal," however. I feel that a life well led should reveal itself as it comes; I'm enjoying my life and my artistic development.

q)What do you see as an accomplishment in the way of art?

a)Anytime I learn that a piece of mine has communicated an idea or touched another individual in some way, that is a small, happy accomplishment. Beyond the individual artwork or artist, the accomplishments I hope for are so broad as to be abstract; in particular, I'd like to see art again conceived of as an essential part of life.

q)What kind of message, if any, do you try to convey through your art?

a)I don't believe that art should be didactic. If a message is conveyed through my art, I'd prefer that is be subtly communicated through the body of work rather than any individual piece. Above all, I aim to tap into the realm of the question, where our divided fields of inquiry overlap and entangle. This realm demands that we walk in humble wonderment. I suppose that idea is at the core of my work, too.

q)Sum up your art in one word.

a)Inquiry.

q)Any additional comments?

a)In my cosmology, every individual thing is integrated into what I term The All, or The Everything. I'm Nature, you're Nature, the meteoroid in the asteroid belt is Nature, the keyboard I'm typing on is Nature; I find spirit in this interconnectivity. Given the increasing division of contemporary life and work, as well as our seeming need for "busyness," it's easy to overlook the integral whole, but I try to remind myself regularly what a miraculous experience we're a part of. Painting is, in essence, part of that humbling meditation. It's at once annihilative and aggrandizing.

q)…your contacts…

a) http://www.christopherreiger.com/

http://hungryhyaena.blogspot.com/

http://lettersfromtheinquisition.blogspot.com/