Interview with Shawn William Creeden

q)What is your name?

a)Shawn William Creeden

q)Where do you live and work?

a)In my apartment in the crown heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY.

q)What is your creative process like?

a)Think of an animal, draw animal from memory. Draw again. look at a picture or video or actual animal to see specific details and draw again. Color in with watercolor. Eat some food.

I've always looked at a lot of books and watched a lot of nature programs so I have this mental bank of animals and behavior (these are two of the only things I have a memory for. Names, no, conversations, barely, appointments, birthdays, holidays, ha! No way. animals, yes.). I'm not really that good at planning things out or pre-visualizing. I usually just put the pen to the paper and let go.

q)What is your favorite medium?

a)For my drawings I use an extra fine nib dip pen and india ink, then watercolors, which might be my favorite part of that process. I also do embroidery by hand, which I like a lot and is pretty much the only thing I can do for more than 6-8 hours at a time and not go crazy. My favorite medium in other people's work is interactive installations. I like things I can walk around and take part in, with lots of little details.

q)What is your current favorite subject?

a)I'm working on some pieces about the wildlife that is native to the small town in New Hampshire where I was raised. There's going to be my version of the classic amateur naturalist's travel journal called Fauna Hudsonica. Every time I go back home to visit recently I see some wild stuff. Beavers, deer, foxes, coyotes, and tons of birds.

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

a)A drawing can take up to 8 hours depending on how much little detail there is to color in. That's pretty rare, though. I like my drawings to be kind of quick and surprising. But then the embroideries can take days of constant work. some of the larger wall hanging embroideries I've done have taken up to two weeks, which is a very long time for me, I have severe adhd and get bored easily and distracted even easier. By things like food.

q)What has been your biggest accomplishment so far?

a)Probably my show, Hollow Face, Hand Wing, at the Curiosity Shoppe in San Francisco. It was the first time I'd attempted a large scale environmental installation in addition to drawings and embroideries. I made 30 stuffed fruit bat sculptures and hung them from branches around the gallery. It was meant to reference a malaysian forest. I felt good about the work, lots of people came to the opening, feedback was good, sold some things, and the next day we had a live bat presentation by two women from the California Bat Conservation Fund. That was amazing. an important part of what I am trying to do is show people some of the amazing things that inhabit this planet with us in a way where they will want to learn more and develop an interest and care about preservation. So this was a great opportunity to expose people to animals they would hardly ever be aware of, let alone look in the face. I was also able to make a print edition and donate a portion of the proceeds from their sale to the fund. see some pictures here and here.

q)Are there any contemporary artists that you love?

a)Yes. Misaki Kawai (paintings, drawings, books, sculptures), Jessica Polka (embroidery, crochet), Ty Ennis (drawings), Jasper Sebastian Stürup (drawings, books), Corey Archangel (hacked nintendo games), Banks Violette (black metal /doom themed installations), Walton Ford (paintings), and Shawn Reed (music, drawings, prints) are some people I really like. And I have a lot of friends who make great stuff as well.

q)Can we buy your art anywhere?

a)Yes, one could buy things from me through my website or if one were ever lucky enough to come across me on the street in NYC or at my little table in union square. I also bring lots of stuff with me when I go on tour with my bands (White Hinterland US tour coming up this june). I also sell things through this online shop called The Shiny Squirrel, and at some stores including the curiosity shoppe in SF and the Together Gallery in Portland.

q)Anything that people should know about that we don’t??

a)Drilling for oil in Alaska is such a stupid idea.

q)What is your best piece of advice for those who would like to rise in their level of artistry?

a)Figure out what it is you need to do so that making things is how you spend most of your time. Make sacrifices and learn about your thresholds and what is essential and get rid of the rest for a little while.

q)What inspires you to keep going when the work gets frustrating or tough?

a)Stubbornness. And what could be considered a “bad” attitude towards traditional employment structures. I am also no stranger to the all-nighter when it gets down to deadline time.

q)How do you describe your work to those who are unfamiliar with it?

a)This is how the exchange always goes:
“and what do you do?”
“I make drawings (hand motion of drawing) and embroideries (sewing motion) of animals doing animal things. Usually killing and/or eating each other.”

I don't anthropomorphize the animals I depict. I think the things that animals do are interesting and I don't need to project a fantasy situation onto them, or make them do human things like talk. I think it's amazing that they don't communicate like we do, but they still communicate.

q)What kind of training did you have which helped you achieve your current level of artistry?

a)I studied photography, printmaking, art history and philosophy in college. Lots of information imparted there. And I get my excellent eyesight and spotting skills from my mom. She's an avid birdwatcher. A lot of things I do are self taught.

q)Is there a tool or material that you can’t imagine living without?

a)Hmmm. No.

q)Who are your influences?

a)Cy Twombly, Pablo Picasso, John James Audobon, Mercer Meyer, Alexander Calder, Sir David Attenborough, I don't know lots of people. These are people who have had long term or historical influence on me.

q)What inspires you to create?

a)Going to the zoo, looking through national geographic magazines, sitting outside, walking in the woods, going to Chelsea and seeing art I don't like, hanging with friends and talking about ideas and getting all worked up.

q)…your contacts…

a) shawncreeden at gmail dot com
www.shawncreeden.com
http://www.theashenledger.wordpress.com/

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Interview with Kate Marshall

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

a)I studied at Goldsmiths in London but now paint in Devon in South West England. I spend s lot of time walking and thinking about what I am going to paint next. I spend a lot of time in London visiting galleries and partying with friends.

q) Had you always planned on being an artist [or had you other hopes]?

a)Ever since I was born, my mother used to carry me round the house to look at the paintings, when I got bigger my favourite toys were art materials. I feel very lucky to be an artist.

q) Do you have a preferred medium to work on? Why?

a)I like to use acylic and charcoal on board, the board gives me a very smooth surface to work, this allows very strong smooth charcoal lines, the acrylic is fast drying and allows me to work fast, I get impatient but I also like the to get caught up in teh process.

q) How would you describe your style?

a)Fast, loose and sexy.

q) Do you go through any certain processes while trying to produce your work?

a)I tend to just experiment, often working in series rather than sketching things out first, the sketches are the work!

q) What are you working on at present?

a)An handmade book of prints. I have completely fallen in love with printmaking.

q) What about recent sources of inspiration?

a)I am doing my own versions of famous contemporary artist's work for my handmade book, the whole piece is about the percieved divisions between conceptual art and craft and the history of printmaking as a source for distributing images of famous paintings.

q) What are some of your obsessions?

a)Shoes, art, colour, beautiful places and red wine.

q) Which galleries have you shown at and which galleries would you like to show at?

a)I have shown at The Empire Gallery on Vyner Street, Transition Gallery in the East London and Exeter Eyestorm. I would love to show work in some more unusual places, I have had some pieces in a Tatoo parlour but it would be good to show some in spaces that weren't just white boxes.

q) If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?

a)Through my email adress info@katemarshall.co.uk

q) Do you have any suggestions or advice for artists that are just starting out?

a)Work out what medium suits you, do not just stick with what you have always used before, maybe painting is not for you, try drawing or film or printing or whatever but do not be too stubborn. Find out what is happening in the contemporary scene, get out there and see as many shows as possible, do not just go to the big galleries but find out what more unusual shows are on. Make friends with artists and try and learn about techniques and about how the market works. Keep on going, do not give up.

q) Who are your favorite artists?

a)Elizabeth Peyton, Stella Vine, Marlene Dumas, Annie Kevans, Gauguin, Toulouse Lautrec, Peter Doig, John Currin, Frida Kahlo, Bonnard and so many more. Often it will be one piece that just hits me. I like the small portraits of the northern Renaissance on green backgrounds. I like strange Elizabethan portraits. I like drawings. Grayson Perry.

q) What books are on your nightstand?

a)Angela Carter's collected works.

q) To what weaknesses are you most indulgent?

a)Red wine.

q)….your contacts…

a)info@katemarshall.co.uk

Interview with Amy Sarkisian

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

a)I am American. My father is Armenian and my mother is German and Irish. I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and I now live and work in Los Angeles.
Went to undergrad at Kent State University in Ohio and UCLA for graduate school. I'm 38 years old.

q) Had you always planned on being an artist [or had you other hopes]?

a)I don’t remember having a plan until I decided to pursue art.

q) Do you have a preferred medium to work on? Why?

a)No preferred medium. Usually the idea comes first and I figure out the best medium to be used. Except with drawing then I prefer ink on paper.

q) How would you describe your style?

a)Utilitarian.

q) Do you go through any certain processes while trying to produce your work?

a)Laying around a lot and thinking.

q)What are you working on at present?

a)Laying around.

q) What about recent sources of inspirations?

a)Persian rugs and graphic novels.

q) What are some of your obsessions?

a)I can't think of any lately. My husband says I’m obsessed with doing research about anything and keeping the inside of my car clean.

q) Which galleries have you shown at and which galleries would you like to show at?

a)I have shown at Galerie Rodolphe Jansses in Brussels; Galleri S.E in Oslo; The London Institute Gallery, UK; Milliken Gallery, Stockholm;
Galerie Loevenbruck, Paris; Marella Arte Contemporanea, Milan; The Law Office, Chicago; Small A Projects, Portland, Oregon; Acme, Marc Foxx, Roberts & Tilton, Suzanne Vielmetter, QED Gallery, Cottage Home, the Mak Center and Angela Hanley Gallery in Los Angeles; Dietch Projects, Anton Kern and the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York. I am represented in Paris by Atelier Cardenas Bellanger and in Los Angeles by Sister.
I would like to show all over the globe.

q) If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?
a)Through my website is fine.

q) Do you have any suggestions or advice for artists that are just starting out?

a)It’s a hard one.

q) Who are your favorite artists?

a)James Ensor and Tyler Vlahovich.

q)What books are on your nightstand?

a)Mayo Clinic's Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy.

q) To what weaknesses are you most indulgent?

a)Tobacco and television.

q)...Your contacts.

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

Interview with Benji Whalen

q)Name?

a)Benji Whalen

q)Location?

a)San Francisco

q)Contact info...?

a) benjiwhalen@hotmail.com

www.benjiwhalen.com

q)How did you get started making art?

a)My father is a painter, my mother a puppeteer, my grandmother was a pianist. So, making has always been part of living.

q)How would you describe your art?

a)Prayers for my enemies.

q)Where do you get the inspiration for your art?

a)Honestly, I am stimulated by almost everything. I live in a city - in the course of a couple of hours, the awe, love and disgust I feel for everyone and everything I see gives me all I need for a day in the studio. I think I am probably like many artists in finding existence itself pretty stunning. As an artist you get to create new existences, of a sort, making a world in your own image. Not unlike the way kids play - artists don't grow out of it.

q)What other artists inspire you?

a)My parents, for sure. After them, the list is always changing, thankfully. My first love was Bruegel, when I was a kid. Once I saw an illustration in a born-again Christian pamphlet showing a long march of people on their way to Heaven - at the back of line were the first Christians, and then representatives of all the other ages - some gloomy Dark Ages folk, Middle Ages folk, Renaissance folk, between then and now. In some ways I think of artists that way, in a line of their own - Bruegel is near the back of the line, and as you march along you end up finding something in common with almost everyone else in the line. Hopefully all artists go to Heaven, just like dogs.

q)Where can someone purchase your works?

a)These days, February 2008, my representation is through the Danish gallery Mogadishni (www.mogadishni.com) and the American Gallery Paule Anglim (www.gallerypauleanglim.com).

q)What is your main medium of choice?

a)That's like asking the bigamist to name his favorite wife - you've got to make everyone feel appreciated. I don't know if I've tried a medium I didn't like, and it's healthy to keep trying new ones. I am at home with clay, and thread. And oil paint. There's nothing else like it - it makes me happy just to say the words.

q)What are you working on now?

a)Some small gouache paintings on paper the moment, but mostly polymer clay sculptures.

q)What advice could you give to someone who wants to be an artist?

a)Make art and you'll find out if it wants to be you.

q) What are you doing when you are not creating art?

a)Reading, writing, drinking beer, running, getting indignant, kissing my kids, kissing my wife (one), looking at birds, watching baseball, thinking about creating art...

q) What does music, in its entirety, mean to you?

a)That's a big one, isn't it? My answer would change from day to day. Today, I would say that music is proof that, even as adults, we are easily redirected. Did you ever read the Tolstoy story, The Kreutzer Sonata? I recall the story is tragic, but mostly what I remember is the protagonist's argument that music is dangerous, because it profoundly alters our emotions. I can become 5 different people if I listen to 5 different radio stations. You could say that people have the personalities within them, that music is just giving them an excuse to release. But music is certainly an accomplice. Ozzy Osbourne got sued for this, didn't he? Another cultural icon comes to mind - Elmer Fudd in "Bugs' Bonnets" - with hats flying through the air, Fudd assumes the personalities of each hat that lands on his head. Music is really in charge.

q) What does art, in its entirety, mean to you?

a)Did I say music is in charge? Can I revise that? Well, music works for art. Everyone - music, literature, dance - works for art. Art is that which is made by mortals, yet breathes.

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

a)I'm pretty untraveled in that way - but some good ones I've seen lately include

brask-art-blog.blogspot.com/

aaronjohnsonart.blogspot.com/

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Interview with Annie Kevans

Q) Something about you…what you want…

A)I would like to be a really good painter.

Q) What are your main goals when you create?

A)To produce work that causes people to think of a person or situation in a new way.

Q) Do you rule by any tendency in your creative work, or you only follow what comes in your mind?

A)I keep a note of things that shock or surprise me as I see or hear about them. When I decide to do some work about the person or story (usually at a later date), I research the subject thoroughly. I don't start painting until I've done the research so I suppose you could say that I have a kind of method of working.

Q)How has the internet and your website helped you spread your artwork to a wider audience?

A)My website has been incredibly useful. I have had lots of emails from strangers who have seen my work in an exhibition or newspaper and have looked me up on the internet and sent me a message.

Q)How do you define your style and how would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

A)In a nutshell: figurative but not portraiture. I choose my subjects according to what they represent to me. I see traditional portraiture as the other way around: where a subject chooses the artist to represent them as they see themselves.

Q)What materials do you use to realize your creations?

A)Oil paint on paper.

Q) What is your favorite

a) taste

b) sound

c) sight

d) scent

e) tactile sensation?

A)

(a) cheese,

(b) waves, crackling fire and crunching snow

(c) the sea

(d) freshly mowed grass, hot croissant and bacon

(e) water

Q) What are you doing now…your current projects…

A)I have a few group shows arranged for this year (a few in London and one in Munich) and I have two solo shows this year (one in London and one in Vienna) so I am working on a variety of projects.

Q) Do you listen to music while you’re painting and what do you like to listen to?

A)I almost always listen to music when I'm painting. I only stop listening when I'm absolutely fed up with my CDs and sick of the radio. I have a very wide variety of music from Nick Cave to Julie London, country music to rock.

Q) Do you draw influences from a wide range of artists, musicians, books…?

A)Yes, although I don't look at other artists' work when I'm in the studio as I don't want to be influenced by them when I'm creating work. I won't listen to the radio when I'm concentrating as I find the adverts and news distracting. I'll listen to CDs instead to allow my mind to get lost in the music and the work. I read a lot of books before I start a project so I suppose I'm influenced by what I read in them.

Q)Name 3 things you couldn’t create without?

A)Pure Gum (Portuguese) Turpentine from Atlantis art shop, oil paints and paper from Falkiners on Southampton Row in London.

Q) Where have you shown your art…?

A)Various galleries around the UK and one in Italy.

Q) What haven’t you done yet that you definitely want to try someday?

A)Have children.

Q) How important is self-promotion for an artist nowadays?

A)Fairly important but artists shouldn't spend too much time on self-promotion, if possible. I'm very lucky as I have an agent who does it for me.

Q) Would you say that your work consciously reflects characters and situations found within your daily life?

A)My work reflects my reactions to events and situations that I come across. I wonder about current obsessions and attitudes that I observe in the society I move in.

Q) Favourite book?

A)I'm not sure if these are my 'favourite' books but these are some of the books that I remember having been influenced by when I read them: 'The Little Prince' (Antoine de Saint-Exupery), 'The Stranger' (Albert Camus), 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell, 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee, 'Of Mice and Men' by John Steinbeck, and loads more - I am a book worm.

Q) Designers/Artists you admire?

A)Chris Ofili, Chantal Joffe, Pae White, Marlene Dumas, Rineke Dijkstra, and loads more.

Q) Your contacts….e-mail…links…

A)www.anniekevans.com