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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