Art Space Talk: Kristina Faragher

Kristina Faragher received her MFA from Claremont Graduate University in 2001. Through video and installation, Faragher enters into the world of visual sensuality, with the body at the center of her explorations.

Kristina Faragher combines recognizable imagery and layered sound with abstract passages and slowed movement to create short video meditations on human presence in relationship to both urban and natural environments. Direct reference to meaning is denied as viewers explore layers of possibility and attempt to piece together narrative elements. Hand-held motion and rough edits serve to reinforce corporeal reality and position the artist at the center of an exchange between mediated image and truth.

Faragher’s solo and group projects have been exhibited at: the Autry National Center, the REDCAT Theater, Shoshona Wayne Gallery, Andrew Shire Gallery, Los Angeles, SITE Santa Fe in New Mexico Highways Performance Space, Sweeney Art Gallery at U.C. Riverside, and The Museum of Modern Fine Art in Minsk,Belarus.

Faragher’s videos have been presented on several billboards throughout Los Angeles as part of LA Freewaves Ninth Annual International MediaFestival. Her work was recently presented at both the Fifth and Sixth Festival International de la Image in Colombia, South America, sponsored by UNESCO Digiarts.

Her work is presently being exhibited at The Oakland Museum in Oakland as part of the traveling exhibit"Yosemite: Art of an American Icon". Publications include: The Smithsonian Institute’s Archives of American Art and Extensions: Online Journal of Embodied Technology at UCLA.

Brian Sherwin: Kristina, you earned an MFA from Claremont Graduate University. Who were your mentors at that time? Can you tell our readers about the art department? How did your studies there shape your future work?

Kristina Faragher: I had several mentors while I was attending Claremont Graduate University and I still am in close contact with some of them. The most influential mentors in regards to my own work were (are), Anne Bray and Martin Kersels. I also worked closely at that time with Michael Brewster, Connie Zehr David Amico and Roman De Salvo. They are all such brilliant, successful artists and so generous with their experiences and knowledge. I really value the guidance they gave me and feel so fortunate to know them.

The art department at CGU is just phenomenal. The Los Angeles based artist Roland Reiss conceived of and established a democratic community of artists in an environment that nurtured a rigorous, creative academic setting. For example, the graduate students would review new applicants work and participate in the voting in of the next class.

My studies at CGU have significantly shaped my experience as an artist in several ways. I received a working knowledge of the historical and contemporary theoretical framework of the art canon. This is invaluable if one would like to create artwork that is germane, visionary and informed.

I think it is essential to acknowledge influences and develop an acute consciousness about what one is contributing to both the cultural and global dialogue, especially on a planet where for better or for worse, objects abound! Secondly, the emphasis at CGU of a strong, on-going “no matter what”, “art star or not” studio practice has been and continues to be a wonderful foundation in my art career. Because of the community environment I have made life-long friends and colleagues who are still actively sharing their journeys with me and I with them.


BS: You have been a part-time faculty member at Riverside Community College in Riverside, Calif. Do you draw inspiration from your students? How did you find a happy balance between being an instructor and working on your personal art?

KF: To keep it simple, I think that to return what I have received strengthens my own practice and expands my experience of the world. This is the great benefit of teaching- Balance is an on going trial for me in this field. Artists (unless they have the means financially) are constantly working, they often have two full time jobs: their art career and their paying position.

I should say three full time occupations, because to be successful, an artist also must spend a great deal of time making and keeping connections, writing about their work or writing grants to do their work, keeping up on other artists locally and globally, up dating websites, in other words, the endless business aspects of an art career need constant tending.

Beyond the time it takes for thinking, developing and investigating concerns and ideas and finding solid blocks of time in the studio to fully realize the art! Many artists, including myself, also have to face job insecurity, and continue to look for teaching gigs in the over crowded, impacted “art job market” in Los Angeles. Kudos to artists ,we must be tenacious dynamic individuals (or complete and utter fools) to survive this profession even for a year!

That old stereotype of the lazy, flaky artist drives me nuts and has to go, Artists are some of the most industrious humans I have ever encountered!

BS: You combine recognizable imagery and layered sound with abstract passages and slowed movement to create short video meditations on human presence in relationship to both urban and natural environments. Can you go into further detail about your goals as an artists? What are you attempting to convey to the viewers of your art?

KF: That description is of my digital video work. So I will pick up where I left off. Another of my immediate concerns using digital technology as a fine art medium is to preserve the numinous presence of an actual body or object. Cropping and isolating sections of the individual and/or object and zooming in as close as possible is a technique that visually exaggerates the illusion of physical closeness.

This technique can also facilitate transcendence in that viewing an abstract passage in film or video can suggest something else and what that Something Else is or means-I often leave for the personal psyche of the viewer to consider and assign meaning to.

I do not use a tripod. Humans rarely, if ever, view something from a perfectly still, non-moving body! I hand hold my camera and come very close to the subject I am filming, this introduces a certain sensuality to my process and when successful, translates through the medium. Sometimes the acute close ups can create an attraction/repulsion effect, but I find that this paradox and duality of experience is immensely interesting.

I often collaborate with composers and musicians when constructing soundscapes for the pieces. The challenge for me as someone based in painting, drawing and sculpture is introducing the element of sound as a pseudo visual experience, another layer in the imagery.

What I attempt to convey to an audience of course varies somewhat for each piece, but underlying all of my art work is this desire to takes the ordinary into the extraordinary and create a visual experience that is from a perspective the viewer perhaps never encountered on their own. Why do I desire this…..because we shouldn’t have to live without wonder. In the plastic work, there is a very corporeal like, visceral presence when one encounters them (parallels my compulsion to shoot subjects up close), This work often produces a physical response in the viewer, “oooo I love it , I want to touch it, viewer comes closer well, maybe not; actually I should stay away, but wait -oh look…what on earth is this about? I want to touch this!”

Again, the dual experience with the work is what I am after and again to incite curiosity and imagination and an experience of Something Else, the “in between” the “third thing”.

BS: Kristina, you were recently featured in the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, (Vol. 42, No. 3-4) for your accomplishments and insight into a model's contribution to the fine arts. In the article, you discusses your experience as an artist's model and its relationship to your current performance, installation, and body art pieces. Can you go into further detail about this? How has working on both sides of the camera... as a model and as an artist... helped you with the work that you create today?

KF: This experience is one of many that I have had on my journey in the arts and I find myself still referencing the body at some level, even when its subtle and or layered in my work today. The study of the figure or natural forms although dissolved to a certain point in some of my work has been a foundation and I could safely say that this is why I was attracted to not only drawing and studying the figure, but to try the very spatial aspect of modeling.

BS: In your video Thick (stills above), the viewer watches a close-up of honey pouring from beyond the frame into an open, receiving mouth. As the liquid glides into the orifice in slow motion, the viewer is visually seduced by the golden substance as it glitters in the sun, running over pink flesh and teeth. At first it appears that this action is enjoyable to the receiver. But as the honey begins to pour furiously, covering the mouth like a golden gag, it struggles to reject the excess. The video then reverses, and the honey winds up and out of the mouth, returning to the anonymous source. Can you discuss your motives behind this piece? Why did you decide to juxtapose something that is naturally beautiful (the shine of the honey) along side something that is revolting (the hint of impending death due to suffocation, choking)?

KF: Before I discuss the specific video , Thick, I would like to provide somewhat of a context for my work in general, since the motives that drove me to create that particular piece are parallel to those that influence and inform most of my work. I do not create work with the thought of comforting or disturbing others. I am irresolute to create from a deep place of question and inquiry, even if the outcome is perceived of at times as horrible, abject and undesirable.

One of the major artists that has influenced me profoundly and had an impact on the creation of Thick, is Goya’s work; specifically the series of sublime etchings 1810-1820, The Disasters of War depict graphically the terror, brutality and torture that took place during the of the Napoleonic invasion of Spain in 1808. The war in Iraq had recently been waged and I was feeling powerless to stop such insanity. In a flash the idea of this nations greed and desire for “sweetness” at any cost formed the vision for the piece.

I juxtaposed the “revolting with the beautiful” because I think that both exist with or without our imposed aesthetic definitions of them and I refuse to sacrifice one for the other. As a maker of “art”, I do comprehend that the juxtaposition of any contradiction is going to be potentially difficult for the viewer ie; the beautiful honey pouring and then the gagging, and potential death. If indeed art imitates life, then I suppose the “difficult” is unavoidable.

The piece was presented at the REDCAT theater and on electronic billboards on Sunset Blvd. as part of LA Freewaves, International Media Festival, How Can You Resist” in 2004.

BS: Kristina, are you working on any projects at this time? Can you give our readers any details?

KF: Yes I am working on several projects simultaneously. One of the projects is a collaboration with visual artist Curt LeMieux that involves creating a series of 12 digital video shorts and one performance that we have developed over a period of eighteen months. I am also intensely immersed in completing a body of sculptural wall hangings to be used in an installation.

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your art or the art world?

KF: My favorite author and philosopher Henry Miller once said, “Art is only a means to life, to the life more abundant. It is not in itself the life more abundant. It merely points the way, something which is overlooked not only by the public, but very often by the artist himself. In becoming an end it defeats itself.”

I hope that you have enjoyed my interview with Kristina Faragher. You can find more samples of Kristina's art by doing a search for her on the myartspace.com site.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Julian Stanczak

Julian Stanczak has been exploring art for over 60 years. He is considered by some to be the father of Op Art. However, that is a title that Mr. Stanczak is not very fond of. I found Mr. Stanczak to be extremely humble considering the mark he has made in the world of art. Julian is an artist who does not permit ego to overshadow his work.

Julian's art is an exploration of what it is to see- his work challenges the viewers perception through his mastery of color. His art can be viewed as a journey into the miracle of sight and an amplification of discoveries in that journey. This understanding of color is only matched by the seriousness in which he creates his art- a life long journey that he continues to explore. His ongoing contributions to the artworld are considered to be one of the most significant since the American Abstract Artists movement.

Mr.Stanczak's art can be observed in several major public and private collections throughout the world- including: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY), Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY), and the Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington, DC). Julian's art can also be found in the collections of several colleges and universities- Princeton University, Dartmouth College and the University of Illinois, just to name a few.

Brian Sherwin: The Op Art movement was named for your first exhibition in New York. Held at the Martha Jackson Gallery in 1964, the exhibition was titled Julian Stanczak: Optical Paintings. Can you recall how you felt having had an art movement named after your work? How does it feel to be the father of Op Art?

Julian Stanczak: I don't consider myself the "Father of Op Art" and I hated the title of my first one-man-show in New York. I was shocked by the terminology "Optical Painting" because it diminishes the seriousness of the artist's search, the hard work and convictions - regardless of the visual form that it might take. Martha Jackson used the title as a means of provoking the media to respond,- and they did! So it was clever politics... I never did nor ever will consider myself "Father of Op Art"!

Optical Art existed through millennia as the visual investigation of human perception. With the years, I learned to accept the terminology and I adopted my philosophy: now the name attached to me is just a name.

BS: Mr. Stanczak, may we discuss your youth? Can you reflect on your past and explain how it shaped your future in art? At the beginning of World War II you were forced into a Siberian labor camp, where you permanently lost the use of your right arm (You happened to be right-handed.). In 1942, at the age of 13, you escaped Siberia to join the Polish army-in-exile in Persia. How did these early experiences of struggle and war influence your future work? Also, how did you make the transition of having lost the use of your right arm to painting with your left-hand?

JS: The transition from using my left hand as my right, main hand, was very difficult. My youthful experiences with the atrocities of the Second World War are with me,- but I wanted to forget them and live a "normal" life and adapt into society more fully. In the search for Art, you have to separate what is emotional and what is logical. I did not want to be bombarded daily by the past,- I looked for anonymity of actions through non-referential, abstract art.

In visual art, there are two important elements: 1. boundary formations and the tease of the familiar, and 2. the poetics of color. I am juggling both of these visual quests for the past 60 years and I am finding echoes through-out history of these same concerns.

BS: Many people would stop working after loosing the use of their main hand. I actually know a few artists who stopped working after enduring such a tragedy. They never got over it. Considering the experiences of your youth and the loss of the use of your right arm... all of the obstacles you had overcome... would you say that your work is about survival? Was that a key element to your growth as an artist?

JS: All human chosen preoccupations are about survival!

BS: Can you tell our readers about some of your other influences? For example, has music inspired you?

JS: All the arts feed on one another and help clarify the quest. The greatest influence I find in the parallel of art,- the creative richness of nature. I greatly admire Far Eastern Sumi painting, Egyptian figures, Monet's colors, and Van Gogh's abstractions....

BS: You received your Master of Fine Arts from Yale University School of Art and Architecture in 1956. Who were your mentors at that time? How did they influence or inspire the art you have become known for?

JS: Conrad Marca Relli and Josef Albers were my teachers at Yale. One would clabber me and the other would protect me from clabbering myself. They took away everything I thought I knew- and at the end,- through self-confrontation,- they offered much and I found myself whole. I learned to love my teachers.

BS: Mr. Stanczak, in the early 1960s you began to make the surface plane of your paintings vibrate through your use of wavy lines and contrasting colors in works such as Provocative Current (1965). These paintings gave way to more complex compositions constructed with geometric rigidity yet softened with varying degrees of color transparency such as Netted Green (1972). Can you recall the progression of your work? Was it an issue of trial and error... or did you map out the progression of your work?

JS: Anything one designs to follow in one's art, through working many pathways offer themselves as visual possibilities. This awareness of possibilities leads you: you weigh and analyze and project mentally the validity of those possibilities and with truthfulness you decide if these should be yours. You syphon out what fascinates you, which you modify and they in turn enrich the direction in which you should go.

BS: In addition to being an artist, you have also been a teacher, having worked at the Art Academy of Cincinnati from 1957 to 1964 and as a Professor of painting at the Cleveland Institute of Art from 1964 to 1995. How did you find balance between being an art instructor and a working artist? Also, were you inspired by your students?

JS: Teaching and having a regular income was a necessity for me. Teaching makes you crystallize your ethics and concepts. Having fragile young minds around you, full of anxieties, is challenging. To be of assistance and help and recognize surprises (each of us is so different) one has to tune into their state of mind. This unveiling of new creative life/energy is the reward.

BS: Mr. Stanczak, your most recent work has been creating a large-scale series, comprised of square panels on which you examine variations of hue and chroma in illusionistic color modulations. Are you working on anything at this time?

JS: Yes, and I still have lots of work to do... I am a colorist and I do not dwell any longer on the resolution of the unknown - which is color! Physical problems, acquired through age, make large paintings impossible - but I work on small panels and bring them together into a new totality. These are the constellations that I work on now.

BS: Finally, is there anything you would like to say to younger artists? Do you have any suggestions or advice for them?

JS: Don't look for art outside yourself,- you can only find it within yourself.- and most likely,- you are already stepping on it!

I would like to publicaly thank Mr. Stanczak for allowing me the time to ask him a few questions. I would also like to thank Neil K. Rector, Krzys Stanczak, and Barbara Stanczak for their help in making this interview happen. You can learn more about Julian Stanczak by visiting his website: www.jstanczak.com

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Michael Sherwin

Originally from Southwestern Ohio, Michael Sherwin received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from The Ohio State University in 1999, and in June of 2004 he received his MFA in Photography from the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. Michael has worked as a Visiting Professor of Photography and Digital Imaging at Central Washington University and is now an Assistant Professor of Art, Digital Photography at West Virginia University.

Time, and an awareness of the change it brings, is at the core of Michael's artwork. Incorporating both the still and moving image he attempts to tap into the perpetual systems of the world, from the surface of the sea to the very ground beneath his feet, in order to explore the mystery behind their elusive nature. Michael searches for an underlying structure hidden in the seemingly random patterns, a window onto the intersecting space where objective and subjective perception meets.

Brian Sherwin: Michael, I understand that you earned an MFA in Photography from the University of Oregon in 2004. Who were your mentors at that time? Can you tell our readers about the photography program at the University of Oregon?

Michael Sherwin: I had the fortunate opportunity to study with Dan Powell at the University of Oregon, who became a great mentor and friend. Dan has been the anchor of the UO photo program for many years, inspiring students of all levels with his incredible intellect, genuine kindness, and approachable attitude. His positive style of teaching is perhaps the single biggest influence in my career. His work is also amazing!

He rarely uses a single image, rather combining them in diptychs, triptychs, etc., to suggest a sort of language between seemingly disparate things that was otherwise unseen or unspoken. His fascination with contemporary philosophy and semiotics, along with an informed knowledge of current and historical photography blend beautifully in his art and teaching.

I also had the chance to share a studio with Peter HappelChristian, who was a second year grad in the photo program when I started. Peter and I became good friends, sharing similar ideas, motivations, struggles and lots of coffee. I was inspired by his unconventional approach to the medium and the rigor of his ideas. We continue to stay in contact, still sharing the same topics and discussing the possibility of a collaborative project sometime in the future.

The photography program at the University of Oregon is still very traditional in output (silver gelatin, C-prints, etc.), but where it lacks in digital curriculum; it excels in concept building, reading, feedback and resources for research. There are excellent facilities in place for digital output and students have the option to take these courses, but faculty who are part of the monstrous Multimedia program teaches them.

BS: You are currently employed as a Visiting Professor of Photography and Digital Imaging at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, WA. How do you find balance between being an instructor and working on your art? Does teaching help to keep you on your toes, so to speak?

MS: Actually, I just recently took a position as an Assistant Professor of Art, Digital Photography at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. We spent eight great years in the Northwest, but we grew weary of being so far from our families back east, especially with our 9 month-old baby girl.

Establishing the balance between work and art has been one of the biggest challenges of my career as a professor. The Professor/Artist career is much more difficult than I had imagined it would be in graduate school. I think it is particularly difficult for young professors, who like myself, are overwhelmed at first with the long list of responsibilities that come along with being a professor.

In addition to your teaching responsibilities you are expected to be active on department, college and university committees, and contribute to the community in some way. Your creative component really becomes one third of your job description. Of course, this depends somewhat on what school you’re teaching at.

Some schools will put more emphasis on teaching, while others stress the research aspect and therefore limit your teaching load. After the first year, I was able to settle down a bit and make some work over summer break, and the following year of teaching went a little smoother.

Either way, I do find that teaching keeps me on my toes. I spent a year out of graduate school as a Gallery Manager for a little photo gallery in Jackson, Wyoming. Ultimately, it was a great experience, especially from the business perspective of the medium, but it was also suffocating creatively. I was basically working 9-5, five days a week, and then teaching part-time at the Center for the Arts in Jackson Hole in the evenings. So, I didn’t really have the energy or motivation to do any work in my limited free time.

As a professor, I was able to apply my education in more positive ways. I was surrounded by other colleagues who were actively exhibiting and creating, and a handful of graduate students, a lot of whom were my age or older. I think it’s the common bond we share as artists that encourages us to keep challenging our work and ourselves. Also, being in that environment requires you to create work and exhibit.

Sometimes, I find I need this little push to get me going again. Of course, the students also keep you on your toes. The best students are the demanding ones. Although challenging at times, they press you to be one step ahead of them.

A good professor will be versed in the many forms of the medium as well as the current and historical trends associated. I am always reading, looking, and researching other artists’ work, or new methods/applications of the medium.

BS: You say the following in your statement: "We live in a world of continual flux, where everything is in a state of becoming. Even the most seemingly solid objects are made up of countless microscopic particles in a constant state of motion, including our very own bodies. We are nothing more than a cloud caught in the breeze, appearing randomly on the scene, shifting, changing, then eventually returning to the source from which we came. Our physical existence hinges upon this inextinguishable forward motion of time. Photography interrupts this continuum, presenting us with a fragmented form of reality. It allows us to pin down the changes in order to see what we could otherwise not see, to document and record the fleeting in an attempt to reveal the patterns of a transitory world." Can you go into further detail about your artistic philosophy?

MS: I don’t know that I really have any sort of artistic philosophy or agenda I adhere to with my work. It may sound strange, but I try to let the ideas and the work come to me, being as patient as possible. I have a lot of different ideas and I do some journaling to keep a record of thoughts as they pass through my mind or an interesting quote. The ones that stick around for a while usually evolve into something tangible. Occasionally, I’ll sift through a stack of my old journals and find a couple of sentences, or an idea that will spark a new direction.

In some ways, my work has always had something to do with the tenuous relationship between humans and the natural world. Lately, this interest has taken me to examine scientific surveillance systems. I find myself interested in the space between science and art. The two disciplines share similarities in their quest for answers to the unknown. It is the great mystery of life and our futile urge to understand our place in it that fuels the work.

BS: In your statement you go on to say: "In its totality, my work establishes a dialogue between sameness and difference; the variety of natural form within the uniformity of each species; and between the stability of the object or picture and the mobility of the viewer. I am interested in observing and documenting change within the continual evolution of time, drawing from the reservoir of processes and marks, the signs of the everyday and the ordinary, which constitute the lived world.". Is it safe to say that you want your viewers to question their own perceptions of nature and of their place within the context of the world?

MS: Absolutely. I want the viewers to ponder their connections to the natural world and I want them to think about the relationship between the finite and the infinite. I want them to be inspired, challenged, and most importantly, more aware of their surroundings.

BS: With your piece World Wide Web, you revealed how photographs have become a universal form of language online. The Internet is a global communication device, where photographs have become a universal form of language. You virtually circumnavigated the world in a little over a week, appropriating various web cam images as you went. Can you go into further detail about this project? What were your goals or motives going into the piece? Is the Internet a constant source of inspiration for you?

MS: I was asked to exhibit at a local gallery in Washington with only a few months to prepare. Our baby was very young at the time and I found the only studio time I had was after 10pm. I had recently bought a new computer along with wireless Internet and I was doing a lot of research online. Somehow I stumbled upon this site called EarthCam.com and began clicking around. I found this map dotted with thousands of web cams from all over the world. You could click on a dot and it would take you to the site that hosted the web cam. So, I took one region at a time (Europe, Soviet Union, Africa, South America, North America, Antarctica, etc.) and clicked on every single dot on the map.

Many of the links were broken, and some of the cameras were no longer in use. It was also difficult figuring out the right time of day to "travel", so that you weren’t always visiting at night. But, as I got into this site, I became fascinated with this idea of an armchair adventure. I could sit in my quiet house in Ellensburg, Washington, and simultaneously watch a stranger pass through a plaza in an obscure foreign country.

I was also astounded by the abundance of really odd web cams out there. Many were recording nothing representational at all, yet were automatically submitting image after abstract image online. I love this indiscriminate process that web cams provide. These cameras are meant for purely objective means, but when the image loses its identification or signification, meaning becomes fluid as we ponder the source of the image and it’s subject.

As I navigated my way around the world, I appropriated images from a variety of different web cam sources making note of their geographical location. A selection of these images were placed on the gallery wall that had been laid out with a grid referencing longitude/latitude coordinates. What I didn’t expect, was that continents began to form from the groupings of images as I placed them in the relative geographical location they were taken.

For the most part, however, the images chosen don’t directly reference their source. There are certain signifying images, such as a misty view of the Statue of Liberty, which places you in a certain location, but it is the tension between the representational and the abstract that keeps the viewer guessing. I like this mystery in the piece. I don’t want to give the viewer everything. I want them to be more of a participant in the work, and for the work to be open to various interpretations.

This is really the first time I have used the Internet as a resource for making art and I found it liberating. I feel like I just scraped the surface of potential projects based on the amount of imagery available online. I am actively thinking of more ideas and trying to find time to surf the new frontier for inspiration.

BS: Michael, are you working on any projects at this time? Care to give our readers details about your next project?

MS: My biggest project at the moment is revitalizing a dilapidated photography program here at West Virginia University. We moved here just one week ago, so I am still trying to find a space to empty all my studio boxes and supplies. I have ideas for new projects, but they are still very unresolved in my mind. I’m the type of person that needs to have everything organized and taken care of before I can really begin to work creatively. I need the headspace and the time to contemplate my ideas.

Lately, I have been thinking about this really old wood cabinet I found in the basement of our new house. It has probably been there since the house was built in the 1940’s. What I love about it, is its 50-100 little drawers, all the same size and shape, and lined up in a long narrow grid. The cabinet looks like something you would store a great collection in and the drawers are like little specimen boxes. I’m not sure whether anything will come of it, but I’ve been thinking about using this piece of furniture to form a collection of photographs and sounds from the past eight years in the Northwest.

The viewer would doubtfully open all the drawers, so they would be left with a loose narrative formed from the pattern of chosen drawers and imagery within. This is definitely a departure from my earlier work in that there is much more of a personal history involved, and I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with that or not. I guess we’ll just wait and see what happens next…

BS: There are still people today who do not view photography as a form of art. The same people question the validity of digital art as a form of artistic expression. I find it hard to believe that in 2007 there are still people who question photography in this manner. What would you say to people who do not accept it? Or do you feel that it is best for them to discover the value of photography on their own?

MS: The majority of people are very resistant to change. I think most of the people who still question photography or digital art as an artistic medium stopped learning/questioning somewhere in the mid 1900’s. There is no way to define what "art" is and what it is not, and anyone who thinks they can, is very narrow-minded. Like beauty, it is in the eye of the beholder. More importantly these days, it is not about whether you pick up a paintbrush or a mouse, but rather what are your ideas, and what’s the best way to express them.

What I love about the medium of photography is that it cannot be defined by one specific discipline. Depending on its context, photography can be artistic, journalistic, ethnographic, scientific, etc. In a lot of my work, I am directly challenging these boundaries. I think this is troublesome, especially for a conservative audience, who are trained to believe that art consists of paint on canvas, or sculpted stone. I don’t think I would want to try and change anyone’s opinion about the medium, but as you say, "it is best for them to discover the value of photography on their own".

BS: Finally, where do you see your work going in the next decade? Do you think on the long term as far as your work is concerned?

MS: My work seems to be following a trend towards more technology based projects, and I can see the possibility of advocacy related concepts. I am truly concerned about the current state of our environment and the general human disconnect from the natural world. I have never been one to preach or create work that is overtly social or political in theme. However, I have been hovering around statements in my work that to some extent address current issues I have with the environment. Ultimately though, I try not to think too far ahead. I prefer to take it as it comes.

I hope that you have enjoyed learning about Michael Sherwin and his art. You can learn more about Michael by visiting his site: www.michaelsherwin.com.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Xiaoqing Ding

Xiaoqing Ding has been working with Egg Tempera and Silverpoint for over five years now. Currently she is working with a series of Egg Tempera paintings mixed with traditional Asian techniques and modern subject matter. Ding's images come to her when she is day dreaming or falling asleep. Her work explores the delicate nature of identity, sexuality and personal politics.

Ding's work incorporates ideas from ancient Chinese and Greek mythologies as well as European fairytales. The dark and mysterious stories from different countries and cultures all share similar formal devices and motifs in her work. These works focus on timeless decadent sentiments and the personal struggle of good and evil that people endure.

Xiaoqing Ding has had steady success in the artworld since 2000. She has been involved in major exhibits in New York and was a recipient of The Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant in 2001.


Brian Sherwin: Ding, your images often evoke childhood memories of fairy-tales upon being viewed. However, your fairy-tales often have not so happily-ever-after endings. Why have you chosen this theme in your work?

Xiaoqing Ding: I grew up with fairy-tales and I still read fairy-tales before bedtime. I watched a movie called "The Tin Drum" years a ago, I share the same feeling with the boy in that movie. I wished that time could have stopped at the last day of my childhood so that I would not have to face the ugliness of adulthood. I felt that ages 30 and 40 something are the worst in this world as far as adulthood is concerned. Adults lie, they cheat, they are greedy, they fart loudly at home while pretending to be polite in front of a group. Too bad I am one of them now, a complicated 30 something, but with an innocent child inside of me. My work is very personal, it’s about fantasy meeting reality.

BS: Your work often places females in the position of power. These women lure men and animals with ease. This is a total break from traditional fairy-tales that often portray women as weak- fragile. Is it one of your goals to show the strength of women with your art?

XD: We have a well-known old fairy-tale book in China called " Liaozhai , stories about a fox that can enchant and lure men into a chase through the woods and who, upon being caught, transform into sly and willful girls. They hunt for blood to keep their beauty and youth and only the blood of young men can do this. Not all of those foxes are bad, like vampires, some of them can be good when they fall in love. In China we call a very attractive and aggressive woman a " fox girl". This has both good and bad meanings. Secretly, lots of Chinese girls wanna be a fox, because a man won’t be able to resist a 'fox girl', he would die for her no matter what. That’s the power of a beautiful and smart woman.

I have big respect for American women. I admire those women who can drive a big truck, who can lead a group of men to fight, who can carry a big fat baby and the baby cart plus a big bag with milk and diapers and transfer from R train to F train( 100 stairs walk up at 9Av stop). These women are tigers. American women have taught me to be strong and independent. But I’m still weak, I prefer that men drive for me, it is as if I lose my eye sight when there is a piece of wind shield in front of me. The strength of women depicted in my painting are a part of my personal fantasy, of what I want to be.

BS: Ding, you recently moved to NYC. It is my understanding that you have been there for about 13 months. What do you think of the New York art scene? I assume that you enjoy the diversity of art?

XD: I enjoy NYC a lot. The art shows are great. I had an English name before when I lived in other states. Living in New York allows me to be myself. I just try to be friendly. Usually it takes a non-NewYorker 3 times a day for close to 2 weeks practicing to get my name close to what it should sound. I changed back to my real name immediately after the first night I went to a Chelsea opening. I can’t get anybody’s name right in NYC, why let them get my name right away? It is so nice to meet all the great artists with weird names from all over the world in this city.

BS: You were recently involved with the Venus exhibit at the Roq la Rue Gallery. You are showing with Lori Earley, Travis Louie, and several other artists of note. How has the exhibit been so far? Did you meet any of the other artists during the opening?

XD: I missed the Venus show’s opening. They put me in the show at the last minute. It’s a great show, I like everybody’s work there. Kirsten, Roq La Rue’s owner, has done a great job with that show. It’s a big honor to show with wonderful artist like Lori Earley and Travis. I have met them before and they are my myspace friends. Travis is such a great artist and a very nice person. Lori Earley is as beautiful as her paintings. The interesting thing is, most pop surrealism artists are kind of nice looking, I believe that makes their work even more attractive.

BS: Ding, you have been involved with several group exhibits since being in the States- including an group exhibit at the Jonathan LeVine Gallery. Based on your experience... which exhibit has had the most impact on you so far?

XD: It’s hard to say which one has the most impact on me, because they are all important to me. The nice thing about group shows is that you get to meet other artists through the show and understand galleries and gallery owners. Jonathan LeVine is a cool guy, he gave me lots of good advice and support. The same goes for Kirsten from Roq La Rue.

BS: Speaking of exhibiting... I understand that you are a loner by nature. Do you enjoy exhibiting your work or does it ever make you nervous?

XD: Exhibiting does makes me nervous, but opening night is always exciting. It is kind of like a big harvest after a long time of hard work.

BS: What artists have influenced your work?

XD: Everybody I can find from Medieval times, everybody from the Renaissance, Ingres, Boucher, George Grosz, Franz von Bayros, Hans Bellmer, Erotic art from ancient China, Japan and India, Kiki Smith, Henry Darger, George Tooker, Cindy Sherman, Lucien Freud, Balthus, Jan Saudek, Tom of Finland, Pierre & Gilles….

BS: You paint with egg tempera. Why did you decide to use that method instead of say... oils or acrylics?

XD: In 2000, I saw a piece done with Egg Tempera in someone’s home and it was love at first sight. I have tried everything else and nothing works for me. Painting is actually my weak link, I’m much better at drawing. Egg Tempera might be the only painting medium that works like drawing, so it fits me well.

BS: Can you go into detail about the process of using egg tempera? What other methods or techniques do you utilize within the context of your work?

XD: Egg tempera painting is recognized as the second oldest medium after encaustic. It was used by the ancient Egyptians and Greeks and perfected by the icon painters during the last 100 years of the old Byzantine Empire (400 AD-1202 AD). After the fall of the Byzantine Empire, egg tempera flourished for about 200 years in the hands of the early Renaissance artists.

Egg tempera painting consists of three simple ingredients: powdered pigments, egg yolk and water. The pigments are ground with water to form a paste, then mixed with the separated yolk of an egg. The yolk, like the oil in oil painting or the gum arabic in watercolor, is what binds the pigments to a surface. The surface used in egg tempera is generally a panel made of wood or hardboard that has been coated with several layers of traditional, homemade gesso (rabbit skin glue and whiting) that has been sanded to an ivory smooth finish.

Egg tempera paint is generally applied in diluted, very thin, often transparent layers of pure color. It dries to the touch within seconds; however for a painting to fully cure takes 6-12 months. Many, many layers are applied in order to build up an image. The ultimate effect of dozens of layers of interacting colors set upon the white, highly reflective, true gesso ground is rich and luminous. ( I have copied all above from www.eggtempera.com, my friend Michael Bergt is the founder, a great tempera artist.)

I use silverpoint, watercolor and pastel also.

BS: Ding, where did you study art? Who were your mentors?

XD: I studied Graphic Design at Art schools in Beijing for 8 years. Not because I liked design that much, it’s very hard to get into any fine art schools in China, I couldn’t pass their test at the time, because my work was too" flat". Maybe I still won’t be able to get into any fine art school in China right at this time, my work is definitely too" Dirty" for them.

I got my MFA from Maryland Institute in 2001, Grace Hartigan was my director. She is a wonderful painter and great teacher. She helped me a lot.

I had a Mentor when I was 14. Mr. Zhang Ken, a high school art teacher at the time. He taught me all the basic drawing and painting stuff for free. My life would have been very different without him. I grew up in a jail-like university campus, with high walls and cold teachers. At school, if you are not good at math, you suck. I was very unhappy and depressed before I stepped into the art world. I’ll appreciate Mr. Zhang forever, his studio was my heaven.

BS: Finally, are you working on any projects at this time? Can you give our readers any details?

XD: I’ve been working hard for a two person show at Roq La Rue that will open on August 10th. You can find out more at www.roqlarue.com. I will be showing with Jason D’Aquino, wonderful work.

I have finished some large size pastel work. I’m kind of new to this medium, it is a lot of fun to work with. I’ll have those new works on myspace by the end of this month. They look different than my old work, brighter colors and bigger heads. In China we believe that a smart person has a bigger head then the average person.

I’ll be in another group show called "deep pop" in Jan 2008. It will be curated by Andrew Michael Ford, www.andrewmichaelford.com. A lot of good artists will be in that show as well.

I hope that you have enjoyed my interview with Xiaoqing Ding. Feel free to leave a comment about her work.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Jennifer Caviola

I discovered the art of Jennifer Caviola while viewing art on myartspace.com. Jennifer obtained an MFA from the Parsons School of Design in New York. Jennifer lives and works in NYC. You can learn more about Jennifer by visiting her site: www.jennifercaviola.com

Brian Sherwin: Jennifer, 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?

Jennifer Caviola: I usually prefer a quiet studio setting, however, I do enjoy listening to music at times. Some of the musicians I have favored as studio music as of late are : Albert Hammond Jr., Joan Biaz, Tool, Bob Dylan's "Desire" album, Coheed and Cambria, and of course, any Guns N' Roses album. I also seem to paint extremely well to the following bands: Slaughter, Skid Row, Poison, Motley Crue, and Bon Jovi circa 1980's (1986 to be exact). Who knows why.

BS: Jennifer, you obtained your BFA in Painting from Pratt Institute and your MFA from Parsons School of Design. Who were your mentors? Can you tell our readers about the art departments you attended?

JC: I had a few teachers at Pratt who I really learned alot from. Churchill Davenport for foundation/painting, Anne Gilman for drawing, and Thomas Bosket for Painting. These three stand out among my favorite undergrad professors from my time at Pratt. I was lucky to have studied under them. Actually, Davenport taught me how to use colors in a structure that I still use to this day in my paintings.

That was almost 10 years ago. They helped create a strong base for my practice as well. I took Professor Gilman's Drawing classes for three years straight practically, she was that instrumental in my drawing process. Bosket just rules in general.

I couldn't get enough of art school. I would still be there if it were possible.

BS: When did you first discover that art would be an important part of your adult life? Can you recall any childhood memories of wanting to pursue painting?

JC: My Grandma Olga is a painter and started giving me watercolor lessons at age 9. I was always around paintings and art in her house and it sort of seemed like a natural ambition from then on. There wasn't much of a fight there.

BS: What about world events? Does the triumph and tragedy of society inspire you to create? Have certain events struck a cord with you, so to speak?

JC: I am not directly inspired by "world events", however I am part of the human race experiencing the world just like everyone else-artist or not. As a maker, this automatically feeds into my work, whether I try or not. The "triumph and tragedy" of society is what defines it and they simply become one in the same at some point for me.

Real tragedy for me involves romance and beauty, or more specifically, the destruction of it in any form. A broken heart and a broken country are the same thing.

BS: Are you represented by a gallery at this time? If not, are you seeking representation?

JC: I am not with a gallery at the moment.

BS: Jennifer, can you share some of your philosophy about art and artistic creation?

JC: I am not old enough or smart enough to have my own philosophy regarding art and artistic creation. All I know is I respond to and value beauty in Art.

BS: Finally, where do you see your work going in the next decade?

JC: That's a strange question to try to answer. All I hope is that I am still actually making paintings. That's the most I can hope for.

I hope that you have enjoyed my interview with Jennifer Caviola. You may view on of her myartspace.com galleries below:

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

The Danger of Defining Art

(The text in the above image reads: This Is Not Art. I suggest that it is art... though it may not be a good example of art.)

First, I want to say that the definition of art that I'm discussing is not the definition of art that can be found in a dictionary. As we all know, the dictionary does not always give the best definition of a word and its meaning. Find an older dictionary and read the definitions of certain aspects of society and you will know what I'm talking about.

The dictionary is not a Bible of Language, so to speak. It can be just as flawed as any other text. I'm discussing the definition of art that we use when discussing the validity of certain forms of art in contemporary society. A definition that is often backed by artspeak and enforced by art from the past. This definition tends to exclude certain details- such as the fact that a lot of the art that is accepted today was often not accepted in the past.

With the above text in mind- I keep going back to this issue of defining art. This is important an important issue. It is my opinion that a solid definition of art is restrictive in that it instills a degree of fear as far as artistic exploration and growth is concerned. Art is supposed to be free, free from what I'm not exactly sure, but it is often referred to as free and I think that is the best definition- Art = free.

My view is that art should suggest that people are free to explore surfaces and materials with their work, free to manipulate, free to ponder... free to create in a manner that is desired by the individual- and those desires should be accepted as art upon their creation. This freedom is attacked when only certain forms of expression- certain forms or styles- are accepted as art. That form of intolerance tends to lock artists in a bubble of security. It is a dangerous view and will only serve to hold people back.

The view that only certain forms of art can be accepted as art is amusing when you consider that the majority of people creating today work in a manner that was not accepted 100 years ago. Thus, to deny a contemporary artist- to say that his art is not art- is to reveal a lack of knowledge in regards to art history and the struggle of those who came before. It suggests that certain living artists utilize a selective history of art in order to back what they do... while degrading the works of others.

So many contemporary artists seem to have a set definition of what art is and what art can be. This is often based on selective aspects of recent art history (recent meaning one to two hundred years ago). This view shelters the artist in the security (the bubble) that others before him or her have established through their own struggle for acceptance in the past.

Contemporary artists who use this charge often do not consider the struggle that those past artists had for acceptance. They just take the face-value of the fact that it is now accepted- so their art should be accepted as well. Thus, some contemporary artists deny that their form of art was once questioned- yet they question the creations of others openly. This either reveals ignorance or cowardly behavior... and I will never tolerate it.

Those hard fought struggles over 'can this be art?" from the past are now an accepted norm. The majority of people living today will not question if Van Gogh's paintings are art nor will they question the validity of Monet's art. However, both artists were questioned in their time. So many of us seem to forget that when we tell another artist that his or her art is not art.

People embrace the art of the past because it is easy to embrace something that has already been established. It is easy to be selective in what you choose from art history in order to back your own work. This does not leave room for growth, especially when so many people deny artists who go beyond the norm of what has already been deemed acceptable.

Thus, to define art on the norm- the already accepted - the selective history- is to halt the growth of the individual artist and the future of art as a whole. That is why I say that art should simply be defined as visual freedom. We should accept all art as art... this does not mean that all art is good- some art is obviously bad. However, the bad art is still art and should be accepted.

To define art- to decide what is and what is not art- in any other way is to foster an environment that leads only to stagnation- both cultural and visual. The end result of this often has the same result. There will eventually be a huge shift in opinions about what art can be. It is at that time that art that is not considered art now will be stamped with approval by future generation. I say... why wait? Why can't we accept all art now so that art continues to advance in our generation? Do we want to be remembered as another generation that oppressed the vision of others?

We do not need to define art by the norms of expressivity- art should be open... free. We need to have a definition that goes beyond the sheltered box of specific rules, social grace, and the already accepted. To do otherwise is to reveal a fear of change, of exploration, and a clear denial of those who struggled before us so that the majority of art we create today is acceptable.

How can a contemporary artist claim that another contemporary artist is not creating art? This is a charge that has long puzzled me. Especially since the majority of artists living today create art that would have been judged harshly 100 years ago. How can Artist A say that Artist B is not creating art when most likely Artist A's form of expression, the mediums used, and form were once degraded in the same manner? To me that is like standing on the bones of the artists who came before- stomping on everything that they had fought for.

How easy it is to say that your own art is art when those who came before were the ones who had to endure the suffering of hard criticism. In that respect, some contemporary artists become like the 'spoiled child' in that they accept the claim of 'this is art' that they have been 'born' into, but deny the roots of those creative endeavors. They deny the wealth of knowledge and experience that past artists had when they shaped the principles that contemporary artists now embrace in order to define their own art as art. They are not aware of their roots.

In that respect, a contemporary artist who questions the art of others also questions the validity of his or her own art based on the history of art in general. He or she accepts the attitude that certain art is not art. In that darkness, he or she unknowingly accepts that the art of the recent past is not art- which in turn means the art that he or she creates is not art.

In other words, a hard definition of what art can be only leads to people back-tracking. These artists degrade their own work by questioning the validity of the work of others. Is it so hard to judge art as good or bad? Why must some artists boldy state that certain art is not art? I think it is time for us to go beyond this. We should step forward instead of stepping back.

Again, it is my opinion that defining art on set terms only serves to halt the growth of individual artists and the artworld as a whole. The more perfectly it is defined, the less active artists become and the less likely that new forms of expression will be accepted as art.Thus, for art to have an impact and to allow exploration and growth- it must never have a definition that is set in stone. Defining art is dangerous. For good or bad... art should be free to define itself.

(Side Note: It is clear that my view is that all art should be accepted as art... good or bad... it is art. To think otherwise is to accept that groups like the Art Renewal Center (ARC) are correct. In their opinion hardly anything is art unless it is a traditional oil painting that embraces classical themes.

ARC supporters have stated that 99% of the art created today is not art at all. The 1% that is art is only art because it holds to the academic traditional of classical realism and refuses any suggestion of surreal influence. Thus, if you deny that certain forms of contemporary art is art you are unknowingly upholding their views. That is dangerous. That is why it is important to accept all art... that does not mean you have to say that all art is good.

A few months ago I contacted Brian Yoder from ARC for an interview. He accepted, read my questions, and gave several excuses for why he had not yet answered my questions. He has not responded from that point on. That is why I feel that people like Mr. Yoder are dangerous to the artworld and to the acceptance of all art in general. You can learn more about ARC by visiting their site: http://www.artrenewal.org/)

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Tristan Schane

(Wolverine- an example of Tristan's work for Marvel Comics)

Tristan Schane jump-started his career in art during his teens as a comic book illustrator- eventually working for major labels, such as DC Comics and Marvel Comics. During those years he illustrated popular characters: Wolverine, Ghost Rider, The Midnight Sons... just to name a few. Since that time Tristan has worked to develop his own imaginative art in both sculpture and oil painting.

As a sculptor he draws a lot of technical and visual cues from the sculptural work being done in cinema special effects. It is that industry’s trailblazing use of new techniques and materials, and its exploration of radical new imagery, that has helped to fuel the direction of his own sculpture.

The painting style that he has been developing over the past few years has gone through a metamorphosis. When Tristan began working as a fine artist he was very influenced by Surrealism. From that starting point, he began to develop a language of imagery and a technique that he calls Subversive Realism. However, his work continues to grow as he searches for an art that is true to his own design.

Tristan's work was recently included in 'Metamorphosis'- a book containing the work of 50 surreal and fantastic artists- including Carrie Ann Baade, Chet Zar, and Alex Grey.


Brian Sherwin: Tristan, you have been a professional artist since you were 18 years old. You started out in your teens doing professional comic book illustration. You worked for DC Comics, Marvel Comics, First Comics, and Continuity Comics. You've even done work for Clive Barker. How did those early illustration experiences prepare you in your pursuit of creating fine art? Also, why did you decide to make the jump from your former professional to creating personal works of art?

Tristan Schane: Actually my first professional gig was when I was 15. I did a back up feature for a DC comic book.Well for one thing, I learned how to paint as a comic book artist, painting super heroes and monsters and what not for covers, posters and other comics related products. I don't know that my professional experiences prepared me specifically for the fine arts industry -- it certainly works very differently than the comics or book cover business, but it did give me some very specific strengths as an artist.

For one, the ability to make quick artistic decisions and follow them to completion. I am not an artist with many (or any) unfinished works in my studio. Comics have very tight deadlines and a lot of art goes in to each page so you have to have a very workman like attitude towards the creative process. That's a skill set that has followed me in to every medium I work in. Being creative under pressure is another constant factor in illustration of all sorts and another skill set that's useful I think in any creative industry.

Really, it was around 1993 that I started doing fully painted work for the comics industry. Up to that point, I never had any ambition to be anything other than a comic book artist. Once I started painting, though, the world of comics art started to seem very constraining and I became more and more drawn to fine arts as an environment I'd prefer.

BS: It is my understanding that you've used practically every medium under the sun. You now paint exclusively in oils. Why is oil paint your favored medium?

TS: In comics I'd often have to do a painting and hand it in inside of a few days, so acrylics or gouache were the obvious choice. There are some artists who can really get these paint mediums to express what they're after. For me with water mediums and acrylics it was always a wrestling match ending in a compromise between what I was after and what the paints would allow me to do. Oils work very naturally for me. For me, they perform as if they actually want to come out of the tubes and infuse the paintings. It's a wonderful medium.

BS: You also create life-size sculptures. Can you tell our readers about the process you use?

TS: The piece begins with an armature made out of aluminum armature wire and hardware cloth. The general contours of the piece is drawn three dimensionally with the armature wire, which is grounded in to some plumbing secured to a stand. Then I build it out the armature with the hardware cloth, creating the rough forms of the sculpture. A support structure of steel rod is designed and bent to contour invisibly to the inside of the sculpture, to carry the weight were it will be needed. This is attached at some point to a main support structure made from plumbing pipes and fittings. This whole process is an art in itself -- sculpting with wire and hardware cloth. Occasionally secondary supports will be attached if the pose of the sculpture requires it.

When the armature is all built out and secured, I cover the hardware cloth with aluminum foil. Over this I build the sculpture. I work in oil clays. After this i make a mold, either a rigid mold or a silicone rubber mold and then cast out the piece in various materials. Lately it's been polyester but I will be doing some silicone sculptures this year.

BS: You have stated that you draw inspiration from influences that are considered unorthodox for a fine artist. Can you go into detail about this?

TS: As a sculptor, I have been influenced more by the film SPFX industry than any other source. It is from reading about and talking with the those artists that I learned my sculptural technique. Generally I feel very disappointed in the technical abilities of fine arts sculptors and am always looking to the sculpts done for animatronic film effects characters as an inspirational resource for my work.

Lately as a painter, my influences are more traditional, though in my development as a painter I must confess that I have been influenced a great deal by conceptual design arts and Science fiction/fantasy book cover illustration. There are some masterful artists in those fields, and it's the amazingly imaginative way some of these artists can create realistic, but other worldly or future worldly scenes that look so comprehensive. There was a long period when this was by far the majority of the sort of art I looked to to inspire me in my fine arts paintings.

BS: Tristan, you call your painting style Subversive Realism. You have went on to say that Subversive Realism represents a fusion of the skills and sensibilities which you have acquired over the years working as an illustrator and as a fine artist. Can you go into further detail about Subversive Realism?

TS: Subversive realism was a term I came up with to try to describe the sort of visual language I am trying to develop. I am definitely an adherent of hyper realist technique, as a painter and a sculptor, but I am not a representational artist when it comes to subject matter. Neither do I consider my work surreal or visionary.

Sometimes in a painting I feel what I am trying to do with a concept is to use the image to dissect the perception of something without removing that perception so the perception and the object of the perception are both present. I don't often succeed, but that is something I wrestle with. I'm working on a new work right now which I feel may be the closest to this yet.

BS: Are you ever concerned that your art will not be taken seriously by the artworld elite due to your former profession? Or do you see the skills you learned during that time as tool to utilize in order to breathe new life into what is considered traditional methods?

TS: Yes and no. I don't know that people are less inclined to take me seriously because of my illustration background. I think my work is often dismissed for being hard to categorize as specifically this or that. Not surreal. Not hyper real. I hear the word "disturbing" a lot and I think that often signals someone's knee-jerk reaction of not really looking at the work beyond an instant and superficial response.

I have a bigger concern that not being a "trained" artist with an MA, it's very hard for me to crack in to established gallery venues. However, all I can do is pursue my artistic sensibilities where they take me and focus very hard on trying to develop the imagery and concepts that I'm after.

Beyond that I work very hard trying to establish myself as an artist in the industry. If I succeed, great. If not, well it won't be for lack of trying.

BS: So... would you say that working as an illustrator is a good stepping stone in regards of learning various skills? Does the industry teach artists more than what they may learn in school?

TS: I can't say one learns more in illustration. One learns the business of illustration and the artistic requirements of commercial, illustrative arts. There are certainly some skills there worth having. I think one has to be much more able to pursue the learning of different mediums and techniques when one learns as a professional. Anything you don't teach yourself or go out of your way to learn is just not there for you. No one shows you how to do anything.

It seems people are exposed to a greater variety of art mediums, art industries and and art styles in school. There is also a greater opportunity to network with other artists and arts professionals in the schools, which translates to having those networks after graduation. I think starting out as a professional freelancer can be a little isolating, especially from the avenues of fine arts.

Lastly, I have found that the fine arts business is very much like any other, and having gone to this or that school, studied with this or that professor and having a degree in fine arts helps open doors regardless of one's abilities which aren't nearly as accessible otherwise. Had I known way back when that I'd ultimately be a fine artist, I would have chosen to go to school rather than to work.

BS: You have stated that you started fine art painting as a surrealist (sample image above and below)... but you quickly felt that the visual language of surrealism was to atavistic for the modern world, too reliant on visual structures and styles that while beautiful were out of touch with the flavor and sensibilities of today's world. With that said, what is your opinion of Pop Surrealism and the lowbrow movement in general?

TS: Definitely. Early on it was all Dali and Magritte. When I was talking about surrealism being atavistic, I was referring largely as it applied to my own sensibilities. When I worked in surrealistic imagery, I felt I was borrowing from someone else's native millieu. An era when those sensibilities sprang from the world around them and belonged to it as a natural native. It was authentic for those artists, but it just didn't feel personal and genuine for me. It didn't resonate with my sensibilities and mindset. It didn't feel like it belonged to me or my world.

I still constantly get ideas for pieces that would make great surreal works, but I have no interest in producing them. What is called pop surrealism or low brow art are vague encapsulates that hold within those very broad band widths some very talented artists. I think the terms are very general and often not descriptive. I don't think to much in terms of this or that art movement. More in terms of this or that artist.

BS: So is it safe to say that you are searching for an art that is new... fresh... an art that does not have to hold on to old traditions even if those traditions and methods are relatively young in the span of art history?

TS: All life is progressive. I couldn't come up with an art form that owes nothing to the past. Nothing can exist in a vacuum like that. What I am looking for is within myself -- a visual language that is purely of me, my world and my time. As my world was inherited from the earlier generations and eras, so will my art, but it must be of my world and my time. It must feel to me to be genuinely personal and authentic. I am trying to find this language within myself and my relationship to my world, and I am constantly trying to avoid sensibilities that seem obviously inspired by earlier aesthetics. I have a long way to go. It's definitely a work in progress that is constantly stretching and reforming.

BS: Tristan, are you represented by a gallery or are you seeking gallery representation? Also, do you have any upcoming exhibitions of your work?

TS: No, unfortunately at present I don't have a gallery. It's been very hard for me to connect with a gallery that both appreciates my work and can sell it to their clients. Usually the galleries I have shown at do great shows, but make no money.

An artist who can't earn with his work winds up with very little time to create that work, having to work other jobs to pay the bills. It's very expensive for an artist to frame and ship work to and from a show with no sales. I have been represented by two different NY galleries in the past few years, both were in Chelsea, both very enthusiastic, but neither could promote me successfully. I am currently seeking for proper representation.

I have a collaborative show in the works -- several sculptures, but it is still in the planning/talking phase so until it's definite, it's more prudent for me to keep mum.

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your art or the artworld at this time?

TS: I could give a fifteen page diatribe about how I wish there was something like the WPA still in existence with public funds going towards commissioning all sorts of artwork, but....

You can learn more about Tristan Schane by visiting his website-- www.tristanschane.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews. Tristan is involved with the beinArt International Surreal Art Collective.

Surreal Visionary Fantastic Art & Metamorphosis Art Book

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

The Art Market is Burning: All Art is HOT... Can it go Out?

It has been said that the current art market is on fire- that current art sells can be decided by the strike of a match. I've expressed my opinion about the dangers of this hot art market in the recent past (a crash could send younger artists who are selling for high prices into total obscurity and could chip away at the careers of more established artists). However, in regards to the hodge-podge of art that is selling at this time, I must say that it is not really a bad thing... or is it?

The fact that so much art is selling for high prices has me concerned, but the fact that all types of art can thrive in the current market is a nice change from a market that often seems extremely selective. The galleries of today seem to be taking more of a risk with emerging artists in that they are opening their doors- doors that would have been slammed shut just a few years ago when the market was cold.

Emerging artists have been able to get their 'foot in the door'. This has lead to a variety in art styles and forms. Need proof? Attend any major art fair throughout the world and you will observe what I'm talking about. The fires are burning bright for young talent! ...How long will it continue?

This shift in the art market has allowed a wide range of art to be displayed and purchased. Young collectors, which are increasing in number, have embraced this diversity. These aspects of the current art market come together in order to offer artists a more balanced foundation to work from as far as success is concerned. However, the foundation is a rocky one. I don't believe it is stable.

'Rags to riches' stories are plentiful- the overall acceptance of art as a whole has increased sharply. Though I believe it is wise to be cautious of this market I must say that I enjoy the diversity. I hope the diversity continues no matter what happens with the buying market. The art market of today has increased the acceptance of all artistic forms. That is one positive aspect of the current hot market.

At the heart of the market there is a sense that no art is better than another form of art. In 2007 we have seen traditional and conceptual works sell for millions. Photographs and installations have sold for high sums of money alongside traditional oil paintings. Collectors, dealers, and curators are all switching to a form of diversification as far as their collections are concerned. All art is hot at the moment... every artist has a chance to ignite his or her career.

People are embracing a wide variety of art instead of focusing on one area or notion of art. This is great for the acceptance of artists and their work as a whole as it tends to trickle down to the rest of the populace. However, it is wise to keep a wary eye on the market as far as high pricing is concerned. A match can be extinguished by a simple gust of wind, true?

I view the current market as a box of matches- a box of matches that has been thrown upon the floor. People are grabbing every match up and each match happens to be unique from the other in shape and design. Each has a different colored flame when lit- all are accepted as equal. Thus, there is something for everyone.

With that said, what happens when the match sticks no longer fall? When the floor is piled with them and people no longer care to pick them up? When eyes no longer gaze at the lure of the flame? What happens when the box is empty? The flames will die out. That is something to think about... right?

I'm concerned that the acceptance of art in general will be 'put out' if indeed the currents art market 'burns out' at some point. Are any of you concerned about this? Or do you feel that the high interest in art at this time will continue to burn for many years to come? I want your opinions and concerns.

As for me... I'm attracted to the fire... but I fear the flame.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin