Art Space Opinions: David Lee on Current Art Movements

David Lee is a British art critic who was once the editor of Art Review magazine. He is now the publisher and editor of The Jackdaw-- an art magazine that is satirical, opinionated and often vitriolic. www.thejackdaw.co.uk

Brian Sherwin: David, with the advent of the Internet contemporary art movements have increased in number. For example, the art movement Stuckism, founded by Charles Thomson and Billy Childish, has splinter groups around the globe-- the movement is represented in over 40 countries. In Japan the Superflat art movement, founded by the artist Takashi Murakami, has influenced a generation of young artists. In Ireland the Defastenist art movement continues to expand both in artistic and political ideology. These groups continue to reach out to new members on networking sites like myspace.com and facebook.com. There is no doubt that their numbers will grow.

What is your opinion about art movements that are fueled by the Internet? Should we question the validity of these movements-- is it harmful for artists to become involved with movements in this manner? Can they be successful? What is your opinion in regards to this issue?

David Lee: Brian, I have no knowledge of most of these 'movements' and no desire to see them. I go to see works only that interest me, and that rarely. Life is too short for the rest of it. 99.99% of what I've seen in the last 25 years is shite. And even among the small number of things I think I might want to see a large proportion is rubbish.

In October I saw the Turner Prize in Liverpool. With the exception of Mike Nelson the work on show was indistinguishable from that of students piss-poor ones. At the Yorkshire Sculpture Park I saw 'Sheep Drawings' by Andy Goldsworthy that would have shamed a children's workshop... I have interest only in individual works seen face to face. Movements are for amateurs who need camaraderie and mutual support for the crap work they produce I mean just look at the paintings produced by the Stuckists!

Self-styled movements are in the end bound to be restrictive precisely because they are prescriptive. Vantongerloo, van Doesburg and Mondrian are interesting individuals way before they are interesting De Stijl-ists or Constructivists. As far as recent movements are concerned I look forward to the day when someone writes a polemic about Modern Art entitled 'From Impressionism to Opportunism'.


Stuckism www.stuckism.com
Superflat www.kaikaikiki.co.jp
Defastenism www.defastenism.4t.com

Art Space Talk: Patricia Hagen

Patricia Hagen's mixed media paintings begin with images abstracted from natural forms such as cells, bacteria, viruses, seed pods, and plants. These images are starting points for her language of forms. These forms are abstracted and put together into "systems" which seem sometimes to be on a microscopic level, other times on a bodily level, and yet other times on a galactic level.

Patricia is interested in apparent contradictions in life. Her pictures pit clarity versus obscurity, familiarity versus strangeness, repulsion versus attraction, humor versus tragedy. These opposing forces represent for her the essence of being human; we are heroic and we are degenerate. Patricia's aim is to marry beauty and deformity, pleasure and fear. These pictures embrace the intrinsic beauty found in the natural world. They also address the fears and anxieties that pervade our time.

Brian Sherwin: Patricia, tell us about your educational background. Do you have formal training in art? If so, who were your instructors and how did they influence you?

Patricia Hagen: I have a BFA from Miami University in Oxford Ohio, and a MFA from California College of the Arts in San Francisco. At Miami, I worked mostly with a wonderful professor by the name of Crossan Curry. He taught us to take our work seriously and to think about what we were doing and why. I worked with several different people at California College of the Arts. Interestingly, not many painters. I worked with the photographer Larry Sultan who turned me on to Roland Barthes and the sculptor, Dennis Leon who taught me about the importance of scale in my paintings.

Array- oil on acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48", 2007

BS: Patricia, tell us about your early artistic influences and experiences. When did you decide to pursue art?

PH: I have the distinct memory of going to a Saturday art class when I was very young, maybe four or five and leaving the first session incredibly excited . I was totally engaged and knew I had found something that was important to me.

BS: With that said, how would you say that your work has advanced since that time?

PH: My work has gone through countless stages since that time. I did allot of representational work, mostly people and landscapes when I was in junior high and high school. In undergraduate school, things became more abstract and have continued to do so ever since.

Adrift- oil on acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48", 2007

BS: Patricia, can you go into detail about your artistic process? How do you begin a piece? When do you know that a piece is finished?

PH: I work in series and will do many pieces using the same set of forms. I have been working for about six years now with forms that were inspired by electron-microscope photos of cancer cells, AIDS viruses, different bacteria , and other natural forms. The forms become abstracted and evolve into what becomes my visual language. I try to be very open when beginning a painting. I start working and then react to what I have done. It is a pretty intuitive process for me. I know that a piece is finished when it has a life or presence.

Rabble- oil on acrylic on canvas, 48" x 60", 2007

BS: Patricia, how does current world events influence your work? In other words, how does contemporary life impact your creative practice?

PH: I am always doing Google image searches for different items that are in the news:the Aids virus, anthrax, avian flu,influenza, different types of cancer cells, etc. These images then work their way into new paintings.

BS: Patricia, tell us more about the philosophy behind your art. What motivates you to create?

PH: I would love to say that I feel a need to make the world a better place through my art, but truthfully, it is more like I am addicted to the high of creating something that is new to me or that surprises me.

BS: Why did you choose to work in the medium(s) that you utilize? Also, can you tell us about your studio routine? Do you work in silence-- listen to music..

PH: I love the challenge of making something two dimensional come to life and have a real presence. I also do sculpture sometimes, but drawing and painting are somehow more satisfying to me. I usually listen to music when I am in the studio. I like to listen to sort of dark and quirky music like Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Firewater ,Kings of Leon, and Devotchka.

Brink- oil on acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48", 2007

BS: Patricia, what are you working on at this time?

PH: I am doing a group of watercolors on heavy (300 lb.) Arches watercolor paper using the forms I discussed earlier.

BS: Are you involved with any upcoming exhibits? Where can our readers view your work?

PH: I just had a solo show at Punch Gallery here in Seattle. My work can be seen in the 2007 Pacific Coast Edition of" New American Painting "which was curated by Alma Ruiz of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and will be in the books stores December 1st.

BS: In your opinion, what are some of the problems facing artists today?

PH: Same as it ever was: making a living while remaining true to your work.


BS: The Internet is changing how we discover and view art. In your opinion, how have sites like myartspace.com empowered artists?

PH: On the Internet, I have found other artists working with similar ideas as mine, working with those ideas in different ways and that is re-affirming and exciting for me as an artist. I also use the Internet to scout out galleries that might be appropriate for my work.

BS: Finally, what are your goals as an artist? What do you hope to accomplish with your work?

PH: I have the same desires as many people to be successful in my profession, but it always comes back to the work. I mostly want the work to continue to improve and become more clear in intention. It is a continual process.

You can learn more about Patricia Hagen by visiting her website-- www.plhagen-art.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Anne Wilson

Anne Wilson is a Chicago based visual artist who creates sculpture, drawings, Internet projects, and DVD stop motion animations that explore themes of time, loss, private and social rituals. She uses found materials (table linen, bed sheets, human hair, lace, thread, and wire) that are familiar and rich with cultural meanings. Wilson's work is represented by Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago and Paul Kotula Projects, Detroit. She is a Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Topologies-- Anne Wilson

Brian Sherwin: Anne, tell us about your educational background. Who were your instructors?

Anne Wilson: BFA, Cranbrook Academy of Art; MFA, California College of the Arts. Gerhardt Knodel was an amazing teacher and mentor at Cranbrook; Bella Feldman and Ruth Boyer at CCA.

BS: Tell us about your early artistic influences and experiences. When did you decide to pursue art?

AW: At 15, I began to be challenged and radicalized in many ways after leaving my childhood home in Detroit to attend a Quaker boarding school, George School, in Pennsylvania. I was deeply moved by my training in passive resistance techniques and their philosophical basis: Gandhi's teachings on non-violent politics. Especially moving to me was his exhortation to all Indians to practice spinning -- for social, political, economic and spiritual reasons. That struck me as profoundly important, as did Betty Friedan's book The Feminine Mystique. As well, at this same time, I worked with an ambitious painter/teacher, Robert Dodge, who encouraged me as an artist.

Chronicle-- Anne Wilson

BS: Anne, Why did you choose to work in the medium(s) that you use? Can you discuss the inspiration that set you on the path that you have been exploring with your work?

AW: In Berkeley in the 70's I developed, with my colleagues, a warrior-like spirit about the relevance of fiber and textile processes in art making alongside more conventional fine art materials and techniques. An accomplished weaver for my own art, I taught weaving privately to support myself and curated museum exhibitions of historic textiles. Inspired by contemporary art discourse, feminism, multi-culturalism, the art fabric movement, and Arte Povera, I participated with commitment to expand boundaries of process and materiality in art.

Topologies-- Anne Wilson

BS: Anne, can you go into detail about the artistic process behind your work? Perhaps you could discuss the materials that you have utilized and the meaning behind it?

AW: One period comes to mind: Grieving my father's death (beginning in 1995), along with the loss of friends with AIDS, was a deeply wrenching, lengthy process for me. I spent much of that time alone in my studio, often overwhelmed by feelings of sadness and loss. Eventually, I was able to make some of my most deeply felt and poignant work that used worn family linens that represented security, stability, propriety and formality -- stitched through with human hair that represented the visceral, the unkempt, the disruptive, the deadly. In this work I expressed the inevitability of losing what one loves.

I think of much of my art of the past 15 years as a kind of conjunction between visual art concepts and material culture where the histories embedded in materials and the way things are made are critical to the content of the work.

The ongoing installation, Topologies, first presented at the 2002 Whitney Biennial, was a breakthrough for me. I was able to continue using found textile materials, in a complex and layered manner. The work is organized conceptually in three ways: 1) as a kind of living, growing biological system; 2) like an architectonic of seemingly unending urban sprawl; and 3), as a complex networked system represented visually. Rebuilt at each new exhibition site, Topologies is a "materialized drawing" that evolves and changes each time it is created.

Portable City-- Anne Wilson

BS: Anne, can you tell us about what you are working on at this time? Any new projects? If so, can you tell us about the philosophy behind this new work. What motivates you to create it?

AW: A new project called Portable City is related to Topologies in that it is also a horizontal topography -- at once sculpture, textile, and a materialized drawing. With destruction surrounding us, this work is a meditation on building, and rebuilding, and building again.

Portable City proposes liaisons between textiles and the built environment. Comprised of a horizontal field of 48 mobile platforms, each platform holds a structure of thread or wire filament constructed of knit, crochet, or lines under tension, suspension, compression, or collapse. Elements of ancient handwork participate in new thinking about the viability of lightweight mesh structures to create temporary and portable architectures.

A city is imagined as tensile networks, deflated domes, skeletal igloos, flattened tents, elevated canopies, schematic cooling towers, linear pathways, rubble from collapse, stacks and parts to rebuild. Portable City is not a utopian projection; the overall field suggests a macrocosm of detailed worlds of connections where ideas and implications may emerge of both usefulness (possibilities of useful application) as well as complete disjunction.

BS: Can you go into detail about your studio routine? Do you work in silence-- listen to music.

AW: Music/sound is very important to my studio process, both as inspiration and pacing while making work, and as part of the work itself. I have been collaborating with Shawn Decker, Chicago sound artist and composer, on several projects. Our newest collaboration is called Notations. We are thinking about the relationships that exist between the pacing and rhythms of textile hand processing and sound.

Errant Behaviors-- Anne Wilson

BS: Anne, do you have any upcoming exhibits? Where can our readers view your work?

AW: I am in a 7-artist exhibition opening at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London November 13, 2007, and a solo show at the Rhona Hoffman Gallery in Chicago opening January 25, 2008. This web site has information about recent projects: www.annewilsonartist.com

BS: Anne, the Internet is changing how we discover and view art. In your opinion, how have sites like myartspace.com empowered artists?

AW: The opportunities for timely open communication and exchange are fabulous!

You can learn more about Anne Wilson by visiting her website-- www.annewilsonartist.com. You can read more of my interview by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Marcus Lanyon

Marcus Lanyon utilizes a hybrid language of materials to create a 'seductive disquiet'; a simultaneous sense of attraction and repulsion. Themes of mortality, preservation, innocence and violence create narratives that are contemporary and ancient, familiar yet subversive. Like scenes from a fairytale or a chilling dream, the work lures us in only to quietly lift a knife to our back.

Brian Sherwin: Marcus, you were chosen as one of Saatchi's 4 New Sensations. How did you feel upon learning that you had been selected? Also, can you tell us anything about the project created for Channel 4?

Marcus Lanyon: Well, I was rather pleased of course, especially with the judges they had. A prestigious panel. I did run around the studio shouting for a while, then eventually sat down and got back to thinking deep artistic thoughts.

The work I created is entitled ‘Enjoy It While It Lasts’. It was actually an extension of an idea that had been in my sketchbook a few years ago but I had never had the resources to actually make it. It is essentially an idyllic family picnic scene, with every last possible bit of it bound in cloth – mummified, so to speak. The binding is at once loving in its preservation but sadistic; it’s the opposition I really wanted, such a precious, delicate, universal moment kept in place so forcefully.

There is a sense of nostalgia and loss, almost a contemporary relic, how things should be or once were but have long since left us. Certain angles of arms and legs are actually almost ‘noosed’ into place – there is a sense of controlling panic about it – this is how happiness should look and such. I’m very interested in our relationship with memories, objects, our emotional attachments to them, and our attempts to preserve, keep safe.

Enjoy It While It Lasts by Marcus Lanyon

BS: Can you tell our readers about your background. When did you know that you wanted to be an artist? Where did you study? Who were your mentors and early influences?

ML: Well, it’s a very mixed bag. I initially started out as an actor, then became a musician (bands such as my solo project Tarantella Serpentine and for a brief time with Sheep On Drugs) and then I finally found my real passion in art. I still act, play & DJ of course. I’d always seen myself as an artist though, I was always too peripatetic to stick to one particular tag, so I’d always envisioned ending up as an artist. I took my undergraduate degree at the University of Gloucestershire and my Masters at the Royal College of Art, London.

In terms of mentors and influences, when I was young there were two that really seeped into my head. The painter Robert Lenkiewicz was a friend of the family and his ways were of great interest to me; he was a complete bibliophile and I used to spend hours in his library whilst he worked. He had a very particular view of the world, which I didn’t always agree with but that analytical, debated angle he had influenced me strongly. There are some great stories about him too, as he was such a character but that’s for another time.

The other was my grandfather Peter Lanyon, the painter, who I also absorbed through books as he died in 1964 (and who bizarrely met Lenkiewicz as a young man a few weeks before he died), but his ways of working, thinking and seeing were fascinating, especially when it is a blood relation like that.

Enjoy It While It Lasts (detail) by Marcus Lanyon

BS: Aside from influences... what else motivates you to keep working?

ML: There isn’t a motivating factor as such; I just have to do it. No choice in the matter.

BS: Marcus, can you go into further detail about your personal philosophy in regards to art and artistic creation?

ML: We are at an interesting point now, especially the British art scene. My generation certainly have really moved away from that whole YBA fuck-off advertising aesthetic and I’ve noticed a sincere resurgence of quieter, more considered approaches. I’m certainly part of that. I’ve said before I’m far more interested in the whisper than the shout. Whilst I value ‘shock’ as a reaction, due to the fact that it proves you still care, I’m far more interested in discussing the ‘unpleasant’, in its widest sense, than using it as the visual element per se.

In terms of artistic creation, well, whatever suits what I’m doing. If it needs assistants or if I have to hire someone or I need to take a course to work out how to do it myself, then there you go. I do need to get my paws dirty though, I couldn’t be completely hands off.

Enjoy It While It Lasts (detail) by Marcus Lanyon

BS: Marcus, I'm certain that you have been very busy lately. Have you found it difficult to find balance between your recent success and remaining devoted to your artistic process?

ML: Well, its fine once you stop drinking all the damned free wine! But seriously, you just level out with it really; you have to maintain a certain impetus and focus and make sure you have someone standing next to you to poke you in the eye when you start acting like a twat.

BS: Marcus, tell us about your studio. Where do you work? Do you follow a routine or do you work in a sporadic manner?

ML: I’m currently moving studios actually. It is generally an organised mess, with lots of stuff knocking around and very loud music playing. I work in north London. It’s sparky and full of character, so to speak. I don’t follow a routine as such; when I’m working its generally for short, very intense periods – I work very quickly by nature and a lot of my processes are manually repetitive or really, really detailed and fiddly. Hopefully the passion and the deadline don’t bump into each other and have a nasty fight over clocking-in and getting paid the right amount of overtime.

BS: How do you start a piece? Do you draw up plans? Do you write it out? Tell us a little about the process itself.

ML: Almost without fail they arrive in a sort of vision. I just see them like a scene from a film and do my best to get to that image. Otherwise they develop from writing. I really don’t draw much, so I just write, write, write instead or start sticking bits of stuff together. Much more satisfying for me. But then sometimes I can get sucked into a painting or a really focused line drawing and I’m having a whale of a time, so I’m a bit of a contradiction. In my view, everything I make is part of some huge narrative, so I perceive my own practice as chapters in a book, moving forward but interdependent and responsive to everything that preceded it.

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

ML: If you don’t know what you are doing, then stop bloody doing it.

You can learn more about Marcus Lanyon by visiting his website-- www.marcuslanyon.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Gordon Cheung

Gordon Cheung is an emerging star of the British contemporary art scene. Gordon's art reveals an apocalyptic vision of our globalized world. His work captures the chaos of our contemporary lives in a surreal manner that reminds one of psychedelic hallucinations. Gordon has been featured in several publications-- including, Frieze, Art Review, and Flux-- and has exhibited internationally.

In 2006 Gordon was included in the John Moores 24 Painting Exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery during the Liverpool Biennial. Gordon was chosen as a prize finalist having been selected by Tracey Emin, Sir Peter Blake, Jason Brookes, Ann Bukantas and Andrea Rose.

Manifest Destiny, Stock listings, Ink, Enamel, Acrylic Gel and Spray on canvas183 x 274cm / 72 x 108inches / 2007

Brian Sherwin: The art critic David Lee mentioned you to me. It is obvious that you are making your mark in the British scene. Do you have any upcoming exhibits? If so, care to tell us about them?

Gordon Cheung: I currently (29 Oct 2007) have solo exhibitions called ‘1000 Yard Stare’ at the Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth and ‘God is on Our Side’ at Unosunove Gallery, Rome. I’ve also curated an exhibition at Primo Alonso Gallery, London called the Lucifer Effect. My forthcoming solo shows will be ‘Death by a Thousand Cuts’ at the Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester and ‘Paradise Lost’ at Alan Cristea Gallery, London both in January 2008.

BS: What other accomplishments have you had in the last few years in regards to your art?

GC: Being the first British Born Chinese to be included in the British Art Show, 2005 was a pivotal moment for me.

Presiding at the Infernal Council, Stock listings, Ink, Acrylic, Gel and Spray on canvas76 x 122cm / 2007

BS: Gordon, your website mentions that you are of Hong Kong origin- born in London. Have you ever experienced a 'clash of cultures', so to speak? Is this reflected in your work? I've spoken with several artists, including Stella Lai, who have mentioned that they feel a sense of conflict between their 'roots' and contemporary society... is this an issue for you as well?

GC: When I think back to my childhood and particularly between 10-16 years old I was the only ethnic in my school and the racism made me feel very isolated resulting with some very negative internalised emotions. I suppose I found solace in art – a world in which I was able to throw myself into and express. My experiences of racism inevitably created cultural conflict and were difficult to deal with – my answer was to bury deep and work hard. I couldn’t wait to go to college and there I found a more tolerable and multi-cultural culture. But those experiences never led me to making identity-based art. Instead I have always been drawn to the idea of an in-between space and eventually it led me to making work about the virtual spaces in which we all exist. If the work I make is a map of my psyche then my feelings of being in-between 2 cultures paradoxically belonging and not, have certainly influenced the direction that I have taken.

The Creation of Light, Stock listings, Ink, Acrylic, Gel and Spray on canvas76 x 122cm / 2007

BS: You have mentioned that your work is focused on the hallucinations between the virtual and actual realities of a globalized world oscillating between Utopia and Dystopia. Can you go into further detail about this and how it is conveyed in your work? Do you have a form of symbolism in your work, a use of certain images, that reveal a solid narration between one piece and the next?

GC: I use the Financial Times newspaper stock listings as I think of the stock market as a global dream-world that literally flows through all of us. This for me is a contemporary form of landscape from where I take inspiration and fuse images from the Internet on computer before printing directly onto sections of the stock listings to jigsaw back together on canvas.

When I started using the stock listings around 12 years ago we were going through a digital and communications revolution. Mobile phone technology and the Internet were being made readily available and this totally reconfigured our perception of space time into a state of constant flux. There was talk about globalisation, cyberspace, global villages, information superhighways and digital frontiers – we experienced a kind of digital euphoria over the prospect of a potential Utopia. This of course dissipated with the tech stock dot com millionaire crash which was followed by the techno-hysteria over the Millennium bug. We then experienced the twin tower attacks that consequently gave us the War on Terror. So for me I am taking inspiration from what is around us rooted in that Utopic technological revolution and the consequent threatening waves of apocalypse.

If you look through the body of work recurring motifs do exist such as the ruinous skyscrapers, luminous voids and rainbows. They’re all symbols of hope and despair brought together into a beautiful dark ambiguity.

Eve's Dream, Stock listings, Ink, Acrylic, Gel and Spray on canvas76 x 122cm / 2007

BS: Gordon, do you feel that your paintings are best viewed together- as a whole?

GC: Yes if someone wanted to truly find out where it all comes from and how the ideas and visual developments have taken root. However, each work is made to stand autonomously and to also be seen as such. I think of looking at art a bit like getting to know a friend. Only over time do we eventually see the multi-facets of someone and so I hope that viewers would like to return and each time have greater understanding.

BS: In your paintings you utilize spray paint, oil, acrylic, pastels, stock listings and ink. These mixed mediums collide in your work to form, as you put it, epic techno-sublime vistas. When did you decide to work in this manner? Also, do you ever have any concern that the material will not work together? Or is that just part of the process?

GC: When I left the Royal College in 2001 I was quite honestly lost and didn’t know what I was really doing. I was frustrated with the way my work was going and felt I had a bunch of stuffed ideas in my head that couldn’t come out. In 2003 I applied for a bunch of residencies and was accepted for a few and that became the catalyst for changes in the work that you see today.

It was in these residencies that I explored the use of different mediums in a totally liberal way. The thing was that I had totally overdosed on art theory and philosophy and being away I was able to free myself from the restrictions I had unknowingly placed on myself. Now I use absolutely any inspiration I find which extended to the materials that I was using.

Currently I am collaborating with some digital artists to make some Internet based works which is a logical extension of my practice. All the materials and mediums that I use are choices that I make with confidence and exploring whether they will work or not is definitely part of the process. In fact it energizes the work for the long term and is always exciting for me which I feel translates into the work.

Millgram's Progress, Stock Listings, Ink, Acrylic Gel and Spray on Canvas274 x 600cm / 108 x 240inches (4 canvases each 274 x 150cm / 108 x 60inches)Commissioned by Sally Lai and Yuen Fong Ling for URBIS on the occassion of the exhibition Arrivals and Departures: New Art Perspectives of Hong Kong, 2007

BS: In regards to your use of spray paint... did you practice street art when you were younger? I'm interested as to why you decided to utilize spray paint as a medium. Also, what do you think of Banksy's work? Is he an influence?

GC: Me? Vandalise the streets? If I did I certainly wouldn’t admit to it so no, I never did but was always struck by graffiti’s ‘cartoon’ world on the urban environment. It’s rebellious creativeness I suppose is a spirit that I felt within myself. The spray paint however is a late development in my work.

It appeared around 4 years ago. Previously I had restricted myself to only using collage to create ‘simulated’ paintings so that I was questioning the medium itself. Works that from a distance looked like paintings or drawings but up close were actually labour intensive cut ups of newsprint and graph paper. They were kind of monochromatic works and when I look back I think I have a compulsive obsessive part of me that drove these works on. But I did become somewhat tired of taking so long just to make one small work and it took me a year of feeling frustrated to finally make a huge change in my work and that was to use paints.

Suddenly my works were scorched open with colour spray painted voids. They were like virtual dimensions in the sepia like landscapes that I was making. The contrast between the handmade collage sections and the mechanically sprayed areas was something that I found visually very interesting which has remained up to this day. About Banksy I am aware of his work but he’s never been a conscious influence on my own.

Neon Shadows, Financial Times, Ink, Acrylic Gel and Spray on canvasDiptych each 250 x 225cm (total: 250 x 450cm) / 2006

BS: With that said, who are your influences? What artists have had an impact on you?

GC: At the moment artists like Matthew Barney and Pierre Huyghe come to mind. Authors such as JG Ballard and Philip K Dick. David Lynch and Stanly Jubrick are also a huge influence.

BS: Gordon, while a student at the Royal College of Art you instigated and was a main organizer of Assembly- exhibiting 172 MA art graduates in two disused Victorian school buildings. Why did you decide to take on this task? Also, who were your mentors at the Royal College of Art?

GC: A property developer who was friends with Peter Doig approached the Royal College of Art to offer the chance to organise an art event in 2 disused buildings that he had just stripped out to an empty shell. The opportunity was passed from department to department and no-one wanted to take it on as it was massive. At one stage there was talk about Anselm Kiefer doing something there. One day my professor approached me and offered it to me as he knew that I was very proactive when it came to curating exhibitions and when I saw the space I immediately knew that I had to do something here.

I proposed a huge London art school collaboration with the idea of breaking down rivalries to create dialogue. Afterall these were my peers but just in different schools. I was naive and idealistic and had to narrow the remit to 3 schools after quickly realising that it was a huge undertaking. I invited a group of Goldsmiths students and created a committee which unfortunately collapsed because of political infighting mainly caused by 2 Goldsmiths students who wanted full control. So it eventually boiled down to one Goldsmiths representative and me to organise what turned out to be a one year project with 3 months after care.

The exhibition involved only MA or phd students and recent graduates and was an open submission. The final numbers were approx 95 Royal College, 47 Goldsmiths and 30 Chelsea. It was a huge learning curve that took a hell of a lot out of me but something I think of as being my rites of passage into the art world. I didn’t have mentors at the Royal College. I was always looking out for one but it never happened. I learnt much more from my peers.

Courts of God, Stock listings, Ink, Acrylic, Gel and Spray on canvas76 x 122cm / 2007

BS: Your work can be found in the collections of the Hirshhorn Museum, Whitworth Museum, ASU Art Museum and UBS Collection. Where else can our readers find your work?

GC: The best place to look for where my stuff is being shown is on my website.

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

GC: It’s beautiful and mad. I love it.

You can learn more about Gordon Cheung by visiting his website-- www.gordoncheung.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Corrine Bot

Corrine Bot is an emerging video artist and a producer of videoclips for experimental, minimal, industrial, house and other (electronic) music projects.


Skippy Bunny-- Corrine Bot

Brian Sherwin: Corrine, can you tell us about your background? How have your life experiences shaped the work you create today?

Corrine Bot: When I was 20 I went to study Psychology. After that I did not know what to do. The study was very interesting but I didn’t see myself working in the field. I had to take a test in order to find out what I wanted. The test results showed that I had an interest in the creative field. I thought okay that’s nice, but can I also produce creative stuff?
But it went out all-right. I did go to the Art Academy and graduated last year at the age of 33.

BS: Corrine, you studied psychology at the University of Leiden and Audiovisual at the Art Academy of Rotterdam. How did those studies come together within the context of the art you create today?

CB: I was a little disappointed about the fact that at the Art Academy they didn’t put a lot of emphasis on concept. I guess a study Psychology does come in handy concerning conceptualization.


R.E.M.-- Corrine Bot

BS: Would you say that your video art is based on the psychology of the human condition? What are the specific themes you deal with in your work?

CB: In the beginning my themes were more coming from my inner self and the struggles I had with every day life. Now I see a more distant approach to my work. Every work is different from the other so it is difficult for me to mention a specific theme or themes. But if I must: individuality, identity, gender, escapism, "the dark"… I guess my work is a combination of horror and humor. I like to create other, strange worlds.

BS: Corrine, what else influences your art? What inspires you?

CB: Watching bad (horror) movies, reading horror stories, listening to music, doing nothing, wandering around at the beach, in the woods…

BS: You've mentioned that you are often bored with life-- the trivial aspects of daily living --would you say that your work is a way for you to discovery who you are-- to find the excitement and interest you need to keep going, so to speak?

CB: At first it was a way of communicating, of showing who I was and what was going on inside me. Now it’s just a way of passing time till I die.


Driven by Boredom-- Corrine Bot

BS: Corrine, when I view your work I sense a certain loathing for consumerism-- for the things people do each day in order to 'fit in'-- in order to be popular. This message seems very clear in Driven by Boredom(2004). Am I correct in my assumption? If so, can you discuss this aspect of your work further?

CB: I don’t like consumerism, but I wasn’t aware of the fact that this message was hidden in my movies. Driven by Boredom is about my vision that we have a life and we have to fill that life in order to avoid "the void". Everything we do is – in my opinion – a way to kill time until our deaths. I make my movies to pass the time. But I don’t mean this as a bad thing. I chose to pass this time the way I like it.

BS: How does your work come into being? Can you tell us a little about that side of the creative process? Do you draw out the scenes in your mind or on paper... how do you get from point A to point C, so to speak?

CB: I get an idea and then I clearly visualize that in my mind. I then draw it out on paper. I am not the best drawer in the world but at least I understand it and I am the only one that needs to. So I make a plan about the camera point of views and then I start filming. I put the camera in one position and then film myself. Then I put the camera in another position and do the same thing again. I go on like this until I have done all the scenes.


But You Cannot Hide-- Corrine Bot

BS: Tell us about some of the exhibits you've had. Where have you shown your work? Also, what do you enjoy most when people are viewing your art?

CB: I have about 4 screenings a month. My films are shown in small independent film festivals worldwide (Italy, Germany, USA, UK, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Greece, Serbia). Last weekend I went to Osnabruck in Germany where Skippy Bunny was shown. I rarely go to screenings because I don’t like traveling (only mentally ;-)

I don’t make work that a lot of people like. So when people do like it and are intrigued by it I enjoy that. It gives me a feeling that they understand me, at least, a little ;-)

BS: Has your work ever been censored? If so, how did you deal with that controversy?

CB: Eh, no. At least, not that I know. I guess a lot of people think of my work as weird, but I don’t think it is that shocking.

BS: Corrine, what kind of equipment do you use with your work?

CB: I have a small Sony DCR-PC 9 Handycam. About a year ago I bought a Sony PD 150, but somehow I keep using the smaller camera. I sometimes use a wide lens.

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

CB: NO. Just Watch It...

You can learn more about Corrine Bot by visiting the following site-- www.corrinebot.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Myartspace NY NY 2007 Competition Group Show in Chelsea

A sea of faces for a world of talent...

Myartspace.com, the premier online social network for the art world, reveals once again that it is a progressive site for art collectors, gallery owners, and artists.The opening reception for the Myartspace.com "New York, New York 2007" Competition Group Show in Chelsea was a great success! The group show opened at the McCormack Gallery in Chelsea, New York on November 1st. The show will be on display through November 22nd.

Minkyung Lee, winner and Young Wook Song, Finalist of NY NY 2007 Competition at the opening reception.

Three winners were selected from a list of 50 finalists from the myartspace "New York, New York 2007" competition-- Vincent Como, Minkyung Lee, and Masha Ryskin. The finalists were chosen by three very respected members of the global art community-- Jessica Morgan, curator of contemporary art at the Tate Modern, James Rondeau, curator of contemporary art at the Art Institute of Chicago and Steven Zevitas, Publish and Editor of New American Paintings. Also showing is video work by myartspace finalist Chadwick Gibson and past competition winners Susan Cook, Ilona Niemi , Scott Talley and Micke Tong.

The exhibit at the McCormack Gallery offers a unique blend of art to observe. Gallery patrons, which included curators, established artists, and members of the press, noted the diversity of work on display. Each artist revealed work that was solid in execution and concept-- each artist stood out and made his or her own mark within the context of the exhibit space. The exhibit was designed to focus on the individual talents of the exhibiting artists and to reveal the progressive nature of Myartspace.com in general.

Crowds gather around the work of Vincent Como, NY NY 2007 Winner.

It is rare to find an exhibit that has a degree of focus on the mechanics of what an exhibit can be. In many ways the New York, New York 2007 exhibit redefines the traditional model of what is expected from a gallery exhibit in Chelsea . The progressive nature of this venue is evident upon entering the McCormack Gallery. The exhibit focuses on the individual artists instead of a unified theme. In a sense, the theme of the exhibit is the artists themselves-- their ambition and will to be seen and heard-- emerging artists who grasped at the chance to succeed in territory that is often dominated by established artists.

The ambition of the finalists combined with the progressive thinking of Catherine McCormack-Skiba and the Myartspace staff was well rewarded. More than 500 people attended the opening reception, which was sponsored by Tiger Beer and Christiania Vodka. Catherine McCormack-Skiba, the founder of Myartspace commented "These events held in the heart of Chelsea, New York help solidify Myartspace's growing importance and influence in the art world".

Masha Ryskin, winner of the NY NY 2007 Competition mingles. Her installation is in the background.

In regards to the purpose of Myartspace.com McCormack-Skiba went on to say, "Our goal is to provide great opportunities for the Myartspace community. The New York, New York 2007 Competition allowed our global community to send four very talented people to New York to show off their best work. We think the exhibit could be a great springboard for those artists to further their art careers. I am proud of the exhibiting artists and look forward to representing future competition winners."

Art Space Talk: Morwenna Catt

Morwenna Catt uses childhood iconography to examine the roots of our desires and fears. Morwenna is interested in using these fractured displays of youthful innocence in order to explore the disparity between the mythologies of childhood and the reality of our world. She examines our collective relationship to objects and memory, nostalgia and psychosis by presenting the recognizable icons of our infancy in a manner that is sometime alarming and at other times disturbingly charming.

Betrayal by Morwenna Catt

Brian Sherwin: Morwenna, tell us about your educational background. Do you have formal training in art? If so, who were your instructors and how did they influence you?

Morwenna Catt: I studied at art college, first for a BA in Art & design where my specialisms were Painting and Illustration. I quickly discovered a love of 3D and textile work but my tutors were indulgent and allowed me to experiment with those media within my chosen practice areas. I went on to do an MA in Fine Art at Leeds. I cant say that any particular tutor was an influence though we did have some great visiting lecturers. My favorite was Marcus Coates who comes up with fantastically original projects and injects humour and humanity into everything he does.

Phrenology II (mother) by Morwenna Catt

BS: Morwenna, tell us about your early artistic influences and experiences. When did you decide to pursue art?

MC: I’ve drawn and created since a child, scribbling into the flyleaves of books and peeling back wallpaper in my bedroom to doodle on the walls. My mother used to write poems and illustrate these with tiny drawings and I can remember my father, with varying degrees of success, making sculptures. My grandfather was an artist, he painted landscapes and drew beautifully. He couldn’t go to art college because he had to get a job and earn a living so he worked for a company sign-writing and painting huge advertising images onto the sides of lorries, giant tubes of sweets etc, in the days when all these advertisements were done by hand. I think it frustrated him that he couldn’t spend more time on his own work but I always remember him working on some painting or drawing at home.

My first powerful memory of seeing art in a gallery context is at Kelvingrove Museum in Glasgow. I turned into a dark corridor and at the end was Salvadore Dalis Christ of St John of the Cross. I’ve never had any religious feeling and I’m not even keen on Dali particularly, but there was something so luminous and beautiful about that painting I was compelled to ransack the gift shop for postcards, jigsaws – anything I could get my hands on. I suppose that experience showed me how powerful art can be on the senses and emotions.

I went to art college relatively late, I was in my mid twenties and before that had been working in a Theatre and Arts Centre making props/scenery and hanging artists work in the galleries they ran. It was hanging other peoples work that convinced me to pursue my own practice more seriously.

Phrenology III (child) by Morwenna Catt

BS: With that said, how would you say that your work has advanced since that time?

MC: I’m much more confident about my work now and I’ve found the areas that I’m interested in investigating. My work is very personal and I’m not necessarily confident about bearing my soul in public. I think through the years though I’ve developed a visual language which has helped me overcome this and now I’m comfortable with what I do.

I tend to work across media and move between painting and drawing through to textiles and light boxes as the work demands. I used to think I should concentrate on mastering one artform instead of dipping in and out as I do but now I see it as a necessary part of my practice. Textiles develop from drawings, paintings develop from textiles, everything is from me and has its roots in the same memories and experiences so each part of what I do informs the other areas.

I think my work has an emotional content now which people respond to and that to me is the most important thing. People are touched or angered or relate to pieces on a personal level and you can’t really ask for more than that.

Shot by Morwenna Catt

BS: Morwenna, can you go into detail about your artistic process? How do you begin a piece? When do you know that a piece is finished?

MC: I tend to work on several pieces at the same time, so I will have maybe a large scale painting in progress near me as I stitch or draw. I do work in sketchbooks but I tend to be precious about them and want to produce finished pieces of artwork rather than rough ideas so my rough sketches for 3D works tend to be scribbled diagrams on the backs of envelopes that are then discarded. I have books of scraps which I find interesting or inspiring, newspaper articles, postcards, bits of text heard off the radio, photographs etc. I only have to revisit these books to find something that I can use in my work. Eventually I guess everything gets used in some way, it might be years afterward but when the time is right it pops up.

Usually with a 3D work I have a pretty good idea of what the finished article should look like and feel like before I start. It’s just a case of finding the right materials and manipulating it into the original idea. Paintings I find more difficult to ‘finish’. I love paintings that have a rough or unfinished quality but I struggle to leave my own in that state and often think I overwork. That’s why leaving a painting and working on something else helps me. I can revisit it and be more detached because my hands are busy elsewhere and not feverishly trying to get the painting right.

Moving Stories-- Installation/Projection

BS: Morwenna, how does current world events influence your work? In other words, how does contemporary life impact your creative practice?

MC: I’m influenced by political and social events but as they affect us on an emotional level. I tend to filter down from the wide angle of an anodyne news report and find empathy with the people who are directly affected by it. A lot of my work is related to childhood, or uses childhood artifacts that in some way symbolize our vulnerability and innocence, or loss of innocence in some cases. I play on the nostalgia that we have for childhood and contrast this with the reality that exists for some.

I worked up an installation during the latest gulf war. One of my brothers was in the marines at the time and was sent to fight (though he says he himself disagreed with it), the other brother ended up going out to Baghdad as private security. I was opposed to the conflict and was going down to the anti-war protests in London and I began to stitch an army net of stuffed camouflage fabric rabbits, it was a ritual of waiting really– I worked on it while listening avidly to the news reports from Iraq and ended up with 200 of them, it reminded me of an American patchwork quilt. It symbolized the waste of life on both sides that we could all see in the media 24 hours a day and also the powerlessness of waiting at home and not having a voice.

Love Light as a Feather- Rabbit by Morwenna Catt

BS: Morwenna, tell us more about the philosophy behind your art. What motivates you to create?

MC: On a basic level - I’ve never really been any good at doing anything else, it doesn’t occur to me that I would do anything other than this. If I had another job totally removed from art I would still have to spend my spare time creating because its part of who I am. I like having an idea and seeing it through to its conclusion, also seeing something grow physically from bits of fabric and objects I’ve collected.

I’m not interested in creating something pretty or beautiful but I am interested in an emotive depth. Much of my work is battered and bruised and screams of the handmade or childish, I’m interested in achieving some kind of authenticity, not kitemarked perfection. My work could be seen as cathartic in some ways because it usually comes from such personal experience, but I’m more interested in the reactions and dialogue that springs from that, in the shared experience and triggers that affect us all in some way.

Love Light as a Feather- Fox by Morwenna Catt

BS: Why did you choose to work in the medium(s) that you use?

MC: I select media to fit the project and in that way I fell into using xrays and textiles. I’m not a fantastic seamstress, although I suppose I’ve got better with practice. For me its more about the materiality of the media, the sensory qualities of it or the deeper nostalgic connotations of the feel or smell of something. Even with my paintings I tend to stitch into them and leave raw threads hanging.

BS: Morwenna, what is your studio like? Can you go into detail about your studio routine? Do you work in silence-- listen to music?

MC: I have a small studio in a old Victorian Mill. We set it up as a collective several years ago and share the bills and rent. We each have a small studio of our own and shared communal space for working on larger projects. It works very well and there’s a good mix of other artists in there to talk to.

My studio is packed with materials and work and I’ve probably outgrown it, I’m not a terribly organized person by nature but I have to make a vague attempt at it in my space because it would be impossible to work in there otherwise. I work opposite another artist Duncan Burnett, we collaborate on projects sometimes and have similar working routines and both work with textiles. Because our studios are open across the front they’ve become kind of annexed to each other and we share resources and discuss projects while we’re working.

I tend to work late into the night, I’m not much of a morning person and mostly I’ll start in the afternoon and carry on till midnight or into the early hours if I’m feeling things are going well. I like to have some background noise, usually BBC Radio 4, it’s a constant stream of voices; plays, news, arts etc and I you can absorb it and tune in and out to the interesting bits without distraction.

Heel by Morwenna Catt

BS: What are you working on at this time?

MC: In the studio, I’m continuing with my ‘poison’ series of works. I have a textile child-sized figure in progress and I’m working on this alongside a series of paintings based on my drawings. The other side of my practice, which funds my studio work, is public and community art. I’m currently working on a sculptural exterior piece for a town centre which should be unveiled in March next year, I’m also finishing installing some floor designs for a psychiatric hospital garden.

BS: Morwenna, are you involved with any upcoming exhibits? Where can our readers view your work?

MC: I’m showing my phrenology heads at The Museum of Art and Design in New York in an exhibition called ‘Pricked: Extreme embroidery’. The show opens on the 8th of November and runs through till March 9th. I’ll also have work in a show at Ntama Gallery in Todmorden, Lancs through December and at Bracken Hall Museum in Bradford till February.

People can see more of my work on my website at www.morwennacatt.co.uk or on my, sadly neglected at the moment, blog at www.channelfur.blogspot.com . The first site is my official site and the blog was created more specifically for my drawings and to test out new work, though I also put images from community or public arts projects on there along with exhibition news etc.

BS: In your opinion, what are some of the problems facing artists today?

MC: For most artists I think funding their practice is still an issue. There’s a large investment in time and money to produce new work and it can be a struggle. Commercial galleries seem to charge exhibiting fees as well as a commission on sales in some cases so I tend to show in publicly funded spaces, especially as my work is not stereotypically commercial. Most artists I know have to work either on day jobs to survive or work, as I do, on public art and community projects to fund their studio work. When I first left college I didn’t really feel I knew what to do with my degree, the college was great because it gave you the luxury of experimenting and exploring ideas, but it didn’t really prepare you for the reality of earning a living.

Dead Cloud by Morwenna Catt

BS: Morwenna, the Internet is changing how we discover and view art. In your opinion, how have sites like myartspace.com empowered artists?

MC: The Internet has given us a platform to show what we do on our own terms in a very personal way without any interference or agenda from any outside institutions. I have a site to show my practice and a more personal blog. These have enabled me to build contacts and opportunities I wouldn’t otherwise have had.

The Internet seems to dilute the capitalcentric nature of the art world and there’s an equality to the Internet which I love. Sites like myartspace are great because they take some of the isolation out of working as an artist. Its fantastic to be able to network with artists across the world and see such a wide variety of ideas at the click of a button. It gives a good insight into methods of working and how other people are managing their practice.

BS: Finally, what are your goals as an artist? What do you hope to accomplish with your work?

MC: I’m happy with the progression of my practice and I see it as a natural evolution which continues as I explore the media and ideas behind my work. I want people to understand my work and connect to it in some emotional way. I don’t measure the success of my work through sales and have refused to sell if I felt the buyer didn’t really get the point of the work.

Practically, I’d like to alter the balance of my work so I spend more time in the studio and less on public or community ‘money’ projects. I want to exhibit abroad more and I’m interested in taking on more residencies so I can work in a concentrated way on projects without distraction.

You can learn more about Morwenna Catt by visiting her website-- www.morwennacatt.co.uk. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Whitney Wood

Whitney Wood was raised in Perry Georgia. She received a BFA degree in Painting from Auburn University in 2005. While earning her undergraduate degree, Whitney studied with the University of Georgia in Cortona, Italy. Following graduation from Auburn, she studied with Rhode Island School of Design in Pont-Aven, France. Moving back to the states she interned with Paul Kasmin Gallery and studied under painter Larry Poons in New York City. Whitney's change in environment has always been an inspiration to her. Currently, Whitney lives in Atlanta, GA, where she is working on her MFA degree at SCAD Atlanta, for painting.


Brian Sherwin: Whitney, what can you tell us about your educational background. Do you have formal training in art? If so, who were your instructors and how did they influence you?

Whitney Wood: I did. I received my BFA in painting from Auburn University. During the time that I was there I studied with UGA in Cortona, Italy. The painting professor that I had there was one of the most influential people I had ever met. After graduating, I went to Pont Aven, France with Rhode Island School of Design. I studied under Victor Kord. Learning from him proved to be the most defining experience for me. Those professors encouraged me to move to New York for a few years. So I did. I worked at Paul Kasmin Gallery and painted and studied under Larry Poons. After two years I returned to the south and am currently an MFA candidate in painting at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Atlanta, Georgia.

BS: What about your early artistic influences and experiences. When did you decide to pursue art?

WW: My grandmother was a painter. When I was a child, I would experience a sense of wonderment each time that I viewed one of her beautiful, explosive paintings. The visceral quality of the thickly endowed medium was always so seductive to me. So I began art classes under numerous painters. I continued this throughout my childhood.

BS: With that said, how would you say that your work has advanced since that time?

WW: My work has matured since then and has maintained a constant state of evolution and growth. My subject matter has moved from the literal to the more interpretative, which in my opinion is more poetic than the literal copying of a thing.

BS: Whitney, is there anything else you would like to tell us about your background in regards to how your art has matured?

WW: I spent some time in Shanghai, China a few years ago. I had a small exhibition at a gallery there and this was the start of something really wonderful and refreshing for me. It was there that I discovered this child like fascination with non-traditional materials on traditional surfaces and vice versa.

BS: Whitney, can you go into detail about your artistic process? How do you begin a piece? When do you know that a piece is finished?

WW: I create an under painting that requires a unique process that I have developed over the past 4 years. It is only after this under painting has been made that the painting begins. I then bring out the forms by removing forms. Process has become very seductive for me.

BS: How does current world events influence your work? In other words, how does contemporary life impact your creative practice?

WW: My work has always been very responsive to my surroundings and travels.

BS: Tell us more about the philosophy behind your art. What motivates you to create?

WW: Nature has endured industrial and architectural developments throughout history and will remain a perfectly functioning system even as our cities are deconstructed and reconstructed over and over again. I have always been fascinated with natural systems. Also the history of architecture, its reflection of cultures as well as urban planning, construction, and destruction.

BS: Whitney, why did you choose to work in the medium(s) that you use?

WW: I am currently using toxic materials along with more traditional medium. I love the ability of these materials to respond to my touch and direction. The initial reaction of the more toxic materials is less controlled. There is a sense of humility that comes with incorporating elements into my work that rely on gravitational pull rather than my own hand.

BS: Whitney, what is your studio like? Can you go into detail about your studio routine? Do you work in silence-- listen to music.

WW: My paintings undergo many different stages that require specific processes. The under paintings stage is more intuitive so I will listen to some great music or an interesting lecture. When I need to be more contemplative and the process becomes strategic, I will usually work in silence.

BS: What are you working on at this time?

WW: I have been creating imagined environments including architectural mutations that have been freed from practical concerns. By mimicking natural structure, these building-like forms express an enthusiasm in connecting with nature. The forms are suggestive of a future post cataclysmic/apocalyptic city structure that reveals the superiority of nature and in turn symbolizes a purer and more tranquil world. These hypothetical environments, where architecture exists harmoniously with nature while suggesting its supremacy, convey a sensory experience of the space itself. "Nature has that in her which compels us to invent giants." -- C.S. Lewis

BS: Where can our readers view your work?

WW: I have a website that is currently under construction. It will be finished within the next few weeks. Information regarding upcoming exhibitions will be found there. www.whitneywood.com

BS: Whitney, the Internet is changing how we discover and view art. In your opinion, how have sites like myartspace.com empowered artists?

WW: It is so important for an artist to immerse themselves in artistic community. Of course one does this by cultivating relationships but Internet sites like myartspace.com is a wonderful tool for connecting to a diverse group of artists from all over.

BS: Finally, what are your goals as an artist? What do you hope to accomplish with your work?

WW: I am concerned with art and life, which leads to experience. I want to live the art that I make everyday. I am content as long as my work is suggestive of a reality that exists outside of normal human experience. My faith is grafted to the root of my work as well as who I am. I consider my work to be successful as long as my faith is inherent in it. Any work that remains strong in its convictions, no matter what those convictions are, is strong itself.

You can learn more about Whitney Wood by visiting her website-- www.whitneywood.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Art Space Talk: Scott Silvey

Scott Silvey currently lives and works in Tokyo, Japan. Originally from Indiana, Scott has an MFA in Sculpture from Georgia State University and has shown his work in various venues in the United States and Japan.

Brian Sherwin: Scott, you studied sculpture at Georgia State University. Who were your mentors at that time? Also, how has your work developed since then?

Scott Silvey: I feel very fortunate to have been in Atlanta during a time when the art community there was beginning to develop a strong sense of it’s own worth both nationally and internationally. During the years following the 1996 Olympics, the artists in Atlanta nurtured an already budding artistic community into something much more complex and multi-faceted.

Within Georgia State itself, my three main mentors were my professors, George Beasley, Michael Murrell, and Pam Longobardi. their guidance and encouragement was invaluable to me. Outside of school I was a part of an extensive network of both artists and musicians whose creations were certainly fodder for my own creative output. I believe though it was the ideas and comments of my closest friends at the time that truly helped me to shape my aesthetic.

Since graduating from Georgia State I have continued to pursue many of the same subjects I did while in school. History, natural systems, resonance, architecture, spirituality, authenticity, interconnectedness, mortality, liminality, sexuality, perception, and the essential nature of things all continue to be influential themes in my work. During the last several years however, my treatment of them has become more refined and my technical skills for realizing my ideas have continued to improve.

Nourished by Change, steel, suitcases, soil, 49.5 ft. x 11 ft. x 7.5 ft., 1999

BS: Before going to school for sculpture you studied psychology at Earlham College. How have your studies in psychology influenced your art?

SS: I’m not sure my studies in psychology influenced my art necessarily but rather my interests in art and psychology sort of both sprang from the same source. I believe both fields find their origins in the pursuit of understanding. Whether it is the relationship of cognition to behavior or figure to ground, both endeavor to make sense of the world.

BS: Scott, I've noticed that you have been involved with several group exhibitions in Japan. Based on your experience, can you explain some of the differences on how art is viewed in Japan compared to in the States? Is there a noticeable difference in tastes, so to speak?

SS: To be perfectly honest, I haven’t noticed any fundamental difference in the way that art is viewed or made in Japan versus anywhere else I have been. Because of the Internet I think a kind of global aesthetic has developed among the artists of the world. Perhaps, themes and images from Japanese history appear more regularly in the work made here but beyond that, I think it would be difficult to place the work geographically. Concerning the way the work is viewed, the only difference I might site is the fact that the Japanese audience might be a little more hesitant to approach the artist personally and ask them a question about their work.

The Twilight Juncture, soil, steel, wood, felt, dimensions variable, 2000

BS: You were involved with an exhibit sponsored by Takashi Murakami. As you know, he appropriates popular themes from mass media and pop culture, then turns them into thirty-foot sculptures, "Superflat" paintings, or marketable commercial goods such as figurines or phone caddies. He is also credited with starting the Superflat style. Would you like to share some memories about this exhibition?

SS: The event was akin to many of the international art fairs one can currently find around the world. It was a big, multi-media affair with hundreds of artists represented and an even larger audience. The work there was pretty varied however it became clear how many Japanese artists are influenced by manga and anime when viewing them as a group. There were a few other foreigners represented but I think our numbers added up to less than ten.

It was a great opportunity to have a very large number of people view my work in a short amount of time. I met some nice people there and made some good contacts. However, I left the event having some mixed feelings about Murakami’s intentions for creating the event. The exhibition was only one day and every artist that participated had to pay a substantial amount of money to show their work. Murakami promotes the event as a chance for young artists to be exposed to a large audience. In the end though, the event seemed less like an opportunity for young artists and more like an advertisement for Murakami.

Developing what seems at the expense of what is, steel, mirror, mahogany, walnut, 4.5 ft. x 6 ft. x 11ft., 1998

BS: Scott, in what others ways have your travels influenced your work?

SS: Probably the two biggest ways my travels have influenced my work is in my use of space and symbology. I am very interested in the cultural adaptation of space especially within residential and religious architecture. Every culture has traditionally developed spacial relationships that reflect the social, economic, spiritual and physical foundations of their societies. Seeing how each country with it’s own unique circumstances deals with the issue of space has enriched my thinking about spacial relationships in my own work. Also, the folk culture and tales of the countries I have visited have at times become sources for symbols that appear in my pieces.

For example, I lived in Seoul, Korea for a year before moving to Japan. While living in Korea I discovered that according to Korean folklore a magpie landing on one’s house was a sign that a visitor would soon be coming. In a series of paintings called "the vain indispensable," I took the image of the magpie and mixed it with images drawn from Dutch vanitas symbolism to create a conceptual situation in which the visitor coming might be one’s own realization of the brevity of life.

BS: Scott, in 2001 you did some collaborative work with Beacon Dance at the Atlanta Contemporary Arts Center. Can you tell us about that project? Also, what do you enjoy about collaborative work? Do you plan to do something like that again in the near future?

SS: In 2001, Beacon Dance was in the middle of a four-year cycle of performances each dealing with one of the four cardinal elements. I was lucky enough to have Patton White, the leader of that group, see my work at the time and invite me to create the set for the "Fire" installment. It was a very invigorating and enlightening process for me. My work for the piece grew in proportion to the development of the dance and the conversations between the dancers and myself. The potential for the direct engagement of my work by another human being was very exciting to think about.

In addition to that piece, I have also collaborated with my father John Silvey, Mio Sasanotti, and the video artist John Daniel Walsh. I always enjoy the potential for surprising new configurations that can develop because of the confluence of ideas and styles. I would definitely be interested in doing more collaborative work in the future but at this time I have nothing planned.

subSensory (with John Daniel Walsh), steel, automotive paint, wood, fabric, video cameras, video projectors, speakers, dimensions variable

BS: Scott, tell us more about your artistic process and the philosophy behind your work? What is your motivation for creating?

SS: Like most artists, I was born with a natural curiosity about the way things are or could be. Art-making is for me a way to make sense of the things around me. I seek new connections between, ways to synthesize or distill the information I encounter. At times, creating work is also just about the joy of bringing something new into the world.

My process for creating is somewhat different depending on the media I use. For painting, the ideas and images for the work usually grow out of the particular geography and environment of the place I happen to be at the time. The sculptural/ installation work that I do is more concept driven. As a consequence, the work usually starts as an idea and then the imagery is developed from there.

BS: Where is your studio? Do you follow a routine when working? Do you work alone or do you prefer company?

SS: Because space is at an absolute premium in Japan I am currently working directly out of my apartment. The fabrication of the kind of sculpture I do requires bulky power tools and a large studio so consequently I am making no sculpture at this time. I have been on the search for some space for fabrication and storage but currently it’s ongoing.

I don’t really follow a strict routine when working. Like most artists, whatever project I am working on at a given time is always very present in my mind. The process of resolution takes place on train platforms and temple steps, wherever I have a chance to reflect on the work. The bulk of my studio practice however happens on the weekends.

My studio time is generally solitary. As I said before I like to collaborate, and a good critique is extremely important to me, but when I am physically executing a work I don’t like to be distracted by others. The proper tools and some good music are all I need.

Ginseng (from "Civic Remedies"), acrylic/ carbon on panel, 53 cm. x 45.5 cm., 2007

BS: Scott what are you working on at this time? Also, do you have any upcoming exhibitions?

SS: I am currently working on a series of paintings called "Civic Remedies." The pieces imagine Tokyo as a city devoid of it’s former human inhabitants. All that remains are their skeletal homes and symbols of their consumption. Vending machines, meters, and electrical lines stand like ghostly artifacts of the ones who created them. Within this spectral landscape soil and medicinal herbs are gathering in abundance. Their restorative potential has returned to heal an urban landscape that has become sick.

Presently, I am in the process of arranging an exhibition of this series at a Buddhist temple here in Tokyo. The chief priest of this particular temple is a patron of the arts and often exhibits artist’s work in a gallery on the temple grounds. In addition to that I am scouting for a gallery space in the United States to show "Civic Remedies." At this time I have a few places in mind for the exhibition but nothing is concrete yet.

Violet (from "Civic Remedies"), acrylic/ carbon on panel, 65 cm. x 53 cm., 2007

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

SS: I endeavor to make work that can be appreciated on a number of different levels. It is my desire that everyone from a layperson to a studied art historian might be able to find something valuable in it. I always keep the image of a flower at the forefront of my mind when I am creating. On the surface it can be appreciated merely for it’s superficial form and beauty, however, if one is willing to go below the soil a much deeper reason for it’s being can be found.



You can learn more about Scott Silvey by doing a search for his name on the main site. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin