Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Interview with Sebastián Vallejo






q)Please tell us your name and where you practice.

a)My name is Sebastián Vallejo and I’m a NY based artist.

q) Why do you make art?

a)I make art because is the thing I do best and because it’s my passion and I believe in it.

q) How do you work ?

a)I work in my studio during the day. The most productive time is during the morning hours. Most of the time I paint with music: Bob Dylan, Manu Chao, reggae, salsa music, fado, etc

q) What´s your background?

a)I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. My father is an artist (painter) and my mother is a retired professor of the University of Puerto Rico. In 2004 I received a BFA from the University of Puerto Rico and in 2009 an MFA from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago.

q) What role does the artist have in society?

a)The artists should be catalyst and filter during the formation stages of a society.

q) What was a seminal experience for you ?

a)A seminal experience for me was a summer class trip to NY with The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The professors were Terry Myers and Candida Alvarez. It was a revealing experience for me to see how the art world really works, and that if you want to be part of it you’ve got to approach it with maturity and non-romantic ideals.

q) Has your practice changed over time ?

a)My practice is always changing. Every time I start a new body of work, the artistic process is different from the previous one, but without leaving behind what I learned from the last one, as if in an evolutionary process.

q) What art do you most identify with?

a)I identify myself a lot with the art of the second half of the 18th century in Europe, specially the work of William Blake and Turner.

q) What´s your strongest memory of your childhood?

a)My strongest memories as a child are the family reunions made during holidays at the countryside of the island, with the atmosphere filled with popular music, traditional food and alcohol.

q) What themes do you pursue?

a)Some themes that I pursue in my work are for example: The irrationality of the sublime. The expansive and improvisational forces found in nature; and Theological contradictions, among others.

q) Describe a real life experience that inspired you.

a)A real life experience that inspired me was a trip I did when I was still in High School through the Caribbean islands in a sailboat. We sailed from Puerto Rico to Virgin Gorda and back. Since then, I got in love to the Caribbean, specially to its light and colors, where most of my inspiration comes from.

q) What jobs have you done other than being an artist?

a)I’ve worked as a waiter in a coffee shop and as a delivery guy for a restaurant.

q) What responses have you had to your work?

a)I’ve had good and bad responses to my work. Some people hate my work with all their heart, other people think I might have a future…

q) What do you dislike about the art world?

a)What I dislike about the art world is how artificial it can be sometimes.

q) What research do you do?

a)I read a lot of biographies of artist. I try to understand their work based on the places and period of time they lived in. I make researches also on literature, philosophy, culture, religion, and language, among other topics.

q) What is your dream project?

a)My dream project is to never quit doing art and be able to support my family with it.

q) What´s the best piece of advice you have been given ?

a)When I was in my last year in Grad school one professor told me: “ You should give up painting and quit school. If you are going to keep studying art its your choice but if I were you I would think twice what professors should take as an adviser for next semester so I don’t waste their time”. This advice made me put my best through the last phase of Grad school. It is a memory that hunt my mind and make me feel great about my profession. When people don’t understand your profession or your ideas that’s when you know you are in the right path.

q) What couldn’t you do without?

a)I could not be me without the Caribbean in my veins.

q) What makes you angry?

a)When people say, “Be realistic”.

q) What is your worst quality?

a)My worst quality is that I make to many assumptions… I take a lot for granted.

q) Dogs or Cats ?

a)I have a Dalmatian dog and a DSH cat

q) Making art is a lot like being on lsd. Know what I mean ?

a)At the end, making art it’s a state of introspection and liberation.

q) What does “ copy” mean to you ?

a)Not invented

q) What´s your favorite cuss word?

a)“Sea la Madre

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Interview with Jesse Treece





q)Who are you? Where are you from and where do you live now?

a)My name is Jesse Treece. I was raised, and still live, in Seattle, Wa. USA

q)What is it that you do? What media do you use?

a)I make collages or photomontages and I like to draw as well. I like to work with vintage materials, books and magazines from the 60's, 70's preferably. My other tools are scissors, exacto knife, glue stick, ruler and whatever solid surface I can find.

q)What do you think sets your work apart?

a)Hmm, I'm not sure. I like to think that most of my work is simple but striking. There are elements of absurdity, whimsy, surrealism, odd perspectives and some darker undertones that maybe people are drawn to. I also use landscapes a lot, everyone loves landscapes.

q)How long have you been showing your work for? Did you have a “big break?”

a)It's been a little over 2 years now I think since I started putting my stuff up on the web.

I don't think that I've had a "big break". Maybe an accumulation of "little breaks". The work that i'm most proud of is designing the cover art for Arrange's album Plantation (http://arrange.bandcamp.com/album/plantation), being published in some cool small press zines and getting to collaborate with some really amazing artists like Jeffrey Meyer( http://www.goofbutton.com/), Agogwe (http://www.flickr.com/photos/phokingdragon/) Delilah Jones (http://mymindisanisland.tumblr.com/), etc. And just the feedback I get from people that are really into my work, that's pretty cool!

q)What are some things that have inspired you?

a)Music, mindblowing art, film, books, comic books, people, lot's of things really.

q)What have you been working on recently?

a)I'm getting ready to start another collaboartaion with Delilah Jones and we have an ongoing project called Ice Cream Kingdoms (http://icecreamkingdoms.tumblr.com/) which is a book that is being passed around to different artists to add collage elements to. Other than that I'm always collecting materials and working on new stuff, I seem to always have a few sitting around waiting to be finished.

q)Do you listen to music while you create your work? If so, would you give some examples?

a)Yes, constantly. I'm currently really into the J. Mascis solo album, Gorgeous George by Edwyn Collins, Freedom Run by The Rifles, Romantic Comedy by Big Troubles, new singles from Dive, Terry Malts, Minks. I'm pretty much obsessed with anything on Captured Tracks and Slumberland Records right now.

q)Do you do work in any other media? Other projects not necessarily related to your main body of work?

a)I do dabble in drawing and playing music also but nothing serious at the moment. I would love to have the time to collaborate with someone on some kind of musical project, I have tapes and tapes of ideas that I've recorded when the inspiration strikes me.

q)What advice do you have for artists looking to show their work?

a)Juat get it out there somehow! The internet is a great way to get your work seen. Put it up on a social network of your choosing, shop it around to galleries, coffee shops, artwalks. If it's good you'll find an audience.

q)Do you have any upcoming exhibitions of your work that you can mention?

a)I'm going to be part of a group show later this month at the Loading Bay Gallery in London. It's a launch show for Artistic.ly, a new website that will sell limited edition art prints. Other than that, nothing solid but I do hope to be involved in more shows next year.

q)Where can people see more of your work on the internet?

a)I have lot's of websites! People can see more of my work at www.collageartbyjesse.tumblr.com, http://www.flickr.com/photos/collageartbyjesse/, https://www.facebook.com/collageartbyjesse and prints can be purchased at http://society6.com/collageartbyjesse/prints and http://www.inprnt.com/gallery/jessetreece/.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Interview with John Schuh






q)Please tell us your name and where you practice.


a)John Schuh, from Seattle, USA.

q) Why do you make art?


a)It just comes naturally to me.



q) How do you work ?


a)Most of my collage material comes from my own photography. I also use vintage magazines, comic books and sports cards.


q) What´s your background?


a)Born in 1968. Moved to Seattle in 1995. Making collages since 1996.



q) What role does the artist have in society?


a)To surprise people.



q) What was a seminal experience for you ?


a)Meeting my wife.



q) Has your practice changed over time ?


a)The piece I'm currently working on is mounted on an antique door. That's a first for me.



q) What art do you most identify with ?


a)1970s funk.



q) What´s your strongest memory of your childhood ?


a)My father.



q) What themes do you pursue ?


a)Cars, flowers, sports, architecture, water, flags.



q) Describe a real life experience that inspired you.


a)Reading Jorge Luis Borges.



q) What´s your most embarrassing moment ?


a)I'm sure I've forgotten it.


q) What jobs have you done other than being an artist ?


a)Lawyer, radio journalist, music teacher, waiter, pizza delivery.



q) What responses have you had to your work ?


a)"How long do these take?" "Do you sell them?"



q) What do you dislike about the artworld ?


a)Nothing. I love the art world.



q) What research do you do ?


a)I go to car shows and antique stores.



q) What is your dream project?


a)To make art and music in my studio, work in the garden, take care of my family. Each completed artwork is a piece of the dream.



q) What´s the best piece of advice you have been given ?


a)"You can handle it."



q) What couldn’t you do without?


a)My family.



q) What makes you angry?


a)Disrespect.



q) What is your worst quality?


a)Indecision.



q) Dogs or Cats ?


a)Cats.



q) Making art is a lot like being on lsd. Know what I mean ?


a)I think it's more like eating oatmeal.



q) What does “ copy” mean to you ?


a)Degenerate.



q) What´s your favorite cuss word ?


a)Boogers!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Interview with Teiji Hayama






q)Please tell us your name and where you practice.

a)Hi, my name is Teiji Hayama, I live and work in Switzerland.

q) Why do you make art?

a)Passion!

To make people feel different ways and think about different kind of issues …

q) How do you work?

a)Hard I guess!

Technically speaking, mainly with oil, I have also worked on a fibreglass doll.

q) What´s your background?

a)I grew up in Kumamoto, Japan, where I studied in a Protestant Christian school. At the age of 18 I left Japan to go to London where I studied in Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design.

q) What role does the artist have in society?

a)To create a catharsis of emotions.

I think art is a different method or tool of communication, it is a language.

q) What was a seminal experience for you ?

a)I grew up in a big family of artists, I had the chance to be surrounded by musicians, painters writers and architect, furthermore I studied in a Protestant Christian school with a Shinto environment , to evolve in this kind of melting-pot definitely had some impact.

q) Has your practice changed over time ?

a)Yes, it has.

q) What art do you most identify with ?

a)Medieval, symbolism and renaissance art.

q) What´s your strongest memory of your childhood ?

a)To go to the very first funeral of my grandfather, it was very dramatic as a kid. Japanese funeral are very different from any other funeral in the world. It was the whole part of the cremation which was disturbing. The coffin is placed on a tray in the crematorium. The family witnesses the sliding of the body into the cremation chamber. Then,after an hour, the relatives return and pick the bones out of the ashes and transfer them to the urn using large chopsticks, two relatives sometimes holding the same bone at the same time with their chopsticks.

q) What themes do you pursue?

a)Religion, adolescence, innocence, sexuality, nudity, fragility, mythology.

q) Describe a real life experience that inspired you.

a)The human condition.

q) What´s your most embarrassing moment ?

a)Not worth explaining.

q) What jobs have you done other than being an artist ?

a)Fashion designer, illustrator for fashion and multicultural magazines, making Children’s picture books, fashion model, so far only artistic jobs…

q) What responses have you had to your work?

a)I have noticed that for some people my work can be really disturbing, religion, sexuality, adolescence, teen pregnancy, are right in the middle of polemical topics. When you want people to discover what you do, your work has to go public, in that way you have to accept and be aware of any good and bad criticism, it is always interesting to read and hear people’s opinion.

q) What do you dislike about the artworld ?

a)Elitism

q) What research do you do ?

a)A lot really, curiously some research start before sleeping, I try to shape the expression, face and body of the figure I will draw the next day.

q) What is your dream project?

a)To reach a certain level where I could afford having only one big solo show a year in order to have enough time to create!

q) What´s the best piece of advice you have been given ?

a)Never give up!

q) What couldn’t you do without?

a)My job, my eyes, my hands.

q) What makes you angry?

a)Unfairness

q) What is your worst quality?

a)Perfectionism

q) Dogs or Cats ?

a)Dogs.

A cat inside an atelier full of canvas can get pretty nasty...

q) Making art is a lot like being on lsd. Know what I mean ?

a)I don’t know I have never been on lsd!

Personnally, painting requires a lot of concentration and not some kind of visual hallucinations.

q) What does “ copy” mean to you ?

a)An imitation or reproduction of an original, a duplicate.

q) What´s your favorite cuss word ?

a)None really