Sunday, December 25, 2011

What was the best advice given to you as an artist? #3


"What was the best advice given to you as an artist?"

All of the responses are taken from the 100+ interviews archived on www.Local-Artist-Interviews.com.

"What was the best advice given to you as an artist?"



Laura Brown


In one of my first days of drawing classes at college, my professor, Ken Steinbach said, “everything I’ve gotten in my art career, I’ve gotten from working hard.” Of course, as a little, very nervous college freshman, this was the best news. I was probably doubting my talent at that moment, but I knew I could work hard, so I thought, “that’s what I’ll do then.” It’s been true.

Recently (or not so recently? Maybe last winter?), someone on twitter was referring to criticism with the reaction of “put your head down, get back to work.” That phrase has been really helpful to me as I have been applying to all kinds of opportunities in the last year. I think if you are going to succeed as an artist, you have to have a really thick skin, and you can’t let rejection get to you—because you will get rejected a LOT. But eventually, you’ll start getting accepted for things and build momentum. So, that wasn’t particularly advice, maybe just a phrase I co-opted to apply to my situation. But it helps!

~~~

Berry Holz


At SpotArt http://www.spotart.org/ for a show, Ethan Arnold http://www.foureverwest.com/ started talking to me about what paint I use, etc, etc, which led to a session starting with a field trip to Fifth Element to buy All Kinds of spray tips, none of whose existence I even knew about before then. [This is significant not only because of the fact that it happened, but also because spray tips Always Clog Up, and I was down to a very few per paint brand] Then we went & experimented around with all of them in the back (garage) of Intermedia Arts, where he’s working on (exterior & interior) murals.

It was intimidating – I’m a pretty tight worker who likes a certain amount of control over what I’m doing, and now I’m suddenly emptying out a paint can with the fattest-spraying tip you could imagine, without the aid of my pre-planned, sketched-up and cut with-a-fine-edge masks, in front of a painter whose work I really like and who I’d met only once before? That’s not really me, but I can tell you that I felt like a billion dollars after it happened. And even if my paintings aren’t showing it yet in the form of looking very different from how they usually look, it’s easier to get what I want out of the materials I love working with, and that’s really something. And someday they might look different. 


~~~

Joe Sinness

Many of my past art instructors and mentors have stressed taking the role of artist very seriously, and so I make sure that everything I make is done with sincerity, that I’m honest with myself as well as others. Drawing still lives, there’s an interest in allegory and 
concealment, but I’m also dedicated to making those lies add up to a truth.


Saturday, December 17, 2011

Mark Jackson - Photographer

Liquor
Mark Jackson
Name: Mark Jackson
City/State: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Email: markjackson15@gmail.com
Website: 
  http://www.redbubble.com/people/markjackson36
MNartist.org profile:
http://www.mnartists.org/Mark_Jackson
Facebook page: 
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mark-Jackson-Fine-Art-Photography/120336401354289


Bio~ Self taught photographer who has lived in downtown Minneapolis for 10 years.

Tell me about your work? What are you currently working on? How is this different from past projects?

I don’t’ do projects.  I wander around and wait for something to beg me to take a picture of it.

Isolation III
"What is Art?" is certainly too big of a question to ask here, but what do you hope your audience takes away from your art? What statement do you hope to make?

Art is what remains after you strip away your ego.  Art presents itself to you when you have cleared the channels and let the essence of pure energy flow through you.

Light Escape

What was the best advice given to you as an artist? 

Listen to others to learn the mechanics of art.  Listen to no one including yourself for the process of creation of art.  Be patient.  Don’t do something.  Just sit there.  Wait with an open mind.  Art comes from hearing the whisper of the essence of life.  You have to learn to hear that voice.  It comes to those who wait.  Think of taming a wolf.  You don’t chase the wolf.  You wait respectfully for it to approach you on it’s own terms.

Mark's Workspace

Tell me about your work space and your creative process.

A warm coat in winter, good boots always, a lot of walking, excellent equipment, a PC, Lightroom software and a very patient wife.


Who are some of the Minnesota artists you enjoy? 

Nick Howard  http://nickhowardart.blogspot.com/
Alex Kuno http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=152994 
Aaron Dysart http://www.aarondysart.com/
And of course the venerable master Allen Christian  http://houseofballs.com/

Sarah Jackson Baroque Soprano 
(the patient wife mentioned above and a significant performance artist)


If I were to follow you around to see art in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?

Warehouse District Sunset

Rosalux http://rosaluxgallery.com/ , House of Balls  http://houseofballs.com/.  I love eclectic dangerously-on-the-edge art from people willing to take risks.


Where do you go online for good art resources, whether to find a new artist, or to see what is going on in the art world locally and otherwise? 

 www.redbubble.com
 www.flickr.com
 www.nyt.com (have to know what’s going on in the world)

Do you have any exhibits to promote in the near future?  No (one currently in Plymouth Town Hall)
What can we expect to see from you in the future? Eclectic mix of things that call out to me.

Mark Jackson





Saturday, December 10, 2011

Natasha Pestich - Installation

Xylander Exhibition Poster #5, 2011
Natasha Pestich

Name: Natasha Pestich
City/State: Minneapolis, MN
Email: natasha_pestich@mcad.edu
MNartist.org profile: http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=204696


Bio~

Natasha Pestich is a local Minneapolis artist, educator and community artist. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, and her Master of Fine Arts in Printmaking from Tyler School of Art, Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is currently an Associate Professor at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and has spent the last five years developing innovative curriculum in the study of printmaking attracting the attention of the Mid-America Printmaking Journal for whom she wrote an article on the topic of education. Her work has been showcased in both alternative spaces like the Urban Institute for Contemporary Art in Michigan, and the Generator Gallery in Scotland.

Highlights of her community art work includes several projects, most notably the inter-disciplinary project/performance North & Beyond, in Philadelphia, Sidewalks Saving Lives in Minneapolis, and her most recent partnership with the Pillsbury House & Theater which involved, among other things, the redesign of Pillsbury’s foyer, bringing together local artists, MCAD students and alum, MCAD professor George Mahoney and Pillsbury’s staff and community.

Semblances installation detail, Screenprints and Artifacts for Xylander, 2011

Tell me about your work? What are you currently working on? How is this different from past projects?

Since April 2011, I have been immersed in two projects dealing with site through social engagement.

One is the redesign of the Pillsbury House and Theater foyer in collaboration with staff, community, local artists and Minneapolis College of Art and Design student interns, students and Adjunct Professor George Mahoney. The intent of this project was to create a transformative space or “Cultural Community Hub” reflecting the organizations mission of being “a new model for nonprofit human service work that recognizes the power of the arts and culture to stimulate community participation, investment and ownership.” Through the development of specific workshops using art and word play as tools, the Pillsbury staff articulated what the space should be or feel like, which was then translated into wall and column painting, the production of hand-printed couch covers and new systems for accessing information and interacting in the space. Later in the process, MCAD faculty George Mahoney brought in his Design Environment class to make movable tables and walls that would accommodate the multiplicity of needs in the space (gallery, waiting room, classroom, theater reception area, community meeting place). This project was new for me in that I took on a greater leadership role by overseeing most all aspects of the design and by developing the staff workshops, in addition to mentoring the younger artists and student interns through the process of creative place making.

The second project I would like to share is the exhibition “Semblances” with myself, Jennifer Danos and Marcus Young, currently on view at the MAEP gallery in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Working within a strict white wall prestigious gallery in a museum space was a dramatic shift for me, as I have been working in community settings or much smaller venues. The scale and command of the environment pushed my use of fictional scenarios (a strategy I often employ in gallery settings) to be much more involved, demanding a large collection of artifacts and layers of myth-making.

My contribution to our chosen theme, specifically took the form of a faux exhibition charting the trajectory of a fictitious artist’s exhibition career over the span of 10 years, not through the artist Jan Xylander’s actual work, but rather through the design and display of screen-printed exhibition posters (supposedly made by several different designers, but in fact made by myself) advertising his shows.

Both of these projects mine the potential for design and collective storytelling to influence our reception and interaction with site, whether that be a social service agency/theatre or a respected art institution. For the last few years I have explored how we personally negotiate publicly held ideals for different ends through community projects, site-specific interventions, printed sports jerseys and posters. Borrowing heavily from interior and graphic design, popular printing forms and the history of illustration, I weave stories into carefully constructed scenarios that ask us to consider how experience is culturally and socially mediated, while opening up the field to invent or contribute our own stories.

Semblances installation detail, Screenprints, 2011

"What is Art?" is certainly too big of a question to ask here, but what do you hope your audience takes away from your art? What statement do you hope to make?

I do not know if I would frame my practice as something that makes “statements”, but I would say I am interested in posing open-ended questions through humor, in some cases sensory perception and the poetic, in a manner that may inspire others to question, invent or exercise their own agency.

What was the best advice given to you as an artist?

The best advice I ever got came out my graduate school experience. I actually cannot remember who said it precisely, or if it was a general sentiment filtering in and out of our discussions, but it is boils down to this: Do not try to make art. Meaning, do not try to make your IDEA of what art is. This is not to say you should not absorb EVERYTHING in your midst. It means you need to follow your own curiosity wherever it may lead you, work hard testing out your theories, and take notice when something of value happens.

Tell me about your work space and your creative process.

I work either on site or in my basement studio. Almost all print-based work is done in the print shop at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (where we recently built a fabric printing table you can use to make repeat patterns or large-scale fabric works- so cool!!). But as I am on sabbatical, I am currently printing at Highpoint Center for Printmaking.

Often at the beginning of a community project, I start with listening to stories- how do people occupy or relate to a given space, what kind of memories surround a site, what are the hopes/fears/expectations/needs being expressed? Where is there conflict, where is there agreement? In the case of my individual studio practice, I invent fictitious scenarios that I then create props for (i.e. posters, wearables, artifacts, environments).

I like to play a lot in the studio- so the images or spaces I construct are often one of many possible versions. I mix, re-contextualize, and respond to what is in front of me. I think this is inspired by my history of working with and teaching printmaking. Printmaking relies on multiple stages or layers and printmakers are always recycling plates, prints and ideas. Even when I work in other mediums, my work is informed by printmaking.

Semblances installation detail, Screenprints, 2011

Who are some of the Minnesota artists you enjoy?

Dennis Lo: http://dloartwork.com/
Jennifer Danos: http://jenniferdanos.com/
Marcus Young: http://graceminnesota.org/
Brett Smith: http://artofthis.net/brett-smith
Paula McCartney: http://www.paulamccartney.com/
Jan Estep: http://www.janestep.com/
Bruce Tapola: http://www.mnartists.org/article.do?rid=173002
Luke Aleckson: http://www.lukealeckson.com/
Andy Sturdevant: http://www.andysturdevant.com/
Andy DuCett: http://www.andyducett.com/
Steven Accola: http://mnartists.org/work.do?rid=247739
Ute Bertog: http://utebertog.com/home.html
Works Progress http://www.worksprogress.org/
Peter Haakon Thompson: http://www.peterhaakonthompson.com/
Seitu Jones: http://www.mnoriginal.org/art/?p=2007
Monica Haller: http://www.veteransbookproject.com/the-people/

If I were to follow you around to see art in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?

Walker Art Center: http://walkerart.org/
Rochester Art Center: http://rochesterartcenter.org/
Minnesota Institute of Arts; MAEP Galleries: http://www.artsmia.org/
Intermedia Arts: http://intermediaarts.org/index.php
MCAD Gallery: http://mcad.edu/events-fellowships/gallery-exhibitions
Weisman Museum: http://www.weisman.umn.edu/
Juxtaposition Arts: http://www.juxtaposition.org/
Dressing Room: http://dressingroom-aot.blogspot.com/
Midway Contemporary Art: http://www.midwayart.org/index.php
Franklin Art Works: http://franklinartworks.org/
Soap Factory: http://soapfactory.org/
Hightpoint: http://www.highpointprintmaking.org/
Minnesota Center for Book Arts: http://www.mnbookarts.org/

I Need A Hero, Screenprint on fabric, construction, embroidery, 2005

Where do you go online for good art resources, whether to find a new artist, or to see what is going on in the art world locally and otherwise?

MnArtists: http://www.mnartists.org/
Contemporary Art Daily: http://www.contemporaryartdaily.com/
Printeresting: http://www.printeresting.org/
Art in the Public Interest: http://www.apionline.org/

Do you have any exhibits to promote in the near future?

MAEP galleries at the MIA
There is a presentation in the MAEP gallery on Thursday 12/15 at 7:00 PM.
The exhibit runs through 1/1/2012


March 2012: Seerveld Gallery, Trinity College. Palos Heights, IL.
Fall/Winter 2012: Solo Exhibition, Schaeffer Gallery, Gustavus Adolphus College,
St. Peter, MN

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Carolyn Swiszcz - Painting - Printmaking

Hallway, 28 X 19, 2011
Carolyn Swiszcz

Name: Carolyn Swiszcz
City/State: West St. Paul, MN
MNartist.org profile: Carolyn Swiszcz
Facebook page: (Optional)
Bio~ 
I was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts and moved to Minnesota to attend the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. I studied printmaking and illustration there and earned a BFA in 1994. In the late 90’s I had a fellowship in Miami Beach from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. I’ve shown with Miyako Yoshinaga Art Prospects in New York for almost ten years. 


My work has also been exhibited at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Highpoint Center for Printmaking, the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington DC. I’ve received grants from the Jerome, Bush, and McKnight Foundations and the Minnesota State Arts Board. I’ve lived in West St. Paul for a decade. 


Food Court, Santa Fe, 48 X 73


Tell me about your work? What are you currently working on? How is this different from past projects?
I am attracted to subjects with patterns and text, especially as they appear in architecture. I'm a painter but I am not interested in making "painterly paintings"  - I work in a flat, graphic manner inspired by printmaking. My subjects, and the ways I work through them, are chosen somewhat intuitively. I would describe the feeling in most of my works as a pleasant kind of dread.
I'm currently expanding my architectural subjects to include interiors and people, with a more personal bent. I hope to tweak my work a bit so I am able to draw from a broader range of ideas and experiences.

"What is Art?" is certainly too big of a question to ask here, but what do you hope your audience takes away from your art? What statement do you hope to make?
I hope that my work motivates other people to paint and write.

Shidoni Sculpture Park, Tesque, NM 36 X 73, 2011
What was the best advice given to you as an artist? 
The best advice on creativity I heard was from a friend’s child who was struggling to work with some clay. After some initial frustration he kept at it, eventually becoming happy with his creation. He told his friend his secret: “you have to not care.” I find I have to alternate between a playful kind of not caring and then some serious thought - caring very much. This kind of works on a personal level as well.
Tell me about your work space and your creative process.
I begin by taking photos and making thumbnail sketches. I don't do many studies before I start a work - I have a vision of what I want in my head. I usually begin with techniques that leave a lot to chance such as monotype and rubber stamp. The rest of the time I'm sort of corralling the chaotic aspects of the work into something more coherent. Often things have to get wrecked or started again if they aren't working. The last third of a painting is the hardest for me to finish. It is a long process of either determining exactly what small thing is needed, or coming to terms with the fact that the work might be done the way it is.
Much of my process involves putting work away for long periods. I often feel as if the only chance I have to see one of my paintings painting clearly is within the first second or two of looking at it. I work at home in a small, somewhat inadequate studio space. However, its proximity allows me to steal moments during the day to paint and look while I care for our small child. I distract her and then I run up to the studio for a minute to check in with something in progress hoping I will be able to diagnose its flaws. 
Who are some of the Minnesota artists you enjoy? 

Bridget Beck
Bruce Tapola
Wyatt McDill
Melba Price
David Lefkowitz

If I were to follow you around to see art in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?

MAEP Gallery at the MIA, Franconia Sculpture Park, the Walker Art Center. I don't get out as often as I want to but I’m trying to change that. 

 Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library, Austin TX 48 X 73, 2011
Where do you go online for good art resources, whether to find a new artist, or to see what is going on in the art world locally and otherwise? 

New American Paintings Blog. It's not just about the artists who appear in the publication. There's lots of good interviews and videos.
Whitney Lobby #1 36 X 48, 2011

Do you have any exhibits to promote in the near future?

I have some work from 2005/2006 (this is the first time it's being shown in Minnesota) up at Bethel College. I am giving a lecture on Tuesday, November 8, 2011 at 5 PM. 
I have a show in New York at Miyako Yoshinaga Art Prospects through November. http://miyakoyoshinaga.com/
What can we expect to see from you in the future?
I just bought a press - some new work on paper? A book? Another video? I am not sure. I have to clean my studio first.