Eleanor McGough - Painter

Deluge, acrylic on panel 48h x 72w

Eleanor McGough

Name: Eleanor McGough
City/State: Minneapolis MN
Email: EFMartist@aol.com
Website: www.mnartists.org/Eleanor_McGough
MNartist.org profile: www.mnartists.org/Eleanor_McGough

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

 My paintings commingle forms from biology, textiles, maps, and geometry to convey a kaleidoscope world of interconnectedness.

Currently my focus is on large 4ft x 6ft acrylic paintings that are created on two merged panels. These works have subtle echoes of land or seascapes, and the merged panels have a reference to Asian screen paintings.

Working on this larger scale is really physically engaging and the works more easily become “a place” in my perception- as if one could disappear in to them.

The Marsh, acrylic on panel 48h x 72w

"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 believe art can transport people, even if only for a brief blip, into a separate realm or way of thinking. 

In my own work, I hope to reveal simultaneity between the grand scale and the miniscule -- a sense of infinite interconnectedness (through reoccurring pattern) of all things.

Jettison, acrylic on panel 36h x 72w

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

 My Father, who was an architect, once told me that the path to success (however you want to define that term) as an artist is an extra long road.  He said I should have perseverance above all else.

Tell me about your work space and your creative process.

Currently Craig Bell and I share a studio in the Northup King Building (#369)  in NE Minneapolis.

My works start out with loose very randomly applied paint, and I build layers this way while intermittently slowing things down with interjections of tiny details and delicately painted line forms.

I tend to work either on the floor or a large work table, preferring for the work to be flat as I work on it, although I do end up moving the panels all around when I want to make the paint move or drip on it’s own accord.  It becomes a balancing act of getting paint to do what paint does when thrown, splattered or dripped, with more deliberate and calculated decisions painted by my hand.

Aerial View III, acrylic on panel 24x24

Who are some of the Minnesota artists you enjoy?

 Linda Deg Lee  www.lindadeglee.com

Jack Pavlik  www.mnartists.org/Jack_Pavlik

Jantje Visscher  www.jantevisscher.com

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

Groveland Gallery (Justin Terlecki paintings, Jeremy Lund prints) www.grovelandgallery.com

Como Park Conservatory- the Pavilion, the Japanese Garden, the Sunken Garden  www.comozooconservatory.org

Minneapolis Institute of Art—I love seeing the rotating shows in the MAEP gallery  www.artsmia.org

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 -  www.mnartists.org

quodlibetica- www.quodlibetica.com

Fleeting, acrylic on panel 48h x 72w

What can we expect to see from you in the future?

I will be part of Art-a-Whirl May 18-20, 2012 in the Northrup King Building in NE Mpls. Studio #369.

In 2013, I have a solo show at The Phipps Center for the Arts in Hudson WI.

Asia Ward - Sculptor

Asia Ward

Name: Asia Ward
City/State: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Email: asiaward@gmail.com
Website: asiaward.com
MNartist.org profile
Facebook page:
MNOriginal Feature
Twitter: @asia_ward

Bio~
I am a Minnesota based sculpture artist, and my work ranges from animatronic creatures to large-scale metal sculptures and aluminum dioramas. I exhibit my most recent experiments in kinetic sculpture at Rosalux Gallery, a member run gallery cooperative in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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

Within the past ten years I have created two different bodies of work. My current and future work is about strong dreamscapes that have affected my life. My earlier work is about using animatronics and fabric from stuffed animals and old clothes to give artificial spirit to my animal sculptures. Although the themes of both bodies of work are different, their similarities are my use of electronics to give them light, motion, and sound.

The landscape sculptures were created to represent "scenes" of strong dreams I have had during my life. The dreamscapes are distorted perspectives of real landscapes around my parent's house, an old school house in the country. They are also based on places I have lived where I have experienced clarity and fear. My unconscious neatly summarized everything I knew and felt at the time of my dream, and narrowed it down into a detached landscape symbolic of those events. I have often remembered the dreams during turbulent times in my life, and have used them to help me see a clear and detached perspective of current events. The dreamscapes have shaped my moods, perspectives, and choices, so I honor and remember them by the construction of these sculptures.

"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?

My aluminum landscape work is about seeing things from different perspectives. I distort a real landscape by turning the perspective into layers. I make features in the landscape appear near or far by twisting, fanning, or pinching the aluminum layers in different ways. This gives the viewer the opportunity to approach the three-dimensional relief landscape from all perspectives - flying above view, or below the earth view, etc.

I want the viewers to identify with the landscapes in my sculptures and to daydream about being a part of it - like a train set, or a Christmas village - to pretend and take part in this miniature world.

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

You have to go where the artists are to continue to have community and support.

You have to defend your time as an artist, and declare that you are “ at work.” To yourself, and to others.

Spend at least two hours a day doing your art. That includes research, drawing, workshops, applying for grants and shows, and going to gallery openings.

Buy a nice camera and document your work. All of it- the good stuff and the bad stuff, then share it with the public as much as possible.

Listen when someone is critiquing your work. Ask them questions and get them to explain their reasoning. Do not get defensive.

Tell me about your workspace and your creative process.

My studio is in the Casket Arts Building in NE Minneapolis.
I like to figure out the capabilities of my materials. Right now it’s electronics, microcontrollers, aluminum sheet, steel and a mig welder. I have an idea in mind and I push the material and tools to the limit. I fight them. I break the aluminum and steel! I try not to break my welder or catch anything on fire! I enjoy working with materials that can handle a lot of abuse. Natural materials like wood and clay don’t work for me because they have their own way. Whereas steel and plastic, you can bend and break, and weld it back together again.

I challenge myself by coming up with a project idea that is really hard to draw because of its complex 3-dimensional shape. I try to be flexible and compromise, and continue to strive to complete a good and finished sculpture.

Who are some of the Minnesota artists you enjoy?

John Diebel
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35689679@N08/sets/72157623020753079/
John Diebel creates collages of places and situations. He is a master at using color, layers of paper, and composition to pull out and push back the subject matter in his work.

Amelia Biewald
http://www.ameliabiewald.com/
Amelia Biewald’s work is about the sensual and slightly dirty feeling of fantasy, sexuality, and rich tactile objects.

Jack Pavlik
http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=5337
I love Jack Pavlik’s ability to make bands of steel sing and move gracefully.

David Bowen
http://www.dwbowen.com/
David Bowen’s work inspires me. He can grow plastic shaped onion bulbs at the same rate as real ones, let house flies pilot four foot blimps, and make a field of grass in Minneapolis move exactly in same way as a field of grass in Duluth.

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

Rosalux Gallery in N.E. Minneapolis
http://rosaluxgallery.com/
I’m a part of the Rosalux Gallery Co-operative, and can’t help but promote the amazing group of artists that show their work there.

The Museum of Russian Art
http://tmora.org/
Some of the paintings in the museum’s collection have really captured the ugliness and the enduring nature of human labor.

Franconia Sculpture Park
http://www.franconia.org/
An hours drive from the cities, and well worth the trip to see emerging and professional sculptures create monumental pieces of work. Watch them weld! Participate in an iron pour!


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?

Springboard for the Arts
http://www.springboardforthearts.org/

Mira’s List
http://miraslist.blogspot.com/

The Art Newspaper
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/

The Jealous Curator
http://www.thejealouscurator.com/blog/

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

Rosalux will be having a group show titled XXL at the Burnsville Performing Arts Center, in Burnsville, MN running through the month of December.

I was chosen to be an Artist in Residence at the Anderson Center in Red Wing, MN for the month of September 2011.