Watercolor Paintings by Yulia Shevchenko from United States.

An Interview with Yulia Shevchenko.

Who and from where are you?       

My name is Yulia Shevchenko and I am Russian origin artist who lives in New Jersey, United States.

How you got into this?                   

One day I just wanted to try if I am able to paint something with watercolor and since that day I didn't put out brush from my hands.

What is your driving force?

I don't know actually, it's just huge passion that force me to paint.

What kind of work you do and why?

There are no restrictions in my objects of watercolor. I like to watercolor almost everything. The question is how success I am. From one side I draw less objects that I'm not good in, but from other side I like to make challenges for myself.

Paintings by Jason Butler from Jersey.

Seeker.

An Interview with Jason Butler.

Who and from where are you?

I was born In Nottingham, England but I have lived in Jersey, Channel Islands all of my life.  

How you got into this?

I was very lucky to have a great and caring art teacher called Mark Blanchard who made me realise this was something I could do. From about 13 I became obsessed with drawing and painting.

What is your driving force?

The thing I appreciate so much about making paintings is that there is never a day that goes by where I feel I don't learn something. You realise how little you know and the process just goes on and on. It can be challenging but ultimately I can't imagine doing anything else. 

What kind of work you do and why?

My work is centred on the figurative with a greater emphasis on abstraction entering the paintings in the last couple of years. I am fascinated by the idea of Utopias and the kind of rituals we all carry out. Trying to get the work to say something that I could never articulate verbally is the main goal. The process of allowing the work to go through many stages and making 'mistakes' is key.

Abstract Fluid Art by Seraph-Eden Carr from Canada.

She Dove In.

An Interview with Seraph-Eden Carr.

Who and from where are you from?

My name is Seraph-Eden Carr. I am a Metis performer, painter, and artisan from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

How you got into this?

I come from a very artistic family and although I have a heavy background in dance and performance, for as long as I can remember I found painting, crafting, and visual arts in general, to be very moving and liberating for me. 

After my first baby was born I found myself focused on student politics and activism, radio, and traditional dance while taking an interdisciplinary Native Studies degree where I had particular fascinations with history and material culture(s). I wasn’t giving much thought to my visual art except for class projects and when I was asked to help choose an interior design aesthetic for a public building. However, over the course of 8 years, through a series of unfortunate events, other career opportunities I took, and a diagnosis of anxiety and depression I realized that painting is something that I found true joy in.  I loved participating in yet another aspect of our social culture that makes me feel even more connected to others throughout history, past and future. And it made me and my artist/poet Grandma extremely happy. All of my artistic pursuits, painting, making, refinishing furniture, dancing, singing, comes from deep within my soul. So, I took the things near and dear to me and started painting and making with compulsion. From Contemporary Indigenous art, to Metis florals and geometrics on décor and furniture, the natural world, to pottery, “protest art”, and the fluid art featured here, I cannot get enough. There are definitely not enough hours in the day, braincells for me to learn everything I want to, or money to throw at it. But I definitely try. 

What is your driving force?

A few things drive me. Self expression, storytelling, creating things that I find meaningful or culturally relevant, or things that I find joyous to create are what compels me to do and continue doing. I do it to stay connected to my Grandmother. She’d be so thrilled at how far I’ve come and how many pieces I’ve produced in the past two years of her absence. I’m driven by the new life I’ve had to forge since struggling with a mood disorder and post traumatic stress and how helpful I find visual art to be. Painting has replaced journaling. 

What kind of work you do and why?

I’ll answer that question in relation to the selection shown here which is Abstract Fluid Art and it has been done in various ways. Some are a handful of pouring techniques that are completely abstract or they are manipulated to make abstract expressionist forms. A couple of others are resin based, others still are technically “fluid” but are not “poured”. They are applied by palette knife and other tools. All of them are mixed media using a variety of paints and mediums. Some of them are full of texture and depth that can only translate honestly in person. The selected paintings shown are from throughout my study period working out how to best illicit the visuals I want for a planned series. 

I started fluid painting because at the time I was feeling like I needed to work through a gap in my inspiration. I spent hours creating what I found to be very visually stimulating art and being one who loves a challenge, set to figuring out how to tell stories with it.

Whether completely abstract or done with some intent, all of these have a mind of their own. They are almost a metaphorical struggle for me between complete unbridled freedom but also needing to stay fixed or within the boundaries enough in order to end up with a composition that is not overwhelming while still being wild at heart.

I currently paint full time and split my time between my trade and my home-based studio where I do my Contemporary and fluid paintings for personal collections, and my artisanal goods. I take every opportunity to be mentored by established artists and tradespeople and am a member of a printmaking studio in my hometown.

Paintings by Johnny Thornton from New York.

Series “Self Portraits of Other People”

An Interview with Johnny Thornton.

Who and from where are you?

My name is Johnny Thornton, I was born in Connecticut and I live in Brooklyn, NY.

How you got into this?

When I was younger I was always interested in painting but I didn’t begin until I was in my early 20’s. I went on the study art at the University of Arizona and then at Parsons in New York City. Since I graduated I have been working out of my artist studio in Brooklyn.

What is your driving force?

Exploring ideas through process.

What kind of work you do and why?

My work is always exploring an idea or concept I am trying to explore and understand. My most recent work is the series “Self Portraits of Other People” is a series that explores the constructed idea of "self". I have always had an interest in different strategies of representation and my recent paintings are an amalgamation of both figurative and semi-abstract representations of the human form in ways that illustrate the contrasting elements of the physical and psychological identity. It is the first time I’ve experimented with combining different ways of seeing and representing the body. The layer I paint is just the human form of someone removed of all contextual signifiers aside from the title of the piece, which is the number of days they have been alive. This process takes a very long time because I am trying to accurately represent the body in a photorealistic way. Once the painting is complete I do a one-minute blind contour drawing of the same person on top of it with an oil stick. This second, cathartic layer allows me to relinquish control and inject my own immediacy and subjectivity onto the portrait. This act is the most exhilarating experience imaginable: spending 50-100 hours on something and then blindly and permanently covering it with a different interpretation of the same reference image in under a minute.

Paintings by Rune Furelid from Norway.

An Interview with Rune Furelid.

Born in no man´s land. My name is Rune Furelid. I am from Norway and was born in the deep end of a long, dark and in its own way a beautiful fjord, at a place that hardly any Norwegians have ever heard of either, so ill spare you the details.

Close call, nearly dead. A capitalist. Cynical. Also greedy. How did i get into art. Well i was an educated as a marketer, and as an economist i was building my own realestate portfolio. Having alot of success that came to an abrupt ending when i was on the wrong side of the road and with my motorcycle and ran straight into an oncoming car, which like me came in really high speed on the motorway.

A mess. Completely druged out of this universe. Depressed and alone. After 1 month in coma, 2 years in wheelchair, and 3 extra years of hard training i could again walk on my own to feet. The whole time during this recovery i reconsidered what i had been doing so far in life. Had i died that day what had i really done with my time on this beautiful earth that we strive so hard to destroy?

The accident planted a seed in me. I stopped working with money. Did a 180 degree turn, and after 5 years of filmschool, which made me a screenwriter from the national filmschool in Norway, i by accident stumbled sideways into painting.

The man who founded the filmschool was quitting and nobody raised their hand when the students where asked if someone could paint him as a funny way of showing our appreciation. Having never picked up a brush before i said ”oh well. I quess i can try”. After painting him 5 times i was happy and it actually in some strange way looked like him, at least i felt i had capured something that was him, in my own little way.

Drawings by Tricia Butski from Buffalo, New York.

Fission

An Interview with Tricia Butski.

Who and from where are you?

My name is Tricia Butski. I’m an artist living and working in Buffalo, NY.

How you got into this?

This series of work, titled‘Semblance’, stemsfrom a long period of trial, error, and experimentation. I worked through many tentative processes attempting to consolidate my thoughts on memory, preservation, and forgetting into a visual form. The biggest challenge I faced was expressing a subject that is in constant flux using a fixed medium. Though the imagery is static, I found that the drawings work together as a group, creating a cinematic effect through a sequence of progressive distortions in which the viewer’s gaze shifts from large scale to small, between the figure and the fragment.

What is your driving force?

My driving force is ultimately a distinct compulsion to create and to make a living through my creative process.

What kind of work you do and why?

I primarily work with drawing, using charcoal as my medium and the human figure as my subject. My work involves representations of the figure that lie in between hyperrealism and abstraction. The medium of charcoal serves as a material analog for impermanence, fragility, and malleability. I’ve found that it best articulates my thoughts about memory, not only for technical and aesthetic reasons, but also because of its origin. The medium consists of dead organic matter that is condensed, preserved, and then reanimated through drawing, speaking to the human recollection process.

Artist Statement

Through drawings rendered in charcoal, ‘Semblance’ examines issues related to memory by exploring its limitations and aestheticizing the instability inherent in portraiture. The work allows the viewer to enter the subconscious space between remembering and forgetting. The figures and faces, which have been distorted through a repetitive layering process, manipulate our sense of familiarity. The original image becomes fragmented through this process, a conceptual procedure that corresponds to the experience of forgetting the semblance of the face, the body, and the subject. Through distortion and fragmentation, the figures take on a monstrous form. The familiarity of the face evokes comfort while simultaneously rousing a sense of distress. This creates an intermediary form that inhabits a space both real and imagined. The resulting image is neither entirely original nor fully invented, taking form as a realistic rendering of a fleeting moment. By challenging the boundaries between representation and abstraction, and questioning the relationship between fluctuation and constancy, the works become entangled and disordered, mirroring the viewer’s innate desire for clarity and their proclivity for drawing meaning out of partiality.

Paintings by Pau Marinello from Barcelona.

An Interview with Pau Marinello.

Who and where are you from?

My name is Pau Marinello and I’m a painter who lives and Works in Barcelona

How you got into this?

All kids draw, I just never stopped! At some point I studied realism at the Barcelona Academy of Art where I studied the basics of drawing and painting from nature. Currently I’m directing the department of drawing.

What is your driving force?

When I look behind and see my works that I did in the past I feel like I’m reading my own diary. I get inspired from what I have around me: friends, family, objects, but also by the materials and how they interact with eachother… Painting is a different language, very personal, by doing it you are expressing yourself.

What kind of work you do and why?

It is difficult to describe my actual process because it doesn’t exist, I’m in a moment that I feel like an explorer. In my work I’m exploring the figuration trying to deconstruct drawing aspects. I build and destroy until I get a result that satisfies me. I’m interested in the abstraction of the painting and also in the representational part.

Street Photography by Valérie SIX from France.

An Interview with Valérie SIX.

Who and where are you from?

My name is Valérie SIX. I was born in the Northern part of France where I lived until the age of thirteen before moving with my parents to Paris. I spent many years there before deciding, in 2015, to settle in a quieter city located close to the Atlantic coast in the South-West part of France: Bordeaux.

Attracted by the oriental civilizations, I studied Chinese and made a career in the field of international development before discovering me, 4 years ago, a passion for photography. 

How you got into this?

My passion for photography started one day of 2012 when visiting Dubai. I knew, since a couple of years –and a serious health accident- that something was missing in my life but couldn’t put a name on it… until that day, when suddenly, buying a camera became an urgency! 

Is it my genetic heritage (I discovered only recently, thanks to a family tree, that my great-grandfather was a photographer on stereo glass plate and a specialist in photo retouching) or repressed feelings and emotions that drove me to this compulsive purchase? Probably both. 

The fact is that, only a few months after this purchase, I enrolled in my first photo workshop during the “Rencontres photographiques” in Arles and decided, 2 years later, to quit my job to take a training course at “Gobelins,Ecole de l’image”school in France. I chose at the same time to move from Paris to Bordeaux, the town of origin -this, also, I learned it recently- of my great-grandfather.

What is your driving force?

I am attracted as a magnet by the extraordinary arrangement, in some places, of lines, curves, light, shadows and colors. Frames impose themselves on me as if by enchantment! I see them as gifts of urban life that remind me, in another way, these wonderful gifts of nature we can see in certain flowers or butterflies... whose shape, texture, colors... seem to get straight out of a magic wand!

What kind of work you do and why?

The numerous trips made during my professional life naturally brought me towards the cities and peri-urban areas that I constantly pace since then, in search of this precious alchemy between beauty, sense and emotion.

Initially eager to transcribing the atmosphere of a specific town or region, cities now appear to me as formidable fields of observation and exploration of our modern society: architecture, work, fashion, leisure, human ability to adapt to the changes… weave the backdrop, often in a little surrealist way, of my images. 

A way also for me to sound my own emotions and give meaning to more personal questions about the complexity of existence.

Paintings by Gert Jan Slotboom from Netherlands.

End of Things - If it be Your Will

An Interview with Gert Jan Slotboom.

Who and where are you from?

I am Gert Jan Slotboom (Wageningen, 1957). I live in IJlst, a small, rural townin Friesland, the north of the Netherlands. 

How you got into this?

As a child I was always busy drawing and painting. When I finished secondary school I wanted to go to the Academy of Arts.My parents didn’t like the idea much and they urged me to follow a study in chemistry. I obeyed myparents’ wishes but became immensely unhappy. When my parents noticed this, they finally gave their consent and I entered “Artibus”,  the Academy of Arts in Utrecht (nowadays called HKU) . In 1983 I graduated as a free artist, my main subject was painting.

What is your driving force?

We live in dark times, just like our parents and ancestors did. A world full of fears. Our destruction of the environment is perhaps the biggest disaster we are faced with, but there is more misery that we call upon ourselves. Man is naturally short-sighted, selfish and potentially relentless to fellow human beings. Herein I see the heart of our sorrows: injustice, violence, intolerance, hate, greed, religion, indifference, and so on.

We are guilty of a lethargic attitude to end all this.

I don’t know the answers but I can paint what I see and feel.

What kind of work you do and why?

I started out as an abstract-expressionist, but after a break of several years, in which I raised my two sons, I concentrated on more realistic art (Bridges, Church interiors, Greenhouses etc.).

My artwork is large in size and with only a few colours I try to achieve a maximum effect. For 30 years I used to work with acrylic paint and those works tend to have a transparent quality. Since 2011 I have worked solely with oil paints and consequently, my work has changed dramatically. I mould the ‘dry’ paint in thick layers. 

My main subject is the human body.

Taken into account what I answered on the previous question, I felt that my paintings should be raw in content and appliance of paint. Beautiful poses should be avoided as much as possible and the gesture should be reduced to the minimum. A small gesture has more power, provided it is supported by the rest of the figure. The colour also had to be kept as sober as possible. However, I consider it important that the work retains some subtlety in tonality and colour. The less colour used, the more important it becomes. The way paint is applied must be logical to the content. That roughness combined with nuanced colour and tone I consider to be a very valuable contrast.

The world I live in also consists of joyand happiness every now and then, but they do not have as much impact as the dark side has. Unfulfilled desire, self-deficiencies, melancholy, physical and mental decline, depression, mortality, uselessness of life, weltschmerz and so forth are daily companions. Art gives me a handle to eliminate a lot of the bad effects on my mind.

“End of Things” is the landmark of my growing awareness of that sensation.

End of Things by Dolf Alberts

After the portrait-gallery of the Facebook-project Gert Jan zooms out to the whole person. Man in his (almost) naked, unprotected vulnerability. Lonely. Painful. Raw and unadorned. In bold brushstrokes, but at the same time richly detailed.

For us, the viewer, it does not get any easier. The portraits are sometimes painfully confrontational. They require something of the viewer - who feels a voyeur, ashamed and unashamed at the same time. Uncomfortable. They evoke mixed feelings, these unscrupulously painted people - whom we could recognize as ourselves. Individual and yet universal. Is our spirit, or our soul observable in our tormented bare skin, our flesh, our bones? Yes, the portraits (how alienating at times) tell a lot to the good spectator. They invite you to look, how uncomfortable  at times, to experience, to be aware. Perceive what we really are: temples of vulnerability, loneliness and mortality. And so beautiful!

Eventually, beauty prevails in all its ruthlessness.

Yes, these paintings must be seen in real life. To their full extent, with the tangible blobs of paint on the canvas - tangible to all our senses.

Paintings by Oyewole Olufemi Ayodeji from Nigeria.

An Interview with Oyewole Olufemi Ayodeji.

Who and from where are you?

My name is Oyewole Olufemi Ayodeji, im a native of Osun state, Nigeria. I was born and raised in Lagos state.

How you got into this?

I believe art for me is inbuilt; it has been an essential part of my life. I’ve had a fascination with drawing since childhood, a skill I practice constantly. When it was time for me to study in the college, it wasn’t difficult for me to settle for Fine Arts.  While studying Fine and Applied Arts in the Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka, I was fortunate to meet with lfluential individuals that guided and exposed me to the rudiment of drawing. Olusola Obayan and Hakeem Dipeolu  tirelessly helped refine my talent.  My full studio experience also contributed to my love for practice. I had my first industrial experience with Defactori Studio, a group of full-time studio artists working in the same studio. While in Defactori Studio, I trained under Akintunde John, Chika Idu, Taiwo George Taylor, Essien Joe, Anthony Ayanu, Ola Balogun, Awoyemi Ajibade, Damola Adepoju and Simeon Akhirebhu. These Artists through their practice contributed immensely to the pure academic knowledge I gained in the college. I later spent more time with Akintunde John and Chika Idu because of my love for watercolour. Akintunde John will always teach how to paint watercolour in the studio and I constantly disturb Chika Idu in his home studio………..for more knowledge and techniques on watercolour.

Before I finally graduated from the college in 2006, I met Dr Akin Onipede who told me to always “study my teacher’s teacher”, if I really want to grow deep with my passion for the Arts…..which triggered my love for the works of Abiodun Olaku.  After graduating from the college with distinction in 2006, I practiced for four years and later went back to school for my first degree. During my study at the prestigious  Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria, I met with Dr Olusegun Ajiboye, Dr Stephen Folaranmi and Dr Babasehinde Ademuleya who also taught me while I was in the college. I majored in painting and graduated in 2012. At different times during my first degree, I also had few months of studio training under Olusegun Adejumo and Kelani Olanrewaju Abass. 

Paintings by Stan Miller from United States.

An Interview with Stan Miller.

Who and where are you from? 

My name is Stan Miller and I am from the United States, Spokane, Washington….close to Seattle.

How you got into this?  

I always enjoyed art from the time I was a child.  I took art classes in school and also in college. When I graduated from college in 1973 I started painting in watercolor as my full time occupation.  I have been painting every day since 1973.  I also teach watercolor classes around the world.

What is your driving force?  

Every person has a desire to express themselves.  We all use language, but we can also use music, dance, writing, theater or painting.  When I paint I can share my ideas about how I look at life, the way I look at a landscape, a person’s face.  Being able to visually share with people, the way I see the world is very exciting, this is what drives me.

What kind of work you do and why?  

I like to paint realistically, or representationally.  But, I also enjoy abstract art.  Behind every good realistic painting is a well designed abstract painting.  We need to care about how we arrange the shapes, the colors, textures, the values, how lighting creates mood.  These things are equally important as the subject matter.  I like traditional subjects, portraits, landscapes and still life…sometimes flowers and animals.  Everything we see, if it excites us, can be a painting.  I like common things, everyday things…I’m not interested in painting something strange or uncommon.  I’ll let the modern painters paint those subjects.

It is important that everyone use art to share their feelings.  Speaking is not enough.  Paint, sing, play an instrument, write a poem, dance, act…but use art to more fully express yourself and our world will be a happier and safer place.

Painted Drawings by Amaya Gurpide from Spain.

An Interview with Amaya Gurpide.

Who and from where are you?

My name is Amaya Gurpide, I was born in the north of Spain. I've been immersed in the arts from a very young age as my father was a painter and I was raised seeing him draw from models, which had a huge impact on me as a child.  

How you got into this?

I received an art education in my hometown and eventually decided to move to New York to further my development and focus on learning figure drawing and painting from some of the most prominent artists of the time.

What is your driving force?

I'm completely captivated by nature, working from life is one the most fascinating experiences as an artist. I mainly work from models, usually people that I don't know but choose carefully based on the story I'd like to communicate through them. There is always something peculiar about them that triggers the story. I spend quite a long time, sometimes months, analyzing the sitter and knitting the necessary layers that will transcend the technical aspects of the work to achieve a solid, tangible reality.

What kind of work you do and why?

Though I love to paint, I've spent the last few years focusing on large mixed media drawings. When I draw I think as a painter and prepare my papers with the right tone and tooth according to the results I'd like to achieve. I mainly work with graphite, white and black chalk, gouache and charcoal, and use pencils and brushes to achieve a more painterly feeling. In the end, they are painted drawings.

Paintings by Jenny Ungaro from Vicenza, Italy.

An Interview with Jenny Ungaro.

Who and where are you from?

My name is Jenny Ungaro, I'm a Pop Artist and I live in Vicenza, north Italy, but I was born in Taranto, sout Italy. I'm 30.

How you got into this?

I have been painting and drawing since I was a little girl. I followed my self-taught way and I was very lucky because I met professionals peolple who helped me grow my passion and work hard. So I was able to attend so many exhibitions all over the world. Life taught me to paint!

What is your driving force?

My paintings are the encounter between emotions and form. Instinct and awareness. My life revolves around art and it was a therapy for my soul. Modern and Pop art meet the power of nature in a blend of explosive color.

What kind of work you do and why?

I usually paint women portrait in Pop style. I'm inspired by the great masters of genre, as Andy Warhol, but with my personal touch. In fact, I love when figurative art meet abstract art. I'm usually paint with acrylic but I love also watercolors because they are magic!

Paintings by Terry Strickland from United States.

It's A Mans World.

An Interview with Terry Strickland.

Who and where are you from?

Terry Strickland, from Birmingham, Alabama, in the United States.

How you got into this?

I was born in Florida and raised on the Space Coast. After graduating from the University of Central Florida with a BFA in Graphic Design, I had an interesting and varied art career, working in the imprinted sportswear, gaming and publishing industries, as well as courtroom sketch artist. I always painted on the side, but in 2005 quit commercial art to paint full time.

What is your driving force?

My paintings begin as personal inspirations and narratives, but I have discovered that once they are translated with paint, they become universal stories, and my models become stand-ins for everyman. When people from different backgrounds respond with empathy to the situations in my paintings or when they identify with the models, I realize how much more alike than different we humans are. Communication and self-expression, I suppose. I love to paint and know I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing.

What kind of work you do and why? 

I consider my work Post-Contemporary Realism. While my paintings are highly realistic, they’re also conceptual and both aspects are important to me. I explore the idea that change is turbulent and painful and is the one constant in life. This can be seen in evolving personal relationships, dramatic weather pattern shifts, and during times of social upheaval and cultural change. The ongoing Incognito Project is at the heart of much of my work. I play with the concept that a choice of costume can reveal or conceal. Other themes include thoughts on relationships, love, and death. Many times I will use fairy tales, myths or pop culture references to get at those themes. 

The one constant in my work is human connection. My favorite way to paint a model is boldly and unabashedly making eye contact. There is a magical point in every painting process when the paint becomes a person. Oil and minerals slathered around the canvas are transformed into a person looking back at me. Since eye contact activates the dopaminergic centers in the brain, whether it is eye contact with a real person or a painted image, I admit it must be an addiction with me.

My ideas start with a wisp of something provocative to me. It could be a sentence from a conversation, a book, song lyrics, or a visual cue from a person, or nature. I journal thoughts and ideas so that they don’t slip away. The ideas build on each other, associations are made and concepts come together in my mind. This process doesn’t seem to want to be hurried and will present itself with time. Next I find a model to match a concept then I begin the long process of designing the piece, collecting props, putting it all together and finally get to the painting stage. 

Drawings by Yulia Lobanov from Barcelona, Spain.

An Interview with Yulia Lobanov.

Who and where are you from?

My name is Yulia Lobanov, I was born in Moscow, Russia and I'm 31. Several years ago I moved to Europe, initially to Italy and currently I'm based in Barcelona and I love it. I'm a yacht designer but drawing and painting more than just hobby for me..

How you got into this?

For the first time I asked my mum to let me go to the art school when I was 4 years old! So for me it was easy - I always knew I want to draw.   At age of 11 I went to art school and I was lucky to meet an amazing teacher from the "russian old school" so I was never get bored from the academic studies. There was only joy and passion for art. 

I'm endlessly thankful for my family for supporting me in that period, they never ever told me that it's useless. But there was one advice I took seriously - is to get a profession more practical and stable than artist. And I became architect and interior designer and never regret of that. However my drawing practice stoped for more than 10 years. When I moved to Barcelona I started to feel I need something else apart my job and fortunately I started to visit a life drawing studio. Later I resume my oil painting practice. And it gave me so much pleasure and I'm happy to draw and paint again! 

What is your driving force?

I love to draw. The process itself gives me incomparable feeling of freedom and concentration in the same time. It's the best meditation practice for me. So I'm driven by necessity, fulfilling my wellbeing.  

What kind of work you do and why?

If speak about object of my works is usually human body and portraits. I study how shadows can create shape, how shape can express character and emotions. It's a path from charcoal stain to storytelling. Through my studying while drawing I see how beautiful human being could be. No mater how close the model to the "beauty standard" is I see her uniqueness and beauty. I admire all my models!

However I usually don't call my works "art", it's rather drawing studies, technique exercises. I feel I need some time to find my art language and style. 

Abstract Paintings by Juro Kralovic from Canada.

Sector

An Interview with Juro Kralovic.

Who and where are you from?

My name is Juro Kralovic, born in the former Czechoslovakia in 1983, currently living and working out of Edmonton, Alberta (Canada).

How did you get into this?

I started drawing at an early age, and later it became a tool of rebellion in a dogmatic post-communistic school system. Coming from a liberal and creative upbringing, I chose to study at The School of Applied Arts in Bratislava (Stone sculpture department). My mother is a successful abstract painter and interior designer, so growing up in the environment shaped my perception of aesthetics and creative process. 

After studies, I joined armed forces for mandatory service which along with my passion for martial arts, gave me much needed self discipline, a tool that I use in everyday life and painting/art. After the army, I started working at a wood shop where I acquired new skills working with wood and building furniture. In the years of establishing a new life, family, and small contracting business in a new Country, most of my creativity was pushed aside. In recent years I started unleashing the urge to create with smaller projects like furniture, wood art, and experimenting with wood stains.

Everything I've learned an experienced in my life translates into the work I do now.

What is the driving force?

I would say is the sensation of freedom, its a momentary escape from this structured, controlled, and overwhelming world and society. It's my protest against fake smiles, political correctness, and small mindedness. On the other hand, its a medium to connect with like minded people and expand my horizons, it also brings me joy when my art leaves a positive impact. My interest in everything controversial, mystical, and abandoned transfers to my work. Maybe its the ego or rebellious personality that likes to challenge the old world taboos and status quo. 

What kind of work do you do an why?

Mostly abstract, occasionally portrait. Sculpture and abstract expressionism and street art art my main sources of inspiration, everything else is observing environment, nature and accidental man made beauty. I love working with contrast and bold colors. My tool box is very limited, simplicity keeps it fun while I'm still open to experimenting. My goal is to make paintings bigger than life which I think is impossible, so this is why I won't stop trying.

Mixed Media Paintings by Japanese Brothers Seiichi Terayono & Daisei Terazono.

An Interview with Seiichi Terayono & Daisei Terazono.

Who and from where are you?

Seiichi Terayono & Daisei Terazono. We are a brother and an artistical duo. Our studio is in Kagoshima, Japan.

How you got into this?

When there even was time from childhood, we drew many many pictures. When we were a high school students, Museum of Contemporary Art was build by the town where we lived. Therefore come across a collection of pictures of Egon Schiele accidentally and we were big shocked and we came to have an intererested art.

What is your driving force?

We have a dream . We want to inform the future people, what we do, and what we felt and how we lived. by keeping drawing a portrait.

What kind of work you do and why?

We use an aqueous paint mainly and make a work. Aqueous paint is attracted by prodused accidental beauty.

Our work is here to change something emotional for beauty.

Paintings by Alexandra Levasseur from Montreal, Canada.

An Interview with Alexandra Levasseur.

Who and from where are you?

My name is Alexandra Levasseur, I’m a painter and animated filmmaker. I live in Montreal, Canada, but I was born in Shawinigan and have lived 10 years in Costa Rica. 

How you got into this?

I have been drawing and painting since I have memory; it has been a part of my everyday life since the beginning. I did a BFA at the University of Costa Rica and a postgraduate in Illustration at EINA in Barcelona. I also did a major in Animation at Concordia University in Montreal. I have been working in advertising agencies and doing commercial illustration and design for some time, but was not happy until I decided to dedicate all my time to my projects. I started exhibiting my work more seriously in 2012 and since then I have been busy :) 

What is your driving force?

I use art as a therapy. It calms me. I create images to understand better the world we live in. It helps me to see things from another perspective: from the outside. My work being in part autobiographical, the feminine figures in it naturally satisfy my need to express the anxiety and struggle to understand our short life on earth and find a real powerful meaning to it. It is about sadness and compassion but also about nostalgia and the fear of no being able to stop time. It’s about introspection and contemplation. 

What kind of work you do and why?

I get inspiration from scientific readings (biology and physics) and I do my own iconic interpretation of facts and theories, but also from films and poetry. My work in general is influenced by the French Symbolists. When I do a painting, I often start with a sketched background. I build collages from photographs and textures that matter to me. I do the same with the figures, I look for positions of body that convey the message I want to express and I construct the composition. I used to do that step on paper with magazine paper cuts, but lately I’ve been using the computer to facilitate the process. Once I’m set on the composition and color palette, I start working on the larger support with acrylic, oil and pencils mostly. I usually do series of paintings because it helps me to tell a story. The idea of making animated films came with the need to tell a story, and events that occur on a timeline. I am very interested by the concept of time and by exploring the relation between static and dynamic images. 

I’m currently working on my new film which should be ready in October 2017. 

A couple of group shows are scheduled in June 2017 in San Francisco (Mirus Gallery) and Montreal (XL Montreal).

Abstract Expressionist Paintings of Flowers by Brian Wayne Jansen from Washington.

An Interview with Brian Wayne Jansen.

Who and where from are you?

My name is Brian Wayne Jansen, I am 36. I grew up on a farm in the state of Nebraska. I am currently residing in Olympia, WA, but I am thinking of moving to Los Angeles, CA soon.

How you got into this?

I took an art history course in high school, I was very inspired by pop art Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstien, Keith Harring as well as Picasso, Van Gogh,Frida Kahlo and Georgia O Keefe: they gave me the sense that anyone could make art, the history of art was more inspiring than the actual art classes I received in school, so I bought a set of brushes and canvas, went to my home and began doing my own thing.

What is your driving force?

I am a very creative person, in that if I am not involved in something artistically my whole life suffers. I work in other collaborative arts as well, theater, film, ect. With painting I don’t need a group of people to pick up a brush and go down the worm hole, and I need to go down the worm hole to report back on what I see and experience with in human behavior.

What kind of work do you do and why?

I love people, I love to look at them and lately I’ve been working on two different styles, I do these abstract expressionist paintings of flowers: the flowers are people to me, bright, beautiful, stretched to the heavens, yet tethered to the earth, given to shine therein. The other style are these chiaroscuro-veined portraits, with those I am trying to capture both the light and darkness to report an essence of the human entities trapped in between, both literally and spiritually speaking.

Dark Surrealism Paintings by Vladislav Cadaversky from Ukraine.

An Interview with Vladislav Cadaversky.

Who and from where are you?

My name is Vladislav Cadaversky. Born in 7.7.88. I'm a visual artist and musician from Kyiv, Ukraine.

How you got into this?

Well, to be honest, the art was a part of me since very childhood. Every soul that come to this world has a strong potential and sence of creativity. I captured and absorbed the mystery of things what were unknown to me. There were alot of fears, you know. As some psychological aspects of every child and the space arround. Darkness, mythology and ancient civilizations, creatures from dreams (or even nightmares), as strong magnet, became a whole passion... But aging through a life, some period of time took all of my energy. And for a whole decade there left no place for art... Just silence and reality.

Art is a kind of innate drive that seizes a human being and makes him its instrument. To perform this difficult 'work' it is sometimes necessary for him to sacrifice happiness and everything that makes life worth living for the ordinary human being.

Since 2014 I came back to this. But with a decision to reload everything. As a perception change the understanding and point of view, I became an intuitive painter. This was some kind of new experience. I finally found how to be myself again.

Artworks were forming from pure abstractions of color and feelings, cosmic visions.

But the more I processed the more I progressed. From pure abstraction came a form. A structures, and a creatures. Tortured by the unconscious visions and memories, every subsequent painting became more detailed. Builded by the layers of textures and colors, to finalise the whole monolith.

What is your driving force?

I always paint with a music. Mostly ambient or dark ambient soundscapes (sometimes other choises of taste). The process of painting in such way became a real meditation. The refflections of passions - myth, fantasy, ancient civilizations and post-apocalypse deserts. The weight of souls in the sand. Connection between inner and outer worlds. My favorie surreal artist is Zdislaw Bekskinski. Who's paintings are the biggest inspiration for me too. My idea is to extend visions but not to copy. Because paintings are always intuitive it makes them even stronger. It is a discovery of unconscious.

What kind of work you do and why?

I do dark, macabre, surreal paintings. Based on different but mixed techniques , experiments with textures , colors and forms. Oils, acrylics and rarely watercolors. Dark paintings are a part of 'shadow' behind the inner soul, an unconscious aspect of personality. I made a couple of comission works for music bands and there are alot of ideas to come.

I also have two ambient music projects which refflects different visual periods.

Abstract Paintings by Ella Marciello form Turin, Italy.

An Interview with Ella Marciello.

Who and from where are you?

I live and work in Turin, Italy, for the moment and I don't really like labels. I am a copywriter, a curious person, an artist and a mother.

How you got into this and What is your driving force?

I was born during a fall  night, in 1980. I completed my advanced scientific studies and when I was ready to choose for myself, I enrolled at the University of Liberal Arts in Turin. I find a balance between my love of art and writing combining the two with the concept of space: the boundaries of a page or a canvas. To overcome those limits, during my artistic career I  have explored different techniques and have eventually found my own artistic dimension halfway between informalism, abstract expressionism and matter painting. What isn’t (or not yet) expressible by words acquires the intrinsic connotation of art as seen in my eyes: deprived of any formal sense it encompasses every meaning in the artistic gesture, in the creative act itself. I draw inspiration from multiple and various influences: from the relationship between emotions and shades of colour to considering the body as a space and an instrument of art, from self-examination to the abstract visions of memories or human interactions. During the years I took part in several solo and group exhibitions and  I have been joining AUT (Artisti Uniti Torinesi) an artistic association which gathers painters and illustrators since 2013. Mygoal is to reveal the hidden beauty of the unconscious. 

What kind of work you do and why? 

I’ve always felt the need to communicate. I have never been  concerned about how I could manage to do it but I knew I had to. Art is a need, an  intrinsic necessity. I mostly do mixed media abstract works because I think there are so varied and wide worlds that form just becomes a limit.

I’m not interested in form. I’m interested in content, in matter, in emotions. My works are based on the emotions I feel while I paint, on memories, on human connections and interactions.

What I am, what I feel  during my creative process is the real artistic act.   What we see on the canvas is a simulacrum, it’s the shell of something  that has got lost and  that leaves this trace as evidence. It is not describable  by words and  expressible in no other ways but this one. What I try to do is to touch, to move something inside the viewer, without giving precise directions, through contrasts, colours and different media:  my purpose is to make that moment of introspection  come to light, the moment in which the public is intimately connected with my works of art.

Most of my paintings reflect general human states: they are linked to self- examination and  catharsis, to  the acknowledgement of the human condition and to the awareness of the process of time.

"I’ve always felt the need to communicate. I have never been  concerned about how I could manage to do it but I knew I had to. Art is a need, an  intrinsic necessity. I mostly do mixed media abstract works because I think there are so varied and wide worlds that form just becomes a limit. Abstract art is my idea of bearing reality."

Figurative Drawings by Neal D Rolinson from UK.

a moment in the making 

An Interview with Neal D Rolinson.

Who & from where are you?

Neal D Rolinson, living in Frome, Somerset, UK with my partner & two children.

How you got into this?

I've always drawn, from a young age my brother & I would draw with our father & I have fond & vivid memories from this period. Through my teenage years I attended college & university, venturing in various creative routes; life drawing, design, model making etc. After university reality kicked in. So for the fifteen years or so that followed I more or less stopped drawing & began observing life & began writing poetry. Then a few years ago I began drawing again, & it's like a switch has been thrown, it's has more purpose than ever to me.

What is your driving force?

Events & changes in your life trigger different reactions. Having children teaching them things awakens your own abilities & for me drawing is the one thing I've never doubted. This ultimately has inspired me to draw again, evoking memories of time spent drawing with my father.

What kind of work you do & why?

Figurative drawings that evoke emotions & movement. To create pieces that give you a powerful feeling back, to inspire others, & challenge artistic boundaries.

Tell us more about your drawings.

My drawings are about emotion, I layer lines to build characters. I chase movement, shape, mood & energy. I do not force my creativity by setting boundaries or restrictions, it has to be a flowing organic process. My pieces are captured moments & feelings, I rarely revisit or make alterations to them.

Sketches by Jahun Ku from South Korea.

From the Brush of Artist - I live in South Korea and my name is Jahun Ku. I majored in design in college, but I have been in business for almost 20 years. My life has changed a lot since I posted a picture on Instagram in the beginning of last year while I was meaningless. I have a passion for painting that I had forgotten and I am happy every day. Thanks to the love and encouragement of many people, I am happy to draw pictures. Currently I am interested in tattoo and learning.

Paintings by Clara Markstedt from Visby, Sweden.

An Interview with Clara Markstedt.

Who and from where are you?

My name is Clara Markstedt. I am 27 years old and come from Visby, Sweden.  

How you got into this?

I have always been fascinated with eyes and faces and started drawing portraits when I was 9 years old. I started painting portraits during high school in Texas, and have continued since then. Now I have my own business and have had several exhibitions.

What is your driving force?

I have a busy life as a full time business student and professional soccer player. Painting is my soul therapy and gives me great joy and relaxation. To be able to capture an emotion in someone’s eyes in a painting is so rewarding to me.

What kind of work you do and why?

I mostly paint large scale half abstract portraits. For me the most important thing is that the eyes come through like I want them to. If the eyes have life, then the rest can be more or less abstract. I like painting with big brushes or painting knives and I use a lot of colors. I can be very detailed but find it more interesting and challenging to paint abstract and leave out details for the viewer to fill in. I started painting with acrylics but now I only paint with oil colors. You need patience with oils but I love the texture and luster, which makes it worth the time it takes to finish a painting. I want my paintings to be the exclamation mark on the wall.

Paintings by Wanjin Gim from Seoul, Korea.

An Interview with Wanjin Gim.

Who and from where are you?

I am Wanjin Gim, I was born in 1981 in the Republic of Korea and am currently living in Seoul. I have been working as a nickname 'Willeys' and started sharing works with SNS from last year.

How you got into this?

I have been drawing since I was a child. After graduating from the Department of Animation at the Korea National University of Arts, I stopped the animation because I felt I did not fit in it. I have been working as a freelance filmmaker for several years and have painted what I wanted in a while. At that time, I did not work as vigorously as it is now, but it is clear that there was a desire for 'work that started from myself', not 'work done by others' in my mind. The longing has led me to the working environment now.

What is your driving force?

Until the beginning of last year I lived a stubborn life. I disregarded the advice of people around me to share my work with the SNS, and became an isolated island by insisting self-esteem. Looking back now, it was a worthless pride. In the beginning of last year, I began SNS due to a personal reason. I have shared my works over the next few months, and I was happy and excited about the people's reactions. The important thing is that I have become a person who influences others even if it is small. It changed my position from the days when I painted only for myself. As I grew up absorbing the inspiration of countless artists, it is my main mind now that I share my inspiration and talents with people and make the world a little bit better. I am still sharing my work with Instagram only, but am planning to open more diverse channels gradually.

What kind of work you do and why?

I usually paint nudes. Fascinated by Lucian Freud's paintings, I was mainly devoted to expressing the abstract curves of the human body and the infinite color of the surface of the flesh (I felt smells of flesh in his paintings). And then, in recent years, the idea has expanded to conceptual and meta-physical work. The point I consider about when I am planning my work is to express the spiritual dimension that exists beyond the surface of the skin. It is not physically perceptible, so it is interesting to be able to express freely. I am planning to study how to synthesize abstract and concept and continue my work.

Black and White Minimal Photography by Henry Shymonovych from Ukraine.

An Interview with Heather Freitas.

Who and from where are you?

My name is Henry Shymonovych, I’m a Ukrainian photographer and was born in ex-USSR, spending my childhood behind the Iron Curtain.

How you got into this?

I never actually liked to take pictures. It was back in the beginning of 2000’s when I got interested in IT, computes, and digital cameras – it was just a beginning of the era. So when I got my first salary, I bought me a Nikon which set me back over $1,000. A fortune back then! It was not a professional camera, but it had a decent level of flexibility, because all settings could be changed manually. The ‘film’ was free, and it was a good soil for experimenting. Then after a year of these experiments, I was introduced to two professional photographers, Vadim Kozlovsky, and Alexander Yudin – they kindly did the judgement of my works, and gave me a verdict that I should keep exploring: some of the pictures were good. Then came a better camera, then came first exhibitions, commercial shoots, books and a lot of enthusiasm – so I never left home without a camera (thankfully, all of us are equipped with phone cameras these days:) One day, my pictures were taken by Peace Corps for their Public Service Announcements campaign throughout the United States and used for advertising posters globally. So when I saw my work on a big screen on Times Square, I thought it is an honor, and obligation to keep going..

What is your driving force?

Admiring the beauty of this world. Nothing better has been created (or at least found yet) in this Universe. My camera allows me to be more active in seeing the world around and recording some precise situations, which are an inspiration.

What kind of work you do and why?

For years, I’ve been in photography business, shooting anything from people to interiors, from food porn to products, from reportage to commercials. But it was there on cold winter nights when I went out to shoot a combination of light, snow, trees, and objects created by humans that gave me ultimate satisfaction. Eventually, I think I developed a style which is a limitation on one hand, but makes my works stand out on the other – it is hard to compete in this world today. I think I can find a beauty and harmony in unexpected places, and I invite you to follow my example.

life Uninterrupted by G.H. Rabbath from Italy.

Bio

G.H. Rabbath Ph.D. uses writing and visual art as a performative and participative art action. He taught Cognitive Science and Art Theory in a Beirut University, and his Ph.D. Thesis was referenced in philosopher Jean Clam's Orexis. G.H. Rabbath engaged in several meta-artistic interventions in the art world since 2009 and the publication of 'Can One Man Save the (Art) World'. In 2010 he curated M. Obaidi’s latest show in Art Dubai along side publishing 'Mr Obaidi and the Fair Skies® Corporation' that addressed the neuroscience of racial bias in relation to conceptual art. In 2013 he launched The Better World Project, and on November 28, 2014, was part of the official festivities for the observance of the United Nations' International Year of Justice for the Palestinian People, at U.N. HQ in Beirut where he showed The Better World Project portraits of Palestinians as well as U.N. staff. As of October 2015 year, a special edition of edition of the Better World Project called Signing with Light can be seen in the recently published book The Gulf at OR books on behalf of the GulfLabor.org artist coalition fighting for the rights of migrant labor in the U.A.E. and Gulf countries. In 2016, he launched The Better World Project in Europe. Life Uninterrupted is his latest project using action painting to connect in real time with the viewer, and create a narrative together.

Concept

A large sheet of uninterrupted paper is unrolled in a space. The artist stand near it. People come up to the artist and tell him or give him something of theirs, and their actions and words are acted as semiotraces on the paper. People can choose to interact with the fresh paint of the semiotraces or leave them be. They can choose to interact with the artist, or the other people present or just keep their distance. Words are only spoken to the artist when when near the paper. New paper is unrolled in parallel spaces as more people choose to interact with the artist, until there is no space left.

This is life uninterrupted.