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Thursday, November 29, 2007

Interview with David Ruhlman

q) Introduce yourself first please?

a)My name is David Ruhlman. I was born in Stuttgart, Germany. I spent a good deal of my youth moving around. In my youth I lived in ten different states in a 12-year period. Spent the last ten years of my life in Salt Lake City, Utah.

q) How did you get into art?

a)Art was born in my blood. My younger brother Mathieu was quite influential. We would spend hours listening to strange music and try and make even stranger artwork. We made a few art zines together. My early drawings were surrealist influenced pen and ink drawings. I then went into a self-imposed exile and made these unusual hand-made books. Made over 40 books within a 2-year period. The last of these books I used gouache and thought that I should make something I could hang on my wall. I then started painting. I taught myself how to paint and have been painting with gouache on wood for the last 5 years. It has been within this time that I have shown the outside world the objects/paintings that I have been making.

q) Who has been the biggest influence on you?

a)I would again say my brother Mathieu. We would always try and outdo each other, and try and impress the other. The art and writings of Jean Dubuffet were very influential. A qoute of his that I love states "Art should always make people laugh a little and frighten them a little. Anything but bore them. Art has no right to be boring." He opened my eyes to an art that I was searching for. I also love reading artist/poet biographies. Rimbaud, Max Ernst and Edvard Munch are a few of my favorites.

q) Do you rule by any tendency in your creative work, or you only follow what comes in your mind?

a)I work intuitively. I think this goes back to being self-taught. I don’t have a lot of confinements placed on what I should or should not do with my artwork. I read a qoute that make sence to me "I paint what I want to see."

q) Do you have a preferred medium to work on? Why?

a)I would have to say gouache. I started with gouache and haven’t used anything else since. I tried oil and acrylic once, but didn’t like it. I have a love for found objects and collage material. I would still like to try etching or woodcuts in the future.

q) How much does your environment have an effect on your pictures?

a)Environment plays a big role. Salt Lake City has many advantages and disadvantages. It is a bizarre place. It has been helpful because you can be left alone and it isn’t too expensive to live. There are also some of the most beautiful terrain imaginable (Goblin Valley, Bryce Canyon.) My series “ the earth grows in each of us” came to me as I was hiking up in the canyons. There isn’t much of an art scene. It allows to work on your artwork without a lot of outside "noise." This is difficult at times. But there are some great artists here that unfortunately many others aren’t aware of. Salt Lake is a strange place inhabited by strange spirits.


q) Tell us about your studio space. Where do you work? Do you listen to certain types of music while working?

a)I work at my home. I haven’t ever thought of having a studio. My work is quite detailed so I don’t have a lot of paint going everywhere. I work on the floor with the board on the ground. This has been a bit difficult on my back as of late- will have to find something new soon. Oh, the music question. I always have music playing in the background. I usually listen to a wide varity of music.

q) Who are your favorite artists?

a)Jean Dubuffet, Wallace Berman, Paul Klee, Werner Herzog, Andrei Tarkosky, Joseph Beuys, Max Ernst, Windor McCay, Ivan Generalic , Hundertwasser, Steve Smith (oneiricrealism.com) Cein Watson, Camilla Engman, Sri Whipple.

q )When have you started using the internet and what role does this form of communication play for you, personally, for your art, and for your business?

a)My older brother made my site. It has been fantastic. It opened a whole world to me. I have been contacted from people in Italy, Iceland and Sweden who would have never seen my artwork. I enjoy contacting and being in contact with other artists. I have been able to sell a few of my paintings through my website. So that’s been great!!!
q) What books are on your nightstand?
a)The Roald Dahl Omnibus, The Road by Cormac McCarthy (which I just finished) and my journal (which I haven’t written in for 2 months)

q) What's playing on your stereo?

a)I have a five-disc player. My brother just released a fantastic album under Mathieu Ruhlmann called “The earth grows in each of us.” –AMAZING! Roy Orbison “In dreams”, MACHINEFABRIEK, Dr. John “Gris, Gris” Edward Artemiev- soundtracks.

q) Any interesting "rituals" before you start creating?

a)Not many. Always have to have music. I have used the same small cup for water and paint cloth for the last 5 years. I usually always paint in the morning or afternoon. I am not much of a night owl.

q) What is your favourite colour?

a)Blue - Yves Klein blue

q) What is the best time in the day for you to work on a project? Is there one, or is it more about the environment -- maybe the right mood?

a)See the answer above.

q) What projects mean a lot to you at the moment?

a)I just finished a triptych that I am very excited about. It was part of an anagram series that I have been working on. It started with a painting that I finished titled “The left hand of Edvard Munch is the right hand of God.” I photocopied the entire painting and then rearranged the images. I did this for 2 other paintings. I have been quite pleased with them. I hope to further this idea in the future. I haven’t had a chance to show them outside of a few friends and hope to be able to show them soon. I am also part of a small group show coming up. Artists submit a white painting, or whatever that means to them. I have three paintings. Should be interesting.
Thanks for your time.

q)Your contacts…

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Interview with Ricky Butler

q)Something on you ….

a)Ricky Butler
I graduated from Norwich School of Art and Design in 2003.
I am always working and building on my portfolio for
freelance illustration.
I work with mixed media and I am always using new materials
in my work, I like change within my work so I am always
looking for different ways of creating an image while
keeping my work conceptual.
My drawings and collage that I create are reworked digitally,
and I try to create a variety of texture and depth in my work
with the building up of layers.
Anything and everything seems to inspire me so my work is
a response to the world around me and the people in it, making
it contemporary as the (now) is very important within
my work and I like the idea of story telling

q) When did you start to make art?

a)I started at a young age, it was the only thing I was really interested in.
I just seem to have always done it now!

q)Explain your inspiration?
a)I’d say just the things around me, there is a lot going on at the moment.
Life.
q) In what way does your inspiration transform into ideas?

a)I guess its a different take, a more exaggerated take on what my inspiration was if that makes sense

q) Could your ideas be portrayed in any other medium? If so which?

a)I find a have a real mixed way of working, my process changes from one image to another so I guess I try to see my work working in different ways.

q) What does being an artists mean to you?

a)That’s a hard one, I think to me it’s my passion so I can take purpose in it.

q) When does your art become successful?

a)I just work it our with whoever I’m working for.

q) What is your next; move,project,show etc?

a)I plan to make the Flyapart collective bigger with more members and projects between those members, just re designing website at the moment.
I’m always doing other small bits like a collaboration with an italian artist Falvio and I’m doing some illustration in a australian book of creative writing. Just try to keep busy!

q) What are the pros and cons of the art market?

a)Pros, I enjoy it! Cons money and time

q) Which pieces would you like to be remembered for?

a)Don’t think I’m their yet!!

q) Who has been the biggest influence on you?

a)Hard to say, its hard not to be influenced.

q) How much do you think hype affects the public perception of what good art is?

a)Ye, supposed it keeps it moving

q) Last CD you downloaded ?

a)Envy

q) What makes you happy?

a)Reading books I don’t understand

q) What makes you sad?

a)Not a great deal, I’d say wast, ye wasting stuff gets me.

q) Last book you read?

a)One about spartans, interesting!

q)What else do like other than art?

a)Comedy.
Beer from Yorkshire
Music er... good films.

q) Final thoughts...

a)I have poor English

q)Your contacts…

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Interview with Mathew Newton

q) When did you start to make art?

a)I showed a crayon drawing that I made when I was six in a talk recently so I guess maybe around then, It’s one I’m very proud of.

q) Explain your inspiration?

a)I’m inspired by not being inspired, boredom, aspiration and failure, trying to fit in.

q) In what way does your inspiration transform into ideas?

a)I think about things and then think again and then think about how these things relate to other things and then think about was is important in these things and think about what I want to say about these things and what I would be prepared to say about these things.

q) Could your ideas be portrayed in any other medium? If so which?

a)They could be but I still have a lot of ground to cover using drawing, painting and printmaking, so I tend to stick with these. I occasionally make sculptural work and have experimented with animation.

q) What does being an artist mean to you?

a)It’s something that I’m learning to accept. It’s not the best career path.

q) When does your art become successful?

a)For myself it is when I feel like I can’t work on it anymore, but this can create it’s own sense of failure.

q) Who prices your work? And how is the price decided upon?

a)I price the work myself, taking into consideration past sales and prices and how attached to a piece of work I feel. Pricing work is nortoriously difficult, you can under-price something and feel shitty if it sells or overprice something and it not sell and wish that you put a lower value on it.

q) What is your next; move, project, show etc?

a)I am working on a project with my friend Francisco Lobo that will take the form of an installation exploring the success and failure of immersive art works. It will include Francisco’s prints and constructions and a series of my mirror paintings.
I will take part in an exhibition at Ferreira Projects in London opening on December 6th and plan to show with the Whitecross gallery in London in February.

q) What are the pros and cons of the art market?

a)The London art scene can be very commercial which is a reflection of the London art market, too few people can afford to buy art and too many of the people who have the money are too influenced by hyped-up galleries and artists and see art as a financial investment or as decoration to match their designer sofa, or as a means to gain some kind of perceived status. On the good side there are still collectors that collect for the love of it.




q) Which pieces would you like to be remembered for?

a)I haven’t made them yet, I hope.

q) Who has been the biggest influence on you?

a)Friends and family, The People I meet.

q) Other visual artists that you like…

a)Chris Ware, Francisco Lobo, Emma Rendel, Matti Hagelberg, Andrea Buttner, Stephan Balkenhol, Thomas Smith, Lena Cronqvist, Francisco Goya, David Raymond Conroy, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Hieronymus Bosch, Bevis Martin and Charlie Yule, Bill Traylor…

q) How much do you think hype affects the public perception of what good art is?

a)1,000,000

q) Last CD you downloaded ?

a)The latest CD I listened to was Jonathon Richman Goes Country, which was a nice birthday gift.

q) What makes you happy?

a)Friendships, fireworks, snow, Finland, swimming, riding bikes, smoking.



q) What makes you sad?

a)Money, smoking.

q) Last book you read?

a)Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol

q) What else do like other than art?

a)The things that makes me happy, movies, music, books, TV.

q) Final thoughts...

a)Not yet.



q) Your contacts…

a)
www.mathewnewton.com
mathew.newton@alumni.rca.ac.uk

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Interview with Katy Horan

q) When did you start to make art?

a)I've been drawing since before I can even remember. It was just a natural thing for me, so I guess the answer is always. I remember losing myself in drawing when I was very young. I always felt like anything was possible when I drew...like I could create my own world.

q)Explain your inspiration?

a)It's pretty random really. It could be a song or a patterned fabric I see on the street. The big ones right now are folk and outsider art, bluegrass music, folklore and mythology and storybook illustration. There are a million others, but those re pretty important.

q) In what way does your inspiration transform into ideas?

a)It's pretty subconscious. I will see or hear something that I like and it will sit in the back of my mind until it is ready to be used. It all kind of get's mushed together when it comes out, so it's hard to pinpoint the origin of an idea.

q) Could your ideas be portrayed in any other medium? If so which?

a)I'd like to think so. The artists I really admire are able to work in various media while maintaining a cohesive vision. I struggle with keeping my focus with one medium because I am interested in so many. I would love to make animations, theater sets or puppets. It would be great to see my imagery come to life. I am beginning to incorporate book making into my work, which I really love.

q) What does being an artists mean to you?

a)Not sure what it means except that it's what I feel I am meant to do (as cheesy as that sounds). It's sort of a natural state of being and seeing.

q) When does your art become successful?

a)Not sure. I think a lot of us are never satisfied with our work. That's what keeps us going for our entire lives. So maybe we never feel "successful". If I were to attempt to define "success" I'd say it's when galleries and buyers want you to make whatever you want to make…When you're trusted completely to do your thing.

q) Who prices your work? And how is the price decided upon?

a)I do. I just think about the general price range of the gallery, the size of the piece and how long it took me to make it. In the end though, I usually ask myself, how much would someone actually pay for this thing?

q) What is your next; move,project,show etc?

a)I am in a group show at White Walls gallery in San Francisco in Dec. That's what I'm working on now.


q) What are the pros and cons of the art market?


a)I still feel that I am new to the market. There are so many levels and I am at the bottom, so I don't really know anything about it yet. I guess that some people can make a really good living with their work (that's a pro), but most artists hardly make any money (that's a con).

q) Which pieces would you like to be remembered for?

a)I don't think I've made them yet

q) Who has been the biggest influence on you?

a)My grandfather who was a pleantologist and artist taught me the importance of storytelling, history and mythology. My Step grandmother taught me about Frida Kahlo and what it means to be a woman who makes art. As far as artists go Ralph Steadman has been a huge influence on me since I was a teenager.

q)Other visual artists that you like…

a)There are a lot, but right now I am into Clare Rojas, Jeana Sohn, Amy Cutler, Marcel Dzama, Richard Coleman, Evan B Harris, Kathleen Lolley, Camille Rose Garcia, Chris Duncan, Hanna Liden, Alex Lukas, Xander Marro, Michaela O' Herlihy, Merrilee Challis, Kelly Lynn Jones and on and on and on…. I think there's some amazing narrative work being made these days and I am really excited by it! There are some old guys that I love though like Joseph Cornell and Henry Darger.

q) How much do you think hype affects the public perception of what good art is?

a)Good question. I want to say way too much especially in the more established markets like in NY. The more emerging art scenes in San Francisco, LA, Portland etc are more open minded and interested in fresh talent and that is very reaffirming.

q) Last CD you downloaded ?a)I think it was an audiobook…Toni Morrison. I really like audiobooks.

q) What makes you happy?

a)Stories, dogs, food
q) What makes you sad?

a)The news

q) Last book you read?

a)The Road by Cormac Mcarthy…the most beautiful, sad, disturbing and moving book ever.

q) What else do like other than art?

a)I really like to bake and crochet.

q) Final thoughts...

a)Interview questions are harder to answer than you'd think.

q)Your contacts…