Mike Ozolnieks

"When I'm working I have to constantly take a step back and look at it from far way. I'll occasionally walk away and do something else because sometimes that first glance when walking back into the studio will tell you everything you need to know about your painting. "

In his paintings, Mike O. provides a variety of contrasting elements that require the viewer to take time with the work and establish their own ideas of where and why connections take place within the piece. The sheer size of the work and the layers of information that are discovered in each painting provoke a real cerebral and emotional experience.

GE: Most of your imagery is very interpretive - why do you feel this is important to your work?

Oil on Canvas. 2011

MO: I used to always have the problem of being too literal with the message I was trying to convey to the viewer. In my more recent paintings, I have tried to become more suggestive and only put things in that are essential to what I’m trying to say. I like to think of interpretation as a way for the artist to let the viewer in on a story about them, it’s humbling. It’s not always easy for me to openly tell everyone about what I am painting about. It also becomes more than just looking at a painting and seeing it for a piece of canvas with paint on it. It’s about stepping into the work and creating an individual interpretation of what it’s about. It makes the painting different to everyone who looks at it; in that sense it is really never just one painting about one thing.

GE: Given the size that you work on, what do you feel is the most challenging thing about working on such a large-scale painting?

MO: When I started working with Ed Smith a couple years ago he had me work on paintings that were about 10' x 6'. I hadn'’t had an extensive amount of experience with oil and I had never worked very big. When he showed me the wall he wanted me to work on, I thought to myself, "Yeah Ed, sick joke." Looking back, it was a way of learning how to swim by being tossed into the pool, and I am so grateful for that. It has helped me so much because now large-scale paintings don’t seem very big at all in comparison to those first canvases. I have grown to love working on a big scale, but with it I’'ve had to learn how to create a relationship with the space. The hardest part in the beginning was always keeping composition in mind no matter what I wanted to include in the painting. It's like getting a new room and trying to figure out the best place for everything. I've also learned by looking at other work that every inch of the canvas doesn'’t need to be highly worked over, as long as it all works together. When I'm working I have to constantly take a step back and look at it from far way. One area could look great until I step back and see it just doesn't fit at all. I'll occasionally walk away and do something else because sometimes that first glance when walking back into the studio will tell you everything you need to know about your painting. Shooting pictures while I work on a painting has always been helpful for me too.

GE: Considering you are presently working on multiple pieces, what about working on a number of pieces at the same time do you like as opposed to the cycle of finishing one work and beginning the next?

MO: I never used to work on multiple pieces even though professors had always told me to. I'd get so wrapped up in one work that it was hard to think beyond it until I was finished. I have learned that working on several pieces can help open up a door to one of them that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. I used to work on a painting until I would go crazy and never want to look at it again. Having multiple pieces lets me take a break from one and sometimes just vent onto another piece of canvas - oddly enough sometimes that becomes my best work. It has become so beneficial for me because I always like to be working and now I can do that without getting stuck at a dead end on just one of them. I am at my best when I can get momentum and always come into the studio with something I'm excited to work on. It’s so important to me to always make my next painting better than my last and have that outlet to just keep pushing forward.

GE: Which artists are you inspired by?

Oil on Canvas. 2011

MO: This has always been a tough question for me because I tend to find specific pieces from varying artists that I fall in love with, but it's not always about one specific artist; I am the same with my music. Although, ever since I have seen one of J.M.W. Turner'’s paintings in person I have become a huge fan. He has the ability to create beautiful suggestive landscapes with large strokes and flowing colors, but then he'll have detailed areas of the painting that are so developed and intricate. I have always wanted to be able to do that in my work, so it is only natural that his paintings have become inspiration for me. Recently, I have tried to use a more textured style of painting that mirrors the work of Jasper Johns. He fills the space in such an interesting way that he really has no need for imagery in his work at all, his textures are just incredibly successful. I have started to also check out a lot of work by Robert Longo and Anselm Kiefer. I find artwork in all different kind of styles appealing, and I think that’s the beauty of art. I'll always try to take something away from a painting even if I don't like it - there’s always something to learn, even if it’s what not to do. In general, when looking at master painters throughout history, I tend to enjoy the early work they did before they became the well-known artists we know them as today.

GE: How are you hoping to incorporate art into your life after college?

MO: The million dollar question. I think every artist has been asked the wonderful question, "So what do you wanna do?" The real answer is attend graduate school, that's at least what I tell my parents to keep them off my back for now. In looking at it as a general question I honestly see myself working in the world of branding or some form of graphic design. In high school, we were able to design the logo for the school play, after that I was hooked. My work has been very involved in both digital media and studio art. The day will come when I have to probably choose one and I am not excited for that. In a perfect world I would love to paint just because it has become such a part of my life and I don't know how I will do without it. Art will always be a part of my life, just as it has been for as long as I can remember.  It is something I cannot get away from even if I wanted to. If I don't end up having a career in the art field, the foundation that art has given me will always be a part of my work. To be honest, I love not knowing what I’ll be doing after I graduate, all the doors are open for me.

Oil on Canvas. 2011

GE: What do you think it takes to become a successful contemporary artist in today's art world?

MO: I always feel so grateful for the kind of work environment that our studio [Marist College Steel Plant] has. This place has become a home because of the people that have been here to help me get to where I am today. This studio has prepared me for working in the real world, but I won't have those people to tell me why my painting looks so bad and how I can fix it. I think that always being a student of the arts in order to gain knowledge and use that knowledge to help progress your work is extremely important to becoming a successful artist. I like how Pam Avril mentioned in her Graphic Echo interview about creating a personal vocabulary and history to support you. I have a lot of sketchbooks that have filled up over the years and they are the heart and soul of what I do. They are there to always remind me what my work is about and where I've come from.

GE: Given that we live in an era where the definition of art has become utterly ambiguous, do you think that for an object to be considered art it needs to be aesthetically pleasing?

MO: I think the role of an artist is to make something that is visually strong. It is important that when making a piece of art, the intention is to make something that people want to look at. It is always important to provoke an emotional response from the artwork, but I still believe it has to be aesthetically pleasing because you have to see it to feel it. I have always had a struggle between conveying the message I want to get across to the viewer while still thinking about creating a painting that is visually pleasing. Artists that blur the line of what is art, or make something that isn’'t aesthetically pleasing just to say they can isn’t something I am a huge fan of. Being an artist does include sometimes pushing the boundaries and doing something no one has done before. However, there are fundamentals of art that need to considered. I think it goes back to the respect for the arts and being able to still consider something's composition, use of color, technique, etc. If someone doesn'’t take the time to consider all of those things then they are not making a piece of art.  

Oil on Canvas. 2011

GE: Because we are all influenced by other artists and acquire ideas from other artwork, some say that unadultered originality in art is dead. Do you believe this to be true?

MO: I refuse to believe that is true. If it is then we should all close up shop and become art historians. Most, if not all, artists reference past work and use it to help improve their own work. I think that is so important, but it’s about reflecting your own style off of what has been done before. When artists put their own twist on past work there is an infinite amount of possibility for originality. Everyone has a story to tell, and everyone has a different way of telling it. A lot of my work is based off of family and my own experiences. I am not the first to paint about family and personal experiences, nor will I be the last. At the same time, no one will ever have the same relationship with them that I have; the same goes for any other relationship someone has with another person that has impacted their life. My work is a way for me to show how grateful I am for what they have given me. Art gives me that outlet to show what is important to me. Work that is a personal passion will always be original, and no one can take that away from artwork with meaning and heart as its inspiration.

Pamela Avril

"Painting is not an easy path. But you start to build your own history, a vocabulary of your own personal language that you have to fall back on. It gets easier when you have that to draw yourself out from." 

By applying the traditions of Western painting to images of ancient Eastern deities, Pamela Avril fuses the long histories of two very different cultures. Her mark-making creates circuits of thin colored lines that run throughout her paintings like veins, connecting each part of the piece with its whole body. This visualization of connectivity aligns with the ideas she is looking to explore, particularly the degrees of honesty within our consciousnesses as well as what unifies us all as human beings on this earth.

GE: When did you first start painting images of Eastern religious iconography? What sparked your interest in this subject? 
PA: Prior to 2008, I had been painting portraits of contemplatives and studies of my daughter for about a decade. For a decade before that, I had been working much more abstractly and gestural, but even then (about 20 years ago at this point) Eastern imagery would come into play in my work in a very disguised way, although it was too abstract to be read as such. Working with these images in a more direct way is new, starting in 2008. I've always been interested in Eastern culture, music, art and philosophy. I think I actually bought one of the first yoga books that came to the United States in the early 80's.

Rain, Oil on Canvas. 2011

GE: In 2008, there was a significant shift in your approach to painting. What triggered this effect?

PA: For about a decade before 2008, I was doing a lot of investigation of ways to paint from observation. I had been painting abstractly for about 20 years, but I still enjoyed realism. I learned a lot from that period of time. In my journey, I have wiped out any thoughts of hierarchy in painting (i.e. abstract vs. realism). A major influence was that both my kids had an interest in music and I loved to go to their lessons. The teacher would talk about one note being slightly flat. I thought, why should it be different with painting? Painting is like learning to play an instrument, with hours and hours of technical training. This showed me that I needed to keep working and keep training in order to find my voice – to find out how to speak about the things that really matter to me. I knew I needed to keep going and eventually, things started to flow. Work begets work.

GE: Light is very clearly presented as an important element in your pieces. What role does light play in the Eastern religions you are representing?

Birthing Worlds, Oil on Canvas. 2011

PA: Meditation where you visualize certain lights is an important practice in many Eastern religions. Some of my images merge from meditative states and light does come into those visionary aspects. Of course, light is also a metaphor for enlightenment. In terms of painting, I've always been interested in light. In my early studies, I fell in love with Impressionism and its depiction of light in painting.

GE: Given that your figures and their backgrounds become so much a part of each other, do you base your palette and energy of a painting off the figure? Or do you first create the atmosphere of the painting and then incorporate the figure? (Which came first, the chicken or the egg?)

PA: Most of them were the figure first. They begin in my mind more like portraits. The background becomes a radiation of the meaning of that particular figure. Some of them go through many changes throughout the process. I'm inventive as I go; they are painted much in the same manner as abstract painting, which is to dive in and let the process take over. Finding out how it should come into being comes through the process - it's a letting go. I have to let go of what it is I think I want.

Preserver, Oil on Canvas. 2011

GE: Do you ever become frustrated with the way a painting is developing? How do you cope with this frustration?

PA: Yes, it happens regularly. Although there are times when it is nothing but easy and I've had times where I felt, can it really be as easy as this? Those are the times it turns out that others respond to the work most. You can't have expectations and you can't have fear - it's a gradual unfolding of saying yes. When we have expectations and fears of opinions, we prevent ourselves from what we really want to do. Frustration can be excruciating, how deep it can feel. It's like a self-imposed prison we are putting ourselves in. Painting is not an easy path. But you start to build your own history, a vocabulary of your own personal language that you have to fall back on. It gets easier when you have that to draw yourself out from.

GE: What are the advantages of working from a model as opposed to a photograph?

Floating Mountains, Oil on Canvas. 2011

PA: I much prefer a model if it can be accommodated, but the trouble is that it's not always possible. If you're looking at something that has already been transcribed into 2-D, you are only looking at a portion in terms of tone and color. Especially digital imagery really simplifies tone and color. Yes, it is easier to work from 2-D because the decisions are already made for you. When working from life, you decide for yourself what colors, what light. In a photo, the flesh might appear in browns - if we looked at each other, we see pinks and blues. Now if I have to use a photo, I can imagine colors with my memory from working with life. Also, the pressure of time that comes with working with a model is really riveting. The pressure that you put yourself under produces the energy of creating. In a way, it's like a furnace. Pressure can help.

Angie Carafas

"There was a point where I felt like I was being pulled in so many different directions without ever liking any of them enough to follow; I would become lost.  I kept on working through it all and it kept my mind and hands busy until I was able to figure it all out."

As an artist who likes to try her hand in many types of artistic media, 
Angie Carafas is no one trick pony. She has proved herself to be a true storytelling via the means of both animation and photography. While her cartoon characters act out the wacky, comedic adventures drawn from her imagination, her photography narrates a history of a lost people and offers to its viewers a contemplation of time.

GE: Considering you’ve worked in an extensive variety of arts media, which medium do you feel most comfortable with and/or plan to pursue a career in?


AC: I suppose for me it's not a matter of comfort. I like to think I'm fairly comfortable with any medium I’ve tried. Whether I'm very good at them is another matter, but being a very task oriented person, as long as I'm creating something, I'm happy. What I love most is drawing. Somehow my method or love for the medium has led me to animation. Oddly enough, I think I first became aware of it as a creative option in my attempt to stave off boredom in my liberal arts classes. I'd draw pictures on the edges of my notes and then try to make them "move" by quickly flipping through the pages. One thing led to another and suddenly I found myself wanting to make a career of it.



GE: Do you feel there is any hierarchy in different arts media - that a specific medium is considered a “higher” art than another form?

AC: I am not of the mindset that any type of art holds certain superiority over another. In my opinion, graffiti can be just as aesthetically valuable as any painting or sculpture. In terms of material worth in the art world, perhaps this doesn't hold true, but I believe different types of art influences people and society in different ways - you can't look at everything through the same lens. I try not to be prejudiced against any media; however, my own opinion of what I define and consider being art probably ends up leading me down that road.



GE: Your shiny-eyed, pig-tailed animation character – where did that concept come from?

AC: That creature came about as a series of doodles on an expo-marker board in my kitchen. It’s supposed to be used for notes, but I only doodle on it and this character in particular actually started out as a stick figure. It slowly involved into a stick figure with teeth and then a stick figure with a large mouthful of teeth and buggy eyes until it formed into a short pudgy creature that exclaimed whatever messages I needed to write down at the time. I didn't intend to develop a usable character from it, but I ended up forming something akin to an obsession. One day I decided to sit down and draw it out on paper. I suppose because of the length of time and amount of "drafts" it took me to develop it, the creature acquired a strong presence I sought out in my animated characters. Because of its comical proportions I decided to design an animation short around it. 

Essentially the story goes that you see this creature walking along a forest path. It stops when it finds a cupcake on the ground. It keeps walking and finding cupcakes until it stumbles upon a unicorn in a meadow where it watches the unicorn poop out the very same cupcakes it's been eating throughout the short. I can't even begin to tell you where this story concept came from or what the story infers about my mind.



GE: What animations from history do you admire most?


AC: Everybody and their mother would probably tell you Disney is it, as far as animation goes. Their movies are so iconic and account for a lot childhood memories. For me, though, I've always held a special spot for the old Looney Tunes animated by Chuck Jones. Looking back now watching Jerry shatter a wine bottle on a table to stab Tom in the bum probably isn’t kosher for a kid to watch by today's standard but I still love watching those same shows years later. 



GE: Your images of archaic columns have a mysterious nature to them. Can you discuss how these were created and/or what your goals were with these images were?


AC: This image is part of a series of photographs I created while in Venice for a summer abroad program I was accepted into through the Marist College Art Dept. The layout of Venice is both beautiful and kind of sad. It holds a lot of memories and the imprints of times long past. I think coming from New York makes the impact a little more intense – you’re coming from an extremely modern metropolis to a comparatively tiny area that still struggles with the idea of television. Walking through the decaying and aging streets of Venice put into perspective for me the issue of time and the human condition. I wanted to convey the reaction the architecture stirred in me to people back home, namely its relationship between time and the cycle of life and death.

GE: Do you like to share your works in progress with an audience/ fellow artists, or do you prefer to wait until a work is completed to present it to others? Do you think its important get feedback from others while a work is in progress?



AC: I suppose it depends on what I'm trying to do. For my animations I love getting feedback all the time. The most vital part to an animation for me is the crowds’ reaction. So to have different opinions throughout the whole process on the characters I'm developing or the composition of my storyboard panels, helps tremendously. In other instances like with a drawing or painting and sometimes with the technological side of animating I might try to keep the project close to my chest if know people won’t understand or see it in the manner I'm trying to portray until it develops further. In some cases everything doesn't come together until the near end and then I'll have people critique what works and what doesn't and work on from there. All in all though, constructive criticism is an important part of my work process. It doesn't necessarily mean I'll listen to what people have to say but I like knowing others thoughts all the same.



GE: How do you feel you’ve grown as an artist since beginning your professional studies?

AC: I suppose I’m more confident and driven in a way. When I first started out, I was timid and shy - maybe even a little fearful when it came to my work. I was scared to make mistakes. I remember the common worry of the time was, “What if it doesn’t come out right”? 

 I recall becoming really discouraged if a piece didn’t turn out exactly the way I intended. The problem was that I was too close to my work; I couldn’t step back and separate myself from it. I became to easily attached and it impaired my ability to experiment and thus learn, consequently blocking me from working on anything at all for periods of time. It’s been quite the process of trying to loosen up over the years, but I’m better for it and that “fear” has long since been abolished, though I’ll admit at times the old habit returns. My overall mindset, however, toward my methodology has changed and when those obsessive moments occur I can catch myself. It’s also helped a lot that I now have an idea of what I want to pursue. There was a point where I felt like I was being pulled in so many different directions without ever liking any of them enough to follow; I would become lost.  I kept on working through it all (even knowing then that the majority of what I produced was probably crap) and it kept my mind and hands busy until I was able to figure it all out.  So yeah, I’d say I’ve grown… maybe a better appreciation for my abilities and what I want to become and strive for in this life.

Ian Wickham

“Standing before a work that spans an entire wall, completely filling your vision, is like a 

declaration of ‘Look, I think I have 

something important to say.’”

With the use of long brushstrokes, Ian Wickham is conscious of creating the sense of a gravitational downward pull in many of his paintings. This downward motion contrasts with the strong and muscular figures that seem to want to rip right out the surface of the canvas. His vibrant palette is essential to his subject matter with plenty of red tones to agree with the aggressive nature of the imagery and style.

GE: Why have you chosen painting 
as your primary fine art medium?

IW: I've been drawing since I was a child and to a lesser degree, painting as well. There's something about drawing though that puts me in a more analytic mind state. It's a form of art that allows me to develop ideas rather than create finished pieces. Painting on the other hand has a more visceral feeling. In a sense, it lets me stop thinking so much about every line and really get into the creative process. There is something immediate about painting that allows you to quickly work, step back, evaluate what you’ve done, and continue. I’m not a fan of creative processes that take a lot of time and effort, such as printmaking. For me at least, painting is a spontaneous outpouring of my thought process. It lets me quickly work something up, analyze the issues and then make changes.

­GE: You tend to work on large canvases. What is it about large scale that you like?
IW: I think I gravitate towards work that is on a slightly larger scale because I find as a viewer, larger works tend to have more of an impact. There is something about artists that work on a large scale that I feel carries a statement of their ego and aggressiveness. Standing before a work that spans an entire wall, completely filling your vision, is like a declaration of “Look, I think I have something important to say.” I think when it comes to artwork, I have a pretty big ego, and this plays into my choice of size.

GE: Where does your imagery come from? Do you have a vision of your end-product or are you making it up as you go along?

IW: My paintings tend to lean towards a sort of a raw, almost unfinished look. I lean towards abstraction, but often can’t help myself from putting in some kind of figure or recognizable object. I don’t regard myself as an angry, aggressive person, but my imagery has a certain implied violence that I keep returning to. I think I like the idea of struggle within an image, something that works on a subconscious level. 

GE: How does your digital work relate to your studio work?
IW: My digital work has certain aspects that reflect my studio side, often in terms of somewhat darker subject matter. But I also think that I try to mainstream what I do in digital work because I feel like it’s more of a commercial endeavor as opposed to pure expression.

­GE: As an artist who is well versed in the digital side of things, do you think it’s important for all of today’s artists to learn artistic software and web programming?
IW: I think it’s highly important to have at least a basic knowledge of digital tools at this point. Even if it’s just for self-representation purposes, at least you are in control of how your website is going to look or how you want prints of your work to come out. I also think that divide between Fine Arts and Digital Arts is shrinking. Digital tools have so much sophistication at this point that it can be very difficult to tell if something was painted on a canvas or in a Painter-style program with a pen and tablet.

­GE: I understand your parents are artists. How has that influenced your choice of study/artwork?
IW: Yes, both my parents have Masters in Fine Arts and both are painters. I think my work has similarities to both of their styles, with a more thoughtful, analytic approach that my father takes being evident in my drawings. My mother works more abstractly and freely and I think this is much more like my painting. They were always extremely encouraging of anything related to art and often gave me lessons. They were also critical when it came to showing final products and I think this made me at least a little resilient to the critique process. I think towards the end of what would have been high school for me, they allowed me much more freedom to do art as opposed to other academic work. I think this was somewhat pivotal in my choice to study art in college.

­GE: In today’s competitive world, what do you think an artist needs to do to capture the viewer’s attention?
IW: Becoming what we would consider a successful artist in today’s world is one of the most difficult things to do. We live in an era that is not the most conducive to starting artists. There isn’t a style of the times that you can latch onto to become “well known” - which is in itself a kind joke because well known in the art world is not the same as being a famous musical artist or actor. I think what is important right now is doing work that’s really going to say something about the artist. There is so much work out there, and so many working artists that exceptionally skilled in technique, it can be disheartening to many young people that might think it’s impossible to get into the Fine Arts field. But, I honestly think that creating work that comes right from your gut, something very individual and personal will cut through a lot of gimmicks and tricks that may initially appear enticing.

Caroline Skjong-Nilsen

“All in all, I will always draw and paint and build a portfolio of what ever comes to mind.”

In the creative watercolors and drawings of Caroline Skjong-Nilsen, the wide variety of colorful elements seem to dance around the composition, allowing her work to really come to life. Each piece of Caroline's is strange and beautiful in its own right and leaves the viewer to wonder about her imagination: what else is in there?

GE: Your imagery is very imaginative – where/how do you come up with your stuff?

Say What?, Charcoal & Colored Pencil. 2011

CSN: The majority of my artwork comes from work I have discovered online or other artist's work I have become fond of. Of course I add a twist to it by adding a creative design or using Rosemaling swirls, which are flowers that come from my Norwegian background

GE: As someone who works with artist’s books as a medium, what do you find so interesting about them and/or why do you like working with them?
CSN: I enjoy using books as a medium because it is somewhat a 3-D design I created. I like the idea of my portfolio or a series of my work in a small or large neatly organized binding. I am not the most organized person in the world but creating these books is a challenge, which takes my art to another level for me.

Rosemaling, Watercolor. 2011

GE: Are you attempting to work in the style of any particular artist? What artists influence your work?
CSN: I really enjoy the art of Conrad Roset. He is an amazing Spanish watercolor artist I discovered on the internet; he has influenced a lot of my watercolors. Marion Bolognesi also is another influence I adore. As everyone knows I am obsessed with eyes; his work is something that I would love to study more, particularly his use of colors and technique.

In My Head, Charcoal & Colored Pencil. 2011

GE: How would you describe your own style?
CSN: Loose, colorful with bold black outlines. I like my subjects to be defined and I have always enjoyed my use of different and bright colors to de­scribe my personality because I although I may come across as shy person when in reality, I'm a burst of energy.

GE: What kind of art career are you hoping to attain after college?
CSN: I sadly am still thinking of what I truly want to pursue in life after my college experience. As of right now, I am working for an editor for Idoll magazines. Working with magazines and somewhat in the fashion industry is something that I find exciting and will always keep me busy. Or something with photography, which my sister has a small business and I would love to help her grow and succeed with. All in all, I will always draw and paint and build a portfolio of what ever comes to mind.

Eye, Charcoal & Colored Pencil. 2011

GE: Abstract art vs. realism – does one have more value than the other and why or why not?
CSN: I respect abstract and realism art. I tend to lean more towards the realism art more because I truly envy how people could paint like that. I believe realism has more value to it because of the natural ability the artist has to make anyone as real as possible through drawing or painting.

Joan Moffitt

"As artists, we need to be conscious of creating archival work that will inspire future generations. There is no substitute for skill and hard work."

Although the artist is working with the figure, Joan Moffitt's sculptures are incredibly reminiscent of the caves and rock formations of dry landscape. The organic lines and surface of her pieces look as if it were nature itself that molded them. It is the deep, dark cavities of her sculptures that bring the work to light.

GE: After working with 2-D pieces for a long period of time, you completely immersed yourself into sculpture work this year. When did the shift occur and why?

Untitled, 2011. Structolite Plaster

JM: People tell me I spend too much time “in my head”, which is true.  Sculpture takes me out of my head.  When I’m sculpting, I literally have my hands in my work - I love that.  The tactile nature of making sculpture keeps me engaged and alert in the studio.  Making large sculptures, it’s physically exhausting, which I like.  I find that I have a good rapport with my sculptures because of that physical connection; I carry them around, trip over them in the studio and lean on them when I’m tired.  Making sculpture is more literal than painting I think.   A sculpture will literally crack and break if I put too much emphasis on its weight-bearing element.  A painting will sit on the wall and stare at you until you scream, but a sculpture will talk to you.  Besides, sculptors use the coolest tools; knives, fire, power tools… 

GE: Where do you draw your inspiration from? / What artists are you influenced by?
JM: My work is inspired/ driven by my internal life much more than then the physical world.  I am inspired by the books that I read (Flannery O’Connor is my favorite author) and by my faith.  I grew up in the Catholic tradition, which gives me a wealth of  images and subject matter to work with.   There are many artist’s whose work I admire, Michelangelo, Goya, Giacometti, and Elizabeth Murray just to name a few.  Right now I am quite taken with the work of Raoul Hague and Stephen De Staebler.   Another important influence are the artists/mentors in my own life whose work I admire, in particular Ed Smith and Lindsay McCulloch, they have had a substantial impact on my work and my life. 

Untitled, 2011. Structolite Plaster

GE: What kind of emotions do you believe play into your work?
I suppose all of my emotions play into my work in one way or another, whether I am consciously aware of it or not.   Anger is my most valuable emotion in the studio, which may sound strange but anger can be a great motivator, it cuts through procrastination like a knife.   Anger always trumps fear, fatigue and frustration and enables me to make big, bold, and fearless moves and that’s when things really start rolling.  I am fascinated by the relationship between creation and destruction. Sometimes, I practically destroy a piece in order to understand its true nature and make something worthy out of it.

GE: Do you work on multiple pieces at a time?
JM: I do.  I find that when I have multiple projects in the works at one time keeps things from becoming too precious. When I’m bored or frustrated with a piece I can leave it alone for a while and work on another. Sometimes the little side projects I start as a distraction turn into some my best pieces.

GE: Do your pieces often come out the way you envisioned them or is the final product a result of a variety of twists and turns? Are you always satisfied with the finished product?

Figure Study, 2011. Terracotta

JM: I find that the look of a piece might change greatly from inception to completion, but the sentiment or truth I attempt to professes through a piece remains constant and often becomes clearer and purer as I work.  That’s the curious thing about making art, sometimes I don’t know exactly what I believe or what I’m trying to express until I see it front of me in the form of a sculpture, drawing or print.  It’s almost like seeing a piece of myself outside myself, which is a startling experience.  So I try not to be stubborn and let surprises, twist, and turns occur where they may.  I think that’s the only way to get to the heart of things.   I remind myself to let go and let things happen so I can get to that place where “thinking does not proceed doing” as Guston says.  As for the finished product, I’m rarely satisfied. 

GE: New York City is considered by many to be the capital of the art world - what about the NY art scene do you find unique?

Untitled, 2011. Structolite Plaster

JM: Ingenuity, creativity, grit and guts are what made NYC great.  Unfortunately, a stroll through the major galleries in Chelsea these days will leave you feeling flat and uninspired.  The best shows I saw in Chelsea last year were all retrospectives, Picasso, Miro, Elizabeth Murry. We need new blood, new life and vigor to be pumped into the “art world” of NYC.  NYC is a big city but the art scene is small.  It’s encouraging to see unconventional galleries like Baang & Burne or to talk to students and artists who are putting together independent projects because these are the people who encapsulate the qualities that made NYC the art capital to begin with. These people are the ones who are still willing to roll up their selves get their hands dirty.

GE: How do you feel about performance art, such as Chris Burden’s “Shoot” or “Transfixed”?

JM: Posterity will not be kind to the performance art of the 20th and 21st centuries. As artists, we need to be conscience of creating archival work that will inspire future generations. There is no substitute for skill and hard work. Being shot in the arm voluntarily isn’t art - it’s just stupid.

GE: If you could help re-write the dictionary, how would you define the term art?
JM: Well, massive student loan payments should never enter the picture, let’s start with that…

Katherine Bilsky

“I've realized that every photograph is abstract, even if it's a picture of reality."

Working with experimental photography, Katherine Bilsky has created for her viewers a porthole into a metallic-y cosmic world. Sometimes sharp and sometimes gooey, the forms in her images frequently fill up the entire composition, leaving the eye to enjoy a visual playground of color and direction.

Untitled, Digital Print. 2011

GE: Are you looking to create a career for yourself in photography?

KB: Ever since I took Digital Photo as a class, I've been interested in a career using the different Photoshop methods. I love the idea of manipulating photographs to obtain endless finished products. When I took that class, we did a project where we had to take Mylar and photograph the reflected images. I loved it off the bat, and for my senior thesis I decided to use it and explore the different compositions that Mylar could create.

(Note: For those that may not be familiar, Mylar is a metallized plastic sheeting. It will reflect about 98% of the light that hits it.)

GE: Can you describe the process in which you capture your Mylar images? What do you look for in these shots?

KB: I shoot different patterns from various objects and photograph them in the raw. I've always had an eye for composition, and I believe it's one of the most important elements to a successful photograph - abstract or not. After I take the pictures, I edit them in Photoshop. Most of my images aren't different from the originals, unless they're specified as experimental. This is where the symmetry comes in.

Untitled, Digital Print. 2011

GE: Where did the idea of creating symmetry in these pieces come from?

KB: Professor Luciana at Marist College showed me how symmetry could play a part in my project, however I decided that flipping it four separate times provided a more powerful effect.

GE: How important is color in these pieces? Do you think they could be successful in black and white?

KB: As for color, I love it in regards to these photos. However, I believe that to have a successful photograph, logo, or pretty much anything, it has to work in black and white as well as color. Last semester I layered images over my Mylar pieces in black and white and they were aesthetically successful.

Untitled, Digital Print. 2011

GE: In what ways does your photography connect to your studio work such as drawing or painting?

KB: The black and white layered images (mentioned in the previous response) are able to used for my drawings, which is a large part of my process. This connects my digital and studio work, which appear different, but contain the same themes such as composition, emotion, and process. Also, in Multimedia Authoring, I used Adobe Premiere to edit videos of Mylar, which gives movement to my photographs. This was interesting because in every frame of the video there was a different image that could have been used with my photography project. This is an example of how important it is to apply what you've learned in different aspects of Digital Media.

GE: How has your art changed in the part few years?

KB: I used to be very concentrated on emotion and reality. My freshman year I would just draw reality, and over the years my work has progressed. I've been able to use abstraction to convey emotion and I've realized that every photograph is abstract, even if it's a picture of reality. A photograph is just a moment in time, and a picture may look like reality, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a photograph. Overall, I love making people think, and I love making the viewer feel something when they look at my work, which is what art is all about. It takes dedication and time to be a successful artist, and I'm blessed to have the talent and support to create photography as well as art in other different medias.

Untitled, Digital Print. 2011