51 SPECIAL ISSUE Corps volunteer direct the trajectory of your current artistic research? Elizabeth McCoy: Having the formal art training was very important. I had done artwork weekly for my entire life at that point (excluding infancy). I was always an intuitive artist and dabbled in design only when it was needed. I enjoyed printmaking, metal working, leatherwork and bead work because the projects often required some forethought. The act of planning a project and following through from start to finish is very gratifying, as is the process, always, of changing and messing with the plan as you go. Overlaying the formal design training onto my already creative intuition allowed me the luxury of understanding the full design process and how to utilize it to make my own work better. A formal art education, with its very valuable critique process, allows you to see your work through many different eyes, and benefit from that ambient feedback. I loved studying design, working with other students, comparing projects, staying up all night and having the incredible privilege of being in New York City and studying with some of the movers and shakers in the art world at the time. I consider myself very lucky. Going from New York City to a small town in rural Africa with no electricity or running water, where what was important was just daily living, was the perfect after-party or chaser to four years immersed in art and beauty. It allowed me to expand my concept of what constitutes beauty and how all is truly relative and based in context. The experience of redefining a narrow concept of beauty has deeply affected my art practice. I know that ugly things and ugly art pieces, that I often create and utilize on purpose, will be beautiful or meaningful to someone. Having to rethink my own narrow “American” concept of beauty absolutely made me a more confident and carefree artist. I create whatever my whims blow my way, and could care less what is in style or popular; those are fleeting and shallow concepts at best anyway. And I love turning a dirty, ordinary blanket or pile of garbage photographed on the street, into something beautiful and worthy of that second glance. I always root for the underdog when it comes to beauty and art. You are a versatile artist and your process involves a variety of techniques including painting, printmaking, collage, paper, photography, fabric, glass, ceramics, beads, sculpture, wood, food. We have appreciated the way the results of your artistic inquiry convey such a coherent combination between emotional intuition and a rigorous aesthetics and we would like to invite our readers to visit https://lenabethe.wordpress.com in order to get a wide idea about your artistic production. How do you select an artistic discipline in order to explore a particular aspect of your artistic inquiry? Moreover, are there any experiences that did particularly influence your evolution as an artist and help you to develop your attitude to experiment with different media? Elizabeth McCoy: I like to work through a technique until I feel done with it. Usually, the techniques overlap and start playing with each other. I love to travel to new places, try new foods, and try any art technique I have not tried before. I have never tried oil painting, however, or traveled to Hawaii. The “normal” things that other people may do or pursue are on my list of things to do at some point, but I never manage to pick them when I am picking a new direction for my art, travel, or culinary adventures. I will at some point, I know. I am often inspired by things that I see and do. Going to a museum like the Met in New York City, leaves my head spinning with ideas, literally. Luckily, I am able to scribble them all down, after the fact and tackle them one at a time. I go from floating in ideas to rolling up my sleeves and getting dirty with them. I take photographs all day. I always have two cameras with me, and fill up memory cards and my phone like there is no tomorrow. I horde art ideas like some people horde frequent flyer miles or magazines. I often view the world through my camera lens. Perhaps, having been allowed to do artwork whenever I wanted as a child, gave me a sense of freedom and endless possibilities. In addition, I have Elizabeth McCoy eries Contemporary Art Peripheral agazine
SPECIAL ISSUE 52 agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries taken so many art classes over the years, that I have been exposed to many different art forms and techniques within each of them. I do not see barriers among art forms. Trying them all independently or mixing them all together is equally fun. I will never have a uniform body of work that exemplifies my style or my “look”, or if I do, I will be the most surprised, as that is not my goal. I just want to do art, explore all of its endless possibilities, and continue to exploit the possibility of breaking boundaries. I particularly like trying things that other people say will not work. Just the process of trying to make it work and failing is gratifying. I never read reviews until after a movie or play, for the same reason. I would rather fail on my own, then dislike it because someone told me to. I think not being afraid of failure has been my biggest strength as an artist, and I cannot link that attitude to any one experience, other than that I had wonderful parents who taught me not to be afraid of failure in general. I see beauty in failure anyway, so what is there to fear anyway? The body of works that we have selected for this special edition of Peripheral ARTeries and that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article has at once captured our attention for the way they unveil the subtle convergences between the real and the imagined, providing the viewers with such a multilayered visual experience. The surface of your artworks is often meticulously refinished and we have really appreciated the vibrancy of thoughtful nuances that mark out your artworks, and we like the way they create tension and dynamics: how did you come about settling on your color palette? And how does your own psychological make-up determine the nuances of tones that you decide to include in a specific artwork and in particular, how do you develop a texture? Elizabeth McCoy: I honestly think studying design taught me to create tension intentionally. Combining colors that clash, or old furniture with new, keeps things fresh and alive and challenges the viewer to accept a new concept of beauty. I often pick colors that relate somehow to the subject matter at hand. I love using analogous colors, as they are the most soothing to me, and nature uses them constantly, but
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eries Contemporary Art Peripheral Elizabeth McCoy agazine 55 SPECIAL ISSUE regular people find them jarring and annoying. I used to really enjoy “dressing like a sofa”. This means I would use the classic interior design formula for my wardrobe and then add a twist. So I’d wear a blue and white Japanese print pair of pants, a French blue and white striped shirt, and an African blue and white batik jacket. Or I would wear floral, geometric and stripes in analogous colors. This gave some people I know a headache, but I need busy and eclectic or I die of boredom. My latest color trick, to keep myself from being predictable, is I have assigned 18 different colors a number, separated into 3 groups. I roll one die 3 times and pick the colors that come up in each group, and work with those 3. The absolute randomness of it, combined with forcing myself to work with combinations I do not love has really stretched my design brain. I do not mind creating something that is ugly – I am not seeking approval, but a pure art experience, which only comes from pushing boundaries and taking risks. I think, often, when I am trying to communicate a philosophical message, the “real and imagined” reflects my desire to shake someone into thought. Art can be so soothing and mood altering, or it can jar you into a new reality, or both. Art has such an important role in transforming the world and the way we, as humans, live in it and with each other. With its sapient combination between reminders to the reality and their powerful abstract evocative qualities, your Collage Studies seem to invite the viewers to look inside of what appear to be seen, rather than its surface, providing the spectatorship with wide freedom to realize their own perception. How important is for you to invite the viewers to elaborate personal meanings? And in particular, how open would you like your artworks to be understood? Elizabeth McCoy: I rarely think of the viewer when I am creating. I am typically so lost in the process, that the thinking part of my brain is not engaged. That said, I will sometimes plan a piece with a message or purpose, but even with those, once I am involved in the art part of it, I am just doing art. I really like layers of colors, textures, forms, etc., so the looking deeper is by design in terms of the art materials, and by
SPECIAL ISSUE 56 intent by doing art at all. I feel art automatically invites the viewers to create their own meaning, in fact that is what I would expect. Maybe because viewing art is such a personal journey for me, in that I get swept away into my own mind space, whether I want to or not, my assumption has always been that a viewer has their own personal experience with a piece or exhibit; it is the right of the viewer to take away their own precious reaction or feeling. It is not for me, as an artist, to define the art experience for any one individual. As you underlined in your artist's statement, you sought to incorporate junkyard reusables and everyday recyclables in your artworks - sometimes through a photograph of the objects or the things themselves. American sculptor and photographer Zoe Leonard once stated, "the objects that we leave behind hold the marks and the sign of our use: like archeological findings, they reveal so much about us". We’d love to ask you about the qualities of the materials that you include in your artworks: how do you select them and how do you consider the relationship between their past life as objects and their new role in your artworks? Elizabeth McCoy: I take pictures of ordinary objects constantly - of parking lots, cars, junkyard and thrift store finds, etc. There is a certain temptation in taking the ordinary and leveraging it into a piece of art. It challenges the artist's, and thus, the viewer's, sense of verisimilitude and creates a cognitive dissonance between what is ordinary and what is not. By attempting to create art with what is inherently not considered art, or by creating ugly art, an elegant tension emerges which breaks through to the detached viewer, challenging them to “attach” and leaving, hopefully, a lasting impression on the viewer to act, react or, at least redefine the modern concepts of beauty. I often like to make the process and materials relevant to the subject itself. Like I used photographs of food clothing and shelter, to build the tents in my homeless encampments to emphasize those items of necessity almost over the tents themselves. One of my favorite art quotes, by the great Andy Warhol, is, “Art is agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries
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anything you can get away with”. I interpret that to mean materials, techniques, images, etc. I do try to make all my materials archival if possible, so, for example I never use regular paper for my collage pieces, if they are going out to a show or any public venue, but I might use old photos I found at a junk yard. I think the nice thing about using objects or images of them, is that they have their own story. As artists, we only have to embellish them to make them shine. Another interesting project that we would like to introduce to our readers is entitled “Basic Needs”, and it's a mixed media series highlighting those basic needs and the ironic nature of the liberal milieu of the bay area. Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco once stated, "the artists' role differs depending on which sociopolitical system they are living in.' how do you consider the role of artists in our media driven contemporary age? How do you consider the power of contemporary art to tackle sensitive social and political issues in order to trigger social change in our globalised societies? Elizabeth McCoy: I think artists have a role to present and interpret the reality that surrounds them. To that end, using every possible media can be a very powerful tool for exposing the different sides to the various realities out there. I think everyone experiences life from his or her personal “bubble” or through his or her own lens. Because art is about both seeing and playing with what is truly there, artists have the unique opportunity to break out of their focal point and see what others cannot; It is, then, the responsibility of those who can see, to lift the veil obscuring the view for those who cannot. I also think the artist’s role changes depending on what side of the sociopolitical system they are experiencing. A well-off and well-connected artist has access to many more opportunities than one who isn’t, so their role, at the risk of biting the hands that feed them, might be to peel away the layers of privilege and the ambient baggage related to having more. And the less-connected artists may choose to reveal the struggle to be authentic in a world that demands conformity and a traditional definition of success. eries Contemporary Art Peripheral Elizabeth McCoy agazine 59 SPECIAL ISSUE
SPECIAL ISSUE 60 I honestly think the only true voices are artists. The media are all owned by people with agendas, and politicians are all owned by their own agenda to maintain whatever status quo from which they benefit. Artists and possibly activists (if they can keep away from ego battles) are the only ones that truly see what is going on and can duly “report” on it. Art is the only vehicle through which social awareness can be inspired rather than required, realized rather than demanded and embraced rather than acquired for show. Once social awareness is embedded in a person’s psyche, social change, whether via small steps or large gestures follows naturally. Art inspires, creates realization and invites embrace in a subtle and profound way; that is why it has worked so well. There is no irony in why Shakespeare’s plays were so vastly popular among regular people. Those regular people were not experts in writing plays or in theatre critique; they were experts in their own personal experience. The plays blatantly, but also in their subtle way, exposed every foible and weakness in society at the time. I believe it is the art that is noticed for good or ill, is, by default, the most relevant. If you can create a piece that people respond to in any real way, you have committed the act of a social proselytizer. It's important to remark that the “Basic Needs” series was inspired by the rise in the local homeless population in Berkeley: : how does your everyday life's experience fuel your creative process? And how do you think your works respond to it in finding hidden, crystallised moments in the everyday? Elizabeth McCoy: My everyday life experience often involves driving by homeless encampments or giving homeless people money or food. I make sure I “see” them with a smile or kind comment, so they do not feel invisible. The basic needs series was particularly inspired by those brave people. Because I have 2 cameras with me at all times, I spend at least an hour everyday taking random pictures, often in 10 minute increments. It makes me feel connected to my art self, when I am running errands, or doing the necessary tasks of living a modern life. Much of my artwork is inspired by or developed from my photographs, so the hidden, crystallized moments agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries
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are seeing the incredible cactus display outside of CVS, or the contrast between the bright orange and the white reflectors on a line of traffic cones. When nothing is off limits, everything is beautiful. I find just making sure I “see”, while I am doing regular things, keeps me aware of the magic and beauty in the everyday. Artist Lydia Dona once remarked that in order to make art today one has to reevaluate the conceptual language behind the mechanism of art making: are your works created gesturally, instinctively? Moreover, do you think that your being a woman provides your artistic research with some special value? Elizabeth McCoy: I agree with the need to understand and parce the conceptual language behind art making, since the goal of art is to go wherever the wind takes you at times and be deliberate at others. The act of breaking down the act of creating art, allows you to explore every step and, thereby, be more creative in the long run, as you artistically reconstruct each step with as many variations as you can. I do believe that to fully understand something, you have to take it apart and analyze all of the components. That said, I actually find being intuitive and meandering the most relaxing art process. If I can set things up, where all the thought is done first, if needed, and then let myself meander through the set up and knock it over periodically, I am happy to shed the intuitive process at times. I think being a woman gives me a special perspective, and a heightened empathy for the underdog, left out and oppressed, even if just in theory. I am also, as a woman, socialized and allowed to cry and feel, so that helps immensely, in terms of creating art that has feeling. I sometimes think that being a great artist requires a level of misery that I entirely lack. What I do not lack, however, is a sense of outrage over what is happening among people on the planet and in the US. So my passion and spirit come from a sense of external drama. Also, because I am an extreme extrovert, nothing is really an internal process for me; eries Contemporary Art Peripheral Elizabeth McCoy agazine 63 SPECIAL ISSUE
I always, somehow, involve the outside world and/or other people in my process. Over the years your artworks have been exhibited in several occasions, including your recent participation to the show WHAT CLIMATE, at the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art: how do you consider the nature of your relationship with your audience? And what do you hope your audience take away from your artworks? In particular, how do you consider the role of emerging online technosphere in creating new links between artists and worldwide audience? Elizabeth McCoy: The viewer can either experience a passive and private personal experience, or be provoked to a reaction or action. The German playwright Berthold Brecht introduced the concept of "verfremdungsmittel" or "alienation effect" with his plays, wherein the actors talked directly to the audience thus breaking the "third wall" barrier that often exists in theatre. This technique pulls the audience into the conversation as it were and does not allow them to remain a passive participant. I try to do that with my political art. I like to call the viewer to action, or to provoke a reaction that leaves an intellectual mark that the viewer takes away and hopefully perseverates on. Taking a peek behind what makes art "art" is part of my creative experience. If I can make a car engine, a pile of thrown away sinks or a shelf of used shoes into art, I feel like I have upended the concept of art, similar to the Figurative and Dada artists, who are my heroes. If we do not continually challenge the concept of "what is art" and sheepishly just accept another person's definition of art, can we truly call ourselves artists? I do not create beautiful artwork so it will sell. I create poignant, time relevant pieces that are often ugly and provocative, to get the viewer engaged and to create the elegant tension that is generated when you ask someone the question, "what is Art?" We have really appreciated the multifaceted nature of your artistic research and before leaving this stimulating conversation we would like to thank you for chatting with us and for sharing your thoughts, Beth. What projects are you currently working on, and SPECIAL ISSUE 64 agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries
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what are some of the ideas that you hope to explore in the future? Elizabeth McCoy: I take photos every day, and translate those into something both ephemeral and meaningful. What I see through the camera lens is often the impetus to which I respond. The possibilities are limitless, which is both exhilarating and terrifying. I am always juggling the business of being an artist with actually doing art, so my list of techniques and themes I would like to explore seems to get longer rather than shorter on a regular basis. I would like to further explore the homeless crisis, climate change and the environment. I am currently working on a project about the act and products of recycling in general, and further honing my use of recycled materials while staying true to the goal of using archival materials that respect the long-term nature of creating art. And then I see a crack in the sidewalk that looks like a face, and have to stop and say “hi”. One of the most gratifying moments of my day is the purely visual process of choosing, editing and posting a random beautiful something on Instagram (@lenabethe). Sharing a beautiful moment makes me feel like an artist every single day, even if I then spend most of the day varnishing, wiring, labeling and dropping off or mailing art. It is the joyful and giddy feeling of knowing I have helped a little piece of beauty fly into the universe, that makes me feel as playful as a child. As for the future, I will see where inspiration takes me. I am brought to tears by the droplets of water on a leaf after a misty drizzle. I am also brought to tears when I hear or see rhetoric that diminishes another human being in any way. Often my own strong reaction to something inspires the artistic process as a response. While I have a list of themes I would like to explore, I prefer to wait until I am deeply moved by beauty, compassion or curiosity to act. It’s the moment when I am unable to keep myself from doing art, after a beautiful image, or exhibit or life experience, that I find I perform my best artistically. I thank you so much for featuring me in your journal and taking the time to find out the drum beat to which I march. Elizabeth McCoy eries agazine Contemporary Art Peripheral 67 SPECIAL ISSUE An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator [email protected]
SPECIAL ISSUE 68 Hello Cecilia and welcome to Peripheral ARTeries. Before starting to elaborate about your artistic production we would like to invite our readers to visit https://www.instagram.com/cecilia_mar tinez_jc in order to get a wide idea about your artistic production and we would start this interview with a couple of introductory questions. You hold a Bachelor of Arts in English/Journalism but you are a basically Cecilia Martinez Lives and works in Jersey City, NJ, USA Peripheral ARTeries meets Cecilia Martinez has always had a love for the arts, especially the written word. She is an established and published writer and poet, with her work being recognized all over the world, from New York to the Philippines. But after a life changing event, she now creates stories through paintbrushes and pencils, canvases and crayons. After her father’s untimely death in what was later determined to be a homicide in September 2015, she became completely immersed in the visual arts as a therapeutic outlet and a form of self-expression to cope with his loss. Four years later, her art is still her medicine. She has evolved her style throughout the years to develop images often described as "quite unique," "exciting" and "beautifully composed." While still relatively new to the art scene, she has had her work exhibited in more than 40 venues since her first exhibit in October 2016. She has also been named a finalist in five international online juried art competitions, and her work has been featured in many prestigious media outlets – most notably on a segment of Al Jazeera TV, which reaches more than 30 million viewers around the world; and Art Reveal Magazine and Average Art Magazine, both UK based print art publications. Cecilia is currently working on a new series she calls "The Self Portraits," artwork that is a combination of mixed media/collages that all incorporate an image of herself within the works. Each piece depicts a different struggle Cecilia has dealt with while healing from her father's death, from mental illness, inner turmoil, isolation, personal conflicts and more. Cecilia hopes her art and story will inspire others the way art inspired her and, ultimately, saved her life. An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator [email protected] agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries
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71 SPECIAL ISSUE self taught artist: are there any experiences that did particularly influence your evolution as a visual artist and help you to develop your attitude to experiment? Moreover, how does your cultural substratum due to your work as a reporter and editor direct the trajectory of your current artistic research? Cecilia Martinez: My road to becoming a visual artist began in 2015. That year, my father, Rafael Martinez, passed away in what was later determined to be a homicide. I was an even that changed my life forever. I searched for a sense of peace through my writing, but I found that I could not – for whatever reason – put the intense emotional feelings I was holding inside of my heart because of this event down on paper. They simply would not come out. A few months after his death, still reeling from what I had experienced and mourning from the loss, I began searching for an outlet to alleviate all of the chaotic feelings inside of me. I turned to the visual arts as a therapeutic outlet. To be quite honest, art saved my life. It soothed my soul and for that I will be forever grateful. I really have no idea what led me to art as an outlet for my pain. It was something that kind of just manifested itself. Something just led me to it. And I’m glad I followed, because it has led me to the richest experiences of my life and has helped me cope with the chaos. I haven’t completely found peace, but when I am creating art, it is the only thought in my mind. It encompasses my entire being and takes me into a world of creativity and imagination. It’s almost like an escape to a deserted island where only I exist, and I am the one who creates the world around me into whatever I want it to be. When I first began, I created what I called spiritual art. Artwork that reflected religion and angels and things I thought would lead me into healing. But as I kept on practicing, I found that this artwork really didn’t reflect my own sense of self. Something was missing from it that was me. So, as I kept practicing, I began experimenting with different techniques and styles. My work began to evolve. And I started to feel like I was getting closer to creating artwork that truly fulfilled me and reflected who I was as an individual. Soon, I began searching for a signature style. Mixed media collage is what I gravitated to. I felt it represented me well. My work is created with different pieces and techniques and mediums. And that’s what I am. I am not just one thing. I am pieces of many things that make up the whole of who I am as a being. That’s why this artistic method speaks so much to me. Because it is me. My experience has a reporter and editor helped with my evolution into becoming a visual artist in a very specific way. As a writer, I painted pictures with my stories. A blank page was my canvas, words were my colors, sentences my paintbrushes. I was able to produce art in one’s mind with my written compositions. Though my audience could not see these images physically with their eyes, they could see them with their thoughts, minds and imagination – thus composing their own representations of my thoughts and words into something that reflected as familiar to Cecilia Martinez eries Contemporary Art Peripheral agazine
SPECIAL ISSUE 72 agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries them. It was up to me to make this happen through language and structure, description and composition. This is very much the technique I use in my art for myself. My thoughts and what I speak to myself form my art. But instead of words, now I use artistic mediums to tell a story. It is a story I develop with my mind and imagination as I create a piece. I never know the ending. The story itself evolves as the piece evolves – as the story begins, comes to its climax, and eventual end. But it is my hope that my audience still forms their own narrative when viewing my work. That they use their own thoughts and imagination to find the meaning of it all. The body of works that we have selected for this special edition of Peripheral ARTeries and that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article has at once impressed us for the way you sapiently combined element from reality with captivating abstract sensitiveness, to provide the viewers with such a multilayered visual experience: when walking our readers through your usual workflow and process, we would like to ask you if you think that there is a central idea that connects all your works. Cecilia Martinez: The central idea is that each piece I create tells a story about the human experience. And while I am telling my own personal story through each work I create, that is not what I want the viewer to see. I want them to see their own personal story in my work. Their own experiences, their own life, their own stories. I want to reach out to that one person in the crowd who looks at one of my
73 SPECIAL ISSUE Cecilia Martinez eries agazine Contemporary Art Peripheral Alice in Outer Space
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eries Contemporary Art Peripheral Cecilia Martinez agazine 75 SPECIAL ISSUE works and thinks, “Yes, I’ve felt that before. I’ve been in that place.” To let them know they are not alone, as I have felt so many times. If I can accomplish that with my work, then I have succeeded with that piece. Because my story is not just mine alone. Millions of people I felt what I’ve felt, experienced what I’ve experienced. My work is part of me, but I also want it to be a part of many other people as well. I just don’t want it to be personal, I want my artwork to me a connection of the human spirit and network as a whole. It's important to remark that in all the artworks from your Portrait series you decided to incorporate an image of yourself, to depict a different struggle that you dealt with while healing from your father's death. Would you tell us how important was for you to make a personal film, about something you knew a lot? In particular, how do you consider the role of direct experience within your artistic research? Does everyday life fuel your creative process? Cecilia Martinez: For my “Self Portraits” series, I decided to use images of myself. I could have created a representation figure of myself, a made-up creation to incorporate into my works instead of my own selfimages. But if I had done so, it would not be real. It wouldn’t be real for me or for the story I was telling through my work. It was extremely important for me to put myself in these works to make them raw, gritty, and personal. To put a real live human face, in my case it being the artist, to the struggles and complex thoughts and feelings I was dealing with in my world. It’s my story, so I am the main character. So, in these works, you see
SPECIAL ISSUE 76 the development of the protagonist as the story develops. You see my journey through the representation of my own self. Everyday life fuels my creative process because as human beings living in this world, we are subjected to so many things on a daily basis. Ups and downs, twists and turns. Good and bad. Heaven and hell. It is all a part of life – of living. My work portrays that part of being alive. My daily experiences, as well as my past and even my future trials, fuel the thoughts in my mind. Those thoughts are eventually pieced together into a piece of art. And that is therapeutic in its own way because I can take what is negative from those experiences, the garbage parts so to speak, and use them to create something beautiful. Your artistic research inquiries into the apparent dischotomy between chaos and controla and your artist statement reads: “Professional writer, poet and visual artist from Jersey City. Inspired by Shakespeare and the Sex Pistols.” So, of course, I love the agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries Heart on a String Rotten Apples
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duality of both chaos and control. Your artworks are marked with such a rigorous sense of geometry and symmetry to create such a coherent combination between sense of freedom and unique aesthetics: do you conceive you works instinctively or do you methodically elaborate your pieces? In particular, how importance does spontaneity play in your work? Cecilia Martinez: Spontaneity is the essential element to my work. I never know the ending of a piece. I start off with an idea, and that idea forms and transitions itself into something of its own as the work is developed. I may have an initial concept of what I want to make when I first begin a piece, but that concept can morph into a complete 180 in the middle of the artistic process as different thoughts and ideas come into my head. It’s kind of like a metaphor for life. You know how it begins, but not necessarily how it ends. I like working in this way because it doesn’t pigeon-hold me into sticking with an idea until it’s finished. I just kind of let it flow out of me without restriction. I go with where the piece takes me. And not knowing what the final product will be is exciting in its own way because there are times when I surprise even myself with what I was able to create simply by going wherever the art leads me. Your artworks fetures such effective combination between figurative and captivating abstract feeling, whose eries Contemporary Art Peripheral Cecilia Martinez agazine 79 SPECIAL ISSUE Blue Eclipsed
SPECIAL ISSUE 80 background create such an oniric atmosphere: how would you consider the relationship between abstraction and figurative in your practice? In particular, how does representation and a tendency towards abstraction find their balance in your work? Cecilia Martinez: I use figurative depictions of images within my work to create a sense of reality withing this overall “dream world” that is often present in my work. Something familiar to the viewer – be it an place or object or figure – that is recognizable. This “reality” is what makes the work relatable, while balancing out the abstract symbolism I present in a piece. My abstraction in my work can sometimes be subtle, and other times be very aggressive. But by mixing these two different forms, I find it to be more palatable to the audience. I always try to convey a deeper meaning with my work than what you are able to just view with the eye. Bringing a sense of familiarity with figurative annotations and inserting abstraction, I hope, brings out that meaning. We have really appreciated the vibrancy of the nuances of that mark out your artistic production: in particular, we like the way your artworks show that vivacious tones are not indespensable in order to create tension and dynamics: how does your own psychological make-up determine the nuances of tones that you decide to include agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries Material Hypothesis Window View
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in a specific artwork in order to achieve such brilliant results? Cecilia Martinez: I’ve read many articles that discuss how mental health issues, such as depression, activate the creative part of one’s mind. If this is true, it would explain the brilliance of many artists, such as Van Gogh or Sylvia Plath. I am very open about my struggles with mental health, which became more of a burden after my father’s death. I have been diagnosed with major depression, severe anxiety and PTSD. But that is only part of my psychological make up. I also consider myself to be intelligent, empathetic, strong-willed and more. When all of these different parts of my mind come together, it’s like a whirlwind – especially when creating art. It’s almost like these different ideas, images and colors pop into my mind and I just follow them. Like there are all these puzzle pieces in my head that start to come together to form a full picture. I honestly don’t know where it comes from, but the brain is a marvelous thing. Marked out with a powerful narrative drive on the visual aspect, your artworks push the envelope of the expressive potential of the eries Contemporary Art Peripheral Cecilia Martinez agazine The ABCs of PTSD The Speculum 83 SPECIAL ISSUE
images and the symbols that you included: how importance do play symbolically charged images in your work? In particular, did you aim to provide your work with allegorical features? Cecilia Martinez: Being a writer and having taken many British and American literature courses in college, I know how powerful symbolism is to a piece of work. I guess that knowledge transitioned itself into my work when I began working on visual art. When I insert symbolism in my work, it means something to me. But I want to see if they viewer gets it too. If they understand the symbolic meaning of what I have out in front of them. If so, I have succeeded in what I was trying to do, the feeling or thought I was trying to create. To me, that is one of the most satisfying parts of being an artist. When a person actually gets it. When they see beyond just the visual. That is what is truly amazing to me. Your work could be considered a visual narrative, that seems to be intended to convey a combination between emotion and a specific message: in this sense, we daresay that your artistic practice seems to aim to look inside of what appear to be seen, rather than its surface, providing the spectatorship with freedom to realize their own SPECIAL ISSUE 84 agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries Unvirtuous Pop Self Portrait
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perception. How important is for you to invite the viewers to elaborate personal meanings? And in particular, how open would you like your artworks to be understood? Cecilia Martinez: Individual perception of my artwork is extremely important to what I do. I want my work to be accessible to everyone, in particular those who have been through similar experiences as I. A question I am sometimes asked about my artwork is “What is the meaning behind this piece?” Honestly, this questions make me cringe. I don’t want to tell someone what I was trying to convey with a particular piece. Rather, I’d love to hear what they have taken away from a work and what it means to them. That is more interesting to me. I want my work to be very very open to interpretation. I want it to create a discussion behind what can just be seen. You are an established artist and while still relatively new to the art scene, since your first show in late 2016 you have had your artworks internationally exhibited in more than 40 venues: how do you consider the nature of your relationship with your audience? In particular, how do you consider the role of emerging online platforms as Instagram, in creating new links between artists and worldwide audience? Cecilia Martinez: I would say the nature behind my relationship with my audience is similar to the Wizard in Oz. I’m just the man – or woman if you will – behind the curtain. My art is my mouthpiece. It’s what speaks for me. Platforms such as Instagram allow you to do just that. It puts your work in the forefront. More importantly, it’s accessible to a worldwide audience, so your able to reach more people to have them see your work. With my Instagram, I’ve been able to do that. I get messages and comments about my work in different languages that I have to translate to understand. That is incredible to me. The fact that I am able to touch with my artwork individuals from beyond the United States is very humbling. We have really appreciated the multifaceted nature of your artistic research and before leaving this stimulating conversation we would like to thank you for chatting with us and for sharing your thoughts, Cecilia. What projects are you currently working on, and what are some of the ideas that you hope to explore in the future? Cecilia Martinez: I’m still working on my “Self Portrait” series. I’d like to create many more pieces for that. I’d like to make some larger pieces for the series and hopefully one day have a full gallery show with just those works. And with the “Self Portrait” series, I’d like for it to continue to chronicle my life and feelings through the progression of time. I’d like for the pieces to depict how I am growing and evolving as a person, as well as with my art. Cecilia Martinez eries agazine Contemporary Art Peripheral 87 SPECIAL ISSUE An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator [email protected]
SPECIAL ISSUE 4 Hello Jo Beth and welcome to Peripheral ARTeries. Before starting to elaborate about your artistic production we would like to invite our readers to visit https://www.jobethwharton.com in order to get a wide idea about your artistic production and we would start this interview with a couple of introductory questions. Are there any experiences that did particularly influence your evolution as an artist and help you to develop your attitude to experiment? Moreover, how does your cultural substratum direct the trajectory of your current artistic research? My first encounter with an artistic master was via a chain bookstore that I used to frequent in my West Texas hometown. As I was wandering down the “Visual Arts” aisle, my eye was immediately drawn to a coffee table book with the brightly colored image of figures dancing in front of a brilliant blue sky; the glamourous name, Matisse, was boldly written in red. The Jo Beth Wharton Lives and works in Sacramento, California, USA Peripheral ARTeries meets The history of art fascinates me. The paintings, sculptures, pottery, and mosaics of the past help to explain the cultural and societal values of the people who came before us. While studying art history I realized that the artworks of women were rarely featured in textbooks, and only a handful of well-known female artists were continuously discussed in academia. While studying in Florence, I remember looking around the Ufizzi portico at the busts of the famous men who helped to shape the Renaissance, and wondered, as many before me, ”where are the women?” In my art, I focus solely on women. By cutting out paper and images from magazines, I create images of females who are strong, independent, and autonomous. Many of the images of women that have been created in the past, were manufactured by the hands of men. Historical characters such as Eve and Mary have often be portrayed in certain biased lights. I know how many sides a woman has, how many feelings, ideas, joys, pains, and want to illustrate that through my collages. Each piece I create is done with the utmost thought and care, and each collage I do is one of a kind. Using a paper as a medium has allowed me to create pieces that are interesting to look at, while focusing on women who all deserve to be seen. Paper art has allowed me to express myself more fully than painting ever did. Women have always had something to say. I am fortunate to live in a time when people are finally listening. An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator [email protected] agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries
SPECIAL ISSUE 10 agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries In a Perfect World
11 SPECIAL ISSUE that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article has at once impressed us for the way you sapiently combined your figurative stile with captivating abstract sensitiveness, that reminds to Cubism and that provides the viewers with such a multilayered visual experience: would tell us something about your usual workflow and process? My entire work process happens in my living room. I attempted to turn a spare bedroom into my designated studio, but feel more comfortable in the middle of my house. To begin a new piece, I scour fashion and beauty magazines for a close-up photo of a face. Sometimes, I have an idea at the inception of a piece of what I want to create, Other times, the meaning comes to me as the piece evolves. I sketch my ideas out minimally on my canvas. I prefer to let the process unfold as I go along. When I determine my subject, I must find matching skin tones and hair color from the hundreds of magazines on my shelves. I cut many, many small pieces of the desired colors I need, and adhere the paper onto the canvas with Modge Podge and a paintbrush. It is crucial that I take my time, or the paper will appear crumpled, which takes from the aesthetic of the piece. I especially focus on the shading of the subject’s face, since I consider this an important element in my portraiture. It pleases me to know that elements of Cubism are seen in my art. It was not my intention for that aspect to be visible, but I am extremely glad to know that, to some of the audience at least, that my art comes across as “multilayered,” because it really is. Not only in theory, but also in practice. We have really appreciated the vibrancy of the nuances of that mark out your artistic Jo Beth Wharton eries Contemporary Art Peripheral agazine book was on sale, and I bought it. I loved how the artist incorporated colors, which sometimes didn’t entirely make sense, but harmonized so well on the page. Throughout the years, I would naively attempt to mimic some of Matisse’s paintings, such as La Blouse Romaine, and Femme au chapeau. My next love was Marc Chagall, who also experimented with colors, and mixed fantasy and reality. I decided to major in Art History in college, and that’s where I became acquainted with the beauty of Ancient Greek art, the cleverness of Renaissance art, and the rebelliousness of the Impressionist ouevre. I do not know why, but I have always been attracted to art that deals with figural representations. It’s not that I do not appreciate abstract art, or paintings of landscapes or still-lifes, I do, I just understand and relate to figural painting more. I have always loved to draw and paint, and my subjects have consistently been women. Society expects women to be sexually attractive, yet modest, intelligent, but not bossy, independent, yet not too autonomous. Being female is to exist within unrealistic cultural dichotomies. Women are constantly being underestimated, and it is through their perpetual strength and perseverance that their true beauty shines through. In my art, I like to feature strong women who are not sitting meekly accepting the male gaze, but boldly confronting the viewer with their power. My decision to pursue paper as a medium was an accidental one. I have always loved magazines, and own quite a few. Becoming frustrated with acrylic, I began to cut out small pieces of paper and use the paper as my paint. I have only been doing paper art for about a year and a half, but it has really allowed my creativity to blossom and take new shapes. The body of works that we have selected for this special edition of Peripheral ARTeries and
SPECIAL ISSUE 12 agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries production: in particular, we like the way In a Perfect World shows that vivacious tones are not indespensable in order to create tension and dynamics: how does your own psychological makeup determine the nuances of tones that you decide to include in a specific artwork in order to achieve such brilliant results? For “In a Perfect World,” I first found the image of the “No Means No” tattoo in a magazine Nefertiti in Spring
13 SPECIAL ISSUE Jo Beth Wharton eries agazine Contemporary Art Peripheral Persephone
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eries Contemporary Art Peripheral Jo Beth Wharton agazine 17 SPECIAL ISSUE and knew that I wanted to incorporate it into a piece. The type of woman I wanted to construct around the tattoo had to appear strong and confident while portraying a message that is really quite obvious, “don’t touch me without my permission.” It’s a message that shouldn’t have to be repeated, but sadly it still does, even in this day and age. Throughout art history, and history itself, women and nature have been linked. You can see examples of this in Berthe Morisot’s paintings such as Dans la Parc, or Frida Kahlo's Self-portrait With Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, or Ana Mendieta’s Siluetas series. This is a reason I wanted to place the woman in this piece in an organic setting, to play upon the life-giving power of women. I also like how the greens play against the woman’s skin. But, much like nature, women can appear soft and lush, but in actuality be an unrelenting and a force to be reckoned with. While making my pieces, I allow the pieces of paper to guide me as I try determined face shape and dimensions. I do not sketch out my final idea, because usually I don’t have one. My intention from the beginning is to create vibrant, proud women. I incorporate such bold colors because I believe they help to convey my message. Drawing from fiction — as for Persephone and The March Sisters — as well as from historical figures — as in your captivating Nefertiti in Spring — your artworks convey such a powerful narrative drive: are there any stories you try to convey in your collages or do you prefer the viewer to have his own interpretation? The reason I love art so much is because one work can illicit so many different interpretations regardless of the artist’s true intention. When I am in the process of making I piece, I have a specific idea in mind of who the woman is as what she represents, but when I’ve shown my work, people tell me a completely different story that they have attached to each woman. I find it really interesting. The gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece, and all the crazy stories about their antics, really hold a special place in my imagination. I enjoy seeing their stories play out on ancient pottery and art. I really like the myth about Persephone and how she must spend half her days in the sun and the other with Hades in the Underworld. The whole tale plays upon the idea that women have two completely different sides; virgin and the whore, dark and light. The myth is also another example of how culture ties women and nature together. When Persephone is in the Underworld, the earth is cold, the plants die, and snow covers the ground. When the goddess is home on earth with her mother, the flowers bloom, the trees blossom, and the world in green once more. Little Women was a book that I loved growing up, and I’ve read several times. Having sisters was so foriegn to me, since I have a brother, and I loved reading about their different relationships. I wanted to pay homage to the sisters, and decided to capture a moment in The March Sisters right before Beth passes away. Her death was really heartbreaking for my younger self. I am fascinated by Egyptian history, and their art and culture holds so much mystery thousands of years later. Nertiti was the Egyptian queen who was the mother of King Tut, and the wife of Ahkenaten. Representations of her are highly stylized, and she is always shown with her royal head-dress on. I wanted to show her looking regal with her hair flowing. At one point in time, Nefertiti was the most powerful woman in Ancient Egypt, I am sure she attended some marvelous parties on the Nile where she let her hair down.
Frida
SPECIAL ISSUE 18 Moreover, how does your everyday life's experience fuel your creative process? My life is hectic, and my art is really a way to focus on something I am passionate about, my meditation. Because I have to first look for a specific color of paper in my mountains of magazines, then cut out tiny pieces, my hands and mind stay busy even before I actually start the piece. I really enjoy the entire process of making my collages. They do take me awhile to complete, but I always am proud when I finish each piece because I know I have put my everything into it and that each work of art is a complete original. agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries #blessed
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SPECIAL ISSUE 12 agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries The March Sisters (Beth's Last Photograph)