They are (for the most part) mellow and at one with nature, two qualities that i would like to posses. Also, their form is also easily recognizable. I can tweak and distort the figure a lot without loosing the “rabbitness”. eries Contemporary Art Peripheral Tommy Orosco aka MOTZERO agazine 101 SPECIAL ISSUE Psychedelica
SPECIAL ISSUE 102 As for the other “critters” in my work, i think they all represent a part of me. The robots could represent my feelings of being a drone in the corporate world, the devil might be the mischief-maker in me. The skull does not represent death in my agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries The Downfall Of Us All
103 SPECIAL ISSUE eries Contemporary Art Peripheral Tommy Orosco aka MOTZERO agazine work, but maybe a sense of rebelliousness. And the heart...well, love, of course. However, it is important to note, i insist that viewers draw their own meanings from my work. Where i see passion, someone might see pain. Untitled
Where i see joy, others may see darkness. I never want to say “THIS IS WHAT THIS IS AND THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS!” Marked with a powerful narrative drive on the visual aspect, seems to aim to look inside of what appears to be seen, rather than its SPECIAL ISSUE 104 agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries Untitled
Tommy Orosco aka MOTZERO eries agazine Contemporary Art Peripheral 105 SPECIAL ISSUE surface, providing the spectatorship with 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? I think it is imperative for the viewer to draw their own conclusion as to the meanings behind my work. The abstract nature in my pieces allows for a wide spectrum of reaction and opinion. One of my greatest joys is to hear peoples thoughts on my work, their reception We Live In Fantasy We Live In Fear We Live In Hope
of it, and their conclusions. Alot of the time, i’ll walk away seeing a piece in a whole new way. Over the years your artwork has been featured in galleries all over Southern California including Hollywood, Laguna Beach, Los Angeles, and currently San Diego:how do you consider the role of emerging online technosphere in creating new links between artists and worldwide audience? I think technology and the internet are extremely important marketing tools for an artist, no matter what the level. I have had my website, www.MOTZERO.com, for over 13 years now. It was my strongest tool for building my name as an artist and sharing my work with the world. Initially, I found that having a well built, professional site helped make me look more professional, more “big league” and not like some kid straight out of college. When MySpace and Facebook came along, i created art-specific MOTZERO pages on each platform to further build my audience. Now with Instagram (@IamMotzero for all those interested in following me), I am able to share my work with the world in just a couple seconds. But, while technology is critical for exposure, i don't think you can over look the importance of physical galleries. Being in a great gallery builds your reputation amongst your peers. And, lets be honest, nothing beats seeing your work hanging in a prestigious gallery, properly lit, and surrounded by curious viewers. Now that's a confidence builder right there. 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, Tommy. What projects are you currently working on, and what are your goals for the future? I currently have 6 projects started or queued up, including a huge, multi-panel piece for a hip, local restaurant. I have applications out with 4 galleries and will hopefully be in at least one (if not all four) later this summer and into the fall. As for my goals; my short term goal is to just keep doing what i’m doing. Creating what i like and getting local galleries to show them. More long term though... well, i would like to illustrate and publish a kids book or two. Not really to make money, but just to see if I can. My biggest goal is to be in a show in New York. Not just one piece either but multiple pieces along with other complimentary artists or (the real dream) a solo show. I have no doubt i’ll get there someday but i am in no rush. Finally, once i am all done with this Marketing career stuff, i would like to teach painting at the college level and help the artists of tomorrow hone their craft and build their passion for a practice that has been such an integral part of my life. You can see more of my work on my website, www.MOTZERO.com and please follow me on Instagram @IamMotzero SPECIAL ISSUE 106 An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator [email protected] agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries
The Cosmic Comic
SPECIAL ISSUE 4 Hello Andreea and welcome to Peripheral ARTeries. Before starting to elaborate about your artistic production and we would like to invite our readers to visit http://andreearusart.blogspot.com in order to get a wide idea about your artistic production, and we would start this interview Andreea Rus Lives and works in Romania Peripheral ARTeries meets My painting is influenced by the socio-political situation in Romania in the 20th and 21st centuries. The imprint of socialism, with the overthrow of the value system, led to profound and sometimes tragic changes in the Romanian society. The deprivation of freedom of expression has influenced the everyday existence of people. Some have suffered virtually no blame in communist prisons or forced deportations. All these facts have induced natural questions about how some of these people managed to survive, the concept of happiness and the existential meaning. I also had a strong impact on the tragic events in Bucharest, when the peaceful demonstration of the Romanians coming home to celebrate the centenary of the great union had a violent end. The recovery of the soul balance and salvation has come for some who have suffered for example unjustly in communist prisons or deportations in the sense of sacred orientation of life, the only chance to rescue under dramatic conditions, and for many others in the daily life with day by work and small daily satisfactions. The question of finding existential meaning remains open and meditative. The two compositions presented in the installation that drew your attention are part of a broader context in which I am concerned about the road, the path followed by the individual in personal salvation, specific to the places we live in. We often go from agony to ecstasy, in the socio-political ensemble, often shifting and disconcerting. The generic look over the last 100 years that has been strapped by Romania brought me to the creation of the two works that bind to each other. Questions may be without immediate response and easy playable quests for the exit were now the solution. In other words, I call my creation as a whole of neo-sacro-expressionism, a title given by myself, with deep roots in expressionism, neo-expressionism, and in the specificity of this people who lived in and to the sacred, over the centuries, inspired by Constantin Noica's philosophy. I want to create an art with a message for my fellow men and by searching for the rescue solutions of the individual to urge reflection and hope. An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator [email protected] agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries
SPECIAL ISSUE 8 with a couple of questions about your multifaceted background. You have a solid formal training: after your studies in Painting, you graduated with a MA in Visual Arts from the University of Art and Design Cluj-Napoca, and you later nurtured your education with a PhD in Visual Arts: how did those formative years influence your evolution as an artist? In particular, how does your cultural substratum direct the trajectory of your current artistic research? Hello, thanks for the invitation! Indeed, over the years I have graduated from both artistic and scientific studies, here I am talking about painting to doctoral level, but also chemistryphysics, university studies. All of this has created my thinking, in a rational and aesthetic-creative blending, by favoring, I say, a capacity to create through the perspective of an inclination towards study and meditation on what is happening around us, in an attempt to penetrates and behind agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries
11 SPECIAL ISSUE appearances. Painting reveals and conveys a message to the viewer, expresses states, seeks solutions, and establishes connections between modes of thinking and different moments of time. As far as my artistic thinking is concerned, as I have said in the statement, I am influenced by expressionism, neo-expressionism, but also by the idea of Romanian’ s “întru sacru" orientation, that is, being at the same time in the sacred and living oriented towards the sacred, inspired by the philosophy of Constantin Noica. We have appreciated the way the results of your artistic inquiry convey such a coherent combination between emotional intuition and a rigorous aesthetics and the body of works that we have selected for this special edition of Peripheral ARTeries has at once impressed us of for the way you provide the viewers Andreea Rus eries Contemporary Art Peripheral agazine
SPECIAL ISSUE 12 agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries with such a multilayered visual experience. New York City based artist Lydia Dona once stated that in order to make art today one has to reevaluate the conceptual language behind the mechanism of art making itself: do you create your works gesturally, instinctively? Or do you methodically transpose geometric schemes? Your question is interesting because it raises Behind communist Utopias. Deported, 80-80 cm., acrylic on canvas, 2019
13 SPECIAL ISSUE Andreea Rus eries agazine Contemporary Art Peripheral the question of how an artist thinks and builds the artistic work. The two large compositions you talk about, thought of as a facility, have behind them a theoretical concept that generated the final form. The work "Lost Paradis" also includes an overall geometric scheme / tram that guides the artistic approach. "The color of our times" is the result of research on the historical and political past of Romania over the past 100 Behind communist Utopias. Deported, 80-80 cm., acrylic on canvas, 2019
SPECIAL ISSUE 16 agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries years. A meditation on those times and a balancing of what each era meant. All of this created the final plastic result entitled "The Color of our Times". In the first work mentioned above, "Lost Paradis," expressive gesture language makes its presence felt. The "Paradise Lost" reflects by color and gesture, the state of mind of a nation, as perceived by the artist. The space loses its freshness becoming a confused, dark Behind communist Utopias. Deported, 80-80 cm., acrylic on canvas, 2019
eries Contemporary Art Peripheral Andreea Rus agazine 17 SPECIAL ISSUE scene. In the second composition, the footprint is proposed to be the key to understanding all the unitary painting. This includes a series of steps, colorful traces, testimonies of different moments of socio-political time that we have been through for the last hundred years. These periods of time have come to influence each other, "forming" here the dominant chromatic painting of the visual composition, a dominance based on the "reds" of the times in Behind communist Utopias. Deported, 80-80 cm., acrylic on canvas, 2019
SPECIAL ISSUE 18 which we lived. There are also other series of works, such as “Places of happiness” or “Behind communist Utopias. Deported ", in which geometric tracts create an important basis for structuring paintings. Certainly, the gesture also makes its presence felt in these compositions, in a structural context. It brings the expression and inner livelihood necessary to transmit the message. agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries Behind communist Utopias. Deported, 80-80 cm., acrylic on canvas, 2019
Lost Paradise and The color of our times are marked out with geometric patterns, that you sapiently combine with such a great variety of tones, that provide your works with a unique aesthetic identity. 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 makeeries Contemporary Art Peripheral Diana Frankovic agazine 19 SPECIAL ISSUE Behind communist Utopias. Deported, 80-80 cm., acrylic on canvas, 2019
SPECIAL ISSUE 12 agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries up determine the nuances of tones that you decide to include in a specific artwork and in particular, how do you develop your textures? Color is especially important to me. It provides an obvious opening to the message the artist wishes to transmit. The space that the Romans call the Garden of the Mother of God, this terrestrial paradise, was suffocated by popular socialist parades, the loss of hope in freedom Behind communist Utopias. Deported, 80-80 cm., acrylic on canvas, 2019
19 SPECIAL ISSUE eries Contemporary Art Peripheral Andreea Rus agazine of expression, cruelty behind the closed doors of communist prisons, and more recent events. In the "Places of happiness", the chromatic crossings from the range of green to red and black make the transition from a state that we considered to be neighbors at first with a state of balance and calm, a state of loss of safety, anxiety , the suppression of hope. I was Behind communist Utopias.Deported, 80-80 cm., acrylic on canvas, 2019
agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries influenced by the mood created by the events that we have gone through. The work technique in these compositions is acrylic on the canvas and the visual effects are created by various chromatic overlaps. The colors were chosen in line with what the artist thought and feel he wanted to convey to the viewer. In the composition "The color of our time", red is the color that dominated the political scene in Romania in our time. Behind communist Utopias.Deported, 80-80 cm., acrylic on canvas, 2019
eries Contemporary Art Peripheral Andreea Rus agazine With their powerful abstract evokative quality, your artworks 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? 19 SPECIAL ISSUE
SPECIAL ISSUE 10 agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries I think almost always painting invites the viewer more or less interested in personal reflection on what he perceives in front of him. Surely, it's important for me to convey the proposed message, but to the same extent, I'm interested in learning personal ideas from my artistic creation. All this comes to build a whole ideation.
Andreea Rus eries agazine Contemporary Art Peripheral 9 SPECIAL ISSUE My exhibitions are generally made as installations. I want the series of works to communicate with each other, so that the message sent is close to what I wanted to express through my art. I believe that the role of today's art must be to convey a message. It's important to underline that The color of our times includes an amalgam of steps, colorful
traces of different moments of socio-political time that have succeeded and influenced each other. Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco once stated, "artists's role differs depending on which part of the world they’re in": do you think that your artworks could be considered political art? I believe that each of us is the result of a conglomerate of hereditary, social, cultural, political, etc. factors. what our actions influence. agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries
The artists of the place are often the projections of the situations they are exposed to. The statement that the role of artists differs depending on which part of the world they are might be true. There are artists who are cantoning in the sociopolitical reality of the work area and at the same time other artists with completely different eries agazine Contemporary Art Peripheral Andreea Rus 19 SPECIAL ISSUE
thinking and feelings. Socio-political reality has influenced me by thinking about the meaning of life, the concept of happiness, and the way the individual under pressure can find a balance. I can not say that my art is a political art, but that it is an art influenced by the place where I live and create, an art that wants to convey a message to my fellows and that urges the thinking of the existential meaning and ways of saving the individual . agazine Contemporary Art Peripheral eries Special Edition
19 SPECIAL ISSUE Andreea Rus eries agazine Contemporary Art Peripheral As you have remarked in your artist's statement regarding your exhibition Do you find the exit?, the installation wishes to draw an alarm signal, without being harsh or purely descriptive, relative to the confusing situation in which Romania is today: does your artistic research respond to a particular cultural moment? In particular, do you think that artists can raise awareness to an evergrowing audience on
agazine Contemporary Art Peripheral eries Special Edition topical issues in our unstable and globalised age? The question of finding the exit remains the rhetoric. It brings to light a confused situation that we are exposed to, the consequence certainly of decades of communist dictatorship that marked Romania in the last century. Inviting you to take the steps would be a PREVIEW
19 SPECIAL ISSUE practical opportunity to meditate on human existence. Certainly, artists can raise awareness of the topical issues of the era in which we live. You usually paint large canvas, that provide the viewers with such an immersive visual experience: how do the dimensions of your canvas affect your workflow? Lately we have created large-sized canvas. They offer a broad base of expression and have a powerful visual impact in transmitting the desired message. My work flow is constant considering that it's going to work in parallel and smaller-sized bands of series connected to each other. Over the years your artworks have been showcased in a number of occasions, you have had over 100 national and international collective exhibitions, including 20 personal exhibitions: 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? True, I have opened many personal exhibitions and participated in a large number of national and international group and group exhibitions. I hope that the audience remains with the idea that there is always hope of getting out of any deadlock, that almost everything we propose to do can make sense to life, that sometimes even suffering or death gives meaning to life, and that the life that has been given to us deserve to be lived. I also think it important not to forget the past and its mistakes so that we are not tempted to repeat them and to take care of how we build our present so that its future does not become a reflection of a vicious past. 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, Andreea. What projects are you currently working on, and what are some of the ideas that you hope to explore in the future? I am currently working in parallel with two series of paintings called "Places of Happiness" and "Behind communist Utopias. Deported ". Some of the pictures of the works in these series are also presented in this interview. Questions about the concept of happiness in the "Places of Happiness" series of works have found answers in philosophy and religion, the concept being of interest to the two disciplines. The painting, with deep roots in reading and imaginative, with realistic and abstract influences, wants to convey a message to the viewer about existence and survival. The last series of paintings, still in work, called "Behind communist Utopias. Deported "deals with the problem of the suffering of those deported during the communist era and their way of rescue and discovery of a meaning of life. The meaning of existence and its finding becomes an important issue of the twentieth century and our century. If work and love definitely give meaning to life, suffering and even death also come to give meaning to life. Thus, life has meaning until the last breath, as Victor E. Frankl believes in his writings. In my painting I celebrate life as a "monument" and the triumph of life on death. An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator [email protected] PREVIEW eries agazine Contemporary Art Peripheral Andreea Rus
SPECIAL ISSUE 128 Hello Chakalah and welcome to Peripheral ARTeries. Before starting to elaborate about your artistic production and we would like to invite our readers to visit https://addartbykalah.com in order to get a wide idea about your artistic production, and we would start this interview with a couple of questions about your background. Are there any experiences that did particularly influence your evolution as an artist? In Spring of 2017, I learned the value of being able to embrace a medical diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder (A.D.D.). Having the ability to acknowledge my lack of being able to focus on certain tasks for a long period of time, art was one thing I could spend time on without distraction. Art was therapeutic, it provided me with an opportunity to express myself without boundaries and my style began to develop Chakalah Crawford Lives and works in Rye, NY, USA Peripheral ARTeries meets This business sells original and creative diversified, African-American art online and at festivals in a community in need of more cultural opportunities in the field of art. A.D.D. (Artistically, Diversified and Defiant) Art by Kalah was created with bringing a different type of art to a community that, in my eyes, underrepresents African-American art or art that engages the eyes of black teens and adults. Through the recognition of this problem via an online poll, A.D.D. Art by Kalah has offered private Paint and Sip sessions, has been represented in several group exhibitions and most recently did a live paint session at The Taste of Africa Festival using volunteer audience members where the piece was auctioned off and used to raise money for a charitable cause. I’ve donated pieces and volunteered so that I can work towards branding myself to ALL communities. Once I have branded myself, I’d like to not only continue to work by showing my ability to be diverse through art, but work towards attracting not only AfricanAmericans but other cultures and races to my style of art. At the current time, the company is based inside of my home with the hopes of one day being able to have a studio and gallery that will serve as a place to meet the needs of my customers. This in turn will give me an opportunity to grow as an artist as well as provide a safe place for others to create their own masterpieces. An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator [email protected] agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries
131 SPECIAL ISSUE but still remain unspecific to any genre. It was hard to be consistent in everything I wanted to do whether it was cooking like a chef, studying for the MCAT, working out, etc. Art became the first form of consistency I knew and that’s when I discovered my passion. With only one class my high school year in Brussels, Belgium, I made a decision to never stop learning and to become much greater than an emerging artist. We have appreciated the way the results of your artistic inquiry convey such a coherent combination between emotional intuition and a rigorous aesthetics and the body of works that we have selected for this special edition of Peripheral ARTeries has at once impressed us of for the way you provide the viewers with such a multilayered visual experience: when walking our readers through your usual setup and process, would you tell us how do you usually develop the initial ideas for your artworks? Most of my best creations are commissioned pieces, my supports will give me their ideas of what they are looking for and I bring it to life. For example, Wanderlust Song, was one of my favorite and most popular pieces. A support contacted me and asked if I could do a piece that described them as a traveler, a singer and a dancer. It took months for me to bring this piece to life. To be honest, I started this piece in it came out in a way they formed no emotional connection, sense of appreciation, or a feeling of being proud for me. I contacted the supporter and asked for permission to start over and for more time and they were patient enough to allow me to. During this time, I meditated and prayed for a vision of what this piece should look like and how to properly capture her wants on one canvas. After a few weeks of thought, I dreamt of this painting and woke up and wrote every detail I could about the painting. I got started, turning my music channel on and began to paint. Aside from my commissioned pieces, most of my pieces are created while I’m sleeping. It will wake me up because my thoughts in my dreams are so vivid and limitless. I literally make my dreams a reality. We have really appreciated the vibrancy of thoughtful nuances that mark out your artworks - especially the tone of blue featured in Wanderlust Song - 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 your textures? As previously stated, Wanderlust Song is one of my most popular paintings. I was able to settle on a color palette because of the incorporation of her hair resembling the ocean; blue easily tied in with the purple and pinks. I highlighted the darker toned areas with this to accentuate the focus of her hair and the dancers that hang from her hair. I knew I wanted to incorporate the world to depict my supporters love for traveling. So, I thought it would be more meaningful to use actual pieces from a map, which in turn created the textures. We like the way your artworks as Midnight Skies and Eagle, convey such a stimulating Chakalah Crawford eries Contemporary Art Peripheral agazine
SPECIAL ISSUE 132 agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries combination between figurative elements and captivating abstract feeling: 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? I allow my daily interactions to influence my creativity. When I freely paint, I tend to get lost in my work and not set boundaries or allow the work to be produced with a certain expectation. However, I do understand that my mind loves to wander and with that, I allow my mind to develop a piece over time. Sometimes those pieces are realistic and sometimes those pieces tell a story that ends up being more abstract. Being A.D.D. has definitely lent a eagle
133 SPECIAL ISSUE Chakalah Crawford eries agazine Contemporary Art Peripheral helping hand in my artwork, it has allowed me to be more imaginative and have “unfocused” productions. My pieces are busy and the more I embrace my “wandering mind”, the more I fall in love with the pieces I am able to create. We have particularly appreciated your insightful exploration of African-American culture, with a particular focus on women, as you did in Golden Bun, Bald Beauty and Wander-Lust. In particular, how does your cultural substratum direct the trajectory of your current artistic production in this area? Moreover, does your artistic research respond to a particular cultural moment? As an African-American woman, I feel there is an importance to depict the beauty behind our culture, our differences and similarities.
Midnight Skies
wanderlust song
eries Contemporary Art Peripheral Chakalah Crawford agazine 137 SPECIAL ISSUE There is power behind the pieces you have named. The Golden Bun is significant because of the “gold” bun; gold represents achievement, affluence, sophistication, quality, etc. The Bald Beauty was used to represent boldness, beauty being defined by courage, strength and not tamed by others views or what is trending. The Wander-Lust represents the opportunities the world provides for us, the exposure and knowledge gained from traveling and the ability to fall in love with wanting more for ourselves and our culture. I wouldn’t say that my art is in response to a particular cultural moment, I’d say it’s much larger than a moment, it relates to the many possibilities in our present and future as it did Distressed Tigress Golden Bun
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Chakalah Crawford eries agazine Contemporary Art Peripheral 139 SPECIAL ISSUE
SPECIAL ISSUE 140 in the past, so I’d call it a cultural awareness. Paintings that allow others to become aware that there is a lot of exceptional AfricanAmerican art pieces that hold meaning and value. For the past two years, I have worked at an annual event called the Taste of Africa. At this event, people from different parts of Africa bring their culture to their audience whether it’s agazine Special Edition Contemporary Art Peripheral eries through food, information and/or clothes. Being born and raised in the US, I am always excited to partake in events as such. The Taste of Africa allows me to speak about my diagnosis and how I was able to embrace it and allow it to work for me. I inform the audience about my condition and donate a painting towards the end of the function so that it may be used for the auction portion that raises money for a particular program. lady with scarf black panther
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145 SPECIAL ISSUE eries Contemporary Art Peripheral Chakalah Crawford agazine With their powerful abstract evokative quality, your artworks 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 meaning? And in particular, how open would you like your artworks to be understood? At my first dual exhibition, I wandered around the room listening to multiple conversations to get a better understanding of what people saw in my paintings. I heard people stating they were shocked to realize the first time they saw a painting, in particular Perspective the Elephant, they paid so much attention to the view of the actual rainforest with the elephant that they didn’t notice that the entire painting was the outline of an elephants head. I think it’s important to allow the viewers to let what stands out most to them in painting attract their eyes, more so than me providing them with my vision. Art is a universal language, what it means for me may hold the same meaning for another. I love to listen to others views and perspectives because it shows just how many meanings one piece can hold. Your artworks are marked out with geometric patterns, as Blu-Tea is Her Name - that you sapiently combine with unique variety of tones, that provide your works with a unique aesthetic identity. New York City based artist Lydia Dona once stated that in order to make art today one has to reevaluate the conceptual language behind the mechanism of art making itself: do you create your works gesturally, instinctively? Or do you methodically transpose geometric schemes? I would have to say that most of the productions that are not commissioned are instinctively created and my commissioned productions are gesturally created. There are times that I will get a mass order of commissioned pieces and will have to stop taking orders for a while because I want to hang on to my ability to paint without consciously thinking. Being able to do both allows me to freely paint without actually knowing where I’m going with the piece but at the same time, allows me to meet the challenges of trying to create someone else's vision. Most recently you did a live paint session at The Taste of Africa Festival using volunteer audience members: would you tell us something about the experience? In particular, how do you consider the relation between the abstract nature of your creative process and the physical aspect of your daily practice as an artist? The paint session at The Taste of Africa Festival was very interactive. I picked four or five members from the audience and allowed them to do an entire painting just by following my instruction, talking them through it. The final production was auctioned off to raise money for a charity. It seemed to be an eye catcher because those bidding were able to see the progress of the creation from start to finish. It also opened the eyes of those, “I can’t paint”, people and show them that yes, painting is difficult but it can be done as well as fun. The creative process as it relates to the abstract nature is more
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eries Contemporary Art Peripheral Chakalah Crawford agazine 147 SPECIAL ISSUE
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