LandEscape A r t R e v i e w Anniversary Edition C o n t e m p o r a r y Rachel Kienitz MEMOTICON JOAQUIM MARQUES CHRISTOPHER FLUDER KINNARI SARAIYA JALEH FARSHI NINA PANCHEVA JOHN A. BLYTHE NADIA ADINA ROSE RACHEL KIENITZ ART
SUMMARY Jaleh Farshi World C o n t e m p o r a r y A r t R e v i e w Iran Rachel Kienitz My paintings are a visual representation of my dreams. I'm inspired by nature and the healing qualities of being in nature. I'm interested in woman's relationship with nature and how it relates to her relationship to herself. I use elements such as paper, fabric and paint to create a textured layering effect. This layering represents different levels of the psyche and the ability to catch a glimpse into deeper realms of our true being. I'm interested in the tiny details and hidden items beneath the surface. These elements are clues to unfolding the mystery of the story I'm creating. I hope my work inspires the viewer to open themselves up to the idea that there is so much to explore within themselves. My paintings give them a peek into my inner world which, in turn, encourages them to explore their own. Special Issue Joaquim Marques Garmany I see watercolor as a subconscious way to create fictitous memories of landscapes which might exist somewhere. As times goes by memories become blurry, but at the same time they get a new immaterial quality. The unpredictability of water transforms color and shapes in oneiric images of Nature. Unpainted parts on the paper are like a loss of information, a loss of memories. Watercolor is, paraphrasing the brazilian writer Guimaráes Rosa, working memory in its solid, liquid and gas state. Canada Land scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Christopher Fluder USA Contrast doesn’t come into being by way of permission; it is autonomous and no one is immune, no one absolved from it. My photographs examine contrast and dichotomy. Eschewing comfortable patterns or artistic conventions, I examine the features of real life as they occur — whether beautiful or horrifying. My recent works represent a reflection of New York City over a tumultuous threeyear period; the mistaken, unseen, and overlooked have presented themselves on a case-by-case basis, highlighting the fragile nature of our existence. Before harmony, there is chaos. Emotion and reason have long been considered opposites, mostly to subordinate the alleged feminine to the alleged masculine. Unless, that is, a male artist's works express feelings, urges, and passion, which has been traditionally regarded as a sign of g reatness. With our series entitled Axioms of Passion, we subvert common codes of art evaluation by not telling perceivers which of us created which piece. In other worlds, we do not reveal the truth about which pieces, if any, have a proper penis connection. Through initiating a dialogue with viewers — who themselves are also part of that landscape —, we aim to provoke a conscious reflection on deeply ingrained biases against women. We hope, therefore, that the project will contribute to an escape from a centuries-old landscape to give way to less biased and more democratic surroundings. I am a painter whose paintings depict Iran's landscapes. The landscape is not just geography or place, it is also memory and spirit. The recollection of the past that we've all experienced at some stage in our lives. I take what I see in the landscape and imagine how it relates to my personal experience. I am not governed by what is true.I am creating an artwork that, to a large degree, is recognizable to all. The one that both exists in reality and imagination. My paintings represent subjects that are familiar from reality, but also part of the artistic imagination. Memoticon Bulgaria Nina Pancheva My works are not an attempt for self-expression. Also, they are not an attempt to escape reality. My artisitc approach is the result of the idea that fine art is a unique method for exploring and ‘seeing’ the world. In my art practice I often work on subjects concerning political and ecological problems - I am convinced that visual art could exceed its formal endeavors and could provide new and different insights than a purely scientific approach.The other direction started with my intention to contribute to the awareness of some of the current ecological problems, which we all face – the melting of the polar ice caps and the overall global climate change. In this sense the computer dialogue boxes appear in the paintings as signs of a reality, which seems saturated with images, especially in screens. Anna Fine Foer
Special Issue Special thanks to Miya Ando, Juerg Luedi, Urte Beyer, Beth Krensky, Rudiger Fischer, Lisa Birke, Haylee Lenkey, Martin Gantman, Ariane Littman, Max Epstein, Nicolas Vionnet, Sapir Kesem Leary, Greg Condon, Jasper Van Loon, Alexandre Dang, Christian Gastaldi, Larry Cwik, Michael Nelson, Dana Taylor, Michael Sweeney, Colette Hosmer, Melissa Moffat, Marinda Scaramanga and Artemis Herber. SUMMARY Land scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW United Kingdom In my work, I make us of ready-made textile objects related to my childhood experiences and impressions to see them surface in today’s reality, which is so different from that of the past – up to the point that the two seem to be incompatible. The textures, domestic objects and design patterns that were totally self-evident decades ago, during the epoch that has been over, in the country that does not exist any longer, are still present in my mind – as if they were the “gravity points” that affect my perception. I extract these objects out of my memory (they are still present: forgotten in the lower drawers of creaky wardrobes, on the shelves of the shops in the Russian provincial towns, all those old-school blankets, linen sheets, pillows and pillowcases) and re-figure them to find them a place in the world as I know it today. I sew and arrange objects that expand our traditional living space, turning it into a large-scale, panoramic vision where, by playing with things, I push them outside the boundaries of conventional everyday experience. Nadia Adina Rose Russia / Israel I am an artist and educator based in Oxfordshire. My practice is situated in and beyond the realm of light and time based image making. My interest is as much in process as it is in subject. My current art practice is an experimental exploration of the material possibilities of photography and the space between the representational and the abstract. Rather than using photography to capture images ‘out there’ that represent something external, I’m interested in how images might emerge from the photographic process itself and express something of the nature of the materials used. I’m particularly interested in contact, how material photography can capture and articulate the physical presence, both of the photographer and the subject. I’m excited by the alchemy of early and alternative photographic processes. magic at work that surpasses the technicality of the process and taps directly into the imagination. Underlying my work is my need to be sustainable and to acknowledge my individual responsibility to my community and the wider world. Kinnari Saraiya United Kingdom Kinnari Saraiya, born in Bombay, India, addresses contemporary discourses of the imperial past from a post-colonial standpoint. Her grandfather has seen the final days of the British Raj to the early days of Indian independence and the post-colonial effects of it today. Her art practice, inspired by the stories engrained in her being, narrates the silences in history. She explores the absence of presence through sculpture, mixed media drawings and digital gif animations. She gives voice to the architectural landscape that is regarded as a silent witness of the British Raj and transforms it through contemporary techniques like lasercutting and moulding. Further decolonising materiality in contemporary art, she hero’s chilli powder in her work to reflect domesticity and a sense of home through a spice that is vibrantly red and hot, symbolising violence. These, coming together as a cautionary tale, contemplates the duality of creation and destruction, past and present. While the voice is faded and neglected in their existence in the landscape, her responses allow space for reflection and speculation. John A. Blythe 4 32 Rachel Kienitz lives and works in Toronto, Canada Christopher Fluder lives and works in New York City, USA Kinnari Saraiya lives and works in London, United Kingdom Memoticon live and work somewhere in the world Jaleh Farshi lives and works in Tehran, Iran Nadia Adina Rose lives and works in Jerusalem, Israel Nina Pancheva lives and works in London, United Kingdom John A. Blythe lives and works in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom Joaquim Marques lives and works in Germany 56 78 100 124 154 190 212
Hello Rachel and welcome to LandEscape. Before starting to elaborate about your artistic production, we would like to invite our readers to visit in order to get a wide idea about your multifaceted artistic production, and we would start this interview with a couple of questions about your multifaceted background. You have a solid formal training and you graduated in Interior Design from Sheridan College: how did those formative years influence your evolution as an artist? In particular, does your work as a Set Decorator and Buyer in the Toronto film industry help you to develop your attitude to experiment with different techniques and materials? Rachel Kienitz: Thank you so much for having me. Yes, I went to Sheridan College for Interior Design and before that I took a general arts course called Art Fundamentals. The Interior Design program at Sheridan was intense - technically and artistically. During my years in school, I learned how to create under pressure and within a time frame, which has been such a helpful skill both in my film work and my art My paintings are a visual representation of my dreams. I'm inspired by nature and the healing qualities of being in nature. I'm interested in woman's relationship with nature and how it relates to her relationship to herself. I use elements such as paper, fabric and paint to create a textured layering effect. This layering represents different levels of the psyche and the ability to catch a glimpse into deeper realms of our true being. I'm interested in the tiny details and hidden items beneath the surface. These elements are clues to unfolding the mystery of the story I'm creating. I hope my work inspires the viewer to open themselves up to the idea that there is so much to explore within themselves. My paintings give them a peek into my inner world which, in turn, encourages them to explore their own. An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator [email protected] Land scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW LandEscape meets Rachel Kienitz
Photo by Phoenix Sage Potter
scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition Photo by Phoenix Sage Potter
practice. I learned that there are many different aspects to the creative process and that everyone approaches this process in their own unique way. Once I realized this, I started to hone my communication skills and worked on how to explain my ideas visually so that other people could understand them. Mostly I learned that I excelled best at what I enjoyed doing, which was the artistic side of things like concept boards (which I still use today), renderings, floor plans and elevations. I was happiest when I was able to draw freehand or use markers and gouache for renderings. Working as a Set Decorator/Buyer means that I get to help create the world where the story takes place. My favourite productions to work on are period films because I love to learn about history, especially through furniture and design. I enjoy the challenge of having to find era specific pieces that are appropriate for the scene and the overall theme of the production. It's almost like piecing together a puzzle. These settings and characters are real in the mind of the writer and creating a film brings the ideas out of the writer's mind and into the minds of the viewer. I think that’s pretty magical. I aim for this level of storytelling in all of my paintings. Unfortunately, the film industry has a lot of waste. One day while I was working, someone was about to throw away a big box of scrap fabric. Instead, I took the box home and that's how I began using fabric in my paintings. I'm interested in using things that other people deem unnecessary or junk. I don't really believe in junk; I think you only Rachel Kienitz scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land
need to have an open mind about how to repurpose it. For this special edition of LandEscape we have selected your Wild Woman series, a stimulating project that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article. What has at once captured our attention of your exploration of the inner landscape of the female psyche, is the way it engages the viewers through such unique multilayered visual experience, offering an insight into the connection between women’s health and the ecology of our planet: when walking our readers through your usual setup and process, would you tell us how did you develop your Wild Woman series? Rachel Kienitz: I was in the midst of developing a regular meditation practice and just beginning to dip my toes into the pools of my psyche. I've always known this inner world exists but had never had a language to explain it before. I was reading Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes and the flood gates opened for me. Suddenly I had a way to express my experiences. The first painting in the series was 'The Source' which came to me in a meditation. I saw the painting completed just as it was and knew that it was a representation of the Life/Death/Life cycle. It's a depiction of this inner world and shows that more is happening beneath the surface than most people are aware of. Hidden within the painting is a compass which is a symbol to direct the viewer to this world beyond, if they dare go looking for it. At the same time I began painting the 'Wild Woman' series, I was also reading a biography on Georgia O'Keeffe. The way that the author scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition Awake In The Dream, 24x36 acrylic and paper on cotton
[Roxanna Robinson] describes New Mexico and the desert landscape was a huge inspiration, especially when choosing the colour palette for this series. I feel drawn to the desert and I think it's entirely possible I've already lived a life there. I would lay in bed at Rachel Kienitz scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land canvas
night and wonder how life can survive in such a harsh climate, with lack of shade and water, and yet it does. Somehow, life continues on. There's a reason our planet is in trouble right now and I think it has much to do with the suppression of the Divine Feminine. In the scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition Sienna At Night, 16x16 acrylic and paper on cotton canvas
Rachel Kienitz scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land 'Wild Woman' series, the desert represents the current state of the Divine Feminine. Women's cycles are directly tied to the cycles of the planet - the seasons, the moon, the birth/life/death cycle. I believe these cycles need to be recognized and honored before She Could Not Be Tamed, 30x30 acrylic and paper on cotton canvas
scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition any healing can start to take place. Our relationship with nature is a direct reflection of our relationship to ourselves and women need to find a way back to themselves before Mother Earth can begin to heal. The Source, 30x30 acrylic and paper on wood panel
Your Wild Woman series has struck us for the way you sapiently conveyed effective combination between spontaneity and with such unique rigorous aesthetics: do you create your works gesturally, instinctively? Or do you methodically transpose geometric schemes? Rachel Kienitz: My work is very instinctual. I often start a painting with a feeling in mind. Sometimes I know exactly what I want to paint but most of the time I jump in blind and have to trust that the process will catch me and take over. I think of myself as a vessel to bring the ideas forth from the unseen world into this one. Once I've gotten started, the idea gradually makes itself known through each layer. When I feel like it has fully expressed itself through me and there is nothing more to add, that's when I know it's complete. Of course, not every painting is the same and the process isn't ever linear. If I sat down to write each step taken, it would be different every time. We have appreciated the variety of your palette, that ranges from the delicate and thoughtful nuances of Awake In A Dream to such intense colors that marks out Sienna At Night. How does your own psychological make-up determine the nuances of tones that you decide to include in your artworks and in particular, how do you develop your textures in order to achieve such unique results? Rachel Kienitz: I usually start with the colour palette; it signals the beginning. I mix all of my own colours which is a meditative part of the process for me. I have a whole box of colour swatches that I refer back to over and over again. I'm intrigued by different colour relationships and how certain combinations can elicit an emotional response or memory. I'm continually learning about colour and the effect it can have on the Self. I ask myself "how can I use colour to tell this particular story?" Texture is also a big part of my work. I use elements such as paper, fabric, paint and paste to create a textured layering effect. To me, this layering represents different levels of the psyche and the ability to get a glimpse into deeper realms of our true being. One of my favourite things while painting is when a previous layer is showing through the newly created one. It tells the story of where I have come from in the creation process. A life is one experience after another, with each experience piled on top of the previous one and this is also how I view my art. I'm drawn to tiny details and hidden items beneath the surface of the paint such as a white horse, an angel wing, part of an old, handwritten letter. These elements are clues to understanding the story I'm creating and are there for people willing to look for them. I mentioned earlier that I use fabric in my artwork. I'll usually tear it beforehand which creates threads and strands that add another dimension of texture to the canvas. I love using fabric with a large weave so that the painting underneath can peek through. Sometimes I'll wet it first and fold it into interesting shapes which allows for crevasses Rachel Kienitz scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land
and more opportunities to "hide" things of importance. I also like to use what I call visual texture (where you can see the texture but not feel it) in the form of old travel magazines. The photographs within can be so abstract that if they're taken out of the context of the article, it's hard to tell what they are. It adds another layer of mystery to my work and I love that. As you have remarked once, each piece came to you through a dream: with their unique combination between figurative elements and dreamlike atmosphere, your artworks unveil the connection between reality and imagination. How do you consider the relationship between the real and the imagined playing within your artistic practice? Rachel Kienitz: All of my work begins in the realm of imagination. To me, this realm is just as real as "reality". My art is based on ideas that come from the unseen world and I try to bring this unseen world into physical being on canvas for others to experience. The use of colour and the way that certain colours can elicit emotions is an important part of communicating my work. Humans have complex emotions and we can feel many different things at once - sometimes even opposing feelings. I love using dark, moody colours as well as earth tones next to hints of vibrant colours, like raw sienna beside lavender or moss green with bright orange. To me, this balances the dark with the light. In my everyday life, I'm always on the lookout for new colour combinations and how they make me feel. Some people might say that emotions aren't real; that they're just chemicals in the brain because they can't see or hold them. But that's why art is so important - it's the physical self-expression of things that can only be felt. Art is an instinctual way of communicating with each other. The relationship between the real and the imagined is the dance of creativity itself. You are a versatile artist and we appreciate the way your works create a bridge between past and present: you integrate pieces of your ancestry into your artworks — as you did in your touching Rebirth series — providing them with such multilayered narrative drive, with evocative and allegorical features. Such hybrid visual quality allows the viewers to capture fleeting moments providing them with emotional impact: how do you consider the role of memory playing within your artistic practice? And how important are symbols in your process? Rachel Kienitz: I think memory is like a fingerprint in that we all remember things in our own way, with our unique perspectives attached to it. When we remember the past, we're connecting the past with the present. This allows us to re-experience things that happened in the past. We can look at the past events with or without certain emotions attached and can see things from a different angle, maybe something that we weren't scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition
aware of at the time. This gives us new knowledge and a fresh outlook which is transformative in the healing process. Creating is a powerful healing mechanism and can be used as therapy. When I'm creating, I'm in a safe place to explore the feelings Rachel Kienitz scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land But You, 24x24 acrylic, paper and charcoal on cotton canvas
associated with my memories, just the same as when I'm meditating. I'm able to integrate the emotions and then to move forward in my life. Every painting I've ever done has some past memory attached to it, whether I began the painting with that in mind or not. Each scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition See You Again, 30x30 acrylic and paper on cotton canvas
scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Rachel Kienitz Land Sisters, 24x30 acrylic and paper on cotton canvas
Photo by Phoenix Sage Potter
one has offered me the space to heal. During a particularly intense meditation, I had gone back to the day my mom died. I was in a state of shock when she died, which prevented me from fully feeling at the time. However, being in a meditative state and residing in the safety of my inner world, I allowed myself to finally feel what I needed to. I observed the feelings and then they passed and then there was peace. And then I realized that just because her death made me feel certain things that I considered "bad" (anger, grief, sadness) that doesn't mean that she felt those same emotions. I had always assumed that her death was just as sad for her as it was for me, but maybe she felt relief for no longer being in pain. Maybe she was happy to be going home and joining loved ones she hadn't seen for a long time. It was a completely different experience for her. And that realization helped me to heal, in a very deep way. I use symbols to help me further explain what I feel in the imaginative realm. There, it's more about feeling than about seeing. Symbols are a way for me to interpret emotions and to assign a character to it. When I painted my 'Rebirth' series, I used the symbol of nests to communicate the feeling of home and sanctuary, which is exactly what I needed at the time I painted that series. The use of old letters, music notes and journal entries that I added to the paintings (and that came from my Mom and Grandma) were put there to support me. I felt safe to create and it connected me to the women of my past. It was as if we were collaborating on the art together. Your works often challenge the viewers' perceptual parameters, inviting your audience to discern and interpret. 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 perception: how important is for you to trigger the viewers' imagination in order to address them to elaborate personal interpretations? In particular, how open would you like your works to be understood? Rachel Kienitz: I create my paintings from the realm of magic and those who frequent that realm understand what I'm saying in my work. It's recognized on an instinctual level - from the same plane where we tell stories and depict symbols. Storytelling is ingrained in us - it's part of our human nature and our history. There are infinite realities attached to ours that aren't visible with the naked eye. I'm more interested in exploring those worlds than I am this physical "reality" that we can see. I think this is what sets artists apart from other people - we're willing to go places within our psyches that may be too scary for others because it's unknown. My hope in sharing my work is that it grants the viewer a peek behind the veil and encourages them to start exploring their own scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition
subconscious. Imagination is a muscle that we must use and play with on a regular basis, otherwise we lose the ability. Children understand this better than adults. As we get older, we're conditioned to believe that the magical realm doesn't exist, that reality is the Rachel Kienitz scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land To Be Held, 30x30 acrylic, paper and marker on cotton canvas
"real world". But magic is absolutely real. It's very much alive and waiting for you to interact with it. Another interesting series of yours that has particularly impressed us and that we would like to introduce to our readers is entitled scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition Swimming With The Stars, 40x60 acrylic, paper and marker on cotton canvas
Fluidity and we definitely love the way it unveils such enchanting sense of connection with Nature. Your Fluidity series was inspired by your camping experience near Algonquin Park, the oldest provincial park in Canada: how does your relationship with natural environment inspire you? Rachel Kienitz: I had a very surreal (and fortunate) childhood. I grew up spending every summer at my family's cottage in Haliburton. My days there consisted of playing outside, eating meals at the picnic table, evening campfires, digging in the beach, and swimming, swimming, swimming. I was always in the water. These are memories that I'll hold close to my heart for the rest of my life. When I'm outside in nature, my entire body relaxes and time moves differently. I'm able to remember where I've come from and that there's absolutely no rush to get to where I'm going and nature reminds me of that. When I painted my 'Fluidity' series, I wanted to capture the feeling I had while living outdoors. Sleeping under the stars and hearing wolves howl at the plump, full moon. That energizing, almost electric feeling of swimming in a natural body of water. It was a reawakening experience for me and I wanted to bring those feelings to the canvas. I tried to merge my experience of floating in the lake with stargazing. When I painted the series, I pictured myself gliding through an expansive galaxy. You often work with large canvass, that provide the viewers with such immersive scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Rachel Kienitz Land
visual experience: how do the dimensions of your canvass affect your workflow? Rachel Kienitz: I'm drawn to working on large surfaces because it feels expansive to me. I paint large because I feel strong emotions that need space to express themselves. Even in my sketchbooks I leave a blank page at the beginning to allow space for my ideas to breathe. It takes longer to finish a large canvas but they have a great presence in the homes they end up in. This year I'm trying to push myself to see how large I can actually paint. Oversized canvases can be hard to find so I've started stretching and priming the canvases myself, which also gives me greater control over the quality. It used to bother me that it takes so long for me to finish a painting. Social media makes it seem like artists pump out paintings in an afternoon. But the creation process isn't linear and a lot of the time my paintings start out completely different to what they end up being. Some of the canvases actually have 3 or 4 paintings in them, and each layer influences the next. I've learned that taking my time allows me to get more engrossed in the creation process. I plan on painting for the rest of my life, so really, there is no rush. I've been given an entire lifetime to do what I've come here to do. You are an established artist: your artworks are in the private collections of homes around the world, and have been been featured in Disney movies and various Netflix productions: how do you consider the nature of your relationship with your audience? By the way, as the move of Art from traditional gallery spaces, to street and especially to online platforms — as Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/rachelkienitzart increases, how would in your opinion change the relationship with a globalised audience? Rachel Kienitz: I struggle with marketing my work because I'm really more interested in the creation side - as I'm sure is true for a lot of artists. As an introvert, I find it difficult to know how much of myself to share with my audience. I'm sure I share too much sometimes, but it's hard to find the right balance between staying open and authentic and being a "business". How can I give everything that I have to the canvas and not to my audience? It's a question I ask myself often. As artists we're expected to wear many different hats: to be creators, entrepreneurs, promoters. Being an artist in this time means your job isn't only to make art - you have it make it. I find this pressure especially disruptive to my creative process, so often, the business side of things takes the back seat. I want to personally know my audience and have relationships with the people who enjoy my work. That's one of the reasons why you need to email me if you're interested in owning a painting - I want you to know that I'm a one-woman operation and that I care about where my art ends up. Each piece is one scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition
of a kind (I'm not interested in mass production) and I want to make sure that my art is going to its rightful owner. So far, this perspective has worked for me and my collectors. While physical galleries and shows are becoming more obsolete, I find there’s a gap appearing and a lot of artists are lacking representation. On the one hand, you can Rachel Kienitz scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Going Home, 30x30 acrylic, paper and marker on cotton canvas
Yin Yang, 24x36 acrylic, paper and charcoal on cotton canvas
now be an artist without ever having your work in a gallery. You can have your work seen online by anyone in the world. But it requires more time and effort from the artist, which subtracts from creating. The internet and the way it's being used to market art has become a double-edged sword. I think there are a lot of artists who feel the same way and don't have the interest in making themselves an Instagram sensation. So, what will representation look like in the future? I've been doing some investigating into NFTs because my partner is a big advocate for cryptocurrency. NFTs put the power back into the artists hands because not only does the NFT provide proof that the work is authentic, but the artist can also collect royalties anytime their work is resold, without the need of a middleman. I think that's pretty powerful. In the near future I plan to offer certificates of authenticity in NFT form whenever someone purchases my work. I think this is an exciting glimpse into the future of 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, Rachel. What projects are you currently working on, and what are some of the ideas that you hope to explore in the future? Rachel Kienitz: Right now, I'm currently in the incubation phase of a body of work that’s based on dreams. I've been keeping a dream journal and have been referring back to it often when developing the language of this series. I want to merge my abstract work with realism and have been playing around in my sketchbook on how to execute this, as well as honing my drawing skills. I'm also in the middle of a few family tree commissions where I'm incorporating symbols and personal memorabilia into the paintings to represent who they are as a family unit. I'm really enjoying diving deep into a family's particular history and psychology in order to create their own, customized family tree. If you’d like your own family tree painting, please feel free to contact me. A concept I'm hoping to explore in the future is Transformation and how it affects an individual, particularly in trying times. I want to go further into complex human emotions and the way that we interact with these emotions. Of course, I want to continue to explore my inner world and to dive headfirst into my own darkness. This is where my best ideas come from and the more comfortable I am in the darkness, the easier it gets. I'd also like to further develop my own symbolic language and to use these symbols in future paintings. Thank you so much for giving me the space to talk about my work, LandEscape, and for such insightful and thoroughly thought-out scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator [email protected]
scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Rachel Kienitz Land Mystic Moon, 24x30 acrylic, paper and charcoal on cotton canvas
Hello Christopher and welcome to LandEscape. Before starting to elaborate about your artistic production and we would like to invite our readers to visit https://christopherfluder.com in order to get a wide idea about your multifaceted artistic production, and we would start this interview with a couple of questions about your multifaceted background. You have a solid formal training and after your studies at the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts in New York City you started your career as an artist as well as a writer, director and producer: how did those formative years influence your evolution as an artist? Moreover, how does your cultural substratum due to your experience in the entertainment industry address your current artistic research? Christopher Fluder: Formative is a relative term. There has not been any point at which the world around me has ceased to influence my evolution. Expression, as I have embraced it, disallows division between art and life. Learning and creating are inextricably bound, each dependent upon the other. My experience addresses – rather, reflects – an understanding I have of film; not as an amorphous addition to how we define art, but as an organic result of all arts (music, Contrast doesn’t come into being by way of permission; it is autonomous and no one is immune, no one absolved from it. My photographs examine contrast and dichotomy. Eschewing comfortable patterns or artistic conventions, I examine the features of real life as they occur — whether beautiful or horrifying. My recent works represent a reflection of New York City over a tumultuous three-year period; the mistaken, unseen, and overlooked have presented themselves on a case-bycase basis, highlighting the fragile nature of our existence. Before harmony, there is chaos. An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator [email protected] Land scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW LandEscape meets Christopher Fluder
scape Special Edition CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Dorsoduro, 2020, photograph, archival pigment print, Ed.5+AP, 40x30 cm. No matter the window or the wall, day to day existence has been tethered to a very finite space: life, by way of square feet. As restrictions once again pen us in, our thoughts, philosophies, and dreams seem to be examining another aspect of the infinite. In this respect, ceilings give way and windows open.
Christopher Fluder Land scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW dance, photography, fashion, painting, etc.) taking on one form and revealing a way forward. Whatever expression and creativity are to become, the moving image is taking us there. The body of works that we have selected for this special edition of LandEscape 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 your exploration of contrast and dichotomy unveils the correlations between polarizing elements, capturing such unconventional beauty in the ordinary: when walking our readers through your usual setup and process, would you tell us how do you develop your ideas? In particular, do you meticulously plan each step of your work or do you go with the flow? L’Enfant du Printemps 2018, photograph, archival pigment print, Ed.5+AP, 38x28 cm. An August moon through the trees on the Chelsea High Line. Second Sight 2020, photograph, archival pigment print, Ed.5+AP, 51x38 cm. At river’s edge; the first of dusk leaves a question in its wake: Is it harder to find or be found?
scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition Tempus Tempest 2018, photograph, archival pigment print, Ed.5+AP, 30x30 cm. A lower Manhattan office building stands in the background. The gathering clouds of a summer storm reflected in its windows. A sculpture depicting the continents of the world in the foreground. The sculpture and the building of which it is a part built on top of a 17th century Dutch fort… A consequence of modernity embodied in a storm perpetually gathering.
Christopher Fluder Land scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Honesty 2020, photograph, archival pigment print, Ed.5+AP, 38x28 cm. The recent lockdowns have pulled humanity from the streets to the bedrooms. One can feel forced to turn the eye inwards for the work to reflect current realities. The perspective to be gained from this chaotic time not only reflects our ongoing isolation, but also imagines our future.
A Consequence of Intuition 2014, photograph, archival pigment print, Ed.5+AP, 30x40 cm. “A Consequence of Intuition” replicates the loneliness of one of the outbuildings on Fort Morgan on Mobile Bay, Alabama, curiously framed by a window shade made derelict by sun and age. In the former, revelry and ritual; in the latter, seclusion. Which is our future?
scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition Conditions 2018, photograph, archival pigment print, Ed.5+AP, 38x28 cm. The nonchalance of this non-binary subject is illustrative of the shift in societal attitude towards gender fluidity. At the precipice of convention and discord, a child born of marginalized communities and fed on co-opted ideals walks into the future. This photograph examines diversity of voice, both nuanced and amplified. Seemingly a consequence of environment, the distinction in these city voices has become endemic to survival.
Christopher Fluder scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Christopher Fluder: I don’t believe in any one development or process; creative dogmas are a double-edged sword one needn’t die by. Every idea has its own way of coming into focus; in nurturing whatever that may be, I’ve found the structure of inspiration, concept, and execution to change with each work. Inspired by decadent and fascinating view from the homonymous sestiere in Venezia, Dorsoduro draws the viewers to question the unbalanced dichotomy between our perception of the concept of infinite versus finite space, and we really appreciated the way you provided such a primarily philosophical theme with unique visual transposition. Are you particularly interested in exploring the theme of human perception within your artistic production? Christopher Fluder: No matter the window or the wall, day-to-day existence has been tethered to a very finite space: Life, by way of square feet. As restrictions once again pen us in, our thoughts, philosophies, and dreams seem to be examining another aspect of the infinite. In this respect, ceilings give way and windows open. As to human perception, all facets of the human condition are core to my explorations. Many of your recent work feature New York City's urban environment, as the interesting Tempus Tempest: how do locations influence your work as a visual artist and how does your everyday life's experience fuel your creative process? Christopher Fluder: Like the song/music heard sitting outside a café in the late afternoon, or the taste of water your cupped hands brought from a brook to your lips last spring, location will inevitably influence perception and thereby expression and creation. From the farthest reaches of our subconscious, everything within the lives we live forms an emotional heredity that serves to influence our work: everyone I brushed shoulders with walking downtown last year; the three to five notes of music I hear from any car passing my apartment with windows open and the radio turned up; the centuries of artwork I’ve gazed at for hours uncounted... Honesty draws from the recent lockdowns, that have pulled humanity from the streets to the bedrooms. With sapient reference to elements from ordinary, daily life as the white fence, your work features powerful narrative drive: how do you consider the
scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Special Edition role of symbols and evocative elements playing within your artistic process? And how important is it for you to create artworks rich of allegorical qualities? Christopher Fluder: To distill the world around us, finding the feelings and truths beneath, is a power that symbology and allegory have in photo and film. The narrative qualities in my photographs are an underpinning of my work as a whole. The sense of loneliness that exudes from A Consequence of Intuition has reminded us of the concept of non-lieu, elaborated by French anthropologist Marc Augé: as a Rorschach test, it challenges the viewers' perception inviting them to switch between opposite interpretations. How important is for you to trigger the viewers' imagination in order to address them to elaborate personal interpretations? In particular, how open would you like your works to be understood? Christopher Fluder: It is meaningful to me if a viewer’s imagination, ire, arousal, introspection has been triggered; however, it’s not for me to say what effect – if any – my work has on anyone. No work is created with a promise of engagement. The waking world does not exist in a vacuum; anyone may interpret what they see as they wish. To shackle a viewer with expectation is to limit the effect your work
Christopher Fluder Land scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW The Mortal Season 2020, photograph, archival pigment print, Ed.5+AP, 26x35 cm.
scape Special Edition CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Land Pageantry 2019, photograph, archival pigment print, Ed.5+AP, 38x51 cm.
Christopher Fluder Land scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW may have upon them, profound or otherwise. Ranging from the outbuildings on Fort Morgan on Mobile Bay, Alabama to Manhattan, your works feature places with opposite peculiarities: how did you select the locations and how do they affect your creative process? Christopher Fluder: Contrasts, or “opposite peculiarities” as you call them, define the symbiotic nature of existence. It follows, then, that they would be present in much of my work. With my photographic work, there is no set process and resultant effect on the piece or series. With their unique ambivalent visual identity, The Other Mirror seems to make the viewers question the reality of the situation: how do you consider the relationship between the real and the imagined playing within your artistic practice? Christopher Fluder: Film and photography remove the lines we’ve carefully set out to define reality. If you’re standing in a gallery; or sitting in a theater, the floor beneath your feet is real. The bench or chair where you’ve draped your jacket? Real again.
Unconscious Voices 2020, photograph, archival pigment print, Ed.5+AP, 46x61 cm. New Year’s Eve 2020, Gramercy Park. All but a few guests had left the Booth Mansion; the remaining assemblage seemed to comment deeply on the mystery that drives our quest for identity in this life.
Temporary Diversity 2019, photograph, archival pigment print, Ed.5+AP, 40x30 cm. There exists today a space in which we are void and, as such, free from predisposition, from judgment; without mortal coil… This is temporary and thus, we return from ether to ash. A refuge found can so quickly become a refuge lost.
We try to fly from the moment we’re born. Gravity is our adversary. When we enter the cinema, after the lights go dark, as the film begins, there is a release of all maxims. Space and time have no dictates save for one: Emotion. It is the natural domain of Christopher Fluder Land scape CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW Sheep Cottage 2020, photographic collage, archival pigment print, Ed.5+AP, 25x25 cm.