JANE FOX HIPPLE

Do again, 2011

oil on wood

24 x 18 x 2"

What are you working on in your studio right now?

I’ve just started working again since my first solo show, Blanks and Holes, which was held at DODGE gallery in New York this February-March.  I have begun by responding to the work that was in that show and the remnant works that have popped up while cleaning the studio.  In the show at DODGE, I was working with ideas about framing and the play between object and picture plane.  The dominant format used was a traditionally proportioned rectangle in the “portrait” orientation. 

My work attempts to go beyond making a picture, while staying within the parameters of painting.  In response to my investigation of framing device I have made a large stack of panels that are slightly off the square.  I am drawn to the awkwardness of this proportion while it throws a wrench into the mix of the whole conversation started with Blanks and Holes.  It seems incongruous to paint or add frames to this shape, which is not in the language of portrait, landscape or digital screen.   

Additionally I have made several supports to parody some of the older paintings.  I’m interested to see what happens when I overtly address the innate fear of self-repetition by deliberately repeating myself.   Maybe it’s a stupid exercise but that’s why it also seems like a good idea.

Studio

                     Can you describe your working routine?

I used to stress myself out over routine.  I would clock in and out of the studio and quantify studio hours against how many hours I spent working my day job.  This type of attitude was extremely problematic for me.  It just left me dissatisfied and unhappy.   I’m in the studio as soon as I can be, as often as I can be, and for as long as I can. But I don’t have a routine.  Ironically I am more productive now than when I was routine minded.

studio table

Can you describe your studio space and how, if at all, that affects your work?

My studio space is a small but manageable one. I have to push myself to keep it operable because I like things organized yet hate cleaning up.  In the past year and a half I have become increasingly interested in how marks on the walls and floors interact with the works themselves.  This resulted in moments where I will paint part of the work directly onto the wall. For example, with As such, non such Allegory, the wall is spray painted around the perimeter of the painting, gluing the piece to the wall and taking the idea of the frame into a space outside the confines of the painting support.   I recognized that the mark left on the wall while painting the sides had potential.  That part of the process translated into a deliberate gesture in the gallery.

Tell me about your process, where things begin, how they evolve etc.

In my studio I like to have a lot of things going at once so that I’m not too precious or tight with any one piece.  I have a habit of painting over things.  If things aren’t physically taken out of my studio at a certain point of acceptable “doneness” then I will most likely keep working on them.  Anything I work on is part of the conversation so it is hard to set one thing up as “complete” and another as “in progress” when the whole premise is a developing and evolving dialog. 

studio wall

What are you having the most trouble resolving?

I try to not let things trouble me here.  There is an enough that troubles me in the world outside of my studio.  The formal and conceptual issues that arise are my work and if they weren’t there, or where able to be resolved, I wouldn’t be doing this.

Do you experiment with different materials a lot or do you prefer to work within certain parameters?

Experimentation is great.  I like to be in a place where I don’t know what I am doing or how the materials work.  I had a chance to do a fresco in 2009 and it completely changed my work.  Because of that experience I started making my own egg tempera paint.  I stick within the parameters of painting. So far those parameters have wobbled but I keep reinforcing (or center staging) the archetypes so we’ll see where that goes.

As such no such allegory, 2011

oil on panel & spray painted frame on wall,

48 x 36 x 1.25"

What does the future hold for this work?

I have no idea.

JUSTIN SIEGEL

Orange, gouache on paper, 11 3/4" x 17", 2011

What are you working on in your studio right now?

I am working on a series of 10 18" x 18" drawings that I am going to make a small book of. As well as an ongoing series of smaller paintings that the drawings are made from. Also I am working on a large scale mural at a friend’s house (see image). It’s the largest painting I have ever done, and it has been a lot of fun, I hope to do more.

Can you describe your working routine?

As a parent (of 2 young kids) and working as a full-time Art Director, the time I have is limited. I usually work after 8:30pm during the week after I put the kids down to sleep and I get in about 2 hours. During the weekend I work in the mornings. As of late i have been waking up at 5:00am to work before i have to go to my day job at 8:20am. I try to put as much time in as i can, this happens in sporadic bursts.

Studio table

Can you describe your studio space and how, if at all, that affects your work?

At the moment I work on my kitchen table. This affords me to be a present parent while I work. But it also limits the size and materials I use. I was doing small gouache 9" x 12" studies that worked perfectly for the space. I could take them out easily and put them away when i was done. It’s the same with this series of drawings I am doing; the size makes the transportability relatively easy. For my next series of drawings (36"x36") I might have to make space in the garage, which at one point was my studio.

Tell me about your process, where things begin, how they evolve etc.

I have taken a couple of long absences from making art. So when I started back up recently it was about putting a mark on a surface to get my creative mind going. I had just seen a show of a friend and was really excited about his work. This lead to making geometric abstractions with gouache. Since then my work has evolved and now involves painting and drawing in a symbiotic manner. My mind makes work faster than I physical can, but ideas are constantly evolving and go off into tangents. The challenge is to focus and be disciplined to see my initial ideas through.

Wall mural (in progress)

What are you having the most trouble resolving?

My biggest hurdles are scale and time. I need to physically make the work, which can take months with my prior time commitments. I wish I could spend more time working, that is the dream.

Do you experiment with different materials a lot or do you prefer to work within certain parameters?

The way I work is within a set of rules that evolve. Initially I stick pretty close to the rules, but when I observe something that sparks other ideas I let loose until I find a set of parameters that make sense.

12, gouache on paper, 9" x 12", 2010

What does the future hold for this work?

Scale is always what I aspire to. Like I stated before I am limited to my workspace. For my next series of drawings I am going to increase the size to 36" x 36", with the ultimate goal of 54" x 54". The paintings I do in conjunction with the drawings will also slowly increase in size accordingly.

BRETT BAKER

Hand IV, oil on canvas, 4 x 5 ", 2008-2011

What are you working on in your studio right now?

I’m working primarily on my smaller paintings. My newest work includes some extremely small pictures – miniatures – that are as small as 4 x 6 inches. I’ve been working on some of these miniature paintings for 3 years now. These are not studies for larger works, but substantial works in their own right. Their portability also interests me. They are as significant as any paintings I’ve made but will fit in your pocket. I’m also working large again after about a two-year gap, both on traditional large works and installation paintings.

Can you describe your working routine?

My working routine is not set. I have a day job, I blog, I’m a dad. I’ve learned over time to integrate my studio routine into my life. When I’m at home, my studio is a step away so if I have five minutes I paint. My most extended painting time is at night. It’s not uncommon for me to paint from 10pm to 3 or 4 am. I also extend my studio space by bringing unfinished paintings into the house to keep new work in front of me.

Studio, painting wall

Can you describe your studio space and how, if at all, that affects your work?


Studio spaces have definitely impacted my work. In 2003 I moved from a huge, dream studio in upstate New York to a tiny New York apartment. I was in New York, which was fantastic, but had very little space, which was a shock.

I still wanted to make large paintings and thought I could, perhaps, make “big” small paintings. At the time small paintings for me meant sketches or studies. I stretched ten small canvases and resolved to work on them until they lived up to the larger works. What I lost in space turned into time - these first paintings took two to four years to complete. I literally lived with the paintings, and they were a record of my time which became an important part of their content.

The small working space in New York was floor to ceiling paintings that one couldn’t escape. This influenced my first installation painting in 2007 – a 30 foot long free-standing painting that faced the wall (it was actually painted in the upstate New York studio). Though the painting was large, the space it created was intimate - paint and color became a kind of shelter.

Now I paint in a garage studio. It is much larger than the apartment but still a hybrid space that also houses garden tools, bikes, etc. With the additional space, I’m beginning to work on larger surfaces again.

studio, drawing table

Tell me about your process, where things begin, how they evolve etc.

In addition to painting I draw from life - self-portraits, skulls, and lately, hands. Drawing provides energy and structures I use in the paintings. I paint with a small flat brush (which I cut short) and use a paland razor blade to cut back into the surface. I tend to focus on a single painting and then let it sit while I work on others. I have about fifty paintings in process at any given time. On average, each painting takes about two years to complete – some as long as four or five.

studio, painting table

What are you having the most trouble resolving?

Space is my biggest issue at the moment. I have some large (15 x 60 foot) installation paintings planned.

Do you experiment with different materials a lot or do you prefer to work within certain parameters?

I work with little or no medium – just a bit of linseed oil and mineral spirits to thin the paint when needed. I experiment much more with supports than with paint. The possibilities of support/surface fascinate me.

studio

What does the future hold for this work?

I am finishing up a group of miniatures that I would like to show – ideally in conjunction with a large installation piece. I’m also looking forward to summer weather that will allow me to use outdoor space to work on my installation paintings.

painting in progress,

oil on canvas, 11 x 8", 2009-2011

Is there anything else you would like to add?

This year, I’ve been inspired by the many painters who not only post their finished work online but also share their studio practice through blogs. In addition to Painters’ Table, I am thinking of starting a studio blog to document my work and to write about issues specific to my own artistic concerns.

Thanks, Studio Critical, for including me in this great series of interviews.

YIFAT GAT

Silver over black,

oil & acrylic on 300gr paper, 64 x 45 cm, 2010

What are you working on in your studio right now?

I just moved to a new place so I still get exited about having my coffee there and organizing my colors. Besides I’m preparing myself for my two upcoming projects: the first is a site specific, so I try to keep my 'hands warm'. I did some small/medium series these last two weeks (some are in the photos) each with around 15 - 20 works. The second project is a solo show of my latest paper works in a private gallery, so I am going through my stuff and picking... I think I will have a wall of five brown and five grey with a white one in the middle.

 

Can you describe your working routine?

I do serial paper works, editions and wall works. For the site specific there is no real routine apart from keeping track of ideas I discover in the studio process, that I think would grow nicely to big scale. For the editions so far I inverted paper works and then digitally print them. So I play with that on my macbook in my free time. For the paper works I took a while to find my sizes and I kind of stick with them. My main size is 100 x 70cm. I go down to 60x40cm, A4 and A5. I go up to twice as 140x 100 cm.

As I said, I am a serial painter, I do 5 - 15 at a time, depends on the sizes. I like the timeline effect it creates for me, I feel I am on the move, and one painting brings on the other. I start a paper with an all over layer of acrylic, to solidify it, kind of getting to know it. Then I go in, in various ways, I could just use a pencil or an all over oil surface. I like engraving the drawing into thick layers of color and than repaint parts of it and redraw it over again until it becomes an image I like. That way I get to do both, my drama act of color and drippings and wide strokes but still keep my notion of a minimalist image.

 

work in progess

Can you describe your studio space and how, if at all, that affects your work?

I have my drawing table that I brought with me from Israel, its an old found metal & wood architect table, I like working on it. I just discovered I could also work on my center piece, wich is a kind of a library for my paper works, and I thought I would use it just to go through the works but with the light above its very comfortable working standing (its 90 cm height). I use the corridor to hang framed works so I can get a better look at what I did, I admit its nice to have all that. Before I could only see my work properly when it was showing in a gallery, and now I get to see around 20 each day, I feel it’s an important upgrade.

The highlight for me is the wooden work wall. My last studio had a large glass wall, so I improvised a wooden surface to work on, now I stayed with the habit and built it into a 2.5 x 4 m wooden wall (even though i dont have any glass walls anymore) and I am so happy and greatfull for having that. My next project is a library for drying works, I’m looking forward to getting that done. It will have room for fifty 100x70cm at a time, then I will be really free to work!

studio

Tell me about your process, where things begin, how they evolve etc.

In a way, it’s kind of a courage test for me, every step of the way I am tempted to be scared of something.  Scared to loose what I did so far, scared to go were I don’t know etc. so I try to convert my decisions from fear based to faith based at all times, it’s kind of an ongoing consciousness game. I believe that if done right, this kind of process can reach the viewer through the final object. Like a painting is just the corner of a large invisible mental structure, constructed from fear or faith based decisions.

What are you having the most trouble resolving?

It took me years to realize I have to build a system around the work it self in order to enable it.I think it is still my greatest challenge but I´m more optimistic now. I am one of this people that were truly relieved to become forty.

studio corridor

Do you experiment with different materials a lot or do you prefer to work within certain parameters?

My paper works are classical: oils, acrylics, pencils, inks but I enjoy taking things out of context with my site specifics. I’m doing my third WWW now, which is a wool wall drawing. I did the BLANC D´ESPAGNE project on large vitrines, which was originally an ancient cleaning product, used now days mainly for renovated shops.

What does the future hold for this work?

The near future is Festival des Arts Ephémères, Marseille, artistic director: Mr. Thierry Ollat, MAC Marseilles, opening 19 May 2011. Followed by `Galerie du Tableau ´Marseilles, artistic director: Mr. Bernard Plasse opening 6 June 2011. Living in south of France now, I am happy to work with the MAC and I’m happy to have a text by Jean-Louis Connan the director of école des beaux-arts de marseille for this upcoming project. For next year I am scheduled for a Tel Aviv project which I am exited about, because I love this city. I’m also happy to become part of  WOMAN ON LINE / contemporary lines by contemporary woman

Silver over black,

oil & acrylic on 300gr paper, 64 x 45 cm, 2010

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Thanks for having me, I find this blog inspiring. I think other artists are the best resource we artists have.