TOM BERDING

Blue Dish, oil on canvas, 44 x 48”, 2013

 

 

 

What are you working on in your studio right now?

 

 

Having just completed a group of paintings that were shown at the Painting Center, I am now starting a new body of work, which includes some bigger canvases. I am interested in investigating and scaling up some of the formal ideas that emerged in the making of this last group of paintings and am also reloading source materials. In recent works, I have been exploring how the planned and built environment and more spontaneous gestures and improvisational activity inform each other.  I am interested in working this interplay both in terms of formal language and as a reference to dynamics in the world, possibly best characterized as the tension between pre-engineered or modeled structures and behaviors and DIY aesthetics. In many ways, I think the paintings are imaging a world that is both being constructed and disassembled by these forces.

Can you describe your working routine?


For me, painting is often a balance of control and discovery as guided by the conceptual framework I just referenced. Whatever the stage of the process, I often come back to this frame of reference as an orientating device. I suppose any routine I do have is dictated by where I am at in the decision making process within a painting or across a whole body of work. On any given day, I try to match my capacity with any number of things I am working on. At the same time I am also looking, at least peripherally, to how a day of decision making may set up a next series of moves. Typically before I leave the studio, I usually make a note of what is on my mind, so that the handoff to the next day or work session is clear. The important thing is knowing the specific nature of the question facing one, and whether to complicate, simplify, or develop the terms in a painting at a given time. There are also times when I start to think about an exit strategy or how to paint myself out of the decision making process in a painting.



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

My studio is attached to where I live and has heat and water. In specific terms, it really has no bearing on my work. Though my studio’s easy access does allow shorter sessions and small insights to accrue. When I am working best, I am aware of very little outside of the work other than what it conjures or invites.

Personal Geographies, oil on canvas, 24 x 22”, 2013

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

In my studio, there is no preordained or mechanistic process I adopt when it comes to preparation for painting. Some of the source materials I do use function like talismans, others more like catalysts and still others operate more as reflective instruments. It is certainly not a linear affair. In general, if I could find what I wanted in the source materials I wouldn’t feel compelled to paint and I would probably just re-present them (the sources) in another manner. That said, my sources, including drawings, objects, and collages, are like little keyholes I look through, offering me a limited but important view of the space I want to move the work into. All along the painting process acts as a filter or amplifier; translating, modifying, and editing numerous qualities that may be in the source material I am referencing or that emerges at various stages.

 

Clearly, the materiality and performative character of painting and the histories and ideologies that are evoked are also a source of content in the work. In many ways, the paintings are also generative of each other, as I am usually working on a dozen or so paintings at a time when the studio is in full tilt mode. In general, I am wholly incapable of understanding one piece as an entity unto itself, and whereas two canvases creates a kind of binary set-up, a multitude of canvases allows or even compels me to think in permutations and variations.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What are you having the most trouble resolving?

 

 

Often paintings that have achieved an early resolute character and are not yet satisfactory can be very problematic. In such work, it is as if a certain kind of completion, for instance, as an image, precludes other developments, in say, color or surface from taking place. Such early resolutions can blind me to seeing other developments. In many ways fragments are easier and more engaging to deal with than a painting that has ripened too early but leaves me wanting more. In any case, much of painting for me seems to be an undoing with elegance, or a patching together from the fragments and remnants one inherits, operating akin to Claude Levi-Strauss’s notion of the bricoleur .  This concept, which a colleague recently introduced me to, seems to be a precursor to what we broadly refer to today as a DIY approach.

 

 

 

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

 

 

I work with oil paint and as I referenced earlier I also do some work in drawing and collage. Painting has always been central to my studio activity. To me it is about using the range of properties this material possesses so as to create a series of analogies and representations. While the practice of painting opens associations as an activity unto itself, it also holds a lot of interest for me because of its material presence and how that completely conditions the read of a work. The tension between surface and image and material and representation can create a sort of multiplicity and density that slows experience down.

 

The drawings and collages, on the other hand, are typically more notational and often made in response to a painting in progress. They usually act as clarifying summations or formative ruminations as a painting moves through different stages. I am also a collector of sorts. It helps me stay vigilant and attentive to the built environment and what may be termed “the discard” around us. Such collecting is a way to bring material culture into the studio, while also enabling me to exercise my ability to find likeness among difference.

 

 

 

 

       Explosion View, oil on canvas, 44 x 48”, 2013

 

Detail

 

 

 

 

What does the future hold for this work?

 

 

I have always found the work me takes me to a place I could not preconceive of. I try to be strategic but not predictive. That said, the work itself will be shown and the subject of lectures at universities and various institutions. The latter can be very instructive, because looking at the work in a rear view mirror you see things very differently than you do while it is being made. One can see it more independent of the obfuscating lens of intentionality.

 

 

 

Is there anything else you would like to add?

 

 

While one can drown in painting’s history and its deep pool of references, it is also an amazing resource to draw upon. Painting is also curiously positioned to have an interesting dialogue with the ubiquitous two-dimensional screens that populate our lives. It can function as a high touch alternative to such experiences and is also capable of absorbing and translating some of technology’s influence through a humanities based perspective. While we are in a bit of a solipsistic age, it is also an age of open source invention and indeed an exciting time to be a painter.

 

 

 

Command Tree (Modified), oil on canvas, 44 x 48”, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LORNA CRANE

 'Deep Within' A4 work on paper 2013

 

 

 

What are you working on in your studio right now?

 

 

Right now I am working on a series of canvases inspired by the walls of the small Calles of Venice where I walked each day last year. I intend to start some large-scale works on paper responding to the calligraphic remnants of scraffito and graffiti - marking passages of time. I am also continuing my collaboration with San Francisco based artist Carl Heyward. He has challenged me in many ways. It has been a period of intense growth following my involvement with the Knee Jerk Fragmentation Project. The collage based postal exchange of paper fragments and rolled canvas is currently evolving. It excites and challenges me.

 

 

 

Can you describe your working routine?

 

 

I try to get the studio each day  - working each morning and afternoon – life permitting. It is just a short walk down the studio but a big enough distance to have to go to ‘work’ and I like it that way. The routine can vary depending on whether there is a show coming up or not. I like to clear the studio each day creating the appropriate working space - set up materials etc then hit the play button. I can’t work quietly – I need music to work as a background foil with certain albums cycling for each series of works.

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

The studio is a colourbond shed 10 metres x 7 metres. The main working space is a 7m x 7m square with a main viewing wall or working wall. This room has three large wooden kitchen tables that can be arranged to suit what I am working on at the time. I also have a large bench with storage on casters that can be wheeled around with ease. Lighting is a series of tracked spots. The other section is a separate bathroom/storage area and textile area with a desk and sewing machine for my cloth works. It is an ever changing and evolving space. I describe to people that when I walk into my studio I walk into me. It is a space that enables me to experiment and explore with freedom in my own way.

in progress

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

Landscape ignites something from deep within me – I do this by immersing myself into a place during longish periods of time – generally in a residential situation. It is all about asking questions on many levels to gather that deeper understanding of a certain place. It’s kind of like sitting with it and listening, looking at the layers, the colours, the textures, the shapes and forms, plus it’s unique sensibility, then letting it distill for a time before it is carried forward into a picture, painting or moving image. Sometimes it can take many visits to a place to truly begin to grasp its’ complexity and layers. I adore making works that have a depth of surface quality and textures with matt and gloss contrasts too that play with the eye. For me it is hard to separate the micro and the macro. This is where my questioning begins.

 

The process starts with a written journal on site and then working on smaller paper works – mostly intuitive in an abstract form usually in black and white and earth tones – mainly ink and pencil and some collage work too – I love the act of identifying certain shapes within that place – so that when I get to the larger works back in the studio the visual language of the place emerges carrying the work forward into the larger works.  For me it is these beginning drawings that hold and carry an integrity – a raw energy that holds a certain truth and authenticity.

 

 

Pacifica I, mixed media on paper,

200mm x 75mm, 2013

What are you having the most trouble resolving?

 

 

Wondering when to stop with a work – the over-working is one of my biggest struggles – there are always parts of the work that I love in its many stages but it this that can actually be holding me back.  When I can totally let go of that push/pull and let the unthinking part really go and just let the paint flow – that’s when I find it becomes more potent/relevant and authentic rather than contrived or derivative.  It’s this adrenalin rush as you take that leap of faith that is so addictive for me. You think you know this but you still get caught up in the pretty bits and for me the cycle goes on and on. It seems like I need to do the pretty bit for ‘dirtying’ it up.

 

 

 

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

 

 

I love using different materials and have to rein myself in quite a bit. I mainly use water-based materials - oils and solvents give me such a headache.  A while ago I was using patina mediums, shellac and bitumen but had to stop for the same reason. Right now it is mainly acrylic and oil sticks as well as ink, oil pastels, pencil and coloured pencils – on both paper and canvas. I constantly use cloth and found papers in the collage technique - creating some interesting textures with over-painting on both canvas and paper. I am enjoying drawing much more and am pushing myself to be more disciplined with it.  Just thinking more about ‘what is a drawing’ is making me question my way of working. It has also seen a return to my roots as a mapmaker – working over disused books, old engineering plans on Mylar and plan paper is informing a new body of work. My Land Map Series and the Pacifica works on paper are evidence of this and are now touring as part of The Drawing Box show.

Land Map III, mixed media on paper, A5, 2013

 

 

 

 

What does the future hold for this work?

 

 

Right now I am enjoying a period of experimentation without a deadline to complete works. The Venice canvas works may sit for a while as I am trying to find representation in a commercial gallery in Sydney or Melbourne. The collaborative works will be shown in Australia and San Francisco during 2015 and venues are being looked into right now.

 

 

 

Is there anything else you would like to add?

 

 

Living in a small rural coastal community near the NSW and Victorian border in Australia away from Museums and Galleries is difficult at times. Just being in touch with so many international artists through places like facebook and other artist networks online has been a life thread for me. And a big thank you to Valerie Brennan for this opportunity to share part of my process in the studio. Social networking has opened many doors over the past few years and continues to nourish me along with many other artists around the world.

Once in a Blue Moon, mixed media on board,

200mm x 75mm, 2013 









JASON STOPA

Low Tide/Flying V, 2013. Oil and spray paint on canvas.

(Joggie Series)

 

 

What are you working on in your studio right now?

 

 

I just finished working on a small group of paintings for a show at John Davis Gallery this June. I make work that hovers between representation and abstraction. Sometimes the scales tilt and it winds up one way or the other. I've been working in 3 series lately. They're titled Joggie, Brooklyn Zoo and Basement Arcade. Joggie was an imaginary friend I had when I was 6 who lived on Jupiter. It's funny looking back, I would be fixated looking out of my window, daydreaming. It's not too far off from what I'm like now (Laughs). These works have a lot of dream-like and cosmic imagery. Brooklyn Zoo is series of paintings that reference growing up on the East Coast in an urban setting. Basketball, hip hop records and food imagery find their way into these paintings. And Basement Arcade is a way to explore patterns via early video game screens. Particularly, when a screen freezes I think it does some strange looking stuff.

 

 

 

Can you describe your working routine?

 

 

I try to work in the studio about 3 or 4 nights a week. When I first get there I try to fool myself into working - sweeping the floor, looking at pictures, eating some food. Before I actually make a painting I'll look at images in photoshop and make studies. It's dawned on me that this is where a lot of the actual "work" goes on. Once I'm ready, I start about 3-4 paintings at once. And it takes about a month or so to finish that for me.

 

 

 

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

 

 

I'm actually moving studios. I'm about to have more space, which I'm really excited about. Small spaces often force you to work small. My current space isn't too big, arranged with supplies in the middle of the room and then works on the surrounding walls. My floors and walls get really messy. Sometimes I write things on the wall so I can remember: what color something should be, what I need from the store or a title.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

It comes from anywhere.  I just pick up on things around me - the feeling of a neighbourhood, places, things or people that mean something to me.  I like to let intuition guide what I'm doing.  Sometimes I'll be watching a movie or I'll read a line in a book that resonates with me on a personal level.  From there I kind of obsess over that thing, whatever it may be.  Then I want to paint.   But, the painting is always something else.  The painting is about describing an abstraction - space, atmosphere and sensation.   

 

 

What are you having the most trouble resolving?

 

 

My work flirts with the decorative and nostalgic. I love patterns and sensual handling of paint.  I'm not afraid of these things or their implications. But, I have a tendency to be attracted to overly sweet ideas/images.  And in a painting, sentimentality is the easiest affect to conjure.  Knowing when a painting is just pretty enough, but not overtly pretty can be tough. 



 

 

 

Nothing But Net, 2013. Oil on canvas.

(Brooklyn Zoo Series)

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

I like to experiment with different mediums.  I paint on canvas.  I use oil, acrylic, spray paint, glitter and enamel.  I like when my surfaces are varied and almost constructed.

 

 

 

What does the future hold for this work?

 

 

This is a tough question.  As a painter, you always want to set up parameters that don't allow you to get bored.  One of the things I'm interested in is contradiction.  It seemed like the first half of the 20th century was about keeping metaphysics in painting - nothingness, mystery, sublime, existentialism etc.  Then the second half came along and threw it out.  I'm interested in creating an ambiguous space in a painting - shallow depth, physicality of texture and a touch and go sense of reality. This allows me to play.  Which is really what I want to do the most.



 

 

 

 

 

Begin, 2013. Oil and spray paint on canvas.

(Basement Arcade Series)