RENÉ KORTEN

Fall From Grace, 2011
120 x 154 cm, acrylic on MDF

What are you working on in your studio right now?

I’m working on new paintings for two upcoming solo exhibitions starting in June. They run almost simultanuously, both in the city of Tilburg. One show is in the beautiful Museum De Pont, the other one in Luycks Gallery. Combined with the exhibitions a book about my work will be presented, entitled ‘Diver’s Eye’. Creating that monograph also takes up a lot of my time at the moment, in fact even most of my time.

Can you describe your working routine?

I don’t have a fixed working routine. Different periods ask for a different focus and that’s allright. I can be very focused on painting and drawing for periods of time and at other times I’m working on other things like teaching art, doing work for two advisory committees I am a member of, but also other stuff like preparing panels to paint on, making frames, updating website and so on. So now making a book in collaboration with the publisher distracts me a bit from painting. It’s important to me that all of these activities are connected to art.

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

My studio space is the first floor of a former small engine factory. It is divided into three parts because three artists used to work here. Now I’m on my own. There are windows on both sides: on one side I look on the roof of an old big industrial space, on the other side is a lot of greenery and some big trees, very near. A museum director once visited me in the studio to prepare an opening speech for an upcoming exhibition. In the speech he mentioned the contrast of the two views in my studio, and he suggested that this must have inspired me in the work dealing with the polarity culture/nature. I didn’t think that he was right about that at the time, but now I think there was more truth in it than I realized then. Although I have never been an artist who depicts directly what he sees.

Dub, 1,2 & 3, 2011,120 x 154 cm,

acrylic, graphite, charcoal on MDF

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

I make my paintings on wood panels. They used to be plywood or masonite, now I prefer MDF boards. The hardness of the surface suits me well. By using tape I can create hard edges,and this is combined with applying highly diluted acrylic paint. Therefore the painting panel is always placed horizontally on the floor or on a table whenever I do the actual painting. Each painting has its own process of creation. Sometimes I make a painting or a series of paintings, based on a concept, for instance in a recent three-part series, where the first layer of each of the works is a big letter in pencil lines, and the combined letters make up the word DUB. In other paintings there is a more gestural approach. But always my aim is to somehow connect the more rational or intellectual part of creating an artwork to the pure joy of working with paint, to an intuitive and only partly controllable way of working.

I don’t prepare my paintings by making sketches. But I do sketch on the paintings themselves by adding and shifting bits of paper in different colors and shapes. I do this to find out what the next step has to be, working towards a composition that is complex and rich because of its contradictions, but that is also convincing and clear. This means that sometimes it takes a lot of time to develop and finish my paintings.

Next to painting I make works on paper, lately in pretty small sizes. Their creation goes much faster. I call these SWOPs (Small Works On Paper). This is an ongoing series and I work on them in periods, as mentioned earlier. In these works I often involve prints based on photographs. I always carry my camera and I take a lot pictures wherever I am. Photos of things that catch my eye and surprise me, of interesting compositions and combinations of elements that look promising. But these photos are just material; I rework them on the computer to create images less recognizable and with a drawing-like suggestive quality. Then I print them and use them as a starting point to create new works by adding one or more elements or layers of paint.

In progress

What are you having the most trouble resolving?

The thing that gives me most trouble resolving is in fact the essence of the work: how to transform a number of visual ingredients into a meaningful image. And there is not a recipe for that. In the beginning it’s just trial and error, I’m moving things around and most of the time nothing happens, but I’m always looking for the moment that the lines, forms and stains come alive and in their combination start talking to me: ‘let me be’. It’s a matter of chemistry. This is what I strive for, it has to happen, but I cannot predict when it does and how long it takes.

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

parameters?

Experimentation with different materials is not an aim in itself. I have always found that limitations are stimulating to me. I love to work with techniques and means as simple as possible. That’s why I use acrylic paint. It enables me to act very quickly once I know what to do, and there are hardly any technical problems to solve. Not a focus on technique, but on trying to take the right actions, making the right choices and by that creating evocative images.

What does the future hold for this work?

I have no idea. But I do hope to keep developing the expressiveness of my work. Hopefully the recognition of it will continue to grow, enabling me to keep creating work and exhibiting it in many interesting places.

Senkrecht,  1996-2012
122 x 93,5 cm, acrylic on masonite

Is there anything else you would like to add?

The last few years the atmosphere in the Netherlands changed dramatically, also in regard to the arts. Although the political situation is shifting again very recently in a somewhat hopeful direction, the importance of the arts has decreased considerably in the public opinion and artist have been pushed to the margins of society. That’s why I want to express the hope that we as artists from everywhere stick together; we have to support each other and keep focusing on the power of art to inspire people in living together in a compassionate, openminded and loving way.

Thanks Valerie for the opportunity to tell about my working practise and express this wish.

HENRY SAMELSON

Puck, acrylic on canvas, 12 x 9", 2012

What are you working on in your studio right now?

I'm working on about 50 small paintings simultaneously right now. I'm starting or revisiting--depending on how you look at it--some very small paintings on canvas. I wanted to start some new work after reaching a stopping point with a recent series, but looking around the studio realized I have a glut of old work that I am not really close to anymore. So I'm recycling.

Can you describe your working routine?

I have a day job, and my wife and I have a 22 month old boy, so there's a lot of time-management and scheduling involved in my routine which basically involves working around job and family 2-3 nights during the week in the studio, and one day over the weekend. I do a lot of sketching with ink, crayon, pencil every day whenever there's a gap in my schedule. So, along these lines, before going to my job I've gotten into the routine/ritual of sketching in the park beforehand. I sketch later on my lunch. And at night after work if I can't make it to the studio, I work on some watercolor and pencil drawings on the couch, or drawings on my iPad or phone.

Studio view

Pencil sketch of the Taco Bell parking lot across from my studio

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

I have a studio in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn which has a nice view of midtown Manhattan in the distance and a Taco Bell in the foreground. I share it with another artist who I have only seen once in all the months I've been there, so it's almost like having my own space which is important for me as I don't work well with someone else in the room. The space itself has a certain bearing on my work that I haven't figured out yet. I've worked in a tiny spare bedroom in a former apartment on some very large-scaled canvases. I think that working in that cramped space on such large paintings makes it hard to see the space inside the painting and maybe that's a good thing, to work somewhat blindly that way. Conversely, I have a lot of working space right now but am working on small-scaled works that I tend to stand very far back from to look at when I'm just looking. So in a way I'm just as blind about the space painting those.  I work best when I have a nice view outside, and maybe that’s a lonesomeness thing.

Acrylic on canvas paintings in progress, 2012, 10"x10"

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

                      

It’s hard to pinpoint where things begin and evolve with me. Drawing is important to my painting. But there is reciprocity between them with ideas/influence flowing back and forth. I work on a lot of paintings at the same time with dialogue between them as well. Everything plays off of everything else. Sometimes when I stumble in a good idea I have to go back and work over what I thought was a good idea in something I felt satisfied with a week or year ago. Like many other artists, I'd say drawings help me locate ideas, marks, color, for the paintings. When I turn to painting, however, it's hard to stay true 100% of the time to the template I thought a series of drawings had established. Departures happen as a result of accident, frustration, ineptitude, and the difficulty of translating the muscle movements involved in drawing into the act of painting. I think the circumstances I have just described are common among artists who move from drawing to painting. Drawing feels more acoustic and disciplined than painting. In painting, I get a lot of feedback that can't be controlled. I always reach a point of anger and disgust in a work which I think is an essential part of my process.

What are you having the most trouble resolving?

Everything.  But I don’t think of this as trouble really. I don't think of any of my work as being resolved. I mean I do, in moments, but there are so many ways to finish something, resolved doesn’t seems like the clearest way to describe how I look at a work I've stopped working on. Maybe there's some word in a dead language that means essentially "the work has just stopped, sort of".

Untitled (a work that just stopped, sort of), 2012,

enamel on wood panel, 72”x48”

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

I basically paint and draw using mostly the usual media and supports associated with those forms. I do a good bit of spray painting and digital drawing, if that counts as different. I've made paintings on aluminum that I hired an auto body shop to finish. But I still think I've remained true to a fairly narrow band of working, even though many of my art heroes do some pretty wacky stuff with varied materials. I just haven't gone there yet.

What does the future hold for this work?

Things that are related to question number 6. I’d like to explore different materials, different approaches to support/presentation, avoid squares.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I really appreciate this invitation to discuss my work and process Valerie.  Thank you. I am sure I would answer these questions differently in time, maybe even by the time I get home from work tonight. In fact, I am sure after I send you these answers I am going to wish I had answered everything another way.

Washington Square Park drawing, 2011,

crayon and ink on paper, 8”x5”

DANIEL GALAS

 Basketball Hoop, Soft pastel and graphite

 on Rives BFK, 22" x 30", 2010

What are you working on in your studio right now?

1. I'm finishing up a painting that I started before the New Year.

2. I'm starting a 38" x 46" oil painting of the George Washington Bridge that I will be auctioning off at my wife's private elementary school.

3. I'm continuing to work on a linocut series of Buffalo, NY architecture. By 2013 I hope to have completed the series of 10 architectural structures that best represent Buffalo for better or worse.

4. I'm continuing to work on my 5 1/2" x 8" pencil drawings documenting my commute to and from Washington Heights in Manhattan. The architecture in that neighborhood I find especially interesting.

 Can you describe your working routine?

               

I draw and paint primarily as a means of meditation and way of contemplating my immediate surroundings. I typically feel the need to draw everyday, I paint when I can (about once a week), and I work on other projects like printmaking in intense stretches of two week periods or so.

Painting the George Washington Bridge

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

My studio is outdoors… I'm really a "en plain air" painter. That means that I bring my work and materials with me wherever I go, whenever I want to draw/paint. I can be on the bus commuting to work, hiking through a State Park, or sitting in the front yard of my apartment (I live in Nyack… a beautiful village 30 minutes north of Manhattan on the Hudson River). All those places are equally my studio. However I do have a room in my apartment where I keep all my art materials and finished pieces. But I rarely do any creating in there and it gets pretty messy.

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

               

Things always start with me having the desire to go for a walk and clear my head. Then after walking a bit I'll find a cozy spot somewhere to set up and draw or paint. Sometimes I choose my location according to a subject that I find interesting like a mailbox, a house, or a car. Sometimes I choose my location because its comfortable… I'll typically set up on a side street, in the shade, or in an area close to home. From there I begin to draw what I see. The goal when I am creating art is to immerse myself in the here and now. But in order to be in the moment and be spontaneous I have to be inspired and that means that I have to get creative in my interpretation of what I'm drawing. If I draw solely with my eyes I'll be bored, if I draw solely with my emotions I'll be thrust back into myself, but if I use my emotions and imagination to creatively interpret what I see then I working within a healthy and happy balance between the two. From that point on I'm like a Jazz musician improvising within the parameters of my subject matter. Sometimes I push those boundaries to an almost unrecognizable interpretation, but most often I work to enhance the visual qualities inherent in my subject. Almost always I finish the drawing/painting in a single session and the piece ends up taking its final shape without over thinking it.

 UPS Truck, Paper mache over styrofoam, 22' x 15' x 8',  2010

What are you having the most trouble resolving?

I suppose there is a few a things. I've always been turned on by "naive" looking art… whether it was done by Dubuffet (an art world insider) or Sam Doyle (an art world outsider) it doesn't really matter. I love simplified forms, crooked lines, and disproportionate forms and shapes. But I don't like kitschy cute stuff, or art that too closely resembles children's art. So I sometimes struggle with creating work that looks simple but not too childlike.

I also love to work large. I created a 22' x 15' x 8' paper mache UPS truck while I was in my Masters program at CUNY Lehman. But other than that experiment I'm limited on how large my work can be because I paint/draw outside on location. Ten years ago in Undergrad at SUNY Fredonia I created many paintings that were 7' x 5'. I like that size but it doesn't easily accommodate walking around outside and setting up to paint on the sidewalk.

Also, I don't feel as though I'm completely comfortable with any one medium and/or material. I used to be an oil painter. But now I do a little of everything… oil paint, acrylic paint, pencil, ink brush, oil and soft pastel, mixed medium with watercolor, print making… etc. Each medium I love has its downside.

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

               

Like I said above… I love many mediums and materials. But don't misunderstand me, I'm not innovative with materials like Eva Hesse was. About 4 years ago or so I became very interested in learning and understanding traditional drawing and painting mediums. I find it curious that to work with something as basic as charcoal on paper can be so complicated. Start with charcoal… there is willow, vine, char-kole sticks, charcoal dust, compressed charcoal, charcoal pencils… and more. Each has its own personality and techniques that work especially well with it. But then there is paper… smooth, toothed, rough, thin, thick, watercolor, dry media, pastel, printmaking, cotton-based, wood pulp, mulberry, machine made, hand made, archival, non-archival… and believe me this list can go on forever! (By the way New York Central in Manhattan has an incredible selection of papers).

Graphite on archival paper, 5 1/2" x 8", 2012

What does the future hold for your work?

Ten years ago when I was twenty I created art in a blaze. I was never short for ideas and every piece I created I pushed my creativity to its max. I was forever anxious to start my next project and hoped to awe my audience (faculty and classmates) every time. I was also very unhappy during this period in my life and emotionally unstable. Ten years on, at the age of thirty, I create art in a slow burn. I've found an approach to art making that satisfies me. I no longer care about impressing my audience… in fact I find myself content with creating work that challenges my audience… in other words, I enjoy creating work that the audience might not find attractive. I also don't have anxiety anymore about creating work… I have nothing to prove to myself artistically. I'm totally content at the moment just drawing and painting the world around around me.

In the future, say ten years on, I see myself having created a huge body of consistent work. I can see myself fluctuating back and forth between abstract interpretation of my subjects and realistic interpretation. Also, I hope to do a few more installation art projects, paper mache and wooden sculptures, and have a few comprehensive solo shows. I foresee my career as an artist gaining momentum and hope to have a long lasting relationship with a gallery that I trust.

Driveway, Soft pastel, watercolor, gauche, graphite

on Aquabee Super Deleuxe paper, 11" x 14", 2010

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I'd like to share with your readers a few of my core beliefs about art…

Never concern yourself with being original; originality just happens.

Just because a work of art is hanging in a museum doesn’t mean that you have to like it.

The greatest art never tries to be great.

All artists have only one option: to become the artist that they are.

Great artists know how to use their weaknesses for their strengths.

Authenticity is the greatest quality a work of art can possess.

The greater the material limitations an artist has, the greater the opportunity the artist has for transcending them.

Do not take from nature, make from nature.

Honor diversity in art. The more styles and aesthetics there are, the richer their distinctions become.To be involved in a community of artists is the only way for career success.

Never pay anyone to exhibit your work.

If you aren’t being denied fifteen times a year from submitting your work for shows you aren’t applying enough

WILMA VISSERS

Oil stick on 2 pieces of wood, 2010, approx. 20 x 10 cm

What are you working on in your studio right now?

Because of the huge high walls off my studio it's a great place to try anything that comes into my mind. I can pin different art works together on the wall and try different combinations. Currently I am preparing for an exhibition in the month of June in Friesland, that is very near where I live. The title of the exhibition is 'Far Worlds, Ireland'. The Lithographs that I made last summer in Ireland while I was artist an residence fit in with other older art works. Every new combination of art works accentuates certain aspects that I see on my wall and everything changes constantly

Can you describe your working routine?

I enter my studio and the first thing that I do is to take my everyday Moleskin drawing book and a pencil and I start to draw. I don't have a plan. The only thing is it should be a horizontal drawing or a vertical one. The themes of the drawings change from day to day and I can go from a very black mood drawing to a light dreamy kind of theme the next day. It is like a drawing diary. The mood that I am in and things that have happened to me, can be read directly from the drawing of the day. I always find it very inspiring just to sit down and draw and look at my other artworks as well.

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

My studio is in an old school building which I share with 16 other artists. The walls of the room are 4 meters high and it is very light because of the big windows on the south. The big walls give me the opportunity to play along with different kind of art works and techniques together on the wall. My studio is in Groningen which is a medium sized city in the north of the Netherlands with a University.

Oil stick on Irish bog oak, 2008, approx. 12 x 2 cm

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

This is a quote of a colleague of mine concerning my artworks: “I defy painting in every possible way there is”. I want to find out where the limit is for me. Often my art works have a lighthearted, humorous attitude in which I try, for myself, to be relative the history of painting. I often wonder what an art work is and what can be a medium to create it on. In the past I made a painting on a spatula, strips of wood and I had a preference for long thin and divergent canvasses. While creating these artworks I questioned myself, what can be a medium to create a painting on? And how do these artworks relate to each other and the space of the wall around them? The next phase in this process was to make my paintings more like objects. I used French oakwood or Irish bog oak to create a painting on and I left parts of the surface unrefined.

Oil stick on newspaper, 2011, approx. 100 x 90 cm

I have experimented a lot with material because I want find new ways of painting and drawing. One of my experiments is to use big sheets of sanding paper. I cut it into a shape, then paint it with gesso and some color and burn it with a very hot soldering iron. This very brutal way of drawing creates special lines and surfaces. After this I made a few art works which you could literally see through. For example a painted fringe made out of wood. When looking at it more closely you will experience that the middle is empty. Is this also a part of the art work? Can this “emptiness” in the middle of the art work be seen as full or empty? Because of this the art work seems to be part of the wall and because of this double vision it is hard to know what you are seeing. Utensils also fit in this process of the painting as an object. I used a matchstick or other large sticks to apply oil sticks or paint on them. Then they become more than ordinary daily utensils and they get double meaning because you can still see the function but can’t use it anymore.

I always find it important that my art works are spatial and flat objects on the wall. They make you aware of the space around them….The art work doesn’t stop at its border but should be thought through the space of the walls that surround it. That why I place them next, above and under each other. In this way the white off the wall is important to and they act like they are one big artwork.

22-2-2012, drawing in moleskine

What are you having the most trouble resolving?

The question what should I do next or what will be the next move.

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

I use wood, paper, newspapers, sanding paper, carton and lino. I use these materials as a basis for oil sticks. I also create Lithographs if I go to Ireland to stay and work as an artist in residence, which I did twice already.

What does the future hold for this work?

Who knows?

Gouache on 3 spoons, 2009, approx. 5 x 5 cm