martedì 30 settembre 2008

Interview with Dario Molinaro




q)What is your name?

a)My name is Dario Molinaro

q)Where do you live and work?

a)I live and work in Foggia in Italy.


q)What is your creative process like?

a)My creative process ... mmmmm ... I work a lot, both on paper and on canvas, the type of work is very similar, and I just look at something or think something about our world today and the job is by itself. almost like an automatic thing.

q)What is your favorite medium?

a)Maybe the paper, allow me to have much more freedom of expression.

q)What is your current favorite subject?


a)Brushes, pens ... almost everything!

q)How long does it take for you to finish a piece?

a)Depends on the type of support, usually when starting a job I want to finish it now. however, the designs it can do even 4 a day, while the paintings I need 4 or 5 days.

q)What has been your biggest accomplishment so far?


a)I think so far has been to be able to be appreciated by many critics, and pleasure to people!

q)Are there any contemporary artists that you love?

a)Yes, there are contemporary artists I like, most of them are cartoonists. I appreciate that a lot now is certainly Alessandro Tota.

q)Can we buy your art anywhere?

a)My work can be purchased at the Numen Art Gallery in Benevento.

q)Anything that people should know about that we don’t??

a)People should be sincere. point!

q)What is your best piece of advice for those who would like to rise in their level of artistry?

a)I Do not know ... I work a lot, perhaps the key to moving forward is this: work, work, work!

q)What inspires you to keep going when the work gets frustrating or tough?


a)The desire to express myself, that is true! do not know other than to draw and paint and maybe why I stopped and I do not ever stop!


q)How do you describe your work to those who are unfamiliar with it?


a)fresh, funny, naive and very current.

q)What kind of training did you have which helped you achieve your current level of artistry?


a)I have graduated to the art Istitute of Foggia and graduated in Decorating at the Academy of Fine Arts in Foggia, but the study is the most important thing.

q)Is there a tool or material that you can’t imagine living without?

a)I do not know, nowadays everything seems essential ... but as they did years ago without these tools? But I believe that the Internet is very important

q)Who are your influences?


a)Basquiat, Haring, Andrea Pazienza ...

q)What inspires you to create?

a)People and the world, life. the real things!


q)…your contacts…


a) www.myspace.com/mitiks -

www.fotolog.com/mitik -

dario.molinaro@gmail.com

sabato 27 settembre 2008

Interview with Federico Calandria





q) What is your name?


a)Federico Calandria


q) Where do you live and work?


a)I live and work in Mendoza, Argentina


q) What is your creative process like?


a)My creative process is variated, I nurtured by reality, I'm always observing, analyzing, I like diversity, different realities. I also like other branches of art, I love the cinema, literature and music, this greatly influences my work, also the history of art and the comics, all these things act as triggers that stimulate me to realize my creations. I think than while more variated and rich is the culture of the artist or the designer, he has more tools to create and make betters works. Once I have an idea that interested me, I work in different sketches to polish to the maximum, then I select the best sketches and I moves them to the digital edition or to canvas. Other times I'm just drawing and ideas emerge while I play with lines.


q) What is your favorite medium?


a)I like various techniques, oil colour, acrilic, ink, markers, watercolor, digital, depend of the work.


q) What is your current favorite subject?


a)My vision of art is very much connected with the city and the modern man, their problems, their miseries, their characters, their histories and their follies. My works are responding to an alienated world and decomposing, where humans sleep a life stereotyped, manipulated by corporations seeking the accumulation of money and power. My characters are marginal beings, losers, fighters, adventurers, mutants, strange animals, robots, psychopaths, all represented with a vision ironic as the only defense against a universe dominated by the superficiality and violence.


q) How long does it take for you to finish a piece?


a)Most often I work very quickly, I have no patience to spend too much time on a work, I also like that the piece keep a little freshness from the original doodle about it was conceived.


q) What has been your biggest accomplishment so far?


a)My biggest accomplishment is my daughter Juana.


q) Are there any contemporary artists that you love?


a)Yes, a lot of artists, Mark Ryden, Gary Baseman, Jeremy Ville, Murakami, Jamie Hewlett, Parra, Blu, Banksy, Dalek and many more. Every day I discover new artists.


q) Can we buy your art anywhere?


a)Yes, I am producing a series of products such as T-shirts, stickers and posters that I will sell on the Internet soon, they can also obtain original works if you want.


q) Anything that people should know about that we don’t??


a)Sorry, I don’t understand the meaning of this question.


q) What is your best piece of advice for those who would like to rise in their level of artistry?


a)The best advice is to work hard, open their minds and look for different ways, which are not left with just one thing, not discouraged by adversity, always seeking to overcome, never relax and think that one has succeeded, and always seek to improve. Do not be obsessed with being famous and being millionaires. Concentrate on your personal search and be sincere in their work.


q) What inspires you to keep going when the work gets frustrating or tough?


a)The passion for what I do, the internal mandate to move forward, faith in oneself and in what I do.


q) How do you describe your work to those who are unfamiliar with it?


a)I'm an artist and designer, I like to make drawings and spend much time in front of a computer. Perhaps you think my art is created by a child, but like the great Pablo Picasso said: "at age 12 I knew draw like Rafael, but I needed a lifetime to learn to paint like a child.". Well, I don't drawing like Rafael yet, but it don't worried me a lot...


q) What kind of training did you have which helped you achieve your current level of artistry?


a)I drawing long as I can remember, at age 12 already had a stack of comics in my authorship. In university I studied graphic design which gave me a vision more contemporary of art, which in turn gave me notions of composition and visual communication, in turn, I learned to handle digital editing software and multimedia technologies. In year 2004 I participated one season in the workshop of the mendocino painter Angel Gil who transmitted me the mystique of the old school. One learns from watching and enjoying other artists who are in similar or totally different searchings. The important thing is to have the sensitivity to absorb the good things that make you grow day by day.


q) Is there a tool or material that you can’t imagine living without?


a)A marker and a computer...


q) Who are your influences?


a)I love art in general, some of my favorites: Goya, Picasso, Toulouse Lautrec, Mucha, Miró, Klee, Magritte, Francis Bacon, Pollock, De Kooning, Tapies, Baselitz, Warholl, Basquiat, Haring, Barceló, Gary Baseman, Jeremy Ville, Frazetta, Crumb, Milo Manara, Moebius, Frank Miller, Banksy, etc. And a million of comics and cartoons. From Argentina: Berni, Carlos Alonso, Quino, Nine, Juan Giménez, Alberto Breccia, Chichoni, Liniers, Max Cachimba, Doma Collective, etc.


q)What inspires you to create?


a)Life in general, art, music, movies, comics, books, people, rage, love and pain.


q)…your contacts…


a) fede.arte@gmail.com


(54261) 155267451 / 4960370


www.federicocalandria.com


www.flickr.com/photos/fede_c

sabato 20 settembre 2008

Interview with Anukun Hamala






q)What is your name?


a)Anukun Hamala (nokhookdesign)


q) Where do you live and work?


a) I live in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Now work as freelance graphic designer and run my own shop called ‘nokhookdesign’.


q)What is your creative process like?


a) My creativity comes from things surrounding me, Lanna culture, architecture, toys, people’s life style and sometimes from movies.


q)What is your favorite medium?


a) Computer graphic and some sketches


q)What is your current favorite subject?


a) Right now my interest is about Lanna culture, for example Lanna language that is fading away from our society that nowadays Lanna children cannot read and write. So I want to put these kinds of thing into my work to make them become alive again in a more modern style and now I’ve tried many techniques to design it, such as sketching and computer graphic design.


q)How long does it take for you to finish a piece?


a) The fastest one took about half and hour and the maximun is 2 days.


q)What has been your biggest accomplishment so far?


a) None of my work should be said as ‘biggest accomplishment’ yet. They are all in the same average and still need lots of development.


q)Are there any contemporary artists that you love?


a) For foreigner is ‘Friend with You’, I like the simply cartoon yet has a hint of hard idea. And for Thai artist I would like to say it’s Mr. Preecha from www.8e88.net who successfully combine Thai arts with computer graphic.

q)Can we buy your art anywhere?


a) in my website at www.nokhookdesign.com or come to my shop


q)Anything that people should know about that we don’t??


a) What people don’t know about me? Well, I’m just a poor graphic designer in my hometown. Maybe that’s what many people don’t know (laugh).


q)What is your best piece of advice for those who would like to rise in their level of artistry?


a) What else do you need? Just pen and paper and do it. Don’t waste your time.


q)What inspires you to keep going when the work gets frustrating or tough?


a) Relax, go to a movie, hang out with friends and the inspiration will fall from sky.


q)How do you describe your work to those who are unfamiliar with it?


a) Likely a cultural work mixed with retro style and funny cartoons. A half and half between western and oriental fantasy.


q)What kind of training did you have which helped you achieve your current level of artistry?


a) Work with fun. You would not even aware that it’s getting done and getting better.


q)Is there a tool or material that you can’t imagine living without?


a) Pen, paper and computer


q)Who are your influences?


a) As a kid, I love to see the mural painting. But I could not paint like that. It was so difficult. So it made me want to work in the field of art. Then I got some influences during my study in architecture. So when I grew up, I want to develop my thought since I was a kid and adapt the culture with my work and it becomes what you seen today.


q)What inspires you to create?


a) Mainly is my culture.


q)…your contacts…


a) e-mail: info@nokhookdesign.com


nokhookdesign shop

50 ratchamankla Soi 6 t. prasingh, Muang, Chiang Mai, Thailand 50200

Tel:+66 086195-6677


My Web Sites: www.nokhookdesign.com


http://www.flickr.com/nokhookdesign


http://nokhook69.exteen.com

giovedì 11 settembre 2008

Interview with Hilary Pecis

q)What is your name?

a)Hilary Pecis

q) Where do you live and work?

a)I live and work in San Francisco, California.

q)What is your favorite medium?

a)I enjoy drawing, which is why my work always has elements of ink drawings collaged along side paper clippings from magazines and painted scraps of paper.

q)What is your current favorite subject?

a)Nanotechnology and cyberspace are two of my interests as far as things I know little about. The fantastical ideas of infinite possibilities with both those topics are quite exciting and are definitely thought about when making the landscape paintings.

q)How long does it take for you to finish a piece?

a)The last body of work I created took me about 6 months. During this time I was working on about 18 pieces consecutively and full time. I image that if I were to single out one piece, it could probably be finished in a few weeks, but I like the option of moving back and forth between paintings.

q)What has been your biggest accomplishment so far?

a)Well, that is a tricky question. I finished college and am currently in Graduate School working on my Masters of Fine Arts. But I am not sure if that constitutes any achievements. Right now I am just stoked to be doing something I love and not having to work for someone else.


q)Are there any contemporary artists that you love?

a)I love Kristin Baker who is a painter in NYC. I have never seen her work in person, but I imagine it would be really impacting to witness.

q)Can we buy your art anywhere?

a)Triple Base Gallery (basebasebase.com) in SF exhibits my work and has drawings available in their flat files. Also, I currently have a solo exhibition up at Receiver Gallery (receivergallery.com) in SF. And finally, it will be at the NADA art fair in Miami this upcoming December. I highly recommend visiting Basel Miami during the fairs.... it is a bazaar but quite a spectacle of an event.

q)Anything that people should know about that we don't??

a)My grandfather is Italian, and I am part of the only Pecis family in the U.S. There are probably about 20 Pecis family members in over here.

q)What is your best piece of advice for those who would like to rise in their level of artistry?

a)I am not so familiar with the Italian Gallery scene, so this advise may not be appropriate. However, I would just suggest getting a person's work seen as much as possible in the beginning.

q)What inspires you to keep going when the work gets frustrating or tough?

a)I have faith that as long as I continue to do what I believe in, things will work out. My biggest frustrations tend to be finances, but other than that, life is pretty sweet.

q)How do you describe your work to those who are unfamiliar with it?

a)I paint post apocalyptic landscapes which exist somewhere between cyberspace and hyper reality. They are compiled of magazine shards and piles of magazine images which discuss capitalism and advertising, along with rock formations embedded with codes that direct the consumer products.


q)What kind of training did you have which helped you achieve your current level of artistry?

a)I received a formal art education and graduated with my Bachelors of Fine Arts in 2006. I am currently working on my Masters of Fine Arts and will graduate in 2009.

q)Is there a tool or material that you can't imagine living without?

a)Micron pens. They come in a variety of sizes and are archival

q)Who are your influences?

a)David Thorpe, Chris Ofili, Robin O'Neil, Peter Doig, Ernesto Caivano, Kristin Baker, Peter Brueghel the elder, Hieronymus Bosch, and sooo many more.

q)What inspires you to create?

a)I have been doing it ever since I was a child and can not image not making things. My boyfriend, Andrew Schoultz is also an artist and we spend much time working together and have collaborated a few times on paintings. Creating doesn't have to be inspired by much.... just a quick idea or jumping off point.


q)…your contacts…


sabato 6 settembre 2008

Interview with Jennifer Perry

q)What is your name?

a)Jennifer Perry

q)Where do you live and work?

a)I live in Illinois, in the United States, and I work from home.


q)What is your creative process like?

a)I'll sit down to paint, and I'll think about an experience from my past or my present, and then the emotions surrounding those events will turn into pictures in my head. Then I just paint those pictures.

q)What is your favorite medium?

a)I really like painting with oils the most, but I still have fond memories of painting in acrylics too. I also like to draw a lot, but no one knows that.

q)What is your current favorite subject?

a)My favorite subject matter is always painting about my life, inside and out, and in so doing, painting about the lives of everyone else too.

q)How long does it take for you to finish a piece?

a)About two weeks I would say, sometimes more, sometimes less. It depends on the detail level, and on how much wonderful 'stuff' I put into a painting.

q)What has been your biggest accomplishment so far?

a)That I paint as well as I do, while being self taught.

q)Are there any contemporary artists that you love?

a)Ann Harper, Steve Shanks, Pia Van Ravestein, Dan May, Greg Craola Simkins, Craig LaRotonda, Hussar, Joe Sorren, 'Art and Ghosts', and many many others.

q)Can we buy your art anywhere?

a)You can buy my art through my website, at



q)Anything that people should know about that we don't??

a)That I am always impressed by people who have the courage to be who they truly are all the time. Honesty is an inside-out process. It's starts on the inside, and then works it's way out. If people want to get to know me, then the best place to start is by being honest about who they are...because I never pretend for anyone, and I would hope that people wouldn't feel the need to pretend for me.

q)What is your best piece of advice for those who would like to rise in their level of artistry?

a)To focus on their own unique voice, and then to work hard to develop it. Don't think about what other artists are doing, because they are all expressing their own unique voices. The world doesn't need lots of artists imitating each other. The world needs to know what you have to say....you...so find that voice and let it sing, and don't ever let anyone try to change or take your voice from you. It's yours...keep it, love it, share it. Oh....and work hard. Self discipline and determination are key.


q)What inspires you to keep going when the work gets frustrating or tough?

a)Well, when the work gets frustrating or tough, it usually means that I'm having a hard time expressing something, since my art is my most direct and open communication with the world. What keeps me going during these times, is the knowledge that whatever I need to say, needs saying, and that no matter how tough it might be to get it said, I will get it said.

q)How do you describe your work to those who are unfamiliarwith it?

a)Usually...someone will ask me what I paint, and I'll tell them 'emotional surrealism' or something like that, and then they'll give me this confused stare. So then I'll tell them that I paint about my life, using a surreal setting, and this usually does the trick.

q)What kind of training did you have which helped you achieve your current level of artistry?

a)I am completely self taught. I've always had this really advanced skill level, so whenever my parents would send me off to someone to develop that skill level, the teacher and I would always just end up sitting down and painting together. I taught my teachers a lot.

q)Is there a tool or material that you can't imagine living without?

a)Oh dear god....that would have to be my canvases. I love them enormously. They are super smooth and built to last. I adore them.

q)Who are your influences?


a)I can't say that I'm not influenced by anyone, but I try to create my art in a sort of artistic seclusion, so...I'm sure that I am influenced by someone, but who that is exactly, I'm not sure.

q)What inspires you to create?


a)The fact that the world needs truth. The fact that we all need to speak our own truths, and to be free.


q)…your contacts…