Interview with Pavel Platonov

q)please tell us a brief info about yourself.

a)I'm twenty. I live in Russia and study at the Architectural University.

q)Tell us about your humble beginnings, When did you you first realized that you wanted to be an artist?

a)My first works were experiments. I had to put images from my head to real life, so i painted, took a photos, made layouts, watched and did things, that attracted me. From little up i know, that my occupation will be connected with creativity, so i develop myself in this way.

q)What are your tools of the trade and why?

a)I prefer photography, i find it the easiest way to get the necessary goal. It is mobile and easy to access. I plan to make some video, i have moving pictures in my head. Photoraphs is the fragments of this pictures.

q)Who or what gives you inspiration on your morbid art?

a)I inspired by strange forms, crystals and minerals, fractals and anomalies, different constructions, biographies, music and video. I take much energy from weird stuff.

q)Is your artistic background self-taught or did you go to college to study?

a)We haven't art colleges here, it's a bad situation in Russia. There is no institution to enter. That's why i join the Architectural University. I don't take it seriously - terrible education, but interesting environment. There is no sense to learn photography in educational institution.


q)How do you keep “fresh” within your industry?

a)I stint myself in photography and concentrate on portraits. It's the images, which i combine with self-made constructions. I improvise and don't always have a clear picture in my head. It's also a search for technique and presentation. I try not to photo web-sites too much, because they produce pseudo cool things. I can't understant it. When you do something you like very much - it'll have great effect on somebody.

q)What are some of your current projects?

a)I'll try to complete the portrait series. In abstract way - it's an image of a man, which haven't references to time, country, religion, no emotions or details, that can attach some situation. I remove all ot this and give to him my own views. I have many ideas, but i have to choose one idea for one set. I try to catch the presentation of series - it's interesting and sometimes hard to do.

q)Which of your works are you the most proud of? And why?

a)I'm a self-critical person, my new works i like better then old ones. I think my best works are ahead.

q)Are there any areas, techniques, mediums, projects in your field that you have yet to try?

a)Yes, i'm interested in video and sculpture.

q)What do you do to keep yourself motivated and avoid burn-out?

a)Self-critisizm and intuition helps me.

q)How do you spend most of your free time?

a)I spend it mostly in Internet and listening to music. I work at home.

q)What contemporary artists or developments in art interest you?

a)I can't say a name, i don't remember. There are many interesting things around, but i try not to become a fan of somebody.

q)We really like some of your pictures, how can we get our hands on them? Do you sell them? How?

a)I plan to print them in big sizes and now searching for good printing establishment. I have a pictures also. Anyone can write me suggestions on e-mail.

bojarshnik@rambler.ru

http://www.flickr.com/photos/platonov_pavel

http://platonov-pavel.livejournal.com

Warten auf Sol Invictus

The project consist in the realization of a propitious exhibition for the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, the most important Observance in ancient times, that was celebrate in very different ways all around the planet, but everywhere on 25th December. The collection of the art pieces to expose want to be very heterogeneous, creating so a right and proper homage to Sol Invictus and on the same time a commemoration of all the different celebrations for his “natalis”. EXHIBITING: Alberto Raiteri | Alessia Cocca | Andreco | Ango The Meek Dead | Claudio Parentela | Cristina Pancini | Elena Armellini | Exiff | Francesco Bancheri | Francesco D'Isa | Irina Novarese | Lys Lydia Selimalhigazi | Luiza LaPupazza | Martha Sklodowska | Silvio Streddi

Cell63 artgallery
Allerstr 38 12049 Berlin
www.okidokigallery.com

Interview with Martin Wollerstam

q)please tell us a brief info about yourself.


a)My name is Martin Wollerstam and I’m a Swedish born Illustrator living in London. Drawing is a big part of my life and I’m struggling to one day be able to live on my creativity.


q)Tell us about your humble beginnings, When did you first realized that you wanted to be an artist?


a)My father is an artist and it’s kind of grew into me. But when I first felt that I could maybe someday live on what I’m doing was around 2004 when I got my first illustration job at a morning newspaper in Uppsala, Sweden.


q)What are your tools of the trade and why?


a)I usually work with a computer using a pen tablet in Photoshop. It’s a great way for me to work as I can draw in layers and manipulate my drawings a lot. But I also use markers and pens. I always have a sketchbook in my bag so I can draw whenever I want to draw.


q)Who or what gives you inspiration on your morbid art?


a)Mostly life itself. How we people act to each other. I also been using creativity a lot as therapy when I been depressed. I’m also a big fan of Rollplaying games and dark animated movies, so I guess some of the inspiration comes from that.


q)Is your artistic background self-taught or did you go to college to study?


a)I’m mostly self-taught, but I had a year at a basic art school to concentrate on my creativity and not be thinking of finding jobs and other depressing things, and it help me a lot to develop my style and myself.


q)How do you keep “fresh” within your industry?


a)I don’t know really, I try to always be doing stuff if I don’t have any assignments to keep myself constantly develop myself. And not being afraid to tell people of what I’m doing and showing my work.


q)What are some of your current projects?


a)At the moment I’ve been doing some illustrations for some new magazines and I’m always working on my fanzine called “Heart Heart”, I’m working on the third issue now. I’m also working on personal picture book and I’m drawing some pictures for my friend’s children book. Otherwise I’m working monthly for the club night “Wet yourself” which is based on the club Fabric in London.


q)Which of your works are you the most proud of? And why?


a)It’s hard to say I always get bored of the old things I do so I would say a lot of the new things I’m making. There are some artwork that I made for Wet yourself that I really like because I pushed myself to do great things. There are also some murals that I’m very proud over.


q)Are there any areas, techniques, mediums, projects in your field that you have yet to try?


a)I’ve just been touching on the surface of animation, which I really would like to make more of. I also would like to make some longer comics and I also want to make more visuals for club nights. And I would really like to use more colours! I almost totally work in monochrome!


q)What do you do to keep yourself motivated and avoid burn-out?


a)At the moment I don’t get enough work to get burned-out but I always try to create even though I feel like everything I do is bad eventually it something get right and that boost my confidentiality.


q)how do you spend most of your free time?


a)I play videogames(mostly RPG), watch movies, listen to music, hang out with my girlfriend and my friends and I go out on parties. I big part of my free time I draw just for fun too.


q)What contemporary artists or developments in art interest you?


a)I like people who work on dark twisted drawings and people who have a good taste of humour in what they’re creating. I also get interested of people with a very special and creative mind and that do things out of the ordinary.


q)We really like some of your pictures, how can we get our hands on them? Do you sell them? How?


a)I’m (slowly) working on getting a section on my homepage where you can buy prints, but at the moment I print most of my stuff if someone wants to buy anything and send it to the buyer or hand it over personally if possible.

_____________________
MARTIN WOLLERSTAM
_____________________
phone: +44(0)7927030804
email: martin@wollerstam.com

web: http://www.wollerstam.com

fanzine: http://heart.wollerstam.com

Interview with Matina Stamatakis

q)please tell us a brief info about yourself.

a)I almost always act on impulse.

q)Tell us about your humble beginnings, When did you first realized that you wanted to be an artist?

a)I've always been interested in art from as far back as I can remember. My mother was, and still is, a solid foundation for creative expression. Growing up I was surrounded by my mothers' endless arts & crafts projects. I wouldn't say I partook in these projects, but there was an interest. However, in my early teenage years I was more interested in writing poetry; it seemed to come more naturally. Visual art has always been secondary to me in terms of importance.

q)What are your tools of the trade and why?

a)One computer. Scanner. Basic photo software. Camera.

I'm under the belief that less is actually more, and that using basic tools can also render an appearance akin to that of some high-tech method. It's not necessarily what photo program or camera you use, but how you use it.

q)Who or what gives you inspiration on your morbid art?

a)90% sexual frustration, 10% mental conflict.


q)Is your artistic background self-taught or did you go to college to study?

a)A little bit of both. I went to school for photography and creative writing, and found it made me more aware of what I liked and didn't like, but as far as building personal growth in the creative realm, it really didn't.

Personally, I prefer the self-taught method, as it tends to diminish preconceived notions of what art and poetry should be.

q)How do you keep “fresh” within your industry?

a)One good way to keep "fresh" is to not pay attention to what defines popular culture, or even underground culture for that matter. I observe, merely observe, and do not try to replicate or recreate what has already been done.

q)What are some of your current projects?

a)Lately I've been experimenting with images of mannequins. They are so human-like, so engrained in culture, so present yet mysteriously non-present. I find them kind of scary in the sense they are a crude representation of humans--they're so vacant and soulless.

One of my current projects is designed to take them out of this realm of vacancy. One image in particular, Dreams of Corrosion (http://www.flickr.com/photos/11068262@N00/3625604395/), was created to be a commentary on societal decay.

I continue to experiment with this thought, and how to make this a series without being too redundant.

q)Which of your works are you the most proud of? And why?

a)It would have to be the Graffiti Papyri series I did a while back. mIEKal aND was gracious enough to publish an issue of Xerolage dedicated to these papyric/graffiti images, which, in my mind, took the series to a whole new, exciting level.

In the beginning, I had been toying around with the idea of layering old papyri texts with something modern-day and bold. That's where the graffiti came into play. I believe the melding of two completely different stages in time was most complimentary in an almost eerie way.

q)Are there any areas, techniques, mediums, projects in your field that you have yet to try?

a)There are so many things I've yet to try; it's almost overwhelming! In the future I would like to try my hand at fashion design--something like haut couture for compulsive masturbators. How it relates to my field I am not sure, but there’s always a way to make it relate, or not relate. My art is never truly conscious, so I wouldn’t actually try to force it into a certain mold.

q)What do you do to keep yourself motivated and avoid burn-out?

a)I tend to burn-out a lot, actually. What I do is to not stress out over it. I give myself some time away from the computer, away from books, away from any outlet of creativity, then I go back when I feel the urge to create. Sometimes it takes a little push, sometimes it comes naturally. The best thing to do is to just let it be. Having said that, if things aren’t working the way I want them to work, I scrap the idea and start fresh. I’m really very impatient, so this scrapping of work happens quite a lot.

q)how do you spend most of your free time?

a)I do what one may call “normal” things like play mother, play lover, play underpaid worker, play law-abiding citizen. I play so many things it’s like I’m playing reality.


q)What contemporary artists or developments in art interest you?

a)The works of Theoni Tambaki, Thierry Tillier, and John Moore Williams really interest me. There are others, of course, but each artist is a representation of a completely different artistic style.

Theoni’s work, which graces the cover of my newest chapbook, Metempsychose (Ypolita Press, 2009), will always find a place in my heart. Her drawings are like no other, and I find our works go together nicely without trying--they just be. That’s when you know you have a good pairing, when things just go together without much effort from both parties.

As for Thierry’s work, I think he offers something extraordinary in the way he approaches collage. The out of place eroticism of his work appeals to me on many levels.

John Moore Williams is an amazing vispo illusionist. What he does with words brings vispo to a whole other level. I’ve enjoyed watching his work progress into something quite unique over the years.

q)We really like some of your pictures, how can we get our hands on them? Do you sell them? How?

a)To be honest, I don’t really relish the idea of selling my work. I do have a book, Sensoria, which is a collection of colored digital art I’ve done over the years. The only reason I made this book is because I wanted to see if my art looked as good in print as it does on the screen; it was merely a test of sorts. As far as selling my work, I am at a point in my life where I do not feel it necessary to sell what should be free to access for anyone who is interested. If anyone is interested in obtaining a copy of any of my works, just send me an e-mail with your mailing address, and I’ll send you some work.

Augusto De Luca

http://www.myspace.com/augustodeluca

Interview with Diane Barcelowsy

q)please tell us a brief info about yourself.

a)I live in Brooklyn. I'm an art teacher. 31 years old I have one green eye and one blue eye.

q)Tell us about your humble beginnings, When did you you first realized that you wanted to be an artist?

a)One of my earliest memories is drawing lines on paper and pretending the lines are roads and my pencil is the car. I guess I always found escaping and daydreaming on paper more exciting then other things growing up and I kept drawing so the practice and a strange imagination made me into the artist I am today

q)What are your tools of the trade and why?

a)Dip pen and india ink mostly then a lot of stuff after that.

q)Who or what gives you inspiration on your morbid art?

a)The morbid world. It's easy to want to escape from it all or really look at it straight in the eyes. So I do both when I'm making things.

q)Is your artistic background self-taught or did you go to college to study?

a)I went to college for photography and then switched to fine arts. The school basically gave a space to let loose and I still don't know how to properly gesso a canvas. I think its good that they let us do what we wanted and figure out mistakes and tricks along the way , but it cost to much money.

q)How do you keep "fresh" within your industry?

a)I don't pay attention to whats going on so I never even know if I am fresh or not

q)What are some of your current projects?

a)I was commissioned to do a drawing for "the Sak" to use on an eco -friendly bag line that will be out spring 2010. They all look amazing and each bag that sells donates money to the nature conservatory (plant a billion trees fund) http://www.plantabillion.org/ and I am really excited about a group show in Japan at the Waiting Room Gallery with other cinders artist like Maya Hayuk, and Erika Somogyi (whom i have known for a real long time) opens in nov-jan.

q)Which of your works are you the most proud of? And why?

a)This one of two elephants that got lost in the mail on the way to Beaver Projects Gallery. It took forever and my hand went numb drawing it but it was beautiful and it travelled with me, I worked on it driving up the west coast to my friends farm in northern California. It was so beautiful there I look at the drawing and I think of my friend and her husband and their dog and cat and drawing these elephants outside by their garden. I also love these three drawings that I just donated to a silent auction for the Movember Foundation to help fund research for prostate cancer. I lost my grandfather and Uncle to prostate cancer and my father is a survivor. http://us.movember.com/

q)Are there any areas, techniques, mediums, projects in your field that you have yet to try?

a)There's plenty of things i haven't tried but I am not to interested in things that become more of a technical process, I like drawing and painting because you are more in touch with the collective unconscious

q)What do you do to keep yourself motivated and avoid burn-out?

a)I have been making lists of drawing ideas to make for years, while waiting in lines at the bank or sitting in traffic. I have so many that i still need to start or finish and I work on about 5-8 at a time.

q)how do you spend most of your free time?

a)Ha.. drawing/painting I also play music with my friends Brina Thurston, Quentin Rowin and Mike Woods

q)What contemporary artists or developments in art interest you?

a)I love people like Nils Udo who make art outdoors and go for long quiet walks , who are really in touch with the solitude of nature I can really connect with those feelings. Joseph Beuys for being one of the founding members of the green party, writing pop songs about Reagan, and trying to plant 7,000 trees and always Grandma Moses for creating scenes with so much going on in small towns then giving the paintings as gifts to family and friends on birthdays and weddings. I want to live in one of her towns.

q)We really like some of your pictures, how can we get our hands on them? Do you sell them? How?

a)I sell them through Cinders Gallery in Brooklyn, and Beaver Projects in Copenhagen although sometimes people just e-mail me directly if they live close by it's better to see the art in person.