q) Well, first of all please tell us a little about yourself.
a)Just another one trying to survive working on his own, trying to be as closer as possible to graphic design, art, writing, expression, creativity… which it’s not easy but fucking exciting.
q) Had you always planned on being an artist [or had you other hopes]?
a)Never. I do graphic design and handmade collages, but not trying to be anything, just trying to do it. My hope is to try to make ends meet doing what I do.
q)Do you have a preferred medium to work on? Why?
a)I like handmade collage. Not computer, beautiful papers, the smell of the glue, the beauty of the cut. But I spend much more time in front of my computer than with the scissors. The handmade collages don’t bring too much food to the refrigerator.
q)How would you describe your style?
a)Simple.
q) Do you go through any certain processes while trying to produce your work?
a)With graphic design work, just trying to find calm that makes able to penetrate in the communication problem. If I connect with the essence the rest comes alone (well, with a lot of work, but it comes). If I don’t connect, things that come are just correct, but not good. Not really any method with handmade collage. Just trying to tell something. If I don’t have anything to say I even don’t try. There are already too many empty things to make more.
q) What are you working on at present?
a)Couple of nice corporative identities. I love this kind of work.
q) What about recent sources of inspirations?
a)Nothing in particular. The good stuff, wherever it comes from. It can be the baroque painters or the last conversation with my friends. It can be a museum or it can be the bar.
q) What are some of your obsessions?
a)To make things with sense.
q)Which galleries have you shown at and which galleries would you like to show at?
a)Not many, just two or three. Maybe the one it sounds better it’s the last one, Cinders Gallery in New York in a collective collage show, but it sounds better because the name of the city, I imagine.
q)If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?
a)I don’t care about it, if they contact me to give me work or to offer me a place to make an exhibition, I don’t care about the method.
q)Do you have any suggestions or advice for artists that are just starting out?
a)Something I read just some weeks ago: “the success is just to wake up everymorning and start to paint”.
q)Who are your favorite artists?
a)In collage, I like very much Hanna Höch, Eva Sil Han and James Gallagher, for example.
q) What books are on your nightstand?
a)My last bible is “Society of spectacle”, from GuyDebord. “Escritos”, from Eduardo Chillida has been another important book.
a)Sometimes i start with a photo session, make a drawing and than paint. I also do simply a rough sketch and than improvise without knowing where it's going.
q)What is your favorite medium?
a)Oil painting
q)What is your current favorite subject?
a)Human figure and monsters
q)How long does it take for you to finish a piece?
a)It's never under 30 hours. I don't really know, i work on several paintings at the same time.
q)What has been your biggest accomplishment so far?
a)I had the chance to show my painting in France and in the USA. I had my first solo exhibition in NYC.
q)Are there any contemporary artists that you love?
a)Jenny Saville, H.R.Giger, Gottfried Helnwein, Michael Hussar, Hans Bellmer, Kent Williams, Brom...
q)Can we buy your art anywhere?
a)No, for my last show you deal with the Last Rites Gallery, otherwise you deal with me.
q)Anything that people should know about that we don’t??
a)It's harder than the hardest way you could imagine.
q)What is your best piece of advice for those who would like to rise in their level of artistry?
a)You are the only one responsible of your improvement. The more time you put into it, the more you gonna learn. Learn from watching other artist work.
q)What inspires you to keep going when the work gets frustrating or tough?
a)Going to the museum and art show.
q)How do you describe your work to those who are unfamiliar with it?
a)I paint the unloved.
q)What kind of training did you have which helped you achieve your current level of artistry?
a)I'm a self-taugh painter. I learn from trial an error.
q)Is there a tool or material that you can’t imagine living without?
q) Well, first of all please tell us a little about yourself.
a) Hello, I am a painter currently living and working in New York City. I grew up in Utah and lived in Colorado for a bit before moving to New York City four years ago.I adore New York and haunt the Brooklyn streets of Williamsburg. The figure has always been the focus and my current work is primarily about the portrait.My sign is cancer and I have no pets, but lots of plants and lots of nightmares.
q) Had you always planned on being an artist [or had you other hopes]?
a) I can safely say that I had always planned on being an artist. My dad is an architect and certainly nutured my artistic pursuit since I was a little girl. I never regarded being an artist as a bad way to make a living or imagined that I would starve- being a painter was simply something I didn't question. Although, I did have a short stint of time during my freshamn year of high school when I thought about becoming a dream psychologist- I had just started reading Jung and Freud and was captivated by the thought of dissecting the human mind and getting to the roots of the unconscious. But, that obsession faded and I think that the influences of Freud and Jung and the desire to dissect the unconscious is now expressed within my work.
q) Do you have a preferred medium to work on? Why?
a) Yes, I am an oil painter. I've tried many other mediums, but haven't fallen in love anything else- my life partner is paint. I have always envied artist who can transform their ideas into multiple shapes and media- like a sculptor who has a way with paint or an installation artist who can produce captivating videos...My ideas and imagery have always been on a flat 2-D existence. And, truth be told I do work on photographs in between time with paintings. I take extensive reference photos of my models and lately have been manipulating them using a soft cloth and water to rub off the top layers of ink to reveal reds and yellows. I'm not sure if I will ever show these though, the paintings just feel more real to me.
q) How would you describe your style?
a) Up until recently, I would have been dubbed a photo-realist. But in the past few years I have been exploring and experimenting with both abstract and realistic forms. What comes most naturally is the desire to paint and study the figure- through portraiture I have found my niche. I am using a simple and traditional format as a structure to play with and move paint around in ways that scare and challenge me. I build up realistic layers and then sand away parts or alter my realist hand.
q) Do you go through any certain processes while trying to produce your work?
a) I always start with my models- the people I choose to paint are those closest to me and often I am drawn to the enigmatic females in my life. If they are willing, I ask them pose nude and I take a massive amount of shots and then edit through to find what works best. Rarely do I direct them or have a set concept.Much of my process is dictated by what feels best in the moment. Sometimes I have an image of what I want from a specific subject and then once the painting gets going the ideas suddenly change or don't feel right anymore. I am learningto listen to the painting and quiet my mind and expectations.
q) What are you working on at present?
a) I'm working on a self-portrait, which is always a difficult task for me. The first few moments of this painting felt really amazing and now that I am nearing the finish, she has put up a bit of a fight...I feel that I am transitioning to a new body of work and this current self-portrait is lingering in old concepts, but I am now trying to throw in something new to keep myself interested enough to finish.
q) What about recent sources of inspirations?
a) I think that a majority of my initial concepts float into my subconscious from observations in my environment. When I feel overwhelmed by my own work I have no interest in looking at other art or going to shows.Most of my concepts and ideas have been floating in right before sleep- my mind clears allows new colors and shapes to form. Also I recently did some collaborative works with my friend David Mramor and his style has influenced me greatly...
q) What are some of your obsessions?
a) Painting and being in my studio. Podcasts and audio books concerning anything paranormal; ufo's, alien abduction, ghosts, strange creatures and near death experiences. Also radio programs about science, especially astronomy and physics. Yogurt and granola. Pineapples. Finding new music. and the boy I am in love with.
q) Which galleries have you shown at and which galleries would you like to show at?
a) I am represented by Plus Gallery in Denver CO and Like the Spice Gallery in New York.
Since 2003 I have shown in Pirate Gallery and Plus Gallery in Denver CO. Like the Spice Gallery, Postmasters gallery, Kravet/Wehby Gallery, University of Columbia in New York and the Smithsonian Institute. Also galleries in Utah and Florida.I have yet to show on the west coast, but I do have a group show coming up in LA that I am very excited about at The WestLos AngelesCollege. The one gallery I have my heart set on for the future is Roberts and Tilton in LA....I love all the artists in their stable so I am keeping my fingers crossed that someday I get the chance to show there.
q) If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?
a) I always love receiving emails at morganjenni@hotmail.com, and I do use facebook quite a bit.
q) Do you have any suggestions or advice for artists that are just starting out?
a) I know what helped me most was just consistently working and having space to do so. I also think it's critical to have your work out in the world in whatever means possible- websites, submitting to juried competitions, links on friends websites, group shows and blogs help to get the work seen and appreciated. And above all develop a strong network of other artists to use as support- shows and studio visits are primarily facilitated by friends introducing friends to dealers and curators. We love to help each other out.
q) Who are your favorite artists?
a) Jenny Saville, Inka Essenhigh, Gerhard Richter, Francis Bacon, Marilyn Minter, Lucian Freud, Michael Borremans, Luc Tuymans, Neo Rauch, Lisa Yuskavage.
q) What books are on your nightstand?
a) As of right now "The Anatomy of the Spirit" by Caroline Myss, "Cosmic Conversations, Dialogues on the Nature of the Universe and the Search for Reality" by Stephan Martin and "Seeing Out Louder" by Jerry Saltz.
q) To what weaknesses are you most indulgent?
a) Procrastination and the occasional flakiness. I'm always apologizing to someone for not calling them back.
a)I'm twenty. I live in Russia and study at the ArchitecturalUniversity.
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 ArchitecturalUniversity. 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.
