Associate Editor: Claudia Puccio Writers: Pete Cosmos Claudia Puccio Ian Sanity Visual Designer: Darius Loftis Web Developer/Designer: Nick Rachielles Contributors: Rachael Hatch Tomomi Kitami Kulturez Dynasty Minutia Orchard Skate Shop Parlor Gallery
For general inquiries please email contact@abstraks.com and we’ll respond back at our earliest convenience Advertising: Interested in advertising in Abstraks? Send an email to Contact@abstraks.com@abstraks.com. www.abstraks.com Social Media: Facebook: facebook.com/abstraks Twitter: @abstraksmag Tumblr: abstraksmag.tumblr.com Instagram: @abstraksmag
Submissions If you would like to be a contributing writer or photographer – to conduct an interview, write an article, or cover an event – and you believe it fits our criteria, please email us at Submissions@Abstraks.com for consideration. Please attach samples of any past writing or photography. To be considered as a featured artist in Abstraks we ask that you send an email to Submissions@Abstraks.com with attachments of your work, or a link to your work. While we appreciate all submissions, we cannot respond to all of them. We will review every submission and will contact you if you are selected.
Unless otherwise mentioned, artists and other parties featured in Abstraks retain copyright to their work. Every effort has been made to contact copyright owners or their representatives. Abstraks will take pleasure in correcting any mistakes mentioned in our future issue. 2014 Abstraks LLC. All Rights Reserved
Table Of Contents Issue 25
Artists Lucilda Dassardo Cooper
4
Courtney Erin McKenna
20
Abstraks Mobile App
34
Gallery Gallery 55
42
4
Lucilda Dassardo Cooper Interview by Claudia Puccio
Lucilda Dassardo Cooper is an American artist of Indian and African ancestry who was born on the Caribbean island of Jamaica and has lived in the USA since 1971. A student of nature, reality, and mysticism since childhood, she searches for meaning to the eternal questions, creating art that is driven by that search. I unfortunately didn’t have the opportunity to meet Lucilda in person, but we had a conversation via email and she very quickly comes across as an affable and warm woman. Someone who strives for truth and
4 Abstraks
authenticity in both her life and in her art. Her work is powerful. Some of it ethereal and dreamlike, both in its technique and its subject matter. Some of it much more tangible and human; methodical in its technique and visceral in its portrayal. You wanted to be an artist early on in your life. Do you remember what made that obvious to you? Watching my brother paint one day I was fascinated by his ability to create a world on the paper with colors. I was eager to paint - to capture my world, and did a creditable job from the beginning. My sister was amazed at my ability, and I realized that not everyone could do what I take for granted. No other activity was as satisfying to me then, or now. There was a brief time when I first began to practice yoga and meditate that the urgency to paint was less, but as I learned later, creativity and meditation share a lot in common, arising from a similar place in our psyche. You mention on your website that your primary concern in your work is searching for meaning to the eternal questions. What would you say brought you to that search? What drives you in that quest?
As a child, I was so enraptured by my world. The deep darkness of the night time sky lit up by stars, the rays of sunshine underwater in the Caribbean Sea, with gently waving grasses and colorful fishes hanging in balanced motion, the delicious scent of mountain air in the countryside, the sound of breeze through the coconut palm as the leaves dance across the incredibly blue sky. So many sensory experiences made me wonder about the purpose of life as I became intoxicated with the variety of my visual world growing up in Jamaica. I was especially moved by the pieces from your Veiled Presence series. Â Can you tell me about that project? What was the impetus for it? What is the common thread throughout the series? The Veiled Presence paintings were my creative outlet for learning to live in a gendered society. I had Abstraks 5
adapted to living in a racially separated society when I moved to the U.S. from Jamaica, but India and Pakistan were real challenges. We lived in Delhi for three years, as my husband Ken was the Washington Post S. Asia Bureau chief posted there. We travelled around a lot, as I would do the photography for his stories. I was inspired to begin the series as I found myself stopping often to look at a very colorful sari-clad figure walk down the street. The intense sunlight, sometimes with a gentle breeze created an amazing dance of light and color. I decided to have each woman placed at a similar place on the canvas, with the top of the head cropped by the picture frame and the figure seen only to thigh-high, to create the sensation that the women are not constrained by the picture plane, and were actually bursting through the confines of the space they were being held. As I met women from all over India, and South Asia, I painted them from behind, or with the faces covered so the statement of their
6 Abstraks
Abstraks 7
dress was more important than their personality - a growing feeling I was experiencing, so creating more awareness of gender and identity issues in the society. I must have been successful, as I was told by diplomats how the paintings served to change their perceptions of those issues. There is something very powerful about a repetitive statement that seems to grab the awareness and take us out of our sub-conscious mode of being.
ingrained. What is the universal human condition when stripped of the societal norms and cultural beliefs? What do we long for at the core of our being and what do we give time and importance to? At the expense of what? Is saving face more important than love of family, and why?
The common thread through the series was the sublimation of identity to self-expression through dress.
Growing up with the inherited beliefs of our culture, parents and learning institutions serve to separate us from the common humanity of our fellow being. We can end wars when we stop trying to impose our cultural superiority on others. Funny how many religions tend to incite their followers with this aura of superiority and brand the religion of others as totally wrong, putting into effect laws that circumscribe any questioning with labels of blasphemy and heresy. Sadly that reasoning has led to more bloodshed and a cycle of hate than conversion.
You were born in Jamaica, and have lived in India, Egypt, and the US, maybe even more places. What drives you to travel? What have these places contributed to your work and to your outlook? I think I am a global nomad at heart, and love to experience different places and cultures. This affords me the ability to step back from my cultural conditioning to understand what is more important in the world, and make up my own mind about things that are
10 Abstraks
I think as someone said before that what unites us is greater than what divides us.
I am a different person in Jamaica than I am in the U.S. than I am in
Abstraks 11
Jamaica. The circumstances and expectations are different. Ken tells me I become a Jamaican Beach Girl in Jamaica, where I spend time on the beach reading, painting and interacting with the locals. He also tells me that my brother (the youngest of the brothers) and I act like politicians, meeting and greeting people. In sedate Boston I have a more sedate life, and in India I was the curious American of Indian origin who knew more about yoga than many natives. You’ve done some teaching in the past. What kind of experience was that? Does teaching inspire you in any way? I love to teach. Sharing my quest, experience and knowledge is very gratifying. I also love to learn, and read voraciously. Currently, I am studying to be certified to teach Iyengar style yoga. The learning is what fascinates me as I imbibe the ancient words of wisdom that continue to have so much relevance to our lives today. I have taught art and yoga in a variety of settings, from meditation retreats to public and private
12 Abstraks
schools, across generations. When planning my classes, I learn a lot as I conduct research to answer any questions I may have on the subject. You mentioned in your email that you have worked in a few different mediums; acrylics, ceramic and iridescent glass murals, for example. Do you tend to stick to one medium or do you mix it up? My primary medium is painting in oils on canvas, although I prefer linen, but can’t always afford the extra expense. Murals and plein air paintings are done in acrylics, while watercolors are for quick sketches and paintings of flowers when I am mourning the death of a loved one. The ceramic and iridescent glass mural was a way to represent water in the Underwater World mural I created with students of the Anthony Hyde elementary school in the Georgetown section of Washington DC, through the Fillmore Arts Center where I taught part time while working on my paintings. The project was partly funded by a grant from the D.C. Commission and the National Endowment for Art. I love
glass and would love to do more designs in the medium. What is your process like? Are you a meticulous planner or do you tend to let the work take you where it wants to go? The process I use depends on the outcome desired. If the project is more of a commission with certain expectations for the result, hen meticulous planning and research. If this is a painting that I am willing to be the medium of expression, then I follow the work, letting it lead. You mention yoga as a passion and as an inspiration for a current series of paintings. How did you find your way to yoga? And did you know immediately that it would be such a huge part of your life? As a child, I searched for meaning in books, and discovered a trove of yoga/metaphysical books that my eldest brother reads. It seems that there were other dimensions beyond what our physical senses could discern, and my imagination was fired up about the possibilities of the human mind and body when
16 Abstraks
trained to certain disciplines. Working on a political campaign as a graphic artist in Jamaica once while on an extended visit, I was unable to go jogging and swimming as much because I was so busy, and also it was unsafe to go jogging with the increase in political violence, killings and shootings. I began to practice the sun salutation from a yoga book as my form of exercise and mind release from the job. When I returned to the U.S. I was invited to a yoga class. In the ashram in which the class was held, I began to experience a variety of strange sensations, such as intense heat that began in my lower abdomen and moved up each time I was in a particular posture. This led me to eat ice cream from the snack shop before class, and the yoga teacher who was the resident swami questioned why. She explained that my strange sensations are very normal for a “kundalini awakening� and I should read the autobiography of the Guru of the order to understand more. I bought the book that day and
stayed up all night reading his fascinating account of his spiritual journey and the extreme mediation experiences he went through. I finally went to meet this Guru when he held a workshop on Meditation and the Arts. I cried so many tears and did not know why. My heart felt like I had come home. A friend and I were going for a quick jog before dinner and came back to find dinner over. Years later while visiting the ashram, I realize we had jogged over twelve miles which at the time seemed to me like maybe four. I had no idea reading my brother’s yoga books that I would travel to India more than once on a yoga and meditation retreat. By the way - we use yoga in the west to refer to the physical asanas or postures, but in India, yoga includes all the spiritual disciplines to unite the individual soul with the universal realm of being. The word means to unite. The true art to me is what arises from my sub-conscious as the expression of my inner being, which is the inner being of all, and the creative force that brings the
phenomenal universe into existence. Everyone should experience that force for themselves through meditation, as the senses disengage with the outer world to be more focused inside. The eight limbs of yoga, and the path to achieving this experience was codified thousands of years ago by Patanjali. My wish is for everyone everywhere to experience this bliss of their inner being, which is also the joyous outer expressions of life. The joy and wonder of my childhood self appreciating the world has led to the maturity of my adult self experiencing the inner world. A book I have been working on of my transformative experiences through yoga is facetiously titled “My Inner Child is a Sage.”
Websites: https://www.facebook.com/pages/ Lucilda/103291470551 http://lucilda.com/
Abstraks 19
20
Courtney Erin McKenn Interview by Ian Sanity
na
It’s a Tuesday evening in a noisy, busy coffee house on the outskirts of Allston, the only town in the US named after an artist, how fitting. I’m sitting down with Courtney Erin McKenna - who lives on the borderline of the fine artist and master crafter - to talk family, inspiration, magical places, and all five senses. Courtney would say “I do embroideries,” but that is an understatement. She draws and paints with thread, fiber, and her fingertips. She builds form with a needle and presumably a thimble. She painstakingly recreates human forms, scientifically, artistically, and emotionally, in a manner that is incredibly aesthetically beautiful. She creates compulsively in an attempt to connect with her past but McKenna’s work also aims to “visualize the strains on the physical self caused by trauma, relationships, and womanhood,” as well as release the secrets of her family life. Armed with a passion for textiles she entered MassArt in 2005 to study fashion design, but “never made it into the fashion design program,” which would be more hands off then what would make her feel at home. “I kind of fuddled around for a while, between majors, deciding what I wanted to do,” searching for something that felt more rooted in her past. “Then I took an intro to weaving class and fell in love with the tactile quality of the material which was amazing,” and a reminder of her surroundings as a child in southern New Hampshire.
22 Abstraks
Before Courtney even knew she would be an artist, she was creative. “My friend Danielle and I used to mail each other letters, but then we stopped writing,” she says, describing her first memories of blossoming creativity. “I think we stopped writing somewhere between 7-10. I don’t know. And we just started drawing each other pictures of horses and turtles and such. She lived in Tyngsborough, and I lived 40 minutes away in New Hampshire. Her mom and my mom were best friends growing up, so we would see each other and just draw while we watched David the Gnome and when we weren’t together we would send each other pictures.” Courtney’s attempts to learn to crochet while young never worked out, as her mother, who was an expert, had too little patience to teach her. “I struggled with that a lot.” So instead Courtney began sewing at an early age, even mastering the sewing machine. “Towards the end of high school I got a little more adventurous. I sewed a few bags, tried some dresses, some scarves.” Through high school Courtney enrolled in and enjoyed many art classes as well. Even making a little money being the neighborhood photographer. She hadn’t yet considered going to art school, until one of her teachers made the suggestion. It wasn’t long before she was accepted to MassArt. “I learned a lot of different processes and decided to explore the fibers department. I felt a natural comfort with material.” Courtney recalls being with her grandmother and her great grandmother
Abstraks 25
who lived close by, both of which had magical collections of lace and fabrics everywhere in their homes. “That’s where I honed my embroidery skills,” in the fibers department. “I studied under Steve Locke who is a huge, huge inspiration to me. He was really the driving force for me to be like ‘I can do this in a way that’s important’.” Courtney admits that many teachers in the fibers department “really pushed me to develop my skill and technique and improve upon that. So that my ideas or my concept could come through more truthfully.” McKenna’s work focuses on “relationships within the home. Within domestic structures, be they interpersonal or just the structures themselves and typically the woman’s relation to the home. So I try and correlate the piece of fabric that I’m using to the part of the body that it would be exposed to.” Courtney speaks very passionately about her work; it’s not hard to see why. “My grandmother passed away from cancer when I was 10, I was really young. It was hard on me.” Courtney had found a way to cope through her artwork, but also a way to keep hold of her memories. “I once did an installation piece that was meant to recreate the smell of her house. I had soaked a bunch of yardage of fabric that matched one of her wallpapers, in tobacco and water. Made a mixture. Just covered it all. Stunk it up.” Courtney smiles. “Things were stained. I had recreated objects from her house out of felt and smoked cigarette filters. I had
26 Abstraks
made a rag rug that I had stained with tobacco water.” The installation really pressed on every sense, and undoubtedly would bring up old memories in any viewers mind. Courtney describes how this led to her exploring the imagery of lungs, which became the base of her first anatomy piece. “I found a picture of lungs filled with cancer and used that to do an embroidery.” From there she went a little introspective. “What things do I have that are weird in my body? I did a lot of these cyst studies, because I had ovarian cysts a number of years ago. I started to explore more women’s bodies, specifically. Then I just kind of branched out from there.” As well as using X-rays of both her spine and her foot for reference for pieces, she also used “Gray’s Anatomy of the Human Body” for some pieces. She even does research on the individual body part she’s working on just to feel more connected to her work. She combines science, research, skill, craft, and art all into one lovely package. Courtney’s pieces work on a very personal level. As the viewer, not only can I connect with her work, but it also leaves questions to be answered. It drags my attention in immediately with its detail and devotion, gives me a window into Courtney’s world. It makes me feel my own personal emotions and a connection to my roots, and then leaves me wanting more. As a human, I’ve been surrounded by fabrics and textiles from birth to the present, so I feel familiar warmth when
Abstraks 29
I look at her pieces. McKenna’s artwork also helps me see all that familiarity from a new perspective. Courtney has exhibited her work at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Lincoln Arts Project, MassArt, and the Washington Street Art Center. When Courtney is not artistically and diligently sewing her past and her present together, she works as a teacher at The New Art Center in Newton. If you would like to know more please visit Courtney’s website: courtneyerinmckenna.com
Abstraks 33
34
Gallery 55 Written by Pete Cosmos
Gallery 55 is a unique space huddled in the corner of downtown Natick, Mass. At first glance, it can be written off as another up scale craft store in a highincome suburb of New England. Full of shell jewelry and watercolor paintings of beaches (see: all of Wellesley Center and most of Connecticut) Alas, upon entering, one will find an array of appealing fine art from fine silvers and craftsmanship to fascinating paintings, photography and sculptures. Gallery 55 opened in 2003 in place of an old cobbler shop that had been there for years, owned by twins or even triplets, if memory serves, and without too much cobbling to be done, it
34 Abstraks
6 Abstraks
was revamped and renovated by owner, John Mottern. Originally intended as John’s personal exhibition space; he later expanded the definition of the space and used the opportunity to showcase his work along with other artists in the metro west area in need of exposure.
objective being the importance of community rather than just that of publicity.
55 S Main St, Natick, MA 01760 Phone:(508) 740-0260 www.gallery55.com/
In late 2009, Anet James came on as co owner of Gallery 55; that year also saw the arrival of John and Sue Ellen Harwood at the space as regular fixtures. Sue and John began using the retail side of the space to sell their work as well as exhibit live displays of the work being made. I was fortunate enough to have Mr. Harwood as my Gallery 55 liaison who allowed me to peruse past the normal confines of the retail space into the gallery where I was greeted by a giant wood sculpture by William Harrington, countless old printing plates from the middle of the 20th century and a vanity screen with iconography styled paintings of animals seemingly celebrating Orthodox Christianity - albeit reluctantly – and adorned in garbs sporting some of the more controversial corporations. The fine art and photography in the showcase area are an unexpected delight for fans of any medium. Shows open to the public are held regularly, including musical performances and open poetry nights every third Thursday of the month. Gallery 55 is an ever-expanding gem in Natick, presenting work from both in and outside the harshness of the city. It presents an opportunity for artists from every facet to showcase their work in a friendly atmosphere with the primary
Abstraks 41
Stuff
Abstraks Mobile App
LTE
98% TM
Search
People I Follow
Derek Cilla
Baltimore, Maryland Skills: Painting URL: www.derekcillaarts.com About I attended AIB (The Art Institute of Boston) for Fine Art, and have been keeping up with that field ever since. I’m currently working on a portfolio for a tattoo apprentice. So if you see anything you like, I look forward to hearing from you! Work
Rose
42 Abstraks
Painting
The Abstraks Mobile App is a tool that helps artists, art lovers, art galleries and organizations connect in a meaningful way. Abstraks focuses on art and artists internationally that operate on the outskirts of the mainstream. Our main goal is to expose and promote all the talented artists that may have slipped under your radar. Our company does not limit its focus to any one style, influence or movement; we instead look to showcase any artist or group which possesses a powerful attitude and an interesting perspective. Abstraks is not only a magazine, but a community for expression. The Abstraks Mobile App is a tool that helps artists, art lovers, art galleries and organizations connect in a meaningful way. It allows users to find artists and venues in and around their community in a familiar and powerful way. What We Need & What You Get We need to raise $9,500 dollars to develop the mobile app. If we are successful in reaching our goal, we would like to celebrate
by throwing a launch party/gallery show for the mobile app! The unique perks that our supporters receive are limited edition prints and original artwork from artists we’ve featured, and Abstraks merchandise. The Impact Abstraks app users can create a profile where they can add and edit information and artwork. These profiles allow artists and art lovers alike to connect both in their community and all over the world. Galleries and other creative organizations can also create profiles and reach out to their community in a new and innovative way. The Abstraks news feed will mirror the information in our blog and also feature updates from the artists and galleries that you follow. Follow events from their conception through to their realization. The updates will come directly from the planners of the event so you won’t miss out on any information.
Abstraks 43
LTE
98% TM
LTE
Search
News Feed Print Matters: A Fanzine and Self-Publishing Workshop Si ius aped que et is eum quid enemodion corempori vellis pro commost volor [...]
Black & Gre Gallery
209 Key St. Boston, MA 02 617.587.9436
hello@black&g 08.16.13 | Event
Halloween Blast by Jack Jillian
Graffiti (Favorite)
The Garden by Sue B.
Digital Photography (Recommendation)
Warsteiner Art Collection
laccum vendesent oditatus molut et iuntionsed quatem suntia nonsent poresti buscil inctatio. Nequostibus et hillatam, volores tiundus.alia [...] 08.16.13 | Video (Favorites)
BLACK & GREEN Gallery
44 Abstraks
Black & Green Gallery
Arcilla int. Vitatiassit, cuptas ad ma nime et iunt lant occabori inienti usciatur! [...]
08.16.13 | Video
“Favorite” anything that you want to come back to later. Individual posts, events, artwork, artists, galleries and organizations can all be bookmarked and revisited later. 98% TM
Search
een
2210
green.com
Hours Monday: By Appointment Monday thru Friday: 9 to 5 Saturday: 12 to 5
The categories page helps the user zero in on a particular medium or genre of art. Find artists and galleries that work in the categories that you enjoy most. Check the calendar to find out what is happening on any given day. Openings, exhibits, open studios and more posted by all the people and places that you follow. The map offers a way to find events posted by people and places that you haven’t yet discovered. The map will display what is going on all around your current location anywhere in the world. Risks & Challenges Our first objective at Abstraks is keeping you in the loop. We enjoy finding and sharing the art that is happening all around us. But along the way, there may be some step backs and hurdles in creating this app. Regardless of obstacles to
Abstraks 45
LTE
98% Search
TM
Preferences
Calendar
Curre
November 2014 S
LTE
M
T
W
TH
F
SA
My P
1
2
3
4
5
Add/
Mult
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
Mess
Priva 20
21
22
23
27
28
29
30
24
Twelve Chairs - Art and the Times Orchard Skate Shop - You Only Live Once Galatea Fine Arts - November Exhibition
46 Abstraks
25
26
Notifi
Repo
Log O
s
ent/Past Issues
Profile
/Edit Event
tiple Accounts
sages
acy Policy
fications
ort a Problem
Out
98% TM
Search
come, we plan to work through it with the mobile developer to make this app meet the user’s needs. We also plan to make additions to the app along the way that makes connecting with art more efficient. Other Ways You Can Help This app will be a platform for connecting our users and centralizing all the services that Abstraks has to offer right at your fingerprints. The Abstraks app at its most basic level is a tool that will help you explore and expand your community.You can help spread the work amongst your community about this campaign, and any one who would be interested and benefit! Be sure to check out www.abstraks.com and our social network pages, and use the Indiegogo share tools! Thank you, Abstraks Team
Abstraks 47