Peripheral ARTeries: Elizabeth McCoy

Beth of Lenabethe Media & Design has spent the last 35 years exploring the disparate elements of design through various media and techniques. These have included painting, printmaking, collage, paper, photography, fabric, glass, ceramics, beads, sculpture, wood, food, and anything else that can be used or tried. Her work has been shown both nationally and internationally. An avid photographer and traveler, textures, patterns and images from around the world are often a part of Beth’s creative process.

Beth came to art quite naturally as a child and was constantly doing some sort of project in her room or at an art class. She never played with her doll house but rather constantly redesigned the walls and furniture arrangements. She frequently got art supplies as gifts and used them up quickly. Her room at home was like an art studio; there was always something in process in there. She was allowed to spread out and keep projects going for as long as she wanted. She was very lucky in that no one ever told her to clean up or put things away, so she was able to work and rework things until she was done with them, or they were done with her (which is closer to what typically happens).

In middle and high school she designed and sold beaded jewelry at craft fairs and a local Berkeley shop called the “Artifactory”. Studying design in college was an obvious fit.

While studying architecture and design in New York City at Barnard College, the basic design courses always started with the elements of design and the advanced ones always used those basic elements as a frame of reference. Every time Beth has explored a new medium or technique, she has always started with the basic elements of design as a way of exercising her design muscles in a new creative direction. It’s like warming up before you exercise.

For Beth, art has often created an escape from the world, but also, as often, a vehicle for exploring feelings about the vast and sorrowful issues that plague the world. Beth served as a Peace Corps volunteer and came back frankly appalled at the amount of garbage we generate in the US. Beth has sought to incorporate junk yard reusables and everyday recyclables in her artwork, sometimes through a photograph of the objects or the things themselves. She has found using junk and thrift finds an escape from and a temporal solution to the vast throw away culture around her.

Hello Beth and welcome to Peripheral ARTeries. Before starting to elaborate about your artistic and we would start this interview with a couple of questions about your multifaceted background. You have a solid formal training and you studied Architecture and Design in New York City at Barnard College: how did those formative years influence your evolution as an artist? In particular, how does the relationship between your cultural substratum due to your experience as a Peace Corps volunteer direct the trajectory of your current artistic research?

Elizabeth McCoy: Having the formal art training was very important. I had done artwork weekly for my entire life at that point (excluding infancy). I was always an intuitive artist and dabbled in design only when it was needed. I enjoyed printmaking, metal working, leatherwork and bead work because the projects often required some forethought. The act of planning a project and following through from start to finish is very gratifying, as is the process, always, of changing and messing with the plan as you go.

Overlaying the formal design training onto my already creative intuition allowed me the luxury of understanding the full design process and how to utilize it to make my own work better. A formal art education, with its very valuable critique process, allows you to see your work through many different eyes, and benefit from that ambient feedback. I loved studying design, working with other students, comparing projects, staying up all night and having the incredible privilege of being in New York City and studying with some of the movers and shakers in the art world at the time. I consider myself very lucky.

Going from New York City to a small town in rural Africa with no electricity or running water, where what was important was just daily living, was the perfect after-party or chaser to four years immersed in art and beauty. It allowed me to expand my concept of what constitutes beauty and how all is truly relative and based in context. The experience of redefining a narrow concept of beauty has deeply affected my art practice. I know that ugly things and ugly art pieces, that I often create and utilize on purpose, will be beautiful or meaningful to someone. Having to rethink my own narrow “American” concept of beauty absolutely made me a more confident and carefree artist. I create whatever my whims blow my way, and could care less what is in style or popular; those are fleeting and shallow concepts at best anyway. And I love turning a dirty, ordinary blanket or pile of garbage photographed on the street, into something beautiful and worthy of that second glance. I always root for the underdog when it comes to beauty and art.

You are a versatile artist and your process involves a variety of techniques including painting, printmaking, collage, paper, photography, fabric, glass, ceramics, beads, sculpture, wood, food. We have appreciated the way the results of your artistic inquiry convey such a coherent combination between emotional intuition and a rigorous aesthetics and we would like to invite our readers to visit https://lenabethe.wordpress.com in order to get a wide idea about your artistic production. How do you select an artistic discipline in order to explore a particular aspect of your artistic inquiry? Moreover, are there any experiences that did particularly influence your evolution as an artist and help you to develop your attitude to experiment with different media?

Elizabeth McCoy: I like to work through a technique until I feel done with it. Usually, the techniques overlap and start playing with each other. I love to travel to new places, try new foods, and try any art technique I have not tried before. I have never tried oil painting, however, or traveled to Hawaii. The “normal” things that other people may do or pursue are on my list of things to do at some point, but I never manage to pick them when I am picking a new direction for my art, travel, or culinary adventures. I will at some point, I know. I am often inspired by things that I see and do. Going to a museum like the Met in New York City, leaves my head spinning with ideas, literally. Luckily, I am able to scribble them all down, after the fact and tackle them one at a time. I go from floating in ideas to rolling up my sleeves and getting dirty with them. I take photographs all day. I always have two cameras with me, and fill up memory cards and my phone like there is no tomorrow. I horde art ideas like some people horde frequent flyer miles or magazines. I often view the world through my camera lens.

Perhaps, having been allowed to do artwork whenever I wanted as a child, gave me a sense of freedom and endless possibilities. In addition, I have taken so many art classes over the years, that I have been exposed to many different art forms and techniques within each of them. I do not see barriers among art forms. Trying them all independently or mixing them all together is equally fun. I will never have a uniform body of work that exemplifies my style or my “look”, or if I do, I will be the most surprised, as that is not my goal. I just want to do art, explore all of its endless possibilities, and continue to exploit the possibility of breaking boundaries. I particularly like trying things that other people say will not work. Just the process of trying to make it work and failing is gratifying. I never read reviews until after a movie or play, for the same reason. I would rather fail on my own, then dislike it because someone told me to. I think not being afraid of failure has been my biggest strength as an artist, and I cannot link that attitude to any one experience, other than that I had wonderful parents who taught me not to be afraid of failure in general. I see beauty in failure anyway, so what is there to fear anyway?

The body of works that we have selected for this special edition of Peripheral ARTeries and that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article has at once captured our attention for the way they unveil the subtle convergences between the real and the imagined, providing the viewers with such a multilayered visual experience. The surface of your artworks is often meticulously refinished and we have really appreciated the vibrancy of thoughtful nuances that mark out your artworks, and we like the way they create tension and dynamics: how did you come about settling on your color palette? And how does your own psychological make-up determine the nuances of tones that you decide to include in a specific artwork and in particular, how do you develop a texture?

Elizabeth McCoy: I honestly think studying design taught me to create tension intentionally. Combining colors that clash, or old furniture with new, keeps things fresh and alive and challenges the viewer to accept a new concept of beauty. I often pick colors that relate somehow to the subject matter at hand. I love using analogous colors, as they are the most soothing to me, and nature uses them constantly, but regular people find them jarring and annoying. I used to really enjoy “dressing like a sofa”. This means I would use the classic interior design formula for my wardrobe and then add a twist. So I’d wear a blue and white Japanese print pair of pants, a French blue and white striped shirt, and an African blue and white batik jacket. Or I would wear floral, geometric and stripes in analogous colors. This gave some people I know a headache, but I need busy and eclectic or I die of boredom. My latest color trick, to keep myself from being predictable, is I have assigned 18 different colors a number, separated into 3 groups. I roll one die 3 times and pick the colors that come up in each group, and work with those 3. The absolute randomness of it, combined with forcing myself to work with combinations I do not love has really stretched my design brain. I do not mind creating something that is ugly – I am not seeking approval, but a pure art experience, which only comes from pushing boundaries and taking risks. I think, often, when I am trying to communicate a philosophical message, the “real and imagined” reflects my desire to shake someone into thought. Art can be so soothing and mood altering, or it can jar you into a new reality, or both. Art has such an important role in transforming the world and the way we, as humans, live in it and with each other.

With its sapient combination between reminders to the reality and their powerful abstract evocative qualities, your Collage Studies seem to invite the viewers to look inside of what appear to be seen, rather than its surface, providing the spectatorship with wide freedom to realize their own perception. How important is for you to invite the viewers to elaborate personal meanings? And in particular, how open would you like your artworks to be understood?

Elizabeth McCoy: I rarely think of the viewer when I am creating. I am typically so lost in the process, that the thinking part of my brain is not engaged. That said, I will sometimes plan a piece with a message or purpose, but even with those, once I am involved in the art part of it, I am just doing art. I really like layers of colors, textures, forms, etc., so the looking deeper is by design in terms of the art materials, and by intent by doing art at all. I feel art automatically invites the viewers to create their own meaning, in fact that is what I would expect. Maybe because viewing art is such a personal journey for me, in that I get swept away into my own mind space, whether I want to or not, my assumption has always been that a viewer has their own personal experience with a piece or exhibit; it is the right of the viewer to take away their own precious reaction or feeling. It is not for me, as an artist, to define the art experience for any one individual.

As you underlined in your artist's statement, you sought to incorporate junkyard reusables and everyday recyclables in your artworks - sometimes through a photograph of the objects or the things themselves. American sculptor and photographer Zoe Leonard once stated, "the objects that we leave behind hold the marks and the sign of our use: like archeological findings, they reveal so much about us". We’d love to ask you about the qualities of the materials that you include in your artworks: how do you select them and how do you consider the relationship between their past life as objects and their new role in your artworks?

Elizabeth McCoy: I take pictures of ordinary objects constantly - of parking lots, cars, junkyard and thrift store finds, etc. There is a certain temptation in taking the ordinary and leveraging it into a piece of art. It challenges the artist's, and thus, the viewer's, sense of verisimilitude and creates a cognitive dissonance between what is ordinary and what is not. By attempting to create art with what is inherently not considered art, or by creating ugly art, an elegant tension emerges which breaks through to the detached viewer, challenging them to “attach” and leaving, hopefully, a lasting impression on the viewer to act, react or, at least redefine the modern concepts of beauty.

I often like to make the process and materials relevant to the subject itself. Like I used photographs of food clothing and shelter, to build the tents in my homeless encampments to emphasize those items of necessity almost over the tents themselves. One of my favorite art quotes, by the great Andy Warhol, is, “Art is anything you can get away with”. I interpret that to mean materials, techniques, images, etc. I do try to make all my materials archival if possible, so, for example I never use regular paper for my collage pieces, if they are going out to a show or any public venue, but I might use old photos I found at a junk yard. I think the nice thing about using objects or images of them, is that they have their own story. As artists, we only have to embellish them to make them shine.

Another interesting project that we would like to introduce to our readers is entitled “Basic Needs”, and it's a mixed media series highlighting those basic needs and the ironic nature of the liberal milieu of the bay area. Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco once stated, "the artists' role differs depending on which sociopolitical system they are living in.' how do you consider the role of artists in our media driven contemporary age? How do you consider the power of contemporary art to tackle sensitive social and political issues in order to trigger social change in our globalised societies?

Elizabeth McCoy: I think artists have a role to present and interpret the reality that surrounds them. To that end, using every possible media can be a very powerful tool for exposing the different sides to the various realities out there. I think everyone experiences life from his or her personal “bubble” or through his or her own lens. Because art is about both seeing and playing with what is truly there, artists have the unique opportunity to break out of their focal point and see what others cannot; It is, then, the responsibility of those who can see, to lift the veil obscuring the view for those who cannot. I also think the artist’s role changes depending on what side of the sociopolitical system they are experiencing. A well-off and well-connected artist has access to many more opportunities than one who isn’t, so their role, at the risk of biting the hands that feed them, might be to peel away the layers of privilege and the ambient baggage related to having more. And the less-connected artists may choose to reveal the struggle to be authentic in a world that demands conformity and a traditional definition of success.

I honestly think the only true voices are artists. The media are all owned by people with agendas, and politicians are all owned by their own agenda to maintain whatever status quo from which they benefit. Artists and possibly activists (if they can keep away from ego battles) are the only ones that truly see what is going on and can duly “report” on it. Art is the only vehicle through which social awareness can be inspired rather than required, realized rather than demanded and embraced rather than acquired for show. Once social awareness is embedded in a person’s psyche, social change, whether via small steps or large gestures follows naturally. Art inspires, creates realization and invites embrace in a subtle and profound way; that is why it has worked so well. There is no irony in why Shakespeare’s plays were so vastly popular among regular people. Those regular people were not experts in writing plays or in theatre critique; they were experts in their own personal experience. The plays blatantly, but also in their subtle way, exposed every foible and weakness in society at the time. I believe it is the art that is noticed for good or ill, is, by default, the most relevant. If you can create a piece that people respond to in any real way, you have committed the act of a social proselytizer.

It's important to remark that the “Basic Needs” series was inspired by the rise in the local homeless population in Berkeley: : how does your everyday life's experience fuel your creative process? And how do you think your works respond to it in finding hidden, crystallised moments in the everyday?

Elizabeth McCoy: My everyday life experience often involves driving by homeless encampments or giving homeless people money or food. I make sure I “see” them with a smile or kind comment, so they do not feel invisible. The basic needs series was particularly inspired by those brave people. Because I have 2 cameras with me at all times, I spend at least an hour everyday taking random pictures, often in 10 minute increments. It makes me feel connected to my art self, when I am running errands, or doing the necessary tasks of living a modern life. Much of my artwork is inspired by or developed from my photographs, so the hidden, crystallized moments are seeing the incredible cactus display outside of CVS, or the contrast between the bright orange and the white reflectors on a line of traffic cones. When nothing is off limits, everything is beautiful. I find just making sure I “see”, while I am doing regular things, keeps me aware of the magic and beauty in the everyday.

Artist Lydia Dona once remarked that in order to make art today one has to reevaluate the conceptual language behind the mechanism of art making: are your works created gesturally, instinctively? Moreover, do you think that your being a woman provides your artistic research with some special value?

Elizabeth McCoy: I agree with the need to understand and parce the conceptual language behind art making, since the goal of art is to go wherever the wind takes you at times and be deliberate at others. The act of breaking down the act of creating art, allows you to explore every step and, thereby, be more creative in the long run, as you artistically reconstruct each step with as many variations as you can. I do believe that to fully understand something, you have to take it apart and analyze all of the components. That said, I actually find being intuitive and meandering the most relaxing art process. If I can set things up, where all the thought is done first, if needed, and then let myself meander through the set up and knock it over periodically, I am happy to shed the intuitive process at times.

I think being a woman gives me a special perspective, and a heightened empathy for the underdog, left out and oppressed, even if just in theory. I am also, as a woman, socialized and allowed to cry and feel, so that helps immensely, in terms of creating art that has feeling. I sometimes think that being a great artist requires a level of misery that I entirely lack. What I do not lack, however, is a sense of outrage over what is happening among people on the planet and in the US. So my passion and spirit come from a sense of external drama. Also, because I am an extreme extrovert, nothing is really an internal process for me; I always, somehow, involve the outside world and/or other people in my process.

Over the years your artworks have been exhibited in several occasions, including your recent participation to the show WHAT CLIMATE, at the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art: how do you consider the nature of your relationship with your audience? And what do you hope your audience take away from your artworks? In particular, how do you consider the role of emerging online technosphere in creating new links between artists and worldwide audience?

Elizabeth McCoy: The viewer can either experience a passive and private personal experience, or be provoked to a reaction or action. The German playwright Berthold Brecht introduced the concept of "verfremdungsmittel" or "alienation effect" with his plays, wherein the actors talked directly to the audience thus breaking the "third wall" barrier that often exists in theatre. This technique pulls the audience into the conversation as it were and does not allow them to remain a passive participant. I try to do that with my political art. I like to call the viewer to action, or to provoke a reaction that leaves an intellectual mark that the viewer takes away and hopefully perseverates on. Taking a peek behind what makes art "art" is part of my creative experience. If I can make a car engine, a pile of thrown away sinks or a shelf of used shoes into art, I feel like I have upended the concept of art, similar to the Figurative and Dada artists, who are my heroes. If we do not continually challenge the concept of "what is art" and sheepishly just accept another person's definition of art, can we truly call ourselves artists? I do not create beautiful artwork so it will sell. I create poignant, time relevant pieces that are often ugly and provocative, to get the viewer engaged and to create the elegant tension that is generated when you ask someone the question, "what is Art?"

We have really appreciated the multifaceted nature of your artistic research and before leaving this stimulating conversation we would like to thank you for chatting with us and for sharing your thoughts, Beth. What projects are you currently working on, and what are some of the ideas that you hope to explore in the future?

Elizabeth McCoy: I take photos every day, and translate those into something both ephemeral and meaningful. What I see through the camera lens is often the impetus to which I respond. The possibilities are limitless, which is both exhilarating and terrifying. I am always juggling the business of being an artist with actually doing art, so my list of techniques and themes I would like to explore seems to get longer rather than shorter on a regular basis. I would like to further explore the homeless crisis, climate change and the environment. I am currently working on a project about the act and products of recycling in general, and further honing my use of recycled materials while staying true to the goal of using archival materials that respect the long-term nature of creating art. And then I see a crack in the sidewalk that looks like a face, and have to stop and say “hi”. One of the most gratifying moments of my day is the purely visual process of choosing, editing and posting a random beautiful something on Instagram (@lenabethe). Sharing a beautiful moment makes me feel like an artist every single day, even if I then spend most of the day varnishing, wiring, labeling and dropping off or mailing art. It is the joyful and giddy feeling of knowing I have helped a little piece of beauty fly into the universe, that makes me feel as playful as a child.

As for the future, I will see where inspiration takes me. I am brought to tears by the droplets of water on a leaf after a misty drizzle. I am also brought to tears when I hear or see rhetoric that diminishes another human being in any way. Often my own strong reaction to something inspires the artistic process as a response. While I have a list of themes I would like to explore, I prefer to wait until I am deeply moved by beauty, compassion or curiosity to act. It’s the moment when I am unable to keep myself from doing art, after a beautiful image, or exhibit or life experience, that I find I perform my best artistically. I thank you so much for featuring me in your journal and taking the time to find out the drum beat to which I march.

An interview by Josh Ryder, curator and Melissa C. Hilborn, curator