Atwood magazine issue no. 4. Daydreams. June 2013.
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masthead Editor-in-Chief & Founder Liza Pittard Creative Director Anna Gregg Features Editor Annie Stokes Photo Director Anna Peters Music Editor Hope Mackenzie Literary Editor Jeannine Erasmus Artist Erin Borzak Advertising Enquiries contact@atwoodmagazine.com Contact atwoodmag@gmail.com www.atwoodmagazine.com www.facebook.com/atwoodmag atwoodmag.wordpress.com We are currently looking for contributors for both Atwood Magazine and Atwood Blog. Email us for more information. Cover by: Sophie Loloi 2
daydream
noun
a pleasant dreamlike fantasy indulged in while awake; idle reverie 3
dear readers,
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The theme for the fourth issue of Atwood Magazine is “Daydreams”. This concept came to us organically as we were pondering plans for Atwood’s future. In doing so, we were constantly daydreaming about our goals and wishes, hence came the theme. Daydreams to us are an escape, a longing, a beginning. Atwood began as my own daydream and is now a tangible reality. It’s the pondering of the seemingly impossible. Thank you all for reading this issue and for your continued support of Atwood Magazine.
Let the daydream begin.
XO, Liza Pittard Editor-in-Chief
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Photography: Sophie Loloi Model: Sara Skinner Clothing: Charm School Vintage Styling: Shari Gerstenberger
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francisca pageo
interview by Annie Stokes all images by Francisca Pageo
Francisca Pageo practices artistry without limitations. Before she found her calling in the art world, her goals ranged from science to performance. Now, her art takes many different forms (from photography to cinematography to collage) and comes about through many different processes (she is just as happy to collaborate as she is to work independently). Someday soon, she hopes to be creating art in many different places. Her outlook on life is unframed and without borders.
Tell us a bit about yourself. Where did you grow up? Where are you now? Did you always want to be an artist?
I was born in a little city from the southeast of Spain called Molina de Segura, but I pass my life between Murcia City and Valencia lately. When I was (a) child I wanted to be oceanographer, just like Jacques Cousteau! I used to be a great admirer of his documentaries and life. I also wanted to be a singer; I’ve (been) singing since I was three! I wanted to be artist when I started art classes in high school.
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How did you become involved with art?
I (got) a printing/graphic art curse when I got to be a photography assistant for my brother. I learned photography and I started to make collages in my journals.
You work with a lot of different media. Do you have a “favorite”? If you have an idea, how do you decide which media to use? I don’t have a favorite; I can’t pick only one! I think each idea needs a different media to work. (For) example, to me, quotidian and daily details are perfect for photography and collage is perfect for emotions and more conceptual ideas.
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What inspires you?
The human being, nature, psychology and philosophy, literature, music, and art.
Take us through your artistic process. How do you “build� a project?
It depends a lot (on) the kind of project. If this is a commission, I get the idea and work around it, searching specific elements. If the project is personal, I only work with my intuition and mental concepts.
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What is your proudest accomplishment as an artist?
The collaborative projects which I’ve been involved (in), of course! It makes me really glad to share and build a project with someone. I think it’s more gratifying, more human. I think art is made to express, for sharing and creating emotions, ideas, and thoughts. And to make collaborative works is really special.
What are your plans for the future?
I’m working to do some workshops/exhibitions/collaborations outside of my country, like in England, the USA, and Germany, for the next months. For the future, I plan to be involved in multidisciplinary projects.
Do you have a favorite or recurring daydream?
Yes, of course! My most favorite daydream is to travel around the world, with some cameras on my shoulders and a big journal where I can to make collages of what I see and experience. I used to dream (about going) to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, for example, and creating marvelous pieces there.
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“I think art is made to express, for sharing and creating emotions, ideas, and thoughts.�
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a train of thought i had about tornadoes because earlier today i watched a documentary about tornados and how they pick up things and spit them out like it’s no big deal there is an hawaiian shirt in my closet that i have never worn. it is there hanging, i think, waiting for the rain to stop. there are whole universes undiscovered there are too many people too many open spaces. tornadoes spit out trailer parks and cows. my hawaiian shirt has never seen a tornado i have never seen the middle of america i have heard there is nothing. how can there be so much space with so little in it. the dreams i have are always about tornadoes. i have never seen a tornado only in movies and on the news, a family crying in an empty trailer park.
Jeannine Erasmus 28
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In Memory of Native Kings
Trevor Brown 30
I left work and fell into in a car. Three others and a young dog: Headed now into the wild, out on Highway 74 through Bat Cave, around lonesome curves, and forests holding wild cats.Jumping, however they can, out of the way of oncoming traffic, onto a higher ground, more significant and bigger than themselves. Holding a sure wheel, they promised what we deserved and something to remember. So on the way I remember places sacred: The tops of mountains I grew up beneath. The ones that cradled me, and the others I buried myself within on meandering climbsto become a man. And I forgot all of the dreams I’ve convinced myself to keep close, all of the circuits I’ve built and obeyed. And I do believe in some kind of grand program, and one that you and I will keep returning to. Because of the weight, and the tone with which it resonates. Because, maybe, some things are not buried, or not built to escape or forget. A native boy uses music, and explains the way up the trail. With the young dog I crawled on all fours, and from the top we made wishes on those important places from our past, and erased the imaginary lines connecting the mountain tops we’ve climbed to get here. From the top, a boy sent a wave toward the northwest and hoped it would reach me in the morning, coming out of the south east, slowed and seasoned by the weak force of gravity. Cooled and heated again and telling us to calm down. Well, what a sweet fucking lime it is. I’ll be goddamned, right? It cures what ails you, and dries out whatever you’ve been soaking yourself in. Would you believe me if I told you it was any different for the natives? Or if I told you that a day is still nothing less, or nothing more than a beam of light to remember? Another boy sits on the rock, and puts a small flame to a string-tied bundle of sage. In it’s rise, the scent and smoke take the shape of a map in the canopy below. The tabletop pine grows with the horizon, pointing out. How new we are, yet the boys hands still fresh as mine, hold like roots in rock to the idea of living out the season here. Because we could make it work, you know? It’s the closest thing we can think of to living like native kings. And we believe with every working circuit that we belong here, and let our phones die. We know, at our very core, that even us, the new seekers, and even the pioneers, and even the natives didn’t deserve it.
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Photography: Beth Lane Model: Esther (Vivien’s Model Management) Stylist: Kate Ryder Makeup: Tracie Weaver
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interview by Liza Pittard all images by Isabelle Dow
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M u s i c i a n . 1 7 y e a rs o l d . B o s t o n , M A .
Calvin Lamothe
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Tell us a little about yourself. I’m a 17-year-old singer-songwriter from a tiny coastal town north of Boston. I’m currently caught between never wanting to leave home and being extremely excited to move on and go to college in the fall, and that dissonance has been the focus of most of my recent work.
How long have you been interested in music? When did it become more serious for you? I first started sounding out songs on the piano when I was five – besides my senile and drooling cat, the piano was really my first love. I taught myself to play guitar and ukulele a few years ago, and there is a long list of other instruments that I’d love to learn if I had the time. I first got serious about performing and writing music just a few years ago, when I got my first laptop. My aunt, who is a musician herself and has been a huge inspiration of mine, showed me the ropes of Garageband, and I started to record covers and experiment with some original songs as well. When I started posting them online and they were well received, I realized that this was a passion I should absolutely follow.
What inspires you? I am largely inspired by other great musicians. My aunt’s band, Scary Mansion, as well as other bands such as Gem Club, Noah and the Whale, and Simon and Garfunkel, all have beautiful sounds and are on this amazing level that I aspire to achieve with my own music. My themes and lyrics are mostly derived from the conflicts that exist in my life, both internal and external. Most of my music is rather melancholy, even though I’d say I’m a very happy person, because I find that it comes rather naturally for me to write about dissonance, regret, and uncertainty. My inability to write happy songs is both hard to explain and extremely frustrating.
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What comes first: the lyrics or the instrumentals? What’s your song writing process? I don’t have just one songwriting process, but usually the instrumentals are the first part of the song that I develop. I can’t just sit down and write a poem and then turn it into music; I always have at least the melody of the song before I put words to it. Often what I’ll do is just sit at the piano or with my guitar and improvise until I find a chord progression I like, and from there I develop more intricate instrumentals, then a melody, and then the lyrics.
Do you have a favorite song that you’ve written? What’s the meaning of this song to you? My favorite song that I’ve written is “Leap.” I wrote it last December, just after being accepted to my first choice college. I was ecstatic about that, obviously, but after a few weeks it hit me that in less than a year I was going to be leaving home, and my childhood would, in effect, be over. So “Leap” is about that feeling – feeling like my life as I’ve known it for all of my 17 years is coming to an end.
Tell us about your debut album. What was the process for making this? What were the challenges you faced? My album, The Last Words of an Empty Bedroom, was actually a project that I did for school. All of the seniors at my high school take 6 weeks, starting in April, to complete an internship or project that relates to a career interest or passion. I had wanted to create an EP or an album for a long time, so I seized this opportunity to do it and also get school credit for it. The biggest challenge was obviously the time constraint – I wanted to write at least 8 songs in just 6 weeks, which was something I had never even dreamed of doing. Another problem that I faced was that I wanted the album to sound professional, but all I had to record with was my laptop and a USB microphone. It’s amazing what you can do with Garageband, though, and the whole project came together really nicely, if I do say so myself.
What are your plans for the future? After a summer that will hopefully be full of writing, recording, and performing, I’m going to be a freshman at Vassar College in the fall. I don’t plan to pursue music as a formal course of study, but I know that I’ll continue writing – I don’t know that I’d ever be able to stop if I tried. I’ve already met a few musicians who I’ll be going to school with, so maybe I’ll even start a band. I like that I don’t have a plan yet. There’s time for that later.
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The theme for issue 4 is “daydreams”. Do you have any reoccurring daydreams? Are you a dreamer? I mostly daydream about what I think my future will be like – and it’s different every time. I’m not sure that I’d say I’m a dreamer, though, because I try to live in the moment and make each day one that I wouldn’t want to escape in a daydream.
How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard it? I don’t really know which genre I belong to yet, but in three words I would describe my music as acoustic, minimalistic, and sad.
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“I try to live in the moment and make each day one that I wouldn’t want to escape in a daydream.”
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the artist and her muse Her name was something I did not ask her, nor did she ask of mine. To her, I was a word weaver and to myself, a beautiful ballerina who is able to create magic with her body. I received a letter from her and within it, she told me about pรกssaro, a man named Hugo. She had asked of me to write to Hugo as if my skin was covered in poetry. She begged me to intertwine my veins and theirs. She wanted me to continue a love story that I did not own. I thought it was mad! What a foolish ballerina, yet it is I who should be deemed the madman, for it was I who agreed. (How could I have denied her?) I was tangled in their love story long before our stars found one another. They are both artists with hungry lips----heartbeats that are desperate to palpate properly when fingertips grace their skin. In her letter, I could feel the echo of lips as they made love. Desperate sighs and clawing fingers fought for unity as poems were forged between the two lovers. I could feel the stars from his body gather into constellations, but you cannot hear their beauty. It was everything a writer could ask for in a muse, but I could not seem to continue her love for him. For six months my mind would wonder about Hugo and his ballerina. When I would write, my fingertips would trace their scars into the margin of my notebook. I was a fool to believe that I would not think about them. I sat one day and listened to the wind whispering to the little birds. Pรกssaro, in her language means that you a beautiful bird. I eventually continued their story, but I still think about her and pรกssaro. I dream of unraveling the poem who is caught beneath her ribcage.
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photography: Stella Bonasoni model: Lauren Loveless (Joy Models Milan) concept & styling: Alessia Caliendo make up: Isabella Sarti hair: Valentina Zanerini
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in the clouds “she’s a bit weird,” everyone says her eyes are wide, her hair is wild her clothes don’t match and she smiles too much. these things draw my attention, but there is one trait of hers that keeps me interested. she walks through the halls floating, gliding across the locker lined walls, flying, while all of us struggle just to stand. she’s friendly to everyone, even those who throw insults at her as she stands, watching with bright eyes. “she’s oblivious,” they say, but i know she doesn’t care. she becomes the bravest person i know. “she’s a freak,” they whisper as she strolls right by them, humming a tune a song, just beneath the surface of her lips. i watch as she wanders by me, and i am lost. she is plastered to the back of my eyelids each time i blink i see wide eyes, wild hair mismatched clothing and the curve of her lips. “hello,” she says, i feel like i am flying.
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Photographer. 23 year s old. Birmingham, UK.
kate hook
interview by Liza Pittard all images by Kate Hook
Tell us a little about yourself. My name is Kate Hook, I’m 23 and living in Birmingham UK. I got into photography from a young age when i used to play with my dad’s film cameras. I was fascinated with imagery and how you can capture and create such interesting photographs. I want it to take me all over the world and capture every beautiful moment whilst doing so! How would you describe yourself as a photographer? I guess I have to say creative, I don’t want to limit myself to a particular genre of photography. When it comes to editing I don’t like to repeat myself for every set I do, it can become quite mundane and ‘safe’ so I’m never afraid to try something new and experiment! I like my work to have a haunted feel to it. I like textures, shadows and colours, its fun playing around with such elements and creating something eye catching. It seems you focus a lot on people, how do you use photography to show more about a person? I like to capture something within people, like their vulnerability or a hidden innocence for example. Sometimes I’ll spot something really beautiful about someone and try and bring it out as much as possible, other times it’s to reflect my own state of mind at the time of shooting, if for example I was feeling lost, hurt, or exhilarated I would want the model to express that in the images. A kind of autobiographical photo diary of my life, but through other people. 65
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A common element in your photography is layered images. How did you come about using this technique and why? Haha! This came from playing with toy cameras! When I was 18 I bought a Mini Diana and was blown away with the cool, multi exposure effects I created. Eventually I adapted this style with digital techniques with photoshop. With digital processes you can be a lot neater and precise when it comes to layering your images, then again with film there’s something a bit more organic about it. It’s a total guessing game and so much more rewarding when you achieve an amazing multi exposed shot!
What inspires you? Magic, nature, life, death, dreams, nightmares, space, spirits, ghosts, music, movies, human nature, the weird and wonderful… My friends inspire me, I’m lucky to be surrounded by such creative minds to bounce ideas off !
if you could take photos of anything, what or who would it be and why? Uma Thurman as her Pulp Fiction character Mrs Mia Wallace. It would be a portrait series going from polished and glamourous to utterly insane. I would just love to capture the whole essence of her character as she’s one of my all time favourites in movie history.
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“I never want to portray anything as “perfect” either, because nothing is, but everything has some kind of beauty within it.” 70
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What do you try to convey to your audience with your photos? In some sets I’m telling a story. In a couple over the last few years there has been a “coming of age” feel to my work but with a dark twist. I never want to portray anything as “perfect” either, because nothing is, but everything has some kind of beauty within it so I try and bring that to the forefront.
What are your goals and plans for the future? The next step I’m about to take is to open my first studio! I’m so excited to finally have a base to organise and set up my shoots. I’ve had a little break this year from doing pictures due to personal circumstances, so once I’m set up in my new studio I won’t be holding back for anything or anyone! Also I would love to do more work aboard, so hopefully if I work hard enough, I just might be able to.
Our theme for issue 4 is “daydreams”. Do you consider yourself a dreamer? If yes, how so? Damn straight I’m a dreamer! Sometimes your dreams are the only thing that keep you going. Having a job that involves sitting or standing around waiting for business to come my way, or just in any job that’s horribly boring and repetitive, seems more like a nightmare for me. My dream is to live forever, and by doing so I want to see as much as possible then leave plently of photographs behind for the next generations to see.
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daydream haiku Adonicca McAllister
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We wish for strangers To tell us the truth about The lies we dream up
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Michael Coleman
Michael Coleman, an upcoming musician from Charlottesville, Virginia, is the definition of homegrown talent. As the only brother in a large family, he learned early on to express himself through music, and watching him perform at The Southern Café and Music Hall this past spring, it was clear that he was in his native element. His layered yet accessible lyrics, laid over melodies flavored with hints of soul, blues, and country, shine triumphantly on his debut album “Precious Time.”
Musician. Charlottesville, VA.
interview by Annie Stokes photos by Ellen Flicker
Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where did you grow up? Where are you now? Well, I was born in Richmond, VA, but I moved to just outside of Charlottesville when I was 8. I currently live near downtown Charlottesville as of a month ago. Before that I lived out in the country near Barboursville Vineyards.
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How did you become involved with music? Music has been a part of me since I can remember. My parents always played a lot of music around the house so whether I liked it or not it was always floating through my ears and brain. When I was 4 or 5 I started playing pots and pans and by age 8 was playing drums in church. My six sisters (yes, six) and I were homeschooled by my beautiful mother. As soon as we would finish our work we would run into the basement and write songs on piano and drums. I’m primarily a drummer and didn’t get into songwriting/guitar playing until junior year of college, so a few years ago. The rest is history.
As a songwriter, what inspires you? What’s the process of “building” a song? Inspiration for me has generally come from personal experiences: relationships, personal struggles, etc. I am also a huge people watcher. I spent some time in Atlanta and would sit in a coffee shop and watch people walk by, observe people’s interactions, and I would write. I guess most songwriters have a process or formula for writing their songs. I generally fly by the seat of my pants. Sometimes it’s a rhythm, sometimes it’s a lyrical phrase, sometimes it’s a melody. And these usually come at all the worst times, like when I’m using the bathroom, or in an important meeting. Most of the songs from the record were written in an hour or less. The best ones always happen quickly.
You’re from Virginia. Do you think the area has influenced you as a musician? I would say so. As a drummer I grew up a huge fan of Carter Beauford from the Dave Matthews Band. I spent hours listening to their stuff. I wasn’t meaning for it to happen but I think Dave’s flow and rhythmic style of playing stuck with me. Also, I’ve been on the Charlottesville scene just a couple years. I think I’ve been heavily influenced by the energy and spirit of the local scene: great songwriters, great players, and great bands.
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Tell us about your new record. What was the journey like in terms of making it happen? By time I was ready to record the album in September of 2012 I had like 90-100 songs to choose from. I didn’t write for the record but I did want it to accurately represent the things I went through to make it happen. When I went into the studio I had this moment thinking, “This is TOO soon!” I don’t know; you just second guess yourself sometimes, but what came of that week in the studio was a dream I didn’t think would be realized for quite a while longer. Needless to say I am very blessed, and very humbled at everyone’s response to it!
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Is there an accomplishment you are particularly proud of? “Precious Time” (the album) is for me, and every musician starting off, the greatest accomplishment. To say that I have a record out, something for people to take home, is a dream come true. And until the second album comes out, I will revel in this accomplishment.
What are your plans for the future? Tour, tour, tour. I want to play as many shows for as many people as possible. We will see what comes of that.
What’s a recurring daydream that you have? This is cheesy but a very true dream. I’ve had a dream three or four times that I’m a guest artist on stage with Dave Matthews, then afterwards me, Dave and Ben Folds party in the lobby of some nice hotel, much to the horror of the hotel staff. I daydream of spending every moment of every day doing what I love, sharing music with people who love it. I guess I do that now a bit.
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Long Gone Darling Photography: Prinka Saraswati
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There’s this color I’ve been trying to describe. It’s almost like rust, but without the indignation of moisture. The hollow shell of a vibrant red, sun bleached from the Florida sun. And what was once palpitating and responsive in so many road side advertisements, boats, and flags now rests stagnant on our shoulders as sunburn. The way road paint at noon disguises itself as pavement.
Rachel Gerlach
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A Forest in a Dream from-All the Great Territories A forest in a dream: I am a black snake on the banks of the Colorado River who’s shed old skin and left enameled gauze snagged in reeds. Sunlight on my back— columbines. I taste sage in the air smell the water as it turns over on itself in an eddy, where I see heat from mayflies being hatched. This body— dark petals pulled together. Night shades over dust-stomped paths. Wind laughs in dead wood. I wake up.
Matthew Wimberly
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Uprooted in a time Or place but Feathery and fleeting, The wings that beat On the glass Spur ocean waves To froth. I am battered and tossed, Placed in the sun To dry with Eyes closed and eyes Wide.
Simon Betsalel
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lynn skordal Collage Artist & Book Artist. Mercer Island, WA
interview byAnnie Stokes all images bY Lynn Skordal
Lynn Skordal didn’t plan on becoming an artist. She hadn’t even planned on taking it up as a serious hobby following her retirement from the law world. That she arrived at this career in a roundabout, happenstance kind of way is difficult to believe when looking at her work. Her mixed media and collage pieces transcend what can often be a confusing and directionless sub-genre of the art world; they are at once evocative and rapturous, teasingly opaque and wonderfully simple. And, at one point in her life, she hadn’t even thought to make them.
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Tell us about your journey as an artist. How did you become involved with this field? I came into art after spending many years practicing law. When I retired about five years ago I had the luxury of spending my time doing what I wanted to do, not what I had to do. Because I’ve always been a voracious reader I always assumed I would get into writing when I quit my day job. But, I found instead that words didn’t interest me, visuals did, so I started to tell stories in a (for me) unexpected way, through collage.
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What inspires you? Inspiration comes from all over the place, but largely from books, magazines and old photos. I particularly like mixing vintage images (Victorian photographs, antique engravings, old scientific illustrations) with newer material (NASA photographs, clothing ads torn from GQ, tasteful interiors ripped from shelter magazines). The juxtaposition makes it fun.
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You work in a slightly unconventional corner of the art world – mixed media and collage. Tell us about your process. How does a piece come to life? Almost everything I do involves paper and collage. Like most collage artists, I have a large accumulation of old books, vintage magazines, mystery photos, interesting bits of paper, ribbon, small metal pieces, seed pods, old teeth, etcetera, etcetera. A collage piece usually comes to life in one of two ways – I either see an old photo or book page and wonder what it would look like if… Or, less often, I conceive of a story or situation and look for images to illustrate it. My pieces tend to be simpler than many other collagists’ and the title always matters. For artist’s books, the process is a bit more focused -- there is always a central theme and the images and book pages will flow from that theme. My most recent book piece, for example, is an altered book I call THE BLACK BOOK. I painted every inch and every page of an existing book of angel poems with black paint, and then I used collage, paper-cutting, and embroidery to illustrate an ancient Gnostic poem called “Thunder, Perfect Mind.”
What do you try to convey with your art? There’s always a story, although I may not always know what the story is. I’m not really interested in producing a pretty picture or a dramatic image; I’m hoping to produce a laugh or a sense of puzzlement or an uneasy thought. I want to amuse and provoke. And if it ends up looking pretty or dramatic, well, that’s a bonus. 97
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Are there any pieces or moments in your artistic career that you are particularly proud of? Because I came to this later in life and because I have no formal training (although I did take a silk-screening class in college one time…), probably my most proud moment was the first time a piece was accepted for exhibition. I was surprised and thrilled (“they like me, they really like me”) and hugely validated. Now, years later and many exhibitions down the road, I am still pretty thrilled when I get an acceptance or someone purchases a piece. I guess I’m continually surprised that anyone takes me seriously!
Do you think your subconscious or your daydreams come out in your work? Definitely. The best pieces are those that seem spontaneous – you see an old photograph and know instantly exactly what you want to do with it. I think those ideas come from the subconscious. And sometimes I’ll wake up in the morning, coming out of that semi-sleeping/semi-waking state with a fully formed mental image of a piece, so that my “task” for the day is to re-create what I just saw in my head. Those aren’t really pieces about dreams, they are dream-work.
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product of mexico I think of us as I pass the mangos on the counter, they are twelve minutes from going south. There is a sweetness that mimics the lilies, but darker. Do you remember us in Zihuatenajo calling the children in from the surf, taking photos of ourselves mirrored in the each other’s sunglasses, sarongs tied at the hip, flying behind us like quetzal feathers, and the day it rained, you never got out of bed. I stayed too, slunk over a book about migration. Still today, the rise and fall of the Great Salt Lake, the bird count, and nuclear fall-out, mingle with the memory of our Pacific coast salty skin, the garlic grilled fish on the beach, your bald head after chemo-- topped with a sunhat fit for a star. I’m making sorbet from these overripe fruits. I bought them, ten for ten dollars, thinking I was rich with tropical gems. On the first day only two were ripe and I ate them over the sink, scoring them with my pairing knife
Kierstin Bridger
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Photography and styling : Camille Richez Model : Marlowe @JustWm Makeup : Methta Gonthier
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