CreativPaper Issue 18 Vol 2

CREATIVPAPER Magazine

Vol 2

Issue 018

Welcome

We live in testing times. A pandemic that is ravaging through countries, thousands of lives lost, millions unemployed, quarantined in their homes with some governments using the chaos to tighten their autocratic hold. Some of us may make it to the other side with everyone we know alive and well, some may not be so lucky.

It is important in times like these to keep your loved ones closer, pick up the phone and call a friend to check on them. There are ways we can be socially connected while maintaining the required social distancing norms. As artists, this time can be tougher as revenue sources dry up but we can use this time to look deeper into the chasms of our creativity. What inspired us to start creating, our goals and dreams. This is a time to recharge and re-evaluate so that when the time comes for us to move forward, which it inevitably will. We can present our best selves. Personally, in my darkest hours, I have found comfort in Ancient Greek Philosophy. In the words of Marcus Aurelius “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way�.

Cover Artwork: On The Threshold of Change, 40 x 40, Acrylic on Linen

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Contents

06 GABRIELLE SHANNON 10 DAVE CURTIS 14 TAHIRA NOREEN 16 BRITTA ORTIZ 20 JEROME CHIA-HORNG LIN 24 CYNTHIA ARAF 26 ROBERT HOPKINS 30 MOHOLINUSHK 38 SALLY WEST 40 LARRY GRAEBER 46 PATRICIA BORGES 50 LUANA STEBULE 54 ULYSSES AOKI 58 LARRY SIMON 62 MICHAL ASHKENASI 66 MAE JEON 72 MIKOLAJ WLODARCZYK 76 DEVON GOVONI 80 REBECCA MILLER 84 MARK DAVID LLOYD

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Cover Artist

GABRIELLE SHANNON gabrielleshannonstudio.com

Having grown up in the creative cauldron of New York City, artist Gabrielle Shannon started her training at the Art Students’ League in New York. This was followed by Grove Arts in California and SVA in New York. In 1994, she co-founded “Urban Desires”, which at the time, was one of the first art and culture magazines on the internet. This allowed Gabrielle to explore and influence art in its many forms, resulting in numerous awards and worldwide praise. Eventually, her husband’s work took her west to Boulder, Colorado where she suffered a brain injury within a week of arriving there. She didn’t paint till over a year and a half later, the experience giving her new-found perspective on life and the importance of creativity. Her work is exhibited in galleries worldwide and can be seen in both private and public collections.

Could you tell us a bit about your time growing up in New York? How did this incubus of creativity affect you personally?

Growing up in New York was like living in an art installation every day. The lights, the clothes, the accents, the sounds. The Subway...OMG, the subway is a trip. The characters on the subway are truly unique and it can be scary. Watch your purse, your jewellery, and your body. You develop a sixth sense about it all. It’s also a city where, if you have the energy and need, you feel you can conquer the world. Like any big city around the world, New York offers so many Museums and classes in anything you want to study. My father loved art and painted in his spare time. We’d spend every Saturday together, and spending time together meant there was art

involved. Either we were painting or spending time at the Metropolitan Museum, or Museum of Modern Art. I didn’t realise until much later how lucky I was to have him and New York City as part of my foundation growing up. I was also very lucky to have The Art Students League a subway ride away. I started at The league studying Anatomy with Robert Beverly Hale when I was 12 years old. Mr Hale was a master and there was something very magical about him. He was sheer genius.

As an artist, do you believe that chaos and anarchy are essential parts of the creative process?

It seems like it, yes. I think the need to create is an essential part of the human experience. Artists are very sensitive to the

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Passionate Skies, 40 x 40, Acrylic on Linen

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Anxious Rumblings, 40 x 40, Acrylic on Linen

world around them... Nature, the inequalities in society, the pain and suffering of others, the need to fight for what we believe is right. The capacity to see what could be.

Artists are full of hope... tough times, make us stronger, more creative, and creativity is catching. I’ve never met an artist who’s art I loved that wasn’t filled with tremendous empathy for the human condition. And Empathy is very energizing. It makes you want to fight and find new ways to express the emotion you feel.

What are your goals as an artist in this new decade?

Right now we are living in very fragile times.

I’m writing this in self-isolation in my home from COVID-19. I was sick for 3 weeks and couldn’t get tested. This whole thing has been handled so badly, and it makes one anxious. How did we get here? The planet is suffering. Certainly, climate change has created a breeding ground for more disease and infection. The planet needs time to heal. We need to change systems, how we eat, heat our homes, think about what is important. What is important to you?

Money, quality of life, both? Political change is necessary. We all deserve to live with dignity and quality of life. But change means sacrifice. Looks like this virus is forcing us to change. I think good things will emerge over time.

What are your thoughts on the fragility of the interdependent natural world that we inhabit? Your work explores this connection, was that always the case?

I’ve spent the last decade exploring the fragility of the planet, nature, and our connection to each other and the natural world. I will continue on this path. I had a traumatic brain injury 10 years ago when my husband’s work took us west to Colorado. I suffered that injury within the first week we arrived in Colorado. It was the largest struggle in my adult life. It was really scary, I was living in an almost Zombie state. People ask what it was like... “Were you aware of everything around you?” I wasn’t. I was in a very dream-like state, sleeping a lot, and on a response delay.

Someone would ask a question and it would take seconds to figure out what they 08

Stirring Things Up, 40 x 40 Acrylic on Canvas

said and more seconds to respond. Art became very pivotal in my healing process.

Over the few years that followed, I had a series of epiphanies of how we are all connected and the planet... the universe. Atoms, cells, rivers, oceans, the sky and the cosmos. All of it. It’s all connected. And I saw it all visually in my mind’s eye, in my dreams. I had to get it out. When I slept, which was most of the time, I had very lucid dreams of the cosmos and the Ocean.

Healing dreams. It took a few years to get that I was dreaming of my nerve endings, tissue and blood in my brain healing. I’m very Entrepreneurial, so bumps in the road and challenges are familiar to me.

My work became an exploration of the states and stages of the dynamic energy that surrounds and fills us. Our connected universe —constantly shifting & transforming, or the growth that takes place in Spring after experiencing the death of Winter. Too small to see and too vast to comprehend.

I still feel compelled to capture these fleeting patterns of change which are the only constant we have. Playing with the identity

of cell structure and the cosmos, merging, growing, and splitting off to propagate, these worlds flow out of me. I paint in a liminal state. It’s a glimpse into that space of disorientation, of order, of ambiguity that is occurring in the very small threshold between where I’ve been, and where I’m going. It’s all about being in the present moment, with eyes open and surrendering.

Could you tell us something about Denver, Colorado that only someone who lives there knows?

Colorado has been wonderful for my art and a very healing place. The Mountains and terrain are so beautiful. The Artworld in Denver is incredible, there are so many talented artists, great galleries and Museums. This amazing place will always be in my life. END

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Artist Feature

DAVE CURTIS davidecurtisart.weebly.com

Whether we like it or not change is constant and uninhibited. For millions of years, our planet has been undergoing a change in the form of extinctions, evolution, death and rebirth. Each cataclysmic event leading to the dawn of another era, the rise of another species. But of all the ages, we live in a time of accelerated change. Our environment is being decimated and shaped faster than it can recover and keep up. Born in Washington DC, artist David Curtis’s work acts as a link between time and change. A combination of dystopia and the primordial soup of prehistoric earth, he creates dialogue around different themes such as history, religion, literature and philosophy. We had a conversation with David where he talks about various themes such as the paleontological references in his work, Carl Jung and his career spanning three decades.

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Aquarium Triptych, Four Paintings, Acrylic on Canvas, Each is 24 x 24�, 2018

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Creation With Pan-Seared Flounder And Eggs, Acrylic on Canvas, 24 x 24�, 2019

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Flight of Icthyeus, Acrylic on Canvas, 24 x 24”, 2019

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Artist Feature

TAHIRA NOREEN instagram.com/tahiranoreen

Born in 1984 in Pakistan, artist Tahira Noreen in a visual artist. Tapping into the unrestricted journey that her inner creativity takes her on, her pieces are a mixture of various mediums and textures, a direct reflection of the varied experiences she encounters during her travels.

Tahira’s work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally. She talked to us about the unique obstacles she faces as a female artist in her home country and what the future holds for women in art.

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Touch Down, Precision Cutting and Pasting on Hand Toned Wasli, 57 x 64 cm, 2019

Promised Land, Precision Cutting and Pasting on Hand Toned Wasli, 38 x 36 cm, 2019

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Artist Feature

BRITTA ORTIZ britta-ortiz.dk

If there is one thing that this ongoing pandemic has highlighted, it is the inequality that exists in modern society.

We were aware of its presence but it has been brought to the front and centre. Being on the wrong side of the fence could mean the difference between life, starvation or death.

We can all do our bit to make the world a better place through compassion, respect and consideration. Danish artist Britta Oritz existentially relates to the world. Her love for life, nature and human beings are prevailing themes in her pieces, forcing the viewer to stop and think about what they are seeing. Trained by several prominent artists, Britta is not shy in her use of symbolism, is particularly sensitive to the current political climate around the world and its hostility towards immigrants and refugees.

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Artist Feature

JEROME CHIA-HORNG LIN jeromelin.net

Being an artist can seem like an effortless lifestyle choice.

Hours spent in the studio, following your passion, escaping the rat race. The reality couldn’t be more different. Loneliness, lack of financial stability, creative blocks and a plethora of obstacles are situations that artists have to face daily. Artist Jerome Chia-Horng Lin touches on a few of these in our interview with him. Born and based in Taipei, Taiwan, Jerome had to battle with the complexities of the lack of support towards a career in the arts among traditional Asian communities. His work focuses on both the macro and micro in our world and the interdependence between them.

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The Flying Bird Isn’t Moving, Oil on Canvas, 31.5 x 41cm, 2017

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Inward Water II, Oil on Canvas, Diameter 50cm, 2015

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Inward Water III, Oil on Canvas, Diameter 50cm, 2015

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Artist Feature

CYNTHIA ARAF serie ORIGEN (Origin) Origin = Principle = woman = fertility = creation.

The woman is the creator of life and it is on earth that she gives birth to be a seed. serie SOD(silence) Thought is the silence that becomes sound in the image.

Following the same line of nature, I rethink the multiple meanings that we can find when working on it, its sublime character and the wonderful order it reveals, calling this series “Sod� (silence) In this proposal I speak of that darkness but that it is always in the encounter with the light, the penumbra is the insinuation where we hide the thoughts, it is that deep questioning that leads us to the experience of being, the thought is really our only possession until we turn it into an image and confront each other.

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Artist Feature

ROBERT HOPKINS rchphoto.artspan.com

A photographer with a passion for monochromatic images, Robert Hopkins started working in a studio setting in 2011 with no prior experience in that space. He drew inspiration from role models such as Leonard Nimoy, Edward Weston, William Carter and Peter Adams to name a few. The interactions he has with his models lay the foundations for his work, which progresses into experimentation and collaboration with light, tone, curve and angle. The sensuality of the nude always stays in the spotlight. Looking to refine his work, Robert is currently taking a break from the studio, creating digital images for his website and exploring options to showcase his work to a wider audience.

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Interview

MOHOLINUSHK moholinushk.com

The current global situation is forcing us to rethink almost every aspect of our lives. From work to mobility and consumption, a paradigm shift is required on our part to carry on functioning, in whatever we consider the ‘new normal’. Artist moholinushk, who previously worked as a social anthropologist and diplomat draws her inspiration from Japanese graphic, Islamic traditional design and the Bauhaus. In our interview with her, moholinushk talks about how the changes to the world have impacted her personally, the importance of downtime for creativity and mental wellbeing and her favourite reads in her time at home.

The world has changed at such an accelerated pace since the beginning of this year, how are you coping with all these changes?

I would prefer to say that the world has “apparently” changed. It is too early to evaluate how deep these nowadays visible changes really are and how sustainable some of the positive changes will be? I am asking myself about the real nature of these changes and their impact on my life. Like almost everyone, I am confined at home, as almost everyone I am still in contact, perhaps even more than before, with all my friends around the world, it seems to me that I am now 24 hours online, something I hated before. I take the opportunity to organize pending matters, to read a lot, to watch films I always wanted to see, and mainly I rediscover the notion of time.

Honestly, I am not so sure that these

changes are so important for me as they should be, I am used to working from home… and my creativity needs quite often the loneliness and the calm of a closed place. What is different now, it is this strange feeling to belonging to a global experience which was imposed on us by scientists, medical doctors and politicians, without knowing all the parameters. Are one’s role and contribution, as well as behaviour relevant to the expected results?

I wish it is.

It is not the first time that I have lived through this kind of confinement. It reminds me of the first fieldwork I did as a student of social anthropology. I spent a full year more or less confined in an isolated small village (in rural Bangladesh), literally without any contact with the outer world, no electricity, no running water, no telephone in the

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Visions of Japan. Tokyo Shibuya crossing, drawing on paper, 30x30 cm, 2019

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Visions of Japan. Plate on a table, drawing on paper, 30x30 cm, 2018

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proximity, living under traditional rules not always understandable to me, physically free to move but only inside the village. In my memory, it was a year of learning, about myself, about the importance of certain values, about human nature, about life. I had social contacts (even too much and bound to social control) but limited to the villagers around. I was missing “cultural elements” (like music, not having even a small radio to catch the Bengali channels), it goes without saying that I had no opportunity to hear or to speak my mother tongue, I was missing some food items (like cheese). But it was such a life’s constructive year.

My second experience was in countries under war with an imposed curfew day and night for a certain though a usually short period but with the constant fear of the bombs falling, or of the presence of a snipper. Death was present, food and basic items were scare, and confinement though not compulsory but self-imposed, was the only way to keep a bit safe. These experiences taught me that the human being after a short while learns how to cope with such extreme situations and tends to consciously forget them (though it is somehow unconsciously kept engraved).

Many years later, similar feelings already experienced in these different contexts are re-emerging… Insecurity, fear and doubt first, then I get used to this new situation and start to develop a certain routine which is paired with fancy wishes like going to an exhibition, this urge to feel the artwork physically, to be surrounded by other visitors, to listen to their comments, to exchange comments with a friend, or to go to a concert and feel the vibes of the audience.

As someone who travels a lot, has the restriction in movement changed your perspective on everyday objects and situations?

I had planned two, for me personally, important private trips in this first half of the year which had, of course, to be cancelled, hopefully, postponed for the after “COVID” times. I was (and still am) for very personal reasons frustrated and sad… I suddenly felt like a prisoner!​However, the confinement at home gives me a new perspective on my daily life. I live in a place large enough to allow privacy; my half rural environment allows me to walk outside in the forest; my working place looks over the lake, giving me a feeling of wideness. The restriction of movement brings to light the privileged environment I live in.

Some say that the actual situation brings more equality among the people. We might be all confined, but not under the same conditions, we might be all fearing the threat but again not under the same conditions. The common ground might be the fact that we are all back to the essential, there is no other choice. For me, travelling is mainly linked to discovery, new knowledge, anticipating new projects, new ideas, to creativity. But I am realizing that confinement allows you to come back to yourself and to discover some of your hidden dreams. The travel takes place inside of yourself in a very unplanned but interesting way.

Downtime plays an important role in a creative person’s day. How do you deal with it?

Since last fall I have been in a downtime phase. Probably due to many changes occurring in my personal life, a fascinating but tiring process of transformation in my I realise that the physical reality, direct way of life, my habits, my values and communication, the surrounding energy, are beliefs… A kind of self-evaluation! This missing. My senses and emotions want to process is still under construction and the escape to the outside world. I am becoming confinement may either accelerate or slow less creative, missing the mundane inputs. down the necessary transformation.

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During the first weeks of confinement, “my” downtime seems to transform itself gradually into an “uptime” again. New ideas are beginning to spring up, I feel the need to work again.

part of the urban landscapes will express the emptiness of the cities.

Do you have any thoughts on the evolution of the art Industry in 2020?

All the major contemporary art fairs, Downtime is, from my point view, difficult planned for the first half of the year were to deal with because it doesn’t leave you in cancelled because of the “COVID”, which peace with your conscience, you feel means that all cultural institutions, galleries, under pressure but you don’t have the art fairs and the art industry, in general, had energy to fight against it. As I don’t have to to rapidly adapt to a new reality, namely the live from my art, I try to accept downtime as digital engagement. But not every artist, it comes, knowing that it is a more or less every work and every gallery can be short-term phase which finally pushes me presented under a digitalized form, the in a new creative energy. When I reach a impact of an artwork cannot be the same as downtime phase, I have in mind this physical depiction and as remotely digital symbolic picture of a fall, and it is only presentation. when I reach the hard floor that I can give a kick to push me up again. If I would give Then the mobility of the artworks, of the the kick when still in the air, there will be gallerists, of the art collectors is impeded no impact. Therefore, it is important to first by the new rules, and the real “physical” reach the hard floor, even if it means sinking exchange is considerably reduced. to the deep bottom of a pit!

The last argument is the economic global situation which will have a large negative From a more positive point of view, downimpact on the big art sales and might bring time is a necessary phase in the creative changes in the profile of the Art buyers and work. It brings you in a state of “positive” collectors. It could transform the rules of laziness, gives you time to observe, to work the art market. However, it is too early to on specific details, to take some distance predict which kind of changes will be from your previous work, maybe opening operating in the art industry during the new doors for your future creative develsecond half of the year and further. I opment. Downtime can be perceived as a wonder if contemporary artists will be very compulsory “rest” phase. strongly influenced by the global situation and how it will be reflected in the art What are you working on at the production! moment?

Last fall I started a new series I called People across the globe will no doubt “Urban landscapes”, the focus was more find these times testing, to say the least. on big busy cities with some reminiscence How would you recommend navigating it of Tokyo. I stopped to work on it during the as an artist? winter (downtime and busy with other The artist is primarily a human being who priorities), however, just before the confine- deals emotionally with the surrounding sitment I wanted to work again on that series. uation. Like any other human being, he has I am working on it but from another to face the changes and deals with them. perspective. It is impossible to put aside the For some artists it might be a rich creative changes brought by the confinement and experience, for others, a phase of the restriction of movement; the urban uncertainty and fear, others may try to activities have been from one day to anoth- escape the new reality, others will integrate er almost completely frozen. The second the changes in their work…

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Daily life. Monday, Friday, Dojo lady’s changing Room, drawing on paper, 30x30 cm, 2019

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Daily life. Saturday, Arriving in Zurich from the South West Bahnhofstrasse, drawing on paper, 30x30 cm, 2019

having completely different perceptions of what modern architecture should be.

Every artist will probably choose his/her navigation course to get out of the crisis. It is important is to be aware of the changes in perceptions and the impact on the creative process.

What is moholinushk reading at the moment?

I decided at the beginning of the pandemic to read a “thick” book which was offered to me a while ago and never opened: Ayn Rand, The Fountain Head. The book was published in 1943 as romantic and philosophical novel and became a major success. The author, “Ayn Rand developed in this novel a philosophical system named “objectivism”. In this novel, Rand advocated reason as the only mean of acquiring knowledge and rejected faith and religion.

She supported rational and ethical egoism and rejected altruism. She supported “laissez-faire capitalism”, a system based on recognizing individual rights and property rights”. The novel is centred around different architects working in New York and

I finished the book without any enthusiasm, rejecting her philosophical view (the “virtue of selfishness”) … and wasn’t surprised to read in a review of the book that this novel is one of the few works of fiction that Donald Trump likes!...

To put this rather negative experience behind me, I started the last book of one of my favourite authors: Hanif Kureishi, What happened? 2019. A collection of essays and fictions reflecting our modern age, full of observations on culture and the way we live now. I enjoy every page of it. I might read again the previous works of Hanif Kureishi in the following weeks. END

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Sihlwald. Snow, drawing on paper, 30x30 cm, 2019

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Artist Feature

Fresh Cross-Shore - Beach Bondi (14.11.19) - Plein Air�, 90 x 120cm, Oil on Canvas

SALLY WEST sallywestart.com

Have spent some time in Sydney, Australia a couple of years ago. We have nothing but fond memories of its wonderful, friendly people and the staggering beauty of its natural landscapes. Australian artist Sally West’s work perfectly encapsulates this in her work. Thick applications of paint create dreamy layers and textures without drawing attention from the overall message. Her recent beach series was painted on location across various Australian beaches such as Freshwater, Manly, Terrigal, Coogee, Maroubra and Bondi to name a few. Her career as an artist has given her global recognition and demand with pieces being sought after by art collectors, admirers and interior designers.

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4-5 Ft South - Beach Bondi (18.10.19) - Plein Air”, 150 x100 cm, Oil on Canvas

Bondi Beach (26.1.19) - Plein Air”, 150 x 100cm, Oil on Canvas

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Artist Feature

LARRY GRAEBER larrygraeber.com

The problem with unfettered consumption is that it is entirely unsustainable. Entire economies are based on citizens driving the economy through buying things they don’t necessarily need to keep the economic system moving forward. While this may have been fine a few decades ago, we are quickly learning about the damage this is causing to our home planet. Our terrestrial existence is now talking back, or maybe shouting back is more apt.

A Texas-based artist Larry Graeber, works in studios in San Antonio and Marfa. Raised in Austin, he was the oldest of three children. From a young age, he was involved in making things. College led to the study of architecture where he discovered the art department, spurring interest in painting, printmaking, jewellery and filmmaking. He started exhibiting his work in 1971. Represented in both public and private collections, books and magazines, he most enjoys exhibiting in group and one-person shows.

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30/60°, wood, screws, paint, 82 x 50 x 12”, 2019. As seen in Formal Proof exhibition, Blue Star Contemporary

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Chimney (Furnace), wood, chain, nails, nylon ties, sheet metal discs, paint, screws, 2019 Two of a Kind, wood, paint, corrugated plastic, wire, screws, grease pencil, 60 x 40 x 5�, 2019 Avatar (Falcon), wood, paint, corrugated plastic, wire, screws, 75 x 26 x 29�, 2019

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E, wood, hog wire, corrugated plastic, paint, screws, 68 x 15 x 10�, 2019

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E, wood, hog wire, corrugated plastic, paint, screws, 68 x 15 x 10�, 2019

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Artist Feature

PATRICIA BORGES patriciaborges.com

Brazilian visual artist Patricia Borges works mainly with photography and often adopts a multidisciplinary approach by presenting images together with texts and three-dimensional objects. Her images explore the details and fragments that mark the passage of time in the natural and built worlds. Starting in 2019 Patricia Borges’ main research focuses on cameraless photography. Her works on paper explore and update the historical process of cyanotype. The images result from a series of unpredictability from UV light exposure, pigmentation through chemical reactions and physical procedure with the material she uses to push the boundaries of the medium.

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Solar #15, Cyanotype on Paper, 28 x 38cm, 2019

Solar #16, Cyanotype on Paper, 28 x 38cm, 2019

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Solar #17, Cyanotype on Paper, 38 x 28cm, 2019

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Solar #12, Cyanotype on Paper, 38 x 28cm, 2019

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Artist Feature

LUANA STEBULE luanastebulefineart.co.uk

Poetry, like visual art, has the ability to stir up emotions that can move us. No matter what language it originates in, poems have played an influential role for thousands of years. Born in Lithuania in 1962, artist and poet Luana Stebule has published four poetry books and has twenty-two solo exhibitions and thirty-seven shared exhibitions under her belt. Some of her poems have been translated into languages such as Italian, Spanish, Turkish and English. For her art, she prefers oil on canvas, although she does has a preference for collages combining wood, textiles, leather and plastic. Some have elements of conceptual style, surrealism and pointillism. Her paintings are an extension of her poetic work on canvas. Earlier this year in Florence, she was awarded the 3rd Leonardo Da Vinci Prize. In 2019 Luana was selected by the International Art Market Magazine to be on the Gold List as one of the top artist of today and her work was recently published in the Art Anthology ‘Important World Artist’.

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Artist Feature

ULYSSES AOKI instagram.com/ulysses_aoki

Tokyo based, Japanese photographer Ulysses Aoki aims to capture the hidden moments of everyday life that slip us by. Having spent some time in Japan, his current series titled “Unparallel Symmetry”, is a twist on the ideology of uniformity in Japan where people are expected to portray themselves in a particular manner in every social setting, especially in public places. His goal is to enhance the concept to a level that the surreal beauty of the images creates a false impression of the above ideology.

All images taken on my camera the “Leica Q-P”, between 2019-2020

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Artist Feature

LARRY SIMON larrysimonphotographer.com

A self-taught photographer, artist Larry Simon takes his inspiration from everyday objects, surfaces and scenes to create composed narratives shrouded in a sense of the unknown. Tapping into the inner world of our subconscious, full of void and mystery. Based in Chicago, Larry travels the world extensively, working with a blend of sharp and soft focus, presenting his work in photo collage form or as digital prints.

Larry’s current project is a photography book on the architecture of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who is considered one of the pioneers of modernist architecture.

Reimagining Mies offers a more intimate, impressionistic look into Mies’ work around the globe. It is sold in museum shops and on Larry’s website.

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Artist Feature

MICHAL ASHKENASI michalsart.com

Reinvention can be a great way to find out more about yourself as a person. Stepping outside your comfort zone and taking risks, as scary as it might sound, leads to new inventions, progress and lessons. As an artist, it can be all to easy to get stuck in a rut but pushing yourself ever so often can do wonders. Artist Michal Ashkenasi believes in the joys of experimentation, this award-winning Israeli artist who was born in the Netherlands, spent over a decade and a half living on the edge of the beautiful Negev Desert in Southern Israel. Her current work tends to focus on the issues that are vital to her. Life is full of big changes these days, the best we can do is evolve with it.

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Yellow Trees, Acrylic on Canvas, 70 x 50cm, 2018

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Red Trees, Acrylic on Canvas, 70 x 80cm, 2020

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Fantasy Land, Acrylic on Canvas, 80 x 80cm, 2019

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Artist Feature

MAE JEON maejeon.com

Born in South Korea, artist Mae Jeon took her first steps into the art world through commercial art. Books that were gifted to her by her father were a source of early inspiration for her, imitating the artwork of Neo-Classical and Impressionist painters she found in them. In college, she majored in graphic design but the desire to create art always stayed. A job opportunity with Shiseido took her to Tokyo, Japan where she frequented the art galleries near her office in Ginza, exposing her to an array of different art forms and techniques. After three decades as a commercial artist in New York, Mae decided to retire and pursue digital fine art. Her work has been exhibited across North America and Europe in shows like the Florence Biennale in Italy and the New York Art Expo to name a few.

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Above: Infinite light, 24” x 18.5”, Digital Art on Metal, 2019 Next Page: Lifted Soul, 24” x 18”, Digital Art on Metal, 2020

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Willing Mind, 24” x 20”, Digital Art on Canvas, 2013

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Healing Wave, 24” x 20”, Digital Art on Metal, 2015

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Interview

MIKOLAJ WLODARCZYK instagram.com/_isatattoo_

A full-time tattoo artist by day and an illustrator and graphic designer at night, artist Mikolaj Wlodarczyk lives and works in Columbus, Ohio. After completing a Masters degree in philosophy, Mikolaj worked various jobs ranging from being a carpenter to goldsmith and finally a tattoo artist in 2009. The multitude of jobs gave him the varied experience required to grow as a creative, something that he tries to showcase in his work. Using different materials and techniques to achieve unique results which he later translates into tattoos. In our conversation with him, we talk about growing up in Poland, his time spent in Spain and the synergy of mental health and art.

You became a tattoo artist in 2009, could you tell us a bit about your time before that?

I was born in Poznań, Poland. I lived there most of my life. I finished artistic profiled high school and later I was studying philosophy at Adam Mickiewicz University.

I needed to work this same time so I was grabbing different jobs. From working with insurance policies through being a goldsmith, carpenter, warehouseman and customer advisor to name a few. After finishing university with a masters degree from philosophy I was working as a Graphic designer and I was tattooing after hours during weekends.

In 2009 I started a career as a tattoo artist, and in 2015 started the brand ISaTa2 and I have been working under this name since then.

What got you interested in graphic design and illustration?

That was my prime interest since the beginning. I just never had the opportunity to make it my focus. I never felt strong enough. Surprisingly when I started tattooing, graphic and illustration has become part of my professional life just like that.

Has tattooing influenced your work as a graphic designer and vice versa?

I would say that graphics and illustration are influencing my work as a tattoo artist. In art, the base of everything is drawing, without exception. Doesn’t matter if you practice graphic design, illustration, painting or being a tattoo artist. The core fundamentals are the same. When you are familiar with the foundations, you are bound only by your imagination. Being a tattoo artist is just one of the art forms that mean it shouldn’t 72

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be bound by society and it ridicules rules. If it is, it becomes a craft, not an art. I’d rather work on a painting or illustration, sculpture and then translate it to a tattoo.

ancient Slavic culture. It gave fundaments to many modern traditions. Many elements of this culture are still vivid, and it is hilarious that people are not aware of that.

Mental health, although still a taboo subject, can be expressed and treated through art. What are your thoughts on that?

Andy Warhol said, “An artist is someone who produces things that people don’t need to have but that he - for some reason - thinks it would be a good idea to give them.” For me, it seems that “things that people don’t need” are exactly those things that artist needs. The mental issue often comes with an inability to communicate, in the way that society expects. A person with mental health issues is always alone.

It doesn’t matter how many carrying and compassioned people he/she/them have around. At the end of the day you are alone with your demons, but society expects you to behave like everything is ok.

Is it true that you spent some time in Spain creating art? How did its culture affect your work?

Yes, I did. I was mainly tattooing there. It was one of my first professional tattoo experiences. I would like to come back there. Especially to Barcelona. Did it affect my work? Maybe this is something the readers can answer themselves?

What was the first tattoo that you ever tattooed?

Two tiki masks. One with a Hokusai type wave splashing from the top other with a flame on top. I made it on myself. I needed to practise on someone! END

I don’t know if art can be a form of treatment but I’m sure it helps to survive for a bit longer, maybe that is why people with the most cognitive struggles are usually the most creative… El sueño de la razón produce monstruos.

Is there a current project that you are working on that you would like to share with us?

There are always projects in progress, it never ends. The process is the most important element along with progress. It is always about chasing the bunny not catching it while staying true to yourself as an artist.

How did growing up in Poland affect you artistically?

Poland was always on the edge of eastern and western Europe. Our culture has Slavic origins but has many western influences, a lot more than any other Slavic counties. I like this variety. I always was fascinated by 75

Artist Feature

DEVON GOVONI devongovoniartist.com

“Conversation before confrontation�. A phrase that artist Devon Govoni is no stranger to. I think we can all agree that it is much easier to resolve and even avoid disputes if we take some time out to talk things through. Unfortunately, this does not always translate well into everyday life. But we can always try. Devon believes that art can be the medium to have those conversations, tackling the issues that we face in our communities across the world. Stepping into the world of art at a young age with the support and love of her family, Devon began entering contests in grade school and winning competitions. She is also a licensed mental health counsellor and registered art therapist.

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Artist Feature

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Artist Feature

MARK DAVID LLOYD lloyd-fineart.com

Scientific progression has added value to our lives in ways that we could not have possibly imagined, advancements in medicine and technology have given us longevity as a race and tools to communicate and create. Like most things in life, this comes at a heavy cost. Our environment and its inhabitants have taken a heavy toll in the form of land, sea and air pollution, dwindling species and habitat loss. Artist Mark David Lloyd, in his series titled “Sensed Presence�, questions the ethics and morality of scientific progression. Both Mark and his assistant were profoundly affected emotionally by the nature of the experiments carried out by scientists on animals, during the creation of this series.

This difficult, but deeply necessary dialogue is required now more than ever.

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