Landescape Art Review Special Edition Summer 2014

A r t Special Edition

Flesh Tone, 2015 Oil paint, Perpex and Rope. a work by Nara Walker

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Patrick W. Paul Paul Wood United Kingdom

Wood's work is a progressive culmination of his life experiences and influences which has now matured to produce stunning abstract expressive and more recent geometric work which have been described as fun, stunning, colorful and mesmerizing.

His abstract artworks both expressive and geometric are expressions of his love for colour, textures, shape and individuality.

Nara Walker

Tahmina Negmat Batya Kuncman

United Kingdom

USA

Batya is a multidisciplinary artist who explores issues of contemporary painting and image-making, investigating some of the ways in which perception is shaped and distorted by image overload in our hyper-connected environment and experimenting with the relationship between disciplinespainting, photography and digital.

Canada

Eman Hakim

United Kingdom

Nara Walker is an Australian born contemporary artist. She explores the physicality of creating within her work, presenting the viewer with paintings, performances, photographic work and at times mixing the mediums.

Nara is interested in the viewers perspective as the voyeur thus uses the process of revealing and concealing to course tension.

The aim of my practice is to move towards absurdity. It is a process of building a new game through inherited disciplines of surrealism and dada. By putting the techniques of surrealists on painting, music, drawing, collage, film, poetry I create a cultural farrago. I'm interested in discovering methods of stimulating the imagination.

II

The subject matter created by the artist over the past 25 years has included; wildlife, endangered species, contempory art, Canadian landscapes, historical content, abstract, mythical and fantasy landscapes, and religious subject matter. Patrick W. Paul is one of Canada's finest beeswax artists.

The artist still paints originals while continuing to mature his techniques and the quality of each original.

Dubai / Egypt

Through my landscape photography I am able to share what I find most beautiful and intriguing about different places around the world.

The purpose of my art is to let others have the exhilarating feeling of having traveled somewhere far away, without ever setting foot on a plane.

I hope you enjoy a look at the world through my lens.

In this issue

Eman Hakim Lives and works in Dubai, EAU Painting

Tahmina Negmat Lives and works in London, UK Mixed Media, Painting

Paul Wood Lives and works in London, UK Painting

Nara Walker Lives and works in London, UK Painting, Mixed media

Lisa Fu

USA

USA

Fu's paintings are inspired by her travelling experience and the simple beauty in nature and life: the bright sunlight, blooming flowers, falling leaves, busy city streets, green vineyard, colorful sky... Her paintings seem to tell a story about the sun always shining and that love is always in the air! Largely a self-taught artist, she has developed her own of impressionist style to express the beauty of nature by form and color.

Batya Kuncman

Cheryl Pettigrew Ronald Walker

Lives and works n New York City, USA Paintings, New Media

USA

I have always done art in some form since childhood. As I grew older, pencil and ink became my favorite mediums.

At the age of 30 I discovered paint and a new door opened. I found there to be almost limitless possibilities with color and so my adventure began.

Although the images of landscapes, florals, and seascapes are from real places and things, when I sit down to paint I use my creativity to manipulate the scene.

Influenced by symbolism and primitive art I believe that we are not as civilized as we think.

Patrick W. Paul Lives and works in Alberta, Canada Painting

Our relationships and habits have changed little over the last few thousand years.

Lisa Fu Lives and works in Sacramento, USA Mixed media, Painting

My work serves as a kind of metaphorical roadmap of my life, which explores the inner aspects of my habitation in, and movement through the suburban experience.

Ronald Walker Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA USA Painting

Cheryl Pettigrew Lives and works in New York Fine Art Photography

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#2

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Eman Hakim Lives and works currently between Cairo, Egypt & Dubai,

An artist's statement

I

I believe that the most important message of art is to try to target & reach a bigger sector of people enriching and raising their sense of aesthetic and artistic taste and directing them to reach a better tasting and understanding of art and its impact on life.

Bachelor of Fine Arts & Member of syndicate of Plastic Artists & many art societies in Egypt and Dubai Held eight solo exhibitions , Latest was in Art Corner Gallery in Cairo January 2015.

Participated in many group exhibitions in Egypt and some Arab countries e.g. Saudi, Libya & UAE.

Private collections of many individuals and some institutions in Egypt and abroad e.g Modern Art Museum, Port Said Museum & Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt.

Won prizes in some Egyptian exhibitions and was a Jury member in other exhibitions.

Represented Egypt in Biennale of Chianciano - Italy September 2013.

Participated in Patras International Art Fair August 2014 followed by a group exhibition in Gagliardi Gallery London Sept 2014 then Biennale of Malaysia October 2014. Currently she is representing Egypt in a Group Exhibition in Kazakhstan July 2015 organized by Peacetour with two paintings about World peace and Friendship and won a prize after being selected by the exhibition jury.

LandEscape meets

Eman Hakim An interview by Josh Ryder with the collaboration of Katherine Williams landescape@europe.com

Eman Hakim's approach can be defined as an incessant attempt to show the hidden Ariadne's thread that reveals the emotional bond between ourselves and the reality we inhabit. Discarding merely decorative aspects, her approach is quite direct and it is grounded on a careful selection of signs that comes both from Memory and from a suggestive Imagination. Hakim's research of a forgotten language establishes a vivid engagement, capable of going beyond a simply emotional involvement: I'm really pleased to introduce our readers to her stimulating artistic production.

Hello Eman, and welcome to LandEscape: to start this interview, would you like to tell us something about your background? You have a solid formal training and you hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts: how did this experience influence your evolution as an artists and how do they impact on the way you currently conceive and produce your works?

I believe my academic studies in Faculty of fine art and in particular in Decor branch, indirectly added to my diversified techniques and gave me enough courage to try many. We studied mainly Guwache which is water-based so there was a certain difficulty with its usage. We also studied many different ways of how to treat and prepare the background of your work. In Juerg Luedi

Eman Hakim

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Eman Hakim

Art Review

addition to using variable tools like different brushes, pallette knives, - -etc. All these things have accummulated and have been stored as a reservoir in my mind and stayed dormant for some years till I began to practice oil painting after some years and till now.

http://emanhakimart.blogspot.it in order to get a wider idea of your artistic production... In the meanwhile, would you like to tell us something about the genesis of these interesting works? What was your initial inspiration?

Before starting to elaborate about your production, would you like to tell to our readers something about your process and set up for making your artworks? In particular, as you once stated, on of the main goal of your approach is to reach a bigger sector of people, directing them to reach a better understanding of art and its impact on life: I like this sociopolitic function and I daresay that besides providing of a platform for an artist's expression, Art can nowadays play a crucial role in educating people, maybe steering their behaviour towards a more sustainable way of life... what't s your opinion about this? Do you think it's a bit exaggerated?

She and the Peacock is the beginning of a new phase in my life that has started two years ago. When I moved from my country , Egypt, to another country, it was a nice surprise that I found many peacocks living around my place & I used to see them very often. The male Peacock has impressed me with its colors and feathers and way it walks proudly. I read a lot about it and I spent long time with it in my mind and in front of my eyes day and night. I started to imagine a dialogue and a certain relationship between the “beautiful” male peacock and the “beautiful” human female. A relationship that varies between pride, obsession, self-control & splurge. And with all these fantastic colors & strong meanings and indications inside me, I started to show this very special relation from different angles in many paintings and artworks. My facebook page contains more of my recent paintings : https://www.facebook.com/emanhakimart

I absolutely agree with you. Moreover, when I react and interact with these simple normal people, my objective is not only to educate them and leverage their feelings in a tough world but also to let them pass for a while or a short period of time, through a beautiful world free of conflicts full of lovely colors which when they taste can lead them to deep psychic relief and satisfaction. A positive state which cleans mind and feelings and cleans the heart, the ears & eyes from all passive, negative and polluted surroundings. This can be an unconsious way of moral and psychological treatment and healthy soul.

Now let's focus on your artistic production: I would start from She and the Peacock and #1 that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article: and I would suggest to our readers to visit your website directly at detail from myFunerals, Performance

The ambience suggested by #2 and its clear reference to the concept of travel has reminded me the concept of Heterotopia elaborated by French social theorist Michel Foucault. What has mostly impacted on me is the way you have been capable of bringing a new level of significance to the signs of time, that invites us to rethink about the concept of the environment we inhabit in. This is a recurrent feature of your approach that I can recognize also in other works as #3: you seem to urge the viewers' perception in order to challenge the common way to perceive not only the outside world, but our inner dimension...

By the way, I'm sort of convinced that some

Eman Hakim

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#1

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Eman Hakim

Art Review

informations & ideas are hidden, or even "encrypted" in the environment we live in, so we need -in a way- to decipher them.

Maybe that one of the roles of an artist could be to reveal unexpected sides of Nature, especially of our inner Nature... what's your point about this?

I agree with you that the roles of the artist are too many and diverse. One of this important roles is to explore the hidden sides of nature and mainly our internal nature as human beings. It is of great pleasure to the artist to

see that the perception of the receipient is exactly as you derscribed in your question. And to reach more understanding to this painting, I will give you a short background. In Cairo where I used to live two years ago, the view from my terrace views the Nile river, so I am saturated by this river which is called “Life artery�. I look at it for long periods so it floats , not only to my eyes, but also to my emotions and mind. And when I think that I left it, I find my self sailing more and more inside it and I even see it in my dreams and then I translate all this on the surface of canvas.

Eman Hakim

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#9

#10

I like the way your portraits reveals such an The Ariadne's thread that suggests an intimate unity between past, present and future, establishing a vivid involvement with with the viewer. Your careful investigation about childhood's dimension seems to remove the historic gaze from the reality you refer to, offering to the viewers the chance to perceive in an absolute and almost atemporal form. So I would take this occasion to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indespensable part of a creative process...

Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

I think that unconsiously, many things, faces, persons & situations have settled in my imagination and mind even before I start to paint. And then now all this is again extracted unconsiously during the creation process. So I agree personal experience is indespensible and will not be at any point of time indespensible of my creative process.

An important feature of your portraits that

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Eman Hakim

Art Review

#6

#5

has particularly impacted on me and on which I would like to spend some words is the way you explore the female intimate dimension: while contemporary portraiture often try to shock the viewer, you seem to gently invites us to snatch a poetic aspect of the ephemeral reality you capture, and you portray the essence of your subjects with a sincere and almost tender admiration, in a way that has reminded me of Elizabeth Peyton's works...

of my works. I really like and admire this.

Thanks a lot for your analysis and deep reading

I cannot do without admitting that #7 has reminded me the idea behind the well-known Picasso's chicken: I have highly appreciated the way you explore the boundary between Imagination and Experience and in this sense I would say that imagination play a role in the fullfilment process of the viewers that reminds me of the German artist Thomas Demand, when he stated that "nowadays art can no longer rely much on

Eman Hakim

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#3

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Eman Hakim

Art Review

#7 symbolic strategies and has to probe psychological narrative elements within the medium instead": what's your point about this? And in particular, how much do you explicitly think of a narrative for your works?

I claim that it exactly describes what I do. I am always influenced by all my surroundings that leave a strong impact in me and stays deep in my mind and feelings till it shows itself strongly when I call her ,in a creation process.

I agree on the statement of Thomas Demand.

The nuance of delicate tones that pervade

Eman Hakim

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female. And sometimes when I change my touches and smooth palette, in this case I try to disobey my internal trend and instead I put the acute strong touches and colors to achieve my desire for untraditional approach.

I daresay that the semantic juxtaposition between a classic imagery and a modern approach that marks out your artistic production, allows you to go beyond any dichotomy between Tradition and Contemporariness, establishing a stimulating osmosis between materials from an ancient era and a modern, lively approach to Art: do you recognize any contrast between Tradition and Contemporariness?

What you describe in your question is absolutely true. I still have this internal contradictory forces between different art schools. As I said earlier, I always try to rebel and disobey my traditional trends. Although I love this, but al the time I have the feeling that I should do something different, something new. I do not rush this, I mean I am not in a hurry and I do not force this on me artificially. I believe that the best thing to do is to let it happen by nature and by time as I believe that this is the only way which will lead me to create something different but in the same time satisfactory to me and others. your canvas, and I can admire especially in #8 has suggested me such a tactile sensation: any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?

The sensation of my touch here is absolutely unconscious. I cannot claim that I have any control on that. It comes automatically based on talent and my natural personality. One of my professors long time ago maentioned this to me that my touches are so soft, maybe this is also linked to my nature and natural behavior as a

I think it's important to remark that you are a member of syndicate of Plastic Artists & of many art societies both in Egypt and Dubai: I'm sure that our readers around the world are very interested to know more about the evolution of Near East artistic scenario.

Would you like to tell us what are the current tendencies? And in particular, how does contemporary Near East scene relates with Western artistic panorama?

In Dubai, where I live now, the modernity is the common style. Sometimes modernity

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#8

Eman Hakim

Eman Hakim

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transforms into being very odd and strange !! and sometimes it is even shocking !!! The reason is that Dubai is actually a cosmopolitan city where many different nationalities and cultures mix. So in one exhibition, you can see all contradictory art schools in a diverse strange show.

In Cairo, it is completely different as the Egyptian culture is dominant on all places and events because the culture is unified. This is why, even with different art schools, you still feel one spirit and see a kind of harmony.

As for abroad in Europe and US, I was really pleased that my artwork found acceptance in several events in Italy, England, Malaysia, Canada and lately in Kazakhstan. It is very nice that you keep your identity and then mix with other identities to exchange views and get different experiences.

Over these years your works have been extensively exhibited around the world, including seven solo exhibitions and a recent participation to the Biennale of Malaysia. So, before taking leave from this interesting conversation I would like to pose a a question about the nature of the relation with your audience: in particular, do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial component of your decision-making process in terms of what type of language for a particular context?

When I start a new work and creation, all what I have in my mind is what will inspire me and let me choose my subject and my color pallette. It is very difficult to start a new work just to satisfy my audience. I believe that if I am sincere enough in following my inspiration and internal charges, this will be reflected in an artwork which will certainly reach my audience very effectively because it is not “made� or done by an order buti t is very honest from the inside to the inside.

Thanks a lot for this interesting conversation,

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Eman Hakim

Art Review

Eman. Finally, I would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects. Anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

I would like to update you with my latest and future activities that I am really proud of: During current Expo Milano 2015 and in all booths of UN, there is a campaign called “Zero Hunger� where they display videos showing artworks and they chose 2 of my paintings to show in this video.

On 30th of June 2015, 2 of my paintings will be exhibited in a big exhibition in Kazakhstan which is sponsered by the government there.

And on 5th of September 2015, I will participate in Chianciano Biennale in Italy with some art works and next year, i will hold my ninth solo exhibition in Cairo in February 2016.

Thank you very much for your very comprehensive and very interesting discussion and interview.

Eman Hakim

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Watermelon Man, 100x75 cm, Mixed media on apron, 2015

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Tahmina Negmat Lives and works in London, United Kingdom

An artist's statement

C

ome into the continents without knocking but with a filigree muzzle.When a traveller who has arrived in a strange country in fog and darkness wakes the next morning to find spread out before his eyes a fresh and extraordinary landscape, a great sense of elation can enter him which is very much akin to excitement.� (Jean Arp) The aim of my practice is to move towards absurdity. It is a process of building a new game through inherited disciplines of surrealism and dada. By putting the techniques of surrealists on painting, music, drawing, collage, film, poetry I create a cultural farrago.

I'm interested in discovering methods of stimulating the imagination such as those advocated by Leonardo who didn't hesitate to throw sponges soaked in different colours at a wall in order to create fortuitous images of battles. I recognise familiar shapes from the accidental distortions developing from a mix of different media and violent treatment of the surface, like a child being on the plane for the first time, observing clouds and building up an air zoo.

I'm not a mirror reflecting the society. What I simply want from painting is to wake up in a new world where a new poetic language is spoken and a new magical companionship exists between animal, vegetable, and

mineral, between the sea, the rain and the stars. The "frottage" technique was very important in my work because it excluded conscious mental influences (reason, taste, morals) tending to eliminate the active part played by the so-called author of the work.

The idea of being a "so-called" author means that I'm not a creator, I am simply an interpreter (capturing the most peculiar bits out there in nature and upgrading degrading them to the stage of comprehensibility by outlining recognised shapes from the accidental distortions).

I create a certain process of layering and rubbing. Like an archeologist digging into the surface and trying to tease out the most extravagant, outsider, mysterious outcome i can. I build a highly textured surface from newspaper, plaster and oil, then destroy it and recreate this distortion into new pictorial worlds.

I’m highly inspired by the idea of outsider art. Being a child is an ability to translate the same old school games into the daily serious practice of an artist. For example I still colour books, collage and practice papier mache, frottage (rub on textured surface with the pencil). I draw a link with cave paintings, considering you can be the most modern if you reference to the most ancient.

Tahmina Negmat

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LandEscape meets

Art Review

Tahmina Negmat An interview by Josh Ryder and Dario Rutigliano landescape@europe.com

Tahmina Negmat uses a wide range techniques to provide the viewers of an Ariadne's thread that allows us to accomplish a refined investigation about the liminal space in which perceptual reality and imagination coexist in a coherent unity marked with an atemporal feature. One of the most convincing aspect of Negmat's practice is the way she creates an area of intellectual interplay between perception and memory, contingency and immanence, establishing a stimulating synergy between materials from contingent era and an absolute approach to Art: I'm very pleased to introduce our readers to her refined artistic production.

Hello Tahmina, and welcome to LandEscape: to start this interview, would you like to tell us something about your background? You have a solid formal training and after attending the Moscow Gymnasium you moved to London, where you are currently pursuing your BA of Fine Art Painting at the Wimbledon College of Art. How do these experiences influence your evolution as an artists and how do they impact on the way you currently conceive and produce your works?

Hello, Yes, I’ve always been a sort of a rolling stone.

I was born in Uzbekistan, Bukhara and at the age of 8 migrated with my family to Russia.

Climate, people, language - all of it was different. I never really liked school. Probably because the “formal” education would almost always bypass art subjects as something unnecessary, not serious, something that doesn’t require a strong intellectual background to start with.

I think I was motivated to do something different. Romantically speaking, I was a 16 year old girl with iranian-korean ethnicity, in the unwelcoming to racial difference enviroment trying “to matter”. I started to draw not because of some natural ability or “talent” that was sleeping in the core of my personality, I was simply unimpressed with the city I lived in. And in the monologue of desperation, constant failure I managed to produce a lot of really bad work, that later miraculously were accepted by University of Arts London.

I’ve always been very interested in landscape and the utopian interplay that coexist with nature. I would illustrate a shelter that would be symbolised in “the Hill” where, shepherds are taking their pets for a walk, kids and pigs are playing hide and seek and russian dolls are rolling around the knap. Perhaps, I was mapping out my own dream hill where I would like to escape.

I would suggest to visit http://tashkanegmat.wix.com/arts in order to get a wider idea of your artistic production that we are going to discuss: I would begin from Chewing Gum in Lavender Hill, an interesting project that our readers has Juerg Luedi

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Tahmina Negmat

Art Review

already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article. When I first happened to get to know with this piece I tried to relate all the visual information to a single meaning. But I soon realized that I had to fit into the visual unity suggested by the narrative that pervades your images, forgetting my need for a univocal understanding of its symbolic content: in your work, rather that a conceptual interiority, I can recognize the desire to enabling us to establish direct relations... Would you say that it's more of an intuitive or a systematic process?

Both.

I never have a plan of what fo I want to illustrate, and you may say it’s accidental, unconscious, but I have a clear understanding of the strategy of entering the zone, where I can put certain creatures and figures together in the landscape and that decision making is quite deliberate. I create a certain process of layering and rubbing. Like an archeologist digging into the surface and trying to tease out the most extravagant, outsider, mysterious outcome i can. I build a highly textured surface from newspaper, plaster and oil, then destroy it and recreate this distortion into new pictorial worlds.

I’ve been working on “In Lavender Hill” for a year now and since then established a certain discipline of mixing

Lavender Hill, an artist's statement

Lavender Hill is a place, where my memory takes me when i just arrived to London and I fell in love with the sounds of the city, it’s traffic, nature, rules and certain people. I used to live in Clapham Common and every morning ceremonially walk along Lavender Hill. In my current work I’m trying to investigate what is false memory and is it dangerous to play a game with it by exaggerating reality to the stage of utopian surreality. Perhaps, the ideal world becomes a drag, but it doesn’t mean the moment was wrong. These oil paintings are produced on highly textured “prepared surface”. I draw a correlation of the vitality of surface and John Cage’s prepared piano, where he was using bolts and screws and I’m destroying fluidity of brushstrokes with plaster, newspaper and leaflets from random shows.

detail from myFunerals, Performance

Chewing Gum in Lavender Hill 59x42,5 cm, Mixed media on board 2014

Tahmina Negmat

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Tahmina Negmat

Art Review

Last Day in Lavender 84x60cm, Acrylic and plasticine on board, 2015

Tahmina Negmat

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components that would create spillages on the surface. Watercolour and cooking oil. The ingredients are battling with each other because of the chemical irritation, that conflicts of materials is later translated into fortuitous images of trees and inhabitants of the unknown territory. I then outline the recognized silhouettes appearing from the chaotic surface till the stage of familiarity of the viewer. Leonardo put it very nicely in one of his diaries, “Look at certain walls dirtied with various stains or with a mixture of different kinds of stones. If you have to invent some scene you will be able to see in them resemblance to various landscapes adorned with mountains, rivers, rocks, trees, plains, wide valleys and hills. You will also be able to see various battles and figures in quick movements, and strange expressions on faces, and costumes, and an infinite number of things which you can then reduce into separate, well - conceived form. With such walls and mixture of different stones the same thing happens as it does with the sound of bells, in whose peeling you may discover every name and word that you can imagine.�

I aiming to produce a nonverbal experience, where the viewer fall s into the narrative that has no story to tell, although it seems there is a hidden meaning, simply because I like large scene capturing a number of creatures gathering,together, feasting and celebrating the mortality of the moment.

I like the way the In Lavender Hill series shows a symbiosis between the abstract ideas that evoke such an indefinite impalpability and the tactile feature suggested by tones that saterate the canvas: while referring to an easily "fruible" set of symbols as starting points, you seem to remove the historic gaze from the reality you refer to, offering to the

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Tahmina Negmat

Art Review

Taking Pets For a Walk, 84x60 cm, Mixed media on board, 2014

viewers the chance to perceive in a more absolute form, in order to address us not only on a mere contingent view but especially to invites us to rethink about our future. So I would take this occasion to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indespensable part of a creative process... Do you think that a

creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

Yes, I suppose creative process could be disconnected from direct experience. It is well demonstrated in surrealist disciplines where in say frottage (rubbing on textured surface through paper) the artist played a passive role,

Tahmina Negmat

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In the furnished room of the Hill, 180x120 cm, Mixed media on board, 2015

deliberately leaving a chance mechanism to “leave a mark” and only then discover some quite admirable inventions: compose battles of animals and of men, landscapes or monsters, of devils and other fantastic things which bring you honor.

But I’m quoting Ernst here,

Another problem is that frottage and automatism were established in 1920s, while we emerging young artists are trying to be contemporary and “original”. I don’t see any murder in inheriting some disciplines from the past, artists all have done that. But we need to invent a new ritual, a new mixture of components, a new rhythm of applying that

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Tahmina Negmat

Art Review

mixture and the coherency of actions, that would achieve a very distinctive mirror of today’s reality.

A relevant feature of your approach that has particularly impacted on me is the way you highlight the inner bond between Man and Nature, unveiling the magical companionship that exists between the elements of the reality we inhabit. You invite the viewer to appreciate the intrinsic but sometimes disregarded beauty of geometrical patterns, and the way you questions the ephemeral (temporary, mortal) nature of nature offers a multilayered experience that, like Alexander Calder's works, raises a question on the role of the viewers' perception, forcing us to going beyond the common way we perceive not only the outside world, but our inner dimension...

In particular, your landscapes encapsulate a freedom of form with abstract features that reminds an oniric dimension and what mostly matters, they do not play as a mere background. Do you conceive these composition on an instinctive way or do you rather structure your process in order to reach the right balance?

So, I started out with the ritual of mixing materials and rubbing on the surface, then I let the images to emerge and outline them.

It's almost a shamanistic process of pursuing the composition. I guess I can’t call the process completely irrational and relying on what surface dictates to me. For example one of the deliberate and rational choices I’ve made is implementing geometry in my work. I found a great use in geometrical figures balancing the composition. It’s almost a

harmonical conclusion of almost all my works: circles, triangles and octagons are on the one hand are sort of a vital “full stop” for adjustment of an image and on the contextual perspective a metaphorical fence of the playground for children to exist in.

I'm interested in discovering methods of stimulating the imagination, also practiced by Surrealists. Especially techniques, that are based on divided attention such as Scribbling and Automatic Drawing .

Scribbling and Automatic Drawing is just a starting point for my work. Once the surface (which is made unconsciously, almost trance like ceremonially) is “prepared” I use the resulting play for analogy and visual camouflage recreating paint spillages into a sort of unconscious intentionality where i do “let a line go for a walk” , but do it more deliberately, rationally, evoking object representing an internal conflict, subdued wishes or a train of thoughts, another words a sort of a “Freudian slip”. “ As you have remarked once borrowing the definition from Marx Ernst, you do not consider yourself an artist, but a "So-called author": by capturing fragments of Reality, you degrade them to the stage of comprehensibility, offering to the viewer an Ariadne's Thread that allows to find personal interpretations to the subject you question. I'm personally convinced that some information are hidden, or even "encrypted" in the environment we live in, so we need to decipher them. Maybe that one of the roles of an artist could be to reveal unexpected sides of Nature, especially of our inner Nature... what's your point about this?

My practice showed, the best attitude to start

Tahmina Negmat

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Hopscoth 120x111 cm, Mixed media on board, 2015

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Tahmina Negmat

Art Review

Lullaby For John Cage, 84x60 cm, Mixed media on board, 2015

making something is accepting the dull nature of the author, of you. One of the most peculiar, fascinating , splendid marks and compositions would come out of the spillages on the underground walls, asphalt after the rain and crinkling aged walls in public lavatories. As an artist you are there to notice those things and try and capture that fluid moment with paint.

Imagine if they painted the world white? I wouldn’t be able to make any work, ever. I’m

not inspired, I simply steal things, look at my early collages. I’m outside of the process of creation, I’m outside of the game. I’m not an artist, I’m a constant and forever dependant of nature - it dictates me what to do. I would call myself an interpreter. I don’t reflect or have anything to say, I don't know what to say and how to make “it”. I can’t draw. I just watch what happens around me in the tube, on the asphalt, on the train , i then trace it and bring it to my studio. The only thing I accomplished to

Tahmina Negmat

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Accordingly, I daresay that imagination acts as cornerstones for the fulfillment process of the viewers that has reminded me again Thomas Demand, when he stated that "nowadays Art can no longer rely much on symbolic strategies and has to probe psychological narrative elements within the medium instead": what's your point about this? And in particular, how much do you explicitly think of a narrative for your works?

I would agree with that statement. I believe you can experience certain feelings, events and physical actions through the medium, in my case roughness of prepared surface. That's why I talk about John Cage in my work. I draw a correlation of the vitality of painting surface and Cage’s prepared piano, where he was using bolts and screws to mutate the sound and I’m destroying fluidity of brush strokes with plaster, newspaper and leaflets from random shows.

PORTRAIT OF THE ESCAPED RABBIT 63x68 Mixed media on canvas 2015

do - I acknowledged my skilless nature. I realized I can’t compete with nature.

Maybe I’m lazy, but I’m glad I stopped fighting.

In terms of the lines, I explained my passive role. But regarding the deliberate colour choice, my presence is quite evidential. Probably the closest definition one can implement on oneself is “pattern maker”.

I have highly appreciated the way you explore the blurry boundaries between Imagination and Experience: in particular,you seem to take advantage of Collective unconscious in order to disclose the unrevealed narrative behind the ephemeral moments you capture.

One of the most interesting surveys in life is reaching out fundamental questions, as who we are and what is it all for, but I find it extremely unrewarding and unsatisfactory to philosophise about something that grand and ambiguous on the same fundamental level. For example, I was never keen on making any political statement or raise questions of social awareness on world’s problems, but rather making and mastering in something small, insignificant, a bit pointless and completely useless in the practical aspect and in contextual one. My work will be balancing around escape and at the same time sarcastic comment about naivety of those utopian believes, childhood and purity and hidden violence and even sexual intercourse. Those contrasts would create a bias context, that would take a viewer into the whirlpool of cultural farrago and narrative oxymoron, and at the end what will be left is a smile of weakness - how meaningful the attempt of intellectual analysis was, but the journey is quite joyful.

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Tahmina Negmat

Art Review

Your paintings are often marked out with a center that conveys the idea of such a geometric precision: yet the shapes you paint tend to have soft edges, that suggest a sense of freedom, freedom from an authoritative order. This is something that seems to have held back a lot of the more formal abstract painters of our time.

Does some of the human feeling that pervade your works stem from the basic tenet that, despite being considered abstract, they contain universally recognizable forms? By the way, any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?

I think painting is about the representation of something akin, but though a different lens of perspective and the beauty of it is to recognize a well known object (physical or translucid) from an unexpected angle. And a lot of abstract expressional painters would be quite gestural and the images will remain ambiguous, they would still draw familiar images that exist in the reality or if you want surreality. Henri Michaux was doing it absolutely brilliantly. His work is very figurative and extremely clever, capturing a crowd of people in drips and arranging that syncopathic rhythm of figures beating on paper. Very gestural, but for me it’s almost hyperrealism. So it’s all about difference in perception. I personally value the “ authenticity” of movement rather than how well the object was drawn in regards to bounded standards of representation. It is part of a reason why I implement those rough a bit child drawing geometric shapes. They balance the image and play a role of a guideline. That’s how I attempt to control the scenario of the viewers eyes travelling around canvas if you want. Looks innocent and almost naive, but geometry is quite a powerful I would say manipulative tool.

Multidisciplinarity is a crucial aspect of your art practice and you seem to be in an incessant search of an organic, almost intimate symbiosis between several disciplines, accomplishing the full potential of the mediums you explore, as it

Tahmina Negmat

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GATHERING EGGS 21x29,5 cm Mixed media on board 2014

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Tahmina Negmat

Art Review

Playing Hide-and -Seek in Lavender Hill 2015

Tahmina Negmat

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is clearly revealed in your interesting Collages. In particular, it seems that you have conveyed into a postdisciplinary approach all your previous artistic experiences: while crossing the borders of different artistic fields have you ever happened to realize that a symbiosis between different disciplines is the only way to achieve some results, to express some concepts?

No, I don’t think so. On the contrary, I’m always uncomfortable about making both collage and painting. If you are happen to be just a painter or just a collagist it is an incredible fortune. That means you can fully concentrated on something one. I personally doubt that the lifetime is enough to score at least in one medium.

I started making collage simply because I wanted to be a painter. At first it was more of an exercise, like playing scales, rather than a series individual practice. I wanted to understand colour and a physical tension between objects. In collage you can achieve it with pleasant immediacy, because all you do is arrange the cutouts.

But later I started noticing the cross paths in those different disciplines.

Collage also demonstrates the role of the so-called author, because technically you steal images from different sources. (I combined paint and collage to create artificial landscapes inhabited by images of people and objects taken from 1960s1970s movies.)

I completed a series of cutouts that later transformed into paintings. Those paintings may seem as nice, pretty images , but actually they are filled with sarcasm, self awareness and self criticism. For instance, “Green is a Colour”.

I used such images like Muse’s album “Black Holes And Revelations” , photographed by a renowned graphic designer Storm Thorgerson and shamelessly intrude into it with my dumb cutout. Or I would paint over somebody’s leaflet for the exhibition. The next stage of “self mockery” is the way I paint it.

I use photo transfer to say “I can’t paint” and on purposely put myself in the position of a complete dependant of the painting.

The only place where i could be “creative”is in my dumb elements, paint blocks. Those insignificant components put my impudent copyright on stolen images. So-called Author is a

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Tahmina Negmat

Art Review

Submarine, 2015

poem of a narcissist with complexes.

I would like to highlight one of your upcoming project, that will be entitled "Restoration of the unknown masterpiece": you are planning to exhibit large scale paintings in London Underground, in order to restore the work that doesn't exist anymore. I find this really stimulating and I think that our readers in London will have an enthusiastic feedback to this

project: would you like to elaborate the ideas that has lead you to conceive it?

Oh if only I could.. For now it’s just an idea.

“Restoring the work that doesn’t exist anymore” is a quite a metaphorical way of describing my project. Maybe some of the readers will be confused.

Tahmina Negmat

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Green is a Colour, 2015

I would like to create an exhibition in the Kennington underground. A couple of years ago Kennington platform wall had the most incredible gigantic piece of energetic, attacking with it’s beauty organic composition, that developed on it’s own through the process of aging. I was lucky to fix the transit moment

with my camera. Lucky, because the “Landscape” was “erased”, renovated and painted white. I want to restore the work that doesn't exist anymore. I believe it will find it’s appreciation after it’s “death”. It will be an opportunity for Londoners to look at something they’ve known for ages, something that for

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Tahmina Negmat

Art Review

ages had been ignored, from a trace of different perspective. As Marcel Proust said, "The real voyage of discovery consists, not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." A series of prints that would be lying on the walls across platform instead of commercial posters.

If the project will be realized, part of the earned money will go on the restoration of UK’s historical buildings. I felt it’s important to do that, because I'm only semi responsible for making the work, most of the picture I only restore is drawn by nature (changes in temperature, level of humidity, aging, dust precipitation). I look at it as more of a collaborative piece, rather than individual one, so all the paintings will hold the name of the tube station and mine.

Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts, Tahmina.

Before taking leave from this interesting conversation I would like to pose a a question about the nature of the relation with your audience: in particular, do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial component of your decision-making process in terms of what type of language for a particular context?

Why can’t you be a viewer and an artist at the same time? I’m an audience myself, because artists don’t just endlessly draw, or paint or upon the whole, physically interact with the piece, they step back and look at what they’ve “created”. By doing that they play a passive role of the viewer.

Also site specific context is important. By putting the works in the series we are framing them with invisible frames.

And the viewer does not necessarily need to be a person, it could be a spot like Lavender Hill or a whole city. London influences and shapes my work tremendously. It is such an exciting place to be.

Thank you very much indeed and have a lovely day.

In the Room of Mary Barnes An interview by J. Ryder and D. Rutigliano landescape@europe.com

180x120 cm Mixed media on board, 2015

Tahmina Negmat

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Cover me with Flowers

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Paul Wood Lives and works in London

P

aul Wood was born in London and was educated in the East London area gaining qualifications in Fine Art, Ceramics and design. In his early years he was deeply influenced by the work of Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo. Paul gained practical skills in drawing, both Technical Drawing and freehand and later this also helped him to gain qualifications in Computer Aided Design and 3D. He has turned his hand to designing and constructing props and backdrops to sign writing and sculpture and is accomplished at pencil work. Paul Wood's work speaks of his experiences and influences and has created a unique progressive style now working solely with Acrylic glass sheet. He describes this material as bright, lustrous and exciting but also unforgiving, challenging and extremely hard work but rewarding.

His work is a progressive experimental and technical culmination of his life experiences and influences which has now matured to produce stunning abstract expressive and more recent geometric work which have been described as fun, stunning, colorful and mesmerizing. He is influenced by the work of Mondriaan, Kandinsky

and Kline, Pollock, Clyfford Still and Schulze. As an artist inspiration comes to me from feelings, words, lyrics, architecture and music. This entwined with my love of individuality and challenge spark new ideas within me to create work that is exciting, unique, aesthetically appealing. I am a self taught artist with a passion to create and capture true beauty in art, with the hopes in making a happy escape for the viewer.

"Paul's work contains energy, spontaneity, and emotion resulting in art work that arouse and captivate the viewer. His abstract artworks both expressive and geometric are expressions of his love for colour, textures, shape and individuality.

Paul has nurtured his independence and artistic freedom and creates spontaneously from within: expressing a feeling, words, music, lyrics, a memory or an impression in his unique and original style. His abstract art is well-known and he has shown extensively both in London and closer to home and his work is collected nationally. He has been painting,drawing and creating his entire life and after a successful 2014 establishing himself within the Essex and London art scene is now looking forward to extending his established abstraction style"

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Art Review

Paul Wood An interview by Josh Ryder and Katherine Williams with the collaboration of Dario Rutigliano landescape@europe.com

London based artist Paul Wood harmonizes the expressive potential of bright tones with rigorous formal approach to abstract shapes: questioning about the role of the medium as a semantic vehicle, he produce seductive, high-gloss surfaces that convey spontaneity and geometrical balance into a coherent, consistent unity. One of the most convincing aspect of Wood's practice is the way he creates an area of deep interplay that invites the viewers to explore the crossroad between Emotion and Geometry: I'm very pleased to introduce our readers to his refined artistic production.

producing quality artwork on the backburner, however gaining more qualifications in computer aided design in my 30’s and other projects I was involved with at that time, led to the creation fire in my belly to be re-lit. The work I conceive now has a certain technical side to it with a purpose and thats not only to give to my client or the viewer a piece of fine,original artwork but I also like it when this is analysed and they ask the question “how did you do that”. The materials I have chosen to work with are away from the norm and I like that, it gives me a great sense of achievement . However this can prove detrimental as the medium is hard work and unforgiving as mistakes can prove costly.

Hello Paul and welcome to LandEscape: to start this interview, would you like to tell us something about your background? In particular, you have a solid formal training and you were educated in the East London area gaining qualifications in Fine Art, Ceramics and design: how have these experiences influenced your evolution as an artist and on the way you currently conceive and produce your works?

Now let's focus on your artistic production: I would start from The Look, a recent work that our readers can admire in the following pages of this article: and I would suggest our readers to visit http://paulwoodabstractart.wix.com/paulwood abstract?fb_ref=Default in order to get a wider idea of your multifaceted artistic production. In the meanwhile, would you tell us something about the genesis of this interesting project? What was your initial inspiration?

I have a background of a mechanical aspect as well as my art qualifications. I wanted to go onto art college when I left school with a view of a career as an artists but an unexpected life pathway took over upon me leaving school which put my artwork and my desire for

Once I had spent months experimenting with the acrylic sheet and a suitable medium and after mastering my methods, I could see that the whole work I found became a smooth glass like surface combining the medium with the acrylic sheet. With “The Look”there was no Juerg Luedi

Tetris Head

Paul Wood

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target, other than a chaotic but controlled adaptation of inner thoughts. I found that the paint formed amazing pockets of colour and after working on this over a few days, I could see that there was an abstractive semblance, in the work that started to imurge like a languid Dali figure, staring directly out of its acrylic cell. I first exhibited this at Hoxton Arches in early 2014, along with 3 other works all of which were conceived with the same process. I noted that all of my work received mixed reaction from people interested in the process and the materials, to other comments that were more of a negative vein from traditionalists who couldn’t see the acrylic for its natural beauty. I had already been successfully selling my work whilst using traditional methods and following this exhibition I was contacted by my client who had seen my work at Hoxton and was particularly interested in “The Look” stating that it had “talked to him”. It now resides in him home in Kensington.

The Look

instantaneous inspiration, no pre determined ideas other than to allow the medium and acrylic to let me see what it could do. I had collected a number of tools and spray bottles, along with the medium itself and combined with a freedom of expression, I began to apply the medium in small areas, working it with a combination of soft touches and an occassional explosions of energy. I spontaneously dribbled, splashed and smeared the medium onto the acrylic in a Pollockesq way. Without any preconceived

As you have remarked, The Look was one of the first projects that you experimented with acrylic glass sheet and that was the starting point which lead you to conceive Cover me with flowers and Tetris Head, that I have to admit is one of my favourite work of yours. The refined sense of geometry that pervades these canvas speaks of an abstract beauty that goes beyond any stereotyped idea and brings a new level of significance to the images that you conceptualize: this challenge the viewers' perception in order to going beyond the common way to perceive not only the outside world, but the way we relate to it... I'm sort of convinced that some informations & ideas are hidden, or even "encrypted" in the environment we live in, so we need -in a way- to decipher them. Maybe that one of the roles of an artist could be to reveal such unexpected

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Paul Wood

Art Review

sides of Nature, especially of our inner Nature... what's your point about this?

I totally agree. I believe that artists have an ability to connect with peoples imagination and their inner senses. But I truly believe that in order to truly understand an artists work the viewer has to be switched onto the work. I know lots of friends and family have mentioned that they have been to gallery’s where they love the work that has been seen, but just didn’t understand it. This is the problem with abstract work . It’s not a certainty that whoever sees what you have painstakingly produced, sometimes to mental exhaustion,will connect with them at all. I believe also that art and artists can release the viewers imagination as well as their demonds. While the look was for me an experimental, yet totally original expressive abstractive piece, “Cover me” and “Tetris Head” are adaptations and progression on my original, unique concept working with acrylic.

It allows me to favourably capture consistency and for with little or no emphasis on brushstrokes or action. Its a beautiful product.

For me, so lustrous and exciting. While these new works are formed of tessellated shapes adhering together to format an idea and move away in a different direction to the freedom I have expressed in “The Look” I feel that I have equally been able to communicate with perception of viewers and I feel that my geometric work in fact causes viewers to ask more questions as to its story and conception from idea to completion and I find that inspiring.

Although I'm a ware this may sound a bit naïf, the first sensation that I received from Monochrome was a bit unsettling: it has suggested to me the idea of a violent explosion, but at the same time, its refined texture softens this effect. When I first happened to get to know this piece I tried

to relate all the visual information to a single meaning. But I soon realized that I had to fit more instinctively into the visual rhythm suggested by the juxtaposition of intense colors, forgetting my need for any univocal understanding: in your work, rather that a conceptual interiority, I can recognize the desire to enabling us to establish direct relations... Would you say that it's more of an intuitive or a systematic process?

I believe it’s a combination of both. With Monochrome I knew that I wanted to paint a really impactive piece, using primarily just two main colours and I think you would agree that you couldn’t get more opposite ends of the spectrum, universally recognised, as black and white. With monochrome it became apparent to me, while I started constructing ideas, that a cracking or breaking effect in some way would initiate either a feeling of destruction or breaking free, a release. And so with an initial idea, I started to construct the work. With the medium I had chosen and being water based, it was enticed to form its own direction, using paintbrushes, spatulas, wooden tabs and tools I had either made or adapted, to cojole the flow of paint into different and opposing directions. Adding lighter colour to form pockets of strange and unusual combinations of mixed medium. To add a little highlight I also added an ivory shade to the work to add a slightly different dimension. So the systematic process was already in place and adaptions of ideas on an intuitive spectrum were formed as the work progressed. Abstract Art is, I feel, always controversial within this area as some people have a difficulty relating to a peice because they cannot readily see immediately what the work is all about. I remember reading an article about Jackson pollock as he was being visited in 1950 by Hans Namuth, a young photographer, who wanted to take pictures (both stills and moving) of Pollock at work.

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Monochrome

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Pollock promised to start a new painting especially for the photographic session, but when Namuth arrived, Pollock apologized and told him the painting was finished. He went onto add, “ A dripping wet canvas covered the entire floor… There was complete silence… Pollock looked at the painting. Then, unexpectedly, he picked up can and paint brush and started to move around the canvas. It was as if he suddenly realized the painting was not finished. His movements, slow at first, gradually became faster and more dance like as he flung black, white, and rust colored paint onto the canvas. He completely forgot that Lee and I were there; he did not seem to hear the click of the camera shutter … My photography session lasted as long as he kept painting, perhaps half an hour. In all that time, Pollock did not stop. How could one keep up this level of activity? Finally, he said 'This is it”.

So with examples relating to my and also to established world renowned artists such as Jackson Pollock, it can be therefor realised that to paint or create becomes a joint enterprise between intuition and systematic process where the artist himself understands entirely when the work is complete. Iit’s an intuitive feeling inside your soul.

Another interesting work of yours that has particularly impacted on me and on which I would like to spend some words is entitled Firecracker: in particular, I have appreciated the tactile sensation communicated by intense tones of red and purple that establishes a symbiosis rather than a contrast with the white areas on the canvas. How have you developed the nuances of your colorful "palette" and in particular how did it evolved over time?

Firecracker came about following the success of “The Look” and was a combination of a free style application of

Paul Wood

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medium that I had established in my work. I had already been creating abstract work on traditional boxed canvas, so it just seemed a natural progression to paint onto the acrylic with a mindset that this was just a normal canvas but also with the knowledge of how the medium reacts on acrylic. I also found that dependent on when and how the paint was applied, determined the effect and ridges. Ebbs, voids and flows are created, not necessarily just through movement, but also through the consistency of the paint. I intended to make the colours free from objective context and become the subject in itself. I evolved as an artist through personal experience, skills, techniques and also through inspiration from the masters or indeed influential artists. Even though I have created my own unique style, I, along with many artists are inspired by the famous and infamous and I remember at a very young age, I was influenced by the artwork of Frank Frazzeta and Boris Vallejo. My early artwork emulated their style, but once I discovered that abstract art in any format, really excited me in a way I had never experienced before and my discovery of Jackson Pollock, Jeff koons, Lichtenstein, Paul Klee, Clifford Still, to name but a few,all combined to become the catalyst I needed. Even though each of these pioneers are different, to me they can be grouped the same as they are all originators of perfected style and technique. This discovery opened the door to the pathway I had been destined to go.

The recurrent reference to a universal imagery suggested by natural elements, as in Watermargin, seem to remove the historic gaze from the reality you refer to, offering to the viewers the chance to perceive in a more atemporal form. In this sense, I daresay that the semantic juxtaposition between sign and matter that

marks out your art, allows you to go beyond any dichotomy between Tradition and Contemporariness, establishing a stimulating osmosis between a classic imagery and a modern, lively approach to Art: do you recognize any contrast between Tradition and Contemporariness?

Water margin is of course a conjunction between contemporary practices and traditional illustration. Water margin was constructed intentionally to imitate the illustrations of ancient Chinese pen and ink drawings where the picture donated rocks, trees or other natural elements. This particular piece I painted in relation to my own investigation into Chinese history for an exhibition I took part in at La Galleria in 2014.

The exhibition highlighted the struggle for justice and I chose the story of the watermargin as a topic to paint. To me, the traditional way the old masters illustrated history was a unique resemblance to my early inspirations from Frank Frazetta as he would illustrate story lines in great detail using pen and ink as a mock up for what would be an oil painting at a later date. So the osmotic practice I had applied, had already been planted in my phsychy many years beforehand and beautifully reproduced in technicolour.

Your practice is intrinsically connected to the chance of creating an area of deep interplay with the viewers, that are urged to evolve from the condition of a merely passive audience: I definetely love the way Quilt takes such an intense participatory line not only on the way we enjoy Art, but also and especially on its conception. In particular, your investigation about the intimate consequences of abstract constructed realities has reminded me of Thomas Demand's works: while conceiving Art could be considered a purely abstract activity, there is always a way of giving it a

Watermargin

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Quilt

permanence that goes beyond the intrinsic ephemeral nature of the concepts you capture. So I would take this occasion to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indespensable part of a

creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

There is always a trigger for artists to make amazing artwork. Be it life experiences, to

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inspired by the block geometric coverings of the regeneration of East London, then there is the meaning of the word “Quilt” personally, which I remember in my childhood, as being something good and exciting that was made with love and affection. Something that was made intentionally to provide a child comfort. Keep them safe. Then there is the attraction and the prepossessing alluring qualities of the acrylic. In Thomas Demands work, other than being a sculptor, is known for making photographs of threedimensional models that look like real images of rooms and other spaces and often sites loaded with social and political meanings. I have no political or social meanings behind my work, I think that would be a catalyst for problematic issues that I do not want to entertain. In 2011, Demand createdMetzlersaal (2011). Commissioned by the Städel Museum, the photograph appears as if the main hall in the museum is lined floor to ceiling with purple curtains. Demand was inspired by the drapery depicted in many of the Städel’s Old Master paintings. I like that concept. Taking an inanimate object such as a curtain or an item of bedding and depicting it in such a way that it’s deconstructed and then constructed in a methodical organised way, allowing ones random energy to explode in a controlled fashion. This is “Quilt”, is there an interaction between this work and my audience. I am sure there is, as there has been between my other work and my clients.

world events, news, injustice, freedom, life in its complex beauty. “Quilt” is a play on architectural representation. But has a hidden meaning. In this piece there are three elements. There is the architectural reference,

Multidisciplinarity has become a more and more important aspect of your practice and you seem to be in an incessant search of an organic, almost intimate synergy between several disciplines, taking advantage of the creative and expressive potential of different materials: have you ever happened to realize that a symbiosis between such variety is the only way to achieve some results, to express some concepts?

For me the progression from canvas to acrylic has been an exciting experiment for me. I feel that I

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Paul Wood

Art Review

have been producing exceptional quality of work that is totally unique. I feel that with “Quilt”, “Tetris” “Cover me with Flowers” and two new peices I have recently completed, “Pearly Dewdrops Drops” and “Every colour you are” have a lustrous and amazing textured face that makes people want to touch it. I love that reaction. I take deep enjoyment out of clients and viewers deeply interested in its construction, conception and my technical ability to not only have the vision but the ability to produce such eyecatching work. I don’t think I would have achieved anywhere near the same result, using maybe acrylics or oils as I have the knowledge to understand what the finished article will look using the acrylic. The whole idea of the works I have mentioned were intentionally constructed with my forward vision and I believe that I am making a maverick style of impacting and modern geometric work.

During these years your works have been extensively exhibited around in several occasions, including a recent participation to the Celebrating The Abstract, in California. So, before taking leave from this interesting conversation I would like to pose a a question about the nature of the relation with your audience: in particular, do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial component of your decision-making process in terms of what type of language for a particular context?

Not at all. Art is universal, yet has its own category. For example I would not have considered my work suitable for a contemporary figurative exhibition as I know my own style and concepts. I believe that an artists should always create work that they enjoy. An expression. Be it topical or typical of that individual or style. I went through a

stage a few years ago, trying to paint in a way that I thought would be aesthetically appealing to people, instead of painting because I enjoyed it. It became a drag. I ended up going through painters block and gave art a rest for a while to evaluate where and what I was aiming for. I began to find that I hated painting because I didn’t enjoy it and the true meaning of my work was lost in the ether of expression and creativity. Once I had determined where my work was going and what I wanted to achieve I found that my creative thinking improved and I was able to create freely and easily for me primarily and not for an audience.

Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Paul. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving?

Having established myself exhibiting primarily in London over the past few years at many exciting venues in East London, Piccadilly, Brick Lane as well as in Laguna Beach, California. I am determined to continue working hard getting my work out to a wider audience. I have plans to exhibit at FLUX ,a contemporary art exhibition later in the year at the Royal college of Art and TIAF, venue to be announced. I have also representation with Degree Art and in talks with M1 Gallery, Greenwich. I am also awaiting conformation of recent submissions. The acrylic is my future and should you wish to make any enquiries about my geometric abstract work or indeed anything I have mentioned in this article.

You can contact me at paulwoodabstractart@googlemail.com or on my website http://paulwoodabstractart.wix.com/paulwooda bstract?fb_ref=Default or my Facebook page paulwoodabstractart.

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Every colour you are

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Flesh Tone, 2015 Oil paint, Perpex and Rope

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Nara Walker Lives and works in London, United Kingdom

An artist's statement

C

urrently living in the London Nara Walker is an Australian born contemporary artist. She explores the physicality of creating within her work, presenting the viewer with paintings, performances, photographic work and at times mixing the mediums.

Nara is interested in the viewers perspective as the voyeur thus uses the process of revealing and concealing to course tension. Thus the viewer becomes more aware of their own thoughts and fantasy as to what they see.

Her work is sensual and expressionist creating a line between beauty and grotesque through application.

"Through lust and fantasy my work aims to manipulate the viewer into the voyeurs position.

The body reacts to the touch of another, as does my work. Like a kiss to the back of the knee or a

finger brushing up against the inside thigh. Each mark I make influences another due to the sensual side of making that mark.

The medium reacts to the surface, the surface to the medium, my hands and other appliances creating that tactile connection.

Each stroke, gesture or movement captured upon the surface representing the physicality and pleasure of creating for the voyeur to participate."

Nara Walker

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Nara Walker An interview by Dario Rutigliano, curator witht he collaboration of Katherine Williams landescape@europe.com

A refined multidisciplinary approach allows Nara Walker to establish an organic symbiosys between several viewpoints, creating an area of deep interplay that allows us to enter an emotional realm, in which the subconscious dimension emerges into a tactile, physical way. If creativity has to do with improvisation, with what is happening around us, Walker's art provides us of an Ariadne's thread that allows us to accomplish a refined investigation about the liminal space in which physicality, imagination and eroticism find an unexpected point of convergence and coexist in a coherent unity.

I'm very pleased to introduce our readers to her refined artistic production.

Hello Nara, and welcome to LandEscape: to start this interview, would you like to tell us something about your background? You have a solid formal training and after earning your Bachelor of Fine Art with Honours, that you recently received from the Griffith University, you moved to London where you undertook your first artist in residency at Juxtaposed Gallery. How have these experiences influenced your evolution as an artists and how do they impact on the way you currently conceive and produce your works?

Hello and thank you for having me!

My background has always been in the way of Juerg Luedi

Nara Walker

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detail from myFunerals, Performance

Nara Walker

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freedom of expression, as I was growing up my family encouraged me to express myself within the arts. Through the movement of dance, singing, performances and of course fine art. I believe this has allowed me to find my artist mark at an earlier stage than some. Through school I was pushed away from my abstract mind and towards a more realistic approach. However in my senior years from 16-17 I had a teacher who like my mother appreciated my artist mark and allowed me to create rather than copy. I then won the schools Acquisitive art prize which made me trust trust what my gut had told me to do, which was to be an 'artist'.

My Bachelor of Fine Art with Honours was an interesting time for me. As with any university degree there's more to it than the outcome, you find reason and theory behind process. The degree allowed me to focus on experimenting and my purpose to create with holding a stance for self expression. I'm a lover for travel and had previously been living in Oslo, Norway. Before this I had completed a Diploma of Fine Art at Tafe. The diploma was a good base after school to acknowledge my love for the tactile creation of fine art. The year away was a space to meditate on what I had learnt in the years previous and then the BFA allowed me to introduce a new period into my art.

My honours year was the year full of many lessons. I was painting with an established artist and friend Sokquon Tran in Sydney Australia. His words helped me refine my process -As a student you hold back with materials at times- He had told me to never hold back with my application of paint and allowed me to create in his studio with as much paint as I needed. You see if you hold back then you are holding back from the potential of the work. My honours year had started from this and I was very excited to lose myself within my art again.

Once I moved to the UK I was accepted into an Artist in Residence and it was a great way to explore a new space. I believe the light is different all over the

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Nara Walker

Art Review

world so our subconscious choice of colours may change. The artist in residence was the start to many exciting projects in the UK and abroad.

I would suggest to our readers to visit http://www.naraisart.com in order to get a wider idea of your artistic production that we are going to discuss: let's begin from Flesh Tone, a recent work that our readers has already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article. When I first happened to get to know with this piece I tried to relate all the visual information to a single meaning. But I soon realized that I had to fit into the visual unity suggested by the narrative that pervades your images, forgetting my need for a univocal understanding of its symbolic content: in your work, rather that a conceptual interiority, I can recognize the desire to enabling us to establish direct relations... Would you say that it's more of an intuitive or a systematic process?

I am very pleased to hear your visual reading on my work. To fit into the visual unity rather than one single meaning. The work should be engaged with, not just watched, it should be felt, however you can not be completely tactile with the work as a viewer, you should feel the urge to be. A relationship is met through direct relations to the physicality of the body.

Aiming to enhance the viewer to a moment of feeling united with the work. As their imagination and senses become the final medium to the piece.

Flesh tone is a sculptural painting on Acrylic Perspex, painted with oil paint and suspended with rope. The work could be described as an abstract self portrait.

This rope was one I have worn before, so each knot implies a specific point on my body. This creates connotations of the physical and absent body.

I may have an idea, however that all changes depending on my mood and or the medium. There's a relationship between the artist and materials used; as mentioned before also between the viewer and the work. This relationship is between the point of my own imagination - my physical body and the audience.

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Art Review

Let Flight

Capturing the dance between myself and the medium on a fluid level allows my artist mark

to be revealed.

Back to Flesh tone, it was painted intuitively

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feature suggested by tones that saturate the canvas: while referring to an easily "fruible" set of symbols as starting points, you seem to remove the historic gaze from the reality you refer to, offering to the viewers the chance to perceive in a more absolute form, in order to address us not only on a mere contingent view but especially to invites us to rethink about our future: this is a feature that I can recognize in other works from your recent production, as Fire Flies and Mindscape. So I would take this occasion to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indespensable part of a creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

Process and experimentation is inspired by my personal experiences as they impact my creativity. These moments I engage with create ridges which I believe push specific colours, forms and subjects into my subconscious.

Inspiration comes from the everyday and the process of creating is like unpacking or celebrating the emotions and thoughts into a visual language others can partake in.

Fire Flies

with my hands rubbing and pushing against the support. I believe it captures the sensual relationship between my subconscious with lush oil paint and the physical body. The rope was added at a later date.

I like the way Let Flight shows a symbiosys between the abstract ideas that evoke such an indefinite impalpability and the tactile

Direct experience may be pulled away within some artists works, however I don't think I can.

As we all hold our own specific symbols, connotations and experiences which ignite our creativity and ability to share moments. The moments may be shared through an array of mediums - on canvas, through performance and many other mediums.

The moment my direct experiences can't be expressed within my work the meaning of the work changes. The work for me has no longer been created, it's more like a product that has been produced for the masses.

I like the way your careful approach offers a rigorous but at the same time lively visual

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Nara Walker

Nara Walker

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Art Review

translation of immaterial and physical sights that pervade our reality: in this sense, your approach intrinsically connected to the chance of creating an area of intense interplay with the viewers, that are invited to evolve from the condition of a passive audience. I would go as far as to state that in a certain sense you invite the viewers to challenge the common way to perceive not only the outside world, but our inner dimension... By the way, I'm sort of convinced that some informations & ideas are hidden, or even "encrypted" in the reality we inhabit, so we need -in a way- to decipher them.

Maybe that one of the roles of an artist could be to reveal unexpected sides of Nature, especially of our inner Nature... what's your point about this?

Codes and symbols create connotations and awaken senses within the audience. I am a strong believer that the artists role is to evoke and encourage the audience to question and feel.

Nature of the human is to create, we have always created. The creations have been for different reasons and or in different materials. However we have the capability to create worlds within our own world. The artist should inspire and even if they are unaware of the codes they are creating, they should embrace the viewers within a visual language where our inner nature can connect with the outer.

Colour is of such importance, as is texture and gestures. Why do we feel a specific way when we are engaging with an art work? Why has the artist spread the colours and penetrated the texture as they have? People sometimes ask me how I know if a work is finished, I reply I just know. They may find that silly, however mathematically the equation of paint, movement and energy is complete for me. That's how I know the work is finished. It's a new world created within our own world. A space one can now become one with and feel encouraged by their own imagination inspired by the work.

Nara Walker

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Nara Walker

Nara Walker

LandEscape 42 Art Review

I like the way you investigate about the psychological nature of the representational image, offering to the viewer such an Ariadne's thread that allows us to unveil unexpected but ubiquitous relations between eroticism and physicality. Philippe Dagen once established in his Le Silence des peintres, that the coming of a straight realism has caused a progressive retrenchment of painting from its primordial representetive role of reality.

With exception of Hyperrealism movement, Painting is nowadays more and more marked out with a symbolic feature. Do you think that the dichotomy between Representation and Painting is by now irremediable?

Painting and representation go in hand as it is ones representation of an image, feeling or moment in time captured. The problem I question as being prevalent today is if artists are creating for what they feel to create or for what they think they should create.

Many artists are technically amazing, however hold a feeling of deadness within their work.

A true representation is not only a hyperrealistic approach, it is a moment you engage with a work which represents what should be felt and engaged by the viewer.

I think due to the public at times believing a work should represent the image as a photograph many works have been created in angst. We still hold onto the ideals of a pure representation of the subject matter which I see as a moment head over heart comes into play – or thought instead of emotion. A realistic painting is fine, however it should hold something more than just a copy of what is presented in front. It should hold an emotion within the movement, the colours and thus become alive again.

Art can be created to make a statement, or evoke a feeling. It can also be created because we are told what will and will not be hung in a gallery

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Nara Walker

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Nara Walker

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space. The latter makes me sad as this is again a product and we artist are the machines.

the only way to achieve some results, to express some concepts?

I have highly appreciated the way you combine a careful sensibility with a marked instinctive approach, that reveals an investigation about a subconscious dimension: in particular,you seem to take advantage of Collective unconscious in order to disclose the unrevealed narrative behind the ephemeral moments you capture.

Accordingly, I daresay that imagination acts as cornerstones for the fullfilment process of the viewers that has reminded me Thomas Demand, when he stated that "nowadays Art can no longer rely much on symbolic strategies and has to probe psychological narrative elements within the medium instead": what's your point about this? And in particular, how much do you explicitly think of a narrative for your works?

Working within different disciplines allows me to fully voice what I want to express.

For an example, as a native English speaker during times of travel I pick up new words and in turn ways to express an emotion, a need or an object. Once learnt sometimes these words stick with me as they express what I feel in a more suitable way than the English language.

As an artist I have expressed myself in many other mediums and find that the symbiosis between the different disciplines explain my work better at times.

The ephemeral moments hold the narrative of my work. What is persistent is the subject of myself, expression of those moments and stories shared. I create through exploring my own subconscious. For me it's like a meditation within the process of creating.

You described my work to take advantage of the collective unconscious in order to disclose the unrevealed narrative. This is tue and the viewer rather than being asked and having to verbalise an emotion can partake and reveal their own subconcious through imagination and fantasy.

Multidisciplinarity is a crucial aspect of your current practice: besides your stimulating paintings you also express your Art through suggestive performances as the recent Energy String - Mapping relationships through memory and energy. while crossing the borders of different artistic fields have you ever happened to realize that a symbiosis between different disciplines is

Today we have so much more to create with it would be like wearing the same colour every day. In turn not being able to express myself fully. Each work encourages me to learn more about my practice and feeds into the process of the others.

Painting is my favourite medium, when I draw, or perform painting comes out within the process even if the medium is not present. As the way I move has been inspired by the movement of painting.

You had your first solo Suggestive Gestures about a year ago, at the Woolloongabba Art Gallery in Brisbane: the vivid patterns that pervades the canvas from this series had on me the same impact that I happened to experience on the first time I had the chance to view Jenny Saville's early works.

Conveying physicality and dynamism, your paintings are often marked out with a center that conveys the idea of a subtle geometric precision: yet the shapes you paint tend to have soft edges, that suggest a sense of freedom, freedom from an authoritative order. This is something that seems to have held back a lot of the more formal abstract painters of our time. Does some of the human feeling that pervade your works stem

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Art Review

from the basic tenet that, despite being considered abstract, they contain universally recognizable forms? By the way, any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?

I can see the similarity within the mark making of Saville's and my work, we both represent human form pushed through an abstract mark. I

think all painting is abstract as it is a representation created from ones own point of view from a moment in time. Time is abstract and as is the mind. Capturing this within a painting is holding onto an abstract thought and emotion.

The work is felt and moved across with gestures,within these gestures spaces arise as

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reconizable forms. I then push and pull these to conceal and reveal what feels like it should be shared. Combining two visual languages in one work inspires imagination and interaction amongst the viewer and the work. I want my work to cross the line between what some see as pure abstraction and recognisable symbols – such as the figure. The feeling which is felt whilt viewing a work which is not one nor the other

leaves some feeling angst or other emotions, interrupting their ideals of what an image should represent. Viewers sometimes feel as you described earlier the feeling to fit into the visual unity – This is a feeling I want my work to portray, as the work should emmurse the viewer.

Suggestive Gestures was a series of works I created during my honours year and the months

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following. I was exploring the process in creating a representation of the sexual body.

Focusing on representing the physical, sensual and voyeuristic elements shared between both the body and the creation of art. The exhibition could be described as an exploration of fantasy, reflecting on memory and imagination.

During these years you have participated to many group exhibitions and you are going to take a resindence at the Pantocrรกtor Gallery in Shanghai. So, before taking leave from this interesting conversation I would like to pose a a question about the nature of the relation with your audience: in particular, do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial component of your decision-making process in terms of what type of language for a particular context?

I would say the audience is of importance, it's not so much the process that I would take into account. More so the location as to where I would show specific works. Capturing the process of creating is what makes my work free, if I were to adjust it for the audience it would lose a part of it's energy. So I create and find the space the work would most best suit, rather than creating for a space.

If asked to create for a buyer or a specific show/subject - I keep as free as possible and instead of creating for the audience/buyer I am inspired by the audience and or buyer.

Pantocrรกtor Gallery is a project I have been looking forward to. The proposed work will be large and very expressive. Inspired by Shanghai and my body being amongst a new environment, the colours and gestures will be transformed from the experience of place and space. I aim to explore with new media and techniques along with paintings...

Unfortunately I have had to put the trip off for now as I do not have the funds needed.

Pantocrรกtor Gallery will allow me to join at a later stage which is great.

Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts, Nara. Finally, would you like to tell our readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving?

I see my work evolving with the choice of materials and experimentation with installation. I would like to experiment within performance and the idea of bringing painting to a live audience. In August I will be performing in Venice and exploring this further.

My other future projects include an exhibition in Portugal called Visual Poetry at Gallery of City Museum of Aveiro and Gallery of Capitania Building. I've also just been told I have been selected as one of the finalist for the Ruth Borchard Self Portrait award which will be held between July-October in London. Other future projects may be found on my page www.naraisart.com Thank you for your time and for expressing my work within your own perspective. It was a pleasure.

An interview by Dario Rutigliano, curator witht he collaboration of Katherine Williams landescape@europe.com

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Big Data, Oil and acrylic on canvas, 30x40" 2014 (New Nature)

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Batya Kuncman Lives and works in New York City, USA

B

atya is a multidisciplinary artist who explores issues of contemporary painting and imagemaking, investigating some of the ways in which perception is shaped and distorted by image overload in our hyperconnected environment and experimenting with the relationship between disciplines- painting, photography and digital.

The painting series "Landscapes for Humanity" represents lone infants as savages, survivors and heroes in an adult-free world. It is about the individual and collective struggle for empowerment, knowledge and truth.

By isolating infants from the world of older humans the focus is on the intrinsic meaning of being human and the human condition at its’ most fragile yet most promising. The diverse group of babies exhibit typical cuteness resembling commercial photographs and contemporary baby advertisements.

However, their solitary state in the wilderness raises questions about identity, environmental & survival issues, reality and illusion, and the complex relations between art, knowledge, spirituality and feminism. Visualizing human potential, the revelation in existence and the

divine nature of life the series expresses hope in cosmic accountability, in a reality hidden from our eyes.

In a culture saturated with consumerism, dependency on electronics, fluid borders & homelands, and political turmoil, I am drawn to creating images that define a world rooted in landscape and humanity.

Painting figures in landscapes I reference romantic art history while offering an alternative contemporary feminist gaze. Playing with strokes of paint and color relationships to create a realistic perception of fantastic scenarios the paintings express the tension between control and spontaneity, reflecting the symphonic chaos we negotiate daily; applying a variety of brush works from invisible to energetic strokes I explore the symbiosis between realism and abstraction; images appear realistic when seen from afar but become abstract upon a closer view of the painted surface, thus blurring the boundaries between several painting streams.

Batya Kuncman

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Batya Kuncman An interview by Josh Ryder and Dario Rutigliano landescape@europe.com

Batya Kuncman's multidisciplinary approach explores the liminal area between the expressive potential due to an insightful use of a concrete imagery and the emerging languages that come from a careful use of digital technologies. Her gaze on contemporariness doesn't simply deliver a mere report on new aspects of reality but also offers a personal view on what's behind our experiences mediated by our perceptual process. It is with a real pleasure that I would like to introduce our readers to her stimulating works.

Hello Batya, and welcome to LandEscape: to start this interview, would you like to tell us something about your background? You have a solid formal multidisciplinary training and besides the BFA in Media Studies that you received from Queens College, New York you also took classes in Printing, Animation and Filmmaking. How did these experiences influence your evolution as an artist and how do they impact the way you currently conceive and produce your works?

Hello and thank you for the opportunity to speak about my art.

I have been drawing and painting since I can remember and became very interested in photography and film right before College.

Later on I got into technology and animation. I have been making images by means of these Juerg Luedi

Batya and Memory Tree #3, 2012 Endura print on UV Plexi, 48"x48" (Neo-Assemblages)

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different mediums in order to satisfy a quest for truth which is a tall order but does make for an interesting and lively journey through life. The way images impact me makes me want to create them and so I am always on a search for a way to express this need. There is something mysterious about how these mediums are experienced by the mind and when I can make art through these various means different parts of me are brought into focus. I discover more about who I am although that is not my intention. My intention is to discover more about life and meaning.

Having the exposure to various disciplines and experimenting with them has also helped me to discover more about aesthetics and quality in making art. In trying to capture the essence of living in our times there are no static results and everything is in constant motion and feeds into the process of living. This is related to the way I make art- some of my art is created in a way that feeds into my need for instant gratification and some of my art is a slow evolution that has no clear destination and is always unfolding into the next stage.

The first tends to be the computer generated art which sometimes also contains photography and animation and the second is based in hand made art, primarily paintings.

Having an eclectic background can be a challenge as I need to continuously "curate" my own field of vision and distil the information for a final output. This process includes not only content but technique. In allowing my interests and my curiosity to find new methods I am rewarded by a process of art that often feels like a huge struggle to balance everything. But after a while something emerges that is satisfying, authentic and hopefully will further stimulate creativity for myself and others. It's this detail from myFunerals, Performance

Perpetual Grace, 2006, Oil on canvas 15"x30" (Landscape

milestone along the way that ultimately becomes a project that I immerse myself into.

The hallmark of your current approach is an incessant search of an organic combination between the expressive

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s for Humanity)

potential of color and the evocative power of symbolic reminders to collective imagery: this allows you to accomplish a careful investigation about the relationship between the flatness of a canvas and the

three-dimensional illusion we are lead to imagine. I like the way you extract the noetic value from a medium, and this has reminded me of Thomas Demand's quote, when he stated once that "nowadays art can

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no longer rely much on symbolic strategies and has to probe psychological narrative elements within the medium instead".

What's your point about this? And in particular, how much do you explicitly think of a narrative for your works?

I think it’s true. There is a language for my art that keeps evolving and at the bottom of all of it is the narrative of my understanding of life.

The narrative is like the music playing in the background. The art itself needs to deliver on several levels and often conflicting issues need to be resolved. The most constant narrative is my immediate family history as it relates to questions of my own nationality and identity. Making art is my way of explaining life (from my perspective,) of reaching outside of my inner world, immediate environment and this moment in time, to a larger sphere.

Art is also a witness. It has its own moment when it was created and the changes it's gone through and it is my record of existing.

For me, the narrative is the source from which art flows. The flow is the language which deals with many elements: form, color, space, light, pattern, texture, composition, perspective, brushstrokes etc.

I don't necessarily focus on the narrative although it may be a starting point of which I am not always aware. My process often is unpredictable, subconscious and spontaneous at first. In order to focus on a specific project and develop a body of work around it I need a strong passionate and clear conceptual sense of it. I have so many ideas all the time for different projects that it would be impossible to do even a fraction. Although I keep jotting/illustrating them, and they are part of my thinking and creative process, there are ideas that actually draw me irresistibly and give me the momentum I need to carry them through

An artwork even without a conscious narrative is a reflection of some life story that keeps happening. When I paint I want to see/feel the movement of the paint and yet I want to experience the stillness of the surface, I want to tell a story of meaning yet I want to have fun and feel free , I want to feel control and abandon all at once, I want to confess and I want to conceal. Through these conflicts a work of art is made.

Now let's focus on your artistic production: I would start from Landscapes for Humanity, an extremely interesting project that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article: and I would suggest visiting directly at http://batya.ws in order to get a wider idea of your artistic production... In the meanwhile, would you like to tell us something about the genesis of this interesting project? What was your initial inspiration?

The series of "Landscapes for Humanity" came out of a combination of interests I had at the time, during which time I had a dream. I actually saw the image of "Perpetual Grace" and it was quite amazing. I drew it in my sketch book and then realized I really wanted to paint it. I don't usually paint my dreams which can be quite vivid and this was an exception.

Additionally at the time I really wanted to paint human flesh and I also wanted to paint nature, specifically water, and the idea of juxtaposing these was very important to me. The idea of the colors of flesh and the colors of water had many subtle variations that I found interesting to explore. It also reflected my early childhood on the pristine beaches of Tel Aviv. I left Israel as a young child and my memories have stayed untouched by harsher realities of life.

The images of a sun-drenched days by the

Batya Kuncman

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Sea of Love, 2007 Oil on canvas, 30”x24” (Landscapes for Humanity)

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Emerge, 2006, Oil on canvas, 20"x24" (Landscapes for Humanity)

Mediterranean Sea and a carefree innocence of childhood is the reel that keeps playing in the back of my mind and continues to show up in my art.

Part of my fascination at the time was the seamless brushstroke of Ingres' paintings and "Landscapes for Humanity" paintings gave me the opportunity to apply this technique which contributes to the overall experience when the

Batya Kuncman

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Far Away, Washed Ashore, 2006, Oil on canvas, 20"x24" (Landscapes for Humanity)

paintings are viewed. I was seeking something that would be as close to a perfect and safe haven and thought these paintings could describe it. I became quite obsessed with the idea and continued this project for a few years

until I had painted 12 of them and they were exhibited in a solo show at the Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art. The landscapes from this series encapsulate a freedom of form that prompts an oneiric

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Art Review

Unraveling, 2006, Oil on canvas, 30�x40� (Landscapes for Humanity)

dimension, and what mostly matters, they do not play as a mere background. Do you conceive these compositions in an instinctive way or do you rather structure your process in order to reach the right balance?

In this series I wanted to create scenarios that would appear believable, even if they are humanely impossible. The landscapes elements are based on visual resources that I

distorted as I proceeded with the paintings.

Many of these evolved by creating the general idea of the landscapes on the computer and developing them further while painting directly on the canvas. Since I was seeking a certain effect that I could see in my mind's eye but not in an actual photo resource I created the landscapes by this method.

My desire to extend the landscape vision toward its ultimate extreme while still

Batya Kuncman

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Staff, 2007, Oil on canvas, 24"x30" (Landscapes for Humanity)

appearing like it can actually happen was a prevailing desire.

enjoy something closer to a phenomenon, something that goes beyond nature.

I love painting images of nature as it is a constant source of inspiration, yet applying impossible perspectives and horizons lets me

A feature of Landscapes for Humanity that has particularly impacted on me is the way your works seem to unveil the subtle connection between environment and the

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way we perceive it. The sense of geometry that pervades these canvases speaks of an abstract beauty that goes beyond a stereotyped idea of landscape and brings a new level of significance to images: this challenges the viewers' perception to go beyond the common way and perceive not only the outside world, but the way we relate to it... I'm sort of convinced that some information and ideas are hidden, or even "encrypted" in the environment we live in, so we need -in a way- to decipher them. Maybe one of the roles of an artist could be to reveal such unexpected sides of Nature, especially of our inner Nature... what's your point about this?

When I showed the paintings people did respond to them in ways I didn't anticipate.

Some saw in them some information about humanity and the connection to our environment and made comments about our responsibility and stewardship toward the environment and our planet. I think that living in an urban environment (mostly concrete jungle) I personally crave big vistas of nature. I crave large expansive areas of unadulterated greens and blues and yellows... skies that are not marred by the crisscrossing of wires... yet ironically I get to surf the internet and through this most artificial way my mind experiences some of the expansion I seek, perhaps the landscapes of the mind. I think that the connection between the inner self and the world is directly influenced by having exposure to Nature or the deprivation of it. Sometimes seeing a tiny flower growing between the cracks of a sidewalk gives me so much wonder.

It's really amazing that life is so powerful and an abundant drive to live exists in every part of life and the world. It's really wonderful to try to express this joyous life energy or the opposing currents that threaten life.

Batya Kuncman

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The half full pursuit of an eternal optimist, 2010 Oil on canvas, 30"x48" (Landscapes for Humanity)

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Utopian Voyager, 2007, Oil on canvas 24"x30" (Landscapes for Humanity)

There is something intangible that as an artist I am continually trying to express. The feeling that there is a bigger picture beyond our limited perception is indispensable for

me. Just looking at the sky on a clear night and realizing how vast is the universe anchors perception not only in infinity but in our infinite possibilities as people who participate in this

Batya Kuncman

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Believer, 2010, Oil on canvas 30"x48" (Landscapes for Humanity)

symphony called life. People are an amazing life force, and individually and together we move history forward. Most people take action to satisfy their lives and unaware they impact so many lives by their actions that it's mesmerizing. When making art I try to keep the vision of how much everything is precious and how small things matter as much as big things.

Scientifically that checks out too as our bodies are a small cosmos of the universe. Additionally

human beings are part of Nature and everything is related. You can see this in the way a fruit which is nourishment has its seed which we throw in the garbage but which can grow into a tree which gives fruit, so everything is going back into one thing, all is good when there is this unity of perception. I think Nature offers that but people can choose to embrace or reject that unity. The rest of nature doesn’t have our power of choice. This is why we are

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unique in Nature because of our conscious capacity for creation but also destruction.

The reference to childhood and the reminders to the interaction with the environment establish a vivid involvement in an emotional way with the viewer. At the same time, you seem to remove the historic gaze from the reality you refer to, offering the viewers the chance to perceive in an absolute and almost atemporal form. So I would take this occasion to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indispensable part of a creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

It would seem impossible to separate direct experience from the creative process. The authentic vision of one is a result of many previous experiences and although some art, in particular conceptual or abstract art, may appear disconnected from direct experience, it still carries within it the artist's essential energy and vision which stems from their own creative process as they need to express it.

When I first happened to get to know your Flower Eaters series I tried to relate all the visual information to a single meaning. But I soon realized that I had to adjust into the visual unity suggested by the inner coherence of the canvas, forgetting my need for a univocal understanding of its symbolic contents: in your work, rather than a hermetic conceptual interiority, I can recognize the desire to enable us to establish direct relations... Would you say that it's more of an intuitive or a systematic process?

Forever, 2014

The “Flower Eaters” series took a long time to emerge. For over a year I was experimenting with various painting techniques that were meant to blend my internal urge to paint spontaneously with a need to have greater

As I moved through this time I developed a lot of ideas on paper and out of many months of what appeared to be a long journey into the night the flower eater appeared. It answered an inner need for me and I am still intrigued by its

Acrylic on canvas board, 14”x11” (Flower Eaters)

control over painting by applying a systematic process. Additionally I wanted to combine abstract elements yet still derive meaningful content related to social and historical references. This may be an impossible task, but at the time I felt compelled to move forward with it.

Number, 2014

Outsider in Blue Stripes (Jesse), 2014

Acrylic on canvas, 18"x12" (Flower Eaters)

Acrylic on canvas, 16�x12� (Flower Eaters)

potential. With the first flower eater I started to find some means of painting in a more defined manner, although I tend to continually divert to experimentation.

So to answer your question, the application of intuitive is tempered with some systematic approach at times. In other words, I feel that spontaneity is a gift that I must honor by actually documenting the visuals of my ideas, but there are times, once clarity is established, when a systematic approach can benefit and enhance the results I am seeking. What I don't

want to do is rely too much on a system that will replace something that happens on a creative level that is the unexpected and exquisite.

I definitely love the way your recent NeoAssemblages series expresses the impact of the technological in the contemporary age, and in particular I have appreciated the resonance area between the bucolic idea of a tree and the digital language you have incorporated in a consistent unity. The impetuous way modern technology has nowadays come out on top has dramatically

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Halo, 2014

NYC Muse Cruise, 2014

Acrylic on canvas, 20"x 16" (Flower Eaters)

Oil on canvas, 28"x22" (New Nature)

revolutionized the idea of Art itself: in a certain sense, we are forced to rethink about the materiality of the artwork itself, since just few years ago it was a tactile materialization of an idea. I'm sort of convinced that new media art will definitely fill the apparent dichotomy between art and technology and I will dare to say that Art and Technology are going to assimilate one to each other... what's your opinion about this?

prevalent in the art world. I think we are just starting to see the impact of technology in terms of art creation. For myself I sometimes feel like so much of what I know in art I learned from the computer as it has opened not only the visuals that I would otherwise not access but also so many other experiences of other people's opinions and social media interactions. For my own art the technological and handmade creative process feed into each other. I adore the amazing possibilities of creating with technology and yet there are

There is no doubt that new media art is a direction that is already making itself

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We wanted to be safe and nullify the decree, 2011 Oil on canvas, 60"x48" (Infinite Flux)

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Exile, 2012, Oil on canvas, 28”x60” (Infinite Flux)

Irene Pouliassi

Irene Pouliassi

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Irene Pouliassi

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parts of myself that will only be realized through paintings. But I am directly influenced by the use of technology as everyone else is. Two of my painting series, "Infinite Flux," as well as the more recent "New Nature" series investigate some of the ways in which perception is shaped and distorted by image overload that is taking place as a result remote image consumption.

A multidisciplinary approach is a crucial aspect of your current practice: while crossing the borders of different artistic fields have you ever happened to realize that a symbiosis between different disciplines is the only way to achieve some results, to express some concepts?

Yes, definitely. I have been involved with the hi-tech industry through various projects and one of my main interests is the way the latest technology is affecting us as human beings and as a human family. How are we changing as a result of the global influence of technology? Being creative in a multidisciplinary practice let me investigate this interest more interactively and profoundly and perceive it from a multifaceted perspective.

During these years your works have been exhibited on several occasions, including two solos and you are going to take part to the group exhibition Women of the Book.

So, before taking leave from this interesting conversation I would like to pose a question about the nature of the relation with your audience: in particular, do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial component of your decision-making process in terms of what type of language communicates a particular context?

I am always very interested in hearing other people's thoughts and responses to my art

and in that way I am sure I am impacted by the audience. But it would not be so easy to make art if I had to think about the audience, and I think it would betray the real intent of my artistic drive. As I continue to develop and experiment the reactions I get inform my process whether subconsciously or consciously so there is always something to learn from an audience. Yet my own direction is guided by many components and the way art continues to be exciting and refreshing for me is by immersing myself in it, seeing other artists and their art, hearing about their process, studying art history, learning new technologies and experimenting with new ideas, keeping informed about the world, politics, history and being inspired by positive empowering people are some of the factors that are influencers for me until something new, fresh and satisfying emerges. I hope this sense of completion, even if temporary, filters down to the art itself and hopefully generates the same feelings in the audience.

Thanks a lot for this interesting conversation, Batya. Finally, I would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects: anything coming up for you professionally that you would like readers to be aware of?

My current painting series is evolving and is focused on still life and landscape and is related to technology. Alongside I am also developing a collage concept/project that is an off shoot to these paintings. Once these are ready I look forward to presenting these for exhibit. There are also several group shows coming up after the summer which will include my art.

An interview by Josh Ryder and Dario Rutigliano landescape@europe.com

Irene Pouliassi

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Leaves October, 2013 Endura print on UV Plexi, Size Variable Edition of 10 (Neo-Assemblages)

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Patrick W. Paul Lives and works in Alberta, Canada

B

orn in Halifax, Nova Scotia, 3rd child to Elizabeth and Armand Paul. The family moved to Saskatchewan in 1967. Father to 3 children Shaine, Sheldon, and Stephanie. Grandpa to 3 grandchildren, Jamie, Jackson, and Mathew. Patrick is currently living in Alberta, Canada.

To date, the Winston Collection is the result of almost 3 decades of devotion to a nearly forgotten painting medium. The medium used is beeswax, unlike paints it must be heated and applied to the painting before it hardens (which is often just a few seconds), the medium used was created from an ancient recipe, researched by the artist.

Having searched the internet for original images of the Winston Collection, only a few have surfaced. The images on this website have been submitted by private collectors, who wish to represent the body of work presented by Patrick Paul, Winston Collection, in this nearly lost art form.

With no art schooling, it was only through influences by others, in the late 1980s that Patrick W. Paul would begin to view himself as an artist. Having created a collection of originals in the previous decade the Saskatchewan Cultural Exchange Society held an opening to exhibit his work in Regina Saskatchewan.

The pursuing several years would see the artist travel across western Canada. Although exhibiting his work in galleries, he would seek sponsorship by marketing his paintings only to business he encountered in his travels.

During this time he became aware that he was able to use his art work as an instrument to help organizations and charities. It was because of relationships like this the Winston Collection would begin to travel to other

countries around the world, as gifts to dignitaires. News paper articles and media interviews enticed the artist to continue his travels across western Canada.

The subject matter created by the artist over the past 25 years has included; wildlife, endangered species, contempory art, Canadian landscapes, historical content, abstract, mythical and fantasy landscapes, and religious subject matter. Patrick W. Paul is one of Canada's finest beeswax artists.

This artist stayed true to the principals of original, with no reproductions of any of his works ever made. He never took any photos and never cataloged his collection. A few years ago this website was established to help catalog and authenticate the original paintings in this collection. Having searched the internet for original or images of, only few have surfaced. The values on the art has substantially risen since the 21 century. The artist still paints originals while continuing to mature his techniques and the quality of each original. An extensive assessment of the artist and his originals over the last 2 decades has been released in 2015.

What identifies most Winston Collection paintings is the small gold or silver plaque, which is affixed to every painting for the purpose of identification."Winston is my middle name and this plaque will garnish the entire body of my life's work as an artist." Although this was a nice statement there are original paintings which may not have a plaque, these will have the artists signature on the back of the painting (very few have signature on front).

The artist Patrick W. Paul is one of Canada's finest beeswax artists, evident by the quality found in every Winston Collection original painting. When asked how many originals exist, he was quoted as saying "I never kept count, around ten thousand."

LandEscape meets

Patrick W. Paul An interview by Dario Rutigliano, curator witht the collaboration of Katherine Williams landescape@europe.com

Patrick W. Paul is one of Canada's finest beeswax artists: through a refined approach he accomplishes the difficult task of exploring the liminality between Expression and Realism, in which perceptual reality and fulfillment process coexist in a coherent unity: his effective investigation about the intrinsic elusive concept of landscape goes beyond a mere symbolic strategy and bridge together between different worlds of expression, establishing a stimulating osmosis between the expressive potentials of the unconventional materials he incorporates in his pieces. I'm very pleased to introduce our readers to Paul's refined artistic production.

Hello Patrick and welcome to LandEscape: to start this interview, would you like to tell us something about your background? As a selftaught artist, I would like to ask you what are the most relevant experiences that has influenced your artistic evolution and how do they impact on the way you currently conceive and produce your works. In particular, do you think that being an autodidact painter should have give you a special kind of expressive freedom?

Thank you so much for this opportunity allowing me to bring the Winston Collection into the consciousness of your readers and viewing audience. Though only a small fraction or segment of my work exists for people to view the Winston Collection is a combination of 25 years of devotion, practice, experimentation, Juerg Luedi

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detail from myFunerals, Performance

Patrick W. Paul

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disappointment, excitement, faith, and sacrifice, in the effort to understand a painting medium which cannot be tamed or mastered by any artist. Over the course of time I have used all instruments know to apply this medium, and have engineered and produced specialized tools to explore this painting medium.

My Grandfather who turned 103 this year in his earlier days was a blacksmith, and I remember him putting ingots of iron into his forge hammering this red hot substance to create components that would repair machinery of his time with little more than a wood box and sand he could pour a molten liquid and create items that would mystify a child's mind. Survival faith, family , and neighbors helping one another are the values that have helped create the Winston Collection. Grandpa use to say that no 2 pieces of metal would ever behave the same you could make the same mold a dozen times, and every cast would still be different from the first and from each other. For 25 years, I have cast my own tools into this beeswax medium, and I have assured all who own one of my paintings that they truly own a one of a kind original, just as times have changed with my grandfather, it seems that times must change for me as an artist as well.

I have no desire to produce prints of my art work, but the demand for the images I create seems 25 years later impossible for me to continue to produce at the speed I once had.

The premise of being a self taught artist no longer exist in the 21st century, because technology has bombarded sensory perception and influenced creativity in everyone.

Early in my career as an artist, I had the pleasure of meeting a gentleman who said “ I probably believe in you, more than you believe in your self right now, but I know a winner when I see one.“ These words have greatly influenced my drive to establish myself as a Canadian

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artist. For many years I would envy those artist that had the ability and talent to portray photo realistic images. All the while not realizing that my own style was in itself highly significant. Many artist paint in provocative styles which allows an audience to infer a story to their imagery. When someone can say that the painting I created reminds them of home or childhood, is encouraging, and of

course helps to drive my expressive freedom within my paintings.

The hallmark of your approach seems to be a search of an organic synergy between the expressive potential of the colors and the evokative power of subtle reminders to collective imagery. Although each of your projects shows an autonomous life, there's always seem to be such a channel of

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communication and a consistent narrative in your works, that springs from the way you combine the ideas you explore: German artist Thomas Demand stated once that "nowadays art can no longer rely much on symbolic strategies and has to probe psychological narrative elements within the medium instead". What's your point about this? And in particular, how much do you

explicitly think of a narrative for your works?

I am truly humbled by your assessment on the narrative of my works. When I begin an image of any description, I open myself to the universe and surrender my mind to all the possibilities. Often when I find myself creating a narrative, I will turn the projects by a few degrees to divert myself from coming

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complacent I believe this is why you feel that I am probing a psychological narrative; when in reality I am inferring optical illusions that are visible and changing with the natural light.

http://PatrickPaul.QualityProHost.Com/ in order to get a wider idea of it. In the meanwhile, would you tell us something about the genesis of this interesting project?

What was your initial inspiration?

Now let's focus on your artistic production: the Winston Collection is an extremely interesting project that has been created over the past 25 years and that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article: and I would suggest to visit directly at

From devastation comes miracles. There was once a time I found myself a father of 3 children with a beautiful wife, unemployed with nothing but a van to house us in, unable to find work because of no fixed address. This forced me to look inward and ask for mercy guidance and

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strength. This would become the beginning of my career as an artist.

Your careful attempt to build a bridge between different worlds of expression brings a new level of significance to the concept of landscape, inviting the viewers to challenge the common way we relate the inside perception to the ouside reality... This suggests the idea that some informations & ideas are hidden, or even "encrypted" in the environment we live in, so we need -in a way-

to decipher them. Maybe that one of the roles of an artist could be to reveal unexpected sides of Nature, especially of our inner Nature... what's your point about this?

We all cast a shadow at noon, that shadow is small, at dusk it is long. We see it with our own eyes move with us. I think we are silly not to believe that it doesn't leave a mark, as it travels with us.

I have been very impressed with the way you

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explore the theme of landscape in such a conceptual aspect, investigating the psychological nature of the representational image. Philippe Dagen once established in his Le Silence des peintres, that the coming of a straight realism has caused a progressive retenchment of painting from its primordial representetive role of reality.

With exception of Hyperrealism movement, Painting is nowadays more and more marked out with a symbolic feature.

Do you think that the dichotomy between Representation and Painting is by now irremediable?

It would be crazy to think all planets are landscaped they way we know earth to be. As creatures of matter and elements, a great deal of comfort is stated within the physical realm, that the creatures or consciousness itself inhabits. If I was to exist in a different form or dimension, I am not so certain that physics

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would be so necessary or symbolic. If one were to follow their own shadow and reflection as it changes on surfaces while you walk through a room, you might notice immediate changes that appear without conscious effort. Yet there will always exists a mystery in the refraction of light, as it sits upon these surfaces or reflects back to us.

The nuances of lively but at the same time thoughtful tones that dialogue in the pieces from this series communicate me such a

tactile feature, that I can recognize. This synergy between medium and ideas allows you to get a refined a balance between a Realism and an abstract Expressionist: any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?

When one paints using spectrum only, a lot of information is lost, there is a world of silhouette that must always be considered to capture a true essence, mood or feeling.

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Patrick W. Paul

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Patrick W. Paul

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One of the most epiphanic feature of your approach is concerned with the way you investigates about the elusive nature of time and memory: reminding the concept of Heterotopia elaborated by Michael Foucault, you question the intimate struggle between constructed abstraction and imposed realities. While conceiving Art could be considered a purely abstract activity, there is always a way of giving it a permanence that goes beyond the intrinsic ephemeral nature of the concepts you capture. So I would take this occasion to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indespensable part of a creative process... Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

This is a question that I feel I can't answer with any degree of accuracy because I live in a region that is bombarded with signage and informal visual overload due to the technology found in our civilization.

While many contemporary artists as Michael Light and Edward Burtynsky use to convey in an explicit way sociopolitical messages in their works, you seem to maintain a more neutral approach. You seem to be drawn to the structured worlds we inhabit and how they produce a self-defining context for our lives and experience... do you agree with this analysys? Moreover, what could be in your opinon the role that Art could play in sociopolitical questions?

I think that demographics must influence an artist. I have been raised to believe Canada is a peace keeping nation that invites multiculturalism. This is my only explanation of why you might observe neutralism in my paintings.

You are definitely one of Canada's finest beeswax artists and your works are in many

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private collections around the world. So before taking leave from this interesting conversation I would like to pose a a question about the nature of the relation with your audience: it goes without saying that positive feedbacks are capable of providing an artist of an important although not indespensable support. In particular, do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial component of your decision-making process in terms of what type of language for a particular context?

The most critical audience of a creation in any medium, will always be from the artist themselves. The failure of any image or thought to form can devastate an artist; much the same as a writer, that experiences writers block. Every form of art is subjective in some degree, but it must first be approved by the individual artist as complete.

Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Patrick. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving?

I seem to be in a phase of expression that explores optical illusions and the sublime, this is very challenging for me, but also very rewarding being able to portray and convey the nature of my full imagination. I have greatly enjoyed our dialog.

For your readers wanting to learn even more, they are of course invited and always welcome to visit the online Winston Collection Gallery.

An interview by Dario Rutigliano, curator witht the collaboration of Katherine Williams landescape@europe.com

Patrick W. Paul

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Lisa Fu Lives and works in Temecula, California

An artist's statement

L

isa's paintings are inspired by her travelling experience and the simple beauty in nature and life: the bright sunlight, blooming flowers, falling leaves, busy city streets, green vineyard, colorful sky... Her paintings seem to tell a story about the sun always shining and that love is always in the air!

Lisa was born and grew up in China. Influenced by her architect father, Lisa has loved drawing and painting since her early childhood. She studied science later and earned her PhD in Molecular Biology in Japan. Before She work full time as a painter, She was a full time biology researcher.

Fortunately, She has worked and lived in Beijing, Japan, Paris, France and US. Well-traveled in Asia, Europe and North America. Lisa is deeply inspired by the art of the French Impressionists. Largely a self-taught artist, she has developed her own of impressionist style to express the beauty of nature by form and color.

Following the growing desire in her heart, Lisa is devoted full time to her artwork now, quickly garnering a loyal following, as well as collectors from the world for her colorful, dreamy, fresh and peaceful art work.

Lisa's artworks have been exhibited in local and regions juried art shows. She has won 2012

Mayer's purchase award and 2014 second place award of ralph love plain air painting competition.

She is the featured artist and the best show winner in 2013 Temecula art festival.

Recently, She has been selected as the featured artist in Riverside County Artscape, 2015. Her artwork is permanent collected by City Hall of Temecula and by private collectors around State and China. Lisa currently lives in Temecula, California.

Fu has had solo exhibits at the Wine Country Art Gallery in Temecula and the Temecula Public Library. Her work has also appeared in juried shows at the Fallbrook Art Center, San Diego Watercolor Society and San Diego Repertory Theatre, in addition to currently being on display at the Riverside County Administrative Center as part of the Riverside Arts Council’s Artscape exhibit. During the month of June, she will have over 20 pieces in the Dysonna City Art Gallery in Los Angeles. The opening reception is from 7 to 9 p.m. June 6 at the gallery, which is located at 5373 Wilshire Blvd.

You can see more of Lisa’s art work at: www.lisafu.com

Lisa Fu

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Lisa Fu An interview by Josh Ryder, with the collaboration of Dario Rutigliano, curator landescape@europe.com

Deeply inspired by French Impressionism, Lisa Fu's paintings reveal beauty both from the peaceful, enchanted view of a sunny countryside in Tuscany and from the hectic urban environment of New York. Her spontaneous but at the same time refined approach carefully conveys memories in a colorful, joyful experience offer to the viewers an Ariadne's Thread to the discovery of an absolute sense of beauty: I'm particularly pleased to introduce our readers to her stimulating artistic production.

Hello Lisa, and welcome to LandEscape: to start this interview, would you like to tell us something about your background? You are mainly self-taught and your paintings are characterized by an effective and very personal combination of Realism and Impressionist abstraction: are there any particular experiences have influenced your evolution as an artist impacting on the way you currently conceive and produce your works?

Yes, I’m profoundly inspired by French Impressionism, and also fascinated by the work of Fauvists, like Henry Matisse. I love the vibrant color and the light and shade effect in a painting. I want to express love, life, romance and beauty through my artwork.

Before starting to elaborate about your production, would you like to tell to our

readers something about your process and set up for making your artworks? In particular, what technical aspects do you mainly focus on your work? And how much preparation and time do you put in before and during the process of creating a piece?

Based on the transparent nature of watercolor, I make every brushstroke count as I paint. I make a plan about composition, light, shadow and color first and then I paint loosely and quickly in an impressionistic approach. A lot of the time, my brush and the watercolors spontaneously guide me. I think the preliminary planning plays an important role when this happens.

Now let's focus on your artistic production: I would start from "City of Light, Arc de Triomphe, Paris" and "Fall colors of Paris", an extremely stimulating couple of works that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article: and I would suggest to our readers to visit directly http://lisafu.com/ in order to get a wider idea of your artistic production.

In the meanwhile, would you tell us something about the genesis of these interesting projects? What was your initial inspiration?

I worked in a biology institute in France for two years during 1990's and lived in Paris for that period of time. I fell in love with the City of Juerg Luedi

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Fall color of Paris Watercolor on Paper 14 x 11

Lights. I liked to walk on rainy evenings in Paris. The warm orange and violet lights, the reflections on the water and the kissing couples on the street make the city full of romantic charm. City of Light, Arc de Triomphe, Paris is painted from some sketches made on one of these evening walks.

I always love to watch the fall foliage. I’m enchanted by the rich colors, from green to bright yellows, from orange to vibrant reds.

Leaves transform to their most beautiful detail from myFunerals, Performance

blooming in that transitional season. The cold wind and light fog don’t matter. Fall Colors of Paris attempts to chronicle that beautiful time in a year.

The stimulating nuance of intense tones that I have admired in your pieces, and in particular in "Senanque Abbey Lavender field in Provence" and "Under the Tuscan Sun" communicate a deep emotional involvement and such a tactile sensation that seems to suggest to be there in an

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Senanque Abbey Lavender field in Provence Watercolor on Paper 22" x 15"

enchanted nature: how did you develope your colorful "palette" and in particular how did it evolved over time?

to see. I have come to appreciate the use vibrant color to express the most beautiful side of nature and life.

The beautiful colors in nature always inspire me. I endeavor to create impressionistic paintings that combine reality and imagination. Sometimes it’s pure emotion or imagination, a vision of the world I would like

You had the chance of travelling around the four corners of the world and moving from China to Europe, to the United States where you are currently based has deeply influenced your imagery. What has

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detail from myFunerals, Performance

particularly impressed me of your paintings is such a subtle but recurrent Ariadne's thread between works from different series: for example many of the pieces from your "Europe" series reveal interesting analogies with the ones from your "China" series: I daresay that travelling has offered you the

occasion of distinguish the essence of beauty in the landscapes you had the chance to see.

So I would like to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indespensable part of a creative process...

Do you think that a creative process could

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be in a certain sense disconnected from direct experience?

I’ve strived to develop a “seeing eye� that can find beauty everywhere I go. My travels have given me a great deal of inspiration for my paintings. I do think the creative process benefits a great deal from direct experience. As an artist, I love to paint what I see, to paint something that inspires me, and travelling is a great source of inspiration.

I have received a sensation of spontaneity from your style, especially in the works in which you have revealed the quite, graceful view of "Venice": this has suggested me that by your paintings brings a new level of significance, to the usual idea behind the concept of landscape. I would say that your approach invites the viewers to challenge the common way to perceive not only the outside world, but our inner dimension... By

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the way, I'm sort of convinced that some information’s & ideas are hidden, or even "encrypted" in the environment we live in, so we need -in a way- to decipher them. Maybe that one of the roles of an artist could be to reveal unexpected sides of Nature, especially of our inner Nature... what's your point about this?

Yes, I agree, I think an artist needs to express the heart and soul of the chosen subject.

Express the culture, history, peaceful, and beauty of the subject. Looking at a beautiful landscape painting make people feel peaceful, feel fortunate to live in this beautiful world, feel that life is beautiful!

Thomas Marcusson

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Although apparently marked with a clear descriptive feature, there always seems to be a sense of narrative in your paintings. All in all, we could say that Impressionism is a way of narrate the process of perception of a view rather than the description of the view itself. This is clearly revealed in "Temecula Wine Country" and in "Balboa Park": how

much do you explicitly think of a narrative for your works?

I’ve come to rely on planning the work before I paint. For Temecula Wine Country, I found just the right spot to include a winery building, vineyards and background mountain, with an

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interesting colorful pomegranate tree in the foreground to frame the landscape.

For Balboa Park, The foreground palm tree, the strong light and shade on the ground, along with the walking people gave this painting depth and serene feeling.

As you have remarked once your paintings seem to tell a story about the sun always shining and that love is always in the air: I have appreciated how your colorful brushstrokes seems to urge us to extract a joyful vision of reality from the general the idea of the environment we live in, both from a sunny, breath-taking natural

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I must admit that I do not have a conscience political approach to my art. I’m a romantic at heart, and I’m fortunate that my artistic expression has the ability to engage other people. Impressionism can move individuals on more than one level.

My inclination to “filter” reality often results in what you so generously call a “joyful vision.”

This is one of my primary objectives, so thank you very much!

Thanks a lot for this interesting conversation, Lisa. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving?

Well I have two week-long workshops in Europe next year.

The first is in Provence, South of France, July 3-10, 2016. It’s taking place during the lavender blooming season, so I expect some great work to come out of these sessions. (http://www.frenchescapade.com/tripspainting-provence.html) The second is in Tuscany, Italy at the Watermill at Posara, September 17-24, 2016. We paint different subjects every day on location, from landscapes to townscapes, from waterscapes to gardens. (www.watermill.net/paintingholidays)

panorama and from a busy metropolis.

Many contemporary landscape artists as the photographer Edward Burtynsky or Michael Light have some form of environmental or political message in their photographs. Do you consider that your works are political in this way or do you seek to maintain a neutral approach?

There’s nothing like devoting an entire week to one’s desire to create beautiful work in an idyllic setting. Workshops are limited to 10 people, so there’s plenty of one-on-one time for all students to get the most out of the experience.

That’s next year. Between now and then, I’ll be painting every day, always learning and growing with enthusiasm and passion, loving what I do. I encourage everyone to find their passion and pursue it relentlessly. For me, it’s quite simple: Keep painting.

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Ronald Walker Lives and works in Sacramento, Caliifornia

An artist's statement

I

nfluenced by symbolism and primitive art I believe that we are not as civilized as we think. 'Our relationships and habits have changed little over the last few thousand years.

My work serves as a kind of metaphorical roadmap of my life, which explores the inner aspects of my habitation in, and movement through the suburban experience.'

I received my MFA degree from the University of Kansas, My MA degree from Central Missouri State University and my biography is listed in Who's

Who in America, and Who's Who in American Art. I have been shown in over two hundred exhibitions around the United States including 35 solo exhibits.

I live in the Sacramento area with my wife and two children.

Ronald Walker

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Art Review

Ronald Walker An interview by Dario Rutigliano, curator landescape@europe.com with the collaboration of Elizabeth Steiger

Ronald Walker's works reflect the tradition of symbolism and primitive art and creates a permanent interplay between inscrutability and beauty: his direct, almost instinctive approach conveys memories in a multilayered, colorful experience that invites the viewers to a joyful experience.

While dispensing with the theoretical precepts of minimalism, Walker's works keep independence from the context they explore, so the colorful paintings that we'll discuss int he following pages can be viewed as an aesthetic testing ground for the autonomy of painting and its historicity.

I'm particularly pleased to introduce our readers to his stimulating artistic production.

Hello Ronald, and welcome to LandEscape: to start this interview, would you like to tell us something about your background? You have a solid formal training and you hold a MFA degree from the University of Kansas and a MA degree from Central Missouri State University: how did these experiences influence your evolution as an artists and how do they impacted on the way you currently conceive and produce your works?

As a very young child I lived at my grandparents small farm for a few years, some of my earliest memories date from there. The

combination of these early memories, coupled with going to school in the Midwest surrounded by farms, combined to give rise to my frequent use of farm animals as subjects within my paintings. With the exception of the few years on the farm I was raised in the suburban setting of Ventura, California, north of Los Angeles. I became interested in art in high school and pursued that interest at Ventura Community College where I met and studied with the artist Gerd Koch. The open minded approach Gerd had towards art had a major influence on me. I learned not to dismiss a work of art just because it seemed strange and I did not understand it. Rather the opposite, study it and learn as much as possible about it.

I feel I owe a great deal to this approach to the new and different. After a couple of years at Ventura Community College I headed off to Central Missouri State University where I ultimately Completed both my Bachelors and Masters degree in art. There I Met Margaret Peterson who was a wildly creative, very individualistic artist. Her individualism made a deep and lasting impression on me. She had been a professor at CMSU for quite a while but always seemed to teach by example and treat us as fellow artist and not students, her artwork and energy were awesome and infectious!

After college at CMSU I spent the next five years painting and showing as much as possible. Due to a variety of fortunate circumstances I had the chance once again to Juerg Luedi

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Art Review

Suburban Primitive Manifesto, by Ronald Walker

1. Suburban Primitive art is concerned with the effect of life in the suburbs along with the timeless and universal nature of basic humanity. It is my belief that man is still largely a tribal creature and that not enough time has gone by to change us in any real biological fashion. We are, to phrase it another way just one small step from the cave. How does this primitive creature function in the gentile world of the suburbs? The answer is, not that well.

Hidden under the vail of civilization lies a primitive creature who is a slave of biology and unable to escape their past. This creature intellectually wants to evolve and spends a great deal of time telling itself that it has done so. While at the same time often behaving in ways that could only be described as primitive. To witness this one doesn't need to examine larger group activities such as war or the effects of the mass media. Just go out on a Friday night to the suburban night club and watch the behavior of its clients.

2. Since there have been no major genetic changes in humankind in the last sixty thousand or so years, our emotional, physical, spiritual and intellectual response to stimuli would be much the same as our earlier ancestors. This response by necessity would be mostly about survival, the search for food, mates and shelter being primary. It is my contention that "modern" man still is mostly concerned with the same issues.

3. With the rise of the internet quality art can and will be produced anywhere, even the suburbs. Artist living far apart can quickly and easily exchange ideas eliminating the need to live in highly populated areas. The major cities have been the hub of modern thought when it comes to art for centuries. The close proxcimatty to other artist making it easy for this intellectual and technical exchanges to take place. The internet has not only made the exchange of intellectual ideas possible between artist living a great distance from each other but also the exchange of high quality images.

4. Design work in it's strictest sense exist to please the eyes. Art exist to challenge the brain. I call this challenge "the brain stretch". The desire to organize and control ones environment has been with us far longer than written history. Perhaps it is an attempt to show some type of mastery over a hostile world. This control over our environment is where design is king. Why diferenciate between Art and design at all? It is because arranging and controlling ones environment is, although important, not the end all of art. Art has the ability to express human thought and emotions. We are all on the same journey, scared and alone wondering where it all leads to, what it all means. The expressive magical nature of art helps sort out these feelings and at times gives us hope that it is all worthwhile.

Ronald Walker

LandEscape 9 Art Review

5. The brain will seek to "normalize" an image based on prior experiences. A work which has been "normalized" will no longer create the brain stretch, and so will become simply design. The term normalized is being used to indicate that the work no longer has the ability to surprise or shock the viewer into thought. The viewer feels comfortable with the image and no longer pays more than casual attention to the work.

6. The more times a work is viewed the more likely and the faster normalization will take place. A perfect example of this would be our familiarity with computers. We take many of the amazing task they perform for granted and yet only a short time ago this was the stuff of science fiction. familiarity does not breed contempt but rather boredom. The same can be said for fashion, what is new, exciting and possibly even shocking today will most likely become dull and boring in the near future as people grow accustomed to the look.

7. To avoid the normalization process art must have elements contained within that elude the logical mind. Similar to the past cries of the Surrealist, the work must at least in part emerge from the subconsious. If one feels that they "understand" a work completley then they will cease to ask questions to themselves and the work loses the power to stimulate thought.

8 Because of our familiarity with easy to recognized images, realism, is "normalized" very quickly and therefore should be avoided or juxtaposed in illogical or unexpected combinations to keep the viewer wondering and questioning what is going on. The power of the Mona Lisa is not in it's attention to realism but rather in the mystery contained within the famous half smile.

9. Abstraction should have elements that at least suggest images. Our survival as a creature depends on our abilities to analyze visual information. If the brain concludes there are no objects it will "normalize" the artwork as being simply a pleasant design, ceasing any future brain stretch. No images equal no predators, prey, mates, shelter or anything that relates to our survival as a species and therefore can be safely dismissed.

10. Caution must be used when using high tech in creating a work of art. Both the artwork and the technology used could become obsolete in a short period of time. The high tech of today will be the low tech of tomorrow. If the work created has the sole purpose of just showing off a new technology and pays little or no attention to artistic concerns the value of the work will hardly outlast the technology.

Ronald Walker

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Ronald Walker

Art Review

Barbie-Q

go back to school. I did a bit of traveling looking for the university I wanted to do my MFA at and chose The University of Kansas, located in the city of Lawrence. Soon after I arrived there I started to experience a genuine crisis. In the interim between colleges I had

been exposed to the art world or more specifically the gallery world. In that world the almighty dollar was king. All the emphasis on sales had left me with a rapid feeling of disillusionment towards art in general. I found myself thinking “If this is what art is all about,

Ronald Walker

LandEscape 13 Art Review

Escape from the Suburbs

no thanks!� With the encouragement of the professors at KU I started to do research on just why people do art. My conclusions in a nutshell were that people create art as a type of nonverbal communication. My studies had naturally led me to primitive art, children’s art and what

is often referred to as Outsider art. A few years after I graduated KU with my MFA I took the time to further organize my thoughts and I wrote the Suburban Primitive Manifesto. This Manifesto lays out my basic thoughts and beliefs as they pertain to art.

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Ronald Walker

Art Review

Before starting to elaborate about your production, would you like to tell to our readers something about your process and set up for making your artworks? In particular, what technical aspects do you mainly focus on your work? And how much preparation and time do you put in before and during the process of creating a piece?

I originally learned to paint using dry brush technique and broken color in much the same manor as the Impressionist. I still mostly work in this way building up layers of color, allowing the lower layers to pop on through. I consider this approach to be similar in fashion to the game of chess, in that you must visualize how each layer will affect the next, often I picture three or more layers in advance. The size in which I work has decreased greatly in the last 20 years since time and space requirements have demanded this. I have switched from canvas to a surface called Clay Board since I like the hardness of the surface.

My process goes like this, most of the time I just sketch in hopes that the act of drawing will stimulate my brain and ideas will follow.

Occasionally I get lucky and an idea will just pop into my head while I’m out for a walk or whatever. I usually have a sketchpad or at least a piece of paper nearby to jot down these ideas as they occur. Once I have an idea I start to do small sketches to work out both the composition as well as the concept. Next I sketch out the idea onto the board and start the process of layering the paint, I start out quite thin and slowly build up thickness making sure each layer is allowed to pop on through to the next layer and so on. Most of the time I do not use black at this point but add it at the end. I believe that a greater sense of luminosity is created within my works in this manner. This process is not set in stone and variations can occur at any point if I feel it is needed in any particular work.

Now let's focus on your artistic production: I would start from Escape from the Suburbs and Suburban Pool, an extremely stimulating couple of works that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article: and I would suggest to our readers to visit directly http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/ronaldwalker.html in order to get a wider idea of your multifaceted artistic production. In the meanwhile, would you tell us something about the genesis of these interesting projects? What was your initial inspiration?

That is an interesting selection since it represents the two main ways in which I generate ideas. The first “Escape from the Suburbs” was the product of an idea flash. I was out walking in my neighborhood and was mentally taking a note on how many homes were for sale. I found myself reflecting on the neighborhood I grew up in. Very few people ever moved and everyone knew each other.

The transient nature of people these days along with the ever increasing population seems to push the suburbs ever outwards. The use of the picket fence as wings seemed a logical choice and the use of a Cycladic idol as “Everyman” No face, standing in a type of self inflicted isolation seemed a natural result. From the flash came the usual series of small sketches and the idea was born. The second painting “Suburban Pool” started out as a doodle. As I drew, ideas just started to occur to me and materialize from within. Popular themes to me often tend to have seemingly polar opposites.

This work takes advantage of this frequently, Bird/cat, Pool (indoor game) Pool (water type), Indoor/Outdoor, modern/ Primitive and so on. I can not and will not explain a work completely since I am a strong believer in the subconscious mind and feel that at least some of the work should elude normal logic. Still I am hoping that this sheds some light on the process I utilize when coming up with ideas.

Ronald Walker

LandEscape 42 Art Review

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Ronald Walker

Art Review

I love the way you give a permanence that goes beyond the intrinsic ephemeral nature of the stories you tell through your images, as in The California Dream and Paradise Found.

As you have rerked once, your work serves as a kind of metaphorical roadmap of your life, which explores the inner aspects of

your suburban experiences. By heightening the tension between reality and perception of it, your work explores the concept of emerging language and direct experience, so I would take this occasion to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indespensable part of a creative process... Do you think that a creative

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process could be disconnected from direct experience?

Short answer to the question about separating personal experience from the creative process would be no. Not for me at least, I stay fairly close to Picasso’s Quote “Painting is just

another way of keeping a diary”. Many years ago when I was looking for a college to do my MFA at I went to a large Midwest university and was touring their painting studios. I came around the corner and there pinned up on the wall was a large painting with the image of a grotesque man hanging from a rope. I found

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Ronald Walker

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LandEscape 42 Art Review

myself wondering who the artist was and what awful things they may have experienced in life.

About this time a smallish young lady came skipping around the corner in a sundress and pigtails. She picked up her brush and started to paint. Regretfully I did not get a chance to talk to her but found myself wondering if the horrific scene was something she had experienced or if she had concocted it as some type of Romanticism. I realized at that time that personal experience, for me at least, is absolutely necessary as a catalyst for creativity.

hired specifically to sale my paintings she had no idea who I was and took me through the entire exhibit telling me all about my work. The up side to this was she told me several things I had not considered that I found quite interesting. The down side was when the gallery owner arrived and she found out who I was she was less than pleased. I had found the entire experience to not only be mildly amusing but instructive as well.

One last factor on layers of interpretation of which the artist had no control is time. How we view art is often connected to our own era and not the era in which it is produced.

Impressionism today is one of the most beloved of all styles of art but when it first appeared was met with jeers and outright hostility. The opposite is also often true where as an artist enjoyed great popularity in their day and now is all but forgotten. A good example of that would be, dang can’t remember their name!

The multilayered experience suggested by your paintings is capable of bringing a new level of significance, to the usual idea behind the concept of landscape: and I would go as far as to state that in a certain sense Not that Far invites the viewers to challenge the common way to perceive not only the outside world, but our inner dimension... By the way, I'm sort of convinced that some informations & ideas are hidden, or even "encrypted" in the environment we live in, so we need -in a wayto decipher them. Maybe that one of the roles of an artist could be to reveal unexpected sides of Nature, especially of our inner Nature... what's your point about this?

The nuance of light colors that I have admired in your pieces, and in particular in Barbie Q and Bridge that has suggested me a sense of dramatic -and I would daresay "oniric"- luminosity that seems to flow out of these canvas that communicates such a tactile sensation: any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?

The creation of layers is integral to my work Physically the paint is layered but also conceptually. I feel that each work should consist of various layers of possible interpretation.

There are layers of which I am fully conscious, layers created by my subconscious of which I am unaware and layers brought to the work by the viewer and their own personal experience.

Back in the early 1990’s I was doing a solo show at a Southern California gallery and arrived early. The gallery owner (who had not yet arrived) had hired a sales lady for the exhibit. Despite the fact this person had been

My brother, Robert Walker was a theatre lighting designer up until his retirement a few years ago.

I grew up going to the various productions in which he had worked.

Our focus was on the lighting more than any other aspect of the plays. I am sure that some of this awareness of theatrical lighting has affected my sense of light within my work. Gerd Koch and Carole Milton are both artist who have had a great deal of influence on me. Their abstract canvases have a sense of an inner light source that I find very impressive. If my work has an inner luminosity to it I feel I owe it largely to them.

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Ronald Walker

Art Review

My palette has changed considerably over the years. My earlier paintings were mostly tonal following the lead of Morandi and Sargent. Eventually my interest drifted over to artist like Soutine and Matisse and started my voyage to a lighter and brighter palette.

There always seems to be a sense of narrative in your paintings and I have

appreciated the way you convey the notion of instinct in your pieces, sometimes drawing inspiration from fiction imagery as in Pig Brain. How much do you explicitly think of a narrative for your works?

I do not set out to tell stories in my works.

However since my work is tied closely to personal experience and I tend to like telling

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LandEscape 42 Art Review

stories I think the feeling of narrative naturally pops out. “Pig Brain� started out by viewing a diagram of a brain with my son Colin, who is very interested in science. The initial idea popped into my head and then developed through further drawing. Even though I never thought of the work as telling a story I can see a sort of narrative there. I would hope if the

narrative were present in my works it would be in the form of nonlinear thought. In other words not a typical timeline a story might follow.

I definitively love the way your colorful brushstrokes seems to extract a joyful vision of reality from the general the idea of the environment we live in. Many contemporary landscape artists as the photographer

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Ronald Walker

Edward Burtynsky or Michael Light have some form of environmental or political message in their photographs. Do you consider that your works are political in this way or do you seek to maintain a neutral approach?

wish to communicate. It is my wish that by expressing the inner essence of my journey through my life in suburbia that others might relate and make their own personal connection to my work, bonding us together in some small fashion in the human experience.

I do not like the attitude of people who feel that animals exist in this world to serve us and provide for our needs. IE. Their primary function is what can they do for us? I also have issues with so called intelligence test given to animals and saying this animal is so bright where as this one is not. We are an animal ourselves and if a dog were to design an intelligence test based on smell we would be looked at as idiots. I feel our existence is made richer and fuller through our association with animals, reverse that and the big question becomes, is theirs? My work is not directly concerned with animal activism but my concerns and sympathy for animals leaks out into my work on a fairly regular fashion.

Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts, Ronald. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects. How do you see your work evolving?

During these years your works have been extensively exhibited in over two hundred exhibitions around the United States including 35 solos. So, before taking leave from this interesting conversation I would like to pose a a question about the nature of the relation with your audience: in particular, do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial component of your decision-making process in terms of what type of language for a particular context?

The idea of an audience influencing my work is an interesting one. I do not have financial motivations when creating art, so painting to a particular market is not a concern of mine. This being said I do have the desire to communicate to others about the nature of my life in the suburbs. I feel that at some level all life is somehow interconnected, These connections fascinate me and are the primary core of what I

I do not see major conceptual shifts in my future, my specific interest and experiences do however change and these changes reflect within my work. Physically I can see my work becoming larger as time moves on, in that the reasons for the size reduction is rapidly diminishing. Another way of phrasing this is my children are growing older and therefore less demanding of my time.

My son Colin’s interest in science is already affecting my work to an extent and I could see that influence increasing with time. My daughter, Ryley has an intense interest in Landart , especially the works of Andy Goldsworthy. Her interest has already gotten me out of the house and into nature to work on Landart with her. I don’t think this interest has appeared in my work as of yet but I could see elements of this developing in my painting in the future.

LandEscape 40 Art Review

LandEscape 5 Art Review

Cheryl Pettigrew Lives and works in Gunnison, CO USA

An artist's statement

I

have always done art in some form since childhood. As I grew older, pencil and ink became my favorite mediums.

At the age of 30 I discovered paint and a new door opened. I found there to be almost limitless possibilities with color and so my adventure began.

I attended Western State College and earned a BFA in fine art. While there I studied the human form and excelled in this subject.

After I graduated I continued to work with people but became bored because it seemed like it was limiting. I did not work in any medium for almost 8 yrs. About 4 yrs ago I picked up my brushes and discovered landscapes and seascapes. Out of this I developed my own style and technique. At first my work barely showed

the flavor and design that it does now.

Although the paintings were barely expressive, I could see something unfolding with every picture. As my abilities began to grow in this new style so did my appetite for expressing myself.

Although the images of landscapes, florals, and seascapes are from real places and things, when I sit down to paint I use my creativity to manipulate the scene. In this way I am able to make pictures that reflect how I see the world around me. I hope to continue in this venture and possibily open even more doors on this journey.

Cheryl Pettigrew

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LandEscape meets

Art Review

Cheryl Pettigrew An interview by Josh Ryder, curator with the collaboration of Catherine C. Walker landescape@europe.com

An intense synergy between a careful attention to emotional sphere and a refined artistic sensibility leads Cheryl Pettigrew to accomplish an investigation in the liminal space between representation and abstraction, in which memories and perceptual reality coexist in an atemporal dimension. One of the most convincing aspect of Pettigrew's work is the way she creates an area of intellectual interplay between contingency and immanence, that invites the viewers to explore the crossroad between human emotion and Nature's geometry: I'm very pleased to introduce our readers to her refined artistic production.

Hello Cheryl and welcome to LandEscape. I would start this interview, with some questions about your background: you have a solid formal training and you hold a BFA in Fine Art that you received from the Western State College: would you like to tell our readers how did this experience influence your development as an artist and hod does itimpact on the way you currently conceive your works?

One of the most important skills I learned in college was the refining of my skills. Before I started college I would do art work when I felt

inspired or when I had a little extra time. The constant assignments helped me to learn to work at a pace that kept my mind thinking about how I want to make something appear on canvas. To this day I work all the time, sketching on my breaks and lunches at work and my days off I spend hours on a single piece which I usually complete in a single weekend. This is an important part of how I paint. I easily loose an image if too much time goes by and have to start over. When this happens I will try to use the same scene but colors and how I was seeing the work usually fades. Sometimes I can formulate a new structure for the pallet of colors for the painting and other times I will scrap the whole idea, black out the canvas and start over the following weekend.

While in college I also learned that I like to paint with thick, undiluted paint which is something I still do today. Working without thinning out the paint makes the colors much richer and the texture of the brush strokes enhance the images. I also paint on black canvas. This technique allows the colors to remain bright and causes them to pop off the canvas. Painting this way and as fast as I paint I really go thru a lot of materials. Before I start a piece I try to make sure I will not run out of any one color of paint. There have been a few times when I have had to stop and go get more but doing that I have lost valuable time.

In college I mostly painted still life images and the human figure. After graduation I continued Juerg Luedi

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Cheryl Pettigrew

Art Review

Rainbow Sky details

this until I became burned out on these subjects. I took about 8 years off from painting. When I returned to painting I changed my pallet to much brighter colors and decided to use these colors in landscapes.

When I started I could see something in the works. I wasnt sure what I was looking at but I detail from myFunerals, Performance

knew there was great potential. When looking at my older work there is an unmistakeable progression towards the way I currently paint.

Now let's focus on your artistic production: I would start from Sky Lights and Rainbow Skies a couple of extremely interesting

Cheryl Pettigrew

LandEscape 9 Art Review

sketch of the seascape and the idea of how I wanted it to look but like most of my work it turned out nothing like how I saw it in my mind. As I painted this piece I was really having fun. I mostly just let my mind go and laid in the first few colors of the sky at the horizon line. I saw the beginning of these wonderful colors I continued to work upward and filled the sky with rich, bold brushstrokes.

When the sky was complete and I stepped back to look at it and knew that this piece had real potential. The next step was to decide the color of the water. As I laid in the reflection first and worked my way out toward the foreground the rest of the water and the idea for the rocks just poured from my fingertips.

Within a few hours the painting was done. I remember the feeling of completeing the work in such a frenzied, exciting way that it was difficult for me to settle down. I paced for quite awhile, going back to the painting, touching it up with my fingertips to add a little emphasis or taking out something that was intrusive into another color. This painting was by far one of the most fun pieces I have ever painted.

Land of the Setting Sun

works that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article: and I would suggest to visit directly at http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/cherylpettigrew.html in order to get a wider idea of your multifaceted artistic production. In the meanwhile, would you tell us something about the genesis of this stimulating project? What was your initial inspiration?

When I sat down to paint Rainbow Skies I had the

Painting the piece titled Sky Lights was very different than Rainbow Skies. In this piece I wanted to do the milkyway. I had laid in the idea of a sky filled with colors and stars but I could not pull it into a cohesive scene. I realized this once I had started working on the ocean. I continued to work on the foreground and when it was complete I had to decide whether to keep the sky or keep the ocean.

Since the ocean was more complete and solid in its design I went back to the sky. One of the best things for me about the way I paint is that I feel as though I can do whatever I want with a wide open sky and so I went to work. First I decided to put in a moon and made the sky around it. Next I started to take out a lot of the color. As I did this I noticed that small patches of color was enough to make the hint of a faint

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Cheryl Pettigrew

Art Review

The Ocean Sings The Sky Listens 3

milkyway. Because the sky was dark I kept working down into the water and made the horizon line almost invisible so it looked like the ocean just flows up into the sky and the two become one single body. All that was left was to make the middle water lighter to show

shining of the moon's light on the water. At the end of this piece my weekend was over and I had completed another painting.

The ambience created by the ambiguous duality between Reality and an imaginary, almost dreamy dimension that hallmarks

Cheryl Pettigrew

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Cheryl Pettigrew

Art Review

your landscape works brings a new level of significance to the sign of absence, that invites us to rethink about the concept of the environment we inhabit in and urges the viewers' perception in order to challenge the common way to perceive not only the outside world, but our inner dimension... I'm sort of convinced that some informations & ideas are hidden, or even "encrypted" as microscopic grains of sand in the environment we live in, so we need -in a wayto decipher them. Maybe that one of the roles of an artist could be to reveal unexpected sides of Nature, especially of our inner Nature... what's your point about this?

Answering this particular subject is a little difficult for me. I think my work does challenge people to re-think how they percieve the world and invites the viewer to look upon our planet with a new perspective. When I paint, though, this is the furthest thing from my mind. When decide on a scene and I pick up the brushes and begin to work I am, simply put, just looking to create. I am just working to put what I see in my mind onto a canvas. I realize that I am transforming our world into a new design and my greatest hope for any piece is that the viewer will see the beauty of imagination and creativity. I have done many pieces where I didnt capture what I was seeing and that is frustrating for me. One of my favorite things I say to myself is.. Not everypiece an artist does is a masterpiece.

But if an artist is able to create just one masterpiece then every piece done by that artist is done by a master. When I fail to make a painting work I remind myself of this idea and move on. In conclusion of this subject, I believe my work invites the viewer to stretch their imagination, to look upon any given subject and enjoy the dreamy, wispy and at times intense scenes in front of them and let their preconceived ideas go, to just open up to the ideas of one artist.

Jewels of the Valley , details

Another interesting painting of yours that has particularly impacted on me and on which I would like to spend some words is entitled Edge of the Desert: in particular, when I first happened to get to know with this piece I tried to relate all the visual information and the presence of a primary environmental elements to a single meaning. But I soon realized that I had to fit into the visual unity suggested by the work, forgetting my need for a univocal understanding of its symbolic content: in your work, rather that a conceptual interiority, I can recognize the desire to

Cheryl Pettigrew

LandEscape 42 Art Review

Edge of the Desert, details

enabling us to establish direct relations...

Would you say that it's more of an intuitive or a systematic process?

The Painting Edge of the Desert is a much smaller piece than what I prefer to paint. It is difficult for me to express myself on a small

surface. I did this painting for one of my sisters.

She lives in the desert and saw a watercolor I had done years earlier and asked if I could do this in oil. Since I usually do not do deserts it was a bit of a challenge for me. Looking again at this painting I understand that there is a visual impact that does invite the viewer into a direct realation to look deeper into what this

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Cheryl Pettigrew

Art Review

painting is representing. Establishing this direct contact with the viewer is intuitive, almost accidental. It does not become intentional until I step back and see what it looks like from a distance. From a distance I can see each piece with a different set of eyes, so to speak. I can see if the scene is complete, does it draw my attention to more than just a bright sky, is there enough in the picture to capture the imagination. However, when I step back to look at a scene none of these thoughts are present. I simply look, examine the picture to see if it is lacking in any area. It is when I feel a strong pull visually that I know the work is complete.

I like the way your careful approach offers a rigorous but at the same time lively visual translation of immaterial and physical sights that pervade our reality: in this sense, Blood Moon is intrinsically connected to the chance of creating an area of intense interplay with the viewers, that are invited to evolve from the condition of a passive audience. In particular, your refined investigation about constructed realities has reminded me of the ideas behind Thomas Demand's works: while conceiving Art could be considered a purely abstract activity, there is always a way of giving it a permanence that goes beyond the ephemeral nature of the concepts you capture. So I would take this occasion to ask you if in your opinion personal experience is an absolutely indespensable part of a creative process...

Do you think that a creative process could be disconnected from direct experience?

I think this question has two answers and they are both complicated. Yes and no. I think it is completely up to the aritst how they approach creating a work of art. In one sense art can be produced in such a way that it becomes mathematical. Every line, color and image has a specific job and the outcome is

predetermined to make an expected visual impact. Because this method has a predetermined outcome, personal experience is not an absolute to actual process of creating. At the same time, personal experiences, whether good or bad, are an integral part when choosing which type of scene appeals to the artist. So this type of approach is still subject to the experiences each individual artist has in everyday life. I realize there are many artists who will disagree with this statement. It is just what I have discovered as my work transistioned from painting realism into painting from my mind without any real, tangible images in front of me. By not using refrences such as photos, I am free to stretch the boundries of the natural world. This is when personal experiences begin to truly impact my art. There is no escaping it.

Because I am creating from my imagination everything I do, see, touch, feel, all of my senses have the potential to affect what I create. The Blood Moon painting is a very good example. When one of my sons suggested I attempt this I was at a loss of how to make a red moon. How would I make it a central focus, how do I tie in a red moon with a black or dark night sky? What will happen if I make the moon light red as it appears in the natural world? As I was considering these things I stumbled across a photo of the sun. It was a really light red and there was such a measure of intensity from the heat that it made an immediate impact on my senses. Something inside my mind sealed the idea. As I went thru my work week I kept creating and re-creating the moon and sky in my mind. When I finally sat down to paint I was able to transfer the feeling I got looking at the sun and pour it onto the canvas. I did not need to go back to the picture and the final outcome looks nothing like that photo. So the answer to the question, in my opinion, is yes and no.

The nuance of light colors that I have admired in Cliffside has suggested me a sense of dramatic -and I would daresay

Cheryl Pettigrew

LandEscape 42 Art Review

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Cheryl Pettigrew

Art Review

Cliffside, details "oniric"- luminosity that seems to flow out of these canvas that communicates such a tactile sensation: any comments on your choice of "palette" and how it has changed over time?

I had a major shift in my palette about 6 years ago. I started to look closer at other works that used much brighter tones. At first I was not ready to change up the colors I was familiar

with but at the same time I knew I no longer wanted to continue to paint the same way. I was burned out on people and still life images, using browns, skin tones and other like colors.

In order to learn more about bright colors I decided to start with watercolors. It did not cost much and I could make mistakes in the color arrangement of each piece without it costing a lot of money. And so the journey began. As I

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Cheryl Pettigrew

Art Review

progressed I began taking what I had done in different watercolors and put them into oil.

Looking at these works now I can see how bland they were in comparison to how I paint now but at the time I knew I was onto something. I began to feel a sense of freedom in the way I expressed myself. As time went on I knew I was getting closer with each piece I did. The strange part of this is I did not understand what it was. It was like... there it is, just under the surface, just out of reach, waiting. With each piece I got closer until one day it happened. I had made my first painting with a dream-like quality. Today I sit here knowing that by taking that step, changing my whole palette, has become the most important decision I have ever made as an artist.

In your investigation about the liminal space between representation and abstraction, references to a universal imagery suggested by natural elements are quite recurrent and seem to remove any historic gaze from the reality you refer to, offering to the viewers the chance to perceive in a more atemporal form. In this sense, I daresay that the semantic juxtaposition between sign and matter that marks out your art, allows you to go beyond any dichotomy between Tradition and Contemporariness, establishing a stimulating osmosis between materials from an absolute dimension and a personal, lively approach to Art... Before taking leave from this interesting conversation I would like to pose a a question about the nature of the relation with your audience: in particular, do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial component of your decision-making process in terms of what type of language for a particular context?

At the time I sit down to do a painting, what a viewer will see and think of the work is not a

Hear The Music

part of the process. It is not until I show the work, see the reaction in people, that I begin to determine if I am finished or not. Explaining what any given work is about is also not a main focus. Because my paintings cross the boundries of realism and enter into a land or dimension that frees up their imagination I prefer to keep my descriptions of the work minimal. I would rather let them explore what it is they are seeing, give them the freedom to let it touch them on any and/or all levels. So the audience reception is indeed crucial to my work but not a part of the decision making process. It has more to do with the finished work, will they be able to see what I see, how I see and will they enjoy it.

Cheryl Pettigrew

LandEscape 42 Art Review

The Promise

Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Cheryl. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving?

The only thing I can say for sure about any future projects is that I want to try another rainbow and try my hand at lightening. Whether or not either of these will turn out is something

I am not sure of until I am finished with each piece. I cannot say how my painting will evlove, I know I need to train myself to stay with lighter colors. If I am not careful my painting can turn darker than what I like. Mostly what will determine where my art will go is dependent on what I see. One picture I have in my mind right now is of the sun behind clouds with light peeking out, but I see lightening.