Level 25 Artjournal; Issue #10

Level 25 Artjournal

Level 25 ArtJournal

...art should be shared

Ana Galano Grimes & Jones Jo Eun Huh Altea Nori Tashi Marouf

1

L25

Issue #10; August 2014

Level 25 ArtJournal

http://level25art.com info@level25art.com Sean David Wright, Founder and Chief Editor

Cover Artist

Ana Galano pg 8 Grimes & Jones pg 16 Jo Eun Huh pg 22 Altea Nori pg 30 Tashi Marouf pg 40

2

L25

All interviews conducted by Sean David Wright; (editor@level25art.com)

Level 25 ArtJournal

“The Sheets Are Washed” Tashi Marouf

3

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

Call for Artists The Level 25 Special Issues

Extended!!

Colorless 2014 ($20 for 4 images)

Black-and-white photography...the original and purest form of photography.

Whereas a color photograph may depict the reality of a subject, black-andwhite depicts the soul of that subject and forces the viewer to look more deeply at the image he or she is seeing.

A special monochrome-only photography issue of Level 25 Artjournal will be published online in December of 2014.

Titled “Colorless 2014” this special edition will be the inaugural issue of an annual Level 25 Artjournal showcasing the fabulous works of photographers worldwide.

ALL submissions will be included in “Colorless 2014,” offering artists an excellent opportunity to have your art seen by art fans, gallery curators and art show organizers around the globe.

4

L25

“Balboa Park Bell” Photograph D’Artagnan

Portraits 2014

Level 25 ArtJournal

($20 for 4 images) Portraits: the time-honored practice of using art to create a representation of someone. Level 25 Artjournal will be publishing a special edition featuring the work of portraitists. Whether your medium is paint or pencil; stone or wood… whether you are a figurative realist or an abstract artist, this is your chance to have your portrait art featured in a special issue of the popular online arts magazine Level 25 Artjournal.

Mediums accepted are: Collage Drawing Painting Photography Printmaking Sculpture ALL submissions will be included in “Portraits 2014”

Details and more information can be found at: http://level25art.com/l25-special-issues.html “Kuu, Goddess of the Moon” Oil on wood Colin Poole

5

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

A Message From Sean...

Now that Level 25 Artjournal is ten issues old it has gained the attention of a lot of people worldwide. Several people have asked me about the editing of the interviews, because they feel that a better job can be done of correcting the grammar, syntax, etc. of the answers I receive to the questions I send out to each artist. Well, here is my response (and philosophy) regarding that…

A large number of the artists featured in Level 25 Artjournal are not native English speakers. In some cases, I don’t believe English is even their second language, but maybe their third or fourth. I, unfortunately, can speak and write only in English and so I am unable to communicate with such artists in their own languages, though I would love to. Therefore, yes, when these artists send the answers to their interview questions back to me it is often in earth-shatteringly bad English.

But I don’t care. I appreciate these artists for taking the time and the struggle to answer my questions in my language thus helping me fulfill my dream of running an art magazine. And I don’t want to edit such interviews too much for fear of inadvertently altering the meaning of an artist’s answer as well as for fear of losing that artist’s “voice” and personality.

In the end, though, Level 25 Artjournal is about showcasing art. Yes, the interviews help provide insight about each artist but if you find a particular interview hard to read because the English is bad then I simply ask that you instead enjoy that artist’s images; let his or her art speak to you rather than their interview answers.

--Sean David Wright, Founder 6

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

Some interesting statistics...

Level 25 Artjournal has published 10 issues.

There have been 52 female artists and 20 male artists...

Artists by Country Breakdown: UK: 29 USA: 15 Portugal: 3 Australia, Greece, Netherlands, Russia, Ukraine: 2 each Czech Republic, France, Germany, Haiti, Hungary, India, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Poland, Syria, Taiwan: 1 each A big thank you to everyone, contributing artists and readers alike, for making Level 25 Artjournal the success it has become and for helping us reach this milestone!

7

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

Ana Galano (US)

www.anabgalano.com

Within me there has always been a compulsion to understand the mysteries that have created me. This has led to a path in my artwork where issues of identity, repression, spirituality and body consciousness have surfaced as the essence of my underlying struggles.

Through the use of symbolism, my intuitive process allows the imagery to surface in its purest form and without pre-conceived notions, allowing the formerly unspoken inner world to manifest itself through a visceral representation of usually isolated figures, intertwined with organic, intricate lines and ethereal shapes. In essence, my journey is an elemental study, which focuses on the beautiful complexity of the body and its exposure within my subtle world which cannot always be easily identified.

8

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

“What, You’ve Never Seen An Angel” Mixed media on watercolor paper Ana Galano

9

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

10

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

It would seem from reading your statement that you spend a lot of time considering your own body and thus your artwork is an expression of those considerations, whether good or bad. How did this particular preoccupation come about?

AG: As an overweight child I became aware of my body through the eyes of strangers. My discomfort with my figure grew from others’ negative opinions and as I got older, they became my own thoughts about myself, but multiplied tenfold. As a teenager and young adult, I mostly isolated myself from the world. I could function socially if needed, but my safety zone was away from people, so I didn’t have to deal with being seen and perhaps rejected.

When I started pursuing my BFA, I was doing paintings that dealt with generic subject matters...again, I was avoiding myself. But after a difficult (and ultimately very important) critique, I realized I had to challenge myself if my work was ever going to be relevant. So I made the decision to focus more on body identification and for my exhibition, did a series of revealing and candid self portraits. I believe my subject matter developed from that point.

I believe that buried within your statement is a declaration that your art is your therapy. Am I right? Does your art serve a therapeutic function for you?

AG: Well, I absolutely believe that without art in my life, I would be a much more dysfunctional person (laughing). I feel that art is the ultimate outlet, because it allows you to exorcise your demons, without too much judgement from your audience. Once a piece is finished, I can look at the imagery from outside of myself, which allows for analysis from a different perspective. I’m not saying it’s successful in removing the problems, but it’ seems to be the best way for me to work out my issues.

You are not the first Miami-based artist to submit works to Level 25 Artjournal. One thing I have noticed about Miami artists is that you all have seemed to develop a particular style of using colors. It has gotten to the point now where someone can show me a painting and without giving me anymore information I can say, “That artist lives in Miami.” Talk to us, please about the influence of Miami on your artwork and how that city has become something of a Color Mecca.

AG: This is a great question. Of course I can only speak for myself, but I believe that the quality of light in Miami has a lot to do with it. Our light is very intense and warm and I think that lends itself to creating artworks with bolder, brighter colors. For many local artists there might also be an influence of the Caribbean & Latin American communities that dominate this area. Their artwork frequently examines their traditions and values and it’s typically colorful and very vivid, which reflects not only the tropical weather, but also their exuberant cultures. For myself, I do not identify with that work, since my artwork is introspective and autobiographical, but I have always been drawn to oranges, yellows, reds etc...the warmer side of the palette and although I work with all colors, those are definitely my “go-to”, preferred colors.

“A Wind Will Come” Mixed media on book paper Ana Galano

11

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

“I Dreamt I Was Normal” Mixed media on watercolor paper Ana Galano

12

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

13

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal Now, to begin discussing specific pieces: “I Dreamt I Was Normal” brought to the fore my desire to learn why artists make certain choices in their compositions. In this case, I want to draw attention to the woman in the painting. Considering that we can see her breasts clearly I am wondering why you chose to paint her wearing a sheer bra rather than just painting her nude? Is the garment meant to represent something, something perhaps attached to the scar on her chest?

AG: It’s interesting that you should mention this. I had originally done the figure without the bra... but the more I looked at her, there seemed to be an overt sexuality that bothered me. Her breasts sort of dominated the picture. She herself is unaware of her sexuality. She has been scarred and permanently affected by her experiences, so she does not want to draw attention to herself. She is pensive, reflecting on her desire for normalcy and her need to escape her situation. This might sound silly, but I put the bra on her so that she feels protected from the viewer’s gaze.

Then why did I make it sheer? Because I wanted to reveal her innate vulnerability. And honestly, the reality is that as a curvy woman she will be gawked at, so there is no point in trying to avoid it.

“He Gave Me A Balloon” is somewhat frightening.

When I look at the painting I see innocence but an innocence that could be better described as naivete.

It is as if the woman has trusted too much and is now on the verge of being silenced for that trust.

Talk to us about “He Gave Me A Balloon,” please and its story.

AG: I never start a piece knowing where it will end up. I had started the figure and the only thing I wanted was that she have a long neck...so she can look over things more easily, was my thought. Although the drawing started out crudely and with a simple composition, I quickly realized that she was being silenced for some unknown reason once the mouth gag appeared. Then came the balloon. Balloons are given to children as a way of making them quiet, usually because they’re screaming that they want one.

In this case it felt right to give my figure a balloon to soothe her. She’s obviously looking at something or someone that is out of our view, but I honestly don’t really know what has happened to her.

14

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal “He Gave Me A Balloon” Mixed media on watercolor paper Ana Galano

I never start a piece knowing where it will end up.

“I Feel It” Mixed media on watercolor paper Ana Galano

15

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

Grimes & Jones (UK)

www.grimesandjones.co.uk

Grimes & jones, (artsuperiors) stumbled sweaty browed and dim witted onto the art scene in early 2010 armed with a garage full of discarded household appliances and d.i.y materials. spurned on by a bout of blissful unemployment, these two thick headed yorkshire lads discovered a passion for painting and destruction that was sure to get them into all sorts of trouble.

3 years on and grimes & jones have won numerous awards and accolades, (most significant ‘the tanquery gin award for bad art’ two years running), exhibited in various countries, curated exhibitions, written a book and founded their own online agony aunt service ‘the blue angel’. delighting in the bizarre and nonsensical they preserve their schoolyard friendship creating raw, impulsive and explosive art working in sculpture (found), paintings, installation, video and eating pic n mix. with a colourfully impatient and honest style they clumsily render out heroes, thoughts and feelings the way an over excited 5 year old might do. now operating from a hefty studio in yorkshire and more recently becoming known for live performative action painting, they are more dangerous (and horny) than ever.

16

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

“Ginconceivable” Acrylic and felt tip pen on canvas Grimes & Jones

17

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

“The Critic” Acrylic, Spraypaint, Housepaint and oilstick on found wooden panels Grimes & Jones

“Listening to Big Freedia” Acrylic, Felt tip pen and oilstick on Canvas Grimes & Jones

18

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

You mention your bout of “blissful unemployment…” Now, for most people unemployment is a time of stress and anxiety, hardly blissful. Was it blissful for you two because of the freedom you had to spend your days crafting your art? And do you believe that artists in general can better cope with being out of work?

G&J: Our unemployed period gave birth to ‘us’ as a formalized artistic duo and I think our self-indulgence was the beginning of us discovering (what we later labelled) ‘soft hedonism’. We were part of that generation that got into University very easily and did courses of absolutely no benefit to us career wise. We, like many others came hurtling back down to earth with a smash when we graduated and tried to get ‘real’ jobs.

Signing on was a chance to let go of our pride, watching all your expectations become reality - living in a town wellknown for unemployment and a lack of culture, we felt like we’d slumped into our crappy destiny. Being pummelled by the stern Job Centre women and our disappointed parents we used the only defence mechanism we know best we laughed. We laughed for ages, at how crap we were, part of it on purpose out of rebellion (an early painting ‘Born Thick’ is a reflection of how we felt we’d never had a chance) part of it out of personal shame. We clung to each other, justifying our (frankly lazy) behaviour by pretending to be artists and generally messing about - they say ignorance is bliss, and they were absolutely right!!

The ‘unemployment period’ remains our most successful, and most enjoyed. We were naive, mischievous juveniles, kicking and screaming our way into responsible adulthood.

With other artists, a lot go through the education system and have that freedom to explore and create during university, which we never enjoyed together.

I certainly wouldn’t recommend quitting your job to be an artist; you’ll end up a divorced, homeless lunatic.

The two of you have been friends since your schooldays and now you work together professionally as artists.

Describe for us, please, the advantages of having a collaborative working relationship with someone you have been close to for a long time.

G&J: I can imagine being an artist working alone to be a very isolated (albeit personal) existence and I doubt very much that if we weren’t working together that we’d be working in this way at all. Without the joy and (b)romance in our relationship we wouldn’t bother, the art doesn’t drive us to be friends - the friendship drives us to make art... It’s like how some friends might go to the pub and play darts together or give each other blowjobs, we throw paint at stuff and cram our funniest in-jokes or perverse tall-tales in to amuse one another.

There are a few practical advantages to having a long working relationship with a friend too of course - art costs are all halved (but as are profits) and we have double the time to work on things. It also provides you someone to confide in, it gives you a free quality checker. If you think you’ve had a terrible/brilliant idea their laughter will let you know which one it is. We’re two weak minded men with terrible ideas, so even if the whole world tells us to go away there’s always one stupid man who’ll say ‘that’s a good idea, let’s do it’. We make a point of telling one another how fucking good they are at stuff, and how nice their hair is quite regularly, so our egos are regularly swollen.

19

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal Your work “The Critic” seems to be every teenage girl’s nightmare, even though you don’t specifically reference teenage girls in the work itself. I thus imagine that “The Critic” is meant to force everyone—regardless of gender or age—to realize that we are all being judged on superficial criteria daily. What was the impetus for creating “The Critic?” Did it come about because of your own experiences being criticized? Is it a reaction to the silly way society as a whole judges people?

G&J: The Critic was foremost a warning to ourselves as two new artists about to have our ideas, imaginations and communication styles judged in the public realm for the first time. As we became more aware of how the art-world worked and became comfortable with our status as ‘artists’ (having exhibited) it made us more conscious about how we would be received. We’d never created art with the intention of impressing anyone, in fact often we were purposely sloppy and crass, so we had to prepare ourselves. We thought about the idea that what we were doing might be ‘considered’ intellectually and it felt a little alien. What if it isn’t even intellectual, do we have to play along and learn the big art-essay words to impress the cultural beardos and critics? The idea that it is someone’s job to look at what someone else was inspired to do, for their own personal voyeuristic pleasure, crafted out of their own experience and particular skillset, and to tell them it isn’t very good seems heinous. As one critic said ‘it’s all shite’.

We turned our art-world insecurities into common everyday judgements that people might relate to, immersing ourselves in the role of the scornful. In a way we are all teenage girls, sometimes showing up the disco in the wrong colour lip gloss...

I love the treasure hunt aspect of creating artworks with “found” objects. Can each of you tell us, please, what types of objects catch your eye the most?

G&J: We like waste more than anything, insignificant stuff. Knackered chairs, kitchen units, mouldy old wood; something that looks like its best days are way behind it or something that looks like it wasn’t designed to last long enough to be included in a permanent artwork.

20

L25

“Sir Cyril Smith reenacts The Beatles (Flabby Road)” Acrylic, Oilstick, Felt tip pen and collage on bedsheet Grimes & Jones

Level 25 ArtJournal There are a lot of ‘rules’ in the art world, rules that restrict those striving for their own personal ideas of perfection - a friend who graduated in fine art once told us “you’re holding the paintbrush wrong” but we argued that if the paint hits the surface it can’t be wrong. We’re not intentionally unconventional though, but sometimes we just use what is within hands reach, if that happens to be a hammer or your shoe then it’ll do - a lot of the found stuff wasn’t procured, it was just literally in our path at the time of inspiration.

We love ‘arte povera’ and being Yorkshire tight-arses if we can find a way to use the cheapest quality materials, we will (The Miniature Heroes paintings were all done on Asda Smart Price bed sheets (99p) instead of canvas material).

I’m sure our shoddy approach to materials, craftsmanship and preservation will bite us in the arse one day when all our pictures have rotted or fallen apart but if they age and mould like us, then that is their natural journey, and part of their visual impact.

Talk to us about “Mum,” please. You have a found image of a gorgeous model (who looks familiar to me but I cannot place her name) with the word “Mum” written on her forehead. I have had fun interpreting this piece and my take on it is that it says that we many of us view our mothers as being extremely beautiful women, no matter what they actually look like. But that’s just my opinion of “Mum.” I’d like to hear what you two meant it to be.

Quite the contrary, you give us far too much credit for being lovely lads our mums are both hideously ugly as it happens! (Don’t worry, they won’t read this as they are also barely literate).

Your view of Mum is a much healthier and positive view of the piece than ours.

Even though the work is called ‘Mum’ it could quite easily have been called ‘Dad’ and it isn’t specifically about women, although I think it will always be interpreted that way.

Mum was more of a comment on expectations, the same expectations we spoke of losing when we deemed ourselves unemployable. We took a figure of beauty, platformed on her glossy plinth protected by the warming glow of illusion that surrounds beauty, lifestyle and wealth within magazine culture, and we tried our best to neutralise it.

To make it more real to you and I. We injected this infallible high cheeked angel with a societal reality - she might be the face of Vogue, pouting her way through golden backdrops, but she’s probably still wiping digested rusks off a child’s arse cheeks. Mum reminds us that when we’re flying high there are screaming kids at home, bills to pay and relatives to argue with. So no matter how good you look in your high heels or your new shirt, the real you belongs at home, sweating amongst the smell of bleach and ‘traditional’ concerns. Mum is about not being able to let loose, about being trapped in the realistic and often disappointing roles our society creates for us. It’s not a protest, it’s a little sigh. Sorry!

21

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

Jo Eun Huh (Korea)

www.junehuh.com

My work is about creating space based on my experiences and afterimages. My imagination can sometimes create something that is totally different from reality. My particular form of expression shows itself in terms of unconscious fantasy and dreams. My experience at the shamanism ceremony had an effect on my work due to the physical pain and the spiritual relationship with the environment that was part of this process. The Shaman used primary colors and totem music that made me feel unconsciously isolated and as though I was in a different place.

My experiences form an afterimage that is an amorphous composition of color and a dream-like reality. Various mysterious phenomena have driven my interest in spirituality and imagination, thus creating a place like a dreamscape. It is important to me as an artist that I communicate with visual language and connect a with a person’s sense of spirituality and imagination. There is so much symbolism in my work and I use elements of subtraction, filling, and replacing gestures all with playful colors and materials. My focus is to create something that is based on my imagination and memories.

Most recently I have become interested in the way that poison and camouflage affects things naturally and physically.

When using toxic materials including markers, resin, and colors, the composition makes its own construction. Emotions such as danger and fear possess an aesthetic beauty of imagination and become real in my work. Once I am finished I have created a new place to give the world a real voice as a real person and a real artist.

22

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

“Island” Mixed media on panel Jo Eun Huh

23

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal You state that “various mysterious phenomena” help fuel your imagination. Can you expand on that, please?

Which phenomena are you specifically referencing?

JEH: There is two types of phenomena referenced, one is I experienced phenomena such as dream and afterimages, sometimes dream has more reality than actual real, nightmare, images, and when I wake up sometimes it shows mirage that part of my dream. If the dream was too specific one, even after the dream I keep sees some color of afterimage of the dream. And other one is other’s experienced like natural, universal, and creatures, there many of mysterious phenomena: sink hole, black hole, and alien, mysterious place such as ocean, that not discovering yet by human, these are I see the powerful of natural in mysterious, that unknown, unresolved, can’t see, these phenomena makes me very comfort because I can build up anything that places without any proof, so mostly I uses the mysterious phenomena that I combined and my afterimages by my dream, I mixed it together, so I can make the most secret place by my own.

I would like to know what motivated you to take part in a shamanism ceremony. Was it for purely personal reasons, an attempt to explore your spirituality? Or was it also for artistic reasons, an attempt at seeing things differently?

JEH: It actually by my private reason, because of my family, I was not sick, and nothing wrong of myself, but family didn’t felt that way, so without notice I got the ceremony, without any mentioned. So sudden shamanism ceremony gave me certain physical pain, not the spiritual experienced, lying on the cold bamboo mat, I could hear songs, prayers, loud laughing, and bell-ringing in my state of confusion. The primary color used in the ceremony frightened me. But in that short moment, I could feel I am totally isolated and different place such like I was submerge in the ocean, other noise sounds were going to very far and fade.

24

L25

“Camouflage I” Mixed media on panel Jo Eun Huh

Level 25 ArtJournal

Symbolism in my painting is only shown to me...

In looking at your paintings and then reading your statement, I imagine that the symbolism which you state is in your works is very subtle or maybe even known only to you. When you look at your finished works do you enjoy the secret symbolism you see in them? Does this perhaps allow you a method of private communication with your paintings?

JEH: Symbolism in my painting is only shown to me, it is one of recognized my own, and it won’t allow to other people, if it is allow to others, that means I allow my secret place, will not secret anymore. I don’t want disrupt my place from others, but I want to show them image itself, but not inside. Also I don’t even think about symbolism that I was enjoy or not, but sometimes I don’t want to see them in my eyes, when it is done and I can clearly see them, even I don’t want to. All my processed remembered, from that for me it is hard to see my work as objectively. It is important to see work in third eyes that can always make improve my work for later.

25

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

“Camouflage II” Mixed media on panel Jo Eun Huh

26

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

27

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

It is clear that your paintings do give form to that amorphous and dreamlike imagination of yours.

It is also clear that the experience of the shamanism ceremony still guides your painting style. What I am curious about is this: do you foresee that as the years go by and you grow older and change as a person that the effects of the shamanism ceremony will wear off, so to speak, and that you will take a different tack with your artwork?

HEJ: For this time I want to keep them my inspired by shamanism, or mysterious inspires, but my focuses is going for many other things, I don’t want to just keep them as my guide, also I don’t believe this is my artistic way either. So I was find that experienced ‘isolated’ and its mysterious phenomena, to making my own place which I want to get off from that, I am keep trying to off just mentioned for what I was experiencing even it is interesting, I believe it is not go for long time for my artist way. It is so important question that I always thinking and questioning myself, and I believe I can find other than my experiencing in sooner way, because I don’t want to stay in my state for long time, I want to keep myself but I want to challenge others things too.

28

L25

“Spot and Follow” Mixed media on panel Jo Eun Huh

Level 25 ArtJournal

“Merry Go Round” Mixed media on panel Jo Eun Huh

I would like you to elaborate more on your use of so-called toxic materials in your work and how it is affecting your final products. True, various artists’ materials such as paint, markers, resins, etc. are toxic, yet on the other hand they are not necessarily dangerous to use unless deliberately mishandled. So what I am wondering is where the feeling of danger and the emotion of fear which you speak of in your statement come from?

HEJ: Yes, I called toxic materials, as material itself, its clear and fragile of marker and clear resin shows its purity itself in the painting. but it is not just materially toxic, all that fear, danger, came from feel of lost, scare, hide, hurts of myself, so much complexity that I have. Starts from my young childhood memory, and my personality, even now’s. I always not try to look myself in real way, I usually avoid from real looking, emotion, and many of happened, but unfortunately the painting shows everything, that what I want to see, what I want to looking at, what I want to feel, what I want respect from others, painting shows so right exactly what my desires. That feels me so shamed; it is like I am a witch and ask for a magic mirror that says ‘you are not the beautifulist one’ in snow white. It is same thing to me for painting. It shows all my fakeness, pretends things. That is I called toxic because it is materially clear and fragile can shown as very pure but also easy to break that goes show my all obscene give my real shame that gives me toxic myself as well.

29

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

Altea Nori (Italy)

Cover Artist

My cloths tacked to my skin with sap, sometimes I look out at the city imagining that I am gazing through a dying forest.

30

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

31 “Tree” Altea Nori

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

We live in a world of abstract maps and frameworks yet nature dismantles them.

So, tell us about Altea Nori. I’ll make it easy for you: tell us the top 2 things you would like us to know about you as an artist.

AN: I started developing an interest for the creative sector writing a short story about a common object and try to make it interesting. I did and still do poetry; some poems have been selected and published in magazines and books. As it is for now I am finishing my MA in Photography in Nottingham, U.K. and I am currently working with both the moving image and photography trying to create a dialogue and tension between the two mediums, studying both similarities and differences. I have always been interested in the avant-garde especially Surrealism. Indeed I believe that, despite all the control I might have when shooting a picture, the camera is predicted to record chance, disarray, the desire of our souls.

But it is also important to stress that the way of engaging with the world reveals something to be ‘Marvellous’, that is to say it is our mind’s habit of experiencing the world that is relevant. This inextricable juxtaposition of perception, experience and representation, that is also reality and imagination, is at the very base of all my work.

Obviously, you feel a connection to nature. What do you want us to see in nature when we look at your photography?

AN: Correct. The connection with nature started when I did my dissertation about the aesthetics of the trace (ruins). A ruin on the aesthetic point of view is a thing in which the conflicting connection between the destructive forces of nature and the constructive ones of human knowledge is brought on a quiet state. My recent photography however tells more of an abstract concept. As Wilhelm Worringer wrote, abstraction emerges from a physcological fear of nature and distrust of the organic. We live in a world of abstract maps and frameworks yet nature dismantles them.

The photograph I would like most to ask you about is “Leaf.” I have interpreted it many ways in the time I have had to pleasure to look at it but my most common way of interpreting it is as a metaphor about humankind’s blindness to the things imperilling nature. However, that is just me…Why don’t you tell us what “Leaf ” means to you.

AN: It was a hot summer day when I made this photograph. I was laying down in my bed feeling my body as like suspended over a void. I really wanted to fill up the holes, to abolish the emptiness I found myself in and become as solid as a tree or a rock. So I took this gold leaf my mum gave me and put it above my eye. A symbolic act for a desire, a will to fall asleep.

32

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

“Leaf ” Altea Nori

33

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

“Crane” Altea Nori

34

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

35

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

...in a new city the stranger is the one who owns the most chaotic places.

36

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal On the other hand, I also get the impression that you are something of a city person. This photographic essay which you have submitted to Level 25 Artjournal merges nature and the city into one coherent theme.

Tell us, which setting inspires you more often: the natural or the urban?

AN: My passion for photography coincided with the moving in a new country, United Kingdom in 2012. So as it is for now the urban setting indeed inspires me the most. We left our Country to move into another one; as soon as we realize we no longer have our landmarks, our traditions, our places, our friends and our language we feel scared.

Can this rooting out push us towards an increased awareness of what settling down means? As soon as we start taking possession of the neighbourhood or city we feel safe. We know where the bus station is, where the banks are, where all the shops we need are. We have established functional relationships with a new space. But when do we start giving this surrounding a sense? Franco La Cecla says that we start giving it a sense when we have the attitude towards exploration, towards the adventure. Getting lost it means owning the space. By getting lost I mean leaving our culture behind ourselves.

“We can’t get lost because the order we bring with ourselves destroy the places. We can’t interact with them anymore.”

(La Cecla Franco, 2011) Thus in a new city the stranger is the one who owns the most chaotic places. With his new sense of space he inhabits the marginal places. He has become a stranger to the city and a stranger to himself. This sense of drifting has led me to take possession of the new city with my camera.

“Abstractions” Altea Nori

37

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

38

L25

“Bede Park” Altea Nori

Level 25 ArtJournal

39

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

Tashi Marouf (UK)

www.tashisart.com

My Name is Natasha Marouf but everyone has always called me, Tashi. I am a fine artist, designer and illustrator with many years of creative experience. I have always been a creative soul, taking many art classes as a child but I first seriously started studying fine art at Canterbury High School (a special high school for the arts in Ottawa, Canada).

In my early 20’s I studied fine arts at private art college called, the Ottawa School of Art. After completing my fine art studies I went on to study graphic design and received a diploma from the International Academy of Design and Technology in Ottawa.

I have lived and sold my work in Canada, France, Algeria and now in England. Living all over the world on different continents has been an eye-opening experience and has greatly enhanced my knowledge of art and understanding of diversified cultures.

I would describe my artistic style as Expressionism. I make an effort to convey a sense emotion and feeling in all my work. My work is most often inspired by a place, event, emotion or an experience that has struck me in some way – and my art is the mode or outlet for which I translate those experiences externally.

40

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

“Lickey Hills Country Park” Acrylic on canvas Tashi Marouf

41

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

42

L25

“Poppies of Afghanistan” Oil on canvas Tashi Marouf

“Lozells” Acrylic on canvas Tashi Marouf

Level 25 ArtJournal You have received a lot of formal training in art at various schools. Many artists, however, choose not to “study� art at art schools because they believe art is a talent best left to develop on its own, within each artist. What is your argument against that? What do you feel you gained from attending art schools?

TM: I am not actually against any artist that has not formally studied. I went to art school because I loved art and I wanted it to be a deeper part of my life. I also wanted the skills and knowledge that others could teach me. At art school you get try out different forms of art that on your own you might not otherwise be exposed to. You also get challenged by having to produce specific projects by specific dates - which can make you think and stretch in new ways - which leads to personal growth.

As you travel the world or even as you go from place to place during your daily routine in your hometown, what are some of the most common places in which you find inspiration? For example, markets? Parks? Busy streets? Open meadows?

TM: I am inspired by nature and by certain environments that make an impression on me, it could be anything really: a city street, a flower that I see as I pass by or a new person that I run into. The world is full of fascination!

43

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal Your desire to convey emotion in your works must present a unique set of challenges. I imagine, for example, that there are times when you have trouble imbuing a painting you are working on with the right emotions, that sometimes it just doesn’t come out on the canvas very easily. What do you do when that happens? How do you step back, regroup and approach the problem again?

TM: As I paint, I am not focused on the end result. I express my emotion as I go along - sometimes what develops surprises even me. Other times, I see and feel something that others cannot see through their own interpretation. I was really delighted recently when my painting, “What does the fox say,” came in forth place (with an honorable mention) at the Sustainable World Art Competition in London. It was interesting to listen to the judges share their own visions and interpretations of what they saw and felt looking at my piece. They saw things and emotions that I never even thought of! Well, we all have our own understandings of a thing - especially art!

I like that you seem to enjoy painting everyday and common scenes such as people walking down a street or laundry hanging out to dry. Yet, you also make such scenes seem magical and even desirable. Odd as it seems, I want to be in “The Sheets Are Washed.” I want that to be my house, those to be my sheets, my chore; I want to be surrounded by all that color! Is that your aim, to take the ordinary and make it desirable?

TM: “The Sheets Are Washed,” is a particular favorite of mine too. It was actually a cheeky piece of personal activism on my part. I have one family member that is often putting me down as a parent. Once, I overheard them asking my children, “Has your mother washed the sheets?” So I decided what my response would be - make a painting of the sheets hanging on the line - as proof of my ability. I externalized my irritated feelings in my work and made my sheet-washing-ability eternal in my painting!

44

L25

Level 25 ArtJournal

“The Sheets Are Washed” Oil on canvas Tashi Marouf

“Mosely Park” Acrylic on canvas Tashi Marouf

45

L25