I recently asked Brian Sherwin of MyArtSpace.com if he could interview some of our featured artists for the beinArt.org blog. Here is Brian's interview with Jeremy Geddes. Jeremy is one of 50 artists featured in our upcoming publication entitled Metamorphosis 2.

Brian Sherwin - "Jeremy, can you tell us about your early years? What inspired you to first pick up the brush?"

Jeremy Geddes - "Damn that's hard to say, although, at least in part, it was undoubtedly to pick up the girls. I'm not sure that teenage boys do anything at all that isn't at least tangentially connected to picking up girls (or other boys)."

Brian Sherwin - "Do you have any academic training in art? Can you tell us about your early studies– be it formal or informal?"

Jeremy Geddes - "I did a BA and a postgrad degree at VCA in Melbourne, although it was useless in terms of technical training, it served more as a studio space and a way to pick up Austudy money, rather than a learning environment. I learned everything I know by myself after I left."

Brian Sherwin - "Tell us about your influences… are you influenced by any specific artists or art movements?"

Jeremy Geddes - "It's a hard one to answer, my influences are always evolving, they don't stay static. I don't adhere to any specific movements, I'm skeptical of the idea of labeled art movements, I'm not sure what it achieves."

Brian Sherwin - "Jeremy, the characters in your paintings often appear as if  they are 'boxed' in… there is a sense of claustrophobia about  them. Is that intentional?"

Jeremy Geddes - "It's intentional, many painters compose their work so the edges of the canvas are as invisible as possible. All the points of interest are contained within the middle portion of the image, the tonal and colour construction is designed to keep the eye within this space, to keep them viewing the painting for as long as possible."

"I don't really find that interesting, and I often go the other route of putting the points of interest at the edge of a piece, and creating a design that forces the eye off the edge of the canvas, I'm interested in the tension that that can create."

Brian Sherwin - "Tell us more about the motives behind your work…"

Jeremy Geddes - "The motives for me painting have changed a little over the years, earlier, they were in a large part a sort of exasperation at the folly of my fellow monkey's, these days though I'd say they're about attempting to capture a mood, a fairly specific one, but one that I can't quite grasp internally, I'm trying to work it through in my paintings."

Brian Sherwin - "Jeremy, I understand that you are a gamer… what kind of games do you play? Are you influenced by video games or other aspects of popular culture?"

Jeremy Geddes - "I worked in game development for about 5 years, and have played them since I was a kid. Alas I'm so busy these days I don't really play them anymore. Am I influenced by popular culture? Yeah totally I'd say, although I don't really know what is popular culture and what is not. All these distinctions are pretty meaningless, there's just people creating things they think are worth creating, and some I think were, some I think weren't, the former I gravitate towards and draw off, the later I don't."

Brian Sherwin - "So what exactly are the social implications of your work? What do you strive to convey about society? What is the message that you  hope viewers obtain when they observe your art?"

Jeremy Geddes - "Conveying an explicit meaning without resorting to didactic narrative cliches is almost impossible. If you wish to have any form of subtlety in you your work, you have to accept that it comes with the cost of potential misinterpretation. Meaning for any particular viewer will only be partly informed by the painting, and predominantly informed be the viewers past experiences, and personal narrative associations formed over the course of their life. It's been my experience that viewers will see the broad outlines of a painting at first, begin to construct a narrative that fits their world view, and then selectively ignore details of the painting that conflict with this constructed narrative. So if you construct an image with a narrative, or message that conforms to standard belief, say a moral lesson, the chances that your painting will be correctly interpreted are high, but if you're attempting a dissident narrative you're going to struggle to convey that explicitly."

"If you accept this as a painter, then you realise that your ability to convey any sort of exacting message through your images is severely limited. I try to set up questions, hopefully ones that spark a cognitive dissonance in the viewer."

Brian Sherwin - "Tell us more about your process. What type of surface do you prefer to paint upon? How do you begin a painting? Do you work with sketches first?"

Jeremy Geddes - "I used to paint on board prepared with acrylic gesso, which worked fine, although I've recently switched to linen with an oil primer for larger paintings. Before I begin a painting, I generally do a lot of thinking. I don't go beyond this point until something has formed in my head which I feel compelled by. Then I play around with it, in my head and in small thumbnails. Then I collect what ever reference I need and get busy. After all the planning though, I usually end up scraping out areas of the painting, and changing them as I go. It's a time waster, but perhaps unavoidable."

Brian Sherwin - "Can you tell us about your studio practice… what are the conditions you need in order to paint– do you listen to music while working?"

Jeremy Geddes - "I work with podcasts or audio books going in the background usually, with the occasional bout of music. I generally work form around 8:30 in the morning until about 11:00 at night, and try to make it 7 days a week."

Brian Sherwin - "What are you working on at this time?"

Jeremy Geddes - "I'm beginning work on a five issue painted comic, which will probably take a little over year. After that, I have a huge backlog of paintings I want to get to."

Brian Sherwin - "Finally, do you have any advice for emerging artists?"

Jeremy Geddes - "That's a hard one. The best advice I could give, is to ask yourself, "why am I doing this?" Then try to answer it as honestly as you can, because with this knowledge you can plan a life that you'll find satisfying. If you're interested in money, you can make one series of decisions. Fame? Potentially another. If you want to simply paint what you what to paint, and couldn't care about money or fame, those choices will be different again."

Jeremy Geddes is one of 50 artists featured in our upcoming publication entitled Metamorphosis 2.

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Jon Beinart - "How would you describe your art Paul?"

Paul Freeman - "I don't know what genre I would call it, maybe a mixture of Visionary and Surrealism. Some times I will put a photo up on my wall and look at it for 6 months and let it cook so to speak, and when the time comes I will start to draw and let it extrapolate itself into some thing completely different.. Most of all it is Spiritually INSPIRED, when I am in spirit I AM Inspired!!. As I have said before it is a physical Action that brings about Spiritual Reaction, and I do hope other people feel that when they look at my Artworks.."

Jon Beinart - "Do you use art as a meditation?"

Paul Freeman - "Yes I do use my ART for meditation, I would say the whole experience is just one great big meditation from the beginning to the end, to me it is a means to step out of the mundane reality of everyday life and and go beyond all its vagaries Into a new Spiritual REALITY, and absorb what I AM doing into more Light within myself. There is a mantra I use: From the Light of GOD THAT I AM, I AM the Light I AM… And I find the more ART I work at the more Light I can absorb, and all so I hope it comes out in my Art so others can bring it into their life as well.. It Is a Transcendental Meditation in another form and a great learning Experience as well.."

Jon Beinart - "Which themes and archetypes have you explored with your art? Are these elements usually planned or spontaneous? (or both)"

Paul Freeman - "Jon. The only thing I could say that is planned is the subject, and then it is only the outline, and then What happens inside is Spontaneous,  but their is allways the feeling of going into a Higher or hipper reality it is a very exciting or excited state of BEING And it enables me settle into that Transcendental State of being. My Archetypes can be any thing or any one.  I just love the DOING OF IT ALL…"

Jon Beinart - "Who are your artistic heroes? What have you learned from these people?"

Paul Freeman - "My Artistic Heroes, 1st of all it would have to be THE OLD MASTERS, Caravaggio, Raphael , Michelangelo. A lot of the present day Visionary Artists such as Prof Phil, HR Giger, Gonzalez, Ernst Fuchs. There are so many great artist out there, but what I have leaned from them is to Develop myself as an artist and to teach myself to the best of my ability and keep on evolving as an Artist and find new ways to go about this self evolution, whether it is new techniques or new Visions. The last work I have just finished has taken me 7 months and now I will have a rest from my art for a while and the new work ahead will involve developing my Symbiotic themes."

Jon Beinart - "7 months is a long time to focus on one piece of paper. Do your drawings often take this long?"

Paul Freeman - "No I  usually do not take so long to do a piece, and the only reason it took so long to do the MEDUSA was because of my cancer!! and the time I spent in hospital and time to recover from the operation.. BUT it would have taken 5 months to do it anyway, it is by far the largest work I have done. 1.5 metre X 1 metre or in inches 60 X 40 and about 650 hours?? their is a lot of detail in the work and that was the most time consuming part of it. I am having it photographed this week so I will send you a pic of it, sorry to have taken so long to answer your questions but some days are good and some not so good."

Jon Beinart - "I am looking forward to seeing this latest drawing Paul. It sounds spectacular! I understand that Cancer has been a huge obstacle between you and your art and your treatment has been time consuming and draining. (I send my love and best wishes as always my friend). Has you illness had an effect on the intensity of your subject matter?"

Paul Freeman - "You could say the only intensity I feel from my cancer is to break through the pain barrier as I am working, and that I might not get to finish all the work I have planned for the future, so their is a certain amount of intensity as I AM DRAWING, Whether it comes out in the subject is hard to say, But I do know the next piece will be soft or more subtle, and it is only the pain that puts a stop to things, it has been all most a month since I finished MEDUSA and I don’t feel ready to start this new piece as yet Even though I know how it will look.  Hopefully I will be ready next week to start planning this new one out, this block of units is being fire proofed at the moment so that has delayed my work as well. I have my SON living with me now, and have had to make some changes in my life, but we both love ART and he is on his way to being a great artist as well. AND is a ripper guitarist as well.."

Jon Beinart - "When did you decide to devote yourself to your art? Was there a notable catalyst?"

Paul Freeman - "I decided to devote myself to ART Full time early in 1993, not long after becoming clean and sober. I had always been doing art when I had my moments of sobriety by that I mean I would be sober for a few months and then slowly sink back into My Alcoholism, and this went on for a period of 10 years, and then on the 15th of October 1992 I had my last drink. AT LAST I was SOBER. NOW I could start getting into my art, and just the doing of it gave to me a great deal of BLISS, and the bliss I received led me into a greater feeling of SELF WORTH, and then in early 1994  I started doing a piece of work  called Rhapsody on a  theme  and half way through the work I had an epiphany and started laughing and at last I had found my Genre in ART and was given Visions of what would happen with my ART. And as I have said before Just the Doing of it is ALL that matters. The Catalyst for my ART was the fact that I was at last sober, I was inspired by Rhapsody on a theme and what it was doing to me. To be Inspired is to be in Spirit and that was all that I needed to keep going."

Jon Beinart - "It's fantastic that you managed to kick alcohol and have maintained a healthy addiction to art. How have people reacted to your art in Albury? (the town I grew up in, where Paul and I met many years ago). Have you encountered much interest in The Albury Community for Surreal, Fantastic and/or Visionary Art?"

Paul Freeman - "The responses I receive from people who get to view my ART is all ways very positive, and want to know what genre it is called, when I tell them it is Visionary that is when I get some strange looks and then I have to explain what do I MEAN by that. Sometimes when I have told people that I AM an ARTIST, the question back will be what sort of art do you do and when I say Visionary, what’s that??? So the closest to that I can give to them is Surrealism Art. As far as the interest in Visionary/Surrealism Art goes is a bit SLOW at the moment, and it will take a big Exhibition of Visionary and Surrealism Art to get the mainstream public interested in the movement….All of my Art so far has mainly been sold to private collectors, and as you know this town is very slow to take interest in some thing that is outside of the square!!!, some times I think that Abstract art is something new to the general public in Albury. BUT when the time comes I will be having a Big Exhibition of my work here very soon, hopefully early 2008."

Jon Beinart - "An Exhibition. That’s great! I'll be there. I know your work has been received very well in Metamorphosis. I sold a copy to The Albury Library Museum and another copy to the Lavington Library. I'm sure many Albury Wodonga people will love your art. Where are you planning to hold the Big Exhibition?"

Paul Freeman - "We are hoping to have it at the Wodonga City Gallery, it is all up to my Patron who will be paying for the cost of the Exhibition.  I will let you know when every thing is ready to go ahead for the show and start to send out the invites. Their are already a lot of people who are waiting for it to go ahead, I have been doing a lot of promoting for it and I would like your help in letting me know of people who I can send invites to down their in Melbourne.."

Jon Beinart - "I'll definitely help you get the word out. I'll also post a press release on the beinArt Blog. Thank you so much for your time Paul. I look forward to catching up with you for a coffee next time I'm in Albury."

Paul Freeman is one of 50 Artists featured in our first book: Metamorphosis. 

Jon Beinart - "How would you describe your work Lukas?"

Lukas Kandl - "I would say that my work is inspired by fantastic and surrealistic art, with a classical Old Masters technique. I take my ideas from literature, poetry, and also biblical and esoteric subjects. I create very realistic but always a bit shift from the ordinary reality details. I think it is very important that everybody can recognize a reality with which he can deal, but I want my paintings to trigger a personal journey through the dream domain or an unusual situation."

Jon Beinart - "What do you find interesting about esoteric and biblical subjects?"

Lukas Kandl - "Biblical and esoteric subjects are eternal subjects, which have been used in the painting for centuries, in the whole world. Each artist has his own vision according to his culture, his own experiences and I am very interested by the comparison between all these visions. Biblical subjects are more concrete as they rely to rather understandable texts, more popularized than esoteric texts. I like esoteric subjects as they are full of mysteries, hidden information, opened only to initiates. My paintings often contain hidden messages, understandable only by people who have the knowledge to access them."

Jon Beinart - "Do you have a particular religious faith, or just a general interest in the myths, archetypes and symbols?"

Lukas Kandl - "I am especially interested in the myths, archetypes and symbols and in the general worldwide culture. This goes beyond a specific religion. I am interested in reading about the different religions and I respect them. What matters to me is the part of spirituality you find in the people, in the religion, in the situations, not the religion itself. I have difficulty to recognize the word God as it is used in so many different circumstances, and as an alibi to make so many horrors. I prefer to believe in a higher spirit. I find my subjects in the different religions when their contents interest me and respect the human being."

Jon Beinart - "When did you start painting Fantastic animals? Has this been a life long theme in your paintings?"

Lukas Kandl - "I always used fantastic animals in my paintings, but at the beginning they were more used as details accompanying other themes. 5 years ago, I decided to make a tribute to Audubon and I painted about 50 fantastic birds. This was the real start of my fantastic animals series."

"But I also work about many other themes. I specially like painting animals and humans for their glances, their presence and all the symbols you can attach to them. I don’t use still life, landscapes or seascapes themes."

Jon Beinart - "Are you able to support yourself financially with your paintings?"

Lukas Kandl - "At the beginning, no. Then about 20 years ago it was rather cyclical: some years yes, some years no. But the French economic situation was better than now."

"Now, even if the economic situation is worst and most of the French artists have real difficulties to sell a painting, I am doing better and better every year and support the family financially very well."

"But that means work a lot, travel a lot, seize the opportunities and also invest time and money to promote the fantastic, surreal international art not only my personal art but a group of artists art. This part is a long-term view."

Jon Beinart - "It is great that you promote the whole movement and other artists as well as your own work. Our movement benefits greatly with the efforts of artists like yourself. Who are some of your favorite contemporary artists within the movement?"

Lukas Kandl - "Some of my favorite contemporary artists are: Parkes, Verlinde, Hernandez, Aparin, Henricot, Arnas, Djurovic, Grasse, Merriam, Zademack, Schmid. This list is not exhaustive!"

Jon Beinart - "What are your thoughts on the contemporary 'high art' world? Do you think there is much hope for the future of Surreal and Fantastic art?"

Lukas Kandl - "I think that the contemporary "high art" world is a world built on a wrong spirit: work very quickly without technique, provoke without any content, no spirituality. It's at the image of our contemporary world. For me it's the MacDonalds of the art! I would make a comparison: let's suppose that the artists were surgeons instead of artists and work in this same spirit. You would have only corpses! I think and I feel that private collectors and the general public start to be tired of this. We have to innovate, even to provoke, but with elegance and panache. To do that we need to know the technique, we need to learn and work. The general public is fed up with all these works which need specialists' explanations for hours in order to try to understand what the artist meant. With the surreal and fantastic art, everybody can recognize the reality of the objects or the situations, even if they are a bit improbable but with technique and quality. From that every spectator can make his own travel through his own dreams because he feels like accompanied. I am quite optimist for these next years."

Jon Beinart - I find your optimism refreshing. Have you observed anything in particular that might indicate a positive change in the art world over the next few years?

Lukas Kandl - "Yes, a few signs:

• "First of all, the remarks I receive during my personal shows or our group shows from the general public. To summarize: “Finally a good painting! Painters who know to paint!…”"
• "During our last group show in Paris during a big “salon” where about 3000 artists were exhibiting, our stall was very much visited and most of the people told us that we had the better one."
• "More, the French TV came to make a short report, about 3mn, about the salon. They showed about 12 works, among them 5 were from our group. And that without any intervention from our part."
• "Last year we participated with our group to another salon in Sedan. This salon existed for a few years, but it was found so good with our participation that for the first time the Ministry of Culture gave a substantial subvention to the 2007 salon."
• "As we are looking for exhibition locations for our group project, it becomes a bit easier to find “official” locations. For 2007 we booked 5 exhibitions."
  

"Everything is not won, but I feel things are a bit quivering".

Jon Beinart - "Things do seem to be picking up for Fantastic Artists around the world. I'm so glad to hear more positive news. Thank you for your time and energy Lukas. Do you have any exciting news for our readers? Upcoming exhibitions, publications, etc?"

Lukas Kandl - "Regarding one man shows there is my exhibition in Montbard for Buffon tricentenary."

"I have also a one-man show in Arcachon (near Bordeaux) Droit de Regard Gallery during the whole year."

Regarding my group activities:

• Our “Ange exquis” ‘exquisite angel’, with 27 artists, will be shown in Sedan at the end of the year and 5 exhibitions are planned in 2008 in France and Germany.
• I am organizing a new group show of 15 artists in the Grand Palais in Paris during the “salon Comparaisons”: Aparin, Bailly, Comand, Coquelin, De Rosa, Djurovic, Ivanovic, Jontschewa, Kandl, Krejca, Mirkovic, Müller, Oscity, Ravski, Tiunine. Theme and special format  will be kept secret until the show, but I have received some of the painting and I can tell you it will be great!

All my activities can be found on my website www.kandl.net

Lukas Kandl is one of 50 Artists featured in our first publication: Metamorphosis.

Lukas Kandl's Gallery.

Jon Beinart - "How would you describe your art Artur?"

Artur Golacki - "I would never expected someone to burst into tears or laugh loudly while watching my work, but to share a sort of feeling as long as one is connected to it… kind of unconditional togetherness of minds under umbrella of 'What would be like if we just slow down, stop judging, labeling and explaining everything around.  Why not dive into that precious moment of simply being here and now'.

Just a child-like, non-analytical gaze is probably the best way to understand and enjoy my art."

Jon Beinart - "So do you approach a painting intuitively or do you set out to communicate a particular concept or idea? Is your subconscious an important tool in your creative process?"

Artur Golacki - "My intuition is the main tool, helping to recreate a part of that special, secret micro-environment where usually subconscious prevail … sort of telling the never-ending story without drawing a conclusion. There is always plenty of room for any interpretation, depends on the individual."

Jon Beinart - "Do you often interpret your own images after completion? If so, have you discovered things about yourself that were previously unknown (or forgotten)?"

Artur Golacki - "Since I don’t have any specific limitations about final outcome, interpretation happens naturally as work progress and takes form of self-assurance rather than discovery."

Jon Beinart - "I have noticed a recurring tribal theme in your work Artur. I was wondering if you could shed some light on this for our readers. I am especially curious about the African children that appear in some of your paintings. When I first discovered your art I assumed that you were African yourself."

Artur Golacki - "It started in the eighties together with my love to dub music and mutually grown respect to different, less formal approach to art. Constant, sensual bass line and unexpected, abstract journey of tiny sounds around were perfect backgrounds to experiment with my paintings. I just simply wanted to thank for inspiration. Living in London, such a multiethnic city has also been a great influence."

Jon Beinart - "I live in Melbourne which is also very Multi ethnic. That coupled with the fact that my parents are both from South Africa has given me a similar perspective, which is probably one of the reasons why I relate to your work. I am reminded of all of the African art from my childhood. That and my experimentation with psychedelics as an adult. Have you experimented with psychedelics?"

Artur Golacki - "What do you think? I can hardly imagine contemporary artist who have not tried at least once. It is difficult to compare psychedelic with other sixth sense stretchers, somehow they shamelessly grow on this planet and I guess with a reason. However I would never recommend that as the only recipe on how to get in touch with your creative self. There are less dramatic but perhaps more permanent ways to keep your imagination high. In my case, meditation works just fine and process of painting comes as perfect extension. That’s why I can put up with millions of (meaningless) details on my artwork … kind of watching raindrops as they dissolve into the sound only."

Jon Beinart - "Do you have a spiritual practice that extends beyond meditation. Are you a religious or spiritual person?"

Artur Golacki - "I am a follower of Buddhist philosophy… so ‘spiritual’ would be the most appropriated. In fact there is nothing more than recollect your own ability and the best practice is to cultivate in every day life harmonious, ego detached state of mind glimpsed through meditation. Sounds bit like a training manual on how to become a tree, but it is hard to talk about benefits unless you have an actual experience."

Jon Beinart - "What is your background Artur? Are you originally from the UK?"

Artur Golacki - "I was born in Wroclaw, Poland at the time of red regime in full swing. What an unforgettable life experience, kind of bizarre lap-dance club … you can’t watch, can’t touch, you can only hear it! Unfortunately I moved to London in eighties just to miss out the end of show."

Jon Beinart - "Arrgh! So much tension and no climax. What is it about Fantastic Artists in Poland? So many of my favorites are Polish. I mean there's Zdzislaw Beksinski, Jaroslaw Kukowski, Dariysz Zawadzki, Jacek Yerka, Zalibarek, Dariusz Skitek, Andrzej Tomaszewski, Darek Jasiczak & Andrzej Masianis. Eli Tiunine is also native to Poland. Why do you think Poland has produced so many incredible contemporary Fantastic Artists?"

Artur Golacki - "May be there is something in the water? I really don’t know. Only theory I have is that commonly high level of religious devotion against dull communist background could be the reason, perhaps a form of self-defense?

I like to mention my long time hero Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz, the real father of polish surrealism. Sadly, not recognized enough worldwide. Only polish artist who openly admitted experiments with psychedelics. Possibly, having a clear picture of things to come, he suicide in 1939, days after the Nazi Germany and Soviet Union invaded Poland."

Jon Beinart - "I had never heard of Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz. Thank you for sharing his work Artur (I'll read up on him later). What about Polish poster art. I have noticed surreal imagery on many vintage polish posters and imagine they would have been somewhat influential."

Artur Golacki - "Generally I like the idea of printed art as it has that extra possibility to exist in so many different contexts. Can you imagine for example those street billboards used purely to exhibit art? About Polish poster art, well … from my perspective and knowledge that all printed matter was heavily censored, posters never inspired me, only with one great exception, Franciszek Starowieyski."

Jon Beinart - "I've seen Franciszek Starowieyski's work before. Very inspiring. Can you list some other artists who have influenced you?"

Artur Golacki - "Mark Rothko and Joseph Beuys for pure Magic and Genius, Surrealist movement for breaking the taboos, Impressionists for showing me how to enjoy color and Hieronymus Bosh for his incomparable originality. As an art addict I would say that there are thousands more artists who inspired me in many different ways. Thanks to all of them and I am really happy to be a part of such a great family."

Jon Beinart - "What are your thoughts on the contemporary art world? Do you think there are many opportunities in the art market for Surreal & Fantastic Artists?"

Artur Golacki - "We are living in the relatively young age of acceptance for art as form of self-expression, so let’s enjoy diversity… and I wouldn’t think that artist should worry about opportunities as much as about quality and originality of his work. Any kind of valuable art concept will be recognized sooner or later.

The only problem is how to survive until then … kind of natural selection, harsh but somehow on a deeper level does make sense to me. Art is not an employment, is a choice, otherwise we are talking about craftsmanship."

Jon Beinart - "Thank you so much for your time and energy Artur. Do you have any exciting news for our readers? Any upcoming exhibitions, publications, etc?"

Artur Golacki - "Thanks a lot Jon. It was such a great pleasure to share a few thoughts with you and readers. Currently I have managed some progress on new pieces and hope to squeeze them in coming 2008 calendar available on deviantART."

Artur Golacki is one of 50 artists featured in our first Publication: Metamorphosis.

Artur Golacki's Gallery.

Jon Beinart - "What inspires you Chet?"

Chet Zar - "That is a really broad question. There are many things in life that inspire me to paint, but what consistently inspires me the most is good art. When I see a good art show, I always leave wanting to paint."

Jon Beinart - "Can you list a few artists who have inspired you and explain what you have found exciting about their work? Do you know many of these individuals personally?"

Chet Zar - "Different artists have influenced me at different times in my life. I think when I was a little kid it was a mix of fine artists I had seen in my Aunts art books (Bosch, Dali, M.C. Escher) and a lot of pop culture art and comics of the late 60's and early 70's (Big Daddy Roth. Mad magazine artists Mort Drucker and Jack Davis, Terry Gilliam's animations from Monty Python's Flying Circus, Horror comics). I always have gravitated towards the weirder stuff. I guess I just felt some sort of kinship with art that wasn't normal and pretty, probably because I didn't ever really feel normal or pretty myself.
As a teenager it was HR. Giger, Frazetta and Heavy Metal magazine (Richard Corben, Mobius). I loved Sci-Fi and Horror and I think it was those elements within those artists that attracted me to them.

In my adult life I think Beksinski has been my biggest influence. I just love his work, it's very dark, mysterious and really unique. He really was a master painter and highly underrated (in the U.S. at least). I am also a big fan of Mark Ryden. His work was pretty influential on me as well. Also, lots of illustrator types like Norman Rockwell and James Bama.
I am also lucky enough to be showing a lot in Los Angeles with many artists who I really like and actually get to hang out with at shows like Nathan Spoor, Cam De Leon, Jose Lopes, and my best friend Christopher Owen (who has also been a big influence on me as an artist since we were kids). My stepfather James Zar has also been a strong artistic presence all throughout my life. He is a great painter."

Jon Beinart - "You listed many of my favorites there. I can definitely see a touch of Beksinski in your work. (I hadn't noticed that before). So we've established that your art isn't normal, or pretty. How has your art been received by the public. I'm sure you have received a lot of positive feedback, but I'd like to hear about some of the negative reactions people have had to your work. Has anyone completely freaked out at one of your shows and needed immediate psychiatric care ;)"

Chet Zar - "Surprisingly, the response has been pretty much positive. I guess maybe we are jaded out here in L.A. or perhaps I was lucky enough to show with the right galleries from the start. Most of the negative responses I got about my art were when I was a kid. You know, the typical- "why don't you paint something pretty?" from the adults who didn't get it. But that kind of attitude just made me want to paint even uglier things! In any case, I was truly shocked at how well my work was received right when I started showing. When I started painting I didn't really think the would go over so well. I thought, "Who would want to hang this in their house- other than someone like me?" but I stuck to my guns and painted exactly what I wanted to paint and luckily, people really seemed to like it. I guess there are more people like me out there than I thought."

Jon Beinart - "The gestures that you accentuate, so effectively emphasize the emotions and idiosyncrasies of your characters. Are you drawing predominantly from your own emotional experience or from your observations of others?"

Chet Zar - "Both, I think. A painting has to click with me on an emotional level for me to really do my best and I think it clicks for me when I can recognize an emotion in it that I can really relate to. But I also observe others a lot so that I can know what those emotions look like on a face."

Jon Beinart - "Have you ever caught yourself pulling similar faces to your characters when you paint them? (I ask, because I have noticed myself doing this)."

Chet Zar - "Yes, I do that on occasion, but not as often as you might think."

Jon Beinart - "I understand you have been working with Tool for many years now. Can you please describe your role with Tool? And how did you meet them?"

Chet Zar - "Yes, I have been working with Tool since '98 or '99. I created various 3D computer animations that they use in their live shows and headed up the make-up effects crew for their last 4 videos. I have also done T-shirt artwork for them, website graphics- all kinds of stuff. It has been a very creatively satisfying relationship.

I met Tool through guitarist/art director Adam Jones. We worked together years before Tool in the makeup effects industry and eventually parted ways due to the nature of the business. Years later Adam got in touch with me about helping out on the "Stinkfist" video. It developed from there and we became good friends in the process. He has been a big supporter of my art career and has even collects my paintings."

Jon Beinart - "It must be exciting collaborating with such a talented and celebrated group of musicians. I know Meats Meier has also worked with Tool (I interviewed Meats Meier the other week). Have you and Meats worked together on any of these projects?"

Chet Zar - "It is always fun to work with talented people and I am very proud to have been involved with Tool. They really are a great band and always put out quality work in whatever they do. Working with Adam is always very artistically stimulating. There are certain people that you just click with creatively. We get together and in 5 minutes the ideas just start flowing. It's really fun. Meats Meier is great. His work is outstanding and he is a super creative guy. We haven't had the chance to work together yet but he is creating a piece for an upcoming art show that I am guest curating for the Venice Contemporary in Los Angeles this October. It's called "The Talking Board Show". Each artist is going to create their own custom version of an Ouija/talking board. I am excited to see what he comes up with."

Jon Beinart - "I'd love to see that show. Was the custom Ouija/talking board show your idea? Do you have a particular interest in the supernatural?"

Chet Zar - "Yes, it was an idea I have had for some years now. The Venice Contemporary recently asked me to guest curate a show so I thought I’d better do The Talking Board Show before somebody else did. I think it is going to be a really fun show. I love Ouija boards and have always interested in the supernatural. I have had many run ins with what I would call supernatural phenomena since I was a kid."

Jon Beinart - "Could you describe one of these run ins Chet?"

Chet Zar - "Well, there have been a lot. Numerous Out of Body experiences, precognitive dreams, E.S.P., a couple of ghost experiences, that sort of thing. They range from somewhat plausible to totally unbelievable and I wouldn't expect a stranger reading this interview to believe them (let alone somebody I knew) so I won't even mention the really crazy stuff.

I would say that about 60% of my experiences have been in the realm of OBE's/ Astral projection (If unfamiliar check out author Robert Monroe). I used to have those pretty frequently since I was a kid. Now I have them only a few times a year. Weird stuff. I have had OBE's that have been extremely fun and exciting, while others have been absolutely terrifying- a kind of spiritual terror that I have only felt in these realms.

Here are two different cases:

My first OBE was at around age 12. As I was drifting off to sleep, I noticed that I couldn't move yet my mind was awake. My eyes were closed, of that I was certain, but I could still see. I was looking through my eyelids. Then the terror crept in, like I knew somebody or something evil was outside of my door and I knew this was no dream. I was trying to scream but I was paralyzed (this is a phenomenon doctors call 'sleep paralysis', but people familiar with OBE's know it as the stage you enter right before you are about to go out of body. Your body is essentially asleep and your consciousness has switched over to your astral body). So anyway, I felt this deep terror and then a man appeared next to my bed. He looked like a redneck or something- a heavyset figure wearing a down vest jacket and flannel shirt. He was holding a pillow up in front of his face, so I couldn't see what he looked like. I tried to break free from this paralysis but I couldn't. Something in my mind was saying, "He can't hurt you- he is just going to try and scare you". Then he began hitting me with the pillow in a really odd way, lashing out and putting the pillow back in front of his face very fast, over and over. By then I was so terrified that I was able to wrench my body back and forth and woke myself up. The man just disappeared and everything kind of went wavy, just like dream transitions in a movie or a cheesy TV. show, and suddenly I was sitting up and awake, staring at the blank wall where the man was just standing.

One of the more pleasant cases was when I was about 16 or 17 years old. I was sleeping in my parents garage that has been converted into a recording studio for my brothers band. The walls were all covered with carpet in order to make the room sound proof and the windows had been covered, so it was always pitch black in that room when the light was off. Anyway, I was sleeping and a knock came at the door. It was around 7 am when I opened the door, it was really bright out there. It was a friend of mine. I told him I was sleeping and went back to bed, closing the door and returning the room to complete darkness. As I was falling asleep (this happens to be the most common time for OBE's for me- right after I have been woken up in the middle of the night or early morning and gone back to sleep) I felt a strange sensation around my body. I began to float up and around the room. I was totally aware and like the other time before, I knew it was more than a dream. I mean, I was as lucid and aware as I am right now, perhaps even more so. I felt light and so good floating around the room- I felt pure, like I was fully present and I remember thinking, "This is the real me and this is what it feels like when you die". It was one of the happiest moments in my life (and I haven't really felt afraid of dying since). So I floated around the room, not really able to control my direction or anything and I headed for the front wall. I went through the wall and I could see the beams and dust in between the wall as I went through it- it was a trip. But when I went outside the brightness of the morning startled me and I was immediately sucked back into my body like I was being pulled by a giant rubber band. Snap! I was back in my body and wide-awake. It was a really magical experience.
I believe that both of these were not just dreams but I have no proof of that. It's just something you have to experience. But once you have, you just know.

Luckily, I was raised to not be afraid of these types of things. My mother is very spiritually progressive and when I was growing up, ghost sightings and psychic phenomenon were just a part of life. We kind of just took it for granted that it happened to everybody. Or maybe my family is just crazy!"

Jon Beinart - "Thank you for sharing these experiences Chet and for this interview in general. I enjoyed getting to know the man behind the art. I don't think you or your family is crazy, just eccentric ;) I like to keep an open mind even though I haven't experienced anything like what you described. Consider yourself lucky :) Before we finish, do you have any exciting news for our readers? Exhibitions, publications, etc?"

Chet Zar - "Lots of shows. I will be in the "Next Gen- Art for the New Aeon" group show at the CoproNason gallery in July and I am also in a four person show (with Lola, Nathan Spoor, Kevin Peterson) called, "Sanctuary" at Limited Addiction gallery in Denver, Colorado.  As I had mentioned before, I am also am guest curating (as well as creating a piece for) "The Talking Board Show" October 20th at the Venice Contemporary. October will be busy as I will be also showing work in London for the London Opening of the Strychnin gallery and at the Zoo Art Fair. I also have a couple of solo shows scheduled for next year, one at CoproNason in March 2008 and one in June 2008 at Strychnin Gallery in London. There are a bunch of other group shows scattered within that schedule. Anybody interested in getting on my mailing list to stay informed of shows can join here.
Aside from the shows, I am working on getting a book of my artwork published as well as possibly releasing some art training DVD's. And as time permits, I am working on a follow up to my 3D animation DVD, "Disturb the Normal".

I am also selling Limited Edition prints, T- Shirts and "Disturb the Normal" on my website."

Chet Zar is one of 50 artists featured in our first publication: Metamorphosis.

Jon Beinart - "What inspires you creatively Peter?"

Peter Gric - "My ideas come from two quite oppositional directions: On the one side I gravitate to the beauty and power of erosional forces. Whenever I walk through a landscape, preferably in the Alps, I try to imagine how the valleys and peaks are formed in fast motion. I imagine the movement of the landscape over a period of millions of years. The same is when I watch satellite images -  I can spend hours playing around with Google Earth.

On the other side I'm fascinated by the exploration of abstract computer-based 3D-geometries. The challenge for me is to play with complex rooms and perspectives in order to create non-accessible places in a completely artificial arrangement of space and light. Through the conversion in painting I attempt to enter these "artificial spaces", to fumble and touch them from inside. I'm trying to give them matter and substance, pulling them from virtuality to substantiality."

Jon Beinart - "Do you often use a computer as a part of your creative process?"

Peter Gric - "Yes. In 95 % of my paintings since 1992 the computer was somehow involved. Before I start a new painting, I always try out the composition with an image editing program. I rarely make classical studies and sketches on paper. If it's going to be an architectural or geometrical composition, I directly start to build the whole thing in a 3D-software. Even if the painting is already in progress, I often take a photo of it to probe changes and variations in Photoshop. I think without the computer my paintings would look quite different today."

Jon Beinart - "That is fascinating Peter. Are people often surprised when they learn that you use a computer to map out your compositions? Have any art traditionalists referred to this part of your process as a short cut (or been bold enough to say that you are cheating)? I personally believe an artist should use all tools at hand if it helps manifest their artistic vision."

Peter Gric - "Once a young artist came along to see my paintings (and me) in original. He was overwhelmed by the complex perspective and illumination of my "Metropolis" painting. He told me, I must be a genius to paint something like this. After I showed him my computer-edited drafts, he was really assuaged!Using this technology is more than just a short cut. It opens new perspectives and new dimensions to every art creation. If this is cheating, then using a telephone is cheating as well. However, I'm definitely not an "old-master-technique-guru"."

Jon Beinart - "Who are your artistic heroes and why? Which artistic movements have you been particularly influenced by?"

Peter Gric - "I can't deny that my origin is located somewhere in the fantastic/visionary/surreal area, but before I seriously started to paint, I was very attracted to S-F illustrations of Chris Moore and Peter Elson and, of course, the Star Wars movies. My first artistic heroes however became Jaroslav Gric (my father), Dali, Max Ernst, Giorgio de Chirico, Rudolf Hausner, Ernst Fuchs, HR Giger, Samuel Bak, Alfred Kubin, and later also Zdislaw Beksinski, Odd Nerdrum, De Es and some others. Especially De Es I find recently more and more interesting. His work of the last three decades shows that he didn't remain in the orbit of the Surrealists. He's exploring the nature of matter, light and consciousness. He is a space traveler who is transcending other dimensions."

Jon Beinart - "You mentioned some greats there. Definitely a few of my personal favorites. What are your thoughts on the contemporary art world Peter? Do you think art critics & galleries have started to accept Surreal, Fantastic & Visionary Art as a serious art movement?"

Peter Gric - "Considering what I see in galleries, art fairs and medias here in Austria and Germany, it seems to me that the established contemporary art world is mainly represented by complete dilettantes. And there is no escape - you will barely find a gallery showing really interesting stuff. Whether it's abstract art, figurative art, photography or object art - it's dull, mindless, inane… in short, it's boring. Everything here is synchronized, and if you don't follow the dictates of the art fashion, you get black listed, effectively losing any chance to exhibit. It's definitely not a free art market, it's a cross-linked cartel of some galleries, curators and art critics. It's something like a permanent insider stock-trading. The Surreal, Fantastic & Visionary Art movement is in the German-speaking Europe officially not existent."

Jon Beinart - "Apart from art. What is important to you?"

Peter Gric - "The most important thing to me is the well being of my wife and my two children. Furthermore I'm in search of calmness, balance, wisdom, … enlightenment. This is really difficult :-)"

Jon Beinart - "How much of your time is devoted to painting? Does each image take a long time to complete?"

Peter Gric - "It's variable. It depends on the size, the complexity, the technique and also on my motivation. Some paintings take only a few days to complete, some are in progress for weeks or months. Sometimes I even can't finish a painting over years, especially large and complex images I rarely can render at once. Therefore I mostly have several paintings in progress."

Jon Beinart - "You mentioned enlightenment earlier. Are you a very spiritual person? And if so, does this play an important roll in your art?"

Peter Gric - "Well, I mentioned I'm in search of enlightenment. Does this already make me a spiritual person per se? I'm still a man full of fears and doubts. I just realized that I will never be able to improve anything in this world except my own horizon, my own awareness. If you see my art from this point of view, you will recognize that I'm still far away from what we call enlightenment."

Jon Beinart - "Do you use art as a spiritual practice? Something that may bring you closer to enlightenment?"

Peter Gric - "I think art creation is a reflection or self-reflection, a playfulness, an obsession. Your art just shows where you are, but it can't bless you with higher awareness."

Jon Beinart - "Ok Peter, I'll move on now to a few questions that have been on my mind since our chat the other night on skype. How do you eat so many chocolate bars and stay so thin? and what's it like on Mars?"

Peter Gric - "I have always been a skinny guy and I never have been eating much. It's true, sometimes when I find a chocolate in the kitchen, I eat it, but my favorite dish is a watermelon.
Mars and the other planets are definitely destinations I'd like to visit. But I wouldn't like to get shaken in one of those crappy medieval rocket-propulsion-stovepipes. A free-energy/overlight-speed flying saucer would be fine!"

Jon Beinart - "Mars is a destination you would like to visit!! Are you telling me that those photo's you sent me the other night were faked? You haven't actually been to mars!

Peter Gric - "Well, I like to play around with Photoshop."

Jon Beinart - "Ah. You’re a trickster ;) Thank you so much for your time Peter. I really enjoyed getting a glimpse inside that strange mind of yours. Do you have any exciting news for our readers? Upcoming exhibitions, publications or sit-coms in the making?"

Peter Gric - "So far no exciting news. I just finished the "Metropolis Triptychon" - it's a commissioned work - so I'll continue with my Artificial-Spaces series.
However, the funny stuff like baby-sitcoms have the highest priority! :-)"

Jon, it was a pleasure to me to satisfy your curiosity. On this place I also want to thank you for your great work with "Metamorphosis" and your indefatigable activities on beinart.org!

Peter Gric's Gallery. 

Jon Beinart - "What inspires you to create art Carrie?"

Carrie Ann Baade - "What inspires me: Making the metaphor real! Finding that ineffable hidden mysterious thing about how I tick or humans are wired and then finding a way to put it in a form. Finding a way to speak about my feelings and beliefs and then finding an old vessels or idea…a myth or an entity that can be dusted off and resurrected to add weight and meaning to my petty travails. It's about making the unreal real, making it believable for someone else. Painting the simultaneous contradictions that are present in every day of my existence help me cope. My ideas start with the fanciful and idealized world of the mind.  I have a flash of a vision…I write down a scribble and usually the WHOLE composition is there…is 5 second incomprehensible line drawing that looks like nothing. I really like finding these later on the floor or in a sketchbook and going: YUP! there it was. From there I do a collage.

In the collage, I like the way that each layer is like a doorway to another painting, time, dimension and that it is a way of elaborating into a meta-narrative. Their content has evolved towards parable like stories that deal with morality but my work is also/simultaneously, autobiographical. I like talking. I love communicating, but I love secret languages, paradoxes, mysteriousness, and lies. I will do a thing. Many life-changing things, just because it is ironic or nonsensical…and makes me laugh and this is definitely in my paintings.  I think my work will continue to be an investigation of the struggle between inside verses outside, virtue verses vice, and man verses monster…. and why people resemble their pets or other animals and some animals are human…. which is why I am going to marry my cat. It's a girl cat, so I guess it's a pussy thing. (please laugh). She is the counter point of my soul embodied in a fat, orange furry creature….and she isn't even evil. I think she is the great love of my life…. I will be back in a second: I have to go pet her again.

Other things that inspire me: The hard worked day…and the well lived life, the feeling of running up hill, precocious children, intimate conversations with strangers about god and the meaning of life, paying attention to how time can speed up and slow down for seemingly no reason…. and then trying to impose my will on it to manipulate it's rhythm…. biographies of humans great and greater: how they survived and exalted the bizarre opportunity that is life. Saying FUCK YOU to adversity and THANK GOD for the rest. Trying to pay attention to the things that make life worth living and living a life that is extraordinary at the same time. Think about it: what are your life goals? How do you achieve them? It's a daily toil of sacrifices. Now, if you were to think of the ten best things about being human…you know the list: sex and the taste of chocolate, the color of the sun through leaves, and memory of your mother holding you in the middle of the night after a bad dream…. or something similar…these have nothing in common with the list of how you achieve your life goals. It is making the painful sacrifices and living the beautiful small, intimate sensual life at the same time that is the balancing act…. while dodging debt, danger, and death.
I love this ride."

Jon Beinart - "I can definitely see you as a cat lover Carrie. I am also in love with my cats. They make perfect muses and I believe the Egyptians were on the right track by deifying them. You explained a lot about your motivation, inspiration and process in your response to my first question. I have asked you the following question before (in a personal email). Why do you mask many of your subjects (who I believe are often reflections of yourself) with a magnified set of eyes? (Sorry if you're sick of answering this question. I'm sure you have been asked countless times)."

Carrie Ann Baade - "My first experience with altered identity occurred when I was about three. My mother, while being quite beautiful, is not photogenic so she would take it upon herself to edit photos. I recall her sitting down with the scissors and cutting herself out. In one in particular, I am holding on to her leg…and then I was holding on to no one. It was extraordinary to see the altered record, the removal, the changing of history and memory….. cutting out takes things away, but pasting them puts them back in.

When I was eighteen, I had a friend start a tattoo. I gave him my back and told him to do what he wanted. He began to draw Giger's Li, a postmortem portrait of his wife who died close to the time I was born. This to me is clearly a medusa image. From that time on, I became Medusa or rather she is my alter ego. I can read my self-portraits as each having specific symbolism leading to her or the language of attributes that I have cultivated out of my dialogue with this myth. Medusa turned her victims to stone with her stare. I have personified medusa as the ability to have power, possibly negative power. I think each of us has the potential to be a monster…. but each of us has free will. We each make the decisions that determine one's actions; I make the decision to be good or evil, positive or negative. I was embarrassed and mortified at one time that I could be evil, do evil things, suffer the repercussions of making horrible decisions. So in this way my eyes masks serve as a large prophylactic, thus protecting the viewer from my gaze. I have always been sensitive. Wearing sunglasses was one way that I could perform life with a mask. I could be around people but not let them see my eyes. The eyes are so powerful, they take the outside world in and they expose the interior world of the individual to the outside. Being vulnerable was a challenge for many years. I have spent a good deal of time watching people. I notice that few are who they are all the time…I included. One is different with people they know, or do not know, their wife, daughter, teacher, dog, a man in the parking lot…. each person changes with interactions. We wear behavior masks. I like the idea that there are many people within each of us…and few know them all. We are each a gestalt of identities. It is such a revelation to see that there was a way I could attempt to show this metaphor by layering the eyes. While working with eyes masks, I realized that I kept going back to our lady and our man of sorrow…. a type of painting created in the early Northern Renaissance of the Madonna and Christ, crying. I found great comfort in these eyes crying. I love their spermozic tears that fall like jewels or pearls. There is sorrow in my life. I believe there is an undercurrent of sorrow in our existence that is ever present and inescapable. I liked the idea of using these eyes as a way of taking the grief out of my own eyes and placing it with those who most appropriately personified it…. for me rather than being self indulgent, this felt more like a universal sorrow.

My mother asked me to quit painting crying people… I have been painting crying people for 13 years. So, I started painting people without eyes. I realized that love is blind and so is rage. So I painted those themes a bit. I like the rule of eye masks…to use it and use it well is to be original and have a style, to do it to excess or poorly is to become a cliché and suffer being trite. I do enjoy that these eyes instigate an investigation…they suggest a puzzle or a reason why that should be discovered. The viewer cannot know and I have been told they are at times frustrated. I like that there is something that cannot be answered or revealed. So much of life’s secrets are not revealed which is what makes it mysterious.

Lastly, the proportions of big eyed people have pervaded the pop surrealist movement, I like seeing how large I a set of eyes I can set on ones face and still have it hold together…pushing the envelope of how distorted someone can be before they loose their face…. but I also love Picasso and cubism and how disjointed a face can be but our mind will still attempt to read the unity despite the disparity… I don't know the future of the eye masks… I do know that one is on the way: Victims and Predators…. exploring how does and horses appear on people verses tigers and gators. Hope that clears things up?"

Jon Beinart - "Thank You Carrie. That was a very thorough explanation and certainly cleared it up. I promise, I'll never ask again ;) You have already mentioned a few artists who have influenced you. Can you please list a few more and explain what it is that you like about their work."

Carrie Ann Baade - "I love Cara Walker because she courageously explores uncomfortable social issues in a cathartic manner. I love Judith Schaecter for her ability to resurrect the media of stain glass in a fresh and contemporary manner while  being gross and cool at the same time.  Ray Caesar has one of the greatest imaginations of this era. I love his use of pattern and texture. It is his ability to make his characters enticingly glamorous and uniquely disfigured …this polarity creates an attraction-repulsion paradigm results in empathy for his subjects…this is ingenious."

Jon Beinart - "Wow. I hadn't seen Judith Schaecter's work before, or any stained glass imagery in the lowbrow vein for that matter. Very impressive! I know you have had many exhibitions recently. How is your art career going Carrie? Are you able to support yourself with art alone? If not, is this something that you hope to achieve in the near future?"

Carrie Ann Baade - "Currently, I have been invited to show with Billy Shire Fine Art, the MOST important pop surrealist gallery in LA.  This should break the diaphragm of anonymity for me.  You are welcome to read my blog on myspace about making a living as an artist. I should be having a show in Berlin that will travel to London next summer."

Jon Beinart - "Do you think that Pop Surrealism is regarded as an important movement by the Contemporary art world? Have you felt a bias against your art as an artist who affiliates with this movement? Or do you even see yourself as a Pop Surrealist? If not, how would you label your art (if you're not totally opposed to labeling)?"

Carrie Ann Baade - "The Lowbrow/Pop Surrealism movement began as a popular culture movement more than an academic or conceptual art movement.  I am really excited right now because the boundaries are blurring. I see the tides changing and I think this underground movement is taking it's place as a legitimate main stream art movement. My work is well thought out academically but it's cool and edgy so it appeals to those who are interested in pop surrealism. I have been delighted to meet and correspond with the artists in this movement. It's been a challenge for me to consider what I do "Lowbrow" because my work isn't.  I am delighted to have peers and an audience, which my association with the Pop Surrealists has definitely provided me. I am a painter who wants to be affiliated with ideas, invention, and imagination and I see this most strongly in the artists in the Pop Surrealist Movement."

Jon Beinart - "Thank you so much for your time Carrie. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any exciting news for our readers? Upcoming exhibitions, publications, etc."

Carrie Ann Baade - "Just spent 11 hours installing our show in here in Ningbo…so I am high and bonkers and need a drink and to go to bed. News…just that Billy Shire bought the Passion of Lovers and I am showing with Nicola Verlato at the show in August… I got a job at FSU and I have survived another season and I am still painting. It's all ok if I am still painting. All the VERY best to you.

Carrie

THANK YOU FOR THIS INTERVIEW!"

Carrie Ann Baade's Gallery.

Carrie Ann Baade is one of 50 artists featured in our first book: Metamorphosis. 

Jon Beinart - "What inspires you as a sculptor Jessica?"

Jessica Joslin - "Inspiration is slippery, it generally doesn't like to be pinned and mounted for inspection. My sparks come from many and varied sources. I often draw from circus imagery, mainly from the late 19th-early 20th century. The Circus World Museum is not far away from Chicago; (It is located in Baraboo Wisconsin.) They have a stunning archive of cataloged images and objects. If I find a wonderful image, or a new piece of information, it can get me thinking about a particular species in a different way. I love to look at images of animals and to watch them move, whether in the flesh or in nature documentaries. Bodies are stunningly perfect machines…and there is such strong variation in the characteristics of different species. I am also drawn to the particular/peculiar stylistic organization of the natural world, as found in old-school Natural History Museums (and perhaps more aptly, in Cabinets of Curiosities). This is a fascination that dates back to when I was a small child and still captures my imagination. It has it roots in a desire to learn, but also to organize, sort and to understand by means of attempting to control the uncontrollable; nature. In my case, this is achieved through creating my own world.

Since I am a very tactile person, I am often guided by the actual materials in my hands, or on my workbench. The shape of a particular object is often the start of a new piece. I lust for beautifully formed antique brass. I find the precision of finely honed craftsmanship to be endlessly intriguing. In this regard, I might be inspired by a detail of construction on a couture gown, a bit of fine ormolu trim on a piece of furniture, or by the finely calibrated threads of an antique surgical instrument."

Jon Beinart - "Have you experimented with taxidermy in your art?"

Jessica Joslin - "Yes, back when I was in college (at the Art Institute of Chicago). Birds would often fly into the school's mirrored glass facade, breaking their necks, and then drop into the fountain beneath. I used to wade in and collect them. I sometimes used the wings, feet or heads in my work. When I first met Jared, we quickly discovered that we both had dead birds in our freezers. I offered to give him taxidermy lessons and wrote my phone number on his hand. We've been together ever since."

Jon Beinart - "That's beautiful Jessica. Has your relationship with Jared had a great influence on your sculptures (or vice versa)? I have noticed that some of Jared's paintings are set in a carnival environment."

Jessica Joslin - "Of course, though in a fluid way. We've shared a studio for 14 years and ideas are always flying back and forth between us. I'd say that Jared brought the circus into my world, rather than vice versa…or maybe we found it together. The day that I decided to switch majors, from photography to sculpture, Jared and I went to the circus. The night before, my apartment had been robbed. Every one of my cameras and all of my equipment was gone. It was Jared's birthday. I showed up on his doorstep with a sad face, holding a big cake and armfuls of helium balloons. We decided to go to the circus anyway and it was magic (cheesy Ringling Bros. costumes aside!) It got our heads spinning, especially when we later began to research the golden age of the circus. I started adding more overtly circus type elements to my beasts around that time. Jared was doing paintings that had a strong carnival, vaudeville, circus flavor. I think for both of us, obviously, those influences still hold a strong sway. Also, both of us are very involved in the process of each other's work- giving feedback and such. Luckily for me, Jared is wonderfully knowledgeable about animals, so the advice that he gives is spot-on target. I've been told that I have pretty sharply tuned eye regarding painting as well.

Our shared influences do translate very differently, when brought into our own respective worlds. For example, the idea for Lupe's ball was stolen from Jared's painting Moon Moth. I say "stolen" because Jared painted our bed finials to match the ball in the painting. Later, I swiped one right off the headboard, to use for Lupe…with his permission of course!"

Jon Beinart - "Are you consciously communicating something with your sculptures or are you mostly concerned with their aesthetic. If you do have a concept or message in mind, what is it?"

Jessica Joslin - "Well, I am not pursuing a didactic agenda, but I'm not making decorative art either. I don't see art as a choice between delivering a message or being purely aesthetic. As David Lynch once said, "If you want to send a message, go to Western Union."

In the visual arts, there is the potential to communicate ideas and to make layered associations, which language cannot tidily convey. My work encompasses a broad range of my interests, spanning the many years that I've been making these sculptures. Those layers are there to be excavated, but that is not strictly necessary for appreciation of my work. I make my beasts because they are what I dreamed of discovering, but they didn't exist anywhere, so I had to make them myself.
I realize that there is a pressure for artists to come up with ways of "branding" their work (to use an odious term from marketing). Part of this thinking, is that there must be catchy bite-sized descriptions of what the artist hopes to achieve with their work. I'd rather not simplify things to that level. I would rather show than tell…"

Jon Beinart - "Your sculptures are very distinctive. I don't believe that after seeing one I could mistake any of your works for anything but a Jessica Joslin sculpture. I'm not sure how successful you are in the American gallery circuit (being so removed from that scene in Australia), but I have noticed your work (and your name) popping up all over the internet. Are you able to live off your art?"

Jessica Joslin - "Thank you for that lovely compliment. I guess that distinctive quality comes from being somewhat of a hermit. I've always been a big believer in specialization [*cue Marilyn Monroe's song of that title] and working with blinders on. Lately, I keep hearing from people who tell me that I've "inspired" them to go make their own bone animals, so I never know what I may find. It tends to be some variant of a skull with hot glued-on googly eyes and a piece of old metal stuck to it somewhere. ha. From a structural standpoint, many people don't realize the complexity and precision of my work. For example, just one foot on Ludwig (the monkey on the ball) is comprised of 30 separate parts, all of them tapped and threaded. Also, any painters out there will know how tricky it can be to achieve a specific expression in the eyes. That holds true for three dimensional work as well. There is a lot of engineering (and finesse) that goes into making them seem natural, effortless, as if they were meant to be.

In regard to the gallery circuit, I also believe in specialization. I am represented by Lisa Sette Gallery, my "Prince Charming" of the gallery world. They are sponsoring an upcoming book of my beasts, and have been quite successful at finding collectors for my work. In the next year, we will be scheduling group shows at other venues around the country. I would like my actual work (as opposed to images) to be seen by more people, but I'm also past the point of wanting to do shows just because they are offered. It has to be the right match. As we all know, money=time to make art. If a gallery doesn't have the right collectors, then it's necessary to work at a day job to support your "art habit." For me, I have an antique hardware fetish to support as well!
For the past few years, I have been working on my artwork full time. Occasionally, I take on freelance work to supplement. This is handy because it keeps my skills sharp and gives me access to shops that have far more equipment than I do in my home studio. I enjoy the challenge of doing complex things well, and confounding people's expectations. I can build just about anything, from prototypes of toys, to artificial food, to giant product models (10 foot high slice of pizza, anyone?) Most of these shops are predominantly fellas, so when a chick shows up (wearing lipstick, no less) most don't expect me to be competent, let alone good at what I do. It's fun to mess with them (just a wee bit) before they realize that I just might know more than they do about building things!"

Jon Beinart - "Haha. It must be very satisfying to smash the expectations of those male carpenters. Your like a hustling sculptress ;) Your book sounds exciting. Please let me know as soon as it is available. I'd like to buy a signed copy. Do you have any upcoming exhibitions we can plug here, or any exciting news you'd like to share with our readers?"

Jessica Joslin - "Yes, I always try to keep myself entertained! I'm certainly not your typical carpenter/machinist type, so I play with that. ha.
Thank you! I'm very excited about the book and of course, I'll happily send a copy! I'm not certain when the release date is, but hopefully this fall. It will be available through Lisa Sette Gallery. In July, I'll be in a show at Lisa Sette Gallery to celebrate their 21st year in business and I also have work up at Lineage Gallery in Philadelphia. I have some upcoming articles in Refused Art Culture Magazine and Night Owl Magazine. Stay tuned, many more beasts are in the works! As they appear, they will be posted at my website www.jessicajoslin.com

It's been a real treat to talk to you Jon. Many thanks for asking me to be included on your marvelous site!"

Jessica Joslin's Gallery on beinArt.org 

Jon Beinart - "What inspires you as an artist and animator?"

Meats Meier - "In the past I have been inspired mostly by nature and the outdoors. Things like the climbing tendrils of vines, the design elements of perfectly functioning living creatures on this planet, and the way rays of the sun bursts through the clouds and certain days.  Now I am finding that the explosion of interest focused on the new digital art movement and new technologies and research is what drives me most. The true ability for we as artists to show people across the globe our creations alone is incentive enough to make me work through the night.  It's a completely new paradigm shift in the art world.  I'm loving the "You Tube" simplicity of sharing animations and tutorials instantly and easily.  We are all pioneers and guinea pigs right now, the speed at which my tools are advancing is downright scary….but exciting!"

Jon Beinart - "It's great to hear that you're excited by the recent surge of digital interest and technological evolution Meats. I have heard that you are personally responsible for much creative innovation within the digital realm, but since you spend much of your time working through the night in front of a computer, do you miss your contact with the natural world (your early inspiration). Or do you still make time to engage with nature?"

Meats Meier - "I went through a strange period last year - I decided to move into a loft in the worst part of downtown Los Angeles. After spending most of my life nestled in the mountains of Salt Lake City and the alien worlds of Southern Utah, I wanted to try and live the exact opposite life. I was surrounded by nothing but concrete, homeless people, crack, and urine smell for the entire stay there. A lot different than I'm used to. I guess I just want to try and experience every spectrum of life. I believe that there is something interesting and exciting to be found in almost all aspects of the world. Every thing I feed into my brain makes it's way into my art, so I want to make sure there is fuel to burn when I go to town working on a new concept or animation.  Nature itself seems to have already solved most design problems, so I find myself often focused on the raw, untouched elements that have evolved over millions of years, like bugs and plants."

Jon Beinart - "There's nothing like a good dose of human decay to get the creative juices flowing ;) I noticed on your website that you have painted with traditional mediums. Do you plan to revisit painting, or are you satisfied with the digital medium you have immersed yourself in? I also recall the last sentence of a post you made in the news section on your website when I invited you to join the Surreal Art Collective: 'I'm glad that they opened a section for digital artists………a good sign for the new real outsider art "digital"'. Was this statement made in response to a prejudice you have faced as a digital artist?"