fpinterviews

[fpinterviews]

Formento & Formento

"The world is full of fictional characters looking for their stories." –Diane Arbus

After consideration, this is the first time I am interviewing a husband and wife team on this normally female collective. The reason I chose to do so is primarily because the Formento's subject matter is a pointedly American feminist narrative.

FP: Let's start at the beginning. Your work has a cinematic familiarity to it, and you've referenced Hitchcock, Edward Hopper and Cindy Sherman, all of whom use a sense of place and costume very characteristically in their work. I think there is a movement towards referencing the past both in photography and film; I see it in other current work (Alex Prager and Tom Ford come to mind) and I believe that it comes from an attraction towards glamour and stillness in response to the modern rapidity of visual information. I'd love for you to elaborate on this...

How did you come to develop this hyper-realistic enigmatic style? And what is it about the woman's story that specifically interests you?

BJ: Honestly, after working in the commercial field (read boring) for the last decade I wanted to hit the road and get back to the reason I got into photography in the first place.  I have always loved the 50's, anything vintage, I think in a previous life I were living in an Alexander home in Palm Springs! We wanted to have our heroine to be from this era dealing with current issues we are all faced with.

We wanted the sense of loss to be the protagonists main emotion. Loss of love, home, self and hopefully as the work progresses, we will show her in transition and eventually with closure. The Drama can be visually arresting. I love cinematic lighting and find such reward in getting to a location we have never scouted and making it all it can be.

R: For me, there has always been that love held for the past, a feeling that we missed a bygone era, a time when even the most depressing subject seemed romantic. Melancholy held a secret that we all wanted to know, and a window into the past was a window into a soul we wanted to connect with and understand as if it meant more then, than it does now.

FP: As a partnership, how do you work? How did the two of you meet? Who does what or is it all mutual?

BJ: I do the photography and lighting, I trawl the internet for models and then we both sit down and cast the girls.We both look through camera, it is a very fluid and cohesive synergy. I come to set with my concepts and Richeille has hers as well. We bounce ideas of each other 24/7. We are so lucky to be able to live and work together. It is a very rare thing indeed. I believe this kind of relationship either works or it doesn't, there is no gray area in between. It was in 2005, Richeille hired me to shoot a few collections in South Beach Miami baby! It was love at first sight! We traveled the world and have been inseparable since.

R: We have a weird silent understanding as partners in crime, it works as individuals and as a team.We both seem to know the others strengths and weaknesses and make up for that by bringing our A-Game at every shoot and idea session brewing. Our minds race with ideas and because we are together 24/7 we are always sound boarding. When I have ideas for a shoot, I instantly know how I want it to look and feel. Styling comes naturally and the overall look to the image with the post production is important, so that the initial idea is captured and encompasses all I had envisaged in my head. I love looking for locations, mixing ideas and reality, bringing team effort to the table and coming out the other side with an image we are excited with and proud of.

FP: How do you choose location and styling...is the narrative decided upon before you get started or is it influenced by it?

BJ: For the last 2 winters (starting in 2009) we have packed up our 27-ft Airstream trailer and run away from the bleeding NY winters.We look on the map and decide if we are to take the north or southern route to the west coast. Once we decide, we pick cities that offer good locations and models. In the first part of the trilogy we knew right away we wanted to show locales that represented the by gone era of glamorous America. This year we wanted to have the abandoned environment reflect the inner landscape of our heroine. That is the extent of the concept. The model brings her own emotions, the small town thrift stores where we get our styling dictates the look, married with our neurosis the images are born. I love how loose we are on set and just let the chemistry between myself, Richeille the model and the location speak.

R: We are very much influenced by a location when shooting. The initial idea or story will be set, but then it can organically grow depending on its surroundings. Most of the time it sets the mood and all the elements really begin to grow into the narrative, producing the final image like a story that has been building and eventually presenting its tale to be told.

FP: How often are you on the road and do you do all of your work on the road? Do specific locations start to influence you when you travel? Where do you call home?

BJ: We aim to leave NY around November and return in April. In the airstream is our Mac computers and hard drives. It is so amazing how convenient it is nowadays to create work. I started out in the heyday of darkrooms, developing trays and tanks. Don't get me wrong, I long for the smell of fresh fixers watching the image appear, the romance and magic of it all. But digital has come such a long way and to cozy up to each other after a shoot and edit the work has its own rewards.

R: Modern technology is a godsend for creating on the road! It's funny how we have a love for these old places, and revel in the romanticism of defunct towns, it's the ease of having so much on offer when traveling that really drives us to shoot. The longer we travel the more we shoot! You miss home, space, creature comforts, but you soon begin to have withdrawal from the love of spontaneity and intrigue that a new town and new people bring to the equation. Home is always there like a light at the end of the tunnel, you always long for it, miss it and love it, but once you have it, you start looking toward the next trip!

FP: Most of your women are in transitory states, appear in peril, or on the run. Can you comment on this theme of isolation and what it means to you?

BJ: For me I think it has to do with growing up a Military brat, our family moved so much that I went to a different school from kindergarden to high school, talk about transitory!? I wanted to create a body of work that everyone can relate to. We all have had our hearts broken, we all have been in a bewildered situation where love has fled or been pushed away.  With "Circumstance" I hope to stir the audiences' emotion of that place, to allow them to remember and to mourn.

R: I think somewhere in everyone's life there is a place we have been that represents isolation, fear, or wanting to be somewhere else. Its a reacuring theme because I think it connects with so many people in a lot of ways, either crossing over as an actual place, or representing a feeling we may have boxed away in our minds. I really like the idea that a viewer can relate to an image in some shape or form, even if it just plucks their heart strings for a moment, or makes them smile with a thought from a previous memory. I think it is very important that we never loose those memories and they always come back to haunt us to teach us lessons of life.

FP: You use such a mixture of lighting in each shot: how do you go about choosing/designing your lighting? Do you use traditional photographic lighting or take a more theatrical approach? Do you have any unique methods?

BJ: Good question! I always believed the photographer, the director and the model are the ingredients of a good photograph but the lighting is the music. I think that is what makes a great photograph. To orchestrate the lighting, to guide the viewers eye, to make the viewer interested and to make them think. For me it is pretty instinctual, I am not married to a certain technique or brand name, the camera and lighting are just tools. I always joke and say time to take the camera out and put it behind my eye as opposed to in front of it.  I use the existing ambient light, strobe, kino flos, tungsten and reflectors and try to get just the right balance. On the road, it is normally just Richeille and I, so it can get pretty hectic. We are also our own assistants!

R: Lighting really is the stage, the model and location can bring everything, but the moment you flick the switch its like turning on a lightbulb in a room you never witnessed before, your eye begins to wonder around and your senses heighten, creating a mood, illusion is what intrigues the viewer to wonder what is this story? What am I looking at? Without that its quite dead.

FP: What are you currently working on and do you have any upcoming shows/projects?

BJ/R: At the moment we are right in the heat of the 2nd part of the trilogy, shooting in abandoned, dilapidated, broken down locations. The story unfolds, and the work grows with the progression of the work. Part one really plays on the bygone era, but part two is more bout the internal conflict, part three will be about closure or resolution. It is getting harder and harder to scout these places but when we do find them we are like children in a eyecandy store! We just wrapped up a show in London with Beers Lambert but feel that the work needs to complete before we show it any further.  Later this year we are planning on shooting in Europe for the final entry in the "Circumstance" trilogy. Until then, please follow us on our blog www.formento.tumblr.com and on twitter and facebook. Happy Trails!

|[email protected]

http://www.formento.tumblr.com

http://www.fandf.org

http://www.eyecandyimages.com

#Formento+Formento

[fpinterviews]

Jaclyn Santos

FP: We've spoken about the subject of the male gaze, and even part of the mission statement of FP is to question what it means when women artists control the power of their own objectification. There have been other artists who have paved the way, ie. Vanessa Beecroft, why do you think it is still considered controversial and shocking for a female artist to portray her sexuality as outwardly powerful and/or vulnerable?

JS: While many women artists have displayed their own sexuality in their artwork, every girl and woman still has to confront this topic individually and form her own convictions. It's something we continuously re-examine as we age and deal with new personal  struggles. There are so many conflicting messages in society regarding a woman’s stance on her own sexuality and most women are still trying to figure it out for themselves. On one hand, society definitely rewards physical beauty yet, in many other ways, it can be an impediment. Increasingly, I think people turn to media figures as a barometer for their own morality. For the "Shock Challenge" I wanted to generate discussion about the way women are often criticized because of images they present of themselves – particularly the way certain female celebrities objectify themselves by posting sexy personal photos on social networking platforms such as Twitter. Often these photos are low-resolution and snapped from cell phones. I decided to photograph myself in this manner as a sort of contemporary “self-portraiture” and elevate the photos to fine art status by re-contextualizing them. I then displayed the images in the gallery and allowed the audience to physically alter the work in any way with sharpies, which draws attention to the way women are criticized online. I titled the piece, “Triple Self-Portrait in Bathroom,” which references Andy Warhol, an artist known for working with the idea of celebrity persona.

Another reason it may still be considered controversial is because of female competition, which occurs in part due to socially imposed myths of female worth. The scrutiny with which women can judge each other is incredible. Growing up, I wasn’t horrendously unattractive but I did go through an “awkward phase,” and for five years of my life other girls ridiculed me nearly every day. Now that I am older and have grown into my looks, I am condemned by some women because I keep up my appearance, when if I didn’t I would be put down for it. The world sets up a standard for beauty, then criticizes those who admit they struggle with it. I’m willing to honestly examine this contradiction through my artwork.

FP: You've also mentioned isolationism in your statement...a theme that seems to be prevalent in American culture today, particularly because of the internet, and our ability to be alone yet still remain virtually connected. Can you speak about how that relates to your work?

JS: I think the piece I did for the "Art That Moves You" challenge on WOA, "11x17", touches on the issue of isolationism in contemporary urban culture. It also examines voyeurism, a somewhat natural response to isolation.  While most people do not spy on their neighbors' with binoculars, voyeurism has transcended to the internet in a more diluted version, where many of us use social networking platforms and blogs to comment on the lives of those we see on Television and other forms of Media. The pseudo-anonimity of the Internet offers protection while potentially causing further isolation. I think this has affected women in a very specific way. Oftentimes women display sexy images of themselves in an attempt to garner attention or praise, yet this often backfires into “unwarranted” criticism. Too often photos or explicit videos are released without consent.

FP: In regards to the nudity on the show...it really was a missed opportunity as you said for the production to discuss the current state of feminism as it pertains to the art world. Such a HUGE topic and yet (for the sake of time constraints? titillation of tv?) Bravo chose to edit down your provocative "shock value" piece to a hot girl defaulting to her own voyeuristic sexuality more than anything else. How did you feel about that? What could they have done to further the dialogue? What do you think would have happened if say one of the male artists had asked to photograph you naked or had photographed themselves naked...do you think more or less would have been made of that episode?

JS: So far my character has appeared very one-dimensional. The fact is, I am not a "bimbo" in any capacity.  Instead of portraying my true personality, they jumped on every opportunity to dumb-down my character. I was very disturbed by the way my piece, “Triple Self-Portrait in Bathroom,” was depicted on Work of Art as well as the way my character and art making process were completely distorted. I don’t think this was done because of time constraints; rather, it was done to create a very simple story arch that any casual viewer could follow. This was problematic because it made me look like I default to nudity without any thought behind the concept of the work, which undermines my art process. I am not shy about my appearance as they suggest, but I did feel incredibly vulnerable being taped in the nude. There's a huge difference between presenting a photograph that I have carefully selected and composed, verses handing over raw footage that can be manipulated in any way whatsoever. I was very hesitant about doing this but I believed in the piece and the producers said they needed the footage only to display my process. Yet in the episode, the rest of my process was barely discussed, then it was falsely made to look as though I was not responsible for conceptualizing the final product.

The treatment of sensitive issues on set was different for the boys. A male contestant was not required to film himself ejaculating on a piece of art, which caused some tension on set.

FP: In The Art of Reflection: Women Artists' Self-Portraiture in the Twentieth Century, Marsha Meskimmon states: "If the task was to find oneself, then the crisis for the postmodern subject is that nowhere is home, everything shifts and changes. What is the reflection in the mirror that 'vanity' holds? She refuses now to be the 'site' of another's desire and reflects back to you the insubstantiality of your projections."1

Do you think it's possible for the physicality of an attractive female artist to ever be a separate entity from her work, particularly if she is the subject matter of her own work? Is vanity and the mirror important to an artist?

JS:  To answer the question, if the womans' chosen subject matter deals with nudity or sexuality in the form of self-portraiture - i.e. Marina Abramovic, Cindy Sherman - no, I don't feel the artist's appearance could be a seperate entity. If the subject matter involves sexy images of other women or the imagery is more illustrative - i.e. Lisa Yuskavage, Hillary Harkness - I think it will be much less of an issue. I think it can only be a non-issue if the artist completely plays down her appearance or doesn't acknowledge it in her work. Yet this doesn't necessarily mean it won't be an issue. At a college critique, a guest artist was invited to our studios and the minute he saw me, before he ever saw my work, he blurted out, “you are the artist”?  “You don’t look anything like an artist... YOU are as interesting as your work." This sort of thing happened so often that I made a decision to incorporate my appearance into my work.

FP: Another great quote from this same book: "One of the key issues in feminist theory has been that of women's voice in male language. To what extent is it possible to enunciate a truly different position when you are already within the structures which mark your difference?"2 Do you think the art world is still a predominantly masculine one or is it now equal...what has your experience been thus far?

JS:  While certainly more doors are now open to female artists, there’s no denying the highest paid artists are all still men. There’s also no denying that the vast majority of Art collectors are men.  I worked for Jeff Koons for two years and there were very few women who came in to purchase work. Granted, this may simply be because men still make more money than women and if women had more spending power, more of us would invest in contemporary art. I think it is a challenge to make work about women that can appeal to both a male and female audience on the same level. We respond to images of the female form rather differently, and it's hard to subvert the provocative aspect of a sexualized image.

FP: The high-low art status is interesting in your pieces --do you think anything can be elevated to art status by redepicting it?

JS:  Yes, it can, if done in a particular way.  Intent is important -- low art must be appropriated in an intelligent way. For instance, a high school student copying his incredible hulk comic book is entirely different than Jeff Koons appropriating the hulk into his personal iconography.

FP: You worked as a studio assistant to pop art icon Jeff Koons. Has he influenced your work? And who are your biggest influences?

JS:  Before I ever worked for Jeff Koons, I loved his Made in Heaven series as well as his Luxury/Degradation series. Speaking of Made in Heaven, that’s a prime example of low-art being successfully elevated to high -art. Jeff Koons is brilliant and there are very few people who love art as much as he does. Working at his studio was an incredible learning experience. It was so interesting to see how he spoke with visitors about his work and I learned an incredible amount of technical skill while at his studio. Jeff talked "acceptance" quite often. We must accept who we are -- our individual and collective pasts -- our shortcomings, failures, weaknesses, and strengths. As artists, we must be honest with ourselves in order to make work that is personal yet transcends to a wider audience. So many artists have influenced my work, but to name a few: Damien Hirst, Marilyn Minter, Laurel Nakadate, Liz Cohen, Vanessa Beecroft

FP: Where do you see your work evolving now that you've participated in Bravo's Work of Art? Has the show inspired you in a new direction? What's on the horizon? Where can we see your work next?

JS:  Participating in the reality show was an experience like no other. It really made me more aware of the internet as a portal for criticism and dialogue in fine art. It also opened my eyes to how incredibly critical and voyeuristic our culture is, and I think I would like to comment even further on these qualities in my new projects. The show also allowed me to branch out into other mediums when appropriate, something I think I may have been afraid to do before.  Since the show wrapped up, I’ve been continuing my series of figurative paintings as well as a new series of explosions that respond to the war and oil spill.

Check my website, www.jaclynsantos.com for frequent updates of my new work.

#Jaclyn Santos

[fpinterviews]

Melanie Pullen

FP: Melanie, in response to your series of "High End Fashion Crimes," where did you first get the idea to shoot these vintage looking scenes...are you a fan of Weegee or are you literally interpreting certain crime scene photographs from archives? You must be a fan of the Black Dahlia stories...

MP: I actually began the series due to a negative reaction I had to having been accidentally exposed to horrific crime scene images. It was something that really haunted me for several years. I found though as time went by I grew desensitized to violent imagery and in fact became drawn to it and more curious about the details. This realization was something that led to extensive internalization on my part and when I pegged the reason why I had grown this way I realized that it was due to a major shift in the media, films and other outlets and constant exposure to these. High Fashion Crime Scenes is about exploring societies desensitization, glamorization and exploitation of people's tragedies and its use for selfish gain.

In my series, I'm doing the most tasteless of all things: I'm taking someone's tragic death (based on actual crime scene photographs, Weegee's work being one of the sources of material) and literally recreating them almost exactly. But in the place of the victim I have placed beautiful models wearing high fashion clothing such as Prada, Gucci, etc...

So after over 10 years of working with High Fashion Crime Scenes, I have become a fan of crime scene images and probably know more about the subject than most. My mind took a turn. But to clarify I am not a fan of the horror – I have more of a sense of intrigue to how the victim ended up in that situation... the untold story – the one the picture only gives us a subtle glimpse of. These images are the equivalent to the ending of an epic movie but even more interesting because it's real, a fingerprint on the past. The real pictures open doors to questions and make us curious.

I'm also a fan of many of the early crime-scene images. You can tell by the great ones that they were taken by artists and they have a certain composition, a dark beauty. Crime Scene images also are a very strong part of our history as they used to be published in news papers – they are what made the mob so infamous in NY.

The Black Dahlia murder is a classic example of the public's fascination with beauty. There have been many murders that have happened as interesting as this but because it happened to a beautiful woman it became front page news and people bought papers. Which is a tactic we see exploited by the nightly news on a far grander scale nowadays.

FP: There is a bit of a gothic quality, a certain darkness in your work. Have you always been drawn to that?

MP: I'm fascinated by dichotomies and subtleties. The darker side of humanity is something I think should be deeply explored and confronted – not shied away from. I feel the darkest side though comes well veiled – I've learned that from traveling through communist countries and extensively studying the different media outlets. But then on the opposing side of the coin, you go somewhere like Mexico and it's raw, in full color with all the gruesome details but it's a different culture and a great one at that. In Mexico death is not dirty and scandalous like it is here. People are drawn to it and celebrate it there. It's looked at as an acknowledgment of having lived, the final moment in a story and something important – it's a time to look back and reflect on ones greatness and the story they told by living. I believe that's a healthier and more optimistic view of the subject.

FP: Have you ever been criticized for using your female models as victims? It's interesting to do work like this and still be a feminist...for example, I have done many current film posters where the trend right now is leaning towards a dramatic iconic image of a woman screaming or in bondage/in dire straights...I say "iconic" because it definitely showcases the woman in the helpless role of "woman in peril," something we have learned since our fairy tale days – and it is arresting, undoubtedly, that juxtaposition of beauty and violence. What do you think?

MP: I was really playing with the media's exploitation of women for commercial profit – this insidious advertising. It's hypnotic how the nightly news will report on horrid crimes and then cut to a Dove soap commercial. A crime on a beautiful woman is powerful. It's what sets off a media frenzy. I once spoke to a journalist – he happened to be on site minutes after a horrid commercial plane crash in India. He said he got the most incredible images to show the scene. The media in the end wouldn't buy the images because they thought that people wouldn't be interested in the images of Indian people. Had it been a plane of perfect Caucasian women it would have been bought in a second and the ratings would have been through the roof.

FP: Regarding the technicality of your work, I have read that you enlist entire crews to produce your shoots...so they take on a cinematic quality. What is this like and how long does one shoot take?

MP: It really depends on the image. I don't get more people than I need as that works against me in getting the image but at times I've needed nearly 100 people, when you include the talent and others I just need a model and not even an assistant. I am always weary and careful when I have large crews as sometimes you can get so technical that you loose the art of the image. So despite the size I am always willing to throw an image away if it's not what I want.

To be honest, I prefer a smaller group. It's much easier to navigate – but you do need enough people so you're not missing important moments and wasting time.

The real time comes in printing. I do all of my own printing with the help of some amazing technicians and I do all my own spotting – it's very time consuming (sometimes taking a month to get one image perfect).

FP: Do you think that you might ever direct a film? I see it as a natural segway for you...and there definitely aren't enough female directors out there!

MP: I think at some point I may direct a film but right now I'm really focused on creating story lines in single shots and then bringing together an entire series with their own meaning. It's an amazing time to be in the visual arts – specifically photography or film – a good comparison would be to have been musician in the first 150 years of it's invention (if there ever was such a thing) we have so much leverage and so few rules – it's all uncharted territory, things are new and haven't been done and it's very exciting for people who take their mediums in this field seriously to be at the forefront of such constant innovation. It's a monumental time and I'm very happy to be doing what I'm doing right now. As I'm seeing film slip away from still photographers and digital advancements fly forward I'm working with both and creating this symbiotic relationship between the two – things that people don't understand yet and really are not able to be replicated technically due to the slippage of film stocks. I love it.

FP: Has your work always had connection to fashion? And where do you get all the costumes/props from? Do you select them all yourself?

MP: I occasionally work with costumers especially on my new series Violent Times. Costumes were so much a part of the series and really had to be perfect. The costumes took years and a lot of help to make perfect. For High Fashion Crime Scenes it was more about giving a victim a subtle identity. Clothing tells a story and is something that I enjoy illustrating my images with - but it's always something I aim to make timeless.

FP: Can you talk a bit about your new work, the work currently at Ace Gallery in Los Angeles..."Violent Times" Where did the idea for this originate? And again, are the uniforms original, if so what was the difficulty in acquiring them?

MP: The soldier portion of Violent Times, a series of 48 male models dressed as iconic soldiers that span historic battles and armies, came from historic methods of painting and early war propaganda. This series is very deep which is something again that I play with – I always try to give something the appearance of looking shallower, simple and a kind of test to the viewer's intellect – the dichotomies are so important in my work and the work really needs to be thought about – people who just run through the gallery will just see a lot of pretty pictures but if they look a story will unveil itself. I always get annoyed by critics who see no more than a pretty picture with nice lighting, as I no longer respect them – they have to look as there's always a story.

A large inspiration for me is if you look at early war portraiture and painted battle scenes they're very beautiful and in fact painters would often cast male models to pose for these images. We literally have had this glamorization of war painted for us and idealized and it's something that we have carried forward with war journalism – the images that we have to represent our past are chosen for us. We see wars, violence painted by a frozen moment but we don't see the whole thing as we're only given the viewpoint of the photographer and a still picture that in the end shows the moment the journalist feels like showing. This series has highly cinematic qualities a kind of questionable mannequin-like way. I'm also playing with the concept of idealization of war as a child and making my models act like toy – soldiers. Then I'm showing the same soldiers in battle, fighting with full emotion in the midst of combat with ugly faces ready to kill but again I've hidden this depth with the grain of film and almost adding an abstract quality since this is something that we don't see in history – I wanted it to be more of an abstract fantasy of the real thing.

Many of the uniforms are original but mostly were made by amazing costumers and historians – they helped me tremendously with research and unlimited access to very special things for the series. They are all 100% accurate and probably the most accurate for any large body of work on the subject. As far as the costumes go though something that I found very interesting about this war series and how people have dressed to kill, even dating back to caveman times is that there is immense symbolization in how one wants to be remembered. I saw it in the research for High Fashion Crime Scenes specifically in the suicide pictures almost universally, men would dress in their uniforms or best suits before killing themselves and women would wear their best dresses and do their hair and makeup. There's something very strange and dark about knowing the moment you may die and the way one would like to be perceived or remembered.

FP: What are you working on currently?

MP: Currently I'm working on a project that has to do with a glass and new printing process. I hope to have several pieces on display of this method by early 2010 and I'm also preparing my work to be shown internationally once the show at Ace Gallery ends in January '09.

www.melaniepullen.com

contact: [email protected]

Media Relations - Nicole Brian: [email protected]

#Melanie Pullen

[fpinterviews]

Kelsey Henderson

FP: Hi Kelsey! Your portraits are very open and honest. Do you choose your models based on their looks or are do they all have personal connections to you?  

KH: It's pretty instinctual when i know i want to paint someone, it's the same feeling that makes you want to look at someone for a moment longer, if someone has caught your eye... it's based on my reaction to an individuals' appearance or their presence which then grows into a desire and infatuation to want to see more. I want to see the details, to want to study the person, to keep looking.

I usually chose people I hardly know, a waitress or a friend of a friend or at times even a stranger... which is in such contrast to the personal connection I end up having with their appearance. Painting someone is a very intimate experience but obviously not on a physical level. By studying the individual, I'm getting to see all the close details that come together to create that person. This gives me a chance to learn so much more about that individual and understand why I'm attracted to them.

Unlike many real life situations, by painting someone, I get to spend time staring at a person. It's a level of closeness and examination that is usually only shared between people who are closely involved. I enjoy having that opposition of distance and intimacy in my works. It's easier for me to portray someone I don't know in one particular way vs a close friend who I connect to on many different levels. I've also learned that it's more difficult and complicated to feel an instinct and sincere reaction to want to paint someone I'm around constantly.

FP: What are qualities that initially draw you to a model?

KH: I have a large interest in skin and especially pale skin tones. Not only because it's what I"m used to from myself, but because I love being able to see below the surface, to get a sense of the veins, or a persons imperfections like scars and bruises or blotchy red marks. Because I'm so pale and translucent myself I suppose that is the self portrait aspect that I highlight in each painting. I look for that same quality in individuals and show them in my perspective.

FP: How do you define beauty?

KH: Beauty can be so many things... but the type of beauty I feel most interested in within and connected to my paintings is the reality of what makes up a person... meaning the structure underneath... the bones, the blood. How fragile and at the same time strong the body is. The skin is so easy to cut, which shows it's delicacy, then the blood clots, showing it's power. When I'm seeing these nuances I call that beauty.

FP: You say that your work is based around the idea of the "platonic crush." There is definitely a feeling of androgyny to your work, is that intentional?

KH: Androgyny is definitely intriguing to me in many ways, primarily I like how it takes the sex out of my attraction to a person. In other words, it's less about my attraction towards a male or female, but to an individual.  This also allows me to show a body as just that, taking away a certain heightened and drastic level of male or female sexuality.  I feel androgyny overlaps both male and female sexuality and confuses and/or plays with the viewer's attraction to the individual. This creates an provocative perspective to my work.  Perhaps, for that reason, androgyny is an easy way to show my platonic crush.

FP: Who was your first platonic crush on?

KH: I don't know that there clearly was a first. It took me some time to figure out the concept... separating a crush from a platonic one. I think it occurred to me when my attraction was not when I wanted to act on my intrigue but examine my interest.

FP: Clothing seems to play a very important part in your work. Do you think fashion is integral to show the personalities of the subjects in your portraits? In other words, how much do you style your subjects?

KH: I'm actually trying to pull away from clothing in my newer paintings. I've realized people become very fixated on what's being worn by the model in the piece, rather then the model his or herself.  In the past I usually told the person to wear something that he/she likes, a favorite shirt or outfit. But now I'm starting to become slightly more involved with the styling. Recently I've taken clothes away from my paintings. I am trying to focus on what clothes and accessories add to my painting as well as removing those that take away from the image and person.

FP: Have you been commissioned by designers or editorial magazines to do the portraits? If so, by whom?

KH: In the summer of 2008 I had a great opportunity. I worked with FLY 16x9, creating a short film documentary which presented my paintings and process in collaboration with Christian Dior couture. In that situation I went about my usual process of picking my models and taking photos, the only difference was that the apparel was that of a designer's vs a model's own.

FP: In the very beautiful documentary that Melissa O'Brien shot of you,(http://www.melissacobrien.com/) you shoot your subjects first. Do you ever exhibit your photography, either with or without your paintings?

KH: I haven't. But I'm starting to consider my photography more seriously as a part of my work. Initially when I started, I wanted to use photos that were just OK and then make a great painting out of it... trying to raise the caliber of the image from the source. In time I've started to care more about my photos which I feel in return have made my paintings stronger.  Now there are moments when I'm looking through my photos and realized.... "that's a great image, but it's better as a photo then it would be as a painting."  I'm starting to see that there's a value for each medium in my work and I'm excited about further developing and showing my photographs in the near future.

FP: Who are your influences?

KH: I always like looking at Jenny Saville, Gerhard Richter, Richard Phillips. When I was younger I loved Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele... which to my surprise people are connecting more to my more recent paintings.

FP: Where is your work evolving to currently? Will you stay with portraiture?

KH: I think I'll always stay with portraiture... it's challenging and I will always have that attraction. People are too fascinating to me not to want to keep looking at them. The way in which my work will evolve feels endless. I've been wanting to pick up my 8mm camera again and film people during the moments between taking their pictures for my paintings. I'm looking forward to including other mediums in my work to expand my passion. I've learned that every medium I can embrace will make my paintings stronger.

FP: Thank you Kelsey!

#Kelsey Henderson

[fpinterviews]

Liz Goldwyn

FP: I think of you as an art chameleon; you've had many connected interests in art and fashion and obviously, you're from a film family dynasty-- from my own experience, I'm not keen on categorizing multi-talented artists, however I'm wondering what is the biggest muse for you at the moment?

LG: I don't have a specific muse- I quite like that I cannot be labeled  into a tidy box- I feel most kindred to artists of the Renaissance period, who didn't always fit into specific categories, but experimented with various media depending on what subject matter they were exploring.

I am always interested in history, sexuality, science and of course clothing/ textile- so my " muses" can come from anything I am thinking about, looking at, scoring at a vintage store or dreaming of...

FP: I was recently reminded of your filmmaking upon seeing your billboards around Los Angeles. The images are probably the first set of images I've seen in those digital billboards that really feel like they work there. The "Underwater Ballet" imagery is particularly striking. What led you to the Phantom Camera (captures action at 1000 frames per second--normal frame rate is 24 frames per second)? It is amazing to think that yours is the first film to experiment with this technique. How did you come up with the concept for the film? And have you ever considered using the digital billboards themselves as a medium for your art? I have yet to see that done.

LG: My recent short film   Underwater Ballet came to me in a dream, in fact, and is closely linked to ideas I was exploring in my  personal life. The feeling of alone-ness, floating  in the universe, at the same time being connected to all the matter and stars which surround... Finding your place in the ballet of the galaxy...

For me it is a mournful, meditative piece- a closure to one chapter and a moment of restlessness, the unknown that awaits...

I wanted to use the phantom camera because I liked the challenge of using such high tech equipment in combination with "low brow" old school vfx technique- the "stars" in the sky are in fact, Alka Seltzer in tanks!-  

Also, when I am told something is not possible, technically or otherwise, I cannot stay away! I love to constantly push my learning curve ...

Yes the collaboration with clear channel for the billboards in LA - and also the spectacolor board in Times Square was in fact, public art.

I had been offered a gallery show of the work but I feel strongly about bringing art to the streets/ public  in general and I felt it was a better avenue to beautify my city in a small way.... I am not interested in making things only a select few can enjoy- I am very happy to be able to reach people that may not have access to or feel comfortable going to a gallery or museum-

Art is for the people!  **Press Release for Times Square attached to email

FP: I noticed in your Diary on your site, http://www.lgoldwynfilms.com you have an entry in regards to the merging of humans with machines. I am wondering if you have ever heard of Donna Haraway's Cyborg Manifesto, on the feminist principal of the same idea. Are you interested in the ideas of future technology and the artist?

LG: I don't know that manifesto. I am always interested in developments in technology,  science and virtual reality. A teacher in high school gave me the William Gibson novel Neuromancer to read which helped foster this obsession- I was struck by how a punk poet like Gibson could conceptualize virtual reality without having a computer...  

Perhaps it shows that anything is possible! There are no limits to the human imagination!

FP: I first became a fan of your work with the documentary "Pretty Things"--a documentary on the last generation of American 'Burlesque Queens.' It has often been said that unfortunately burlesque is a lost art in a time of instant gratification and celebrity. Although there is a retro homage with artists like Dita von Teese, what do you consider to be our modern equivalent of the burlesque?

LG: Dita is a great friend of mine and I think she does an incredible job of holding the burlesque torch- and with her costumes and stage shows, brings a new level of sophistication to the medium-  I also like the work of Trixie Minx, Ava Garter, Immodesty Blaise, Narcissister, the 90s incarnation of the Velvet Hammer- gosh- so many-  

But remember, the true root of the word burlesque has nothing to do with striptease- the Latin "burlare" implies satire, and so a modern burlesque could  quite open to interpretation- from Saturday Night Live to youtube parody...

FP: You have mentioned that your interest in burlesque began when you discovered vintage burlesque costumes in NY...and your work has a sensitivity to fashion and costume. Can you talk a bit about this and whether or not you have ever considered designing clothes?

LG: I make jewelry but I love clothes and admire the craft too much to want to design myself! I have done some limited edition t shirts for charity. Am currently working on one for LENY icons www.leny-icons.com. The net proceeds from the sales of the Fashion Icon products will be forwarded to Al Gore's The Climate Project.

I would really like to have my own lingerie line though! Bras, stockings, panties, bedroom slippers, gowns and robes- the works!

FP: Who are your greatest influences?

LG: my family my friends my dreams conversations with interesting people keeping an open mind and continuing to learn whatever I can- life is constantly influencing!

FP: What are you currently working on?

LG:  a huge multi-media installation in Paris which opens in August-  Oct 2009!

** Le Bon Marche Press release attached to email

FP: Thank you so much! I can't wait to see what you do next!

#Liz Goldwyn

[fpinterviews]

Becca

FP: There are so few female wild post/graffiti/street artists in LA...at least none that I know of; you are the only one I could name...why do you think that is?

becca: i'm guessing it's because i was the only girl out there?

FP: Guerrilla artist Robbie Conal is a close friend of mine...have the two of you ever met? You should collaborate...

becca: i've never had an opportunity to meet mr.conal in person or anything like that , but we have collaborated on the street. i certainly would love the chance to work w/ him in a more formal manner.

FP: Generally how long does it take you to complete a piece, and then consequently how long will last at any given public space? Do you spend much time sketching and preparing before a work goes up, and then what is your process? Do you have to work at night? Have you ever been challenged while midway through a piece?

becca: i can put together a piece in one to two days, anything longer that,  that get on my nerves. my process involves paper, paint, wood and glue. my biggest thrill is when i can't stand a painting i'm working on then last minute i get it figured out. i work when i work. i try to work on something (framing, painting, research, etc..) everyday.

FP: Have you ever documented the process via video? I think that would be cool to see... Do you keep photographic records of everything you've done?

becca: no, no video. i did appear on the " nihilist corner" several years back. i'm really camera shy.

FP: How long did it take for legitimate galleries/collectors to notice the street work and start giving you credit?

becca: quite a while. i started when i was 19 in richmond, va and washington dc. then went on to get my masters at sfai ( they failed  me, of course)

i did finally get my diploma from them.

FP: And are you still doing the street installation or have you now shifted away from that?

becca: i'm not to interested in the streets anymore. i used the streets for practice and self-promotion. each piece i put up was one of a kind painting.  no Xeroxes or posse,  just me and my painting. i certainly don't see myself crawling and scrawing, as i put it. i did the streets for 20 years, now i take care of my mum (full time) and paint for shows or commissions.

FP: The female form that makes your work so angelic and magical, there is a vulnerability that mixes with the roughness of the street surroundings...how did you first gravitate to painting girls? Content-wise a lot of it has a verbal edge that takes the piece to a different place; can you talk about that? How do your ideas come to you? Are they inspired by current events or feminist ideas?

becca: i like painting girls, ladies and women. when i do paint a guy  he looks like a lady, so ?

FP: Who are your influences?

becca: vuillard, basquiat, colette miller and me mum

FP: Where are you currently living and what are you now working on?

becca: i live in austin. i'm preparing for a big solo show in san francisco at the 'white walls gallery'. opening night is saturday july 11th.

FP: Thanks Becca!

#Becca graffitti

[fpinterviews]

Tiffany Bozic

FP: Your work is a combination of being grounded in botany/zoology/biology and yet also exists in the realm of a somewhat dark fairytale place...What initially drew you to natural scenes and where does the earthly part end and the imaginative part begins?

TB: Until I was 5 I lived on a goat farm in Arkansas where I was given free reign to run around and play by myself all the time. I think this made the largest impact on the way that I see. For the most part I have lived in an urban surrounding since I left home at 17, although I do try to travel as much as I can to pretty far off places. I live a very extrovert/introvert lifestyle. I tend to do a lot of research to find examples to use in my work.  Most of the subjects that I paint are sourced from old nature books, my own photographs taken while on these trips, as well as the research collection at the California Academy of Sciences. The more you understand the natural history of these subjects that I am painting, the more you’ll understand the metaphors that I am using to tell a story.

FP: I remember when I was a child I was given a miniature microscope with Different bugs encased in glass plates...this fascinated to no end...was there something when you were younger (or even recently) that drew you to this kind of animal and insect imagery?

TB: Microscopes are wonderful. Inventions. I was fascinated with nature before I can remember. In a way my paintings are the result of the conversations I am still having with my childhood. I find that I am always experiencing this great sense of shock and wonder all around me. Everyday.

FP: Likewise, the other morning I was walking my dog peacefully around the block, a sunny pastoral day, and a little finch landed on the sidewalk in front of us-- then, all of a sudden a giant black crow came out of nowhere, swooped down and pecked the little bird to death and it grabbed its broken carcass and flew away with it...totally traumatizing. One forgets that nature, even the simplest city scenes are full of violence.

Your work seems to often touch on this kind of danger and emotion. Where does this come from?

TB: I often wonder myself. To be honest I can’t know. All I do know is that I have this struggle inside me and there is nothing I can do to make it go away. When I close my eyes I see this life and death struggle for survival all around us. I have a responsibility to myself to paint what I truly see and feel. To ignore the struggle and pretend I don’t see it would make my work pointless and frivolous. I know I am here as a craftsman, and I create a product to share that is hopefully useful to people.

FP: Do you ever dream of your work or is your work ever a product of your dreams? Is each painting you do an allegory for something? Or is there a common theme that tends to run through your work?

TB:  Well, I can’t remember if I have taken any visions directly from my dreams that occur at night. But all of the visions kind of sneak up on me and grow in the background of my consciousness, kind of like a form of a daydream. They can be shy though. Oftentimes when I am brewing an idea I lie down and take quick catnaps to sort of allow them to ripen. I’ve learned that I can’t force it.  Each painting is kind of like a diary entry for a great chapter that I am trying to sort through in my life. So to answer your question the constant theme is my life, which is always changing.

FP: We spoke about the SF Academy of Sciences and their artist-in-residence program...it is a truly special place. (However it does seem awful now remembering that we used to try to toss pennies onto still alligators bathing below us) I will almost miss the classical building that has recently been replaced by the new architectural wonder in Golden Gate park. Can you talk briefly about what it was like as an artist to collaborate with scientists?

TB: It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I feel like I am 5 again every time I spend time with my scientist friends. They are so open and curious about life.

FP: I was watching the film on your website about your process and I was amazed to see that it appeared you were painting on masking tape, or using it for masking, as well as the fact that you paint on wood...how has your technical process evolved?

TB: It’s just a matter of trial and error. I was using masking tape in that short film you speak of to cover up areas of the wood, so I could stain only the cutout area. I suppose it seems pretty complicated but it is really quite simple. Having said that I haven’t found an easy way to explain it to anyone. I have been developing this technique for almost 9-10 years now, averaging a good 40 hours a week. So there is a lot of time in that window to explore.

FP: Who are your influences?

TB: My community of friends and family play a very large role in my work. My paintings are very personal allegories that are based specifically around myself, or someone very close me. Recently my paintings have taken on a very different direction though, which is most likely the cause of my maternal hormones. The last body of work was created for my imaginary future children so I named the show ‘Bedtime Stories’.

FP: Lastly, if you were an animal what would you be?

TB: I always play this game with my friends. We assign an animal to each other. I always hoped I would be a hummingbird or something, but I usually get assigned an Ermine or a wild cat, like an Ocelot.

#Tiffany Bozic

[fpinterviews]

Natalia Fabia

FP: Ok, Natalia, we'll start with the obvious, what's the fascination with “hookers”?

NF:  Well, I think my thoughts about hookers have changed a little or actually evolved in a way. I feel that this hooker genre has been created and I feel comfortable using it  to label my work and certain characteristics of my work. ...For example the constant glamorous, strong female subject matter, sparkles and fantasy like setting.  Now the word "hooker" reminds me of all of these things. Hooker can definitely mean a lot of things. obviously it is mostly used as slang for prostitute.

I call all of my friends 'hooker',  in the same way that many people (mostly guys) call other guys or people 'dude'. I like to use it in a playful way.  I like that it is somewhat of a  shocking term. Many people will call a very sexy dressed or 'trashy' looking woman a 'hooker', I like that I am using it in an opposite way.

Here is the definition for it:

1.    a person or thing that hooks.

2.    Slang. prostitute.

3.    Slang. a large drink of liquor.

4.    Slang. a concealed problem, flaw, or drawback; a catch.

5.    Rugby. a player who hooks the ball in the front line of scrummage

This was taken from  Webster's dictionary.  I like that there are so many meanings. Not many people know that.

MY definition of hooker is:

A person that sells their abilities, talent, or name for an unworthy purpose.

I read that as a definition somewhere, and I love  it. I feel it is so true.

Everyone is a hooker, selling ourselves in one way or another.  Working to survive. Although, I feel that sometime we or hooker can also sell their talents for a worth

purpose. My hookers tend to be strong, independent, fashionable, punk-rock, glamorous VERY TALENTED and artistic women.

It could also be shortened to hook, like to hook someone in, entice them. I hope this all makes sense.

FP: There is definitely a sense there of the Burlesque, and of  historical erotica...I say historical because of the evolution and accessibility of modern porn...but I do think there has been a swing/return lately back to the craft of the erotic, with artists like Dita von Teese and Liz Goldwyn... can you elaborate on some of your  influences?

NF: I absolutely think there has been a swing return back to the tradition erotic craft.  I think we will always return to it  because it is just so well done..classy, alluring and just has the right amount of mystique.  So much NEW erotic  stuff right now is just kind of dirty...Thank god for people like  Dita Von Teese and groups like the Secret Burlesque show.  I have definitely been influenced by Burlesque!!!! Wow, that is kind of where all of this (my work/hooker world) started. I was always looking a t Pin ups, pin up artists, I owned tons of pin up and burlesque books. Not only did I want to be one of the girls but I wanted to recreate the feel and look of the whole genre. I was constantly looking at Burlesque photography and pin ups.  My favorites were Jayne Mansfield, Lili St Cyr, Tempest Storm, Marilyn Monroe and OF COURSE Bettie Page! I loved the confidence all of the women had, their  accessories (which later inspired me to create jewelry and clothing), costumes and just over all GLAMOUR!! You can see in my earlier work I paint many women that are posed just like pin ups or made to look like they came straight out of that era.

I was constantly going to Burlesque shows and dressing models like Burlesque stars!

FP: Your work is very technically masterful, where did you study?

NF: I went to school at Art Center college of Design in Pasadena, CA. It is an amazing school and I would not be where I am today if I did not go there. I was taught traditional painting...composition and the teachers were some amazing artists I truly respected. I am very lucky.  

FP: Do you work from photographs? Where do you find your models?

NF: I mainly work from photographs...sometimes live models. I take photos myself or have a friend that is a pro photographer shoot models and settings for me.

I have my  friends model for me. I like to paint  my girl friends and my friends are pretty much all hot! Or someone i randomly see out or on the street. Sometimes a person will strike a fancy to me or have a really cool look and style that makes me want to use them as a subject..or they fit an idea I have perfectly.

I paint a lot of what represents my life and my friends are big part of it... I like to paint pretty things... what I consider beautiful, like chandeliers, animals, shiny things, vodka bottles, and i especially think woman are beautiful and enchanting any subject I paint i try to enhance the beauty,  or the ugliness,  the reality that surrounds us is important to me, but not necessarily in a realistic or representational way. A lot of my paintings come off as in-your-face or undisguised they still contain a

hidden meaning. Voyeurism is something I am fascinated with, especially since our  culture today is so infatuated with the lives of others. I want to depict are related to present culture, but are also open to interpretation. My intent is to gain a reaction from the viewer, whether it is positive or negative.

FP: Does your artwork usually correspond to your jewelry?

NF: Yes!  Many paintings inspire certain jewelry pieces and vice versa..A piece of jewelry that I have created sometimes make me think of  an idea for a painting..

many of my drawing and sketch and just things that I love (and have tattooed) I make into charms..for example high heels, gems, pistol, butterfly-skulls, lightning bolts, HOOKER anything, hearts..etc... And my NEW JEWELRY is my Hooker Medallions I am also releasing a limited edition of the medallions. I have designed 6 frames and put images and crops of my paintings inside. The paintings are the gems!!! they are all silver or bronze plated and some come with precious jewels and vintage stones. For some people who can not afford or have no room at  their house for a painting, they can purchase  a medallion! Wear the art!

FP: What's next in your fabulous rocker chick world?

NF: I am currently working on  a Hooker Beauty Pageant, which will be a live show I am writing and directing..it will also be improvised and have the crowd and judges decide. I am so excited! I am not happy with current pageants...first of all the look of the girls and that the do not have some of the greatest events like the talent competition.. It will be my take on Beauty pageants! I am also hard at work on my next solo show!! which will be early next year!!

#Natalia Fabia

[fpinterviews]

Elle Muliarchyk

FP: The fusion of fashion and art has become so seamless...I am fascinated by Damien Hirst's new piece, the $100 million diamond-encrusted skull which he explains as his "victory over death." Somehow I am weirdly reminded of Victoria's Secret's diamond-encrusted bra-

Do you consider your photos a sort of "victory over fashion" or an homage to fashion?

EM: On a practical level the purpose of art is to record the history of humanity. In fact 'The Human Revolution' theory proves that the very moment when the  history of the humans began (after the Neanderthals) was when we started creating art - painting on the sides of the caves. That's when humans began to  think. Why did they do it? It wasn't essential for the survival, but they chose to be creative and share their vision of their contemporary environment, so  generously, for the future generations. I can just imagine them, making their quite beautiful paintings while a buddy is watching out for a lion that may be  lurking behind the corner of a cave,  like the present day graffitti artists watching out for the Police! I wonder what urged them to do it - was it their  deepest unexplainable urge to create, or was there an ego involved? Did they have their own Artforum to praise them, did they have their exhibitions with prehistoric Champagne and hors d'ouevres served on little bones?

But on a romantic level, art has been a culmination of a person's deepest, often subconscious, thoughts and desires. It had a power to transport a person into a different reality within moments. Picasso said that art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.

Now, in my opinion there is no better way to become someone special you always dreamt to be, and find yourself in a fantastical or nostalgic moment than  through fashion.  Just think of the last time you tried on an amazing outfit that gave you a better high than any drug. They say the sense of smell, out of all other senses, has the most evocative effect on memories. I think fashion is as powerful. Think about it - people identify themselves with their past by the music they  listened to and the clothes they wore! Like in the song... "You wore a gown of gold - I was all in blue, Oh yes, I remember it well... "   Art and Fashion had journeyed through the decades, being completely reflective and dependent on the contemporary culture, and even political and economical situations...(just think how the economists use famous Skirt Length Theory to predict the Bull or Bear stock market depending on what length of skirts women wear!) Like with art, fashion carries out an important duty - it makes you think and...remember!

The beautiful thing is that right now both art and fashion are the perfect playground for dreams, freedom and childish spontaneity, with just a perfect dose  of vanity (and Damien Hirst's Skull is a pinnacle of that vanity!- but how delicious it is! To me, the person who is an indulgent gourmand, this vanity reminds of one of my favorite culinary gimmicks I've enjoyed a New York restaurant Morimoto. Imagine - a lightly baked oyster in the half shell, topped with a piece of fois gras and a sea urchin!). i could feel the Children in Africa looking at me with very sad eyes...

There is also a very primal, animalistic quality that they both share. It would be useless and impossible to explain a woman's violent and uncontrollable need for another pair of gorgeous stilettos! A thing like that can only be FELT.  So I don't try to represent "victory over fashion" through my work. Quite the opposite. I think fashion is a younger sister of art, sometimes almost a more innocent representation of our desires than contemporary art itself! I know, it's a pretty controversial statement on my part, but consider this: I have many  smart friends who made fortunes in the stock market during the Blue Chip boom and with real estate investments, later with their early investments into Globalization - Asia markets. What happened? Dotcom disaster, real estate bubble bursting in many countries, and now who knows how long China is gonna last -  they are running out of coal and metals! So now, those friends of mine shifted their careers and became.... advisers on Contemporary Art investing! Can you  imagine - art has become a commodity! Next to the coal, metals and bricks!

That is why I GREATLY admire and respect guys like Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons, for example. They use general symbolism to vaguely justify the "artsiness" of  their mega-million-dollar work... But the message behind it is so much more powerful: they acknowledge that incredible hype over art now, and they make a  joke about it. They take it to the highest absurd levels, just to see how far they can push it. It's so smart! That's the ultimate reflection on the present  society, and that's why I am so fascinated by what they do. The society right now is all about achieving new levels of unimaginably nauseating luxury, and  Damien Hirst has the guts to initiate a debate about it, like opening a Pandora's box! I feel that's exactly what I've done with my Dressing Room pictures, and I hope to do it in a more powerful way in the future.

FP: How has your upbringing in Vietnam and Belarus inspired your work?  I don't know if you describe your work as political, but to me just the idea of a girl exposed to things like the rebuilding of Vietnam and the aftermath of Chernobyl then arriving as a model in both NY and Paris, to come to photographing herself in these exclusive boutiques seems like a highly political thing in and of itself...

EM: I would love to talk about my political convictions, and they are very strong, trust me... But I'm afraid of the KGB...  All I can say is that, considering my tender age..., experiencing all three political regimes in my life (Communism - Belarus is probably the Jurassic Park, the perfect natural preservation for what it was like during the USSR...Socialism in Prague, and the ultra-Capitalism in the US) made me who I am. It's amazing - I feel like I've lived a life of three different generations! I'm lucky! I love studying political science and discussing how different political systems function, their goods and their bads... That's something that has always been a heated topic in our family. Very European...haha...Chernobyl was a terrible disaster, much more horrible than the West knows about. One of my stupid classmates in Prague told me once: "Why are you so tall? Did you eat too much of Chernobyl potatoes?". I remember I cried then. But the people were able to move on. They even have a super funny joke on this subject - At a farmers market: a Grandma is shouting "The best potatoes from Chernobyl! Good price! Hurry up before they're gone". Someone asks "Grandma, no-one's gonna buy these if you advertise them as "from Chernobyl"! She replies "You are wrong - I already sold three hundred pounds! People do buy them, some as a present for their boss, some for their mother-in-law..."

There is indeed a photo I took that represents my thoughts on the worlds' politics: I was shocked after I learned that the US government spends $1B a year on keeping a bunker running, so in case of National emergency the officials can hide there. But they are never being used (thank God, I guess) and there are many of them in secret locations all over the country! I was shocked by how much money goes to waste, I related it to my own "fabulous" life in New York. I was inspired by the most outrageously "fabulous" dress I've ever seen in my life (and could touch) by Zac Posen at Barneys. I orchestrated my own Nuclear Attack Emergency situation, re-creating a bunker inside the Barneys dressing room. I pretended I was one of the political wives having a decadent fun time in the bunker. I was wearing that Zac Posen creation, the diamonds that I borrowed from an Upper East Side grandma girlfriend, a bottle of champagne, and eventually ... a WW2 gas mask! Plus I covered the walls of the dressing room with aluminum foil, to represent a "layer of lead" that would normally protect from the radiation during a Nuclear Attack. It took me a long time to create the set, the sales person was getting nervous, while I was trembling because only a thin curtain with gaps was separating us! He asked me how I was doing... I was going to answer coolly "I'm doing fine, thanks", but I was wearing the gas mask and my voice came out distorted and deep (I'd never tried to talk with a gas mask on before!). He freaked out hearing that! "Are you ok? What happened to you??" He was about to come in!  I ripped the mask off my face, started hiding all my props while coughing as loud as I could so he wouldn't hear the very loud noise of crinkling aluminum! It was so scary and funny!

I also took a picture called 'Rats' at Commes Des Garçons. I imagined it as the End of the world after the Nuclear explosion. The rats are the only creatures that are not bothered by the radiation. So here I am laying on the ground, in a crucifix-suggesting position, with rats coming out from various directions. I  also used the weird green light as, maybe the Green Sunrise on the First day the world ended... The question is - is the CDG jumpsuit, the fashion, gonna save me? ;-)

FP: Personally, I would be labeled middle class. When I enter a designer store, there is definitely a mind shift. I might just be able to afford a belt, or once in a while, a shoe, but it's almost as though I need to put on an act, especially for myself, to even be in there. Do you consider yourself an actress, and does this happen to you in your process? Has that changed with experience?

EM: Yes, you are right, being in one of those stores is something...I don't know how they make it so uncomfortable...But it's always been like that. Even Celine in the Journey To The End Of The Night noticed: "This instinctive revulsion that shopkeepers inspire in anyone who goes near them..."

I certainly learned how to behave there. You need to pretend you shop in those places all the time. The Japanese made it an art form and developed special  techniques (like carrying designer shopping bags and putting cheaper stuff in them). I had to develop my own techniques. For example, last week at a party, I met  a publisher of a cool New York magazine called Black Book. Steve challenged me to shoot in a dressing room of the most impregnable boutique (according to the most official reviews) a virtually impossible task. My friends made bets that I would never be able to do it... But I did it! It took so much preparation and investigation. I had my hair done and wore all of my most expensive clothes, my best shoes and handbag. I said the designer was my friend etc.. etc.. pretended a limousine was waiting for me outside...I can't disclose what boutique it was so far. But it's all going to be revealed in the magazine, with the pictures I took there. i definitely would have won an Oscar for my performance there! I definitely gained more confidence on my missions. I always think of  this "self-improvement" trick I learned as a child: When you don't feel completely confident, pretend you OWN this place!It always works!

FP: Can I ask you a technical question, Do you always use natural light or flash and can you manipulate the lighting at all in a dressing room?  And what kind of camera do you use?

EM: I use Lumix camera. I love it because it's so small, and has wide angle lens. Which is very useful in a tiny place like dressing room. Also when I take Guerrilla pictures outside for a project (like my latest collaboration with Bella Freud) where I am not suposed to shoot, the design of the camera makes me  look like a tourist, while I get the professional quality photos. So I avoid getting permits, etc... 99% of the time I don't use flash. And I never used flash in the dressing rooms.Although I tried  to manipulate it often. For example I'd bring paper and scotch tape and cover lights that I don't like, or put color gels over the available lights. (For example, in my "Rats" picture I put a green gel over the lights. The reason I chose this color is because I was inspired by Bruce Nauman's Mapping The Room video installation. it was an edit of the basement in his house in New Mexico, shot with a night vision device. You just sit there and watch as a rat or a cat or a moth moves by occasionally. It sounds boring, but  it's quite cool. Bruce Nauman has always been very inspiring to me. In his videos he worked with his own body, as a material; one can sense exactly what he was experiencing just by watching the videos! He also made interactive sculptures, like narrow corridors or double-layer cage you squeeze yourself through and feel terribly claustrophobic. Basically he created a body/out of body experience for his audience. I feel like I've done that in my own way, with the dressing rooms - using my body in a confined spaces. Eventually people who see those photos feel like "wow - I wish I could have done it!"

FP: Can you explain your process...is your work pre-meditated or spontaneous?

EM: Fifty-fifty. Sometimes it's so pre-meditated that i spend sleepless nights thinking about the shots. I am a very obsessive person about projects that I'm passionate about. It occupies all of me and takes complete control over me. Sometimes I dream a shot up then I wake up, and scribble them on a scrap of paper,(I suspect it and then re-create it photographically I may be an incarnation of Mozart;-). I have a bunch of those drawings I'm working on bringing to life. Like Martin Kippenberger liked to use hotel stationaries for his drawings, when I travel to London, my favorite most easily available paper source is the Evening Standard large sheets where they write the latest news announcements. I use the back of those papers. And it's funny because i don't have to date them - each dream corresponds with the news that happened the day before. Some of my favorite ones from last summer are "Shorts Ban In A Heatwave", "A Woman Mugged For a 50p Bottle Of Water", "Killer Wasps Attack!"  Some of my very best photographs were a result of my dreams. Also I love telling a story thorough a picture. I'd love a photo to be like a magic spell, that carries so many symbols and messages for different people. How amazing it would be to create a photograph that makes people stare at it and lose themselves  in it because of the thoughts it evokes and takes you on the journey in your mind.   However, my other best shots are completely spontaneous. Because of many shoots I do are Guerrilla style, no permits, or shooting all by myself at nights in dangerous neighborhoods, or on the contrary, running away from the Police...I can't worry and calculate, it's best to have faith that if things go wrong there will be a good surprise to redeem it.

FP: How do you feel about a $10,000 (I'm just throwing out a number here) dress or handbag?

EM: I have a funny relationship with expensive clothing. my parents never spoiled me. Until I was 13 I had only two outfits plus a school uniform. I had to wear shoes handed down by our neighbors, and one winter, even my school teacher, an older lady. I never knew there were amazing clothes out there! I was just happy my toes were not hanging out of my shoes. Soon after, when I began modeling and I came to Milan, I had to wear a dress on the news on TV. That dress  was made of platinum and diamonds, and at that time was considered the most expensive dress in the world, ironically it cost as much as Damien Hirst's Skull!  I had a vague idea of what I was wearing, but still it's something that is impossible to comprehend for a regular person. That experience devalued any expensive garments for me and removed my possible excitability about their prices. But in general, expensive clothes and shoes are of a better quality than  the cheap ones. Very rarely I spoil myself with nice shoes, or a bag (Prozac alternative). But I have wonderful clothes from modeling for the designers, so I guess I am a spoiled bitch now...  

FP: If you consider self-portraiture to be a form of autobiography then what chapter of your life are you in?

EM: Wow - there is a lot to tell. The project i just completed with Bella Freud was the illustration of who I've become since my dressing room shots. In the past   few months I've become a completely different person. The dressing rooms were my selfish and narcissistic period, not because I didn't care about the others  but because I knew  myself best of other people, and I found my salvation in myself... I never cared about other peoples' opinions or judgements for example, My Grandma used to say "Why should you care of what someone thinks - you are not going to baptize your children with them". Meaning - you are not going to tie your life with them together on both social and devine level. But lately there have been a few things that turned my world around and caused me to start thinking of myself as a part of this incredibly complex world, the society.  The first shock came with the movie I saw at ICA in London. The movie was Sooo sllloooowww, I actually fell asleep. But it was so powerful that even what I  did see made me look at the world with different eyes. It was a French documentary called Beyond Hatred, about the trial of the group of young kids who killed a boy because he was gay.  The family of the murdered boy and the prosecutor were dicussing the value of human life. Is 15 years in jail enough, is 20  too much? Are the murderers allowed pity and slack because their parents were drunks? And remember, that was the boy's MOTHER who was debating it - not some  strangers or the jury. Come on, it's her flesh and blood that they murdered! So the film ended with the family writing an open letter to the killers in jail,  saying that they hope they will regret what they did, and learn a lesson from that... and if they ever need anything - the family's door is always open for  them! The young prosecutor was also so passionate and truly hoped the skinheads will come out of jail as better persons. Can you believe it? I realized that I was an uncivilized beast out of the jungle comparing to these people!  At the same time I started reading Celine's Journey To The End Of The Night.

(which happens to be considered one of the few most important books written in the past two centuries). When you read it, you become twenty years older, whatever age you are.  

Both of these influences together caused a Big Bang in my head! I was seeing sparkles coming out of my ears!   Collaborating with Bella (for the first time in my life, working together with another person, so unselfishly and devotedly, to create something meaningful and beautiful, not just shooting myself in the dressing room, but this time creating OUR self-portrait together) fueled, finally ignited, this explosion and  my moving to a greater chapter in my life. On the top of that I barely escaped death twice while shooting at nights in London. (Doing my first shot I was  mugged by a gang of ten, they took everything I had, they even ripped off my shoes, except for my camera that i was stupidly defending with my life! They couldn't believe their victim's insolence, so they threw me on the ground, but I saved the pictures inside the camera! Second time I literally bumped into  eight guys dressed in black clothes and head masks who were robbing a high end boutique at 2am in London. I started to run and twisted my ankle, so I climbed under a car and saw one of them riding his motorcycle back and forth looking for me. That was the scariest moment of my life. But the pictures came out so beautiful that I could have done it all over again!

FP: Who are your current influences?

EM: As one of my other favorite writers Jean Genet talked about his lover, I would say "I'm preserved within the memory" of Celine's 'Journey'. It's like having been in love for the first time... For example I reinterpreted some of the most moving scenes from the book into the pictures for our project with Bella. Since the 'Journey' was a large part of who I was at that moment, it was an essencial element to show as a part of OUR self- portrait with Bella. I love people, and I am fascinated by people who make a difference in my life.

They are my big source of "in flesh" inspiration.  For example a photographer who I admire so much, Bela Borsodi. He's supported and inspired me beyond words, when we talk about creating I feel like I'm standing in the middle of a meteorite shower - falling stars! His pictures are like a treasure chest glowing with gems that radiate all the things you desire to experience - knowledge, love, childhood innocence, laughter, ... laughter. Some of his admirers say he "changes the world". I get very jealous hearing it  - that's exactly what I would love to do - to change the world as well as I can in my own ways. To make people experience deep emotions. It's like giving them a magic key they can open little doors in their own heads with...and be free.   I'm working together on several projects with another special friend of mine, Zarah Crawford, a New York Times writer. One of her intellectual interests is  Magic, occults, she loves Anton Levy from the Church of Satan... To me, she is the embodiment of the female enigma, femme fatale, a goddess from a different world. The world that can be very dark, too.  Also my Guru, my mentor on staying sane in the art/fashion world is Shea Spencer. He is very modest about it, but when I feel like my head is a violently  shaken snow globe, his knowledge and some kind of sixth sense clarifies everything and gives me so much passion to move forward.

Another special person, a big time art director, Lee,  who has the most regarded art/fashion individuals listening to his advise, made quite an impression in  my life. Considering his huge influence he manages to remain very real, while others would have become "diva" in his situation. I look up to him in this sense. He also introduced me to the coolest comic book series called Fables. It's a story about all the famous fairy-tale characters, surviving up to these days. The human ones (like Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Snow White, Blue Beard) live in a secret  neighborhood in Manhattan, while the non-human fables (like the Three Bears, blind mice, dwarfs, hoblins...) live on the Animal Farm somewhere Upstate New York. The location is protected by the spells so only the magic creatures can find it. All of these characters are living modern lives, just like us,  filled with betrayals, sex, crime, deceit... It's so incredibly smart and bizarre!    Since I grew up traveling all over the world, I found my real home inside the magic of folklore of those countries. Some of  the stories I've heard from the natives had never been put on paper...That definitely made a special childhood. it made me very passionate about fairy tales.  I know brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen by heart, also I love Swedish childrens writer Astrid Lingdren who is most known for her Pipi Longstocking. But my favorite novel by her was Karlson Who Lives On The Roof. It's about a little man who had a propeller on his back and a button on his belt that activated it. He lived in a tiny house of one of the rooftops in Stolckholm. He made friends with a little lonely boy and they had many crazy mischevious adventures together.    But my absolutely most favorite children’ writer is Gianni Rodari. He won many prizes in children’s' literature in Europe, but his books are surprisingly virtually unavailable in English language. One of my favorite stories was about a boy who found an old TV set on the garbage, soon discovering that it showed all the programs a day ahead - the future (including all the world news and sports events)! How fantastic but simple is that! I actually referred to this story in one of my shots for Bella Freud.

Another story told about a man from Rome who wanted to steal the Coliseum. He was totally obsessed about possessing it. Every evening of his life, coming back  home from work he stuffed his bags with as many bricks as he could carry. After many years his entire house was filled with the bricks. They were in his drawers, on his shelves, piled by the walls... Until he had to turn sideways to squeeze himself on the way to his bed. One evening, fifty years later... he was very old, hunched over, wrinkled and short of breath... he stopped by the Colliseum again. He was looking at it and realized that the Coliseum was as grand and majestic as always, glowing gloriously in the light of the Sunset. The man wasted his entire life working on trying to possess something...When I read this story i must have been ten years old. It terrified me and taught me a big lesson. I guess my dressing rooms were influenced by this idea of non-possession that I've been developing inside myself since I was a child.  And finally, it all leads to inspiration by children. I have a little barely-five year-old beautiful girl Sophie as my protege. She is so passionate about photography,  she takes beautiful pictures with her little camera. Her family is very excited about our "working" together. i believe we can learn from each other and  inspire each other fundamentally. She can teach me her own perspective, the one we were born with, but have lost. She still has it. I haven't had my first  camera until about three years ago. I see Sophie as myself, of what I could have been at her age if I had a camera then! What could I only be like NOW if I  had had a camera wane I was five???  

FP: Where do you see your work evolving? Can we have a taste of the future project(s) of Elle Muliarchyk? Are you continuing to use fashion as a medium of expression?

EM: Yes, I have several projects going on. They are fashion-oriented at various degrees. Using fashion as good medium for me, because it becomes self-biographic and it's genuine in this way. Fashion is a huge and undeniable part of our lives - it involves our basic instincts - like ego, greed, desire for acceptance, desire for beauty... So why not use it simply as a material, as an artist uses plaster, to create any message you want. My most "world-changing", as I would dare to call it, project is a very wide-angle, (documentary, beautiful, exposing, poetic, philosophical) story about a group of girls who pursue the most difficult dream there is. It's a very tragic, heartbreaking story, but also the one that fills you with strength and  faith. This group of girls is the golden kernel that reflects the deep nature inside all of us. The details are a secret so far (because it will take time to complete it), but I'm sure it will be a shocking eye-opener for the society.  

Another project will address an issue that is very important to me.I am going to explore the language of violent images. I think that art involving that kind  of imagery has a kind of transcendent relevance. It starts with my traumatic childhood experience with living in a constant fear of a serial killer in  Belarus. The story continues when I come to New York to be a model... I was submerged and drowned in the culture that embraces the cruel and violent treatment of women in an accepted and glamorized manner. I was at the very nucleus of the society that encourages women metaphorically and physically to mutilate  themselves (compulsive and absurdly excessive plastic surgeries) and kill themselves (eating disorders). Personally I was hurt by it a lot, so it's a very important and painful subject to me. I know it's a far reaching dream, but i want to make a difference in this culture promoting this kind of physical brutality towards women. A series of the shoots that I'll be working on will be a metaphor to that agony and masochism women  are going through. The pictures, although mouth-watering by aesthetic standards, will show violence and pain. I want my "fashion" imagery be a shocking  messenger, I want to tell a story that disturbs you and makes you think, instead of simply producing "off-the-conveyor-belt" predictable, brain-softening, crowd-pleasing pictures.

#Elle Muliarchyk

[fpinterviews]

Alex Prager

FP: Your career began at a very early age, and you’ve achieved much success in such a short time. How did you get involved in photography?

AP: Actually, I didn't get my first camera until I was 20. Before that, the thought of photography hadn't even crossed my mind past taking below-average snapshots on trips I took. I came back to Los Angeles after living in Florida and Switzerland off and on for 4 years, and when I finally settled in with a job and an apartment, I realized that I had no idea what I was doing with my future, and that kind of excited me. I was at a point where I had to make up my mind about what I was going to focus on as an adult. It was exciting because I was starting from nothing, therefore every career in the world was an option. All I had to do was get the education for whatever I decided I wanted to be. I started going to a lot of art shows. I already knew I wanted to be some kind of an artist, I just didn't know what medium I wanted to work in. I went to these shows alone because I didn't want anyone around swaying my opinion. Anyway, a couple weeks went by of going to museum and gallery shows, and then one day I ended up at the Getty where William Eggleston happened to have a show up. The moment I saw his work I knew that I wanted to be a photographer. I looked at every picture over and over for hours and when I was finished I bought his book. A week later, I had everything I needed to become a professional photographer. After that, I read every book I could find that had anything to do with photography. I made a little darkroom in my bathroom and I was in there every night till 3 in the morning processing my film and enlarging the pictures I had taken. After I got home from work, I used to go around my apartment building photographing still objects like a washing machine or a door, and then I'd go right into my darkroom and make an enlargement of the picture. When it was dry I'd go back to the thing I had taken a picture of and I'd tape my picture right on top of it. It would look kind of surreal. I guess those were my first art shows. Sometimes, when I'd go back to look at it, the picture would be gone and I'd imagine that someone had seen it taped up there and liked it enough to take it home with them.

FP: You’ve published an amazing book called "The Book Of Disquiet: The Seven Deadly Sins,” a collaborative piece with artist Mercedes Helenwein. In it, your work has a surreal through-the-looking-glass quality, reflecting both the glamorous and the perverse. How did the book come to be?

AP: Well, Mercedes and I had just finished a show called 'America Motel' that involved us taking 2 trips across the country. She wrote, I took pictures and our friend Beth Riesgraf documented the trips with her Super 8. The show was great. With the help of our friend, Jason Lee, we rented out an entire motel in downtown Los Angeles and basically turned it into an installation. My photographs were hung on the walls of each room like motel art, Mercedes' book was on the night stands in place of the Bible, and Beth's film was being played on each television. It was awesome. After this, Mercedes and I decided we wanted to do another project together, but this time she was going to do drawings. We had both been really affected by the people we met while driving through Middle America, and coming back to Los Angeles was such a dramatic shift in culture that we both, in our own ways, came to conclusion that our next show should be based on The Seven Deadly Sins. It just seemed like the obvious choice. I thought it would be really cool to do a book of our pictures in the style of a cardboard children's book because The Seven Deadly Sins theme was already really dark I thought it would lighten things up a little by adding some humor.

FP: Diane Arbus once remarked that “a photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you, the less you know.” That seems to be fitting for your work. Do you have an intention in mind before you shoot and then stage things or is it more of an organic process once you start?

AP: I guess it's a little bit of both. Although I don't entirely agree with Diane Arbus. On their own photographs are more like incomplete stories, and the missing chapters are filled in differently by each person who looks at it. In other words, a piece of art is only done once it has an audience to communicate to. Everyone has their own experiences, their own story, and when they look at a picture, they're probably going to somehow relate it to something they've already seen or experienced. Since we all have different pasts, I like to think that no two people can see a picture the same way. As far as how I make the photograph, I always have some kind of idea of what I'm going to shoot beforehand. How general or specific it is doesn't really matter because once I start, I try not to think at all.

FP: Who are your primary influences?

AP: William Eggleston, Stephen Shore, Loretta Lux, Philip-Lorca Dicorcia, Diane Arbus, Helmut Newton, Brassai, Annie Leibovitz, Guy Bourdin. Painters are John Currin, Egon Schiele, Toulouse-Lautrec, Bruegel, Gustav Klimt, Lucian Freud, Balthus. Filmmakers include Alfred Hitchcock, David Lynch, Peter Greenaway, Federico Fellini, Victor Fleming. Musicians include Bob Dylan, Joy Division, The Beatles, The Pixies,  Spoon, The Kinks, Bjork, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Elliott Smith, The Smiths, etc.

FP: Can you talk a bit about your technique and how you use high-gloss plexiglass?

AP: I like the saturation that you get by face-mounting color photographs to plexi-glas, but I don't always use this process. For my next series, I'm mounting the pictures to Sintra Board from behind so nothing will touch the front of them.

FP: Where do you find your models? Are they friends?

AP: It depends. Sometimes a friend will work out perfectly for a shot I had in mind, other times I'll see someone on the street or in a magazine and I'll get in touch with them and ask if they'll pose for me. Another place that can be good for finding models is modeling agencies! What!? I know, weird...

FP: Since your sister is featured in this issue as well (painter Vanessa Prager), I assume you come from a very creative family…

AP: Hmm.. 'Creative family' implies that they we grew up in a family of artists, which we did not, but our parents, and grandmother (who helped raise us), are definitely the opposite of Middle Class in the way of thinking. They're creative in the sense of the freedom they gave us. They always left it up to us to decide what our goals were going to be, and no matter how far-fetched they were they'd back us up 100%. One day when I was 15, I told my parents I wanted to learn how to play the guitar, and literally the next day they had bought me a guitar and had lessons lined up for me whenever I was ready to start taking them. When I was 14 I had the opportunity to work at a knife shop in Switzerland for 4 months with my best friend who was also 14, and they let me go not only that year, but every year after that until I didn't feel like going anymore. I don't think many parents would let their kids have this much self-determinism at such a young age. I'm sure this influenced my sister and I to becoming artists.

FP: What advice would you give for anyone young trying to break into the business?

AP: Some of the best advice I ever got when I first started was from a painter friend of mine, Bryten Goss, he told me not to talk to any photographers for 1 full year and during that year to always have my camera on me, take as many pictures as possible and find other photographers and artists I like and study their work. That first year is really important because you're so new at it that you can be misguided and influenced really easily, so trusting yourself to be able to learn what you need to know on your own enough to start getting pictures you can be proud of is important.

FP: In what direction do you see your work heading currently? And where can we next see your work?

AP: For the past year or so, I've been working on a series of pictures called 'POLYESTER' and I'll be exhibiting these in my first ever solo show in April at the Robert Berman Gallery at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica. With this show, I wanted there to be a staged, retro quality to the images while keeping them modern. Almost like the people in my pictures are kind of bad actors dressed up and playing roles from movies in the 60's.

#Alex Prager

[fpinterviews]

Lauren Gibbes

FP: Your paintings are mainly diptychs, where commercialism meets nature (albeit a controlled nature), through the eyes of femininity, sensuality and the female form, such as the world of pageantry. Can you talk a bit about how you came to this, and what that control represents to you.

LG: Here is part of my artist statement:  "I  draw my imagery from a mixture of television, magazine, and internet  sources. Through the use and manipulation of appropriated imagery  I make an effort to blur the lines between the collective and individual experience. My paintings create new meaning and narrative with the reconstruction and juxtaposition of various images. I confront cultural issues, gender roles, and systems of power, commercialism, and media, reviving conceptual value."  I came to these subjects out of interest in trying to understand the  world around me. I think that is what most artists are doing on some level. Systems of power or "control" really interests me because it exists on all levels from man vs. nature, government,  and professional to personal relationships. I see it as a major thread that runs through out, and there are so many metaphors for it... pageantry being one of them.

FP: How do you work, from photographs or still life?

LG: Almost always photos.

FP: Where did you grow up?

LG: Irmo, SC then Charlotte, NC. So definitely a  mixture of rural and suburban.

FP: You mentioned that it was difficult to be a  contemporary artist in the South. Do you still find that to be true? How does Asheville, NC affect your work?

LG:  For the most part yes. Craft and tradition are huge in the South, it's very conservative, but of course there are always exceptions.  Asheville has been a great place for me for the last few years. It's been a good place to produce and grow, but it also lacks in many ways.  I am moving to Brooklyn in 6 months with my fiancee Jason Weatherspoon, who is also an artist.

FP: I feel that there is a lot of kitsch in your sculpture, is that reminiscent of something personal?  They are set up like little altars, which for me always reminds me of the Hummel scultures my grandmother arranged in glass cabinets, and Tennessee Williams. (ok, I suppose that is definitely a Southern thing) Jeff Koons, lover  of all things kitsch, once remarked: "A viewer might at first see irony in my work... but I see none at all. Irony causes too much critical contemplation," (which in turn might well be perceived as an ironic double bluff) Would you classify your work as ironic? (It's funny, but I completely understand what he's saying in regards to myuse of Pamela Anderson in my work...I know that people find it  ironic, but I really truly can't help but love looking at her image.)

LG: I have always had an attraction to kitsch and nostalgia. Its funny that you mentioned your grandmother because my grandparents had the same decor; Hummel sculptures and Depression Era glass. I spent a lot of time on their farm in South Carolina, and I am pretty sure that's where my attraction stems from... it's definitely a Southern thing.  I  think being a female who has grown up in the South comes through in my work in many ways, it is a natural perspective for me. Somebody once described my work as being "drenched in sweet tea".  I am also very attracted to irony, so there is definitely that element in my work. At the same time I understand what Jeff Koons is  saying in his statement (although I am not sure I fully believe him there).  I really love many of the images I work from on a more face value level, and that's part of the reason why I choose them.

FP: Based on your mission statement, do you think it's possible for a person to inject themselves (or be injected) with too much information in this day and age? Or do you appreciate that mixture in order to keep your artistic spirit motivated and fresh? Do you think pop art can be personal or is it always social commentary?

LG:  I think overload is possible for sure, but at the same time I find a lot of inspiration in it all.  Yes, I think pop art can be both personal and social commentary. It just has to have popular culture injected into it in some way.

FP: I noticed that in many of your pieces you've used diamond dust as a medium, both in the oil paintings and the sculpture. How does that work? Is it an expensive medium then?

LG: The diamond dust that I use is actually just finely crushed glass, so it's not too expensive. The effect is hard to capture in photograph, but it creates sort of a 3- dimensional sparkle that you can't achieve with glitter.

FP: Do you think of your work as political? Feminist?

LG: I see my work as being part feminist, part political, and part escapist. Some pieces individually are more feminist or more political or escapist, but they all contain elements of each.

FP: What do you think about the controlled way that one is able to manipulate and posture/present one's image on such social networking spaces as myspace. This strikes me as so similar to the poses in your work... do you think we all just have a deep desire to simply be beautiful and create beauty (or at least our bastardized form of what we commercially consider beautiful) whether or not anyone else is looking? Do you think we have the patience anymore to appreciate simple and natural beauty?

LG: Yes. On a basic level I think everyone wants to be loved.

FP: Where do you see your work evolving? (or what are you working on presently...)

LG: More of the same–but better!

#Lauren Gibbes