Sawyer Rose Lyra, 2017 Silver solder, copper, fiberglass 18 x 18 x 18 inches
An Interview with Sawyer Rose
Sawyer Rose
MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up? Were you always creative?
SR: I grew up in Charlotte, NC, middle kid of three. My mom had all of us in art lessons from a young age. It was just at the nice lady’s house a few streets over, but as the creative kid of the family, I ate it up. At home I had three or four unfinished craft projects lying around the house at all times.
MKM: Why did you pursue art and where did you study?
SR: I went to Williams College which has a wonderful Art department. It took maybe 6 weeks of my first year to decide that I wanted Art to be my major. Fortunately, the department required both Art History and studio classes, so I ended up with a well-rounded experience.
MKM: Did you have any memorable teachers at Williams College?
SR: My senior year painting professor was completely comfortable with my odd studio hours and wild experimentation on canvas. So was my photography tutor at Glasgow School of Art. I learned loads in both of their classes, but the most valuable takeaway was that it was ok, even encouraged, to let my practice develop outside of the academic box.
MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? Rituals, patterns?
SR: Daily routine? No. All work patterns conform to the elementary and middle school calendars.
Sawyer in the studio
MKM: How has your practice changed over time?
SR: I began my practice as an oil painter, but I kept wanting to add a third dimension to my 2-D works. After many years I decided to try my hand at true 3-D sculpture and found it suited me much better. It’s only in the past year that I have started making 2-D works again, but now I make them by choice rather than by default.
MKM: Do you focus on a specific medium or combination of mediums? Which creative medium would you love to pursue but haven’t yet?
SR: I work in metal, wood, and fiber mostly. I find natural, earthy materials to be the easiest for me to wrap my mind around. Metal is a finicky, willful material to work with, which I have learned to enjoy. Metal does as it pleases.
MKM:What themes do you pursue?
SR: I like to make work that shines a light on social and environmental topics that are important to me. My metalworks are based on the native flora of California and ask viewers to consider what plants would look like if they could grow armor to protect themselves. In another vein, my work on The Carrying Stones Project takes a deep dive into women’s work inequity. I look at women’s paid and unpaid labor, but also at the wage gap, representation of women the workplace, and other ways in which people who identify as female are fighting an uphill battle at work and in their communities.
MKM: What is your most important tool? Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?
SR: Does whiskey count? (Kidding!!) I love my belt sander. It’s powerful and versatile and can solve a lot of sculpture problems quickly.
MKM: Is there an artwork you are most proud of? Why?
SR: I’m most proud, seemingly counterintuitively, of the pieces I make that don’t feel like they came out of me. It’s a thrilling way to get a glimpse of what my subconscious might look like.
MKM: What art do you most identify with?
SR: I’m attracted to art that highlights repetition and pattern while still maintaining an organic sensibility. Near-symmetry and flawed reproduction are mainstays of my production process.
Lyra installed in 31 Women at Whitney Modern
MKM: Do you have a sense of connection to a particular woman artist from art history?
SR: Lee Bontecou’s sculpture work is stunning. It takes my breath away every time.
MKM: Is there a specific work from Lee Bontecou that you find interesting?
SR: Bontecou’s steel and canvas wall pieces are particularly inspiring for me, as I also work in metal. Her armatures are the stuff of dreams.
MKM: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
SR: “Never assume anyone else’s motivations are the same as your own.” My high school Spanish teacher told me this, apropos of what I can’t remember. When I’m trying to decide how to best educate my audience about a particular topic, I try to remember that every viewer comes with their own history, their own learning, and their own prejudices. I want people to feel comfortable starting their learning from where they are right now.
MKM: What can we expect from you in the next year?
SR: In the next year I will be building a new group of installation sculptures for The Carrying Stones Project that tell the stories of some truly fascinating working women. Eventually, I’m going to publish a book of all the work from the project.
Elena Zolotnitsky HER (Extinct Series), 2018 Oil on mylar mounted to panel Courtesy of Andra Norris Gallery
An Interview with Elena Zolotnitsky
A visit to Elena Zolotnitsky’s studio
MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up? Were you always creative?
EZ: I grew up in Moscow. My father worked as a free-lance illustrator and a set designer at the major Moscow Movie Studio. While growing up I was always encouraged to do art: draw, paint watercolor, attend special art classes, et cetera. I became serious about art at the age of 14 and was passionate enough to focus on pursuing it.
MKM: Where did you study? Did you have any memorable teachers?
EZ: I started to study with tutors and get to ready to pass the exams at VGIK (All State Institute of Cinematography) majoring in the Art of Animation. I graduated in 1987 with a 10-minute hand animation movie as a creative director. The movie is titled From 9am to 6 pm. The director, the screen writer and the creative director (myself) were women. I was hired a year before I graduated, and it took our team exactly a year to finish the project. Oddly enough I have to mention two things that might be important, that surfaced years after that movie was done. The movie itself is about one day in the life of a woman architect and about her juggling her creativity, career, her family and everyday life. This movie can be found on YouTube and it is still shown on Russian television around 8th of March every year – International Women’s Day. In a way we were breaking the ground rules, [because we were] the first women’s creative team, and one of the first animations with “adults” in mind. Until then, animation was mostly a “children’s” affair. And the second important thing was the celluloid. The transparent plastic sheets that were used as a surface for painting and drawing. And you will understand why later. My most memorable teacher was Vadim Kyrchevskiy. He taught animation courses and he taught us life mostly.
MKM: When youare creating what’s your daily routine? Rituals, patterns?
EZ: My day starts with a 10-mile walk around Lake Merritt in Oakland. It’s a must. When I do not have that my whole day is thrown off. It clears my head, I can daydream about the day ahead, think about my new projects, et cetera.
Work in progress in the studio
MKM: How has your practice changed over time?
EZ: My practice changed with the deepening of understanding of what painting is, and about what it means to me. For years after finishing college and already living here in America, maybe because of the editorial illustration I was working on, maybe because I was still trying to “find” myself – my paintings were super “controlled”; with the elements of design and very stylized. Now, I call them “coloring between the lines”. Something was missing and I couldn’t figure, or wasn’t mature enough to figure out what it is. Gradually, after a period of ups and downs, the creative blocks and changing coasts in the 30th year of my career, I started to understand what the painting was about (for me) and how to make it alive. And it continues to change, I am always growing and evolving….
MKM: Do you focus on a specific medium or combination of mediums? Which creative medium would you love to pursue but haven’t yet?
EZ: I work with oils on different supports. Have been favoring MYLARS (remember the celluloid!) lately. It is the hardest to “control” super slick surface. Very challenging and engaging. Keeps me totally focused….
MKM: What themes do you pursue?
EZ: I can paint everything – flowers, cityscapes, landscape, nudes, still-life, portraits. I have been focusing on the latter. Maybe because a face can be all of those things, plus. I favor “oneness” as a theme; for now….
MKM: What is your most important tool? Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?
EZ: Day light, my art books and a palette knife…
Inside Elena’s studio
MKM: Is there an artwork you are most proud of?
EZ: Yes, many. Because I can’t copy them or repeat them. They are truly one of a kind with the life of their own. Also, if they were created (“channeled”) at a pivotal point of my career. One of those points was a heart break, and another – my mother’s death.
MKM: What art do you most identify with?
EZ: The one that I don’t know how it was done. It intrigues and mystifies me….
MKM: What inspires you? Other artists, other women from history, your process, a theme?
EZ: Oddly enough, the older I become – the less enchanted I become by others. I still look for the holy grail of mystery in the museums. They are harder to find. My focus shifts at different times. Apart from Dutch, Early Netherland and Flemish – like Hans Memling, Pieter Bruegel and Rembrandt, my favorite are Paul Cézanne, Richard Diebenkorn and Gerhard Richter. The female artist being Berthe Morisot and Agnes Martin.
I do get inspired by a face. Either live or a photo of it. I like to paint androgynous – they are the most mysterious to me. Beautiful, ubiquitous. I consider my painting a success if I got lost in it. And it’s a bonus if I have something reasonable to show for it, or at least learn from it…
MKM: Do you have a sense of connection to a particular woman artist from art history?
EZ: I feel connected not to anything specific. I admire strong point of view, a craft, a deep understanding of the media, a voice, a vulnerability, a mystery. And there are so many. I come across them practically every day – those revelations that make my day. They tweak my creativity in this or that way, very slightly. They stay with me on my early morning walks. And it has nothing to do with the gender. It everything to do with the “goodness” of their art.
MKM: Who are your female role models from history or present day?
EZ: My female role model from history is Hellen Keller for obvious reasons. And my role models from present days are some of my girlfriends. They live in different parts of the world. Some of them have been having a very hard life – poor health, insufficient funds – but they keep it together. They persevere. They grow old as I do. They have their problems. But they never give up. They inspire me.
MKM: Whatis the best piece of advice you have been given?
EZ: The best piece of advice? I don’t think I have the answer. The best advice is usually the one that you get when needed the most. Sometimes, when I am stuck, I spend hours going through Goodreads Quotes looking for answers. It’s all there – the wisdom of enchanted humanity.
MKM: What is your dream project?
EZ: My dream project is Artists Residency in Bellagio, Italy. Or American Academy in Rome.
MKM: What can we expect from you in the next year?
EZ: I do not know what to expect today. And you are asking about next year!
INSPIRED FOR LIFE When I was 6 or 7 years old growing up in Moscow, some 30 years before the experience made its way into the consciousness of my journey, I liked to “play secrets”. As an only child I had to occupy myself somehow and that game was as good as any because I could easily do it on my own. It involved wrappers for chocolates. The ones that you’ve managed to consume of course! The better chocolates – the more intricate the wrappers were. The best were the ones with the picture in the middle (it could even be a tiny replica of some famous Russian masterpiece hanging at Tretyakov Gallery) and the silver lining. After spending hours on folding them, still smelling of chocolate, just right, completed with the silver design of the lining leaf, you had to hunt for another necessary element of a “secret”. That would be a piece of glass. The beer bottled ones, amber in color were the most magical. Then you had to bury the folded rapper with the glass on top in the shallow grave of the playground’s dirt. That was a “secret”. The magic happened when the young “artist”, on all fours and with her nose close to the ground, started to push the dirt away with her single finger in a slow little circular motion, clearing the tiny window of colored glass…. What a transformation! In the first shock of discovery it takes you a while to comprehend what you were actually seeing….Then it sinks in:a mystery of familiar….And the feeling! Of wonder, of revelation. I think that all my life I am chasing that feeling – the mystery to be discovered. That instantaneous shift of reality, the recognition of magic. – Elena Zolotnitsky
Elena Zolotnitsky is represented by Andra Norris Gallery in Burlingame, CA
Working in multiple mediums, Josette Urso makes paintings, drawings and collages in direct response to her immediate environment. Large windows in her Brooklyn studio space afford her expansive views of the city, the weather, the light and colors, which all inform and inspire her work. Art making materials, in their variety, also nourish her practice. Urso’s approach to painting involves “moment-to-moment extrapolation where the contrasts and cross-fertilizations are cumulative, non-linear, free flowing and interpretive.” For Urso, space is “ambiguous and malleable” and she delights in the resulting acrobatic “mark making and image collision” on the canvas. With her collage works, Urso explores the dualities of information overload as it fuels our minds and creativity, but also desensitizes our attention. Her collages are packed with imagery that could both intrigue and overwhelm, but the information is ordered in a mandala like circle that conveys a sense of meditative peace amidst the spinning chaos of life.
Josette at work on a painting in her Brooklyn, NY studio
Growing up Urso’s parents brought creativity into their everyday lives; she describes her mom as “resourceful and fearless”. Her father, a math professor, also played the guitar. Both encouraged Urso’s artmaking, arranging lessons with students at the nearby university where he taught. Spending three semesters in New York during her undergrad years inspired her and made a profound impression. Urso immersed herself in the art, seeing everything she could, while becoming familiar with works by a wide range of artists. Women artists that have left a lasting impression on Urso include: Lee Krasner, Florentine Stettheimer, Anne Truitt and the choreographer Pina Bausch.
Collage materials and works in progress in Josette’s studio
Urso received her MFA from the University of South Florida in Tampa. Her work has been exhibited extensively, including exhibitions in New York at Markel Fine Arts, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, The Painting Center, The Drawing Center, The New York Public Library, The Bronx Museum of the Arts and in California at the Museum of Los Gatos and Chandler Fine Art. Urso has received grants and residencies including those from the NEA, Basil H. Alkazzi and the Gottlieb, Pollock-Krasner and Ruth and Harold Chenven Foundations as well as the Camargo Foundation, Ucross and Yaddo.
Sandy Ostrau Encountering Light Through the Fog, 2020 Oil on wood panel
An Interview with Sandy Ostrau
Sandy Ostrau
MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up? Were you always creative?
SO: I grew up in Palo Alto. I enjoyed art making from a very young age. You could often find me surrounded by my treasured art supplies, drawing and coloring for hours at a time. One of my bedroom walls was covered entirely with bulletin board so I could hang my art.
MKM: Why did you pursue art?
SO: I started a business selling my designs on textiles and clothing and that launched my career of selling my art. I moved into painting because I was interested in learning to use oils. I found them to be a perfect medium for my style of art.
MKM: Where did you study art?
SO: I studied Art History and took drawing classes at UCSB. After college I have taken numerous drawing and painting classes at the Pacific Art League and Palo Alto Art Center.
MKM: Did you have any memorable art teachers?
Jim Smyth and Brigitte Curt have both been incredible teachers and mentors throughout the years. Brigitte Curt teaches impressionist plein-air painting and Jim Smyth is a drawing and figure painting instructor. They are excellent teachers and both accomplished artists.
Sandy Ostrau’s studio
MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? Rituals, patterns?
SO: I arrive at my studio by 10 am and I begin my day by mixing colors. I find the rhythmic movement of using the palette knife to mix is a great warm up and I then have a palette to work with for the day. It’s a wonderful ritual to focus my attention and loosen me up. Most importantly it switches my thinking to a work mode.
MKM: How has your practice changed over time?
SO: It hasn’t changed much over the years other than I used to spend more time painting outdoors and now I do most of my painting in the studio.
MKM: Do you focus on a specific medium or combination of mediums?
SO: I paint with oil paint, but I often sketch with graphite or ink and sometimes paint with acrylic on paper. I use paper and acrylic for studies.
MKM: Which creative medium would you love to pursue but haven’t yet?
SO: Print making. I’ve been thinking about it for a while and in the near future I’d like to try it out.
MKM: What themes do you pursue?
SO: Mostly I work at integrating the figure into my paintings, whether interiors or landscapes. I’m mainly a landscape painter but I use figurative elements to connect the viewer to my work and to instill a feeling into the painting.
MKM: What is your most important tool? Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?
SO: My favorite tool is my large rolling palette cart that my husband built for me. I can wheel it around and it’s a big area for mixing a lot of paint. I use brushes and palette knives. I don’t really prefer one to the other and can transfer from one to the other easily. Also, Viva paper towels are essential.
Sandy Ostrau’s studio
MKM: Is there an artwork you are most proud of?
SO: I did a painting that was exhibited in an exhibition called Inspired by David Park a few years ago. I sold the painting after the show to a couple that moved to Santa Rosa with that treasured painting a few months before their home (and the painting) burnt down. It was so tragic for the family to lose everything. They kept telling me how much they missed the painting too. In addition, I think my early small outdoor landscape paintings are very special because they allowed me to paint the same scene over and over and experiment with value, color and shape in a way that you just can’t working large in a studio. Working from nature not from photos I think produces the best work and really trains your eye.
MKM: What has been a seminal experience?
SO: Painting outdoors. It allows you to work directly from nature, make a lot of small works so you can learn the painting process without worrying about making a great painting, and work quickly. I came to love outdoor painting and working from nature. I actually prefer it to painting in the studio.
MKM: What art do you most identify with?
SO: The art of Nicholas De Stael, Edward Munch, Joan Brown, Kim Frohsin, David Park and Richard Diebenkorn are painters I greatly admire. Also, Masaccio from the early Renaissance.
MKM: What inspires you?
SO: Nature is what inspires me primarily. More specifically, I am always astounded by the beauty of California.
MKM: Do you have a sense of connection to a particular woman artist from art history?
SO: I am particularly interested in the work of Joan Brown. I love how she depicts her scenes with such simplicity yet she captures the gesture and persona of her subjects. The impasto paint and expressive brush and knife work is thrilling.
MKM: Is there a specific work from Joan Brown that you find interesting?
SO:Girl Standing, Girl Sitting 1962
MKM: Who are your female role models from history or present day?
SO: I have always admired Kim Frohsin for how dedicated and her accomplishments as an artist. She follows her own voice, which I admire. Her work is entirely original and expresses her own interpretation of the figure or any subject. She is also highly skilled as both a draftsperson and a painter.
MKM: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
SO: There are two things my teacher Jim Smyth taught me that have been instrumental in my work. First, paint what the subject is “doing” rather than “what it looks like.” This is a way to shift your thinking so the work will express what is happening rather than just depicting a scene like a photograph; the work will have more feeling. The second is that value (light and dark) is more important than color, and the relationship and patterns created by dark and light is the basis for composition.
MKM: What is your dream project?
SO: I love creating a body of work for an exhibit, especially a solo exhibit.
MKM: What can we expect from you in the next year?
SO: More exploration of figure work and possibly some portraits; also larger works.
Sandy Ostrau is represented by Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto, CA; Gallery North, Carmel, CA; Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA; Thomas Reynolds Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Anne Loucks Gallery, Glencoe, IL; LeeAnn Brook Fine Art, Nevada City, CA; Anne Neilson Fine Art, Charlotte, NC; Peterson Roth Gallery, Bend OR; and Meyer Vogl Gallery, Charleston, SC.
MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up? Were you always creative?
JC: I grew up in Southern California, the only girl in a four-sibling household. Because of that I had my own room for the most part. My parents encouraged my natural making proclivities and put an old door on sawhorses in my room to use as a table. It gave me a place to make and experiment without interruption. It was a place away from brothers and a place to learn to be with myself. Looking back, I realize I never really acknowledged what a wonderful and supportive situation that was!
MKM: Why did you pursue art and where did you study?
JC: I pursued art because it was what I found enjoyable. I also got encouragement for my efforts. But it wasn’t really until college that I discovered the type of art that I wanted to pursue. I went to undergraduate school at several places- first Reed College where I was not a good fit and then at UCSB, and then at Stanislaus State in Turlock CA! It was at UC Santa Barbara that I happened to take a printmaking class, not really knowing anything about it. I had a wonderful (and handsome) TA and I was hooked.
MKM: Did you have any memorable teachers?
JC: In graduate school at San Francisco State , I had memorable teachers. (The handsome TA was great but mostly handsome!) John Ilhe really inspired a kind of technical appreciation that printmakers seems to get wrapped up in. There is so much technical jargon and protocol – printmakers can spend hours discussing the merits of wheat paste and paper. After graduate school I was lucky to meet Kay Bradner owner of Katherine Lincoln Press. Working for Kay is where my real knowledge of printmaking took off. I learned to print all kinds of prints, wipe all kinds or ways and appreciate printmaking in an entirely new way. From the “grunts” perspective to the distinguished printmakers proof. I believe Kay was the best teacher I ever had, and I still call her occasionally for help.
Jen Cole in the studio
MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? rituals, patterns?
JC: My daily routine is relaxed now as I retired my jewelry business when my husband retired. I usually manage to get to Kala three days a week and other days I work at home or do “laundry” (the symbolic word for home activities). But mornings are always devoted to a meditation practice and walking the dog or/and yoga. If I can do these activities before arriving at Kala, I am ready to work.
I love the process of printmaking so much that I often let this take a long time and finishing a print is a nice outcome that sometimes happens. It means I go to work and really just enjoy whatever problem presents itself during the making of a plate. I work with very little premeditated imagery. My prints evolve and transform a great deal over time. Physical labor is definitely part of my process- scraping, burnishing, re-etching, re-aquatinting. For monotypes this means many layers and covering up parts of images that don’t work and tearing images down, whatever it takes to discover what I am looking for.
MKM: Is there an artwork you are most proud of?
JC: Being proud of artwork is a relatively new experience. When I started teaching monotype at Kala about five years ago, I realized that I was actually very well informed. Students give so much, and I have learned to become a better teacher as well.
MKM: What has been a seminal experience?
JC: Most of my seminal experiences have been of the internal kind of work–which most definitely is expressed in some way through my art. Maybe my most seminal experience was to finally understand that what I was learning through meditation and internal self-exploration was actually expressed visually in my art. It’s hard to verbalize but the joy that comes when working on printmaking is such a lovely and opening experience and that experience becomes the image.
MKM: What inspires you? Other artists, other women from history, your process, a theme?
JC: There are many artists whose work I love- Paul Klee, Kiki Smith, Kazuko Watanabi, Sean Caulfield, Golbanou Moghaddas… so many more. I like so many kinds of images. But I love prints most of all – above all other forms of art.
MKM: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
JC: The best advice that was ever given me was when my kids were young and a colleague of my husband said, “be flexible”. Buddha has a lot or good advice too like “things change”.
MKM: What is your dream project?
JC: My dream project would be to have a year to just work away on prints; actually I am living my dream now!
Pantea Karimi Healing Gardens, 2019 (left to right: Buttercup, Cinquefoil, Asparagus) Digital illustration and print on aluminum
An Interview with Pantea Karimi
Pantea Karimi
MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up? Were you always creative?
PK: I grew up in Iran (Shiraz and Tehran) during turbulent times of revolution, war and family tragedy. My father is a civil-engineer and architect and my mother is a retired history and literature teacher. Despite all the hardships, I managed to take regular classes in painting and classical music, which led to my decision to pursue art professionally. My parents supported my decision to go to art university and my father built me an art studio, in Tehran, where I taught drawing and painting to both youths and adults.
MKM: Where did you study? How has your practice changed over time?
PK: I got my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Graphic Design from two prominent art schools in Tehran and worked as a graphic designer for design firms and as a freelancer. While I was studying graphic design, I continued taking professional painting and drawing classes and exhibited my works in Tehran’s galleries.
In 2001, I moved to England, where I studied printmaking, worked as a studio assistant for a British landscape artist and exhibited my arts in Hastings and London in different venues. My residency in England provided creative time and allowed me to explore new media and printmaking techniques. This experience created a foundation for my art practice, which I continued in 2005 at the San José State University, where later, I also obtained (2009) a second master’s degree in painting and printmaking.
My first artistic inspiration as a 5-year old was my mother’s German fashion magazines and other intriguing publications around the house. I was fascinated with their layouts and the use of photos, and colors. I used to draw on those magazine pages, thinking that I was making good changes to the layouts. As an artist, I am naturally driven by my deep feelings and childhood experiences that have shaped my perceptions of the world. This fascination with print publications and their layout and design continued to my adulthood. I gradually developed a strong interest in their history as well. To complete my master’s degree in Graphic Design at the Art University in Tehran, I researched the beginning of print industry in 19th century Iran. I gathered reproductions of those newspapers (originally were printed in lithography) and studied their illustrations, layout, and design. I became fascinated by the ways in which text and image complemented one another in novel ways and communicated meaning. In 2014, I began a new research project which revisited my earlier investigations in the history of Iranian print media. Since then, my work has been an exploration into the pages of medieval Persian, Arab and early modern European scientific manuscripts. The scientific books from these periods offer nuanced understandings of the relationship between form and text, and above all, between scientific concepts and their myriad manifestations in visual forms.
MKM: Do you have any memorable teachers from your years as a student?
PK: Three female teachers have been very influential in my practice: In Iran, drawing and painting: Minoo Asa’adi; in England, printmaking and use of creative process: Joanna Kerr-Smith; and in the United States at SJSU, printmaking and the importance of content in art: Erin Goodwin-Guerrero.
Pantea’s studio
MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? Rituals, patterns?
PK: I get to the studio at around 10:30 AM and leave at 7:30 PM, 4 days a week. Each day could be different in terms of how I start my routine; sometimes I start by checking emails and working on digital files, other times, I start with printing and painting. Every week, I create a list of projects I need to do. I go through the list and cross things out when they are done. That has created a working routine and has helped me to be organized.
MKM: What themes do you pursue in your work?
PK: My work as a multidisciplinary artist explores the intersection of art with history and science, and examines how the broader aesthetic considerations of science are closely related to art. I am captivated by the correlation between abstract ideas and their visual representations. I research illustrations and texts of medieval Persian, Arab and early modern European scientific manuscripts in five areas: mathematics, medicinal botany, anatomy, astronomy and cartography.
For me, these manuscripts provide a unique platform for investigating the influence of past scientific concepts and their manifestations on our contemporary perception of the world. They represent world cultures, their values and the progression of scientific ideas throughout history.
Utilizing conceptual and visual interpretations from my research, I create individual bodies of artwork using interactive installations, VR, silkscreen, digital illustrations, and prints. Collectively, my art highlights the pivotal role of epistemic images in presenting and communicating knowledge and generating new vision. It also represents my culture, identity, life-experience, and journey of self-discovery through science and history.
MKM: Do you focus on a specific medium or combination of mediums?
PK: I usually work with prints: digital (illustration) and manual (silkscreen and monotype). I enjoy working with interactive installation and various substrates such as paper, fabric, wood and metal. Some of my works also use mixed-media techniques, such as silkscreen combined with ink or watercolor.
MKM: Which creative medium would you love to pursue but haven’t yet?
PK: Animation
A few more views of Pantea’s studio
MKM: What is your most important tool? Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?
PK: My computer (digital graphics applications) and silkscreen equipment
MKM: Is there an artwork you are most proud of?
PK: My medieval and early modern scientific manuscript series. To me, the topic is unique and provides many opportunities for the creative process and artistic endeavor. It also presents some challenges, such as interpreting a scientific idea in visual form or gathering information about certain scientific subjects. But I see the challenges as an undeniable part of the process and in fact a positive factor; it keeps my curiosity and interest going!
MKM: What has been a seminal experience?
PK: Perhaps immigrating has been the most inspiring experience and has influenced my work strongly. I am a two-time immigrant from Iran to the UK and to the USA. On a personal level, immigration provided challenges in the beginning, but at the same time, it presented great opportunities for my art practice and creative path; traveling experiences and living in diverse communities have informed my art content and identity as an Iranian-artist woman. It has broadened my world view.
MKM: What art do you most identify with? What inspires you? Other artists, your process, a theme?
PK: I am influenced by the works of modern avant-garde artists. In terms of abstraction and arrangement of my own forms, I draw inspiration from the Russian Suprematist artists El Lissitzky (1890-1941) and Kazimir Malevich (1878-1935). These artists were in search of a style of abstract painting based on geometric shapes, which they believed promoted the supremacy of pure artistic feeling over the depiction of objects. In my art, I also draw inspiration from artists from around the world, my peers, and art genres; I am an avid museumgoer, often visit local artists’ studios, and watch art documentaries on regular basis. Among male artists, I appreciate the technicality and creativity of William Kentridge’s work. I have seen many of his animations and exhibitions in London and San Francisco and his recent Opera, which was wonderfully performed and staged. His work is very inspiring to me!
MKM: Who are your female role models from history or the present day?
PK: Strong and independent women from any age group, any race or nationality who rise above their assigned stereotypes always inspire me. When it comes to female artists, I am usually inspired by their biographical narratives such as their struggles, achievements, and creative paths. My list is quite diverse; here are a few from various cultures and times: Artemisia Gentileschi: Her female perspective was highlighted in all of her paintings. Louise Bourgeois: Her thought process and artistry. Louise Nevelson: Her use of materials and composition. Barbara Kruger: Her use of bold images and texts as well as the message of her works. Sally Mann: Her work, creative process in general. Marlene Dumas: She draws inspiration for her works’ imagery and content from published media, such as newspapers and magazines. Her female figurative paintings have elevated the subject from its roots in vanity, using it to depict personal, psychological, social, and political concerns. Her works are emotional and make me think. Es DevlinHer most amazing, creative theater and stage-sculptures. For her confident thought process and outcome. Marina Abramović: Her persistence; the power of performance and feminist art. Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian: (Iran) Her beautiful use of her Iranian heritage techniques and materials: mirror-mosaics. Her work is a perfect marriage between Iranian and the Western culture while keeping her Iranian identity dominant.
MKM: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
PK: I have not been given many pieces of advice but one I cherish: “Balance is the key to happiness in life.” I am very committed to my work; I always set goals and work towards them. In this process I try to strike a balance when I can, however, I haven’t been that good at it.
MKM: What is your dream project? What can we expect from you in the next year?
PK: My current project (medieval and early modern scientific manuscripts) is my dream project. I am lucky that I have had the chance to do it. Next year, I will continue my research; digging into more of these amazing archival materials. I am also working on solo exhibitions and new projects in the areas of astronomy and botanical.
Laura Gurton Unknown Species #215, 2017 Oil, alkyd, ink on linen
An Interview with Laura Gurton
MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up? Were you always creative?
LG: I was born in 1951 in Brooklyn, NY, into a family of artists. My childhood was filled with museum visits, art books, the theater, ballet, foreign films, music, and art classes at the Brooklyn Museum. When I was young, my mother was enrolled in an art education program at Brooklyn College and became an art teacher. My father was a pianist and, when he was not working, he would be home practicing; our home was always filled with his music and he always tried to share with me and my sister his love for classical music and jazz. I also had an uncle who was a painter and printmaker. Everyone in the family had his and my mother’s paintings, etchings and linocuts hanging in their homes next to Picasso reproductions. I have fond memories of creating art with my cousin in my uncle’s studio and drawing trees in Prospect Park with my mother. My artwork was always encouraged, validated, and displayed; my mother saved a lot of what I created then and I still have those early pieces. Actually, one painting that I made in the 6th grade won the honor of being exhibited in a children’s art exhibition at Lever House Gallery in New York City. I never saw that painting again, but I remember the feeling of seeing my work framed and on display in a gallery space, of watching strangers stand in front of it, observing, studying, and praising my work.
MKM: Where did you study art in college?
LG: For my first year of college, in 1969, I attended Philadelphia College of Art (now called University of the Arts). Although I loved the foundation year, I decided to transfer to The School of Visual Arts in NYC. In the early 70’s, SVA was not an accredited college and, although I had many well-known artists as teachers, I finished my 4th year of art school without a degree. SVA only became accredited the year I finished and by then I did not have the right credits for a BFA. So, when I was in my forties, I decided to return to SVA to complete my degree and to take art education courses to become a high school art teacher. A few years later I earned a Masters in Supervision and Administration in the Arts from a joint program run by the Bank Street College of Education and Parsons School of Design—an amazing experience that allowed me to work as a vice principal and the head of the art department at the high school where I taught.
MKM: Did you have any memorable teachers?
LG: I was lucky to have had a few women artists as teachers: May Stevens was so generous with her time and her willingness to share her experience, inviting my class to her loft in Soho; Marsha Tucker, who had just started the New Museum, taught a class about the art world; Audrey Flack and Alice Neel co-taught a painting studio. Having these women as teachers and role models made it seem quite possible that I could succeed as well. There were some male instructors who were also very memorable: I had Robert Pincus Witten and Monroe Denton for art history; Don Eddy and David Mann for painting studio; Sonnenberg, Bunnell and Blackburn for printmaking, all of whom were great teachers. I was happy to have Whitfield Lovell for art education and Leon Dylan for a technique class. The person who affected me the most was Lucio Pozzi. When I went back to SVA in my 40s, the fine arts department had a new procedure: in addition to regular coursework, students also had to meet with another artist to be evaluated at the end of each term. So, I had to present my work to Lucio Pozzi who encouraged me more than anyone else had until then. He loved my work and asked about my goals. When I told him that I planned to work full-time as an art teacher, he just shook his head and said “no, you must continue with your art.”
Laura Gurton’s studio
MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? rituals, patterns? Has your practice changed over time?
LG: When I am about to start a new piece, I clear my schedule and prepare to work uninterrupted for as long as I can. Sometimes I paint for 10-12 hours straight, working continuously. I usually do not answer the phone and only stop for short breaks. The next day I’m usually exhausted and need to rest, and then I start all over again.
For many years, when I was home with my daughters, I had no choice but to work for only a couple of hours here and there. It was difficult to have to stop when a certain part of the process was incomplete. When I was teaching high school art, it was almost impossible to paint at home after a full workday. I always tried to be a working artist, but it was not until my children grew up and I was able to figure out how to support myself without teaching that I was I able to concentrate full-time on my work.
MKM: Do you focus on a specific medium or combinations of mediums?
LG: I have worked with oil paint mixed with alkyd on linen and on panels. I have also painted on top of panels on which I have first made reliefs with thick paper and matte board. That technique was inspired by the collagraph plates I used in printmaking. I have worked with acrylics on canvas and on clay board panels. I use the clay board like a scratch board, using a fine point to create textures with cross hatching and fine lines. I’ve experimented with encaustics, painted with textured gels and pastes, and, in the past few years, I’ve also developed a portfolio of digital art. I digitally manipulate photographs of my oil paintings, print the images on paper, and then work on top of the image with a variety of mediums: colored pencils, ink, gouache, metallic paint, sequins, rhinestones, beads, so as to create one of a kind mixed media pieces. I also recently added animation to the mix, and I am starting to collaborate with various musicians to create videos of my animated shapes with a musical score. I will always paint, but I have plans to exhibit the videos in galleries on a screen or projected on a wall. Right now, they are on Instagram and Facebook.
Inside Laura Gurton’s studio
MKM: What themes do you pursue?
LG: My paintings consist of concentric circular lines and colors that mimic pieces of agate, rings inside of trees, mold, other patterns in nature and—most importantly—microscopic cells. I once read that when humans are born, they have an instinctual attraction to the shape of concentric circles, which makes sense since the nipple is the first shape they need for survival. I have always been fascinated with the idea that we have instincts towards shapes. My paintings are titled the Unknown Species, a phrase that suggests that my shapes are alive. Since all of the paintings have multiple shapes varying in sizes, I see them as families that have gone through the reproductive system and are related to each other.
My way of applying paint remains constant from painting to painting, and yet, as in nature, there is still a variety in the work, revealed by the choice of colors, the relative density of the circular forms, and the overall flow of the imagery. Some paintings seem tranquil, while others I find highly energized. Some of them are reminiscent of landscapes, reinforcing the theme of the shapes in the natural world. I see the shapes with their concentric circles as representing time itself, displaying their growth like the rings in a tree which come with age.
My digital art, the Bits and Pieces Series, developed directly from photographic images of my paintings. I became intrigued with the complex patterns that developed by manipulating the image and I liked being able to see how the same image looks in various color combinations. The cellular shapes in all my paintings, digital art, and videos, which echo naturally occurring shapes, repeat the rhythms of life and existence.
MKM: Is there an artwork you are most proud of?
LG: My Unknown Species paintings are executed on the floor and I need to be able to reach the center of the canvas to be able to paint. For a while, none of my paintings were larger than 36” wide. I then realized I could do multiples, with three or more panels that were each 60” x 36”, but I would need to paint them all at the same time for them to look like one painting. The first time that I completed a triptych where the panels all looked like they belonged together was a challenge that I was proud of.
MKM: In your art career, what has been a seminal experience?
LG: After four years of painting in my present studio, a gallery I was connected to told me they received a request for applicants to exhibit in the Pallazzo Bembo, a collateral event of the 2013 Venice Biennale. I applied and got into the exhibit Personal Structures. I knew that the Venice Biennale was the first worldwide art fair and very prestigious, but what I loved the most about it was being part of an international project with artists from all over the world. It will always be one of the most amazing experiences that I have had in my career.
Laura Gurton’s studio
MKM: Do you have a sense of connection to a particular woman artist from art history or present day?
LG: I first learned about Paula Modersohn-Becker in an art history class in 1993 and I felt a connection to her because she painted many portraits of children, pregnant women and nudes, some breastfeeding. At the time I was painting portraits of my daughters and their friends. I was intrigued by her abilities, the beauty of her paintings, and the short synopsis of her life that my art history teacher presented to the class. I then found the book Paula Modersohn-Becker: The Letters and Journals and learned more about her life—that at times she left Germany, her husband, and her stepchildren to paint in Paris. The more I read, the more connected I felt to this German woman who died in 1907. She wrote about her life as an artist and the struggles she had with the expectations her family, her husband, and society put on her as a woman and as a wife; I identified with her struggles. She was incredibly brave for the time period.
MKM: Who are your female role models from history or present day?
LG: I came of age during the 60s and 70s and was influenced by Gloria Steinem and Andrea Dworkin, among others. I was interested in the suffragettes and in women’s history, joined women’s support groups, and tried to raise my daughters thinking about what they were up against. Today I appreciate the Guerrilla Girls, women’s marches, and my daughters, both very amazing and powerful women.
MKM: What’s the best advice you’ve been given?
LG: Although I get accepted to many exhibitions, I still get rejected at times. The best advice that someone once gave me is to not take rejection personally and to just keep working… and know how lucky I am just to be able to create and be part of a community of worldwide artists.
Ellen Heck Girl with a Blivet Pendant Wearing a Möbius Strip as a Hat, 2016 Woodcut, drypoint, and watercolor on Somerset Velvet paper
An Interview with Ellen Heck
MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up? Were you always creative?
EH: My family moved often until I was 10, but then I grew up in Austin, Texas. There are several artists in my family, and I always had access to a wide range of materials. I would often use art as a tool for meeting people in a new school.
MKM: Why did you pursue art?
EH: I have always enjoyed the process. If art had not developed into a career, I would still be making things.
MKM: Where did you study?
EH: Brown and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
MKM: Who were your memorable teachers?
EH: My mother is a commercial artist and my most influential teacher/enabler. I was able to work freelance for her for several years in art school and at the beginning of my professional life. This allowed me to work at Kala Art Institute in Berkeley during the day and make more reliable money doing graphic design at night.
MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? Rituals, patterns?
EH: There are many steps involved in my printmaking practice. Usually, I am working on several prints at a time, each at different stages of completion. In this past year, I’ve been working on oil paintings with multiple layers of glazing, so this has been the case with the paintings as well.
Ellen Heck
MKM: How has your practice changed over time?
EH: My work changes most significantly when life presents a certain constraint, or I have access to new materials. But generally, I try to keep my practice balanced carefully between intentional conceptual planning and an openness to chance.
MKM: Do you focus on a specific medium or combination of mediums?
EH: For the past decade, I have been predominantly a printmaker, but in the past year, I’ve been painting much more.
MKM: What themes do you pursue?
I am interested in making work that shares a sense of wonder. I also like to use a body of work as a way of exploring an abstract question or concept. Generally, this gives rise to more questions, which become the foundation for the next body of work.
MKM: What is your most important tool? Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?
EH: I have an agate burnisher that works as an eraser of drypoint on a copper plate. If you make a scratch into the copper with a drypoint needle and decide that it is too deep, or misspaced, this burnisher can remove it to any degree without leaving a gray shadow on the print. It allows me to work deep into a plate and then remove the majority of those lines.
Ellen’s studio
MKM: Is there an artwork you are most proud of?
EH: There have been a few pieces that I love because they were the origins of a discovery.
MKM: What has been a seminal experience for you?
EH: Working at Kala Art Institute in Berkeley for nearly seven years was the foundation and formation of my career. I was part of a critique group of artists who became mentors and close friends. They are role models and demonstrate a variety of ways that one can sustain an art practice.
MKM: What art do you most identify with?
EH: I like to look at all types of art, but I find myself most frequently connecting with work that has some aspect of representation or a focus on harmony.
MKM:What inspires you? Other artists, other women from history, your process, or a theme?
EH: I have been deeply inspired by the work of Mary Cassatt, Dieter Roth and David Hockney. I also frequently get ideas by reading and teaching.
MKM:Do you have a sense of connection to a particular woman artist from art history?
EH: Mary Cassatt
MKM:Is there a specific work from Mary Cassatt that you find interesting?
EH: The set of 10 color prints are my favorite works by Cassatt and my favorite works of printmaking in art history. My first gallery solo show was based on this series.
MKM:Who are your female role models from history or present day?
EH: Mary Cassatt, Audrey Niffenegger, Maria Popova
MKM: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
EH: Keep making work. Make more work. Persist.
MKM: What is your dream project? What can we expect from you in the next year?
EH: I’ll begin the year at the printing press if all goes well!
Ellen at work
Ellen Heck is represented by Wally Workman Gallery, Austin, TX; Davidson Galleries, Seattle, WA; Groveland Gallery, Minneapolis, MN; Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA and Baker Schorr Fine Art, Midland, TX.
Sherry Karver “At the Edge of Perception”, 2018 Photo images, oil, narrative text, and resin surface
An Interview with Sherry Karver
MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up? Were you always creative?
SK: I was born and raised in Chicago, and as an only child I found ways to be creative at a very early age. I collected rocks and shells and built little sculptures with them on the kitchen table. My father was a tailor, so often there were scraps of fabric and large shears at home that I wanted to use even when I was just three or four years old – round kid’s scissors were not for me! My mother worked for a company that made the colored squares for paint chip samples and she brought home extra samples that I cut up to create collages. I was probably the only child who knew what color aubergine or chartreuse was.
I attended children’s painting classes on Saturdays at the Art Institute of Chicago when I was about 9 or 10. Classes started before the Art Institute was open to the public, so the kids were allowed to come in early and wander through the museum by ourselves, on our way to the classrooms which were in the basement at that time. The lights were barely turned on yet, and the semi-dark, cool hallways filled with art left a great impression on me. There was a simple obscure door between the famous paintings that opened into the school section, and when I opened the door the smell of oil paint and turpentine immediately hit my nostrils and it was delicious.
MKM: Why did you pursue art? Where did you study? Memorable teachers?
SK: Although I always loved art, I didn’t seriously pursue it in college because I didn’t think there was any way I could make a living doing it, and my parents weren’t going to pay for college unless I studied something “useful”. So, I got my undergrad degree in Sociology from Indiana University in Bloomington, IN. I took one or two art classes each semester, and during my senior year I took a class in ceramics and the rest is history. I was hooked! Clay spoke to me like nothing else ever did, and even though I had already been accepted to a graduate program in Sociology, I decided not to go, and instead started doing ceramics full-time. The teacher who inspired me in this early stage at IU was John Goodheart.
I moved back to Chicago and had the wonderful and magical opportunity to open my own ceramic shop and studio with a business partner Barbara (Bobby) Prignano. Since we were both relative beginners to ceramics, it was quite an undertaking to open a shop. I don’t know if we were just dumb, naive, or ballsy!
During this time, I went back to the Art Institute of Chicago and to Loyola University part-time and took more ceramic classes to hone my skills. The teachers who inspired me and were most supportive at this time were Harris Deller and Bill Hoffman. Also, I met the amazing ceramic artist Ruth Duckworth, who really became my main inspiration even though I never had the opportunity to study with her. She was really the only female artist I was aware of at the time who was a ceramic professor and did large scale wall sculptures in public places. To this day I love her work.
After four successful years of having the ceramic shop/studio in Chicago, I decided I really wanted to teach ceramics on the college level, so I went back to graduate school at the Newcomb School of Art of Tulane University, in New Orleans, LA, where I received my MFA in ceramics and minored in glass. My terrific teacher Gene Koss taught me the work ethic I have today, and how to compete in a man’s world. I went on to teach ceramics at San Diego State University; Chico State University; U. of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; and Laney College in Oakland, CA.
Sherry Karver in her studio
MKM: How has your practice changed over time?
SK: Although I continued to teach ceramics until just last year, and I did many large-scale 2D wall sculptures that are in numerous public corporations and private homes, my own work gradually shifted around 1996. My work evolved into photography and painting, adding narrative text around 2000. This might seem like a drastic change from ceramics, but really it was just a hop, skip, and jump away. I was already working with clay in 2D on the wall, using representational imagery, and painting on the clay. It just gradually morphed into a different medium. I still do ceramics on the side, just for enjoyment, but professionally I only exhibit my photo-based paintings, and most recently have been doing photography that is printed as dye sublimation on metal.
Works from the “Movement Interrupted” series
MKM: What themes do you pursue?
SK: I pursue a couple of different themes in my two-ongoing series. My photo-based work combines photo images that I take in public places, with oil paint, narrative text, and resin surface on wood panels. This series called “Identity and Perception”, confronts today’s individual and societal issues so rampant in our impersonal metropolitan areas: alienation, loneliness, loss of identity, time passage, and how others view us. I write fictional bios on some of the figures as a way to personalize them and make them stand out from the crowd since we each have a unique story to tell.
My photography series called “Movement Interrupted”, harnesses data corruption glitches for aesthetic purposes. I photograph my TV screen when the images pixelate due to uneven reception. It seems we are in a difficult time in history where things are disintegrating and falling apart which is what this series represents. Currently, I am focusing just on these two related mediums, but I can see pursuing more traditional oil painting in the near future. Changes in medium happen very gradually for me over time and are an outgrowth of one another.
Sherry’s studio
MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? rituals, patterns?
SK: I don’t really have a daily routine or pattern. I think my routine is to not have one! The reason for this is that every day is different. I spend about equal or more time doing the business aspect of my art, so when one of my galleries asks me to send images, price list, etc. I have to do that right away. Art is a full-time business for me, and I am good at multi-tasking to make sure everything gets done, but the order of when it’s done always varies.
MKM: What is your most important tool? Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?
SK: There are many tools I can’t do without in my studio as they all work together to create my art. The computer, the printer, and my camera are essential, as are my oil paints, brushes, etc. It would be impossible to choose just one item.
MKM: Is there an artwork you are most proud of? Why?
SK: I also don’t have just one artwork that I am prouder of than another – maybe one of my large-scale ceramic wall sculptures because they were technically difficult and complex to make.
MKM: What has been a seminal experience?
SK: A seminal experience for me actually happened many years ago, which encouraged me to make the switch from ceramic wall sculpture to photo-based painting as my main focus. I had been invited to send 5 or 6 large ceramic pieces to a group show at a university in Los Angeles. The university had applied for a grant to ship all the work, but at the last moment the grant fell through and there was no money for shipping. Since my work was large and heavy, requiring separate crates for each piece, I couldn’t afford to send the work, and had to withdraw from being in the show. The university was upset about this, as was I.
Then a thought hit me – I had 6 small photo-based mixed media paintings in my studio that I had just begun playing around and experimenting with and had never shown them to anyone except my husband. I asked if I could send those instead – all fit into one box, and the university was thrilled. After sending them off I began worrying that maybe they wouldn’t be good enough in comparison to the other artists in the show (one was a NY painter), since this series was very new for me and quite ‘beginnerish’. Long story short, they were a big hit, hung in the window of the university gallery, one sold, and the NY artist and I became great friends. At that seminal moment I knew I could go full force professionally with my new series, compete on a national level, and I never looked back.
MKM: What art do you most identify with?
SK: I like a lot of different art, mainly contemporary, but I don’t really ‘identify’ with any one school or ‘ism’. I’ve always been on my own trajectory, and don’t get influenced by other’s work, even if I admire it. I didn’t have much influence from women artists, or women in general when I was in school or even now. It would have been nice to have a female mentor to look up to, but that never happened. Maybe that’s for the better – I always had to forge my own path.
MKM: What inspires you? Other artists, other women from history, your process, a theme?
SK: One wall sculpture I always liked at the Art Institute of Chicago was by Lee Bontecou, who I had assumed was a man, and was thrilled to find out many years later that Lee was a woman! Other than the ceramic sculptor Ruth Duckworth, there aren’t any women from art history that I relate to. Of course, I was aware of such artists as Sonia Delaunay, Louise Bourgeois, Louise Nevelson, and Eva Hesse, but their work didn’t resonate for me personally, though I admire their visions and technical skills.
MKM: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
SK: The best piece of advice was given to me by a friend who was a financial advisor. I called him after I made my first big sale of a ceramic wall sculpture back in the early ’90’s for $1,000. I asked if I should invest it in stocks, bonds, CD’s, etc. He said, “Invest it in yourself”. I followed that advice and bought a really good camera. I have followed that advice ever since.
MKM: What is your dream project? What can we expect from you in the next year?
SK: My dream project would be to have a solo exhibition in a major museum like NY MOMA, The Met, The Art Institute of Chicago, etc. or at a big New York gallery. I do have gallery representation in various cities, and in the next year I plan on continuing to create and show my art as much as possible. Since this is how I make my living, it’s important for me to sell my art too. I am working on getting representation in a New York gallery, as well as a local gallery in San Francisco. You can expect to see new art from me in the coming year!
Sherry Karver’s work is held in more than 175 public and private collections and exhibited nationally. She has is represented by Stremmel Gallery, Reno, NV; Patricia Rovzar Gallery, Seattle, WA; Shayne Gallery, Montreal, Quebec, Canada and Cumberland Gallery Advisory, Nashville, TN
Michelle Mansour (left) Warrior of Clarity (Blue Topaz), 2019 (right) Warrior of Renewal (Emerald), 2019 Acrylic, ink, and silicone on muslin on panel
Michelle Mansour
Michelle Mansour is an artist, educator, curator, and the current Executive Director of Root Division, a visual arts non-profit in San Francisco. Her work as been shown in a variety of non-profit and commercial venues and can be found in both public and private collections. Mansour’s work is a convergence of art, science and spirit. She says that her paintings are based “on an investigation of the interior world of the body where beauty and illness mingle in the same fluids and membranes…[and] become a broader reflection of where science and the metaphysical intersect.” Her work invites the viewer to slow down and contemplate their own mind, body and spirit.
Mansour tells us that her process includes the application of fluid pigment to wet surfaces, the marked ground referencing a stained biology slide. She then applies tiny marks and patterns to create an ethereal space where particles gather and disperse in an endless geometric cycle. The repetitive process of adding layers of material to the bead-like patterns create an interconnected relief of rhythmic texture, ordered like data points but rendered in gemstone colors that are reminiscent of chakras or healing crystals.
Traversing between organic fluidity and structured symmetry, Mansour uses this combination of techniques to ask us to reflect on “what we can and cannot control, as well as the exquisite and delicate balance between certainty and faith, what is known and unknown, and holding on and letting go.”
Mansour’s themes come from growing up in a family of science and health practitioners; her mother was a nurse and her father was a doctor. Her focus on this subject matter intensified when her mother was diagnosed with, and ultimately lost to cancer. The process of repeating layer upon layer, mark upon mark, becomes a devotional practice, much like prayer beads or a meditation to contemplate the relationship between spirit and matter, presence and loss.
