#whitneymodern – Marianne K. McGrath

March 31, 2020July 23, 2020

31 Women – March 31st: Kelsey Irvin

**Kelsey Irvin**
*Storyline Silk I-V”,* 2020
Vintage ephemera, gold leaf, oil, acrylic and resin on panel

Appearing like paintings at first view, Kelsey Irvin’s contemporary collages are a treasure trove of materials upon further investigation. In her process she uses everything and anything: vintage ephemera, fabric from the 1800s, McCall’s dress patterns, Hollywood movie magazines from the 50s, New York Times fashion ads from the 20s, matchbox covers, oil, acrylic, graphite, and sometimes resin. The ensuing works conjure memory and nostalgia. There is crossover between past, present, and future, with unifying themes of independence, adventure, the strength of women, and the innocent imagination of childhood.
Irvin is inspired and challenged by the idea of creating something unique that draws people in, brings people back in time, or propels them forward. She finds these qualities in many artists past and present. A woman artist that exemplifies this for Irvin is Helen Frankenthaler, admired for her uninhibited boldness. She thinks of Frankenthaler’s masterpiece “Mountains and Sea” because of what it represents, both to Irvin and for female artists, she says: “Frankenthaler was inspired, set a new path, stood out among men, and the work is breathtaking.”
Likewise, Kelsey Irvin finds role models in everyday life. “People that are unwavering in their particular passion, highly capable by choice, ‘doers’ because they can’t imagine letting life go by without trying. People who are kind, thoughtful and selfless, but also driven with self-discipline. Women who aren’t afraid to pursue their dream career and motherhood at the same time.” Irvin explains that these aren’t always famous individuals, these are people like her mother and grandmother, and people she meets along the way through life.

An Interview with Kelsey Irvin

MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up? Were you always creative?

KI: I grew up in Western New York outside of Buffalo. I was constantly drawing as a child. I submitted cartoons magazines as a child thinking I could be a freelance illustrator in elementary school and middle school – I received very nice rejection letters. Beyond that, I never really thought about art as a career, I just knew I would always love and create art.

MKM: Why did you pursue art?

KI: In college I fell in love with painting to a level I had not expected. I was a bit over-extended those years and had committed to the equivalent of 3 majors, held 2 jobs (one as a TA for 2 professors, and one as a rock climbing guide for the University’s Outdoor program), all while playing college Lacrosse. Long story short, by my senior year I was so over-extended that I had to cut something out in order to make sure I didn’t lose time in the studio – the place I wanted to be the most. I thought long and hard. Growing up, I’d always loved the saying, “Jack of all trades, master of none.” I believe it was because I actually only heard the first part… “Jack of all trades…” which was something that appealed to me. I loved learning about and trying many different things. My senior year in college, after I had so thoroughly explored the idea of “Jack of All Trades”, something hit me like a load of bricks – it literally felt like it knocked me over…… “Master of None.” I finally heard that part. “Master of None.” I really heard it. It haunted me. You can do everything and become pretty good at a lot of exciting things, but you’ll never really explore one thing to the full capacity, that one thing you truly love, if you’re too busy pursuing other interests. Everything changed for me in that moment. I knew that I wanted to pursue and explore painting more than anything else. I didn’t think it could soon become my full-time job, all I knew was that I wanted to paint and be in the studio as much as I possibly could. I loved it that much. So, I started sacrificing other things for the first time in my life; and it was worth it.

MKM: Where did you study?

KI: St. Lawrence University in Upstate New York. A wonderful school that offered me great experiences and opportunities.

MKM: Did you have any memorable teachers at St. Lawrence University?

KI: Any teacher that encourages your natural abilities is a memorable teacher. In college I had several wonderful professors. Two that stood out most were Tom Greene and Melissa Schulenberg. Tom is an Environmental Psychologist that I worked for and Melissa was my printmaking instructor and an artist herself. They were both so encouraging to me in finding my way, pushing me to pursue my unique interests and helping make a path out of those interests during my college career.

MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? rituals, patterns?

KI: My routines and work patterns have changed a lot over the years. Before kids I could easily work thirteen-hour days and paint until my eyes went blurry. I didn’t have a lot of structure, it was just – go to work. I loved it. Over time more and more structure has slipped into my work routine. A year ago we had our 3rd child. Shortly after she was born I accepted representation into my 7th gallery and wasn’t really sure how I was going to pull it all off. I started setting a specific goal for each week of what I needed to get done in the studio. I try to set realistic goals – but also goals that push me a bit. If I’m working on an exhibition this is how I ensure I have enough time to complete what I need to.

MKM: Do you focus on a specific medium or combination of mediums? Which creative medium would you love to pursue but haven’t yet?

KI: I use everything and anything. I consider myself a contemporary collage artist because collage, specifically vintage ephemera collage, has become such a huge component in what I do over that last 10 years. My work often includes vintage ephemera dating back to the early 1900s, even 1800s, fabric, leather, oil, acrylic, graphite, and sometimes resin. I use collage and assemblage that triggers memories in viewers: Vintage erector set parts, McCall’s dress patterns, Hollywood movie magazines from the 50s, New York Times fashion ads from the 20s, matchbox covers, hand-painted vintage signage; the list goes on and on. The work is meant to be a painting from afar, and a treasure hunt of materials upon further investigation.

MKM: What themes do you pursue?

KI: Memories, nostalgia; the crossover between past, present, and future. My figures have themes of independence, freedom, adventure, strength of women, as well as the unique and innocent imagination and adventurous spirit from childhood.

MKM: What is your most important tool? Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?

KI: My fabric shears. Collage artists “geek out” over really sharp scissors. I could paint with my fingers if I had to, but I can’t cut with them, or draw with them for that matter. After scissors, I would say a 4H graphite pencil.

MKM: Is there an artwork you are most proud of?

KI: Cornerstone pieces. The pieces that changed my direction because they opened up a new door in my creative world. Magnetique I & II were the first figurative pieces that I did that were entirely collage. A New Daysymbolizes a lot for me and my career. And also, a newer set of panels, Jewels of Narration represents a newer direction in the evolution of my Storyline Panels, a series which I’ve been doing for over ten years.

MKM: What has been a seminal experience?

KI: When I mentioned that in my senior year of college I was overextended, and my studio time was at risk — I ended up making the very difficult decision to leave the college Lacrosse team in my senior year in order to spend more time in the studio. You get very close to team members of a college sports team and I left something very social and exciting to do something rather solitary, but the decision itself was pivotal for me. Without knowing it, I had started down a path of making sacrifices for studio time; Choosing art over many other things. It helped lay the foundation in a career well before I actually knew I would have a career as an artist.

MKM: What art do you identify with the most?

KI: It’s a wide range. I’m tempted to say collage or mixed media, but that really doesn’t cover it. I think that I identify most with art that is layered in meaning. Art that makes my heart race could be anything. Art that you can’t help but walk up to, get really close to it, and immerse yourself in how the artist created it. I’d like my paintings to be one thing from afar, and another up close.

MKM: What inspires you? Other artists, women from history, your process, a theme?

KI: The idea of creating something from life, in a way that is different from what anyone has seen before, that draws people in and then brings people back, or propels them forward is inspiring. Wayne Thiebaud’s landscapes, Andrew Wyeth’s fine detail, Andy Goldsworthy’s leaf and stone formations, Helen Frankenthaler’s uninhibited boldness… There are so many artists from the past and present that are awe inspiring. Making something new and different is more challenging for artists every year, every decade — but that’s what makes it in and of itself an inspiring task, it’s the challenge — and the reality that it’s possible.

MKM: Do you have a sense of connection to a particular woman artist from art history? Is there a specific work from this artist that you find interesting?

KI: I would have to say Helen Frankenthaler’s Mountains and Sea because of what it represents, both for her, for female artists. She was inspired, set a new path, stood out among men, and the work is breathtaking.

MKM: Who are your female role models from history or present day?

KI: A role model to me is someone who is unwavering in their particular passion; highly capable by choice — a doer because they can’t imagine letting life go by without trying. Someone who is genuinely kind and thoughtful and selfless, but also driven with self-discipline. Someone who isn’t afraid to pursue their dream career and motherhood at the same time. These aren’t always famous individuals, these are people I meet along the way through life that I just want to keep talking to. These are people like my grandmother and my mother.

MKM: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

KI: Trust your first instinct. A painting instructor told me that while pointing out my initial painterly gesture in a large abstract piece. He said, “Build the entire piece around that.” He was right. In painting and in life. My first instinct is usually the best choice, and when I choose to ignore it, I usually regret it.

MKM: What is your dream project? What can we expect from you in the next year?

KI: My dream project in the future is to complete a very large-scale collage/assemblage figurative work that includes dozens of individuals interacting through time; 30 feet or more. Either a mural or a work that can be exhibited and moved — several large works that come together. My plan for next year is to keep evolving my work by way of materials and technique and eventually take the panels into sculptural form.

Inspiration and tools in Kelsey’s studio

Kelsey Irvin is represented by: Craighead Green Gallery, Dallas, TX; Exhibit by Aberson, Tulsa, OK; GF Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM; Gardner Colby Gallery, Naples, FL; Jules Place Gallery, Boston, MA; Kelsey Michaels Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA; Studio E Gallery, Palm Beach, FL; and Whitney Modern, Los Gatos, CA

March 30, 2020March 23, 2020

31 Women – March 30th: Chris Hayman

Chris Hayman

Trained as a classical pianist, Chris Hayman is greatly inspired and influenced by music in her life. Her early interests also included performing arts and she was actively involved in theater and dance at the Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati and Baltimore. These creative talents eventually led to her primary focus as a visual artist.

In her paintings, Hayman concerns herself with space. She is interested in how forms are energized by the space around them, especially when incorporated into paintings with vivid contrasting color and thick painterly textures. Along with music, she is inspired by the natural world, and relies on a practice of constant study and exploration of the rural foothills and open lands near her home and studio.

Hayman received her BA in Art History at the University of Maryland and a second degree in Art at the University of Reno, Nevada where she began her investigation into painting. She currently resides in Northern California on a farm with livestock, orchards, gardens and beautiful surroundings.

Chris Hayman’s farm in Northern California

Chris Hayman is represented by Whitney Modern Gallery, Los Gatos; Thomas Deans Fine Art, Atlanta; Desta Gallery, San Anselmo, CA; Judy Ferrara Gallery, Three Oaks, MI; Gallery North, Carmel, CA; Jules Place, Boston; Merritt Gallery & Renaissance Fine Arts, Baltimore and Chevy Chase, MD; Haverford, PA; Kelsey Michaels Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA; Morrison Gallery, Kent, CT; Julie Nester Gallery, Park City, UT; Octavia Art Gallery, Houston and New Orleans.

March 29, 2020March 23, 2020

31 Women – March 29th: Kim Frohsin

Kim Frohsin

An esteemed and prolific artist, Kim Frohsin works in painting, drawing, printmaking, and mixed media. Her subjects include the female figure, landscapes and cityscapes, as well as objects, themes and series that attract her attention, and which are most often autobiographical in nature.

Frohsin began exhibiting in the San Francisco Bay Area in the early 1990s, and in 1993 was included with Nathan Olivera, Manuel Neri and Stephen De Staebler in the exhibit Four Figures from the Bay, establishing her among notable Bay Area Figurative artists. With Wayne Thiebaud as the juror, Frohsin won the California Society of Printmakers’ Award in 1996, and the following year exhibited at the de Young Museum in San Francisco in Bay Area Art: The Morgan Flagg Collection.

After earning BA degrees in Humanities and French, Frohsin received her BFA from The Academy of Art College in San Francisco. For more than thirty years she has exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States. Her work can be found in both private and public collections including: The Coca-Cola Corporation, Heritage Communications, Atlanta, GA; The Gap Inc., San Francisco, CA; The Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; and The San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA.

Kim Frohsin is represented by Andra Norris Gallery, Burlingame; b. sakata garo, Sacramento; Paul Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco and Thomas Reynolds Gallery, San Francisco.

https://www.kimfrohsin.com

March 27, 2020July 23, 2020

31 Women – March 27th: Carole Rafferty

**Carole Rafferty**
*In the Mission,* 2019
Oil on gallery wrap canvas

Carole Rafferty has sat behind the easel, and in front of it. Her grandmother was an accomplished portrait painter and as child she spent many excruciating hours posing for her. Rafferty recalls that “I had no appreciation whatsoever for what she was doing, and I dreaded her visits because it meant I’d have to sit still for hours on end without even being able to even talk.” Despite this, Rafferty developed a passion for art, painting in high school and taking life drawing classes at night. During these formative years the women in her life planted the seeds for her growth as an artist. Rafferty says, “all my art teachers at that point, from my grandmother to the teachers in high school, to my aunties in India who ran fabric dying and printing companies, were all women. Looking back now – even though I didn’t appreciate ANY of them at the time – but they all had an enormous influence on how I was to turn out.”
Rafferty moved to London for college and when she graduated, she moved to California to begin a professional master’s program at UC Berkeley in Asian Studies and journalism. From there she became a reporter, working for the New York Times in San Francisco, and eventually the Mercury News in San Jose.
Deciding to take art classes again became a completely life changing experience. Rafferty threw herself into art and pursued it all. She says, “you name it, I took it!” After several years of study with number of local teachers, she eventually came to the realization that “you can’t spend all your time in classes, you’ve got to just do it!”
Today her art practice follows a regular routine. Starting most days with a brisk walk around the Stanford Dish, she returns home to go straight into her studio for a day of art making. Other days she explores the city with her iPhone, sketch book and watercolors, looking for new ideas and new scenes.

An Interview with Carole Rafferty

MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up? Were you always creative?

CR: I grew up in a very rural community in Wales and later in a small village on the south coast of England where the road was covered twice a day by the sea when the tide came in. My grandmother was an accomplished portrait painter (I was told that she had paintings in the National Gallery of Scotland and also the Tate Gallery, but I never saw them). As I child I spent many excruciating hours posing for her. I had no appreciation whatsoever for what she was doing, and I dreaded her visits because it meant I’d have to sit still for hours on end without even being able to even talk. I’m not sure if I was creative as a child or not. I know I had a fierce imagination, I traveled quite widely, and I lived for a while in India where my mother’s family were from. I loved reading and I was interested in languages and history, and yes, art too.

MKM: When and how did you pursue art? Did you have creative role models?

CR: I studied art in high school and loved painting, especially from life. I went to life drawing classes at night in the nearest town and had to catch the last bus home and walk more than a mile with all my art materials along country roads with no streetlights, so yes, I was interested in art. Very much so. All my art teachers at that point, from my grandmother to the teachers in high school to my aunties in India who ran fabric dying and printing companies, were all women. Looking back now – even though I didn’t appreciate ANY of them at the time – they all had an enormous influence on how I was to turn out.

MKM: Where did you study after high school?

CR: At 18, I moved to London and began a four-year degree at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, England in Asian languages and history. Ancient Indian history is really a history of art because a great deal of it is known through sculpture and architecture. I learned Sanskrit to be able to translate the inscriptions. I learned the differences in symbolism and style between the early Indian dynasties and the later ones. When I graduated, I moved to California to do a joint professional master’s program at UC Berkeley in Asian Studies and journalism. And from there I became a reporter. I worked for the New York Times as a stringer in their San Francisco bureau for five years, I covered the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and eventually, after having twins, I settled down into a staid, full time job at the Mercury News in San Jose (in the days when it was a good newspaper and even won a Pulitzer Prize!). But after several decades of cradling the phone between my head and shoulder and typing notes into my computer, the discs in my cervical spine gave out and I was pensioned off because I couldn’t use a computer anymore.

MKM: How did you transition to become a fine artist?

CR: I sat around for a while, profoundly depressed. I had identified myself as a writer, a reporter, and now that [this job] was gone, who was I? There was no creativity in my life and so, desperate, I decided to take a beginning drawing class at Foothill Community College in Los Altos. It was as if a small bomb had exploded inside me. I realized that this was what I wanted to do and that most probably it was what I should have been doing all along. I threw myself into art, every single thing you could think of – oils, watercolors, sculpture, plein air, portraiture, landscape painting, encaustics, you name it, I took it! I took classes, too, from a number of local teachers.

MKM: Who were your memorable teachers at this time?

CR: The most memorable was Rebecca Alzafon, a renowned Redwood City-based artist, who taught a series of year-long workshops in the French academic style of life drawing and portraiture. The workshops were incredibly structured, and they were conducted in a small grey cloistered studio, where every single sliver of light was blocked out so the scene could be completely and utterly replicated day after day. Artistically there was no such thing as going ‘off-piste’ in Rebecca’s workshops. Sometimes students became so frustrated they would burst into tears. She was relentless in her teaching of the methods and practices of the Old Masters. At times I felt like I’d rather open a vein than sit through another session on light, half tone, shadow, and cast shadows. But my God did I learn a lot! I credit Rebecca with much of what I know about oil painting. And even though we disagreed at times and there were times when I swore I couldn’t take another session, I’d always go back and I’m so very glad I did. With those credentials and understandings under my belt, I felt I could experiment. I took classes from Randy Sexton and Bob Gerbracht in San Francisco, as well as a number of different workshops from various American and UK artists. And then I realized that what I needed to do was just DO MY OWN THING. You can’t spend all your time in classes, you’ve got to just do it!

MKM: Now that you are well established in your practice, what themes do you pursue?

CR: I decided to concentrate on the landscape. Growing up in the countryside I was always profoundly moved by landscape and light. I don’t know why I decided to concentrate on urban landscape, that’s a mystery to me. The only explanation I can muster is that the natural landscape is so beautiful on its own I can’t do it justice, but urban landscape is something else. Especially San Francisco! Here the light changes rapidly, the fog rolls in, the clouds come and go, it’s an ever-changing palette and sensibility.

MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? rituals, patterns?

CR: My art routines are fairly set in stone. On the days I spend in my studio I get up and take a brisk walk around the Stanford Dish, I come back home and go straight into my studio. I usually start painting around 9am and on a good day I’ll continue until about 4:30. Other days I spend wandering around the city with my iPhone, sketch book and watercolors, looking for new ideas and new scenes. Sometimes I go to the beach and paint a seascape.

MKM: What is your most important tool? Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?

CR: The one thing I can’t do without in my studio is my bluetooth speaker because as I’m painting, I listen to podcasts, some educational, some French podcasts, but the ones I enjoy the most are true crime podcasts. Don’t ask me why because quite frankly none of these have anything to do with art but maybe it’s because of all the years I covered crime and the courts as a reporter.

MKM: What art do you most identify with?

CR: I suppose that representational art is the kind I identify with most, which doesn’t mean I’m not profoundly moved by abstract art, and even installation art sometimes too. One of the most memorable and moving pieces of art I ever saw was an installation piece in the Saatchi Gallery in London looked at from above of a series of wheelchairs careening crazily around a circuit like bumper cars each wheelchair containing an ancient person of a different ethnicity or nationality, showing the futility of tribalism and nationalism.

MKM: Is there an artwork you are most proud of?

CR: I’m not sure which canvas I’m most proud of, it really depends on which day you ask me. I go through an entire emotional process with each of my paintings, rather like giving birth to, raising, and then waving goodbye to a child as they set off for college. When a canvas is in its infancy I encourage and am devoted, in adolescence I’m proud of them and adore them, but once they’ve gone, I don’t think that much about them at all. It’s a cycle really, one that keeps me going as a painter. Always the next thing….

MKM: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

CR: The best piece of advice I’ve ever been given regarding my craft came from my husband, who is a writer. He said, “You should stop each day when you know what’s coming next so when you start next morning you know where you’re going.” He was talking about writing but it’s equally true of painting. My best paintings all start from a vision. I need to know what I’m going to create before I start… I need to have a vision and clear image of the finished painting in my head before I even touch a canvas especially when it’s a large canvas because it’s so easy to waste valuable time trying to find your way when you should know where you’re going before you even start out.

https://www.carolerafferty.com

March 26, 2020March 21, 2020

31 Women – March 26th: Ivy Jacobsen

**Ivy Jacobsen**
*“Sweet as Spring”*, 2019
Oil, resin, & collage on wood panel

An Interview with Ivy Jacobsen

MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up? Were you always creative?

IJ: I spent my early childhood living on a farm, amongst fruit orchards, in the countryside of Kingsburg, CA, in the Central Valley of California. I spent a lot of time outside in nature with my siblings. I moved to Pacific Grove, CA in my high school years, and I became aquatinted with the beauty of the natural flora, ocean and landscapes of the Central Coast.

MKM: Why did you pursue art?

IJ: I’ve always been into art and using it to express myself. It was in 1997 that I took my first painting class and I instantly became hooked; it solidified by major in college. Two years later I earned my BA in painting and printmaking from SFSU and I have not stopped painting since. It’s my passion.

MKM: Where did you study?

IJ: I studied at SFSU and continued taking painting classes at The Art Institute in SF. I also continued taking printmaking classes through City College of SF at Fort Mason Center.

MKM: Did you have and memorable teachers at SFSU and SFAI?

IJ: My memorable teachers include the artist Paul Pratchenko, painting instructor at SFSU, and the late painter Glen Hirsch, painting instructor at SFAI.

MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? rituals, patterns?

IJ: My studio practice is Monday-Friday from 9am – 3 or 5pm. I treat my studio practice (my art making) as my “job” and love it. Monday is my favorite day of the week, as I get to go back to the studio!

MKM: How has your practice changed over time?

IJ: My practice as changed in that I am more focused now. I have a family and children and I have less time to devote to the studio. However, when I’m in the studio now I’m way more productive and diligent and seem to get more work done now than I did when I had no children. I realize that every studio hour counts, and I try to use the time wisely.

MKM: Do you focus on a specific medium or combination of mediums?

IJ: I use oil and acrylic paint and 2-part epoxy resin in my current work. I layer my oil and acrylic paint in between a layer of 2-part epoxy resin, to give the illusion of atmosphere and depth. Recently I’ve also been incorporating collage into my paintings.

MKM: What art do you most identify with?

IJ: I identify with Japanese art, some Chinese art, and botanical illustrations.

MKM: What inspires you? Other artists, other women from history, your process, a theme?

IJ: I am inspired by nature in all of my art making. Since I am painting from my imagination, I am focusing on my memories of nature and plants. I paint them in my own stylized way, not so much relying on accuracies but more on the essence of different species of plants in the natural world. Painting is a meditative process for me, and I hope that the peace I feel while making my work radiates into the viewer.

MKM: Do you have a sense of connection to a particular woman artist from art history?

IJ: I’m particularly interested in woman artists who balance motherhood with being a full-time artist. It’s been a huge issue in my own life, and I find artists who balance other demands inspiring. Many people expected my art practice to diminish after having children. I can say that it has only become stronger as I find that this career is extremely flexible (my studio hours) and I feel blessed every day that I make a living from my art.

As far as a particular woman artist, I’ve always loved Georgia O’Keeffe and early works by contemporary painter Yvette Molina. Georgia O’Keeffe’s expressions of flowers are so unique and original for their time; they still are! She forged a path of her own that was quite revolutionary at the time.

MKM: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

IJ: Good advice I was given randomly in college by painting instructor Paul Pratchenko. He said that you need to be okay with being alone for long hours a lot in order to be a studio artist. He’s totally right with that one!

MKM: What is your dream project? What can we expect from you in the next year?

IJ: My dream project for 2020 (in addition to my solo show in March at Patricia Rovzar Gallery in Seattle, WA) is to find more representation from a highly respected gallery.

Ivy Jacobsen is represented by Patricia Rovzar Gallery, Seattle, WA and Momentum Gallery, Asheville, NC

https://www.ivyjacobsen.com

March 25, 2020March 24, 2020

31 Women – March 25th: Michelle Gregor

**Michelle Gregor**
*“Odalisque”*, 2017
Multi-fired to stoneware temperatures with glazes and underglazes

An Interview with Michelle Gregor

MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up? Were you always creative?

MG: I was born in San Francisco (third generation San Franciscan) and moved to Tahoe City, CA at a young age. Raised by a single Mom, I’m the second of four children. I have a younger sister that I entertained by making drawings, puppets and toys. I’ve always been creative and originally thought I’d become a writer. I ultimately found my creative voice in the clay studio during my first year of college.

MKM: Why did you pursue art?

MG: Why did I pursue Art? I’ve always had a vivid imagination and loved to draw and make things with my hands. My Mom encouraged me to study what I loved and so I took many art classes in college. The communal aspect of the art studio felt like my spiritual home. I’ve always been drawn to creative people, they are the source of my greatest wealth, my artist family.

MKM: Where did you study?

MG: I studied first at UC Santa Barbara and transferred to UC Santa Cruz for my BFA. After completing the degree, I moved to SF and worked at a ceramic cooperative studio (Ruby O’Burke’s ) for about 7 years. I decided to go back to graduate school so I could have access to better studio facilities and attended SFSU where I earned my MFA. I had the opportunity to study with Stephen De Staebler there.

MKM: Did you have any memorable teachers at SFSU, UCSB and UCSC?

MG: Stephen De Staebler at SFSU, David Kuraoka at SFSU, Sheldon Kaganoff at UCSB and Sandra Johnstone at UCSC. These teachers were all important to me. I feel very fortunate to have been a college student in California during the golden age of education. I have been deeply influenced by each.

MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? rituals, patterns?

MG: Ceramics is a process-oriented art form. There are many steps and phases an artwork goes through from beginning to end. Much of the work isn’t glamorous. There is the wedging and preparing the clay, recycling the clay, hollowing the form etc. etc. Always many tasks to accomplish! I work on several pieces at once and move back and forth between them. Clay takes time to set up, to hold its shape. It’s easy to overwork a sculpture which may cause it to slump or fall. By moving back and forth between pieces, I can allow works to stiffen up and hopefully retain some of the fresh mark making as the sculptures progress. Deep looking is also an essential part of my process. I sometimes just take a cup of tea into the studio and look. I’ll rotate the artworks and return to my chair and look some more.

MKM: How has your practice changed over time?

MG: I include a lot more drawing in my daily practice. I sketch from works in progress. I allow myself more freedom and am more generous with experimentation and mark making. Now I paint and draw as well as sculpt.

MKM: Do you focus on a specific medium or combination of mediums? Which creative medium would you love to pursue but haven’t yet?

MG: Clay is the most familiar medium and I hold a great love and respect for it. With clay, I can explore form and surface. It’s a generous medium. Over the past 7 years I’ve painted, sketched and drawn more on paper, canvas and board. I’d love to learn encaustic and oil painting.

MKM: What themes do you pursue?

MG: Themes of pursuit are both figurative and abstract. The figure provides a vehicle to explore form, shape, texture, color and space. I will never tire of it! Abstraction has limitless potential to describe emotional and spiritual states. Together the two themes encompass our human existence. My work explores what it is to be inside our human containers.

MKM: What is your most important tool?

MG: My most important tools are my hands.

MKM: Is there an artwork you are most proud of?

MG: There are artworks that I’m prouder of than others but in general, I’m never fully satisfied with anything. I am in pursuit of something that is just out of reach.

MKM: What has been a seminal experience?

MG: A seminal experience might be having first seen the work of artists like Cy Twombly, Joan Mitchell and Auguste Rodin. Being brought to tears by a canvas covered with scratchy marks and not knowing why. My relationship to looking at art has brought me profound emotional experiences.

MKM: What art do you most identify with?

MG: The art I most identify with is abstract expressionism.

MKM: What inspires you? Other artists, other women from history, your process, a theme?

MG: Inspiration comes in so many forms; a poem by Mary Oliver, a canvas by Joan Mitchell, a story by Haruki Murakami… I am deeply inspired by artists of all kinds. I never lack inspiration. It surrounds me both in culture and in nature.

MKM: Do you have a sense of connection to a particular woman artist from art history?

MG: When I was a young girl, I spent a lot of time in our small town library. I recall being particularly interested in the art section and was perplexed why there were so few books on women artists. I remember counting only three books with women’s names on the spine (O’Keeffe, Imogen Cunningham and one other). From that day on, I have relentlessly pursued finding everything I can about women artists and their creative processes. I still recall the thrill of discovering Artemisia Gentileschi. As far as specific artists and their work, I’m deeply enamored of Joan Mitchell’s paintings.

MKM: Who are your female role models from history or present day?

MG: My female role models are many and they have shifted places as the years progress. My earliest heroine was Georgia O’Keeffe followed by Anaïs Nin and Colette. Now I look to the Abstract Expressionist painters like Mitchell and Lee Krasner for inspiration. Artists like Kiki Smith, Phyllida Barlow and Kara Walker also are part of my pantheon.

MKM: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

MG: The best piece of advice I’ve been given is from my Mother who told me to “follow your heart”.

MKM: What is your dream project?

MG: My dream project is to have a one person show in Paris.

MKM: What can we expect to see from you in the year ahead?

MG: What you can expect to see from me this year is the creation of new works both three dimensional and two dimensional. I have a couple of exhibitions lined up and a lot of work to accomplish.

https://www.michellegregor.com

March 24, 2020March 24, 2020

31 Women – March 24th: Sara V Cole

Sara V Cole

Sara V Cole is a nationally represented, internationally exhibited author, teacher and fine art painter with a full-time art making studio practice. Cole earned her BFA in ceramic sculpture and installation/performance art with a minor in art history. She then completed her MFA in painting and drawing and went on to study graduate level Non-Western Contemporary Art History, all at San José State University.

When considering women in art and history that have made an impact on her life, Cole listed dozens of women, from artists to politicians. In the category of women artists, she says, “I could name fifty I love, but here are ten that I am obsessed with: Adrienne Piper, Alice Neel, Julie Mehretu, Shahzia Sikander, Käthe Kollwitz, Hung Liu, Artemesia, Ann Hamilton, Marlene Dumas and of course who doesn’t love a little Frida!” In addition to this top ten, Cole recalled seeing the SFMOMA Eva Hesse exhibition in 2002. She says she still responds to the memories of this exhibition and that fragments of those works continue to resonate in her own work today.

Thinking back to her childhood, she described growing up with a radical hippie 1960s mom and cannot remember a day that “I didn’t know about Gloria Steinem, Dorothy Pitman-Hughes and Ms. Magazine.” Her favorite female authors include Maya Angelou, Joy Harjo, Mary Oliver, bell hooks, Audre Lorde and Sylvia Plath. She says other “badass women” also inform and inspire her life, such as: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Simone de Beauvoir, Betty Friedan, Angela Davis, Shirley Chisholm, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Michelle Obama.

Cole has placed work in the permanent collections of The Triton Museum of Art, Hilton Hotels, the Microsoft Collection, Stanford University, the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Niguel, the Grand Hyatt in Atlanta, Iberia Bank in Louisiana, and De Anza College in Cupertino. Her work can be found in the private collections of many patrons including that of Actress Sela Ward and the New York based National Art Buyer for One King’s Lane. She has an extensive exhibition history including New York City’s Asian Cultural Center Gallery and group exhibitions from Seattle, Washington to Metz, France.

https://www.saravcoleart.com

March 22, 2020March 20, 2020

31 Women – March 22nd: Karen Gallagher Iverson

**Karen Gallagher Iverson**
*Gilded Dunes, Bodega Bay in Crimson*, 2019
Pochoir and drawn colored pastel on wax on 3 panels

An Interview with Karen Gallagher Iverson

MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up? Were you always creative?

KGI: I was born in Queens NY, within a very large extended family, mostly based throughout the five boroughs of NYC. We moved upstate to a commuter area when I was a kid. My mom always drew and painted and easily took on most any other creative craft she found interesting. Including her intense knitting habit today. Art supplies, and “the good watercolor paper” were always around and waiting for us kids to make something. I was extremely lucky to attend also a public school district that had a robust arts program. Something I didn’t fully appreciate then, and recognize as being even more significant now that I’m a parent in the Oakland Unified School District. It was easy to be creative when you didn’t have to try too hard to gain access. Both at home and in school. We had a kiln in our elementary school, welding and wood shop in middle school, dark room photography in high school. It’s amazing to look back on it.

MKM: Why did you pursue art?

KGI: At first I didn’t. I wanted to work in scientific illustration as early as the 6th grade, but was advised by my academic counselors that that field was dwindling, and suggested to become a nurse – which is a good field for women after all. That suggestion seemed absolutely ridiculous to me. Looking back I should have been directed toward graphic design. I originally went to college for Archeology and Anthropology, with a minor in Studio Arts (quickly a double major, then a complete switch in major to Studio Arts). My first apartment in my early 20s caught fire and burned down. I realized after fleeing a burning building, after the frenzy of trying to escape, that what I was studying in the ground wasn’t necessarily the truth of life, but was the record of what wasn’t important enough to take when braving the flames of change. You grab whats alive when you flee. In truth (or at least in my truth) the vibrancy of a culture is what lives on with you, and I realized that semester that I wanted to sink into that vision of the world. Visual art served that best.

MKM: Where did you study?

KGI: For my undergraduate degree I went to SUNY Albany, and my MFA was at the San Francisco Art Institute.

MKM: Did you have any memorable teachers at SFAI?

KGI: I consider my undergraduate printmaking instructor, Thom O’Conner to be my first major mentor. At the San Francisco Art Institute my most memorable Instructors were Jeremy Morgan, Tim Berry and Gordon Kluge. Even this year, 17 years after graduating, random remarks by Kluge ring true to some process I’m working on. Usually things that made no sense at the time, even things I whole heartedly rejected, I now think “oh… thats what you were trying to tell me!” From grade school through High School Wendy Feman-Pernice and Peggy Ellis always provided safe places to land. Those early years are so socially awkward for young creatives who haven’t found their voice yet.

MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? Rituals, patterns?

KGI: A typical Studio Day: My studio is right below my home, so before I go downstairs I make coffee, and I try to take care of some household chore, like start a load of laundry or defrost dinner. Once I enter my studio – I’m on the clock and don’t take care of family things until I return with my kids after school. I guard this time jealously. So much so that I set an alarm to go off at 1pm to remind myself to eat lunch. I turn on my Computer. Assemble my studio planner, studio notebook, process notebook, source material (sketches, print outs, photos, etc.) and I put on some continuous sound in the background – either a series on Netflix that just plays in the back ground, streaming music radio, or even a song on repeat when I’m close to grabbing hold of something and can use the repetition). I look at my notebooks and planner and see either what tasks need to be done today (like melt wax or gesso panels) or where I left off the day before on some imaging task. I keep notes on everything. Colors I mix and use, material ratios, when I begin using a blade in my cutter, exposure times if Im working on a photo print project, even the edit chain in photoshop of my photo source images. I also log random thoughts and ideas that come up while I’m working and keep it with the project at hand. Even when I was a teenager in beginning print classes I had a similar way of working. The way I approach printmaking is very methodical. Not a lot of emotive in the moment romance. I basically design a concept and idea, lay out a plan and get it done. Much of what people consider the ‘in the moment creative expression’ happens for me in my mind, in the way I plan things to layer, through the choices I make along the way, and when I’m drawing into my final layers.

None of this would probably work except I compulsively take photos throughout my day, especially when in family mode adventuring around. I also journal in a notes app on my phone. A few words that catch me, things I’m thinking of, random impressions during the day like “huh this is the 3rd day in a row when the hills look pasty and gray, but its sunny and hot … gray during full daylight” then it later turns into a lithograph series. I also sketch with watercolors regularly. Sometimes just pushing material around because it feels nice. I often print out photos and colors that are catching my eye and just cary them around to look at. Think on whats grabbing my attention and why.

If I’m playing around with a new series, its a little different. I’m not sure why, but I work better on beginning something new at night or the end of the studio day. Even if its on my phone while getting my kids to sleep, I’ll look though photos and notes and begin to reduce whispers of ideas into concepts, and indulge in what’s visually appealing to me. Its important to me to tie materials and processes to the overall content of the work and how I can filter concepts through media; whats gained or lost by it. I also will keep the remnants of my art making if they catch my eye. Sometimes i’ll like the visual quality and years later it will show up in a completely unrelated project. That’s how I arrived at my current encaustic landscapes. It was a random out take from work I did back in 2005 with carbon paper. I harvest all those bits and later use them as seeds. Once I settle on those basic components – I make a plan then get to work in the coming weeks.

MKM: How has your practice changed over time?

KGI: My process is very much linked to my innate personality. Many things have always been here. I was 12 or 13 when I started collecting compelling (to me) images in sketch books. Something I basically still do, only now digitally. I always enjoyed collaging and working with photo source material. Integrating some poetic thought process into my concepts has remained the same. Albeit it was more illustrative when I was young, and more about finding universal themes now. I now have a more interconnected way of working. Perhaps a more holistic way of living within my studio practice. One significant area where I differ is with time management, that changed completely once I had children. I’m more targeted and less wasteful with my days.

MKM: Do you focus on a specific medium or combination of mediums? Which creative medium would you love to pursue but haven’t yet?

KGI: Integrating some aspect of printmaking as a process is integral to my practice. Once I realized it could take me where I wanted to go, I didn’t really falter from print. Although, as a medium it really can incorporate a whole host of other mediums. Painterly approaches, line drawing, photography, sculptural cuts, even all the new maker technology dovetails perfectly with printmaking. Hmm, maybe I picked printmaking for its position as a middle ground? I’ve not worked much with wood, either wood cuts, wood type, mokulito (wood lithography). I’m not sure why. I’ve been looking in that direction lately. I’ve also never made an artists book. I can’t easily wrap my head around it, but keep thinking it could really be a great format to experiment in.

MKM: What themes do you pursue?

KGI: The common theme in most of my current work can be reduced to catching, or translating, light and dimension though pattern. It’s been really wild to see just how endlessly I can play and recombine these basic elements across all the different materials and processes at my disposal.

(Detail) *Gilded Dunes, Bodega Bay in Crimson, 2019*

MKM: What is your most important tool? Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?

KGI: Probably my computer. So much of what I do is touched by it. If we entered into a period of global black out, I’m sure I’d figure something else out, but at the moment, I think its a common tool within everything I do.

MKM: Is there an artwork you are most proud of? Why?

KGI: Probably my Variable Horizons work. Its my largest work to date, at 2 ft by 12 ft long, which is a considerable large work for encaustic. It took roughly 4 to 5 weeks of continuous daily work, and I was 7 months pregnant with a 3 year old up in the house. The sheer size and time was an endeavor. But, it’s also the only work I’ve ever made in response to the death of my infant son, about 9 years ago. I was invited to create a work in response to a theme, Corporeal Chronologies. The organizer of the show was familiar with earlier work of mine that was very body focused, he didn’t know that I was working pretty exclusively with landscape imagery. It was a wonderful way to incorporate my current work with such a delicate concept. One that could easily turn dark and abrasive. I was pleased with the way place, and life and grief through time came together in that work.

MKM: What has been a seminal experience?

KGI: For sure becoming a parent, is a major event to most. Since my first baby died as a newborn, I’d say that was a seminal an experience for me, on many levels. It was a reset professionally. I was printing and making art, teaching, and I had been working as a studio manager for an artist of international acclaim. When my son passed away, it all stopped. I stopped making art, I stopped teaching, and I never returned to a full time day job after that. It also opened the world back up to me in a bizarrely fresh way. My role in the world was completely severed and rebuilt from scratch. I was able to grow my studio practice back into my daily life in a way I never was able to do before.

MKM: What art do you most identify with?

KGI: Abstraction and conceptual. People often think I’ll be drawn to representational imagery since I currently work with recognizable landscapes. I find more affinity with the poetic exploration in conceptual work and abstraction.

MKM: What inspires you? Other artists, other women from history, your process, a theme?

KGI: Sudden shifts in light. Driving down a road and having the light flip suddenly.

MKM: Do you have a sense of connection to a particular woman artist from art history?

KGI: Louise Bourgeois. Everything I’ve read on her points to a person of skill, whose tenacity and prolific activity slowly erodes at the life she’s built into. Ultimately really great work is able to emerge.

MKM: Is there a specific work from Louise Bourgeois that you find interesting?

KGI: Her drawings and drypoint etchings. They could easily be overlooked. With the volume of them that exist, they demand to be looked at, given attention. And when you do, all the exquisite subtlety and conceptual interconnectedness comes to light and you cant unsee it.

MKM: Who are your female role models from history or present day?

KGI: Agnes Martin. The rejection of it all. I never see her work as an exploration or justification of gender. I never saw her career as an avenue to fame or celebrity. It was just honest, beautiful art work; and work that was able to rise with success in a very male art world.

MKM: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

KGI: There have been two that continually inspire, and seem to work for any occasion. When I was working on a print edition with Kay Bradner, she let out “Reckless Abandon!” At the time she said it when using an enormous c-clamp to crack walnuts, because that’s what was handy on her kitchen table. But I find, when used responsibly, it’s often the right rallying cry to make. Plus, it’s good to make do some times without over thinking. The other is “You can boss me around as long as you boss me to victory” a friend exclaimed when given unsolicited advice during a card game. Nothing wrong with taking direction if it helps get you where you want to go. Also, a reminder about remaining humble. Is what I want to suggest really going to bring someone further to their victory? Or, maybe an off-putting remark I received needs to be let go of, because it was never going to serve my initiatives generously.

MKM: What is your dream project? What can we expect from you in the next year?

KGI: My dream? I want to make gigantic wall sized landscape watercolors with hand painted photo halftones. Like, really big. “Only wall big enough is in the de Young” big. Thats a bit far out there. I’m already starting on large watercolors, but not that big yet. They take forever and have zero room for forgiveness. I’m planning to work more on paper this year. Both press work and hand painted work. More seascapes, too.

https://www.gallagheriverson.com

March 21, 2020March 21, 2020

31 Women – March 21st: Sawyer Rose

**Sawyer Rose**
*Lyra*, 2017
Silver solder, copper, fiberglass
18 x 18 x 18 inches

An Interview with 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.

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.

http://www.sawyerrose.com

March 20, 2020April 20, 2020

31 Women – March 20th: Elena Zolotnitsky

**Elena Zolotnitsky**
*HER (Extinct Series)*, 2018
Oil on mylar mounted to panel
Courtesy of Andra Norris Gallery

An Interview with Elena Zolotnitsky

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 you are 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.

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…

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: What is 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

March 16, 2020March 15, 2020

31 Women – March 16th: Elizabeth Barlow

**Elizabeth Barlow**
*The Time is Now, 2020*
*Oil on linen*
*Courtesy of Andra Norris Gallery*

An Interview with Elizabeth Barlow

MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up? Were you always creative?

EB: I grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, the daughter of an artist father (Philip Barlow, 1932-2018). I was always drawing as a child, our parents took us to art galleries at home and everywhere we traveled, and our walls were filled with my father’s paintings as well as the work of many other artists. I was always absolutely certain I would live a life creating SOMETHING, but it took me a while to find out where my true voice lies. In college, I studied theater as an actor, then journalism and finally history. For a while, writing was my passion. It wasn’t until I was a young adult and living in San Francisco that I woke up (I truly feel as if one day I awoke and knew what I wanted to do) and began practicing the craft of being an artist.

MKM: Tell me more about that day you “woke up”, why did you pursue art?

EB: One day, I was sitting on a bench in Tiburon, looking at the Bay and literally out of nowhere I thought “I am going to paint clouds.” This came out of nowhere, but I knew instantly that I needed to heed it. And it was at that moment that I understood that I had an intense desire to paint (not necessarily clouds though!).

I immediately told my father, and he said, “Well, then take a drawing class,” which I did. I can still vividly recall the sensation I had in those first art classes. I was by no means whatsoever the best student in those early classes, but I could FEEL in my hands and mind that I was going to be able to be good at this. My eyes, hands and brain needed some time to learn how to work in this new dimension — but I somehow knew in my bones that I was going to be able to make what I wanted to make — long before I actually COULD make it. I believe that this intense desire to create is the most potent proof of whatever “talent” anyone possesses. Yes, an acquired technique and experience play a part, but I feel that a desire to create and a daily devotion to the practice are the most important aspects of “talent.”

MKM: Where did you study art?

EB: My father was a huge influence on my development as an artist, although I never formally studied with him; he was a constant presence in my life with encouragement and critiques. I studied at UC Berkeley and obtained a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Studio Arts there. I also studied one semester at the Art Students League in New York City.

MKM: Are there any memorable teachers from your studies?

EB: Again, my father was one of my great teachers. My other greatest influences as teachers were Donald Bradford and Eva Bovenzi, both are well-known Bay Area artists. I took many classes with them at UC Berkeley and am grateful for their examples as working artists, encouragement, critiques and sharing of knowledge.

MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? Rituals, patterns? How has your practice changed over time?

EB: I’ve always been very disciplined in my practice. Since I am a realist, there is the stark fact that my artmaking requires a lot of time. For many years, I had a day job, and I rose every weekday morning at 5am and drew or painted in my studio apartment. For a time, I shared a studio with the artist Liz Fracchia, and I worked there every Saturday and Sunday.

Eventually, I began painting full time, and now my days revolve around a very devoted studio practice. I work 6-7 days a week in the studio, depending on deadlines. My studio time is spent drinking green tea, staring at the canvas, mixing the day’s palette, more staring at the canvas, breaking to check email or to have lunch, followed by more staring at the canvas, and of course, working on the canvas! I try to leave the studio each day at 5pm for a beach walk and an evening with my incredibly supportive husband. I believe that being a painter is like being a ballet dancer or a pianist — it requires a daily devotion to the practice. The great cellist, Pablo Casals was asked why, at 90, he continued to practice every day. He replied, “Because I see some improvement.”

MKM: Do you focus on a specific medium or combination of mediums?

EB: I am in love with oil paint — I love the lush sensuality of the paint. I love drawing with graphite, ballpoint pen, wax pencil and conté, but alas the pull of the canvas and the luscious quality of the oil paint keeps calling me away from the sketchpad.

MKM: What themes do you pursue?

EB: At the present time, I continue to create my series called Portraits in Absentia. In this series, I create still life “portraits” of people using cherished or symbolic objects rather than their faces to illuminate their characters and lives. I am also working on a series called Portraits of Gardens in which I gather flowers and branches from a particular garden and then create a deconstructed still life that celebrates the character of that particular garden or gardener.

MKM: What is your most important tool? Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?

EB: Ah, there are so many! Here are three: First, my late father’s brushes and palette knives. I don’t actually use them for fear of wearing them out — but they are talismans that speak to me whenever I see and touch them. Second, my Hughes easel — it was a birthday gift from my husband. Some women ask for jewelry or clothes, I asked for a custom easel. It is made of mahogany and is counter-weighted so that it glides up and down with just a touch of my hand. Third, my hundreds of art books. They are my daily companions, teachers; an oasis of calm and inspiration.

A few of Elizabeth’s beloved art books and her magnificent Hughes easel

MKM: Among your works, is there a piece you are most proud of?

EB: My painting Portrait of a Marriage is a still-life of two pairs of mens’ formal dress shoes arranged as if they are in an embrace. They are the wedding shoes of my friends Jake Heggie and Curt Branom, who were married in San Francisco when gay marriages were first allowed. When I created the painting, my intention was to paint a celebration of my dear friends’ marriage. It was only later that I realized the painting carries a historical and cultural message as well. The painting has won awards in several national exhibitions and I’m happy to say now resides with Jake and Curt in their home.

MKM: What has been a seminal experience in your development as an artist?

EB: Studying at the Art Students League in New York City for one semester. (Former students include Georgia O’Keeffe and Mark Rothko.) Just to enter the building on West 57th Street is to inhale the wisdom and practices of over 100 years of great teachers and students. I studied there all day, five days a week for a spring semester — on easels covered with decades of paint, and by the light of the same skylights used by countless great artists — and came away from that experience feeling somehow anointed by the atmosphere and spirit of that place.

MKM: What art do you most identify with?

EB: The work of Georgia O’Keeffe, Claudio Bravo, Philip Barlow, Vanessa Bell, David Ligare, Martha Alf, Alison Watt, April Gornik and Rachel Ruysch.

MKM: What inspires you? Other artists, other women from history, your process, a theme?

EB: I am inspired by all art — dance, theater, painting, poetry — that speaks of the hidden, mysterious inner essence residing in each of us. In my own art, I continue to seek to find a way to express this hidden inner aliveness. The poet Mary Oliver always reminds me to be awake, to look and listen and perhaps then I will at last SEE into that inner mystery.

Whenever I need an energy boost, I turn to my books about ballet. The great American ballerina Maria Tallchief told her students “Ballet is like a religion.” What she meant is that it requires a religious devotion — to show up at the barre every day, no matter how much your body hurts and no matter what else is going on in your life. Just reading those words gives me energy and reminds me that my first duty is to show up at the easel — because it is in that showing up that the muses reside.

MKM: Do you have a sense of connection to a particular woman artist from art history?

Georgia O’Keeffe is my pole star. I believe that I own every book written about her. When my husband and I were first dating, he arranged for us to have a private tour of her home at Abiquiu — and that’s when I knew what a special man he is. O’Keeffe’s fierce devotion to her way of seeing, to her sense of self, and to the practice of her art are daily inspirations to me.

MKM: Who are your female role models from history or present day?

EB: Georgia O’Keeffe, Vanessa Bell, Anne Truitt, Mary Oliver, Suzanne Farrell, Rachel Ruysch, the Queen Elizabeths I and II (seriously!).

MKM: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

EB: When I first began taking art classes, my father said, “Decide who you think is the best artist in the class and sit next to her or him.” This has a double meaning for me: it means to not shrink back but to take one’s place next to “the best artist in the room.” And of course, it also means that I strive to continue to seek inspiration and wisdom through friendships and connections with artists whose work I admire. Artmaking is a solitary existence and I cherish my connections with other artists.

MKM: What is your dream project? What can we expect from you in the next year?

EB: I am just now completing a dream project — a 6-foot commissioned painting with a fascinating back story. It’s by far the largest painting and most complex painting I’ve done, and it’s whetted my appetite for big, complicated paintings! I dream of more opportunities to create big paintings with that tell amazing stories.

Elizabeth Barlow with a recently completed “dream project” – a commissioned painting: “The Phoenix Rose”, 2020
Oil on canvas

Elizabeth Barlow is represented by Andra Norris Gallery in Burlingame, CA

http://www.elizabethbarlowart.com

March 8, 2020March 7, 2020

31 Women – March 8th: Michelle Mansour

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.