q) Well, first of all please tell us a little about yourself.
a)My name is Erika Iris Simmons, I'm 26 and I live in Atlanta, GeorgiaUSA. I work mostly with used or donated materials. Kind of a "found art" vibe. I like to take things that are old or going to waste, then turn them into something new.
q) Had you always planned on being an artist [or had you other hopes]?
a)I really had no interest in being an artist growing up; my mom was a painter and fashion designer so I think that I rebelled and wanted to be a scientist. It wasn't until after university that I started to really experiment with art.
q) Do you have a preferred medium to work on? Why?
a)My favorite medium is film. I like to take a million little pieces of it and put it together like a jigsaw puzzle. Its tedious, but when its done the artwork really sparkles. I also enjoy all the paper collage work.
q)How would you describe your style?
a)intricate and imaginative
q) Do you go through any certain processes while trying to produce your work?
a)I usually get something from goodwill, like the cassette tapes, and set them on top of a blank canvas near my door. Everyday as I come and go I glance at the pile, but don't really think too hard about it. An idea always comes at the most unexpected time. Voila!
q) What are you working on at present?
a)Right now I am finishing a huge cassette tape portrait for a show at PeninsulaArtSchool in April. I'm also working on a large photo-composite of Nelson Mandela made entirely from pictures related to his struggles for civil rights.
q) What about recent sources of inspirations?
a)Right now I'm thinking about a new medium... strings and wires. I would love to do a portrait from guitar strings or sheet music. Could go in many directions: Nirvana, Beethoven, or something more abstract, like an orchestra.
q) What are some of your obsessions?
a)I am obsessed with the idea of the mind/body dilemma. How something can be one thing when you look closely at it; then turn into something else from far away. Like you zoom in on a brain and it just looks like a bunch of cells, zoom out and you're dealing with a conscious being. Hence the "Ghost in the Machine."
q) Which galleries have you shown at and which galleries would you like to show at?
a)I've had pieces in small shows in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and London, but my work is on more permanent display through Ripley's Believe It or Not! museums in London, San Francisco, NiagaraFalls, and Australia. I create most of my work on a commission basis and sell it directly through my website.
This year I will be showing at the:
Aqualounge in Beverly Hills February 25
PeninsulaSchool of Art in Fish CreekWI April 16 - July 10
ArizonaMuseum for Youth April 22 - July 3
I will attend the openings of each of these and would love for anyone interested to come say hi!
q)If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?
a)My website (www.iri5.com) has a contact form, or they can email me at eisimmons@gmail.com I welcome all questions and comments. I'm always up for collaborating with cool people on cool projects.
q)Do you have any suggestions or advice for artists that are just starting out?
a)If you are seriously pursuing art, nothing beats practice. For my first two years, I vowed to work on a piece of art everyday. It doesn't matter what you are doing or how it looks, the most important thing is to be in the habit and not give up.
q)Who are your favorite artists?
a)My favorite artist is Aleksander Vrubel, a Russian symbolist painter. The modern artists that I have inspired me most have been Ken Knowlton and Vik Muniz.
q) What books are on your nightstand?
a)GEB by Douglas Hofstadter, Master and Margarita by Bulgakov and a Trigonometry textbook
q) To what weaknesses are you most indulgent?
a)I enjoy all the vices life has to offer.. haha
q)….your contacts…
a)Eisimmons@gmail.com or www.iri5.com Feel free to contact me for any reason, even if you want tips on how to replicate some of the projects on my site... I'm happy to help!
q) Well, first of all please tell us a little about yourself.
a)I'm a freelancer illustrator based in São Paulo, Brazil.
q) Had you always planned on being an artist [or had you other hopes]?
a)Not at all! It never crossed my mind I could make a living out of my illustrations. Althought one of my aunts was a sucessfull illustrator in her time, I've always considered drawing rather a hobby than a profession. It was only by 1992, when I begun making money with illustrations, that I realized I could do it professionally. And by the end of 1999, I quit my job as Art Director in an Advertisement Agency to dedicate myself entirely to illustrations. It was a bold decisiom, but it was worthy. I was miserable at that job and, honestly, I sucked!
q) Do you have a preferred medium to work on? Why?
a)I do enjoy working with pen and markers. But I must say I've tried almost everything so far and I intend to keep on trying, for I'm always looking for a new way of doing things.
q)How would you describe your style?
a)That's a though question to ask... If I say something positive it might sound like I'm bragging myself. If I say nothing it might look like I don't know how to evaluete my work... But I guess my work is simple, focused on people and very influenced by fashion.
q) Do you go through any certain processes while trying to produce your work?
a)It all depends on what I'm doing.
If it is a commercial work with a briefing to be followed, I'd start with a little research, then draft some ideas on a paper, send it to a first approval and then finalize it accordingly to the client's preferences. I'm a very obedient worker, hahaha.
But If I'm doing a personal work, of course, it is all much looser and free.
q) What are you working on at present?
a)I've just finished some illustrations for cover and spread featured on Época Magazine about Women and Money.
On March, 8th I'll be exhibiting some works on a group show sponsored ny Mitsubishi Rally cars.
I'm also working on my new sketchbook, doing a series of Imaginary Friends that might or might not turn out to be a book project.
q) What about recent sources of inspirations?
a)Unfortunately, I've got just one source of inspiration: people. So, thank God it is not an endangered specie.
q) What are some of your obsessions?
a)Wow, that's an up close and personal question! :)
Well, let's see... I'm obsessed with faces (mostly), pink, numbers 22, 4 and 13 and simetry.
q) Which galleries have you shown at and which galleries would you like to show at?
a)I've been very lucky these past couple of years and had my work shown in some nice galleries such as: POP (São Paulo), FAAP (São Paulo), GNT Lounge (Rio), Mori Gallery (Sydney-AUS) and Gallery Nucleus (Los Angeles-USA).
I'd love to have my work exhibit in London, Paris, Amsterdam, Venice, Rome, Berlin, New York... and the list goes on and on.
q)If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?
q)Do you have any suggestions or advice for artists that are just starting out?
a)Draw like there's no tomorow.
q)Who are your favorite artists?
a)I'll say just 3, because the list is too big and can be boring: Gustav Klimt, Chuck Close and John Currin.
q) What books are on your nightstand?
a)"Sense and Sensibility" by Jane Auten, "Women of the Planet" by Titouan Lamazou and "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carrol. I'm also reading a book with my 9 year old son about Greek Mythology (for kids, of course!).
q) Well, first of all please tell us a little about yourself.
a)i am a full time visual artist living in Seattle Washington usa
q) Had you always planned on being an artist [or had you other hopes]?
a)I always knew i would be an visual art or a musician.
q) Do you have a preferred medium to work on? Why?
a)in my study of clear paint vehicles, i have found epoxy resin which i use in my paintings and sculptures. I enjoy its looks feel plasticity and flexibility in terms of how many things i can make it do.
q) How would you describe your style?
a)I am Maximalist, materials oriented, abstraction focused artist
q) Do you go through any certain processes while trying to produce your work?
a)with my sculptures, i cut and recut my individual parts to create a complex whole. With my paitnings i start from a place i know and work through the unknown, back to a place i might know someday.
q) What are you working on at present?
a)I am working on completing some paintings that ive been working with for a long while. And my sculptures are getting larger and more monumental.
q) What about recent sources of inspirations?
a)I enjoy going to art galleries and museums, The last tri was to Los angeles Ca. to the museums and galleries there
q) What are some of your obsessions?
a)lists and being on time
q) Which galleries have you shown at and which galleries would you like to show at?
a)I show at the william traver gallery in Seattle the Beppuwiarda gallery in portland the George billis gallery in LA and the Friesen gallery in sunvalley.
q) If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?
Petulia Mattioli studies illustration at the European Design Institute of Design in Rome and Milan.
From 1989 to 1996 works between Rome and Milan in an architecture and graphic studio as illustrator and graphic designer, collaborating among the others with Feltrinelli and Castelvecchi. From 1992 works on video, digital photography, graphic design, video installation, set/light design and real-time multi-visions using every media and language, from video to raw material.
She is the tenth recommended artists at the “Biennale dei Giovani Artisti” in 1998. In the same year she wins the competition “Arti Visive 2 and her artwork is on show at the Palazzo Ducale in Genoa.
Among the most important shows:
Galleria Giulia - Rome (2009), Palazzo delle Papesse - Centro Arte Contemporanea - Siena (2003-2004-2007), Complesso Museale Villa Arbusto - Ischia (2007), Castello Contemporaneo - Capalbio (2007), Berliner Kunstsalon - Berlino, Museo Pecci “Kaleidoscope”- Prato (2006), Galleria Il Segno - Roma (1998). From 1994, year when she creates Verba Corrige production together with the musician and producer Eraldo Bernocchi, realizes art installations and multi-visions based on the total interaction between art and music, as a single language, in spaces and theaters with musicians like Eraldo Bernocchi, Bill Laswell, Toshinori Kondo, Harold Budd, Nils Petter Molvaer, Dj Disk, Raiz, Somma (with Tibetan Monks), Ashes, Sigillum S, Tabla beat Science, Black Engine in Italy, France, Germany, USA and Canada.
Lives and works between Tuscany, Milan and New York.
q) Tell us about your humble beginnings, When did you you first realized that you wanted to be an artist?
a)I never decided " i wanted to be an artist", the artistic path i'm following is a real need. My father is a comic drawer, so since I was a child I express myself through drawings and colors...naturally listening to music! In my house there was always music going on like Miles Davis, Brian Eno, Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stones ...
q)What are your tools of the trade and why?
a)My spasmodic research started on paper but then moved through any kind of media: graphic, sculpture, photography and video.
My work today is definitely photography and video oriented, but still there's something about all the experiments i did in the past.
Also, working daily as a graphic designer make words, space and synthesispart of my style. The reason why i don't refuse any possible
tool/media is because i deeply believe that an artist expression must be free to move and explore.
If strong, true and clever, the artist identity doesn't risk anything, on the contrary it's a value!
q)Who or what gives you inspiration on your morbid art?
a)Mainly i'm inspired by music which I really consider as part of my life and as i wrote on my myspace "visual arts? is the only language i know to communicate my uneasiness but i can imagine myself without it, but NEVER without music.
Music is my life soundtrack! It gives colours to my dreams and visions..."
Generally I can have a creative quiver from a written phrase or a daily new, a song, an image..
q)Is your artistic background self-taught or did you go to college to study?
a)When i decided to go at the European Institute of Design -illustration department-, in Rome first , than in Milan the last two years, the only thing i had in mind was to be part of the colors, paper and pencils world... While i was in Rome studying i was working at the same time for a graphic design studio and when i went to Milan to finish my IED course, i worked for a group of architects studio. So i was definitely learning a lot of different things. But more and more i was working in the real life, more i was pretending from my school. Being a very expensive one, i decided to make the most of it jumping in any different courses i was interested in. So from photography to scenography i put together something more " in my bag".
In those years i met Eraldo Bernocchi andSigillum S who gave me the chance to realize my first artwork. Music has always been my main inspiration and passion, so when i met them it was the real beginning of my artistic work connected to the music.
q)How do you keep “fresh” within your industry?
a)I like your use of the word "fresh" instead of "original".. thanks!
There's nothing around really original, but still artists want to reach this status trying to shock and be sensational.. shouting louder and louder..
My motto is the beautiful title used by Rebecca Horn " Rebellion in silence" which i think is more powerful than anything I heared in the last years.. So to keep my artworks "fresh" I put passion and truth without any intention of being "original and arty", but aiming to give a deep emotion.
q)What are some of your current projects?
a)My last video installation "Liquid Light" created and exhibited in 2008 at Palazzo Lomellino, Genoa and in 2009 at Galleria Giulia, Rome is officially in sleep now, so about my new video artwork there still a lot of work to do
i'm now working on the idea so it will take a while to reveal it..
I just finished the artwork for the album"Somma", the project Eraldo Bernocchi and I created with Bill Laswell and the Tibetan Monks.
It will come out for the new english label RareNoiseRecords in february.
q)Which of your works are you the most proud of? And why?
a)Mmmh, that's a difficult question..
it's like asking to a mom who's her favourite child.. but i can say that Hold is an artwork i'm really proud of.
It was a video installation I conceived for the Caveau of the Contemporary Art Centre Palazzo delle Papesse in Siena in 2004. On that occasion I also realized a dream: to work with one of my favourite artist Russell Mills.
I involved him to work with me on the installation and a great work came out.
Also the last one, Liquid Light, is something i'mproud of. This was the first time i could project, write and direct a professional video with a real -short- budget. I always had to deal with no money so everytime my videos have been technically limited. At the same time this limit trained me to concentrate my ideas and visions objectively in order to come out clear and direct, considering the technicas the last phase of the work.
q)Are there any areas, techniques, mediums, projects in your field that you have yet to try?
a)Not really a medium, I really hope one day to realize a short movie.
q)What do you do to keep yourself motivated and avoid burn-out?
a)I did a choice when i was very young.. it was my first solo exhibition in Rome when i realized that i didn' t want to be part of the "arty freak show".
I decided to not live on my art in order to mantain my integrity, my own ideas. That's why i'm working as graphic designer. So every time i'm creating a new artwork i feel like the first time with all the enthusiasm and passion.
q)how do you spend most of your free time?
a)I try to travel as much as i can, it is what really makes me "on"!
Than, listening to music, reading andwatching movies.
q)What contemporary artists or developments in art interest you?
a)Eraldo Bernocchi, Bill Laswell and Miles Davis are my costant notes.
Also the writers Jean Baudrillard and J.G. Ballard as well as the movie director Takeshi Kitano are very important for me and i refer
to them quite often.
Naturally, a lot of visual artists are interesting and helpfull for my artistic process, but rarely i'm moved..
I deeply respect Louise Bourgeois, Francis Bacon, Nam June Paik and the Fluxus artists, Bill Viola, Rebecca Horn, Shirin Neshat,Bruna Rotunno, Studio Azzurro, Russell Mills,..
and i cannot stand Koons, Cattelan, Beecroft.. and a lot more like them..
q)We really like some of your pictures, how can we get our hands on them? Do you sell them? How?
a)I generally prefer to deal directly with people interested in my artworks and soon it will be also a special section on my website where I will put all the artworks I decided to sell.
