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Jessica McCourt

Who are you?  Where are you from and where do you live now? 
Jessica McCourt. I hail from the Pacific Northwest and now reside in a restless little navy town on the Kitsap peninsula. The weirdness level here is right out of a Tom Waits song. Seriously.

What is it that you do?  What media do you use? 
I paint things... ghosts, animals, mountains exploding... whatever suits my fancy.  I paint primarily in watercolor now.

What do you think sets your work apart? 
I've been told on more than one occasion the way I paint hair is particularly eye catching. I'm not sure if that sets me apart exactly. I often wonder if people see my work the way I do... if my eyeballs are missing what others see and vice versa. I don't really feel "set apart," but I do feel that my work is my own... a visual interpretation of what's in my head and I'm almost 87% sure there isn't someone walking around out there with the same head.

How long have you been showing your work for?  Did you have a “big break?” 
I've been showing for about 7 years now, but it's only been withing the last couple of years that I think my work has been worth showing. I haven't really had a " big break." I'll be painting and drawing whether it comes along or not. I'd really love to start doing more illustration work. Perhaps I'll break into that.

What are some things that have inspired you? 
I draw inspiration from so many sources, it can feel like a bit of mania at times. Nature is a large influence on my work, as well as Japanese folklore... well, folklore of any kind. I also collect ephemera, old medical books and illustrations and vintage children's books. Currently I've found myself obsessing over images of ships, worn old tools and taxidermy. I'm also lucky enough to live with an artist who inspires me to work every day.

What have you been working on recently? 
Currently I'm working on getting a series of watercolor paintings together to present to galleries. I've mostly been focusing on the idea of the ethereal world mixing with the natural one. Ghost eyes and hands lingering on delicate wings, breathing smoke.

Do you listen to music while you create your work?  If so, would you give some examples?  
Yes!  It varies greatly, depending on my mood. I've been obsessed with the oddity that is Die Antwoord lately. It makes me giggle. Don't ask why. I listen to Sunn o)), Elliot Smith, The Avalanches, Earth, Louis Jordan, Modest Mouse, Nick Cave, the list really could go on and on. I also like to listen to comedy or podcasts.

Do you do work in any other media?  Other projects not necessarily related to your main body of work? 
I mostly stay in the realm of painting in watercolors. I had to reign it in with other media to become a bit more consistent. I've done some musical projects and I hope to do more in the future. It's a great deal easier for me to be less critical of music than my painting.

What advice do you have for artists looking to show their work? 
All I can advise is to research the gallery your thinking of presenting work to. Get to know what they're all about. You may find that while your work is good, it may not fit into the gallery's style and client interest.  And don't take it personally.

Where can people see more of your work on the internet?
At the moment, the best place to check out what I'm up to is on my blog which can be found at:  http://vonsplithoof.blogspot.com/

Denis Forkas Kostromitin

Who are you?  Where are you from and where do you live now?

Denis Forkas Kostromitin, Forkas (Форкас) being a nickname I was given in my childhood referring to my small hands. Born in a small town on the river Volga deep in the guts of Mother Russia. I currently live and work in a Moscow suburb.

What is it that you do?  What media do you use?

I am a painter and a draftsman. I use all conceivable (traditional) media including tempera (both egg-based and acrylics), oils, pastels, ink, pencil and scratching. I honestly believe that a true artist should be able to conjure convincing work with any available supplies, be it shoe dirt or hand-made oils.

What do you think sets your work apart?
All my work incorporates two major hallmarks:

(a) I never design objects; the appearance/exterior of my shapes is born from research, implied by the spiritual value of each composition. I design neither monsters nor beauty; both are secondary in my work.

(b) I don’t feel restrained by “genre”, “tradition” and “direction” limits or some artificial “personal manner/style” due to the above reasons and enjoy it being completely beyond such trifles.

How long have you been showing your work for?  Did you have a “big break?”
It’s been nine years already, private gallery shows in Moscow, St.Petersburg, Bergen and Vienna. I am doing my first humble steps at the international art market now, and looking for European and American projects to participate in. The “big break” is surely ahead.

What are some things that have inspired you?

Spiritually I am deeply inspired by the numberless facets of human nature, especially the hidden, primal, less comfortable emotions. This, in turn, leads to studies of the occult, mythology and mysticism of various cultures of the past.

I draw aesthetical inspiration mostly from the work of romantic painters of XIX-XX centuries - Vrubel, Stuck, Boecklin, - but also fantastic realists/surrealists of the XX century like Fuchs and Ernst.

Technique-wise, I highly appreciate Flemish school (which I have adapted for acrylics by reducing the number of layers, revising the palette and solving the blending/correction issues with my own chemical recipe) and Renaissance in general.

Moreover, Kandinsky’s approach to colour and rhythm, Spare’s automatic drawing theory, Bacon’s volatile shapes and the work of American “abstract expressionists” have all affected me profoundly over the years.  

What have you been working on recently?
It so happens that I am entering the international community with commissioned artwork. The highly successful collaboration with the always-inspiring Utech Records and the extraordinary American rock band Horseback last year led to yet another Horseback commission (a cover for their next LP, “Half Blood”).

I have also just finished a series of drawings for a project by an acclaimed American artist Stephen O’Malley.

I am planning to return to my gallery work after I am done with a few more commissions lined up here as I have two major paintings to finish before the upcoming shows later this year.
 

Do you listen to music while you create your work?  If so, would you give some examples?
Yes, I always do when I have all the preliminary work sorted and a picture becomes a matter of painting/drawing. Music is very important to me. I normally listen to all sorts of progressive rock (Univers Zero, Magma, Genesis, King Crimson, Black Widow, etc.), hard rock/heavy metal (Sabbath, Priest, Vitus, Mercyful Fate, Death SS, etc.) and krautrock (Amon Duul II, Organisation, Ash Ra Tempel, Faust, etc.). Besides, I often will turn to industrial (Neubauten, SPK, Test Dept, Toniutti, etc.) and I have been playing much of death metal too ever since I discovered the beauty of it a while ago (Immolation, Gorguts, Carnage, etc.). Free jazz, ambient, experimental music are also welcome guests in my studio’s cassette deck and CD player.

 Do you do work in any other media?  Other projects not necessarily related to your main body of work?
No, being a professional artist I hardly have time for anything beyond painting these days. Sculpture is the realm I have been meaning to explore for a long time and will most definitely do sooner or later.

 
What advice do you have for artists looking to show their work?
Without a doubt drawing is the key to understanding the world. Mastering it will ensure that you always have someone interested in your vision. In our age of internet a good exposure is hardly a trouble.

Do you have any upcoming exhibitions of your work that you can mention?
Yes, there is a one-picture show (for the painting “Athenian priest dressed as Pan”) scheduled for early autumn in Moscow. And I am participating in a huge international collective show in late August, also in Moscow.

 
Where can people see more of your work on the internet?

My friends and I are working on a proper portfolio site (still), which I will launch quite soon. Meanwhile there is a temporary blog thing where I post some of my work: joch-so-tot.blogspot.com

 

Terence Hannum

 Who are you?  Where are you from and where do you live now?

I am Terence Hannum, I live in Chicago.  I've been here about 9 years after living in Florida

What is it that you do?  What media do you use?

I make art.  Paintings, drawings, video and sound installations.  I use a lot of different media, mainly gouache on paper or oil on panel, and analog tape, plus video projections.

 

    

 

What do you think sets your work apart?

Maybe my subject matter, which is the location of the seminal rites of subcultures in the arena of live music, its gear and ephemera.  How it acts as our new mythology.
How long have you been showing your work for?  Did you have a “big break?”

I've been showing my work for about 10 years, at very different levels.  You know that's a weird question, sometimes something appears to be a break and is a dead end and other time you think it'll be this small thing and you get a ton of press or more people see it than you originally thought.  

What are some things that have inspired you?

Records, live shows, and a lot of books and ephemera.  I would say lately it would be vintage Acoustic Control Corporation catalogs, Watteau's paintings and drawings and Julia Kristeva's "Powers of Horror" plus my weird 7" collection.

    

 

 

 What have you been working on recently?

In January 2010 I started a monthly zine of drawings, and sometimes collaborators.  Varying sizes and formats on different stock.  And after 8 issues I am pleased to see the end ahead.  It's been a great project.  Helps me generate work around themes or edit work or source material into themes to fit the zines.

 

 

   Do you listen to music while you create your work?  If so, would you give some examples?

Oh yeah, all the time.  The last week I started listening to all of my 7"s, a collection I started 18 years ago, and it is all over the place.  I am not even through the first box yet.  So I am going through stuff like Professor's "Academizer" or Blunderbuss "Road to Arizona" or Lords "Moral Darkness".  Just weird one offs I picked up and it's great to be reminded of that time.  Though I break it up with a few LPs like Boris' "Amplifier Worship" or the Thou/Leech split LP.  

 

 

 

Do you do work in any other media?  Other projects not necessarily related to your main body of work?

I play in Locrian, we were a duo but are now a trio.  I play synthesizers and do vocals plus tape manipulations.   

 

 

 

What advice do you have for artists looking to show their work?

Well from my limited experience it pays to be patient and let things grow.  Focus on the work, finding time and honing it along all sides.  I would say more important than a studio visit with some gallerist or curator is a visit with another artist who may see something you don't see or help you refine a point or just help you along during the lean times.  Remember, this is the long haul and art takes time.  Just because you do not have an opportunity doesn't mean your work is not good or relevant, eventually people will get what you're doing after some time or, in my opinion, they don't matter anyway.  Oh and most people do not matter anyway.  Seriously, it's not just me being misanthropic, like I only trust maybe five people's opinions about my own work.

 

 

Do you have any upcoming exhibitions of your work that you can mention?

Sure, I am in a group show now at Johalla Projects (http://johallaprojects.wordpress.com/) called "Who's Yr. Shaman?" with some artists I dig like Elijah Burgher and Rebecca Walz to name a few.  I have a solo show titled "New Rites" opening at DePauw University's Peeler Gallery (http://www.depauw.edu/galleries/2010/new_rites/) in the end of September.

 

 

 

 

Where can people see more of your work on the internet?

At my site www.terencehannum.com