giving in / self promotion

Well, I've avoiding promoting myself here so far.  I suppose I was bound to give in eventually.

I've been invited to have a solo exhibition in London, and am on Kickstarter offering up all kinds of artwork to help fund it.  Everything from inexpensive prints, CDs and etc. to original darkroom prints.

Lauren E. Simonutti

admission

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

lauren e. simonutti, born in NJ, currently residing in Baltimore, MD

 

biding time

 

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

I am a traditionalist.  I shoot large format, (4x5, 5x7, and 8x10).  As to film I will shoot any black and white film; whatever is available, whatever is most affordable.

Confinement

 

What do you think sets your work apart?

That is not for me to say.  I shoot from my own perspective, how it is interpreted is up to the viewer.

Confounded by Time

 

How long have you been showing your work for? Did you have a “big break?”

I first started showing my work in 1987.  I sought shows fairly regularly up until about 2000 when I simply lost interest in that aspect of it.  I stopped seeking shows and just worked.  After a time I started posting my work on the web.

My break came in 2009 on two fronts.  I was selected to be an international featured exhibitor for the Ballarat Biennale in Australia.  They flew me out there, gave me an auditorium to give a lecture, and a gallery space and a very large audience in people who attended the festival.  I am still actively involved in Australia, including lecturing at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology whenever I can get down there.  I aspire to go every year.  On the home front and at the same time Catherine Edelman of Catherine Edelman Gallery in Chicago saw some of my work online, it was a link to an online interview I did with an organization called LensCulture based in Paris.  She contacted me and asked if I would like representation.  She had actually refused my work in 2006 when I submitted it to her gallery, which was just about the best thing that could have happened, in the three years that followed my work improved tremendously.  By the time she found me, I was ready, the work was ready.  I could  not have hoped for better.

Contemplating Daybreak

 

What are some things that have inspired you?

 try to look at everything.  I am inspired by what I read- Paul Auster, Vonnegut, Philip K. Dick; I am tremendously influenced by Surrealism, DaDa, Bauhaus, individuals such as Bellmer, Remedios Varo, Goya, Vesalius, Bacon, Odd Nerdrum.  I spend a great deal of time looking at paintings and as well as primitive and pan-Pacific ancient art.

Insomnia

 

What have you been working on recently?

I have been working continuously over the past several years shooting exclusively in my home which due to circumstance I seldom leave.  Isolation records well on film.  My current project, begun with the new year is called 'No such thing as silence' which is a reflection of my bipolar with schizoaffective disorder, one side affect of which is that I hear voices and have since March 28, 2006.  I am aware of the fact that they are not real, but that does not mean I do not still hear them.  Since that day there has never been a day of silence for me.

Mobile

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

No.  I only listen to music when I am printing or souping film, never when shooting.

 

Pincushion

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

I am a bookbinder as well.  I make books as objects in their own right as well as vessels to contain various series of photographs.

Self Portrait

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

I am hesitant to offer advice.  What works for one does not necessarily work for others.  My decision to withdraw my photographs from public exhibition yielded in the strongest work I have ever done, but that was an extreme and not for everyone.  I do caution people to carefully vet their choices; many calls for submission are simply vehicles to raise revenue.  I do not advise people to pay to show their work.

Tinder

 

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

I have no exhibitions planned at the moment.

 

Trial and Error

 

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

www.edelmangallery.com

www.eyemazingeditions.com

www.lauren-rabbit.deviantart.com

www.flickr.com/photos/laurensimonutti/

 

 Writer's Block

Danielle Ezzo

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

Danielle Ezzo, artist and curator. I grew up all over New Jersey, spent some time going to school in Georgia, and now I've been living in Brooklyn for six years. Actually, I just had my six year anniversary on the 21st.

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

Technically, I'm a mixed media artist, but most all my work begins with photography. Specifically, with historic processes such as cyanotypes and salt prints. I layer these works with paint and ink.

What do you think sets your work apart?

There are very few people utilizing alternative processes anymore it seems. People are getting out of the darkroom and into digital space, which I can understand, mostly because these older processes are so nuanced and slow. In my experience, the photography community shies away from photographers who add other media to their work, who aren't purists. Maybe photography, and its subsequent practitioners, are still uncomfortable with embracing the medium as a fine art. It didn’t start out that way though, an art form. Maybe people are still hung up on that a little. Nonetheless, I think it's just a matter of staying true your intent. If adding other media to an image is part of the overall concept and process, I say, go for it. I enjoy facing the challenges of combining a variety of elements.

How long have you been showing your work for?  Did you have a “big break?”

I've been showing my work since 2005, and so far its been a steady slope of increased exposure. I'm not sure if I’ve experienced that 'big break' feeling yet; however, I think the curating I've done over the past couple years has only pushed my work further and vice versa. It's like they play off of each other.

What are some things that have inspired you?

An artist must utilize every moment or opportunity to find inspiration, even the most mundane things can be thought provoking. Often, just talking with other artists, sharing the struggles and the triumphs, is most beneficial to me.

What have you been working on recently?

This body of work called, Kindred Systems, of mixed media salt prints. Reanalyzing and contextualizing the term “kinship system” based on the shift in how people define "family" and its ever growing inter-connectivity. 

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

Absolutely. It ranges depending on my mood, but Etta James, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Morphine, Mazzy Star, Jolie Holland, Iron & Wine, Francoise Hardy, Edith Piaf, Lovage, and whatever else that is slow and sultry.  

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

I've been playing around with super 8 video and I hope to get more into video in general at some point. Sculpture excites me, but I’m horrible in three dimensions. I curate, as I mentioned before, which is an art form all to itself.

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

Meet people and have confidence in your work. I've met some pretty amazing people in the city by just sending an email, chatting at art openings, and generally just being a curious and open person. 

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

Right now, I'm making a push to finish Kindred Systems. Once that's done, I'm working on possibility of a solo show, but no details yet. I’m also curating an auction for Daniel Cooney Fine Art April 1, called Shades of Grey: A Cross Section of Modern Sexual Identity.

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

My website, of course: www.danielleezzo.com

I also have two blogs: a photo diary: danielleezzo.tumblr.com and an art blog: dezzoster.tumblr.com

You can also buy limited edition prints of my work here: http://aceditions.com/artists/danielle-ezzo

artist Stephen Kasner's medical fund

Stephen Kasner is an amazing artist who has found himself in some serious medical trouble. 

 Please read more here:
http://coilhouse.net/2011/01/contribute-to-stephen-kasners-medical-fund/

gea*

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Vincent Castiglia

 Who are you? Where are you from and where do you live now?
Vincent Castiglia. Born in Brooklyn, New York, now living and working in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan.

What is it that you do? What media do you use?
Surrealist painter, using only human blood and water as pigment (which anyhydrates as iron oxide)

What do you think sets your work apart?
It's honesty.

How long have you been showing your work for? Did you have a “big break?”
5 years. I'd cite as the most notable experience of my career my solo exhibition at the H.R Giger Museum Gallery in Switzerland. There have been many other exhibits and collaborative projects which have been equally important to me. However, if i had to list one, this would be the event.

What are some things that have inspired you?
Circumstance, mortality, all that's hidden, saints, wretches, and daimons.

What have you been working on recently?I've just completed my latest body of work titled, Sacrifices For the Sanguinary Age. This was painted over the last year.

Do you listen to music while you create your work? If so, would you give some examples?
Almost always. It varies drastically. A few examples are Lustmord, Lisa Gerrard, Marcel Peres' Ensemble Organum collections, Lycia, and Love Is Colder than Death

Do you do work in any other media? Other projects not necessarily related to your main body of work?
I have in the past but currently am working only in human blood, outside of the pencil drawings that precede finished paintings.

What advice do you have for artists looking to show their work?
Do your best always, and give yourself a break---life's too short to allow yourself to be lost in the process. Be who you are.

Do you have any upcoming exhibitions of your work that you can mention?
My upcoming show, Sacrifices For the Sanguinary Age, will open at Meta Gallery in Toronto, on September 10th, and will be followed with an artist talk the next day, September 11th at the Gallery. Inquiries may be sent by email to Jody Polishchuk at jp@metagallery.com / www.MetaGalery.com

Where can people see more of your work on the internet?
www.VincentCastiglia.com

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/