ART Habens Art Review, Special Edition

ART

Special Edition

H A B E N S C o n t e m p o r a r y

A r t

R e v i e w

ANCUTA MURESAN JEREMY WOLF APHRA O’CONNOR KSENIA DERMENZHI VERONICA ARANDA GRICELDA ALVA BRITO CHA JUNGMIN ROSALIA MARTINEZ NAZURAH USOP

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Mind wanderer, exhibition at The Royal Wharf, Art Gallery An artwork by Nazurah Usop

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Rosalia Martinez

Ksenia Dermenzhi

Cecilia Borgenstam Veronica Aranda

Nazurah Usop

Ancuta Muresan

Gricelda Alva Brito Brito

France

United Kingdom

USA/Mexico

Briunei

Romania

USA USA

I want to to explore the power of color, see how far it can take me. I create a whole infinite universe with no rules, without following a concept, inside the physical limitations of a canvas. I explore this dichotomy through color, creating depth and light with no restrictions. My work really represents who I am i believe, I think I can tell by looking at some of my works, when was it that I was going thru a harder time or a not so great day, but that is not determined by darker colors, quite possibly on the contrary, and the textures and strokes go together with the colors, the amount of color i want to use is linked to the texture that that color goes with. Its all one team.

My works are borderline with fiction and reality. I like to play with contrast of textures and materials in my paintings - it creates a vibration of colour into which the viewer can immerse with their personal feelings and fantasies.

My work consists primarily of different forms of abstract due to the constant need for change in my everyday life. My paintings vary from images to abstract expression and some impressionism. My body of work is a mixture of abstract and expression with a combination of both, because my paint subjects take a turn from form to formlessness expressing my thoughts and feelings in every brush stroke. Sometimes I deconstruct forms to express them in a whole new meaning because there is more to the eye beholder versus what we can feel and experience. I mainly make abstract paintings and pieces of artwork to reflect the ideas in my head and have the observer make her/his own interpretation and see beyond its intention.

Nazurah Usop, born and bred in Brunei Darussalam, who is yet better known as doodlesandcolors is an independent visual artist who explores expressions through colorful interpretations and is also best describe as a process based and experimental abstract artist.A stipulation of her practice is to upcycle, thus creating pieces from pre-existing materials as her mediums.Her art piece regularly takes place in the form of organic, hard-edged, with some abstraction of cultural patterns.Her signature organic doodles does not only compute as being a 'flora and fauna' pattern but it is an impression of solely a representation of 'growth'

From the first steps in life we are objects of society’s constraints. Daily routine, stress and fears control our every move, sentiment and thoughts.

In solving our problems we use a certain model, learned in a precise framework which makes any novelty unknown and aggressive. Thus, the New generates a resistance to change due to the fact that we are formed in frameworks that already have created their own images of reality. Not even arts, considered the expression of freedom of action, communication and thinking make no exception. Far from society’s restraints, Graffiti is a product of the Hip-hop culture, that is spreading very fast and it is becoming an art exhibited in galleries and museums.

Gricelda's creative inspiration comes from her connection to nature, celebrating diversity, building inclusive community, the immigrant experience, honoring her indigenous roots, Mexican and Mexican American Art, art as a practice of selfcare, dreams when she remembers them and spirituality. She is highly aware of her inner sensitivity to feelings. The canvas has become a form of healing, self-expression, help embrace her wholeness as a human being and being authentic. In the future, she hopes to use art as a healing tool to support others in their own healing journey. Through opening her heart, others have felt safe to also share their vulnerability and this has been the greatest gift of her art practice.

Dialogue with the viewer is a crucial thing.

Whether you like it or not, your work will always be interpreted differently from what it meant to be -there is no limit to the viewers’ imagination, and for me it’s always interesting to listen to someone’s impressions. I want my audience to be free in their understanding and feeling of my work. If this chemistry happens, then my explanations are not necessary.

In this issue

Aphra O’Connor

Ksenia Dermenzhi Ancuta Muresan

Cha Jungmin Jeremy Wolf

Rosalia Martinez Jeremy Wolf

Aphra O’Connor

South Korea

USA

United Kingdom

I visualise and simplify texts into images like a set of instructions or a manual. My works lie between text and image. I try to combine the systematic effects of text and the intuitive effects of image and so my works always trigger multiple, detailed interpretations.

My works also sometimes look like a game map.

Since all the components in games always have definite roles, and the input and output in these games are clearly designed, it is easy to compress long narrative texts into singular images using the textual traits, by giving every component a carefullyplanned specific role. I’m mostly inspired by games, futuristic science fiction and machine manuals.

Jeremy Wolf is an artist originally from New York, now living and working in London, UK. His work explores themes of identity, power dynamics, and relationships between persons and groups. Recent paintings react to the seismic shifts in the current American political landscape, the subsequent effect on society, and the changing concept of what it means, and has meant, to be an American both at home and abroad.American moral authority and influence has waned across the globe with the rise of alt-right politics in the mainstream. By blurring the lines between truth and falsehood, these actors have created a society of mutual distrust and suspicion. The resultant layers of disappointment, fear, and exhaustion present in these times are captured in the various scenes depicted in his paintings.

In my practice I unite pattern and form, allowing the viewer to see multiple viewpoints at once. I aim to unify pattern and form in my print and ceramic works to create ‘Dynamic Equilibrium’, a balance between 2d and 3d design. The bringing together of colour, pattern and form in coadunation and absolute equivalence is critical in allowing me to unite sculptural forms and my drawn patterns in a new dimension that is both flat and solid.I find that series of objects convey more information and narrative than single forms, especially in ceramics where collections allow the viewer to see new relationships between objects.

Working with collections of ceramic designs allows me to extend my patterns across multiple forms and bridge boundaries in fine art and craft.

Cha Jungmin

On the cover:

Veronica Aranda

Gricelda Alva Brito Nazurah Usop

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Special thanks to: Charlotte Seeges, Martin Gantman, Krzysztof Kaczmar, Tracey Snelling, Nicolas Vionnet, Genevieve Favre Petroff, Christopher Marsh, Adam Popli, Marilyn Wylder, Marya Vyrra, Gemma Pepper, Maria Osuna, Hannah Hiaseen and Scarlett Bowman, Yelena York Tonoyan, Edgar Askelovic, Kelsey Sheaffer and Robert Gschwantner.

, a work by

Lives and works in the United Kingdom

Lineament Union, 2020 earthenware, underglaze, cop

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video, 2013

per, reclaimed teak 422 0

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Pennate Construction, 2019, earthenware, underglaze, steel, mahogany

Aphra O’Connor An interview by and

, curator curator

Hello Aphra and welcome to ART Habens. Before starting to elaborate on your artistic practice we would like to invite our readers to visit https://www.aphraoconnor.co.uk Let’s start this interview with a couple of questions about your background.

You have a solid formal training and after having earned your BA (Hons) Fine Art in Sculpture from Wimbledon College of Art, you nurtured your education with a MA in Ceramics and Glass, that you received from the Royal College of Art: how did those formative years influence your evolution as an artist?

Moreover, how does your cultural substratum guide the direction of your current artistic research?

Aphra O’Connor: Before I studied at Wimbledon, I completed a foundation year at Leeds College of Art that allowed me to discover and develop what the term Sculpture meant to me, and how others see it.

It was during a lecture given by Sarah Woodfine focusing on promoting the Sculpture course at Wimbledon that I first found an affinity with sculpture as a pathway. She described the way sculpture could be seen to be free of boundaries, and that it could crossover into many different pathways. I knew that working within the parameters of the term sculpture would help me focus my practice.

I used my time at Wimbledon to develop research on how display is critical to understanding my work, and I created painted environments for objects to reside in.

Aphra O’Connor

After I graduated in 2014, I took some time to decide what material my work should be created in, and after a pottery class with my Mother I found what I was looking for.

I spent some years helping the instructor John Egerton in his studio, learning about glazes and kiln firings. This lead me on to apply for the Royal College of Art Ceramics course to make the objects I could then display.

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Vertex Balance 2019 terracotta, underglaze, acrylic sheet

I have always found that there are layers to my

and use these 2D methods to create 3D works.

practice, and so your question on cultural substratum is pertinent, and is an ideal way to

At the same time as the sculpture works evolving,

describe my working method. I use drawing and

the 2D designs develop along a different path,

print, photography and collage to start a project,

creating another layer to the project. I find

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Rigid Fissure, 2019, terracotta, underglaze, acrylic sheet

showing multiple dimensions together allows the

special edition of ART Habens, and that our

audience to better understand how I work.

readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article, at once

Marked out with such unique visual identity, the

captured our attention for the way you use your

body of works that we have selected for this

visual language — and in particular the way you

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Dynamic Flux 1, 2019, manipulated photograph amalgamate ceramic and print works to create a

setup and process, would you tell us how do you

holistic way of seeing form, pattern and colour—

usually develop your initial idea for your

in such strategic way to counter-balance

sculptures? Do you create your works gesturally,

subjectivity, offering an array of meanings.

instinctively? Or do you methodically transpose

When walking our readers through your usual

geometric schemes?

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Antipode Verge, 2019, terracotta, underglaze, acrylic sheet

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consider the point of convergence between flat images and three-dimensionality?

Aphra O’Connor: I have developed a visual language out of found objects and single use plastic packaging that I find demonstrates interesting 3D pattern. I take these discarded forms and translate them into plaster moulds to create new designs. It is now more important than ever to recycle plastic and use less, and in my approach to making I hope to draw attention not only to the waste of material, but the beauty that goes into the original plastic designs. My method of presenting the ceramic forms aims to modify traditional sculpture display, reinventing how audiences experience the fragile nature of clay.

Aphra O’Connor: The point of convergence between my 2D and 3D designs is the core focus of my practice, and as I mentioned before I see this building up of the layers of my designs critical in understanding my practice.

I use drawn and digitally manipulated designs as a way of initiating projects, the 2D element of my practice is crucial in allowing me to progress into physical works.

In the Dynamic Equilibrium series I created a series of drawings (Dynamic System series) that would go onto describe the form and pattern correlation in the sculpture pieces. I then created 2D patterns (Dynamic Flux series) that combined photographs of different angles of the ceramic sculptures, bring the relationship from 2D to 3D and back again to a flat surface.

This was important in this series as it allowed the viewer to see my working method and to experience the work in the same creative space they were made in.

I use plaster moulds of these found forms to create my sculptures, and work predominantly with liquid clay ‘slip’ to cast the forms as it offers more chance for experimentation, manipulation of the clay and joining new forms. I find that as I work with the plaster moulds I see new patterns emerging, and collage the cast sections instinctively. When the pieces are joined I consider how the pieces are to be viewed by the audience and how they should be displayed. This offers me further chance for experimentation with other materials, wood and metal as supports and additions to the sculptures.

We have particularly appreciated the way you combine bold colours with geometric patterns to create tension and dynamics. How does your own psychological make-up determine the nuances that you decide to include in your artworks?

After firing the pieces are matched with drawings of the original forms, and I decide which pattern brings out a new element to each form. I use reclaimed hard woods to display the pieces, bridging the gap between the traditional methods of displaying sculpture and ceramic forms.

Aphra O’Connor: In my work I bring together a multitude of influences that stem from a fantastic creative education given to me by my parents.

As well as Fine Art influences I have always been inspired by design, and as my parents owned an antiques business that sold stock from architectural salvage to Valauris pottery, I have been surrounded by a great mix of design from a young age which gave me a new perspective on

As you have remarked in your artist's statement, you aim to unify pattern and form in your print and ceramic works and your concept of ‘Dynamic Equilibrium’, as the balance between 2d and 3d design This reminded us of the ideas elaborated on by Dutch artist M.C. Escher. How do you

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Dynamic Equilibrium Installation Royal College of Art degree show 2019 form.

My Mother is a knitwear designer and my Father is a graphic designer and Musician, and they took my artistic education into their own hands.

They exposed me to great creative minds that they enjoyed like Giacometti, Kandinsky and

Mondrian, artists that combined design, graphic art and sculpture like Eduardo Paolozzi, and interesting movements like Memphis design and especially Ettore Sottsass.

Without this education I would not have developed a sensitivity to geometric design and

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coloured space to exist within. It was also important for me have a display system that ‘fit’ the sculptures, and as the works combined so many bright colours I created my own white custom square plinths, and mimicked the size of the tops of the plinths in the printed works, displaying them as if they had been flattened and peeled off the plinths to be shown 2dimensionally on the wall.

would not have considered how Fine Art and socalled applied art crossover.

I still use and have developed this early research into what I personally enjoy as an artist today, and I am very grateful for the time they took in inspiring me.

With their unique multi-layered visual quality, you tastefully unite pattern and form, allowing the viewer to see multiple viewpoints at once.

You seem to invite the viewers to look inside of what appears to be seen rather than its surface, providing the spectator with freedom to realize their own perception.

Austrian Art historian Ernst Gombrich once remarked the importance of providing a space for the viewers to project onto, so that they can actively participate in the creation of the illusion.

How important is for you to trigger the viewers' imagination in order for them to address and elaborate on their personal interpretations?

In particular, how open to interpretation would you like your works to be?

Scottish painter Peter Doig once remarked that even the most realistic paintings are derived more from within the head than from what's out there in front of us.

How do you consider the relationship between reality and imagination within your artistic production?

Aphra O’Connor: I create my sculptures in an intuitive way, building up collages of forms from my plaster mould collection.

There is a sense of the ‘uncanny’ by using everyday forms as method for creating the sculptures and although these moulded forms are based in reality, in the process of changing their context I find that they lose their sense of reality.

Aphra O’Connor: My work unites many layers of research and my influences are varied across design, painting, sculpture and everyday life. I think it is important for the audience of any work to bring with them their own influences and interpret a work in any way they like.

I appreciate the spontaneity of people’s response to my works; however, I do retain a certain amount of control when designing the pieces and especially when displaying them.

I am interested in the spaces that the works exist in and aim to demonstrate my varied research in the display methods I use.

You find that series of objects convey more information and narrative than single forms, especially in ceramics where collections allow the viewer to see new relationships between objects: What do you use to connect your sculpture designs? Why do you think these connections are important?

Aphra O’Connor: During my time at the Royal College I compiled research for a series of writing on how they is 'meaning in multiplicity',

In the ‘Dynamic Equilibrium’ series for the Royal College of Art degree show, I used acrylic cut out forms as a display device, giving each work a

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The text was an exploration into how contemporary ceramics are displayed within a

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4 1Series, 2 Ubiquity Construction21 2019, earthenware, underglaze, steel , mahogany Special Issue

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Ubiquity Construction 2, 2019 earthenware, underglaze, steel , mahogany gallery setting, and how I think a collection of ceramics develops a deeper narrative than a single object.

Writing this text enabled me to assess my practice and how I could navigate through a visual narrative within a series of sculptures and

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printed works I developed a visual narrative in the 'Dynamic Equilibrium' series by using the same three plaster moulded sections in each, effectively using repetition to illustrate the diverse nature of

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the moulded forms. This was another way for me to explore the patterns of the found forms, which included a small and a larger jelly mould from my parent’s collection, and a plastic chocolate box container. Out of my visual library of found forms these three had the most interesting patterns and seemed to have infinite possibilities and combinations.

In creating moulds out of found forms I aim to draw attention to the patterns you can find in everyday discarded objects, and by reusing them across multiple forms aim to display the creative possibility in recycling.

your relationship with your audience? Direct relationship with the viewer in a physical space is important sense the spirit of a work of Art.However, as the Art World moves away from traditional gallery spaces, to the public or digital realm: how do you think this new globalised exposure would change the audience’s relationship with your work?

The titles of your works evoke surreal thoughts, how do you go about naming your works? In particular, is important for you to expressly tell something that might walk the viewers through their visual experience?

However the transition between dimensions is an element that I develop in my practice, so being able to 'flatten' a sculpture to translate it from 3D to 2D is something that I experiment with.

Aphra O’Connor: I create my works to be viewed in the round, giving the audience many facets to explore, and I find that photography cannot always capture the complexity of a sculpture.

For example, the sculpture ‘Radial Triturate’ from the ‘Dynamic Equilibrium’ series describes the spiralized detail of the pattern upon the almost crushed form of the moulded clay form.

With regards to an audience discovering my work I would be interested to see how an online gallery could open up new dialogue about sculpture.

I love to glimpse and unearth new aspects in sculptures when they are displayed and find that I understand more from a 3D artwork than 2D one, which is why I create designs that take a 3dimensional form. I don't see how that excitement and anticipation of discovery can be translated into an online gallery, but I am keen to have my work experienced by as many audiences as possible to promote the use of clay in fine art settings. So perhaps a interactive virtual gallery that allows the audience the same means of exploring a sculptural work would be an interesting compromise.

Over the years your artworks have been exhibited in several occasions, including your recent participation to the group exhibitions InsideJob at Tate Modern and you also had the solo SCANTLINGS at The Stonehouse Emporium in Whitby. How do you consider the nature of

In both the exhibitions in Tate Modern, in 2018 and 2019 and my first solo exhibition in Whitby in 2017, I aimed to draw attention to the diverse nature of ceramics and how it can be misunderstood as a material stuck in a history of craft.

Aphra O’Connor: My works are always titled by using the same method, I visually describe the pieces, and discover interesting synonyms that convey the same descriptive meaning without being too obvious.

In the Dynamic Equilibrium series, I created an element of the surreal as during the making process I was reading a lot of Philip K Dick science fiction novels that influenced the language I used and modified for the sculpture works.

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objects could be seen juxtaposed against the delicate nature of clay.

I was excited to show The 'Dynamic Shift' series at Tate Modern in 2019, and after a successful display of ‘Gourd Support’ the year before, it gave me another chance to introduce ceramics into a contemporary art gallery. The series relied on the audience moving around the display and discovering how the forms and the patterns on the surface evolved over the series.

We have really appreciated the originality of your artistic production and before leaving this stimulating conversation we would like to thank you for chatting with us and for sharing your thoughts, So finally Aphra, what projects are you currently working on, and what are some of the ideas that you hope to explore in the future?

My solo exhibition Scantlings celebrated the enduring local boat building industry through a range of sculpture and print works.

Aphra O’Connor: The 'Dynamic Equilibrium' series initiated ideas that I am still developing, and I am working through 3D collages that will further the concepts explored in 'Ubiquity Constructions' and 'Lineament Union'.

The exhibition followed the construction of a new fishing vessel at the Parkol Marine engineering site in Whitby in North Yorkshire. I documented each stage of the boat’s construction and each work referenced the various techniques employed in the boat building process.

After I graduated from the Royal College, I set up my studio space in Yorkshire and bought a small kiln. The size of the kiln restricts the size of each sculpture, but it has made me reconsider how works are put together, meaning that a sculpture is now collages of many elements.

I collected Items discarded during the building and reimagined them into abstract threedimensional collages. Through this I set out to capture the nuances behind the rough and heavy labour which takes place on the yard.

I have new ceramic sculptures on show at Sunnybank Mills in Leeds alongside other Yorkshire graduate artists and I am adamant to establish a bigger art exhibition programme in Yorkshire.

I am currently planning an exhibition alongside my parents which will see us create works inspired by each other at a new venue in Scarborough built to house new and exciting exhibitions.

In a similar vein, ceramic featured as a method of recording the imprints of the found objects. By indenting and creating repeating patterns in clay, I aimed to open a dialogue between the traditional nature of making and more industrial modes of manufacture.

Thank you for your thought provoking questions!

By displaying this in the same small fishing town that the engineering site was in I aimed to draw the local audience’s attention to the beauty that I saw on the site.

An interview by

There was a need for a physical exhibition of these works so that the hard waste materials and

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and

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, curator curator

Indented Encounter 2020, earthenware, underglaze, steel, reclaimed teak

Ksenia Dermenzhi Lives and works in London, Kingston, United Kingdom

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Jordi Rosado

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KseniaDermenzhi An interview by and

, curator curator

Hello Ksenia and welcome to ART Habens.

Before starting to elaborate about your artistic production we would start this interview with a couple of questions about your background. You have a solid formal training and you graduated in Easel Painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Kishinau: how did those formative years and your cultural substratum influence your evolution as an artist? Moreover, are there any experiences that did particularly help you to develop your attitude to experiment with different techniques?

Ksenia Dermenzhi: Indeed I have substantial educational background of eight years in art – four years of college and four years in the Academy of Fine Arts. Both specialties are in painting. In my case, education has formed me as an artist with my own taste and outlook. Our teachers, and I feel eternally grateful for this, gave us students absolute freedom without imposing or instilling their own ideas which was an important factor in my professional training.

Ksenia Dermenzhi

Certainly, culture is the key‌ It is more than true for my country, Moldova, the country of customs, symbols, paints and colors that are always beautiful that feeds you. I grew up inspired by such Moldavian artists as Mihai Grecu and Ada Zevin and even today they are among my favorites. Also, my Bulgarian roots, my southern blood so to say is always felt in my painting.

always want to try something new, experiment, though not always successful, but even failure gives ides for new works more successful ones. This is my way to achieve something great. This is what learning is - finding oneself. For an artist this search lasts a lifetime.

I think all of these have given rise to my love for experiments with paints and materials. It seems to me that when there is freedom, I

Your artistic production combines personal aesthetics with such unique visual language that you use in a strategic way to counter-

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balance subjectivity and offering an array of meanings to the viewers. The body of works that we have selected for this special edition of ART Habens —and that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article — has at once captured our attention for the way you explored the connection between human experience and imagination: when walking our readers through your usual setup and process, would you tell us how do you develop your initial ideas?

Ksenia Dermenzhi: Human experience and skills are certainly intertwined with fantasy and idea - there can be no art without these two components. I would add taste to them, the 3rd component, and I think that many will agree with me. Good craftsmanship needs time, it must always be developed and improved. Without mastery, no idea will turn into reality while without imagination and taste your skill will remain a craft, nothing more.

I can’t say that I have a clear, developed system of work — rather, for each new picture or a series of works, I involuntarily use a unique system that gives an impetus to the development of skill, idea and imagination, I personally find the process very interesting. So, for example, today I can take a large piece of canvas and allow myself to play with paints, smash, stick, paste, I give myself complete freedom, but then I have the task and idea to make a good painting from this havoc, the emotional part of which should still be visible to my viewers.

Another time it can be very constructive work, well planned, well thought over and developed in 100 sketch versions, the idea which you nurture and develop over a long

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period - obviously this is a completely different process, both mental and emotional.

We have really appreciated the vibrancy of vivacious and at the same time thoughtful nuances of tones that mark out your artworks, and we like the way they create tension and sense of dynamism: how did you come about settling on your color palette?

And how does your own psychological makeup determine the nuances of tones that you decide to include in your textures?

Ksenia Dermenzhi: As far as color and tone are concerned, they are lined up by themselves intermixing my feelings, attitude and experience. The foundation of my painting is in colors and textures - I always want to complicate and develop them – there is no limit to perfection.

I have always loved color diversity and contrasts, so one can always see a huge number of colors on my palette — I like combining, composing and mixing them — this gives the same depth and mobility to the colorful layer, and indeed I'm a big fan of pasty painting — in my opinion, it creates tension, life, strength - this style of painting can often tell about the artist much more than they can tell about themselves. Such painting, a part of the artist’s soul, will certainly affect a competent viewer, and certainly will not leave one indifferent.

We have really appreciated the way your artworks embody an interface between reality and imagination, — as in the interesting Flowers on the Red Table and Flowers in the Red Room —unveiling the point of convergence between the figurative and the abstract form. Scottish

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painter Peter Doig once remarked that even the most realistic paintings are derived more from within the head than from what's out there in front of us: how do you consider the relationship between reality and imagination playing within your work?

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Ksenia Dermenzhi: I completely agree with Peter Doig’s phrase, that human mind and everything that happens there works wonders. The picture of what is seen always passes through the artist’s perception filter and gives birth to completely new things.

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If we talk about my work, it is clear that imagination certainly prevails. Nevertheless, I often use photographs and collages that I rely on in the process of work and then abstract in the process. For me, this is always one of the most interesting tasks, especially when it comes to abstract still life, some of

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which you cited as an example. This is when my imagination feels truly free, and I easily manage to combine figurative with abstract forms: change space, plans, shape and color.

In the interesting Mars, Venus and Verona Sunshine you seem to draw from your daily

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experience, to convey such surreal quality to your portraits: how does everyday life's experience fuel your artistic research?

Speaking about daily experience, I am inspired by exhibitions: I look at other people’s work, realize their thoughts and ideas, they in turn refresh mine, drive inner dialogue, and provoke feelings and change.

I’ve been living in London for about a year; everything is new and interesting for me.

Ksenia Dermenzhi: Creativity is difficult to explain, even to yourself. Ideas appear in your mind and images are formed, that’s it.

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There are a lot of exhibitions, they are different, and for example, the last one which impressed me was Mark Bradford’

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exhibition in Hauser & Wirth. I don’t know in which way but I am sure it will have an impact on me. I also read fiction and

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professional literature, the last being “Just for Life” by Irving Stone - a biographical short story about Van Gogh. I watch films,

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travel and enjoy solitude. It is important for me to be alone sometimes, best of all outside, in the beautiful countryside – nature

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fills me energy and gives food for thought to all artists and not only to be read, but also films, travels and simply solitude. With pure thoughts, work and search for ideas are much more pleasant.

sensations of the viewer -what kind of feelings my work evokes, how much they can immerse into it, feel it - it is paramount for me. If this does not happen, then this is not my viewer.

With their unique multilayered visual quality, your artworks stimulate and expand the viewers' imagination, and in a certain sense, we dare say that your artworks seem to invite the viewers to look inside of what appear to be seen, rather than its surface, providing the spectatorship with freedom to realize their own perception. Austrian Art historian Ernst Gombrich once remarked the importance of providing a space for the viewers to project onto, so that they can actively participate in the creation of the illusion: how important is for you to trigger the viewers' imagination in order to address them to elaborate personal interpretations?

In particular, how open would you like your works to be understood?

New York City based artist Lydia Dona once stated that in order to make art today one has to reevaluate the conceptual language behind the mechanism of art making itself: do you create your works gesturally, instinctively? Or do you methodically transpose geometric schemes? In particular, how do you consider the role of chance and improvisation playing within your creative process?

Ksenia Dermenzhi: If we talk about a simple game of improvisation, without any development and ideas, then it is nothing more than meditation for me. If we give it development and use it as a component of a long creative process, then why not - it's about me! Of course, initially there is some kind of idea, but at the first stage of doing work I often give myself freedom and allow me to start work instinctively - in the future, of course, everything is worked out carefully, but this gestural stage sometimes opens up new boundaries for your original task.

Fantasies and ideas often arise in the process of work. This can be either a small sketch that begins with one- two lines, or immediate work on the canvas, which begins with a spot and develops on.

Ksenia Dermenzhi: It is an interesting question… Dialogue with the viewer is a crucial thing. Whether you like it or not, your work will always be interpreted differently from what it meant to be -there is no limit to the viewers’ imagination, and for me it’s always interesting to listen to someone’s impressions. I’m open to my viewers’ thoughts and feelings. It is always pleasant to realize that a person sees deeper than the paint layer and if they find something of their own, deeply intimate and thrilling then my interpretation of the work does not matter so much. I want my audience to be free in their understanding and feeling of my work.

If this chemistry happens, then my explanations are not necessary. First of all, my paintings are aimed at the internal

Speaking of schemes, if there is a complete sketch, then I methodically transfer it and complete work on an idea - in fact, everything depends on the task. Both processes are in fact possible, the main thing is to understand why you are doing this.

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Ksenia Dermenzhi

and it no longer impressed me. Of course, the opposite is also true, when you do not expect much from the artist, but when you see them live, you can’t tear yourself away.

In conclusion, I want to say that globalization has irreversibly affected art, changed it, changed the taste of the audience (in my opinion, not always for the better) and it is expected to be so in the future.

Over the years your artworks have been showcased in several occasions and you participated to lots of group exhibitions, including your recent participation to ArtCor, in Kishinev: how do you consider the nature of your relationship with your audience? Direct relationship with the audience in a physical is definetely the most important one, in order to snatch the spirit of a work of Art. However, as the move of Art from traditional gallery spaces, to street and especially to the online realm — as Instagram — increases: how would in your opinion change the relationship with a globalised audience?

We have really appreciated the originality of your artistic production and before leaving this stimulating conversation we would like to thank you for chatting with us and for sharing your thoughts, Ksenia. What projects are you currently working on, and what are some of the ideas that you hope to explore in the future?

Ksenia Dermenzhi: Indeed, nowadays, Internet platforms are the primary method of communication with the audience, especially for young artists. In my case it’s Instagram and those who are interested can find my page to get acquainted with my work at www.instagram.com/kseniadermenzhi closer. These are also online galleries.

Certainly, this is a great way to communicate with the audience from all over the world, the viewers may not leave their home to see an artist’s creative process, monitor their development and see their final result. The viewer can buy an object of art without getting up from the couch, and he will have a huge choice. This process is very different from communicating with the audience directly, when a person sees the final result, feels the spirit of the work even if pictures can be very different in reality. Remembering my school years, I had several favorite artists whose work I saw only on the screen. Later on, seeing them live they were deleted from “the lists of favorites”, simply because the expectation was very different from reality

Summer 2015 Special Issue

Ksenia Dermenzhi: I thank ART Habens for your interest in my art. I am currently working on a series of abstract landscapes that I want to include in my solo exhibition next year. The exhibition will be held in my hometown, Chisinau. A lot of preparation is required for this event. I also plan to participate in group exhibitions. In more remote future I want to experiment with installations, and mural painting - two most interesting areas to realize my talent in.

In conclusion, I want to thank ART Habens for the opportunity to participate in your Biennial Edition, for this pleasant conversation and original questions.

An interview by and

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, curator curator

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To

be

re pl ac ed

Ksenia Dermenzhi

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Ancuta Muresan

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video, 2013

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Jordi Rosado

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An interview by and

, curator curator

Hello Ancuta and welcome to ART Habens.

Before starting to elaborate about your artistic production we would like to invite our readers to visit and we would start this interview with a couple of questions about your background.

You have a solid formal training and you hold a Master Degree in Graphic Arts, that you received from the University of Art and Design in Cluj Napoca, Romania: how did those formative years and your cultural substratum influence your evolution as an artist? Moreover, are there any experiences that did particularly help you to develop your attitude to experiment?

Ancuta Muresan: I have studied Graphic Arts at the University of Art and Design, right after i finished High School of MathematicsInformatics and one year of Engineering University.

Ancuta Muresan

I can say that, sincer forever, I have felt a powerful conection with art. I knew that what I want to do is in deep conection with artistic environment, therefore I gave up on anything else and followed my feelings.

I had a lot of feedback during my studies but I can say that, the experience that I had in Praga, in 2014, gave me a big boost on confidence as an artist and it was somehow a confirmation that the direction I am going is the right one.

More precisely, it was a competition of movie posters "Film posters is not dead" between all the university students of art from all around Romania.

It ended with an exposition at the Art Museum in Cluj Napoca and then there were two places

During the University I accumulated very much information about art from exceptional people, which I respect and most importantly, I obtained the ability to differentiate good from bad in an artistic manner, I developed artistic vision. I experimented techniques like artistic drawing, engraving techniques, digital photography, analog etc.

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4 2 1 3 2 4=AnQE2N 33X70 cm

awarded for the exposition in Praga, at cinema Svetozor, in which I participated, the

collection of movies posters in Europe, Terry Posters.

selected work being shown in the biggest

Your artistic production combines personal

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Ancuta Muresan

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aesthetics with such a unique conceptual

strategic way to counter-balance subjectivity

approach, and the visual language that marks

and offers an array of meanings. The body of

out your artworks seems to be used in a

works that we have selected for this special

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Ancuta Muresan

walking our readers through your usual setup and process, would you tell us how do you develop the concept of MATHEMATRIX?

edition of ART Habens — and that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article — has at once captured our attention for the way you explored the point of convergence between the reality and the artistic realm: when

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Ancuta Muresan: I do not remember myself before i started drawing. Because from my

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ART Habens

but what I loved the most was the way he

very first memories I loved writing and drawing. I was born with this gift, or it was born through me. I was drawing different objects,subjects, it all came natural. When I was 7,8 years old I created my own dress collection. I was drawing a lot with my dad,

was writing the name "artistically", with strrong influences from graffiti art.

My first conection with graffiti was around the year 2004, when I was growing an

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Ancuta Muresan

interest in the hip hop culture.

inside. Beginning of the year 2005 I created Mathematrix.

I remember that moment, it was one in which, I can say, I went deep in another dimension, coming back with ANQ formed out of 1240 in my head.

From that moment on I felt that what I am creating has meaning, finding myself totally in

Years of searching followed with a lot of experimentation, study and going deeper, before I understood the movement and started feeling it also.

As an artist, my main goal is that through my creation I send a real message from the

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Ancuta Muresan

ART Habens

what I send. Mathematrix is my own alphabet, based one numbers and mathematical symbols, is the freedom and absence of fear, the frequency of everything around me!

your artworks, and we like the way they

We have really appreciated the vibrancy of thoughtful nuances that mark out some of

nuances of tones that you

create tension and sense of dynamism: how did you come about settling on your color palette? And how does your own psychological make-up determine the decide to include in your artworks?

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0 2 4 7 = QNA

Ancuta Muresan: I find myself well in the warm colours, probably due to my personality.

I like a lot to use powerful contrasts but in the same time to maintain a clear composition.

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The performative and the physical act of creating your works of art seem to play a relevant role in your work. New York City based artist Lydia Dona once stated that in order to make art today one has to reevaluate the conceptual language behind

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Ancuta Muresan

the mechanism of art making itself: do you create your works gesturally, instinctively?

Or do you methodically transpose geometric schemes? In particular, how do you consider the role of chance and improvisation playing within your creative process?

ART Habens

Ancuta Muresan: The process of creation a piece begins always with an idea. For me, as an artist, it is very important that to the initial idea I give meaning, to transmit a certain state of mind, to answer to some questions or to be the one that sparks questions so that all

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4 2 1 3 2 4=AnQE2N

that follow me or they just see my work,

process gets longer and I find myself

"search", as so the artistic knwoledge

exploring different areas that I did not know

developes, the feeling and taste of art.

they exist. Through my vision, this is the

Dropping on paper the idea, I realize that the

freedom to create and this is the the most

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Ancuta Muresan

ART Habens

sincere feeling. Practically the mission is

richness of details, your artworks challenges

fulfilled following only the game of colours.

the viewers' perceptual parameters: we daresay that your artistic practice seems to

With their unique visual identity and their

aim to look inside of what appear to be seen,

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rather than its surface, providing the spectatorship with freedom to realize their own perception: how important is for you to trigger the viewers' imagination in order to address them to elaborate personal interpretations? In particular, how open

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would you like your works to be understood?

Ancuta Muresan: How the great romanian sculptor, Constantin Brancusi said, who is a great a inspiration of mine, "look at the artworks untill you see them". I believe that, getting to the point in which you "see", the

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Ancuta Muresan

one watching receives exactly what he needs.

Creation is unique. It is brought to life because an inner feeling, of a search or act of trying.

ART Habens

see the true meaning and conection, but everyone of us have different eyes and a different background. We come from different context and our influences are different also.

What I find is that everyone to have the

I have thought very much if my art is being understood or not, if the ones watching can

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freedom to get art as an energy and source

experiences, knowledge, hopes and dreams. I want to be able to transmit this, 100%.

of inspiration.

Your artworks embody an interface between realism and imagination. Scottish painter Peter Doig once remarked that even the most realistic paintings are derived more

ANQ2EN isn`t just a name. ANQ2EN under the different aliases (anq, qeen, qe2n, QN, q&a) is energy, vibration based on feelings,

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from within the head than from what's out there in front of us: how do you consider the relationship between reality and imagination playing within your work? And how does everyday life's experience fuel your artistic research?

artist and I can say that I am a part of it and it is a part of me.

It is the guied in creating the better version of myself. The "self" must be created.

Creation of self is based on experiences, experiments, knowledge, love and senses.

Ancuta Muresan: I don’t see imagination and reality as two separate ideas. They depend of one another.

Sometimes I imagine things untill they happen. it's about faith, exercise and managing of thoughts. Mathematrix is an imagination exercise that doesn’t stop.

The hip hop culture is a guide towards taking the best decision, at the right time. It has taught me to overcome the fear of unknown, by learning and trying. It taught me how to exit the comfort zone and how to apreciate every progress made. Knowledge is the key towards opening other doors, I’m staying humble and modest by recognizing the simple things.

I have hundresds of writings and sketches in the folder called “MY MIND”, because they are too many and maybe one life wouldn’t be enough to transpose each and everyone of them. I am based on natural selection and the ones selected get explored.

The idea of MATHEMATRIX also reflects your passion for numbers, math and physics, and we have particularly appreciated the way you pratice highlights the Ariadne's thread that links Art to Science. How do you consider the relationship between artistic research and scientific method?

I get inspired very easily and I find in almost every state of mind a project that can be evolved.

Ancuta Muresan: The fact that I studied mathematics and informatics guided me in introducing in my artistic approach, the knowledge that I had obtained and to continue searching.

Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco once stated, "artists's role differs depending on which part of the world they’re in": as an artist particularly interested in exploring the consequences of our society’s constraints, do you think that your artistic research respond to a particular cultural moment? In particular, do you think that artists can raise awareness to an evergrowing audience on topical issues that affect our globalised and everchanging society?

Mathematicians are artists, undeerstood. I find a powerful connection between science and art and I believe they depend on one another.

Over the years you have participated to several exhibitions, including your participation to the Group Photography Exhibition “On the road” in Berlin, Germany: how do you consider the participatory nature of your relationship with your audience?

Ancuta Muresan: The graffiti movement is part of the culture of hip hop that was born due to the limitation of society. this culture had a great impact on my development as an

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Direct relationship with the audience in a

opinion change the relationship with a globalised audience?

physical is definetely the most important one, in order to snatch the spirit of a work of Art.

Ancuta Muresan: I had artworks exhibited in many countries and I took part in many collective exhibitions with other artists from around the world.

Every exposition, brings me satisfaction and

However, as the move of Art from traditional gallery spaces, to street and especially to the online realm increases: how would in your

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joy. I am glad about every opportunity, the idea of getting exposed to a wider public opens up my vision as an artist.

It inspires me and gives me a powerful motivation to continue in a better version.

The fact that as an artist you get to exhibit in galleries, on the streets or online I see it as an

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opportunity so long it doesn;t lose the essence.

I see it also as a responsabillity, a big one, for the artist, to understand this.

We have really appreciated the originality of your artistic production and before leaving this stimulating conversation we would like to

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ART Habens

Ancuta Muresan

thank you for chatting with us and for sharing

ideas that you hope to explore in the future?

your thoughts, Ancuta. What projects are you currently working on, and what are some of the

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Ancuta Muresan: Thanks for this opportunity!

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Ancuta Muresan

ART Habens

At the moment I am working as a collaborator

therefore there is need of continuous creation

with the art gallery in Guadeloupe (Carribean

and I am planning exhibitions and new projects

Island) where I was taken as a permanent artist,

in fashion design.

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Lives and works in South Korea

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Cha Jungmin

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video, 2013

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Cha Jungmin An interview by and

, curator curator

Hello Jungmin and welcome to ART Habens. Before starting to elaborate about your artistic production we would like to start this interview with a couple of questions about your background: are there any experiences or formal training that did particularly influence your evolution as an artist? Moreover, how does your cultural substratum direct the direction of your current artistic research?

Cha Jungmin: It's been a little over two years since I moved to London. I am currently a third year student at Chelsea College of Art, completing my BA in Fine Art. Before I came to London I was studying Forest Management in South Korea.

Korea is a country that has achieved rapid economic growth in a short period of time, which has improved the quality of life of our citizens drastically in the decades following the Korean war.

However, the aftermath of the rapid growth has left the gap between the rich and the poor widened and intensified the ideological class conflict. A narrative has emerged that those who have gained economic wealth have succeeded while all others have failed. Korean society often demands conformity, and thus many Koreans have adopted the mindset that success means economic prosperity, and that the example set by the upper class must be emulated. As a result, Koreans face enormous pressure to follow

Cha Jungmin

numerous implicit rules of life, such as applying to a specific kind of college, with a specific kind of degree, at a specific age, and getting a specific kind of job. This has created a culture that promotes comparisons and rankings based on superficial factors of success. It is rare in Korea for people to pursue artistic creativity because almost everyone is pressured into chasing the kind of rigid

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life that they are taught will grant them stability.

During most of my childhood, I constantly wondered why things were the way they were. My culture left a deep impression on me of the demands we impose on the bright minds of our youths. In the face of this pressure to conform, I have always fought to maintain my originality, while still understanding that I was enjoying the many material advantages of our economically prosperous country. I have spent my life walking the tightrope between accepting cultural influence and protecting my individuality. I focus more on the individual side, which is why my work doesn't seem to reflect political or social issues on the face of it.

However, if you look closely, it is clear that Korean culture has influenced me enormously, despite my resistance.

Although I have tried to minimize the influence of external factors on my own unique existence, the foundation of my work is rooted in the charms and tribulations of Korean culture.

One of the topics that I often explore is the relationship between the individual and society. My piece, ‘LATIO / GATIO’ selected

by ART Habens explores the idea of an individual completely separated from society. In this work, I divide human existence into two categories: “A human being well assimilated into society” and “A human completely distant from society.”

The body of works that we have selected for this special edition of ART Habens — and that our readers have already started

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to get to know in the introductory pages of this article — has at once captured our attention for the way visually represent organized information, providing the viewers with such unique multilayered

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visual experience. When walking our readers through your usual setup and process, would you tell us how do you usually develop your initial idea for your artworks? Do you create your works

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Cha Jungmin

ART Habens

from abstract diagrammatic forms to short science fiction stories.

gesturally, instinctively? Or do you methodically transpose geometric schemes?

In summary, I like to comprehensively analyze personal experiences from my unique point of view. I do this by selecting a careful range of data, figuring out commonalities and categorizing and rearranging it according to my own rules. I call this ‘structuring’. The structuring process is very powerful. Information does not usually make sense when it is scattered, however, when sorted, it provides a new perspective that may never have been discovered before.

Cha Jungmin: I tend to follow the same methodology when creating any artwork.

1. Become inspired by a personal experience 2. Structurally organize the experience from a subjective point of view 3. Express the organized information in various ways First, I become inspired by a personal experience, such as the discovery that I am happy.

Why Do My Works Have a Novel Form or a Game Form?

After that, I start asking myself, 'How / Why am I happy?' In this example, it was immediately clear that happiness emerges from many sources such as time, money, friends, childhood, personal experiences, and so on, so it is difficult to isolate. I reduced this vast scope by adding subjectivity, and selecting a single element such as 'time' to explore in relation to my happiness.

Cha Jungmin: Simple classifications of complex information makes it significantly easier to convert data into many different formats, including short stories and games.

For example, imagine a scene where several people are working in a kitchen. If you only wanted to collect data about kitchen utensils, then you would focus solely on the kitchen utensils among the various items in the kitchen. If you list them clearly on a white piece of paper then you might find it easier to brainstorm new ideas. For example, if I arranged them in the order in which they are used during the cooking process, I could easily create an art piece by writing a collection of chronological short stories using my imagination.

I then began to structurally organize the effect of time on my happiness asking myself questions like ,'Do I have a lot of time?', 'If I have that much time, what are the advantages and disadvantages?', 'What is the effect of having time in the long term?' etc. Once I had arranged my thoughts structurally, it was easier to process how time had influenced my happiness: the order, the format, and the process.

Once I organized the information, I attempted to convey it in text or visual form. It could be expressed in anything

I sometimes use a game format because I believe it adds clarity. Games have clear and

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complicated structures: specific rules, roles,

What types of games do you prefer?

rewards & punishments. It is easy for me to convert my structured ideas into the

Cha Jungmin: I enjoy many types of games,

structured format of a game.

but especially RPG games. I believe they reflect concepts I find interesting, such as

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Cha Jungmin

ART Habens

roles, with each player observing the overall situation and giving instructions, like a general overseeing a war. I love how even the smallest unit has a certain function in the game world, making the whole structure stronger and more realistic.

Similarly, I also like the concept of countless pieces of DNA floating around the human body, each playing a role in ensuring its genes survive for generations before coming together to form the unique structure of the human body.

We have particularly appreciated the way you combine delicate tones with geometric patterns, to create tension and dynamics. How does your own psychological make-up determine the nuances of tones that you decide to include your artworks and in particular, how do you develop your textures?

Cha Jungmin: I usually choose intense colors but follow my instincts no matter what they tell me.

I recently realized that the game “Tetris” reflects not only my color preferences but also my artistic style. I loved this game when I was a kid. I liked how each block was divided into a geometric unit that could slot perfectly against the next block to create a whole. I also appreciated each block having a distinct color such as red, green, yellow, blue and purple. So even if the blocks are grouped together, the district colors make it easy to differentiate them. The idea of clearly divided basic units separated by color is quite attractive to me.

how large societies consist of conscious individuals and that societal rules must be adhered to by the individual. For example, the RPG game 'StarCraft' involves a number of diverse combatants playing specific

With their unique multilayered visual quality, your artworks invite the viewers to

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look inside of what appear to be seen,

lot of information does not work when it is

rather than its surface, and as you have

scattered, however, when sorted, it

remarked in your artist's statement, the

provides a new perspective that may not

structuring process has a special power. A

yet have been discovered before: and in

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might include a manual in front of my painting. If my work contains short stories, I might summarize them very briefly.

particular, a diagram does not force a particular claim onto the observer and leaves room for various interpretations.

How important is for you to trigger the viewers' imagination in order to address them to elaborate personal interpretations? In particular, how open would you like your works to be understood?

I am happy communicating with the audience 'to some extent’ because I want to give the audience room for interpretation.

Some people want to interpret art at their own discretion. That is why I'm experimenting with the idea of dividing the explanations into different levels like ‘Detailed / Medium / Light’, depending on how much guidance each individual wants.

The ‘Light Guidelines’ would be very brief descriptions, but the ‘Detailed Guidelines’ would include comprehensive explanations of my work. Also, I want to leave the order in which the audience experiences my work and my explanations up to them.

Cha Jungmin: It might sound a bit selfish, but I create the work that I want to see.

My audience is just me. I also have perfectionist tendencies, so I always struggle to satisfy myself.

The more I think about it, the more clearly I see that my communication with a wider audience happens only after I complete a piece. Since everything I do is created for the purpose of satisfying myself, it has not always been easy to come up with a way to communicate with audiences. For example, it was difficult to communicate with an audience through my piece ‘LATIO / GATIO’ because it includes both a painting and a short story. I have spent the past three years seeking the advice of tutors on how to effectively communicate my vision with audiences, and have now realized that each tutor has a different opinion on this.

Ultimately, you can only do what you think is best and hope it is appreciated.

You are particularly fascinated by encryptions rich of symbolic value: how would you consider the role of symbols playing within your artistic production?

Cha Jungmin: I see the world as encrypted.

I tend to automatically hide the true meaning of whatever I am thinking and my brain has a habit of obscuring its processes. Without going through the cloaking process, I cannot freely express what is intended. Even when writing a diary, I tend to create and use symbols that only I can recognize, rather than sticking to the common language. Likewise, I like to cover information with layers to make it more indirect. This is often represented in my work through an encrypted language.

The conversion of my ideas into short stories or games is also another way of

Personally, I have accepted that I can only communicate my ideas to a certain extent. I might try to make my work more accessible by summarizing my ideas on a single sheet of paper as a simple guide using numbers (1st / 2nd / 3rd), or I

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remarked that even the most realistic works of art are derived more from within the head than from what's out there in front of us: how do you consider the relationship between reality and imagination, playing within your artistic production?

encrypting explicit messages in a more indirect and metaphoric manner.

The way I see the world has been influenced by one of my favorite books.

The Chinese science fiction writer Ted Chang's “Story of Your Life” explores how the brain's structure is completely changed depending on how you use language. The main character, a linguist, interprets the language of aliens invading Earth. Unlike the linear method of human language, the aliens use a language in which the beginning and the end are expressed simultaneously. Thus, these aliens experience the past, present, and future at the same time. As the linguist begins to understand this language, she gradually forgets how time is ordered and also sees the present, past and future at the same time. This story highlights how language can change perception. I assume that encryption through which I see the work reflects how my brain works.

Cha Jungmin: I don’t think it is possible to fully express reality because reality is like a skein of complex and causal relationships.

I often think the most accurate way to try to express that would be with a long list of numbers using math or science.

In this respect, my work is quite similar to a diagram. Let’s take the earlier example of kitchen utensils. If you looked at that list you made of the utensils in the kitchen, and then considered utensils A and B you would realize that you could go a lifetime without ever considering them together in the real world. However, from the moment they are listed on the blank paper, they are immediately linked together. Thus, the white space of the paper constitutes the ‘virtual world’, where certain pieces of information are linked together, making it easier to structure and organize.

My earlier work was full of symbolic codes that could not be interpreted at all.

But lately I've been including some common symbols, such as numbers and languages which gives the viewer some ability to interpret.

Thus, the effect of diagrams on reality varies depending on the purpose for which they have been created, as well as what data is selected and how. Although diagrams are not a naturally occurring phenomena, they act as a bridge between reality and the imagination as materialized knowledge. This half-virtual world reflects the fact that the myriad of information that exists in the real world is not easily summarized. Therefore, a diagram is not

I'm also interested in different kinds of languages like dead tribal languages, sign language and braille. Although these languages follow the same rules as any language, they tend to have a certain degree of encryption because they are only used by We really appreciate the way your artworks elicit response in the spectatorship.

Scottish visual artist [Peter Doig] once

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an expression or representation of a single thing, but rather existence itself.

Also, a diagram does not force a particular claim onto the observer.

It leaves room for various interpretations

by simply displaying selected information for subjective observers. Therefore, the diagram creates meaning both intuitively and indirectly, rather than asserting its meaning linearly and directly, like a text.

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Cha Jungmin

ART Habens Cha Jungmin

Since my I select and arrange small slices of reality, my work reflects reality to some imperfect extent.

Ultimately, it exerts a special power over the ambiguous boundary between the real

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reality and the imagined reality.

Research is an important factor throughout your practice, and we have particularly appreciated the way you

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Cha Jungmin

practice highlights the Ariadne's thread that links Art to Science, bringing together conceptual, biological and mathematical based data. How do you consider the relationship between artistic research and scientific method?

ART Habens

comes naturally to me to use a scientific approach in my art. Of course, science in art is not always able to reach a rational conclusion. Instead, science in art has the flexibility to employ a scientific approach to some extent while still coming to a creative conclusion.

Cha Jungmin: I love science. I tend to arrange causes and effects in the traditional order, and enjoy reaching logical conclusions. I especially like dividing bigger pieces of the whole into basic units, rather than abstract divisions which cannot be organized. I am thrilled if I can endlessly zoom in something using a microscope and some firmly designed structures remain, such as in the human immune system. A myriad of finely divided immune cells, is incredibly beautiful as their precise timing and sophisticated hierarchy eventually form a giant kingdom called the human body.

As a side note, I would encourage everyone to take a look at Swedish artist, Hilma af Klint. She employs a number of scientific theories that exist in reality to represent the indescribable world of the soul, and transforms diagrams, which are mainly used as proof in science, into complete abstractions.

I find it really interesting how she adopts scientific theories to explain what does not exist in reality. I particularly enjoy her usage of pie charts to express the spiritual levels of plants in her book,“Flowers, Mosses, and Lichens”. Interestingly, this pie chart does not function as a normal pie chart, so it is impossible to interpret. I was greatly inspired by the fact that she dared to use scientific methods to describe the spiritual world. It's a good example of taking a partially scientific approach and completely transforming it into art.

My fundamental fondness for science is rooted in my interest in proper explanations. I'm often inspired by science fiction, and I regularly read new research from science magazines like Nature. I especially like science fiction because I like to mix imagination and science to some degree. It's fun to see what has and hasn't been proven being mixed together creatively.

How do you consider the nature of your relationship with your audience? Direct relationship with the viewers in a physical context is definitely the most important one, in order to snatch the spirit of a work of Art. However, as the move of Art from traditional gallery spaces, to street and especially to the online realm — as Instagram — increases: how would in your opinion

I believe that science and art are perfect companions. I don't think art should be limited to any particular field. Rather, art is an academic field that can freely traverse various fields such as philosophy, science, humanities, aesthetics, and history etc. It

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change the relationship with a globalised audience?

Cha Jungmin: I am currently studying as many different topics as I can find time for.

I express my creativity by tying unrelated things together in a creative way rather than creating something completely new.

For this reason, I am constantly reading the latest research from science magazines, and always browsing the news for stories. Inspiration could strike at any moment.

Cha Jungmin: Certainly, in modern times, the way in which art is displayed has diversified. You can advertise your work anywhere and use social media for exposure. Although I am interested in digital mediums, I have not yet chosen to display my paintings solely online because it is harder for people to experience my work holistically. I think it's important that they see the textures and layers of my work and feel the emotions that emerge in a specific setting.

For example, my piece ECTOPLASM, was partially inspired by the short story “Seventy-Two Letters,” by Ted Chiang. He wrote a profoundly creative tale that combines the Golem theory (that mud can be animated), the homunculus theory (small human figures are stored in sperm and born in order) and steampunk themes.

After reading it, I was specifically inspired by the idea of ‘Ectoplasm,’ which is white matter that appears when spiritual beings disappear. This led to my wondering, ‘What if I could go back to the past and change fate?’

I am thinking about creating a video for my next piece. I think it would be effective to edit only part of the work and then post it online. Uploading the whole thing would be tricky because of copyright issues.

Additionally, I am thinking of making a small game in the form of an app. Then people could enjoy my work using a smartphone without an exhibition space like a traditional gallery.

I try merging various ideas on and on in many different ways. I will always be intrigued by how many perfect combinations of ideas exist in the world.

There are an almost infinite number of combinations, and the possibilities of this always thrills me. The next piece I create will be another short-story based painting. I’m currently brainstorming new ideas.

I think the way I communicate with the globalized audience changes depending on the medium I use.

We have really appreciated the originality of your artistic production and before leaving this stimulating conversation we would like to thank you for chatting with us and for sharing your thoughts, Jungmin. What projects are you currently working on, and what are some of the ideas that you hope to explore in the future?

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An interview by and

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, curator curator

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Here we are with what we have done. Oil stick and acr

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video, 2013

ylic on canvas. 60x50in. 2017. JEREMY WOLF 422 0

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Jordi Rosado

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Jeremy Wolf An interview by and

, curator curator

Hello Jeremy and welcome to ART Habens.

Before starting to elaborate about your artistic production we would start this interview with a couple of questions about your background: are there any experiences that did particularly influence your evolution as an artist? Moreover, how does your cultural substratum direct your current artistic research?

Jeremy Wolf: Hi and thanks for having me.

Exciting to be involved with ART Habens. In terms of experiences that have influenced me as an artist, I think you can break them down into two categories – macro and micro. By my definition, the micro experiences would be those that have really only affected my personal development without having a wider impact on society at large (at least as far as I know).

As a starting point, I look back to my parents’ encouragement of my creativity from a young age. My dad is a self-taught piano player and I regularly sat on the bench next to him while he played in our living room. My mom is also very artistic in her own right, especially in drawing and sculpting, and she was always putting together arts and craft ideas for us to try. My parents also kept us culturally engaged, taking us to museums, concerts, plays, and things like that. I can’t say that at that age I was always the best behaved or paying 100% attention, but I think the effect it has on your development down the road is really important.

Jeremy Wolf

consensus masterpieces” in institutions like that.

When you go to a gallery showing contemporary art I think that the definition of what art is gets expanded. There’s just certain subject matter or even levels of execution that probably won’t find their way into a museum that could very easily end up in a gallery. I remember the first show I walked into was at Deitch Projects in Chelsea and the title of the show was “Mail Order Monsters.”

It was a group show and there were a bunch of really great artists showing, but the piece I

When I got to college I visited galleries for the first time with two great professors, Barbara Friedman and Harold Brown, and that was a formative experience for me. It really opened my mind up as to what art could be and what could be considered as art. Museums just provide a pretty different outlook as to what art is – generally you’re only going to find “art world

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remember the most was by a guy named Dennis Tyfus. It was this massive painting of a really fucked up forest scene rendered in black and highlighter yellow. Just really striking and kinda burned into my 18-year-old mind, you know? You’ll have to google it to get a proper sense of what I’m talking about. I just remember that was when everything really clicked for me that you don’t always have to try to paint the Mona Lisa every time you go to make something. You just execute what’s in your head with the most fidelity you can no matter how fucked up or weird it may be and that’s what people really find interesting.

So, yeah, those are a few of the most important micro experiences I can think of.

From a macro perspective I have to say that I think 9/11 is the event that sticks out the most to me. My family and I weren’t directly affected, but as a native New Yorker it’s just really the biggest thing I can remember happening. I assume it’s the equivalent of the Kennedy assassination for our generation or something? You know, everyone remembers where they were when they got the news and all that. It’s also the jump off point for a landslide of terrible American political decisions afterward and those feature pretty prominently in my work. Directly post9/11 you get the war in Afghanistan, the Iraq war, Abu Ghraib, the 2008 financial crisis, drone strikes, Trayvon Martin’s killing, the rise of ISIS, Ferguson Missouri, Donald Trump’s election and the rise of American populism/far right, #metoo, and now coronavirus and our response (or lack thereof) to it. I think the general experience of having lived through all of this has really caused me to re-evaluate what it means to be an American. Things are simpler when you’re younger and growing up and there are good guys and bad guys. But then you get older and there might still be some good guys and bad guys, but it’s not always easy to tell who is who and a lot of people have shades of both in their nature. I think those feelings of confusion and disillusionment show up a lot in my work and drive a lot of my research. Who I am – an American, a New Yorker, a foreigner in a different country, a millennial, etc. - defines the issues I want to address with my art.

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Blue Room (Leda and the Swan). Acrylic and oil stick on canvas. 36x48 Special Issue

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Marked out with such unique visual identity, the body of works that we have selected for this special edition of ART Habens —and that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article — has at once captured our attention for the way you use your visual language in a strategic way to counter-balance subjectivity, offering an array of meanings. When walking our readers through your usual setup and process, would you tell us how do you usually develop your initial idea for your portraits? Do you create your works gesturally, instinctively? Or do you methodically transpose geometric schemes?

Jeremy Wolf: It really depends, you know?

Sometimes an issue jumps out at you in a way that it can spark an idea fully formed. Other times I pick up pieces along the way and piece together an idea over time. Generally, though, I’d say I do start off with an over-arching objective for each work.

In selecting imagery to work with I’m typically reacting directly to events in the outside world. I’m reading the way that an event makes me feel and trying to find images that convey that same sense to the viewer. That’s why so much of my work is strange, surreal, dark, with a sense of impending doom – that’s how I process what’s happening in the world today.

When it comes to actually assembling the image, though, I have a pretty varied process. Sometimes I draw up preparatory sketches that I use as templates for a larger painting. Individual elements within those drawings might have references, like say a piece of fruit or a tree or something, but the actual construction of the image is just how I feel it has the best sense of rhythm. Other times I reference historical artworks for their composition and kind of overlay the imagery I want onto that composition.

But many times, even those pieces that come to you all at once need refining and editing over time. You have to remain flexible on that front and not be so rigid as to allow the original idea to crowd out better ideas that might come later. I’d say that 9 times out

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The End Is Nigh. Oil & acrylic on canvas. 36x24. 2018

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gemini of 10 I start out with a well-defined plan and try to

stage, though, things tend to be more instinctive

realize that plan fully before I start making

and on the fly.

wholesale edits. When I do get to the editing

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current American political landscape, the subsequent effect on society, and the changing concept of what it means, and has meant, to be an American both at home and abroad: what does

The exploration of the theme of identity plays a crucial role in your artistic research, and as you have remarked in your artist's statement, your recent paintings react to the seismic shifts in the

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direct you to focus an important part of your artistic research on this theme? And how do your memories and your everyday life's experience fuel your artistic research?

Jeremy Wolf: Identity is extremely important to my practice. I think that the questions I have about my own identity form the core of my artistic research and work. So there’s that internal struggle and search for who I am and who I want to be and the values I want to uphold and represent; and how that all aligns with the parts of my identity that inform upon me from outside.

Labels are unfortunately quite sticky and most times come packed with the baggage of history. For example, being American or French or Brazilian is an attribute imposed upon you from outside what you are. You can then choose to accept that “Americanness” or “Frenchness” or “Brazilianness” into your identity, but it is not necessarily intrinsic to who you are. Even if you only accept the elements of “Americanness” that you find to be positive and reject the others, the label itself comes with all of its connotations and suppositions. The longer you go in your life with that label attached to you the harder it is to separate yourself from the baggage associated with that attribute. As someone who only relatively recently started to question whether my personal values align with those of my birth country it is a difficult situation to reconcile in my own mind.

The external labels that help to define me to the wider world get stickier over time and it is harder to separate myself from them. That reckoning is a frequent topic in my work and continues to fuel new ideas and research.

With their effective combination between bold, vivacious tones and thoughtful nuances, your artworks communicate alternation of tension and release, providing the paintings with such sense of dynamics. How does your own psychological make-up determine the nuances of tones that you decide to include in an artwork and in particular, how do you develop your textures in order to achieve such brilliant results?

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American Daydream. Oil stick & acrylic on canvas. 68x50-. 2017.

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Jeremy Wolf: I’d say that my background as a musician really informs my sense of dynamics in the visual arts. I grew up playing piano, trombone, and guitar at home and in school and that musicality sticks with you as you get older. Music is all about build up of tension and release, dynamics, highs and lows. It’s what gives songs structure and makes them interesting to listen to.

I try to capture those ideas in my paintings and drawings. I’m really always thinking about the rhythm of a work. I even remember in our high school jazz ensemble the bandleader, Mr. Engle, talking about us “changing colors” with our sounds, so yeah all of that stuff is really tied up together for me in the way I conceptualize my artwork. I respond well to bold colors and I really love texture and impasto, so those are elements that you’ll find frequently in my art, simply because they’re what I find visually interesting. I’ll let rough spots in the painting build up over time and incorporate them to add to the underlying texture. I’ve always liked carbuncle-y surfaces. I even remember never wanting the perfectly round pumpkin at Halloween time. I always wanted the one with all the warts and strange discoloration. I think that attitude shows through in my paintings especially.

Your artworks feature such unique combination between realistic elements and dreamlike ambience. Scottish painter Peter Doig once remarked that even the most realistic paintings are derived more from within the head than from what's out there in front of us: how do you consider the relationship between reality and imagination, playing within your artistic production?

Jeremy Wolf: I think, especially in the current times and climate, imagination is essential for coping with reality and that’s kind of the sense I take your Doig quote in. My artwork is about processing the events of the contemporary world, synthesizing that information and my own reactions and feelings to it, and then putting together images to illustrate what comes from that operation. By making sense of truths that

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seem stranger than fiction, in a way, my art is more real than what is happening outside in the world.

My imagination is giving a structure the fucked up reality of the world at large. In that way, I can say that I agree with Mr. Doig.

Your artistic production is marked our with such deep socio political engagement. Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco once stated, "the artist’s role differs depending on which part of the world you’re in. It depends on the political system you’re living under": as an artist particularly interested in exploring the themes of power dynamics and relationships between persons and groups, do you think that your artistic research respond to a particular cultural moment? Moreover, what could be in your opinion the role of artists in order to raise attention to topical issues in our globalized contemporary society?

Jeremy Wolf: Another interesting quote and I also agree with this one. I think Mr. Orozco’s statement dovetails with my conception of identity and labels and how those designations can kind of alter your role in the world as an artist. I find that the issues that animate me to create are generally political in nature. Politics defines the topics we address as a society and how we address them. So my role as an artist, as I’ve defined it, is to provide criticism of politics, the political class, and the political process and its results. Regarding Mr. Orozco’s quote, that is very much tied to my existing in a relatively free democratic society. For the artist who lives under a totalitarian regime, perhaps it is not explicit criticism, but the simple act of continuing to live and make any sort of art that is meaningful.

Even so, not every piece of work I create is a focused criticism of society at large. Some days I just want to create without all the baggage of dissecting the world’s issues and the mental strain that accompanies that. As such, I’m not really comfortable defining the role of the artist for anyone outside of myself. I think in the end people have to create for whatever reasons motivate them.

For me, it’s not so much about grabbing people’s attention to specific issues; it’s more thinking about

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Denial is a river in Egypt (head of St. John the Baptist) Oil stick and acrylic on canvas. 36x48in 2018 21 4 16

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Fear of Loss of Control

GARDEN. Acrylic & oil stick on canvas, 32x68- 2018

and addressing issues that I find distressing on a personal level. I’ve found that exhibitions with the stated goal of “raising awareness” tend to do more screaming into the void than actually raising awareness. I try to address topics that concern me and if people pay attention then I welcome that. However, it won’t change the direction that I take my practice in.

With their unique multilayered visual quality, your artworks highlight contours of known reality in an unknown world and seem to invite the viewers to look inside of what appear to be seen, rather than its surface, providing the spectatorship with freedom to realize their own perception. Austrian Art historian Ernst Gombrich once remarked the importance of providing a space for the viewers to project onto,

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also a longer explication of how I think that work and the myth behind it relates to today’s world. I think the issue of titles similarly addresses your previous question about leaving things open to the audience’s interpretation. I guess I have an objective a lot of the time in how I name the pieces, but I like to leave it to the audience to decipher that for themselves.

so that they can actively participate in the creation of the illusion: how important is for you to trigger the viewers' imagination in order to address them to elaborate personal interpretations? In particular, how open would you like your works to be understood?

Jeremy Wolf: You’re on a roll with the interesting quotes. I definitely want viewers to interpret and see with their own eyes. I like ambiguities and the capacity for a piece of work to elicit questions from the audience. I want people standing in front of these works and contemplating them, turning them over in their mind and building a relationship with them. I would say I absolutely have an idea of what my works mean to me, but I think many great works of art have relationships with their audiences that are fluid and changeable over time.

I don’t want my definition of the work to impose upon someone else’s – kind of like when you find out your favorite love song is really written about a sandwich or something like that, you know? It was probably better just not knowing the background in a case like that. So generally, I’m a bit reticent to dive really deep into my intention and break down every detail. I like to give a broad overview of what drove me to create the body of work and then leave it up to the viewer to break it down for him or herself.

How do you consider the nature of your relationship with your audience? Direct relationship with the viewers in a physical context is definetely the most important one, in order to snatch the spirit of a work of Art. However, as the move of Art from traditional gallery spaces, to street and especially to the online realm — as Instagram — increases: how would in your opinion change the relationship with a globalised audience?

Jeremy Wolf: This is something that I’ve been grappling with since I’ve started to exhibit more often, but I probably found myself questioning this even earlier. When I first started to go to galleries in person I found the artwork to be much more effective in person. It breaks down a lot of the barriers between the audience and the work that are present when a piece is just reproduced as a printed image or on the screen of a phone. I find that people tend to really understand my art more deeply when it’s up on a wall and they can stand right in front of it. I also deal with the issue of scale – I often work very large and when you take something 6 feet x 6 feet and scale it down to fit on an iphone screen it just can’t have the same impact. Something that large really allows you to step into an image when you’re there in person and you can’t feel that effect holding it in your hand.

Your artworks are sometimes marked out with explicative titles that sometimes, as Saturn Devouring His Son, seem to speak about the outside world: how do you go about naming your work ? In particular, is important for you to expressly tell something that might walk the viewers through their visual experience?

Jeremy Wolf: It’s hard to say – sometimes the titles are definite guides as to what the painting addresses and how I think it should make someone feel. Other times titles can be quite random and unrelated in any obvious way to the work at hand. Other times, like with Saturn Devouring His Son (Fearing a Loss of Control in an era of Great Uncertainty), there’s an obvious direct reference to the Goya painting it’s based on, but

As contemporary artists, though, it’s just something you have to deal with. I can only make the work that I want to make, and if that work is not optimized for instagram that’s unfortunate, but it won’t change my mindset or decisionmaking.

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On the other hand, as you mentioned, the digital realm allows you to connect your artwork with people that otherwise might never have had the chance to see it. I’ve hand contact with people from all over the globe, which is really validating in a sense and helps to spur you on to create more work. However, the flip side is that you become one of many millions of people in a massive information stream that can feel very anonymizing and make your work feel very small and insignificant. But that’s why I return to the fact that you can only make the work that you want to make. If you make compromises in the work to try to game the system and rise to the top I think the work loses its authenticity and long term it will suffer for that.

We have really appreciated the originality of your artistic production and before leaving this stimulating conversation we would like to thank you for chatting with us and for sharing your thoughts, Jeremy. What projects are you currently working on, and what are some of the ideas that you hope to explore in the future?

Jeremy Wolf: Thanks so much for having me it’s been a pleasure! Currently I am in a show called Feel The Fear, Everything Comes To Pass with a group of great artists here in London. I’ll be working with the same curator to put together my first solo show hopefully this May, but with all of the coronavirus stuff going on I’m honestly not sure what will shake out on that front.

As it pertains to my practice, I’m working on a new body of work dealing with violent biblical and mythological scenes. I’ve treated some of these topics before, but I’m working on developing new techniques with material and driving my style forward into new areas that hopefully audiences will find interesting. I’ve recently seen a number of really excellent painting exhibitions that stuck with me – one of my favorites was the Marsden Hartley show at the Louisiana Museum just outside Copenhagen. I’m trying to absorb some lessons from great artists like that and incorporate them into my work going into the future.

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Lives and works in Paris, France

Rosalia Martinez

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Rosalia Martinez An interview by and

, curator curator

Hello Rosalia and welcome to ART Habens. Before starting to elaborate about your artistic production we would like to invite our readers to visit https://chococakeworld.com and we would start this interview with a couple of questions about your background. As a basically self-taught artist, are there any experiences that did particularly influence your evolution as an artist?

Moreover, how does your cultural substratum due to your Argentinian roots and your current life in Paris direct your current artistic research?

Rosalia Martinez: When i moved to Paris

i didn’t have much and didn’t know anyone, so i spent a lot of time alone in my little studio, it was winter so i stayed inside, and all i did was draw and paint everyday all day long non stop, it was all i could do and all i wanted to do, i feel that being able to have the time and space to fully immerse myself in the practice taught me a lot about myself regarding the work i wanted to accomplish, the materials i had were limited, so that sort of “forced” me to dig deep in my creativity and come up with new solutions and ideas of getting things done. I consider that time as a personal and artistic growth.

Rosalia Martinez

I feel like i am a citizen of the world, don’t have much “roots”, i consider myself a nomad, i moved around a lot growing up, so moving to different countries is normal for me, no matter where i am my artistic research doesn’t change much, its always more of a personal thing and not where i am

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geographically standing. I embrace the culture I currently live in but it only takes a small percentage regarding my work, it all really happens inside my mind.

Marked out with such unique visual identity, the body of works that we have selected for this special edition of ART Habens —and that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article — has at once captured our attention for the way you use your visual language in a strategic way to explore the power of color. When walking our readers through your usual setup and process, would you tell us how do you usually develop your initial idea for your portraits? Do you create your works gesturally, instinctively? Or do you methodically transpose geometric schemes?

Rosalia Martinez: I’d say I definitely

create instinctively, sometimes I do start with a specific idea but through out the process of making it, the work itself is who dictated the direction I’ll go. In my studio I create a very privet and personal cosy space, the ambiance of my surroundings is key to the development of my work, as it is very personal and introspective. I usually have music on, I keep books that I love close to me, not only art books, some tv in the background (mostly Star Trek is always on) but this doesn’t influence my work itself, it’s actually a

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stimulation for my brain and it weirdly helps me concentrate.

We have really appreciated the vibrancy of vivacious and at the same time thoughtful nuances of tones that mark out your artworks, and we like the way they create tension and sense of dynamism: how did you come about settling on your color palette? And how does your own psychological make-up determine the nuances of tones that you decide to include in your textures?

Rosalia Martinez: When people used to

ask me as a kid, “what is your favourite color?” I always had a hard time giving an answer and deciding on one, because honestly all the colors are my favourite. So when I paint I instinctively want to use all of the colors, i feel like putting them all together enhances their power so I let the colors do their magic, and it’s my hand that follows them and organises them. My artwork is what I see when I close my eyes. If i’m not having such a great day, its definitely more difficult but i feel like using the bright colors help to feel better. My work really represents who I am i believe, I think I can tell by looking at some of my works, when was it that I was going thru a harder time or a not so great day, but that is not determined by darker colors, quite possibly on the contrary, and the textures and strokes

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go together with the colors, the amount of color i want to use is linked to the texture that that color goes with. Its all one team.

As you have remarked in your artist's statement, you create a whole infinite universe with no rules, without following a concept, inside the physical limitations of a canvas.: how does everyday life's experience fuel your artistic research?

Rosalia Martinez: My everyday life is

painting and drawing, so it refuels it self. But the real world out side Chococakeworld is what makes me want to explore freedom and follow no rules and just express and fly, and that’s what I try to do in the canvas or paper, what i can’t feel outside i explore it in my work.

We have appreciated the sense of freedom that marks out your artworks, and especially the way they unveil the point of convergence between the real and the imagined. Scottish painter Peter Doig once remarked that even the most realistic paintings are derived more from within the head than from what's out there in front of us, : how do you consider the relationship between reality and imagination, playing within your artistic production?

Rosalia Martinez: I agree with Peter

Doig, we all have a different way of seeing our own very personal reality,

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so our interpretation will be different to what we see even if it’s realistic.

The relationship between my reality and my imagination is pretty distant, they don’t really talk to each other, they don’t like each other… Thats why my work isn’t realistic at all, it can be whatever you imagine and that’s what becomes real. So when I work even tho i have realistic stimulation is doesn’t translate as such on the canvas or paper. I listen and follow to the freedom of interpretation, and like i said reality suggests rules to be followed in order to accomplish the “realness”, that just doesn’t come naturally to me.

With their unique multilayered visual quality, your artworks highlight contours of known reality in an unknown world and seem to invite the viewers to look inside of what appear to be seen, rather than its surface, providing the spectatorship with freedom to realize their own perception: how important is for you to trigger the viewers' imagination in order to address them to elaborate personal interpretations? In particular, how open would you like your works to be understood?

Rosalia Martinez: It's important to

trigger their imagination but its not the goal. Because I worked with freedom I can only expect the same from the spectators, they are free to see and

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imagine what they want to. And its always a different personal interpretation that’s interesting to me, they all have different reactions and they all see different things, shapes or situations, and that’s what i want. It can’t have one specific meaning, there is no freedom in that, it feels dictated, and my work wast produced that way.

We all have our own opinions and likes, and I welcome and embrace that from the viewers. Any understanding or even none is still a reaction, and thats what matters to me, any reaction that my work makes you feel is valid, it does not matter if it matches my own, in fact i really hope it doesn’t, i hope they all see and feel different things when they look at my work.

We have really appreciated the allegorical quality that marks out your artworks: how would you consider the role of symbols playing within your artistic production?

Rosalia Martinez: Symbols of all kinds

play an important role in the process of imagination and development of my work but it doesn’t always necessarily translate as specific. I’ts my take and interpretation of the actual realism of the symbols that inspire me.

How do you consider the nature of your relationship with your audience? Direct relationship with the viewers in a physical context is definetely the most

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important one, in order to snatch the spirit of a work of Art. However, as the move of Art from traditional gallery spaces, to street and especially to the online realm — as Instagram — increases: how would in your opinion change the relationship with a globalised audience?

Rosalia Martinez: I guess i am

considered a millennial? so my relationship with my audience is through social media, that’s also how it started. And thanks to it it Chococakeworld has reached many people in many countries, i feel like that brings us closer, all together, and that’s beautiful and i feel lucky that we have that easiness of connection, that means more opportunities and more different ones as well that enriches my work and everybody really. Being present to witness a work of art has no comparison, but its thanks to the online realm that we can know about it and go and presence it. Thats just how it works now, and its ok, and it works.

We have really appreciated the originality of your artistic production and before leaving this stimulating conversation we would like to thank you for chatting with us and for sharing your thoughts, Rosalia. What projects are you currently working on, and what are some of the ideas that you hope to explore in the future?

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Rosalia Martinez

Rosalia Martinez: I’m working on taking

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paintings. Keep exploring the freedom that i can achieve with my work , and see where it can take me. Bring as much color as I can into the world.

my work to a bigger scale, getting out of the limitations of the canvas and working in bigger spaces and surfaces is something that I want to work on.

I’m currently working on painting some really colourful trippy murals, i want to work on erasing limits with my

An interview by and

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, curator curator

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Veronica Aranda

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video, 2013

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Jordi Rosado

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Veronica Aranda An interview by and

, curator curator

Hello Veronica and welcome to ART Habens. Before starting to elaborate about your artistic production we would like to invite our readers to visit https://veroartsy.com and we would start this interview with a couple of questions about your background. You have a solid formal training, and after your studies at the College of the Desert, you nurtured your education with a Bachelor's degree in Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, that you received from San Diego State University: how did those formative years influence your evolution as an artist?

Veronica Aranda: Hello, I am very grateful to be part of this wonderful opportunity, and thank you for offering this space. My formative years have been influenced since I was a child. My formative years have mostly been about figuring out a path — almost like drawing a path to understand my journey. I learned theory and techniques during my practice in high school and college, but after, I needed to expand on what I wanted and needed to express, which was to find my art style. Learning is always fun for me, following directions and guidelines not so much, therefore art is my escape from reality and I use it as my therapy.

Veronica Aranda

painting influence came from a sculptor called John Kennedy who I met when I was 20 years old, while living in Palm Springs, California — I will not forget the day he said to me, “You are like a little Frida,” at the time I did not know who she was, but I kept painting. He would give me money for supplies, I would paint and come over to his studio to show him my paintings. He is still

My years in the community college helped me to expand further and widen my artwork and practice, where I explored more disciplines of art such as ceramics, figurative drawing, photography, and painting among other art practices, but mainly stuck with painting and mixed media. My main

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in my fond memories and one of the most influential persons aside from Ms. Hass from high school, who pushed me towards those art scholarships and won all of them to continue my education after high school.

It took me a while to understand what I really wanted to study or to follow my true passion, until now — what really brings me joy is making art and using art as a tool to explore my inner and outer world, in addition to helping others through art.

College helped me to explore more subjects in a broader range and to start making more political artwork. Other art disciplines I have learned were also helpful in my expansion of exploring beyond the flat canvass, although I have not limited my exploration since college.

Marked out with such unique visual identity, the body of works that we have selected for this special edition of ART Habens —and that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article — has at once captured our attention for the way you use your visual language in a strategic way to counter-balance subjectivity,

Education, life, work, love, friends, and travel have had an influence on my artwork.

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helps me the most is sketching out my thoughts and ideas when they randomly come to me, and that is another big reason I make art — to let it out and let it go. I am always sketching, my sketchbook is my life diary, if a thought comes to me and I feel I need to make it into an artwork piece I will sketch it on a napkin if necessary. The need to use and express during my process in my artwork is very important

offering an array of meanings. When walking our readers through your usual setup and process, would you tell us how do you usually develop your initial idea for your artworks? Do you create your works gesturally, instinctively? In particular, how do you consider the role of chance and improvisation playing within your work as an artist?

Veronica Aranda: Random thoughts come to me, I am either in the need to expand or express further on a physical level. My feelings have a big role in my artwork — it is almost as if each of my artworks is a different feeling I need to express. What

Most of my work is instinctive, thoughts move through my head, thoughts of a situation, expression, worry, happiness, sorrow, love, which motivate me to make

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artwork and heal with it or through the making.

I am always improvising, especially when an artwork in my head comes out different than expected during the making. It is part of the practice in the art world and in life.

Improvisation helps me lessen the burden of how I expect life to go, when in reality there are many moving components, which I need to adapt or learn from in order to move on.

With chance, I have no limits, I will explore with what is in front of me, it is almost like putting a puzzle together with unmatchable pieces. Therefore, I take chances with my artwork and most times love to see what comes out from it. Most of the time my artwork and life interconnect, where seeing life as an artwork helps me to keep creating.

We have appreciated your sapient use of recognizable metaphors, as the tortoise in Moving Steady: how important is for you to refer to actions rich of metaphorical value, as the symbolic cleansing, in order to create such allegorical artworks? And how does your everyday life's experience fuel your artistic research?

Veronica Aranda: This part of my work is a work in progress, I am currently enjoying the transformation in the use of imagery, such as the metaphorical representation of the tortoise. This collage came from a sentimental situation, where I needed to find a way out of the emotion and thoughts — I came across this image and read the tortoise had traveled in search of a mate, and I thought, “how inspirational, the tortoise traveled to find a mate.� Every species has a basic need, one of the human need is companionship and love. The

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tortoise is an inspirational belief there is always hope in the most crucial situations, therefore the tortoise became my guide in the return to resilience.

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Black and white photographic images are the memories we grasp from the past, irreversible to the present. Moving forward is the only option I have. Love is stained by

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Veronica Aranda

the feeling of what was and is no longer available to me. Even though it is not easy to erase the memories, the tortoise still moves at her own pace with a slow recovery. In a way I am the representation of the tortoise.

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Wine stains are life’s stains, marks left on our souls, which cannot be erased, but become part of who I am. We live with the memories, explore and accept them as part of our being.

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Each of your paintings has a story of its own, and we have really appreciated the way Moving Steady shed light the connection between life's experience and the subconscious. To quote Max Ernst's word, every human being has an inexhaustible store of buried images in his subconscious and into his inner world: how important is it for you to show the link between the inner world and the outside reality? And how do your memories and your everyday life's experience fuel your artistic research?

Veronica Aranda: The need to fuel between two worlds is extremely important to me due to my constant need of understanding reality.

Both my worlds are a reflection of each other, one reflects the other, it is an inner battle, the spiritual side with the outer world society, and limiting beliefs — the artist lifestyle and how to push forward regardless of the obstacles.

My memories have been imprinted on my artwork. A piece of me is left on every art piece, some of my artwork is very personal, because some of my artwork was made during a time when I was going through a transformation. It is extremely important for me to express how I feel or else I feel lost and confused, making art for me is like a gateway to another world.

As the interesting The Art of Letting Go, your artworks feature such stimulating dreamlike ambience, that seems to unveil the bridge between the real and the imagined. Scottish painter Peter Doig once remarked that even the most realistic paintings are derived more from within the head than from what's out there in front of us: how do you consider the relationship between reality and

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imagination, playing within your artistic production?

Veronica Aranda: I love to get lost in the imagination, believe in the unbelievable, explore beyond what we cannot see. Our imagination is what takes us further from everyday life. It is another area of myself I am also exploring, being I work with children and they have not been influenced by the society’s conventionalities, I love hearing how they still believe in elves, unicorns, and magic. I like to explore their world and how they can be happy with their beliefs.

At times reality seems out of balance for me, I need to find balance in another world — the world where I create these spaces and some of these figures come to my paintings.

We have particularly appreciated your choice of tones, and especially the way they create such an uncanny ambience, providing your canvass with such a sense of dynamics, as in The Art of Letting Go. How does your own psychological make-up determine the nuances of tones that you decide to include in an artwork and in particular, how do you develop your textures in order to achieve such unique results?

Veronica Aranda: Colors are expressions of my mood and feelings — the selection of these colors come naturally to me, it is almost as if I am dancing and flowing with the colors and the painting, in The Art of Letting Go the expression of one color transcends to another in the midsts of clearing my feelings of these perplexities

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Veronica Aranda

and thoughts moving towards a release.

You mainly create abstract works with the aim of reflecting the ideas in your head and have the observers make their own interpretation and see beyond its intention.

In a certain sense, your artworks invite the viewers to look inside of what appears to be seen, rather than its surface, providing the spectatorship with freedom to realize their own perception: how important is for you to trigger the viewers' imagination in order to address them to elaborate personal interpretations? In particular, how open would you like your works to be understood?

I use a lot of red in my paintings. Some of the meanings of the color red are anger, power, strength, and love. It is an expression of my subconscious. In the first image, red was my first choice due to how I was dealing with my feelings, which transcended to more subtle, but some deeper colors, then to a lighter color.

This was a transition of handling my emotions from feeling anger to freedom and liberation — purple is my favorite color, it is a mix of red and blue, two contrasting colors one is strong the other is subtle and peaceful — green for me represents moving, freedom and it also represents the color of the heart.

Veronica Aranda: There is a fine line between my worlds, living in the chaos and living in the “normal” lead me to create a range of different artworks. I love creating abstract, because it is liberating and gives me the freedom to let my body, mind, and hands make something from nothing, most of the time it comes out spontaneously.

And, creating for me is being free with my

The holding on to the balloon thread and realizing it at the end is a representation of letting go of those thoughts and feelings which were no longer serving me.

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Veronica Aranda: Art making is 100% a way of therapy for me, due to my constant need of mental and physical movement. I feel art making has been my biggest therapist since I can remember making art. The constant of creating helps me mentally and emotionally, it is as if I create a safe place in the comfort of my surroundings.

art pieces and tools, which during the process it is like becoming one with my artwork.

Our perception of life can influence the way we see art and how we react to it. My only intention is to interpret what I feel on my artwork, the viewer might add their own interpretation according to how they feel and what they see.

I made Sitting in Stillness with only one goal in mind, to get me out of a current unhealthy metal and emotional state.

Making Sitting in Stillness is another metaphorical experience, which was able to pull me out of the chaos and uncertainty.

Making this painting was a meditative process, where I sought peace and calmness in the representation of the tree.

When a viewer replies to my artwork with their own interpretation, it can be a reflection of my psychological state or theirs — interpretations can go both ways.

Another interesting work of yours that has particularly struck us for its unique struggling atmosphere is Sitting in Stillness. Reflecting the idea of trauma and the carving for peace: do you think that art making could be considered a kind of therapy, that may help both the artist and the viewers to heal their inner wounds?

Over the years your artworks have been showcased in several occasions: how do you consider the nature of your relationship with your audience? Direct relationship with the viewers in a physical

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context is definitely the most important one, in order to snatch the spirit of a work of Art. However, as the move of Art from traditional gallery spaces, to street and especially to the online realm — as

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Instagram, as weel as your https://www.instagram.com/vero.artsy — increases: how would in your opinion change the relationship with a globalized audience?

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Veronica Aranda

Veronica Aranda: My audience relationship is very personal, there are a few people who I connect with and talk on a deeper level about my artwork. Not everyone will understand my artwork and that is okay,

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each person has their personal preference in relation to their art. I prefer to meet my audience in person, have more human connection, but given the digital media world and how rapidly it is growing, we

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have to adapt to the changes happening. It is good to have this new wave of digital media, where we can expand to audiences all over the world. Social media gives us the opportunity to connect further with those who we would not have the chance to meet.

opportunity. A most current project is in a way a self reflection of the hurdles of becoming an artist — I have started a platform on Instagram about women artists and their views on the art world, about the representation of women artists in our communities, culture, and country.

This is a project about women artists from all mediums, which will involve interviewing them, their art style, and artistic life.

We have really appreciated the originality of your artistic production and before leaving this stimulating conversation we would like to thank you for chatting with us and for sharing your thoughts, Veronica.

What projects are you currently working on, and what are some of the ideas that you hope to explore in the future?

Hopefully this will turn into an all women exhibition from all the women who contributed to the project, I would also like to explore women artists internationally — which I would love to turn into a documentary. The other project is to keep making and gathering enough artworks to present as a solo artist exhibition.

Veronica Aranda: I would love to thank you, I am honored to have been selected for this

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Lives in San Marcos, and works in Del Mar

Butterfly Fall 2012

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Gricelda Alva Brito

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Grasshopper

Gricelda Alva Brito An interview by and

, curator curator

Hello Gricelda and welcome to ART Habens.

Before starting to elaborate about your artistic production we would like to invite our readers to visit

https://portfolium.com/griceldaalvab/portfolio and

https://www.etsy.com/shop/GrisCreativeGifts and we would start this interview with a couple of questions about your background. After having earned your BA in Human development you took studio art courses in the community college and plan on pursuing a MA in Art Therapy: how did those formative years influence your evolution as an artist? Moreover, how does your cultural substratum direct your current artistic research?

Gricelda Alva Brito: Taking courses at the community college definitely influenced my evolution as an artist by learning basic fundamental guidelines about art making. My cousin Alfredo once put it like this, “you’ve got to learn the art rules, so you then know which ones you’re breaking!” I am very grateful for my art professors who taught me the basics about drawing, composition, craftsmanship, painting and photography appreciation. Several of my professors emphasized the importance of studying various artists and art movements in order to come up with my art style.

Gricelda Alva Brito

lessons in the form of storytelling, and I do think of myself as a visual storyteller. When we would visit the Mexican markets, I recall stopping to admire the artwork of palm weavers (till this day, I wish I had formal training in palm weaving) and also admiring the various clay vessels in the market. Overall, I see my role as an artist as a story teller and scholar, documenting parts of the community that would otherwise be overlooked. I see myself as a bridge bringing communities together, helping viewers see

My cultural substratum definitely influences my current artistic research. I identify as a mestizo woman, and feel that it is important that I embrace my indigenous roots. Growing up as a kid in a rural village of Mexico, it was not something to be proud of to have indigenous roots; therefore, I feel it is important that I protrary the richness and beauty of Mexican and Mexican American culture. My mom taught us many life

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Gricelda Alva Brito

Fill up your Jug Feb. 2020

similarities of shared humanity, have a deeper understanding of one another and appreciate the cultural diversity each one of us has to offer.

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Marked out with such unique visual identity, the body of works that we have selected for this special edition of ART Habens—and that our readers have already started to get to know

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Gricelda Alva Brito

in the introductory pages of this article — has at once captured our attention for the way you use your visual to explore the relationship between figurative and abstraction, offering an

ART Habens

array of meanings. When walking our readers through your usual setup and process, would you tell us how do you usually develop your initial idea for your artworks? Do you create

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Sunset at Dripping Springs View toward Soledad Canyon

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Gricelda Alva Brito

your works gesturally, instinctively? Or do you methodically transpose geometric schemes?

Gricelda Alva Brito: I feel that my creative process is evolving over the years and I am still learning and remain open to the process shifting. When I make art, I remind myself to have fun and enjoy the process and trust it will work out. I would say my process sometimes starts instinctively. I usually have a general idea of what I want to create, but remain open to allow the mystery of the creative process to unfold and surprise me a little with the end product. This is interesting for me to say because I am the kind of person that in general wants to know what will be the end result, but not necessarily with the creative process. Other times, I am more methodological with the process, doing online research to understand the subject better, drawing a detailed sketch and choosing the color palette. Similar to how a great writer relies on a good editorial team, I usually run my final end products with friends and loved ones for constructive feedback. They usually help me fill the missing gaps and I am very grateful for this support.

The art piece, Fill up your Jug is a good example, where I was a bit more methodological with the process and doing a sketch before jumping into painting. In this case, I wanted to draw an accurate proportion of the sizes of the various jugs, and use enough geometric variety to make them stand out on their own. During one of my afternoon walks, I took a photograph of a set of clay jugs at a residential home.

View from La Cueva Rock Shelter

The clay jugs were positioned mostly as I portrayed them in the image with a slight variation in position, size, and color. This particular piece reflects on the concepts of selfcare, interdependence, community, being strong, and being held by others. The painting process was done more instinctively, I wanted a

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bit of color, but also the earthy clay tones. At one point, I ended up using the tips of my finger tips to give that hand-made touch. One of my sisters suggested adding a quote and I jokingly said, “Fill up your jug?” She said, “that works!”

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Gricelda Alva Brito

Usually if an art piece requires more intricate detail, I opt out for a detailed sketch. However, I noticed since I joined the San Diego Plein Air Meetup Group, I have felt more comfortable jumping straight into painting if I have a good

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sense of what I would like to paint and sometimes using a quick sketch to err on the side of caution. Usually with plein air time is of essence, specially with shifting light outdoors, and I feel that if I spend most of the time

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Ocean Landscape (Hope)

drawing, by then I will not be able to catch the light and shadows right in front of me. I once heard a plein air artist say, “try to make a painting within one to two hours to capture the scenery.� I have used this as a general guide to

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help me feel confident that I can make a quick painting without a detailed sketch.

We have really appreciated the vibrancy of thoughtful nuances that mark out some of

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palette? And how does your own psychological make-up determine the nuances of tones that you decide to include in your artworks?

Gricelda Alva Brito: It is always heart-warming to get feedback from the audience that they sense a bit of peaceful ambience in some of my art pieces. I often gravitate toward a combination of cool colors and warm color tones. I love the ocean and lakes, and want the audience to experience the calm energy I experience during the creative process.

The art piece View from La Cueva Rock Shelter was painted on site in the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument in Las Cruces, New Mexico. I was reflecting on the topic of cultural sites, all inhabitants who lived in this land from previous generations, and possibly people who fought and died in this land. I enjoyed being on the land and learning about it's diverse history. For example, Giovanni Maria Agostini, a former Italian monk lived and died inside the Cave Rock Shelter on the other side of the rocks I painted. The same rock shelter was home to Native American people. I wanted to capture the physical beauty of the landscape and express a sense of peace found in solitude in connection to the land. At some point, I also thought about my abuelita (grandma) and wanted to portray the warm love that only an elder expresses to their grandchild.

When I made this particular piece, I had recently attended a workshop hosted by indigenous women from Oaxaca and Puebla, Mexico in El Paso Texas about using natural dyes for their textiles. In their workshop and demonstration, they mentioned how cochinilla (cochineal), a bug that feeds off prickly pear fruit and plant is used as a natural dye and how they derive various colors from it by changing its pH level. It occured to me to give it a try for the first time and use the dye as an underlayer to honor indigenous communities who relied on various

your artworks, and we like the way the delicate tones that marks out View from La Cueva Rock Shelter and Cuvier Beach Park in La Jolla communicate such peaceful ambience: how did you come about settling on your color

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Pan Dulce and Grateful Heart

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Cactus 2018

work. I tend to be highly aware of my inner sensitivities when it comes to feelings and understanding my own inner landscape. I also notice that the creative process is a vehicle to help me enter a meditative state, where I tend to lose sense of time and fortunately quiet my inner critic. I would say sometimes there is an

plants for medicinal, spiritual and living resources. The color palette I chose where earthy tones and vibrant colors; blue, rose, purple tones and red oxydes.

My own psychological makeup definitely plays a role in the nuances of tones that end up my art

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Ocean or Sky Fall 2012

Gricelda Alva Brito

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Ocean Themed Inspired by a Dream Jan. 2020

Oceanside Urban Landscape 2020

air of mystery for the viewer to interpret what was really going on in my mind when I created the art piece, since it is not always very obvious what was really going on. I choose colors that remind me of nature, that are calming and grounding. Even if sometimes I am experiencing a feeling of discomfort such as angst, anger, grief, nostalgia during the creative process, I do not want the viewer to experience that feeling with me. Instead, I want the viewer to feel that sense of calm, warmth, and comfort that brings me back to feeling grounded and centered.

When I painted Cuvier Beach Park in La Jolla, I created this art peace plein air style using watercolor. When I was onsite, the waves kept hitting the shore, the day was very sunny and the scattered clouds caught my attention right away. I also noticed the peaceful ambience on the horizon, even with such active waves closer to the shoreline. I usually do not use wet on dry technique with watercolor, yet felt it was worth a try to capture the scattered clouds. For the ocean waves, I used wet on wet technique and

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Aguirre Springs Campground Pine Needle Trail Head

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Gricelda Alva Brito

used various layers of veridian greens, turquoise blues, ultramarine blue, and pthalo blue. I was aware of my internal landscape when I was working on this art piece. I was feeling a bit unsettled and ungrounded; however, I kept focusing on the depth and layers of color created by the calming ocean waves and wanted the viewer to witness the peaceful scenery and not the inner chaos.

Pervaded with deep spirituality, your creative inspiration comes from your connection to nature, and each of your paintings, as the interesting Ocean Landscape, seems to describe a whole new reality, that you invite the viewers to discover and explore: how does everyday life's experience fuel your artistic research?

Gricelda Alva Brito: My everyday life’s experience and my values definitely influences my artistic process. In addition to reflecting on spirituality, my artwork also touches on the borderland experience, care for the environment, meditation, connection, kindness, compassion, immigrant community, resilience, qualities of inner strength, and the peaceful warrior spirit that each one of us is capable of cultivating within. For example, Ocean Landscape is an art piece about esperanza (hope), my favorite Spanish word. This is a collaborative art piece with my good friend Fredi Garcia Alverdin. I had shown him an acrylic wash of a sea mussel and asked him, “what do you envision when you look at this image?” He described and contributed to the landscape that now the viewer gets to see, from the sea cliff, to trees, and the symbolic yellow flowers that thrives in arid land.

Although marked out with such captivating surrealistic style, your artworks are pervaded with effective narrative drive, and we really appreciate the way your figures work as bridge that shows the connection between reality and the subconscious dimension. Scottish painter

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Peaceful Lake (Dixon Lake Escondido) Special Issue

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Peter Doig once remarked that even the most realistic paintings are derived more from within the head than from what's out there in front of us, : how do you consider the relationship between reality and imagination, playing within your artistic production?

Gricelda Alva Brito: This is a very interesting interpretation and feedback, thank you! I feel that the relationship between reality and imagination, tapping into the subconscious dimension is primarily influenced by dreams that I remember and perhaps a playful part of me that’s a bit mischievous at times! For example, the art piece Ocean or Sky? Is a dream depiction of me feeling a sense of freedom, an expansion being in the desert. When I made this painting, this was a time of healing for me, and I recall that in the wake state I was having a hard time holding space for the grief activated in my heart. In this image, the viewer can see an abstract image of the Buddha, heart and cultivating compassion for the self. In that dream, there was a moment of me looking up at the sky, feeling relief and witnessing a peaceful whale just swimming by. The shift of desert landscape and ocean scenery in the sky inspired me to create this dream painting interpretation, adding sea theme animals that were not originally in the dream but added to the surreal element.

You draw inspiration from Mexican and Mexican American Art: how do you consider the relationship between cultural heritage from traditional aesthetics and contemporary sensitiveness? In particular, how does your artistic research reveal a point of convergence between Tradition and Contemporariness?

Gricelda Alva Brito: Yes, I feel inspired to use vibrant colors that remind me of the richness of Mexican culture and Mexican American artists.

For me, the way I interpret the relationship between cultural heritage and traditional

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Cuvier Beach Park in La Jolla Dec. 2019

Adan Crater Polanisia dodecandra redwhisker clammyweed

Gricelda Alva Brito

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Metate and Corn Dec. 2019

Cactus, Prickely Pear and Roadrunner

aesthetics is to be able to convey to the viewer the importance of certain traditions or cultural values. For example, if I were to depict an art piece related to Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead Celebration), I would want to convey the significance of this tradition and what it means to the community. I think it is important for my artwork to reveal a point of convergence between both Tradition and Contemporariness.

For example, the art piece Ballet Folklorico Dancer, is an abstract art piece about a

traditional ballet folklorico dancer, where mostly the gestural and essence of the dancer is there. The dancer’s dress was inspired by the folds of a matilija poppy flower, native to Mexico and California. I feel it's important that my art work also advocates for native plants and their various benefits and uses.

Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco once stated, "the artist’s role differs depending on which part of the world you’re in. It depends on the political system you’re living under": as an artist

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particularly interested in exploring the themes of cultural heritage and social justice — and we dare say to the osmosis between humans and the society they inhabit — do you think that your artistic research responds to a particular cultural moment? Moreover, what could be in your opinion the role of artists in order to develop a sense of interconnectedness and oneness with other human beings, in our ever changing society?

Gricelda Alva Brito: In regards to Gabriel Orozco’s quote, I definitely feel that our roles as artists shift based on the land we're in and what we create often reflects what we value. I am not quite sure if I am responding to a particular cultural moment but definitely impacted by the current political climate, borderland experience, and diverse communities that are being affected. I want the audience to understand my social justice advocacy work and human lives being impacted by political predicaments beyond our power. I also focus on nature, and often think about our ecological footprint in the environment. I appreciate nature’s beauty and perhaps feel moved to appreciate it as much as I do by caring for it, something as simple as leave no trace behind when taking a nature walk. In regards to the role of artists in helping society feel a sense of interconnectedness and oneness, I feel it is important to focus on what brings us together versus what sets us apart, highlighting on our shared humanity.

You will have your first solo exhibit to share art work created during an artistic residence program with the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument: how do you consider the nature of your relationship with your audience? Direct relationship with the viewers in a physical context is definitely the most important one, in order to snatch the spirit of a work of Art. However, as the move of Art from traditional gallery spaces, to street

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Interconnectedness Summer 2017

and especially to the online realm — as Instagram — increases: how would in your opinion change the relationship with a globalised audience?

Gricelda Alva Brito: I think it is important that I keep in mind my relationship with my audience

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Gricelda Alva Brito

and how I would like for them to receive the art work. In the case of the artwork created during the artistic residence program in the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument, I felt I needed to capture accurately the physical contexts regarding the cultural sites,

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petroglyphs, pictographs, historical sites, mountains, and plants used for medicinal or spiritual purposes. The purpose of this artwork was to contribute to land preservation and protection efforts. As the Art moves to a more globalised audience, I feel that the relationship

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Gricelda Alva Brito

Sunrise from Dripping Springs, view of Las Cruces SummerIssue 2015 Special

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Gricelda Alva Brito

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could potentially change a little since they might not be as directly impacted by the proximity of the land and its significance.

However, I feel that it is important to highlight the importance of who lived there, what animals and plants continue to inhabit the land, the significance of cultural sites and land preservation, so that when a more globalised audience is able to go visit the National Monument, they too can appreciate its beauty.

We have really appreciated the originality of your artistic production and before leaving this stimulating conversation we would like to thank you for chatting with us and for sharing your thoughts, Gricelda. What projects are you currently working on, and what are some of the ideas that you hope to explore in the future?

Gricelda Alva Brito: Thank you once again for the opportunity to participate in this art review with ART Habens. I am currently working on a project related to flora and fauna, specifically grasses used for weaving by Native Americans in southern California. Recently, I learned about the vernal tide pools in San Diego, in particular some of the species that live there and was fascinated by fairy shrimp! I would like to raise more awareness on these native habitats and support efforts to preserve them particularly in areas that are subject to development or where there is not enough information that they need protection. I would also like to focus on creating art work related to refugee children and traumatic separation experiences they and their families are undergoing.

Someone once asked me, “what do you dream about?�, initially, I thought this was a confusing question and was not sure if they were referring to goals and dreams, or dreams as in dreaming! I definitely would like to continue to tap into the subconscious and draw inspiration from my dreams as well.

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Lives and works in Darussalam, Brunei

Mind wanderer, an art and community piece, m Special Issue

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Nazurah Usop

ART Habens

video, 2013

ixed media on up cycle paper, started estimated from 2014 and still ongoin 422 0

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Mind wanderer, an art and community piece exhibited at Creative Space, art gallery, Brunei

An interview by and

, curator curator

Hello Nazurah and welcome to ART Habens. Before starting to elaborate about your artistic production we would like to invite our readers to visit https://doodlesandcolors.wixsite.comw ebsite and we would start this interview with a couple of questions about your background. Are there any experiences that did particularly influence your evolution as an artist?

Moreover, how does your cultural substratum direct the direction of your current artistic research?

Nazurah Usop: Hello, sincere and many thank yous for giving me this opportunity. I have gone through your previous articles of dialogues with some of the other amazing artists and I am deeply humbled to be able to contribute and honored to be selected for this interview.

Nazurah Usop

To start off, I have been passionate with the arts ever since college. My instructor back then was pretty helpful and made me aware of my imaginative capabilities of creating abstract pieces and that was the first time I ventured into abstract art – I researched about other abstract artists who intriguingly captured my attention; namely Kandinsky and Pollock

I brought myself to participate in regional events where I got to meet many wonderful creatives. The more people I crossed paths with (who I managed to collaborate with), the more I was exposed to the art world. It gave me more assurance and reminded me that this is what I have always wanted to do. It reminded me that I was born to

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Nazurah Usop

create art. With this reminder and realization, I decided to resign from a corporate job of nearly a decade and become a full-time artist.

With my artistic research, it is more of an emotional adaption; in which, the organic shapes symbolize growth. I have incorporated them into my work as a general function that can be adapted to other cultures that growth is the foundation of improvements.

Furthermore, music also plays a big part of my creativity as well.

Marked out with such unique visual identity, the body of works that we have selected for this special edition of ART Habens, and that our readers have already started to get to know in the introductory pages of this article, has at once captured our attention for the way you use your visual language in such strategic way to counter-balance subjectivity, offering an array of meanings. When walking our readers through your usual setup and process, would you tell us how do you usually develop your initial idea for your artworks? Do you create your works gesturally, instinctively? Or do you methodically transpose geometric schemes?

Abstraction 1 (2007), mixed media on paper

I would get into thoughts and feelings without trying to limit myself of how these two is viewed into a piece. It’s like a mindful exercise— if the piece is inspired by music, I would apply the

Nazurah Usop: Most of the works are processed based, in which the work I do is essentially created instinctively.

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Nazurah Usop

action of mindful synesthesia and although, I don’t have synesthesia, I would apply it to the piece as how I would perceive the music in the visualization of shapes and colors.

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Your artworks often features complex and fragmentary images, with intricate patterns marked out with such stimulating sense of geometry: how did you develop such unique hallmark?

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Nazurah Usop

Abstraction 2 (2007), Oil pastel on paper

Nazurah Usop: My works are mostly intercorrelated with one another even though each artwork is inspired by different things.

To unify my works, I essentially break

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concepts down to its simplest forms and work with those. For example, if I am inspired by a piece of music, I would paint or draw out certain shapes that would remind me of musical notes -

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Nazurah Usop

ART Habens

shapes and patterns. So, in a way, everything is tied to one another.

We have really appreciated the way your artistic practice embodies an interface between the real and the imagined, and most of your works are influenced by some personal emotional matter as well as Kandinsky's works in which relates to mindfulness: how do you consider the relationship between reality and imagination playing within your work as an artist? And how does everyday life's experience fuel your artistic research?

Nazurah Usop: That’s the wonder of abstract that I really acknowledge about-- that it can apply reality into ones’ own imagination and how one perceives things. For me, life is art itself just as a still life painting, I believe that the inspirations come from things that a person sees. It is applied the same way with abstract, the only difference with abstract is the inspiration is distorted imaginatively.

It’s a beautiful way of expressing reality out in the form of alluring shapes and colors.

Your artworks often feature combinations of vivacious tones, and we have particularly appreciated the way their nuancescreate tension and sense of dynamics. How does your own psychological make-up determine the

which I would distort and break down. If I am inspired by architecture, the lines and shapes that are drawn would somewhat represent buildings and with Islamic art, I often combine geometrical

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Solo exhibition at The Royal Wharf, art gallery, Brunei

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Nazurah Usop

nuances of tones that you decide to include in an artwork and in particular, how do you develop your textures in order to achieve such brilliant results?

Nazurah Usop: Most of the pieces are done instinctively and they are also mostly experimental. For some collaborative events that I’ve done with local artists, they have helped me to engage with quite a diverse group of creative people and those different artistic experiences and engagement would correspond to my pieces.

Most of the processed based pieces that I create give out the most engaging textures. Personally, for me, once a texture is created, I would try and create another texture that I have not done before, in which I hope to create every piece to be distinctive from one another. I would trust my intuition of what would go well and vice versa.

With their unique multilayered visual quality, your figures in your paintings are often blurred and merge into their surroundings and seem to invite the viewers to look inside of what appear to be seen, rather than its surface, providing the spectatorship with freedom to realize their own perception. Austrian Art historian Ernst Gombrich once remarked the importance of providing a space for the viewers to project onto: how important is for you to trigger the viewers'

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Nazurah Usop

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Liberation (2019) Acrylic on up cycle board 21 4 10

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Nazurah Usop

Growth (2019), Mixed media on up cycle board - exhibited at the Islamic architecture, arrival hall of Special Issue

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ART Habens

imagination in order to address them to elaborate personal interpretations?

In particular, how open would you like your works to be understood?

Nazurah Usop: My works are mostly open to interpretation and in my perspective that’s the wonders of abstract. Everyone sees things in different contexts just as how everyone’s principles of things in life differs from one another. I could be painting a certain piece with a solid explanation of its real meaning but some viewers would have a different image in their mind. The most important point that I would like the viewers to understand is how the thought process is being adapted into abstract work as opposed to what it really is about. Abstract art does not quite give a clear definitive explanation and has complex meaning to it, as does life.

As you have remarked in your artist's statement, most of your drawings are of hard-edge abstracts, organic patterns as well as inspirations from various cultural patterns, music and building. Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco once remarked that "the artist’s role differs depending on which part of the world you’re in": does your artistic research respond to a particular cultural moment? Moreover, what could be in your opinion the role of Brunei International airport 21 4 12

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Liberation (2019) Acrylic on up cycle board

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Nazurah Usop

Thermal (2019) Oil and acrylic paint with glow in the dark powder on up cycle board; auctioned off for the reforestation and sustainability charities

artists in our unstable, everchanging contemporary age?

me, I do mix up my works with what is going on around within the society here in Brunei. For example, there would be different social and environmental events that raise awareness that are held quarterly every year and I would

Nazurah Usop: I guess there are no specific roles on what artists should be.

It all depends on what they would like to get out of their creative works. For

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Nazurah Usop

ART Habens

Beethoven x BTS (2020), Oil paint on canvas 21 4 14

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Special Issue Anxiety (2019), Acrylic on up cycle board

Nazurah Usop

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Nazurah Usop

ART Habens

work on a piece that is interconnected with those events. So, for me, my role as an artist would be to contribute to society whenever and however possible.

in any form, is still art and art has no limit to what it should be.

Over the years your artworks have been exhibited in several occasions, including your recent solo show at The Royal Wharf waterfront, Brunei: how do you consider the nature of your relationship with your audience? Direct relationship with the viewers in a physical context is definetely the most important one, in order to snatch the spirit of a work of Art. However, as the move of Art from traditional gallery spaces, to street and especially to the online realm — as Instagram — increases: how would in your opinion change the relationship with a globalised audience?

We have really appreciated the originality of your artistic production and before leaving this stimulating conversation we would like to thank you for chatting with us and for sharing your thoughts, Nazurah. What projects are you currently working on, and what are some of the ideas that you hope to explore in the future?

https://www.instagram.com/doodlesan dcolors

Nazurah Usop: I have a few thoughts in mind which involves fabrics as well as an upcoming collaborative project with our local creatives on creating installations related to constellations for the public to enjoy. I have constant ideas that ruminates my mind but I do hope to try and create a piece like Oskar Fischinger and I would like to explore never ending experimental creations in the near future.

Nazurah Usop: I try to create pieces that don’t stick to only one art form as I love to experiment, create and explore different things; be it something that is within my comfort zone or beyond my comfort and perhaps with the things that I’m doing, it gives interest to different groups of people. By the end of the day, art should bring people a sense of togetherness and understanding. The relationship I would like to give out to my audience is that everything that is created by a creative

Sincere thank you for having me featured, I appreciate it very much!

An interview by and

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, curator curator

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