Interview with Dan Sabau

Q)So, can you tell me a little about yourself? Full name, age, some background info, etc?

A)My full name is Dan Sabau, I was born in Transylvania and currently live in New York and make pictures to ponder about.

Q)How did you get started making art?

A)I started making art the day I came out of my mother’s womb, leaving a mess in the delivery room.

Q)How would you describe your art?

A) Somewhat intense, yet ethereal. There is a strong flavour in color and a constant element of movement. I think work is considered abstract, but has some figurative elements.

Q)Where do you get the inspiration for your art?

A)I love the chaos of the city that I live in. It is amazing how much order comes out of chaos. There are thousands of activities, occurrences, and events that are happening constantly every all corners, subway and streets. It gives the city a monstrous presence. I also love the presence graffiti has in the city. There is something organic and beautiful about the way it flows throughout urban structures and barriers unifying huge spaces and distances. I love to give the canvas this sort of identity…to give it a life of its own through happenings and occurrences embodied by colors and bold forms.

Q)What are you working on now?

A)A quirky piece called “Pandemonium in the Penthouse”.

Q)Are there some web sites that you would like to recomend? Artists, art communities,xxx,...!?

A) http://Neoimages.net, http://Skeletonart.com, http://Nyartsmagazine.com , http://Juxtapoz.com, CHECK IT!

Q)What programs / materials / tools do you use to create your pieces?

A)I use my brain and hands mostly. The paintings are all oil on canvas.

Q)What advice would you give to younger up and coming artist?

A)Don’t get too frustrated about being declined by galleries. You have to be hard-headed sometimes and believe in your work no matter what kind of politics in the art world might hold you back. I believe in letting the work talk for itself. I can’t stand grand essays and overstated theories about people’s work that are not followed up visually.

Q)What is your personal definition of life and art and everything else in between?

A)Painting, sex, good food, getting a deal, laughing, a nice cold tall one, enough rest, love,and rage.

Q)Do you think that art is a univeral language - transcending all the different languages, cultures and religions etc?

A)If you let it be.

Q) What are your artistic influences?

A)I love looking at 16th and 17th century botanical illustrations because of their distinct style,particularly artists like Maria Sybilla Merian.

Q)How are the reactions on your work in general?

A)People say “What…the Fuck?” Initially, I think people are attracted to the colors, and then they notice that there is some figurative aspect to the paintings, which gives them an element of surprise and curiosity to look further.

Q)Do you have many connections in the underground scene?

A)Sort of, Yeah

Q)Tell us about a recent dream you had.

A)Woke up singing a song that I was going to sound out on my guitar but got caught up on every day life and forgot it.

Q)What is freedom to you as an artist? Two things

A) (1). The process of painting, from the initial idea in your head to the end result to me is an amazing thing.(2) Selling a painting. Knowing that my creative output can actually make me survive in this f’ed up world full of money sucking politicians and lawyers.

Q)Are there any particular works you've done that stand out as your favorites?

A)My favorites sort of change on a daily basis.

Q) Last Books you read?

A)Webster’s Dictionary/Thesaurus

Q) Last records you bought?

A)Sloppy Seconds “Destroyed”.

Q) Who are your favourite artists & Your favourite galleries?

A) Francis Bacon, Dali, Neo Rauche, Cecily Brown. I like museums better than galleries. CHEERS

Q)Your contacts….E-mail…Links

A) http://Dansabau.com
http://Neoimages.net“Sabau”
http://Skeletonart.com

Interview with Brian Donnelly

Q)So, can you tell me a little about yourself? Full name, age, some backround info, etc?

A)Brian Donnelly, 27. I was born in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada in 1979. In 1999 I attended the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, graduated in 2003 and remain here in Toronto to live and work.

Q)How did you get started making art?

A)I received a lot of encouragement for my abilities from many sources within my family and thoughout grade school, which led me to believe I should hone my skills and make a career of it. I don't remember how exactly I got started, but nobody ever tried to stop me.

Q)How would you describe your art?

A)I would probably first mention size and medium, after that I would logically describe the subject matter, and then depending on the audience to which I am describing, I would mention something of the narratives involved in the piece, the messages they convey, and maybe a small bit about my motivations for creating the work.

Q)Where do you get the inspiration for your art?

A)Making art is a lot like commiting a crime. I'd say that it's more motive than inspiration. Then we defend ourselves by having exhibitions and writing about what we do, in order to appear not innocent of wasting our lives. Of course if you really need an answer I'll say, "Sex, Violence, and National Geographic".

Q)What are you working on now?

A)A half-man, half-bear and some butterflies.

Q)Are there some web sites that you would like to recomend? Artists, art communities, xxx,...!?

A)www.catsthatlooklikehitler.com. It's a pretty self-explanitory
URL, and it's a pretty funny site. I've come to really
appreciate websites that are purely pointless, proving that the
internet is a forum for any ridiculous subject that any idiot with
a computer can think of.

www.saidanddone.ca. Is a great project that a couple of guys
out in Alberta, Canada cooked up. It's a good "small world"
idea that I was pleased to contibute to.

Q)What programs / materials / tools do you use to create your pieces?

A)I often pass my images through Adobe Photoshop for a trial run
at the composition, before committing them to oil and canvas.

Q)What advice would you give to younger up and coming artist?

A)Learn, keep learning, modify, and advance.

Q)What is your personal definition of life and art and everything else in between?

A)If you take it too seriously, you'll never have any fun.

Q)Do you think that art is a univeral language - transcending all the different languages, cultures and religions etc?

A)I think that historically there have been many attempts at being
transcendant, some more successful than others. Dada was
successfull because it levelled the playing field. Realism and Pop
were both successful because they appealed to everyone'
knowledge, not just the select, educated few. But for the most part
I would have to say no. If it were universal, then there wouldn't be
any questions, and nobody would ever have to write a book about
art.

Q)What are your artistic influences?

A)At the moment the works of German painters like Norbert Bisky
and Neo Rauch are pushing me to loosen up my style a bit.

Q)How are the reactions on your work in general?

A)I will say positive. I think people have a natural attachment to
representational paintings, regardless of how much one perverts
and distorts the basis in reality.

Q)Do you have many connections in the underground scene?

A)I ride the subway here in Toronto quite often.

Q)Tell us about a recent dream you had.

A)I haven't been able to remember much of my dreams lately,
only fragments of them. I suppose the most recent that
comes to mind involved me having sex with an attractive, dark-haired woman whose legs were brutally burned an
scarred, while her husband stood there watching.

Q)What is freedom to you as an artist?

A)Not having to supplement my income.

Q)Are there any particular works you've done that stand out as your favorites?

A) There was a painting I did in high school of a Mapplethorpe
photograph entitled 'Eva Amurri', juxtapsed in front of a detail of
one of Renoir's 'Circus Girls' paintings. I learned a lot about
paint application, and compostion while working on this piece,
and the successful outcome as well as the reception it
received from my instructor and peers encouraged me to keep
going in this field.

Q) Last Books you read?

A) Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis
The Island of Doctor Moreau - H.G. Wells
Prey - Michael Crichton

Q) Last records you bought?

A)Reason to Believe; The Mercury Studio Recordings - Rod Stewar
A Nod Is As Good As A Wink...To A Blind Horse - The Faces
Far Beyond Driven - Pantera
Armed Love - The [International] Noise Conspiracy

Q) Who are your favourite artists & Your favourite galleries?

A)This is the short list: Gustave Courbet, Duane Hanson, Norbert
Bisky, Phil Guston, Attila Richard Lukacs, Neo Rauch, Francesco
de Goya, Peter Paul Rubens, Jacques-Louis David, Theodore
Gericault, Caspar David Freidrich

I don't have any favourite galleries, they pretty much all serve the
same purpose as far as I can tell.

Q)Your contacts….E-mail…Links

A) brian@briandonnelly.org
www.briandonnelly.org
www.myspace.com/briandonnelly

Interview with Kollar Anderson

Q) So, can you tell me a little about yourself? Full name, age, some background info, etc?

A)Amy Katherine Kollar Anderson, age 32I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, lived in Chicago for four years and moved to Dayton, OH eleven years ago. Now I live with my husband and our four cats. I went to The School of the Art Institute of Chicago for my BFA and Wright State for my MH. I love to shop at thrift stores, playing in my yard, finding natural wonders and hanging out with my nephews.

Q) How did you get started making art?

A)I have always made art.

Q) How would you describe your art?

A)Personal narratives inspired by Surrealism, Symbolism, Sci-fi and Lowbrow.

Q) Where do you get the inspiration for your art?

A)The subject matter is inspired by a variety of sources: nature, dreams, culture, animals or my personal life. I look at the world around me, absorb it, then create images that are a mixture of these elements and internal inspirations.

Q) What are you working on now?

A)I am working on a 38"x32" self-portrait that will be covered in crazy patterns. The progress can be seen in the Lowdow'>http://www.kollaranderson.com/lowdown/?p=41">Lowdow section of my site.I also plan to work on some pieces for the CD Release party (October 13) for the band Sleepybird. I did the art for their new album.

Q) Are there some web sites that you would like to recomend? Artists, art communities,

A)I am a fan of DeviantArt.com and Nervousness.org. Modern Postcard (www.modernpostcard.com) has always been good to me and they produce great show cards. www.painterskeys.com has the largest collection of art quotes I have ever seen. Juxtapoz Magazine is a great source for seeing new artists and galleries. I have to plug Parables Visions Magazine because they featured me and because they have a great publication.

Q) What programs / materials / tools do you use to create your pieces?

A)Last year, I switched from oil to acrylic paints in preparation for teaching. The quick dry times and variety of alternative mediums that acrylics offered, ideally lent itself to my style of painting. To begin a painting, I stretch and prime the canvas. The initial sketch is usually done with a thin layer of paint, to which I add blocks of color to cover the surface. At this point, I alternate between thin glazes and thin layers of opaque paint to build up the lights and shadows and to create the details. I try to record the progress of all of my paintings and post the progress on my site. I think it is fun and educational to see how much a piece changes. One of my most detailed records is of the piece http://www.kollaranderson.com/lowdown/?p=28" I describe the different layers and show detail images of the finished piece.

Q) What advice would you give to younger up and coming artist?

A)Practice • Participate • Promote
Practice your craftsmanship and experiment with materials. This includes researching artists and asking questions. Listen and learn from others, but trust yourself. Do what you like and make what you are.Participate in shows and local galleries. Do internships in whatever form is available. If there isn't something in your area...create it!Promote yourself and others. This includes creating a website or using a site that you can post your work on like Deviant Art, keeping record of all of your accomplishments, hand out business cards, make a resume, enter shows, etc. Network!

Q) What is your personal definition of life and art and everything else in between?

A)Ummm...Life is strange, Art is happiness and everything in between is squished? I have no idea how to answer that question. :)

Q) Do you think that art is a universal language - transcending all the different languages, cultures and religions etc?

A)That is such a big question and my simple answer is YES.

Q) What are your artistic influences?

A)My studio has a huge influence on me. It is a room in my home where I can create still-lifes out of crazy stuff, where the cats hang out and where chaos has a home.

Q) How are the reactions on your work in general?

A)Mostly positive. A lot of people around here tell me they like my style but not my subject matter.

Q) Do you have many connections in the underground scene?

A)Don't think so, but someone please tell me if I do!

Q) Tell us about a recent dream you had.

A)These were from last night/this morning:I was hiking in the mountains with my husband and our friend that does a lot of hiking in the mountains of Las Vegas. There were lots of tight spots, great views and creepy clifts. I think we were all drunk and I was afraid someone might fall. At some point I was stuck in a rickety old wooden coal mine elevator with two of my cats, Proffit and Gash. I was afraid they would get hurt, but we got out safely.Then the dream changed to my bedroom in Dayton. A different friend and his friend had thrown globs of goo and containers of juice against our bedroom wall. I was really pissed and was trying to pull down the containers without making more of a mess.I was in a classroom picking up some materials. At this point I thought I was a student, but then I realized I was supposed to be the teacher and I didn't know the subject matter. The room was semi-dark with an overhead projector running and the students were getting annoyed with me. I looked down at a paper I was holding and it contained the date and the subject matter but I couldn't read it.You would guess I am a little stressed, but most of my dreams are like these.

Q) What is freedom to you as an artist?

A)As an artist, I guess freedom is being able to create what I want. I don't really push any controversial boundaries so I don't come against people challenging my freedom.

Q) Are there any particular works you've done that stand out as your favorites?

A)I have a few and they change all the time. I think "Vision", "Swarm" and "Worm Wine" are probably my favs right now.

Q) Last Books you read?

A)My husband is currently reading "From the Corner of His Eye" by Dean Koontz out loud to me. He is such a sweetie! This way I can enjoy a book and paint at the same time!

Q) Last records you bought?

A)We pretty much download to our ipods...I think the last one was either "Death Cab for Cutie" or "Built to Spill."

Q) Who are your favourite artists & Your favourite galleries?

A)This could be a bigger list, but in no order: Camille Rose Garcia, Chris Mars, De Es, Doze Green, Elizabeth Mcgrath, Glenn Barr, Isabel Samaras, Jeff Soto, Jennifer Angus, Joe Sorren, Judith Schaechter, Kamala Dolphin Kingsley, Ken Keirns, Kurt Halsey, Laurie Lipton, Mark Ryden, Mars-1, Michael Hussar, Ray Caesar, Roberto Matta, Scott Musgrove, Tiffany Bozic, Tim Biskup, Todd Schorr, Hans Bellmer, Carrie Ann Baade, Salvador Dali, Albert Moore, Lee Bontecou, Alexis Rockman, Bernard Dumaine, Shayna McConville, Edward Gorey, Scott D.U. Gibbs, Lithium Picnic, Travis Louie...Ok, I should stop, but there are so many great artists out there!Not sure about galleries, but I know there are tons of good ones.

Q) Your contacts….E-mail…Links

A)E-mail is on my site http://www.kollaranderson.com

Interview with Kelsey Brookes

1)So, can you tell me a little about yourself? Full name, age, some background info, etc?

1)Name: Kelsey Brookes
Age: 28
Location: San Diego, California
Background: I'm not from here but I like the scenery.

2) How did you get started making art?

2)I grew up thinking that if you were an artist you knew it and practiced it from infancy..I never thought I was an artist...but at age 23 I started to draw and I set out to see if that really was the case.

3) How would you describe your art?

3)I take religious art from the Far East and update/remix/bastardize it until it becomes fully westernized and loses meaning...my art is meant only to be aestatically pleasing.

4) Where do you get the inspiration for your art?

4)Religious iconography, western immorality, sexuality and animals.

5) What are you working on now?

5)I am currently working on a painting of a masturbating female, nude (except for some pink polka dot under where) woman wearing a large golden jewel encrusted headdress with 2 growling lions sticking out of each side.

6)Are there some web sites that you would like to recomend? Artists, art communities, xxx,...!?

6)www.lazinc.com and www.picturesonwalls.com -My friends in London www.rvcaclothing.com -Artist series clothing and much, much more.www.fecalface.com - The best art website in the world.www.woostercollective.com - Second best art website in the world

7) What programs / materials / tools do you use to create your pieces?

7)I use acrylic paint because I am afraid of and intimidated by oil. And do all my line work with India ink.

8) What advice would you give to younger up and coming artist?

8)It sounds cliché..I know...but believe in yourself and never give up. If you set a goal and do this..what ever you want you can have. This is the only universal truth.

9) What is your personal definition of life and art and everything else in between?

9)Life is ruled by the fact that molecules are inherently interested in staying at an unexcited state.

10) Do you think that art is a universal language - transcending all the different languages, cultures and religions etc?

10)Sort of..I never really thought of it like that but I suppose the best art is universal to human beings...so if you only interested in communicating with humans I guess that is the case. I wonder if anyone has ever made art that was to appeal to something other than humans?

11) What are your artistic influences?

11)I really, really love Indian folk art at the moment.

12) How are the reactions on your work in general?

12)Steel it or destroy it...not too much in-between. Or maybe the in-between people don't contact me. If your in-between on my art please write me and tell me about yourin-between-ness.

13) Do you have many connections in the underground scene?

13)I have an alligator lizard as a pet and he use to live underground.

14) Tell us about a recent dream you had.

14)I have had one single recurring dream since childhood about giant shapes (circles, squares and triangles) rolling around on a giant chess board trying to smash me. I always wake up with a strange feeling and smell in my nose.

15) What is freedom to you as an artist?

15)Living from my art and my art living from me.

16) Are there any particular works you've done that stand out as your favorites?

16)Not really. I am in the particularly artistic habit of liking only the last piece I finished.

17) Last Books you read?

17)Richard Dawkins "The Ancestors Tale"

18) Last records you bought?

18)Electrelane "axis"Grand ole Party (www.myspace.com/grandoleparty)

19) Who are your favourite artists & Your favourite galleries?

19)See question 6.all the artist associated with those galleries and companies are my favorite...I also love the work of Os Gemeos.

20) Your contacts..E-mail.Links
20)www.kelseybrookes.com
info@kelseybrookes.com
www.lazinc.com
www.picturesonwalls.com
www.rvcaclothing.com

Interview with Cameron Gray

1)So, can you tell me a little about yourself? Full name, age,some background info, etc?

1)My name is Cameron Gray, 21 years of age. I'm currently studying at the University of Tasmania's Academy Of The Arts.

2)How did you get started making art?

2)I never liked art, infact I hated it because of an art teacher I had in high school who turned me right off wanting to ever do anything in the artworld. I basically began creating art some years later, I would sit at my computer making 3D images to use as backgrounds on my computer. I then started taking photos and got really interested in what I was able to express. After some time I began blending 3D computer images with photos and over about 6 or 7 years it has become the basis of what my style is now.

3)How would you describe your art?

3)I would describe it as an intimate portrait of myself that very few people get to see. I try to put a story, message or meaning into all of my work.

4)Where do you get the inspiration for your art?

4)Usually my nightmares, dreams, emotions, past experiences, love, music,movies, books, nature. The list goes on.

5)What are you working on now?

5)This interview. This is a trick question :P

6)Are there some web sites that you would like to recomend? Artists,art communities, xxx,...!?

6)Stephen Kasner, Fabrice Lavollay, Amy Kollar Anderson, Deviant Art,Renderosity, Arts Connect, Dark Arts World. Spooky Art, Horror Find.

7) What programs / materials / tools do you use to create your pieces?

7)Photoshop, Poser, Bryce, Carrara. Traditional Paints & Clays, Canvas etc.I did use a Ricoh RR30 camera but the fucking thing broke so now I use are ally nice Fuji FinePix S5600. It's younger, sexier, dirtier and has a much larger lens....

8) What advice would you give to younger up and coming artist?

8)Don't let others dictate your life, and never let someone else make up your mind.

9) What is your personal definition of life and art and everything else in between?

9)A bottle of Jack Daniels a day keeps reality away...

10) Do you think that art is a univeral language - transcending all the different languages, cultures and religions etc?


10)Definetly, I believe art has helped tie many cultures together. We need to have a day each year dedicated to the arts. A public holiday of course.Make it happen John Howard!

11) What are your artistic influences?

11)Rick Smith & David Marsden, two of the best teachers I had that let me believe I could do anything I wanted with my art and not regret it.Also music, films, books, etc.

12) How are the reactions on your work in general?

12)The general response to my work is surprisingly polite and respectful. I quite often get emails from people saying stuff like "I'm not a fan ofthis style of art, but I can appreciate your work".It's nice when people who don't like my art can still have an appreciation for what i do and what I love.

13) Do you have many connections in the underground scene?

13)Underground as in "underground art" = Yes, magazines, artists, poets,authors, film makers.Undergrond as in ""Underground"" = If I do I wouldn't make it public...

14) Tell us about a recent dream you had.

14)'Twas the night before Christmaswhen all through the house Not a creature was stirring,not even a mouse;The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,In the hopes that St. Nick would wear some damn underwear!!!!...."AAAAHHHHHH!!!! NUDIE SANTA!!! NUDIE SANTA!!!

15) What is freedom to you as an artist?

15)Being able to express my thoughts and opinions knowing that I need not regret them and that I will not be persecuted for them.

16) Are there any particular works you've done that stand out as your favorites?

16)"A Glimpse Of Beauty", "The Blue Patient", and "Worldly Divine" have a special place in me.

17) Last Books you read?

17)Nightmares & Dreamscapes - Stephen King, Shadow Maker - David Ho, OddThomas - Dean Koontz.

18) Last records you bought?

18)Records?? what the hell are they?Just kidding, Tool - 10,000 Days, NIN - With Teeth, Billy Corgan - The Future Embrace.

19) Who are your favourite artists & Your favourite galleries?

19)Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel, Fabrice Lavollay, Stephen Kasner, David Ho.

20)Your contacts..E-mail.Links

20)http://www.Parablevisions.com

Interview with Ella Guru

1)So, can you tell me a little about yourself?Full name, age, some background info, etc?

1)Ella Guru as known since about 1987. born Ohio,lived in London since 1990.

2)How did you get started making art?

2)Everyone does as kids right? I just didn't stop.

3)How would you describe your art?

3)Figurative paintings with wigs, masks and costumesof sorts, portraits of people and animals.

4)Where do you get the inspiration for your art?

4)Drag queens and pretty ladies

5)What are you working on now?

5)A Cuban woman, in honour of Fidel's recent surgery .

6)Are there some web sites that you would like to recomend? Artists, art communities,xxx,...!?

6) www.stuckism.com, if you can get past Charles Thomson's personal vendettas there is some art worth seeing there. Note new show in October in Spectrum Gallery, West End, London

7) What programs / materials / tools do youuse to create your pieces?

7)Canvas, paint, brushes. (ok sometimes digital camera and photoshop first, but also work from life)

8) What advice would you give to younger up and coming artist?

8)Don't.

9) What is your personal definition of life and art and everything else in between?

9)?

10) Do you think that art is a universal language - transcending all the different languages, cultures and religions etc?

10)It can be, if people understand it. I think pictures come close to that. Dead sharks don't. Any art that needs a placard to explain it is certainly not transcending anything.

11) What are your artistic influences?

11)Lucien Freud, Frida Kahlo, Warhol, Caravaggio, CindySherman, Francis Bacon, Paul Harvey, Sexton Ming, drag queens, Quentin Crisp, ducks, pelicans, geese, female wrestlers, Divine, vodka, absinthe, cigars and may be more but can't think right now.

12) How are the reactions on your work in general?

12)From ordinary people mostly good. Art critics, crap.

13) Do you have many connections in the underground scene?

13)?

14) What is freedom to you as an artist?

14)Just being able to paint.

15) Are there any particular works you've done that stand out as your favorites?

15)Sexton ming in face pack, tiger lillies paintings,baby Lucy portrait of course. I guess I like a lot of them, that's vain to say I know, but I have to look at them every day

16) Last Books you read?

16)'We need to talk about Kevin' - depressing and nilhisitc . 'memoirs of a geishsa' - good trash

17) Last records you bought?

17)Can't remember buying a record in the last 20 years.Sexton does the CD buying .

18) Who are your favourite artists & Your favourite galleries?

18)Artists see question 11. Galleries - national portrait gallery. Tate modern only for the nappy changing facilities, and the turbine hall which is good for kids to run around in.

19)Your contacts..E-mail.Links

19) www.ellaguru.org.uk
roast_cat@yahoo.co.uk

Interview with Patricia Waller

1) So, can you tell me a little about yourself? Full name, age, some backround info, etc?

1)My name is Patricia Waller, I was born in Santiago de Chile in 1962. 1968 my family
moved back to Germany.
1985 - 1990 I studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe, Germany.
I live and work in Karlsruhe.

2) How did you get started making art?

2)I got the idea of chrocheting my artworks during the final period of my study. I was looking
for materials not yet established in the arts, such as wood, plaster, or metal. In addition I
wanted to become independent from machines and electricity supplies.
So in the early 90th I discovered wool for my work and started crocheting.

3) How would you describe your art?

3)Of course I take advantage of the image of ‘house wife art’, so that, at first glance, my
works appear innocent. On a closer look, however, people will discover a sort of vicious
irony. If people start smiling or laughing at my work, I know that my first step of
approaching them was successfull .

4) Where do you get the inspiration for your art?

4)I often group my work around certain themes and it is important for me to reflect topics in
contemporary society like family, religion, science, medicine and technology
I am also interested in images of our fears and our ability to suppress them.
I play with various themes that we usually ignore, like fears of aging, illness and disability,
phobias, or dangerous desires. The cute soft toys, on a closer look, turn out to be
monsters.
For example the series of works called “accidents” deal with our desire for sensation.
Human beings are very rarely devoured by tigers, sharks, or crocodiles. Even more rarely
we witness such accidents. The fact that they loom very large in our imagination suggests
that they point to something deeper within us, that profoundly perturbs and fascinates us.
With all of my work, I try to create new and different forms of perception and levels of
association for the beholder by interventions and altered forms of presentation. The irony
or the humour contained in the work are most definitely intentional. It is important to me to
let the beholder access the work. I consider causing a laugh or a smile as a positive and
legitimate means of approach. This of course does not mean that I do not take my work
very seriously. I rather view this type of irony as a ‘means of seeing through’.

5) What are you working on now?

5)I am working on a mouse fighting with a cheese…

6)Are there some web sites that you would like to recomend? Artists, art communities,
xxx,...!?

6)There are a lot of sites I like, for example www.kozyndan.com, www.antiquesatoz.com and
many others…

7) What programs / materials / tools do you use to create your pieces?

7)All I need is a single needle.

8) What advice would you give to younger up and coming artist?

8)Never give up…

9) What is your personal definition of life and art and everything else in between?

9)There is no differece between my life and art. I always try my best, that’s all I can do, and I
never give up my deams…

10) Do you think that art is a univeral language - transcending all the different languages,
cultures and religions etc?

10)Yes, and I believe in the power of this fact…

11) What are your artistic influences?

11)The every-day life…

12) How are the reactions on your work in general?

12)Most of the people like my work, but women are often fascinated by the technic and the
workmanship.

13) Do you have many connections in the underground scene?

13)No

14) Tell us about a recent dream you had.

14)One of my favorite daydreams is, that I win a lot of money in the lottery…

15) What is freedom to you as an artist?

15)The freedom is, that I can do whatever I want, both, in my life and in my work. This is
sometimes also a difficult challenge, but I don´t want to change my life with anybody else
in this world…

16) Are there any particular works you've done that stand out as your favorites?

16)One of my favorite works is the series “how to kill your first love”. It is a work about the
agressive potential of children, child abuse and violence against animals.

17) Last Books you read?

17)The counterlife from Philip Roth, he is a great writer, I admire his work.

18) Last records you bought?

18)I don´t buy many records, but I would buy all the soundtracks of the bollywood films with
Shah Rukh Khan.

19) Who are your favourite artists & Your favourite galleries?

19)There are various artist I like, and probably have an influence on my work. I like all artist
which have a certain kind of humour and ironic in their work like Maurizio Catellan, an
italian artist, Paul Mccarthy or Jeff Koons. But I also admire René Magritte and some other
surrealists.

20)Your contacts….E-mail…Links

20)Look under www.patriciawaller.com
My E-mail adress is art@patriciawaller.de

Interview with Mugi Takei

1)So, can you tell me a little about yourself? Full name, some background info, etc?

1)My name is Mugi Takei. I am a US born Japanese artist. I studied painting and print making in Boston, US.

2) How did you get started making art?

2)I was very much into craft making as a little child. Since I didn't like any outside activities, I stayed home with my mom and spent time doing stuff like cutting paper into shapes and making clay animals. That's how I started making little things, but they were not artistic or anything. I began to draw because everyone else in my family drew. I continued drawing and craft making through my childhood. That was like pretty much what I did for fun. Oh, I guess I read too. I didn't like TV or video games very much. I occasionally made paintings for school projects or something. I think I was more into craft making than drawing/painting back then. I made a bunch of useless cute little things and gave them away to my grandmas and school friends. During my adolescence, I sort of stopped doing all that stuff because I got too busy being a teenager. Then I started again when I went to Art school in Boston.

3)How would you describe your art?

3)To me it's sort of like journal keeping or collecting little fragments of everyday life.


4)Where do you get the inspiration for your art?

4)I get inspired by things and people I see, other artists and their pieces of art work, movies, books and magazine photos.
I find resources mostly in other people, not so much in myself.


5) What are you working on now?

5)I am working on a new set of oil paintings.

6)Are there some web sites that you would like to recommend? Artists, art communities, xxx,...!?

6)Yes, here they are
http://www.terrisaul.com/

http://brh.menglef.org/

http://www.humanfive.com/


7) What programs / materials / tools do you use to create your pieces?

7)I used a lot of different things. Lately I've been using paper, canvas, wood, pencils, colored pencils, watercolor, oil paints, ink, gouache, glue, pens.


8) What advice would you give to younger up and coming artist?

8)(I am a young and up and coming artist myself!) Oh, I don't know. It's hard to say because everybody is different.
Ok, my advice would be "don't stop" and maybe "stay beautiful inside".


9) What is your personal definition of life and art and everything else in between?

9)I don't know how to answer this question. I guess life is something ubiquitous and precious.

10) Do you think that art is a universal language - transcending all the different languages, cultures and religions etc?

10)Yes, mostly and I very much wish it to be.


11) What are your artistic influences?

11)Religious icons, fashion, cave paintings, Falk art, modern and contemporary master pieces, actors&actresses, models, National Geographic,
photos, movies, nature drawings, expressionists, dancers, sea creatures, television, plants, friends, my mom, school books, Japanese porn photos, porn illustration, some comics, outsider art, others.



12) How are the reactions on your work in general?

12)Personal, cute, weird, hilarious, the titles are good, sensitive, intimate, childish, scary, disturbing, pornographic, pretty, beautiful and ugly.



13) Do you have many connections in the underground scene?

13)I don't believe I do.


14) Tell us about a recent dream you had.

14)I don't remember my most recent dream. The most amazing dream I had recently is
the one about David Bowie and I living together. He made me an elegant breakfast. I was so sad to find out he was not next to me when I woke up.


15) What is freedom to you as an artist?

15)Freedom of expression?? which allows me to be unlimitedly shameless?


16) Are there any particular works you've done that stand out as your favorites?

16)I like my large line drawings of seaweeds from 2001. I lightly watercolored them.

17) Last Books you read?

17)"Tropic of Capricorn"
"On The Road"


18) Last records you bought?

18)"Best Hits of P. Ramlee" (2 years ago!)


19) Who are your favorite artists & Your favorite galleries?

19)I like Terri Saul, Keiko Higuchi, Francesco Clemente, Marlene Dumas, Martin Macmaurray, Picasso, Matisse,
David Hockney, Frida Kahlo, Kees Van Dongen, Egon Schiele, Bonnard, Munch and more...
My favorite gallery is Bucheon gallery in SF, California.


20)Your contacts….E-mail…Links

20)www.mugiko.com

Nishiyama Carlos Satoshi

http://soul-on.com/

Audrey Kawasaki

http://www.audrey-kawasaki.com