Daydreaming Through a Child's Eyes with David Calfo

Opening on Friday May 8, 2015, "Daydreaming Through a Child's Eyes" is a solo exhibition by Pittsburgh artist David Calfo. Through this exhibition, Future Tenant worked with two high school apprentices through our AMP'd program and involved them with hands-on arts management practices. Our apprentices and David transform Future Tenant into an interactive dreamscape, where children and adults are free to let their imaginations run wild. Prior to the exhibition opening, Development & Outreach Manager Christine Nolan conducted an interview with David to know the stories behind his work.

David Calfo, "Cape of Imagination", 2015

Could you give us a brief introduction of who you are and how you became an artist?

David: My name is David Calfo, and I'm a Pittsburgh salvage artist, historical renovator, community activist and adventurist. As long as I can remember, I have been building things. After doing historical home and business renovations for years and creating art pieces on the side, I decided to see where my passion for artistic expression will lead me, and have been focusing on art full time.

Can you give a short description about the concept of the work you are showing?

David: The pieces for this exhibit stem from my love of the Saturday cartoons from my childhood. Back in the days before computer games, we had to create our own adventures. Cartoon characters would strap rockets to roller skates or build gizmos to catch the roadrunner, and in the afternoons we’d head off to the woods with whatever tools we could scrounge up from the garage to build these contraptions on our own. The
Rocket Sled in this exhibit was inspired directly by the creations of Wylie E. Coyote. Others are evolution of my childhood imaginings.

What is your creative process? How long does it usually take you to complete a project or artwork?

David: It really just depends on what I have taken inspiration from. Once I see something in my head, it could take as little as a day to, in this case, about 3 months, to complete. Depending on the medium I’m using to express my vision, whether through photography, painting or more elaborate construction, time can be highly variable. Sometimes I start working on something in my shop only to be startled by the sun coming up the next morning. Some projects I have to draw out first and may spend the next weeks or months gathering materials I need to make it a reality.

How does your work with found objects inspire certain pieces?

David: It really just depends on the found object and how it fits into my internal “cool factor” process. It could be anything from the shape or size of the object, or just how I see it in relation to other things. Inspiration is hard to articulate.

You talked about your work for Daydreaming Through A Child’s Eyes being inspired by nostalgia and youthful play. What sorts of things do you want your audience to take a way from experiencing this show? What were your “youthful imaginings” when you were a child?

David: I want the adults to remember their childhood play and hopefully this exhibit will evoke memories and forgotten feelings of endless summers spent running around, creating games or toys out of whatever we could find. Memories of a happier, simpler time. I‘d like kids to want to put down the game controller and take some inspiration to create their own play, to imagine and to dream up crazy stuff of their own instead of
relying on something else entertaining them. As for me, I’d always imagined being sort of a Superman- able to fly or dive to great depths in the ocean without the need for a plane or a submarine.

Do you admire any other artists?

David: All of the Renaissance artists- not only were they artists in their own right, but they were students as well. If I had to pick one, I think it would have to be Leonardo Da Vinci: inventor, artist, dreamer.

Are you working on any new projects at the moment? If so, where can we follow your work?

David: I’m working on an Earth Day event and a Bike Rack submission for the Cultural Trust. I am always working on new pieces, so the best way to keep up with me is through Twitter: @davecalfo

How did you find out about Future Tenant?

David: Future Tenant actually found me! You selected me to show some pieces from the Arbor Aid show in 2013.

Flash Interview Series - with Ruby Wang

"Flash: From the studios at the CMU School of Art", is a group show presenting work by 10 talented young artists from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Art opened on Friday, April 3rd. "Flash" refers to a sudden appearance of inspiration, just like how art is born. Ruby Wang has participated in the "Bountiful" group show last November, and Visual Programming Manager Kate Lin is happy to conduct a second interview with her to know more about her recent work.

Could you give us a brief introduction of who you are and how you became an artist?

Ruby: I am a beauty-driven shy woman in her early twenties, who is using art to express her struggles with food and what it means to be a female artist. As a child, I have always enjoyed making art and known that my future will involve the creative mind.

After the last successful show “Bountiful”, Future Tenant is very excited to show your work again at "Flash". Food is the common theme for both work showcasing at two different shows. Can you talk about how they are different and was there any new inspiration or ideas you have since the “Bountiful” exhibition?

Ruby: Food and desire is a common theme throughout my artistic studies and career. I have been exploring food in the pure visual pleasure and sensations, in which echoes almost a sexual arousal. As more experiments with this theme went on, the artworks have become more personal. In the last show "Bountiful", the paintings of wine and bananas are inspired by an intimate experience of personal conflict. The objects of the paintings are the central emphasis, associating with the play of bodily fluids and sexual organs. The newer pieces in the show "Flash" exhibit my branch to the aesthetics of a female body. I try to bring together the idea food and the female form, and my own concern with body images in my newer works. 

What is your creative process for your newer work (Yogurt series and M&M)? How long does it usually take you to complete a project/artwork?

Ruby: The process involved many messy but fun photo-shoots with models or simply just myself. Then, I made decisions of how to print them and paint these photos in a way that provokes an emotional arousal and response. The work required photo taking, printing, and layering of paints and other media, so this project took around three months to complete. 

Are you working on any new projects at the moment? And where can we follow your work?

Ruby: I have been continuing the idea of female body in balance with sensuous food subjects in new photography and painting series. These new projects can be seen on my website.

We know that you are graduating CMU this summer, what is your plan and where do you see yourself in five years? 

Ruby: After graduation I am hoping to extend my artistic careers in other countries. I may settle in Asia for a year or two, and travel to Europe or come back to the States to further my education in the arts.

Flash Interview Series - with Taylor Preston

"Flash: From the studios at the CMU School of Art", is a group show presenting work by 10 talented young artists from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Art opened on Friday, April 3rd. "Flash" refers to a sudden appearance of inspiration, just like how art is born. Taylor Preston has participated in the "Bountiful" group show last November, and Visual Programming Manager Kate Lin is happy to conduct a second interview with her to know more about her recent work.

Could you give us a brief introduction of who you are and how you became an artist?

Taylor: My name is Taylor Preston, and I’m a senior at Carnegie Mellon studying both art and history. I’m not sure if there’s a specific event in my life that I can pinpoint as sparking my interest in art, I think it has always been a large part of my life. I have always excelled cademically, and I think art presented a new and interesting challenge. 

Future Tenant is very excited to show your work again at "Flash". Can you talk about the concepts of your new series, Show Her It’s a Man’s World? Do you feel any differences in your artistic directions since your work Nobody came to my party at the "Bountiful" Exhibition?

Taylor: Definitely. For whatever reason, a lot of people seem to have this idea that history is one gradual progression towards enlightenment. In reality this belief is often used to place more painful moments of our nations history farther in the past. I think that this definitely comes into play when looking at the depiction of women in advertisements. It’s easy when looking at an ad to date it. You can look at the type, or the illustrations, or the images used and fairly confidently say: “oh this ad is definitely from the 50’s, thank god it’s so much better today.” But when you remove the text from the ad, it’s more difficult. 
A significant amount of time has passed since the creation of both pieces, and I think it shows. Nobody Came to My Party is definitely more personal, while Show Her It’s a Man’s World addresses something larger. I think this is a good example of a broader shift in my work. But I do think there’s some overlap between the two. Both are experiments, one with physical materials and another with the interplay between text and image.

I understand that most of your recent work relates to history. What was your creative process for those work and how was it different than your past work?

Taylor: I’m not sure if my creative process is really entirely all that different. I still enjoy taking on larger projects, and do a lot of research when working on a piece. I have always loved storytelling, and in the past I have made a lot of work about my own family history, but when I developed more of an interest in history, my interests broadened a bit more. I began to see what it really was that I liked about my own family’s history, and focus more on other obscure and forgotten histories. I began to think more critically about these, and the problems with how they are addressed within the realm of history. 

Are you working on any new projects at the moment? And where can we follow your work?

Taylor: I’m currently working on a piece about my unwavering and abiding love of Dolly Parton. I also just started working on a more straightforward documentary photography project about the debate surrounding abortion clinic buffer zones, more specifically at the Planned Parenthood located down town. You can see more of my work at taylorpreston.net. I just changed the header font, and I’m pretty pumped about it. 

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Taylor: In a dream world, I’ll have started an artist residency at Dollywood - which I will complete every year because no one else will probably be interested. I always hear people say that you have to set yourself up for success, so I have decided to give it a try. Are you there, Dolly? It’s me, Taylor. In reality, I see myself living somewhere new – with an average temperature of 68 degrees and fairly consistent overcasts. Maybe I’ll have a dog. If I’m doing well, a full breed Powderpuff Chinese Crested. I want to still be making work, and hopefully be in graduate school studying photography. Sometimes I have a difficult time distinguishing between dreams and reality, so I would not entirely rule out the Dollywood artist residency.

Flash Interview Series - with Tyler Porten

"Flash: From the studios at the CMU School of Art", is a group show presenting work by 10 talented young artists from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Art opened on Friday, April 3rd. "Flash" refers to a sudden appearance of inspiration, just like how art is born. During the exhibition period of Flash, Visual Programming Manager Kate Lin will be interviewing the artists to know the stories behind their work.

Could you give us a brief introduction of who you are and how you became an artist? 

Tyler: I’m a senior at the School of Art of Carnegie Mellon University. I spent my childhood in Japan and the rest of my life in the US, so I have developed a cross-cultural perspective that is integrated into my work. Since around middle school, I began drawing comics, and kept it as a hobby throughout my life. Animation was a natural transition for my work, after I realized that I wanted to turn my hobby into my profession.

Can you briefly talk about each of the five video works and the concepts behind those works? 

Tyler: I made, My Ex-Girlfriend Never Farted, after returning from a study abroad program in Japan. It had been the first time revisiting Japan since I was a child, and I noticed some aspects of Japanese culture with which I was no longer aligned. Specifically, this piece comments on the lack of farting female characters in anime, as if there is a taboo on the subject matter; this looks at the contrast between ideals and reality as depicted in the media.
OREMO is a continuation of observing anime culture in Japan. Another look at the differences between ideals and reality, the work portrays how a protagonist of an anime would realistically live his life in Japan. The protagonist also represents the isolation many people experiences in the cities of Japan. 
With the piece Memory, I expressed my believe that sound is just as important as visuals for an animation. From time to time, I make animations based on a soundtrack, to help myself understand the synchronization of sight and hearing. This piece also features my interest in motion graphics, something I find I want to incorporate with my hand drawn animations.
I made Lullaby just for fun. Sometimes the most entertaining works are those of which you had no reason to make. 
Midterm was a collaborative piece, using my story about how CMU students can feel during midterms and final exams. I enjoy working in worlds linking dream and reality, as well as exploring natural character interactions.

What is your creative process? How long does it usually take you to complete a project or artwork? 

Tyler: I’m a sporadic worker. I usually wait until the right idea comes rather than trying to actively find it. My creativity comes from observing the fiction and reality, then discovering what’s between them. I believe that your work is only as good as how much you have put into it, so I end up spending a lot of time on mine. Producing animation is a complicated process, going from an idea to the final film; making a two to three minute animation has taken up to 300 hours. To be honest, what really determines how long it takes to finish an animation is the date you start working on it and the date it’s due.

Do you admire any other artists? 

Tyler: James Kochalka’s work encouraged me to begin writing my own comics, as well as numerous other autobiographical cartoonists, such as Ryan Pequin and John Campbell. Since my move towards Japanese animation, I found that I really enjoy directors Akiyuki Shinbo and Hiroyuki Imaishi for their art direction in animation.

Are you working on any new projects at the moment? And where can we follow your work? 

Tyler: I’ve been working on my current project, Otaku, for a year now, but it’s still far from completion. Otaku is a combination of manga and anime elements in a video game form, about otaku culture in Japan and differences in Japanese and American culture. Visually, the game reads like a manga, but the viewer can choose what the protagonist will say when he interacts with other characters, and ultimately controls his fate as an otaku. The team I’m leading to produce this game is aiming to push the game onto the PlayStation Store sometime next year, but it’ll also be available to play on Mac/PC. Updates can be found on tylerporten.com.

I know that you are graduating soon, what are you next steps and where do you see yourself in five years?  

Tyler: I’m currently enrolled in CMU’s Accelerated Masters of Human-Computer Interaction program, where I’m applying my animation skills on interaction design for things like smart phone UIs. I’m graduating from my undergrad this May and then I’ll be graduating from my masters in December. I’m not sure which direction I’m heading, but hopefully I can pursue a profession in both animation and design. I’ll continue to work on Otaku in the meantime, which will most likely lead me to work on more projects bridging Japanese and American cultures. In five years, I’m hoping to be back in Japan creating progressive animations and games for a universal audience.

Flash Interview Series - with Nicholas Sardo

"Flash: From the studios at the CMU School of Art", is a group show presenting work by 10 talented young artists from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Art opened on Friday, April 3rd. "Flash" refers to a sudden appearance of inspiration, just like how art is born. During the exhibition period of Flash, Visual Programming Manager Kate Lin will be interviewing the artists to know the stories behind their work.

Could you give us a brief introduction of who you are and how you became an artist

Nicholas: I’m from Santa Monica, California, born 1994, currently studying fine arts at Carnegie Mellon University. To be honest I don’t think I ever haven’t been an artist, I was always that kid making weird stuff in my backyard. I can’t remember ever not being in the process of making something or thinking about making something form my own imaginary world. As for doing art on a more serious level, I was in a studio art class in high school and dabbled in a lot of things, but didn’t start spending the majority of my time on my practice until college.

Future Tenant is very excited to have you creating an on-site work especially for this exhibit. Can you talk about the concept of this piece Not Yet My Child? What is the story behind this character that you have created?

Nicholas: My paintings thus far are all about individual characters. For this piece, I wanted to create a being that would exist in its own little world defined by the unique space I was given to paint. I enjoy making work that has a contained narrative. My pieces are often strangely humorous and have relatable human characteristics while also staying mysterious and alien; the being in Not Yet My Child is also in the same vein. It depicts a humanoid creature interacting with a tentacle-like limb holding the white flag of surrender. I believe that there is enough content in the work that the audience knows they are getting a glimpse of a larger story, but can’t quite grasp what that story is. That simultaneous understanding and confusion is what I strive to achieve in my work.

For most of your other work, what is your creative process? How long does it usually take you to complete a project/artwork?  And was there any differences compared to your experience working at Future Tenant’s space this time?

Nicholas: My process is probably the least efficient you can imagine. It involves many hours spent alone working on a single sketch, obsessing over whether or not this or that line looks right, or whether the aspects of the painting make sense in their own nonsensical way. Banging my head against a wall essentially. I have to be able to almost completely picture a final product in my head before I can start working on the piece.
As for time, it completely varies based on the size and complexity of the piece. I’d say the average is around 12-16 hours, not including preparation. I spend way too much time on little things people probably don’t even notice. The experience wasn’t any different in Future Tenant’s space, aside from the fact that I had to spend a lot more time making sure I didn’t mess up the surrounding area!

When and how did you start getting into spray painting?

Nicholas: Pretty early. I got super into street art, particularly stencils, when I was about 12 or 13. Being from LA area, you see graffiti and street art everywhere, and I thought it was the coolest shit ever, wanted to try it, and did.

Do you admire any other artists?

Nicholas: Of course. Funny enough, not that many aerosol artists. My big influences would probably be Tim Hawkinson (mainly in my sculptural work), Andy Goldsworthy, ARYZ, and my all time favorite street artist, BLU. Although I am not a street artist, that kind of work has always hit me in a way few other things do.

Are you working on any new projects at the moment? And where can we follow your work?

Nicholas: Definitely, I make work as often as I can. Nothing specific, but I’m always looking for new places to paint. My website is nicholassardo.weebly.com, and I am god awful at keeping it updated. Just finally made an instagram account and hopefully will be putting stuff up on that more consistently! It’s @nicksardoart. Right now I’m trying to find as many walls and galleries as I can to paint. If you own a building and want a painting on it, please let me know! Send me an email at [email protected].

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Nicholas: I’ll hopefully be doing 200ft high paintings on buildings all over Pittsburgh, and any other city that will have me.

Flash Interview Series - with Hannah Gaskill

"Flash: From the studios at the CMU School of Art", is a group show presenting work by 10 talented young artists from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Art opened on Friday, April 3rd. "Flash" refers to a sudden appearance of inspiration, just like how art is born. During the exhibition period of Flash, Visual Programming Manager Kate Lin will be interviewing the artists to know the stories behind their work.

Can you talk a little about each of the video works showing at the space now? What messages are you trying to address to the audience?

Hannah: I grew up in a small beach town in Maryland, where I attended an even smaller private school from the time I was four. Being in that environment made me feel very captive and a little restricted (no angst intended), but art has always been a method of release for me ever since I was small. I initially thought that art was a hobby, or something that I would concern myself with when I wasn’t busy being a “real person” like all of my other friends from where I grew up, but I’ve always been in love with it, and deciding to proceed with my BFA was the smartest thing that I have ever done for myself.

Can you talk a little about each of the video works showing at the space now? What messages are you trying to address to the audience?

Hannah: I am very interested in voyeurism, which is a topic that I address in Self-portrait as a voyeur, Milk, and Down-skirt Shot. I mostly want to explore everyday situations such as walking, bathing, etc., from new and semi-sexual angles. I am also interested in the business of sadness, which I address in my other pieces Death I can’t explain and Smother. To me, those pieces are about feelings of depression, isolation and mourning, but I think they are more pieces that I made for my own purpose rather than to express anything to the audience.

In most of your videos, you used yourself as the main performer. Was there a specific reason for that decision, and do you also participate in other artistic productions as performers?

Hannah: I often use myself in my pieces mostly because I’m the most accessible person that I know, but in the pieces in question I used myself because I felt that it was the best and most interesting fit. I think that there is something odd and intriguing in acting as my own Peeping Tom, and something even more compelling in sharing it with others. As far as the other pieces go, I was feeling those particular emotions, so it just felt right to express them myself. I am involved in other performances through Activating Animorphs, which is a class at Carnegie Mellon that has essentially formed its own performance troupe for the semester. We have performed on Carnegie Mellon’s campus, in the WatsOn festival in Nick Cave’s famous Sound Suits, and at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh.

What is your creative process? How long does it usually take you to complete a project or artwork?

Hannah: My creative process is to think up an idea, begin to flesh it out, and then (as soon as the deadline approaches) scrap it, come up with an even better idea, and execute it as quickly as possible. The whole process generally takes me about a month to two months, but the actualization of the real project takes about two to three weeks.

Do you admire any other artists?

Hannah: I’ll always love Marina Abramovic’s early work. That’s what has inspired me explore performance art in the first place. However, I’ve really begun to admire Eva Hesse, Janine Antoni, Robert Gober, and Angela Washko. There’s also a rising artist named Molly Soda that I think does some interesting and weird things.

Are you working on any new projects at the moment? And where can we follow your work?

Hannah: I am currently working on an installation/performance show called Mirror of Venus that opens (and, unfortunately, closes) at Carnegie Mellon’s Frame Gallery on April 24th. More of my work can be viewed at http://www.cargocollective.com/hannahgaskill

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Hannah: It depends on what I end up doing after I graduate. In five years I could be in grad school, living abroad, or teaching. To be honest, I’m not even quite sure what I’m doing next week!

Flash Interview Series - with Jamie Earnest

"Flash: From the studios at the CMU School of Art", is a group show presenting work by 10 talented young artists from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Art opened on Friday, April 3rd. "Flash" refers to a sudden appearance of inspiration, just like how art is born. During the exhibition period of Flash, Visual Programming Manager Kate Lin will be interviewing the artists to know the stories behind their work.

Could you give us a brief introduction of who you are and how you became an artist?

Jamie: I attended an arts high school, The Alabama School of Fine Arts, with a concentration in visual art. I did not want to be an artist in high school, in fact, I wanted to be an ophthalmologist. Most of my family is in the science field, including my twin sister. I just auditioned for the high school because I enjoyed making art and knew it was an interesting background to have on my resume for applications to medical schools. Upon continuing my track at this high school I realized that there is nothing more than I want to do with my life than to make art. I am able to answer and ask questions about the world around me through art making, I have to please no one. I get to work on my own account. From there I began to really challenge myself in my work and I am proud of where I have gotten to so far. I will never stop making art. 

Can you talk about the concepts behind those three pieces that are showcasing at the space?

Jamie: The three pieces in the show are from three different years, thus I feel that my work is hard to explain as a single concept for all three. All three works derive from my impressions of interior space. Dante in my Basement is my most recent work and is an example of a way that my work is headed. I am interested in how one perceives domestic space that they encounter daily or have encountered daily in the past. What aspects of those spaces live on through memory? My work tackles these questions. 

What is your creative process? How long does it usually take you to complete a project or artwork?  

Jamie: My creative process is somewhat flawed compared to that of other artists. I tend to start working on a piece once I have about 40% of an idea of what I would like to do. This kind of process creates bumps along the way, but I enjoy working like this because once I complete that 40% I am familiar with, I am able to challenge myself to finish the other 60%. I like the challenge of problem solving while working as opposed to planning a painting out color by color and line by line, then translating to a large canvas. I like to make mistakes, sometimes my mistakes become a part of the piece itself.
It normally takes me a 3-5 weeks to complete one painting, though I am often working on at least 2 at once. 

Do you admire any other artists?

Jamie: I admire student artists, that is the most challenging of all. I admire so many artists I cannot begin to list them all, but here are a few: Olafur Eliasson, Henry Taylor, Robert Motherwell, Do Ho Suh, Iman Issa, Vito Acconci, James Turrell, Robert Irwin, David Hockney, Sinta Werner, and Uta Barth and John Divola. Some architects and writers I admire are: Peter Eisenmann, Luis Barragan, Rudolf Arnheim, Victor Burgin, and Rem Koolhaus. 

Are you working on any new projects at the moment? And where can we follow your work?

Jamie: I am working on several new paintings right now as well as a photo/installation project, my website is where I put up photos of finished works as they come along. 

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Jamie: I see myself finishing graduate school and earning my MFA.

Flash Interview Series - with Nicole Anderson

"Flash: From the studios at the CMU School of Art", is a group show presenting work by 10 talented young artists from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Art opened on Friday, April 3rd. "Flash" refers to a sudden appearance of inspiration, just like how art is born. During the exhibition period of Flash, Visual Programming Manager Kate Lin will be interviewing the artists to know the stories behind their work.

Could you give us a brief introduction of who you are and how you became an artist?

Nicole: I am an artist currently finishing up my undergrad at Carnegie Mellon, but I am originally from Seattle. I took art classes throughout middle school and high school, but never really considered art school or being an artist until my junior year of high school; when I discovered conceptual art and realized that all of the things floating around my brain could be used somehow. At some point, I realized how strange it would be to stop making art after high school, so I just...didn’t.

What is your creative process? How long does it usually take you to complete a project or artwork?

Nicole: Ideas come to me, randomly, quickly and basically completely developed. Sometimes I’ll read something or see something I don’t like, or just think about a phrase, and then suddenly I have all these crazy fast-paced thoughts unraveling in front of me and I go sort of catatonic and suddenly, I know what I want to make. Honestly, it’s a great natural high, coming up with an idea is easily my favorite part of the artistic process. Everything else is just a slow tedious process of executing that original idea.
A project can take me anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple months. I have a project that I’ve been slowly working on for years. Ideally I like finishing projects over the span of about a month, that’s about my limit before I start getting bored.

Can you talk a little more about your work,  All Views Are the Same View? What messages are you trying to address to the viewer?

Nicole: With All Views Are the Same View, I was thinking about the way people interact with place. We see so many photos of these famous sites before we ever get to them, so when we finally see them, we still see it as an image. Especially with scenic viewpoints, the overlook frames the ideal way to see the landscape in front of it. Place becomes the equivalent of a painting hanging on the wall of a museum. At these viewpoints, tourists all end up taking the same photo, subconsciously recreating the image they already saw.
So for this project I collected a bunch of these tourist photographs of three iconic national parks and stacked them on top of each other so that the landscapes matched up, all of the views culminating into a single view.

Do you admire any other artists?

Nicole: Of course! In particular I feel I owe a lot to Janine Antoni. I also really love Simon Starling, Yoko Ono, and Lenka Clayton’s work.

Are you working on any new projects at the moment? And where can we follow your work?

Nicole: Currently I’m wrapping up a piece for CMU’s senior thesis show, "Some Preservatives", which will be opening on May 1st at the Miller gallery. I’m finishing a sweater that my mother started knitting for me 15 years ago. I’m also working on a video piece where I’m playing duets with old recital videos of myself as a child. This summer I’m working on a community gardening and art project with the Neu Kirche Art Center and Food City.
You can follow my work at my website.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Nicole: There is a quote from "Great Expectations" that pretty much sums up how I feel: “As to forming any plan for the future, I could as soon have formed an elephant.” What will I be doing in five years? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Flash Interview Series - with Melissa Bryan

"Flash: From the studios at the CMU School of Art", is a group show presenting work by 10 talented young artists from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Art opened on Friday, April 3rd. "Flash" refers to a sudden appearance of inspiration, just like how art is born. During the exhibition period of Flash, Visual Programming Manager Kate Lin will be interviewing the artists to know the stories behind their work.

Could you give us a brief introduction of who you are and how you became an artist?

Melissa: I’m not sure what people would want to know about who I am. I’m an art student at Carnegie Mellon University. I’m from Michigan. Half of my family is Belgian. I have a cat who acts like a dog. I find slow walking pedestrians to be incredibly frustrating. I enjoy running during thunderstorms in the summer. 
But none of that helps anyone with my art. I have an annoyingly high sensitivity to the spaces around me. I became an artist by making things constantly throughout my life and unquestionably calling it art. The rest is just how I perceive and translate things. Making art is like scratching an itch. It’s vaguely satisfying when you scratch one itch, but then a bunch of other spots start itching; if you don’t scratch any of the itches it drives you crazy.

Future Tenant is very excited to have you bringing your 3D installation into the space. Can you talk about the concept for this piece Outlier? What is the message behind this piece of artwork?

Melissa: I don’t think there’s a clear message behind Outlier. It came from a personal dilemma that is more of a jumping off point than a take away for the viewer. Otherwise it feels like I’m just regurgitating a bunch of emotional garbage. The piece is presented more as a guide than as a concrete statement. I only hope the viewers spend time with the piece, asks themselves a lot of strange questions, and finds their own meaning in the work.

I know that you spent a long time installing “Outlier”, what was the biggest challenge or most enjoyable thing during the installation for this piece? Where did you find all those leaves!?

Melissa: Fitting a piece into its space and deciding what elements are necessary are always the hardest parts. Planning for a smaller space and bringing half of my studio with me to install eased the problems I had both with finding the “essentials” of the piece and adapting those to the space. It was less stress and more enjoyment than usual. The leaves came from Schenley Park, where there are a lot of leaves.

What is your creative process? How long does it usually take you to complete a project/artwork?  

Melissa: My process involves a lot of in progress decision-making. I typically start with a rough conceptual direction and form for a project that evolves and adapts as I work through problems and find new opportunities. I choose materials more for their function than their inherent meaning, but end up using a lot of found and non-art materials.
The time a project takes is largely irrelevant to me. Everything takes twice as long as I think it’s going to. My projects become something that I live with either non-stop for a couple of weeks or consistently over a longer period.

Do you admire any other artists?

Melissa: I look at a variety of artists. There’s something extremely pleasing about formal arrangements. People who can tie a pear to a cinderblock, put it in the right lighting, and make it feel perfect. I hate them a little, too. I like weird and well-composed photography and paintings. Things you have to spend a lot of time with but never really make sense. Lee Jin Ju’s paintings, for instance. I look to David Altmejd more consistently than anyone else. 

Are you working on any new projects at the moment? And where can we follow your work?

Melissa: I’m working on two projects right now. One is for CMU’s Miller Gallery in May and consists of a table with a tablecloth that becomes a mountain with clay buildings on it. The other is largely unresolved but has to do with structures and how memory can confuse time and will potentially have a performative aspect that activates sculptures. My work can be found on my website.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Melissa: I have a perception of time that generally fails to incorporate both the past and the future into the present, so I can’t conceptualize a future self very well. If nothing else I hope to not be paralyzed from the neck down or have a desk job.

Flash Interview Series - with Kathy Lee

"Flash: From the studios at the CMU School of Art", is a group show presenting work by 10 talented young artists from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Art opened on Friday, April 3rd. "Flash" refers to a sudden appearance of inspiration, just like how art is born. 
During the exhibition period of Flash, Visual Programming Manager Kate Lin will be interviewing the artists to know the stories behind their work.

Kathy Lee, Fake Jake, 2014, digital print on paper

 Could you give us a brief introduction of who you are and how you became an artist?

Kathy: I’m Kathy Lee, born in New York and raised in South Korea. I was first introduced to art when I was 4 - my mother made me work closely with an art tutor in New York. Ever since then I knew that my path would lie in the creative field, if not specifically art. I only came to call myself an ‘artist’ recently though, through my constant urge to create.

Can you talk a little bit about each of the three pieces that are showcased in this exhibition? What music were you listening to while creating those pieces?

Kathy: Each piece is titled the same as the song I was listening to while creating them. The first one is “Addiction(Howie Lee Remix)-Phazz”, the second one is “FAKE JAKE-BAMBOUNOU”, and the last exhibited piece is “Dream Cycle-Fear Club”. You can listen to all of the songs to my series through my Soundcloud*.

What is your creative process? How long does it usually take you to complete a project/artwork?

Kathy: My creative process is very fluid and varied, which makes it difficult for me to illustrate exactly how I work. Usually, I start by listening to the track I know I want to make a visual for over and over. Once I get a good grasp of the mood or color that the song conveys, I lay a gradient of the colors I want and then try to conjure up a list of imageries/elements that I might use in my work. When I know exactly what visual imagery it is I want to manipulate, I go on Google images or creativecommons to search for it. This process ranges from 1 hour to even a week.

Do you admire any other artists?

Kathy: I used to be very obsessed with David Hockney and Basquiat’s paintings and drawings. To a certain extent I still think I am; even though my work has diverged from adapting their styles. Conceptually, I admire Do Ho Suh’s work about home.

Are you working on any new projects at the moment? And where can we follow your work?

I am constantly working on this series of “eye x ear”, which is exemplified by the pieces I exhibited at Future Tenant. On the side, I am working with a partner on this project called "With". "With" is a conceptual art duo that tries to convey the emotion of intimacy and solitude through various performances and exhibitions that involve our five senses. You can find my most recent work on my website.

Where do you see yourself in five years? 

Kathy: I don’t think I’ll stop creating, but I know that my professional passion currently lies in design. Hopefully in five years, I will be in the design field somewhere in New York, working on my music and constantly creating cross-sensual artwork.

Along the Path II with Christopher Boring

Friday, December 12, 2014, Future Tenant had an opening reception for Christopher Boring's solo exhibition "Along the Path II". In the duration of this show, Visual Programming Manager Kate Lin interviewed the artist for an in-depth conversation with the artist and his work.

Christopher Boring. Extension. 2014

Could you give us a brief introduction of who you are and how you became an artist?

Christopher: Foremost I am an artist, but I am also a hard working, loyal, passionate, and fun loving man. I have grown up and lived among Pittsburgh nearly all my life. I am lucky enough to have family that always believed and supported me, and friends that always had my back.
I have always wanted to become an artist since I was a little kid. As I grew up I was always working on artwork. I have officially considered myself as an artist since graduating high school and have worked every year afterwards to make myself the best artist that I can.

Please give us a short description of concept to your showing pieces.

Christopher: My current series of artwork are done as traditional still lifes involving rocks, which connects me to themes of past, nature, and legacy.

How long have you been painting rocks? Can you tell us a little more about how and what inspired you to start this project?

Christopher: This rock series is 2 years old. As I was finishing my collegiate career I was looking for a new series I wanted to work on. I stumbled upon rocks I had collected growing up. So when I graduated college, I decided to do a few paintings with rocks as a formal exercise. After completing the first few, I began to remember the memories associated with those rocks and the series began to evolve into a deeper and more personal body of work.

What is your creative process? How long does it usually take you to complete a painting? 

Christopher: My process consists of tons of pre-sketches and studies. Then I set up the still life and draw out the composition and placement of rocks. Lastly, I paint; making adjustments as I go. Usually the time needed to complete a painting depends on its size. It can take from 9 hours to as long as a month to finish a piece.

How does nature in general relate to you on a personal level (and your art)? 

Christopher: Nature is a huge muse for me. I love spending time out in nature and I love gardening. The feeling of being outside brings me joy and I love studying the world around us. All my art is inspired from nature or organic objects.

Do you admire any other artists? 

Christopher: I admire lots of artists and find beauty in lots of different work. Edward W. Redfield inspires my art the most, but other artists that inspire me are: Claude Monet, Andrew Wyeth, Sylvia Plimock Mangold, and my love Heather Heitzenrater.

Are you working on any new projects at the moment? And where can we follow your work? (Blog, website, twitter, Facebook etc)

Christopher: "Along the Path" is currently my only series, but there are a few other projects that I am interested in starting in the future. You can find my work on my official website and tumblr.

How did you know about Future Tenant?

Christopher: I have known about Future Tenant through my connections in Pittsburgh and through the gallery crawls I have attended. 

"Bountiful" interview series - with Stephanie Shulman

Today is Thanksgiving! "Bountiful" is now exhibiting at Future Tenant until December 7th, although the space is closed for the holidays, it will be open this weekend on November 29th and 30th. Future Tenant has been presenting the "Bountiful" interview series since the opening of this group exhibition, today we present artist interviews with Stephanie Shulman, conducted by Visual Programming Manager Kate Lin.

Could you give us a brief introduction of who you are and how you became an artist?

Stephanie: Well, I am still figuring out who I am. I could tell you what I am, but I don’t know whether that is the same thing. I come from a Jewish household that has always encouraged me to chase my creative dreams which led me to choosing art. I feel like the way that I became who I am was through a very clear series of choices. I can remember each of the moments vividly. In high school I chose art to be my profession and in the fall of my junior year I knew which direction within the arts that I wanted to go in. It is kind of funny because people say to me “oh, so you are an artist” and for the whole time that I was in school I would reply that I was not an artist yet, but an art student. I still feel like I have not quite reached artist status yet, as I still have so much to learn. 

Please give us a short description of concept to your showing pieces.

Stephanie: The Scale was an experiment, quite honestly. I wanted to take something rigid and figure out a way to soften it. I tried to think of what would be the softest thing to turn wood into, and food was the answer. That was how I initially conceived the idea of making a wooden cake, but I wanted to make it interesting. I thought about my relationship with food. I have struggled with my weight for most of my life and I love food but I hate that it has been such a challenge for me. It also always amused me that something so light, like cake, could add so much weight to me. And who hasn’t wanted to punch their scale in?

What is your creative process? How long does it usually take you to complete a project/artwork?

Stephanie: That really depends. It depends on what I am using for the project and how much iteration it goes through, as well as how inspired I am at the time of creation. Inspiration is the driving force to my independent art making. If I feel the need to get an image out of my fingers, I will paint and work until I am too afraid of screwing it up if I go any more. If I don’t have the inspiration, give me a deadline and that is usually enough motivation to make something.

You mentioned that you’re very interested in human and human relationships with everything and everyone around us. Can you tell us a little more about how you observe people and translate those observations into your work?

Stephanie: I do a lot of people watching. In airports, parks, on the bus, anywhere that I can see people, I tend to watch them. I also have a habit of interviewing people when I am left in a new place with my ipod and time on my hands. I love to ask people what they are afraid of. It is fascinating to hear the variety of responses and one may not expect some of the people to say what they say. I love chatting up random people at bus stops and in airports as well. These people are clearly going somewhere and I like to find out where and why. It’s amazing that every person has an individual set of experiences and associations we would have no idea about and I want to bridge that gap between me and my fellow humans as much as I can. I like finding the differences between people and where we are all the same. Sometimes it is through questions, sometimes it is through observation. I want to get into people’s heads and figure out how their brains work.

I have done pieces and experiments with what I have found out from these encounters which try and create empathy where there is not expected to be. I have done body art workshops that doubled as therapy sessions about people’s body image, face castings where I had people’s fears playing out of the faces’ mouths, and fear sharing therapy where people told each other their fears without knowing who they were exposing themselves to. It is really cool to see people react to hearing the thought processes of another person.

How does food in general relate to you on a personal level (and your art)?

Stephanie: I love food. It’s pretty awesome. I love cooking and trying out new recipes. It is really satisfying to make something that tastes good and makes other people happy. As someone on the chubbier side of the spectrum I have been trying to control my own food consumption, which is where this piece was really important. I have been fighting the scale for many years, trying to lose weight to be healthier, but the call of delicious food is really strong. After this piece, I focused on food specifically in my work only a few times, but more frequently I have worked with body image. 

Do you admire any other artists? 

Stephanie: Of course I do. Within this show I greatly admire Ruby Wang and her work. We were in school together and I always loved seeing her fascination with food really come out in her paintings which are always beautiful. Beyond that, I admire many artists from many fields. My favorite artists from history are always the impressionists, but every day I find new artists who make cool things. At the shops I meet scenic artists who can make any material just with paint, which is so cool to me. My friend Lorena Lopez designs costumes that are just stunning. I admire Lydia Delgado who makes beautiful watercolor paintings of flowers, and I admire all of my fellow classmates who have set out to follow their art. I am sure that there are so many artists that I am not mentioning but the general rule of thumb for me is that I admire artists who make beautiful things.

Are you working on any new projects at the moment? And where can we follow your work? (Blog, website, twitter, Facebook,etc)

Stephanie: Currently I am working as a freelance scenic artist in the NY/NJ area. I work in scenic shops and wherever else I am needed. I have recently painted the production of Avenue Q that is playing in the studio theater of the University of Pittsburgh. I do have a website that you could check out. 

How did you know about Future Tenant?

Stephanie: I remember hearing about the gallery while I was at CMU and many of my classmates had shows at the gallery. 

"Bountiful" interview series - with Ruby Wang

"Bountiful" is now exhibiting at Future Tenant until December 7th. Future Tenant has been presenting the "Bountiful" interview series since the opening of this group exhibition, today we present artist interviews with Ruby Wang, conducted by Visual Programming Manager Kate Lin.

Could you give us a brief introduction of who you are and how you became an artist?

Ruby: I am a Taiwanese Canadian, and I came to the States to pursue college education in the arts. My family members are separated across Asia and North America; thus, food becomes something that speaks of my cultural background and connects our relationship since having a family meal together is rare and is to be cherished. There is not a decisive moment in time where I realize, “I want to become an artist”; for what I can recall, I have always been involved with arts and crafts since youth, and have always known that my future path would involve this expression of the creative mind. 

Please give us a short description of concept to your showing pieces.

Ruby: Last year this time, I was going through some personal experiences that reshaped how food can carry a meaning for me as a woman. Wine and Bananas, the painting series shown in the Bountiful exhibition, derives from a video installation project exploring food and pleasure, but also alcohol and sexual abuses in an intimate prospect. 

How are the paintings different from the video installation project? What message did you want to address to the audience who view the paintings for the first time without seeing the prior video project? 

Ruby: The video installation project is named “One Week and A Day” to signify the period of time of gradual personal conflict, yet the paintings focus less on the chronology of event but the beauty of these food and objects. For these Wine and Bananas paintings, the central emphasis is on these two unconventional food pair, which has unconcealed association to bodily fluids and sexual organs. The pieces aim to purely provoke viewers’ visual senses with the erotic nature of these simplistic yet sensual objects. 

What is your creative process? How long does it usually take you to complete a project/artwork?

Ruby: The creative process varies for each project, but recently I have adopted the method of using digital media (usually photography or video) to compose my concepts. Digital photography is just an efficient way for me to plan the picture, but while taking these pictures, I am simultaneously considering how I can build on top of these images physically with paint and other medium. From concept planning, prop prepping, photo shooting, editing, printing, to physically altering and adding final touches to the projects, it usually takes a little bit more than a month to complete one series. Often I will work on other photography shoots and projects at the same time to get new ideas flowing. 

How does food in general relate to you on a personal level (and your art)?

Ruby: Food connects with me in a very personal level. If one asks me what I am pondering about, 95% of the time it will be about food. Food is both need and desire. Theorists like Brillat-Severin and Roland Barthes have written about eating, suggesting that this irrational human behavior to consume after you are full has erotic implications, for our needs have already been satisfied and what is left is lust. My art deals with this lust. It is something that occupies almost all my personal and artistic life. For me, food is both a pleasure and a struggle. 

Do you admire any other artists? 

Ruby: As a child, I had an affinity for realist painters, especially Rosa Bonheur, but my admiration lay beyond their artistic abilities. As shallow as it may sound, my adoration for Bonheur was probably due to the simple fact that she is a female artist, and her works outshined those of the other artists in this Impressionism exhibition I once visited. As the theme of food and the female body has gotten more relevant to my artist practices, I look at artists who have dealt with the subject of edibles, like Marilyn Minter, Lee Price, Will Cotton, Claes Oldenburg, Wayne Thiebaud, and those who discusses the women body with food, such as Cecelia Dahl, Julia Fullerton-Batten, Judy Chicago, Karen Finley, and Janine Antoni. 

Are you working on any new projects at the moment? And where can we follow your work? (Blog, website, twitter, Facebook,etc)

Ruby: I am working on new photography and painting series that concern the female figure and sensuous food such as yogurt, jam, cream, and berries. These new projects can be seen on my website.

How did you know about Future Tenant?

Ruby: I have come to know about Future Tenant through the Carnegie Mellon connection, for a lot of graduate and undergraduate students have had exhibitions in the space. Thus it was such an honorable surprise when I was asked to participate in this group exhibition. 

"Bountiful" interview series - with Teréz Iacovino

"Bountiful" is now exhibiting at Future Tenant and a complimentary sustainable food panel and tasting event,"Bountiful Harvest" will be happening on November 22nd from 3 to 5 pm. Dive deeper into what food means to us, Future Tenant continues to present artist interviews and take a glimpse of what inspired the artists to create work such as the ones showing in "Bountiful". This interview is conducted by Visual Programming Manager Kate Lin with Teréz Iacovino.

Could you give us a brief introduction of who you are and how you became an artist?

Teréz: I’m an artist and educator currently based in Minneapolis. Over the years I've worked as a book preservationist, papermaker, gallery installation coordinator, and live-in studio intern. As far as how I became an artist, I’m someone who has always been drawn to process, problem solving, and making things with my hands. For me, art encompassed all of this with an added creative freedom. 

Growing up in apartments with just my mom, I acted as the family "handyman," creating hack fixes for things like a leaky air conditioner by funneling water into a bucket, or tying our Christmas tree to the window sill one year with shoelaces because it kept falling down. I'm starting to find that even at a young age I was embracing the role of the "non-expert," which I feel has carried over into my multimodal approach to making. Rather than viewing non-expertise as a weakness, I find strength in the fluidity that it provides and strive to generate constant questioning and curiosity, rather than solely prescribing answers.

Please give us a short description of concept to your showing pieces.

Teréz: Dinner for One plays with the idea of the TV dinner as an industrial edition - essentially a mass produced multiple (in this case a meal) that strives to be identical to all other meals of its same make. What fascinates me about industrial agriculture and corporate food culture is exerting this control over nature and taste to be able to create a meal that is exactly the same no matter if you microwave it in Minneapolis or Morocco. 

Can you explain how the interactive installation works? What did you put on the screen print and how does it react to the temperature change in the toaster oven?

Teréz: Dinner for One invites the viewer to “cook” the art, which are screen printed half tone images of scanned TV dinners. They are printed using a concoction of corn syrup and cornstarch that when heated caramelizes on the paper and creates various tonalities of brown. The science behind the project was inspired by invisible ink experiments I used to do as a kid with lemon juice on paper. You then hold the paper back and forth over a flame until the message starts to decode from the lemon juice reacting with the heat. 

You mentioned that your work focuses on the intersections of nature and technology. Can you tell us a little more about how you apply technology in your other work and your thoughts on how art and technology relate to each other? 

Teréz: More recent works and collaborations use technologies like hydroponics - a soil-less or dirt-less method of growing food - in an effort to create sculptures and objects for the home that grow edibles. In many ways I’m employing very low fi and ancient technologies in my work, since hydroponics have been around for centuries. They're really nothing new. And of course "invisible ink" is nothing novel, but I still find magic in it. And in terms of how art and technology relate to each other, I see them as both being about communication. Each challenges how we think about and see the world. They both possess a motive to question, to explore, to reimagine, and they're always constantly evolving. What we now refer to as interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, or transdisciplinary art carries with it the lineage of systems and cybernetic art, bio and transgenic art, all of which are deeply rooted in technology. Technology has given rise to the "postdisciplinary" artist and will continue to complicate the artist’s relationship to a medium.

What is your creative process? How long does it usually take you to complete a project/artwork?

Teréz: When I was in undergrad studying graphic design (which I later left for printmaking) the program motto was “just redo it.” I’m finding more and more that this is a large part of my creative process. Usually I need to play with materials and make several prototypes before completing the final project. I may do a couple different iterations until it get the material to do what I want, which can be highly frustrating. In terms of a time frame I've had individual projects (like Dinner for One) that I’ve completed over a couple of months, but more recent hydroponic collaborations have taken up to a year or more.

How does food in general relate to you on a personal level (and your art)?

Teréz: Growing up I was fortunate enough to have access to wholesome, nutritious food, but I never had any relationship to where my food came from. In 2009, I moved to upstate New York to live and work at the Women's Studio Workshop. Food culture there centered heavily around a daily lunch potluck in which the entire staff partook. It was also an area of New York that had a rich local and organic food movement and it was the first opportunity I ever had to garden. The experience dramatically shaped my current relationship with food and just instilled an awareness of the politics surrounding food that becomes more and more prevalent throughout the United States as the slow food movement gains momentum.
My art practice becomes another vehicle from which to question and critique my own (and our country's) relationship with food.  With the explosion of social practice, so many contemporary artists are working with food. It is something that everyone has some form of relationship with, no matter where you come from. For me, that makes it a powerful subject to unpack. 

Do you admire any other artists?

Teréz: Of course! The amount of talented artists that we have access to via the web is overwhelming, so I've been working on making these massive Google Doc indexes for myself of artists who inspired me. Lately, I've been looking at the mycology research and prototyping of Phillip Ross, as a challenge to myself on how to rethink the way in which I use materials. Phoebe Washburn's massive, seemingly haphazard installations always provide a reminder for how amazing structures can be made from the mundane. Most recently I've been thinking about how to bring my foundational roots in printmaking back into my practice as a way to give my process of diagramming and writing a new life. I've been looking at the prints of Marnix Evereart and the drawings of Jorinde Voight as inspiration for how to illustrate the unseen, how to map familiar and everyday moments, and how to breakdown various systems, no matter how large or small.

Are you working on any new projects at the moment? And where can we follow your work? (Blog, website, twitter, Facebook, etc.) 

Teréz: Yes, primarily collaborative versus solo endeavors at the moment. I collaborate with an artist/architect team of two other women (Laura Bigger and Artemis Ettsen) known as Crescent Collective. We recently finished a project called The Hydroponic Table in which we designed a dining table that can produce edibles using very low tech hydroponic growing. Find out more at Crescent Collective's website.

How did you know about Future Tenant?

Teréz: I was first introduced to Future Tenant back in 2011 when Future Tenant Vet, Katy Peace, gave me the opportunity to do a window installation of a project that was just winding down called Posted Public. I’ve traveled to Pittsburgh quite a few times since then and always keep my ear to the ground for what's happening at Future Tenant.

"Bountiful" interview series - with Taylor Preston

Ten days has passed since the opening of "Bountiful", a group show all about food. Future Tenant will continue to present artist interviews and offer an deeper insight with the work and life of the artists. This interview is conducted by Visual Programming Manager Kate Lin with Taylor Preston.

Could you give us a brief introduction of who you are and how you became an artist?

Taylor: I’m currently in my final year at Carnegie Mellon University, where I'm finishing up my Bachelor of Humanities and Arts degree, with concentrations in Fine Arts and History. In high school I excelled in academics, especially English and History. I think art presented a lot of interesting challenges that the other subjects I was studying did not. In art, there are no right or wrong answers. There’s no one-way to accomplish something, and I think that was really refreshing. 

Please give us a short description of concept to your showing pieces.

Taylor: Nobody Came to My Party is a series of digital prints depicting the destruction of a birthday party table setting. Left alone at her own birthday party, the idea is that the dejected birthday girl has a total meltdown. Smearing the cake and icing around the table. In the end, she lights her birthday candle and serenades herself to "Happy Birthday."

These cakes look so delicious! Can you tell us a little more about where and the process of creating these scenes? What materials were involved? 

Taylor: For the piece, I constructed a set made up of many cakes. Each one is brightly colored and elaborately iced. Some are real cakes, decorated with real icing and sprinkles. But many are plaster, dyed with pigments and casted, shaped and carved until they resemble cakes. The process of creating the set was definitely work intensive, but I think it was a really important part of the process of trying to recreate this somewhat vague memory.

What is your creative process? How long does it usually take you to complete a project or artwork?

Taylor: I read a lot and have always loved film, so I’m constantly drawing inspiration from outside the realm of of visual arts. I also usually do a lot of research in the beginning stages of creating a piece. As far as time length is concerned, I think it all depends on the scope of the project. Sometimes I'll work on smaller projects - books, prints, photographs, etc... - and finish them within a couple weeks. Usually though I take on larger projects, which just inherently take more time to complete. If I do start work on a larger project, I'm almost always simultaneously working on some smaller pieces - even if I'm just making some prints, or working on some smaller books or drawings. If I'm working on one thing for too long my mind tends to wonder, so having a couple things going on at the same time helps me to stay active and thinking.

You mentioned that you see birthday cakes as one of the iconic images of Americana, can you share a little more of your thoughts on that? Are there other things in your opinion that contribute to a greater American experience? 

Taylor: I think there are certain aspects of day-to-day life that become so commonplace that, over time they reach this kind of iconic status and become symbols for something greater. License plates, billboards, statues, cars, fast food - we see these everyday, but hardly think twice about them. I think these kinds of things have come to represent American society, but also speak to this longing for the past - to longing for "better days." All I needed in my piece to show that I was eluding to a birthday party was a candle in a single cupcake. None of the cakes have happy birthday piped on them in icing. There are no happy birthday banners in the background. But the viewer can still infer that I'm depicting a birthday party, just because this imagery has become so iconic.

How does food in general relate to you on a personal level (and your art)?

Taylor: To be honest, food doesn’t often find its way into my artwork. In the past, I've drawn a lot from my childhood memories. Every family gathering, every birthday, every holiday always revolved around food. Since many of my childhood memories revolve around these special events, I think it's only natural that the subject of food sneak its way into my work every once and a while. 

Do you admire any other artists? 

Taylor: Yes, definitely! Lately I’ve been admiring the work of a lot of photographers, especially those that integrate text into their photos - Carrie Mae Weems, Alec Soth and Nicholas Muellner just to name a few. Carrie came to Pittsburgh to speak a couple years ago, and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. She's an amazing speaker, and I really admire her work. Also, I have a very intense love of Duane Michaels. I think he's one of the few people I've ever really "fan girled" over.

Are you working on any new projects at the moment? And where can we follow your work? (Blog, website, twitter, Facebook, etc)

Taylor: Yes! Over the summer I went on a big road trip down south. During my trip I visited the site of every battle that Loretta Janeta Velezquez, a Cuban American woman who disguised herslef as a man in order to fight in the Civil War, was known to have fought in. I'm currently working on compiling all my photographs and writing form the trip, as well as excerpts from Loreta's writings, into a book. Hopefully it will be finished soon! I've also recently fallen back in love with Bolly Parton and Loretta Lynn, so I've been working on some smaller projects inspired by my obsession. You can follow my work at my website. I also have a blog, where I tend to post more in progress stuff.

How did you know about Future Tenant?

Taylor: I’m a student at Carnegie Mellon and, since the Master of Arts Management students at Carnegie Melon run Future Tenant, I’m really well informed on new programming going on. I am very happy I was asked to participate in Bountiful !

"Bountiful" interview series - with Cayla Skillin-Brauchle

During the "Bountiful" exhibition, Future Tenant will continue to present artist interviews and offer an deeper insight with the work and life of the artists. This interview is conducted by Visual Programming Manager Kate Lin with Cayla Skillin-Brauchle. 

Cayla Skillin-Brauchle graduated with a BA from Beloit College in 2006 and she earned her MFA in Printmaking from Ohio University in 2012. She was a Fulbright Fellow in Mumbai, India from 2012 - 2013 and she has recently joined the faculty at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Art. Her trans-disciplinary studio practice spans printmaking, drawing, installation, performance, and social practice. Her work has been shown at venues including JDK Gallery in Burligton, VT; the Rotunda Galley in Bangkok, Thailand; ROY G BIV Gallery in Columbus, OH; the Sir JJ school of Art, Mumbai, India; and 621 Gallery in Tallahassee, FL.

Could you give us a brief introduction of who you are and how you became an artist?

Cayla: As a kid I was good at academic stuff, reading and writing came easily. At some point I realized that art, unlike many of the other things I was studying, was really hard and therefore exceedingly engaging. That desire for challenge has really stuck. My goals as an artist continue to evolve while my conviction that art and creative problem solving are crucial to happy, healthy, and just communities grows.

Please give us a short description of the concept of your work “Candy Scans”. 

Cayla: Inspired by the ever popular Candy Gram, my "Candy Scans" series employs gummy candy to to construct delicious nuggets of admiration. The resulting glowing, beautiful, and out-of-reach images aspire to talk about ideas of sweetness, desire and consumerism.

Aside from “Candy Scans”, you have several other works that are related to candies and sweets. How did those subjects relate to you and how did they inspire you to create your work?

Cayla: My work with candies, sugar, and sweets dealt with the notion of sweetness not just as taste, but also as an attribute that is ascribed to women and girls. How I perform and embody sweetness interests me. Or how I, as a woman, feel a cultural pressure to strive to make myself consumable: to look good or be agreeable.

What is your creative process? How long did it take you to complete this project?

Cayla: Usually, I have some sort of broad idea of what I want to work on. In the case of "Candy Scans" I wanted  to work with the idea of sweetness: both literal sweetness (in taste) and the figurative sweetness that women are expected to possess in U.S. culture. Once I have a basic field or idea to explore, I employ my studio practice to develop that idea. My studio practice involves solo studio time, all types of research, discussions or collaborations with other other artists and thinkers, and performances that blur the line between art and research for future projects. Often, I start with solo studio time or research, but I will go back and forth between all these realms as I work through an idea. The result tends to be a body of work not limited to one medium. I made "Candy Scans" while simultaneously creating prints, installations, and a performance that all investifated the idea of "sweetness."

You have had other installations using food as the medium. What were some of the biggest challenges dealing with food and what part did you enjoy the most?

Cayla: The biggest challenge would be controlling the gooey and melty tendencies of sugar and gelatin with sugar’s tendency to attract bugs maybe a close second. On the other hand, this tendency of food and sugar to change over time taught me to embrace change and temporality within my work. The time component of decay is present in all mediums, but seems to be most obvious when you work with food.

Do you admire any artists / photographers?

Cayla: So many! A short list would include Janine Antoni’s performative objects; Francis Alys’ performances; Cy Twobmly’s drawings and paintings; Ann Hamilton’s installations; Yayoi Kusama's  use of color and pattern; and Sharon Hayes’ intervention work.

Are you working on any new projects at the moment? And where can we follow your work? (Blog, website, twitter, Facebook, etc.)

Cayla: In 2012-13, a Fulbright Fellowship allowed  me to study cargo truck decoration in Mumbai, India; this research is currently being distilled through drawings and a large-scale book project. In 2014, I debuted THE HUMAN XEROX PROJECT, which is a mobile, interactive performance during which I draw participants' favorite things as they describe them to me.Acting as a Human Xerox machine allows me to duplicate and highlight our collective material landscape, while simultaneously recording the stories that tie humans to their possessions. This project is part of an ongoing investigation into ownership over possessions as well as ownership over individual or collective thought. Yon can check out these, as well as other recent projects on my website.   

How did you know about Future Tenant?

Cayla:  I first showed at Future Tenant when I was in graduate school at Ohio University in 2010. I am happy to be invited back to participate in Bountiful!

"Bountiful" interview series - with Diane White

"Bountiful", a group show all about food is opening On Friday November 7, 2014 at Future Tenant. This exhibition revolves around the concept of food. Food has come to represent many things in our society, as a means of survival and cultural cohesion, our relationship with food is complex and varied. While in preparation for the show, Visual Programming Manager Kate Lin interviewed one of the artist, Diane White.

Could you give us a brief introduction of who you are and how you became an artist?

Diane: I am an artist from Pittsburgh, PA. Always interested in art, I first began painting decorative items for the home as well as murals and faux finishes. It led into a natural progression to the fine art field. I am a member of the Oil Painters of America, Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Society of Artists, and several other local art leagues. My paintings have won many awards in local juried exhibitions. I have also been juried into several national juried exhibitions.

Please give us a short description of concept to your showing pieces.

Diane: I have been trying to use ordinary objects such as take out containers and chopsticks, coffee cups, or fast food wrappings in a symbolic way or with a humorous twist. These “trash to treasure” paintings relate to our fast paced, throw away society, finding beauty in the ordinary. Still life paintings of the past used objects and food items commonly found in those times. Now, people often have their meals on the go or using take out food as a meal. I am trying to capture of snapshot of our life in the 21st century.

What is your creative process? How long does it usually take you to complete a project/artwork?

Diane: I often have a color concept or a theme that I am trying to express. Often I have an idea for a title, and then create the still life to fit the title. I have a large collection of pieces gathered from flea markets or antique shops as well as disposables, such as bottles, bags, wrappers, and take out containers gathered from various sources. Even an occasional “trashcan pick” might catch my eye.  

I light the still life from a single light source.  When I set up a still life, I arrange the light to have interesting shadows, lost and found edges. I want the viewer to take a closer look to see the beauty in the painting.  As I paint I am trying to capture the subtle nuances of light and color in the still life.  I usually complete a painting in 2-4 "sittings" unless it is particularly complicated.

Is there any stories or reasons that made you choose objects such as take away lunch boxes as the theme of the paintings?

Diane: The first painting that I did, involving those boxes, called “Waiting” subconsciously mirrored things going on in my life at the time. My life was in a state of change with an unknown future, so those closed boxes represented the parts of my life that were ending and closed, while the open ones represented being open to new opportunities. After that painting I began looking for more items that you might not associate with a classically painted still life, but I presented them in that manner. I especially like to paint paper bags, capturing the wrinkled paper. Most often, I don't have a specific reason for using an object except for finding interesting shapes and sizes that make an interesting composition.

How does food in general relate to you (and your art)?

Diane: Everyone likes food and because of that, my paintings appeal to many people. It makes it easy to find items to use in my paintings. I initially was attracted to the take out containers because of their shapes, graphics, and the ability to open or close the lids. They also have a wonderful translucent quality that I try to capture.  

You mentioned that you have collected other interesting pieces at antique shops and flea markets. Can you give us some examples of the type of things you have collected and how you have applied them into your paintings?

Diane: I have collected many beautiful brass and copper pieces that lend themselves to being used with contemporary objects. They have a great reflective quality and challenged my ability as painter! I have rugs and fabric as well as other little vases and pots that I use in more traditional still lifes. 

Do you admire any other artists? 

Diane: I admire many contemporary artists, David Leffel, Jeff Legg, Laura Robb, Elizabeth Robbins, and many others. I have studied artists of the past but find most of my inspiration from current art.  I have tried to study with artists whose work I admire, including those mentioned above.

Are you working on any new projects at the moment? And where can we follow your work? (Blog, website, twitter, Facebook,etc)

Diane: I think I am known most for my still life paintings but I have recently been doing some plein air painting. I was invited to a plein air event in Westfield, NY, where we painted for 4 days in  the surrounding area, then presented our 3 best pieces for a joried show. I was thrilled to win a 2nd place award for my piece, Vineyard Vista. I hope to participate in more plein air painting in the future. It definitely challenges me to be a better artist.

My website is Dianewhiteart.com. I always post my new paintings and plan to start a Blog about my process and and painting adventures. I am also on Facebook under Diane White.

How did you know about Future Tenant?

Diane: I had heard of Future Tenant, but when I was invited to be a part of the Bountiful exhibition, I knew that it was an opportunity that I could not pass up. Thank you very much for the honor of being a part of this show!

Tectonica with Paul Chidester

Friday, September 5, 2014, Future Tenant had an opening reception for Paul Chidester's solo exhibition "Tectonica". In the duration of this show, Visual Programming Manager Kate Lin interviewed the artist for an in-depth look at the artist and his work.

Paul Chidester, the artist behind "Tectonica"

Who and what are some of your early artistic influences? 

Paul: My great-grandfather was a painter who attended the Maryland Institute in the late 19th century. Growing up outside Baltimore, the family house was filled with his landscape paintings and charcoal drawings of still life and portraits. They had a profound impact on my way of experiencing the world through images. Later on, the Chicago Imagists were an influence, as were De Chirico, Guston, Smithson (particularly his photographs), and the Scottish concrete poet/gardener Ian Hamilton Finlay.

Can you describe your choice of subjects for your paintings? How does your creative process influence the elements you use?

Paul: I’ve always identified with the idea of landscape in one way or another. After my daughter was born, I began taking her for walks around the block where we lived in Chicago’s west loop area. I began to see a new “landscape” from a couple of feet above ground level. Within the frontier of a single, weedy city block, I began to see a new kind of horizon. Since then, I’ve taken many walks into similarly prosaic “landscapes” in order to find forms and spaces that might characterize the world out there now, however obliquely. 

How long does it take to create one your works?

Paul: I start with a couple of ideas, and then rely on the process of drawing to conjure particular kinds of surprises. I’m not interested in most work that offers specific kinds of critical reflections on the world because that kind of work relies on the reiteration of personally held beliefs, something that’s already known. Poet Louise Gluck writes in her book of essays titled, “Proofs and Theories” that she has come to seek - through the process of writing - a kind of illumination. By that she means a jolt that is felt by the writer (and then by the reader when the poem is read). This happens for me in each painting that survives the process of its creation. It has to surprise me and come to a kind of internal coherence. I hope that feeling is experienced by the viewer. So, I work slowly. A painting can take many months to complete.

Paul Chidester. Meteor. 2011

You mentioned that this series is based upon J.G. Ballard’s work “visual poetry of ruin”. What about Ballard’s work appealed to you? 

Paul: A number of poets and writers have influenced my work.  
Along with Ballard, I would also include Russell Edson and Jonathan Williams. I wouldn’t say that my work is based on any of theirs, but the influence is there. In J.G. Ballard’s case, he is an incredibly visual writer who gives shape to imagined worlds that feel uncannily already known. Many passages in his stories describe the edges of towns, out where airport onramps endlessly circle anonymous high-rise hotels, etc. Sometimes there are the faded remains of resorts, industrial ephemera, or backyards, but something unexpected is always just around the corner. When I take walks in these kinds of spaces, the same is true. There is an element of danger to them, and drastic transformation. The visual description of such spaces has led to strategies that, for me, have nothing to do with what has come to be referred to as “ruins porn”.

On your website, you described the recent painting as “synthesiz(ing) a variety of topographical with figural and architectural novelties that have been collected through time.” What were the qualities you were looking for in collecting architectural objects? Do those objects/qualities have any connections to past memories or personal preferences?

Paul: For many years, I divided my time between Pennsylvania and Ireland. Teaching opportunities in Italy afforded me the opportunity to spend a fair bit of time there as well. During that time, my subject matter among these places began to blend. I became aware of how old-world architectural monuments, ruins, follies, gardens, etc. evoked feelings quite different from their new-world equivalents. I began to wonder what kind of pictorial tensions might be evoked by rendering a new world “folly” in a way that signified something else? As a result, I gravitated stylistically toward works that carved out a mythic space (like Sienese painting) rather than a straightforwardly naturalistic one. This series of paintings began during an extended stay in Siena. So, the Romanesque stripes in the paintings come from there, but seem to evoke a very different kind of feeling. Some kind of malevolence animates the striped forms/spaces that complements the WWII era dazzle painting camouflage motifs in other paintings from the same series. Ultimately, the subjects coalesce into arrangements that come to form a new, anachronistic world. 

Paul Chidester. Nocturne. 2013

I understand this series was started during an extended stay in central Italy. How did the Italian countryside and culture affect your goals and creative process for this series?

Paul: Before travelling, I attended a lecture by the author Toni Morrison. She brought up the prevalence of social barriers in our time (no less than more traditional notions of “walls” that can still be seen in medieval cities like those in central Italy). So, while walking around the towns I visited, the ubiquitous walls of hill towns became interesting for their massive, picturesque beauty, but also for the darker aspects the Morrison evoked in my response to them in the 21st in the notion of the military fortifications, not for their familiar picturesque qualities, but for the new ways I began to see them. Back in the studio here, I knew that I needed a surface/support system that would enable me to reference the walls and forms in my sketchbook and photographs. So, I chose a surface that is a construction grade material used for exterior walls/buildings/etc., applied over rigid foam panels that are supported and cradled in a welded aluminum frame. Rather than being an unrelated, added “frame”, the aluminum serves as an integral element to the support and surface of the paintings. Finally, of course, I fell in love with the colors of the wall paintings there and chose flashe paint as a way to evoke the cooler fresco palette and matte surface.

One thing I noticed about this series is the varying perspectives. They range from holistic overviews to close-up details in this continuous space that you’ve created. They feel like connected snapshots of a full world, like a documentary of this imaginary land. How would you describe the style and what is your role in documenting this world?

Paul: Part of style has to do with choice, and part doesn’t. I do construct my paintings from a variety of images both drawn and photographic. I think of myself at heart as a collagist, rather than as a “painter’s painter”. One of the things that draws me to the more mythic spaces of the Sienese painters is the use of pattern to describe unknown places (or for visual pleasure). In both cases, a purely practical sense of naturalistic depiction is not the highest priority. In my case, I attempt a merger of various points of view, but nurture (and make space for) the way my own perspectival shortcomings serve the overriding interest of authoring my own version of a fictitious space, born out of synthesis and process.

Paul Chidester's solo exhibition "Tectonica" is on display at Future Tenant from September 5th, 2014 to October 4th, 2014.