I grew-up in a perilously small house in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. My mother and father were painters. My dad could not afford a studio so he painted in the kitchen, often with Bartok or Beethoven blaring, and while meals were being prepared. My parents habitually discussed light and likeness, color and composition. At an early age I learned to observe the world around me with a thinking eye, and developed a deep and abiding respect for artists.
When I’m shooting, I look for ghosts hidden in plain sight. I use many different cameras; it doesn’t matter which one. Cameras are tools like paint brushes. Ideas are more important than lenses. I am not obsessed with beauty. Beauty isn’t art. Art disturbs the molecules. Art makes us see. I flow with my intuition. I wade into this river willingly. The water knows more than I know. The current is strong. It is always a struggle.
I am the editor-in-chief of Mental Shoes magazine. I design and develop book covers, logos, and on-line magazines. I have directed long-form media and TV commercials for NY and Los Angeles production companies including Richmel Productions and Pacific Ocean Post, and for corporations such as Warner Brothers and Reebok. My work has garnered Telly awards, a Mobius award, a Mercury Award, New York Festival Awards, Monitor Awards, ITVA awards, and Society of Technical Communicators Awards of Distinction. Next summer, I am curating a group exhibition at Stephen Romano gallery in New York.
WAYS OF THE WORLD is a group of collages based on encompassing issues – sleeplessness, pain, beauty standards, false idols, the future, destruction, love, and truth.
I was gifted a large amount of magazines and books and decided to make collages as self-art-therapy. I also had some old children’s books and pamphlets from the 70s in my paper stash. I sat down and just began picking images, letting them tell me a story. As one image would speak to me I was then able to construct an scene, a story, or an idea.
I wanted to play with images of pop culture and false ideals – like subtly using Jennifer Lawrence in the Why Does the Caged Bird Sing? piece or alternatively-formed people for the Adam and Eve piece. We’re always taught about perfection in society; how to act, how to look, how to speak, and how to exist, but we are never taught about the beauty of variety – that what is “ugly” is actually beautiful, and we all have to capacity to see past the surface if we open our eyes a little wider.
Bio:
Grace Mateo was born in 1982 in Brooklyn, New York. She currently resides and works in Brooklyn. She sought to develop her skills through both intensive personal studies and at educational institutions. Grace is constantly seeking and discovering new approaches to her work with different mediums. She often addresses socio-economic content or mental and physical health issues in her work. Through art Grace seeks to create an exchange and understanding between herself and the viewer and introduces a space for discussing and celebrating our similarities as well as our differences.
Why does the caged bird singThe Goddess IrosThe Children Are Our FutureSweet DreamsPromises PromisesAdam and Eve
WHEEL OF FORTUNE IS A CIRCULAR INSTALLATION OF SALVAGED DOORS WHICH, UPON
ENTERING, EACH REVEAL A LARGE-SCALE BLACK AND WHITE MULTIPLE EXPOSURE
METALLIC PHOTOGRAPH. THE PORTRAIT SERIES OF WOMEN FEATURE WILDLY UNIQUE
DEPICTIONS OF THE TAROT’S MAJOR ARCANA ARCHETYPES. INSIDE IS A BEAUTIFUL
PARLOR WITH A HAND CRAFTED, METAL, OPEN-AIR GAZEBO WITH BENCHES MADE
WITH VINTAGE BED FRAMES, A CENTRAL SEATING OTTOMAN WITH STEPS WHICH
INVITE CURIOUS VISITORS UP TO SPIN A BULLET RIDDEN BARREL LANTERN THAT
CASTS BEADS OF LIGHT THROUGHOUT THE SPACE. THIS IS ALL CROWNED BY A FIRE
CHANDELIER WHICH EXHIBITS DELICATE PROPANE FLAME EFFECTS AT NIGHT. HAND
WE ARE FULLY SOLAR POWERED BY SIX 130 WATT PANELS HOUSED BY A CUSTOM LED LIT SOLAR ARRAY OUTPOST.
THE ARRAY CAN BE USED OPTIONALLY DEPENDING ON THE DURATION NEEDED AND WAS SIZED TO MAINTAIN A CHARGE FOR UP TO TWO DAYS OR CAN BE INSTALLED FOR SHORTER EVENTS TO DEMONSTRATE THE TECHNOLOGY.
THE OUTPOST PROVIDES THE ENERGY NEEDED TO ILLUMINATE THE 22 DOORS INSIDE AND OUT, PLUS THE CENTRAL SPINNING LANTERN AND TURNS ON WITH A TIMED SYSTEM. THE SOLAR ARRAY ALSO SERVES AS ANOTHER SHADED SITTING AREA FOR VISITORS.
INSTALLATION SPECS: 44 SQR FT. – 26FT DIAMETER CIRCLE – 7FT TALL RING OF DOORS – 13FT TALL AT CENTER OF GAZEBO
Anne Staveley and Jill Sutherland are the Designers and Creators of the WHEEL OF FORTUNE.
Together they are LIVINLARGEPHOTO. they create surreal images on a massive scale such as Large murals & multimedia installations from their photography.
They are Believers in the Power of Images to start Conversations of Change.
We, as a people, have all experienced ups, downs, triumphs, and tribulations. Very few can express it visually. However, for us artists, we can use all of the emotions we feel to our advantage. It is all worth it for the freedom of expression through art. Being able to have an outlet is very fulfilling.
Whether I have the day off or I am working, I will suddenly get the urge to paint. Time is of no consequence. I have painted at 2:00 in the morning knowing that I have to get up at 7:30 am. Not knowing what I am going to paint; I just clear my mind and let it come to me. It depends on my mood. I can be in the mood for something colorful like street art, minimalistic like a squiggly, or thought provoking like the topics of global warming or militia, or even just something playful.
Once I have an idea, I just let it flow using whatever colors and tools I have available. This includes using paint, markers, fabric, tape, stencils, and sponges.
The worst part about painting is when you’re in the zone and you either run out paint or run out of canvas to continue your series. It’s never the same when you go back to it. Also, it can be difficult when you have a heavily layered piece to patiently wait for the layers to dry when you just want to continue.
What I have learned not to do is to start painting on a wet layer or use a fan. Also, you can’t rush the artwork or the process even if it takes several days to come to you. The longest break I’ve taken between layers was a month. It was well worth it. You can’t force the idea if it doesn’t come to you right away. Furthermore, if the painting looks good to you, STOP, even if you feel the thought is incomplete.
Painting to me is an expression of beauty and harmony. If it looks appealing then I stop — there are no more layers needed. I am visually captured by color, texture, and noise. Noise meaning “loudness†or “frou-frouness†in art. I am certain it’s why I gravitate towards nontraditional art. My methods reflect that. As a mixed media artist, there is no limit to what one may consider as art.
My art infuses street art and fashion which is why I call it “art coutureâ€. I want my pieces to feel like a piece of a wardrobe that not only decorates your house, but decorates the canvas.
Garbage Golden As CalvesObviously Hazardous, Obviously ReproducingDisguse, Discharge, Disgust, DiscussInstallation Photo
By Mark Blickley
Coming together is a beginning, Keeping together is progress, Working together is success. –Henry Ford
Although the automobile magnate wasn’t describing Samm Cohen and Joseph A. W. Quintela’s current exhibition, The Quarters Project, he was celebrating the triumph of creating work through collaboration. Each painting, assemblage, photograph and drawing in the Cohen/Quintela show represents a victory lap of dual driven passion and compromise.
To be drawn and quartered originally referenced a brutal legal punishment where living victims had their viscera drawn out of them before they were chopped into four pieces. Their remains were often displayed in prominent public places. A case can be made that The Quarters Project highlights an emotional, aesthetic evisceration that is prominently displayed at Chashama 461 Gallery. It takes guts to exhibit singular art pieces drawn from the visions of two artists who refute dominant/submissive participation in lieu of holistic equality. This equality is achieved by each artist being assigned individual quarters of each work’s spatial surface.
To give quarter is an expression that means granting merciful consideration. I suspect the quarters Cohen and Quintela exchanged and incorporated into such dramatic and thought provoking works as the assemblage Garbage Golden As Calves, the text based Obviously Hazardous, Obviously Reproducing, the C print Disguise, Disgust, Discharge, Discuss and the mixed media, Escape Flooded Into Clarity, must have been crafted within a constitution of compromise.
Samm Cohen and Joseph A. W. Quintela’s collaborative art is eclectic in both content and form and does not embody what would be considered a conventional art series. Quarters are (in)fractions that can be united or self-standing. Each piece in The Quarters Project echoes that distinction.
I am a self-taught artist originally from St. Paul Minnesota and currently based in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Most well-known for creating intense and emotionally captivating works of art. I specialize in mixed-media female portraits that incorporate graphite, ink, and watercolor. I had my first art exhibit at Foster Art Gallery on the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire campus at the age of eleven. Most recent exhibits include the 2014 solo exhibition Blood, Sweat and Tearsâ at gallery Sev Ven in Los Angeles, California and the 2013 group exhibition at Art for a Cure at studio 21 Tattoo and Gallery in Salerno, Italy.
I started drawing when I was three years old. Other children played outside; I played in my sketchbook. During adolescence I realized that engaging in the creative process had supported and sustained me through some darker life expe- riences, and it continues to do so. For me, making art is emotional therapy. I get lost in the creative process and am able to exist in the present mo- ment where I am able to explore and contemplate the darker aspects of life in a constructive way. Artistic influences include M.C. Escher, Francis Ba- con, Zdzislaw Beksinki, and the writings of Charles Bukowski.
Art enables me to express what I feel inside, with great attention to detail. In addition to graphite, ink and watercolor, I am exploring coffee as a medium. I find the way that it bleeds into the paper unique and beautiful. Currently, I am incorporating fluorescents into my work and am thoroughly enjoying expanding my creative boundaries by playing with color.
Being a creative mind, the arts have played a major role in my life since childhood. I grew up overweight, so I wasn’t always the most confident. I wasn’t a hermit or anything, but I was insecure. Society does that to people. Especially with the importance we place on each other’s outer appearance. It wasn’t until I was much older that I was able to love myself, and express the inner voice that my childhood circumstances wouldn’t allow. When you can’t find the words, or even worse, aren’t allowed to vocalize your feelings within an accepting environment, it’s amazing how creativity can serve as a conduit for emotional release. Art helped maintain my sanity in this crazy world. It’s fitting that this same insecurity would manifest itself as inspirational subject matter in my art years later.
 My creations pulsate with feminine energy. Women are God’s greatest work of art and I believe life as we know it, evolves around them. Although I couldn’t fathom being a woman in this patriarchal world we live in, I open my creative process to the allure inherent to women. I aim for my art to celebrate the acute imperfections and endless perfections that exist within every woman. Today’s media rarely allows for flaws. There is an overload of perfect images that are packaged as if they represent a reflection every woman can see herself in. And that’s not realistic, because there is no balance. Young women who are spoon fed hatred of their natural selves are likely to become carbon copies of magazine covers, and find it difficult to love themselves. And that is something that unfortunately, I can relate to all too well.
As quickly as the aperture of a camera opens and shuts to capture light, the unique radiance of the female image is photoshopped away. Models cut away and cover the parts that give them distinction. It’s been happening for so long that perfection is the new role model. I’m not against new and unfolding trends in fashion or personal enhancements. I simply do not appreciate beauty being defined for me, or anyone else. One of the wonderful things about the human experience is that we are free to explore, discover and evolve our perception of the multifaceted aesthetic this world has to offer.
If I have to label it, my art falls under the surrealism category. I’ve created a signature style that fuses elements of photorealism, cubism and fashion design. Each painting is a unique portrait of an insecure soul with an incredible story to share. This clearly defines the base of my work; however the method is more complex. I attack my creative process the same way a cosmetic surgeon would. I use high end fashion and beauty magazines to clip and surgically collage the perfect features together, bringing my ideas to life. From this point I recreate everything by drawing, then painting these beautifully insecure souls onto the canvas. Initially, I would create using both acrylic and oil or water color paint. Now, I solely work with acrylics. My pieces come to fruition quickly, so I love the flexibility, depth and complex layers acrylic paint allows for. Vibrant color is my preference so my pieces tend to be loud, sensitive and vivacious. Colors demand attention. They play with our senses and evoke emotion responses within the human mind. I use that to my advantage. The colors are essential to the complete story of each creation.
In essence, my art is a visual dialogue about society’s idolization of beauty and the surreal, superficial times we live in. I only hope to be fortunate enough to produce art that consistently ignites discussion, captivates the senses and most importantly, questions the importance we place on outer appearances.
A DESTINATION FOR THE CURIOUS WOMAN SEARCHING FOR A LINK BETWEEN STYLE AND COMPASSION
Named for a busy street in Karachi, Victoria Road is a social enterprise that curates hand-picked collections that incorporate traditional materials and techniques to create modern and edgy fashion. We help designers scale their operations by providing them access to the U.S. luxury market as well as business, creative and logistical support at all levels of the value chain. www.victoria-road.com
PHOTOGRAPHY: AYESHA MALIK MAKEUP ARTIST: ALANA GUY MODEL: MEKI SALDANA STYLING & PRODUCTION: SARA MALIK & MEGAN BROSTERMAN
I have been a Still-Life Photographer in New York City, for almost 30 years; collaborating with Art Directors to shoot Advertising. Creating art is a way for me to have complete control of the image, from start to finish. Each piece begins with a photograph, which I manipulate in the computer, and then print. From there I build each one with found objects and seal it in liquid glass to create something unique.