House Beautiful, October 2008

Bio

Barbara Ensor is an author and artist whose words and pictures have been praised in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Vanity Fair and elsewhere. A graduate of Brown University, Ensor’s previous careers include stilt walking, and journalism. She is a dual citizen of the United States and the United Kingdom, has two children and lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Website
www.BarbaraEnsor.com

Exhibit

Opening party for Thumbelina, Tiny Runaway Bride, an exhibit and a book.
WHERE: The Old Stone House, Fifth Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets, Park Slope Brooklyn
WHEN: Saturday November 8th, 6 to 9 pm
MORE INFORMATION. OldStonehouse.org

Visit the exhibit throughout the months of November and December during these hours:
Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 4 to 6 pm
Thursdays 4 to 8 pm
or by appointment (917) 604-8732

[Read more →]

[Read more →]

“I Have Been Circling God ” – Oil, paper, ink and cut plastic on canvas - 36×53 inches
“  ….circling round that great tower and I still don’t know if I am a falcon, a storm or a great song” – Rilke.

“Down Here” – oil, cut paper, ink on canvas - 16 x 20 inches
I started this piece after reading personal accounts of the mostly anonymous builders of our grand public spaces.   One worker Mr. Kumaran  “.. I wish the rich people would realize who is building these towers, I wish they would come and see how sad this life is.”

“Traveling Thru” – oil, paper, crayon, ink on canvas - 20 x 26 inches
I struggle to put this one into words, as it was driven by the impalpable. It concerns the sense of aloneness common to all creatures big and small.

“Re:Henry”- oil, paper, plastic, pencil shavings on canvas – 36 x 26 inches
I completed this piece after the death of my best friend Henry forcing myself to go on out of respect for him and who he was. It was just one of the numerous gifts of his friendship.

Artist Statement

Over the past decade I have worked as a performance artist, a filmmaker and visual artist. Most recently I have been working on ever expanding collage. I start with a collection of my own drawings which I then tear, cut and layer before pencilling and painting into them. They are on both paper and canvas. Often however the foundation of a piece is text - most often my own - but also a range of words that haunt and continue to inspire. Some I have taken from the sublime ( the poet- Rilke ). Others from the absurd ( The New York Post ).

Biography (partial)

Exhibitions - Recent Work

ArtWalk 2008   Brooklyn , NY July 2008
Incongruities 2.0 – Ashawagh Hall East Hampton, NY July 2008
Private Viewing – Sunday Afternoon Series. Brooklyn Heights –Nov 2007
Letters to Joan  Emergency Arts - solo - collage –  NYC  - April 2007
Recent Works  Emergency Arts - group show - NYC- November 2006
2006 Square Foot Show - Art Gotham   NYC  - March 2007
Incongruities   Ashawagh Hall - East Hampton, NY. - March 2006
Cryptopsychographies  Tin Garage - Tarrytown, NYC - December 2005

Traveling the globe Ms. Enz exhibited in Corfu, Paris and Tel-Aviv as well as stateside at Hofstra University, East Hampton, North Shore Arts and NOW in NYC.  Due to the toxicity of materials and the proximity of her newborn daughter she worked to become a performance artist, filmmaker, and playwright. After winning a second Edward F. Albee Fellowship for writing which included a residency at The Barn in Montauk, she began with Mr. Albee’s encouragement to incorporate her own text into large collage which she now uses as a backdrop for performance work. They also stand alone as works of art .

More Information

http://rethos.com/pamelaenz

[Read more →]

Artist’s Statement

Skool: a Comic

Skool began as a personal project, started in college to remind myself of lessons learned outside the classroom. Now, like a graduate program, it is what employs my time in replacement of having a full-time job or a savings account. I draw it by hand, with a pen that I dip in ink.

All of the stories are culled from actual experience (quoted as faithfully as a panel’s small space will allow), my dream world, and my fantasy life. Invaluable to this are my excellent friends and family, the crowds of people with whom I regularly interact, strangers, children, and the creative personalities who drive my experiences. Also the unearthly beauty of the Vermont Republic and the soundtrack constantly rolling through my headphones, my speakers, and my memory.

I currently live in the last cheap shithole apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I may be contacted for illustration work and would be happy to provide those interested with printed versions of my art. More information about me is available by reading my comics, viewing my blog, and/or sending me an e-mail.

Artist Website and Contact
www.nortonanalog.blogspot.com
nortonanalog@gmail.com

[Read more →]

Matthew Trygve Tung, “The Bronx, Post Divestment”, ink on cotton-rag paper, 40 x 25″, 2008

Matthew Trygve Tung, “Untitled”, ink on cotton-rag paper, 14 x 20″, 2006

Matthew Trygve Tung, “American West III”, ink on paper, 21 x 15″, 2007

Name
Matthew Trygve Tung

Background
Born 1982, San Francisco, CA.

Education
BFA San Francisco Art Institute, 2006.

Website/Contact
http://mtung.info

Neighborhood
Greenpoint, Brooklyn (11222)

Media/Materials/Tools
Of late I primarily work with ink and graphite on paper. I tend to use rapidograph pens and heavyweight, cotton-rag printmaking or watercolor papers, and any variety of graphite pencils. My computer and the internet are also an essential tool, as I spend much of my time searching for an accumulating images of a vast variety, ranging from historical archives to flickr.

Describe your process:
Most of my pieces either start with an idea in my head or after seeing a rather striking image. Like I said above, I am constantly combing the internet for images of interest, even when I am not looking for new source material. Every once and awhile I’ll actually set foot in a library or historical society, but for the most part I am indebted to the endless resource of images that is the internet. After collecting images I tend to do small thumbnail sketches in a notebook or on scraps, just to get an idea of how I want the image to work within the space of the page and to get a feel for the image with my hand.

Once I have exhausted small sketches I move on to the actual piece of paper and begin mapping things out. This is really the most tedious part of the process for me, and the most anxiety-wrought. I tend to be overly precise when mapping out a drawing, carefully measuring everything out on the page in light pencil as I see fit in my mind.

After everything is mapped out I get around to what I find to be the most enjoyable work, which is the slow build up of the drawing itself. I work the pieces very slowly, especially when using rapidograph pens, usually working with the finest of line other than some filling work and methodically drawing away until it all resembles something I actually had in mind.

Is there a common theme or subject matter in your work?
Almost all of my recent work deals with what are essentially ruined landscapes, places of abandon and disregard. I tend to shift back and forth between urban and rural settings, but almost all of my pieces deal with man’s movement through the landscape, how we use, inhabit, and disuse our environments. A large part of my explorations deal with the idea of emptiness and vastness in the American Landscape, and how that allows a different mentality toward both our manmade and natural environments.

How do you work with your materials, do you use any unique applications?
I am very slow and methodical in all of my processes, always working in my own ordered steps, though beyond that there is nothing especially unique about how I work with my materials. Ultimately it I am just drawing, which, no matter how complicated I make it with all of my steps and processes, is the most direct and simple form of art making, and I think that is why it can be so satisfying.

Describe your studio or ideal working conditions, when are you most creative?
My current studio is a shared space on the Greenpoint/Williamsburg border that I have been lucky enough to mostly have to myself. Prior to that I was in a tiny (70sqft!) studio in Williamsburg that rained mysterious metallic black dust all the time. At the end of the month I’ll be moving into a new apartment with a decent sized room that will be dedicated to my studio and I couldn’t be more excited. I’m a quite a control freak and like to have a very ordered and private work space. I also tend to work late at night and often in short bursts, so not having to travel to my studio, no matter how close, will be great for my productivity. I’ll be curious to see how my working habits change once I am in my new space, and I’m sure I’ll find things I miss once I am there.

What factors make you consider a work finished or successful?
One of the things I miss most about printmaking (which is what I spent my undergrad years doing) is the sense of completion I always got when I pulled a print. Even if the plate was to be further reworked, once that actual print was pulled there was a finished piece. With drawing it’s not as easy, and there are often times that I’ll come back and add this or that. In general though, there comes a point in any of my drawings where I basically feel like adding anything more will ruin it, and starting out with such clear ideas in my head of what I want the drawing to be, I tend to have a good sense of when that has been achieved. So far as success is considered, I’m still figuring that one out. I always hang my work once I feel it is done and seeing it on the wall will tell me pretty fast whether or not it really is. The main thing missing from my current practice is a greater audience for the work to interact with. I think it is essential to have eyes other than one’s own (or people similarly too close to you and your work), and finding that in New York has been one of my biggest challenges so far.

[Read more →]

Niesha White, “Deer”

Niesha White “Eloise”

Niesha White, “Bottom In Drag”

Artist’s Statement

My name is Niesha White and I am the daughter of an ex-Mormon hippie mom and an ex-Muslim hippie dad who raised me in the sea-salt air of a fishing town south of LA. After surviving a cross-country relocation, I ended up rooted in the beautifully strange spiritland of Brooklyn.

When I was small, I trusted art to be my companion. I knew, in that bold knowing way of children, that I would be an artist. But, just as knowing develops layers and confusing corners with experience, my artist identity bumped into various obstacles. What I have learned, however, is that each time I come back to my artwork, there are trace elements of whatever I have experienced while I was away. My art, therefore, carries hints of all the stages of my life, from magic realism to political activism, from modern dance to linguistic exploration.

Most recently, I have been working on a series of wood burnings and paintings which I call masks. This series, which uses animal heads on human bodies (and vice versa at times), is an exploration of how identities can change in stages of one’s life or even due to a new situation. The following narrative was written from the perspective of one of my pieces:

Masks Narrative

She was straight up fierce once, all boots and dreams. But the spin of the clock and a few unexpected outcomes had worn down her dreams into new shapes she kept mistaking for ordinary objects. Even her boots lost their shine. But what choice did she have but to live that way, waiting between breaths for a big bang shift of perspective.

On a random day in snow covered January, the tilt that she would later refer to as the ‘new beginning’ occurred. A casual downward glance is all it took, a realization that the subtle sexy sag in the seams of her tired boots made them more beautiful than ever. Then, like the slow relief of a late night aspirin, she began to see bits of glimmer in the corners of her dreams again. Packing this new view of herself, now masterfully woven from the reeds of who she had been, she picked up the mask and took her first grown-up swagger into ‘I can be anything’.

Contact the Artist

[Read more →]