Hillyer Art Space: What drew you to the medium of collage?
Jason Yen: Money. I used to paint, but I didn’t like to clean my brushes. And I was tired of spending money on paint, spray paint, and canvas– I eventually switched to wood… I’m not sure of anything specific of what drew me to collage, but I guess I started to use it in my old work to give it texture. I then realized I could just keep combining different colors and patterns, to make an over-all color… I started to just use old magazines, junk mail, wrapping paper, etc. Then I just started to use cardboard as a base instead of canvas and wood. Usually you can find nice big pieces on the street… (Especially when someone buys a new TV.)
Hillyer Art Space: Given your preference for found materials, is being environmentally conscious important to your working process? Is your work commenting on mass consumption or the wasteful nature of our culture?
Jason Yen: It wasn’t originally, like I said, it was about saving money. However, I am proud of the fact that I am helping the environment in really teeny-tiny way… No doubt there has been a shift in our culture (especially in DC) to being more environmentally conscious. I’m sure that shift has been influential in my work.
Hillyer Art Space: What symbolic elements are revealed in the details of your collage?
Jason Yen: Sometimes there are things that I love, like, or am interested in. Sometimes there are small passages of text. Sometimes nothing at all… I like color and the patterns in magazines. I use a lot of clothing catalogs cause there is a lot of pattern in clothing design… I like to be clever with things when I can…
Hillyer Art Space: In your artist statement you stress the meticulous and lengthy process of making your collages. Could you elaborate on your working method?
Jason Yen: First, I draw the idea on the computer. Then I print it out, and decide how many layers of cardboard each part of the image will be. Then I cut out the print and paste it to cardboard. After it is pasted, I cut each piece of cardboard and begin to re-paste and re-cut it, to the amount of desired layers. Once I have everything layered and cut out, I glue it all together. Next, I start the colorizing process by cutting from magazines and catalogs. And I collage the piece. (This usually takes about the most time, sometimes I have to measure, cut and glue very small pieces.) After, this I clean up the piece, redrawing some of the outlines of the objects. Then I seal it, to protect it from light damage and to keep the collage in place.
Hillyer Art Space: What do you hope people will learn or gain after viewing your work?
Jason Yen: I really just want to see people smile. Maybe get the few social/political/comical views I have put into my work. However, sometimes there really isn’t anything important about a certain piece. It’s just to have fun, by the fantastic re-adjustment of everyday things. I want people to be more imaginative, maybe this will nudge them to do something creative on their own…
Hillyer Art Space will be exhibiting Christine Pearl’s amazing artwork in the upcoming November. We got to speak with her as she shared information about her artwork and personal life. Here is a sneak peek of the work that will be at opening during First Friday, November 7th, 6 to 9 pm!
Hillyer Art Space: You mentioned that you had a career background in design and construction, could you tell us more about how it helps you with creating photography works?
Christine Pearl: As a project manager communication and trust are key to balancing the expectations of the client and building a lasting relationship. Cultivating a relationship of trust with any subject of a photograph is no different. My career background gives me the patience to build a relationship with my subjects, wait for natural sequence of events to unfold and know when to make my move.
Hillyer Art Space: You said interaction with people had directed you on the path to photographing, could you talk about some conversations or issues alongside this way that impressed you most?
Christine Pearl: A photograph is a relationship and for me you can’t have such a relationship without people. I love portraits and photographs of people. I’m at ease talking to strangers on the street, exploring countries where I don’t speak the language and figuring out how to get from point A to B. I’ve always been fascinated by how or where people work and the process of collectively coming together to make something happen. My comfort zone with photography is the
Hillyer Art Space: We can tell from your Resume that your works have been displayed in different regions across the country even in Australia, could you talk about the different parts of your experience in those shows?
Christine Pearl: To date all the exhibitions I’ve been part of out of town, in the USA or abroad, are done via the internet. My biggest part of the experience, outside of submitting to the exhibition, is shipping the photographs. I attended Foto Fest in Houston this year which gave me the opportunity to meet jurors from some of the exhibitions I’ve been part of.
Hillyer Art Space: You were moved by the “charm of destruction” and present it in form of arts in your photos, could you tell us more about how you feel it and the transitional process during which you transformed it from your memory into your artworks?
Christine Pearl: I have an interest in American subcultures and I’m fascinated with how deeply rooted the automobile is in our memories and identity of being American. I’m attracted by the competition, love of destruction and it’s reflection of our disposable society. I’m drawn to this community’s creative ingenuity, shown in the ways they give new life to an old, all but abandoned icon of the American dream: the automobile. I use photography as a means to reflect on the thrill of the journey and the symbol of individual freedom the automobile promises each of us.
Hillyer Art Space: Do you intentionally choose black and white style to present this theme?
Christine Pearl: Selecting black and white for this subject matter was an aesthetic one to add to the drama of the event.
Hillyer Art Space: Have you already got an idea of the next step of your creativity? Or do you want to extend this series adding more new works to it?
Christine Pearl: I’ve been working on Last Car Running for 3 years (during the summer months) and consider it an ongoing seasonal project. My Facebook page Last Car Running has over 1,500 followers (primarily from the demolition derby community) and has been a great tool for engaging the community and giving something back to the subjects of the project. The next step for the project is to get a “behind the scenes” or intimate view of this subculture.
I have a couple other projects I work on during the winter months that focus on memory, self, aging and the elderly communities. I also exercise my creativity by posting an iPhone photo daily on Instagram @cyanpepper.
Anthony Palliparambil, Jr.’s amazing photography works will be exhibited in November at Hillyer Art Space. We got to speak with him as he shared information about his artwork and personal life. Here is a sneak peek of the work that will be at opening during First Friday, November 7th, 6 to 9 pm!
Hillyer Art Space: In your work, we see the strong figure of technology, please tell us what role does technology play in your work? Does it help you develop your art creating style?
Anthony Palliparambil: Technology has been ever present in my artwork, well before I began working on this series – and it plays an essential role in everything I do today. In my earliest works, replicating technological effects with traditional media was the goal. Today, technology is the tool with which I create the work, and more importantly, the tool with which I share the work. Social media networks and identifiers like QR codes and hashtags (quick plug: #AnthonyAshwin) make finding and tagging artwork simple and easy to find. There isn’t a single part of my art-making process today that isn’t touched in some form by technology.
Hillyer Art Space: You said in the statement that all the works were made by applications available on an iPad. Did you find these applications intentionally to create your works?
Anthony Palliparambil: This entire series originally began as a side project to keep the creative gears in my mind active while accommodating for my busy work schedule. At first, the apps I was using were the ones I had downloaded previously for fun. As the project grew and gained more attention, I began searching for new software that would be able to fill in the gaps that I saw in my works. Nowadays, however, I tend to stick to a favorite 10 or so apps that I continuously work with, with a few outliers that I occasionally access when needed.
Hillyer Art Space: You said that you tried to get international feedback on your work, we wonder if people’s ideas are really useful? Have you applied any of them into your work eventually?
Anthony Palliparambil: My series began strictly as a social media project, so by nature it encourages feedback from a wide audience. It was after posting a new piece every day for nearly two months that I think the “social” aspect of this project really kicked in – I began accepting submissions of original photographs by my followers. In the end, of the nearly 350 works I’ve created in the past year and a half, approximately a third of them used my followers’ photographs as the original source material. I really enjoy the idea of bringing other peoples realities into my works and re-imagining them in the context of my own life.
Hillyer Art Space: We see geometric shape, lines and strong colors, how would you interpret them as your symbol of work?
Anthony Palliparambil: I’ve always been naturally drawn to graphic shapes, hard lines, and vivid colors. Whether it’s my digital works, the subjects of my photographs, my paintings, or even the way I dress – strong graphic elements are always a constant presence in my life.
Hillyer Art Space: We can tell from your Resume that you began showing your work when you were in University of Maryland, how does the college life influence your creative career? And how do you like the art environment in the DC area?
Anthony Palliparambil: During my time at the University of Maryland, I focused primarily on painting. My paintings were very minimal in nature, yet explored color and line in ways influenced by technology. It only makes sense, then, that I began to move into the arena of actually working with technology to create my works. I love the art scene in DC. There are plenty of fantastic art spaces, organizations that are devoted to nurturing emerging and cutting-edge artists, and the easy access to the Smithsonian museums is a fabulous perk.
Hillyer Art Space:Do you have a favorite place to create works or get inspirations in this area?
Anthony Palliparambil: I spend most of my time on U Street, and I think it’s one of the most dynamic neighborhoods in the city. You have a great cross section of so many different kinds of people; it’s really a mixing bowl of fashion, culture, art, music, food, and architecture…all of which show their influence in my work.
Hillyer Art Space: What is your favorite art venue in the area?
Anthony Palliparambil: I could never pick just one. It goes without saying, Hillyer has put on some of the most interesting exhibits I’ve seen in DC in addition to various other arts events. The Portrait Gallery, and the East Wing of the National Gallery are personal favorites when I feel like visiting the museums. And while I’m a bit (read: a lot) biased, the Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery is another amazing gallery that shows some of the most interesting and dynamic exhibitions in town.
The Hillyer Art Space will be exhibiting three amazing artist for this month of October. We got to speak with all three artists as they share information about their artwork and their personal life. Here is a sneak peek of the work that will be at opening during First Friday, October 3rd, 6pm-9pm! Also, a special thank you to Teddy & Bully Bar for sponsoring Hillyer Art Space! Drink specials are being offered to the Hillyer Gallery Guests. The guest must show their Hillyer Gallery Stamp & Hillyer menu to get the discounted drinks.
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Hillyer Art Space: How did you get started making art?
Jeffery Herrity: Well, I never considered myself an ‘artist,’ and I never took art in school. I thought that because I didn’t know how to draw or paint, that I wasn’t creative. It wasn’t until many years later in my professional career that I took a pottery/throwing class with my friend Christine that I realized that I COULD make things with my hands. We spent many hours in the studio working on the wheel and doing some hand building. I realized that I wanted to do this more and hatched a crazy ‘5 year’ plan that would have me teaching and making money from my art. In 2007 I realized that my 5 years was running out and so I enrolled in classes at the Corcoran to build my skills (drawing!) so that I would have a portfolio to gain admission to the BFA program. During this process, I found out that they had a 5-year program that included a Masters in Teaching. My path had officially changed.
Lee Gainer: I’ve been drawing since age 3. I spent my childhood carrying around a paper pad and pencils for when the muse struck me. Art school was inevitable.
Alexandra Chiou: I have always loved creating things – my mom said when I was little, I loved filling pages and pages with multi-colored dots. She got tired of looking at the same thing over and over, so she taught me how to draw fish and butterflies and the rest is history.
Hillyer Art Space: Is there a piece of artwork here that you are most proud of that is being exhibited?
Jeffery Herrity: I love all the work that I have created, but think that the series Metamorphosis – the ‘dolls’ – are something that I am proud of. I was having brunch with art and life mentors of mine Jim Rieck and his wife Judy Lichtman and we talked about our studio practices and getting to the place where we were afraid of the creation process and how to harness that energy. Inspired by Jim and Judy, I went right into the studio and started to experiment with new pieces. Thus the ‘dolls’ were born. They were a big departure from my traditional stacked totems, and I was terrified to try something new. So glad I did.
Alexandra Chiou: Each one is unique and special to me – I definitely have favorites when I feel like certain pieces are a turning point or milestone for me, but they change over time as my work evolves.
Hillyer Art Space: What is your inspiration?
Jeffery Herrity: My mother. She did ‘ceramics’ when I was young. In her case, it was slip casting. I was always so fascinated with these figures she would bring home – mostly the Easter objects – bunnies and eggs. I wish we still had them. Luckily I have found many of the molds that she used and there are several – the eggs and bunnies – that I have in my collection now and have used in this show.
Lee Gainer: My work stems from my interest in how the photograph can serve as a time keeper, a tool for recall.
Alexandra Chiou: I am inspired by travel and the natural world. I go to a lot of museums and I also love being outdoors, so a lot of the shapes, images and contours I come across enrich my work. I also enjoy reading, and many of my ideas come from books I have read, whether it’s just a quote or a concept that interests me.
Hillyer Art Space: How do you know when you are done with a piece?
Jeffery Herrity: I operate from my gut and when assembling new totems or other pieces, I will pour many molds so that I have several to choose from. Generally, I think that I will use them all in the new piece, but once I start assembling and edit based on the overall balance and composition. Once I fire it, and if it survives the kiln without becoming ‘wonky’ I konw it’s finished. There are many times however, that a piece comes out of the kiln and seeing it in it’s final form makes me realize that it’s not right and I will create a new edited piece. I hate when that happens.
Lee Gainer: It will begin to hum, to express an energy declaring itself complete. It’s a good moment.
Alexandra Chiou: There’s a threshold between when a piece is still fresh and when it becomes overworked, so I definitely try and balance that. I aim to make work that is unique, complex and engaging and when I feel I’ve accomplished that then it’s my definition of complete.
Hillyer Art Space: What kind of research you do before starting a piece?
Jeffery Herrity: Not much really, I sometimes will go to my studio to clean or re-organize my mold collection and revisit molds that I haven’t used recently. I think the cleaning and organizing is my research. I have to open molds and think about how it could be used, and what other molds it will work with. I rarely sketch ideas (again, drawing) but make many pieces that are my sketches.
Lee Gainer: I am constantly taking photographs and searching for them, usually online but also in old books and magazines.
Alexandra Chiou: I have always been a collector of things – when I was younger, I was more interested in erasers, stickers, and coins, but now it’s more concepts and information. Whether I’m visiting a museum, reading books, or hiking, I spend a lot of time learning about other things. I constantly reflect on and process my experiences to see what resonates with me, and what I want to incorporate into my artwork.
Hillyer Art Space: What are some other hobbies that you have outside of your art?
Jeffery Herrity: These days, art has been all consuming and so my hobbies have been sidelined. When I do have free time, I like to spend it with my partner John Copenhaver, a writer. One thing that we like to do together is go to Lost River, West Virginia where we have a great group of friends.
Lee Gainer: I like to read autobiographies and we are slowly remodeling our house. I do spend time reading various art blogs, working on my own art blog Peek, and seeing exhibitions. Art is 98% of my life.
Alexandra Chiou: I really enjoy going to museums, reading, listening to music, traveling, and being outdoors (mainly hiking). All these activities provide a lot of rich experiences that feed my artwork in one way or another. They allow me to explore new and interesting concepts and ideas that I can apply to my own artistic process.
Hillyer Art Space: What’s your professional/career goal?
Jeffery Herrity: I would like to own or run a gallery that is similar to many of the galleries in DC like the Hillyer Art Space and the Hamiltonian Gallery. Because I have a business background, I feel that I could really nurture new art talent.
Alexandra Chiou: My goal is to be able to do what I love, and to share my work with other people who can appreciate it. I also continue to compete with myself. Have I developed more artistically compared to a year or two ago? As long as I feel significant progress has been made, then I am satisfied with myself.
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After being closed briefly for renovations Hillyer is readily anticipating the upcoming September exhibition featuring the works of Rachel Schmidt and Michele Montalbano! With so much excitement for this upcoming show we spoke with both artists as they shared a little more about themselves and their work. These two individuals give a nice preview as to what the September show has in store; this is one you will not want to miss!
Rachel Schmidt draws inspiration from the way life exists in urban environments for her current show “Apocaloptomist: A Future True Story,” which utilizes scale manipulation, architecture, play, and landscape. Schmidt’s love for stories, both “those based in reality and those based on the “realities” found in a surreal myth, legend, or fairytale” is used as a guide for further artist exploration and the ability to touch on various topics and use of different mediums. Through the use of these tools Schmidt is exploring the myths that are developing in the always expanding urban wilderness that plays a dominant role in most contemporary human beings lives. Schmidt received a BFA in Textile Design and Sculpture from the University of Kansas and continued on to get her MFA in Studio Art from MICA, while always learning from experimentation and fellow artists as well. Most recently she has been working mainly with 3-D digital print collages and animation, as seen with these works.
Taking inspiration from the bible story of Babel, illuminated manuscript, and typography Michele Montalbano creates a series of mixed-media works that express the lack of understanding between individuals. It is this language barrier that creates a separation between “us and them” and spurs a growth of resentment.
The story of Babel tells of an angry god that has confounded human language making communication between people impossible. Words, letters, alphabets, and symbols, of various origins are used, in accordance with decorative elements from a variety of cultures. A mixture of elements borrowed from antiquity as well as contemporary art styles and forms of communication are used. As Montalbano states, “all of these elements live together in a beautifully composed but completely indiscernible world.” While she uses painting and printmaking most frequently these works embrace etching, aquatint, letterpress, gilding, drawing, among others. Montalbano received her MFA from George Washington University where she was able to gain a strong foundation of traditional drawing and painting, which she has been able to build on since.
Hillyer Art Space (HAS): What first got you interested in art?
Rachel Schmidt (RS): I have been interested in making art as long as I can remember. I always knew it was what I wanted to do and I have never regretted it.
Michele Montalbano (MM): I watched my father paint and work in wood and that is where my love and respect for art and beautifully crafted work began. I started drawing and painting with a passion when I lived on the island of Montserrat for a year. While there, I was given the gift of time and the inspiration of the beauty of the Caribbean. I went to art school when I returned home.
HAS: How do you feel your artistic process has evolved over time?
RS: I’ve learned to take more chances but at the same time trust myself and the viewer more. I have moved from the more literal to the more metaphorical and I have evolved to value a sense of humor in my artwork.
MM: After graduating from such a traditional school, I had to look for a way of breaking from tradition and finding my own voice. The process and experimentation became important. I am still drawn to traditional materials and techniques but I use and combine them in new ways. For example, with the Babel series, intaglio plates are created in the traditional manner then printed on metal leaf and combined with letterpress.
HAS: What are some themes that you explore through your work?
RS: I don’t have a central theme to all of my work, I like to wonder around in a thematic arena, but even then, so many ideas are connected to others that it is hard to nail down a particular one. I guess I am focused on stories that explore how we live and how we exist within the world.
HAS: What do you feel the viewer can take away after viewing your work? Is there anything specific that you hope the viewer comes away with?
RS: I hope the viewer can take away an experience. I would like the viewer to feel that I posed a question and that they came to their own conclusion.
MM: My objective is to create an exhibit where the viewer might reflect on the feeling of separation created by the language barrier and also see the beauty in the combination of materials and techniques.
HAS: Do you have any goals in terms of your work or where you would like to be in years to come?
RS: I would like to have a larger pool of resources to create larger more interactive projects.
MM: My future goal with this series is to play with other themes/ideas that presented themselves as I worked on this exhibit. I am adding other elements and techniques to the existing work.
HAS: What role do you believe art plays in society? And do you believe your work can contribute to that?
RS: The role that art plays in society is such a difficult role to immediately quantify. Art is a way of viewing, learning, and analyzing society that can have enormously positive impacts on other more measurable endeavors. Innovations in society don’t come from people who are taught to think like everyone else. So naturally I hope to contribute to society by continuing to offer an alternative way of viewing the world in hopes that it helps others find their individual voices as well. I also hope to contribute interesting experiences and the occasional laugh.
MM: Art can present a new way of seeing the mundane; it can stir the imagination and bring beauty to a space.
HAS: What are some other hobbies that you have outside of your art?
RS: I think traveling is extremely important; I am always game for a trip to a foreign country. And I have recently discovered the pure joy that comes from playing laser tag.
MM: I love to spend time outdoors, usually on my bicycle. I collect words and heart shaped rocks. I study Italian, cook a little and piddle around with interior design.
Make sure to check out our First Friday event on September 5thfor a first look at the exhibition which will run through September 27th.
