ASL ARTIST Q & A SERIES
Art Saint Louis is pleased to present a new weekly series highlighting some of our artist membership and focusing on what inspires them--both in their own work as well as work by other artists. We hope that you enjoy our new ASL Q & A Series and invite you to connect with the featured artists through their websites and/or social media accounts.
Our gratitude to the artists for their time and participation and thanks to ASL Staffer Roxanne Phillips for her questions and communications with the artists and Artistic Director Robin Hirsch-Steinhoff for her editing and posting.
This week we are featuring Suzy Farren, Carol Fleming, Lisa Hilton, Maurice Hirsch, Ray Hunter, and Alex Paradowski.
SUZY FARREN
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| Suzy Farren. My Wall. 2019. Mixed Media. 3’x4.5’. |
Roxanne: What is your favorite piece of art that you have made and why?
Suzy: My Wall. It’s an installation I created last year during Innovations in Textiles 2019 at Erica Popp’s Gallery. It combined so many of the areas of art that interest me: book making, mark making, eco printing, printmaking, basket making and reusing/recycling. It included scraps of things that could easily have been described as trash – yet I could tell you a story about nearly every one of those pieces. I used cardboard boxes as shelves. There was an overall grittiness to My Wall that is reflective of my work. Plus, it was ephemeral. Now it’s all in a couple of boxes – cardboard, of course!
Roxanne: What is your favorite artwork by another artist and why?
Suzy: I am drawn to the work of Anselm Kiefer (b. 1945). When I first saw Burning Rods (1984-1987. Oil, Acrylic Emulsion, and Shellac on Canvas with Lead, Copper Wire, Straw, Iron, Ceramic, 130 ¼”x18’3”) at the Saint Louis Art Museum, I was stunned. It’s enormous. Its physicality confronts you -- the torn and heavily textured canvas, the dark gritty colors. It looks charred and rusted, with traces of objects embedded in the work – it’s captivating, and you can’t look away. The closer you get, the more amazing it becomes as you notice the complexity of the physical canvas. There’s a rusted ice skate, a chip of ceramic. And that texture! So you move back to take it in in its entirety, this massive work of art. It’s a very emotional piece, and I make a pilgrimage to it every time I visit SLAM.
MAURICE HIRSCH
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| Maurice Hirsch. Defying Gravity. March 2019. Digital Photograph. Canon 7D MkII, ISO 10,000, 1/800, f/2/8, 40mm. |
Roxanne: What is your favorite piece of art that you have made and why?
Maurice: It’s hard to decide one particular favorite given I’ve been a photographer for almost 70 years. But I pick one I took of my granddaughter, Anna, who has been a Level 10 gymnast and is now moving on to college. I have covered her gymnastics career over the last 10 years and have taken many thousands of images of her competing. This one is special in many ways since it’s a unique capture as well as one that exemplifies her skills and dedication.
Roxanne: Who is an artist that has influenced you in recent years?
Maurice: Stewart Halperin has been an important recent influence on my photography. He stresses that the most important element in photography is time…looking around, waiting for the shot, not being in hurry. He has made me slow down. When one goes on photo tours in other countries, for example, it’s hard to just lay back and wait rather than click, click, click and move on. And his stress on looking corner-to-corner when framing an image brings a new awareness to composition. He is also valuable in his critique of images when I’m on a tour with him…it’s always about the positive and suggestions are to-the-point and well-said.
CAROL FLEMING
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| Carol Fleming. Bridge Columns installed at COCA. Stoneware, Glazed, Gas Fired, 9’x15”x15”. |
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| Carol Fleming. Bridge Columns installed at The Sheldon. Stoneware, Glazed, Gas Fired, 9’x15”x15”. |
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| Carol Fleming. Bridge Columns installed in Tower Grove neighborhood, St. Louis. Stoneware, Glazed, Gas Fired, 9’x15”x15”. |
Roxanne: What is your favorite piece of art that you have made and why?
Carol: In 2014 during St. Louis’ 250th birthday year, COCA invited me to create work for their Gallery. I created four 9’ tall columns that have a center opening…like a large keyhole…to mimic the great Brooklyn Bridge. The theme was bridging our communities together in celebration of our whole city and country. Then in 2015, my four Bridge columns were on display again in front of The Sheldon for their Art and Faith Concert.
Fortunately, in 2017, a dear friend brought the sculptures for his residential front garden in St. Louis’ Tower Grove neighborhood where they are currently installed.
We see them as beacons, shining lights of hope.
Roxanne: What is your favorite artwork by another artist and why?
Carol: As a daughter of an architect, I would say that architecture has more influences on my sculptures than fellow artists. I really admire Eads Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge and seek out fine buildings. The Flame theme in my current ceramic sculptural columns comes from seeing a huge trio of glowing buildings by HOK. My father worked for HOK, Hellmuth, Obata, and Kassabaum at their St. Louis headquarters. HOK’s London office designed the Baku complex in reference to flames…oil…for their wealthy client. After seeing this photograph, I started shaping my ceramic columns into flame shapes.
ALEX PARADOWSKI
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| Alex Paradowski. Turned Away. Paper Mosaic (Handcast Paper Cubes), Acrylic, 36”x44”. |
Alex: It’s hard for me to select a favorite although there are a few that stand out for me for various reasons. Often my most recent works are my favorites at least as long as they remain my most recent. The piece that I’m selecting here is among my most recent and it is a little different from some of my work in that it is not so high contrast as some of my work and is softer than many of my pieces. I also like how very natural this is with relatively little information. Unlike many of my things that need to be viewed from a distance this does not rely on that, although from a distance it is of course even more photographic. Framed this piece measures 36”x 44” and was completed within the last two months.
Roxanne: What is your favorite artwork by another artist and why?
Alex: My favorite local artist is James Smith and I have six of his pieces in my personal collection. Another favorite is a French artist named Daniel Airam (b. 1958). I have two of his pieces in my collection that I have had for probably thirty years. I particularly like the way he combines geometry with the figure.
LISA HILTON
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| Lisa Hilton. Finding Balance II. 2018. Clay, Slip, Paint, 14”x9”x4”. |
Roxanne: What is your favorite piece of art that you have made and why?
Lisa: This is difficult to decide as different pieces from various points in time become my favorite. For various reasons Finding Balance II is my favorite piece from my current body of work. It was an experimental piece that pushed me in many ways. I had to solve many technical challenges with construction, firing, and finish. It was an attempt to move away from detail and become more abstracted. Sometimes when I start an experimental piece I haven’t already worked out the concept. I just know I am inspired. For this piece and the body of work that followed the concept came as I was working on my technical challenges of balance, support, etc.
Roxanne: What is your favorite artwork by another artist and why?
Lisa: I am drawn to both Gustav Klimt and Käthe Kollwitz. I am attracted to the emotional response that both artists are able to create for me. Kollwitz’s more simplistic and monochromatic style creates the same kind of response for me as Klimt’s vibrancy and symbolic complexity.
RAY HUNTER
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| Ray Hunter. Untitled. 2012. Digital Photograph on Paper, 16”x24”. |
Roxanne: What is your favorite piece of art that you have made and why?
Ray: I have pursued an interest in photography since the early 1970’s. A digital photograph made less than ten years ago is a favorite of mine. In 2012, I went to Kolkata, India to attend a wedding, then stayed in the country and traveled around afterwards. This photograph was made one morning as I began a tour of a historic site in Jodhpur, India. The building had just opened and I was one of the first to enter. At the doorway to one of the first galleries an attendant was still in the process of wrapping his turban, of completing his outfit. This was one of “those moments” that come along from time to time, that we are sometimes fortunate enough to capture.
Roxanne: What is your favorite artwork by another artist and why?
Ray: Richard Diebenkorn (1922-1993) is a favorite artist of mine. I selected Interior With View Of The Ocean from 1957 (Oil on Canvas, 49 1/2"x57 7/8") to represent a series of paintings that he made in the latter half of the 1950’s and first few years of the 1960s. During those years Diebenkorn made a number of paintings that utilize the perspective of the artist being inside but looking out. Although this particular works does not, many of the works include a seated human figure. I find the manner the artist constructs the overall sense of space, the “inside/outside" very pleasing.
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If you are a member of Art Saint Louis and would like to participate in our ASL Artist Q & A Series, please email Artistic Director Robin Hirsch-Steinhoff.
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