We
are pleased to offer our second set of interviews highlighting some of
the artists whose works are featured in our new in-gallery exhibition at
Art Saint Louis, "Storytellers," on view August 1-September 10, 2020. If you can't make it to the Gallery to see the show in-person, we offer a complete Facebook album featuring all of the works in the show along with accompanying information and artist's statements. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-3 p.m. & Saturday 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Free to see.
For this week's post, we are pleased to present interviews with featured artists Mimi Huang and Rob Millard-Mendez.
MIMI C. HUANG
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| Mimi C. Huang. “Peach Blossom Spring.” 2019. Watercolor, 16”x20”. $500 unframed. |
Mimi Huang has two Master’s degrees in arts – one in Chinese Art and one in Modern Art. She works as an art researcher, a writer, a journalist, and recently an artist as well with paintings presented in national and regional juried exhibitions. She likes to think her works are passionate tributes to art as well as to life. They invite viewers to appreciate nature, people, scenery or even practical events with a renewed sense of wonder.
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| Mimi C. Huang in her studio earlier this year. |
Roxanne Phillips: What was it that first prompted your career/activity as an artist?
Mimi C. Huang: During convalescence from a surgery in early March 2018, the desire to take painting lessons resurfaced again. It is something I have always wanted to do but kept on procrastinating. Physical weakness might have provided the necessary sense of urgency. A voice inside me kept on saying: “Time cannot wait. Do it now.”
On April 17, 2018, I walked into Ms. Jan Groenemann’s studio to have my first art class. The rest is history. I have always loved art and my research work in art history enriched that appreciation on the intellectual level. But the process of creating art further enhances the understanding of art on the creative and emotional level. Furthermore, it also helps my healing from the surgery. I have continued making arts since then, which is one of the best things that happened in my life.
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| Mimi C. Huang. “Wapelhorst Park.” 2018. Watercolor, 12”x16”. NFS. |
RP: What is it about your preferred medium that you enjoy the most?
MH: Watercolor is my main medium right now. I like the unique luminosity and delicacy of watercolor. A range of beautiful effects can be achieved in less predictable ways, which is always exciting. I am starting to explore other mediums and hopefully will have chance to work with them in the future.
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| St. Louis artist Mimi C. Huang in 2019. |
RP: What is the biggest challenge with being an artist and juggling all life throws at you?
MH: Finding time to focus on making art can be challenging sometimes since I have a day job and a family to take care of. But I do believe one can always find time to do the things one’s heart desires. Therefore, I will always find time for my favorite activity. Practically though, you are more likely to find me in my studio on weekends than on weekdays.
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| Mimi C. Huang. “Looking out the Window.” 2019. Watercolor, 20”x16”. NFS. |
RP: What do you find most challenging/rewarding about the creative process?
MH: Challenge and reward of the creative process probably come from the same source of solitude. It is challenging to have to make all the creative decisions on one’s own in complete solitude. But once those decisions are made and executed successfully the reward is great precisely because the sense of self-fulfillment is largely nourished by solitude. Thus the creative process is not so different from Zen practice. It requires focus, clarity and balance.
MH: Challenge and reward of the creative process probably come from the same source of solitude. It is challenging to have to make all the creative decisions on one’s own in complete solitude. But once those decisions are made and executed successfully the reward is great precisely because the sense of self-fulfillment is largely nourished by solitude. Thus the creative process is not so different from Zen practice. It requires focus, clarity and balance.
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| Featured in “Storytellers” at Art Saint Louis: Mimi C. Huang. “Time Capsule.” 2019. Watercolor on Paper, 24"x18”. $900. Artist’s statement: “The most sophisticated people I know - inside they are all children” Jim Henson has famously said. This watercolor portraying a serious looking child in a dreamlike building can be seen as an attempt to capture the wistfulness of an adult in disguise and a never diminishing desire in all of us to reach that inner child through art.” |
Learn more about Mimi C. Huang: https://www.facebook.com/MCHuangProduction
ROB MILLARD-MENDEZ
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| Sculptor Rob Millard-Mendez in his Evansville, Indiana studio. |
I am an artist who makes sculptures mainly out of wood. My work has been shown in over 500 exhibitions in all 50 states as well as abroad. I have won over 100 awards for my art and for my teaching. My work has appeared in Sculpture Magazine, American Craft, The Craft Digest, and in 500 Chairs and Studio Series: Chairs by Lark Books, as well as other publications. I am currently a Professor of Art at the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville, Indiana.
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| Rob Millard-Mendez. “Early Morning Fireships.” 2019. Wood, Paint, Plastic, 23”x44”x15”. $2,200. |
Roxanne Phillips: What is the biggest point of inspiration for your artwork?
Rob Millard-Mendez: My biggest source of inspiration is the news/everyday events. I am an ardent follower of the news, and I am always looking to find visual and conceptual connections between/among historical events and contemporary events. I am also inspired by folk art and outsider art, I enjoy the authenticity of those art forms.
Rob Millard-Mendez: My biggest source of inspiration is the news/everyday events. I am an ardent follower of the news, and I am always looking to find visual and conceptual connections between/among historical events and contemporary events. I am also inspired by folk art and outsider art, I enjoy the authenticity of those art forms.
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| Rob Millard-Mendez. “A Brief History of New Bedford.” 2019. Wood, Paint, Steel, Vintage Maps, Aluminum, 20”x26”x12”. $1,800. |
RP: What is it about your preferred medium that you enjoy the most?
RM-M: My preferred medium is wood. I found woodworking early on in my career and I found it to be a material that allowed me to work very directly and in a way that is fairly controlled. Wood can be carved, constructed, bent, etc., it has so many possibilities.
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| Evansville, Indiana-based artist and art educator Rob Millard-Mendez. |
RP: What is it that you are most eager to convey through your art? How do you want the viewer to receive or interpret or your art?
RM-M: I want my work to make viewers think. I also try to build dark humor into my work. Nearly every piece has lots of layers that can be peeled back. I like to find Easter eggs in video games, so I put them into my work.
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| Rob Millard-Mendez. “Under a Yellow Flag.” 2018. Wood, Paint, Steel, 32”x20”x25”. $2,600. |
RP: When did you begin to know what your art is about?
RM-M: This is a great question. My work has always had a strong sense of "about-ness." Even when I was a young person I was into music and art that was thick with metaphors and allegories, so my work has always been about ideas.
RP: What qualities attract you to other artist pieces?
RM-M: My favorite artist from art history is H.C. Westermann. There are a lot of things that attract me to his work: the incredible craft, the depth of meaning, the strong emotions, his sarcastic sense of humor. As far as contemporary artists, I like Tim Hawkinson, his work is so ambitious and inventive. Hawkinson's pieces always make me say "WOW!" I enjoy seeing how he solves problems.
RP: What qualities attract you to other artist pieces?
RM-M: My favorite artist from art history is H.C. Westermann. There are a lot of things that attract me to his work: the incredible craft, the depth of meaning, the strong emotions, his sarcastic sense of humor. As far as contemporary artists, I like Tim Hawkinson, his work is so ambitious and inventive. Hawkinson's pieces always make me say "WOW!" I enjoy seeing how he solves problems.
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| Featured in “Storytellers” at Art Saint Louis: Rob Millard-Mendez. “Antediluvian Plan of the Manikin Men (from the Popol Vuh).”
2018. Wood, Paint, 18”x21”x14”. $900. Artist’s statement: “This piece
is based on a myth that is part of a Mayan book, the Popol Vuh. In the
myth, the gods create a few different groups of creatures to worship
them. The gods' first few attempts do not go well. The gods create some
rudimentary wooden manikin men who are quite uninterested in worship, so
the gods send a deluge, drowning the wooden men. The boat in the piece
is based on a traditional South American reed boat, and it is being
carried on a roughly constructed litter.” |
RP: Best advice you were ever given?
RM-M: My undergraduate mentor, Jim Coates (an outstanding artist, great person, and amazing teacher), used to say "You are a different artist every day." When I start a project, or when I am working to solve problems, I think about that a lot. That advice has freed me to make my work in unexpected ways while also avoiding the pitfall of making the same work over and over.
Learn more about Rob Millard-Mendez: http://robmillardmendez.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/millardmendez/
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Roxanne Phillips is an artist and art educator based in St. Louis since 2001. She earned a MFA in Printmaking & Drawing from Washington University in St. Louis and BFA in Painting & Drawing from University of North Texas. Roxanne is an adjunct art instructor at Washington University in St. Louis and has worked with Art Saint Louis since 2017 as Administrative Assistant and Installer. From 2018-2020 she was Master Printer for Pele Prints. Her works have been featured in numerous exhibitions throughout the St. Louis region including at Art Saint Louis, Crossroads Art Studio & Gallery, and St. Louis Artists’ Guild. Her work is currently available at Union Studio in St. Louis. She has served as exhibit Juror for several regional exhibits & art fairs. Roxanne is past Board member of St. Louis Women’s Caucus for Art.
Roxanne Phillips is an artist and art educator based in St. Louis since 2001. She earned a MFA in Printmaking & Drawing from Washington University in St. Louis and BFA in Painting & Drawing from University of North Texas. Roxanne is an adjunct art instructor at Washington University in St. Louis and has worked with Art Saint Louis since 2017 as Administrative Assistant and Installer. From 2018-2020 she was Master Printer for Pele Prints. Her works have been featured in numerous exhibitions throughout the St. Louis region including at Art Saint Louis, Crossroads Art Studio & Gallery, and St. Louis Artists’ Guild. Her work is currently available at Union Studio in St. Louis. She has served as exhibit Juror for several regional exhibits & art fairs. Roxanne is past Board member of St. Louis Women’s Caucus for Art.
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