SAVITRI GROVER
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| Savitri Grover. “Madhubani-Tree, Peacock.” 2020. Mixed Media on Paper, 11”x15”. NFS. |
About the artist: "I am not trying to be perfect, I am trying to master my imperfections." SG
I am Savitri Grover, an Indian & Nepali origin artist currently based in Missouri. My work is focused on traditional Indian art & abstract. I enjoy talking about cultural heritage through my art. My abstract work is often influenced by social issues.
Roxanne Phillips: What is it about “This Moment” theme that speaks to you?
Savitri Grover: I feel that the theme is so appropriate as we are living in an unforgettable moment of life together as a species.
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| Featured in Art Saint Louis’ “This Moment” exhibit: Savitri Grover. “Break Free.” May 2020. Acrylic on Canvas, 20”x10”. $200. Artist’s statement: “Break free” was inspired by women around the world facing barriers that keep them from achieving their true potential while trying to navigate certain social expectations that highlight external traits over other abilities.” |
RP: Describe your artistic process/technique.
SG: My inspiration comes from many experiences in my life and what I feel at a given moment.
I use my phone to draw whenever I have any thoughts or ideas. I develop it further when I finally start working on it and throughout the process of creating it.
RP: What was it that first prompted your career/activity as an artist?
SG: My first inspiration came as a child in elementary school, when I participated in a school-wide painting competition. I have been painting since then, but not regularly until I started eWokecretions!!
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| Savitri Grover. “Color Weave.” 2020. Acrylic, Metallic Pen on Acid-Free Cotton Archival-Quality Canvas, 11”x14”. $500. |
RP: When was the first time that you remember realizing that you are a creative person?
SG: That would be the elementary school painting competition where my work was selected among one of the five winners. I still remember what I created that day and was super excited to get a lot of art supplies as a prize!!
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| Savitri Grover. “Kalbelia-Dance from India.” 2020. Acrylic on Acid-Free Cotton Archival-Quality Canvas, 16”x20”. $875. |
RP: When did you begin to know what your art is about?
SG: This is interesting to me. When I decided to let the artist in me come out I was faced with the question: "what is that I want to create?" I took some time to experiment until I finally narrowed down to what inspired me to create.
SG: I would say for me it’s a bit of a both. I consider myself an emotional artist. So when I am emotional painting I just let the creative juices flow freely. However, when I am already working on some ideas, I like to put some more thought and research into the process.
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| Savitri Grover. “Patterns.” 2020. Acrylic on Acid-Free Cotton Archival-Quality Canvas, 10”x10”. $450. |
RP: Why did you choose the medium in which you concentrate?
SG: I usually work with an acrylic medium. I like it as I mix different materials for texture and acrylic works well.
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| Recently completed artworks in Savitri Grover's home studio. |
RP: Describe your studio space – size, location, set up, what qualities must it have, what would you change?
SG: I have a small studio in my basement around 100 to 150 sq ft. I would love recreate my space.
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| Savitri Grover's home studio. |
RP: Describe your dream studio.
SG: I would love to work in a studio that has an abundance of natural light and has a glass roof to look up and see the night sky when I am painting one.
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| Artist Savitri Grover in her home studio. |
RP: Do you have a studio routine? Most creative time of day to work? Process of thinking or setting up before you begin making?
SG: I paint mostly at night when everyone else is sleeping--I would already have been thinking about the idea for some time. Usually, I start by the possible canvas size for that project and the best color scheme while organizing everything else.
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| Savitri Grover. “Autorickshaw.” 2020. Acrylic on Acid-Free Cotton Archival-Quality Canvas, 10”x10”. $250. |
RP: How has Coronavirus changed your art practice?
SG: I am creating more art for sure. There is less distraction from the outside world.
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| Savitri Grover. “Life in Nepal.” 2020. Acrylic on Acid-Free Cotton Archival-Quality Canvas, 16”x20”. $750. |
RP: What advice would you give your younger artist self?
SG: I would tell her to follow her passion and explore more.
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| Savitri Grover. “Flowing Lead.” 2020. Acrylic on Acid-Free Cotton Archival-Quality Canvas, 10”x20”. $300. |
RP: What do you wish someone would ask you about you or your art?
SG: Inspirations behind my pieces.
RP: What motivates you to continue making art?
SG: Creating lets me be free of any other roles I play in my life. It is where I become an individual expressing herself with her paintbrush!
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| Artist Savitri Grover. |
RP: What is the best thing about being an artist?
SG: To have the ability to make mundane aspects of life interesting.
RP: Has rejection ever affected your creative process?
SG: No, I create to express I am not trying to impress.
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| Kalven Duncan. “Untitled 3.” 2020. Digital Photograph, Archival Digital Print on Paper, 60”x40”. $400. |
About the artist: Kalven Duncan is a queer multimedia artist based in St. Louis. A recent 2019 graduate from Truman State University with a BFA in art history, he works at Atrium Gallery and the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum. Kalven's work explores notions of identity, reflection, performance, queer aesthetics, and the art historical canon. He largely pulls inspiration from fears, insecurities, and introspective exercises, but he strives to include elements of absurdity, humor, and a sense of candidness throughout all of his work.
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| Featured in Art Saint Louis’ “This Moment” exhibit: Kalven Duncan. “Untitled #2.” 2020. Digital Photograph, Archival Inkjet Print, 60”x40” unframed. $400. Artist’s statement: “We are navigating liminal spaces between acting out “normalcy” and needing to acknowledge changes. Being queer has been a similar battle but feels echoed and amplified in 2020. I’ve created this body of work in a space of discomfort but one full of kinetic possibilities and hope for the future.” |
Roxanne Phillips: What is it about “This Moment” theme that speaks to you?
Kalven Duncan: The theme “This Moment” really felt appropriate for an avenue to show my current body of work that I am actively working on because a lot of my current work deals with the contemporary queer experience with a concerted effort to incorporate and emphasize aspects to life in 2020 and the dissonant experience we are all navigating.
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| Kalven Duncan. “Untitled 6.” 2020. Digital Photograph, Archival Digital Print on Paper, 60”x40”. $400. |
RP: Describe your artistic process/technique.
KD: I am not sure there is a concise starting point or a linear process necessarily. I am constantly pulling from the visuals of everyday life and my personal outlook for inspiration and material. Along with that, I often just get ideas and images in my head that I then try to recreate and work backward to accomplish or address a certain visual or idea I have been juggling mentally.
For example, the work that I have included here for the interview and the piece featured in "This Moment" came about when I was reading queer theoretical applications to classic monster movie aesthetics and themes while regularly referencing the photographic works of Ralph Eugene Meatyard, D'Angelo Lovell Williams, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, and Claude Cahun. My background and education in art history really is the foundation in my practice as I have no extensive formal education or experience in studio art.
RP: What was it that first prompted your career/activity as an artist?
KD: I think the film photography courses I took in high school really opened my eyes to the creative processes, but after I did not touch a brush or camera until my last year in university. After I picked up the camera again, I really have not stopped. I think being an artist really influences the way I think about art and art history and as I have already stated my background in art history also is the foundation for my practice. The two factors really play well into one another.
RP: What is it about your preferred medium that you enjoy the most?
KD: Medium format and 35mm film photography are my absolute favorite mediums. But with the lack of access to a darkroom and the financial constraints of being a freshly graduated art student, I largely work with digital photography at the moment.
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| Kalven Duncan. "Untitled 1". 2020. Digital Photograph, Archival Digital Print on Paper, 60”x40”. $400. |
RP: When did you begin to know what your art is about?
KD: I think the way I approach art is both very proactive and retrospective. I generally will have an idea or nebulous concept I want to work within, but hindsight paints a much clearer and fuller picture. When I finish a work and can revisit it with a clearer head, the context in which I worked to create it becomes much more fuller illuminated. I think art-making is a self-learning exercise. You learn during the entire process of creating and realizing your work.
RP: Do you think that creativity involves putting your heart and soul into your work? Or is it more like letting your mind flow freely to witness the surprising results of your actions?
KD: I think there is a balance with creativity. You have to be willing to expend your whole self for your work, but also have to leave room to learn, grow, and incorporate the influence of the probable and uncontrollable.
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| Kalven Duncan. “Untitled 8.” 2020. Digital Photograph, Archival Digital Print on Paper, 60”x40”. $400. |
RP: Do you have a studio routine? Most creative time of day to work? Process of thinking or setting up before you begin making?
KD: I work creatively best in the late evening and into the night. As with anything or any form of work, I have to muster myself after a long day of my day job to continue and work late hours to achieve what I want.
When making my masks for my portraits, as each is handmade and paper-mâché, I can and will often set up an episode of the Twilight Zone or something to watch while working. When I take photos, as I use the same dedicated studio space for all of my work, I have to rearrange the set up to clear an area to photograph, put up my backdrop, and get the lighting under control. When photographing and getting my set up in order, I always listen to music, but usually nothing too intensive or crazy as I do not necessarily want my posing to be influenced by whatever is playing.
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| Kalven Duncan. “Untitled 4.” 2020. Digital Photograph, Archival Digital Print on Paper, 60”x40”. $400. |
RP: How has Coronavirus changed your art practice?
KD: COVID-19 has changed my practice in that I was planning on a few projects that include other people featured and I have put those on the indefinite “back burner”. Other than that and being informed on the emotional and mental processes and progress of 2020, my work has not changed too much. I have always really worked mostly with myself and looking inward to contemplate and explore introspective themes and subject matter. Thankfully I can continue to do that regardless of what life throws at me.
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| Kalven Duncan. “Untitled 7.” 2020. Digital Photograph, Archival Digital Print on Paper, 60”x40”. $400. |
RP: What do you do to support your art and how does that impact your art practice?
KD: I work at both a commercial art gallery and a museum. Constantly being around visual and creative media is constantly inspiring me to create and informing my visual vocabulary.
RP: What motivates you to continue making art?
KD: A need to create fuels my processes. I use my work to explore and reflect on my inter and intrapersonal experiences and I will more than likely always use some form of an art-making process as a catalyst to such.
RP: What is the best thing about being an artist?
KD: The best thing about being an artist is the moment you step back after finishing a piece and seeing it in its entirety for the first time. The euphoria, the sense of completion, and the just knowing you made something that will last longer than yourself and can mean so many things to so many people is a fantastic thing.
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| St. Louis-based artist Kalven Duncan. |
Learn more about Kalven Duncan: www.kalvenduncan.com and www.instagram.com/kalven_duncan/
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MARK SCHATZ
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| Featured in Art Saint Louis’ “This Moment” exhibit: Mark Schatz. “Self-Portrait in Quarantine.” July 2020. Acrylic on Canvas, 12”x16”. NFS. |
About the artist: I have been an artist and educator for over 40 years, holding degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia, the University of Illinois and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I also studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the University of Chicago and the Rochester Institute of Technology. After a 30 year career teaching studio art and art history in the Wentzville, Missouri school district, I currently teach at St. Charles Community College and Maryville University, usually spending the summers teaching in Europe. My wife and I live outside St. Louis where I work on genre paintings inspired by quiet observation.
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| Mark Schatz. “Arkansas.” 2019. Acrylic on Canvas, 36”x48”. NFS. |
Roxanne Philllips: Describe your artistic process/technique.
Mark Schatz: I work from photographs, so I spend a lot of time taking, editing and manipulating photographic images. I am interested in the ways in which looking at photos alters the way we see the visible world. When I have selected an image to paint, I transfer it to canvas in order to create something of a roadmap for the painting. The painting process itself is pretty methodical; I work on a small section at a time. During this time, I refer directly to the photo for reference. Because the images are digital, I can pay careful attention to small details. Although the results are photorealistic, I actually make lots of decisions about including, deleting, emphasizing or changing elements of the photos. Depending upon the size of the canvas, I spend between a couple of weeks and several months on each painting.
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| Mark Schatz. “Paris.” 2015. Oil Pastel, 25”x27”. NFS. |
RP: What was it that first prompted your career/activity as an artist?
MS: My father was an artist. To earn a living, he painted signs for local businesses. This was back when grocers and dry cleaners would tape paper signs to their windows that advertised the weekly specials. He wished he could spend his days painting, especially portraits, but that was a dream that never materialized for him. Maybe that’s why he always encouraged me.
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| Mark Schatz. “Thai Restaurant in Vienna.” 2016. Acrylic on Canvas, 24”x36". $1,300. |
RP: What was your career path? How did you get from being an aspiring artist to doing it?
MS: I became a teacher right out of college and would work sporadically during school vacations. When I finally retired from public school teaching I began painting on a more regular basis.
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| Mark Schatz. “Airport Hotel, London.” 2017. Acrylic on Canvas, 36”x48”. $3500. |
RP: When did you begin to know what your art is about?
MS: It took me about 50 years! Although I had always made things, I never really felt like I had anything important to say. As a happy suburban professional with a relatively easy life, I began to think my life lacked the conflict, suffering or turmoil that defines so much great art. The more I began to channel the mundane details of my 21st century, privileged existence into my paintings, the more interesting they became for me. I guess I began to better understand my art as I came to better understand myself and my particular life experience.
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| Artist Mark Schatz in his studio. |
RP: Do you have a studio routine? Most creative time of day to work? Process of thinking or setting up before you begin making?
MS: I tend to work in the afternoon. Since my studio is a large space in my basement, I also exercise there in the mornings. So, while I am working out, I can study my painting with a clear head and plan for that afternoon’s work.
RP: Describe your studio space – size, location, set up, what qualities must it have, what would you change?
MS: I work in the basement of my home. I have a lot of space there for what I need: an easel, a drawing table, a sink, lots of natural and artificial light and lots of storage. And my dog. It would be nice to have a separate space with better ventilation, but I have no major complaints.
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| Mark Schatz. “Madrid.” 2014. Acrylic on Canvas, 24”x36". $1,200. |
RP: Why did you choose the medium in which you concentrate?
MS:
Acrylics just seem to be the best tool for what I do. I could work in
oils as well, but my pieces take a lot of time and oils would
dramatically extend that. Both media offer the rich color I prefer.
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| Mark Schatz. “Yahrzeit.” 2020. Acrylic on Canvas, 24”x30”. NFS. |
RP: How has Coronavirus changed your art practice?
MS: I get more work done because I don’t go anywhere!
RP: Best advice you were ever given?
MS: Ah! So much!
My father advised me: “Don’t depend on your art for your livelihood. Keep them separate or you’ll end up unhappy with both.”
At art school, a visiting artist told me to work on things that genuinely interest me. Don’t worry if they interest other people. “People who aren’t interested in what interests you are boring people.”
An old friend, a wonderful painter himself, said to “always just keep working. Eventually, the reason for your work will make itself apparent.”
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| Mark Schatz. “New Jersey Diner.” 2020. Acrylic on Canvas, 36”x48”. $3,000. |
RP: What do you do to support your art and how does that impact your art practice?
MS: I have a teacher’s pension. It completely liberates me!
RP: Has rejection ever affected your creative process? Explain.
MS: No. I’m used to it by now. I think rejection is just part of the process. I really think that if someone admires my work, that’s wonderful. Really! But if they don’t, I just figure they are interested in other things. I really don’t take it personally. At least not anymore.
Learn more about Mark Schatz: www.markschatzartist.com and www.facebook.com/schatzartstudio
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| St. Louis-based artist Barbara Marshall. |
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| Barbara Marshall. “Serene Scene.” August 2019. Photograph, 16"x20”. $380. |
RP: How has Caronavirus changed your art practice?
BM: Like many other artists, I have been spending more time focusing on my artwork. At different times perhaps using it as therapy, an escape, or an opportunity to re-evaluate and find new ways to present my work. By grouping them to make a statement or finding ways to add a touch of color or to draw on the photo I am able to emphasize and guide the viewer to see what I see, feel what I feel.
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| Featured in Art Saint Louis’ “This Moment” exhibit: Barbara Marshall “Don’t Shoot.” June 2020. Digital Photograph on Canvas, 16”x20” unframed. $180. Artist’s statement: “A high school teacher once said, "Good art like good literature disturbs." I photographed these images and thought they looked like bullet holes. This art may evoke a negative reaction from some, but putting the photos together was the imagery that I needed to send a poignant message.” |
Roxanne Phillips: What are some of the things that ASL does for the community about which you find inspiration?
Barbara Marshall: Art Saint Louis was one of the first galleries in which I had to opportunity to show my TarArt Photography to the community. Like other firsts, its something that a new artist will never forget. The support provided to the art community by ASL, and the impact on our lives, by finding ways to continue to show art, especially during this health crisis, is truly appreciated.
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| Barbara Marshall. “Armageddon.” November 2019. Photograph, 18"x22”. $245. |
RP: Please share your best memory/memories of a time at Art Saint Louis.
BM: I miss opening receptions. I miss the opportunity to stand behind someone viewing my work, wondering, scratching their heads, sometimes even asking out loud, what could it be. I miss observing them as they try to figure out what it is, how was it created, what does it mean? I love it when they see something completely different from what prompted me to take the photograph. I miss seeing my art through someone else’s eyes.
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| Barbara Marshall. “Snoopy and Woodstock.” October 2012. Photograph on Art Board, 8”x10”. $45. |
RP: What was it that first prompted your career/activity as an artist?
BM: I fell in love with photography in college with the encouragement of an art professor who saw potential in every photo I shot. Then years later, my Dad, a 91-year-old portrait artist living in Florida, encouraged me to do more, to try new art forms, and when I started my TarArt, he encouraged me to enter shows. Successes built on top of successes until I believed in myself.
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| Barbara Marshall. “Tar Apple Tree.” July 2019. Photograph, 19"x25”. $260. |
RP: What is your dream project?
BM: I have always been both goal oriented and very competitive at work and in my art world. My goals progressed from wanting to be accepted into an exhibit, to wanting to be in several exhibits at once, to having more than one TarArt photo accepted into an exhibit. I dreamed of being accepted into the "Saint Louis Art Fair," applied, and was accepted into the Emerging Artist as Entrepreneurs Class 2019/2020. My current goal is to have a solo exhibit.
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| Barbara Marshall. “Tar Puppy.” July 2019. Photograph on Canvas, 16"x20”. $280. |
Learn more about Barbara Marshall: www.chesterfieldtarart.com and www.facebook.com/StLouisBarbaraGillespieMarshall
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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