"Art St. Louis XXXVI" Artist Q&A Series Three

By Roxanne Phillips

We are pleased to present another set of interviews featuring artists whose works are on view in our new in-gallery exhibition, "Art St. Louis XXXVI, The Exhibition," on view at Art Saint Louis November 14-December 17, 2020. If you can't make it to the Gallery to see the show in-person, we also offer a complete Facebook album featuring all 55 artworks in the show along with artist, artwork info & artist statements.

For this week's post, we are honored to present interviews with artists Ash Hagerstrand, Paola Scharberg, and Gary Tetley.

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ASH HAGERSTRAND

Featured in “Art St. Louis XXXVI, The Exhibition”: Ashley Hagerstrand. "Mom grew up in a world where war was a given.” 2020. Mixed Media, Printed Fabric, Clay, Dried Moss and Flowers, 21”x12”x3”. NFS.
Artist’s statement: “With the recent passing of my grandmother, I've begun to scrutinize my experiences as a child in a multi-cultural household where tensions between family members were often masking deep multi-generational traumas or conflicts. Drawing from both Buddhist and Christian theology this piece acts as a sort of memento mori and ancestral shrine.”

Roxanne Phillips: Describe your artistic process/technique
Ash Hagerstrand: I work in photographic collage and lately I’ve been taking that collage into sculpture.

Ash Hagerstrand. "And Serpent" 2019. Photomontage 1 of 5, 23”x37”. $200.

RP: What is the biggest point of inspiration for your artwork?
AH: I start with a lot of research. Most of my work comes from running across something in history (the history of art, medical science, religion, my personal history) that gets me excited. I think about how using historic images and artifacts collaged with contemporary symbols and images collapses time and makes points of connection and exploration.

Ash Hagerstrand. "Mom was a Child." 2020. Photo Sculpture, Clay, Fabric, Moss, Dried Flowers, 9”x13”. $300.

RP: What do you find most challenging/rewarding about the creative process?
AH: The biggest challenge for me, like a lot of artists, is finding the time to get into the studio. I have a full-time job and go to school full time outside of my studio practice. It takes a lot of time management and passion to still have a practice with so little time in the day.

Ash Hagerstrand. "St. Catherine of Siena" 2019. Photomontage 1 of 5, 23”x49”. $250.

RP: What is the best thing about St. Louis for your art practice?
AH: I’ve met a lot of absolutely amazing, friendly creative people here.

Ashley Hagerstrand. "When She Had Me" 2020. Photo Sculpture, Clay, Fabric 1.5”x2”. $150

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?
AH: A lot of my work relies on humor so for the majority of my work if I’m watching someone look at it, I’m just praying they smile. Once you move past that, I like a lot of people suffer from a severe anxiety surrounding death and mortality. I hope all my work as a whole operates as a sort of space to comfortably explore and move beyond that anxiety.

Ash Hagerstrand. "Saint Anthony's Tongue." 2020. Photo Sculpture, Foam, Fabric, Glass Beads, 24”x48”. $900.

RP: Do you have a sketchbook? What kinds of things do you put in it?
AH: I have a little digital image collection I keep with typed notes on ideas for pieces (my handwriting is unreadable so this is the only way I can keep my thoughts straight). Most of the images are a mix of medical anatomical models and Christian martyrdom paintings with short notes about why each one sparked my interest and then some basic info so I can find the image again for later research.

Ashley Hagerstrand. "On the Floor, Blood Everywhere." 2020. Photo Cculpture, Clay, Fabric, Moss, Dried Flowers, 12”x15.5”. $300.

RP: Do you have a studio routine? Most creative time of day to work. Process of thinking or setting up before you begin making?
AH: Like I mentioned earlier, one of my biggest challenges is finding time in the studio. I plan my days hourly now, so I have a little hourly slot for studio time before I go to work every morning (7am-8am). If I don’t go in right in the morning, I’m too tired by the end of the day. I always have a particular thing I want to get done with my hour every day that I know before going in.

Learn more about Ash Hagerstrand: www.jesusluvsmemes.com and www.instagram.com/jesusluvsmemes
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PAOLA SCHARBERG

Featured in Art Saint Louis’ “Art St. Louis XXXVI, The Exhibition”: Paola Scharberg. “Erratic Shapes.” 2020. Collage, 28”x22”. $180.
Artist’s statement: “Collage is the technique I used to create this piece. Sustainability is a crucial aspect to my creative process and I use discarded images to construct new illustrations. This piece was inspired by the contrast that is found between the soft lines of the human body and the sharp edges of the world that surrounds us.”

Roxanne Phillips: Describe your artistic process/technique
Paola Scharberg: My artistic technique is collage. Since I have always had a tendency to save images from magazines or flyers I normally have a wide array of material to choose from. When I’m ready to create I either look through the images that I have already cut and organized by categories or I dive into magazines. At times I have a specific idea or concept in mind, others I just let the images to speak to me. Cutting and tearing the images is one of my favorite parts of the process. After, I start combining images and shapes to achieve the effect or style I’m looking for. I combine the images and shapes onto my surface and take pictures. I move the pieces around and take more pictures. Many times I don’t glue until the next day to allow myself time to think about the composition.

Paola Scharberg. “Simultaneidad.” 2020. Paper on Paper, 8”x8”. $120.

RP: What is the biggest point of inspiration for your artwork?
PS: My biggest point of inspiration to make art is the environment, the variety of landscapes, the textures, the colors, and the life that the Planet breeds. Our interactions with nature, and at times the lack on interaction with nature inspires me to create. Social justice and human rights are also a point of inspiration for my art. Current events and state of mind are often reflected in my work.

Paola Scharberg's St. Louis studio

RP: What do you find most challenging/rewarding about the creative process?
PS: One of the most challenging aspects of collaging is when I have an idea in mind but cannot find an image to illustrate the concept. I then find myself in the position to either rethink that idea based on what I have or store the idea until I find an image that speaks to me. The urge to see a finished product comes into conflict with the patience to the right image.

Paola Scharberg. “Vuela al Mar.” 2020. Paper on Paper, 8”x10” $150.

Paola Scharberg. “Gentle Cast.” 2020. Paper on Paper, 8”x10” $150.

RP: What is it about your preferred medium that you enjoy the most?
PS: Paper is a fascinating material to me. The texture, thickness, and color variations allow for plenty of experimentation. I enjoy the diverse ways of interacting with paper. Precisely cutting paper with an X-Acto knife becomes meditation, I’m absorbed in concentration. Tearing paper without knowing exactly what the result will be is liberating. Paper can be fragile yet sturdy, it is a very versatile material that has endless possibilities.

Paola Scharberg. “Where I Was, Where I’m not.” 2020. Paper on Paper, 12”x18”. $180.

RP: Why do you make art?
PS: Making art has always been a part of my life, ever since I was a child I was naturally drawn to creating. I enjoy the beauty of art, as well as the experimentation with different materials and techniques. I create because my senses demand it. The physical aspect of creating is addicting, the paper, the glue, the ruler. The mental aspect of making art has never been more powerful than during the last nine months. I make art because it is a necessity for my mind.

Paola Scharberg. “Find the Good.” 2020. Paper on Paper, 6”x8”. $110.

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?
PS: Through my art I want to convey the inherent contrast of nature and humanity; the disparities between shapes and textures, between harmony and conflict; between organic and analytical. The antagonism and contradictions of the world are what I would like to transmit through my art.

Artist Paola Scharberg.

Learn more about Paola Scharberg: www.instagram.com/conflictedinspace
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GARY TETLEY

Featured in “Art St. Louis XXXVI, The Exhibition”: Gary R. Tetley. “Black Girder Three.” 2018. Photograph on Paper, 26”x32”. $800.

Roxanne Phillips: Describe your artistic process/technique.
Gary Tetley: For more than thirty years I have been exploring the streets of St. Louis in search of unusual images that interest me with color, shape, pattern and light. The historic areas of our region had a particular interest to me with their layers of grit, grim, peeling paint and a little rust. I usually venture out in the early morning or late afternoon light.

Gary R. Tetley. “Sullivan Tower.” Color Photograph on Paper, 32”x26”. $795.

RP: What was it that first prompted your career/activity as an artist?
GT: I grew up with a close family friend who was a painter in art school at Washington University while I was growing up. Later, when I was 13, I spent a summer with her and her husband, who also was a painter. They shared their studio and work process with me, took me to countless exhibits and museums and encouraged my creativity as an architect and sculptor.

Gary R. Tetley. “Webster Mission.” Color Photograph on Paper, 32”x26”. $795.

RP: What was your career path? How did you get from being an aspiring artist to doing it?
GT: After high school and a year at Meramec studying art & architecture, I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and did a tour of duty in Vietnam. Once I returned, I picked up where I left off, working for an architect while continuing my studies in art, sculpture and architecture at Washington University Evening College. Through my studio work in architecture I eventually happened upon photography, which I bonded with immediately.

Gary R. Tetley. “Rusted Column W50.” 2020. Color Photograph on Paper, 26”x32”. $795.

RP: What is the biggest point of inspiration for your artwork?
GT: My photography had no direction until I read “They All Fall Down”, about Chicago photographer Richard Nickel and his life time struggle to preserve Louis Sullivan’s Architecture. Since then I have devoted countless hours seeking out significant historic St. Louis architecture and other structures.

RP: What do you do to support your art and how does that impact your art practice?
GT: I have practiced architecture in St. Louis for the past forty years, much of which involved historic preservation. Since my retirement from architecture I now the time and focus to develop my photography.

Gary R. Tetley. “Sunset Overpass.” 2020. Color Photograph on Paper, 26”x32”. $795.

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?
GT: Instead of viewing my work as photography, I would like my work to be viewed as a painting, making note of the colors, textures, patterns and shapes.

Gary R. Tetley. “Locust Street.” Color Photograph on Paper, 32”x26”. $795.

RP: On what are you currently working?
GT: I have two photography thought processes going at the present time. The first is a series of color images of steel engineered structures in St. Louis, one of which is in this exhibit. The second is a series of images of historic buildings in Beaufort, SC.
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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.