By Roxanne Phillips
We
are pleased to present our fifth 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.
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TRACEY MORGAN |
Featured in “Art St. Louis XXXVI, The Exhibition”: Tracey Morgan, St. Louis, MO. “All Aboard—Stazione di Venezia Santa Lucia Train Station.” 2018. Photograph on Paper, 38”x26”. $150.
Artist’s statement: “Taken just after the train doors closed, creating the empty platform in front of me. I can't remember if we were headed to the grand canals of Venice or had just returned, but I knew I had very little time to take the shot. The perspective combined with the lines of symmetry drew me in. I was caught in the moment. Everything just came together in that 5-10 seconds. I crouched down on the platform and started to shoot...”
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About the artist: Curious-creative, high-energy, results-driven, graphic designer and aspiring photographer. I am learning that the purpose of my life’s work is to feed the imagination and evoke emotion. I want to ensure that anyone who views one of my photographs can experience why I chose to capture it in the first place -- my goal is for you to feel, experience, and “fall inside” my photos, so to speak.
Roxanne Phillips: What was it that first prompted your career/activity as an artist? Tracey Morgan: I’ve always loved the Arts, even as a child. In college I studied Mass Communications, which led me to black and white photography - with a 35mm camera and dark room under the porch in my childhood home. When I went to Italy in 2018 and was reviewing photos with my friends, they urged me to share my work. I threw my hat in the ring, and that following Spring won an entry into my first art show at Third Degree Glass Factory. And the rest is history.
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Tracey Morgan. "Nawlins." 2018. Photograph, 24”x18”.
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RP: Why do you make art? TM: Art is my great escape to reach the unreachable...my journey into the imagination, my fountain of youth. Art piques my curiosity, inspires me to create, to share, and gives me peace. It's ultimately the doorway to my “Wonderland,” or “Chocolate Factory,” so to speak.
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Tracey Morgan. “Glass Shop #556" Doors of Italy, #7- Venice, Italy." 2018. Photograph, 12”x12”.
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RP: What is the biggest point of inspiration for your artwork?TM: I want people to create their own experiences, create their own outlet, allow themselves to experience every feeling from my photos. I know what I feel when I take them, but am curious as to how others perceive them, what they feel, what thoughts are provoked. It’s all about using our grand imaginations.
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Tracey Morgan. "Colosseo Facing East." 2018. Photograph, 24”x18”.
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RP: What is the best thing about St. Louis for your art practice? TM: The community is so diverse and welcoming…and the talent pool is endless. Everywhere I go there is art – from the cracks in the streets to the highest rooftop...
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Tracey Morgan. "Angad Arts Hotel Fire Escape.” 2019. Photograph, 18”x24”.
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RP: What is it about your preferred medium that you enjoy the most? TM: I enjoy graphite / charcoal drawings the most. Intrigued by some of the works I have seen -- like those of David Bjurstrom for example – inspire my photography. His drawings are so detailed, that what he sketches looks, to me like a beautiful black and white photograph. I want my pictures to give just as much structure and texture, detail. I love to shoot all types of landscapes, architecture, and everyday life, however, it’s the boldness of the black and white photo that really inspires me.
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Tracey Morgan. "Grand Canal Gondola Ride, Venice." 2018. Photograph, 24”x18”.
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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?
TM: I want to ensure that anyone who views one of my photographs can experience why I chose to capture it in the first place -- my goal is for you to feel, experience, and “fall inside” my photos, so to speak.
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Tracey Morgan. "Gamlin Whiskey House." 2019. Photograph, 11”x14”.
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RP: What motivates you to continue making art?
TM: The experience, the critique, the growth…sky’s the limit. There is always some moment in time to capture, and the thought of being a part of that, is fulfilling.
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St. Louis-based artist Tracey Morgan.
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Learn more about Tracey Morgan:
www.tmorgandesigns.com and
www.instagram.com/tmorgandesigns and
www.facebook.com/tmorgandesigns____________________________
ROBERT KOKENYESI
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Featured in “Art St. Louis XXXVI, The Exhibition” at Art Saint Louis: Robert Kokenyesi. “Seafloor Archaeology Bowl VI, ca. 25th century.” 2019. Ceramics, Bolts, 8”x16”x17”. $500.
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This artwork will be featured in the upcoming Art Saint Louis exhibit, “Remnants”: Robert Kokenyesi. “Oceanated Spring I.” 2020. Ceramics, Car Spring, 6”x6”x3”. $300.
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Roxanne Phillips: What is the biggest point of inspiration for your artwork?Robert Kokenyesi: Biggest points of inspiration is the oceans and beaches. I used to scuba dive a lot when I lived in Florida, and I take every chance I get to snorkel at my vacation destinations. Last year I spent 3 days cage diving with great white sharks. I love oceans and beaches, and I read and think about them all the time.
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Robert Kokenyesi. “Unsheltered Humpback Whale Platter.” 2011. Ceramics, Glass, 4”x11”x5”. $100.
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| Robert Kokenyesi. “Unsheltered Great White Shark.” 2012. Ceramics, Glass, Pigments on Canvas Panel, 20”x20”x3”. $300. |
Specific inspirations for pieces come from the beauty, the vulnerability, and the ancient nature of ocean critters; the immense power of ocean currents; the mystery of what lies in wait in the deep; how the eternal force of the oceans change man-made objects; the oceans as collectors of archeological artifacts; the beach being a border of known and unknowable.
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Robert Kokenyesi. “Ancient Manta I .” 2017. Ceramics, Glass, Pigments, 10”x11”x8”. $300.
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Robert Kokenyesi. “Shark Attack II.” 2014. Ceramics, Glass, Pigments, 6”x8”x11”. $200.
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Robert Kokenyesi. “Ancient Shark II.” 2016. Ceramics, Glass, Pigments, 8”x12”x6”. $300.
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RP: What is your preferred way to exhibit and sell your art?RK: My preferred way to exhibit is through my Facebook page, blog, Instagram profile and web site. I named my studio "Beachfront Pottery" to make exhibit and sales efforts coherent. I have been using Etsy on and off for sales. Until 2014 I sold many pieces at my church's Holiday sale.
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Robert Kokenyesi. “Hint of a Shark Platter.” 2017. Ceramics, Glass, Pigments, 3”x8”x8”. $300.
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Robert Kokenyesi. “Broken Great White Shark I.” Ceramics, Glass, Wire, Pigments on Canvas Panel, 10”x16”x4”. $100.
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RP: Do you have a sketchbook? What kinds of things do you put in it?RK: I have sketch binder for several categories of the ceramic pieces. I have sketches scattered at many places in my home and my studio, and periodically I organize them into the sketch binders.
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Robert Kokenyesi. “Deep Sea Scroll IV.” 2018. Ceramics. 4”x11”x4”. $200.
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Robert Kokenyesi. “Deep Sea Scroll VI.” 2020. Ceramics, Glass, 4”x8”x12”. $300.
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RP: What are you currently working on?RK: A lot of the time I pursue the creation of objects that appear to me in flashes of images. I work on several exploratory projects which include the
Oceanated series, the
Seafloor Archaeology series, the
Unsheltered series, the
Kami Umi Kara series,
The Ancient Shark series. In addition I make a few functional pieces where I stretch the definition of the platter and the bowl.
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Robert Kokenyesi. “Under the Waves Great White Shark Platter.” 2013. Ceramics, 4”x11”x7”. $300
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Robert Kokenyesi. “Under the Waves Starfish Platter.” 2013. Ceramics, 4”x11”x7”$300
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RP: What motivates you to continue making art?RK: What keeps on motivating me is that as times goes on I discover new aspects of oceans and beaches, and new images keep showing up in my mind. Making new ceramic pieces is my reaction to all that.
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Ceramic sculptor Robert Kokenyesi's studio.
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Robert Kokenyesi. “Feeding Frenzy II Bowl .” 2015. Ceramics, Glas, 8”x8”x8”. $100.
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Featured in "Art St. Louis XXXVI, The Exhibition": Judith Medoff, Clayton, MO.” Glorioius fungi (mostly non-edible).” 2018. Oil on Board, 36”x48”. $1,250.
Artist’s statement: “Before I retired I was a scientist and worked on a fungus which was harmless in one form but caused disease in its other form (H.capsulatum). I became fascinated with fungi which are one of or perhaps the most diverse group of organisms in existence. Mushrooms are just one group among the fungi and they are extremely varied and, I think, quite beautiful and fantastically colorful. Molds and yeast are among the fungi and fungi have existed in one form or another wherever life is found on earth for around 570 million years. Some fungi can be eaten and some are poisonous and some are the source of life-changing medicines like the antibiotic penicillin." |
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Judith Medoff. “Marvelous Mushrooms.” 2016. Woodcut, Chine Colle, 20”x20”. $450.
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About the artist: My nickname is Zucky -- from my maiden name, Zuckerman.
Biography + Career Path and Becoming an Artist: I started painting when I was nine years old. I lived in New York City and every Saturday I travelled by myself to Manhattan on the subway to take classes at the Art Students League.
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Judith Medoff. “Levy’s Hats.” 2012. Oil on Canvas, 16”x20”. NFS.
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Judith Medoff. “Teatime.” 2017. Etching. 17.5”x21”. $250.
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Judith Medoff. “Tetley Tea.” 2013. Oil on Canvas, 22”x28”. $600.
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By the time I was 12 I had a substantial portfolio of work which enabled me to go to a vocational school called The High School of Music and Art. This was one of the schools established by the beloved New York Mayor Laguardia and it is now combined with The High School of Performing Arts and is called Laguardia High School located at Lincoln Center. After High School, I was planning to go to Cooper Union which had an acclaimed art program but my advisor discouraged me from applying and recommended a conventional college where I would be exposed to a traditional curriculum. I took her advice, got involved in other disciplines and I stopped painting except occasionally.
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Judith Medoff. “Cingulum (Laughter Center).” 2018. Oil on Canvas, 24”x30”. $650.
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Judith Medoff. “Cerebellum.” 2015. Oil on Canvas, 30”x40”. $750.
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Judith Medoff. “Pathways in the Nervous System.” 2018-2019. Oil on Canvas, 24”x36”. $1,000.
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Judith Medoff. “Limb Motor Neurons.” 2015. Oil on Canvas, 36”x48”. $800.
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Biography + Challenges with Being an Artist: I went to graduate school, became a scientist, and taught Biology at Saint Louis University for 35 years. I also married and had children which prevented me from using oil paints at home even occasionally.
When I retired I began painting again after a 50-year hiatus. I wish I had made time to paint while my children were growing up because it gives me such pleasure, but my professional life was so demanding with preparing new courses, doing research, writing grants, and mentoring graduate students that I never had free time.
Now I am making art at Forest Park Community College where I have very good instructors and I am painting, making prints, and learning other art forms, which I have dreamed of doing all of my life.
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Judith Medoff. “Entanglements in the Brain.” 2018. Monoprint, Woodcut, String, 18”x21”. $500.
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Judith Medoff. “Brain glia and neurons.” 2016. Oil on Board, 36”x40”. $950.
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Judith Medoff. “Rugs for Sale.” 2017. Oil on Canvas, 24”x30”; $900.
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Currently Working On + What my Work is About + Inspiration for my Artwork: The good thing about painting now is that I often use subjects that I studied as a scientist. My particular interest was neuroscience where many scientific questions are still largely unanswered and much of the function and mechanisms of action in the nervous system are not yet resolved. The subject in many of my paintings is the brain and its multitude of cell types.
Although my paintings are not scientifically accurate, I incorporate the exquisite variety and beauty of the cells in the central nervous system with their myriad extensions which in some cases can be six feet long. The shapes of the cells are so intricate and diverse and I assign colors to them and put them together on the canvas even though they may never appear together in vivo.
I also did research on a dimorphic fungus (H. capsulatum) which has two forms in nature, one of which causes disease. This led me to study fungi in general and paint the incredible variety of marvelous mushrooms found in nature with their beautiful and diverse forms and colors (mostly non-edible).
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| Judith Medoff. “Dusk in Winter.” 2016. Oil on Canvas, 24”x30”. $850. |
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Judith Medoff. “Summer Sails.” 2013. Monoprint, 26”x32” $350.
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Judith Medoff. “Sunset.” 2017. Oil on Canvas, 30”x40”. NFS.
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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.
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