"Maturity and Its Muse" Exhibit - Artist Interviews Series Four

By Roxanne Phillips

We are pleased to present to you our fourth in a series of interviews with artists whose works are featured in our current juried exhibit at Art Saint Louis, "Maturity and Its Muse: Celebrating Artistic Experience 2021." This exhibit presents works by 45 STL regional artists from Missouri and Illinois who are age 70+. The show is on view April 19-May 20, 2021 in our Gallery at 1223 Pine Street in downtown St. Louis, Missouri.

We are proud to introduce you to artists Barbara Zucker and Maurice Hirsch.
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BARBARA ZUCKER

Featured in Art Saint Louis’ “Maturity and Its Muse: Celebrating Artistic Experience 2021” juried exhibit: Barbara Zucker, Clayton, MO. “Urban Butterflies.” 2018. Etching on Paper, 18”x14”. $400.

Roxanne Phillips: What was your career path? How did you get from being an aspiring artist to doing it?
Barbara Zucker: My activity as an artist began in 1960 when I started teaching in the Munich American Elementary School for children of US Army troops stationed in Europe. As a teacher I had weekends, holidays and summers off and used my free time to travel. Taking photographs soon became an important part of my life overseas and ever since.

Barbara Zucker. “Into the Woods.” 2019. Digital Print from Film Scan on Epson Velvet Fine Art Paper, 16”x16”. $275.

RP: Describe your path from deciding you want to be an artist to becoming one.
BZ: In the mid-1970s after taking a few courses in b/w photography at a local junior college I set up a home darkroom to print family and travel photos. This was followed by getting a degree in educational media in a program which had a strong photographic component and I worked as a graduate assistant. This eventually led to a position as a preservation administrator and consultant to libraries and museums which sometimes involved working with photographic collections. But it wasn’t until 2000 when I started showing my work that I began to think of myself as an artist.

Barbara Zucker. “Money Plant.” 2018. Cyanotype on Rice Paper, 18”x14”. $300.

RP: How has your art evolved thought the years and describe the different stages of creating?
BZ: My art continues to evolve. Initially I took both b/w and color photographs but did not process the film or print my work. But soon after I began working in the darkroom I started looking for opportunities to learn other photographic techniques and alternative processes. I have taken photography and printmaking courses at local community colleges, Craft Alliance and other area arts organizations, and workshops offered locally and beyond.

Barbara Zucker. “Festival Time.” 2017. Etching on BFK, 18”x14”. $275.

RP: Do you have a studio routine? Most creative time of day to work? Process of thinking or setting up before you begin making?
BZ: Studio time depends on what I am currently working on and whether it is at home or elsewhere. Mornings I might be working on scanning images, making enlarged positives or negatives, completing entries, or doing other computer work. I cut mats and frame in the afternoon when the light is best in the dining room. If I need access to an etching press work time is when one is available.

Barbara Zucker. “Pine Hills.” 2018. Etching on BFK with Chine Colle, 18”x14”. $350.

RP: What is your preferred way to exhibit and sell your art?
BZ: Exhibiting and selling my work is done primarily through juried and invitational shows locally and beyond. I have participated in CAM’s Open Studios, the Cherokee Print League Holiday Art Fair, Garden Heights Art Walk, and had images in 20:08 Gallery Saint Louis Photographic Fine Art on Cherokee now closed.

Barbara Zucker. “Bamboo.” 2019. Relief Print on BFK, 13”x22”. $300.

Editor's note: Barbara's works have been presented in 30+ Art Saint Louis exhibitions since 2002. Her work 'Urban Butterflies' (pictured at the start of this post) is currently featured in "Maturity and Its Muse: Celebrating Artistic Experience 2021" and is available for purchase.

Barbara Zucker. “Footprints.” 2015. Etching on Arches Cover, 18”x14”. $275.

RP: What is most challenging, to your art, about St. Louis?
BZ: St. Louis offers me a wide variety of photo and printing making opportunities. Favorite subjects are local landmarks and businesses, architecture, sculptures, gardens, parks and other natural spaces. About the only thing that is not part of my practice is posed pictures of people. I’m also one of The Sharp Shooters, a group of St. Louis women photographers that shows together.

Barbara Zucker. “Pond Reflection.” 2020. Etching on BFK, 16”x12”. $250.

St. Louis artist Barbara Zucker.

RP: What is the biggest challenge with being an artist and juggling all life throws at you?
BZ: The biggest challenge with being an artist is putting everything else on the back burner in order to go out with a camera, take advantage of a sunny day to print cyanotypes outside, get to the print studio, or put other things aside so I can work on image making.
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MAURICE HIRSCH

Featured in Art Saint Louis’ “Maturity and Its Muse: Celebrating Artistic Experience 2021” juried exhibit: Honorable Mention recipient Maurice Hirsch, Chesterfield, MO. “Josie’s Kitchen.” 2019. Digital Photograph on Paper, 19”x25”. $250.

Roxanne Phllips: How has your art evolved thought the years and describe the different stages of creating? 

Maurice Hirsch: I have been a photographer for 70 years. My art has been expanded in part by the changes in gear and technology over the decades. I’ve moved from b&w with my own darkroom and Leica cameras in the 50s onward to today’s mirrorless cameras and digital post-processing. My point of view has a through line over the decades, but how I can see and interpret has been affected by what I can use to capture and process images.

Maurice Hirsch. “Rain.” 2019. Digital Photograph on Metal, 18”x12”.

RP: Describe your artistic process/technique.
MH: What I capture and how I capture it depends on what I’m trying to do that day. I have great interest in street photography and look for scenes to capture people in their everyday lives. That process deals with intimacy. When in countries like Iceland or New Zealand, it’s trying to bottle into an image a scope that is really too large and can only really be seen in person. I always look for details on the ground, on buildings, on signs, hands, feet, etc.

Maurice Hirsch. “Bus.” 2019. Digital Photograph on Metal, 18”x12”.

RP: What is the biggest point of inspiration for your artwork?
MH: Just being out and about and seeing what is going on and what people are doing as they live their lives.

RP: What do you find most challenging/rewarding about the creative process?
MH: Conveying to others what I am seeing.

RP: What is the best thing about St. Louis for your art practice?
MH: Good opportunities to enter juried shows.

RP: When did you begin to know what your art is about?
MH: I think that even though I’ve been a photographer for 70 years, it’s really only in the last 20 years that I’ve seen myself as an artist. Interesting, this is the span of time when I moved to digital camera equipment. And it’s been over the last few years when I’ve gotten to the point that I am really happy with where I am as an artist with no real need for external validation.

Maurice Hirsch. “Havana.” 2019. Digital Photograph on Metal, 12”x18”. Portrait of the artist at work on a 2019 trip to Cuba.

RP: What was it that first prompted your career/activity as an artist?
MH: My father was an avid photographer and headed an advertising agency. I think he inspired me and supported my efforts. My parents got me a rudimentary darkroom when I was 10 and a “real” one when I was 16. That goes a long way to encourage one’s art.

RP: What was your career path? How did you get from being an aspiring artist to doing it?
MH: I am an advanced amateur. My career path was business and academia and not photography. But it’s been a constant over my whole life.

Maurice Hirsch. “Naples.” 2019. Digital Photograph on Metal, 12”x18”.

RP: Why do you make art?
MH: To express what I see for others to enjoy.

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?
MH: What the viewer sees is his/her own perspective, frame of reference. My works are realistic with minimal post-processing of images. So, I’m dealing with unadulterated photographs with whatever the viewer brings when they stand and view them.

Maurice Hirsch. “Mt. Cook Sunrise.” 2017. Digital Photograph on Metal, 12”x18”.

RP: What is your preferred way to exhibit and sell your art?
MH: I do not sell my art. I love juried exhibitions and put most of my work for the public to see on Flickr.

RP: Do you have a studio routine? Most creative time of day to work? Process of thinking or setting up before you begin making?
MH: Since I am not a studio photographer, my routine revolves around when I can download and process images I’ve taken that day. I try to do that as soon as I can so I am still in the moment of when I shot the images.

Maurice Hirsch. “Laundry.” 2019. Digital Photograph on Metal, 18”x12”.

RP: What qualities attract you to other artists’ works?
MH: Details, point of view, intimacy, scope.

RP: What advice would you give your younger artist self?
MH: Be confident in what you do. It’s what matters to you that counts rather than external validation.

RP: What are you currently working on?
MH: Learning the expanded opportunities with the new mirrorless cameras and lenses.

RP: What motivates you to continue making art?
MH: New challenges every day to hone and expand what I’ve been doing over the years.

Maurice Hirsch. “Sorento.” 2019. Digital Photograph on Metal, 18”x12”. Portrait of the artist in Italy, 2019.

Learn more about Maurice Hirsch: www.hirschwrites.com
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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.