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Rema Ghuloum
on
Night Prayer
Q: What was the beginning of the work?
A: I actually think the beginning of this work started midway when I flipped it vertically. It became something new and fresh that I hadn't navigated before at that scale.
Q: Where did it happen?
A: It happened in my studio.
Q: How did you feel about it in the beginning?
A: I felt that it was full of potential.
Q: How do you feel about it now?
A: I like it. I often feel disconnected to my work after I make it, like it was something I had to release, but then can see it objectively. I am really happy that it is currently living on a vibrant green wall among the trees.
Q: What changes occurred in your life while making it?
A: I reset. I moved into a new home with my son and started a 6 month meditation teacher training program.
Q: What things were you enjoying while you made it?
A: Letting go, sweeping, meditating, listening to the painting, chanting, reiki, listening to chanting, listening.
Q: What were you repulsed by?
A: Nothing
Q: What were your most consumed foods during this time?
A: Matcha green tea and sparkling mineral water.
Q: How have you been changed since making it?
A: I learned from working at this scale. It opened up new possibilities, so I think I have been changed. I think I am changed by every painting I make.
Q: When you were making this, did you exclusively focus on it or were you working on other things simultaneously?
A: I was initially working on other things simultaneously, but once I actually saw the painting, and knew what it would be in a sense, I tried to focus on it. I don't typically work on one painting at a time, but in this case, I had to break it up in sections, because of its height, so it made sense in terms of timing. I would work on the top half for one day, and then the middle for another, etc.
Q: When did you name it?
A: I named it actually a month or so before I completed it. I usually title paintings when they are done, but in this case I gave it a working title once it revealed itself to me. There is a point in my process that I can see the painting and know where to take it. Sometimes that happens fast, but most of the times it happens midway. This is when I titled it: "Night Prayer." It seemed fitting for the painting, winter, and the space.
Q: Did you make sketches for it?
A: No
Q: Do you concern yourself with your reasons for making it?
A: No
Q: What have been the consequences of what you made?
A: I got to meet wonderful people and the painting gets to transform with the light outside on a green wall in a peaceful setting alongside other beautiful works.
Davina Semo
on
Selections Of A Thing Finder/or/A Collection Of Naturally Occurring Voids
Q: What was the beginning of this work?
A: The work I’m showing at Alicia is a selection of objects from my collection of natural materials. I have been collecting rocks and natural materials since I was a kid, but this particular branch of the collection started as I was thinking about bells in 2016. I started making bells in the studio, and thinking about them more broadly—historically and in a contemporary context. A flood of bell forms entered my consciousness, especially forms occurring in nature. I began collecting these things with the idea in mind that I would translate these forms into bronze bells.
All of these objects have a relationship to a void space. This interior space is of great interest to me—and is of central interest to me in the bells. This inner space is something I resonate with as a metaphor for inner space more broadly, as a space of thought and of feeling.
Q: Where did it happen?
A: I was living in San Francisco, and spending a lot of time in nature all around the Bay Area—especially Mt Sutro, Glen Park, Stern Grove, Presidio, McLaren, Golden Gate Park, all over Marin, in areas around the Russian River, and in the Redwoods.
Q: How did you feel about it in the beginning?
A: Like many beginnings, all in—
Q: How do you feel about it now?
A: Active — moving to LA has introduced many new plants and natural forms into my consciousness. I find when I travel to new places in general, I’m always noticing things with holes — animal holes, seed pods, textures in the ground and in wood, stone, plants, all over. I live in Altadena in the foothills of Angeles National Forest, where we spend a lot of our time.
Q: What changes occurred in your life while making it?
A: Collecting happens over many years, and it accommodates all forms of life changes. What hasn’t changed in the last six years—
Q: How have you been changed since making it?
A: I experience change often. I have always been collecting, it’s a kind of addition I’ve enjoyed for many years. With this collection specifically, I have been changed by always being hyper-aware of objects with holes in them, or inner cavities, or things that spiral towards an invisible inside space.
Q: When you were making this, did you exclusively focus on it or were you working on other things simultaneously?
A: While in the moment of collecting, that’s all I was focusing on, but I have made so many other things while this collection has grown.
Q: Did you make notes or sketches for it?
A: No
Q: Do you concern yourself with your reasons for making it?
A: Yes, the making is the reason in this case
Q: Are you trying to evoke specific feelings for other people with it?
A: No
Q: What were your most important tools in the process of making this?
A: “I’m a thing-finder”(, said Pippi). My tools are my eyes, my personality, my computer, my car. I like to go into nature and look around, and I like to go online and look around.
Q: What quality of your personality do you associate with it?
A: Longing
Q: How long do you intend for this to live in the world?
A: I read the question as, how long do you intend to live in the world. But then I read it again. These objects come from nature and each one has its own lifespan. Some of the objects are already disintegrating. Some of them, like the rocks and shells, will outlive us. I have no intention as to how long these objects live in the world.
Lauren Strom-Berg
on
untitled (winter 22)
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