Culture Seen

Artist Interview with Melissa Martinez

By Lara Plecas Sunday June 16, 2013

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I have known Melissa over the years through the art community in downtown Phoenix. We have grown to know each other better recently during our time as members of eye lounge over the last two years. We were coincidentally pregnant with our children during the same time. We found support and encouragement in each other as artists during our transition into motherhood. We realized that with persistence and hard work, you are able to find a balance between being a parent and an artist.

What are your major influences?

Love, sadness, beauty, and nature in all its perfection and imperfection.

How has becoming a mother changed your work/work style?

Most of my work revolves around being a mother and the experience. I also think about how children would perceive and interact with my work. I’ve thought about how it can be fun for them too. In this respect my work has become more whimsical and interactive, for the most part. Also, as any parent knows you have less time to make work because you’re so busy being a parent. So when I work I have to be quick and efficient. I used to spend hours dreaming of projects. Now, I must make decisions quickly and get to work.

How has your previous work experience influenced your own art?

I was a designer for museums for years. When I think about an exhibit, I design the whole thing I don’t just make the art work. I think many artists just think about completing the paintings or sculptures for their exhibit…but I want it to be an experience, entering a new environment or world that takes you someplace else. I want it to be a more visceral experience than just looking at picture on the walls. I want people to have a feeling in the space.

When did you first discover that you were an artist?

I’ve always loved to make artwork and craft. When I was a kid my best friend Tracy and I loved horses we would come home from school and draw horses all night long. In school we would skip lunch/recess and our ceramics teacher would open up the classroom so we could make enormous pots and dishes. It was wonderful!! In high school I’d do the same thing, I would go to the sculpture room and make stuff. The high school art teacher gave me and a few other students a key to the room. When I was looking to go to college I didn’t know what I wanted to study. My dad recommended business school so I studied business at ASU for 3 long years. I hated accounting, calculus, economics etc. I took art classes for all of my electives, wonderful sculptor talked me into ditching the business program and joining the crazies in the art department…I don’t know if that was a good decision, I’m broke! Maybe someone in the medical or engineering school should have recruited me… Two and a half years ago I quit my job to make artwork full time. This has been a dream of mine for a long time but, I think I was to scared to give it a try. What if I fail? Constantly runs through my head. I have tried to quit but this thing has a good hold on me…

What is next?

Super cool public art projects, I’m so excited about them. It’s nice to finally be making a little bit of money too! I’m also attempting a couple of new endevours. I’m trying my hand at making jewelry. I’m using recycled crystal chandeliers to make earrings and necklaces. It’s going pretty well but it’s a craft that takes a lot of practice to perfect…I’m still learning. I’m also buying and selling vintage furniture on ebay. This started about a year ago when I realized that my vintage white sofa wasn’t going to work with a toddler. Also, the two chairs I had in my living room were serious child hazards. So, I listed the chairs on ebay and sold them for more than I’d purchased tem for. This allowed me to buy new chairs and have some cash left over. So I sold my dining room table, and bought a new one on craig’s list…this has kept going I recently sold my first $10,000 worth of furniture.

Future Exhibitions:

InFLux Glendale Westgate opening June 22, 2013 www.influxaz.com

Tempe Public Art – Hardy Streetscaping – Complete Spring 2014

Jewelry – www.Madephx.com

Artist Interview: Brenda Mallory

By Lisa Marie Sipe Tuesday May 21, 2013

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Last year Culture Seen introduced you to sculptor Brenda Mallory with her installation “Mechanics of Hither and Yon” at the Portland International Airport. I met with Brenda at her studio in the Northeast Historic Irvington District of Portland to learn more about her and to see what she’s been doing since the airport show.

Brenda’s large studio space is white walled and covered in tools, artwork in various stages of progress and inspiration. Different stations have been created within the space for processes such as sewing, waxing, torching, drilling and hand building. Her artwork is an assemblage of multiples and it is evident in her studio the flow the pieces take in order to be composed in an artwork. It is also insight into her work style, since she likes to work on several different things at once. She even leaves herself notes when she stops working so she knows where she left off.

When I interviewed Brenda she was preparing for her upcoming solo show at Butters Gallery in Portland. She showed me some of the new pieces, which were actually reincarnations of the long, vertical pieces in the airport show. Those really tall pieces were so site specific Brenda knew she had to rework them so they were accessible to most spaces.

Brenda Mallory studio in Portland, Oregon

How did Brenda start using flannel in her work?

With this question I discovered many things about Brenda and her art background. Brenda was the founder of GladRags, an environmentally-friendly cotton menstrual pad company she started in 1993. She turned GladRags from a home-based business into a thriving company. After years of owning the business, at 40, she decided she needed a change. Throughout her life Brenda had always dabbled with art so she decided to pursue that passion by going back to art school to get her BFA at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. While owning GladRags Brenda slowly acquired a large amount of natural flannel scraps, which are the offcuts from the GladRag manufacturing process. She held on to those scraps for years and when she was at university she experimented with ways to incorporate them into her art.

Brenda Mallory, Explosion (dark), 2011, Waxed cloth, nuts, bolts, steel, 12″ x 12″ x 12″

How did Brenda pick her color palette of natural, red, gold and black pigmented wax?

She said she doesn’t do a lot of color because her work is more about form and feels color may bring in too much of a decorative element. If the color isn’t informing the concept she doesn’t use it in the work.

Brenda Mallory, Undulations, 2009, Waxed cloth, nuts, bolts, welded steel, 48″ x 70″ x 6″

What is the work about?

Brenda’s work is about the human influence on nature and how we disturb it with pesticides, GMO, etc. She creates frankenstein like organic forms to show how it’s unnatural. She says her work has evolved over time to be a little more optimistic and references rebuilding and self-healing within that theme.

Brenda Mallory, Porous Borders – Red, 2012, Waxed cloth, nuts, bolts, welded steel, 33″ x 33″ x 3″

5 interesting things about Brenda Mallory:

She’s a mentor in the MFA in Applied Craft and Design Program, a collaboration between Oregon College of Art and Craft and Pacific Northwest College of Art.
She’s comfortable with a torch. In addition to her main studio space she rents at ADX Portland where she does her welding.
She’ll be teaching a 5-day workshop, Repeats, Rhythms and Rifts at Anderson Ranch from August 5 – 9, 2013.
She has a residency at Anderson Ranch Arts Center this fall.
She is represented by Butters Gallery in Portland, Oregon and Julie Nester Gallery in Park City, Utah.

For more information about Brenda Mallory visit:

www.BrendaMallory.com

Artists Helping Artists

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I found this wonderful resource I just had to share with you. It’s a free podcast series, Artists Helping Artists. If you are an artist and looking for marketing help (and more) this is the series for you. Artists Helping Artists, with host Leslie Saeta, covers subjects like selling your art, pricing your art, tips [...]

Artist interview — Christy Puetz

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Upcoming Events — “The Most Of” Lit Lounge

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Artist Interview – Carolyn Lavender

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Carolyn Lavender is an artist’s artist. When asking artist friends, who they admire, Carolyn’s name comes up quite often. In addition, when viewing her work in a gallery setting, viewers seem to relate immediately to her animals and talent. Carolyn’s work is always clear and focused, accessible, yet thought provoking. So, Culture Seen is honored [...]