Artist of the Week

What I find so incredible about the paintings of Christina Shurts is the way she handles, captures, and fixates on light. In whatever structure or scene she is capturing the light, the natural coloration and playfulness of light,plays an important. In fact she seems to paint only because of light. Through this effort she captures the beauty in what my seem ordinary to most.

Christina is graduating from California State University, Long Beach with an MFA in Fine Art this Spring. Her work has been shown around the world. She is currently involved in an exhibit called Structural Through- Line (Coherence) at Lawrence Asher Gallery in LA. Recently, she was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): Your work seems to focus on structure, namely man-made structures. What is it about these elevated buildings that you find so fascinating?

There is something almost poetic about the idea of the past being a key element in our futures. This is a concept that also seems to fascinate Chicago artist on the rise Jason Brammer. I was first exposed to his work at the recent Torn Pages event at OhNo!Doom Gallery, but most of his time this past year has been spent crafting time machines. Yes, time machines. Yet, these artistically crafted time machines manage to capture the past and the future at the same time. It is almost like he has crafted timeless time machines. However, Jason's work is so much more than these machines.

His work is filled with twists and turns. He uses the airbrush and other tools to create a softness or a haze that you don't typically see. You can tell he has these wildly vivid images constantly flowing through his mind. One look at the walls of his studio will illustrate how gifted he truly is.

Recently, Jason was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

There are two key factors to art in Chicago, collaboration and fluidity. The scene is constantly changing as galleries open and close. The artist has to have the ability to connect, communicate, and relate on a variety of different levels. A good way to make these connections is to provide a stage for others, curator shows, learn how to stage and present a show, and build a reputation. Max Bare is an artist, illustrator, but above all else is a quality curator and person. He has worked with several galleries and is currently working with OhNo!Doom Gallery. I met Max at OhNo!Doom and could instantly tell that I needed to find out more about his projects.

Orange Alert (OA): You are involved in the current Torn Pages at OhNo!Doom here in Chicago. What are your thoughts on the show as a whole?

What drew me to the work of Chicago's Derek Erdman is his ability to have fun and do what he loves. His work is topical, but always humorous and done is such a way that you can't help but smile. He takes pop culture and twists into something more. Maybe it is slightly off, or maybe it's dead on, regardless it is a statement and an image that captures a brief moment in the history of pop culture.

Whether he is making Morrissey paper dolls, renditions of baseball cards of portraits of political figure, Erdman is always having fun. Here was recently kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): How would you describe your work?
Derek Erdman (DE): I think I'd call it simple and easy. I'd say it's dumb but not stupid.

OA: You almost feast on pop culture. What is it that draws you to icons, pop stars, and ad campaigns?

It is not too often that the viewer can look at a piece of art and have the word precision come to mind, but that is the exact I thought when I first looked at the work of Ola Wikstrom. Based in Stockholm, the process for his creations is fascinating. In his words, "I cut them into 1x1cm pieces which I paste on cardboard" or "Jag klipper upp dem i 1x1cm stora rutor som jag klistrar p' kartong", but it is so much more than that. He creates intricate landscapes, mangled scenes, fragmented realities, from these precisely cut squares. I see it as a way to force order in a world of chaos. So when looking at a piece of artwork through that lens, there is an inherent amount of peacefulness that is associated.

Recently, Ola was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): Your process, unlike other collage artists, seems very percise. How did your work evolve into what it is today?

Sometimes mystery can be a great enticer, and with the on-line presence of Michael Kloss it is all about mystery. If you visit his website you will find seven enlarged images with complex sound collages attached. It is fascinating, but it doesn't give you a lot of insight on who Michael is as an artist or what you can expect at his current show at the newly opened The Hills Esthetic Center. That is why I decided to ask Michael a few questions.

Orange Alert (OA): What can you tell us about the new show at The Hills Esthetic Center, The Hills Have Thighs?
Michael Kloss (KL): The Hills Esthetic Center is an extension of the hills, which is our show space for music and debauchery. Over the last few years we have been gaining popularity and we have decided to open up this little gallery. We hope to set ourself apart from the rest of the apartment gallery's in Chicago by trying to focus on solo shows and taking advantage of our unique space (tiki bar and music venue)

I've been asked many times why I called this site what I did, and until I met David Karave I never really understood how to answer that question. I know feel it has something to do with finding the humor or finding the ability to laugh during difficult times. It is also the ability and the right to laugh at those in charge, and especially those who we have elected to be in charge. David Karave is an artist who is fascinated by the choices that those in charge make and has found very creative ways of displaying his opinion of these choices.

When David sent me an e-mail about his latest project, a robotic display based on the color coding system for terror alerts, I knew I had to have him on Orange Alert. He believes that robotics are the next evolution in art. He melds political statements with artistic interpretations and robotics to create intense visual displays. After spending a few minutes on his site I was overflowing with questions and luckily David was kind enough to answer a few. Above is a video interpretation of David's project he complied especially for this interview.

There has to be something to staying active and creative. The more time you spend you spend the easier it will come. For Chicago artist and musician Eric Lebofsky it isn't enough to just work on his illustrating jobs, a paint the ocassional picture, Eric is dedicated to drawing everyday. In fact he posts his daily drawings on his Superfreaks blog. Why superfreaks you asks, once you take a look you will undrstand. He has created a massive collection a very creative superheroes, but with a freakish twist. It's exciting to see what he will create each day.

Eric is also a talented musician and creates strange and impressive sounds with Avagami. Recently, Eric was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): I really enjoy your Superfreaks blog, and have added it to my daily reader. Do you feel an artist needs to draw on a daily basis?

I've long been fascinated by the artist's sketchbook, they always carry around their notebooks or moleskins like the writers and their journal or diary. They capture ideas, draw what they see, doodle and sketch. To crack the covers of these private little collections is to see that artist at their most intimate, most experimental, most raw and unassuming. One artist that has revealed these unplanned and unrefined drawings with the world is Brooklyn's, by way of Vicenza, Italy, Alessandro Echevarria.

Alessandro not only sketches and doodles, he has the ability to turn these thoughts into more elaborate images and creations. That is the true genius of the artist, it is the ability to take the raw talent and make that deliberate decision to turn it to something bigger. Just as the the writer deciphers the cryptic scribbles of their notebook, the artist grabs those key drawings and shares their developed dreams with the world.

Recently, Alessandro was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

It was Gandhi that said, "Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes", and it is that concept that lays the foundation for the work of Hannah Stouffer. It's not that her work is filled with mistakes, no in fact there are many fine precisions and details that she adds, but it is more that she works in a way that allows for freedom. For me what makes watercolor so beautiful is its ability to spread out and explore a canvas, and beneath the darker and primal imagery in Hannah's work is that exploration and searching watercolors expanding on their own across the canvas.

Yes, I mentioned darkness, but in Hannah's work it more like contrast, vibrant and brilliant contrast. She uses color and imagery to explore the darker elements of life, but also includes the opposite of that in vivid splashes of light. It quite effective and moving.

Recently, Hannah was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): Several of your pieces use watercolor as one of their elements. Is that harder to control than other paints? Is that what draws you to watercolors?