6 + 1 Questions with Marie B. Gauthiez

In Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age, author Annalee Newitz writes about the Neolithic city of Çatalhöyük, one of the world’s oldest urban areas. Newitz unravels the relationship between personal identity and place, as well as public and private iterations of the self. According to Newitz, prior to settling down, nomadic Homo sapiens didn’t have a real conception of privacy. Identity was defined by one’s ancestral lineage rather than ties to a specific location. The aesthetic and symbolic components within the structure of this ancient city are also fascinating. Buried in the plastered walls are the skulls, teeth and claws of wild animals, some protruding out of the plaster and painted in bright colors. Over the course of their inhabitation, the homes within the city were perpetually cared for and rebuilt, each reconstruction burying the past under new layers of plaster, ash and clay. The walls and floors of the city are like palimpsests, hiding and revealing narratives of ancient human life.

I find compelling visual and conceptual similarities between Marie B. Gauthiez’ installation Self-portrait as palimpsest and Newitz’ description of Çatalhöyük. For one, Gauthiez’ work also investigates the relationship between identity and place, personal history and memory, using the wall as a metaphor to understand self-hood. Not just any wall, Gauthiez’ installation evokes a living space, albeit a deconstructed one. Additionally, Self-portrait as palimpsest incorporates material both on the surface of and within the constructed walls. Operating as a three-dimensional painting that references both the hard-edged clarity of geometric abstraction and an ecstatic material glut associated with the expanded field of painting, Gauthiez’ work uses the language of home renovation to explore how the physical boundaries that surround us can hold up a mirror to who we are.

Gauthiez’ materials list is expansive. In her work, traditional painting elements coincide with materials associated with home construction and interior décor. Self-portrait as palimpsest uses drywall, wooden studs, metal gridwall panels, plaster and latex paint aesthetically as well as contextually, and the materials are exposed rather than hidden. Expanses of stained canvas, wallpaper and fabric curtains create a layered, tactile (yet somehow still ephemeral) facade. Glazed ceramic shards are tucked within the nooks and crannies and fragments of patterns and images peer out of crumbling holes in the drywall. More often than not, the shallow windows within the piece give way to more walls underneath. Although her work does not veer head-on into the space of performance (thinking here of Corin Hewitt’s 2013 performative installation, The Hedge, at The Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, where Hewitt continued to manipulate the installation throughout the duration of the show), Gauthiez’ work resists stillness and promotes a kind of close, active looking, both encouraging and rewarding our efforts to look around and through, up and down, outward and inward. 

Marie B. Gauthiez completed her MFA from American University in May 2024. Her thesis work was recently exhibited in Surface Tension: The Visible and the Hidden at The Katzen Museum at American University and in Threads at 52 O Street Open Studios in Washington, DC. 👇Read the interview for more about Marie and her upcoming projects👇 💐Thanks a million to Marie, for sharing this peek into your mind and studio practice!!💐

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Marie B. Gauthiez, Self-portrait as palimpsest, mixed media installation, 2024
Photo credit: Pete Duvall

 

1.  What’s your sign? If you are astrologically inclined, feel free to give your Sun/Moon/Rising. Do you identify with the characteristics of your sign(s)?
 
I am Capricorn, with the moon in Sagittarius, and rising Capricorn. I have always been fascinated by astrology, but I don’t know that much about it. When I was a child, my aunt gave me a little book on Capricorns that explained all the characteristics of the sign. I poured over it, thinking it held answers to so many questions. I am practical, sensitive, ambitious, enthusiastic, persistent, and protective. One thing that comes up is the idea that within my Rising in Capricorn “you feel like something is missing, and you won’t stop searching for it”. This is uncanny because this is truly how I feel about my practice. I am actively searching through the work. I like the idea that we are ruled by those bigger bodies that are planets and that it only shows our interconnectedness to the vast universe, but I also believe in our own agency and psychological strength to redress our negative traits. 

 

Marie B. Gauthiez, Self-portrait as palimpsest (detail), mixed media installation, 2024
Photo credit: Pete Duvall

2.  What is your morning routine?

I have always been amazed by the American idea of the “miracle morning”. Get up at 5 am every morning and be super productive. Sadly, it doesn’t work for me. I just have to be productive during normal sun hours! My ideal morning is tea while my kids have breakfast, shower and pack lunches, sending kids off to school with good vibes, and arriving at the studio by 9:15 am. Nothing fancy or athletic. I tried Julia Cameron’s morning pages for a while but it was just too brutal to force myself to get up early enough to write in peace.

 

Marie B. Gauthiez, Self-portrait as palimpsest (detail), mixed media installation, 2024

 
3. Have you ever cried in front of an artwork? If so, what was it?

That happened to me last week! I went to the National Portrait Gallery with two of my MFA colleagues, Pooja Campbell and Connor Gagne, and my professor Kyle Hackett. We wandered in the Fold and Self-taught Art Galleries. Connor and I stopped in front of a strange sculpture of stuffed denim pants, bucket with holes in lieu of head, torso missing, seating on a rugged wooden chair. From afar, it was unassuming. The wall text however gave it a context that made us reevaluate the work: The artist, Hawkins Bolden (1914-2005) was blinded in a childhood accident. He took to sculpting, creating scarecrow-like sentinels to protect the family’s vegetable garden. It triggered so many emotions in my heart and tears came up. I imagined this child feeling the world with his hands, building up shapes through touch but also through his visual memories. Instead of recoiling from making, he hung to his creativity with purpose: protecting. As an artist, I wonder how do you see the world through your hands? As a parent, I can only imagine the tragedy of raising a blind child, the worry, the adjustment, the loss. It was amazing to enter his world for just a little bit through those projections. I admire artists that can trigger emotional reactions and transport you instantly. It just goes to show how connected and empathetic humans are and it is a “movement” that is worth working towards. I wonder if his art should be experienced only by touch. Are we restricted by our visual sense?

 
 
Gauthiez' photo of Hawkins Bolden's Untitled, 1987
 
 

4. What are you reading now? (You can also include what you’ve read lately, as well as what you are listening to, watching, etc.)

I am reading too many books at once. Books are emotional support objects for me. I have books in different places for different activities. Amy Sillman’s collection of essays called “faux pas” is currently in the bag that I carry every day. I am enjoying her witty prose so much and I am mining the book for insight and wisdom. It is also very informative, and I am using it for the classes I teach at the Washington Studio School. It took me time to get into “The Great Believers” by Rebecca Makkai but I really enjoyed the second half. This fiction novel is about the AIDS crisis in Chicago, about chasing a hypothetical art collection and an estranged daughter. It is heavy, but essential to remember how inhumane the US were to the gay community as the disease started infecting people. The human losses were astounding, the agony implacable, the shame so thick. The novel also follows a photographer who documents the epidemic and who later becomes a super star in the art world of the 2000’s. I liked that the writer included this character as I believe artists are important witnesses of our societies and can shift mentalities through their works. I admire the bravery it demands. I just started “Wrong is not my name” by Erica N. Cardwell which weaves personal memoirs and art criticism through the works of Black artists. She explores loss and the healing powers of art through art, which really speaks to my own practice. Through her writing style, I feel very grounded in her experience. Can’t wait to read more!

 

Marie B. Gauthiez, Self-portrait as palimpsest (detail), mixed media installation, 2024

 

 
5.  Tell us four truths about yourself and one lie:



         a. I was born in France
         b. I love open water scuba diving
         c. Hypnosis helped me overcome my fear of driving
         d. I met the Balinese healer from “Eat, Pray, Love”
         e. His predictions all came true

 

Marie B. Gauthiez, Wall 2, Mixed media on wood panel and metal, 2024
Photo credit: Pete Duvall

 
6. This is the wild card question. You have a lot of experience teaching art to children. Has this experience impacted your personal work at all? How so?

In 2019, my friend Patricia Baca invited to me teach at her studio called Mango Street in Washington DC. It triggered a love of visual research and an interest in pedagogy. I feel it is my duty to pass on my love of art and my reverence for the process. I remember teaching a class on Louise Bourgeois to a group of elementary kids. I showed them how she drew spirals, either with a starting point from the inside or from the outside. It was a simple practice exercise. A mom later told me that her son recreated the activity for his birthday party because he was so excited about what he learned. The fact that a connection could travel all the way from Bourgeois’s own work, to how I personally responded to it, down to that kid’s birthday party amazed me. You can learn from the best teachers without even have met them. Observe the work, understand it, make it your own. More than anything, I enjoy the fact that I can talk about art with my own two children. They just want to draw like they want, what they want and when they want (aka back off mommy!). Drawing is play to them, freedom and therapy. They are unencumbered by theory and rules. I like that. They just need supplies and encouragement. We spend so much time as adult-artists wrestling with rigid voices in our heads or trying to recreate this self-generated creativity that I don’t want to force anything on them. Becoming a mom and experiencing the pandemic with two young children stuck at home helped me understand how crucial MAKING was to me and that the practice had to adjust to the environment, not the other way around. It was never about the time or the space, all those bad excuses, it was always about the will, the desire, the survival. I think about that a lot.

 
 

Marie B. Gauthiez, Wall Fragments, mixed media installation (in dialog with Lindsay Mueller’s drawings), 2024
Photo credit: Pete Duvall

7. What other artist(s) would you like to see answer these questions?

Reem Bassous
Kyle Hackett
Julia Reising
Cora Olson
Patricia Baca

 
Not really an official question, but do you have anything else you’d like to share? Anything you’re excited about in the studio, upcoming shows, publications, events, etc.?
 
I am graduating this week and I am bracing myself for the unknown of the next phase, working diligently in the studio on my wall fragments – little brick-like panels that proliferate on walls- and to be working in the clay studio at LAC on new sculptural pieces for my mixed media works as well as developing thoughtful content for my classes at the Washington Studio School. I guess that is still a lot but I am excited about a less stressful schedule. Graduate school, work, family and basic self-care were a lot to juggle those past two years. Many artists have visited my studio those past two years, generously sharing their thoughts, energy with me and I am looking forward to return the favor! So if you are an artist based in or around DC and need someone to look at your work, feel free to reach out! 

Photo credit: Taylor Sizemore

Marie B Gauthiez is a multi-disciplinary French-American artist who makes work about mapping of the self, reconstruction, preservation and identity. Marie received her MFA in Studio Art from American University (’24). She is a faculty member at the Washington Studio School in Washington DC. Recently Marie has co-curated an MFA invitational exhibition called ‘Holding Hands, Holding Space” in the Katzen Center (Washington, DC). Marie has participated in Art Night “Homegrown” at the National Gallery of Art in 2023. She was awarded the Van Swearingen Merit Award, the Catharina Baart Biddle Award and the Carol Bird Ravenal Art Award. She has exhibited in group shows at Soft Times Gallery (San Francisco), Studio Gallery (Washington DC), Brentwood Arts Exchange (MD), the Anacostia Arts Center (DC), the Katzen Art Center (DC), Blue Mountain Gallery (NYC), Pyramid Atlantic (MD). Marie holds a BA in applied languages from Paris 10-Nanterre and an MA in Fashion Business from ESMOD Paris. She lives with her husband and two children in Northern Virginia.

mariebgauthiez.com
IG @mariebgauthiez

All images courtesy of the artist.

A Review of Get the Picture by Bianca Bosker

 

Get the Picture by Bianca Bosker

Brief, non-spoiler review:

I really enjoyed Bianca Bosker’s Get The Picture! I think you will too if: 

• you’re interested in what happens behind the scenes in art galleries, at art fairs, and in artists’ studios

• you’ve wondered what makes something “art” (and what makes it “good” art)

• you’re interested in a non-cynical take on why art matters 

Less brief review with spoilers:

Synopses about this book caught my interest, but I wasn’t planning on reading it because I thought that since I already do “get the picture,” the author wouldn’t have new info for me. I changed my mind after reading a few particularly positive blurbs about the book, and I’m glad that I did.

I had trouble at first. Bosker’s account of working with gallerists and art fairs was not the most pleasant part of the book, and I found myself wanting to shake her as she continued to doubt her own taste and look outside of herself to determine which art she should value. I had to remind myself that as a person with more than a few years of art education and art world experience as an emerging artist under my belt, my confidence in my own “eye” (Bosker discusses the development of her “eye,” or her personal taste in art, throughout Get the Picture) was something I was taking for granted.

As Bosker works on her eye, she repeatedly asks herself (and others) versions of the questions, “Do I like this artwork?” and “Should I like this artwork?” (Which can also be phrased as “Is this good art?”) She questions multiple gallerists, artists, art fair participants, art collectors, museum bigwigs, museum attendees… the list goes on. 

More and more, I noticed her surprising lack of cynicism as she moves through various art worlds (there are more than one, and Bosker notes some connections between them). She began to win me over with her dogged earnestness, but it was her multiple discussions of one of the art world’s greatest taboos: beauty, that made me root for her. 

By the end of the book, Bosker absolutely does “get the picture,” mentioning that she seeks out art viewing because she hopes to “fall in love.” When she discovers the pleasure of seeing via her experiences of color constancy I knew she had gotten what she came for. Her ode to a Brancusi sculpture at the Guggenheim seals the deal: not only does she get it, but she wants to help museum goers (and her book’s readers) get it too, in a way that is so genuinely without ego, it is a joy to read.

Bosker’s take on art, why it matters, and the ways it makes its way (or doesn’t) to all of us via the art world(s) is comprehensive and even-handed. The book is not all sunshine and roses, but darker aspects of how and why art is commodified serve to make the author’s account of her evolving love affair with art that much more compelling.

Have you read Get the Picture? What did you think?

6 + 1 Questions with Taylor Sizemore

Taylor Sizemore is a painter with an affinity for photographic practices. Her painted still lifes allude to the image as source and include all manner of arrangements of symbolic paraphernalia. Their contemporary significance, though, does not prevent them from engaging with traditional still life themes. Like the still life paintings adorning ancient Egyptian tombs and 17^th century Dutch vanitas paintings, Sizemore’s paintings explore the material of daily life, the pleasures (and excesses) of living and the fundamental constraints of time and death. Sizemore's use of these conceptual contrasts evokes both Venusian and Saturnian attributes. The archetype of Venus represents sex, love, decadence and living in the moment, whereas Saturn calls forth the limits and the boundaries, time and death. We can over-indulge in the moment, but we may pay for it later.

Where I think these paintings depart from tradition is in Sizemore’s ability to mine and mimic social media for compositional choices and subject matter. In doing so, she examines authenticity against performative aspects of our self-mythologizing, online identities. The paintings (and their caption-like titles) are funny, acerbic and sassy. A darker reality often hovers beyond the edges. In The Other Side of Paradise, an unpretentious heap of modern bounty spews across the surface. The poolside is a stage for an orchestrated mess of Cheetos, a partially peeled orange, and a coyly placed bikini top. As in most still lifes, the human owner of these consumables is absent. The ghost of High Fidelity whispers in my ear, "...what’s really important is what you like, not what you’re like."  This is a still life, but it could also be a portrait.

Taylor is my first former Longwood student to complete her MFA in Painting! What makes this even cooler, is that she also attended my own alma mater, American University. You can see Taylor Sizemore’s work in person at her upcoming MFA Thesis show Surface Tension: the visible and the hidden, in the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center in Washington, DC. The Opening Reception is on April 6th at 5:30 PM and open through May 19th. Look out for an accompanying catalog with an essay, On the Threshold, written by Marcu Civin, which will also be available soon on East City Art.

 

💟🪴☠🌈Thank you, Taylor, for sharing your work and studio practice with us! Congratulations from all of us at Art Habit!🌈☠🪴💟

Taylor Sizemore, The Other Side of Paradise, 2022, Oil on canvas, 36 x 36 inches

1.  What’s your sign? If you are astrologically inclined, feel free to give your Sun/Moon/Rising. Do you identify with the characteristics of your sign(s)?

I am a Leo, born just after midnight on my mother's (and her identical twin’s) birthday.

Sun, Leo. Moon, Leo. Haha! and I’m not sure about my rising. I’m not astrologically inclined but I have friends that are, and I always find it insanely interesting and pretty spot on.

Confident, charismatic, creative, direct, strong, tenacious.
Stubborn, laid back or languid, and indulgent, with expensive taste.

I like working hard in long stints for focused sections of time, and then being playful and indulgent and relaxed, a compartmentalization of time, if you will. Similar to the lion.

 

Taylor Sizemore, Where Are You Running?, 2024, Oil on canvas, 42.5 x 32.5 inches

2.  What is your morning routine?

It depends on the season!

But I hate to end the day and end up working late, into the morning (especially lately), so I prefer to wake a little later if the day allows it – maybe around 9:00, if I have somewhere to be.

I’ll make an americano and take our dog Trace for a walk. She is a Chesapeake bay retriever and full of energy. Sometimes she gets me out of bed.

I always make a priority list the night before so that I know what I’m doing the next day (I like to dilly dally and get distracted easily). I have notebooks full of lists. Along with journal entries and things. I do decide as  little as possible in the morning so I always try to lay out clothes and pack a lunch the night before.

As it stands currently, I get ready and dressed and head to the studio at school about 4 days a week. I’m currently in the second year of my MFA at American [University]. The first year I lived up the street and walked to the studio most days. This year I’m about an hour and 20 commute each way – living in the suburbs of Virginia… Oh the things you do for Love! It’s hard, but well worth it to come home to Joe after a long day.

I use the time in the car to listen to podcasts or books on tape, or blast music to get in the groove.
If I don’t have class, and I’m not TA-ing, I work from the home studio. Which is nice, it allows for slower mornings and some housekeeping and emails.

3. Have you ever cried in front of an artwork? If so, what was it?

Ah, yes! It’s kinda cheesy but it was the first time I had really been to a large contemporary art museum, MoMA, and my first visit to New York City. It was the summer before I started my BFA at Longwood.

I say cheesy because it was Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Pablo Picasso.

I sat in front of it for probably 20 minutes and had the singular tear or two roll down my face.

I was 24 and had lofty romantic ideas of what it meant to be a painter (I still prescribe to this to a certain extent) and the idea of ‘the muse’ (I am much more educated and conflicted …It’s complicated).

I think it was the sheer size of the work, the color and invention, the persona and drama, and seeing the texture and movement on the surface. It was such a spectacle.

 

Taylor Sizemore, My Boyfriend Planted Flowers For Me in His Garden; It Was Pornographic, 2022, Oil on canvas, 16 x 12 inches

4.  What have you read (or listened to) lately that might be beneficial for other artists?

I’m not all the way through it yet… but I pick up this book anytime I’m stuck in my practice. It’s a great tool to think and write specifically about your work, and it inspires and invigorates me to get moving in the studio.

It’s titled Mapping: the Intelligence of Artistic Work by Anne West

I “borrowed” it from my ceramics professor and artist, Adam Paulek. I do intend to eventually return it to him and get my own copy.

I highly recommend it. Useful for the longevity of any artistic practice.

  Taylor Sizemore, slutty little oranges, 2023, oil on canvas, 42.5 x 32.5 inches

5.  Tell us four truths about yourself and one lie:

a.     I was a competitive athlete and held  a world record in jump rope at age 9.

b.     If I wasn’t an artist, I would want to be an actress.

c.      I have 2 titanium rods and 13 titanium clamps attached to my spine and part of my spine is fused together with bone fragments.

d.     I drive a manual transmission (stick shift) and always have.

e.     I am ambidextrous due to a roller skating accident.

Taylor Sizemore, Familiar Patterns, 2023, Oil on canvas, 16 x 12 inches

6. This is the wild card question. I know that you are a big reader. What character in a book do you most relate to and why?

I struggled with this question. But my immediate thought went to the narrator of Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palaniuk. Though I would say I connected to the character more when I originally read it, because of my life at the time. It was after my 5th or 6th surgery to remove a breast tumor(s). And I was fat and depressed.

The narrator spills the story of self discovery, and trauma, and being beautiful, through spliced sequences of time. The ideas of presentation, attention, being othered - invisible -,desire and fear, and the detailed descriptions of objects and brands and what they say about the characters that habit them.

It’s dramatic, grotesque, and oddly inspirational.

It describes the dramas of our everyday lives – in a really high key way.

Some of my favorite quotes from the book are:

“Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I've ever known.”

“When you understand, that what you're telling is just a story. It isn't happening anymore. When you realize the story you're telling is just words, when you can just crumble up and throw your past in the trashcan, then we'll figure out who you're going to be.”

I love dark humor and social commentary.

I like books about why people are the way they are.

Another favorite of mine by Palaniuk is Fight Club. I’m a big fan, I’ve read 9 of his books.

 

Taylor Sizemore, Lucky Charms, 2023, Acrylic on paper, 14 x 11 inches

 

7. What other artist(s) would you like to see answer these questions?

I would be interested to see my professional practices professor, Danielle Mysliwiec, answer these questions.

Or some of my colleagues: Marie B Gauthiez or Pooja Campbell (I think you especially would love both of these women)!

 

 

Taylor Sizemore’s artistic practice is a contemporary twist on the still life genre. Using memories, objects and patterns she describes a life lived from her perspective through rhythm and opacity in paint. Sizemore has familial roots in the small coal mining town of Grundy, Virginia and grew up in Okinawa, Japan. She currently resides in the suburbs outside of Washington, DC. Sizemore graduated summa cum laude with a BFA in painting and drawing and a minor in art history at Longwood University. During her time in Farmville, she worked as an artist assistant and exhibited at galleries including the Longwood Center for the Visual Arts and the Bedford Gallery, where she received first place for a photography narrative included in the exhibition “Art and the Archives”.  In 2023 Sizemore was contracted by the National Gallery of Art for events including “Homegrown” and “Poetry is a Country”, and was a recipient of the Carol Bird Ravenal Art Award for artistic research. Most recently, Sizemore co-curated “Holding Hands, Holding Space'' at the Katzen Art Center, an MFA invitational exhibition fostering care and community among artists. She has also exhibited with The Valdosta National (GA), Sitar Art Center (DC), and Goodwin House (VA). Sizemore has works on paper and prints hosted at Transformer Gallery in Adams Morgan (DC). Her work resides in personal collections across the country, in Berlin, and Japan. Sizemore is currently working on her Master of Fine Arts Fellowship and graduate assistantship at American University.

www.taylorsizemorestudio.com
IG @taysize

All images courtesy of the artist. 

 

6 + 1 Questions with Austin Brady

Sometime in the 90's, when I was a kid, my dad decided that he would build a platform structure for my brother and I on the wooded hill behind our house. From what I remember, it was meant to be some sort of wooden deck for a tent, an outdoor area for my brother and I to play camping. The job was started, but then slowly and imperceptibly abandoned. I was given no rationale, nor did I ask for one. The reminder of this failed endeavor remained in the back yard for years--the stacked cinder block foundation, a monument to projects left undone. Now, as an adult and a parent, I can think of about a million solid reasons why one might ditch an uneccessary project. To his credit, my brilliant, funny and thoughtful father also successfully completed many household jobs. However, this is the memory that comes to my mind when I reflect on Austin Brady's work, likely pulled forth by his body of work’s compelling title, “No Dads No Masters”.

There is a haphazard, mutable quality to Austin's work, although decidedly different than my dad's abandoned project. For one, Austin's work is complete, though perhaps not in the way a layperson might anticipate. Secondly, Austin’s various states of (in)completion are an intentional conceptual choice. Great care is put into his application of various methods and techniques. In one sculpture, Flail, Austin leaves visible the lumber grade stamp on a mass produced 2 x 4. This exposure is in contrast to a neighboring trompe l'oeil hole within which we glimpse painted Skeletors in a dark, cartoon world. In another sculpture, a modern-day Excalibur is adorned with truck balls and protrudes from an orange Home Depot bucket, its blade stuck and useless in what appears to be cement.

In addition to complicating the hierarchy between high and low art practices, Austin’s work invites a playful breakdown between fantasy and convention. An ordinary work space, such as the garage, becomes a place where magic can happen. The paintings and sculptures flip flop between functional and decorative, as I sift through a multitude of possible masculine gender roles. Some are problematic and stereotypical, while others are funny, nostalgic, vulnerable and unexpected.

I'll end on a synchronicity. As I am writing, I am listening to a recent Astrology Podcast ep called "Unshaming the Signs". When speaking about Gemini, astrologer Britten LaRue indicates that Gemini's tendency toward distraction has important benefits. Maybe each so-called distraction gives us something we need at a given moment. Maybe we aren't meant to finish every task. 

A thousand thank-you’s to Austin for sharing such thoughtful responses to my questions and for providing generous insight into his work, process and habits.  You can find more about Austin Brady and his work on his website: www.austin-brady.com and on Instagram @_wolfprison_

*☿*☽*☉ Bonus Astrology PSA ☉*☾*☿* I am not an astrologer, but after listening to hundreds of hours of The Astrology Podcast (plus extra cred for reading Chris Brennan’s 700-page book Hellenistic Astrology: The Study of Fate and Fortune), I am at least entitled to play one on this blog. Most people are familiar with sun-sign astrology, which is the zodiacal sign of the sun at the time of your birth.  Each of us, though, has an entire birth chart, which represents the placement of all of the planets in the sky (as well as other important astrological points) at the time of birth. In our natal charts, each person has a section (aka a ‘House’) for each of the 12 zodiacal signs. This means that we are all a little bit Gemini, babes. So, if you take astrology seriously enough to malign a sign, remember that every sign provides you with a different set of ways to exist in the world and is also, in some way, a part of you.

Enjoy! xoxo

1. What’s your sign? If you are astrologically literate, feel free to give your Sun/Moon/Rising. Do you identify with the characteristics of your sign(s)?

It’s pretty funny, I get this question almost every semester as a professor and I always tell my inquiring students to guess based on my personality. They usually get it wrong 5-7 times before they land on Gemini. When I confirm they are always like “uhggg, of COURSE you are a Gemini”

My mom was always very into astrology, and so I know a bit about it, but not a ton. I wanted to do a little research and found out my moon is Pisces and my rising is Leo.

I suppose I do identify with some of the characteristics, which I see as this kind of gazing pool, or like the Studiolo in the Ducal Palace. Just this big mesh to catch and organize all these insecurities and indecisions. It’s helpful to have some external source that can assign meaning and direction to all the chaos. 

2. What is your morning routine?

I am so bad at routine, hahaha. I find myself getting off task pretty easily. It’s kind of goofy, but I need a checklist to direct myself and show myself that I am actually accomplishing things. It is usually: brush teeth, wash face, take meds, feed the boys (our cats), make an improvised breakfast out of whatever we have in the fridge, listen to the news while I cook, and do whatever chores my partner and I have talked about the night before. If it is a day that I teach, I always leave extra early to go down to Milwaukee Cafe so that I can get a coffee with oat milk and vanilla cardamom syrup (shout out to Vern, a good friend and the best barista in Detroit) and then I walk from the cafe to campus and do all of my prep before class.

Before I say this, I have to acknowledge that, yes, I know he is problematic, but there is a thing that I watched about Tom Sachs where he practices “output before input” where you are supposed to draw or sketch or dance or whatever before you scroll your phone or listen to the news. I am so bad at this, but sometimes I can commit for few days at a time and it always comes out good. I really need an old-fashioned alarm clock so I don’t touch my phone first thing in the morning, otherwise I am in bed for an embarrassingly long amount of time just scrolling. 

3. Have you ever cried in front of an artwork? If so, what was it?

Absolutely. Every time I even talk about Untitled (Portrait of Ross in LA) by Felix Gonzalez-Torres I start to weep. It is so simple, and tender, and the feeling of loss… enjoying these small little bits of sweetness while the body diminishes. There is no greater love letter in the world. There are definitely others. I don’t shy away from being moved by artwork, but this one has made me cry pretty much every time. 

4. What are you reading now?

I have been reading a lot of sci-fi/fantasy with my partner. I know I should be reading more theory and whatnot but N.K. Jemisin has a chokehold on me. I read her Broken Earth trilogy and I was just hooked. I am a quarter of the way through The Shadowed Sun. So good. 

I am also reading The Wound is (Not) Real: A Memoir by Marty Cain, which is this absolutely beautiful and haunting book of poetry that are spliced with QR code’s that you scan for these short videos. I picked it up at this local book store (another shout out to Book Suey in Hamtramck) and I read about 3 lines of a random poem and practically ran to the register to buy it. It hurts my heart in all the right ways.

5. Tell us four truths about yourself and one lie (in any order, just don’t divulge which is the lie!):

a. I was once ran over by a car while biking to an interview and still showed up to the interview, on time, and in the back of a cop car
b. I once ran out of D-rings when prepping for an exhibition and ended up stapling pop tabs to the back of my art as a quick fix (and still get teased about it)
c. I have a casting of Vin Diesel’s real face in my studio that I talk to some times
d. I once mistook a sculpture at the MOCAD for my partner of 13 years. Even put my arm around its waist and got yelled at by security.
e. Coming up with truths about myself is a hell of a lot harder than coming up with the lie.

6. This is the wild card question. Your work often includes unusual, non-art materials that are in conversation with traditional oil paintings. Can you talk about the symbolic value of the materials you use? How and where do you find your materials?

There were quite a few processes that happened simultaneously in my practice that felt very important to this transformation. The big one is that I began to consider a painting as an object with an image on it rather than the traditional “portal” that depicts a scene. It is this funny punishment to painting. It started by leaning paintings against the wall rather than hang them in order to take them down a notch. When I did start hanging paintings on the wall, I would stack things on top of them to turn them into these really dumb shelves where I could just put knick knacks and empty beer cans onto. They are receptacles for the runoff of life. They get all gunked up.   

I am also in love with flatbed paintings and the way they could organize information free of physics. Things feel like they are always subject to change. I slowly shifted into the vernacular of the “garage,” letting it become a mythical site in which these paintings live. The organizational logic of garage pegboard worked in the same way that flatbed painting does. Here are these images and objects that are essentially tools of identity (more specifically white midwestern masculine identity in my work) that I can take off the wall, use, and put back when I no longer need them. Mounting swords or truck nuts onto the paintings felt as natural to painting as using the color red or using a certain brush. It also confused and frustrated some of my grad school professors, which I loved.

I source the materials from all sorts of places. Most of the weapons I get from flea markets when I can, or source online if I am looking for something very specific. Some of the objects are casts, such as the silicone D20s I use. Others are sourced from vintage shops or resale stores. I just picked up this resin “floating beer bottle” sculpture from a vintage shop that has got to make an appearance soon.

7. What other artist(s) would you like to see answer these questions?

I love Kyle Koguts work. I did a duo show with him a few years back at KO gallery and I think he would be great

Kristina Sheufelt would also be great. They have an insane body of work that spans ecological and technological realms that it just jaw dropping

Oh, and Kara Güt! Killer artist. Everything that they do just keeps getting impossibly better and better.

© Jeff Cancelosi 2022

Austin Brady was born in the cold midwestern town of Gaylord, Michigan and lived the majority of his life in the Detroit area. He received his BFA from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan with a concentration in painting, and received his MFA in Painting from the University of Notre Dame with a minor in Gender Studies. He is also an alum of the Redbull House of Art residency, and has been exhibiting nationally, including the South Bend Museum of Art, Snite Museum of Art at Notre Dame, Field Projects, Vantage Art Projects, and KO studio gallery. He currently resides in Detroit with his loving partner Lyndsay, and his dumb cats Renaissance and Goose. He enjoys cheeseburgers, Dungeons & Dragons, and music most would consider aggressive and unlistenable.

www.austin-brady.com

All images of artwork courtesy of the artist. 

Interview with Alexandra Chiou: Intricate Collages and Collected Thoughts

Installation view of "Remember/Renew" on view at IA & A at Hillyer

I met Alexandra Chiou via Instagram in 2019 when we started messaging about the in's and out's of framing methods. Since that time, I have discovered Alexandra to be one of the most talented and generous artists that I know. 

Her intricate hand cut paper works feel both earthy and ethereal, delicate and emotionally resonant, qualities not often seamlessly combined. The swirling movement within each work calls to mind breezes, streams, and other sources of gentle flow in the natural world.

Alexandra's work ethic is always inspiring, and I am so pleased that she agreed to answer questions for Art Habit, so we can spotlight her beautiful cut paper work, and also to share about her solo exhibition, on view now through March 31st at IA & A at Hillyer in Washington, D.C. 

                        -Nikki/Art Habit

"Rebirth"

Art Habit: How long have you been making your cut paper pieces? What led you to make this type of work? (Did you draw/paint before?)

Alexandra Chiou: I've been working with this current method since around 2015, so it's been about 9 years now. I started as an oil painter, but after graduating from college, I was working out of my apartment and had limited storage space, so I started painting with acrylic on paper instead. Eventually, I began experimenting with collage. I have always been interested in sculpture, and started playing with the layers of paper in my pieces. We have so many complex emotions and feelings, and I love how the layers are a way of representing the depth of what we feel and experience.

AH: How do you think about “beauty” as related to the work you make?

AC: In my latest work, I think about beauty in the sense that I celebrate moments and memories of hope, joy, wonder, and love. That being said, you cannot have light without darkness, and often the most traumatic and challenging experiences shape us and make us who we are. It's important to accept all the good and the bad and to come to terms with the entirety of our experiences. My work is about finding healing, feeling uplifted, and being at peace.

"The Voyage"

AH: You have lived in some interesting places over the last few years. What have been your favorite things about each city you have lived in?

AC: I've been fortunate enough to live in the DMV, LA, and currently the Boston area. Every place I've lived in, I've met very generous and welcoming people in the creativity community, which is something I have really appreciated and cherished. Living elsewhere has made me even more appreciative of the number of amazing nonprofit art spaces in the DC area and the fact there are so many free world-class museums nearby. If you live in the DMV, definitely don't take that for granted!

AH: Do you have a morning routine (if yes, please describe it)? What other routines have you established that help you make your work?

AC: I usually stretch and do some sort of exercise. Being physically active helps boost my energy and overall mood, and it makes me more productive. I also generally work on my art in the mornings. Even if I only have time to do 15-30 minutes worth of work (which happens on some days), I do a little every day and it really adds up in the long-run.

"Home"

AH: You do a great job connecting with galleries. What advice would you give artists that want to work with more galleries?

AC: I'm still navigating this myself, but I recommend doing your research and being very deliberate about galleries you want to potentially connect with. Make sure they are a good fit. Do you like the work they show? Does their mission resonate with you? Could you see your work fitting with their current roster of artists? Once you've identified galleries you're interested in, visit in person and attend their events. They will appreciate the support and it will not go unnoticed. Try to get to know them better as people, not just as a gallery. 

Installation view of "Remember/Renew" on view at IA & A at Hillyer

AH: Where can readers learn more about your work? Do you have exhibitions or upcoming events you’d like to share?

AC: Viewers can learn more about my work at alexandrachiou.com or on my Instagram at @alexandrachiou. I currently have a solo show, "Remember/Renew" up at IA&A at Hillyer in DC. The exhibit will be on view through Sunday, 3/31. I will also be giving an artist talk at IA&A at Hillyer on Thursday, 3/21 at 6:15pm for any readers who want to learn more about the show and my practice. Hope you can stop by!

Thank you, Alexandra, for taking the time to share about your work!

**All images courtesy/copyright the artist.**