The word of the Artists

Invisible H2O

Oranbeg NET 13: The Dark is Light Enough Selected Artists:  Adam Bellefeuil, Alex Nelson, Erik Hagen, Chris Ridgway, Jennifer Timmer Trail, Christine Rogers, Colin Stearns, Carl Gunhouse, Hollis Johnson, Kyle Tata, Matthieu Litt, Nat Ward, Nich McElroy, Robert Warren, Sarah Malakoff and Jay Muhlin. Thanks again to curator Lindsay Metivier!  Check out the Slideshow and the PDF.

Me.

"My work is an exposure of my inner self, my authenticity, my honesty, my views and my realness. No one is more inside my head than myself. My work depends only on my existence, and without me it wouldn’t exist."

Observer Wasted Rita, alias Rita Gomes, is an artist from the beautiful city of Lisbon, her HQ when she is not travelling. Her works are mainly based on illustrating through words, the reality and people she meets, listens and observes. Heralds of information, that she filters through her mind, which becomes a container to host magic & ghost stories and stage to process them into illuminating creativity.

Words that reflect different aspects of life, like a day, they are sometimes very romantic, sharp and other even ‘hurting’. As Rita says in this video made by ‘Like knows Like’ “ it’s a positive hurts that makes you grow”. I couldn’t agree more, and it is also very courageous from her to throw these wordy-facts in front of our eyes!

Another insight that Rita promotes is the importance of keep moving.  A need, that Rita has herself. “If I don’t move, I will end up in having no ideas and feeling very empty.” It is the richness that surrounds us: people, places, conversation and unexpected encounters that colour and upgrade our life. Those are all the raw material, pivotal for her artistic explosion.

Wasted Rita defines herself as “a graphic designer and illustrator. She is a natural born agent provocateur, sarcastic as needed and a full-time thinker who must write about life, human behaviours and play with words in order to keep breathing. She had her work exhibited in Paris, London, Berlin, Bochum, throughout Portugal, and freelanced for a variety of worldwide clients such as Ginza Magazine, Doolittle Mag, Hurley, Samsung, Delta and Diário Económico.”

Together.

“Creativity comes from our hearts, sometimes our works are electrified,

we live each day consciously and very attentive to each moment of our

life, keeping delicate attitude to life, to every part of life, to

each other. We can say we transfer our vision of being to our

artworks.

Everything is mutual and together, we are two parts of the whole.

We are in one's element.

 Because beauty lies in lover's eyes!”

Sonia and Mark photos are so peaceful and energetic, simply intriguing. Praise to pure beauty, an enchantment for your eyes. At least for mine for sure! 

They artistic practice deals with eternal youth.  Sonia & Mark creations represent the inner world of teenagers, focused on themselves, sensual and indrawn. They are not models, but simple teens from the street.

Sculpturesqueness, purity and aesthetics are exaggerated and accentuated with static and constrained poses.  Afterwards they are cut from the context and put into a neutral anonymous space, where the individuality is expressed.

Sonia and Mark are young artists living in the Russian province. They admirably THINK to be unbelievably lucky people in everything. And they ARE a very positive, loving and creative couple. They are quick off the mark and interested in all knew things. 

Mark was taught to be a biologist and Sonia a psychologist. As they don’t have a special artistic education they create their intriguing pieces of art “following the inborn sense of –authentic- beauty”. 

They would love to talk about art in particular modern art and photography, they’re hearts would be filled with delight, refreshed and inspired for further creations.

Hey there,

Drawer. 

“There is something mysterious about this word. For me, that’s it. Probably someone more clever than me can come with etymological reasoning behind it, but the fact that DRAWER is so many things: one of those boxes inside a cupboard, some kind of underwear to cover your lower region and also (although we hardly use this word for it), an artist who makes drawings. One word being all this, makes a magical word to me.Of course the act of drawing is even more magical. If you’d follow the point of a pencil on a surface with a camera (very close), you have no idea what the drawing is going to be like. As I see it, drawing is a random act, leading the pen on a page can be such a volatile matter: go a bit to the right and you have a disproportionate nose, go too short to the left and the ear is not going to fit under the hat… I believe in accidents and probably that is why I do not draw in pencil first or make sketches before doing the final drawing. Just start and let destiny determine how beautiful or ugly the piece will be. That makes me, I have come to realise, a kamikaze DRAWER”.

I believe in coincident too and the creation of this post is the proof!

Last week I was wondering – again? Yes I know… but I always wonder - about who nowadays is an artist… A graduated from the fine art academy with a diploma that certificate that she/he is an artist, but after the academy that is it… A person who trained her/himself in a studio of a renowned artist/creative, as used in the history? Anyone who just feel it? Anyone who just want to be?

While these questions were turning round and round in my head, I have seen Luis presentation: I became an Artist and so can you.

Triggered by the title I watched it and I found it so inspiring. Luis loves to draw since he was little. Following his passion he became a graphics designer. As some of you, might know, working as graphic designer – takes you a lot of time - sometimes is an overwhelming profession… “No time for nothing” Luis said.  As almost burnout designer, Luis decided to take a break and flew to Tokyo.

There he suddenly realized… “I had nothing to do” so in an urgent-need of an assignment he gave himself a task… Making a diary and draw in it something special that happened in his every day life.

 Since that moment he started to draw more and more, funny, honest and expressive little art works. Following his passion Luis painted his career with a more artistic nuance.

What touched me by watching his presentation was how he sincerely invites us to follow our passions. “It does not matter if you wants to bake cookies or talk on the phone, or talk for hours to friends… he might hide the treasure behind… Maybe you can become a partner consular or open a pastry shop”.

The best thing his words taught to us is to really listen yourself! Try to do what you are happy to do. Do not hide your passion inside yourself, but let them shine and just do it.  You never know where they can bring you!

Thanks Luis to share with us your experience and to give us a little ‘push’.

Luis Mendo is an artist and editorial designer with a bouble life as drawer! He moved form Barcelona to Amsterdam, were he founded GOOD Inc.®. He has been nominated in the ‘Top 10 best Art Directors in The Netherlands’.  Two years later he created the  Goodfellas Network. He decided to follow his passion for drawings and became artist as well. He found the way to let it go… you can see his expression of art and also his soul on:  Luis Mendo.com. 

The word of… Niky Roehreke

Sensibility and honesty.

“There is actually no word for this certain ‘something’ that is important to me, so I had to allow myself to at least use two words. I think what is inside of me or anyone is fragile and very specific, and to choose words to express that is very restricting and often the sensibility and honesty of that certain emotion gets lost along the way.  There are so many communication tools nowadays, but I think a lot of them are fake and sad. I believe that for us humans, hands are the most honest, direct and universal communication tools and no technology can replace that. Hands are able to maintain the sensibility, which for me is the beauty of what makes us human.” 

I always loved the human gesture as a way of communication. When I have met Niky’s works, the hand motif attracted my attention.

For me as for Niky, hands are very important. Hands ‘act’ our authentic thoughts, emotions and feelings…that is why “hands remain the most powerful and honest, sometimes magical way to communicate”.  

Niky likes to use colour combined with collage and pensile drawings, techniques where her hands have a leading role also in her art.

Hands cannot lay, you can immediately see ‘what kind of person you have in front’ by observing his/her hands! So…watch out! J

In her creative process she never makes drafts! She let herself go into the inspiration of the moment.

Quite difficult for a contemporary artist…

Niky promotes the importance of the instant. She directly draws her ideas on paper, without worrying too much about how it should look like.

She is challenging the rational brain to do not control in advance the final result.

Niky also told how creative she was without the use of the –stolen-in front of her eyes- computer.

Sensitivity and genuine creativity, this is what I think makes her artworks authentic.

Niky is a German/Japanese freelance illustrator working in Brooklyn, New York.