Issue 14-July 2022 : simplebooklet.com

MODERN R AISSANCE CREATE AL A NOTE FROM AND APAR THE EDITORS MODERNR Culturally Arts Collective is a community for arts advocacy we aim to increase accessibility and inclusivity in the art world As two young artists we are excited to be a part of Culturally s monthly art magazine Modern Renaissance In this publication we feature creatives of all ages and nationalities exploring aspects of writing design and visual art Art is such an intrinsic part of our world Its presence is a vital aspect of the fundamental structure of our universe From fractal patterns in snowflakes to the cliffs of the Carina Nebula recently unveiled by NASA we are surrounded by art nature is inherently artistic In the global creative community so many individuals are inspired by nature They find solace in the tranquility of a picturesque scene whether or not they use it for inspiration Through creating art many artists are connecting with the world around them As we have seen in recent weeks the universe is everexpanding from the farthest galaxies to the rainforests in our backyards We hope this issue of Modern Renaissance inspires you to expand your own artistic universe Alison Chen Art Director Aparna Prabhakar Editor in Chief

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07 As an Aquarius Torris always valued time alone so when she wasn t on the basketball court she could be found in her room utilizing her sketchbook as a creative sanctuary Many of the women whom she developed crushes on found their way etched onto the pages including actress Charlize Theron but they remained locked behind the cover of her visual diary I didn t feel comfortable talking to people then she recalled Nobody really knew or asked what these sketches were about because I wasn t openly sharing my work It was just something that I looked to create a space for myself to be free Throughout high school and college Torris strayed away from sketching as she began to learn and fall in love with painting which remains her favorite medium At the same time she grappled with her art s purpose perhaps her art wasn t solely a reactive outlet This idea strengthened after she had officially come out during her college career at Seton Hill University as she began to think about the general experiences of queer women During an Art History course she questioned the lack of paintings through a female perspective I remember having this fire inside of me she explained So when I started thinking about my own work I thought about how I could fill space as a queer artist and portray narratives through a female gaze Music that Torris is able to resonate with is one of her greatest inspirations Oftentimes it is intuitive her mind will immediately come up with a visual for the lyrics This is so queer coded she thought after first hearing Taylor Swift s album Evermore I felt like I could see so many of my stories within Swift s in the songs She ended up creating paintings based off of lyrics from 10 songs on the album In addition to Evermore Torris began a piece within one day of All Too Well 10 Minute Version Taylor s Version being released The oil painting All Too Well is based off of the lyrics But maybe this thing was a masterpiece till you tore it all up and depicts a figure s face concealed by colorful tree branches on a destroyed frayed canvas Initially she was unsure about selling the piece Even when the right collector approached her with sincerity it did not make letting the piece go any easier I always hug the paintings before I ship them and sage around the box she admitted Focusing on her spirituality allowed Torris to expand on her practices as an artist and exercise discipline When she wakes up she makes a conscious effort to either meditate journal or read from a spiritual book Both she and artist Volta Voloshin Smith bonded over their appreciation of Julia Cameron s The Artist s Way Torris for instance often takes herself on artist dates to the beach and Voloshin Smith believes her love of the ocean can be seen in her art I think the water elements and the waves of the ocean are kind of related to her art style and brushstrokes which are expressive and wild her voice to support community artist Brandi Hofer sees the podcast as an extension of her multifaceted talent of creating and sharing skilled narratives Two years after committing full time to her art Torris future certainly has a lot going for her She was recruited to be the guest curator for Arts to Hearts Project s online PRIDE exhibition in which she will be looking at work created by other LGBTQIA artists that focus on the theme of pride She has begun working on her next collection that explores the past through themes of shame religion and sexuality The collection which is currently untitled is allowing her to reflect on the effects of growing up Catholic female gaze I thought about how I could fill space as a queer artist and portray narratives through a female gaze yet composed and capture a subject matter very well Maintaining a spiritual routine that promotes stillness helps Torris stay grounded which is when she feels her ideas flow the best For Torris art encompasses sharing and storytelling So it seemed natural for her in June 2020 to begin the The Closeted Artist Podcast as a way to challenge herself with another creative medium The idea came about during a program with one of her mentors Katerina Popvoa in which she was journaling ways to expand her art practice It s kind of a play on words Torris said Clearly I am not closeted anymore but I wanted it to encompass some of the topics that I went through before I came out It was another way for her to question not only her art s purpose but hers as an artist By expressing herself through traditional artistic mediums effectively communicating her creative process through video and using in a small town outside of Pittsburg Pennsylvania and attending a Catholic university I can still be a woman of God I m still a sacred being a human being and gay I can be all these things and be proud of that I don t consider myself religious but I m at this point in my life where I am starting to heal certain aspects of my childhood

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DOOODLING By Sreya Srikanth As I was writing this article I recalled one moment from history class where one of my teammates in a group presentation leaned over to his friend and showed him a doodle on the other side of his worksheet The drawing itself was pretty cool But I think what irked me most was that he was one of the highest scoring students in class yet I was still completing his slides on the execution of the Schlieffen Plan This is a normal occurrence even a middle school staple both doodling in class and dropping the ball on your World War I research Before I transferred schools my studies were in line with the ICSE curriculum or the Indian Certificate of Secondary Excellence Anyone who studied in the British curriculum would look at this acronym realize the similarities and have flashbacks Long story short the toughness of the curriculum and the constant recitation of textbook passages were torture for me to the point where I failed my seventh grade Geography exam But that made me realize one crucial thing like many people I m a visual learner I distill information through highlighting key points and mapping and labeling diagrams a key realization as I head into my second last year in grade school and the IB diploma program

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09 So anytime you feel like you could use a pick me up in one of these situations you have your pen and your history worksheet have at it But the most comforting thing was that I m not alone over 65 percent of the general population are people like me The important thing to state is that doodling is a practice we should all get into and not just because it kills time in a boring lesson it releases endorphins and dopamine the reward chemical and the hormone balancer This stimulates our mind by giving us the neurotransmitters that allow us to feel content with our work and enable us to carry on with a separate task Not only does it serve as a break but it can also boost brain function A study by Psychologist Jackie Anderde from the University of Plymouth found that doodling fires up the brain s executive resources which is a term to define cognitive processes that allow us to multi task concentrate and plan In short those triangle shaped S s that sit on the corner of your algebra homework are probably what are keeping your mind grounded instead of feeling groggy half asleep and daydreaming if math doesn t do that to you already Finally doodling can increase short term memory according to a study reported in Applied Cognitive Psychology 30 percent of participants who listened to recordings of names and places while doodling were able to recall more details than non doodlers And finally it s just a lot more fun than listening to the recitation of a textbook passage So anytime you feel like you could use a pick me up in one of these situations you have your pen and your history worksheet have at it The important thing to state is that doodling is a practice we should all get into and not just because it kills time in a boring lesson It releases endorphins and dopamine the reward chemical and the hormone balancer

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10 PAST ART TREND OPINION IS AI THE NEW ART AI art A somewhat whimsical mostly strange way of creating designs and illustrations with the click of a mouse Yet it is a fantastic way for non artists to create their visions without spending money If you frequent Twitter you may have seen the new trend AI art based on song lyrics Fans of musicians such as Mitski and Taylor Swift use Dream by WOMBO to make these abstract renders of their favorite songs In fact much of this work is spectacular capturing miniscule details of all kinds This program opens a new door for people especially for those who aren t artists Using AI technology anyone can create spunky paintings in minutes The app Dream by WOMBO is designed to make a variety of digital paintings based on prompts In the text box you can write a full description or just one word and then you select the art style you want With choices like Steampunk Fantasy Baroque and many others you are given a render based on what you chose For example this is what happens when you type in Cheese Grater then select the radioactive style Present By Shianne Henion It s a plasmic fruition of neon green and black which looks like it s been sitting in a glass jar It s mesmerizing to look at because it is hard to dissect what that is supposed to be Dream by WOMBO offers a variety of styles all at the power of your finger tips Most of these designs end up being loose shapes of what we originally envision but most of the time the AI agent delivers gorgeous illustrations The only downside to this app is that every design is rendered in the same size and that most of the art is going to be the same style even though there are over five options one could pick from When you save these renders they save as a JPEG and are titled as trading cards It makes sense given the style it is created as If you wish to use this for a project however know that this is what you re working with In terms of style almost all creations rendered through Dream are abstract at best sometimes the prompts end up looking like blobs instead of art Dream by WOMBO is not the only program that allows someone to create a masterpiece in a flash Picsart a popular photo editing app has a tool called AI Select If you are not a professional in photography and editing With the AI Select tool you can edit a particular part of the image without doing the work The image has been cleanly edited in seconds This is beyond the renderings of paintings as AI has been immersed into many different genres of art It is wonderful that many do not need the same skills as professionals to create high quality art However a question surfaces Will AI art and technology impact the role artists play in society What will this do for professionals who are trying to work commissions when someone can go to Dream by WOMBO s site and generate an abstract depiction of art These digital prints are free to save which means they are free to print and manipulate The truth though is that AI intelligence cannot be as versatile and legitimate as professional artists In an article by Scott Chambers an artificial intelligence and robot strategist he explains that artificial art only replicates art It does not have the ability to put meaning into its art either Towards Data Science By Shianne Henion CHEESE GRATER

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Future In short this means that AI agents cannot create art because they do not have the creative expression that human beings do They re robots with computer chips for brains and lack the skills to be artistic What these AI agents do is mesh together paintings that they re familiar with to create the renders people use If there is meaning put into AI art it is strictly because of the person utilizing it as a tool especially by digital artists This type of art does not have to be strictly used for renders and prompts If an artist is looking to mesh da Vinci s Mona Lisa with Van Gogh s Starry Night they can use Dream by WOMBO to accomplish such a task especially because this tool is loaded with thousands of paintings including these two famous pieces STARRY LISA IS AI IS WOMBO REAL ART As shown on the left combining the two paintings creates a weird shape where the Mona Lisa s face is quite discombobulated Though you can see Van Gogh s style coming through in the colors and swirls only a small bit of the Mona Lisa shines An art piece like this could certainly spike inspiration for any creator Because it is free to use for the masses Dream by WOMBO is a perfect candidate for Twitter trends artist inspiration and other mediums It is a good tool for Instagram photos as a background for images or simply to make your feed look pleasing I don t think it s necessarily a bad tool to use as this has plenty of uses for artists and nonartists Even though Dream isn t a perfect app as it only works with the pre programmed designs and not an artists vision it still offers a variety of colors patterns textures and settings It makes Twitter users happy at the very least 11

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A 13 A POST ROE SOCIETY Making a call to action often involves being provocative and explicit Art has played a pivotal role in mobilizing movements revolutions and protests While art can have the means of providing aesthetics it can also capture moments of an artist s reaction to oppression inequality and injustice while also setting forth the grounds of a movement to progress The artist has the ability to communicate their thoughts and emotions beyond a specific activist group Essentially it is often noted within society before and now art can symbolize wealth and capture a moment and time however it is a medium for many to explore societal issues In a post Roe society the concern and conversation related to women s health care and rights has ubiquitously increased As issues arise especially when it comes to regulations of bodily autonomy lower income communities and communities of color are often the most affected As more activists speak out people have expressed their concern through writing speeches music and of course art However discourse surrounding reproductive rights is not a new concept or discussion that has been on the forefront of both American and global politics The works of early social realist artists like Ben Sahn focus on the conditions of poor and lower working class communities highlighting and expressing protest against injustices and prejudices In Sahn s Prenatal Clinic 1941 two women are sitting in melancholy waiting and facing away from each other and a poster above them that reads Do I Deserve Prenatal Care This issue occurred then yet is still prevalent in parts of today s society it continues to primarily affect lower class communities and communities of color When looking forward to contemporary works such as Abortion Series 1998 by Paula Rego one can draw the comparison of the effects of not having proper or safe reproductive health care leading to images that evoke pain and fear with the main subject in pain near a bucket filled of their own blood Rego communicated within this series the many dangers of making abortions illegal in response to Portugal failing to legalize abortions Artists often challenge the dominant views of society by utilizing various techniques to evoke emotions from the public To make a call to action it often involves being provocative and explicit as well as incorporating the exposure to harsh realities that most don t realize that others face By engaging with emotions activism within art can further the message communicated within greater areas of society When looking at the works of Sahn and Rego it is exhibited that they both communicate their message in different ways Sahn uses simple imagery yet simultaneously uses muted color to show sorrow concern and confusion in the environment Everything is tied back to the poster on the wall above the women capturing a moment in time where prenatal care was not as accessible to all Rego however takes a unique approach in her series In her work Rego uses colors that attract the eye and portray women in a position where they are considering or in the process of performing the procedure of abortion on their own Essentially Sahn communicates an emotion with a message but Rego evokes an emotion by demonstrating a message It is important to note that art is a medium in which many can communicate their thoughts and positions on a social issue The voice of the artist can easily be shared which could easily encourage open dialogue and engagement Art has been so important in capturing a moment in time historical events and providing commentary but it is still obvious that the art from an earlier society could still be very relevant in today s world and potentially the future

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16 K To many Kathryn Chapman is the harbinger of a new day For the past four and a half years she has dedicated her career to empowering her clients There s something extremely beautiful about the birth of a new day To many Kathryn Chapman is the harbinger of a new day For the past four and a half years she has dedicated her career to empowering her clients Kathryn s love for photography was first ignited decades prior to the inception of her career when she was just eight years old she received her first camera Though she fell in love with her craft at an early age it did not grow into a career until she was on maternity leave with her daughter fourteen years ago Today Kathryn maintains that she make s art to make sense of her world and to express what she can t in words She uses her photography as a vehicle to better understand her purpose in the world From a rudimentary browse through her website one is able to arrive at a heartwarming conclusion one that Kathryn herself agrees with I make art so I can serve others better One of the shoots that Kathryn offers is called the Freedom Shoot She works with her clients to liberate them of the hats that society forces them to wear releasing them of their role as a daughter mother sister employee etc She works with the person that is left there something that is often a new idea for her clients Because of the novelty of the situation Kathryn works with There s a specific moment in the technique where the letting go most happens And that s where the magic is That s where my client is completely in tune and connected with her body her clients to create a safe environment in which they can explore their inner selves To do this she employs numerous techniques including her Inner Critic Tool which helps clients connect to their inner voices understand what it is trying to tell them why it s there and helps them quieten it down so they can notice who they really are Another is her breathing visualization and movement technique which facilitates beautiful moments during the shoot she marvels There s a specific moment in the technique where the letting go most happens And that s where the magic is That s where my client is completely in tune and connected with her body She s not thinking about what she s doing She s not worrying about her face or the movement or anything It is at this moment that the client is the most honest and vulnerable person they can be When they view the results they look at themselves and see the person they are inside something Kathryn calls seeing themselves better Another type of shoot that Kathryn works with her clients to create is the Face To Face shoot This particular work means a lot to her it was the product of a transformative self portrait shoot that she did for herself After a suicide attempt in her early twenties and years of grappling with mental health this was the moment of looking herself in the eye and seeing how bad it really is It resulted in Kathryn completely changing her perspective about herself she surprised herself with the results As she looked at her photos she realized that she didn t hate who was looking back at her but what she did see was a woman in a lot of pain By stepping back and looking at herself from another perspective Kathryn s Face To Face shoot allowed her the space to fully feel and validate her own emotions As she reasons I couldn t deny that the woman in the pictures needed care and attention and love And the only person that can give her that was me This is what I help my clients to see facing your reflection is really powerful Kathryn uses this rationale in her Face To Face work with her clients She gives them the space to feel all their emotions by letting them know that everything is valid even their anger In doing so she creates a safe environment to lower their defenses and express their inner selves Kathryn s work is evidence that art stretches far beyond the material plane She connects with both her clients and her work on a purely emotional level her work truly changes lives including her own As she says These shoots

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17 C The incredible message behind Kathryn s art is applicable to every human being she makes art with the intention of healing Her work spreads kindness and compassion make my soul sing She is so intrinsically linked with her work that her intuition guides her through the artistic process Kathryn pours herself into her work leaning into who she is as a person and utilizing her instincts as an artist Throughout the process Kathryn acknowledges that nothing needs to make logical sense we just need to feel more Some things are just are Much of the human experience is about stuff not making sense so it s lovely to be able to just let go without having to rationalize anything Creating safe spaces where there is no right or logical answer is part of Kathryn s rationale and motivation behind her work She firmly believes that we are not aware of how powerful and extraordinarily brave and courageous and beautiful and deep we are By ensuring that her clients know that they cannot get any of their own feelings wrong she helps them find the reflection of themselves that is most honest She makes sure that her clients know that they do not need to strive for perfection Once they take the brave first step to express themselves with all of their imperfections they are on the path to true honesty As Kathryn has continued to make art and lean more into her own intuition she finds herself less inclined to try to fit into boxes and compare herself The work that she does now is a result of her own curiosity about herself and the world She continues to push her own boundaries by getting curious about her mad ideas and deciding Let s just see if we can do it In Kathryn s book Failure doesn t exist It s just growth and learning And it s all part of the process One of Kathryn s more recent projects encourages an entire community to come together to push boundaries Her What Now project centers around the pandemic Her motivation behind the project was to move people to think about what s come out of it that s important and how that can be expressed in images to remind us to keep moving forward This community driven project encourages society to become more mindful about what they gained from the pandemic because as Kathryn maintains It was too big a thing not to take anything away from it Kathryn has also dipped her toe into online gallery curation by creating Felt Photographic her vehicle for open call exhibitions based on the felt process only without critique scoring or judgment Lost for Words was exhibited in May and another open call is scheduled for the autumn The incredible message behind Kathryn s art is applicable to every human being she makes art with the intention of healing Her work spreads kindness and compassion not only for the larger community but for oneself Everything Kathryn does is inspired by her own experiences She connects with herself both her current self and her past self to work for a better future To her past self she would say One day it will all start to make sense Keep going you are enough She carries this message with her every day as she looks back on her own Face To Face shoot and creates meaningful spaces for other powerful women From starting out as a freelance artist to being interviewed by Rankin himself Kathryn s journey is truly inspiring I can t wait to see what she does next

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18 VIAN BORCHERT By Aparna Prabhakar My name is Vian Borchert my pronouns are she her and I m based in Washington D C I make art because I feel like I have to make art For me it s not a choice What disciplines mediums or styles of art do you do Which are your favorites I m an abstract specialist artist I work with acrylic on canvas but I ve worked with oil for a very long time Lately most of my work is acrylic on canvas It looks very similar to oil My work is also beyond being an expressionist work it has a minimalistic feel to it it s very painterly so you see a lot of the brush strokes the texture and the pigments I love paint and I d like to depict that in my work What first sparked your love for your art I was born in an art household meaning my mom is an artist and pretty much everybody from my mom s side is very artsy and very creative I feel for me at least that it really was a genetic thing It came from the family lineage I was born just really being talented and drawing at a very young age and observing my mom making artwork We always went to art exhibits as children And my dad was also an art collector so the household was very encouraging in creating artwork and seeing also that I m talented and basically kind of pushing me in the right direction towards the art Also at school the teachers and the principals noticed right away that I m good and they would put me in competitions and they would have art shows for me and other children who were also gifted So in that regard I grew up in an atmosphere where people did actually observe and did notice that I have talent which I think is very good for a child In my opinion I feel like I was born this way Why do you make art I make art because I feel like I have to make art For me I feel like it s not a choice It s something like

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19 When I go to sleep I have so many ideas to create new paintings drinking water breathing eating survival almost It s part of my survival and technique I feel like I m very creative I go to sleep and I have so many ideas and sometimes my hands itch if I don t do a painting I feel like there s a lot of hunger within me to do art So I do think that sometimes the art spirit wants to come out and do art In my case I was born in this way rather than it being a choice For me it s not really even a choice It s more like I have to do it you know It s this integral part of who I am It s very intrinsic How does nature factor into your work Nature is very essential I love nature and I ve always loved nature As a child the kids would be playing and I would lay down on the grass and look up at the clouds and I would see them moving I would look at the formations and think Oh that looks like an elephant That looks like a camel I have a garden and I really observe my plants very carefully I feel like I m kind of helping the ecosystem and helping nature I do feel that we are part of nature I mean we are born from nature and we go back to nature So we ourselves we are part of nature It is almost natural for us to be in alignment ALIGNMENT ART IS INTRINSIC

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21 Blue is my favorite color I love the sky so much and I love the water as well I feel this love comes through in my artwork and in my identity as an artist shades of blue with nature And I feel like the more one is in alignment with nature and accepting of all the natural things I do think that the universe also likes that I do feel like everything goes almost in sync when you are kind of aligned with the joy that nature bestows upon us as humans That all reflects in my artwork It comes through I do a lot of abstract work but most of my work is based on nature journeys and my travels So it s based on the landscapes and the seascapes It also comes naturally rather than me pushing it to come out Whatever my environment is I try to bring that forth within the work I think I m definitely the biggest fan of nature What is your artistic process My artistic process is very different from many artists I nearly always work at night I m a night person I feel like my best work is produced also at night For most of my work I start working in the evening and then can go up to 3 30 AM I don t know what it is but I do think that the art spirit within me really shows up at night I work in a series of artwork So the last series I ve been working on is floral landscapes and I work from one painting to another So I do around four paintings at a time I like to have a lot of pigments and supplies around me I hate running out of things in the middle of doing something It can at the end of the day be very very exhausting So I always tell people when I teach I teach arts students who are in the Washington DC area I tell them after the classes Okay guys now stop After two hours of working I would say Stop and go and enjoy your lunch Don t come back and do art because it can be such a tiring process both physically and mentally There s a lot of elements that are involved But it s like a puzzle as well At the end of the day though it s extremely healthy for the mind because the mind is really like the cognitive ability So I do think it s extremely healthy when it comes to that But it s very very exhausting when you re done So I try not to overdo it Sometimes I would do some work and then I would rest for a week because it can be very tiring especially the way I do it You use lots of cool toned colors in your work specifically blues and purples Is there a particular reason for or symbolism in this Blue is my favorite color It s because I love the sky so much and I love the water I was born by the Mediterranean sea And I think that sometimes also comes through in my artwork and my identity as an artist the Mediterranean part of me I do think that shows I m a water person When I m by the ocean with the ocean breeze the seas and the birds sometimes you even see the dolphins jumping in the water the sand and the sun it brings me joy but also I think more than anything of the color blue It is the ocean the sea the sky I think maybe that s why I gravitate towards it more than any other color the bluesy tones How has your relationship with art changed over time It s changed a lot I ve been doing art for decades As I said I ve been doing it ever since I was a child but I also went to the Corcoran College of Art and Design at George Washington University in Washington DC I pursued my art and I m an art teacher I ve been teaching for over ten years in the Washington DC area But in the beginning after college I did work in a number of museums which was fun but then I kind of deviated a little bit and started doing things that are not really art related I worked in finance It was okay but it felt like I was suffocating and

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22 I WANTED TO GO BACK TO DOING SOMETHING WITH ART suppressing the artist within me And I knew that I was doing that because I kept thinking Oh you know art not really the best profession to you know make money And I better focus on other things that are much more in that department But somehow I wasn t really happy I always had this feeling that there was something missing I think it is because I was not letting that creative spirit out I wanted to go back to doing something with art It s been good You know it s definitely been a lot of work It s very very different from having a different job like a desk job because it s not something that you do when you just leave at five o clock and you go to your house and you do other things It stays with you But for me it feels like I really have to do it because I have to go back to who I am my authentic self What is your favorite project that you have done Why did you like it I ve done many many many projects throughout my life There s a show coming up around the end of July to end of August also in Manhattan It s a show with LICHTUNDFIRE gallery in the lower east side The AUTHENTIC work is still in production but I ve been working on floral landscapes In general although I love nature very very much in general I m more of an abstract person I do more abstract cityscapes and more abstract seascapes but this one was definitely a challenge I shouldn t be saying this but I don t really like the color green that much I like more of the primary colors So it s been a challenge but I felt like I reached a point where I actually am happy especially with the fact that I really pushed myself to work with something that I m usually not really a big fan of Like I don t really gravitate towards paintings that have flowers The only one that I think that I kind of like is Andy Warhol s popup flowers which are very specific in style So I felt that in a way by doing this floral landscape work I had to reinvent the wheel of floral art or of floral landscapes through trying to be very true to my identity as an artist as an abstract artist as a modern artist as a minimalist I do it because it s a form of selfexpression and so I want the work to really be truthful to my identity and my authentic self But at the same time I wanted to for the work to be deep in meaning I wanted to represent romance like people caressing in the floral field or someone giving you a flower So for me flowers are full of meaning And I wanted the deep meaning of the beautiful landscape and all that it can bring so there s not necessarily only something beautiful to look at I wanted the painting itself to have its own entity and to be full of meaning depth and atmosphere In your virtual exhibition many of your pieces are grouped by motif for example water lavender and cities are prominent themes across certain pieces Why and how did you choose these to build your story around

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23 A certain piece of music can take you places too I believe music is essential These themes are pretty much my life I feel that in this regard I kind of paint what surrounds me I paint the trips that I go on I pretty much paint what my eye captures It must be because I m a visual person but my eye catches things and it records it in the brain And then I definitely feel like the subconscious puts everything within that storage of the subconscious and then painting for me is a way of letting the subconscious come out So that creative aspect that s the part of you that you don t really let come out or you don t know much about So that s another reason why I also like doing artwork because it kind of deals with many layers within us that are still hidden you know It has a lot of different layers of parts of our brain that we don t really know So the subconscious comes alive when creating artwork Most of my work is imaginative So it might be based on cities and everything but I make it my own and I like it that way I like to bring my own imagination and make it part of the playing field of the creation of the color field or the artwork itself What is your favorite piece of art Oh I love music I know it s bizarre because I m a visual artist But I have so much love for music I have so much appreciation I m always in awe of the people who can sit at the piano and start playing and musicians because they just look like they re having so much fun when they re playing their instrument I do think that music is very essential for us humans I just think that when you listen to music I feel like you re using a different part of your brain that can make you really relax So I do think that music is essential Music can make you feel certain things and give you certain emotions A certain piece of music can take you places too Music is definitely my favorite I mean I obviously love visual art I m an artist but I believe that music is essential I noticed that in the virtual exhibition many of the pieces were created in 2020 How did the pandemic affect your art I actually had a show scheduled before we went on lockdown I had an exhibit scheduled for Fall 2020 so before this whole thing It was a solo exhibition in Arlington Virginia at Gallery Underground So I had to produce work for that Obviously being sequestered in my studio during lockdown helped a lot Most of the stuff was inspired by my trips planned for the year which I couldn t really take because of lockdown So during that time I was just remembering So most of the themes were about nostalgia and sweet memories and distant lands So it was definitely a very reminiscent show what I ve done in the past Now what I would like to do in the future but also I called it reflection The title of the exhibit was titled Reflection and most of the work was seascapes but also sunsets reflecting within the water much more abstracted and minimal contemporary But yeah it was definitely a yearning for going on trips I miss going by the sea but now I m at home so I have to make my own kind of escape through my artwork What do you hope to accomplish what message do you hope to send through your art Usually the message that I want to send out through my work is when people view it they have a feeling of rejuvenation and maybe a sense of peace or happiness or joy But also a very intellectual dialogue goes between the viewer and the artwork which I do see in when I have openings and receptions I do see people seeing standing and discussing the work and in conversation about it And that makes me feel very happy because I feel like as an artist you did good when your work on its own just starts speaking to the people as

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25 I always say Be Yourself opposed to you being next to it and talking It is a plus because it takes you to places and that s the use of imagination I think it is very essential for us humans For me obviously by creating the artwork I m using most of my imagination to create it But then also when the person looks at it they re using their imagination to interpret it in different ways to feel certain ways I want to give the viewer or the public or the world a positive kind of feeling through observing the artwork Who are your artistic inspirations So I have many I really love a lot of different art movements and artists throughout art history I really like Gustav Klimt You might know The Kiss I just think his work is so magical I love his landscapes He s not really known for his landscapes but I really love his landscapes He had a house by the lake and he painted a lot of the scenery I think of Monet s water lilies which he had a hard time painting by the way The people around him in the community didn t want him to plant water lilies And he kind of did it whether they liked it or not And we now have the famous water lilies So I think these two artists definitely embody my love for nature which I really like to see most of the impressionist artists did that They went outside and they painted what they saw I do like the abstract expressionist artists as well I do like the work of Willem De Kooning for example I have appreciation for Jackson Pollock It s a little bit different but I like it You know I like the action and the energy behind his work So sometimes it s the energy behind someone s work that I personally like There s just so many I do like Louise Bourgeois She does sculptures like big spider sculptures It s just such an interesting feeling to be walking under one of her big sculptures they just almost encompass you so it gives you a really Halloweenish kind of feeling But I do like her work It s very very strong It s very meaningful So sometimes I like certain work because of many different reasons not necessarily just because of its beauty I like Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh because it makes me feel a certain way I feel like there s movement in the stars and I feel him painting it If you could give aspiring artists one piece of advice what would you say I always say be yourself That s the most essential quality in general for everybody to be yourself You have one life to live So try to just be who you are Don t fake it you know Try to be really authentic to what you like to do Give yourself the time to do different things to figure out what you are really passionate about Another thing that I think that a lot of budding artists do or people who want to do art they unfortunately skip on the education which is very essential in the growth of an artist And that s not the way to do it So in my opinion if you re really serious about something you should just go and get a formal education about it Learn more about it give yourself that four or five or whatever years that you have to study for it to really know it Speed Round Favorite book Letters To A Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke Favorite song Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush Favorite fictional character Paddington the Bear Favorite color Blue Favorite movie Hugo

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28 How do you define yourself And how do you define your practice Actor entertainer and creative It s a broad question I don t know what the practice is All I know is that I try to enjoy what I can and what I do I do the best I can with what little I know and I m constantly learning to improve my art Do you remember that moment when you decided this is it this is what I want to do acting I always enjoyed watching movies and imagining myself as one of the characters but the moment I knew acting was it for me was when I attended a local theater play of Little Shop of Horrors I was still in grade school when I went and all the actors were young as it DON T PUT YOUR DREAMS ON HOLD FOR ANYONE was a youth theater group and something struck me Watching them all transform bring a different world to life and transport the audience got me hooked It all felt like magic and I wanted to be part of that taking people to another place giving them a glimpse of something new and different entertaining for a couple of All I know is that I try to enjoy what I can and what I do I do the best I can with what little I know hours seemed right to me I joined the theater I feel like it was the next day but probably during their next enrollment period What has been your favorite role so far in your career Tell me how you got that part and about the behind the scenes moments There are many great characters but I would have to say playing Eileen in the short film Lie Down With Dogs Get Up With Fleas is my favorite so far I m fond of dark themes and characters and Eileen draws me in for that reason She has a story that I think a lot of people can identify with on some level She struggles with her past and falling into old habits and at the same time she s dealing with the death of her husband and making sure her son isn t adversely affected by all of it

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A 29 ADRIENNE Eileen is complicated and she feels real in an industry dominated by superheroes and perfect action heroes I actually found casting for the proof of concept on social media I reached out to the Casting Director and she sent me all the information by email for a self tape This was about a year into the pandemic so everything was online until the actual shoot when we all got to finally meet each other officially Even during the shoot there were limited cast and crew on set so not everyone in the film met After the proof of concept was filmed I was lucky enough to be invited back by the director to shoot a short film version which was incredibly fun This time we were all together and being able to interact with the entire cast even at a distance since certain rules are still in place was the best part of it I don t think there was a day that we all weren t laughing for some reason or another The crew had a special bond and it was really fantastic to experience it What is your process in acting a character It probably sounds clich but I like to understand the character first connect with the character After that every choice made whether it s clothes makeup or jewelry simply adds to it and helps you disappear as a person and reemerge as that character How is being a woman artist and actor a challenge nowadays in Toronto Was it different in LA I was told very early on that acting will be a challenge the industry is difficult and it will be hard to break in and certainly every word of it is true for any actor or artist The problem I see is that people are focusing so hard on reasons why they won t make it that they forget or ignore the reason they will There will always be challenges in this industry in any industry and it s up to us to stand up and accept the challenge I think women are expected to bow out at a certain point to either start a family or move on to something else and give up their dream This is especially true for women who have hit a certain age I can t count the number of times where I ve heard people say something like you better get going or you ll be too old to make it in acting

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31 I ve never once heard that said to a male actor which isn t to say it doesn t happen it just seems to happen to women more often LA is a different entity altogether A good portion of the population are actors or in the industry in some form so competition is fierce A good example of this is in the audition waiting rooms No one will really say hello or acknowledge you in the waiting rooms in LA I ve had conversations with other actors in the waiting room in Toronto and it doesn t affect the audition process even if you re auditioning for the same role If you were to travel back in time and give advice to yourself in the first steps of your career what would be your advice Take the risk Don t be afraid to take those steps If you want to act act Do what makes you happy and don t put your dreams on hold for anyone ARTIST I know that you have been working so hard on a script can you tell me more about it What inspired you to write How was the process And what are your goals and dreams about this script The script is a web series about a woman who is forced into a society she knows nothing about and her struggle to find her place within her new world It s set in modern times but has quite a bit of supernatural and fantasy elements to it which I think I hope will draw people s interest Scripts are a new thing for me Normally I keep writing stories in book form but working with other individuals and hearing how they created their own scripts motivated me to try it In particular one friend of mine really encouraged me to keep going with the script once I started it He very much inspired me and got me excited about the idea of writing something fun and hopefully entertaining that will allow people to escape for a little while The process took longer than I originally thought it would and for someone who is new to script writing I think figuring out how things worked finding my writing voice and flow of the story took longer than a seasoned writer I can t say I loved every minute of writing the scripts and there were quite a few times where I had to take a step back and leave it alone for some time before beginning again These were usually places in the script where I d written myself into a corner and didn t know where to go next or I d just received some feedback and needed to process the information before moving forward My friend who also happens to write would be incredibly encouraging at these moments his excitement to know what happens next really spurred me on to complete the script regardless of what state it was in at the end I think the ultimate goal would be to be able to produce this web series I d love to see these characters be brought to life and see how the audience reacts to them and their story How do you see the industry changing during and after the pandemic ACTRESS During the pandemic things became quite a bit more digital The main thing that changed was the audition process moving from in person auditions to self tape And when the industry shut down for a bit there were a lot of creative people posting their own short films sketches and music videos online We are a technological society to begin with but the pandemic took it to new heights It was a means to stay connected to the people we couldn t see daily or express how we were feeling about the pandemic the state of the world and ourselves Creating content is not new by any stretch it s just at a new level now and I don t think that will change even when the pandemic is over What are the things you want to highlight about the industry What should be changed maintained or enhanced The industry is resilient The pandemic barely slowed it down Each part of the industry came up with ways to deal with the problem and continues to move forward Everything Everything changes as the demands are made for changes Not only is the industry resilient it s adaptive Equality in representation and in the stories that are told change with each era Nothing should be maintained Everything evolves Our art and our media continuously flows As technology grows so does trickery which is why a monstrous muppet fifty years ago is now replaced by a 3D CGI motion captured muppet equally scary in its time Like all things enhancement is just a different flavor additive Everyone will try everything over time There s no need to be impatient

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33 The late 2010s to early 2020s era of pop culture has observed a trend in film remakes ranging from Disney s live action remakes such as Emma Watson s recreation of Beauty and the Beast or the starring of Beyonce herself in the 2019 Lion King adaptation Once Netflix began cashing in on eradefining assets of the 80s and 90s global audiences viewed the TV show adaptation of the Karate Kid Cobra Kai and the gender swapped remake of the misogyny ridden romcom She s All That titled He s All That starring TikTok influencer Addison Rae Clearly there is no shortage of films whose apparent purpose is sold as reinventing millenial pop culture for the audience of the twenty first century although enough and more YouTube commentaries will factually state the intent as to gain an easy profit by bleeding any previous assets dry It is no surprise to anyone that these are stale and tasteless scraps of an era somehow more infamous for its recycled and stereotypical tropes and character traits However while these movies may make great content fodder for any woke millennial YouTube commentator there is a danger that accompanies in failing to create thought provoking media namely that we fail to comment on many of society s expectations and prejudices if we do not effectively communicate better messages to younger audiences One prime example of this is the film He s All That which centres around Rae s influence character who loses her followership after a scandal and hopes to revitalise her image by and I cannot believe I m writing this betting to give a nebbish classmate the ultimate high school makeover as they compete for Prom King according to IMDb When I was scouring YouTube for the He s All That rants a bit after it was released one of the major criticisms I noticed was the delivery of an unintended message of the film where spoiler alert Addison s character falls in love with her makeover ee and abandons her dream of attending college to be a travel influencer with him I WISH I WERE JOKING Not to mention the audience for this film are literal 8 to 12 year old girls who do not even understand that advertisements and product placement another thing that the film is guilty of exist to sell products they would take in the message that they would find the love of their life in high school and everything else would fall into place and higher ambitions are not necessary for them Simplistic plots illogical premises and character arcs are other major criticisms levied against films like these Watson s Beauty and the Beast was universally reviled for its only difference from the original being the constant input of arias by side characters who only say Bonjour for their own harmony However while a frameby frame recitation may typically be seen as nothing more than a sheer lack of creativity the dangers can extend all the way into a different realm the artistic one This type of media is not what we should be encouraging in teenagers The constant bombardment of recycled tropes and outdated messages in today s cinema told through a woke lens as if gender swapping a sexist film and casting Emma Watson gives it a feminist spin But the biggest tragedy that arrives as a result is that so many other films that resonate with audiences and create progressive conversations in society are the ones not given their rightful chance in the spotlight Notable examples include Teenage Bounty Hunters which creator Kathleen Jordan used to redefine the meaning of a good Christian girl and I Am Not Okay with This a social commentary on high school and mental health starring a lesbian character which was cancelled by Netflix only after a few episodes Yet for some reason we really needed to see another generic high school drama that was clearly scripted by out of touch staff and writers The purpose often advertised by remakes is that they bring a fresh take from many millennial classics and introduce them to the next Gen Z and A audience But then again we have seen time and time again that the only reason these films get a reboot is due to their reputation as classics and must sees so dear filmmakers instead of claiming to bring something fresh solely by giving it a fresh coat of paint maybe use your experience to and try and mix up the pieces a bit and see how much respect a bit of novelty can gain you

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34 Q A WITH GABRIELLE RAGUSI By Shianne Henion Gabrielle Ragusi gabrielleragusi on Instagram is a fantasy illustrator based in Italy Her work features characters from books and mythical creatures With over thirty thousand followers she has collaborated with authors and book boxes to make beautiful illustrations of characters such as Cardan Greenbriar and Jude Duarte from Holly Black s Folk of the Air Series First I just want to say I adore the Cruel Prince and think it s so cool that you draw so many illustrations of Cardan and Jude Was The Cruel Prince your first piece of inspiration for creating fantasy art I absolutely love The Folk of the Air series and most of the illustrations you see were commissioned by a German subscription box Chest of Fandoms The first illustration I did for them was of Cardan and it definitely changed my art career but if I had to pick a book that made me realise I wanted to create fantasy art that would be Nihal of the Land of the Wind by Licia Troisi not so much for the content which is an incredible fantasy novel as for the beautiful book cover illustrated by Paolo Barbieri I bought this book in 2006 and a year later I was already sharing my terrible drawings of mermaids and elves on deviantArt the largest social network for artists at the time Wow so you ve had a long time to progress as an artist I ll check out Nihal of the Land and add it to my TBR So you ve done fantasy since the beginning it sounds like Since then have you taken classes in art or are you selftaught And when did you realize you wanted to create art professionally I consider myself self taught but I have taken a few online classes I still do actually because in the beginning I needed to address my weaknesses such as anatomy and colour and light and now I like to go back to the basics or try out different techniques when I have the time We never stop learning how to draw I knew I wanted to create art professionally the moment I found out that the artists who illustrate books actually get paid Before then I d always thought that art was a hobby that animation and illustration and painting were something people let you do I was I needed to address my weaknesses and now I like to go back to the basics or try out different techniques when I have the time We never stop learning how to draw unbelievably naive That moment of realisation came again in 2006 when I asked my parents to buy me a book with a beautiful blue haired girl and embossed gold letters on the cover I remember that day like yesterday Paolo Barbieri s book covers changed my life

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35 Paolo Barbieri s book covers changed my life Oh that sounds so magical I am a firm believer in books having the power to change our lives for the best How did you start your professional art career Was it with a book box subscription or making a cover Or was it something else entirely I know you said you started on DeviantArt I wonder what the art community was like for you there I believe that too My first real project was a book cover for author A P Mobley Years ago I was really into mermaids I think I was actually drawing them every day and Alexandria who also loved mermaids contacted me on DeviantArt to see if I wanted to design the book cover of her debut novel The Helm of Darkness It wasn t my first commission I d worked on private portraits before but this was the first commercial project a book that was going to be actually published and read by people One novel turned into four the War on the Gods series with companion and short stories and thanks to this ongoing project Alexandria and I sort of grew up as professionals together DeviantArt was my second home back then The artists I followed there helped shape my own art style some actively giving me tips and critiques There was a sense of belonging and affinity and competition too thanks to contests and the daily showcase of the most beautiful submissions That community really encouraged me to work hard and be a better artist It sounds like having a community is a big part of being an artist Since your work with A P Mobley you ve had plenty of commissions some for book box subscriptions You said the illustrations of The Cruel Prince were for a German book box subscription What was the name and how did you end up creating art pieces for them Yes Chest of Fandoms is the subscription box that commissioned most of The Folk of the Air art I ve created Monika the shop s owner found my illustrations on Instagram and contacted me to ask if they could use an artwork of mine on a product they wanted to include in one of their boxes and I said yes After that first license agreement a collaboration started and continues to this day In fact I m working on an illustration for Chest of Fandoms right now

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37 Oh wow That s fantastic to hear I m looking at their Instagram right now and their items look so cool They sound like a wonderful company to work with This next question is more geared towards your work in general Which art piece of all you ve made was the most personal to you Are there illustrations that reflect a moment in your life whether it be a political movement romantic or sad moment for you Well I mentioned that I used to be into mermaids There s one piece called Captured that sums up my life between 2014 and 2017 The main figure is a mermaid sitting on the bottom of the sea her back turned from the viewer and her tail pierced by a hook It s a violent but quiet image and it went viral on deviantArt but I never liked it myself I realised that it was a cry for help only years later when looking at the few artworks I had shared online They were all of merfolk in dark waters either hurt or surrounded by a dead environment I d gone through depression a silent phase of bottled up emotions that sometimes manifested themselves in my voiceless mermaids Apologies for the abrupt dark turn taken here You don t need to apologize at all I think the way you ve captured that moment is quite visceral and powerful Depression is such a challenging thing to combat It s inspiring that you ve found solace in your art to describe it What was it about Captured that you didn t like Was it because it held such a personal meaning for you I m not sure to be honest While the execution isn t great there are flaws and parts that I d paint over today I think I didn t like looking at it because I was in denial There was a personal meaning and I didn t want to acknowledge it Right that makes complete sense I feel that way about many of my early pieces of fiction Since you mentioned Captured went viral on DeviantArt was there a moment then or even when you ve done other commissions that you experienced a bout of imposter syndrome If so how did you manage it I used to experience imposter syndrome quite often especially when I started collaborating with the authors and publishers I dreamed of working for I felt like an amataur faking my way through projects I considered too big and important to be given to someone like me It took me years to get rid of the sensation and accept that my clients do know what they re doing if they want to hire me and that my work is good enough I don t know when it happened but that negative feeling was gradually replaced by excitement for the projects and way too many ideas and problem solvingrelated thoughts to have the time to feel like a fraud It sounds like over time you learned to truly trust yourself and your craft I don t really hear a lot of artists talk about that internal relationship we need to establish within ourselves so it s nice to know you ve established that confidence even if it did take a long time for the negative thoughts to go away I have one last question for you Is there an illustration you ve done that you wish you could go back and experience drawing all over again An artwork of yours that brought a rush of euphoria throughout the whole process Yes I think that especially when there are negative and selfsabotaging thoughts threatening to ruin our day or the projects we re working on it s important to trust and remind ourselves that we re being asked to do what we do for a reason Bobby Chiu an artist I admire has a YouTube channel where he posts interviews and live streams and he often talks about stress anxiety and mental health in general offering tips on how to overcome these common problems There is I draw Hades and Persephone quite often and this piece inspired by the beautiful poem Prayer to Persephone by Edna St Vincent Millay was my first personal painting of the year I worked on it over a weekend with no procrastination and it was refreshing because I hadn t painted for myself in a long time I loved rendering every single part from the blue background and the black sheer curtains to the pomegranate and the asphodel flowers framing the scene

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SE 38 EDWINA By Elizabeth Wright Edwina Tolentino Travis was born and raised in Manila Philippines She received her Bachelor s in Fine Arts from the University of Santo Tomas In 2004 she immigrated to the United States living near the beaches of New York In an interview with Tolentino Travis which has been edited for clarity we spoke about her Summer 2022 collection and how she found herself as a sea glass artist Did you always know that you wanted to be an artist I think an artist is always an artist I used to paint watercolor paintings I always dabble into different kinds of arts But I find that with soldering it s very relaxing especially when you wrap each piece with a copper foil and then you put together all the pieces The art that comes out of it is something that I can be proud of course Your current title is Senior Resident Artist What does that mean Well actually I m the only artist because I just started soldering seaglass during the pandemic There was a lot of downtime so that s why that s when this all started And then friends would see my work and say Oh my gosh they re so nice You could actually make a business out of this And right now I think my pieces are for personal use but I would certainly like to produce work for other people to enjoy Tell me about the East Coast Sea Glass Company How did you get the idea to start your own company and why now East Coast because I come from the East Coast and my materials are found on the North Shore beaches of Long Island on the East Coast So to me it s very personal because I m proud of the things that I collect from here And I think it s more of the origin of my genuine surf tumbled materials When did you begin collecting natural and discarded resources Why What got me into this was my husband He was a sea glass collector and he introduced me to this about 12 years ago He already had a huge collection then because he started when he was in his teens He was just collecting pure sea glass When I began I was thinking about everything else that I could find that I could incorporate in my art driftwood tiles rocks shells pots How did collecting these resources turn into the desire to create art We have so much stuff and it s just sitting in jars and in the garage I would go online and see beachcombers who make art out of their materials And that got me into this idea that I could create this too I tried to be different with my pieces I tried to be original I started by painting the sea glass but then I would only use a few pieces I thought about how sea glass is kind of like stained glass you can put them together and create a whole big piece I went online and researched about soldering How do you go about collecting your materials and determining what s usable and what isn t Now that we have a big collection I try to be picky I never pick anything that I think I will not use or is not ready to be used Some sea glass is raw on the edges so I only pick those pieces that are nice and can be used in my projects Although I also pick pieces that I don t use just for my personal collection On average how long does it take you to make a single piece It depends on the size of the piece Sometimes I ll start a piece and then stop I need to have the inspiration to finish it For one work I foiled some of the pieces and then suddenly thought of something else So yeah your question it could take an hour several hours or days depending on if I want to work on it if I feel like it What does the process look like when you re getting started and sitting down with all of your materials before you start soldering and foiling them

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G 40 I find inspiration in everything like the shapes Most sea glass and tiles come in petal shapes I love flowers so I create flowers with my art and my sea glass You ve mentioned foiling a bit What does that mean Foiling is wrapping each piece with a copper foil I use different widths depending on the thickness of the glass or tiles And the foil is used so that the solder will adhere to each piece Changing gears to your Summer 2022 collection where can that be viewed if that s your goal I know you are in the early stages of a digital launch Right now it s just a website and it s in my craft room Eventually my husband and I are thinking of joining sea glass festivals craft fairs and then you know that will probably get more exposure for my work Probably more online viewing because it s easier to reach a lot of people online What was the inspiration behind the collection Okay first I collect a lot of things from the beaches and it could be seaglass tiles or rocks And I like incorporating all these materials into my works I find inspiration in everything like the shapes Most sea glass and tiles come in petal shapes I love flowers personally so I create a lot of flowers with my art and my sea glass The collection is vibrant with lots of blues and greens Is there a reason that you stuck with those colors One thing about sea glass is that you only work with the colors that are bountiful The common colors are green brown and white but I do find purple pieces and blues Once in a blue moon I find reds I seldom use them for my projects because red is very very hard to come by The blue heart seems to be the only piece that strays from florals and other natural objects such as trees and leaves What is the inspiration behind that piece What ties it into the collection I do love hearts I have sea glass shaped like hearts and I collect rocks shaped like hearts too The piece was a gift to my husband I gave it to him for Valentine s Day I wanted to include it because it shows what I can do with sea glass It is not limited to just soldering I can do other things like layer What s the process when it comes to layering versus soldering You just use glue You don t need to foil the pieces I use E6000 craft glue What is your favorite piece from your collection They are all my babies Actually I didn t even include a lot of pieces you know I can t pick one I think it s an expression of me I love all the pieces What is the future of the East Coast Sea Glass Company Where do you see the company in the next year That will depend on how much work I produce This is more of a hobby I don t treat it like work I probably should be creating more and collecting less in order to produce a more extensive collection What gets you in a creative mindset It is an instantaneous feeling I was very productive yesterday I finished laying out a design in three hours That doesn t mean I am going to finish it today That s what is nice about having your own company You can pick when you want to work or not What s your favorite New York beach and why There are so many beaches I like Jones Beach because it is very big I ve been to Montauk which is very beautiful In terms of collecting I cannot divulge my source It is on the North Shore of Long Island Do you have a favorite memory of the beach My cousin passed away recently and she knew I loved marbles She sent me one the day she passed I walked on the beach and didn t find anything So I said Okay maybe today s not the day I decided to sit down for a bit in a shady part of the beach As soon as I turned around my eyes were drawn to this marble an amazing marble My body hair stood up I immediately knew she was there with me

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N The Problems We Still Live With The Permanence of Norman Rockwell By Bryan Aung Maybe it s the repetition of the guards that people will notice first They walk in unison their steps align perfectly with each other Their left legs move stiffly forward and their right legs stay behind In the middle of the painting is Ruby Bridges above her a crudely drawn racial slur She is stoic and unwavering She walks at a different pace than the U S Marshals surrounding her right leg forward left leg back Her dress is white and innocent unknowing of the bigotry that surrounds her presence indifferent to the violent splatter of red that sticks to the wall The Marshalls are dressed in gray an appropriate color for their roles as Bridges escorts impartial and neutral The Problem We All Live With was another show of Norman Rockwell s understanding of America It was an intimate view with an erudite conception of the country s changes and flaws No painter described the duality of the nation better than Rockwell He painted the evil that lay within America and understood the principle that democracy was oftentimes ugly Through his paintings it s not difficult to see the enduring topicality of the meanings behind them given the political dissonance within the country Within the past several months many rights have been taken away including a decades old precedent for a woman s right to privacy and right to an abortion Protesting has stopped being a way of advocacy for a cause instead it has become a fight for survival The George Floyd protests two years ago and the Supreme Court s haphazard rulings have not brought back problems that existed during Rockwell s time these events have simply unveiled problems that still exist Rockwell regularly presented women as people beyond the stereotypes of his time They are dissenting and unwavering to the coercion of the majority The Jury is another striking and topical work Immediately the viewer s eyes are guided to the middle Ten male jurors huddle around the only woman on the jury The scene is tense and apprehensive the walls a violent shade of red Smoke casually fills the room Around the floor is a miscellany of crumbled pieces of paper a pencil and discarded cigarettes One man slouches down on the

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43 ROCKWELL BELONGS TO THE BRINGERS OF CHANGE outskirts of the group and sits blas while another man stretches his hand out to the woman in the middle the others attentively watching Like Carravagio s The Calling of St Matthew everything points to the woman in the center She sits at attention defiant towards the majority Her clothes are ordinary a white blouse with a gray skirt but her shoes are a bright shade of red Her feet are positioned adamantly and affirmatively The painting is a representation of the democratic process but with the recent ruling of the Supreme Court Rockwell s work takes on a much more profound meaning a woman s defiance in postRoe America Though some of Rockwell s paintings have often been paraded by reactionaries as a pastiche of a greater past Rockwell s work is a double edged sword of idealism While paintings like Freedom From Want are seen as examples of an ideal and perfect America for conservatives Rockwell s paintings also illustrated the contrarians and the rebels he painted agnostics refusing prayer and people of color openly defiant against segregation Through his eyes each scene s meaning was perfect and absolute Like the Constitution Rockwell s commentary of America is classic yet changes as the decades progress it is in the hands of the present And for the time being much of Rockwell s work belongs to the bringers of change

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46 LEILA BAKOUCHE Algiers Website https leilabakouche com Leila Bakouche is a photographic artist attracted by digital media arts and immersed in graphic and photographic approaches that involve the discovery and curiosity of spaces and people She uses the practice of storytelling to allow feelings a collaboration between the artist and people Frustrations taboos and barriers are the daily life of the Algerian youth The walls of the city remain the only escape and the eternal dead end Turning their backs or facing the wall remains the dilemma of Algerian society The angles of treatment of this theme are engaged social and semiotic While roaming around the city I meet and get inspired by the different hopes of Algerians and the different textures of the walls all in distress forgotten abused torn or even broken I bring the two together to constitute a documentary photographic series inscribed in a current of social art The series refers to a failure of the overall system of modern Algerian society and takes up a questioning on an uncertain future and a dark vision and dead end in Algeria It creates through several portals a relationship between the human and urban texture The project deals with the subject of the individual trying to realize his dreams in the middle of a city surrounded by barricaded walls preventing dreams from coming true I consider myself caught in this trap as a young photographer living within these walls I feel myself going straight to the wall

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50 CHRISTINE WILLIAMS USA Christine Williams is a Maryland based poet and artist She writes poems based on life experiences When it comes to her art her favorite medium to work with is yarn on canvas She appreciates patterns and making various shapes by mixing colors of yarn and making a work of art However she likes to express herself through various ways Christine is as unique and bold as the art she creates My work is quite different While some of my pieces are paintings I enjoy using nontraditional materials in my art My favorite materials to work with are yarn and canvas It gives me great pleasure to design concepts and see them come to fruition using these mediums Using yarn to create shapes and visually appealing pieces is therapeutic for me However my work doesn t just benefit me it benefits all who view it Research has proven that art can have a direct impact not only on the creator but the viewer as well Art has been known to help relieve stress lower depression levels and help to enhance critical thinking skills My work definitely does all of those things and will benefit the community I like seeing how my work excites my family and causes them to try to figure out how I created my art like it is some sort of brain puzzle I want my work to invoke both happiness and creativity in people I want my work to be an inspiration to others to pursue their dreams and to reassure them that the sky is the limit

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52 KONG J China Instagram cat8080juan I love life nature and animals I think painting is a way to explore human and animal souls I like traditional painting using gouache and ballpoint pen I began to learn digital painting at the end of 2020 I get inspiration from interesting pet stories literary works and movies I try to discover the inner world of animals and human from paintings Happy Tiger Year 53 x 38 cm gouache on paper 2021 finished The world s largest Felinae cat our lovely big orange cat the overlord in the forest Happy Tiger Year Milla Jovovich 26 5 x 38 cm gouache on paper 2021 finished Our most powerful and gorgeous heroine our rising blood queen Milla Jovovich Attachment 38 x 53 cm gouache on paper 2020 finished A girl a fox they had a good long hug in the snow Love is a greeting with life Angel 26 5 x 38 cm gouache on paper 2020 finished A cat basks in the sunshine When I saw the cat for the first time it looked like an angel Gaze from Dragon Li 27 x 38 cm gouache on paper 2019 finished I like Dragon Li cat The background is dark green adding an evil atmosphere Its gaze is serious and sharp very power

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54 ANDREA MAE ANTONIO Philippines Instagram and Tiktok amaeantonio Facebook Fb com lh amaeantonio Andrea Mae Antonio is a young self taught artist from the Philippines Having no formal training on art her perseverance to learn and improve has brought personal touch and techniques in all her works Her interest in art started purely as a form of self expression until it later on turned to a deep passion and way of living Like any other teen she has faced several challenges herself and art was one way she overcame it In 2020 she began to develop her skills in impasto painting This art technique led her to more opportunities and exposure in the art industry Her works have been featured in several art pages and in a local tv show Andrea loves to explore and experiment with paints and still on the road on improving her art style If we open my storybook as an artist we will begin with myself holding my first brush and paint with nothing but the heart to escape reality I find how immensely satisfying it is to express myself in every stroke of every color I had no formal education about art so I had a hard time understanding the ins and outs of it especially figuring out the most comfortable medium for me I tried painting with watercolors and gouache and it was great But with acrylics I always call it my love at first try Some artists find acrylics challenging because it dries fast but that for me is the main reason why I love it I love working really fast because I get anxious if I don t finish my painting on the same day After a couple of paintings I feel like something s missing I love what I create but at the same time I also want to do something new and unique Needless to say I want to grow more as an artist Sometimes I get bored because I feel like everything that I do is repetitive and it doesn t excite me anymore My creative juices are overflowing and I want to keep exploring more ways to use my acrylic paints I stepped up my game by following different artists across the world I was inspired by a lot of them and I learned a lot from their works This led me to developing my painting style

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64 MIKE PETRAKIS Athens Website https mikepetrakis com Mike Petrakis is a contemporary conceptual artist His art is characterized by secret gems and mind teasers that he has planted for you to find He challenges you to look twice at his surrealistic work to be rediscovered His philosophy is that Art should appeal to a wide audience of all social tiers should be seen by as many people as possible in order to form part of the cultural discourse of a society His mission isn t to cynically trash the whole of society along with its signs and symbolism instead he manages to reopen the debate on the associations we sometimes automatically make with various cultural icons The aim of his art philosophy is to react to all the preestablished cultural images and icons and to recycle them in such a way in order to change their utility and valor towards all consumers He also aims to allude to the corruption and corrosion to the words icons and symbols which we consume in our everyday life in attempt to redefine them His aim is to free you from any fixed concepts and ideas acquired as a result of brainwashing You won t fall prey to another new brainwash however you might decide to stop ramming down your throat the old fixed interpretations as the only one possible You will soon discover how his philosophical artistic expression has multilingual multicultural extensions and diachronic values with hints on modern concerns affecting our future through the position of humanity across our existence connected with our reaction attitude treatment to nature and technology Studies Graphic ART Design Communication at AKTO Art Design College in Athens Greece September 2021 A presentation of my work have been published in the magazine Anima Mundi Academia Art Magazine June 2021 A selection of my works have been published in the English magazine The Working Artist Is beautiful to have an artwork to decorate your room space but is more beautiful to have an artwork to decorate your mind and soul as well My art is inspired by a wide range of images and notions from objects to words coming from the massive world urban culture of previous and contemporary times The modern world is illustrated more emphatically the means used being the basic principles of consumerism politics lifestyle and of course personal experience According to my artistic beliefs art ought to be active and innovative without a trace of repeated static patterns Art ought to be revolutionary inspiring awakening urging people to follow it Fine artist is to have your own and unique style is to have your trade mark The usage of popular icons and images words subject matters and concerns that affect every human being worldwide are combined in a way that affects each and every person Every human s enemy is his her own self so he she has to fight till last breath I want to redefine the meaning the existence and the presence of the icons words and symbols opening a dialogue through our entity nature and the configuration of humanity Also urges us to realize our life to create for ourselves the space time and to adapt it to our own perception Icons illustrate their space in a new dimension and words are independent clauses and paragraphs baring their meaning showing what is hiding behind them also symbols misinterpret their explanation with the center of all these The Human In life one must not be just another person but another entity Words are the connected links of two or more meanings of two or more explanations and messages My icons remap their appearance accompanied by the words and in the same time happens the opposite showing them in a different progress in a different existence in a different redefine reproduce and regenerate their value The viewer who is looking at my work I want to get into the philosophy of my art and conceptualize more in the hidden messages At the same time the of my creations having an obvious message keeping the secret combinations of the visible and the invisible Conservatism is the permanent world war to humanity My aim also is to give a new and fresh interpretation at our urban world and outside of it As well as to bring in life the nowadays aseptic use of them icons words symbols etc The words inside my works are not just represent the title of the works are the continuation of the pictures Within my expression style negotiate in a way the submission of all the products I consume at my personal and social life bringing them on the front again through my idiosyncrasy As an art critic said Mike Petrakis s art has the geometry of Russian Avant Garde forms of the Modernism the messages and the substratum of Surrealism the recognizable of the objects images icons as well with the expectation impact of the Pop Art Redefine and reconstruct the objects and the icons as DADA did the value and the power of the silhouettes like Abstract Expressionism the execution and the gloss of colors of the Impressionism

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CULTURALLY 70 Our mission is for individuals to embrace their creativity and ignite their passion shaping a global platform working on tangible reform for accessibility and representation in the arts Our purpose is to advocate that art is for everyone and by everyone We work to utilize the arts for social justice efforts for students to use their passions for global change Our biggest advocacy effort is toward representation in the arts we have members branches and communities in 60 countries on 6 continents Culturally advocates for the inclusion of people from every background and corner of the world regardless of level of practice or socioeconomic means We aim to provide a platform for artists of all ages from emerging students to established artists to develop their craft through education We strive to provide the utmost professional development through opportunities with an international impact Our work is to eliminate and abolish the deeply ingrained elitist and exclusive stigmas around the arts so we offer an artist directory social media network interviews and more to increase opportunities for aspiring artists

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VISIT OUR GET INVOLVED PAGE TODAY ARTS ADVOCACY REFORM FOR ACCESIBILITY AND REPRESENTATION WWW CULTURALLYARTS COM CULTURALLYOFFICE GMAIL COM CULTURALLYARTS ON INSTAGRAM FREE LIVE WEEKEND CLASSES FULL ONLINE COURSES K 12 RESOURCES WEBINARS INTERVIEWS EDUCATION BLOG PODCAST BECOME AN EDUCATOR TEACH WORKSHOPS CREATE COURSES RESOURCES WORK ON INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION INITIATIVES COMMUNITY GALLERY SUBMIT A PIECE AT ANY TIME HANBELL GALLERY ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE EXHIBIT EXHIBITION YOUR ART IN A PERSONAL COLLECTION PAGE MILOTSKA CENTER FOR EXHIBITIONS SUBMIT ART TO THEMED EXHIBITIONS FOR CURATION INTO A 360 DEGREE VIEW VIRTUAL GALLERY ROOM JOIN A NETWROK OF 100S OF ARTISTS FROM 50 COUNTRIES GET SERVICE HOURS OUTREACH ADMIN TEAM MARKETING ADMIN TEAM TIKTOK CONTENT CREATORS MAGAZINE DESIGNERS WRITERS VIRTUAL CARDS FOR CHILDREN S HOSPITALS MENTORSHIPS ARTS CONTESTS CREATE EDUCATION RESOURCES CHILDREN S ACTIVITY BOOKLETS VISIT THE OUTREACH PAGE TO START VOLUNTEERING OUTREACH

Issue 14-July 2022

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