Just Published! A New Eclectix Issue: “Iconic”, Volume 11

Card art by Shawn Barber

This new Eclectix issue pays homage to icon related art. Religious, pagan, pop culture, altars, rituals, mythology, gods & goddesses.

Artworks, news, artist interviews, calendar events, online exhibition and religious trivia. 

 

Link to the Eclectix homepage

Link to the permanent “Iconic” online gallery

Karyn Crisis, Eclectix Interview 24

Karyn Crisis, photo by Bonnie Rae Mills

Eclectix first became aqquainted with Karyn a couple of years ago, when she came into the gallery, hair swinging, toting some killer leather works – gothic purses and cuffs. They were obviously crafted by someone with an artist’s eye and a gypsy soul – offbeat, with beautiful quality and embracing the darkness of life. Karyn has a huge energy about her, a quick intelligence and the creative verve to let her freak flag fly.  A self-taught artist, she shared some of her paintings and professed that she wanted to concentrate more on them in the future. Luckily, she has been able to, cranking out some powerful Tarot works in her beloved oils, just this past year.

Karyn’s solo show “The Major Arcana” opens October 1st at SR2 Gallery in Berkeley, CA. ( thru Oct. 31st)

(Eclectix note: Many of the “Major Arcana” images below may not be the final image as Karyn was busy putting finishing touches on them. The “Major Arcana” pieces all have an MA after the title)

Magusi MA- Karyn Crisis

Could you give us a little about your background?  I’ve always felt out of time and place on this planet. I’ve been able to see and communicate with spirits since I was young- but  it scared me then and I’m able to embrace it now. I feel as if all my past lives are being remembered in this lifetime.  I don’t look back often, but when I do, I realize just how much I’ve done so far. Having left my touring metal band of 13 years (Crisis) in 2005, I started over as a painter, shaman, Reiki Master Teacher, clairvoyant. My favorite chapter of my life is the current one, with my creative and talented husband and our cat. Music and a Tuscan witch brought us together and keep us moving forward in a creative, magical lifestyle. I made a living selling my paintings and custom leather work a few years ago, until my husband gifted me an art studio and the time to paint for painting’s sake – to get my technical skills where I want them, and to decide what I want to paint without worrying about selling my work. My work now  is devoted to Witchcraft culture (European shamanism, healing modalities, and rituals).

Calling in the Four Quarters - Karyn Crisis

Can you tell us a little about your creative process?  I visualize a painting and the most important thing is to capture an action and decide the purpose of the painting. I see it in my mind’s eye, complete. I create her face, decide who she is, what her tools and colors will be and what exactly her intent or action is, then I draw it out with as much detail as possible. I then take a photo of myself for lighting reference and lines of hands, etc. From there, I often refer to fashion magazines or my favorite jewelry designers to use their clothing and jewelry pieces as inspiration. I also use a lot of my own ritual tools (changing them just a bit) and clothing. Then for the oil painting process, I build the canvas, draw the painting on, beginning with a burnt-sienna underpainting. From there, I paint the drawing in burnt umber, adding some shadows. Then I build with layers of greens, blacks and whites… it’s a bastardization of the Verdaccio technique. Throughout the process I get feedback from my husband. He knows what I’m trying to do without my having to say a word, and he’s got a talent for objectivity.  I can get overambitious or not know when to stop painting and he reels me back in.

Cecina - Karyn Crisis

My favorite art memory from my childhood is… floating, out of my body, above my mother and myself. I was sick, lying in bed in my favorite corduroy navy and flowered overalls. Another memory is making potions in our backyard with plants and dirt.

Shaman and Spirit Attachments - Karyn Crisis

My interest in art/painting started … I was little, watching my mom paint. I was always drawing. Always. And dreaming. She took my sister and I into Chicago often to the museums and galleries. The modern art wing was very dark, art-wise, it was very serious and it scared me. I was hooked.

The Witch and Her Guides - Karyn Crisis

I am often inspired and motivated by…  my struggles. My frustrations with myself become quite a force for transformation. I am my own worst enemy, and when I’m stuck or overrun by an emotion, I’m inspired to use energywork to undertand, to listen, to learn. These modalities give me almost more to see and experience than my waking eyes. And one of my spirit guides and I work together on visualizing my painting concepts.

Strength , MA - Karyn Crisis

If I could spend the day with any artist (dead or alive) it would be… Anselm Kiefer (below)   And we would…  make his giant tar books together.

Anselm Kiefer

The tip or art technique (a specific tidbit of craft, advice or mechanical expertise) that has helped me the most is …. ”verdaccio”. An artist described this technique in a magazine interview and it changed my understanding of painting dramatically. Also, while painting, I find myself asking “what do you see” constantly, looking more intently at my reference photo, and with each layer redefining my lightest and darkest points.

(Eclectix note:  ”Verdaccio” is an underpainting technique which came from the Italian fresco painters of the early Renaissance. Created traditionally from a mixture of Mars Black and Yellow Ochre pigments, Verdaccio was used to establish tonal values in fresco painting quickly, creating a soft greenish-gray for the shadows of flesh tones.)

The Fool, MA - Karyn Crisis

If I could own one piece of art, out of the world’s collections, it would be …I’ve never been one to covet “things“. I don’t put alot of energy towards having “things”, but maybe I should! I’m more about wanting to create, to do, to accomplish, and to experience. BUT, if I had the money, I’d pay a good amount of it for some antique Strega Grimoires. ( A book describing magical beliefs and practices, for a female witch)

Witch's Wands, MA - Karyn Crisis

My favorite piece of my own art is… Witch’s Wands (above)  because… I still can’t believe I painted it. In fact, my newer paintings feel like they paint themselves.

Blue Boat Ghosts - Karyn Crisis

My ultimate project or fantasy is …  to have my art in museums along with witchy installations, and to tour with my husband. The more we learn about legacies like Egypt, the Maya, etc, we learn all our ancestors had a spiritual system that helped them accomplish great things that they couldn’t have learned just on their own as a human. Call it religion, spirituality, shamanism, witchcraft, they’re culturally relevant systems deserve a visual voice.

Diana - Karyn Crisis

The last song I choose to listen to was…  a new one Davide is writing for Ephel Duath, and a new one for my solo album.

The last book I couldn’t put down was …. The Cauldron of Memory by Raven Grimassi.

The Emperor, MA - Karyn Crisis

My favorite word is… molto, fuck (you can use it in so many ways!)

I can’t live without …my husband

Justice, MA - Karyn Crisis

It’s not hip, but I really love …  to study pigments and their properties. I will research the history of pigments, what their updated versions are made of and what they do. I love to study systems of all sorts. I had a photography teacher who gave me some great advice while reeling in my experimental photography efforts: “learn how to do things properly and well, then you can do whatever you want with it.”

I’ve been someone to whom things “happen”…I want to paint and “poof”, it happens. I want to do something else and “poof” it comes easy. It’s getting the outcome to present itself with my standard of quality and intensity that is difficult. Being able to recreate that first intuitive magic had also been difficult, until I learned that there’s more to an experience than the “happening” of it, the “being”…which is the technique behind. Learn the technique, or the system, and you can navigate better. I used to think, to demand, that my expression should come naturally, that “poof” I should be able to create a perfect painting each time, and I snubbed my nose at learning technique. Now I’ve found that learning a technique, that I can understand, gives me the freedom to let the painting happen by getting my own bad habits out of the way!

The Empress, MA - Karyn Crisis

My favorite motto  is…  you must be certain of your power.

Link for Karyn’s website and portfolio

Genevive Zacconi, Eclectix Interview 13

Genevive Zacconi

“ When I’m creating, it’s not my objective to make an image that appeals to the largest demographic possible. I can’t please everyone and I just try to express myself in an honest way, no matter how it could be received or opposed by some.” 

Fade Out - Genevive Zacconi

Genevive has a new solo show coming up December 10th at Last Rites Gallery in New York. She has worked both sides of the art world – as an astounding painter as well as a curator. Many of her works are strong statements on the roles women play or are forced to play in our society, having the guts to portray the reality of the female form.  She shares some thoughts on her works, background and experiences with Eclectix.

Genevive Zacconi

Can you tell us where you were born and a little history about your childhood? I was born in Philadelphia. Growing up, I went to Catholic school. I lived far from the school I attended, so didn’t have many friends in my area, and consequentially spent much of my time alone and drawing. My mother worked in the medical industry and my father was an artist (of sorts), so I was lucky in that I was encouraged to think in both analytical and creative ways.

The Good Fight - Genevive Zacconi

How did Catholic school influence you?  I think it goes without saying that all religions are a little weird, but Catholicism in particularly is a strange. It’s extremely fetishistic, glorifies pain & suffering, and employs a lot of downright bizarre imagery. Often times I can tell just from an artist’s work that they’ve grown up Catholic; perhaps, even now, I still carry that aesthetic in my own art.

Illusions of Grandeur – Genevive Zacconi

What inspired/prompted the vision/image for the most recent piece you completed? I have several new paintings that I’m working on right now, but the last one I’ve actually completed is called “Illusions of Grandeur” (above). In a way, it’s a follow up to my painting “Delusions of Candor” (below). This one is inspired by the masks women wear and the illusions we employ when it comes to cosmetics (also surgery, photography, etc)- disguising parts of ourselves deemed unattractive.

Delusions of Candor – Genevive Zacconi

If there was an artist, dead or alive, that you could spend 24 hours with; who would it be and what would you do?  This is a really difficult question. There are so many artists whom I’d love to get to spend time with and experience as people. But I’d probably most benefit from a 24 hour painting lesson with someone like Ingres or Caravaggio.

In Our Nature – Genevive Zacconi

What materials, specific brand of paint/glue/pencil do you prefer to use? A favorite? And why?  I paint in oils but I don’t use any specific brand for my colors, it really varies dependent on where I’m shopping for supplies and what colors I’m getting. Although, Pearl makes a sable fan brush that I love. I don’t usually use their brand for anything else, but adore that brush for blending… I’ve went through a few of them and actually prefer it to some of the more expensive fan and mop brushes that I own.

Reciprocity – Genevive Zacconi

Is there a technique, procedure or tip that you have discovered, you could pass onto other artists?  I wouldn’t advise anyone to pick up my painting procedure- it’s long and tedious, and I’m probably doing a lot of pointless steps. But hmmm… a tip on something that I’m currently using? Well, my current crush is Naples Yellow. I use it to lighten a lot of my warmer toned colors (also sometimes just as a straight warm highlight). I avoid using white to lighten, as it desaturates color, so I’ve found this to be a really nice pigment for mixing purposes.

Objective Observation- Genevive Zacconi

What is your favorite word? Last song you chose to listen to?  “Miniature”- it’s my nickname for my dog, Raven (she’s 6lbs, so it fits). And “Lovely Creature” by Nick Cave happens to be playing on my iTunes as I’m writing this.

Oops I Did It Again - Genevive Zacconi

If you could pick one piece of art to own, out of the world’s museums, personal collections and galleries, what would it be?  Wow, this is another tough question. It might make my brain explode to have to decide on one piece of art. I’ll just list three favorite paintings that first come to mind, although I’m even having a hard time keeping this list contained to just a few. And if you ask me at another time this list would probably be different. In no particular order: Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels- Jean Fouquet (below), Without Hope- Frida Kahlo, Figure With Meat- Francis Bacon

Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels by Jean Fouquet

Of all your works, what is your own personal favorite?  At the moment, my favorite painting I’ve created is “Disillusion” (below). I’ve actually only explained this painting to the collector who bought it and a few close friends. It’s hard for me to put into words fully what my paintings mean to me, but I’ll try to briefly sum this one up here: The “Disillusion” painting is basically inspired by entering into a new situation, but being weary and distrustful due to previous experiences. The woman in the box has scars from prior jabs of the knife, and is afraid to get hit again; she has a ribbon tied around her ring finger to remember. The viewer gets to see beyond the “smoke and mirrors” of the circus act of the knife box… The title comes from being disillusioned in it’s literal context, but also suggests that by seeing into the box, you are losing the illusion that a magician performing this act would convey. However, I do have a few new paintings in the works that I think will rival this one as my personal favorite, both in content and aesthetic. We shall see!

Disillusion - Genevive Zacconi

As a woman in the arts, do you have any thoughts (good or bad) on how being a woman might have influenced your art or career? Nearly every major aspect of my life has affected my art, so obviously being a woman has as well. My work comes from a feminine viewpoint, so I’m sure this perspective in my paintings has influenced how people view them, and in turn, affected my career. I think we’re past the point where anyone would not work with someone strictly because they’re a woman; but perhaps because of the specific issues I’m addressing in my some of my work, resulting from my own experiences, there may be a few of my paintings that appeal less to males than to females. However, I’m sure there are also people who just don’t connect to my art because of issues other than gender. When I’m creating, it’s not my objective to make an image that appeals to the largest demographic possible. I can’t please everyone and I just try to express myself in an honest way, no matter how it could be received or opposed by some. So yes- I’m sure that being a woman has affected my art & career, just as everything else about me has.

At War - Genevive Zacconi

In your role as a curator- what is the most negative experience you’ve had? And the most positive?  I suppose the most negative experience would be organizing a show where everyone involved is late with everything (or where things unexpectedly go wrong, last minute). You try to manage the situation as best as you can, and give reminders to artists about deadlines, but sometimes things are just beyond your realm of control. One of the biggest challenges is curating a large group show in which many artists are tardy with images and shipping art. It’s like trying to herd cats. The best aspect, however, is being able to orchestrate a good show. When you can find good homes for many works of art, the artists are happy with how their work was presented, and the exhibit is memorable-  curating can be a very rewarding job.

Just Like The Others- Genevive Zacconi

 LINK to Genevive’s Website

Good Exposure - Genevive Zacconi

LINK to the current Eclectix website – art news & exhibit listings

(This entry was  originally posted on 11/3/10 and transferred here –  as we are discontinuing our other blog site)

El Cerrito Art, 34th Annual Show and Sale

Floral Mandala by Barbara Rockhold

Previewed the local El Cerrito Art Association’s 34th Show before the opening reception tonight. A large show full of all different media, styles and eclectic emotions. Lots of traditional realist imagery, some very masterful, a sprinkling of satisfying non-traditional with a few Eclectix artists in the mix as well. Definitely worth a long walk thru and some are worthy of extended ponders. Favorite picks from the exhibit preview are below, just a few, there were so many. With the photography and the watercolors, getting pictures was mostly impossible due to the framed glass reflections, hence my picks are unfortunately edited… 

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If you live locally try to make it out, the exhibit is only 3 days long, ending October 3rd. Help support your local artists, most the art is for sale at really great  prices.

For more infoclick here.

LINK to the current Eclectix website – art news & exhibit listings

(This entry was  originally posted on 10/1/10 and transferred here –  as we are discontinuing our other blog site)