I arrived to Illoulian Contemporary before the artist. The owner Candice and I shot the shit while we waited. However, it was hard to concentrate as my eyes wandered to the large seductive photographs of the artist’s beautiful naked body on the walls.

Marisa Matluck arrived from a battle [read more...]]]>

I arrived to Illoulian Contemporary before the artist. The owner Candice and I shot the shit while we waited. However, it was hard to concentrate as my eyes wandered to the large seductive photographs of the artist’s beautiful naked body on the walls.

Marisa Matluck arrived from a battle with typical Los Angeles traffic and I went dumbstruck with the questions I was planning to ask. Normally, the photos are of someone other than the photographer. But now that I knew it was her, all I could think about was how awkward it would be if her parents saw them. I was projecting my own insecurities.

The following is the story behind Marisa Matluck’s series “Uncensored” that premiered at Illoulian Contemporary in Beverly Hills. It is a tale told via her words, although I have tweaked their order to make it more enjoyable to read. To view more of Marisa’s work, please visit: http://www.icthegallery.com/

“I started out by building paper landscapes from my breasts to my stomach and sending everything to Candice [owner of the gallery]. We would Skype all night because I was in Miami and she was in LA. One day I was watching TV with a paper doll in my hand and put it on my bare stomach and took a picture. I sent it to Candice and she said, ‘Now we’re talking’.

I was at a place where I was really happy with my body. I had lost a lot of weight, was somewhat in love, and felt great about myself. I didn’t want anyone else to photograph me because I knew exactly what I wanted to see. So I put the camera on a tripod and used a remote to take the pictures.

Photographing myself was risqué. It took about two weeks to get the lighting right. I set up everything in my apartment and was trying to figure out how to cast shadows without making them too provocative. Rubber cement worked the best for attaching the paper doll to my body. When I tried to rub it off with nail polish, I would be red for a couple of hours, but it was worth it.

I would come home and strip down because I was excited to play with different parts of my body each night. The nudity is really who I am and who I want to be. Not that I want to be naked all the time. It simply represents me being free to be who I am.

The first person in my family to know about the series was my little brother. He asked me if it was weird to see them and I said no because I view them as works of art. Eventually, I also told my dad and mom that the model in the pictures was I, to which my dad replied, “Well monkey, that’s my daughter the artist. I’m very proud of you.” My parents are both art lovers and collectors, so they were cool with it.”

I visited Margie Schnibbe’s studio and her little dog was yapping at me. Before driving over I had been playing with my own two canines, so her tiny beast must have smelt them on my clothes. No worries. We shook hands and I saw almost everything she was working on [read more...]]]>

I visited Margie Schnibbe’s studio and her little dog was yapping at me. Before driving over I had been playing with my own two canines, so her tiny beast must have smelt them on my clothes. No worries. We shook hands and I saw almost everything she was working on like sculptures, drawings, and reformatting old zines. However, earlier in her career she made adult movies in which she turned her sets into colorful art installations.

I was introduced to Margie through a mutual friend that thought her life story would make for a good profile in the After Dark section of the LA Weekly. Unfortunately, my contacts at the Weekly left within a few days of finishing the piece. I guess no one stays there long.

Below are quotes by Margie Schnibbe that vaguely detail the wildest slice of her artistic life. They were taken during our interview and have been partially tweaked and rearranged to make for a smoother read. If you want to see what she’s up to now, I suggest checking out her website: http://www.margieschnibbe.com/

“My life hasn’t always involved the best career moves, but they gave me a lot of material for my art.

I was 28 and living in this little hotel room with club kids and sex workers. I went from being a hippy punk rock girl with dreadlocks to a riot grrl go-go dancer and dominatrix with bleached hair. It was a really fun time, but eventually I was like look, I know I’m not crazy, but I’m leading a pretty crazy life and I need to change it. So I ended up at CalArts in Valencia, CA.

I had the helpful influence of a ceramics teacher at Hunter College, which I attended for undergrad, named Susan Peterson. It’s because of her I kept making art and went to graduate school. She was like my second mom.

[Before moving to California] I decided to become a dominatrix after reading some zine about it and veganism. I got a copy of Screw Magazine and called all those places in the back, but they laughed at my inexperience. By chance, a homeless man who was always around my building asked me what I wanted to do. I told him and then he said, “there’s a [S&M] house next door, why don’t I talk to the manager Angelo and get you an interview.”

The first thing Angelo told me was to roll up my sleeves so he could see if I had track marks on my arm. I was an art-school girl with thrift shop clothes and glued on pink braids, not a junkie. So I was hired, but I wasn’t trained. They just threw me in a freaking room and said, “Dominate this guy.” My first client sucked my feet while I told him he was a dog. It was the dumbest thing.

I bought a costume from a tranny place because it was before the whole Goth scene exploded with bands like Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson. It wasn’t like teenagers were buying this stuff at Hot Topic. It was really weird.

I worked at the oldest S&M house in New York. Annie Sprinkle [pornstar turned sex educator] and Amanda Lepore [transgender model frequently seen in David LaChapelle’s photos] used to work there too. I once said to a client, “just think of a Jon Waters movie and you’re going to be able to get through this ok.” It was a pre-Giuliani time and that whole world is gone now.

I didn’t make pornos at CalArts, but I did make a mother/daughter spanking video that they refused to screen. Years later, I saw a video there of a girl giving a guy a blowjob. It actually made me angry because if you’re going to show sex you should at least have your politics in order. Sex is not just about fucking, it is about something bigger. Maybe it was more than just seeing a guy get his dick sucked. I have no idea. Times have changed.

There were a bunch of CalArts students who ended up working in the adult industry because our campus was close to the valley [the capitol of the porn industry]. I started out working at a place connected to VCA Pictures as an art director. My thought was to at least make a nice environment for the people on set because those movies could be kind of horrible, especially for women.

There were things I didn’t want to see in the pornos I made, like rough sex. My friend told me about a guy she was dating who would watch videos where they fuck a girl and then kick her out of a car – just awful stuff. You don’t need to show people doing that and there’s a responsibility you should have to take for it.

I am an old hippy and I come from a time when sex was all about fun and you didn’t need to slap people around. I mean, I liked making films that couples could watch, but I don’t think I will make another commercial film. It was just all part of a little period named Alt porn.”

Interview by Daniel Rolnik: http://danielrolnik.com/

I walked into the ICN Gallery while I was in London. When I showed them my business card that says The World’s Most Adorable Art Critic, they asked me if I could wait for the artist on view, Mai Miyake, to return in a few minutes. In the meantime they [read more...]]]>

I walked into the ICN Gallery while I was in London. When I showed them my business card that says The World’s Most Adorable Art Critic, they asked me if I could wait for the artist on view, Mai Miyake, to return in a few minutes. In the meantime they offered me a cup of the best green tea I’ve ever had.

I was getting nervous waiting for Mai to arrive because I didn’t know a thing about her. I quickly scanned the descriptions on the wall, feeling self conscious about looking like a fool if one of the two people in the gallery caught me. I took pictures of her work while trying to think of questions. Luckily, I could hide downstairs where her woodcut prints were so I could gather my thoughts in the company of miniature guinea pigs and a few birds.

Mai arrived to the gallery and I went into interview mode. The following are some of her responses to questions I’ll leave mysterious.

I am always skeptical when someone says they are telling the truth, since they only look for the truths that interest them. So, I came up with this series named “Dead Angle” that only allows you to clearly see 10cm of each painting at a time. You never really see the whole picture, which is what I think we do in real life.

I find some of my materials at scientific and industrial trade shows. I love going to them because I am into combining old Japanese techniques with new technologies.

I collaborated with The Adachi Institute of Woodcut Prints. I’m bringing new concepts to them and they are totally cool with it.

I like to keep some things secret. The point of my work isn’t what it is made out of, but the concept behind it all.

Image from: http://haikugirl.me/2012/10/07/exhibition-mai-miyake-dead-angle-at-the-icn-gallery/  

Image from: http://haikugirl.me/2012/10/07/exhibition-mai-miyake-dead-angle-at-the-icn-gallery/

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ICN Gallery - http://www.icn-global.com/

Mai Miyake – http://www.maimiyake.com/

Written by Daniel Rolnik - http://danielrolnik.com/blog/

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Jason Shawn Alexander is an anomaly that traverses our worlds of fine art and illustration with broad strokes of ink. He begins his process by having actors flesh out scenes that he photographs and then dukes out with ink and oil paint onto paper that has been glued to giant [read more...]]]>

Jason Shawn Alexander is an anomaly that traverses our worlds of fine art and illustration with broad strokes of ink. He begins his process by having actors flesh out scenes that he photographs and then dukes out with ink and oil paint onto paper that has been glued to giant canvasses until figures reemerge. And he does this in addition to illustrating top-secret Batman comics inside his home from a drafting table. “I take this shit seriously. I don’t want the character to just be shooting somebody. I want him to look like he’s going through a genuine struggle.”

Do you have models sit for you while you paint?

I’m too self-conscious for that, so I always work from photographs. Painting has become a pretty emotional process for me too and therefore it is something I prefer to do in solitary confinement. Also, I hate using figure models. I use actors because they know how to emote, whereas figure models can get into any position but lack emotional content.

How do you get so much energy out of each line you draw?

If I illustrate a fight scene my teeth are grit and I’m tensed up just as much as the characters. If I don’t put that energy into it then it’s just going to look like a guy with his fist out.

Do you like doing both commercial art and fine art?

I like walking that tightrope, even though it is a pain in the ass to not be dedicated to one ism. I love figurative work just as much as I love abstract work. I mean, I would love to see a Cy Twombly exhibit just a much as a Lucien Freud’s exhibit.

Did you go to art school?

No. I moved from Tennessee to North Carolina for about 4 or 5 years to absorb the wisdom of 3 established artists, one of which was George Pratt. They were my art school. Financially, it was better than going to college because I was able to work in the comics industry and get paid without accruing debt.

Were you already working in the comics industry before the move?

I self-published comics right out of high school and then worked for independent companies afterwards. But when I was 23 years old, I felt like my career had reached a plateau. I mean, I thought that using models was cheating until I met George Pratt and went into all these different artists’ studios to expand everything I knew at the time.

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Art by Jason Shawn Alexander: http://www.jasonshawnalexander.com

Interviews by Daniel Rolnik: http://danielrolnik.com/blog/

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Melody Storm is the founder of the Bel Air Film Festival. “I would describe myself as a young Jewish entrepreneur.” She started the festival in 2008 and has since grown the business to include a non-profit wing that grants scholarships to film school students primarily at USC, CSULB, and the [read more...]]]>

Melody Storm is the founder of the Bel Air Film Festival. “I would describe myself as a young Jewish entrepreneur.” She started the festival in 2008 and has since grown the business to include a non-profit wing that grants scholarships to film school students primarily at USC, CSULB, and the New York Film Academy. “My ultimate goal is to connect with all the film schools across the world.”

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Who decides which students get the scholarships?

With USC, they keep track of all the applicants and choose the students, which we then approve.

What’s your goal with the film festival?

My goal with the festival is to world premier new films. There are other festivals that exclusively screen classics, but we show independent cinematic releases that have never been seen anywhere else. Some of them even cost millions of dollars to make.

Have you seen a student film that cost a million dollars to make?

Yes, but a lot of people also mislabel their films as student work, so we always have to call and reconfirm.

Why is it called the Bel Air Film Festival if it doesn’t take place in Bel Air?

No, it does, but most of our screenings are at UCLA. In the beginning we hosted them in private homes in Bel Air. I don’t know how I did this, but for the first Bel Air Film Festival in 2008 I managed to secure a home with a 70-seat screening room that later sold for 88 million dollars. And I wasn’t even allowed to see the theater until opening night. I thought it was either all or nothing if I was going to run a successful business. And luckily it was like God was watching over me.

Does your family work in the entertainment industry?

Not at all, I did everything on my own. I’ve always been very ambitious and for a couple years I went crazy emailing everyone to make the Bel Air Film Festival happen. My family didn’t give me any money and so I struggled in the beginning. It was a very big journey and now things are starting to pay off, but for the first few years it was just a dream.

What were you doing before starting the festival?

I came from an events and PR background. I started working when I was 19 and eventually got hired by Jordan Friedberg who is on my board to this day. He just gave me my very first office!

What would you be doing now if you didn’t start the film festival?

If I didn’t start the film festival I would have pursued a career in PR and I would’ve been a big publicist for sure. But I just didn’t want a 9-5 job. I wanted to be my own boss because I’m very stubborn and I like to do my own thing.

Why do you live in New York?

To be completely honest, I don’t really like LA. I like the Jewish community in New York. I’m not modern orthodox, but I’m not reform either. I just can’t find my niche in LA, but I’ve found it in in New York.

Who watches all the movies people submit before the festival happens?

I watch all of them, which can be between 400-500 films a year. If the film is absolutely terrible or unwatchable I’ll turn it off, but I try to watch the whole thing. People send in everything though, even pornos. I’ve seen it all and it’s all happened more than once.

What are a couple of films that went from their premier at the festival to cinematic success?

We screened I Am Comic that got distribution from HBO and the documentary Mind of the Demon: The Larry Linkogle Story about one of the most important freestyle motorcyclists of all time. Everyone has to watch these films.

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The Bel Air Film Festival: http://www.belairfilmfestival.com/

Interviews by Daniel Rolnik: http://danielrolnik.com/blog/

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Fourclops ::) is a duo that makes interactive videos, which utilize technologies that can access your webcam and allow you play with various parameters as you watch footage. It is a concoction of one part filmmaker and the other web guru, a harmonious blend of left brain/right brain activity. Although, the [read more...]]]>

Fourclops ::) is a duo that makes interactive videos, which utilize technologies that can access your webcam and allow you play with various parameters as you watch footage. It is a concoction of one part filmmaker and the other web guru, a harmonious blend of left brain/right brain activity. Although, the lines between the two’s roles often get blurred. “We work together to formulate each project from its inception.”

The two met while they were freshman at Boston University and came together under a common goal when they began recruiting each other’s talents for projects. Some of which remain hidden in the shadows of the Internet on websites that are no longer active.  “Our goal is to give people experiences digitally that they’ve never had before. We’re trying to explore and push things as much as we can.”

Please note that for the purposes of this interview’s clarity, both founders of Fourclops have been combined into one active being. Also, you must click the images below to be redirected to interactive videos created by the duo.

What was the first video you made?

We’ve retroactively done a bunch of projects together, but one of the first ones released under the name of Fourclops ::) was our interactive coloring book music video for the band Au Revoir Simone.

How does your video for MNDR take content from Facebook?

We are hitting up the Facebook API so when you authorize us to access your information in the beginning of the video we gain entrance to a wealth of data about you, like your current location and job. The video begins with you being invited to Brooklyn by one of your actual friends who have New York listed as their current city. Also, the scene in which your friends are all talking with one another only involves mutual friends, which is why it seems so natural. We even grab a photo from your profile at one point.

What happens to the people to the people who live in New York?

We made a special New York only mode that includes extra footage of walking around to a deli and the Brooklyn Bridge. So, New Yorkers don’t know about the plane scene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIBC4lOUw3o

I like how the video doesn’t actually work on the iPhone, even though it’s based around one?

It’s a technology issue specifically having to do with HTML 5 [a computer programming language]. When we made the video it didn’t allow you program the function of interactivity, but that’s changing.

Where does the name Fourclops ::) come from?

We had come up with our logo ::) and thought about using it as our name, like how Prince used the ankh symbol, but then one of our roommates saw it and said oh that’s a  Fourclops. The domain name was available, which is key to anything, and so the name stuck.

What is one of the most exciting technological breakthroughs for you guys?

As 3D printers become more readily available and easy to use things will get crazy. It is definitely an area of interest of ours as well as something that we are keeping our eyes on. It’s going to be a huge game changer in the next decade.

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Watch videos by Fourclops ::)  - http://fourclops.com/

Read interviews conducted by Daniel Rolnik - http://danielrolnik.com/blog/

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Never Press is a publishing house based out of Southern California that releases zines, prints, and limited-edition art objects. They were founded by the trio of James Chong, Jesse Fillingham, and Gabe Gonzales – all of whom met whilst studying at Art Center in Pasadena. “As artists we often work [read more...]]]>

Never Press is a publishing house based out of Southern California that releases zines, prints, and limited-edition art objects. They were founded by the trio of James Chong, Jesse Fillingham, and Gabe Gonzales – all of whom met whilst studying at Art Center in Pasadena. “As artists we often work alone, so we felt it was important to come together as a collective to bounce ideas off one other.”

All three of Never Press’ founders are uniquely talented artists with diverse styles, yet also seekers of talent as well, so they publish editions by both themselves and others like Jason Holley, Michael Olivo, and Shaun Berke. “Zines are a way for emerging and especially younger artists to get their work out into the world since galleries aren’t taking as many chances on them at the moment.”

Please note that for the purposes of this interview’s clarity, all three of Never Press’ founders have been combined into one voice. It’s like their brains have been linked together via optical cables to form a single mega mind.

What’s one special printing method Never Press uses?

We use a risograph in the production of some of our releases. It is a machine that utilizes a similar process to that of screen-printing whereby you build up a work of art layer by layer. So, for a two-color print, we have to pass paper through the machine twice. Although, it’s definitely not the only special method of printing we employ.

Who were risographs originally intended for?

Schools and churches used them for massive runs of documents since they can create about 100 prints per minute and have long-lasting barrels of ink, which made them more economical than their alternatives.

How did Never Press come to be?

When we graduated from Art Center we wanted to print books as well as form a collective effort that brought together all of our individual strong points. We want each artist we work with to push us as publishers. We want artists that we want to work with pitch us crazy ideas and we want to figure out ways to make them work.

Are you all still creating your own individual art too?

We all work on our own art on the side, but people are so enthused about what we’re doing with Never Press that it’s becoming increasingly hard to find the time. It’s also exciting to initiate a project with another artist and watch them make a body of work that they might not have made if they weren’t given the opportunity.

How long does each zine take to make?

It varies from project to project, but on one of our releases it took us 15 minutes just to put the binding together. A lot of love goes into making each zine, especially since we do it all by hand and are consistently adding to amount of editions we release.

How has the role of zines changed since their inception?

In the late 70s, when zines really took off, they were like blogs where people could share obscure information with each other before they could search Google for it. But ever since blogs took over zines’ original need, our generation has turned them into an entirely new form of art object.

Where can we find your zines in Los Angeles?

You can find our zines at House of Secrets in Burbank, Giant Robot in West LA, Secret Headquarters in Silver Lake, and in our online shop. We also usually have a table at all of the zine and art book fairs in California.

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View editions by Never Press: http://neverpress.com/

Read interviews by Daniel Rolnik: http://danielrolnik.com/blog/

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Allison Krumwiede is an artist from the Californian city of Rancho Cucamonga. To those of us from Los Angeles, it seems like another planet, but I assure you it is very real. I began seeing Allison’s work at zine fairs and then swiftly began spotting it in magazines and newspapers [read more...]]]>

Allison Krumwiede is an artist from the Californian city of Rancho Cucamonga. To those of us from Los Angeles, it seems like another planet, but I assure you it is very real. I began seeing Allison’s work at zine fairs and then swiftly began spotting it in magazines and newspapers as well, since she does commercial illustration in addition to her personal series. She’s even recently branched out into becoming an art director, having worked on a short film a few weeks before our interview. A film that featured random celebrities that Allison has an encyclopedic knowledge and love of, like the daughter from the TV show Grounded for Life and a character from a Sesame Street segment.

When I arrived at Allison’s studio, the 90’s remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho starring Venice Vaughn was playing on a small television. “I’m a horrible schmoozer because I like talking about movies instead of my work. My bios always end up saying something like Allison likes to go to Disneyland and look at pictures of River Phoenix.” However, she’s a workaholic when it comes to art. Even when she goes on camping trips with her family she lugs around a red wheelbarrow full of supplies. “I’m 25 but 13 year old girls will walk by with this stink face. I’m like don’t judge me.”

Her studio is a massive industrial warehouse. “The scary thing was that the majority of everything in here used to be in my bedroom, which is a lot smaller than this space.” And while it may look messy to the unfamiliar eye, it’s actually very organized. “It’s like when you have a messy room, but you don’t see it as being messy because you know where everything is.” A tattoo artist occupied the studio before Allison moved in. He had built a wall separating out a large front room from a private space in the back he could use to ink people. Allison asked him to keep it installed, so now she uses the front portion for all the big messy stuff like screen-printing and the back for her office and workstation.

Why do you have a film on?

People listen to music when they work, but I watch films. They have to be films I’ve seen a million times or I will get distracted. My friends get pissed when they come to visit me because they always want to watch something I’ve only seen 100 times, rather than a million, and I can’t work that way.

What was it like being an artist in Rancho Cucamonga?

Rancho isn’t really an artist friendly city. We’re kind of like cockroaches because when you turn the light on us here in Rancho we scatter. People at my Junior college thought I was crazy when I told them I wanted to be an artist, so I didn’t talk about it. Then at Art Center people thought I was from Timbuktu because they had never heard of Rancho. I swear we have stores here. But we have a Michaels Arts & Crafts instead of a Blick because a Blick wouldn’t survive.

Who is one of your favorite pretty boys?

I did a show at Chaffey College solely comprised of River Phoenix paintings. It was like a huge shrine to him. However, when I get bored I draw portraits of Tom Hiddleston. He played Loki in the Avengers.

Where did you go to college?

I went to Art Center. I didn’t apply anywhere else because I knew it was where I wanted to go. The Claytons Bros., who are teachers at Art Center as well as artists, are some of the most inspiring people I have ever met.

What was one of your biggest struggles during college?

To help pay for supplies while I was at Junior college I had to work several grunt jobs. Including one where I had to clock in from midnight until 4am and then go to class at 9am that same day covered in bruises from lifting heavy boxes. I had another job as a barista inside a grocery store. But being up at 4am in the morning to brew cappuccinos for people who are grouchy and need to be at work on time wasn’t really my idea of fun. I have friends that like to have a steady paycheck and there’s nothing wrong with that, but I like being able to be my own boss.

Did you always love watching films?

I grew up in a house where I didn’t watch MTV until I was 14. I never even saw the uncensored version of Beetlejuice until I was 18 years old. So, I was shocked when I discovered the scene where Beetlejuice kicks over a tree and says “nice fucking model.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrMiCYi7I00

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View art by Allison Krumwiede: http://allisonkrumwiede.com/

Read interviews by Daniel Rolnik: http://danielrolnik.com/blog/

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Ingrid Allen is a classically trained painter who leads a double life as a costume designer for television and stage productions. She helped create Lady Gaga’s early outrageous touring outfits in addition to having utilized old master techniques to paint an oil portrait of director Todd Phillips [The Hangover, Old [read more...]]]>

Ingrid Allen is a classically trained painter who leads a double life as a costume designer for television and stage productions. She helped create Lady Gaga’s early outrageous touring outfits in addition to having utilized old master techniques to paint an oil portrait of director Todd Phillips [The Hangover, Old School, Road Trip] alongside his most trusted canine. “I’d like to go deeply into one thing, but I have ADD.”

Her stepfather is a Norwegian painter that ran art schools in both Venice Beach and Malibu with her mother, who is too a master wielder of the mighty brush. She even makes her own brand of oil paint named Liv’s Magic White: Weapon of Mass Creation that her daughter uses exclusively in all of her works. It’s placed alongside Ingrid’s other painting mediums like Oil of Spike Lavender, Linseed Oil, Aquanet, and bright red Gesso.

Why do have Aquanet amongst all your paints?

I use it as a fixative on layers of delicate mediums like charcoal so they don’t smudge. Plus, I like seeing the aquanet label and I can get it easily at the drug store down the street.

When did your journey into art begin?

I did dance when I was kid thinking that it was going to be my path. However, I always drew, but it was hard to be a beginner with parents who were so masterful. So, I secretly started painting when I moved out and went to Venice, Italy to learn subtly different techniques than the old master style.

Did you do a semester abroad?

Well, there was nothing formal about it. It was a program started by one of my father’s students, so I didn’t get any college credits.

How did you afford to go?

I asked a bunch of people in Orange County to pre-pay me $200 to paint their portraits. I told them that I would learn how to paint in Italy and so when I came back, I came back to a business because I had all these commissions to paint. After I finished with all of those pieces, I then had a portrait business running for about ten years solely through word of mouth.

How did you get into the profession of designing costumes?

My painting became my livelihood almost immediately. It’s something that most people strive for, but it made me feel drained because I was being hired to paint portraits similar to the ones I had already done for the past 5 years. So, I chose to have costume design be the way in which I made a living. I was always making clothes for myself and other people eventually started hiring me to make dresses for them as well. I got pretty into it and built a whole sewing and painting studio in an airstream.

Where do you go to collect all the odd items in your paintings, like boxing gloves and Pee-wee Herman dolls?

Everything finds me. For example, I had reoccurring dreams involving hanging objects like the boxing gloves when I was 19. They were a little morbid, but it didn’t seem that way at the time – although my dad ultimately did commit suicide, so as I’m saying this out loud I wonder if there was some sort of connection. Eventually, I created a whole series named “Hung” and the painting of boxing gloves was in it.

The painting above is by Ingrid Allen’s stepfather Jan Saether 

 The four paintings on couch in the image above were collaboratively made by Ingrid Allen and her sister Elisa Saether

The painting above is by Ingrid Allen’s sister Elisa Saether

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View more paintings by Ingrid Allen: http://ingridallenpaintings.com/

Read more interviews by Daniel Rolnik: http://danielrolnik.com/blog/

Look at the portrait of Todd Phillips and his dog by Ingrid Allen: http://www.ingridallenportraits.com/images/toddphillips.jpg

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Roman Cho is a photographer that works on both commercial endeavors and fine art series. When we met at his studio for this interview he was gearing up for a top-secret project that will likely be revealed later this year. However, we were still able to talk about his methodologies [read more...]]]>

Roman Cho is a photographer that works on both commercial endeavors and fine art series. When we met at his studio for this interview he was gearing up for a top-secret project that will likely be revealed later this year. However, we were still able to talk about his methodologies as well as the book Heroes & Villains he shot with the collaborator Tatiana Wills, which features portraits of artists in the contemporary art scene.

I saw he was working on woodcrafts as well as amassing a library of photo books in his studio. One of his recent finds is a copy of Kenro Izu’s SACRED PLACES, which features shots of remote locations reminiscent of the Indiana Jones franchise.

But before becoming a professional photographer, Roman Cho was a percussionist that got his degree in music from CalArts. His focus there was to master the Indian drum known as the tabla. However, he also played in many avant-garde and free improv groups as well as the gamelan orchestra.

“I like to give myself arbitrary rules to follow because it helps me focus.” – Roman Cho

How did you transition from being a CalArts percussion major to a professional photographer?

I got burnt out on playing music and started doing more photography, which I started as a hobby in college. One day while I was working my day job at the time I met a photographer who I eventually became a photo-assistant for. Eventually, that led to future gigs.

Why do you create arbitrary rules for yourself to follow?

If you give yourself arbitrary rules it makes your project more cohesive. They help you focus so you’re not wasting your time, since you then know what you should and should not do. For example, in Heroes & Villains one of the rules we [Tatiana Wills & Roman Cho] had was to keep shooting until we get to at least 100 different portraits of artists.

Why did it take Heroes & Villains so long to complete?

Part of the reason it was a five-year project was due to the number of artists we needed to get from all over the world.

Did you pitch the book to publishers before it was complete?

Publishers don’t want to speculate, they want to see a finished project. Especially with photo books, since it’s a very niche market.

What do you mainly do?

I make a lot of my living shooting editorial pieces for magazines like Maclean’s, which is one of the biggest news sources in Canada.

Roman Cho carved these pencils in his woodworking studio

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 To see more photos by Roman Cho, please visit his official website: http://romancho.com/

To read more interviews by Daniel Rolnik, please visit his archive: http://danielrolnik.com/blog/

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