Artists Describing Their Art:
Rachel Dimicco -
Dana Zivanovits - Dana Zivanovits was born in 1958 in Columbus, Ohio and received his art training from the Columbus College of Art and Design (1978 to 1982). After art school, he went abroad for a year and studied the art of the old masters in London, Paris, Madrid, Rome and Venice. Returning to his studio in Columbus to develop these influences into a new body of work, he then traveled to Mexico and studied the sculpture and painting of that country for an extended period. The unique and vivid colors of Palenque and Vera Cruz intensified his palette. After a period in Ohio, he then moved to Venice Beach, California where the brilliant light of the region reinforced his desire to capture effects of sunlight and atmosphere. Returning to Ohio in 1995, he has continued to paint themes deriving inspiration form sources such as world mythology, classic and B-grade cinema, literature and dreams. However his primary inspiration is direct observation from nature, versus an approach based in art theories or cultural critique. Dana has been widely represented by galleries and exhibition projects including Julie Rico and Mega Boom in Los Angeles, the Venice Art Detour, Around the Coyote Festival in Chicago ...
Daya Bonnie Astor - Summer 2009 Venezia- I am exploring movement. This is a play on words of "women's movement". I examine legs as a symbol of women moving forward to a goal. Legs can dance, walk, take steps (physical and mental); legs move in space. I am using mixed media (fabrics, canvas, paper, paints). The body of work is title "La Gambe che Supports" (the leg which supports). My series of fourteen works shows legs not interacting with any artifacts which would describe place, home or activity, besides movement. I sue color and texture to show variations and emotions within the legs. Another level of complexity for my artwork is site specific: Venice is fragile. Venice is a pedestrian city. Everyone walks, moves on fragile land. Workers commute to the lagoon, even the indigent and street vendors commute to select places to interact with the tourists. Since the ground is uneven here, one must pay attention to stones, concrete and the elements which make up our pedestrian surface. One must also pay attention to our support, our legs. Legs have expression, perhaps not as refined as hands and arms, and one can red expressions in legs. My subjects, women, walk through unifying ...
Carmine Santaniello - MOSAICS: Altered Monoprints: A multi-faceted series of new works create hybrids from an earlier process. Original monotypes are merged to form artworks that are handcrafted mosaic-like weaves of color, shape, texture and movement. Final images are transformed into art on paper with greater depths of aesthetic consistency. ...
Sarah Hauser - My working process involves moving ideas from one medium to another. A drawing may become a print which will become a sculpture -- then the sculpture can inspire drawings which are collaged with printed backgrounds, which gives me further ideas for creating environments composed of many sculpted objects. An important aspect of my work reflects a very direct connection I feel with animals. I am inspired by their emotional transparency and their fascination with any new object or situation: our cat who can be sleeping but becomes fully alert when anything new is brought into the apartment; the squirrel who comes to our fire escape every day to taunt our cat; the tiny sparrow who steals the large chunk of bread in mid-air as it's being thrown to a duck; the dogs that are so delighted to be out on a walk. Since the mid-nineties, I have pursued an ongoing series of drawings, paintings and prints of animals. Some of my newest works are strappo monotypes. Strappo is a process which was developed and taught to me by artist Harold Garde. The image is created by painting with acrylics on glass, then strengthening the surface using many layers ...
David Mac Innes - David Mac Innes A lifetime interest in art and painting was started at Erie Technical High School that had a curriculum that allowed a half day devoted to drawing and painting from life models and plaster casts. A stick of hard charcoal and big white sheet of paper- In the traditional European Beaux Arts tradition. Following time sspent in the Army Air Force in both the US and Germany was four years at The Cleveland Institute of Art. In addition to developing skills in design, color theory, illustration and graphics,- studies in Art History, photography, film making and typography were also followed. Evening classes at Carnegie Mellon Institute as well the annual Carnegie Show provided exposure to the best international art theory concepts. During a 30 year career as an Art Director/Design Supervisor in advertising agencies in Pittsburgh, Cleveland and New York City in both print and television he continued painting and exhibiting in group and solo shows. His current method of using the computer to explore various aspects of an image prior to the finish was developed during this time This experience, plus not having a 'signature style' has allowed him to explore different approaches to creating images, ...
Jerry Di Falco - Photography inspires my art and acts as a vital element in my etchings. The images I employ originate from my own photographs, as well as from the images I find from my research into the digital archives of universities, historical societies, libraries, and museums. Upon locating a documented scene I wish to etch, my first step involves the execution of two to five original drawings of the photograph. My collaboration between photography and printmaking allows me the independence to integrate my personal interpretations into the scene. Moreover, I create bridges between the physical and metaphysical visual realities in the same way that a camera intersects with human creativity . . . the nexus between the mechanical and the cerebral art tools. Art unveils everything that we mask behind our belief systems conversely, I strive in my creations to clarify those phenomena we overlook as a result of our egocentric assumptions. Ironically enough, I blame this failure to notice things, a process I label, the phenomenology of connectedness, on todayaEURtms very infatuation with and addiction to the new communicational technologies of social media. My artworks therefore become like windows through which to examine the mysteries of aEURoeeveryday consciousnessaEUR. In fact, my use of ...