Artist in Focus: Kimberly Marra
Kimberly Marra is an architect of emotions. She builds powerful paintings of interiors to highlight the struggle between public and private space. From the kitchen to the bathroom, Kimberly acts as the voyeur in any room one might live, work, sleep, or eat in. Read on below to learn more about her inspirations.
Artist in Focus: Marc Sirinsky
Marc Sirinsky brings a softer edge to the UGallery photography collection. His vintage shots are instantly recognizable and nostalgic. He adds a sense of confidence and comfort into his scenes through a retro photography process.
Locked away in the UGallery vault is an awesome video of Marc Sirinsky working in his home studio. As much as we’d love to share it, we don’t feel like now is the correct time to show Marc in all his glory. As a bit of a teaser, I transcribed the juiciest bits of his photograph advice for you to enjoy. Marc explains his process, his camera, and his artwork below.
Marc Sirinsky creates his work with a Carlton camera. It’s a camera that was made in the US during the late 1920’s/early 1930’s. Marc makes sophisticated photos despite its elementary settings. It has an instant setting which allows for a fixed shutter speed of about a hundredth of a second. It also has a time setting, so you can leave the shutter open as long as desired. The inside has a hollow back for 127 film. Even though this film is no longer made, Marc figured out how to use common 35 mm film with it. Due to the camera’s construction and the adjustments he’s made to it, no two photographs are the same. After Marc finishes the preliminary analog steps of his photography, each photograph is scanned and placed into the computer to undergo more modern adjustments.
Artist in Focus: Frank Malafronte
Artist in Focus: Stacy Raine
Remember our post about abstract art? Stacy Raine proves that abstract art can be fun and playful if you let it.
Stacy can find inspiration from a number of sources. A simple song as well as an intense emotion can drive her to paint. While she juggles working for The Nature Conservancy, she uses art at as means of creative expression. Below, she explains the joys of abstract art.
What is your earliest art memory?
Well, I’m not sure I thought of it as art at the time, but when I was very small, three or four perhaps, I was put in my room for a time out. In retaliation, I took some crayons out of my box and proceeded to lavishly draw what I now refer to as a mural of a thousand-legged spider. Needless to say, my parents were not proud of my work.
I’d love to see The Mural of a Thosuand-legged Spider. Anger seemed to be the driving force behind that piece. What feelings are the easiest to express?
It’s more about feeling the need to express my emotions through art. Sadness seems to be one emotion that really needs to be put somewhere. One of my favorite pieces came out of my husband’s last deployment. Of course, I paint when I’m happy too. I don’t know that anyone but me could really tell the difference. I just hope that each painting speaks to the viewer in a way that works for them.
If your paintings could speak, what one word would they use to describe themselves?
Unrestrained.
What is your favorite piece on your UGallery portfolio? Why?
They go in and out of my favor! I still love Set the Fire (I named it after the song that helped bring it to mind. The lyrics are in there). But if I had to choose, probably one of my new ones – Playing in the Stars or Dandelions at Dawn. I’m enjoying their playfulness.
Any anecdotes you’d like to share? Anything I should have asked?
I think that creating art isn’t the hardest part. What’s tough is allowing yourself to put it out there for the world. However, doing just that is slowly making me a braver person. It’s a difficult thing to put your creativity out there, to give something and ask for others to judge your work, which is usually so personal. I always have to remind myself that I paint because it makes me happy. Hopefully my art makes others happy too!
What advice would you give to emerging artists?
I am an emerging artist! But I think that perseverance and a support system are crucial. You need people to look at your art, to discuss your art, to remind you of why you are making art.
I see you like Lady Gaga. For fun, which Lady Gaga song has the most potential to spark a new piece of art within you?
Well, Untitled No. 5 was actually one that came to my mind in some similar form when I was (loudly) listening to music on a run and You and I came on my playlist. Her music is so fun and makes me euphoric, especially when I exercise to it!
Stacy, thanks so much for sharing a little bit about yourself and your art. You have a safe support system here! We can’t wait to see what you come up with next.
Artist in Focus: Kaylie Abela
Ugallery is proud to feature Kaylie Abela in our inaugural edition of the Artist in Focus series. Twice a month, we will highlight some of the most intriguing artists from our gallery.
We asked Kaylie’s to be our first featured artist because of her exceptionally unique methods of creating art. Enjoy Kaylie’s story and stay posted to the Ugallery blog for more on Ugallery’s artists and community.
Snap (2009)
What’s your earliest art memory?
My mother would entertain me for hours with coloring books if she needed uninterrupted time around the house. I remember sitting at the breakfast bar with a coloring book and crayons all around me. My favorite color was “macaroni and cheese,” just because of its name. Besides that color, I was a little girl who liked pink, not purple. (Those colors divided our cafeteria tables in elementary school.)
What keeps you up at night?
Everything! If I’m between pieces, I will visually assemble my next canvas in my head. I think of color combinations, whether or not I’m low on supplies, and most importantly: where the floor may be most level in my studio. Not everything is art-related. I work in a high-end shoe and accessories boutique in Beacon Hill and I lay awake or dream about that very often. I am the type of person who likes everything done in order, on time, and flawlessly. It can be beneficial for obvious reasons but also disadvantageous because it is impossible to achieve perfection, and as a consequence I worry a lot.
In this series of paintings, ice is left to melt over beads of acrylic paint on the level surface of a carefully prepared canvas. I mix a primer that allows the surface to absorb enough paint to stain while simultaneously repelling the water enough for it to pool and evaporate. The results are mysterious marks of color that interact with one another spontaneously.
How did you come up with the idea?
The idea to work with ice came about while flipping through books on Andy Goldsworthy, oddly enough. I needed to make a presentation on his Earth art and stumbled across a photograph of what looked like mud stains on huge sheets of paper. The caption said only “Melted snowballs” and provided no further information, nor was I able to find that photo (or anything like it) elsewhere. At first, I tinted ice cubes and melted them. But then I found that I preferred the texture that results from melting regular ice cubes on raw paint.
Meandering 15 (2009)
What are these works inspired by?
I’ve always been interested in chance, possibility, inevitability, probability and randomness. Lately these interests have directed me to the categories of mathematics and physics. I am still working on describing these relationships more clearly in my paintings. My process requires me to surrender a great deal of control over imagery and that is how I exercise my interest in chance and inevitability through painting.
What do you see as more compelling/important in art today - the concept or the beauty/aesthetics?
A really powerful piece of visual art will involve a balance of aesthetics and conceptual validity, but I believe in aesthetics really strongly because that’s what captivates a viewer first. An interested viewer can then use visual cues or read about the work to discover more about the artist’s intent or concept. In this case, the “aesthetic” doesn’t even necessarily have to be beautiful, just alluring in some way.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on canvases that are much bigger than the 6 x 6 canvases I typically sell on UGallery. These pieces are 48 x 60. I enjoy the process of making these because I build my own canvas stretchers and stretch them myself, which give them a heavier, more hand-made quality. I really like 2D artwork to function both as an object and an image and that’s why I prefer to work on canvas (many people ask me why I don’t just use paper.)
Wires in the Air 2 (2007)
