from the In Vitro series by Ayad Alkadhi In the very early 2000s while I was struggling with my own identity as an artist I met a man who deeply touched my soul. My struggles were based on the fact that most of my work up until that point had been directly autobiographical – a … Continue reading
I had the pleasure of meeting Gaye Lub in 2010 when I was invited to travel with the Lub clan to Burning Man for my first time. As matriarch of the incredibly talented family, Gaye welcomed me, a complete stranger only familiar with her daughter Sonia, with flowing golden hair and open arms into their … Continue reading
I became enthralled with the work of Penelope Gottlieb three years ago when encountering her bold, colorful paintings of extinct flowers. On large canvases, bright and lush explosions of intricately detailed flowers, leaves and other plants seemed simultaneously suspended in space while moving in a sense of urgency. On closer inspection other items emerged from … Continue reading
During this past month, a lot of people in my life have been talking about art: what is it and what makes an artist an artist? For whatever reason, this dialogue has been pushing my buttons because I don’t think it’s something that can be quantified so generically or that is borne so much from … Continue reading
Over the past few years, I have slowly become a bit disillusioned with the art world. Instead of a place celebrating creativity and the fresh bursts of inspiration that all art should joyously derive from, I have had to balance being a conceptual artist working on my own career with making a living over the … Continue reading
The American sculptor Gesso Cocteau has just unveiled work from a new series called Original Mother that mirrors a crucial time in humanity and reflects upon our universal commonalities. Original Mother represents the initial seed of all humanity that, when coupled with our myriad lineages across eons of social, political and chronological history, takes us … Continue reading
In 2008 I trekked up to Idyllwild, a small community in the mountains of Southern California just southeast of the Coachella Valley desert. My mission was to check out the prestigious Painting’s Edge Residency students at the Idyllwild Arts Academy. Every year, key emerging contemporary artists are chosen to work one on one with noted … Continue reading
In the summer of 2006 I was working as the Director of Marketing for the Palm Springs Art Museum in California. Every afternoon I would leave my post in the administration building and walk over into the museum to sit in front of my favorite large scale Helen Frankenthaler painting. A lush ten-foot by ten-foot … Continue reading
