MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Carson Grubaugh


Website:

www.hodtech.net

Favorite Color:

I am red-green colorblind, so I hate them all.

Where were you born/raised:

In tha' 209

Education:

Is fucking expensive.

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:

The poor square was found the next morning bloated beyond recognition and mistaken for a circle.

Current obsessions:

Mixed Martial Arts

Favorite piece/project you’ve done:

Doing Works: Dry Hump, or CarinConks RutabagaHighRung (become it's friend on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/carinconks.rutabagahighrung)

 

 

What is your least favorite question/comment about your work and how do you respond?

"Are you being ironic?" "Go listen to Dillinger Escape Plan's Irony is a Dead Scene, old fogie." or "Suck a dick."

22 likes to focus on the overlap between art and design. Do you consider yourself an artist or designer?

Who cares? What matters is, is it interesting?

Tell us about the piece(s) you created for MODULAR22:

It is a visualization of the relationships between all the divisors of 24, which especially interest me due to their connection to rhythm and poly-rhythms. Plus, it fit perfectly on a 24 x 12 piece of stuff.

 

 

 

Anything else you would like to share with us?

There is a song that plays over the Muzak at work that contains the lyrics "OOOhhOOHHH, uncharted," but all I ever hear is "OOOhhOOHHH, I sharted."

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Ricardo Gonzalez

 

Website:
http://ricardogonzalezart.com

Favorite Color:
green

Where were you born/raised:
south side/blue island

Education:
BFA American Academy of Art Chicago

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:

I like to create, draw, paint, collage, on varied surfaces. I create artwork to empower people/communities and bring a positive message to audiences. I use vibrant color, representational technique, as well as pop art/street art elements.

Current obsessions (art, design, music, movies, whatever, etcetera):

I enjoy all hand made art, I appreciate design when available, I love photography that makes me feel nostalgic, I love Bob Dylan, Cafe Tacvba, M.I.S. I really dig Walter Salles films, Almodovar, Wes Anderson, and Guillermo del Toro... bike rides and running too!

Favorite piece/project you’ve done (send pic):
i'm closely attached to the portrait of my late Grandmother

What is your least favorite question/comment about your work and how do you respond?
I'm open to questions/comments, I suppose it's only if people try to confirm meanings to pieces I don't agree with... but I welcome dialogue.

22 likes to focus on the overlap between art and design. Do you consider yourself an artist or designer?

I consider myself more of an artist, however I appreciate both labels I'm not as experienced at traditional graphic design.

Tell us about the piece(s) you created for MODULAR22:

I created two pieces know as "VACAS" (cows in spanish) and "EL BORREGO" (the sheep in spanish)
These paintings were representative of society's complacent or passive sentiment to many troubling issues today. 

 

 

 

 

Anything else you would like to share with us?

I like to keep very busy with art projects, I always welcome collaborations as long as schedule allows. I often work with communities and youth on murals and various art projects, I enjoy working with people of all levels of art experience. I also greatly value creative people I meet who keep a humble and positive attitude regardless of work credentials.

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Olea Nova

 

Website:
oleanova.com

Education:
Olea Nova was born In St. Petersburg, Russia. She is a graduate of the University of Humanities and Social Sciences in St. Petersburg and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her body of work spans the media of painting, drawing, printmaking and video.

Current obsessions (art, design, music, movies, whatever, etcetera):
Painting + working on a video "Go I know not where and bring back I know no what"

Favorite piece/project you’ve done:

What is your least favorite question/comment about your work and how do you respond?
Comment: "I love the colors!" Response: "Thank you!"

22 likes to focus on the overlap between art and design. Do you consider yourself an artist or designer?

artist

Tell us about the piece(s) you created for MODULAR22:

It is a computer altered work(s) which is a reduction of a photo/snapshot to a high-contrast b/w image enhancing its abstract features.

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Max


Website:
maxblr.tumblr.com

Favorite Color:

sea foam green

Where were you born/raised:
I had an old lady, then I had to live with her granddaughter, then I spent 20 minutes outside before I was found.  Worst 20 minutes of my life, but I have good people now.

Education:  

School of life. But my people went to Cranbrook.

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:

I am a serious artist who happens to be a cat.  My work explores feline identity in a world full of humans.  I am also very fluffy... and fucking adorable.

Current obsessions (art, design, music, movies, whatever, etcetera):

Super toy.  Patented crinkle noise. Crinkle blue man. Crunchers. Fresh catnip.  Helping.  Being downstairs.  Modern plumbing.  Lying on glass surfaces.  Yelling.  Having an equal third of the couch or bed.  Super toy.  Pushing things off the table.  Plastic wrappers.  Butter. Tuna water.  Roast beef.  Bristles.

Favorite piece/project you’ve done:

My most successful piece to date was a performance in which I clambered inside a suitcase and took a nap. This project attempts to come to terms with the transitory nature of self within the early twenty-first century’s database-oriented paradigm. As our search for work has become more and more freelance in nature, so has our search for identity. We constantly and restlessly move across the network, transforming each possession, location, and experience into a personality-shaping commodity, free to be emphasized, embellished, or discarded as the situation dictates. In this piece, the suitcase becomes a “vessel” in all senses of the word. It literally contains my physical body, serving simultaneously as a cocoon, exoskeleton, and transportation device. It also acts as a metaphor for an identity in transition, infinitely malleable, with no fixed reference points, adrift on a sea of cut-and-paste narrative, traveling endlessly from one non-place to the next. Plus it’s like totally comfortable and I look all fluffy and adorable in it.

 

 

 

What is your least favorite question/comment about your work and how do you respond?

Question:  “Why don’t you update your tumblr more often?”
Answer: “Because I don’t have any fucking thumbs and my people are too lazy.”

22 likes to focus on the overlap between art and design. Do you consider yourself an artist or designer?
I’m a serious artist.

Tell us about the piece(s) you created for MODULAR22:
I'm grateful for the opportunity to show my work in public.  But I wish I had thumbs to control my work more.  I've already shown all of this work on maxblr and I would have liked to present new pieces, but the humans wouldn't let me.

Anything else you would like to share with us?
No.

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Kimberly Counes

Website:

www.kim2point0.com,

www.thedrawgustproject.wordpress.com

and... the site for my latest show in April www.nuclear-cafe.com

Favorite Color:

Purple, but I'm pretty sure everyone else thinks it's black.

 

Where were you born/raised:

Mahopac, NY. But I lived for far too long in Washington, DC. Finally escaped to California.

Education:

Cranbrook Academy of Art

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:

I study perceptions of truth and power.

Current obsessions (art, design, music, movies, whatever, etcetera):

Godzilla.

What is your least favorite question/comment about your work and how do you respond?

Favorite Color: Purple, but I'm pretty sure everyone else thinks it's black.

22 likes to focus on the overlap between art and design. Do you consider yourself an artist or designer?

That depends on who's signing the checks.

Tell us about the piece(s) you created for MODULAR22:

The text was something I had been kicking about it my head during my recent residency in Ireland. I was grateful for the outlet (MODULAR22) to explore the theme.

 

Anything else you would like to share with us?

I love you. I really do.

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Emily Fundis

Website:

emilyfundis.com

 

Favorite Color:

Charcoal gray or lavender

 

Where were you born/raised:
Nashville, TN

Education:

Graduated with a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2011

 

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:

I primarily illustrate animals and objects of natural history, but I like to superimpose unnatural, man-made compositions upon them.

 

Current obsessions (art, design, music, movies, whatever, etcetera):

Competitive reality TV shows, Flying Lotus, The Walking Dead, Reggie Watts, Jillian Tamaki, Sam Bosma

 

Favorite piece/project you’ve done:

Probably my Ovumboros piece.

 

 

 

22 likes to focus on the overlap between art and design. Do you consider yourself an artist or designer?
I enjoy bold, simple, and graphic compositions. I think my illustrative work blurs the line a little between the two, But I would say I'm 95% artist at heart.

Tell us about the piece you created for MODULAR22:

It's an original ink drawing I made specifically for the Modular22 show. I like exploring the dynamics in the natural world between predator and prey, territorial behaviors, mating rituals, and- in this case- the interaction between scavengers and the remnants of bodies.

 

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Megan Owdom-Weitz

Website:

www.meganleedesigns.com
 

Favorite Color:

gray
 

Where were you born/raised:

Columbus, OH

 

Education:

BFA in Visual Communication Design from Kent State

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:

I draw things that I love and don't take my "art" too seriously. For the most part my designs are all screenprinted on clothing, so its really fun to see my work around the city on people that love it. I really think about color and space when determining where to place my designs on my clothing though, so there is a thought process.

Current obsessions (art, design, music, movies, whatever, etcetera):

CrossFit :)

Favorite piece/project you’ve done:

Hmm...I do love my Catterwheel that was printed on a wooden canvas and filled in with watercolor.

22 likes to focus on the overlap between art and design. Do you consider yourself an artist or designer?

More of a designer, but I like to think I live my life as an artist.

Tell us about the piece(s) you created for MODULAR22:

It is actually a t-shirt design that I already print that I modified for the panel. Berwyn love!

 

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Rebecca Renee Belmore

Website:

http://rebeccarenee.carbonmade.com/

Favorite Color:
Green, I've always been fond of it.

Where were you born/raised:

A little town, south of Chicago (Lansing, IL)

Education:

I'm currently studying at a community college, South Suburban. The faculty, including Eric Tucker, are really hands on and diverse, which bring forth all aspects of art in a harmonious way.

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:

I'd like to call it sketchy and somewhat organic.

Current obsessions (art, design, music, movies, whatever, etcetera):

My current obsession has to be ceramics. I've just recently learned the ins and outs of the potter's wheel and I have to say, it's a blast. It's just that quick gesture of the hands creates this unique expression of the pot I'm making. It's also a very extensive medium to work with.

Favorite piece/project you’ve done (send pic):
This is my second piece that involved books. My first one only used one, but this time, there had to be over twenty or so recycled prints! They varied from textbooks, to lousy romantic novels to become this asymmetric piece of art.

22 likes to focus on the overlap between art and design. Do you consider yourself an artist or designer?
I'd like to classify myself as an artist, though both play roles in each others fields. One must design works of art and imagine the design itself.

Tell us about the piece(s) you created for MODULAR22:
The Kozo Birds are actually my three parakeets. The panel was derived from a couple of late night sketches of them; they seem surprising "wise" when they're sleepy. Also, this piece was ironically created with colored pencils, the complete opposite theme of MODULAR22.
The other panel I created was "Pattern". You wouldn't believe how many objects people point out in this piece. It's an artistic game of I Spy.

Anything else you would like to share with us?
This is my first time that my work has been featured in a gallery without any college involvement. It's quite exciting!

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Anna Reber

Website:
www.annareber.ch

Favorite Color:
green

Where were you born/raised:
Berne / Berne Switzerland

Education:
Originally I studied economics and got then into art. From 2005 - 2007 I took private classes with the artist Ricardo Abella www.ricardoabella.ch : figurative pencil, charcoal, nude drawing, figurative and abstract oil and acryl painting. 2010 School of the Art Institute, Chicago, USA - summerterm.

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:
In my work I am creating space on the canvas, igniting in the observer positive emotions and good feelings. I am working on large scale abstractions and, on the other hand, I am working very figurative, sometimes on smaller scales. I let myself inspire by the world around me, by the colors I see in daily life and the composition of how things are arranged in nature. My paintings allow the viewer creative space for his own imagination.

Current obsessions (art, design, music, movies, whatever, etcetera):
art, music, nature

22 likes to focus on the overlap between art and design. Do you consider yourself an artist or designer?
artist - even I sometimes do some designs, especially Logos for Companies

Tell us about the piece(s) you created for MODULAR22:
I used to work for 10 years for Swissair as a flight attendant. On duty as a flight attendant I met my husband on the flight to Washington on October 27, 1997 on the good old Boeing 747 of Swissair. Swissair was in Switzerland like the 'holy cow', everybody was in love with Swissair. Swissair was just Swissness. On October 2001 the impossible happened, Swissair got bankruptcy and was grounded. Swiss people, until today, do not really want to believe that Swissair does not anymore exist, they still today hope there will be once again a revival of the good old Swissair. I created this work for Modular22 because Swiss people still dream about Swissair and Swissair is so very much Swiss. I wanted to create something, which represents still today Switzerland and which is full of souvenirs for me. It was as well thanks to Swissair I got to know Chicago, the Art Institute and the city, where I almost feel at home for all these years I am always traveling to it.

 

Anything else you would like to share with us?

I will work in future more on the subject Swissness. I am planning for upcoming shows to do a whole cycle about Swissness, everything which represents Switzerland. It will be more figurative painting, perhaps even a bit design. The first painting will be of Barry, the world famous Swiss dog of the Hospice of the great St. Bernhard.

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Amy Nicole Dosen

Website:
www.amynicoledosen.com

Favorite Color:

Neon Pink.

 

Where were you born/raised:

Chicago, IL

 

Education:

BA in Art & Design, DePaul University, 2012 & MFA in 2D Design, Cranbrook Academy of Art, 2014

 

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:
Girl living in 2012, trying to make sense of the world while recovering from crippling obsession with the 80s & 90s. Lots of neon and profanities.

Current obsessions (art, design, music, movies, whatever, etcetera):

Neutraface 2 by House Industries, Coke Zero, Risograph Duplicators, Publication design, Buying ridiculous web domains, $5 Burger Night at the Emory in Ferndale

Favorite piece/project you’ve done:
My favorite project so far has been designing and art directing Threshold, an art & lit magazine at DePaul University. I'm obsessed with book & magazine design, and it was amazing to be able to create an entire 120 page publication, from initial art direction, to production and print. It was a great growth and learning experience, and I am very pleased with the final prodcute.

What is your least favorite question/comment about your work and how do you respond?
I hate whenever people ask me to narrow down what I "want to do" or anything related to categorizing myself/planning for the future. I'm still trying to figure it out while making rad stuff in the mean time.

22 likes to focus on the overlap between art and design. Do you consider yourself an artist or designer?
Both, for sure! I call myself a designer first, but I am particularly interested in where design & art overlap. I like to use graphic design methodology and the medium of design to create art that pushes the boundaries between the two.

Tell us about the piece(s) you created for MODULAR22:
While designing my panels, I was thinking about space, specifically stars, and how we relate to them scientifically/personally. I remember being a small child and wishing on stars, seeing them as glimmering orbs of hope in the night. As an adult, it's depressing to remember all of those long lost hopes and wishes, most of which never came true, that were offered up to stars that were already dead when I wished on them. It's a juxtaposition of the innocence of childhood and the harsh reality of life.

 

 

Anything else you would like to share with us?

I like to make rad stuff with awesome people. If you also like doing that, then we should probably be friends and collaborate.

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - 

Website:
www.giovanniarce.com

Favorite Color:
all of them

Where were you born/raised:
chicago

Education:
life

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:
although not immediately apparent the medium of each artwork often plays a significant role in my work. when seen from a distance the work can appear somewhat minimal but the illusion of the work’s simplicity pulls the viewer in to reveal the true nature of its complexities.

Current obsessions (art, design, music, movies, whatever, etcetera):
art 24/7

Favorite piece/project you’ve done:
"Bush"
2008
89" x 67 1/2"
acrylic on 600 toilet paper
cardboard tubes

22 likes to focus on the overlap between art and design. Do you consider yourself an artist or designer?
artist

Tell us about the piece(s) you created for MODULAR22:
title: BS
fabric with acanthus pattern, wooden letters that spell "BullShit" and painted to match the acanthus pattern.
inspiration came from when someone tried to hide the truth from me by disguising it (think camouflage). all i ever ask is for people to speak to me in truth and not to bullshit me. we're straight if you can do that.

title: Who will guard the guards themselves?
painted computer keyboard keys which are arranged to form 2 eyes and the sentence "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" written below them which is a latin phrase that is literally translated as "Who will guard the guards themselves?".
inspired by reality. some of know that they are watching but how can we be guaranteed that it's being done for the right reasons?

 

 

title: P'u (pronounced POO)
created to remind myself that things don't have to be as complicated as i make them out to be.
Definition of P'u:
(Chinese: "simple," "in primordial condition"), in Chinese Taoism, metaphorical expression often translated as "uncarved block" and signifying the primordial condition of the mind before it has been affected by experiences. Taoists try to regain that early sense of unlimited possibility by trying to "unlearn" things until everything becomes a new experience.

 

 

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Robin Dluzen

Website:
robindluzen.com

Favorite Color:
grey

Where were you born/raised:
Ypsilanti, Michigan

Education:

BFA Adrian College 2008; MFA School of the Art Institute of Chicago 2010

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:
My practice employs industrial and everyday materials to explore the confluence of landscape and labor, particularly as it relates to the Midwest landscape and my family's labor history.

Current obsessions (art, design, music, movies, whatever, etcetera):
Polish Film, Lawrence Weschler, Bob Dylan, cardboard

Favorite piece/project you’ve done:

Transmission Towers, cardboard and paper tape, 2012

 

What is your least favorite question/comment about your work and how do you respond?

"Oh, I thought a man made this!" to which I reply, "Yeah, I'm a little macho."

22 likes to focus on the overlap between art and design. Do you consider yourself an artist or designer?

Artist
 

Tell us about the piece(s) you created for MODULAR22:

I've long been interested in replicating found line drawings and the illustrations on hardware packaging in order to highlight their functionality as well as their relatively anonymous authors.

Anything else you would like to share with us?
Robin Dluzen is also an active art critic in the city of Chicago and her writing can be found in such publications as Art Ltd Magazine, Visual Art Source, New American Paintings Blog, New City, the Reader and i4design Magazine.

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Matthew Scott Gualco

Website:
http://www.matthewgualco.com

Favorite Color:
N/A

Where were you born/raised:
Sacramento,CA

Education:
Kansas City Art Institute, BFA Painting, May 2008, San Francisco Art Institute,MFA New Genre,May 2012
 

Describe your work in 140 characters or less: My work forms an allusive hybrid between drawing and literature by interjecting the subject matter with literature and symbols. There is rawness in the manner that is within the understanding of the viewer. Based on my experiences and everyday life, I portray society with all of its imperfections that we all enjoy. Society is placed starkly into traditional literary formats of screenplays, prose and poetry.

The wingding characters interspersed throughout my writings act as both decoys and stage directions to compel the viewer/reader to determine for themselves whether these dashes, arrows and symbols serve a particular semiotic purpose or whether they may simply be placeholders, abstract glyphs alluding to some modern day Rosetta Stone.

 

Current obsessions (art, design, music, movies, whatever, etcetera):
GG Allin, Daniel Johnston, Sam Peackinpah, Philip Guston, Harper Hair,Clayton Skidmore, Rachel Mack,Brian Henkel, Conrad Guevara,

Favorite piece/project you’ve done (send pic): Lindsay Lohan: Performance Reader (2012)

What is your least favorite question/comment about your work and how do you respond?

Them-How Do you say your last name? Me- Its like "guacamole"

22 likes to focus on the overlap between art and design. Do you consider yourself an artist or designer?
I would like the think of myself more as an "writer"

Tell us about the piece(s) you created for MODULAR22:

The peaces that are in MODULAR22 come from one of my books. Wingding Opus.