MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Jacque Liu

Website:

www.jacqueliu.com

 

Favorite Color:

Any color that has been muted

 

Where were you born/raised:

Born in Taipei, Taiwan; raised in St. Louis, MO

Education:

BFA, English Minor, Alfred University; MFA, Cranbrook Academy of Art

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

art, community, rigor, imagination, innovation, material, exhibitions, artist collectives

 

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

Yes.

 

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Sarah Kate Burgess

Website: 

www.adorneveryday.com

 

Favorite Color:

indigo

Where were you born/raised:

Newburyport Massachusetts

Education:

UMass Dartmouth and Cranbrook Academy of Art

 

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:

I collect objects, deconstruct them, and reassemble them into wearable and non-wearable objects that reflect upon the body.

 

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

bundt cakes

Favorite piece/project you’ve done:

My most favorite is what I am working on now, but it's not done yet! So here is an image from my last series, entitled 'HairMash'

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

'Wow! You are sooooo creative, I wish I could do that, but I can't even draw a stick figure.' It is a misconception that all artists can draw, or that creativity is only found in the arts, we all have bursts of creativity it just finds different outlets.

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

I consider myself an artist, designer, craftsperson!

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

I tried to make an image that confused. By placing 'real' chain on fabric printed chain, I was hoping to raise questions about what is 'real' and 'true' and also how we assign value.

 

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Charlie DeLeonardis Jr.

 

 

Website:

charliedeleonardis.com

Favorite Color: 

purple

Where were you born/raised:

Raised in Brookfield IL

 

Education:

ISU & Concordia

 

Describe your work in 140 characters or less: 

Studying, thinking and observing. 

 

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

The latest Ninja Turtle cartoon is not bad.
 

Favorite piece/project you’ve done: 

One of my favorites is titled: Corn, mixed media on cardboard, Summer 2012, 11 x 8.5 inches   

 

What is your least favorite question/comment about your work and how do you respond? 
All questions are fun!

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

...Mix-media journalist. 

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

The pieces I submitted for MODULAR22 is in response to a repetitive symbol I've drawn for about seven years. I wanted to share this repetitive symbol and this show was an avenue to do so. The symbol so far is related to mutability. The ability to grow and evolve. As the years go on, I've noticed the symbol has endured changes, which is the point of drawing it in the first place. I have a file of just about everyone I've ever drawn and seeing the changes in the symbol is fun and that's good enough for me.

Anything else you would like to share with us?
LOCAL ART ROCKS.

 

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Christopher Santoso

Website:
christophersantoso.com

Favorite Color:
Pantone Reflex Blue
Pantone 804

Where were you born/raised:
Born in La Crosse WI, 1989
Minneapolis, MN, 1990-1998,
La Crosse WI, 1998 to 2007

As you can tell by the migrational pattern,
I've lived in the midwest my entire life.

Education:
Minneapolis College of Art and Design

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:
For the most part, I leave that up to the viewers and the clients,
but whatever I'm influenced by, at the time, addresses the vernacular of my work.

Current obsessions (art, design, music, movies, whatever, etcetera):
Ghetto House, Juke, Footwork, Sacred Bones Records, No-Wave,
The Future, Ableton Live, Arabic Culture, HelloMe, Open Source Publishing,
Base Design, Piet Zwart, Cults of America, Wilfred. Punk, Post-Punk, Black Metal,
Lo-fi Recording, Hamilton Morris, Psychedelic Culture, Rick Valicenti's theory of Human Presence (now and forever)

22 likes to focus on the overlap between art and design. Do you consider yourself an artist or designer?
Thats a great question. Since the personal practice of designers has recently become more focused on self production, it's been able to blur the so-called line between art and design. However, in this case I find myself conflicted between the two titles,
and whether both apply to me. I would like to consider what I create as both art and design, but I actively engage in various other creative outlets, such as music, curating, and writing. In my case, I'd like to think adhering to a these titles are irrelevant.

All around, I would generally consider myself a creative problem solver. I make things to build upon an internal need or convey someone else's message, or to improve on my own practice, or to improve as a person. Even so, if people were to ask me the about the context of specific projects, then I would address my pieces as design or art, given it's appropriate application.

Personally speaking, if what I create something to communicate a message clearly (by clearly, I don't necessarily mean modern and sleek) then its design.  If what I create is begotten to express something that only I understand, then it's art. Of course, there will always be that overlap. :)

Tell us about the piece(s) you created for MODULAR22:
My piece represents a slew of processes and ideas that I've been toying with for quite some time. I wanted to create something that represented and explored my eastern ethnic roots. I'm half Indonesian (with some chinese and dutch in the mix), and with that being said, I'm very far removed from my extend family in Indonesia. What's interesting about
Indonesia is that language is represented in Roman Script, yet the country has the largest Muslim population in the world and that demographic uses a distinct form of Arabic writing.

This piece was mean't to not only derive understanding about myself, but developed alongside to shed light on the current status of Muslim xenophobia in this country that is inundated by the American Mass media.

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Kevin Paolozzi

 

 

Website:

http://kevinpaolozzi.com

 

Favorite Color:

Red

 

Where were you born/raised:

Niagara Falls, Canada

Education:

McMaster University / York University / Cooper Union / Cranbrook Academy of Art

 

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:

Post-post-late modernism

Current obsessions:

Type design / revisiting my old iTunes playlists

Favorite piece:

 

Least favorite criticism/response:

"The 90's are over." Response: "For now."

 

Art/design?:

75% Graphic designer, 25% artist.

 

Piece in this show:

Explores a new process of manipulating preexisting graphic software with type design while conceptually focusing on the notion of "absolute truth" through visual media.

 

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Nicole Killian

Website:
http://www.nylondip.com

Favorite Color:
Bubblegum Pink

Where were you born/raised:
on AOL/internet, on parents' Windows 95 computer (in Buffalo New York)

Education:
Cranbrook Academy of Art (MFA), Rochester Institute of Technology (BFA)

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:
My work explores mobile messaging, youth culture, worship, & the internets thru screens, images & objects. Purity, Perfection & Perversity.

Current obsessions (art, design, music, movies, whatever, etcetera):
crazy erasers, Jeremy Scott, Christpher Kane, Pretty Little Liars, zines, the current wave of feminism.

Favorite piece/project you’ve done:
http://music-for-sleeping-children.tumblr.com

What is your least favorite question/comment about your work and how do you respond?
"So you're a designer, but you make art too?"

22 likes to focus on the overlap between art and design. Do you consider yourself an artist or designer?
I'm comfortable with either word.

Tell us about the piece(s) you created for MODULAR22:
My piece for MODULAR22 is revelling in the digital structures I interact with on a daily basis: my desktop and Stickies. I like to imagine these as rooms and objects in a lush physical space with depth. This work is exploring the conversation of design being a transparent vessel for information. In this case, the process is transparent (screenshots, image warping), but the communication may not be all the time.

Anything else you would like to share with us?
DON'T BE AFRAID OF POP MUSIC

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Matthew Coglianese

Website:
www.thepigshark.com

Favorite Color:
black

Where were you born/raised:
Chicago (south side)

Education:
Bachelors in Computer Graphic Design, Lewis University, 2004

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:
The focus of my work relies heavily on my photography which is then digitally manipulated to ultimately create that “final” image. I have created a lot of different types of art, yet I find that when I am altering my photographs and manipulating visual truths, that I enjoy viewing these works the most.

Current obsessions:
Mars Volta, hand stands, borderlands 2, bbq pork chop sandwiches, craft beer, and zerberts

Favorite piece/project you’ve done:

This is a newer piece from a series I have started working on. It is also my favorite piece that I have done in 2012. Series is Titled “UFO”

What is your least favorite question/comment about your work and how do you respond?
“How did you do that ?” and “How did you come up with that idea ?” are questions that make me cringe just a little bit internally. Aside from slipping on the toilet seat and hitting his head how did DOC really come up with the idea of the Flux Capicator ?

22 likes to focus on the overlap between art and design. Do you consider yourself an artist or designer?
I would consider myself more of a designer, as my foundation in art was half built upon an interest in architecture. Although I left that part of my life behind, those skills never completely disappeared and are now carried through in my day job as a designer for an awning company. For my personal work I just happen to bring my designs to life in a creative and artistic manner. A lot of my design is conceptualized and exists in the planning stages of my ideas and is further built upon as I go through a project from beginning to end. In the broadest sense of the words, I simply make art by designing.

Tell us about the piece(s) you created for MODULAR22:
The pieces I created for Modular 22 were from photographs that I digitally manipulated to create a visually evocative image that may be strange in subject and appearance to some. Example 1: “An eagles head on a old mans body sitting in a chair in an abandoned run down decrepit building” Example 2: “An arm coming through (from the inside) a broken T.V. screen that is sitting on a raggedy couch in an abandoned church” Example 3: people in a field with war planes over head that have dropped bombs, the bombs being mid-flight capturing the moment before these people are about to perish.

 

Anything else you would like to share with us?
As far as what I have planned for 2013. I am working on putting together a rather ambitious project to do a large scale photo shoot capturing as many people as I can find simultaneously doing a hand stand. If I can get 400 people doing this It will be a new Guiness World Record.

For more information on this project or interested in being a part of it, please contact me at thepigshark@gmail.com and check out my website www.thepigshark.com

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Erin McGuire


Website:

ErinMcGuireStudio.com

Favorite Color:

Green & Silver (even though I have a hierarchy of colors)

Education:

School of the Art Institute of Chicago, BFA

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:
I create abstract paintings which serve as a layer of communication I often feel is missing between the world and myself - a disconnect.

Current obsessions (art, design, music, movies, whatever, etcetera):
Tale of Two Sisters film, pickles, always obsessed with colors. Also, I'm in love with oil paint.

Favorite piece/project you’ve done:
vacillate, oil on canvas, 30" x 30", 2012

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

"Is that a bra in your painting?" I couldn't see it, so it was a moot point.

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

I consider myself a painter, but more of an artist than a designer - even though I'm interested in design.

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

I made 7 pieces for the show. I ended up mixing my own blacks to alleviate the fact that I wasn't working in color, which was a challenge, but made me focus on shapes, and was fun overall.

 

 

 

Anything else you would like to share with us?

As 22's intern, I was thrilled to help with such an ambitious project, and satisfied with result. It sounds semi-cheesy, but it was really cool to see such a variety of artists and designers brought together throughout the duration of the project. Also, Dan and Jessica are awesome!

 

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Emily Baker

 

 

Favorite Color: 

I know it when I see it.

 

Where were you born/raised:

Florence, Alabama / Batesville, Arkansas

 

Education: 

Master's of Architecture from Cranbrook Academy of Art

 

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:

capitalising on advanced digital fabrication methods to create structural/architectural systems that are easy, fast, beautiful, useful....

 

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

Karen Dalton and tune-yards

 

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

"It's too simple." / "What could possibly be too simple?"

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

yes

 

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

full scale detail shot of a structural screen called Spin-Valence. it's made out of steel and cut with plasma. 

 

 

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Tommaso Lesnick

Website:

tommasolesnick.com

Favorite Color:

For years I thought it was green, but it turns out it is orange.

 

Where were you born/raised:

Florence, Italy and Birmingham, AL

 

Education:

Knox College, BA

San Francisco Art Institute, MFA

 

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:

I like the mundane and the quotidian. I like repetition and multiples. I like off-the-shelf parts. I like to wrap stuff. I like string and clingfilm and tape.

 

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

I don't really obsess. I mull. I do love shoes, however.

Favorite piece/project you’ve done:
Generally it's whatever project I'm going to do next, which I'm usually starting to work out in my head. Pic available soon.

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

Questions and comments always reveal so much about the asker that I'm rarely bothered by them. Every question is fair game if asked honestly. It's the bullshit questions that bug me. Those usually get bullshit answers.

 

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

Yes.

 

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

I thought it would be fun to work sculpturally, taking one 4-panel unit and treating it as a single element. I wrapped it with tape and some clingfilm and string, then lots more tape. I finished off with a little bit of tape, too. Working exclusively in black and white with these particular materials was a new, interesting challenge.

 

Anything else you would like to share with us?

I think it is so cool that you guys commissioned your own song from Taylor Swift and that it made it on to her new album! Rock on, 22!

 

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Melissa Urbonas


Website
www.melissaurbonas.tumblr.com
www.etsy.com/shop/melissaurbonas

Favorite Color:

Green

Where were you born/raised:

Born in Joliet, IL

Raised in Darien, IL

Education:
B.F.A, Painting and Drawing, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2005
M.A.T, Secondary Education, Roosevelt University, 2011

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:
My work is a series of explorations into the way that I interpret the landscape around me. Growing up surrounded by the open farming fields of the Midwest, the vastness of space and the dominating presence of the horizon line has influenced both my perception of the world and my emotional attachment to place. I am interested in investigating the feelings and nostalgia associated with place - specifically, as it relates to the natural landscape. This stems from a desire to provide a common expressive ground for both the outer perceptual world and the inner personal world. I am enthralled by the range of emotional and psychological responses that we as humans have towards our various environmental stimuli. Impressions, feelings, and memories that I have connected to the natural landscape motivate me to articulate meaning from the surrounding world.

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

Art: Experimenting with incorporating Dorland's Wax Medium into my oil paintings; looking at American Folk & Outsider Art.
Music: Listening to "Fear Fun" by Father John Misty
Movies: Scratching all of Ingmar Bergman's films off of my to-watch list.
Television: Watching "The Walking Dead" and catching up on past seasons of "Breaking Bad".

Favorite piece/project you’ve done (send pic):
My favorite piece that I have done thus far is Plateau (Oil on Canvas, 36" x 36", 2010). It is a piece that still feels fresh to me. When I look at it, I don't want to change anything about it. For me, that's a rare feeling.

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

When I was invited to participate in MODULAR22, I knew that I would create a piece reflective of my adoration for the landscape. I also knew that I would create my piece using mixed media (in this case paper, glue, acrylic paint, oil paint, and wax medium). However, both the size of the panels for MODULAR22 and the overall format of the exhibition proposed new and interesting challenges for me. I had never created a painting on a panel of this shape. I also had never created a painting that functioned as part of a three-dimensional standing structure. Lastly, I generally do not work solely in black and white. All of these factors forced me to step outside of my comfort zone. I was intrigued by the opportunity to be able to do so.

Upon completion of my panel, I felt very pleased with my imagery (a depiction of a certain fondly-remembered mountainous stretch of Kentucky), but I wasn't sure if my feelings would change once my panel was installed alongside the works of dozens of other artists. Alas, once I viewed the exhibit, I was happy with my piece and I appreciated the variety that each artists' individual panel contributed to the exhibit. MODULAR22 is truly a unique exhibition and I am thrilled to be a part of it!

 

MODULAR22 designer Jessica Calek will be speaking at the SMALL Symposium this Saturday.

 

 

December 8, 2012 12:30-3:30 pm
Chicago Cultural Center
Claudia Cassidy Theater and Gar Rotunda / Second Floor
Presentations: 12:30-2:30
Tasting: 2:30- 3:30

In Chicago there are thousands of people who have started their own small companies to share their artisan made products as well as food and beverages to the public. Some of them started out as artists who used their skills to create hand crafted products. Others are trained chefs and designers who left their day job to pursue their dreams. To share these stories and to inspire you to join the growing movement of localism the Small Manufacturing Alliance is organizing our first SMALL Symposium.Using the Pecha Kucha style format of presenting a dozen members of the Alliance will share their stories in the Claudia Cassidy Theater. The Symposium is followed by a tasting of some of the great stuff being made here in Chicago.

Participants include:
Matthew Hoffman • Duncan MacKenzie/ Citizen Brick • RX Made • Betty Bot • Working Bikes • Mayana Chocolate • Pleasant House Bakery • Pear Tree Reserves • Morgan Martins • Twisted Hippo • Strand Design • Envision Arts •
22 Berwyn • Flesh for Food • Legacy Frameworks • Zak Rose / DOCK 6 • CALM • + more

Please join us. And stop by the SMALL Ordinary Shop to see what we are up to.
SMALL is an organization that promotes companies and individuals making locally manufactured products and it was created by the Public Media Institute. The goal of the organization is to amplify awareness of products made in the Chicago Metropolitan area through events, pop up shops, media, showrooms and trade shows.

SMALL recently opened the SMALL Ordinary Shop which is part of the Sic Transit Gloria Mundi: Industry of the Ordinary show taking place in the Chicago Cultural Center. The Shop is located on the first floor, re-imagining the former Cultural Center gift shop.

Advanced Laser Cutting Technologies

 

Tell us about your company. How did the company get started? What makes you stand out from other laser-cutting companies?

My father Don started a company in the late 70's that produced steel rule dies for packaging. As there were very few lasers around then he had many requests for other "job shop" projects particularly for the local furniture industry. So He started another company which was the predecessor of ALCT. We were one of the first companies in the world that laser cut decorative wood products. I was born into it.. I used to program machines using math and I could rebuild a laser before I could legally drive.

 

What are your favorite kinds of projects to work on?

I like any type of project that is a creative challenge for me. Right now I am working on a new product line for inlaid flooring. You can see a preview at carpentermarquetry.com. The php code for the "design your own" interface was quite hard for me to figure out.

 

Can you describe a “typical day” at ALCT?

On a typical day we produce 6-10 custom orders, all with their own unique details and ranging from small one offs to medium volume. We don't turn away most custom projects and they are quite diverse. I find it rewarding because I have to figure out how to make it all work, in time to make our customers happy. 

 

What’s the most unusual project you’ve worked on?

That's actually a hard question for me. Most of what we do could be considered unusual. In the past year we did a project for decorative shades for a pipe organ celebrating the 250th anniversary of Oxford. We did marquetry for a table that had 8,000 pieces on the face.We helped make some invitations for the president of Gaboon which Beyonce preformed at. We made ceiling tiles and wall panels for a castle restoration. We did the decorative fret work for a civil war area home from tidewater cypress.

 

What draws you to work with artists? How do you organize collaborations?

We are thankful to make our living doing decorative things and working with creative people. Most of what we do is collaborations with other craftsmen and most often they find us. I find it amazing what projects find their way to us.

 

What was your reaction when you first saw the concept drawings for MODULAR22?

It was almost exactly what we were talking about doing for Art Prize a few months before. I liked the thought of a collaborative artwork that would take on a life of it's own.

 

What was it like to work on MODULAR22? Please describe the process.

The structure of Modular22 was quite simple: rectangles with slots in them. Jessica sent us the files, we programmed them, cut up the blanks on the saw and then laser cut them. Most jobs take quite a bit of "finesse" in programming and producing them... but Modular22 was very easy to do. I also took some of my "stock designs" and did some programming voodoo to show some more complex laser cutting on the panels.

 

 

 

  

 

What sort of projects would you like to work on in the future?

We are game for what you bring us. I am working on two projects over the winter. Inlaid flooring and laser cut stencils. We have been selling stencils on eBay and I hope to further develop our web site offthewallstencils.com.  I I would like to collaborate with artists on our stencil line.. if any one is interested. 

 

What is the best way to get in contact with you?

corey@advancedlasercutting.com. (616) 281-1066.
http://www.advancedlasercutting.com/