If you ever were to meet Usoon, you would never forget her. Her energy and exuberance makes a long lasting impression and her paintings are filled with passion and spirit, much like herself. 

Below is the conversation we had about her latest work:

 EC:Could you tell me about your current series you are working on?

 I just started a new series called “Graphic Prose”. I love to write and I love to paint so I am excited about this new body of work because it brings both worlds together. The pieces are text-based and very colorful; Inspired by picket signs. They are whimsical, vibrant paintings that represent me, like a visual diary of sorts.

EC: Where do most of your ideas come from?

Keeping my journal close at hand and then browsing through it months later when I am uninspired and deflated. It’s like a cookie jar.

EC:What has inspired you to come up with this idea?

Watching documentaries that involve protests or demonstrations. The picket signs really inspired me on so many levels. I also found some old stories of mine where I started to experiment with changing the fonts and colors; really bringing them to “visual life”. I had forgotten about those and so I am revisiting that idea with a new perspective.

EC:In what ways do you express yourself with what you are trying to say in your work?

Most of my work revolves around symbols or text and a whole lot of color.  I can’t think of a better way to express myself.  With 26 letters, you can say absolutely anything.

EC:What mediums do you work with?

Usually, if I am painting I use acrylics and pastels. But, I’ll use anything I drag home from the art store, or grocery store. Really, who can say no to inks or graphite pencils or markers? I just got done working with alphabet pasta for god’s sake.

EC:I know that your husband is a musician. How has that influence your artwork?

My husband is so supportive and he’s really helpful in any construction issues or brainstorming sessions. He is the most original person I’ve ever met, so he, himself, influences my artwork more than any music ever could.

EC:How has  working for an artist altered your perspective in art? (Either on the business side and/or the creative side.)

Working as an artist assistant has been invaluable; especially here in NYC. I have worked for other artists in other cities, but none can compare to NY. I have learned so much in the studio, and most importantly, I have met so many other artists through the studio.  The artist I work for is successful and amazing. She is basically my mentor; she just doesn’t realize it.  While in the studio, I am there when things go wrong and when things go right. I get to see it all for the most part and it both empowers me and intimidates me at the same time.  Nonetheless, I get to use my artistic skills, which is 100% more enjoyable than any cubicle I’ve ever been in before.

Sibyll in an artist and musician who resides in Cologne, Germany. I got the pleasure of finding out a lot about Sybill and her work through this interview. For further information about this artist you can read her work online at http://www.sibyllkalff.com. In the meantime, please enjoy reading our discussion below:

LC: What is the concept behind your current series, “Tents in the Sky”? How did you come up with that idea?

SK: The “Bitter ‘n’ Beautiful” text by my friend Dennis Leroy sums a lot up about the background of this series (http://sibyllkalff.com/texts-TentInTheSky.htm) I started that series, dreaming me back in a place I had in Cologne years ago, that I always called my “tent in the sky” and old attic. I rented a little room that came with an attic that was covered with white linen. When it was windy, it moved and made this beautiful sound. I  had attached to the little room, which was basically my workroom office, internet cafe and guest room, another room, built by a friend. It was like in a big big tent. I always dreamt of having this really renovated a real additional living space. I had windows facing a rather big backyard other houses in a good distance, the walls were as thick as can be and for years I never had the feel I had any neighbors in miles around me. I had my  “tent in the sky” for nearly 4 years.

LC: How has traveling effected your artwork?

SK:

I always loved to travel and I have many travel sketchbooks. Apart from travel diaries and other objects, photos and I always loved to work while traveling and of course in a way, I always traveled working on my arts and music anyways. You could be caught in a place, but are nevertheless traveling – spiritually, mentally in memories or in daydreams – and of course travels inspired many series of mine, For example the series “1000 opunzien” (http://sibyllkalff.com/texts-dieweitesuchen-en.htm) I started in winter listening to Jimi Hendrix and of course many other bands I loved. Since it was winter I was  missing the hot days in the extremadura, where we spent months hoboing around which there were 1000s of opunzien around( http://sibyllkalff.slide.com/) All other cultures and music and art and places and life was a never ending inspiration for my own art and music – and the languages, people, I  insanely love landscapes and nature and to be one with it and to live outdoors for months and of course all the travels made a very good counterpart to any live in a city and temporarily, not nomadic. Nomadism was the original human life form, long before people had fixed settlements and I  think  nearly every human being has a natural instinct to move, to travel, and to load up the camels. Being on the road, you constantly experience new situations.

A very beautiful text illustrating this is written by my friend Abigail Doan (http://sibyllkalff.com/texts-leaves-seeds.htm) Another series is “Traveling is my Passport Series” as well connected to my wish to abolish all immigration laws worldwide.

I fly back between Germany and NYC, USA for  more then 10 years. NYC was always my hometown , especially the blocks around Tompkins Square. I never wanted to leave, but due to a 3 months tourist visa, I had to.

Daniela Mayer, a German cultural journalist made a very good radio feature about the topic of passports – the history, cultural meaning and all connected to “the passport” You can download the German version of the radio play and find an English translation with all my other passport series related links at: http://sibyllkalff.com/texts-interviews.htm

LC: Do you have an overall theme to your work?

SK: I once said 20 years ago in an interview, yes, the love for life… and it-s beauty -
insanity, despair, bitterness – just all facettes of the dance of life till it leads to
the dance of death. and to express that in all possible artforms, as I really over the
years worked in nearly all media. drawing though was allways the basic
that I allways came back to, like an “artistic home after explorations in other fields”
and I love drawings, because you can imagine and phantasize about all, you
can can have the smalles piece of paper and create universes, huge exhibition halls
full of works and it-s fast and direct and even more in the moment then other media for me.
But my body of work includes sculpture, paintings, computerart, design, visual poetry, photography, language, poetry, writing, performance, film, multimedia, music, theater,
curating, science, philosophy, and many other forms of artistic expression.

I have no overall theme but that and I love to quote Charles Mingus:
” I always love to play the truth of the moment. The reason it is so difficult is,
it is changing all the time”. In a way, my work always tries to express
the truth of the moment, no matter what truth that is in any given moment.
I love to improvise and experiment, like my music, we never
wrote songs (we played some pieces maybe 3 times or very rarely played
a song) but all my music is as well, the moment, the very moment and it-s
expression of manifestation, that-s why i all my life loved zen, buddhism,
taoism – you can find a very good text by the curator of the collection”man and death”
eva schuster about my series “deathdances” at:
http://sibyllkalff.com/texts-totentaenze-en.htm

Maybe one could formulate it as the manifestation and illustration of “the celebration
of life and death” and “the journey from alpha to omega” and all that you experience
on the way. in a way audiovisual diaries. and of course my art is allways politcal
as life is political, just by living.

LC: I know that you also play music. Do you find art and music to be
similar mediums? Is the creative process the same for both visual art and
music?

SK: I have the same approach to both. It’s all the same for me.
Each and every medium has it’s own specifics, but
I play like I draw and I draw like I play. I spent and wasted alot of time long ago,

To ask me, ‘Is it visual art or is it music’ ,which is stupid, as
it all inspires eachother mutually and in a way cannot be seperated at all and
is all one part of expression with different connotations and possibilites.
You hear music and see visual art (of course v.v. is possible, too)
but in a way it’s all the same expression. A flower just grows… it “has to” …
of course with the right amount of water, earth and light it grows happily
with the wrong one it dies. But it “has to grow” and it’s beautiful as
animals are always beautiful. It rains. It just rains. And that’s 1000 songs
that you can listen to and love. I always loved to spend many hours and to
sleep in the extremadura in fields next to flocks of sheep, that had different
tuned bells around their necks. and it was like the most wonderful music
you could not compose or force into existence.
my discography at: http://sibyllkalff.com/music-publications.htm. My main musicpage: http://www.myspace.com/sibyllk

LC: How has the recent influx of artist moving to Berlin from all over the world changed things?

SK:I think that Berlin at the moment experiences a great time for all artists which of course was and is connected to the simple fact, that even with the euro, that basically ruined everyone’s existence and made it hard to survive for nearly everyone.  Although you can still afford space in Berlin and that there is some space left, that of course a changing, too. But nevertheless, I think that Berlin right now is the happening art town in Germany. I’ve been  stranded for 2 years again in Cologne. I lived for months in Berlin in the 90ies, but have not been there since.

LC: Do you think Germany as a whole, is supportive of the arts in Berlin or are there mixed viewpoints?

SK: You can have more then various viewpoints on Germany. There are always countries being more supportive of the arts then Germany. The Netherlands had an incredibly good program, but the cultural budgets went downhill due to an economic disaster.

20 years ago, there were more then 20 people working in the cultural department for the arts in Cologne (as well responsible for funding, grants etc.) Now it is down to 3; This as a metaphor for the general situation of cultural funding in Germany and being supportive of the arts. I am sure that all Berlin’s arts get the best possible funding and support, since it’s  the capital.

I had interviewed Sarah Dobkin, an artist from Boston, who talks about her latest work. Sarah talks about how she captures the essence of energy through her paintings through patterns, colors, and movement. More of Sarah ’s work can be found on  SarahDobkin.com.

Please listen below to our discussion about her work.

I interviewed Adam Krawesky outside a cafe in Berlin, Germany.

Adam talks to me about his recent move from Toronto to Berlin, and how this change has affected his work both internally and aesthetically.

To view more of Adam’s work, visit www.Inconduit.com

Please listen to the link below to hear Adam talk in great length about his photography.

Interview with Adam

I recently interviewed Erik Sanner, a multi media artist who combines paintings with technology.

In this podcast , Erik Talks with me about his “Moving Pictures” and other interactive projects. For more information, please visit his website at www.ErikSanner.com. Please listen to our discussion to hear more about Erik’s work.

Jesse Nash is a documentary photographer with a background in journalism. His current exhibition is of photographs he took while in China. I got a chance to talk with Jesse at his exhibition in the Grant Gallery in NYC. To see more of Jesse’s work, visit www.GrantGallery.com. Please listen to Jesse talk about his work by clicking on the link below.

Jesse Nash

Anna is a photographer based in NYC. Her photographs focus on her family experience. TO view Anna’s work online,visit www.AnnaOB.com. Now,please join us while I talk with Anna’s about her deeply poignant and heart-felt work. Please tune in below to listen to the full podcast.

Interview with Photographer,Anna Ogier-Bloomer