TBC Interview
Our belief is simple: artists deserve a platform not just for financial gain, but because art is crucial to the essence of our community. Our interviews offer a deep dive into the lives of some of the world's most fascinating creators, beyond the mainstream. This series provides a closer look at those who shape our culture, and inspire our daily lives.
Ayo Jackson
Jackson, a transformative voice in contemporary art, uses her work "Tear Suture Scab" to explore the Black experience. Drawing from "The Hunt of the Unicorn," she reimagines the unicorn as a symbol of resurrection and inherent goodness, presenting it as a Black unicorn, a potent emblem of the Black narrative. Jackson dares to personify death, giving it a voice that's both humorous and melancholic, challenging our perceptions of death as a necessary part of resurrection. Her characters, Suki and Shade, embody resistance, questioning societal norms and selective empathy. Jackson's work is more than art; it's a journey, a testament to the healing power of art, and a catalyst for societal transformation.
Gabrielle Garland
We recently chatted with artist Gabrielle Garland, whose work explores how we create, experience and interpret the concept of “home.” Gabrielle works primarily in painting and drawing, with a focus on rendering the interiors and exteriors of houses she sees in real life or finds on the internet. Her artworks are portraits in the non-traditional sense — while you don’t see any figures in the pieces, there’s a distinct energy, and hints of a narrative, in each one. Her work has been shown at the Felix Art Fair, the Logan Center Gallery, Art Basel Miami, The Pit LA and more. We spoke to Gabrielle about her parents’ influence on her work, how she chooses which houses to capture and why she loves YouTube home tours.
Kirsten Stolle
In the 2000s, I started having health problems related to genetically modified soy (and corresponding pesticides) which led to making art that was very research-based and involved looking into things that had to do with my politics and the environment. It was interesting because even when I was in the San Francisco Bay area, which of course has lots of politics around it, I just couldn't find a way to meld the two. It wasn't until I had health problems of my own that the way to do that really presented itself, so, in a way, that was beneficial not to my health, but to my art.
Heather Benjamin
It’s a little hard for me to articulate and explain my work in this way – I feel like that’s why I make the work, because I don’t have the words for the energy I’m trying to translate. I guess you could describe my work as somewhat punk just in the senses that it’s a bit spontaneous and that it’s uncensored and graphic. Those are all superlatives that might also be associated with that subculture.
Humaira Abid
Humaira Abid is Pakistan born American artist working with sculpture and miniature painting. Her work challenges women’s roles in Asian and Middle Eastern culture, and pushes the boundaries of taboo in society. With her unique cross-cultural perspective, Abid aims to re-examine the way we see everyday objects, allowing for conversation and stories to unfold around subjects that are often buried under the surface.
Arne Svenson
Humaira Abid is Pakistan born American artist working with sculpture and miniature painting. Her work challenges women’s roles in Asian and Middle Eastern culture, and pushes the boundaries of taboo in society. With her unique cross-cultural perspective, Abid aims to re-examine the way we see everyday objects, allowing for conversation and stories to unfold around subjects that are often buried under the surface.
Cornelia Hediger
My work are my reinterpretations, infused with my artistic sensitivity, using photomontage to reimagine these paintings in new contexts. This process is my way of translating these classics, utilizing modern technology while preserving their original tactile and dimensional qualities. The series seeks to capture the essence of western art's imagery, offering new visual perspectives on these iconic works. It's a reflection on time's passage, my position as a 21st-century artist, and the influence of my past and heritage.
Sharona Franklin
It took me a really long time to publicly identify as disabled. In the late ‘90s, when I was diagnosed, disability was still divisive. I hadn’t seen representations that I identified with in pop culture. So, when I was young, I was very secretive about my experiences. Part of that was uncertainty of how people would react, and part was not fully accepting myself.
Allegra Jones
“I’ve been practicing a variety of art forms ever since I was little. I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember and I started playing piano when I was five. Now I play accordion, clarinet, saxophone, and sing. I chose to study ‘experimental animation’ at CalArts because I wanted to combine my passions for drawing, painting, and music. I was never too much of a cartoon fanatic growing up, but I definitely took an early interest in animation as an art form, and it’s ability to form a marriage between music and drawing.
Allison Tyler
Land art, or Earth Art as it is sometimes called, was an art movement that emerged in the late 1960s into the 1970s that used the natural landscape to create site specific artworks designed to expand boundaries by the materials used and siting of the works. How these works were encountered by viewers was a central component to their deeper more