Conversations with the West Coast’s most innovative artists and creators
On monstrous beauty: Victoria Dugger interviewed
Athens-based Victoria Dugger talks about her relationship to the grotesque and beauty as a disabled Black woman in the South.
An echo chamber called Earth: Laura Camila Medina interviewed
On the occasion of their respective solo exhibitions in Portland and Austin, Lauren Klotzman and Laura Camila Medina sat down to discuss display technologies, watermedia, and our planetary echo chamber.
A haptic sensibility: Christopher Baliwas interviewed
Writer Mark Pieterson sat down with LA-based artist Christopher Baliwas to discuss lower frequencies, the color brown, and the latest Clipse album.
Honoring the elements: Lenworth McIntosh interviewed
Shortly after the closing of his solo show, The World Around Me and The Worlds Within at Frieze, Lenworth McIntosh sat down with writer Jordan Barrant to talk about gardening, return, Jamaica, and dusk, arguably the best time of day.
Conjuring ancestors in clay: Emily Counts interviewed by Luiza Lukova
Multimedia artist Emily Counts discusses her otherworldly sculptures.
Attempting to achieve creative autonomy: Nia Musiba interviewed
On the heels of the closing of their second solo exhibition, and a week before embarking on a journey home to Tanzania, multihyphenate artist Nia Musiba chats with writer Ella Ray about blurring the boundaries between art and design.
And the days are not full enough: Donavon Smallwood Interviewed
Writer Thomas Dunn catches up with photographer Donavon Smallwood to discuss his experiences growing up in New York City as a photographer and how the artist balances the troubled history of Seneca Village with his deep love for Central Park.
Performative space: MK Guth Interviewed
On the heels of MK Guth’s latest exhibition, Danica Sachs chats with the artist about her new object-based works and how they figure into a larger performance practice.
A story out of order: Rose Marie Cromwell Interviewed
Rose Marie Cromwell sat down with writer Sam Hiura to discuss the process of transforming her photobook into an exhibition at Pier 24 Photography in San Francisco.
What cannot be destroyed: JJJJJerome Ellis interviewed
On the heels of JJJJJerome Ellis’ hybrid-performance Aster of Ceremonies, at Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, writer Kaya Noteboom sits down with Ellis to discuss finding home in writing fragments, the illusions of permanence, and living with unanswerable questions.
Taking The Mundu from Kerala to Los Angeles: Devi Seetharam Interviewed
How does cultural identity express itself in a garment? Devi Seetharam reorients the gendered gaze in paintings depicting South Asian men.
More than a portrait: Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe interviewed
Representation still matters. Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe reclaims the historic Black experience with contemporary portraits.
Storytelling and the Photobook: Vasantha Yogananthan Interviewed
Photobooks provide a collaborative and hand’s on way for viewers to experience photographic work
Photography as a site of safety: Thalía Gochez interviewed
Thalía Gochez on image making as a site of safety, desirability, and the transition from fashion to fine arts photography.
Queer in Utah in Portland: Fazilat Soukhakian Interviewed
Fazilat Soukhakian on her series Queer in Utah, the horrors of liberalism, and making images of communities outside her own.
Good Taste: interview with Courtney Dailey from Nike
We talk to Courtney Dailey from Nike about art, design, and creative inspiration in everyday life.
Facing Life: Pendarvis Harshaw & Brandon Tauszik interviewed
A two-year conversation chronicles a multimedia project about California prisons and formerly incarcerated individuals.
Opening Space for Bay Area writing: Claudia La Rocco and Jackie Im in conversation
La Rocco and Im discuss (art) writing, editing and curation, and the roles of community and institutions in the art world
We are having this conversation now, yesterday, and tomorrow: Michael Espinoza interviewed
The Portland-based artist talks about Queer Ancestors lost to persecution, disease, fatal sadness, and closets.
Good Taste: interview with Jessie Manning from Street Disco
Good Taste is a new column about West Coast creatives in all industries.
Leveraging Strengths, Moving Forward: Elena Gross and Kimberley Acebo Arteche Interviewed
Roula Seikaly talks to the two co-directors of Berkeley Art Center about how they approach collaboration, creating meaningful life-work balance, and how BAC welcomes diverse audiences.
Surreal Society: Marika Thunder Interviewed
Class, tradition, gender roles, race, and celebrity take center stage in Marika Thunder’s exhibition at de boer gallery in Los Angeles
Theaters for Frankensteins: Yuyang Zhang Interviewed
Yuyang Zhang’s paintings and digital collages offer cultural commentary through memes, Chinese-American culture, and dark humor.
Art of Glass: Emily Endo Interviewed
Through scientific discovery and mysticism, Emily Endo explores the possibility of glass.
A Condemned Building Gets a Last Breath of Life Through Sacramento Artists: Faith J. McKinnie, Liv Moe, Molly Stroud, and Genesis “The Mayor” Torres Interviewed
Four curators and thirty-five artists transform a soon-to-be demolished building in Sacramento’s rapidly gentrifying Ice Blocks district.
How Technology Feels: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer Interviewed
In a bilingual conversation, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Sofía Córdova question the human relationship with technology.
Finding Meaning in Forgotten Objects: Pamela Ramos Interviewed
Found objects give intimate clues to the lives of strangers, and are given new lives as artworks.
Treasure Hunting in Grass Valley: Elizabeth Dorbad Interviewed
Two artists from Grass Valley, CA, talk about making art in rural communities and the magic of stones.
Dance That Spans Continents: Tumelo Michael Moloi Interviewed
A South African artist in Eugene, OR, uses dance and poetry to encourage compassion for difference.
If Not Now, When? Embracing Creative Uncertainty: Susan Feldman Interviewed
Building worlds with found objects and materials.
For the Love of Buildings: Avantika Bawa Interviewed
Portland-based Avantika Bawa talks about her “almost minimalist” installations, her love affair with buildings, and basketball.
FROM THE ARCHIVES | The Radical Potential of Graphic Design: Jules Cordova Interviewed by Ella Ray
Two almost strangers came together to support their community with design.
Giving Form to the Human Condition: Alex Anderson Interviewed
Anderson talk about his process, inspiration, favorite Ghibli character, identity, Los Angeles, and more.
Power Exhibited Through Sexualized Desire: Julie Henson Interviewed
LA-based artist Julie Henson talks about the psychology of celebrities, cult fandom, pop culture, femininity, and aggression
Make Your Work the Knife and the Healing Balm: Yétúndé Olagbaju Interviewed
Olagbaju on Black labor, legacy, myths, and healing processes.
The Care We Want—Designing a Better World for People With Disabilities: Emily Barker Interviewed
Installation, sculpture, and social activism challenge able-bodied conceptions of what people with disabilities want and need.
On Power, Art(s) Labor, and Resting in the Grass: Eden V. Evans and Brian Gillis Interviewed
A collaborative, web-based art project probes the causes and effects of power.
Chasing Ephemerality, Cheating Precarity: On Publishing During a Pandemic: Sarah Chieko Bonnickson and Gordon Fung Interviewed
Artists, writers, and designers discuss highlighting student voices in the pandemic and producing a digital publication.
Interrogation Through Ritual: Chris Eckert Interviewed
Chris Eckert discusses how his sculpting process gives him a space to consider the big questions of the digital age
Supporting Community Through Letterpress, Humor, and Activism: letra chueca Interviewed
A Portland letterpress studio uses humor and community building to encourage diverse perspectives
Celebrating the Complexity of Chicanx Identity Through Community Arts: Jake Prendez Interviewed
A Seattle-based artist celebrates his rich ancestry in vibrantly contemporary painting.
Storytelling and Making Kin as Survival Mechanisms: Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo Interviewed
Building resilient communities through an anti-institutional art practice
The Radical Potential of Graphic Design: Jules Cordova Interviewed by Ella Ray
Two almost strangers came together to support their community with design.
Climate Grief and Embracing Beautiful Confusion: Daniela Molnar Interviewed
Daniela Molnar discusses how her connection to place impacts the art she makes about climate grief