‘Artists’ Archives
In the Studio: Dahlia Elsayed
Dahlia Elsayed has mapped out her life. Literally. The 41-year-old Arab American painter and writer uses cartography to document and express the cultural markers of her life. The maps she draws are based on concrete locations – Egypt, New Jersey, New York City – but the markers are pure feelings. With a calming blue-green palette and humorous [...]
Painting Like Pollock on the Coney Island Boardwalk
A lot has gone down on the boardwalk in Coney Island, that's for sure, but how about a woman painting circles with her wheelchair or a guy diving onto a slip-n-slide full of paint? This past weekend those were just two of the unique ways Brooklynites helped create ten large scale abstract paintings as part of an interactive performance art event [...]
Urban Society Through Abstract Art
Two years ago, Alex White Mazzarella was living in Hong Kong, working as a city planner. Now, he is a Brooklyn-based abstract artist, showing regularly in the city and selling to collectors in Denmark, Norway, France, Italy, and across the States. And he has his former boss to thank. "One day I handed my boss a proposal for a planning project, [...]
First Time Artist at the SONYA Studio Stroll
On Saturday, May 15 and Sunday, May 16, the South of the Navy Yards Artists opened their studios and galleries to the public. I talked with John Scheffler, a set and costume designer for 45 years, about his experience during the stroll. Although he has lived and worked in Fort Greene for 25 years, this is the first time Scheffler participated in [...]
The Invisible Dog Art Center
When Lucien Zayan rented the building at 51 Bergen St. in Boerum Hill last spring, the three-story factory was falling apart and filled with junk. In less than a year, Zayan transformed the building into an art center with two exhibition spaces and twenty-five artists studios. From 1970 to 1995, the building functioned as a belt factory. The [...]
In the Studio: Kate Gilmore
As an artist whose primary theme is struggle, Kate Gilmore’s success has been complicated. “A lot of my work is about overcoming failure, so when people start encouraging your work,” she says, laughing, “it adds a whole other confusing layer to it because you’re not struggling as much anymore.” Gilmore, 34, sits in a rocking chair in [...]
In the Studio: Amanda Browder
When you think about sculpture, you probably picture marble statues or clay figurines or stone carvings. Plush fabric and bright, pillowy objects are far from your mind. But for Greenpoint artist Amanda Browder, the latter form her sculptures. Browder, 33, turns traditional sculpture on its head by creating vibrantly colored soft pieces that are [...]
Getting creative with cloth
I spent some time with artist Amanda Browder this weekend. I'm working on an audio slideshow about her and her work, so I thought I'd share some pictures from her studio while I work on the piece: