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Spraygraphic Interview with Artist Vanessa Marsh
By Spraygraphic | April 13, 2009
SG: Please tell us about yourself?
VM: Such a simple question, but hard to answer! I grew up in Seattle, WA and moved to SF to go to graduate school about 6 years ago. Before moving here, I traveled quite a bit and oscillated between being an art major and a Spanish major. I haven’t traveled since moving here, but have gotten a lot more serious about making art and working in the art world. I currently work at a gallery in downtown SF and in the last year I’ve also worked at the de Young Museum and as a model making for a local fabrication plant.
SG: Where do you currently live and work?
VM: San Francisco, CA.
SG: What mediums do you work with?
VM: Whether involving my photography or my sculpture, I build HO scale models. Until recently, I used kits that I would buy at hobby shops, however, for my upcoming show, I am making models from scratch. I use whatever suites the model and that I can make look to scale in a finished piece. Plexi glass, super glue, spackel, styrene and sandpaper are all components in pieces I am currently working on. Also, there is almost always an oil paint and galkyd mixture that gets poured onto the base of the sculpture.
SG: What kind of equipment do you use?
VM: Mostly just regular tools, a dremel rotary tool, a jig saw, screw gun, lots of clamps. I couldn’t live without my exacto knife and my tiny little exacto ruler. Recently I bought a dremel 4″ table saw, which is key. Just like a table saw, but super small.
SG: Describe your working process when creating a new work.
VM: My ideal process is to begin with taking a long drive out into the edges of town or into industrial areas and taking lots reference shots. Since I live in San Francisco and don’t have a car, I often do a lot of internet images searches if I am not able to rent or borrow a car. For the body of work I am currently making, I took a trip up to Seattle, took lots of long walks and lots of reference shots and a good friend was kind enough to drive me around to some more obscure locations. Then it is just about finding the right materials, getting into my studio and eventually taking photographs of the models.I usually spend at least two full 10 hour days in my studio a week and sometimes in the morning before going to work.
SG: What kind of things do you do when you get blocked or find it hard to create something?
VM: I really find just BEING in my studio helps. Even if I can’t get up the inspiration to work, I’ll just sit in there and even watch a movie on my computer. Usually, before I know it, I’m fiddling with something, or thinking about how to make something better. I do think however, that in any artist’s life, there are going to be dry times, times that you don’t want to make work and I think it is important to be patient with yourself through those times.
SG: Where are you currently finding your inspiration?
VM: Seattle. My memories of the landscape of Western Washington. Also just in going to shows, looking at art, and being active in my community. Good conversation is always inspiring.
SG: What do you look for when you are picking models to work with? Is it a physical feature? Personality? Photogenic? etc…
VM: Mostly, I looked for models of places that are abandoned and have a feeling of displacement or isolation.
Before, when I was using kits, I would spend lots of time going though my model catalog and also looking through the inventory on walthers.com (a fantastic hobby and train set website) and I would look for models that reminded me of specific places or that I felt captured a mood or a feeling of loneliness or isolation. Now, I find the place first and then build the model. Making the models from scratch is allowing me a lot more freedom to be specific and I can’t see ever going back to kits.
SG: Do you bring your camera with you everywhere with you or do you leave it home when you go out on the town?
VM: I’ve just recently started taking my camera with me when I go out! I’ve always thought it strange that for a photographer, I have almost no pictures of all kind of important times in my life. Two years of graduate school : I’ve got like 5 photos. The photos that I’m now taking when I am out and about aren’t really art related though. When I take my reference shots, it is usually part of a plan, not part of my Saturday night.
SG: Where has your work been seen?
VM: Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, San Jose Museum of Art, MacDowell Colony, Headlands Center for the Arts
SG: Where will it be seen next?
VM: Ampersand International Arts - Solo show - Opening on May 8th!
SG: What is your dream art assignment?
VM: hmmm….well, if I could be “assigned” and paid for the “assignment” the dream would be to keep making the art I am making and not have to work (for someone else) for a living!
SG: What is your favorite color?
VM: Burgundy, chartreuse, sea foam green- equally loved
SG: Who is your favorite artist? And Why?
VM: James Casebere- has done amazing amazing things with models and photography. His work really moves me emotionally and engages me intellectually. I also love Uta Barth and Marc Trujullo. On the less famous side, some of my favorite art comes from those around me, work I’ve personally seen evolve as my own work has, James Chronister, Carson Murdach, Jamie Vasta, Mitzi Pederson, and Leslie Shows to name a few.
SG: What book/magazine are you reading this week?
VM: Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins, No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July and A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway.
SG: Ever do a self portrait? Where is it now?
VM: yikes! yes, lots in college. Lots of nude self portraits. It’s a little embarrassing. They are hidden and I will not reveal their location.
SG: Where is your favorite place to hang out?
VM: ‘ve been on a big hanging out at friend’s houses kick lately, I think cause we are all broke! There are lots of great bars and independent arts spaces here in SF; Southern Exposure has a lot of events that I participate in, The Lab and Rootdivison also have really fun openings.
SG: Any final words of advice?
VM: Get out there, make yourself known, make yourself a regular at openings of galleries that you are interested in and be persistent and informed. Also, although the debt is large, grad school was a really great experience for me, and if you choose to go, find one somewhere you can see living for a while afterwards so you can actually take advantage of the connections you make.
Topics: Artist Interviews, San Francisco Art Scene, Women Art |
April 14th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Yes!!!!!!!
June 2nd, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Hai!
I could not understand the photos presents in this blog.
Kvi
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FTP Server
October 4th, 2009 at 11:17 pm
Wow, I never knew that. That¡¯s pretty interesting.