Artist Decoded by Yoshino

https://www.patreon.com/artistdecoded

Alexandre Souêtre, originally from Paris, is a LA-based creative director & visual artist.

Jesse Draxler is a multidisciplinary artist.

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

• Souêtre Growing up in Paris
• Souêtre's beginnings in film which lead him to creative direction, design, and photography
• Souêtre moving to America for college
• How Draxler and Souêtre met and became collaborators
• Draxler's process with working with photographers
• Skateboarding as an art form
• Setting up creative constraints to create artwork
• French cinema
• Filmmaker Gaspar Noé
• Gaspar Noé films, "Irreversible" and "Enter The Void"
• VR
• "The Book of Joan" by author Lidia Yuknavitch
• Alexandre's book he's writing
• Icelandic pop music including Samaris

www.artistdecoded.com

axlsouetre.com

jessedraxler.com

https://www.patreon.com/artistdecoded

About VOWWS: VOWWS is an Australian Death-Pop duo based out of Los Angeles.

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

• Creating and attaining goals
• Financial burdens of going to college
• Education in Australia
• Pitfalls of the American educational system
• Old school video games
• The story of how they met in college
• Celebrating death and western culture's view on death
• Deathpop
• Genres being subjective
• Over conceptualizing art
• Touring
• Depression

Photos by Olivia Shove

www.artistdecoded.com

www.vowwsband.com

www.instagram.com/vowwsband/

In this podcast, we interview actor Martin Starr from the hit tv HBO comedy Silicon Valley.

We take a deep dive into topics such as: being recognized at hipster parties, seasonal depression, being a child of an actress, the future of pornography, bitcoin and human connection.

This episode was produced and co-hosted by Saman Kesh.

www.artistdecoded.com

https://www.patreon.com/artistdecoded

About Ania: Ania Catherine is an artist and choreographer based in Los Angeles. Her work merges movement, film, and performance art and has been shown internationally at the British Film Institute, Art Basel Hong Kong, Peacock Theatre (London), LA Center for Digital Art, Agora Collective (Berlin), Forum des images (Paris), Dansmuseet (Stockholm), International Meeting on Screendance (Valencia, Spain), among others. She holds a master's degree from the London School of Economics, and through bodies explores the intersections of performance and her academic research in gender, sexuality, representation, and politics. In addition to her personal practice, she works internationally performing, choreographing, speaking, directing, and teaching.

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

• Growing up in Orange County in California
• Gender and sexuality
• How "slow cinema" has influenced her work
• Films by Roy Anderson and Chantal Akerman
• Creating work that's personal
• Misrepresentations of sexuality
• How she met her wife
• Surrounding yourself with people who project positive energy

www.artistdecoded.com

www.instagram.com/aniacatherine/

@artistdecoded

https://www.patreon.com/artistdecoded

About Mary: "How do we understand, connect with and react to traces of the metaphysical? My work is about becoming, a process that encompasses both doing and undoing; energy goes into my materials and then there is a natural or simulated process of destruction. Transformation is central to my practice: a metamorphosis that reveals the ruin and beauty of both the body and the psyche. With the intention of revealing layers and residual deterioration, I unravel, scratch, burn and peel parts of the work. I use many natural materials in my practice—particularly linen, sisal rope and dye—which exude a distinct smell and permeate the senses before the demanding visuality commands attention. This address to the olfactory helps to create an active environment rather than a static installation. My works, unlike the products of conventional fiber practices, bear traces of my hand—bits of imperfect or unfinished warp and weft—and the inexact results of hand-dyeing. Parts of the work are undone, unmade and unraveled, lending credence to their indeterminate nature. While the process of weaving, in its demanding repetition and methodical rhythm, is a contemplative endeavor typically exact in execution, the ruinous state of these works points to my interest in the limits of the physical and preoccupation with the ethereal.

I am fascinated by the connection between the physical and metaphysical, and, in this vein, I take ancient mythology, metamorphosis, ruination and entropy as inspirations in my work. Like ruins, my works are remnants of what was once whole; they are inscribed with traces of their previous life, death endured and the hereafter. My works embody these remnants that prefigure thought and feeling." - Mary Grisey

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

• Kindred spirits
• Her trajectory as an artist
• Finding her voice
• How a traumatic experience created a shift in the way she created art
• The relationship between creating artwork and meditating
• Breaking down mental systems
• Her spiritual journey
• Clairvoyance
• Her encounters with ghosts
• Working in the metaphysical realm
• How she got into tarot card reading

www.artistdecoded.com

www.thewoventarot.com www.marygrisey.com

https://www.patreon.com/artistdecoded

About Elly: Originally from Ottawa, Elly Smallwood graduated from OCAD University in 2011 and now works as an artist in Toronto. Her paintings are intensely personal, a visual exploration of her mind and body, and those of the people around her.

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

• Her workflow
• The business of art
• Getting paid as an artist
• "The Killing of a Sacred Deer"
• "Nocturnal Animals"
• The importance of failure
• Her transition leaving Toronto to move to Ottawa
• Having a solid art community
• Understanding human anatomy for your art practice
• Conspiracy theories

www.artistdecoded.com

Elly Smallwood's Personal Website

www.instagram.com/ellysmallwood/

https://www.patreon.com/artistdecoded

About Nicole: Nicole Miglis is the singer / songwriter of the band Hundred Waters.

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

• The origin story of Hundred Waters
• OWSLA
• The power of introverts and listening
• Language
• The feeling behind captivating artworks
• Their new album "Communicating"
• Nicole's journey as a musician
• Choosing art as a career
• Turning your weaknesses into strengths
• Ideas surrounding femininity and masculinity
• Power in vulnerability
• The idea of self and others
• Standing the test of time

www.artistdecoded.com

www.instagram.com/hundredwaters/

https://www.patreon.com/artistdecoded

About Dado: Dado Valentic is the CTO of Acute Art, based in London and Los Angeles. Alongside Acute Art's co-founder, Jacob De Geer, Dado worked on the launch of the 'VR Museum,' an app that exhibits subscription-based, interactive, multiuser fine-art artworks. The "VR Museum" is now available on the HTC Vive from the Acute Art website and HTC Vive store

Dado Valentic is also an award winning colour grading artist and one of the leading developers in the area of colour science for digital film cameras. Dado is the founder of Mytherapy, a creative studio for digital colour correction and motion picture retouching. He is known for his unique approach to the processing of digital images and his film stock emulation technology. Dado Valentic has worked on over 30 feature films and numerous commercials. His latest work was creating a colour science for Netflix HDR production of 'Marco Polo -Season II', which was awarded Best TV Picture, ASC 2016. As a colour scientist, he was involved in 'Exodus' by Riddle Scott, as well as 'Game of Thrones', 'Total Recall', 'Mr Nice', and 'Sherlock Holmes' by Guy Richie. Dado's colourist credits include: 'Absolutely Anything' directed by Terry Jones, starring Simon Pegg, 'A Hundred Streets' starring Idris Elba, 'Dough' starring Jonathan Pryce, and 'Blackwood' by Adam Wimpenny. Mytherapy is based at Warner Bros. De Lane Lea offering High-End Motion Picture Post Production Services.

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

• The start of Acute Art
• Working with artists Olafur Eliasson, Jeff Koons, Marina Abramovic, Anish Kapoor for VR Museum
• VR and art working together
• Adaptability within VR environments
• His career as a color scientist for feature films
• Using neuroscience to understand human behavior in the VR world
• Implications of the Technological Revolution
• Ed Atkins work

www.artistdecoded.com

www.instagram.com/dadovalentic/

https://www.patreon.com/artistdecoded

About Norberto: Born + raised in Miami by Cuban immigrants, Norberto Rodriguez began his career at 18 as a multi-disciplinary conceptual artist known for his continuously disruptive + innovative practice. He works in all media + genre including installation, performance, photography, sculpture, digital, music, film, text + tenderness. Currently, Rodriguez is developing A SCHOOL OF THOUGHT: a center for exploring how ideas give life meaning, IP DIVISION: A company providing creative solutions + services to consumers everywhere, + The Waiting Room: an experimental, collaborative space for private reflection + public exchange. He also shares his journey documenting various other projects + his ongoing evolution as an artist + friend on social media @norbertoinc.

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

• Using commercial platforms to your advantage as an artist
• Alternative ideas to bypass and subvert the traditional art gallery model
• Slash from Guns and Roses making an appearance on the episode
• Exploring deep philosophical ideas about the ramifications of the art market
• Questioning your legacy as an artist
• "The pre-career retrospective"
• Steve Jobs and Apple
• When Bert got married to a stranger for a year
• The Bert Rodriguez Museum
• When he killed Bert Rodriguez
• Pitfalls of galleries
• Artists as a commodity
• Art evolving culture
• Kanye West
• The sale of his will
• Shamans
• Alejandro Jodorowsky

www.artistdecoded.com

www.norber.to

https://www.patreon.com/artistdecoded

About Gavin: It's impossible not to become infatuated with soulful pop princess Gavin Turek. The LA Native is always clad in a hand-made 70s fringe dress (designed herself in every color) and armed with the best dance moves you've ever seen. It's easy to draw comparisons anywhere from Tina Turner to Beyoncé but really, Gavin is her own force to be reckoned with. Performing always came natural: she grew up with a father who played piano and tagging alongside her mother, who toured coffeeshops singing gospel. Her origin story goes like this: at age three, a teeny tiny Gavin interrupted her mother mid performance, took over the mic and to the astonishment of the audience, finished the song for her. She knew every single lyric, word for word, and whoa, that girl could sing. Suffice to say, a star was born.

Growing up, Gavin obsessively studied two things: music (the likes of Donna Summer, Prince, Lauryn Hill, Diana Ross. Michael Jackson, Giorgio Moroder) and all forms of dance. Originally aspiring to be a professional dancer, she spent months at a time in India and Africa, immersing herself in different cultures. Ghana was where Gavin first discovered her love for fringe and learned that the popular disco-era fad had much deeper origins. Everyday while in Ghana, Gavin learned and performed the traditional dances of the northern region, with falling in love with their massive fringe belts that moved with the music and drums as an extension of body and spirit. As Gavin jokingly told Nylon Magazine, "fringe really makes your hips look good and accentuates the movements." Another great discovery for her was that in other cultures, dance is much more than a form entertainment, it is a way of life. It is used to celebrate births, weddings, religious worships, achievements and even deaths and afterlife. Upon returning to the United States, Gavin eventually returned to singing and songwriting as her main medium of expression, but when the time came to perform her own music, dance and fringe costumes naturally became a vital component for her live shows.

Two special artists in particular became champions early on for Gavin. Brainfeeder genius TOKiMONSTA has been a longtime friend and collaborator. Early on in both their careers, she asked Gavin to contribute vocals to her productions, which lead to the fan favorite track "Darkest Dim." Mayer Hawthorne was next, not only inviting Gavin to open his sold out tours but recruiting her as the female counterpart in his retro funk act Tuxedo with producer Jake Uno. (You may recognize her as the golden disco goddess gracing the stage with them everywhere from the legendary Hollywood Bowl to Japan).

In 2015, word of mouth about Gavin's music and electric live shows spread with the release of her electro R&B infused mini-album "You're Invited" produced by TOKiMONSTA. The girl power duo followed the release with a sold out tour and received accolades from Billboard, NPR, The Fader, Apple / Beats 1, KCRW, etc. That year,Spin named Gavin as the summer's Top Artist to Watch and her disco funk-tinged single "Don't Fight It" as one of the best tracks of 2015.

By 2016, Gavin's star quality was undeniable. She dominated the stage with guest performances at legendary festivals such as Outside Lands and Coachella and late night performances on Jimmy Kimmel with Mayer Hawthorne and Cee Lo. Her crowning achievement this past year began with the release of her single "On the Line" (produced by Chris Hartz of Passion Pit) last May. In support of the release, she played a beyond sold-out month long residency in Los Angeles. The long time venue promoter said he had never seen anything like it in LA, with lines wrapped around the block in hopes of catching Gavin perform what would soon become her new EP Good Look for You. "On the Line" premiered #1 on HypeMachine very organically thanks to dedicated love from the hippest underground blogs and airplay from six of KCRW's top tastemakers. KCRW DJ Anne Lit proclaimed it the "song of the summer."

Gavin preps now to release her EP "Good Look for You" February 17 via her own label Madame Gold Records. A self starter and entrepreneur whose mission is to inspire women of all ages and ethnicities, Madame Gold continues the tradition of female greats taking the reigns of their own success. Gavin considers it an homage to the artists she admires most: Solange, Janelle Monae and TOKiMONSTA. The EP's single "Good Look for You" (November, 2016) already has garnered attention from Stereogum, Nylon, Okayplayer, etc and the EP release will be celebrated with a live KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic in-studio session and release parties in both Los Angeles and New York this February.

www.artistdecoded.com

www.gavinturek.com

www.instagram.com/gavinturek/