Bringing the unknown and the familiar into collision, Yasemin Kackar-Demirel grows paintings rich in chance elements and personal history. Time, from which emanates both longing and change, plays an important role in her process of assembling old cloth, traced shapes and recognizable architectural elements with freshly applied paint that responds in unpredictable ways and sinks in over days. Surrendering to the intense pleasure of getting acquainted with new materials and connections, she engages in a dynamic of give and take, negotiating risk and control to the benefit of discovery and transformation.

Something in our minds will always stay, 2021

Acrylic and oil stains, acrylic paint markers, acrylic, fabric dye, flashe, stitching, graphite on felt

20” x 16” / 50,8 cm x 40,7 cm

http://www.yaseminkackar.com

https://www.instagram.com/yaseminkackardemirel/

www.artistpraxis.com

www.instagram.com/artistpraxis

Using her camera in a moment of heightened tension and anxiety, Mika Sperling captures herself in vulnerability and tenderness as she is about to announce her engagement to her in-laws. In respectful reverence, she dresses in her mother-in-law's sweater and prepares for the event by peeling oranges as an offering to her new family. The intense gaze directed towards her partner, hiding behind the camera and following her directions, holds this meaningful and ephemeral moment of transition as a binding and tangible milestone.

Wearing her Clothes, 2017

Photography

27.5” x 35.4” / 70 x 90 cm

https://mikasperling.de

www.instagram.com/mika_sperling

www.artistpraxis.com

www.instagram.com/artistpraxis

In this first episode in the German language, Olivia von Pock describes how she defied the loss of structure during lockdown by creating casts of her feet molded in soap. In an experimental process of mixing, liquifying, and hardening this sanitary product, she found herself playing with the indomitable, defiant, and free in her unusually still and quiet home. By attaching her ephemeral, scented casts to her beloved dance shoes, Olivia grounded them and herself in a collective moment frozen in time. The sudden preciousness of the material mirrors her ability to maintain a healthy sense of self-worth in a year short in interpersonal intimacy.

Olivia von Pock schafft Fußabgüsse aus Seife, um im Schwebezustand für Bodenständigkeit zu sorgen. Wenn tägliche Strukturen abhanden kommen und nur noch die Nacht den Anschein der Normalität hat, wird die Kunst zum Anker. In ihrem sowohl robusten als auch vergänglichen Objekt “Untief” spiegelt sich die Verletzlichkeit des menschlichen Körpers und seine Ressourcenfähigkeit wieder. Von Pock schafft es auf anschauliche Weise, sich im Prozess des Nachspürens ihrer Körperglieder der eigenen Existenz zu vergewissern und sich in Corona- Zeiten durch den begehrten Hygieneartikel ein gesundes Selbstwertgefühl zu erhalten.

Untief (Shallow and very deep), 2020-2021

Soap and synthetic leather

12 x 12 inches / 30,5 x 30,5 cm

www.oliviavonpock.de

www.instagram.com/silviaoliviavonpock

www.artistpraxis.com

www.instagram.com/artistpraxis

Deeply rooted in his local community, Phnom Penh-based artist Vuth Lyno makes his network of peers, colleagues, and friends the foundation of his practice. With their mutual support and ever-changing collaborations, he brings immersive artworks to life that surpass his individual abilities and draw from collective knowledge. His newest fluorescent light installation reflects on public spaces of generosity and hospitality and their accessibility in our modern times.

Sala Samnak, 2020

Neon light installation

118.1” x 78.7” x 88.6” / 300 x 200 x 225 cm

www.vuthlyno.art

www.instagram.com/vuthlyno

www.artistpraxis.com

www.instagram.com/artistpraxis

Grappling with the role of art in our society and the current notions of essential work, London-based artist Markus Vater investigates the importance and power of painting in times of crisis. How can an artist lead an independent, free-spirited existence and simultaneously serve others or a cause? In collaboration with an ICU head nurse, a project commemorating healthcare workers' traumatic experiences materializes into an image both puzzling and breathtaking.

Covid 19, 2021

Acrylic on canvas

55.1 x 66.9 inches / 140 x 170 cm

www.markusvater.com

www.instagram.com/markus__vater

www.artistpraxis.com

www.instagram.com/artistpraxis

After a painting hiatus of several months, Barbara Campbell Thomas embarked on an image-making journey that combined found, patchworked orphan blocks sent to her by her mother, pieces of fabric and spray-painted canvas from her studio, and white quilting thread on unprimed canvas. Working in an intensely explorative, open-ended way, she stitched and sewed in the early morning hours while meditating on the ongoing pandemic, her sons’ well-being, and glorious memories from the past. In this activity of immense absorption, circles, arches, and rays emerged and with them the remembrance of a specific place and time: the Basilica of San Miniato in Florence, seven years ago. “Siderum,” a title and artwork that refers to “all the stars, all the galaxies, all and infinite possibilities,” evokes a sense of mystery grounded in symmetry, rhythm, cycles, and bound in togetherness.

Siderum, 2021

Fabric and thread

22 x 23.5 inches / 55,9 x 59,7 cm

www.barbaracampbellthomas.com

www.instagram.com/barbaracampbellthomas/

www.artistpraxis.com

www.instagram.com/artistpraxis

In this interview, Debora Faccion Grodzki makes meaning of a recent “Seed Painting” that she created during the winter and spring months both in and outside of her home in upstate NY. Her interest in allowing her natural surroundings to co-create her images is embedded in her understanding of the interconnectedness of everything. Debora explains how Ana Mendieta’s and Lygia Clark’s work have informed her way of thinking about images and why she started calling her paintings “transpositions.” Debora discusses how being a Latin American woman and mother influences her pictorial language, her choice of materials, and her process and what freedom means to her and her work.

Seed Painting, 2021

Acrylic, beeswax crayon, and sheepskin on canvas

11 x 8 inches / 28 x 20 cm

www.facciongrodzki.com

www.instagram.com/facciongrodzki

www.artistpraxis.com

www.instagram.com/artistpraxis

In this episode, Sarah Arriagada discusses a recent painting, reflecting on abstraction and the narratives derived from even the most basic shapes and marks, such as ovals and lines. Fragments of coarse canvas that she imported from London to Missouri represent the foundation of her exploration of color, composition, memory, and identity. Over the course of many months, she applied layers of oil paint, working her way from the edges and corners into the center of the painting to arrive at a point of unity that encompasses both tension and harmony.

Sprung, 2021

Oil on sewn canvas

12 x 8 inches / 30,5 x 20,3 cm

www.saraharriagada.com

www.instagram.com/sarah_arriagada

www.artistpraxis.com

www.instagram.com/artistpraxis

The Artist Praxis podcast is created by Debora Faccion Grodzki and Sarah Arriagada. Original music, mixing, and editing by Andre Ravi. 

We will launch on June 15, 2021! Stay tuned! 

If you are an artist and would like to be interviewed, or if you would like more information about the podcast, please visit artistpraxis.com.