Interviews by Brainard Carey

Sarah Dwyer (b. 1974, Ireland) is a painter who lives and works in London. Drawing is at the heart of her process, often combined with painting, printmaking, and sculpture, resulting in reimaginings of the familiar through exuberant color palettes and lively approaches to mark-making. Incorporating both figurative and abstract imagery, her dynamic compositions are the result of processing her own surroundings and the human day-to-day experience, in addition to an indulgence in our desire for play. Surfaces, in turn, retain traces of process and development within their own archive and present the viewer with a navigable visual history.

Dwyer earned a Master’s in Painting from the Royal College of Art, London, in 2004 after an MFA from Staffordshire University in 2001. Her work has most recently been exhibited at Fabian Lang Gallery, Zurich; PiArtworks, London; Pigeon Park, Manor Place, London; in three solo shows at Josh Lilley Gallery, London; Hastings Contemporary, Hastings, UK; Hair & Nails Gallery, MN; Rochester Art Center, MN; Bloomberg Space, London, UK; Kyubidou Gallery, Tokyo, JP; Jane Lombard Gallery NY, NY; Fe McWilliam Gallery, NIR; Royal College of Art, London, UK; Saatchi Gallery, London, UK; The Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK; Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Dublin, IE.

Cockshutt Lane 2022 150 x 120 cm 59 x47.2 inches, Oil and Pastel on Linen

Fink 2022 100 x 75cm 39.4 x 29.5 inches Oil and pastel on linen

Thrum 2022 150 x 120 cm 59 x47.2 inches, Oil and Pastel on Linen

Sydney Licht draws inspiration from the common, disposable detritus of everyday life and creates still lives centered around takeout containers, department store boxes, sugar packets and other disposables.  Licht tells the domestic experience of society’s materialism via modern takes on the still life.

“For centuries, still life paintings have portrayed items from the realm of the domestic....food, utensils, dishes, flowers and other elements that celebrate the table and the communal dining experience,” Licht says. “Today, as technology impacts our lives more and more, few of us have the means or the desire to spend hours preparing and presenting a meal served on china dishes with silver place settings.  Instead, we order online and our food arrives ready to be microwaved.  During the Covid era, communal dining experiences were more likely to occur on a computer via Zoom than in person sitting around a table together.  All of this begs the question, has the shelf life of the still life as we’ve known it reached its expiration date?”

Sydney Licht has exhibited widely throughout the United States. Her work has been featured in the New Yorker and Elle Décor, among other publications. She has been a visiting artist at the American Academy in Rome twice, and the recipient of the Yaddo Residency. Licht has an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and lives and works in New York City.

Sydney Licht, Still Life with Packing Tape, 2022 oil on panel 10 x 10 in.

Sydney Licht, Still Life with Fat Quarters and Brown Vase, 2022 oil on panel 10 x 10 in.

Sydney Licht, Still Life with Bag & Ledger, 2022 oil on linen 13 x 16 in.

Rhys Ziemba is an artist and musician in New York City

As part of his practice, Ziemba collects various objects, such as medical skeleton models, traffic cones, paint buckets, inflatable flamingos, or kettlebells, and assembles them in his basement studio. The basement serves as a stage for his paintings which in turn become documentation of the arranged eclectic elements. His works are carefully rendered with consideration to the objects and the space which surrounds them. Balancing between Ziemba’s close observation and saturated imagination, his paintings record time.

On view at Art Cake is a selection of intimately scaled oil paintings made by Ziemba. Many of the paintings illustrate urban environments or landscapes in Florida created from direct observation, en plein air, or photographs taken by the artist. Other paintings were developed from drawings the artist made during a recent trip to Crete, Greece.

Each of the paintings, measuring eight by ten inches, illustrates scenes within nature and contains a prominent horizon line and vast depth of field to emphasize the nature of light as it travels through space. Like his earlier works, Ziemba introduces inconsequential ephemera that disrupt the harmonious landscape. For the artist, the addition of these elements, whether it is a suggestion of an emotional pair of eyes, a finger pointing, a piece of trash, or a referential object, is partly a graphical device meant to draw the viewer’s eye across the composition and partly a way to allow each element to reify itself in a way that is meant to surprise even the artist. In some paintings, such as Beach Hat (2022), however, the element is so prominent within the detailed landscape that it becomes the subject of the painting.

The solo exhibition at Art Cake is on view, September 1 through October 8th, 2022, will be a selection of the artist’s most recent paintings.

I was wrong, 8 x 10, 2022 oil on panel

Mother Courage at the height of her business career, 24 x 36, 2020, oil on panel

They were those from the wilderness of stars that had expected more, 24 x 18, 2022, oil on panel

Portrait of Gaby Sahhar

Page presents Gaby Sahhar, the New York debut of the London-based artist. Released explores alternative forms of knowledge-making through queer shapeshifting. Soaked in a kaleidoscopic palette of India and alcohol ink, Sahhar’s new works draw on processes of articulation within LGBTQI+ communities that resist academic domination. Such tools of thought migrate across borders, slipping into the pores of the public sphere, shifting into a collective body.

Gaby Sahhar (b. 1992, London, UK) lives and works in London, UK. Sahhar received a BA from Goldsmiths, London in 2015. Solo exhibitions include MAC VAL, Paris / The Kooples Art Prize (2023); PAGE (NYC), New York (2022); and Sweetwater, Berlin (2019). Group exhibitions include Fragment Gallery, New York (2022); Sadie Coles HQ, London (2022); and Museum of Moscow, Russia (2020).

Installation view, Gaby Sahhar, Released, PAGE (NYC), 2022.

Gaby Sahhar, Released, 2022, India and alcohol ink on synthetic paper, 80 x 156 inches.

Gaby Sahhar, Shadow of the Other, 2022, Oil on canvas, 35.5 x 23.75 inches

Ryan Sarah Murphy is a New York City-based artist, represented by C24 Gallery. Her body of work, which includes sculptures, videos and drawings, provides a multi-dimensional deconstruction of the intuitive, creative process, as expressed through different mediums and technologies. Murphy’s sculptures are generated from the random discovery of discarded pieces of cardboard that she finds throughout the streets of New York City. Initially drawn to these materials because of their color, she strips them of any identifiable markings such as logos or lettering, then cuts and layers the torn pieces into raw, elegant constructions that allude to cross sections of buildings or overhead maps. The works act as visual meditations on geographical location, placemaking and spatial awareness, fueled by the pure, energetic power of color combinations and their visceral impact. Her solo exhibition, Structural Integrity, is on view at C24 Gallery through September 23rd. Her work will also be on view in the Gallery's booth at Art on Paper from September 8th - 11th.

Ryan Sarah Murphy, Throughway - Black Lines 1, 2021, Unpainted cardboard on Arches paper, 14.5 x 23.25 x .25in. (36.8 x 59.1 x .6cm)

 

 

 

 

 

Ryan Sarah Murphy, Echo Chamber 3, 2021, Acrylic and graphite on paper, Unframed Dimensions: 8 x 14in. (20.3 x 35.6cm)

Ryan Sarah Murphy, En route, 2019, Found (unpainted) cardboard, cut book covers, foamcore 26.5 x 34 x 2.5in. (67.3 x 86.4 x 6.4cm)

"In his approach to painting, [Thomas Trum tries] to find out everything there is to know about a certain paint or piece of equipment before using it in his work. The way he works on a smaller piece of paper is basically similar to when he makes a large mural: by zooming in and out on his own methods he can work on many different surfaces and sizes. Paint is his muse, whether it is in small-scale research or expanding public spaces with his colourful large-scale work."  - by Rianne Groen

Thomas Trum (1989) lives and works in s’-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands. He graduated from the Design Academy in Eindhoven in 2014. 

His works have been shown at a variety of galleries and museums like Het Nieuw Instituut, Rotterdam, Art Rotterdam and Het Noordbrabants Museum, ’s-Hertogenbosch.

Naomi Safran-Hon creates work that makes gripping statements about the fragility of human experience, the complicated nature of one's home, and the vicissitudes of collective identities. The artist is seeking the narrative that is hidden and buried in the landscape. The spirit is inherent in Safran-Hon's intellectual construction, and, as the journey described in sefer hechaloth, the inner odyssey within oneself (Anselm Kiefer) permeates her entire body of work. 

Safran-Hon's process lingers at the intersection of drawing, photography, sculpture, and painting, focusing on the internal energy of the material, continuously emboldening the viewer to look beyond the surface. Her work is anchored in undeniable reality, yet she unceasingly builds by extracting the essence from the soul of the materials she uses, thus transforming preexisting contexts. 

Safran-Hon uses a unique process to transform her photographs into evocative paintings with strong impressionist undertones. Cutting through the photograph and canvas, Safran-Hon pushes concrete through the lace stretched over these empty spaces then paints on top, imbuing each piece with a sculptural quality whose dimensionality causes the eye to stick in the nooks and crannies of the work, lingering over objects—some immediately recognizable, some requiring effort to piece back together. 

Fields of Color II, 2022 Acrylic, lace and cement on canvas 61x54 inches

Wall Dreams in Pink, Acrylic, lace, cement, sewing pins and archival ink jet print on tulle 20x24 inches

Those Who Got Away, 2020 Acrylic, cement, lace, fabric and barbed wire 55x88 inches

Erick Antonio Benitez (b. 1988, Bronx, NY) is a first generation Salvadoran-American multidisciplinary artist, musician, organizer and curator based between Baltimore, MD and Los Angeles, CA. He received a BFA in Painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art and has exhibited work at Selenas Mountain (NY), REGULARNORMAL at Dinner Gallery (NY), Greenpoint Gallery (NY),  Connor Smith Gallery (DC), The Baltimore Museum of Art (MD), Gaddis Geeslin Gallery (TX), Strange Fire Collective (CO), Galerie B-312 (Montreal, QC), Metafora Studio Arts (Barcelona, ES) and Simultan Festival (Timișoara, RO). His work has been reviewed by The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, BmoreArt, The American Scholar, Terremoto (MX) and Le Devoir (QC) and a few publications including the sixth issue of BmoreArt Magazine, Let’s Talk Live (WJLA), and Hyrsteria Zine Vol. 2. Benitez is also a recipient of the Ruby Artist Project grant, The Contemporary: Grit Fund 2, MASB Travel Artist Award, Janet and Walter Sondheim Artscape Award and has participated in The Studios residency at MASS MoCA (North Adams, MA). Most recently, Benitez received a Baltimore Light City Festival commission and an invitation to Pigment Sauvage “La Track'' residency in Montreal, Quebec-Canada.

The exhibit discussed in the interview is A Country Made of Ice Cream.

Erick Antonio Benitez Bare witness, while I bare feet, 2021 Acrylic, airbrush , and collage on stretched mylar 10 x 8 in

Erick Antonio Benitez Karma & Desire (A Poet’s Eulogy), 2022 Acrylic , airbrush, charcoal, and ink on canvas 36 x 32 in

Erick Antonio Benitez, Poetry for 12 Cave Paintings, 2022, Acrylic , airbrush, charcoal, collage and ink on canvas, 36 x 32 in

Photo portrait by Kicca Tommasi

Jorge Macchi is a  visual artist. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1963. Lives and works in Buenos Aires. In 2001 he was awarded the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship.

He had three major retrospectives of his work: Perspectiva at MALBA Latin American Art Museum of Buenos Aires, in 2016, Music Stand Still at S.M.A.K the Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art, Ghent, Belgium in 2011, and The anatomy of melancholy at Santander Cultural, 2007, Blanton Museum, 2007 and CGAC, Centro Gallego de Arte Contemporáneo, 2008, He represented Argentina at the Venice Biennial in 2005.

He took part in the Biennials of Liverpool 2012, Lyon 2011, Yokohama 2008, Porto Alegre 2007, Venezia 2005, San Pablo 2004, Estambul 2003, Porto Alegre 2003.

Parallel lives, Jorge Macchi. Courtesy the artist.

All the words of the world, Edouard Fraipont. Courtesy Galeria Luisa Srina, Sao Paulo.

Bone exposed, Joerg Lohse. Courtesy Alexander and Bonin Gallery, NY

Sung Hwa Kim (b. 1985 in Seoul, South Korea) received his MFA at the Maryland Institute College of Art and his BFA from The Art Institute of Boston. Kim has held solo exhibition at Hesse Flatow (New York, NY). Recent group exhibitions include Gone Was the Glow at 1969 Gallery (New York, NY); At the Table, The AAPI Awareness Charity Exhibition at Christie’s (New York, NY); You Had Me At Hello: New American Paintings 2022 Review at Steven Zevitas Gallery (Boston, MA); The Views at Moskowitz Bayse (Los Angeles, CA); Shifted Horizon at HESSE FLATOW (New York, NY); 36 Paintings at Harper’s Books (East Hampton, NY); NOCTURNE on Galleryplatform.LA, M+B (Los Angeles, CA); The Edge Effect curated by Akili Tommasino at The Katonah Museum of Art (Katonah, NY). Sung Hwa Kim lives and works in New York City. 

Sung Hwa Kim, Nocturne: My love, hope, and sweet dreams. I'm still here and that is all that matter. acrylic, flashe, and gouache on canvas, 60 x 48 in, 2021

Sung Hwa Kim, Nocturne: On the day when your long night ends, I will be there acrylic, flashe, and gouache on canvas, 30 x 24 in, 2021

Sung Hwa Kim, Nocturne: You were told to suppress emotions, so no one sees you had a heart till your chest is openacrylic, flashe, and gouache on canvas, 48 x 36 in, 2021