Thank you so much to everyone that came out and helped us kick off our 2023 program this past Saturday.
In Gallery I, RYOL has returned with a new body of work that fills our space with paintings that showcase how light is the most fundamental element in the visual arts. ‘Caught In The Art’ is a play on the phrase “caught in the act,” and refers to the play of light in each of Ryo’s new oil paintings that appear to capture his subjects as if they have just been cornered and, indeed, caught in the act.
In Gallery II, Japanese drawing monster Shinnosuke Hariya presents ‘Power Up,’ a new series of 14 graphite works on an illustration board. This show is the artist’s debut North American solo exhibition.
Gallery III holds ‘Anywhere & Here’, a series of paintings that depict a shifting cast of protagonists from Detroit based artist Michael Polakowski. ‘Anywhere and Here’ is a reference to our own sense of presence. It acts as a response to the question asked by each painting in this series “where can we find clarity in our day to day lives?”
Gallery IV features ‘Allergic Party’, showcasing 30 incredible new ceramic works from Spanish artist Abi Castillo in her debut North American solo exhibition.
Thinkspace is pleased to present ‘Allergic Party’ showcasing 30 incredible new ceramic works from Spanish artist Abi Castillo in her debut North American solo exhibition.
Discovering ceramics introduced Abi to a world of aesthetic and creative possibilities that allow the artist to give shape to her creatures and characters. The ambivalence between mysticism and drama, between monstrosity and beauty, are themes all very present in Abi’s personal project.
Our interview with Abi Castillo discusses her journey with ceramics, love of nature, and her latest shift to her creative practice.
For those that are not familiar with you and your work, can you give us a brief look at your artistic background? How did you first hear of Thinkspace?
I graduated in Fine Arts and specialized in ceramic art. I have been working as an illustrator since 2010, and now I combine that work with ceramic sculpture in my workshop. I have exhibited my work in different galleries in Spain and Portugal, and I am very happy to have arrived in the United States.
I’ve been following Thinkspace on social media for a long time because I think they are a reference in the art scene, always showing the work of new and different contemporary artists.
What was the inspiration behind this latest body of work? What themes were you exploring?
For this exhibition, I was inspired by my allergy to pollen and dust mites and how tedious it is to live with these symptoms. I decided to give it a touch of humor by making a party, a gathering of snot and fluids with characters that give off sympathy. In this exhibition, I have tried to make my characters more expressive to generate in the viewer a mixture of laughter and tenderness.
“Queen of the Party”
You’ve gilded bodily fluids representative of tears and mucous in this exhibition, making what we are sometimes embarrassed by beautiful. Do you have any allergies? Do you consider yourself one who easily cries?
As I said, I have allergies to pollen and dust mites, and I have learned to live with it. We should not be ashamed of a natural reaction to an allergen that we cannot control. It is really uncomfortable, and my nose is red during the spring, just like my characters’ noses. I consider myself a very sensitive person, and I don’t mind showing my feelings. My sculptures bear witness to this, and in them, I channel many of the good and bad moments.
What was the most challenging piece in this exhibition? How did it help you grow as an artist?
The most difficult work to make has been ¨Choromicas¨ which means in my mother tongue, Galician, a person who cries a lot. If ceramics has taught me anything, it is to work on my patience. Ceramics is a slow process, where drying times must be respected in order to keep adding heights and not crumble.
Do you have any rituals that help you tap into a creative flow?
My workshop is surrounded by a forest, and that’s where I find my connection with nature and where I get ideas to flow better. My ritual is based on spending many hours in the workshop, sometimes sketching and sometimes sitting at the pottery wheel trying to improve the technique, but having nature so close is what helps me to create.
“Hangover”
What excites you about your work / creative process? What frustrates you about your work/ creative process?
What I love most about ceramics is the freedom and that I feel I can bring my characters to life. I can make a sketch and create a shape with volume that will become a new friend.
What frustrates me the most is that I can’t control all the phases of creating my pieces, and sometimes you think you are doing it right, and the pieces explode in the kiln, or the glaze formulas don’t come out right, and there is no turning back. During these years, I have also learned to take these cracks and failures as part of my learning and as something that could make the pieces unique and special in seeing the beauty of imperfection.
You gave birth in July; what has maternity leave looked like for you? What did your studio days look like before having a baby, and how are they evolving now to accommodate your latest creation?
My maternity leave has helped me to get to know myself better and to organize a lot of ideas about my work. Motherhood is a great moment in life that is worth enjoying. Being a mother has changed everything, and I have had to change some things in my work. Before becoming a mother, there were no schedules, and I could spend all night working without a break, but now I have to organize my time to enjoy my daughter and continue creating.
I also recognize that being a mother brings a new inspiration to my work.
Who are some of your creative influences?
There are many currents that have inspired and influenced me throughout my career.
And I think I’m still constantly learning. My main influences come from lowbrow and pop surrealism. Artists like Mark Ryden or Marion Peck or Peca have always fascinated me for details and that intense inner world.
In ceramics, I love Eun-Ha Paek and Joakim Ojanen because their characters intrigue me and make me unable to stop looking at them.
“Choromicas”
What are your favorite things to do outside of the studio?
I love to knit. Every week I get together with a group of women to continue learning how to make sweaters and scarves. It’s a great exercise for exercising the memory and for meditation. I also enjoy going for walks with my daughter, going to concerts, and traveling.
If you could have any skill or topic downloaded into your brain, what would you want to be able to do/ be an expert at?
Many things! I would love to be a virtuoso and play a musical instrument, know how to cook like great chefs or control all kinds of artistic techniques to perfection so as not to have limits.
What is clear to me is that I would love to learn everything related to art in all its forms.
Anywhere & Here’ presents a series of paintings that depict a shifting cast of protagonists. Each character is shown grappling with the reality of the here and now while dreaming of the potential of anywhere.
Our interview with Michael Polakowski shares valuable advice he’s received on approaching his work, the act of being present to inform his artistic voice, and the essential practice of running.
Can you share a little about your background and how you first heard of Thinkspace?
I grew up in Dearborn, Michigan, a small suburb of Detroit in the Midwestern United States. Not exactly an art hub by any means, but I always gravitated toward art and especially graffiti and skateboarding art. The work from the New Contemporary movement found its way to me through magazines and art blogs from LA, and Thinkspace was one of my early exposures to the art world that was out there. In a way, this show has been an amazing opportunity for me to connect with the art movement that ignited my relationship with art while paying homage to my home.
What was the inspiration behind this latest body of work? What themes were you exploring?
This body of work is about balancing forward progression and ambition with presence in one’s life. It’s about the individual parts that make the whole picture. That relationship between being present and engaged in your daily life while working towards a larger understanding of happiness or clarity is the central theme to this body of work. Creating this work was a balancing act for me, and the resulting body of work is about that process. Whether it is a painting that comes about through a conversation with a close friend or a realization that occurs in the middle of the night and is scrawled down on a sketchbook at the side of my bed, this body of work was about being engaged in the act of creating while not allowing myself to be overcome by it.
When you are triggered to chase escape, how do you bring yourself to acceptance?
I’ve grown to realize that some things just need time to work themselves out and that I have little ability to affect that. That acceptance of what I can’t control is initially defeating, but arriving at acceptance can open up new opportunities. Because of this, I like to schedule a break for myself in the middle of the day to run. This resets my brain and is almost like giving into the “fight or flight” response that anxiety can often bring about.
What was the most challenging piece in this exhibition? How did it help you grow as an artist?
The two pieces “Anywhere (Doorway)” and “Here (Doorway)” were among the most difficult in the series. They both feature a scene that has almost been “copy and pasted” onto itself, so in a way, it was like painting each piece three times to get the desired effect. Working on these paintings felt like I was doing workout repetitions to strengthen my painting ability.
“Anywhere (Doorway)”“Here (Doorway)”
Do you have any rituals that help you tap into a creative flow? What does a day in the studio look like for you?
With art, I find that there are times for fluidity and times for rigidity. As a painter, I needed to find the “non-negotiable” parts of my practice, like working 5 days a week for 8 hours a day but allowing myself to arrive at that goal in a variety of ways. Some pieces for the show I made over the course of a week or two, working entirely at night, while other pieces I made in a more traditional nine-to-five workday. No matter when I make it to my studio, however, I always dive into a deep level of focus that feels very cathartic and calming. I’ll usually take a break to eat and exercise (running has become the main way that I decompress), then head back to my studio and finish up for the day.
What excites you about your work / creative process? What frustrates you about your work/ creative process?
The act of painting is a very centering and engaging process. The detail and precision in my work mean there is no way to split my focus or do something partway. This can be great because it requires me to push everything aside but also can be frustrating when it just isn’t working out. My process for ideation also means that I am always engaged with my practice. I want my work to be a reflection of my life, not the entirety of it. By making my work about being observant of my surroundings and immersed in it.
When I started my career, I often fell into the trope of the “all-consumed” artist who never rested and gave everything to their practice. It wasn’t until I received advice from a more experienced artist that my goal should be to have a long career and evolve over a fifty-year career instead of working unsustainably for five years and then burning out. I took this advice to heart, and it shifted everything for me. First and foremost, my goal became about being an engaged and present individual, and the rest would follow. For the first time, I was able to think about what kind of artist I could evolve into, and that is the most exciting part for me.
“The Left Hand Doesn’t Know…”“…What the Right Hand is Doing”
Who are some of your creative influences?
I like to find inspiration for my work in other creative practices like film, literature, and music. Whenever I read a book or see a movie that sticks with me, I ask myself, “how could a painting create the same emotional response?” I’m a huge fan of Alejandro Jodorowsky and recently saw his film The Holy Mountain, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. As far as other painters go, I am a fan of the Chicago Imagist movement from the 1960s. Artists from that movement, like Roger Brown and Christina Ramberg, were able to interpret surrealism in such a personal way that reflected their experiences living in Chicago and the Midwest, and this authenticity to one’s own narrative has been a major influence on me.
The novels Franz Kafka’s “The Castle” and Dino Buzzati’s “The Tartar Steppe.” inspired the direction of “Anywhere & Here.” What are three books you think everyone should read and why?
Those two novels are a great start for anyone interested in absurdity and are two of my personal favorites. Both books feature protagonists who are completely immersed in what they see as their “life’s struggle” and suffer because they are ultimately unable to put separation between themselves and the systems they are a part of. A third book I would recommend is Haruki Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. This book is almost an antidote to the way of thinking that is pervasive in the previous books I mentioned. Murakami has had such a prolific output as an author, and this book details how the act of running has supported that process. My work is very physically demanding, and I don’t think I would have been able to stick with it had I not found this book.
What is your favorite thing to do outside of the studio?
One of my favorite things to do while I’m not painting is trail running, and the long winding roads that are seen in my paintings come from that. There is something very meditative about running towards a distant point at the end of a trail. You know that the end is coming because all things end eventually, but when you are in the middle of a run, it seems infinitely far away. Another hobby I’ve been drawn to is playing billiards, which is also featured heavily within my work. Playing 8-ball pool feels strangely like painting at times: you go into each game with a plan but must adapt and respond to the way it plays out.
What is one of the most memorable meals of your life thus far? It could be the food or the company that made it have a lasting impression.
My girlfriend and I recently traveled to Chihuahua, Mexico, for the wedding of two of my studio mates and longtime friends. During the trip, we stayed with them at a cabin in Santa Eulalia that was in the mountains. During the dinner, we all had sketchbooks out and were drawing in between games of dominoes and conversation. This meal stands out to me because it was one of the first times I drew the mountains, that are a central theme within my work. That meal was an instance where my artistic practice made me more present in my life and observant of my surroundings; the work that comes from these moments is always the most authentic and satisfying to me.
‘Power Up’ presents a new series of 14 graphite works on illustration board from the Japanese drawing monster Shinnosuke Hariya and is the artist’s debut North American solo exhibition.
Our interview with Shinnosuke Hariya reveals his preferred pencils, dives into god-like figures of creative influence, and the other skills he’d wish to explore but will hold off for now.
For those that are not familiar with you and your work, can you give us a brief look at your artistic background? How did you first hear of Thinkspace?
I’m a graphite artist born in Tokyo, Japan. I combine street and Japanese cultures in my work.
I have loved drawing since I was a child. I studied graphic design in art college but found that I liked drawing more than designing, so I became an artist rather than a designer. I held my first solo exhibition in 2017 after graduating from art college. Since then, I have held solo exhibitions and participated in group exhibitions in Japan and abroad.
I first became aware of Thinkspace through Instagram while browsing through the posts of international galleries. Thinkspace attracted me because of the many cool artists exhibiting there.
When Super A had his solo show at Thinkspace in December 2020, I sent a reaction to the Stories that Thinkspace had posted. Then I received a message from Thinkspace inviting me to exhibit at Gallery II, which made me very happy.
What was the inspiration behind this latest body of work? What themes were you exploring?
I decided to create this exhibit on the theme of robotic characters because I came up with the idea that graphite and metallic qualities go well together.
Since this exhibition was to be held in the U.S., I drew not only Japanese characters but also many popular American characters that I like.
What was the most challenging piece in this exhibition? How did it help you grow as an artist?
The piece I painted thoughtfully is the reflective texture of “Thief Robo” and “Modified Police Wolf.” I attempted to draw different textures of metal in this exhibition.
I developed an image of each motif in my mind, and I tried to imagine how they were covered with scratches from fighting, how they were deteriorated and battered, and how they looked like new and clean.
If people who see my work can relate to the expression of these textures, I believe I have grown.
What does a day in the studio look like for you? How do you structure your days?
There is no specific time of day when I draw my work. However, I tend to draw in the evening through the morning and sleep in the morning and afternoon.
“Thief Robo”
Do you have any rituals that help you tap into a creative flow? Do you have a favorite brand of graphite?
I am not particular about the brand of pencils I use for my work, but I use Mitsubishi and Staedtler pencils because they were the first pencils I used when I started drawing.
What excites you about your work / creative process? What frustrates you about your work/ creative process?
I generally do not draw rough sketches when I start creating a work of art. Sometimes I do, though. So when I get an idea and start drawing it, I get excited. I feel that the moment when the work is nearing completion is similar to the feeling I get when I finish watching a favorite movie or comic book. I feel like there is a sense of accomplishment and a kind of sadness that the work is finished.
I am a little frustrated that I have to take breaks from drawing when I have to keep drawing motifs with a lot of detail because my hands get sore from doing so.
“Modified Police Wolf”
What qualities do you think define a lasting icon or character within pop culture? What are the traits that you connect with in the icons you pull for your own work?
I think those characters seem to be composed of simple forms, but they are very calculated. I feel that the shapes are sometimes cool and sometimes cute. I read the meanings of these shapes deeply and incorporate them into my work.
Are there pop culture figures or influences that have had an impact on your philosophical view on life?
People who have influenced my life are Akira Toriyama, Takehiko Inoue, Yoshihiro Togashi, George Lucas, Spielberg, Stanley, and Walt Disney… the list is endless!
I think the characters and stories they create fascinate many people.
I guess these characters are like God to me.
What are your favorite things to do outside of the studio?
I like going to see exhibitions of friends and artists that interest me, watching movies, and reading manga.
If you could have any skill or topic downloaded into your brain, what would you want to be able to do/ be an expert at?
I would like to be able to speak more languages other than Japanese.
I would also like to be able to create great stories like comic book writers, screenwriters, and novelists, but I can imagine the hardships they go through to create great works, so I am fine with being myself as I am now.
Thinkspace is pleased to present Ryol’s (aka Ryo Laksamana) new body of work, ‘Caught in the Art’ in Gallery I.
The exhibition fills the space with paintings that showcase how light is the most fundamental element in the visual arts. Light becoming the experimental medium in Ryo’s new series of oil paintings.
Our interview with Ryol discusses the influence of local street culture on the works, the impact of his friendships, and why boredom is an essential tool for pushing as an artist.
The work within “CAUGHT IN THE ART” explores how light and illumination create a mood. What are a few of your favorite pieces from art history that celebrates the use of light?
Madame Monet’s works, one of which is Women with Parasol. I can see how the painter captured the impression of light and color into the painting in Monet’s works.
As the pieces are playing on the idea of being caught in the act, what are some moments (that you feel open to sharing) where you were “caught in the act?” Do you think you are a mischievous person?
Some of the works are inspired by street culture in my neighborhood, particularly at red-light intersections. Clowns being apprehended by police and other stories served as inspiration for the visuals.
“Dancer”
What does a day in the studio look like for you? How do you structure your days?
Because I grew up in my parents’ home industry, I enjoy a hectic situation. Something is missing if I see my studio in silence. Eccha and I have created a schedule from morning to evening that includes all deadlines and other responsibilities.
Do you have any rituals that help you tap into a creative flow?
I do not have it, but I usually chat with friends outside the studio to exchange ideas, and those conversations serve as motivation for me to work in the studio.
You’ve shared that you enjoy listening to artist interviews and have even met a few artists you admire. Have you adopted any of their practices or wisdom into your studio that you’ve felt have vitally shifted your work?
My first trip to Los Angeles last year provided me with valuable feedback for my current studio practice. Every place I visit gives me a new thing, and I can learn to be better and better right now. Like Kenny Scharf Studio, which was my first studio visit in LA, and he gave me a new pop culture reference, and Obey Giant, which looks like a massive studio, and it looks proper, and I can see the trash of Shepard Fairey’s works and the perfection of Robert William.
“Peek”
Expressions of pop culture are seen within this latest body of work but have become less of the focus of the subject matter; what was the core spirit behind the icons you pulled into this work?
I did not use many popular icons in this exhibition, but I did draw some from the street culture around me. I believe the street culture I encounter around me is a component of popular culture, and I can sense its intimacy firsthand.
The eyes within your work have a sparkling static effect and various symbols. Could you share your thoughts on this choice and if it has any deeper symbolic meaning?
In my previous work, I used a realistic approach to create each eye in my works. I painted the eyes layer by layer to achieve depth, and I attempted to make the eyes in my works more lifelike. However, after discovering the sparkling technique in my working process, I discovered depth in another version after further exploration. This effect creates a lighter, more playful impression while still retaining a sense of depth and mystery.
“The Kitchen”
You’ve shared that boredom with your work drives creative evolution. Do you find that you become quickly bored by various stimuli? How do you keep the creative process interesting?
My boredom, like a judge in a competition, is the best judge to keep exploring my works in the future. I am the most intimate with my works. So I can tell when I am bored and need to do something different.
Has there been an artistic catalyst in your life? Something, someone, some event that made a significant impact on you that has led you to where you are now.
In this case, perhaps I can say that my friends are my best process mentors.
