Tag: Stephanie Buer Interview

Interview with Stephanie Buer for ‘Hiraeth’ | Exhibition on view November 13 – December 4 at Thinkspace Projects

Thinkspace is pleased to present Stephanie Buer’s ‘Hiraeth.’

Hiraeth is a Welsh word, meaning to miss/long for a place that you can never visit again. It perfectly captures the emotions felt by Buer for her beloved Packard Plant in Detroit, Michigan. Buer’s urban landscapes explore the many layers of history found in the marginal areas of cities. She is fascinated by how these places change as they succumb to the manipulation of vandals, artists and the resilience of nature ever slowly growing alongside.

In anticipation of ‘Hiraeth,’ our interview with Buer discusses the impact of the Packard Plant on shaping her artistic style, her MFA program and the type of teacher she would like to be, along with the power of women (especially when in avalanche territory).

What was the inspiration behind this latest body of work? What themes were you exploring?

The inspiration for this work came from a box of old photos I found while cleaning out my studio last summer. The photos were about twenty years old, taken during my first years of undergrad at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, and they were of the Packard Plant, all from my first visits to the factory. The inspiration is two parts, first a beautiful bunch of old faded analog photos, and second this beautiful, old automotive factory in Detroit that I fell in love with during my formative years as a young artist and which in turn became the inspiration for my early art-making. It is about exploring the themes of connection to and love of place and also this feeling of nostalgia. Remembering a place, a time and all the feelings and inspirations that came along with it, being young, moving away from home for the first time to Detroit, falling in love with the city, and finding my voice as an artist.

Do you recall the first time you visited the Packard Plant? Who were you with, what did you find, and what were the feelings/emotions it stirred in you?

I absolutely do!! It’s such a wonderful memory. Outside of school a friend and I used to spend a lot of time at the Heidelberg project, we loved exploring that spot and getting to know the artists who worked there. One day, one of the artists was planning to go gather materials for an installation piece he was planning and he was telling us about this old factory where the Salvation Army used to store donated goods and then at some point abandoned the operation. So, there was this rumored space in the basement of the Packard plant where there were supposed to be loads of old, donated goods and he wanted to go there to gather supplies. We joined him in the adventure and that was my first trip to the Packard Plant. We found out that there was indeed a giant room filled with abandoned, donated goods, I remember distinctly a small mountain of old pumps and we all climbed to the top, it was so surreal. There were giant boxes filled with belts, ice skates, winter boots, pants, etc. It was so weird.

We also wandered the whole factory which is about a mile and a half square, so it was enormous. It was so wild and I immediately fell in love and started going back to visit at every opportunity. When I moved to Detroit from my home, it was the first time I had ever lived in a city. I’m a rural gal, my childhood was spent almost entirely out of doors. The city was a bit of a culture shock and I was so homesick for quiet, rural spaces. The minute I entered that old building, it made me feel like I was home, it brought me back to those spaces that I missed. It was so quiet and peaceful, plants and trees were growing wild, I remember in the spring you could even hear the winter ice melting, dripping from the floors above. So much of it, oddly enough, reminded me of home. Those were the feelings and emotions that it first brought up in me.

When exploring buildings or finding source material, do you need to connect with a space or focus more on its visual textures/composition?

Both of those aspects are important in my practice. I absolutely need to connect with a space, to spend time with it, to walk and explore it. I think the second aspect, takes place more often in the studio, but I do spend time in real life exploring visual textures and compositions, especially in framing the photos that I take but then through those photos, in the studio is when those aspects become imperative.

What was the most challenging piece in this exhibition? How did it help you grow as an artist?

Because I was trying to mimic the look and feel of old, analog photographs, I found the color palette to be new and challenging. The most pronounced difference was in the pieces Sunset and Sunset II, I loved the color palette so much, it was very nostalgic but very different than my usual colors which lean heavily into a blue/purplish range, these had so much green and yellow. I like how they came out though. I think that any chance you get to venture outside of your normal mode of working, helps you to grow as an artist, it adds a broader range of knowledge to your ever-growing toolbox of skill sets.

Can you share with us a piece of artwork or an artist who has had a significant impact on you?

The 20th-century American painter, Andrew Wyeth has definitely had a significant impact on my work. Especially his watercolor landscapes of winter scenes of the countryside in Pennsylvania where he lived. I am so madly in love with his monochromatic palette, his minimal compositions, and his dedication to representing the banal in such a classical and melancholic style. They’re just so beautiful.

You love to backpack and go mountaineering when not in the studio. Can you share with us your pack must-haves and one of your favorite trails you’ve hiked or places you’ve climbed?

I do love backpacking and mountaineering! What a fun but challenging question! Let’s see, my backpacking pack is entirely different than my mountaineering pack. When I’m mountaineering my pack is so full of essential gear for whatever climb I’m doing, whether it’s alpine ice, alpine rock or glacier travel, that and I have to go as light as possible so I can be quick, so I love to splurge on pack weight when I’m not mountaineering. I love to bring fun food items when I’m just backpacking, like a fancy mountain charcuterie, some wine or fresh veggies, something surprisingly luxurious for a remote mountain camp. It’s always such a joy to share with your friends and such a treat for yourself too. Food tastes like a million times better in the mountains after a long day of hiking.

I have way too many favorite places to pick just one!! If I’m just rock climbing, it would have to be Smith Rock State Park in Oregon, it’s like a home away from home for me, filled with a lifetime of happy memories. For alpine climbing and hiking, definitely Northwestern Washington, The North Cascades National Park, The Enchantments, The Monte Cristo Range there are so many amazing places to hike, camp, backpack and alpine climb in Washington State. To narrow it down though if folks are looking to visit, I recommend a hike to Lake Anne on Mount Shuksan, its beyond stunning. I’ve climbed that mountain so many times and it never ever gets old. Very close by too, is a hike to the base of Mount Baker starting at the Heliotrope Ridge Trailhead, it takes you, in very short order, right to the terminus of the Colmen Demming Glacier and I think getting up close and personal with an alpine glacier is something everyone should do in their lifetime if they are able. They are sadly, melting so fast and are one of the most beautiful and life-changing things I have ever experienced. You can even camp up high, next to the glacier, and fall asleep on the mountain, listening to the glacier move and calf. Really words cannot express how amazing it is, and its actually very accessible.

Do you have any rituals for tapping into a creative flow?

Since so much of my work is inspired by place, I find going for walks or bike rides to be great for getting inspired. Wandering around, mind empty, just taking it all in, looking for interesting moments, textures, and scenes, this really gets me excited to make new work.

We’re very excited for you and your pursuit of an MFA; we imagine that studying on top of your studio work is a lot to juggle. What are some of your strategies for balancing both responsibilities?

It is a lot to juggle for sure but I think working full time as an artist really prepares you for heavy workloads like this. I do have a few strategies; the most important I think is to stay incredibly organized and on top of things. That sounds so lame but for me, it really helps. I make so many lists and have multiple calendars with deadlines and goals, going at once. The unhealthier strategy is that I just work too much, a 12-14 hour day is not out of the ordinary, which is not cool I know, but I think there are busy seasons and slow seasons in life and I’m just in a busy one. In order to balance that though, I think it’s important to take long breaks and schedule one in advance so you can look forward to it. Right now, I’m working towards a break at Christmas time which will be amazing! The other is to carve out time every day for something you enjoy that helps you care for yourself. For me it’s time on my bike during my commute, going bouldering at the gym, doing yoga, or making good healthy food for myself. Whatever makes you feel grounded, and cared for, do something every day to keep yourself healthy and happy.

The MFA will help you be able to have the opportunity to teach. What are some of the characteristics or techniques you’d like to adopt from the teachers who have helped guide you? What are some things that you’d want to do differently than some of the teachers you had?

I was actually awarded a graduate teaching fellowship this year which is pretty cool, they give two students out of every cohort the opportunity to teach a class during their time as a graduate student, so I’ll get to try out some of these techniques sooner than later. Next semester here at Emily Carr, I will be teaching an introduction to drawing course! I’m so incredibly nervous but also excited. In my experience, I have noticed that teachers have this habit of projecting their own art careers, their biases, and ideas of what the art world is onto their students. I’ve had both really amazing teachers who didn’t do this and really awful learning experiences where teachers did project and it’s stifling. I’ve had teachers who believed in what I was doing and supported me, gave me space to be myself which was a game changer, and, on the flip side, teachers who thought that what I was doing had no place in the “art world” that it was too boring, too safe, too commercial, too childlike, too anything, you name it, I’ve heard it. I would love to be the type of teacher who could be more inclusive in showing that there is a place for all types of artmaking, that “making it” in the art world can look like many, many different things.

Most of my teaching experience up until now has been in the mountains, which is a heavily male-dominated space. I’ve really enjoyed watching other women teach, and lead in the mountains. They have a way of creating such a supportive, inclusive environment, one where you feel safe in expressing your feelings, whether it’s a hesitation or an excitement over something you’ve accomplished. These expressions are often stifled in male-dominated climbing spaces, but climbing in all-women spaces is like a festival of feelings and encouragement and I’m here for it! There’s a statistic we all learn about in backcountry travel that I will try and summarize, regarding avalanche safety, which says that there’s this incredibly dangerous age range among men in the mountains, roughly like 24-34 years of age, I’m just guessing here but it’s around there. Anyways, if you add a female to that team the likelihood of the group avoiding an accident goes up like 50% or something ridiculous like that. Women are amazing, they communicate better, they’re more supportive, they listen, they delegate more, and express hesitation because they don’t let their egos get in the way. I think women are incredible leaders and teachers and I plan to bring this energy to the classes I teach. To create a safe, brave space for expression, for trying new things, and for learning, connecting, and sharing. I can’t wait!!

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.

A couple of years ago, I went to Japan for the first time to visit my friend Kozy Kitchens and her husband Dan. They were moving back to Japan and had bought an old farmhouse to renovate and turn into their home and an artist residency someday. While we were there, she took us to visit some friends who had a similar old farmhouse in the mountains that they had turned into a bed and breakfast style place to stay the night. We had this most amazing dinner cooked in an Irori, and we all sat on the floor around it and roasted wild game from the surrounding countryside and ate wild, foraged foods from the forests, there were some other friends visiting as well, from all over and it was just magical. The company and conversation were amazing, the food was amazing, and all in this ancient farmhouse in the mountains of rural Japan. What a great experience, I will never forget it! I really hope to visit again someday when travel becomes possible and the grad school craziness is over.

‘Hiraeth’ will be on view from November 13, 2021 – December 4, 2021

Opening Reception with the Artist(s):
Saturday, November 13, 2021
6:00-9:00pm

Interview with Stephanie Buer for “Wild Abandon”

We are starting 2019 off with “Wild Abandon” from Portland-based artist Stephanie Buer. In her latest body of work, Buer returns to Detroit where she explores the city, and shares her finding through photorealistic paintings in oil, and charcoal works on paper. Buer captures the abandoned recesses of the city, finding unexpected richness in its desolation and quietude in its abrupt vacancies. Our interview with Stephanie Buer dives into the inspiration behind this new body of work,  what the role of an artist is in society and her dream creative collaboration.

SH: For those that are not familiar with you and your work, can you give us a brief look at your artistic background?

SB: I spent the majority of my childhood and even into adulthood, training as a classical ballet dancer. So I didn’t start pursuing drawing and painting seriously until College. I went to the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, where I studied drawing, painting and stone carving. Right after I graduated all of my stone carving tools were stolen and at the time they were too expensive to replace, so I started focusing on my drawing and painting. I also worked for many years in car design, while I lived in Detroit, once I saved enough to pay off my student loans, I moved to Portland and started making art full time.

SH: What inspired this latest body of work? What buildings and cities did you explore?

SB: This body of work was inspired by Detroit, a city I love and called home for 10 years. I had taken a break to explore and make work from other cities and was starting to feel a bit homesick, so I decided to go back home for this one. I was also inspired by the cold, snowy weather. It has been years since a good snowy winter and a winter break trip to see family, have coincided. There has been a lot of warmer winters in the last 6 years or so and I just love painting and drawing snow. It makes me so happy, I couldn’t wait to get out and explore. I was home for two weeks and the temperature was never above 20 degrees. It was so cold one of the days that my camera froze! My closest friend and old college roommate recently bought some property and a small building in Detroit. It’s in a neighborhood that is a bit newer to me, so I spent some time with her getting to know some of the places and buildings nearer to her new home. Spingwells, Del Ray, the Old Continental Motors Factory, Corktown, these are just a few of the locations that I worked from.

SH: Is there a particular piece in this exhibition you feel really challenged you? If so, why and what makes you proud of this piece.

SB: I usually draw very blank skies, just plain white paper most of the time. I made a larger drawing that had a lot of cloud work in the sky. I know it doesn’t sound like much but it was quite challenging and I think it turned out well. I also tried some new techniques with the painting of clouds too and I think it was successful. I guess I’m proud of the clouds. Sounds a bit silly but I am.

SH: Abandon buildings can attract interesting characters and private security, has there been a time where you had to talk your way out of a tricky situation? Is there a particular piece from that moment we can reference?

SB: I’ve been pretty lucky, in Detroit, there isn’t a lot of security. Birdman and I had to run and scale a small wall to get away from security in LA once, that was pretty fun. The climbing skills really came in hand.
In Detroit its more often very interesting characters that you run into, and I love that. While gathering images for this last body of work, my friend and I were stopped by an older man, taking his son and granddaughter on a tour of the neighborhood he grew up in. This neighborhood, like most in Detroit was lively but desolate, on account of the riots back in the 60’s. His son wasn’t too amused with the tour so he was excited to tell us some stories from his childhood. He told us that Stevie Wonder grew up in the same neighborhood as him and that as a young kid, he used to deliver milk. He was showing us where his house once stood. The drawing, Searching for Stevie Wonder, is that spot.

SH: What was the most challenging piece in this exhibition? Why and what did you learn?

SB: The most challenging piece was definitely the large painting of the Continental Motors factory. It is the largest painting I have made to date, even building the canvas was a learning experience. I am a big fan of the artist, Rackstraw Downes. He paints a lot of wide-angle landscapes where he exaggerates the curvature of the earth in the horizon and building lines. I wanted to experiment with that and it was very difficult. I find very straight lines and square angles comfortable, they’re easy to make look perfect, but long sweeping, organic lines are so hard to perfect.

SH: What excites you about your work / creative process?

SB: I love painting and drawing. I get excited to be in the studio every day, even after doing this for so long, it never gets old. Going through new images and planning out pieces and bodies of work is exciting. Trying new techniques is exciting. I like the way that the work helps the viewer to see beauty in things and places where they might not stop to look. I love it!

SH: What frustrates you about your work/ creative process?

SB: The sustainability and the business side of an art career are the things that frustrate me the most. There’s not much about the creative process that I dislike. Even the tedious bits, like laying in the construction lines or painting hundreds of bricks, I’m even starting to enjoy a bit of framing! Its just the business part of it that I find frustrating.

SH: Who is an artist; musician, director, any art form – who would be a dream collaboration for you and what would you create?

SB: I daydream about collaborating with a choreographer and a dance company. Sometimes my pieces feel to me like the settings on a stage and I wonder what types of movements and costumes someone would dream up to take place on the stages I would create. That’s a super outer space daydream though, never said it out loud before.

SH: What do you think the role of artists is in society? How does other artwork inform how you move through life?

SB: I think the role of an artist in society has many purposes. It depends on the artist. A few things that I think are important though, are to challenge people, to bring into question the ways we live, and the choices we make. Its also to bring beauty into the world.

I would like my work to encourage people to have conversations about what it means to be more present, to be in the moment and observe the world. It’s a societal lifestyle change I see happening and it worries me. I would also like my work to challenge peoples relationship with the environment, to bring attention to our relationship with it and our responsibility to it. I had some great conversations with myself during the making of this body of work, about these points. I love winter, and I love snow, I love being in it, looking at it, capturing it in my pieces. The reality of it though, is that it is rare these days in the midwest. Growing up winters were always cold and snowy but its changing. I know my work is known for focusing on old, dilapidated buildings and graffiti but I wanted these pieces to also showcase the changes we experience with seasons, wintertime, a unique experience to the midwest which I think is not a guarantee these days. It may be something we look back on in a hundred years or so, as a memory. It doesn’t seem like much in capturing it now, but it may be what is most significant about work which artists are making these days. These thoughts definitely inform my life too, they teach me to live a life that is more aware of my impact. Per the earlier point too, I hope making art reminds me to be more present, to put my phone down and to focus on the things that are important.

SH: If your body of work inspired an ice cream flavor, what would it be called and what are the ingredients?

SB: That is an interesting question. There is a lot of snow in these pieces so it wouldn’t be much of a stretch, although, I’m imagining bits of brick and asbestos, some twigs sticking out . . . that’s yucky . . . maybe like vanilla with chocolate and Oreos and other messy looking bits, maybe in a brick patterned waffle cone!

SH: Favorite way to celebrate the completion of a project/body of work?

A trip! I visited my family in Michigan for the holidays after I finished this last body of work, it was great motivation. A trip to the mountains or some time in the desert climbing is also something I really look forward to. I sacrifice those things in the middle of deadlines so its great to be able to fit them in again.

Join us for the opening of Wild Abandon, Saturday, January 5th from 6 – 9 pm.

 

Stephanie Buer Interview on Mass Appeal

Mass Appeal interviewed artist Stephanie Buer who is currently showing in the Thinkspace Gallery main room. The interview explores Stephanie’s creative process and her choice to document Los Angeles in her latest body of work.

Visit the Mass Appeal website for the full interview.

Stephanie Buer’s ‘Uncommon Silence’ is now on view at Thinkspace Gallery, visit the Thinkspace website for more information and to view all available work.

Do you consider yourself a documentarian? A storyteller?

I would say a documentarian more then a storyteller. When I started painting these landscapes, I realized that these abandoned and urban spaces change rapidly, either the buildings are torn down, remodeled or continuously repainted. The works capture them in a single moment in time, which will never exist again. I feel like a documentarian when that happens, especially when the buildings are torn down. I think all of the work, in its entirety is telling a story about these spaces in our cities but, each individual piece is documenting a particular spot and a particular moment in that place’s existence.

Interview with Stephanie Buer for “Uncommon Silence”

Stephanie Buer

Thinkspace is proud to present Stephanie Buer’s newest body of work ‘Uncommon Silence’ in our main room this Saturday, January 7th. The Portland-based artist realistic paintings and charcoal drawings capture the vacant and desolate sprawl of abandoned urban spaces. In anticipation of her upcoming exhibition with us, we have an exclusive interview with Stephanie Buer to discuss her inspiration, exploring urban spaces, a day in the studio, and so much more.

Join us at the opening of ‘Uncommon Silence’ Saturday, January 7th from 6 to 9 pm. 

SH: What’s the inspiration behind the exhibition?
SB: Los Angeles is the inspiration. We wanted to do something a little different for this show, so I came to LA for a week about a year ago and just wandered the city, looking for inspiration. It was a really great experience.

SH: Can you describe your creative process? What does a day in the studio look like?
SB: Once I’ve gathered all the images, gone through them and picked the ones I would like to work with, its pretty straight forward. The creative part comes in when wandering and finding beautiful places to paint and then arranging the compositions. After that, it’s just putting in the hours to get it all done. I work anywhere from 6-12 hrs a day. I bike to the studio, paint or draw for awhile, head to the gym to work out or grab a meal with friends then usually head back to the studio. I can’t work more than about 6 hrs in one stretch, my focus starts to fall apart and the work gets sloppy, so that’s usually when I take a break.

BUER

SH: When not working on your art, what is your favorite thing to do?
SB: I love climbing. If I’m not working at the studio, I’m at the gym climbing, at Smith Rock climbing or off in the mountains somewhere. Its so much fun, I can’t get enough. I also spend a lot of time hiking, practicing yoga and biking. I like to stay really active.

SH: What is your favorite abandoned space? Do you have an interesting story to share from exploring different spaces?
SB: My favorite abandoned building to explore is the Packard Plant in Detroit, I think it always will be. I loved that space so much, I spent a lot of time there in college, after college, I’ve been wandering that property for the past 14 years or so. I have a lot of great memories in that space. It’s being renovated now, I haven’t been in it in over a year. It will probably never be the same as it was, so I’m very happy to have gotten to know it when I did. I remember exploring that building around Christmas once and way deep in the building we found some abandoned rooms that were rented out at one time as storage units. They were filled with so many old relics of peoples lives, it was pretty sad but also exciting. We found a bunch of boxes of old Christmas decorations and we decorated the hallways with everything we found. It was very festive and cold and snowy and amazing!!

SH: This question feels ridiculous to ask, but the world is one in which women have to be more on guard. Going into abandoned spaces for your reference photos, how do your ensure you’re safe or push pass any apprehension you had about exploring these spaces. What advice would you give other female artists who are afraid?
SB: I am a very independent woman and I feel very confident in my skills in the wilderness and on mountains but it’s true that in our world, you still have to be careful and be aware of unsafe situations. I never go alone, that’s one piece of advice I could give. Even if I know the space really well. These abandoned places attract people from all margins of our society including a lot of people with mental illnesses. There just isn’t the funding in this country to take care of people with mental issues and they end up on the streets and then in these spaces where they can hide and live and they’re just very unpredictable. Most are incredibly friendly and have great stories to share but you never know.

Also, be aware of the consequences of getting caught, and make sure you’re cool with that before going. Most of the time I can talk my way out of things but if and when I do get caught I like to know the consequence ahead of time so I’m not surprised and then angry. We have a saying in mountaineering, the number one rule in mountain climbing is, don’t fall, the second rule is, don’t fall and the third is . . .don’t fall! I’d say the same goes for this, but it’s don’t get caught! So, go out with others, carry a knife, wear running shoes, bring nothing valuable, be aware and bring snacks!

SH: In a 2012 interview you shared your love of Detroit and the Packard Plant, have you found a similar kinship with Portland or an inspiring location?
SB: I have not sadly. There are a few places I like to wander and as Portland becomes more popular and people start moving here, I’ve noticed an increase in the amount of graffiti which is fun. I like living here though, the creative community is amazing, lots of really friendly, talented people. I also like the easy access to climbing, hiking, and mountaineering. My family is all still in Michigan though, and always will be so its still home and I go there a lot. I think I’ll do more traveling to explore urban spaces in the future too. I had a great time wandering LA and look forward to getting to know other cities in that way.

SH: You’ve shared you’re not a history buff but you have a clear fascination with the past and its influence on the present if you were to have a dinner party what 3 historical figures would you invite and what would be on the menu?
SB: There would definitely be pizza, really good pizza and a couple bottles of wine. I’ve been eating a lot of pizza lately. I would love to sit and chat with John Steinbeck. One of my favorite books of all times is Sailing Alone Around the World, by Joshua Slocum. I’d love to chat with him about his adventures. I know I should probably list some painters or something like that, but painters are weird. We spend too much time alone painting and we get weird. It’s okay though. I climbed in the Bugaboos this summer and was reading these stories about Conrad Kain, a famous mountaineer from the early 1900’s, he climbed with a lot of badass looking pals, including a few ladies. I would love to sit down and hear their stories. I love hearing about people who adventured before it was made too convenient. Everything was difficult and they were so tough.

SH: What excites you about other artists work? What makes you a fan and can you share a few people we should look up?
SB: I really love the way people use paint. Some artists say so much with so little, and the brush strokes and light. It’s too much! There’s some amazing painters out there. I’ve really been enjoying Phil Hales paintings. I can never seem to get enough of John Singer Sargent and Andrew Wyeth either.

SH: How long does one piece take to complete? Do you work on multiple pieces at a time?
SB: I definitely work more than one piece at a time. I usually only do one drawing at a time but I’ll also have two to three paintings in rotation. I use a very limited palette and a lot of the building materials in the images are shared from one image to another so I can get a lot of mileage out of a well-mixed palette. I like switching back and forth between charcoals and paintings as well, they inform each other in really great ways. I’m never entirely certain how long they take though. I always forget to time it. I would guess anywhere from 40-100 hrs.

SH: Kicking off the year with an exhibition seems like a solid way to start the year, what are a few of your goals for 2017?
SB: It really feels great! Last year was a really tough year for me, lots of personal challenges so this feels good. I’ve been so busy the last few months, finishing up work for the show that I haven’t given much thought to my goals. I have lots of climbing goals, I’d love to go back to school and get my masters, travel somewhere new and make a body of work from the trip, there will be a lot more dancing this year, being with my family and friends . . . . after the opening I’m gonna hide in the desert for a bit, I’ll think more on it then.