Artist Interview: Guy Laramee’s Carved Book Sculptures

March 4, 2013 by Evan La Ruffa

Guy Laramee is the exception to well, any rule. He’s versed in theater writing and directing, contemporary music composition, musical instrument design and building, singing, video, scenography, installation, painting, literature and sculpture. What have you done lately?

It’s particularly his carved sculptures that caught our eye, however a glance at his CV reveals enough accomplishment for multiple creative lifetimes. He’s an anthropologist, has traveled to the Peruvian Amazon, and is clearly someone who lives richly in any endeavor he undertakes. Applying a critical eye, after all, is the job of the anthropologists and ethnographers, but also the musicians and artists of in any medium. After interviewing Guy, its clear he lives for the process, constantly examining from new angles and creating in the way that best brings his latest idea to life.

Motoi Yamamoto’s Incredible Salt Installations

March 23, 2012 by Evan La Ruffa

A photo of Motoi Yamamoto on all fours, creating these masterpieces, is all you really need to see to figure it all out. Even for those of us who haven’t listened to the mind of our inner child so consistently, it’s obvious that Motoi focuses, and creates. In the video we included above of Yamamoto creating these incredible installations, the painstaking scope of the work is put into perspective, making the clear connection between meditation, clarity of mind, and ability to create. This is to say, aside from these installations, we doubt he has any need to meditate. The targeted concentration he employs while creating is a function of total dedication to a vision. Much like we all did when the first building blocks or Lego’s were tossed at our feet. The mode is white wall, but for us, the process of creating the art is what makes this so exceptional. With a CV that looks like a yellow book, we’re clearly not the first to have latched on to the captivating works of this incredible Japanese artist. (via i paint my mind)

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Artist Interview: Maskull Lasserre

February 6, 2012 by Evan La Ruffa

Maskull Lasserre’s creations are tributes to the process of creative inquiry, while also existing so confidently within the world of the craftsman. His conceptual propositions are incredible inverted thoughts that require a certain inquisitive disposition from its onlookers. Within the work exists the same double-take of mind required by the French surrealists, while also asking questions of skill equally as challenging. Within each incisive action of sculpting exists a test of otherwise practical objects and casts them in perfectly intentional new contexts.

The point is that there should be no limitations to the questions one can and should ask, if only because the point of art itself is to serve as creative cognitive dissonance. The inquiries within are about emblazoning images on the mind while inviting logic to skip a beat, thus opening up a brand new set of possibilities. Seemingly unhindered by any technical obstacle, Lasserre’s art is a bold testament to creative evolution, pushing the philosophical envelope while clearly exceptional insofar as vision and craftsmanship. It’s always been about the ideas, but the impeccable execution within makes one question whether or not this artist is confined at all; After having asked the following questions, ir’s clear he isn’t in the least.

Artist Interview: Pat Perry

August 9, 2011 by Evan La Ruffa

Between train cars and mopeds, and over the course of thousands of miles, Pat Perry slowly realizes his dream of busting outside the confines of the mundane. All too often that monotony can squelch creative impulses, but this intrepid illustrator is pretty determined to avoid that at all cost. After getting in touch with Pat over email, we exchanged a few wayward text messages and in the end, missed each other in Chicago. It was between stops on this summer expedition of his, that he was able to answer some questions about the nature of his incredibly detailed work.

In a modern art era where so much is done digitally, Pat’s calculated and surreal illustrations bend back the paradigm by once again elevating the work elaborated by a traveler’s hands. His illustrations feels perfectly proportioned, almost as if in motion. Less reliance on symmetry and more focus on flow. There’s an energy about the continuity and vibrance of his images, whether the color scheme is brilliant or tempered, and his ability to satisfy a breadth of clients while still solidifying his fine art itch is admirable. Pat is dedicated to staying on his creative toes, which only means good news for those of us who know he’s on to something.