Studio Portraits: Esteban Ocampo (MFA 2015)

Esteban Ocampo, Class of 2015

Studio: 4th Floor

estebanocampo.com

Seduced by Paint

By Matthew Comeau (MFA 2015)
 
Arriving at a new place, with nothing but time; the first thing one does is seek out its most vital parts to assess which pieces of this new world can be absorbed and brought back to the soul. At the start of my stay here, I was in a funk. As much as I was ecstatic about my surroundings, ready and willing to work, I couldn’t get myself out of the sketchbook, as with everyone; it seemed to take a bit of time before we really sank into our practice.

As time and momentum built up, some very exciting things began to happen in the studio. My work has found itself in wild flux as well. I had been having some trouble escaping the confines of my sketchbook, but ended up stumbling upon the gutted remains of an industrial elevator being fixed within the Spinnerei. I took them back to my studio, and spent 3 weeks reorganizing and piecing back together the parts into freestanding and wall sculptures, incorporating bike parts, broken casts, antique cabinets, light fixtures, telephones, street signs, tubing, and even fly tape; still covered in flies. The project eventually turned into a (still ongoing) 12-foot installation, now in the main hall of our shared space, and while I don’t think I can bring much of it home; I found the temporality of the project broke down some psychological barriers in my art-making. Now into the second half of our stay, I’ve snapped back into two-dimensional work, experimenting with oil on canvas for the first time in a number of years. Oddly, I haven’t made a single drawing outside of my sketchbook in all of my time here. It must’ve rejuvenated something in me though, because I’ve become completely seduced by paint. While I don’t think I could ever bring myself to abandon my large drawings; I can’t wait see what kind of language will pull itself out, back in the Academy studios. 

 
Esteban's new painting is easily one of my favorites.  It depicts an outlandishly colorful and impasto driven kind of “80’s party” aesthetic with a twist.   The figures seem to be inspired by an image of some Spinnerei workers from its days under the GDR, as a Cotton Mill. It became a full-fledged dive into painterly buildup, chunks of saturation climbing off the canvas’ surface, colors swimming in and out of one another in the faces of the figures. Having shared a studio for nearly two months now, I’ve steadily observed a conscience abandonment of the finesse of his hand, for the sake of a kind of absurd theatricality.
Hannah has chosen to use our travels as a conduit to push her work in an alternative direction. It seems she’s embracing a new process as well; one that pulls away for the cultural weight and pointed deliberation of her Holocaust images. Instead she’s chosen to derive references from her personal history, with a comparatively organic addition-and-removal of content, pushing towards narrative that is more intimate in subject and visceral in content; while allowing the viewer’s projections to complete her stories. Her new paintings seem to carry a sentimentality that was evident in her previous work, but is instead geared towards the intimacies and precious moments of her own life.
Camila has been exploring figures of authority, versus those of alienation and victimhood as its bi-product and polarity; and how relationships between representation and gestural abstraction can serve to support her conversations. She has been playing with the extent to which extensive rendering is necessary to convey a narrative; as well as how that kind of restraint, for the sake of leaving the open gesture, can leave space for the viewer’s imagination. On top of that, she seems to have stumbled into a kind of re-contextualized use of abstraction, as a potential narrative tool when placed appropriately in relation to the representational parts of her images. I’m excited to see how its use begins to evolve.

On the 13th of July, We had our exhibition at a castle called the Schloss in a small town just outside of Leipzig, known as Machern. The portion of the castle designated for the show was covered in bright pink and blue pastel interiors, chandeliers and Victorian style trim and furniture. The space was sliced into varying, sometimes oddly shaped rooms, emulating a strangely elegant ‘Alice in Wonderland’ feel. After a solid day of installation, all of our work (in its seemingly disjointed variety relative to one another) ended up as a great fit for the space. At the opening itself, we were shocked by how above and beyond the castle’s employment had gone to entertain its guests. There was champagne being brought around throughout the opening, a live classical pianist, a separate reception room, in which our fantastic coordinator, Kristina, gave a speech welcoming the guests, introducing us and our work. On top of a surprisingly high turnout, given its location outside of Leipzig, the exhibition was even written about in two newspapers! 




Thus far, the experience has been a wild one, with each of our practice’s driven in some unexpected directions. While it is exhilarating to observe one another in such significant transition; one cannot help their own excitement for what is to come next year.

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Matthew Comeau (MFA 2015) is joined by Hannah Stahl (MFA 2015), Camila Rocha (MFA 2015), and Esteban Ocampo (MFA 2015) in Leipzig, Germany for a two-month Residency.  The students will share their adventures in Germany throughout the summer on the Academy's blog.  Stay tuned!

Creating Memories We'll Never Forget

By Hannah Stahl (MFA 2015)

Instead of writing about all the things we’ve seen so far, I​'ve decided to show you.

Here is a video compilation of the​ various happenings we’ve had the incredible opportunity to be a part of in Germany. The video takes a look at our home and studio life at the Leipzig Spinnerei; critiques with other artists-in-residence;  a trip to Berlin to see the Käthe Kollwitz Museum and the Gemäldegalerie at the Kulturforum; an art opening on Karl-Heine-Straße, a visit with Berlin artist,​ Ruprecht Von Kaufmann, and a tour of the Schloß Castle in Machern.  We've had the pleasure of celebrating birthdays (Camila’s, Piper’s and Matt’s), and creating fun memories that we will never forget like beating eggs with a whisk attached to a power drill, snoring on the bus, and of course, lots of meals filled with​ ​hefeweizen and ​bratwurst. Enjoy!

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Hannah Stahl (MFA 2015) is joined by Camila Rocha (MFA 2015), Matthew Comeau (MFA 2015), and Esteban Ocampo (MFA 2015) in Leipzig, Germany for a two-month Residency.  On the Academy's blog, the students will share their adventures abroad throughout the summer.  Return here for updates and more from Germany.  

Surviving Generations and Wars: Part of Leipzig's History

By Camila Rocha MFA 2015

Dreaming big (and getting a little jealous too) in front of Olafur Eliasson huge studio in Berlin.

Four Academy classmates from the class of 2015 were chosen to attend the LIA residency in Leipzig, Germany. After many months of working hard, we knew how much effort everyone put into their work and we felt very honored for this opportunity.  Although we will miss everyone, we're happy to share some moments from Europe.  Arriving in Germany for the first time can be quite a surprise. Everything is written in German and very well organized.  Few people speak English well and are always apologetic that they can’t speak English better.  Since the German citizens are extremely kind and polite, at one point we asked "Who are these people?" we are the outsiders and we should be learning their language.             

                         

We were greeted at Spinnerei by Kristina Seminova  (LIA program coordinator, an amazing and intelligent Russian woman, who knows all).  In the few first days, she explained the history of where we were staying. The old cotton mill factory had survived generations and wars to become one of the most important centers of art, artists residencies, studios and galleries in Germany. Today big names like Neo Rauch, Oliver Kossack, Rosa Loy and many others are residents of this factory complex.

This facilities smell like art, from the inside out!!!  Leipzig feels like a small town but its energy is like a busy metropolis with art fairs, openings within the buildings all over the city. There are so many openings to go that we had to get organized, the list of museums and place to visit are endless leaving no time to spear.  Many of city's apartments seem empty, but a growing number of artists of a younger generation have been taking over.  One of the reasons for this is because of Leipzig Visual arts and fine arts. 

We have two independent artists in the residency with us, Piper Mavis a visual artist form Los Angeles/CA and Francis Morgan, a Berlin based painter from Australia. I have to confess that part of the success of this trip is because of them. They happily motivate us with the energy that they emanate. Their critiques and feedback on art outside of the school have been very helpful in making us think more maturely about our studio practices. I feel that I've learned so much from them.  Their confidence is very inspiring. Frankie has the most marvelous sayings: “One of my goals is channeling my emotions into paint instead of fucking up someone's day".  And whatever impression that gives you, it's yours to take.  How honest is that?

We visited Stephan Guggisberg and Sebastian Burger's studio, two of Neo Rauch’s graduate students.  It was fascinating to see their process and the way they approach painting in a contemporary manner. Sebastian’s approach seems to be a tedious and unforgiving attempt to search for light and is influenced by his photography background. He literally fights with some type of dry media and paint on paper. Almost like a geographer excavating the image from the paper. It left us all in awe about the amount of work that goes each piece, a small work can take around 15 hours to be complete.

Sebatian’s studio practice is related to Cryptomnesia and reflects the idea of tapping into the unconsciousness to experience memory as inspiration.  His iconography comes from different unknown sources and often, after a piece is done, he encounters the images in history books or graphics from ancient art work. His process although a very different from “Plagiarism” generates a totally different conceptual meaning due his methodology.  

With a full calendar of events and activities, I can't wait to share more and tell you about our studio practices and excursions around Leipzig and to Berlin.  I had to visit Berlin to get my visa renewed and I found a little time to visit a museum close to the bus central station-- The Grunderzeit Museum.  This museum was created by Charlotte Von Mahlsdorf and it shows the art collection of the family. I found a very humble list of artists that I had never heard of before.  What a fascinating visit. We also went as a group to visit the Neue Galerie and David Bowie Exhibition curated by the Victoria and Albert museum in England.  In my next post, I will tell you about all this and more!

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Camila Rocha is joined by Matthew Comeau, Esteban Ocampo and Hannah Stahl in Leipzig, Germany for a two-month Residency.  On the Academy's blog, the students will share their adventures abroad throughout the summer.  Return here for updates and more from Germany.  

Looking at the Inside - Class of 2015 Interviews (part one)

Recovering from first semester finals - I think everyone agrees, it was very intense! Right?!.. [Laugh]… However Christmas is a perfect time to reflect on the past three months and meditated upon how much was done in our first semester.  An uphill battle for students and faculty - excuse the phrase - a double 'high-five' is well deserved.

For the First Years the past semester felt like a 'boot-camp,' reviewing and pushing our technical skills to the limit, creating work that was both contemporary in discourse, while based on traditional skills. Deliberately challenged not only by practical knowledge but also through the capacity to improve our artistic instincts. While watching the Second Years' exciting progress towards their mid-year critiques. The quality of work created was amazing.  Closely admired, meticulously and carefully analyzed by all the faculty and students.

As promised, I interviewed some of the Academy’s Class of 2015 to share their oeuvre and the interesting background that each of them come from.  I’ve had the pleasure to get to know, share ambitions and mutual passions with each this fall at the Academy. 

I asked them a few simple questions: 

What inspires your work? And who are you inspired by?

Esteban Ocampo Giraldo (MFA 2015)

Manizales, Caldas. Colombia

Pontificial Javeriana University

Being an artist for me means to able to communicate through something as simple as representation and interpretation of an image. The process to get to representation is not simple at all, and I'm never pleased with the result. My process includes a method of gratuitous development, which allows the brush to meet the canvas and freely let the image search for itself. Most of the time a Phenomenological approach is present, which express a feeling of the material used and the observed object, letting it be felt.

I prefer to let the brush do its work. Seeking for expressiveness the hand guides the brush through aggressive and passive movements conducted by the artist hand. It excites me to observe a symphony on the surface, made by rough materials such as paint and canvas. My painting is about letting it "Be a Painting," relationships between marks, tones, planes and form.

If I think about a painting it would be "Harbor of Trieste" by Egon Schiele. One can observe how much excitement he had with shapes and harmony presented in the work.  Joaquin Sorolla is someone who's oeuvre I always recall, I'm fascinated by his intent of expressing so much with minimal mark-making

Work by Esteban Ocampo Giraldo (MFA 2015)

Work by Esteban Ocampo Giraldo (MFA 2015)

Eric Pedersen (MFA 2015)

West Bloomfield, Detroit, Michigan

The College for Creative Studies

Wayne State University

Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art

I like the idea of taking something shallow or superficial and cramming it together with the opposite.  I try to create paintings in a way that embodies that idea.  Typically I paint portraits of people by layering strokes of paint upon paint in a way that reveals all layers of the process.  I think of each stroke as a cut or a scar.  To me each stroke of paint is like a memory that contains both physical and emotional content.  When viewed from a distance the paintings look more like an illusion of a person’s superficial appearance.  When viewed from close up the paintings lose their superficial, illusionistic quality and become abstracted into layers of lines and colors that I label as being that person’s non-physical content, or all the things that make us who we are minus the superficial, physical crap.

A friend recently introduced me to Tomory Dodge.  I like the trajectory of his body of work. There isn't one piece I necessarily like more than another. I like how I can look at his pieces and see how his previous ideas have influenced his recent ideas.

Work by Eric Pedersen (MFA 2015)

Work by Eric Pedersen (MFA 2015)

Ryan Schroeder (MFA 2015)

Rochester, New York

Maryland Institute College of Art

I paint because I feel compelled to. I am interested in the transient nature of the experience of life, and I make images as a means of contemplating where I am in my life, in a physical and metaphysical regard. My work operates as a relic of a felt experience. My oeuvre, broadly speaking, deals with complicated relationships, ideas of isolation, abandonment, and the illusion of time. I am interested in people, spaces and objects as individuals, each possessing a unique presence and aura. I seek to capture the psychic qualities of the figure, or a space; and I find that spaces that are defined by detritus and decay possess a stillness that is most conducive to capturing the sensation.

My work would probably fall within the genre of perceptual, or representational painting. I am interested in the tradition of interpreting the plastic world as a conduit to address my conceptual concerns. Abandoned spaces, in particular, serve as a muse for me, because I think they are a form of contemporary memento mori, and also because I find the energy of the void quite interesting. My work tends to be de-saturated, or operates within a predominantly tonal framework. I use color selectively because I find in doing so the work visually changes volume - loud moments of color, in contrast to the quiet of a cooler monochromatic pallet. 

The painting I think about most often is The Dinner, by Antonio Lopez Garcia. I find his decision to elongate the head of the human form on the right quite surprising. The visual variety of moments of collaged photos peppered throughout the painting creates an interesting dialog between the highly rendered trompe l’oeil. Pentimenti are visible through the more translucent chapters of the painting, which offer insight into the artist's process of continually reworking the form to find a greater truth about observation.

Work by Ryan Schroeder (MFA 2015)

Work by Ryan Schroeder (MFA 2015)

Jehdy Ann Vargas (MFA 2015)

Bronx, New York

Long Island University, BFA, Digital Art

Most of my work is autobiographical. I'm inspired by my friends, family and everyday life of growing up in New York/Dominican Republic culture. I intend to recreate intimate moments of my life captured by camera.  Merely using photography and paint as transcendental conduit. This process allows me to relieve the moment in a purging process of transformation. My methodology consists of the belief that the artist and her life are integrated.

Some of my process is composed of shoot, print, paste, paint, scan, paint and repeat until the primary mechanic image is lost. Sometimes, replacing the traditional canvas, there is a necessity to incorporate found objects to carry the picture. Through this process I am examining/exploring/re-creating my past and present. Using photo as an object to create art that exemplify transformation. Past and present experiences take on a new physical form.

Recalling the first painting that ever inspired me to create art was Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night. I remember being seeing it for the first time at MoMA, going home and replicating it as best as I could. I remember standing in front of the painting for almost an hour and staring at the whimsicalities of every stroke on the canvas.  Anselm Kiefer is another painter who paints in a similar way.

Work by Jehdy Ann Vargas (MFA 2015)

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Camila Rocha (MFA 2015) will be blogging here throughout the year about her first year at the Academy and moving to New York City.  Check the label "First Year Experience" or "Camila Rocha" for more posts about her first year at the Academy. 

If you have any questions for Camila, please leave them in the comments section of the blog.

All images are courtesy of each artist.