THE FOCUS

Duncan McDaniel, Spectral Vortex, 2021, 35”x 20”x 24”, acrylic on acrylic Hanna Seggerman: Color appears to be a very important element of your practice. How do you select your palette? Duncan McDaniel: You're right! Color is extraordinarily important in my work. I start off with a loose color palette to work from, but then I instinctively lay down different colors of paint as each color choice informs the next. As the piece develops, the color choices can drastically change. Certain colors take on lov...

"I come from gardeners, teachers, believers, sinners, moon-lighting loggers, makers, milliners, cooks, healers, pharmacists, and grocers. I come from the American South, a place where the kitchen and pharmacy are the same room. In many ways, I see my work as that same room—an expansive space for building and coming together." Jodi Hays, Virtual Studio Visit, March 2021 (images courtesy of the artist and Sam Angel Photography) Jodi Hays, Iris, 40" x 25" (2021), dye, oil, canvas ribbon, paper (images courtesy of...

Rachel Bubis: I love this quote from you that I read in Heartwood Literary Magazine where you define yourself as an artist: Caroline Hatfield: "I define myself as an Appalachian artist, despite making contemporary art rather than focusing on using traditional art forms more readily associated with the culture. I often describe my aesthetic taste as “dusty and rusty”, undoubtedly a result of growing up in a community of farming, logging, and mining. Yet, it is also very grounded in t...