THE FOCUS

Rachel Bubis: Some of your recent porcelain sculptures resemble a 1960’s era “shag rug” in texture and color. You describe how these evoke “1960s counterculture and the call for peace, love, and progressive change.” Can you talk more about what you’re thinking about in evoking this imagery but using such surprising materials? Risa Hricovsky: The very first porcelain shag rug I made was at a time when I was working through this question: “What is Reality?” I asked myself, “What is real? How...

Wesley Roden: You employ methods ranging from 3D printing to attaching a pen to a power drill. By using tools which streamline or automate artistic processes, or even work against it, do you question the role of effort or craft in artmaking? Heath Montgomery: I do question the roles that are prescribed for artmaking, but my view is that artists have always used what they have access to, or used what they have to make new tools. I like the...

Rachel Bubis: Your work explores “the psychological and social implications of conflict” - whether that be through examining war, dissent, or even the history of dog fighting. Have you always been interested in this subject? Nelson Gutierrez: I make art based on my life experiences, and the work is informed by personal memories, people I have met, places where I have lived and visited, environments, and events that have formed and influenced my life throughout my career. According to Susan Sont...