INTERVIEW: “Déjà vu” ARTISTS

[ Exclusive Interview ] ARTIST Evan Trine, Brittany Fanning, Mona Broschár

Evan Trine

1. Could you tell us a bit about your upbringing? It seems your brother is also involved in design and art-related fields. We’re curious to know what kind of environment you both grew up in that led you to pursue careers in the arts.

Evan: Yes, my brother is a designer and furniture maker. Neither of our parents are artists, but they are both musicians, and my grandfather was a popular jazz piano player in the west coast jazz scene in the 1950’s and 60’s, so we were always surrounded by creativity I suppose? Though, we went to an arts-focused charter school in LA, and that’s where I started photography and he began his design career. I mostly trace our creative origins back to building things in our garage as kids, finding scrap wood and using tools to make things on the weekends.

2. We noticed that you have a full drum set in your studio. Have you ever been in a band? Have you performed live? If you have any favourite musicians or playlists, we’d love for you to share them with us.

Evan: Yes, I’m a musician and played in a lot of bands before I turned my focus completely on art. I actually contemplated being a professional drummer out of high school, and I toured the US playing drums in a band when I was 21. But now I just play recreationally. Music is my other main passion besides art – I love jazz, funk, soul, and most popular music made in the 60’s-70’s. My favorite artists are Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Herbie Hancock, The Beatles, Aretha Franklin, Pink Floyd. I have a large collection of vinyl that I play in my studio while I’m working, mostly 70’s funk and jazz.

3. In a previous interview, you mentioned that you enjoy decorating your home with works by friends or other artists. Could you share with us some of the art pieces you currently have at home? Who are the artists behind them? Are there any interesting stories behind your collection?

Evan: I love collecting work by my friends! I don’t like hanging my own art in my home, so I’m glad to have a lot of artist friends that create amazing work. Some of my favorite pieces in our home are by Nick Aguayo, Piper Bangs, Matthew Feyld, Karri Paul, Amy Kim Keeler – they are mostly colorful, bright, abstract – a specifically west coast aesthetic, similar to my own work. We have a lovely painting by one of my wife’s college roommates, Anne Brady, she was a wonderful painter in college but she doesn’t paint anymore – and I begged her to let me buy one of her large paintings that was in their house, and after about three years she finally let me buy it, and now it is hanging in our son’s room!

4. You’ve mentioned that you don’t consider yourself a photographer and that you rarely take your own photos. The images used in your work are often sourced from elsewhere, with your focus being more on finding materials, digitising them, and manipulating them through the printing process. We’re curious – how does your work come together? Could you share a bit about your creative process?

Evan: Correct, I don’t really consider myself a photographer when it comes to my studio work. I teach photography at two local colleges, and I freelance as a photographer as well, but I don’t consider myself a photographer simply because I would not call my work photographs, I call them paintings. Most of my favorite artworks are paintings, and most of my favorite artists are painters, and I think my main interest is in abstract painting, but I don’t like the medium of paint. I love the camera, and so I want to make paintings with a printer and ink instead of paint and a paintbrush. As I look back through my work of the past 15 years, I realize more and more that I have always been making paintings, I’ve just been making them with a camera. I like using photographic source material, but I don’t want to make work that reflects back to a subject, as all photographs do. I want to make work that exists completely in the room with the viewer, and it doesn’t reference an object or person or thing that was photographed. I experience paintings by looking at the materials and the surface and the physicality of the piece, and that’s how I want my work to be experienced as well.

5. You’ve also said that much of your creative material comes from family photos, newspaper headlines, portraits of friends, and images of paintings. What sources did you draw from for this latest series? Are you trying to convey any particular messages through these materials? Could you tell us the story behind the work?

Evan: This new work is one of the first series in a long time where I created all of the source material. I have been photographing flowers in my home for a long time, and I decided to use those images for this latest body of work. I heard someone say once that flowers in a vase represent such a fleeting beauty, because we all know that flowers die quickly once they’ve been cut. And there’s something interesting about freezing that moment forever. But I think I like using the flower photos as my source material for this work because it’s easy to look beyond the photo here – there isn’t a lot to reference that gives specific context to me, or to a certain narrative or concept. Flowers are flowers – they are one of the most classic studies in the history of art. I wanted to add to the continuing history of painting flowers – this time, creating abstractions using fabric and toner ink and a printer.

6. In your previous work, we noticed that many pieces were printed on handmade paper (you’ve mentioned using Hahnemuhle Baryta Rag paper), but for this exhibition, you’ve chosen linen as your medium. What influenced this choice? Does the use of different papers or fabrics have a particular effect or carry a different meaning in your work?

Evan: I have always loved the surface of artworks – I think that an interesting surface is such a fun surprise when you choose to get close to a piece of art. I loved using Hahnemuhle baryta because I think the surface is so beautiful and delicate and subtle, but over the years I came to find that most people see that surface as quite flat. I wanted to create a more tactile surface for up-close inspection, so I tried a lot of different fabrics – canvas, linen, twill, cotton – and I liked the way that the ink laid upon the linen best. It is also a very practical decision – baryta is very fragile, and can be easily damaged. Linen is much more durable, and can be stretched, unstretched, rolled, stored, and it can endure greater differences in temperature and humidity. I also have been wanting to combine different sections of images, and after some time in the studio, I decided that sewing images together would be the best approach, so I needed to turn away from paper and onto fabric. But in the end, it was a choice to push the viewer closer to my goal, of experiencing these works as paintings.

7. You often use photography to present works in a painterly way, especially through Colour Fields (such as in Colour Grids or Every Picture of Vanessa). Is there a particular reason you are drawn to this approach and style?

Evan: Yes, as I’ve noted in previous answers, I love paintings. I have always been drawn to the aesthetics of abstract painting, but I like the tools of photography. Though my bodies of work have differed in the way they are presented and the way they look, the continuing idea for the past ten years has been to manipulate photographs to create paintings – whether that be digitally, physically, on paper, on fabric, etc. Each body of work has been a continuation from the previous body of work, discovering or creating new ways to alter a photographic image in order to abstract the photographic source.

8. You’ve collaborated with many artists in the past and even traded works with them. Is there an artist you’re particularly keen to work with at the moment? Or perhaps you’d be interested in cross-disciplinary collaborations on a larger scale?

Evan: I have a lot of close friends that I would love to work with – I think working with friends is one of the best parts of being an artist. I would love to collaborate with Mia Weiner – she is a good friend and uses source photographs to create intricate and amazing tapestries, and I think our works have similar ideas running through them. I have also been largely influenced by my friends Heather Day and Evan Nesbit, who both cut and sew sections of fabric to create their abstractions. I would love to work with both of them, to see how it would be to take segments of each others’ works and sew them together. We have a large Evan Nesbit painting in our living room, and it has a very thick, physical surface, and I think it would be interesting to see him apply his techniques onto my work.

9. You’ve hosted exhibitions in your own home and during COVID, you organised numerous virtual exhibitions – even in unique spaces like squash courts and abandoned petrol stations in the desert! That’s really fascinating. We’re curious – do you have any other interesting or special curatorial projects in the works?

Evan: Yes, those Covid-era shows were very fun! I am always driving around looking for interesting locations to stage a virtual exhibition, and that is a nice break in my studio time whenever I choose to create one of those. I have an old damaged color grid work in my studio, and there is a spot on the LA river that I drive past often and I want to hang it there, I just need to find the time to go out in the middle of the night and hang it without getting caught. I just curated a group show with the Los Angeles gallery The Pit, and have been talking with a few other galleries about curating some group shows, which I always love doing. So hopefully those shows will be seeing the light soon.

Brittany Fanning

1. Could you talk about your upbringing? Was there a particular moment when you realised you would become an artist?

Brittany: I grew up in a very rural area of north Florida and later moved to a very rural area of north Georgia. The only window into the art world I had was Bob Ross. Later, my grandparents began collecting Thomas Kinkade prints (puzzles, and other trinkets). He might be the first career-artist I was aware of. I was so completely disinterested in his idyllic Christian villages, I think he made me disinterested in art altogether. I didn’t find a newfound love for it until University.

2. You grew up in Dahlonega, lived in Seoul for seven years, and eventually moved back to Los Angeles. Has this diverse cultural experience influenced your artistic creation?

Brittany: The place I’m in plays a large role in my work, so these moves have led to major shifts in my focus. Los Angeles opened up this new world of flora and fauna. Because the weather is almost perfect year-round, everything blooms constantly. Mountain lions, bears, and coyotes, common animals found around LA, have also made major appearances in my work. On the weekends, my husband and I go to open houses. I love seeing interiors and the ways people choose to decorate their homes. Southern California architecture is slowly making its way into my work.

3. In previous interviews, I noticed you’re particularly interested in podcasts, especially those about crime and serial killers. Have you been listening to any recently? Is there a particular crime story that left a lasting impression?

Brittany:

True crime media felt more interesting to me when I lived in South Korea where it’s generally so safe. Now that I live in Los Angeles, I need only to watch the news; We are living in a true crime podcast.

While painting, I listen to a lot of art-world related audio books. I recently finished Lucian Freud’s two-part biography. I also like to listen to comedy podcasts; Matt & Shane’s secret podcast, Kill Tony, Eddie Pepitone’s Apocalypse Soon, The Tim Dillon Show, and Your Mom’s House are some favorites.

4. We’ve heard you’re a big foodie. Could you share your favourite dish or cuisine? After living in Korea, do you have a favourite Asian dish?

Brittany: I really love a good chocolate chip cookie and glass of milk. It’s difficult to choose a favorite. I just spent two weeks in Italy eating all the bread and pasta I could find. Korea has this dish called gamjatang. It’s a spicy pork soup served with rice and kimchi. It’s perfect for fall. My husband and I started doing “dim-Sunday” about 8 years ago. That’s where we get dim sum on Sunday.

5. Your life seems quite structured. Can you share your daily routine? Aside from art, do you have other outdoor activities or hobbies?

Brittany: I wake up around 6:30-7am every morning. I make coffee and a list for the day. I’m unfortunately too cynical to journal, so my lists are very cut and dry. They usually involve notes on paintings I need to fix or interview questions I need to answer. I go to the gym around 8:30. Sometimes, I play tennis or swim after a little run and weight lifting. Around 10:30, I begin painting. Lunch is later in the afternoon, usually around 2pm. I paint until the sun goes down, so usually until 6 or 7. I skip dinner during the week and unleash the foodie on the weekends.

6. Do you have a favourite type of music or musician?

Brittany: I’m really into music these days. I am currently rekindling my love for 70’s and 80’s country music.

7. In your work, figures often have obscured faces, focusing more on body lines, close-ups, or clothing details (such as the dresses or jeans in your current pieces). What drives this? Are these characters based on real-life individuals?

Brittany: I’ve never been much of a people person, so I want my paintings to have anonymous figures. To me it’s easier to relate to artworks when you’re not staring at someone’s face. The expression gives away too much information in my opinion. I want to focus more on the body language of the character in the painting.

8. The fashion-forward outfits and shoes in your art are striking. Do you have a special interest in fashion? Why did you choose to integrate fashion into your work?

Brittany: Fashion is the perfect tool to indicate the time period that a work is made in. I use it for that.

9. You’ve mentioned admiring artists like Hernan Bas, Andy Dixon, and David Hockney. How have they influenced your art? Are there any other artists you admire? (Can I change this question to “Which artists are you influenced by?”)

Brittany: I always feel like I’m a little behind on art-world education, so for the past few years, I’ve been consuming everything I can about art history and the contemporary market. I hate not knowing things. Ninth Street Women is a book that stands out and helped me understand the abstract expressionist movement better. Recently, I completed biographies on Caravaggio, Giorgio de Chirico, Hilda Af Klint, and Lucian Freud. Because of Freud, I have developed an interest in portraiture. Hockney, of course, has always been a favorite of mine. The way he saw California as an outsider feels relatable to how I am seeing it now.

10. Your pieces often depict fully realised scenes, almost like movie stills. Are these imagined or based on real experiences? What’s the story behind them?

Brittany: The scenes are almost like collages I create. I put the figure, the plants, the pools and everything together. I do this through a series of sketches before I begin the painting. It can be complicated to put figures in a scene but keep them anonymous. Currently, I’m working on calming these scenes down. They used to be quite turbulent and I don’t find that language useful anymore.

Mona Broschár

1. Delving Deeper into the Process of Finding Everyday Inspiration

You’ve mentioned that inspiration often comes from unnoticed things or unexpected situations, like cake shops, animated films, or poetry. When these inspirations appear, how do you turn them into a complete creative concept? Are there specific moments or feelings during these everyday encounters that make you think, “This is what I want to create”? Could you share a specific example of how a particular inspiration evolved into a finished piece?

Mona: When I decide on a motif that I want to realize, the finding process is probably best described by the feeling of being in love, or the feeling of a kind of buying frenzy. At first, there are no superficial reasons that tell you why you are so taken with people or things. It is emotions that arise that are part of my being or the sum of all parts of my being. I have a strong feeling of wanting to possess a vision and I can only conquer this feeling by translating it into an image. At the moment of translating thoughts into a physical object, my feeling for something suddenly becomes a reality and I can devote myself to new visions.

With some ideas, I immediately realize that I have to paint them. This is because I know that I have the technical means to realize them to my taste. Other ideas are more complex and take time to grow because I have great respect for the realization. I rarely break off a painting because I have to be sure from the start that I can and want to paint it. This is probably my strategy for staying in the flow. However, there are also painting ideas that have been waiting for many years to come into being.

2. The Feel of Surrealism
Your works include many surreal elements, making them feel both real and dreamlike. When creating these pieces, do you think about the emotions or atmosphere you want the audience to experience?

Mona: I never think about what the viewers think about my work. The only person I want and need to convince is myself. I have to have the feeling that what I see could really exist. It has to feel close enough to touch. This is what makes my painting process so tedious, as I am constantly adding glazes to enhance the right contrasts.

3. The Emotions of Color
Color plays a big role in your works. How do you choose colors to convey emotions? Are you particularly mindful of how certain colors work together in your creations?

Mona: The colors actually come to me intuitively. I am a synesthete and I assign colors or images to many abstract things. My color sense for my paintings works in a similar way. I automatically see which colors I want to use for picture ideas and also decide quite intuitively about the color contrasts. To make sure that I’m not completely wrong, I create small sketches in advance and usually only have to change nuances.

4. The Connection Between Music and the Creative Setting

You mentioned that during your creative process, you sometimes listen to audiobooks or interviews to help you get into the right mindset, and your music playlist covers a wide range of styles. How do you decide when to listen to music versus audiobooks or interviews? Do these choices depend on the stage of your creative process or your mood at the time?

Mona: That’s a very subtle question. I do indeed listen to music when I start painting a picture. Here I need my full attention and connection of eye and hand and also access to my emotions. All of this flows into my painting. As soon as the roughest structure, such as color and form composition, has been clarified for me, I can devote myself to audio books or interviews. As a rule, I don’t differentiate between the two, although an audiobook provides more certainty in terms of content than an interview. Sometimes I have to stop podcast interviews if they don’t fit into my painting flow.

5. The Influence of Music Styles on Your Work

Your playlist includes a variety of genres, like soul, indie, hip-hop, and classical music. How do these different types of music affect the atmosphere or rhythm of your work? Nakhane was the artist you listened to the most in 2022—what role does his music play in your creative process?

Mona: The picture decides what music I listen to. If it’s a very challenging picture, I usually listen to more melancholy and quieter music. If it is easy for me, I listen to lighter songs. I tend not to differentiate between genres. Nakhane touched me the most emotionally and opened up an inner place from which I could draw energy. I discovered him during the pandemic and his multi-layered music gave me the feeling of being in many different places. This freed me from my studio loneliness and gave me strength. His music also contains a mixture of great melancholy, but at the same time liberation; a constant up and down. I think this dichotomy has helped me to look at my paintings with new emotions again and again and thus to gain the necessary distance to question them critically.  I also believe that there is great power in repetition and that I was therefore able to dive even deeper into my visual worlds.

6. Balancing Family Support and Personal Perfectionism

You mentioned that your parents have given you tremendous support in becoming an artist, helping you build confidence and trust in your abilities. As a perfectionist who constantly strives for the perfect color, composition, and expression, how has this family support helped you find a balance between pursuing perfection and maintaining confidence? Has their influence changed how you view your artistic career and encouraged you to embrace challenges more boldly?

Mona: Here I think it is the sum of every failure and every small success that gives me a certain basic confidence in the end. I often never reach my own standards. But when I look back and see my work from a distance, I can often recognize its quality. This knowledge helps me to accept the times of doubt. My family is like a rock in the surf: strong, always there, and has helped me to accept my doubts and perhaps sometimes even overcome them, so that today I can cope with them quite well on my own.

7. City Life and Creativity

You’ve lived and studied in Leipzig and London—have these cities influenced your artistic style? How has your current living environment inspired your work in unique ways?

Mona: I left Leipzig for London because I didn’t feel understood in the city. London (like my family) accepted me for who I am and showed me that I can be whoever and do whatever I want. I love this city so much for that, it was a great gift and a door opener to my inner self. The two cities have influenced my personal development and therefore also my style. London made me open and free, Leipzig tended to make me more reflective. I still carry both influences within me and they affect my pictures in different dimensions.