Paul Theriault

Paul is an electronic media artist working with computers, cameras, televisions, scanners and more. He seems to have empathy for the often slightly outdated technology he tinkers with, mapping emotional and cerebral processes onto them. He is also an abstract oil painter who paints on scanner beds rather than canvas. These paintings are always erased to make way for a new painting, but they live on as moments captured by the programmed eye of the scanner. Sometimes these digital images are printed out, and other times they are displayed on the backlit surface of a deconstructed flat screen television. In this episode Paul and I discuss his unusual process and the ideas behind his work.

For more images of the artist’s work, visit https://paultheriault.net/

Videopainting 4, 2019, LCD monitor with found objects, 18 x 30 IN.

Videopainting 5, 2019, LCD monitor with found objects, 18 x 30 IN.

Hall Monitors, 2016, plasma screen displays.

Scannerpainting 41, Inkjet pigment print on matte paper and canvas, 28 x 42 IN.

Scannerpainting 43, Inkjet pigment print on matte paper and canvas, 28 x 42 IN.

Geist 2, 2016, inkjet pigment print on matte paper, 8.5 x 11 IN.

Zachary Keeting

Zach’s bold and vigorous paintings appear to harness the momentum of mid-century American expressionism, but they have an orderly logic to them: each explosive brushstroke seems to have been carefully placed. The compositions are wildly emotional, while at the same time, meticulously layered. Zach’s paintings can be enjoyed without any backstory, but they often allude to deeply personal memories.

View more of the artist’s work at http://zacharykeeting.com

Zach’s bold and vigorous paintings appear to harness the momentum of mid-century American expressionism, but they have an orderly logic to them: each explosive brushstroke seems to have been carefully placed. The compositions are wildly emotional, while at the same time, meticulously layered. Zach’s paintings can be enjoyed without any backstory, but they often allude to deeply personal memories. View the discussed work on http://firststopart.com/

Zachary Keeting, vitamin L vitamin A, 2018 acrylic on canvas, 60″ x 72″

Zachary Keeting, 2017, words of jeer, acrylic on canvas, 48″ x 54″

Zachary Keeting, walker mountain lookout, 2017, acrylic on canvas, 84” x 72”

An untitled painting by Zachary Keeting from 2010.

An untitled painting by Zachary Keeting from 2005.

An untitled painting by Zachary Keeting from 2002, painted after losing an arm-wrestling match with the artist’s sister.

An untitled painting by Zachary Keeting from 1997.

An untitled painting by Zachary Keeting from 1994.

Joseph Smolinski

Joseph Smolinski, Open Water 9, 2018,

Joe is a multimedia artist working in drawing, photography, video, digital 3D modelling, and animation. His practice engages with technology, environmental science, landscape painting, science fiction, and the eroding boarders between the natural and human-made world. He is currently in the midst of creating a new series of ominous and beautifully detailed graphite drawings depicting open water, which we’ll discuss towards the end of this podcast.

Joe Smolinski is a multimedia artist working in drawing, photography, video, digital 3D modelling, and animation. His practice engages with technology, environmental science, landscape painting, science fiction, and the eroding boarders between the natural and human-made world. He is currently in the midst of creating a new series of ominous and beautifully detailed graphite drawings depicting open water, which we’ll discuss towards the end of this podcast.

Downstream is a two channel video that follows two tributaries that flow into the Connecticut River. The Connecticut River begins at the border of Canada and the United States, cuts through New England and empties into the Long Island Sound linking to the Atlantic Ocean. The right side of the video is filmed upstream while the left is filmed downstream. The installation is projected on opposing walls so the viewer can pass through a virtual flow of water. Through out the video sculptural compositions appear that were made by collecting debris, 3D scanning the objects and then compositing them into the footage. This project was made possible by a grant from Wesleyan University Center for Fine Art.

Joseph Smolinski, Ghost Bee 1, 3D printed PLA plastic with resin coating, 9.5 x 10.75 x 8 inches.

Joseph Smolinski, a drawing from the After the Fall Series, 2008

Cat Balco

Cat Balco's colorful mandala-like paintings suggest centripetal motion and radiate energy. They’re thrilling to look at as beautiful abstractions, and at closer viewing her expressive paint strokes appear to have depth due to her subtle use of shadow—a skill she developed from her time as a tromp l’oeil painter—and they start to feel like depictions of objects or environments that can’t quite be placed. Her paintings call to mind a disparate array of associations that seem somehow to be connected such as stars, suns, industrial machinery, instruments of torture, carnival wheels, female genitalia, and religious iconography.

You can view Cat's paintings in person in Get Loose, an exhibition at Rick Wester Fine Art in New York City featuring Cat Balco, Ben Godward, and Jason Rohlf through August 3rd.

Follow Cat on Instagram: @catbalco

And visit her website: catbalco.com

Cat Balco's colorful mandala-like paintings suggest centripetal motion and radiate energy. They’re thrilling to look at as beautiful abstractions, and at closer viewing her expressive paint strokes appear to have depth due to her subtle use of shadow—a skill she developed from her time as a tromp l’oeil painter—and they start to feel like depictions of objects or environments that can’t quite be placed. Her paintings call to mind a disparate array of associations that seem somehow to be connected such as stars, suns, industrial machinery, instruments of torture, carnival wheels, female genitalia, and religious iconography. Follow Cat on Instagram: @catbalco And visit her website: catbalco.com

Cat Balco, Om Halt, acrylic and flashe on canvas, 48" x 48," 2017

Cat Balco, Lunch Flower, acrylic and flashe on canvas, 48" x 48," 2017

Cat Balco, School Sun, acrylic on canvas, 18" x 18," 2018

Cat Balco, Loop Weave, Latex on Wallboard, 15' x 80,' 2010

Another angle of Cat Balco's Loop Weave.

Jacquelyn Gleisner

Jacquelyn Gleisner is fascinated by textile patterns, the expansive and cyclical nature of time and space, and the relationship between fragility, vulnerability, and strength—especially in the context of feminism. She works primarily with gouache, creating colorful repeating designs on 30-foot-long rolls of paper which she calls “scrolls.” More recently she’s been painting depictions of detailed multicolored knots on small sheets of paper. Her large scale painted scrolls reference weaving patterns that in the mind’s eye could continue into space forever. All of her scrolls have been removed from the gallery setting and placed into outdoor environments—some of them hung like banners or flags from the sides of buildings, others left on the ground. Many of the scrolls have been cannibalized and metamorphosed into new works of art.

Jacquelyn’s detailed knot drawings, with no beginning or end, are also tied to her interest in the infinite, while also exploring the longstanding importance of the knot both as a universal symbol and a word containing multiple meanings.

You can follow her on Instagram @jacquelyn.gleisner

[TRANSCRIPT HERE]

Jacquelyn is fascinated by textile patterns, the expansive and cyclical nature of time and space, and the relationship between fragility, vulnerability, and strength—especially in the context of feminism. She works primarily with gouache, creating colorful repeating designs on 30-foot-long rolls of paper which she calls “scrolls.” More recently she’s been painting depictions of detailed multicolored knots on small sheets of paper. Her large scale painted scrolls reference weaving patterns that in the mind’s eye could continue into space forever. All of her scrolls have been removed from the gallery setting and placed into outdoor environments—some of them hung like banners or flags from the sides of buildings, others left on the ground. Many of the scrolls have been cannibalized and metamorphosed into new works of art. Jacquelyn’s detailed knot drawings, with no beginning or end, are also tied to her interest in the infinite, while also exploring the longstanding importance of the knot both as a universal symbol and a word containing multiple meanings. You can follow Jackie on Instagram @jacquelyn.gleisner

Jacquelyn Gleisner's Scroll I, 2017 after hanging down the front of The Institute Library and braving the elements in New Haven, CT for two weeks.

Jacquelyn Gleisner, Ouroboros, 2017. Dimensions variable. Mazmanian Art Gallery, Framingham State University, Massachusetts. February 21 - March 24, 2017.

Jacquelyn Gleisner, Knot October 17th, 2017, gouache on paper, 8 by 12 inches.

An example of Jacquelyn's most recent work in which the knots have evolved into variations on DNA strands.

Jacquelyn Gleisner, Log Cabin, 2015. Ink, gouache on shaped canvas, 36 by 54 inches (outside dimensions).