· How everything began, Monica?

Unlike most, when I was a child I never enjoyed drawing. I had cra
yon boxes and some inks and I used to enjoy keeping and observing them. It was not until the adolescence when I began to draw! I used to copy characters from comic books and really soon I felt the need to learn a little bit more…then I started a drawing course and after that, I did a xylography and lithography course. My grandfather had a letterpress company, that’s why engraving became an immediate passion, I identified myself with the process and I wanted to learn more and more, when I decided to study Fine Arts.

· When did you decide to dedicate yourself to the production of artworks fulltime? Had you ever imagined that this could happen to you?

I really committed myself to artistic production three years ago, but it was my goal since when I decided to be a visual artist in my adolescence. As in any profession you need investment, studies and time for an economic return.

Reviewing your designs full of excesses, compositions, colours…

· Do we find in them some indigenous cultural heritage?

 My first contact with pattern design was through indigenous graphics, I was studding body painting when I discovered a book published by Lux Vital about patter design, which was the beginning of an obsession. I bought some books about this subject and soon I started to insert these ideas in my drawings. Now a day, I study pattern design from a larger viewpoint, in different cultures and with different perspectives.

· The spot colours in your illustrations seem to be made by computer. How do you get this effect?

It needs patience, good inks and opaque pigments, preferably. In some cases, instead of brush I use roller to define colour areas with a sticky mask. There are some “tricks” to get a plane area with well-defined edge that facilitates the process.

· The easy way with which you describe magical places and situation fascinates us…How do you manage to create these sophisticated compositions?

I usually define a concept and the colours that I’m going to use in the composition. Then, I prepare the base of the ink with half-tone palette and I define the first image. Generally, his first image is a human figure, from which surrounding environment around will be born. Then I start adding random items on the canvas and each new element raises the next. Is a process of pasting images one over each other, till through the overload information the image becomes a coherent whole.

· We can see that colour is one of the major aspects in your work…Which one never lacks in Monica Rizzoli artworks?

When I begin a painting I do some colour research to define the palette colour that will define the design and I try to create a different and certain palette for each work. But sometimes, there are recurrent colours, like PBr 7 (raw number), which has been very important to me in recent times.

Let’s talk about more specific projects that we find particularly interesting…Even in the college you were the creator of theoretical-practical event called [In.CoRpo.Ro]…

· What did this event involve exactly? What importance it has had in your career as an artist?

[In.Corpo.Ro] was first presented in 2004 and it succeeded in bringing together five artists and two artists associations in a performances evening inside an art gallery.

The second edition was actually on the street, with three performances in the interior of Sao Paulo metro. In the third edition in 2005, in addition to the performances there were conferences and theoretical debates.

In 2006, Priscilla Davanzo and I organized a pdf magazine with articles that talked about the idea of the event and actually, that was the last thing that was done in [In.CoRpo.Ro]. At that time I also conducted performances and, in fact, was then when I started being interested in indigenous body paintings and in the different ways of understanding and representing the human body, what now a day is very important in my work.

After your university time, you worked on a project called “Fêmea” with which you surprise us with a number of different representations of the sexual act, where you explicitly depict intercourses and penetrations…

· How an artist from Sao Paulo gets to talk about this such a complex subject in her country?

Actually, sex is a complicated issue in Brazil, there are many divergent views on the matter, but no consensus. I prefer to understand sex as something inherent in our lives, as something common. Talk about sex becomes easy then, it’s like talking about ourselves, our needs, desires and complexes.

· Do you think the viewer is able to overcome the banality of the first moment and enjoy your artwork without prejudices or fear?

I would like to think so, although this not always happen.

Monica, we are going to close with some short questions…

·From where does the inspiration for your paintings arise?

 From work and daily research.

 · Which is the most Brazilian aspect of your work and which the least?

I don’t know what to answer in this question…

 · Which advice would you give to an artist who is just starting out now?

 I would say: be persistent, dedicated and curious!

Interview by Lara Costafreda, Carpaccio Magazine Collaborator. Some of her artworks were published in Carpaccio Magazine vol.5

Monica Rizzolli website

While we were editing this book we appreciated a lot of details and connotations of Steingrim Veum’s drawings. In fact, before editing the book, we asked Steingrim some questions. We also asked him why he didn’t draw any homosexual scenes. Then we discovered that one of Steingrim Veum’s inspirations in Orgy series were the images of Tom of Finland. From Wikipedia:

Touko Laaksonen, best known by his pseudonym Tom of Finland (8 May 1920 – 7 November 1991) was a Finnish artist notable for his stylized androerotic and fetish art and his influence on late twentieth century gay culture. He has been called the “most influential creator of gay pornographic images” by cultural historian Joseph W. Slade.

Over the course of four decades he produced some 3500 illustrations, mostly featuring men with exaggerated primary and secondary sex traits: heavily muscled torsos, limbs, and buttocks, and large penises. Tight or partially removed clothing showed off these traits, with the penis often visible as a bulge in tight trousers or prominently displayed for the viewer. His drawings frequently feature two or more men either immediately preceding or during explicit sexual activity.

Some Tom of Finland’s works:

What we love about Steingrim Veum’s drawings is the detail: frames within frames, neverending orgies, hidden boys under chairs, ceiling lamps full of detail, sleeping dogs. One of the drawings we love the most is this one:

Orgy #8:

We love the vault, the little bird, the left and right windows,…

Orgy #12

Neverending orgy!  We’re also amazed at the character’s faces. They seem zombies! Dehumanized, depersonalized…

Orgy #13

In this drawing we see a disturbing character. Look “in front” of you. There’s a “mirror”… A not nude character… Do you think this character is Steingrim Veum himself?

Steingrim Veum wrote a little explanation of his Orgy series:

The Orgy-series is an on-going series. I do not know for how long, but as long as I find it interesting. I like the idea of a long series. I like repetition, monotony. I like the idea of being creative inside a narrow frame. I am inspired by the italian baroque-composer Domenico Scarlatti. He made 555 piano sonatas. At first listening, they sound very much alike. But they are not. It is an enormous amount of ideas inside a very narrow frame, a sonata between 2 to 5 minutes, on one instrument, the cembalo. I like to set up some rules.

I love apartments, interiors, rooms. I love to browse through interiorbooks and magazines and look at all the empty rooms. I like the absence of people. It gives me the possibility to make my own stories. I think of these rooms as mindscapes. Small mental tableaux with its own laws. I always try to find out what these laws really are. It is like a mathematical puzzle. My goal is to solve that puzzle, break the code, master the room. Every room has its own personality, and I have all sorts of ”pieces” I want to fit in there. Some fit in, others don’t. And sometimes, it is the room itself that is the problem. Then it must be abandoned, which is the worst thing.

I am obsessed with materiality. I like things that I think look nice. Furniture, lamps, flowers, books. Sometimes I can see things, for instance a little bonzaitree, and think: I would love to draw that one. And I like to draw animals as well. There are so many types of them, and they all have their own personal look.

Yes, I like the human body. I like to portray it. I may not portray it honestly. I do not draw the truth. I don’t think pornography represents the truth of the human body. But it shows a lot of it. Actually, it shows everything of it. I like to make constructions with the bodies, try out different combinations, angles, positions. They are like jigsaw-puzzles. Some fit here, others fit there. In the Orgy-puzzle there are all sorts of possibilites.

I do not care about feelings. I do not want to express them. They are not interesting to me as an artist. I like rationality, mathematics, tactility. The brain is our most important organ. It is also our most important sexual organ. It fascinates me because I do not understand it. I do not understand sexuality. In many ways it is so silly. Pornography is very silly. I think it is silly that I find it arousing. I like to look at my drawings as a way of making fun of myself. I think it is important to laugh at your mirror. I like laughter.

If you’re interested in Steingrim Veum’s drawings, you can support him by buying his book!
You’ll find it here: http://www.atembooks.com/producto/orgy-steingrim-veum

macarenatoro.com

Ricky Allman Stats
1978, Proto, Ut

rickyallman.com

• Carpaccio Magazine Issue #32, without theme: photography submissions are already full, so we only need now illustration, drawing and collage submissions




• Carpaccio Magazine Issue #33: “(Sometimes) Hugs are better than kisses”: inspired by the Mishima’s song “(Sometimes) Hugs are better than kisses”




• Carpaccio Magazine Issue #34: “Alright” inspired by the Supergrass’s song “Alright“




• Carpaccio Magazine Issue #35, without theme

More info about this book at Atem Books website.

“I did not start like most of the artists I’ve met. As I’ve been listening, a majority of them had been enthusiastic about Art, almost since they were born, as a native desire to create or express themselves. Unfortunately, it wasn’t like that to me. It was like a research of what I did better. I really had no interest in drawing or art culture. I completely ignored that there were people living and working on Art. Despite my childish ignorance, I had already an easily skill to draw or rather that, a facility of representing what I saw on paper. [...]“

Keep reading about Oriol at his website: oriolangrill.com