Writers Archives - ZO Magazine https://zomagazine.com/category/writers/ Mon, 03 Jul 2023 17:26:51 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.3 https://i0.wp.com/zomagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Separator-circle-w.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Writers Archives - ZO Magazine https://zomagazine.com/category/writers/ 32 32 65979187 The Muse(um) of Lana Gentry https://zomagazine.com/the-museum-of-lana-gentry/ Sat, 01 Jul 2023 02:05:18 +0000 https://zomagazine.com/?p=28677 The post The Muse(um) of Lana Gentry appeared first on ZO Magazine.

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The Muse(um) of Lana Gentry

By Catie Jarvis

“Spell of the Gypsies” – Buckethead

What does it mean to be a muse? In Greek mythology, the muses were nine women, daughters of Zeus, who presided over and inspired creations in art and science. But what of the modern-day muse, not an ethereal goddess, or a Socratic vagabond roaming the countryside? In our modern disconnected world, where artists’ circles aren’t what they used to be, how can one person find a way to spark the creative light in others, to cut through the dark shadows that modern society and its struggles try to dim?

Lana Gentry, a self-taught artist and writer from Virginia, has a collection of over 500 portraits that have been done of her by other artists worldwide, for free, without commission. They vary in form and style, abstract sketches, sculptures, realistic paintings, bizarro, beautiful, and everything in between. She owns many of them but not all. I set out to talk with Gentry, wanting to understand this phenomenon, and how she had become something of a muse.

“Lana” Portrait © Donnie Green

Sitting on her cozy couch, beneath a wall display of the vivid and boldly mind-expanding paintings done by her husband, artist Donnie Green, I immediately feel Gentry’s warm inviting laugh carry across the space continuum of our video call. “There wasn’t a time in my memory bank when I wasn’t writing or dreaming,” she says, and in the way that a muse can lift the creative’s spirit, I think: yes, me too!  She tells me about her vast and cosmic connection to creative people. “Other creatives seem to feel this way about me too,” and she considers this an honor.

Above: Lana Gentry “Lovebird” Artist © Robert Mcneill

“F*ck My Heart” — © Lana Gentry Self Portrait

Gentry’s discussion of her creative work and processes feel as intimate and inspired as her creations themselves. She classifies her work as “outlier” art and she herself an outlier who operates outside the mainstream and without traditional schooling. Her art, she says, is developed in the absence of influence. Because of her sensitivities and learning differences, she really had to learn everything in life on her own and in her own way. Things that easily made sense to other people were like “a foreign language” to her and she had to keep “shifting gears” to eventually learn the skillsets of life.

Gentry considers herself a writer first and talks passionately about the wonderful artists she collaborates with, writes about, and features in the magazine loBURN, for which she is the managing editor and lead writer. She says that even with her visual art, it is always words that come first. When she began bringing written worlds into her drawings, creating a journal feel to her work, she says, “I felt like it was cheating.” As if visual art is supposed to stand alone without words being needed. But then, she never created within the confines of rules. Using words feels authentic and her art is a journal of her journey through life.

“It’s always shocking that people buy it,” Gentry says of her work, “because it’s so intimate to me.” I think that her pieces work because they are intimate to others as well. Her work strikes me like a classic folk song, Dylan, or the more modern and southern Jace Everett, a mirror into the individual soul, and at the same time reminiscent of something so familiar, universal, and connectable. Her work is reflective of the modern sadness, beauty, and magic of the feminine, but also pulls on the past, the eternal and timeless.

Finally, I get to ask Gentry about the hundreds of portraits done of her and she’s excited to tell the story… Years ago, there was a small group of art friends in Gentry’s circle who did portraits of each other on Myspace to hone their craft. Around this time there was another artist that Gentry admired, who would post portraits that people had done of her, and Gentry was fascinated by this. This artist (now a close friend of Gentry’s but a private person whose name Gentry protects) seemed to be a sort of muse, inspiring others to create art based on her image and art. One day this muse sent Gentry a portrait she had drawn of her, Gentry, thrilled, posted it up for all to see. Then, seemingly overnight, other artists began creating portraits of Gentry as well! At first, it was always people within her circles, but soon it spread beyond, and she would wake up in the morning to find a portrait posted of her by a total stranger. Sometimes other artists would request pictures from her in certain settings or poses to draw from, other times they’d use selfies she had posted, or draw from other artists’ portraits of her. Once the portraits of Lana Gentry began, they never stopped. Gentry had been kissed by the muse and had become one herself.

Lana Gentry — © Tamara Duvall

Lana Gentry “Seven of Pentacles” — © Jessica Perner

Lana Gentry “Queen of the Shades” — © Rick Young

Lana Gentry — © The Art of Terry Bizarro

A great influence on Gentry was editor, agent, and artist Leslie Barany. “He was a tough mentor,” she says, who taught her about connecting with other artists. He told her that it wasn’t interviews that she was performing when she set out to speak with other artists, but deep conversations. This struck a chord for Gentry, who says she wants to be talking to artists all the time, to always be in conversation with them. In this way, I think, life is reflective. You call out and something answers back. All these portraits of Gentry are a kind of answer to her outreach, support of, and interest in artists of all kinds.

At this point, the portraits done of Gentry feel to her like a long-term cultural project and simultaneously like little gifts that light up her own artistic spirit and life. She says it’s, “fun to see myself through the eyes of others.” She seems to admire and enjoy each depiction and rendition, grateful that her image can spur creative acts. “I didn’t grow up with a lot of self-esteem, [and I had] a lot of hurdles to work through,” Gentry says. She says that each portrait “feels like this mystical wonderful thing.” She told me about this crazy moment when she had just pulled herself out of a deep depression, and she got back on her computer to find a portrait done of her by the artist Robert Bauder. He had painted her crying as if he could feel the truth of her emotions, though he had no way of knowing. Cosmic connection. The world answering back.

Triptych of Artwork by Artist — © Lana Gentry — Center: Philosophia (Unavailable) Commission for Ryan Boyle

So, what’s next for Gentry? How does she plan to keep her muse energy flowing, to continue to connect to other artists? A podcast, of course! Gentry and her husband Green are at work building a podcast that will explore marginalized masters, past and present, shedding a light that shines way beyond politics, to illuminate art that didn’t or wouldn’t get its chance to be seen. I look forward to listening!

After talking with Gentry, it seems to me that a muse is simply a person in constant conversation with the world. Other creatives can feel this and want to answer the call. A muse is the exact opposite of someone who is checked out, following the herd, the norms, basic. A muse can see the magic and never lets fear dim this curiosity. From the word “muse” comes “museum,” a place where the muse’s work can be admired. I imagine a museum made up of the 500-plus portraits of Lana Gentry, with all the artists gathered inside sharing their passions and inspirations. If only in my mind, it’s a space that inspires me.

Reap, L.Gentry, from the collection on Lacy and Zoey Edwards, 8″ x 10″ colored pencil on gold parchment. 2003

 

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]]> 28677 The Tendency Towards Complexity https://zomagazine.com/the-tendency-towards-complexity/ Fri, 02 Jun 2023 18:36:36 +0000 https://zomagazine.com/?p=28417 The post The Tendency Towards Complexity appeared first on ZO Magazine.

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The Tendency Towards Complexity: Thoughts spurred from the novel, Shantaram

By Catie Jarvis

“House of Cards” — AudioMachine

I’m lounging under an umbrella on a white sand beach in Turks and Caicos, vigorously turning the pages of my novel, my heart racing. The humid air and ocean breeze coat my skin and the tropical sun bends behind my glasses to shock my eyes. But it is not the sun or the heat which is causing my eyes to tear. I reach the end of Chapter 29, shut the book, and throw it onto the beige beach chair.

“I don’t know if I can go on,” I say to my husband. And I mean it.

I feel the devastation of the main character, Linbaba, as if it is my own. A testament to the author’s strong and connective writing. Like life, parts of Shantaram are unbearable, and others are full of tenderness. This novel offers an important reminder, that within each person, each life, each city, and each moment, there are worlds of pain and depths of beauty if only we look close enough.

I’ve chosen to read Gregory David Roberts’s novel, Shantaram, while on an all-inclusive Caribbean vacation with my extended family. It’s like being emersed in two foreign and contradictory worlds at once. Pristine turquoise waters, tourists in straw hats walking the beach with rambunctious children in tow, versus the sewage-stenched slums of Bombay, “those writhing alleys of struggle and dream [1].”

THE FICTION PORTAL

I look up from the page to see bikinied bodies sipping pina coladas, and back down to read viscerally detailed and brutal prison beatings, stories of hard men with unimaginable depths of cruelty and kindness, and insights about human nature that bring me to my knees in the sand as if I am the one taking the punches. I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Something that I love about reading is how it shapes my view of reality, alters my perspective, and adds harmonies and dissonance to that voice in my head which narrates life. Reading Shantaram, compels me to look closer at the world around me.

My pink, sun-kissed two-year-old daughter, giggling, building a sandcastle near the water’s gentle edge with her grandpa. A Caribbean woman passing by with beads balanced on her head, calling out “Hair braids? Who wants hair braids?” with a richly accented singsong. Shockingly different worlds exist here around me, just as in Shantaram’s Bombay. I want to know the woman selling the art of hair braids, in the way that Linbaba would have known her, fully, deeply. Her brown eyes open wide despite the relentless sun. Maybe she has children in a modest home by the sea. Maybe her family has lived on this island for generations. Well before this tourist resort ever existed. I want to describe her with the level of detail and proficiency that Roberts uses to describe the multitude of characters that populate his novel. Like he describes Rukhmavai Kharre, the mother of Linbaba’s beloved guide and best friend, Prabaker.

“… Rukhmavai Kharre was forty years old, and at the peak of her personal power…Her black hair, gleaming with coconut oil, had never been cut, and the majestic rope of it reached to her knees. Her skin was tan brown. Her eyes were the color of amber, set in rose gold. The whites of her eyes were pink, always, giving the impression that she’d just cried or was just about to cry. A wide gap between her front teeth gave an impish mischief to her smile, while the superb hook of her beaked nose endowed her serious expression with an imposing authority. [2]”

And that’s just about a third of the initial description that brings her to life.

Roberts’s novel is written with a wholly empathetic gaze. He examines each character, no matter how minorly featured in the story, no matter how downtrodden, criminal, or dislikeable, with consideration and care. He describes the faces, postures, lives of each person in his story, as if he is describing his beloved. Seeking the components that make us all neither good nor bad, but fully human. The novel shows his wisdom for life and that to know someone, truly, the good and the bad, is to love them. “Love is the passionate search for a truth other than your own; and once you feel it, honestly and completely, love is forever. Every act of love, every moment of the heart reaching out, is a part of the universal good…” [3]

The author lived, once, like I am, within a family, within a society, but he also lived as an addict, criminal, prisoner, and fugitive. I think only someone who has lived in many factions of society, within its bounds, and also outside, can truly offer his perspective. I remember something that my AP English teacher said to me sophomore year of high school when I told her that I wanted to be a writer. “To write, you must really live,” she told me. “Become worldly. Experience everything. Try. Fail. Make sure to fail.” I was a painfully shy and studious girl in high school. It took me years to begin to heed this teacher’s advice, and in these years of living, I learned about the world, and the people in it. I got hurt, I messed up, and I looked up the word “worldly” many times, to see if I yet embodied it. Roberts is nothing if not worldly, and it shows in his every line of writing.

“Nothing in any life, no matter how well or poorly lived, is wiser than failure or clearer than sorrow. And in the tiny, precious wisdom that they give to us, even those dread and hated enemies, suffering and failure, have their reason and their right to be, [4]” says the narrating character. I’m calling him Linbaba, though he is called many names throughout the book (Lindsay, Lin, Shantaram, to name a few), by those friends who come to love him. His having many names is appropriate for this story which is ultimately a record of his trials and transformations, as he seeks to find his identity, his true self, amidst the chaos of his life. This is a mission most of all of us find ourselves on, I think. We are all trying to understand ourselves in the world. Conjuring a philosophy that makes sense, which can get us through hardships and through the day.

Shantaram has given me much to contemplate. After my allotted seven days of warm waters, endless buffets, and family time, I am nearing the end of the Shantaram story as we prepare to depart Turks and Caicos. Alongside Linbaba, I’ve made it through wild adventures and passions, gotten to know India and the Indian people, suffered death, grief, and relapse, and I’m savoring the meaningful ending of the book as I sit in the crowded, stiflingly hot airport packed with agitated tourists. There is disorganization in this small island airport. Chaos. It is not like the U.S. with crisp air conditioning and endless rules. My daughter is throwing a tantrum on the floor, there is nowhere to sit or even stand, the boarding lines weave endlessly on and though we are well past our boarding time no one can tell us if our plane has arrived. My sister-in-law proclaims, “I’m never coming here again!” And I think of the families living in the slums of Bombay, the heat and the crowds akin me to them. Their tolerance of the hard parts of life, their ability to overcome and embrace joy in the face of struggle, is not only a strength but a virtue. Many people suffer from their lack of tolerance, the world suffers from it. Linbaba says it best:

“That unequivocal involvement, one with another, and its unquestioning support… was something I’d lost when I’d left the slum to live in the comfortable, richer world. I’d never really found it anywhere else, except within the high-sierra of my mother’s love. And because I knew it with them, once, in the sublime wretched acres of those ragged huts, I never stopped wanting it and searching for it.” [5]

My trip to the soft white-sand beaches of Turks and Caicos would have lacked a certain richness, without the companionship and contrast of Linbaba’s perspective by my side. Linbaba’s mentor, the big-hearted and brutal gang leader Khader, explains his philosophy of the world by saying:

“I think that we all look for an objective way to measure good and evil, a way that all people can accept as reasonable, we can do no better than to study the way that the universe works, and its nature… the fact that it is constantly moving towards greater complexity. We can do no better than to use the nature of the universe itself.”

I believe that Roberts’s novel Shantaram is, itself, propelling us toward seeing the very complexities of human nature. The baffling and striking intricacies of life. The tolerance for all kinds and ways. And this clearer vision, can make the world a better place.

[1] Shantaram, pg 929
[2] Shantaram, pg 125
[3] Shantaram, pg 740
[4] Shantaram, pg 872
[5] Shantaram, pg 893

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]]> 28417 The Importance of Art in Community – RAIZ Exhibit https://zomagazine.com/raiz-the-importance-of-art-community/ Tue, 18 Apr 2023 15:19:33 +0000 https://zomagazine.com/?p=27558 The post The Importance of Art in Community – RAIZ Exhibit appeared first on ZO Magazine.

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RAIZ Exhibition and the Importance of Art in Community

By Catie Jarvis

“Sol Poniente” – Dugo

Sculpture by Aof Smith

The hills of Glendale surrounding the Brand cultural center are a brilliant electric green after the winter rains. It’s a color that doesn’t hold in Los Angeles but that sets the perfect stage for the bright and captivating NEXUS IV: RAIZ Exhibition inside the gallery. The exhibit is a diverse collaboration between the Brand, Thinkspace Projects, and Tlaloc Studios. The multi-artist experience works at “creating a platform,” as the Brand library explains it, “for young and emerging artists from around the world to exhibit alongside LA-based artists working in the New Contemporary Art Movement. ”

The Brand gallery is empty during my mid-week morning visit, there is a buzzing silence broken only by my own breath and footsteps, a far cry from an art show opening night, where people commune, full of vibrant energy. Viewers slink thoughtfully from piece to piece; voices point out the details that speak to them. The artists stand by, ready to discuss their art. I like the energy of those opening nights, but today I feel the power of solitude. Instead of the voices and vibes of people viewing art around me, I hear the artwork itself. Creations from over sixty artists, speaking with and to each other.

It feels right that this collaborative exhibition is the topic of my first article for ZO International Magazine, itself a community space to showcase artists across the globe, to bring them together. It also feels right that as I enter the main exhibit space, hanging just past the open doorway, is the curious creature composed by Thai contemporary artist Aof Smith, who won a ZO Magazine expo back in 2015 with his piece “Summer Chaos.” Like an art gallery, ZO Magazine follows the careers of and continues to support featured artists like the Bangkok-based pop-surrealist, Aof Smith. This is an important mission. Engaging in art, whether by viewing it, promoting it, talking about it, displaying it, writing about it, or creating it, is what keeps art itself, alive.

ART IN COMMUNITY

Clumsy Soloist by Aof Smith

I step forward to admire Smith’s oil painting on canvas. I gaze into the wide turquoise eyes of the furry main character of “Clumsy Soloist,” who holds a brightly colored, futuristic sort of banjo. I can almost hear the otherworldly instrument playing, clunky, off-tempo and eager to please. A song of longing and chaos. The painting is philosophical, political, farcical, and fantastical. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy meets The Never-Ending Story meets The Great Warrior Wall. It is a unique piece, but also very much fits into this exhibition full of art which reflects this moment of time in which we live, right now. Art inspired by the city of Los Angeles, set beside art from around the globe. Together, the works feel loud and rich and collective.

I can see other works in the show complement and contrast with “Clumsy Soloist.” The bright blues, reds, oranges, and pinks in Smith’s work, draw out similar bright colors, used in different ways, and pull them to the forefront. Like the springtime green jacket and puppeteer hand, in “I’m Not Your Puppet,” by Daisy Velasco, an LA artist who speaks in vibrant shades. A green reminiscent of the grass on the surrounding hills outside the museum. The bright colors in the collection, tell their story against the backdrop of the more muted-toned works. The burnt orange in Conrad Ruiz’s “Bye Bye Bulls Eye,” and the pale earthy browns and greens in Brek’s “Broken,” and Emiliana Henriquez’s “The Little Death” and “El Passo,” all Californian in a stark desert way. The colors, bright and muted, paint a larger picture of the pallet of our world.

Another contrast I see working to tell us the story of the RAIZ exhibition is that between the bluntly real and the enchantingly otherworldly. Imaginative, colorful, and broken universes, such as in Mr. B Baby’s “Love Makin”, call out in contrast to the intimate realism of a girl shaving her legs on a tiled bathroom floor sprouting leaves, in Genavee Gomez’s “Overgrown: Sprouting from the Underground Through the Concrete.” Together, a contemporary statement is created. About who we are as a people. About the severity of life and how creative expression, fantasy, and parallel worlds, are ways to make sense of it.

The NEXUS IV: RAIZ show feels like I am stepping into someone else’s dream, but not one person’s, a collective dream, which encapsulates the present human experience. The artworks call out to each other. They work in the way a great anthology of short stories works. There is cohesion, distinction, common themes, and contrasting ones, all strengthened, and deepened, by each other. Bound as the art of now. Showing the viewer that artworks, like artists, and people, are stronger, together.

Catie Jarvis is an author of fiction, as well as a yoga instructor, a competitive gymnastics coach, an English and writing professor, a surfer, and a mom. She has joined the ZO Creative Team as a writer and editor and we are all looking forward to her upcoming column “The Fiction Portal!”

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]]> 27558 The Color of Thought — The Essence of Nuance and Undefinable Artifacts https://zomagazine.com/the-color-of-thought/ Fri, 30 Sep 2022 19:03:35 +0000 https://zomagazine.com/?p=25224 The post The Color of Thought — The Essence of Nuance and Undefinable Artifacts appeared first on ZO Magazine.

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4th Quarter | The Color of Thought

Define Description: The Essence of Nuance and Undefinable Artifacts

By Tricia Stewart Shiu

The Color of Thought: The Essence of Nuance and Undefinable Artifacts – Tricia Stewart Shiu

It’s delicious, isn’t it? The idea of describing an immaterial object with an unusual adjective. Bringing two worlds together. Bridging the continuum. Breaching the darkness.

Normally, sensory experiences are just that, experiences. Pulling away to objectively identify or define, can take away from the complexities and nuances of an otherwise juicy discovery and perhaps even taint the learning experience.

But what happens when an unexpected discovery occurs? One that supports learning, but also offers a not-so-pleasant glimpse into past historical events. How do we process, cull and disseminate the learning, while honoring just how far we’ve come?

After all, we humans evolve and grow for a reason.

ARTISTIC ALLEGORY | LE MOT JUSTE

That’s exactly what has occurred as ancient artifacts have surfaced after remaining hidden for thousands of years.

This phenomenon is most likely, directly connected to global warming and as large sections of the earth’s water sources evaporate, never-before-discovered mummified human remains and artifacts are surfacing.

Several such “artifacts” are thousands of years old, perfectly preserved humans, who met their untimely demise when they were used in human sacrifice rituals.

One example is the Children of Llullaillaco also known as the Mummies of Llullaillaco. They are three Inca child mummies discovered on March 16, 1999, by, National Geographic Society Explorer-in-Residence, a senior research fellow at The Mountain Institute and visiting professor at Catholic University, Salta, Argentina, Johan Reinhard.

Scientists have been astonished at just how well preserved these bodies were. From hair and skin to even more details, these mummified bodies offer a never experienced, unprecedented look into an unimaginable world.

National Geographic says, “Mummy’s hair reveals that young sacrifice victims were heavy users of coca and alcohol in their last years of life.”
It is astonishing to imagine, however, “In Inca religious ideology…coca and alcohol could induce altered states associated with the sacred. But the substances likely played a more pragmatic role as well, disorienting and sedating the young victims on the high mountainside to make them more accepting of their grim fates.”
The artifacts found, adds National Geographic, entombed with the young girl’s remains included: “spondylus shells, brought from the coast, feather headdresses from the Amazon Basin. Statues of gold and silver, adorned with finely woven miniature clothing, were also available only to the highest levels of society.”

​George Santayana said in “The Life of Reason (1905), “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” However, what if that history is horrific? What if although human sacrifice no longer is a commonplace practice, it is essential to validate and prove the manner of the human’s passing?
There will always be doubters about the historical significance of certain events and the importance of creating remembrances to ensure those events will never happen again.
When it comes to gray concerning ancient practices and cultural beliefs there’s no question that we can and should benefit from the learning of others, so we may move forward from tragic circumstances to ensure that they are never repeated.

Those gray areas, though, are the places where we live and breathe and experience presence, even as our past remains unchanged, and our future is uncertain.

It is within the gray areas, where curiosity lives, and the learning potential expands.

Perhaps it isn’t those potential spaces that we have the most to gain. And the nuanced spaces and undefinable events.

Still, when a thought comes to mind, there is always an attachment. The philosophical world connects thought and existence and has for centuries. Moreover, we can spend a lifetime writing, explaining, and defining the linear, concrete, and structured elements of thought, to no avail.

Perhaps, it is a balance between them, that we will finally find the answers we seek as the likelihood of discovering more ancient artifacts increases, over time.

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]]> 25224 Trying vs. Doing — An Experimental Approach to Artistic Expression https://zomagazine.com/trying-vs-doing/ Mon, 01 Aug 2022 21:46:21 +0000 http://zomagazine.com/?p=24345 The post Trying vs. Doing — An Experimental Approach to Artistic Expression appeared first on ZO Magazine.

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August

Trying vs. Doing: An Experimental Approach to Artistic Expression

By Tricia Stewart Shiu

ZO Magazine Artisitc Allegory July Trying vs Doing – Read by Tricia Stewart Shiu

“You may not know in your mind where you are going, but you know it by doing.” Nassim Taleb


You walk into a gallery and peruse the vast array of art in the space. A piece catches your eye and you walk a bit closer. It evokes deep feelings that you haven’t experienced in quite some time. You step closer and notice the artist’s attention to detail. You marvel at the use of light in this remarkable painting and begin to feel swept away by long-forgotten feelings.

After a while, you move along within the gallery, but that original piece and the emotions it evoked still stick with you. You can’t shake them and they stay with you, long after you leave.

ARTISTIC ALLEGORY | LE MOT JUSTE

“Art, like life, should be free, since they are both experimental.” George Santayana

Art is truly metaphor for life and self-observation. As with the example of wandering through an art gallery, so is our meandering through life. Sometimes intense, sometimes boring, always an experiment. How willing are you observe? Do you stand on the sidelines and take everything in or do you dive, head first, into the deep end? Do you judge yourself for not understanding the art or do you judge the artist for not making the piece clear enough for you to understand?


“Art is realm of thought experiments that quicken, sharpen and sweeten our being in this world.” Wendy Steiner

Art is subjective. Art is emotionally evocative. Just as art is experimental, so is life. One person’s sublime experience is another person’s drivel. But, within those experiences are some hard truths. To discover these foundational places, where conclusions can be drawn, is to gain knowledge so that intentional steps can be taken.

The thing about art, though, is that it’s messy. The feelings and colors and chaotic incoming ideas can be overwhelming.

So why not test it out? An experiment is a set of actions taken to test a hypothesis. Charting a course through the overwhelming artistic sensory overload, can start by asking a question. Then, a thoroughly researched hypothesis comes next. Once a hypothesis is made, the experimental fun can begin! The fun of experimenting, is that it creates a stair step of understanding to cut through the mass of ideas and emotions that usually flow with creative projects and can, sometimes, block us from getting anything done or reaching a conclusion.


Here are some key steps to take when embarking on your artistic experimental journey:
What do you know? What don’t you know? Art and life, both have unknown variables and known variables and understanding and documenting them can make a huge difference, moving forward.
Hypothetical conclusion: Set up a hypothesis based on what you know and don’t know.
What if? Time to test your hypothesis. Try things on, try them out. Ask questions, bring in new variables and observe what happens.
What happened? Come to a conclusion based on the new evidence and on what you’ve learned.

“Science, my boy, is made up of mistakes, but they are mistakes which it is useful to make, because they lead little by little to the truth.” Jules Verne

Failure and Compassion. Two things to keep in mind throughout your experiment: Understanding that there is no “failure” on the artistic journey—or life—and keeping your tests ethical and sound will ensure that nothing will come between you and your result. Being kind and compassionate with yourself and others helps, too.

And guess what? You can always start again. There is always time and space for another creative endeavor—another experiment.

Remember your imaginary walk through that gallery? You are always free to play, test, observe and imagine. Those elements are key in experimenting and creating. Discovery can be a portal to knowledge and, eventually, action. Isn’t that the point to life, anyway?


“Life is ‘trying things to see if they work.” Ray Bradbury

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]]> 24345 SkyeChristy the Band — Interview with Ericco Studio https://zomagazine.com/skyechristy-interview/ Fri, 15 Jul 2022 22:21:26 +0000 http://zomagazine.com/?p=24463 The post SkyeChristy the Band — Interview with Ericco Studio appeared first on ZO Magazine.

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SkyeChristy the Band

. . . catching up with SkyeChristy at my Hermosa project — a fun day at the beach — a new look

I’ve looked forward to speaking with this duo for quite some time. We actually go back many years to their childhood, where they were immersed and exposed to quite a unique inside view of the music industry – even then showing an ear for talent, sound, & “style!”

Miroir Magazine Article: The Magical Interiors of Ericco Studio
L-R Sophie (11) | The Lauren Christy | Georgia (13)


Sisters Georgia Christy Edwards (22) & Sophie Skye Edwards (20)

Ericco Studio: I really love that we’re coming full circle with this interview in a few ways — here we are at an even larger house that I’ve just completed and here you two are and I get to do an article on your new music project.

I really think our first photo shoot with Miroir was kind of prophetic to this moment. I knew you both were talented, but the self-assurance, maturity, poise & professionalism that I saw in our first shoot, have certainly developed well beyond what I even imagined then. 

Ericco Studio: Your transformation is a bit incredible to me, and although I know a lot of your story, would you share some of your early surroundings and background with ZO’s viewers …

SkyeChristy: Well our parents are songwriter/record producers who moved from the UK to LA so they could make it as musicians. We’ve grown up in LA surrounded by music and the artists that they worked with, and with that, you meet all sorts of different and intriguing people. We ended up going to a performing arts school together where our main focus was music. Slowly but surely we began to realize that our music and sound was stronger together rather than apart, so we started writing together.

Ericco Studio: How do you balance being teens in these explosive times? What’s the balance between school, friendships, family, and now as writers & recording artists?

SkyeChristy: Honestly music has taken up way much more of our time than we expected. With the pandemic, school had been online for us for the past few years so it hasn’t really gotten in the way of music. Maintaining friendships and relationships is probably the hardest part. With music you find yourself pretty busy a lot of the time in sessions and performing, and to friends that can feel like you’re just having a fun time without them which sucks. Probably the hardest part about being an artist these days is social media. If you’re a fellow artist you probably know that TikTok is the only way to break into this industry right now, which feels like a bummer sometimes, but it’s also kind of great cause that means everyone’s got a shot.

Article | Photoshoot Producer: Ericco Studio [Art—Home—LifeStyle—CULTURE]
Location: ES Hermosa Beach project interior

Photographers: Suzie Fownes | Tom Delion

CREATIVITY CAN CHANGE THE WORLD!

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Ericco Studio: Being an artist myself, I’m keenly aware when I’m in the presence of true originators — and these two are The real deal!!! A current buzz-word in life is “authenticity.” What do you two think helps you “keep it real?”

SkyeChristy: With songwriting we’ve tried writing based on things we love to listen to, but we realized that our best music comes through when we’re just writing things we actually feel. We’ll be writing a song and just be like why isn’t this going the way we want it to, then we chuck the whole concept and try and really think about a concept that resonates with the both of us. It makes the song better and it also makes the performance more moving for the audience. Also as sisters we never lie to each other, so we always tell each other if something sounds mediocre.

Ericco Studio: What would you say are some of your most memorable influences and inspirations growing up?

SkyeChristy: When we were really young our parents would play the Corrine Bailey Rae album that came out in 2006 making us just 5 and 6 years old, but we remember hearing her songs clear as day during family gatherings and parties. We still listen to that album all the time. I think she really influenced our taste and style of singing. When we were teenagers we would listen to Eagles and Crosby, Stills & Nash which taught us how to do harmonies and that’s when we realized that’s one of the key elements in what we do.

Ericco Studio: Some of my most vivid memories around your house were the almost weekly gatherings of friends & family – inevitably someone would pick up a guitar or sit at the piano, and some of the amazing impromptu jam sessions that happened were just unbelievable!

What are your current plans & what are you working on musically?

SkyeChristy: We’re trying to release a new song every six weeks along with music videos which we do with our cousin Suzie Fownes. Everything we do is pretty tight with our family since they’re all creatives. We’ve also been doing shows every month gaining confidence in front of crowds which was nerve-wracking at first but now we just look forward to sharing our music with people. We’re planning on releasing our song “Friday Night Thriller” along with a music video very soon 🙂

SkyeChristy – Black Lake

Ericco Studio on ZO 

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]]> 24463 Art and Social Therapy | Underground Interview with TIFFANY TALAVERA https://zomagazine.com/es-tiffany-talavera/ Mon, 03 Jan 2022 21:52:53 +0000 http://zomagazine.com/?p=22476 The post Art and Social Therapy | Underground Interview with TIFFANY TALAVERA appeared first on ZO Magazine.

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ERICCO STUDIO

. . . Creativity and LIFEstyle

Sol Poniente – Dugo

ERICCO STUDIOS has started a podcast series on art, life and the unique and invisible ties we all have through the “6 Degrees of Separation” syndrome we’ve been expounding on in this series as well as throughout the ZO community. This month’s podcast with Tiffany Talavera is one of those synchronous links that actually ties into one his clients that we featured in a previous design article . . .

Ericco:  Not long ago I was invited to stop by a local Art Exhibit in Thousand Oaks, California by an active and respected community arts leader, Len Linton, who is also on the board of the California Museum of Art Thousand Oaks.  Len and Judy Linton have been long time clients and we’ve grown close on a personal level.  So upon Len’s suggestion, I went to the CMATO Exhibit, and absolutely, wasn’t disappointed!

Ericco Studio mural at the Linton home

Len’s suggested exhibit was held in an intimate space.  The walls were filled with captivating works by accomplished visionary artists —  curated by Museum Director, Tish Greenwood.

For anyone who’s been to various art exhibits, you probably know, there must be something to engage and link you once you’re in the imaginary worlds that artists create; and for this event that link became Tiffany. She was in attendance with respect to her working affiliation at the Getty.  Her friendly, soft-spoken demeanor, effervescent personality, and comprehensive knowledge of art and the art world was quite fascinating and made it easy for me to stay awhile, comfortably hang out and talk. Upon leaving she and I exchanged info, and remained in touch, mostly through everyone’s new gathering place — social media.

Gudetama, Day at the Getty — © Tiffany Talavera

The Gudetama piece above really delighted everyone at the magazine! Now they all want one – lol

Tiffany: “Gudetama, Day at the Getty” is about a fictional character visiting the Getty for the first time, but behind the scenes as a staff member. I started this in November 2019 roaming with the figure until Co-vid shutdown. So I was only able to visit a third of the places I wanted to go.  I am hoping to explore more next year and complete this project. I wanted to make it a book, but it has turned into a storyboard for now.

I love Sanrio since my childhood, so this latest little character is just a way to celebrate where I work with a personal love of collecting a narrative of small things. It is done with respect for Sanrio and exploration.

Gude gets a cookie
We get some yummy snacks

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Everybody has fun at the Party!

Ericco:  After our initial meeting at the Exhibit, I became more acquainted with Tiffany’s many talents as we shared our creative exploits. So, when I needed a  formal written introduction to accompany a few of my art pieces to a client in Puerto Rico, I didn’t hesitate to ask her.

The Puerto Rico connection was through another 6-degree relationship, and it seems to continually guide and open the most wonderful doors.  Even in the midst of everything now going on in this “NOT business as usual world scene” – I’ve still been able to move forward, and even find new meaning in things I’ve often overlooked. The complex connections and intricate relationships that sometimes seem random have now taken on a deeper twist and more than ever, the role art can play in connecting us all is so very apparent.

Ericco Studio Puerto Rico Project

Tiffany: I started Needle felt (below) in April and this is my 4th creation started in July. It’s called “Yes Miss Potter” – Inspired by a conversation in my head between Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit.

Podcast with Tiffany Talavera, Getty Associate – Getty Museum Virtual Tour

Enjoy More from ERICCO STUDIO on ZO

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]]> 22476 Redefining Outcomes — Marking History with a Frameless View https://zomagazine.com/redefining-outcomes/ Wed, 29 Dec 2021 19:39:56 +0000 http://zomagazine.com/?p=22127 The post Redefining Outcomes — Marking History with a Frameless View appeared first on ZO Magazine.

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Quarter I — 2022

Redefining Outcomes: Marking History with a Frameless View

By Tricia Stewart Shiu

Redefining Outcomes: Marking History with a Frameless View — Read by Tricia Stewart Shiu

The Law of Attraction is a vastly popular way to frame one’s life. Movies, like “The Secret” (2006) and “Discover the Gift” (2010), have contributed to a burgeoning crop of followers over the past 10 to 15 years. Despite the medium used to deliver the message, it is clear that these movies were not merely for entertainment purposes only and a multitude of people have been more than ready to shift into this new life-affirming mindset. However, “new” is a relative term when it comes to making history or, rather, marking history.

ARTISTIC ALLEGORY | LE MOT JUSTE

The exact origins of the “Law of Attraction” (LOA) are varied. Some accounts set 1877 as the date the term was first used in print, by Russian occultist Helena Blavatsky, but others say it was in 1906 that author and publisher William Walker Atkinson wrote about it in his book, “Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World.”

No matter how you slice it, the term is definitely not new. Although, calling something “new” can most certainly shift its meaning and, in some cases, its outcome and profitability.

LOA dovetails perfectly with the gig economy—freelancers or project-based jobs (up 15% over the past 10 years), as well as, multi-level marketing companies (MLMs).

In order to make LOA work, Anirban Kar suggests, in his article “Here’s Why the “Law of Attraction” Gurus Are So Rich & You Are Not!,” that we “forget their teachings” and “focus on their business model.”

Of course, there are a myriad of other ways of framing life, however, the allure of manifesting, using “the universe” as a cosmic cash machine/genie lamp, offers some distance from the disillusionment caused by the crumbling bootstrap theory. Those who witnessed loved ones who invested their lives and livelihoods in companies who, then, pulled the plug on pensions and left many workers to fend for themselves, are looking for a little hope, if not salvation.

However, these methodologies and mindsets are completely harmless, in and of themselves. What’s the harm in wishing and hoping and moreover, if those wishes and hopes are positively focused, what could possibly be wrong with framing one’s life like this? Absolutely nothing.

But…

With each one of these methodologies, there’s a recipe or a laundry list of “to-do” items, before which, the manifestations can be manifested. It’s a slippery slope to an abysmal rabbit hole if one is not fastidiously careful.

Trouble is, framing one’s life like this appears utterly harmless and an exercise in free will. However, and there’s a big H in that word, when large groups of people begin to impress their judgments based on these frames, they become toxic and potentially abusive.

After an intensely challenging year of practicing LOA, Anirban Kar felt depleted and dejected and sought answers from LOA gurus who, essentially, said: “It was all on me. According to them, it had to be one of these things:

  1. I did not believe hard enough.
  2. I tried so hard, it created a resistance.

 

Again, absolutely nothing wrong with putting your dreams and hopes into action to manifest a positive outcome. Trouble comes, when the aforementioned manifestation doesn’t immediately show up. Doubt enters in the form of questioning oneself and perhaps even the methodology. Again, doubt is not a problem either, but the mindset around moving through the doubt can create a frame that is looping, treacherous and toxic.

For example, a goal is set, a wish is desired and through one of these chosen methodologies, a list of actions is created. Subsequently, the list of actions is completed, and each step has been done while thinking only good thoughts and having superbly positive intentions. Inevitably, after a period of doubt, the question is asked: “Were you specific?” If you were looking for money to come into your bank account, were you specific about the amount? If you’re desiring a relationship, did you mention a detailed description of exactly the type of person you are looking for, i.e. hair color, belief system, shoe size?

Soon self-doubt, self-blaming, and shaming creep in and if one is not careful, a looping cycle of toxic positivity ensues. Begging the question: What outcome was sought, to begin with?

The easiest path isn’t always the straightest one.

But, exercise caution when looking for your next “go-to” resolution. No matter the outcome, be kind to yourself.

The post Redefining Outcomes — Marking History with a Frameless View appeared first on ZO Magazine.

]]> 22127 Life On Mars — Might vs. Should https://zomagazine.com/life-on-mars/ Thu, 01 Jul 2021 13:22:16 +0000 http://zomagazine.com/?p=20440 The post Life On Mars — Might vs. Should appeared first on ZO Magazine.

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Life On Mars

Might vs. Should — Escape as an Option for Existential Growth

By Tricia Stewart Shiu

Artistic Allegory Life on Mars – Read by Tricia Stewart Shiu

Stress. It is everywhere.

Paying bills, staying healthy, managing the day-to-day parts of life. It can all pile up into a mounting and unmanageable mess.

There are so many ways to combat and deal with it, too. Stress balls, exercise, meditation, or even sitting in a chair upside down (perspective is everything.) Well, you get it.

ARTISTIC ALLEGORY | LE MOT JUSTE

Managing, juggling, or even combatting life’s challenges can be a full-time job in and of itself. There are the inevitable truths, far beyond death and taxes that are essential to day-to-day life, and in a life in which time defies measurement, pressure can force anyone into a dire position.

Reality has become increasingly difficult to endure and the only truly sane mechanism left, it seems, is, well, leaving.

Escapism is, quite literally, the final frontier. But, is it safe? Or, for that matter, is it healthy?

For example, entertainment—television, film, and video games—are artful escapes that many people use to vacate or vegetate after a tough day.

“The better we get at distinguishing fantasy from reality, the more one can indulge safely in fantasies without distorting our adaptation to and accommodation of reality.” Jeremy E. Sherman Ph.D., MPP says, in The Art of Escapism for People Suffering a Reality Overdose.

Entering into a little escapism, can relieve undue pressure and create a release valve for all those pesky, pent-up frustrations. “With no roadmap for living through and processing a unique catastrophe, entertainment could help guide us.” Sherman focuses on television and film as a way to play out situations, otherwise unreachable in any normal, everyday, life.

“We humans need fantasy, escapism into fake godlike security and freedom. We need theatrical outrage as a purgative, flushing our anxiety and self-doubt through righteous indignation.”

In fact, we are better off, vicariously moving through imaginary scenarios. Sherman continues, “The better we get at distinguishing fantasy from reality, the more safely we can indulge in fantasy, as we must in order to manage our anxious human lives.”

But, if it’s a higher level of escapism, that is needed, why not try a virtual planetary leap? How about a trip to Mars?

In fact, anyone can experience Mars, thanks to NASA and Google. Just click on the link to see actual footage of recordings of NASA’s Curiosity rover. It is now possible to see the surface of Mars, right from your computer browser.

Through your virtual journey, you can learn about the Curiosity rover mission by clicking points of interest, move throughout the terrain, and travel to different mission sites by clicking on different points of a map.

Or, you could snap up one of the eight crew seats available on SpaceX mission, dearMoon set to launch in 2023. Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese billionaire, was chosen by SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk to be a part of the mission and there are some available seats, all expenses paid. According to Maezawa, two factors will set your application for interstellar crew member above the rest:

– You can advance whatever you are into by going to space

– You are willing to help the other eight crew members with that same goal

Of course, you can always take an actual vacation via car or plane. But, where’s the fun and adventure in that?

Whether your journey is imaginary or real, space launch or earthbound, nothing beats a little escape.

The post Life On Mars — Might vs. Should appeared first on ZO Magazine.

]]> 20440 Dawning Solar Plexus – Receiving The Night to Heal the Day https://zomagazine.com/dawning-solar-plexus/ Sat, 01 May 2021 13:52:56 +0000 http://zomagazine.com/?p=20209 The post Dawning Solar Plexus – Receiving The Night to Heal the Day appeared first on ZO Magazine.

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May | Stars The Limit

Dawning Solar Plexus – Receiving The Night to Heal the Day

By Tricia Stewart Shiu

ZO Magazine Artistic Allegory May 2021 Audio Article

“The solar plexus, more traditionally known as the coeliac (belly) plexus, gets its new name from its resemblance to the sun with nerves meeting in the center, creating rays of nerves radiating outward to many other areas of the body. The solar plexus chakra also has much to do with motivation, willpower, and purpose, which stem from one’s sense of personal efficacy.” – Chakras 101

ARTISTIC ALLEGORY | LE MOT JUSTE

Embracing both the light and dark in ourselves and in any situation can be wholly transformational. In fact, that type of perspective could be, and often is, considered an art form.

Contrast is an essential part of any creative study and over the past year that study, in and of itself, has become an art form.

For contrast to occur, however, a firm concept must be in place. A steady, clear, solid, idea, brush/pencil stroke or word, is the beginning of contrast. For, it is in the midst of the “in-between” places, in moments where questions arise and feelings emerge, that contrast offers clarity into both the light and the dark of everything.

Many groups and individuals have touted the benefits of observing, accepting, and even embracing contrast in one’s life. Artists, mental health professionals, and spiritual gurus have all weighed in, at some point, about this foundational, alchemical, and, yes, even career-launching subject.

In fact, in 1851, the author of “The Theory of Effect: Embracing the Contrast of Light and Shade, of Colour and Harmony,” artist John Bengo, maintains that an artistic understanding of contrast is essential in truly being received and respected in one’s profession:

“Rembrandt, by his consummate knowledge of effect, gave that magic representation of light and shade, that raised him to the highest rank in his profession, which, with his deficient skill as a draughtsman, he could never hope to obtain.”

There is an art to graciously receiving anything—and it’s probably a good thing that Rembrandt was long gone after Bengo weighed in—including the tangible the intangible as well as the imaginative thoughts and creative flow.

Many people use creativity to transmute the darkness that traumatic events can cause into beautiful pieces of artwork.

The challenge with any creative endeavor that involves traumatic darkness, is that it can be re-triggered and stop that process in its tracks. The delicate dance with the darkness can offer healing for both the artist and audience. Only the artist can understand the unfolding and expression of the trauma that will bring culmination in the finished piece.

Embracing the contrast in life can impact our mental and physical health, as well. Charlotte Skogsberg, a yoga teacher with a degree in clinical psychology, uses her challenging and changing locations and climate (moving from a tropical environment to a mountainous environment) to deepen her awareness:

“What this contrast does is that it makes me ACUTELY aware of the details in the moment. I become very present. I also become aware of my capacity. That there are things I am capable of that I might not have been or might not BE capable of doing at another point in time. This creates a feeling of humility, not only to my body’s limits and capacities but eventually towards things around me too.”

Moreover, metaphysical and spiritual teachers facilitate an understanding of embracing contrast for an easier flow in attracting and receiving one’s hopes and desires. Esther Hicks, a well-known channeler of an entity called “Abraham Hicks,” has long spoken about the role of contrast in the “Law of Attraction.”

About contrast, Abraham Hicks says:

“Contrast is essential to decision, but once the decision is made, if you will turn your full attention to your decision and do your best to achieve a vibrational match with that decision, in very short order, the Universe will go to work in helping you to achieve whatever it is that you are wanting.”

In other words, no matter how it is viewed, utilized, or understood, contrast offers a peek into the depths of understanding the multi-faceted human experience.

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