marissa lee swinghammer volume 2, 2006, #015

marissa lee swinghammer has always been attracted to people and to drawing portraits. in 2005 she fell in love with creating abstract woodcuts. after college she found herself without the facilities needed to continue with her lithographs. for a while she was at a loss about what to do, but then she got a woodcut making set as a gift in late 2004. she soon found herself hooked.

1. how would you explain 'art' - in 19 words or less? for me art is about personal expression. it is about doing what i know best and love more than anything. it keeps me sane.

2. what is the first work of art you ever loved? i can't think of an individual piece of art that struck me at an early age. i am sure that there were plenty, but what stands out most in my mind is when i first discovered egon schiele. i first saw one of his portraits in a book about klimpt and i just had to see more. i became a schiele fan girl.

3. how important is theory to your art? colour theory and composition are at play in the back of my mind, but really i just create rather spontaneously.

4. describe your ideal art workspace. my current space is pretty ideal for what i need right now. it is in my home so i can always use it and i have everything that i need. a larger space with a bigger printing press would be nice in the future.

5. describe your current art workspace. my studio is a room in our apartment. it contains a 24"x36" printing press, my computer and two work desks. i hang my prints up to dry on a clothes line and tack up others on a magnetic board.

6. if you could be placed in suspended animation and safely reanimated at some time in the future with the sole purpose being to see how history treated you / your art, would you do it?
that doesn't sound like a good idea to me. i am meant to be where i am and think that messing with that could only do me harm. how my art is treated in the future doesn't really concern me.

7. who are some of your favourite artists (contemporary or canonical)? egon schiele and his use of line and treatment of the human subject. friedensreich hundertwasser because of his colours and forms. annie silverman is a local artist that taught me so much and impacted the direction that i went with my art tremendously.

8. tell us about a gallery (online or physical space) that you think rocks, and why you think it rocks. i am sure that this has been said many times before, but i think fecalface.com rocks most of the time.

9. would you choose the baked bean jaffle or the caramelised pumpkin and red onion tart with crispy radicchio and hazelnut salad with apple vinaigrette? i would choose the baked bean jaffle because i can't stand onions.

10. finish this sentence: "the work of art can / cannot be considered separately to the artist because ________." my art is not autobiographical, so what does my life matter when looking at it? i think people often get distracted by the biographies and personalities of artists and entertainers, and ignore the work (yes, we know that she didn't finish the sentence as asked, but, um, whatever …).