Krescent Carasso

 

Why are you an artist?

 

 I never really felt like its been a choice. art has always been a part of my life, since I was a very little girl. As i have grown older and become more aware of the world around me , art has become icreasingly important to my survival to where now its as vital as breathing. We have so many societal restrictions and responsibilities placed on us as adults. art steps in as an arena where we are allowed to express ursleves freely without filters, like we were once able to as children.  

 

Could you tell us some more about your paintings?

 

My work has always been interested in the human body, both in its complex physicality, and in its potential as a metaphor for much larger, intangible subjects like emotions, politics, etc.  

 

Could you talk about your latest series of paintings and what you are trying to achieve with them?  

 

 My latest body of work takes this idea of the metaphorical body to talk about some of the similarities between western medicine and politics. Specifically, how approaches to treatment in medicine mirror approaches to problem solving in politics. How we (as a culture) search for and provide screens, distractions, and short term solutions for problems that meanwhile continue to persist and worsen. For this reason bandages, stitches, and scars appear frequently in my figure work as reminders of wounds that continue to exist despite their being placated and forgotten.

 

Is the subject important to you, or do you simply paint to express yourself?

 

 I think the concept behind a painting is important, because if you are painting about something you are truly passionate about, that passion will flow through the work, and in the end, you'll put more into the piece because you are more emotionally invested in it.  At the same time, I never want to feel like I can't paint because I have nothing "important" to say. Some of my best ideas come when  I’m not looking for them. Wasn't it cage who connected chance and novelty? His thought was that chance was the only way to discover something new, because intention is inherently rooted in what you have already seen and experienced. At the same time i feel like chance, once it reveals something new, needs to be refined and supported with intention, otherwise its just an accident, not art. Its important to keep a balance of intellect and intuition when you're working.

 

 What artists have influenced you, and how?  

 

Jenny saville, Egon schiele, Elanor carrucci. Saville was a big inspiration because she was not afraid to use her own body as a vehicle to challenge common understandings of the female form. Scheile simply because he was willing to take risks in drawing, to make expressive "mistakes". And Curucci showed me that there is a place for the personal in artwork. that the personal is not necessarily narcissistic, and often it is only through the personal that the artist is able to communicate the universal.

 

What inspires you to paint and how do you keep motivated when things get tough in the studio?

 

I used to believe that I shouldn't paint unless I was inspired. I was, what one of my teachers has called, a "binge painter". In other words, I would wait to get inspired, start a piece, continue to work on it nonstop for a week or so until it was finished, and then wait until I was inspired again to start the next one. The problem with such an approach is that you never allow yourself to get into a rhythm and that during your off times you can actually forget why you paint in the first place. Its like waiting to get "inspired" to exercise, and only going for a run every month or so. Not only will you never improve, but you can forget why it feels good to exercise, and each time you run you have to work through that initial struggle one inevitable feels when trying something again for the first time. 

 

How have you handled the business side of being an artist?

 

To be honest, not very well. I have never been good with money, and its been very difficult for me to attribute a monetary value to my work. It makes me sad to think that the type of people who will be able to enjoy my work is determined by the amount of money they have. So I try to even out every painting I sell with one I give away to a close friend. I have even thought about making small artist books and hiding them in libraries and coffee shops. That way my work gets to be everywhere. At the same time, this is how I want to make a living. I want to be able to paint all the time, but something has to pay the bills...as you can see I haven't quite resolved this yet.

 

What do you do for fun (besides painting)?

 

 dancing, photography, traveling (when I can)...I like to write also. Basically any activity that allows me to express myself and use my creative energy.