Are there people such as family, friends, writers, philosophers or even pop icons that have had an impact on the work you do? How has your work changed in the last five years? How is it the same?7. Sandy, 2013, reduction woodcut, 42 x 90 in I generally tend to prefer mornings though. I’m in grad school working on my thesis right now so studio work is really my main focus.

I try and work as much as I can in the studio all day, every day. When do you find is the best time of day to make art? Do you have time set aside every day, every week or do you just work whenever you can? I love being able to share my passion for printmaking with people who are new to it! It’s such a delight to see them exploring my favourite medium. I hadn’t envisioned myself as an educator when I first started making art but I have discovered that I love teaching. What unique roles do you see yourself as the artist playing that you may not have envisioned yourself in when you first started making art? When it comes time to making prints though, all of my activity takes place in the printshop, from drawing on the stone or drawing the transparencies to printing and, if it’s a book or sculpture, assembling the prints. I spend time in my personal studio when I need to read and research, write or draw (this is when I toil away in one room). Although I have a personal studio as well, I really thrive when I am surrounded by other artists making work so I prefer spending most of my time in the printshop. Describe your studio practice and how it differs from (or is the same as) traditional notions of “being in the studio.”Īs a printmaker, I consider the printshop my studio. The idea of the artist toiling away alone in a room may not necessarily reflect what many artists do from day to day anymore. The concept of the “artist studio” has a broad range of meanings, especially in contemporary practice. I think that I have been very fortunate in being able to experience so many different cultures and that also informs my work. In retrospect, I believe that I am preoccupied with different forms of public transit because I have spent so much time traveling from one place to another. Since then, I have moved around quite a bit, I have lived in places such as Montreal, QC, Halifax, NS, Dundee, Scotland and finally Knoxville, TN. I was born in Romania but my family moved to Canada when I was nine years old. Tell us a little about your background and how that influences you as an artist. Oops, 2014, installation with screenprints on paper and foamcore, LED lights, cardboard, 5 x 9 x 5 feet

I use bright, friendly colours because the content is traumatic. I rely on humour, not only for providing an access point to the viewers, but also for challenging their morality. My work is funny, but car crashes are not – this is a difficult reconciliation in the viewer’s mind. The viewers become voyeurs through the simple act of looking and emulating the rubbernecking that is so common on the roads. We chew things up and spit them back out with no attempt at recuperation and no thought of consequences. We have become desensitized to this sort of event, to the point of seeing it in a childish manner. In this series, all physical contact is a collision with permanent visible repercussions.Ĭrashes, of all kinds, are trivialized by their frequent appearances across the spectrum of information mediums. I question the way we look at tragedy as well as the way we deal with the aftermath. I explore disaster, tragedy, memory and vulnerability through different mediums, ranging from printmaking to performance, to edible art and printed objects. Leftovers, 2014, stone lithograph + screenprint, 15 x 11 in

Retrospect knoxville