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Vanessa Stockard
176 Plays5 years ago
Episode 50 is distinguished by the world-adored Australian painter and happiness-peddlar (as well as our first ever return guest . . . )
Vanessa Stockard!
Vanessa was featured in Episode 20 wherein she self-effacingly clarified her stance on particular theoretical issues.
For this episode, we chat about painting metallic balloons, the use of color, her feature in Hi-Fructose magazine, and Kevin the Cat’s prancing animation.
We also had a strange conversation about licorice before veering towards Vanessa's important support for 'The Torch Project' which, in part, supports art-healing to reduce recidivism rates for the Indigenous prison population in Australia.
Welcome back Vanessa!
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
You
Introduction to Episode 50
00:00:02
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are listening to something rather than nothing. Creator and host Dan Vellante. Editor and producer Peter Bauer.
00:00:17
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This is Ken Vellante with the Something Rather Than Nothing podcast. And for the 50th episode, I am so pleased to welcome back our guest from episode number 20, Vanessa Stocker. Welcome, Vanessa. Hi, Kai. How are you doing? Good, good. It's so great to have you back on. And one of the things I mentioned to you, you know, like we
00:00:45
Speaker
have had a, you know, good discussion about art and your theories about art and all that type of thing. So I wanted to just kind of welcome you back and to just chat about what's been going on since we last chatted and hear about some of the development of your art. And so, again, welcome back.
Vanessa's Artistic Interests and Influences
00:01:07
Speaker
What what type of art, what type of things have you been into lately has caught your eye?
00:01:15
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Thank you so much. Well, at the moment, I've just been, I guess, playing with shiny things. I like painting shiny things and the reflections. And I just find them really fun. And I think they've got a bit of a wow factor as well. And maybe working on a little bit more realism as well, even though
00:01:45
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The subject matter is quite strange, but just in technique, I've been, I think, fine tuning with, I guess, you know, small brushes and that sort of thing. And I've got a couple of favourite painters that I really love on Instagram or, well, it's an easy way to find them. I really like Lewis Chamberlain and he's English.
00:02:15
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just really, really beautiful drawings and paintings and Guillermo Lorca from Chile. You probably know his work, but he's just amazing and a little bit obsessed. Yeah, thanks for mentioning those.
00:02:40
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I want to go back for a second. You mentioned the wow factor around painting some of the metallic type of objects. And I just wanted to note, I saw how you had painted. It was a balloon. And I could see and looking more closely as far as how the painting was that it was really by the combination of color that you were able to pronounce that effect. It was really amazing. And I just kept staring at it.
00:03:06
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Do you have an easy way of explaining how you connect those colors to create what looks like a shiny balloon in a painting? Well, I think it really comes down to the way that you're looking at something, the shiny. So if you think of it as a balloon and you keep thinking of it as a two dimensional, three dimensional object, I think that can make it really difficult to reproduce. But the way I look at it is
00:03:36
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Yeah, as a two dimensional object, I just look at the shapes that I see and the colours and the tonal differences between those and I just put them together in the way that it looks. But I don't think if it's just a matter of putting random, it seems like random shapes and colours together that forms this sort of magical three dimensional object when you look at it.
00:04:06
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So it's quite an abstract way of thinking when you put it together. Yeah. I wanted to ask, and thanks for
Feature in High Fructose Magazine
00:04:18
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that description. I know it's kind of tough to describe how that's achieved, but that made a lot of sense to me. I wanted to ask you about, there's this magazine I love, High Fructose.
00:04:31
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some listeners might be familiar with it. It's kind of self-announced, kind of like lowbrow art, very beautiful, wild magazine. And Vanessa, as I understand it, you're going to be in an upcoming issue. Can you chat a little bit about High Fructose and what that experience was like connecting with that publication? Yeah, it looks like I'm in the September issue.
00:05:02
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with quite a lot of my images there. And yeah, I'm super excited about that. I love that magazine. So I think there was some interview process as well, but I'll be interested to see what's being said there. How it's all put together when it's all said and done. We'll see what images have been chosen and what's being said that, yeah, I can't wait.
00:05:31
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Yeah, I'm really looking forward to that. Again, one of my favorite magazines. A point of personal privilege, Vanessa, really strong divergence. I've been on an Australian licorice kick and I always wanted to ask you, like, why Australian licorice is so good and whether you had a licorice mountain there and that's where it came from.
00:05:59
Speaker
Uh, look, there probably is a licorice mountain. I haven't, um, I haven't been hiking on it yet, but, um, yeah, look, we do have really good licorice and, uh, your recent obsession with it. Um, maybe you should tell us a little bit about, uh, why that is. I know, you know, it's, you know, it's interesting. Um, there are people, I think it's like a genetic type of thing.
00:06:24
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Uh, I'm gonna, you put it back on me, so I'm gonna falter. I'm sure I'm gonna falter, but there's something strong genetically where you either hate black licorice, for example, or you love black licorice. Uh, and it's like, there's no middle ground and there's some, something you have inside of you respond the way it's like the, uh,
00:06:49
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For cilantro it tastes great to some people and some people it tastes like soap, right? So like there's no in between. So my only excuse is since there's no in between and I can be an obsessive type, I've gone obsessive into the high quality Australian licorice product, you know, product supporting the great country of Australia, right?
00:07:14
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Yeah, look, look, it's good. And when I was younger, I don't think I had a lot of control over how much licorice I could eat. But I would buy a bag of the, you know, the darily black licorice and I pretty much I could finish off a whole packet in an afternoon and that I can just let you know is a very terrible idea.
00:07:40
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Yes, it gives you some pretty bad digestive issues. So like all good things on Earth and in our lives, I think you need to take your licorice addiction rather seriously and make sure you don't overindulge. Just in moderation, right? Like that ancient wisdom. Yeah.
00:08:07
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Well, I'm gonna speak. I have to ask you about another immoderate thing, though.
Discussion on 'Midsommar'
00:08:13
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I had discussed with you a while back, I don't think it was in the podcast, but about a movie I loved, and I saw that inspired some paintings from you. The movie Midsommar, which was
00:08:32
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I don't know, just like I love talking about movies. And that was just a wild movie. And I've talked about it once or twice on the podcast. But one of the main questions, and I'm not saying this is the only way to frame that movie is the question of whether it is one of these three things, whether it is a pagan manifesto, whether it's a surrealist breakup movie, or lastly, whether it is
00:09:02
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A Wizard of Oz story for perverts. So you can disqualify all those options, but if you favor one, why do you favor it? Look, I'll have to play the fifth. Yeah. But that being said, I think probably it's... Yeah, it's...
00:09:30
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The Wizard of Oz for perverts. What is not to love about date rape, you know, psychedelia, inbreeding, suicide, and also beautifully shot, what's not to love about it? I've got to say it was the most shocking and beautiful film I've seen, perhaps ever. Yeah. Like at the same time, wasn't that part of the problem? It was like at the same time? At the same time, and it was
00:10:00
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So shocking and for it to be, you know, in the bright light of day, the entire film. Yeah, we just blew my head off. But the beauty of those flowers and the flowers on the dress is just so beautiful. Yeah, that's outstanding. Yeah. It was just so much the magic material in there, too.
00:10:29
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The writing was amazing, the direction was excellent. And it was really sick, so it had a lot of, it had it all going for it, for me. Yeah, it can exercise some demons or not, depending, you have to have the right approach going into that one. That's why I've recommended it, but always with, you know, with caution, right? Yeah, I always go on a first date.
00:10:58
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I wouldn't watch that on the couch as a first date. No, that's a bad, that's a bad call. I don't think anyone would be touching anything. You know, that image has also been ruined. But I think watching it alone in the daylight is a good plan. So what we got is Midsommar is not a good first date movie. So we do have an answer.
00:11:26
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to that question.
Artworks and Animation Collaboration
00:11:30
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About the famous cat Kevin that shows up in your paintings and listeners, if you're not familiar with Vanessa Stockard, great way to check her out is on Instagram and to see kind of the deep wit of her paintings and incredible, beautiful paintings at that. But
00:11:55
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of Vanessa. I've seen some recently where Kevin the cat and there's some aspects of animation is tied to your paintings and your paintings are so they're vibrant, they're beautiful and they open up a world. Is it a natural transition for you to see that like that world be animated even in snippets? Is that kind of how you think about it? Yeah, look, I love telling stories and I just think sometime
00:12:25
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Along the line, I'd really like to be involved in quite some serious animation. At the moment, I've had a Kevin fan, I guess, do a collaborative work with me from Finland. Her name is Jenny Panasson, and she's really, really talented. I love what she does. Mostly what I... I just play around with my images on a couple of apps.
00:12:53
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And there's a certain amount you can do. There's probably a lot you can do. But yeah, I've just been using apps to play around with different effects and create a little bit of movement, nothing very sophisticated so far.
00:13:12
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I've seen some of the recent work you've done bringing in Alice in Wonderland, which of course is a fantastic, wonderful, wild world. Does that have any particular meaning for you? The book, the subject matter, the imagery? I think when you've got a child and you're reading all of these books again, as an adult, it's just so invigorating.
00:13:42
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The imagination that's involved within those books is just, it's just incredible. And I guess I just really love reconnecting with the story. It's very surreal, the story. It's got amazing
00:14:10
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just so much thematic material we're going to work with. So yeah, I've really enjoyed that. And I thought maybe I'll take Kevin and he can have a little voyage down the rabbit hole. Yeah, it's beautiful. And it's just striking imagery. And it's always like this pleasant surprise to see it, even though it can be familiar for some. But it's so wild and fantastic. Yeah, I was just. Yeah.
00:14:39
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It just has that vibrancy to it. Speaking that you mentioned, spending time with your child and maybe kind of rediscovering some of those stories from when you were younger. Have you found that to happen in general, say, whether it be books or movies or any type of media where you found yourself
00:15:04
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kind of reassessing or re enjoying some of the things that you recall when you were younger? I really do. I really do. You know, we still believe in fairies in this house and you know, we've got little fairy houses and doors and all sorts of things. We've got a little letterbox and little treats are left there from the fairies if she's been good, which is not often at the moment. But
00:15:35
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Yeah, look, it's that little wonderland that they live in is it's very endearing. And they also believe in monsters as well. So it's it's very, very flick of the coin, you know, it's and which is something I really love. I love that sort of sickly sweet thing. And then I like that's the dark, frightening, unknown, and
00:16:01
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somewhere in between there is my happy place. So it's been it's a really good time to be creative, I think. Yeah. And then speaking about in this time, one of the things I've asked artists recently is, of course, you know, within, you know, within a pandemic, just as far as creativity, sometimes some felt like additional pressure or not or
00:16:31
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you know, questions where artists might ask about like what it is that they're doing or want to focus on something else. What is what has been, you know, your your experience, you know, just for yourself, you as an artist in, you know, deep inside, what's been going on for you?
Creativity During the Pandemic
00:16:50
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For me, honestly, I don't think the pandemic has made a difference to my work practice much at all.
00:17:01
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And that's because I've already got a very, I guess, you know, I just work by myself alone most days. And so nothing really has changed. It's, you know, I guess I can't go out for coffee or, you know, that sort of thing. But really there's not been that much difference.
00:17:30
Speaker
I could imagine that it may have put a lot of pressure on people that say can't go to their jobs and they've always wanted to be creative or they are creative and they've probably felt some pressure to, you know, if there's any time to make art, it's now. And maybe that doesn't work out for people either because pressure is not
00:17:59
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what you need to be creative. It needs to feel like play. And when you're watching the news, it doesn't really make you want to play, does it? So I'm still avoiding the news for the most part and just living in my own little bubble, which is just what I do to survive, I guess.
Supporting The Torch Project
00:18:23
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Yeah, but it's business as usual for me.
00:18:28
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Yeah, as a creative and I know it's had a, you know, different impacts on those as far as what be routine and other folks, you know, kind of buckled down in, you know, kind of how they live and what they do. One of the things I was interested in reading recently is some support that you've had for a project in Australia.
00:18:55
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uh that you've promoted called the the torch project i wanted to ask you a little bit more about your connection uh to that and and what it is that that project does yeah right um as i say i i do tend to focus on the positive in in most things um you know i like to pedal happiness and uh
00:19:24
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And this particular organisation is just so successful and so positive and so inspiring as well. Basically what they do is they teach people in detention and in and out of detention, indigenous community, teach them how to paint. And I guess those paintings that they make are for sale.
00:19:55
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And basically they form this real identity with making art and with themselves. And the most amazing thing is the percentage of reoffending with the people within the program is from 80% has gone down to 10%. I mean, that's the success rate that can't be denied. And it's changed the lives for these people.
00:20:26
Speaker
That's incredible, the change in recidivism rate. I mean, that's so significant. And I know for social policy, that's what some folks look towards of like, you know, what is the environment within the correctional system? And is that environment conducive or helping people rehabilitate their behavior? Right. So this is something that really is working.
00:20:55
Speaker
That's incredible. How amazing. I mean, how do you feel when you make art? I've done something. At times it's like breathing. At times it's like, oh, I've crossed the river that I thought was too difficult to get across and I made it.
00:21:20
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It gets you somewhere, it gets you there. There's some sort of transformation. So, right? I guess that's part of it, right? Yeah. It's a very healing process, I think, making painting. You can work through your emotions and also you can divert your attentions from the troubles that you have and just take it somewhere else and have your right, some breathing space, which I think
00:21:50
Speaker
must be really, really difficult if you're in detention and life outside of that after being in detention also is very difficult. So giving you something really like art to focus on and create an identity through making art is just the best. Yeah. Wonderful to hear.
Upcoming Art Shows and Challenges
00:22:21
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One of the things I wanted to ask, Vanessa, is I know you've got some shows in some galleries that's out there. I just wonder if you could kind of just comment
00:22:36
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to place that or where your work's going to be shown and whether some of those possibilities have, you know, be able to access it online. We had talked earlier about the high fructose issue, the September issue. I was just wondering about some of your other work that might be showing up in different formats. Yeah. Okay. Well, I have a solo show and it is with Scott Liberty Galleries in Melbourne. Melbourne is COVID shutdown.
00:23:06
Speaker
presently, but the show will still go ahead and it will be online. So that will be on their website. Also, I'm showing at Larsen Gallery in Minnesota with the university there. So if anyone is in that region, I'm not quite sure what the laws are with restricting
00:23:33
Speaker
gallery access. I'm not quite sure what's happening there. But yeah, that's that's happening this month. And then I'm going to be showing in a new gallery in Bondi sometime afterwards. But other than that, it's still a little bit, you know, we need to play things by ear to see what is happening with
00:24:03
Speaker
with this virus. And you never, I guess you can't really stick completely to plans at the moment. Yeah, I want to thanks for mentioning some of those spots. And I know a lot of galleries in different areas under different type of parameters. You know, for instance, Portland Art Museum, just I think it towards the end of July here, 2020.
00:24:30
Speaker
open it up in a limited fashion, time to entry, that type of thing. So in certain areas, you certainly do see that. I'm really excited to hear about the different places you're going to be having your exhibits and
00:24:46
Speaker
I've noticed, you know, just speaking for myself, Vanessa, just like a lot of attention, you know, on your Instagram and in other places and excitement that is noticeable from your fans about your art.
Positive Response to Art and Its Impact
00:25:00
Speaker
And I just really wanted to point that out because that kind of drew me to your paintings. They do have that fantastic quality and wonder.
00:25:11
Speaker
And it's great to see just as far as the amount of people who are looking at your work and building you up. It's been very pleasant to witness. And I just wanted to extend that to you. Thank you so much. I'm really glad that the response has been so positive. But I guess I do it to make myself feel better. And it seems to make others feel better too. So it's a win-win.
00:25:41
Speaker
Absolutely. Thank you, Vanessa Stockard. Episode 50 of the podcast. Thank you for honoring us by coming on our 50th and hope to see your paintings and what you do everywhere and anywhere. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you so much, Ken. Donate too much, Lipprish. I might have some now, but I'll keep that in mind. Moderation.
00:26:10
Speaker
Thanks Vanessa. Thank you. Bye. You are listening to something rather than nothing.