Steve Ozone, Artist and Documentary Filmmaker

 

Hello and welcome to the 75th 3 Art Questions With Jackson interview! This time I interviewed super talented photographer, artist, filmmaker and Minneapolis neighbor Steve Ozone. I think this may be the first time I have interviewed an artist that I see on my neighborhood walks. Steve has a very interesting back story and a lot of interesting things to say. I think you will agree. Thank you for reading!  (steveozone.com / Instagram: @steveozone1 ) / (All images courtesy of the artist) (Art-A-Whirl, Solar Arts Building #202, 711 NE 15th Street, Minneapolis, MN. May 15th - 5-10pm, May 16th - 12-8pm, May 17th - 12-5pm)

Jackson: What was your initial inspiration to be a photographer? Did you have a specific experience?

Steve: My father was my inspiration to be a photographer. As a teenager he took pictures of his family that I still have to this day. After he got married and had children he bought an 8mm movie camera. He filmed our family birthdays, Christmases, and summer vacations. My father's home movies planted the seed for me to make films. I have a documentary on Amazon Prime called The Registry (@theregistry1941). It's about how the U.S. Army recruited young Japanese Americans from the incarceration camps to serve as interrogators and interpreters in the Pacific Theatre during WWII. One year into the making of the film I discovered my father wanted to join that unit (the Military Intelligence Service) but he couldn't pass the physical due to health reasons.

I do not remember a specific experience that made me want to be a photographer, but my father always told me and my siblings to do what you love. As a young man he wanted to be an artist. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan during WWII his entire family was incarcerated due to his Japanese ancestry. He was allowed to leave college after being accepted to college. He picked a major, electrical engineering, that would offer a job to be able to support his family when they were released. His sacrifice allowed his sisters and my siblings to choose careers in whatever we wanted. In 1882, the United States passed the Chinese Exclusion Act banning Chinese people from entering the U.S., except in special cases. To work around this mother's father was a Paper Son. Paper Sons (and daughters) were people from from China who claimed to be born in the United States and were returning from China to live in the U.S. They purchased false papers to prove this. The discovery of my family history led to my work with immigrants of all nationalities and their journey to America.  

Jackson: Do you like to plan your photographs or do you hope for happy accidents? Or both?

Steve: I'm working on a project now in preparation for an exhibit at Metro State's Gordon Parks Gallery in October. Gordon Parks was a renaissance man, equally skilled in photography (Life Magazine), filmmaking (Shaft), poetry, music and writing. Born in Kansas, he lived in St. Paul and Minneapolis for 7 years. I have been travelling to cities where Parks photographed for Life Magazine and where he would have photographed if he were alive today. My aim is to visit those cities and make photographs in my style, rather than copy his ideas, so that will be a happy accident. 

Jackson: If you could meet any artist living or dead, who would it be and why?

Steve: Most of my close friends are painters and sculptors, not photographers. Having said that, I would like to have met Jun Fujita. Similar to Gordon Parks, Fujita was a photographer. He was also a poet, silent film actor and environmentalist. As a young man he immigrated from Japan and worked as a photojournalist at several newspapers in Chicago. He was present at whatever was happening in Chicago that was newsworthy in the early 1900s, from covering the St. Valentine's Day Massacre to the capsizing of the Eastland ship on the Chicago River. He photographed four presidents and Albert Einstein and considered the poet Carl Sandburg and the novelist Pearl S. Buck as friends. His photographs of what is now Voyageurs National Park were used to show the beauty of northern Minnesota to an international panel to prevent loggers from damming Rainy Lake. He and his wife held artist salons in Chicago which included many local artists and internationally known figures who would stop by when in town. He and his wife Florence would have been fascinating people to hang around with. I'm working on a documentary (@junfujitadoc) about his life and have become friends with his great nephew, Graham Lee. Graham has a book out called Jun Fujita: Behind the Camera.

Christy Dickinson, Artist

 

Hello and welcome to the 74th 3 Art Questions With Jackson interview! This time I interviewed wonderful fellow colorful abstract painter Christy Dickinson. Her work is fantastic and her answers give real insight into how she makes her work. I think you will agree! I am honored to be in a show with Christy and Adam Turner at ArtReach St. Croix  in Stillwater, MN starting with the opening Thursday, October 9th from 6-8. Thank you for reading! (All images courtesy of the artist / Instagram: @dickinson.christy / Portfolio: Christy Dickinson)

Jackson: Do you feel like you were born artistic? Were you around art when you were growing up?

Christy: I was introduced to creativity by a senior gentleman who was always drawing and my father who was rebuilding vintage cars. You'd find me playing around with various materials in my room. It was something I enjoyed and during middle and high school, I was able to take art classes. Due to the ability of the open mod structure of my high school, I tried to take as many art classes as I could and during open mods one could find me in the art room painting. It was during high school that I learned one could go to college for art and that is what I did. 

Creativity is within all of us. The question is if it gets pushed down by the environment or society around us or does it show up in things you choose to do. My creativity is within all I do on a daily basis from working with others, developing solutions, or painting in my studio.

Jackson: Looking at your work I notice that you are fond of color and abstraction. How did you begin working this way?

Christy: Color is in my soul. Abstraction is something I explored earlier on in my career and continue to explore. Abstraction lets me have a conversation with the canvas and the brushstrokes and bring my energy to the work. Currently, my paintings come from both a meditative state (brushstroke poetry collection) and higher energy (Santa Fe collection). I like to surround myself with several works in progress where I have a dialogue with them and sometimes they speak to one another. Ultimately, the painting tells me when it is complete. I enjoy filling my studio with color. The work comes alive when there is a collaboration with the viewer, as they bring their own cultural connection and reaction to the color. 

Jackson: If you could meet any artist living or dead, who would it be and why?

Christy: This is a difficult question, as there are so many great artists that I would like to meet. Ok, there are two to mention. First is Frida Kahlo, because of the way she was able to share her heart and soul on the canvas and overcome everything, including being a female artist, is admirable. She would have been wonderful to have a drink with and a dance with at her residence in Mexico City. Second, Mark Rothko, of course, because of his color. Our conversation would take place in the Rothko Chapel, and I'd like to discuss color and the scale of his work and what role psychology was part of his thinking.

Adam Turner, Artist

Hello and welcome to the 73rd 3 Art Questions With Jackson interview! This time is different because I am interviewing Adam Turner, who is super talented but I am also going to be in a show with him and Christy Dickinson at ArtReach St. Croix in Stillwater, MN from October 9th to November 15th. I am honored! Adam's thoughts about art were very interesting and I think you will agree. Thank you for reading! (All images courtesy of the artist / Instagram: @adamturnervisuals / Website: adamturnervisuals.com)

Jackson: How do you think you ended up on an artistic path? Did you have a specific experience?

Adam: I honestly don't ever remember a time I wasn't on an artistic path. My mom always tells me that I was drawing before I was walking/talking. But my first conscious memory, I was already an 'artist', and there was never a time I hadn't considered going into art. 

The real question was in which manner I'd pursue art. I always knew I would focus on art 

in college, but what next? The question for me was commercial art, or 'starving artist'? I went with the reliable income...commercial art. 

It wasn't until the summer of 2023, where a family member questioned me about whether I would ever 'return' to fine art (since that's really what it was to me until college). My wife and I took the jump...that October we committed to two years of trying it out. Well, the two years just wrapped this month. It's now my new career.

Jackson: Your website indicates that you try to capture a moment from a story. What does that mean to you personally and what do you hope the viewer takes from your work?

Adam: This is a much bigger 'story' unfortunately, but I think I could summarize some of my thoughts. I find that when you give proper attention to any specific brief moment in time, it's really evident that it is part of a much larger story. 

For example...a painting of a landscape where the clouds are lit up a certain way...that's not just a pretty picture. It's part of a larger story. It could define a beautiful day and give clues to just why. It could indicate a storm is coming, both a real experience and a metaphor that most can relate to.

And, the purpose of identifying a larger story, is that when you have context, you are a step closer to understanding. And, when you have understanding, you are one step closer to compassion. 

That especially rings true with my figures. Even the landscapes and wildlife are intended to lead the viewer to the context of the story, understanding and then, ultimately, compassion...either for the environment, or even for themselves or for whatever they need to extend some grace towards.  

Jackson: If you could meet any artist living or dead, who would it be and why?

Adam: There's some pretty cool artists I love knowing right now...just being able to relate and hang out with others who know your world is pretty great. 

HOWEVER, since the question is more about 'famous' artists...probably Monet. My work is not really similar to his, other than it falls under the impressionist category. But, for whatever reason, I get the sense that he wasn't pretentious and he may be easy to talk to. Specifically, I'd like to be able to talk to him about light and 'ways of seeing'. How does he view light? How does he pick up the hues as light dances off the surface?

Things like that. 

Jason Pettigrew, Writer

 

Hello and welcome to the 72nd 3 Art Questions With Jackson interview! This time is a little different because I interviewed super talented writer Jason Pettigrew, who is friends with my Dad. Jason is in the midst of a promotional tour for his new book about Ministry's famous record The Land of Rape and Honey and he kindly took the time to answer my questions. His answers are great and he and I share an appreciation for Yoko Ono! Thank you for reading! (All images courtesy of Jason Pettigrew / Instagram: @ptgrw  Website: ptgrw)

                                          Jason with Trent Reznor and Michelle Taylor

     

Jackson: Why do you think you became a writer? Did a specific writer inspire you?

Jason: I think I became a writer as an extension my love for music. I have never been in a band or played an instrument. (In the words of radio legend Barry "Dr. Demento" Hansen, I was much more proficient in playing the phonograph.) But I was discovering a lot of music in an era when radio stations were adventurous in their choices. When the corporations and consultants moved in, radio got awful and my tastes got weirder (obscure European progressive rock, jazz fusion, film soundtracks, etc). I discovered Rolling Stone and all the other smaller music mags (Hit Parader, Rock Circus, Circus, et al) and the British music weeklies. By 1977, all of my favorites prog bands either broke up or made their absolute worst records. I made a left turn into punk and New Wave and discovered magazines like Trouser Press and DIY fanzines. I think I became a writer because I wanted to spread the word about the music that I loved. 

When I was in college, the University of Pittsburgh funded an entertainment paper for the student body called Showcase. It would have interviews with touring bands, record and movie reviews and other related arts coverage. There was a review written about a recent Bruce Springsteen show that wasn't too glowing. The writer, Sam Matthews, was pretty honest and forthcoming. I think the opening line he used was "If I'm going to see a Springsteen show, I'm expecting him to walk on water." And he weighed that performance against the legion of Springsteen fans who would follow the artist into a warzone as they thought he could do no wrong. When the review came out, Matthews got abuse from seemingly every fan of "The Boss" in the city. And I was fascinated by his unflinching stance to walk any aspect of his review back. So for sheer bloody-mindedness, I always give that credit to Sam.

                                       

                                                 Jason with M. Doughty from Soul Coughing

Jackson: After all these years at Alternative Press and SPIN, which bands and interviews are your favorites?

Jason: I've derived a lot of great moments from a lot of different places. Talking to Jeffrey Lee Pierce (from The Gun Club) and have him be anything but the loudmouthed prick most writers reported. Sparring with John Lydon and him being as cocky and smug and needing to be slapped as I had expected. I've been told that the legendary Revolting Cocks tour diary from 1990 has created more than a few laughter-induced migraines and asthma attacks...

If I'm being honest, I like the quips and quotes I can take away from a chat. I remember Eric Davidson from wise guy punks New Bomb Turks explaining to me emphatically how there needs to be a mindset where young listeners can experience music that came before their arrival on Earth and "come away with the understanding that they aren't listening to 'old' music, but listening to great music." Casey Chaos, the late lead singer of the metal-punk band Amen had a lot of contempt for people fronting their attitudes. He told me "I write music from the heart, not the wallet." I still find that profound. I interviewed Colin Newman from Wire about how his band had avoided ageism and he told me "The Rolling Stones aren't boring because they're old. The Rolling Stone are boring because they are boring."

There are moments that just make me laugh out loud. twentyonepilots' Tyler Joseph confiding in me that "you make us look cooler than we actually are." Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance sent me an email from Warped Tour with the subject line "I'll be Lou, you be Lester", a reference to the war of words between Lou Reed and Lester Bangs had decades ago in the early 70s. A few years ago, Ministry's Al Jourgensen and I renewed a professional/social relationship after a long period away. When I reminded him that it was nice he didn't want to beat me up like he wanted way back, he laughed. "I hated everyone back then Jason. You're not that special." How can you not appreciate the levity in the smallest of moments?

                                                   Jason's famous RevCo tour diary

Jackson: If you could meet any writer, artist or musician, living or dead, who would it be and why?

Jason: I'd love to have tea and scones with Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon. Somebody will post something about her on social media and there will be thousands of comments - mostly negative - from something she did decades ago. I don't know anyone else who can do that. She has a body of work that's resonant and influential in New Wave and screamo hardcore circles. I'm not sure what I'd ask her, though. Sean has a lot of creative endeavors added to his name and I think a great chat could be had with these two art titans...

                                                  Jason with Martin Atkins (PiL, Ministry)

Ute Bertog, Artist (Repost)

 

Hello everyone! In honor of Ute Bertog's great new show at Rosalux Gallery, I am republishing my 2017 interview with Ute with updated photos and links. This is a little wacky for me because I was 13 at the time and was still getting the hang of this blog, but her answers were and are great. Thank you for reading! (Instagram: @utebertog / Website: Ute Bertog)

Jackson: Why do you think you became an artist?

Ute: Hmmmm, there are so many influences I can think of that made me want to pursue art. First of all I had an aunt - and my favorite aunt at that -  who was an art teacher and I spent many afternoons just making things around her. She was very creative in the arts and all sorts of crafts. She instilled this possibility in me to pursue art as a career. Also going to art museums as a teenager was a magical experience, simply because it was so different than the surroundings I grew up in. Not that there anything wrong with where I grew up. On the contrary, I had a very happy childhood. I am from a small town, which gave us a lot of freedom to just roam in the surrounding fields and woods. Still, museums gave me the whiff of the wider world and as a child there was nothing more exciting than to imagine living in a different environment just because of the potential for adventure. Museums were a promise for that potential to explore and stretch beyond the known.

Jackson: What is your favorite artwork and why?

Ute: That is a very difficult question since I don't have one particular piece of artwork that I'd call my favorite. There are just so many. I do have several artists that I'm returning back to on a regular basis though and that I am always happy about seeing in a museum. Amy Sillman comes to mind, and Philip Guston.

Jackson: In what ways is art different in Germany than it is in the United States?

Ute: That is an even more difficult question since when I left Germany I had not pursued art as much yet. Back then it was more of a private endeavor and I hadn't explored much of the wider art scene. Plus in my hometown there just wasn't an art scene, just the museums that were in the bigger cities. Now I would love to show there again and maybe even spend more time there to work, just to see how I'd experience the difference, if there even is one. One time I was listening to a radio show about a theater production directed by a British guy. He was asked about the production in America was different from the one in the UK and he said that here the audience was very inquisitive, wanting to know and understand every little detail, whereas in the UK they were much more at ease about taking in the whole thing and being OK with the uncertainty of not knowing.

Karin Jacobs, Artist

 

Hello and welcome to the 71st 3 Art Questions With Jackson interview! This time I interviewed the super talented realist painter Karin Jacobs. I love her art and she was really nice when I met her at the Northrup King Building. I've really liked following her career and I very much enjoyed her answers. I think you will too. Thank you for reading! (All images courtesy of the artist /  Instagram: @karinjacobspaintings)

Jackson: Do you feel you were born to be an artist? Or did a specific event put you on an artistic path?

Karin: First, thanks Jackson for selecting me for 3 Questions. I've followed you and your work for some time now and I'm honored to be included in this series. I don't know if I was necessarily born to be an artist but creating was very much part of my identity when I was growing up. My siblings and I were always drawing, making little rooms out of shoeboxes, and putting on plays. I know there's one in every classroom, but I was that girl who would draw a horse for anyone who asked. In college I had a double major in English and Art but was too self-conscious to even think about a BFA and showing my work. I ended up in the nonprofit world then had kids and spent my spare time volunteering; I had few creative pursuits of my own. Finally about 15 years ago I signed up for a painting class at the Minnetonka Center for the Arts and was immediately obsessed. It honestly felt like coming home and I'll be forever thankful I decided to take the class. Still, it took participating in the WARM Mentorship Program to really feel like I might call myself an artist. I was 55 before I got my own studio so I would say to anyone wondering that it is never too late. Now I couldn't be happier with my studio in the Northrup King Building among such a wonderful community of artists.

Jackson: How did you find your specific style of realism? Your way of painting is very unique.

Karin: Though I'd like to experiment more with different types of painting, I think I gravitated to realism because it just fits best with how my brain works. My first subjects were things I knew - old family photos, our animals, the local landscape. At some point I decided to see if I could capture the plastic nature of a life-size fiberglass horse and found I loved figuring out the subtle color changes, highlights and shadows necessary to give a figure gloss and dimension. After that I went on the hunt for smaller plastic figures, mainly toys, most from the 1970s and older: these cheap mass market objects can be a good reflection of what was valued at that particular time. Sometimes the objects I paint are quite small, and I enjoy that can occur when they're painted many times their original size. Visitors to the studio sometimes comment on the spookiness of the human figures especially, and when someone gets a laugh out of a piece there's no greater compliment.

Jackson: If you could meet any artist living or dead, who would it be and why?

Karin: This was a really hard question because to be honest I get anxious at just the thought of meeting famous people! At museums I definitely gravitate to the painters and there are any number who I'd like to hang back with and watch work. That said, in the end I chose Cindy Sherman, whose work just seemed so exciting to me when I was a college student in the '80s and is still. Though my understanding is that she would rather her work not be viewed as feminist art, a woman can certainly view it and project her own thoughts on the various roles in which Sherman presents herself. I can only imagine the experiences she must have had making her mark in the male-dominated art world.

Jon Summers, Artist

 

Hello and welcome to the 70th 3 Art Questions With Jackson interview with the amazing painter Jon Summers. I first came across Jon's work in his show Seasons at Anderson O'Brien Fine Art in Omaha while on an art road trip with my Dad. My Dad and I both loved the show and I have been paying attention to everything he does on his Instagram since then. I love the large scale and the amazing colors! His answers to my questions were thoughtful and interesting and I think you will agree. I feel like Jon and I have a similar approach to making art. Thank you for reading! (Website: Jon Summers Art / Instagram: @jon_summers_art (Photos 1, 3, 4 and 5 courtesy of the artist, photo 2 from @artworldexploration)

Jackson: Were you interested in art as a child or did you have an experience that made you an artist?

Jon: I have always been interested in art. The art I did as a child was very different, though. As a kid, I mostly drew trucks and cartoon strips. I thought I would be a draftsmen or an architect or maybe a commercial artist. I went to college thinking that's what I would study. During my first year at Kansas City Art Institute, I was encouraged to try lots of different mediums. This is when I started to really enjoy painting.

Jackson: How did you arrive at using abstract colors as your primary way of making art? Does it have conceptual meaning for you as well?

Jon: My first paintings were very layered and textured. I sometimes incorporated modeling paste and cheese cloth. I was really enjoying the process and these early painting were pure abstraction. My sketchbook drawing, however, were of landscapes. I was encouraged by a professor to get out and draw things in nature. I ended up drawing a lot of construction sites focusing on the geometric shapes I saw. These drawings began to influence my paintings and I started focusing on the distance between objects, shapes and shadow. I began to prioritize foreground, middle ground and background. The more I painted, the more I learned about color and the relationships between colors. My current work is still largely about the process but now incorporates an awareness of the landscape. My canvases combine vibrant colors with my interpretation of what can be seen in nature. My hope is that viewers are drawn into my landscapes in a way that feels familiar yet completely undefined. 

 

Jackson: If you could meet any artist living or dead, who would it be and why?

Jon: As an artist, I believe it's important to continue to learn and grow so I am continually looking at the way in which some of the artists who came before me handled spacial relationships. I have been drawn to the Impressionists, my current favorite being the father of Impressonism, Claude Monet. I would like to share my admiration for his work with him and I would like to learn more about his day to day, his process and the materials he used.