Katayoun Amjadi, Artist

Hello! This is Jackson and welcome to the second interview on my art blog, 3 Art Questions With Jackson. This time I interviewed Katayoun Amjadi. She is a very talented artist and a very nice person. I like her.


1) What is the biggest difference between making art in Iran and making art in the United States?

I think art is a function of individual’s idiosyncratic biography, memories, and ideas around objects and associated meanings laden in them. With the change of context in geographical location, clearly audience changes too. The new audience would read and view your art based on their own subjectivity that may not be as easily graspable. I find myself struggling to hold American audience’s hand and walk them through my work and make it more accessible for them, while this was never my concern when I was making art in Iran. 

  

2) How do you get your ideas for making your art? 

I have a certain obsession with visual history of decorative objects, patterns and motifs which I typically decontextualize and put my own meaning into them. My biggest source of inspiration is of course our visual culture, museums, and books. 

3) What is your favorite artwork and why?

This is a very difficult question! My favorites tend to change based on where I am at in life. The only artwork that had haunted me since childhood and it’s burned in my memory is Fransisco Goya’s “The Third of May 1808”. 

Teresa Engeltjes, Director at Circa Gallery

Hello! My name is Jackson and welcome to my art blog. I will ask people in the Minnesota art world three questions and my Dad will publish my posts because I don't understand how to do that part yet. My first interview is with Teresa Engeltjes, the Director at Circa Gallery. I have known her for a long time and she is very nice.

Jackson: What is your favorite artwork and why?

Teresa Engeltjes: I am having a terrible time trying to come up with a favorite -- there are so many! I can, however, tell you about a painting that made the earliest impression on me. When I was a child, I saw a print of it in an abandoned farmhouse that my friends and I would frequently "explore." (No, really. I can't make this up!) It is one I've come to think of as a childhood friend who I regularly stumble upon - I never know where she'll turn up next. And I once had the rare opportunity to sit and spend time with her -- again, purely by accident -- in New York City.  It is Andrew Wyeth's "Christina's World." 

I'm guessing most people feel quite melancholy viewing the work, but Wyeth wanted to convey his neighbor Christina Olson's determination and strength (no longer able to walk, she chose to crawl around her home and grounds instead of using a wheelchair). I appreciate the meticulous brush work and the limited palette. I also appreciate that it takes me home. 

Jackson: What is your favorite part of working in an art gallery?

Teresa Engeltjes: My favorite part of working in the gallery is being able to help artists make a living doing what they love. I also really enjoy talking with people about our artists and their work, and it's especially gratifying to work with someone who is so moved by a piece of art, that they choose to take it home and enjoy it every day.

Jackson: What kind of art do you make? If you you don't make art, what kind would you make if you did?

Teresa Engeltjes: I occasionally take photographs, but almost always only with my phone. I would really like to get back to black and white photography.