It was Renoir who said that a work of art "must seize upon you, wrap you up in itself, and carry you away." Interviews with artists should have a similar effect. With "Artist's Statement," our weekly interview series with prominent and upcoming visual artists in San Francisco, SF Weekly speaks to the people behind the art you see in the galleries, in the museums, and in the streets.
More »The Write Stuff is a series of interview profiles conducted by Litseen, where authors give exclusive readings from their work.
Chris Pedler
Sarah Ciston writes books and runs Bootleg Books, an editing and design studio that helps independent authors and publishers go rogue. Her literary pursuits also include the small-batch lit mag We Still Like and her print shop on Etsy.
When people ask what do you do, you tell them ... ?
I tell them that I make artisanal literature. Actually, I wish I could say that without balking, even though in my heart and in practice I suppose it's true. I write books, and I help other authors edit, design and publish theirs. I make fine art prints inspired by found language. I am still practicing claiming the mantle of writer and figuring out how all the parts compliment each other.
More »It was Renoir who said that a work of art "must seize upon you, wrap you up in itself, and carry you away." Interviews with artists should have a similar effect. With "Artist's Statement," our weekly interview series with prominent and upcoming visual artists in San Francisco, SF Weekly speaks to the people behind the art you see in the galleries, in the museums, and in the streets.
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In a city that serves as a progressive paragon, it's easy to forget that American women didn't get the right to vote until 1920. And that's just one facet of the tumultuous history and continuing struggle for women's rights -- here and abroad.
The International Museum of Women (IMOW) -- an innovative online museum based in San Francisco -- has been championing female-focused issues since 2006, but its history of fierce feminism has roots stretching back to 1985.
First founded as the Women's Heritage Museum, this nascent organization operated as a museum "without walls" for 10 years, producing exhibits, sponsoring an annual book fair, providing fodder for teachers during Women's History Month, and of course, celebrating the lengthy lineage of women throughout the past, long overlooked for their accomplishments.
In 1997, a Bay Area woman named Elizabeth Colton was hoping to take her daughter to a museum dedicated to women's contributions to society...but she couldn't find anything. She called up Gloria Steinem, a noted feminist activist, who she didn't know, and asked her if such a place existed. 
Elizabeth Colton, original founder of IMOW
"Gloria told her 'no, but I think you should [start] one!'" says Catherine King, Vice President of Exhibitions and Programs at IMOW. "Elizabeth took that has a call to arms." Elizabeth soon corralled a group of Bay Area teachers equally disappointed by the current feminist offerings and established the International Museum of Museum.
"She thought, 'lets expand the mission, let's get global.'"
The Write Stuff is a series of interview profiles conducted by Litseen, where authors give exclusive readings from their work.
Ben Mirov is the author of two books of poetry, Hider Roser and Ghost Machine, and the chapbooks I is to Vorticism, Vortexts, and Collected Ghosts.
When people ask what do you do, you tell them ... ?
I usually tell them I'm a teacher. I don't usually tell them I write poems. I prefer to think of my relationship to poetry as a completely isolated aspect of my life. It feels good to protect it, like I don't need to incorporate being a poet into my identity to make it a thing. Even though it's integral to who I am, maintaining the illusion that my role as a poet is relegated to its own dimension is important to me for reasons I've never fully explored. I just take the impulse as something of value.
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It was Renoir who said that a work of art "must seize upon you, wrap you up in itself, and carry you away." Interviews with artists should have a similar effect. With "Artist's Statement," our weekly interview series with prominent and upcoming visual artists in San Francisco, SF Weekly speaks to the people behind the art you see in the galleries, in the museums, and in the streets.
Chris Sollars shaving himself with an axe, from his art project "Hairy"
Camille Rose Garcia A mad tea party
Growing up in Southern California not far from Disneyland, the celebrated "lowbrow" artist Camille Rose Garcia fell in love with all things Disney at an early age. Disney animation in particular has remained a key influence upon her work. In looking at her distinctive work, it becomes obvious that Garcia's vision of the world is darker and more complex than that influence alone.
Rife with dystopian ideas and phantasmagorical imagery, Garcia's paintings hold a central place in the pop surrealist movement of the last two decades. Still, there's a sense of her having come full circle as an exhibition opens this week at the Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio that pairs her interpretations of the Alice in Wonderland story with Mary Blair's imaginative, angular designs for Disney's Alice film of 1951. Garcia, who cites Blair specifically as an influence, spoke to us about the exhibition and her other recent work.
How did the exhibition come together?
I did the Alice in Wonderland book a couple of years ago, and I made the decision to keep all the artwork together. I was looking at the early Tenniel work -- the original Alice in Wonderland illustrations -- and I was thinking, "How great to have a whole body like that kept together." So I framed it all and showed it in Los Angeles. Then the Walt Disney Family Museum contacted me about doing a show, and I mentioned that I had this whole body of work in my personal collection. They loved it because it tied in with the Disney Alice in Wonderland -- and they do a spring, Alice in Wonderland-themed tea party every year.
The Write Stuff is a series of interview profiles conducted by Litseen, where authors give exclusive readings from their work.
Hilary Olson
Wonder Dave is a writer and performer from Minnesota living in San Francisco. His work has been featured in literary journals and anthologies such as Divining Divas (Lethe Press) and Aim for the Head (Write Bloody Press). He's been a featured performer at schools, burlesque reviews, poetry slams, science fiction conventions, and bowling alleys across the country. Dave is currently a regular cast member at the monthly Oakland underground variety show Tourettes Without Regrets.
When people ask what do you do, you tell them ... ?
My business card says "Writer, Performer, and Swell Guy." I also tell people I work at a tiny restaurant in SOMA.
What's your biggest struggle -- work or otherwise?
The same thing I think lots of writers struggle with: actually sitting down and writing. If only I could get paid to read whatever I wanted.
If someone said I want to do what you do, what advice would you have for them?
Learn to listen. Read. If you don't read you're going to be a terrible writer.
Do you consider yourself successful?
Yes, I enjoy my life and there are people in it I can be vulnerable with. Also I have more Twitter followers than there are people in the town I grew up in. @TeamWonderDave y'all!
When you're sad/grumpy/pissed off, what YouTube video makes you feel better?
Well because I am a terrible person I'm gonna go with this clip full of swearing Barbie Dolls:
By Michael Singman-Aste
Promising "madness, mischief, and monkey business," four dozen artists from eight states are unleashed in "Mayhem," a national exhibition juried by Alan Bamberger of ArtBusiness.com.
This colloquial use of the word suggests being rowdy or disorderly, like the antics of Mr. Mayhem, the rascally spokesperson Progressive auto insurance introduced to "kick Flo's
ass." There's plenty of lighthearted pandemonium in Todd Berman's "Awesomeness" series of acrylic and "crowd-sourced mixed media" pieces -- all sunshine and smiles --
potential prankishness in the wide-eyed toddler left unsupervised in Joy Bertinuson's
"Looking for Trouble," and riotous bawdiness in John Martin's "Mayhem2" photo
portrait.
It's hard to resist Jovi Schnell's new paintings, which are like mazes full of eye candy. The paintings are on display at Gregory Lind Gallery (49 Geary St.) through June 1, and they're a stimulating introduction to a San Francisco artist who's exhibited her work for two decades. You can also find Schnell's art on the pavement of Tutubi Plaza, an area near Sixth and Mission streets that the San Francisco Art Commission transformed in 2011. Schnell, 42, is an adjunct faculty member at the California College of Arts and a visiting lecturer at the San Francisco Art Institute (where she got her undergraduate degree in painting). She recently spoke to SF Weekly about her street art, her new exhibit, why dice influence what she paints, and how someone who grew up in a hippie environment in Arkansas made her way to San Francisco. 
Tutubi Plaza
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