Megan Piontkowski: Illustrator and Artist (An Interview)

Wow, the publishing of this interview is waaaaay overdue.  Megan Piontkowski is a very talented artist and illustrator from Brooklyn whom I first discovered on Twitter (@UntamedEyebrows) and actually met in person in Philly at her Liberal Tea Party.  

Ink Puddle:  Megan, before I even ask you to introduce yourself, I want to thank you for the package of goodies you sent me.  I thought I was buying just a copy of your latest book, but instead I got an awesome combo-pack of illustrated items.  And you recently tweeted that the book would be carried by Desert Island book shop in Brooklyn.  Tell me all about Tiny Underdog City: An Uncomprehensive Guide.

Megan Piontkowski: The idea for Tiny Underdog City came to me in graduate school.  I had, and continue to have, ambivalent feelings about being on the outside of the art world looking in.  The project was an exploration using humor and satire of my feelings about marginalization and outsiderness.  The Museum of Undiscovered Artists with its permanent collection "Art You Can't See By Artists You Don't Know" is a good example of this.

This project was a series of watercolors of places in Tiny Underdog City and two large scale maps (Of the City and of Tiny Underdog Land).  A few years later when thinking of a project to work on at an artist's residency I conceived of the guide book to Tiny Underdog City.  The Guide is a mixture of references to earlier art work (like my installation entitled Plants) and allusions to my personal life (ie. Rex Bed and Breakfast, Hannah Miller Library, and "India, An Earthwork"), and just some things I like (bagpipes, Edward Gorey).  I recently heard the author Haruki Murakami paraphrased as saying "You know how you can make your novel better? Put everything you like in it."   I will take "novel" to mean any kind of artwork and blissfully agree.

Ink: I like that idea.  If I did not buy Black Sheep Storm (your previous book), I might not have noticed the ongoing homage to Edward Gorey in your work.  I am a fan myself, and enjoy your references.  How does Gorey influence your work, and maybe what are some other artists you admire?

Megan: I have loved Edward Gorey's work for some time. It's his dry humor and absurdness that I am drawn to. Other illustrators and artists I admire are (in no particular order): Louise Bourgeios, Lee Bontique, Shaun Tan, Maira Kalman, Christoph Niemann, Josheph Cornell and the power couple Matthew Barney and Bjork.

Ink: Awesome.  I just picked up Shaun Tan's Tales from Outer Suburbia myself.  Getting back to your "outsider" motif, it definitely comes through, and I think it really works, sometimes in hilarious ways.  I am thinking of the fact that Tiny Underdog City is made up entirely of "outer reaches" as well as the Museum you mention. It would be easy for an outsider, who works hard and yet seemingly remains on the outside to come across as being bitter or cynical, but I laughed out loud reading your book.  It has its irony, but it is fun, and whimsical you might say.

Megan: I am glad you enjoy the humor of Tiny Underdog City, that is the tone I am going for with that project.

More multi-media humor from Megan's "Under the Radar Weekly"

Ink: Another thing I noticed in your work was a connection to fabric.  I really loved your use of the book cloth image for the cover of Underdog City, but then I looked at your embroideries and your plants (which are awesome!), and your tent installation.  Tell me about your connection to cloth and fabric and its relationship to "texts."

See more of Megan's plants

Megan: I don't feel that there is necessarily any connection in my work between text and fabric. I thought of the piece Embroidered Outliers after making an embroidered pillow with a bit of funny text from an email a friend sent me. I then wanted to make more embroidered pieces of text on fabric. Having lots of pillows seemed too gimmicky to me, so I decided to embroider the text on pieces of raw cut fabric.

My illustration, my sculptural work and my books bring together everything I always liked making, even things that I didn't always think of as art or as stemming from an art practice. I made my first book (of drawings on note paper) when I was three, and as a kid I always liked to draw and paint as well as make crafty things. And I have liked making one person sized tent-like structures for years. I kept sketchbooks since I was in grammar school through college, and then stopped during graduate school. I realize that I was separating "art" from "craft" and "illustration". I now believe that this separation is arbitrary and unhelpful - it makes one a better artist when one is more open to different ways of creating and combining art, illustration, craft and design.

Ink: I agree.  I think artists' having Twitter accounts side by side with Etsy accounts as well as more traditional portfolio websites shows that you are not alone.  But getting back to this idea about "being an outsider," you and I met via Twitter, and I can't tell you how many very talented people on Twitter just keep plodding away trying to break in to the art world.

For me, there are conflicting feelings, like "wow, this person's art is way better than mine and they are not famous yet?!" but then also there is definitely inspiration like "I am going to step-up my game."  You have taken the steps of graduate school, artist residency, making art on a consistent basis and posting it online, making at least two books. So, what do you consider an intermediate and ultimate goal for youself as an artist? And do you think there is a risk you would lose something by leaving the margin you inhabit now for the center stage?

Megan: As for the possibility of losing my edge after breaking into the art or illustration worlds, there is no immediate prospect of me becoming an "insider" in the near future, so it's not something I am going to worry about.  And as for what being an insider would mean, I suppose gallery representation could make an artist an insider, and having work regularly published in certain publications could make one an illustration insider.  But the further an artist moves along in their career, there are always more and places to be an insider and to be outside of.

As for intermediate goals, I would like to have my sculpture and installation work shown more widely.  I would like to have more illustrations published. (Wouldn't we all?)  So in both cases, the intermediate goal is to expand my audience.

Long term, I would like to teach on the college level and illustrate.  I would like gallery representation only if I have enough clout and autonomy to pretty much do what I want artistically.  And I would want to have an artist's book published by an actual publishing house.

Ink: Well, I will look forward to buying that future book as well.  And thank you again for the interview.  We might just have to do this again, because I have plenty more questions and things to discuss!

Want to learn more about Megan Piontkowski and her art? Be sure to follow all the links below.

Her Website: http://meganpiontkowski.com
More Website: http://meganpiontkowski-illustration.com/
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/UntamedEyebrows
On Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Piontkowski

Interview: Yao Xiao

A new, regularly-appearing (hopefully) feature here at the Ink Puddle Art Blog is going to be exclusive interviews with artists.  First up is Yao Xiao, whom I first discovered through Twitter.  I recently had a chance to sit down with Yao...well, actually, I sat down at my computer and typed out questions.  I am not sure whether she was sitting down or not when she answered them.  Anyway, here is how it went.


Ink Puddle: Yao, thanks for being on Ink Puddle.  I have read some of your bio from an interview online, but could you introduce yourself and maybe say a few things about who you are, what you are doing now, and where you are going.

Yao Xiao: Hi! I am Yao. I'm an artist in New York who draws pictures and comics, and sketches live. Right now my art centers around capturing city nightlife, performances and scatters of erotic fantasy. I am an illustrator for a few fiction journals in China, and I am a caricature/sketch artist for underground parties in Brooklyn and other private parties. I am originally from China-this is my fifth year in the States. Currently I am going onto my third year at the School of Visual Arts as an illustration major. I'd like to keep experimenting with what I'm doing right now and see where my art wants to take me.

Ink: Well, it looks like your art currently takes you to a lot of events.  You have a number of wedding sketches posted on your Tumblr site, and they are great. With people dancing around, having a good time, you seem to capture a moment like a snapshot.  They seem like spontaneous sketches, and yet, they have great composition to them.  Great use of black and white space.  When I am drawing anything, I tend to do small thumbnail sketches first, and then re-do them larger and change them a bit.  Do you do any kind of pre-sketching? Or do you just start drawing?  What is your process like when doing these sketches?  Do you wait around for the "right moment" to present itself or do you keep sketching all the time and pick out the best ones?  And about how many sketches would you say you do at an event like a wedding?

Yao: I just start drawing. It happens very quickly when I sketch these, so a lot of the times it is an intuitive process. To describe it, I guess I usually start with the most interesting curve, or the key of a movement, and start from there. For landscapes and buildings I like to start from the farthest shapes in the background. I start with a single curve/person/shape and then add things around it. As for the "right moment," I do tend to watch and wait around for an interesting "shot," then I start from that moment and add other things/people as I sketch. At an event like a wedding which lasts for 6-8 hours, I can make about 36-40 drawings. Sketching at events is my favorite, especially when there's good drinks and music.

Ink:  That sounds like a very busy yet very fun day.  And speaking of fun, a lot of your "from life" gesture sketches come from Dr. Sketchy sessions.   We have Dr. Sketchy here in Philadelphia as well, but for people who don't know what it is, describe a Dr. Sketchy session for me.  How helpful are these sessions for developing your art and for meeting other artists?

Yao: I found Dr. Sketchy's when I first arrive in New York City. I think coming to Sketchy's was the best decision I've made. Dr. Sketchy's is a life drawing session mixed with cabaret and drinking, founded by New York artist Molly Crabapple (@mollycrabapple) A typical Dr.Sketchy's session include one or more models posing in costumes which fit the theme of the day. The session starts with short one-minute poses and moves onto 5 minutes, 10 minutes and eventually 20 minutes poses. The fun part is the drinking and the contests...there is always a left-handed drawing contest, and the other two are related to the theme. I like Dr. Sketchy's as a place to practice drawing because it is a good mix of art and comedy, drinking and burlesque performance, and the audience is often a fun crowd to meet. I always get good drawings out of it. The atmosphere is way more energetic than a generic life drawing session and something unusual might spark in one's creative mind.

Ink: It certainly looks like a good time to me.  Since I am fan of comics and comic books, I can't resist asking you about them. First, I love the fact that you do short comics, sometimes just 4 panels, to illustrate a single thought or a dream or just one experience. Do you read comics now or in the past?  Any favorites?  Do you feel that drawing comic style art as a balance to the "from life" sketching you do?  On a daily basis what art form do you do the most: from life sketching, illustration, cartooning?  And which do you enjoy the most?  Also, some of your life sketches have a storyboard/comic/graphic novel feel to them with your use of panels.  That is not a question, just an observation.  And as far as Dingleberries! goes, is Coco-Tatas your superhero alter-ego?  Do you truly have magical cleavage?

Yao: I'm glad you asked me about the comics! I've always been in love with comics since I was young--I read a lot of Japanese manga, and wanted to be a manga-ka (comic artist) when I was 12. I didn't grow up with American comics, so I still have a lot to catch up to. My most recent favorites--I just finished reading Parasyte by Hitoshi Iwaaki, and Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis (@warrenellis) & Derrick Robertson. I think they will be my favorites of all times from now on.

Art has always been a big mix for me. Ever since I was young, I was in love with fine arts, I adored the Renaissance just as much as I adored Yoko Ono, I read a lot of manga, played video games and read alternative graphic novels when I came to the States. I believe that it is natural for an artist to be attracted to everything--not even just art forms, but everything in life that excites and provokes people. I can't decide what I want to do the most--I like drawing comics just as much as I like making paintings. I learned ceramics and I've made fine art sculptures and installations. I like to try everything.

Right now, perhaps on a daily basis I draw from life on the subway, doodle some comics at work then make illustration at home? It is not a routine but I always end up doodling something. My goal is to be drawing all the time-so I'm glad that I have multiple categories I can switch in and out of. I keep an open mind for changes: in style, in content and in disciplines. Sometimes it frustrates me, when my style changes or when I find myself liking my old work better--but I believe it is a process to go through in order to be a good artist. My style has changed so many times, on average it happens every couple months. But i can't hold the urge to change, because I believe every artist is an adventurer, and staying in the same place seem to be counter-intuitive. It's a good sign that I'm still going further, I believe.

On the subject of Dingleberries!...I believe the answer is yes to both. Coco-tatas is what I turn into at times of danger, and my cleavage can stop bullets/breed bunny bombs. Coco-Tatas was created by Foley, the writer of Dingleberries! when we were first doodling jam comics for character ideas. I refused to draw her for the longest time because I believed that showing up in comical undergarments on the Internet is outrageously inappropriate...I have no idea how that belief was undone. :P

Ink: Well, I think the world is safer with Coco-Tatas.  Your Monday's Child book project is really wonderful looking, very bizarre, but not scary.  There is something sweet and funny about the characters. (By the way, this one [below, left] reminded me of Dr. Seuss' 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins) How many did you print for MoCCA and are you going to print up more of them?  Or sell them on Etsy?  Also, I have seen that you have done posters for plays like West Side Story and books like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  And your recent portrait of Allen Ginsberg.  Were these commissioned pieces, or do you make the decision to use stories and literature in your art on your own?

Yao: For Monday's Child, I made about 24 copies for MoCCA. After MoCCA and FreshMeat (comic fest at the School of Visual Arts) I have just a couple of them left. I'll certainly need to print more for future con's and Etsy. I haven't set up my Etsy shop entirely yet, it will be finalized soon. I've also been handing them out like a business card. The little booklets are very handy for that. As for the West Side Story and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-those pieces (Click HERE to see Yao's West Side Story poster) were mostly practice pieces for possible future commissions. I have to do the pieces that I want to do just in case no one asks me for them. And now I have done them, it sets a good example for people who are looking for works with a similar feel.

Ink: That is great, and great advice for other artists, too.  Thanks again, and I look forward to seeing where your art takes you next!

Here is where you can see Yao's art:

Follow her of Twitter @yaoxiaoart
Illustrated Life Through Sketching http://yaoxiaoart.tumblr.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/yaoxiaoart
Talking Muffin! http://www.artifolio.com/xiaoyao
Dingleberries! http://www.dinglecomic.com