E19 - Susan Fecho - Appalacia, Vernacular, and "Slow Art"

 Susan Fecho

Susan Fecho, the artist. All images are courtesy of the artist.

My work interprets the past as a personal, cultural, and archetypal artifact. The human body, architectural unit, and surrounding landscape become metaphors in my work. Trained as a traditional printmaker, I am intrigued by the richness and variety inherent in varied techniques. Storytelling is at the core of my work, with the sculptural book as a mode of telling stories, expressing feelings, and sharing imagery. Through my work the familiar reappears in unfamiliar configurations; a new sense of significance is imparted to an otherwise everyday object. My creative interests extend beyond the viewed subject, encompassing sculptural elements, allegorical imagery, and whimsical puns. In my work, there are varied layers of material and multiple facets of meaning.

Susan Fecho, a Professor of Art at Barton College, has shown in 25 solo exhibitions and over a hundred invitationals. Fecho’s published images have been accepted into several major collections: the Smithsonian Institution’s American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery Library, Washington, D.C.; the Word and Image Department, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England; and the Museum of Women Artists, Washington, D.C. Fecho is a multi-media printmaker/surface designer with an earned M.F.A. from East Carolina University as well as postgraduate studies from various institutions including; Jan Van Eyck Academie, Humboldt Field Research Institute, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Northern Illinois University and Penland School of Crafts. She has exhibited regionally, nationally and internationally – and has received numerous awards, grants and residencies.

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Susan - I am so pleased to have this opportunity to talk with you about your art and process. Let's begin!

What do you love about making art?

On a personal level, the making of art satisfies an internal need, is meditative, and I love the “craft” of making. I have a “day job” to allow myself to produce art that heals or soothe my personal ethos - and my career as an art educator nurtures the personal desire to be a producing studio artist. Born of the Appalachians, My DNA provided a storytelling “need.” I just so enjoy conjuring up a narrative that interprets the vernacular into a new work of art series.  Since I like to wander-about as part of my vernacular research, I find myself noticing and seeing surroundings  - and am inspired to produce art that shares. During high school, I studied industrial technology, music and the visual arts; on the undergraduate level, I narrowed to industrial technology and the visual arts. I have narrowed down to what area was the most self-satisfying. I elected printmaking, botanical illustration and textiles. These involve craft, science, chemistry - and not watching the clock to see “how long it takes to complete a piece. 

Lichen

How do you evaluate your work?

I ponder and ponder during the art making process, research options, and run those pesky elements of art and principles of design through my head. Works in progress are reviewed to see if I managed to “stick-to-the-plan”  [a developed proposal concerning the series]. Did I incorporate my vernacular readings? Did I work in various mediums [for I am a collector of media and techniques] and did I incorporate what makes the work “my work.” And there are times, I am “finished” with a piece when I run out of time - there seems to always be something else that could be edited or added. 

Where is your studio, and what is your primary work area?

I have a small studio building in the historic district of Tarboro, NC. The building was designed to be a carriage repair shop in the late 1800s. This building has concrete floors to manage the weight of a couple of heavy vintage printmaking presses. There is storage space to organize supplies for various techniques. The space has tables, easels, cabinets and shelves. The enjoyable part of having a studio is that you can leave items out to dry, to layout in preparation, and leave out while in progress. 

What clues or questions do you use to select an idea to invest time and resources?

The notion of vernacular as a topic has helped tremendously across several decades to narrow down the subject. I do enjoy traveling, and will work on pieces related to place. But I tend to select subjects and themes related to the regions of NC and VA that nurture my “ideal” of ancestral and social landscapes; this includes the Appalachian mountains, central Piedmont plateau and the eastern Atlantic coastal plain. I am currently working on landscapes and table-top landscapes that include imagery of the region with the collected botanicals and natural specimens from the region. 

About your work: what do you hope people notice the most?

I would hope that people slow down and look closely at my work - to see the layers of material, to notice the unfamiliar configurations, the attention to details, etc. My work is a mixed media approach with an eye for up cycled materials. 

Series V

What is your favorite guilty pleasure?

Paper, handmade paper. When I travel, I rarely purchase souvenirs - unless it is paper made in that region. I am also a sucker for vintage fabric and lace to embed into my work. 

"I am more comfortable experimenting and stepping back to “discuss” the progression of the piece." - SF

How do you define success as a creative? How do you hold yourself accountable?

That is a a loaded question that depends on age and period of your artistic career - My friends and I do talk about how to define success as a creative if you do not exhibit or work on a commission basis. Created work - as a visual artist not creating site-specific installations that are dismantled at the end of a timeframe - has to be stored.  And how many pieces can we give away to family members?

That is why I do “slow art.” I prefer to develop pieces that are time consuming  - so that I do not run through materials. I do exhibit my work when possible in regional venues, but that requires having a quantity of framed inventory prepared to deliver - and then not in inventory until after the scheduled exhibition timeframe.

I like to consider success as a creative to involve productivity, and public sharing.  Sharing to an audience can vary - from print to digital publication, or through exhibition [of local, regional, national or international level]. I enjoy making a handmade season’s greeting card each year. It is satisfying for my creative soul and then shared on a personal basis. My memo - just keep making art and maybe others will see it and enjoy. 

"18"

When do you discuss things with your inner critic?

This seems to be an on-going discussion with my own inner critic. Being a studio artist is not the same as being a designer working for a client, an artist that works on commission, or a production artist producing for a commercial market. Studio work is a lonely creation space. Now that I am older, and with health concerns, the quiet hermit like environment of my studio is comforting. I am more comfortable experimenting and stepping back to “discuss” the progression of the piece. The inner critic does have to be concerned with making only successful art  - it is the journey and progression that is important. 

Who are your creative influences, and whose work are you admiring now?

My answer will not be direct. I teach graphic design, core studio courses and art history lectures - that means I review, study and present the works of an ever widening list of artists, designers and styles. That has taught me to have a broader lens of what to admire due to saturation level. When I visit galleries and museums, I try look at the work first and the name second, with a preference to view curated exhibitions of artists I might not know. Also, my parents and in-laws were international missionaries. Their travels introduced me to artists and craftsmen that are not shown in main stream museums. It is my preference to enjoy the difference. My home is filled with work from all over the world, and I love to trade a piece of my work with the creations of my fellow artists. 

How can people follow you and your work?

I can be located on instagram @fechodesigns. 

Botanical

What would you like people to know that I haven't asked?

I am an identical twin with a sister that is a research anatomist. I draw medical illustrations for her and her colleagues publications. That “secret” career has continued across decades. We started this as an academic excuse to see each other regularly, and travel together conferences. 

Susan, I can't thank you enough for taking time out of your schedule to talk with me/us. I always learn something! And I especially love the idea of "Slow Art"! Come back anytime you have something to share. 

E16: Chris DeCoux - Upcycling, Intention, and Hard Reboots

Chris DeCoux

Nothing wants to suffer. All images are courtesy of the artist.

Chris DeCoux, the artist

My name is Chris DeCoux and I am a sculptor whose work explores the complexity of human identity and the darker side of consumerism and materialism. Through dark humor, playfulness, and artificial nature, I examine how nature and society can be manipulated to a point of transformation. My work tries to evoke an awareness of the instability of identities in a market driven world. By distilling this awareness into tangible physical forms, I try to address the human longing for stability and control in a rapidly changing and seemingly unpredictable world.

Hey hi Chris! I am thrilled to have this chance to share your story with the readers. Let's jump in-

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ChC - What do you love about making art?

CD- For me, art is about curiosity. It’s about exploration and problem solving. The outcome of a project may end up being light years away from the original concept I began with and in that way, it becomes a living thing. It has its own unexpected back story along with the scars from mistakes and growth just like me. Just like all of us. 

Unfulfilled Wishes

Which mediums do you like working with the most? What are some of the more unusual ones you've used?

CD- I have a deep love affair with garbage. At least what others consider to be garbage. Once, when I was 8 or 9, I found the dumpster in the trailer park that I grew up in, filled to the top with bowling trophies. While bowling held little interest to me, the hoard of metal, plastic and marble may as well have been gold. I scavenged whatever I could carry home on my bike and hid my treasure under the porch behind my home. As a kid with only a few participation trophies of my own to show, I could not believe that someone could throw away what seemed like a lifetime’s worth of achievements. At that young age, it called into question how I valued the objects around me and more importantly how other people valued them.

When I paint, I like to use left over house paint and saw dust along with my store-bought acrylics. When I’m sculpting, I’ll dig to the bottom of the scrap pile to find interesting pieces before I go to the steel yard. Plastic shopping bags, glass bottles, rusty bolts; it’s all up for grabs.

Most recently, I've been mixing reclaimed house paint with saw dust and drywall mud to make a thick paste. When applied to a rigid painting surface, it splits and cracks revealing layers underneath. 

What do you love about that?

CD- Working in found and reclaimed materials feels like having a secret that no one else has figured out. I think it speaks to the bargain hunter in me. Aside from the joy of rescuing something bound for a landfill, when I come across a unique object or material that sparks an idea, it feels like stumbling across a once in a lifetime bargain. 

Creature Comforts

How do you evaluate your work?

CD- When evaluating my work, I’m looking for a lack of intention. If the final piece looks exactly like it did in my head before I started, then I probably didn’t learn anything new. It’s hard for me to do, but by relinquishing control and staying in dialogue with the material, I can be surprised by the outcome. It’s rare that I am ever disappointed by those results. 

Where is your studio, and what is your primary work area?

CD- Since graduating, I primarily work from home. Larger projects in the garage and painting in a back bedroom. The hope was that if I could settle on a specific medium or artform, I could then begin looking for a studio space outside the house that best suits my needs, but realistically my practice is all over the place and right now, that’s fine by me. 

What clues or questions do you use to select an idea to invest time and resources?

CD- Ideas kind of come and go depending on my mood or what materials are at hand. Those don’t hold my interest for too long, and I may write them down to revisit later. Sometimes, though, an idea comes along that really sticks with me. I have little control over that decision making process and it feels more like a catchy tune that gets stuck in my head. I’ll roll it around for a while just playing with it until it becomes an itch that I have to scratch and that’s when the exploration begins. I’ll do research and sketch out ideas. Think about it before I go to sleep and talk about it with my wife. Then, when I’m ready to execute on that idea, I have built up an excitement for it that will carry me through to the end...hopefully.

AloneTogether

About your work: what do you hope people notice the most?

CD- I hope people view my work with the same curiosity I felt while making it. I don’t fully understand what I'm making all the time, so I don’t expect anyone to come away with a complete picture of my intentions. I think ambiguity is a wonderful tool for the artist. Not to be vague and aloof but, to leave some mystery to revisit over and over.

What is your favorite guilty pleasure? 😉

CD- Audio books. I love a good book (bad ones too), but I’ve never been able to sit still for extended periods of time to enjoy them. With audio books, my hands can stay busy all day.

I’m currently on a horror kick and have worked my way through half the Stephen King catalogue.

Honor Thy Mistakes

How do you define success as a creative? How do you hold yourself accountable?

CD- I’ll know if a piece is successful when I cannot pull myself away from it. I have to make a conscious decision to stop poking at it and let it be. Even then I will steal peeks at it before leaving for work or going to bed like somehow other hands created it and I’m trying to figure it out for myself. If I’m engaged with my own work at that level, then I know it’s a winner. 

When do you discuss things with your inner critic?

Always. Everyday. World without end. Amen. 😉

American Beauty

What advice do you have about throwing away work?

CD- Keep everything! You may rediscover something you have forgotten about and once considered a failure. Look at it with new eyes and that may lead you down a path you hadn't considered previously.

If it is an issue of storage space in the studio, at least take the time to document everything before disposing of it. I take pictures of all my finished work along with in-process photos and all the doodles along the way. Who knows how many ideas I’ve lost on the back of receipts or the margins of a notebook over the years? 

All your ideas have value and purpose, even the bad ones. Keeping them around to revisit can give you new inspirations or at the very least provide benchmarks to which you can measure your growth as an artist.

"As an artist and a maker, if I am not pushing myself and my work forward, then I am not learning." -- Chris

What would you tell other artists when they get frustrated with a project?

CD- When I feel stuck or painted into a corner, I have to give myself a hard reboot. I completely disengage with what I am stuck on and turn my attention to something unrelated. Sometimes it’s as easy as taking a couple of hours to cook a meal or take a walk. For the really stressful stuff, though, I have to walk away. I’ll give myself as much time as I can afford away from the project, trying to completely put it out of my mind. The idea is that when I return to it in a couple of days or weeks, I’ll see it from the outside, brand new. The flaws become less glaring; the strengths more apparent. I can then re-engage with the work as a series of problems to solve having let the emotions tied to those problems time to cool.

Gentlemen Choose Your Weapon

Who are your creative influences, and whose work are you admiring now?

CD- I have been working with local sculptor Russell Whiting as his assistant since graduating. It’s been energizing working alongside someone whose practice is vastly different from my own. Seeing how dedicated he is to his daily artistic practice and the speed at which he executes an idea has truly inspired me to set aside the mental roadblocks I create for myself and build my own creative routine. 

How can people follow you and your work?

CD- I share most of my work on Instagram for now and can be contacted through there: 

@gimcrack_creations

Frenchman's Creek

What would you like people to know that I haven't asked?

CD- For an exceedingly long time, I spent a lot of energy avoiding failure. Some things came easy to me and instead of seeking out the things that did not, I rested on my skillset. It was unfulfilling and even when I had some financial success, I had the feeling like something was missing. I still have difficulty getting out of my own way sometimes but can recognize it and find a way to move past it. As an artist and a maker, if I am not pushing myself and my work forward, then I am not learning.

I can't thank you enough for taking time out of your schedule to talk with me Chris. I'm cheering for you. Please come back whenever you have something to share with the ChC audience!

You'd Be Prettier If You Smiled More

Just Passing Through