(Intro music) - Explore memory, place, and time in Katherine Schwabs mixed media work.

Chat with clothing designer EU Eugene O'Neil and catch a performance from Belle Skinner.

It's all ahead in this episode of aha A House for Arts.

- Funding for aha has been provided by your contribution and by contributions to the wmht Venture Fund Contributors include the Leo Cox Beach Philanthropic Foundation Chet and Karen Opalka, Robert and Doris Fisher Malesardi and the Robison Family Foundation.

- At M and T Bank, we understand that the vitality of our communities is crucial to our continued success.

That's why we take an active role in our community.

M and T Bank is pleased to support wmht programming that highlights the arts and we invite you to do the same.

(Intro music) - Hi, I'm Jade Warrick and this is aha.

A House for Art, a place for all things creative.

Here's Matt with today's field segment.

- I'm in Albany New York to meet with mixed media artist, Katherine Schwabs, let's go.

- I combine printmaking and sculpture along with drawing and whatever else I need to do.

The main themes of my work that tend to pop up over and over are a sense of place and time as an element.

It's a lot of intersecting, somewhat abstract architecture.

It's still very much recognizable as buildings especially if you're from Albany, but it's kind of jumbled or layered or combined or different viewpoints are combined in a way that kind of makes you hesitate a second and have to figure it out.

Visually buildings are interesting because it's fun to play with the perspective and to play with all of these different planes and angles on a more conceptual basis.

Albany's just kind of a neat city cause there's so many different, like obvious time periods.

One of the main areas that I focused on the last couple years has been downtown where the Plaza is.

And I didn't realize until several years of living here that that entire neighborhood didn't used to be the plaza.

You know, it's relatively recent when a lot of that was built in the sixties and seventies.

So I started stumbling across some of the history of what used to be there before finding out about the neighborhoods, discovering historical photos of the buildings that used to be there, which sort of led into one of my recent series where I was literally looking at intersections in Albany where I had found a historical photo and was able to recognize what matched up with present day Albany.

So I was visually layering past and present as well as a literal intersection of two streets.

In the specific case of printmaking usually you create a printmaking plate whether it's carved or etched and then you print the plate and that's the result.

In some recent work I've taken that print that's normally the result and then like cut it up and wrapped it around a wood sculpture to make it completely 3D and entirely one of a kind.

There's a piece I still have of the intersection of South Swan and Hudson.

So it's as you're coming down the hill towards the plaza and you're seeing one of the I think one of the agency buildings that's just kind of like a wall of like white marble.

It's not very welcoming.

It's, you know that typical imposing architecture down there.

You're seeing that, but you've also just gone through a bunch of the neighborhoods of like the historic brownstones in Albany.

So it's a, a really sharp contrast.

And I had stumbled across a photo of an old like grocery shop or kind of bodega type place that was at the intersection there of Hudson and South Swan.

And I was like, Oh wait does that match up with that slope of the hill there?

So I went down there and walked around, was able to find out where some of those pieces started lining up.

So started sketching out some layers and was able to combine from those historical photos some of the houses that used to be there and that Mo Marble agency building that still is there.

So the result was a, a wood sculpture that was wrapped in a wood cut print that I cut more slices into.

And it's a, a really nice contrast between the sharp black and white of the wood cut and the actual like warmer wood tones showing through.

The other thing I'm doing recently is experimenting with kind of anti printmaking or printmaking.

That's not printmaking where I'll make a plate and then that becomes the result.

For example, a piece I did recently was a dry point etching on plexiglass that would've normally been inked and printed and that would've normally been the result.

But I took these dry points, never inked them at all and attached them to metal rods to suspend them in a space in small Albany Gallery.

So they we're the process and it's kind of like this ghostly imprint.

It was all the neighborhoods in Albany that don't exist anymore.

So it seemed like a suitable way to kind of nod to these spaces without like leaving a mark that you can see today.

You are coming in at kind of an interesting point of change in some ways in my work.

I have been personally pretty stressed out the last couple years about climate change and you know a whole bunch of things that are going on that I feel like I don't have any power or control over.

What I've started experimenting with in my own work is combining images of Albany and images of glacial ice.

The most recent piece I'm working on is looking at the Larson Ice Shelf which large parts of don't exist anymore as the ice shelf.

It's now just ocean water or chunks of ice floating around.

I'm cutting into a piece of cherry plywood that would normally be inked and printed.

But what I did is I started by painting the image of the ice shelf on there and then I transferred my layers of the New York State Capital building onto there and started carving those.

Focusing on polar ice is kind of new.

I think I do see it continuing to go down that road.

I would have a hard time going back now that I've started down this rabbit hole, this sort of stress that's almost ever present with climate change and with all these increasing severe weather patterns and this and that, it would feel a little bit like an ostrich sticking their head in the sand to just ignore that and not at least weave it into my work.

- Eugene O'Neil is an artist with a passion for designing clothes.

In 2012 he started his own business Made in truth clothing creating custom garments for a variety of clients.

So what sparked Eugene's interest in fashion and what obstacles did he overcome starting his own business?

I sat down with him to find out.

Welcome to aha Eugene, how are you doing today?

- Jade, thank you for having me on.

- I'm so excited to talk to you today.

Tell us a little bit about how you got into the fashion industry and how did you find your love for fashion and garment making?

- Well as a kid I always loved fashion LRG, diamond, crooks and castles.

There were these very expressive clothing brands, like Obey you know, just these artists that were making names as brands and especially LRG.

I love that those types of brands would allow other artists this platform to explore and it was very free thinking very expansive, very challenging the norm.

And that was, that was a big influence in everything I was doing.

I should have been sponsored by the clothing brand.

- Right at this point.

- With the amount, with the amount that I was wearing it I should have been sponsored.

But it really set this precedent for me.

You know, earlier on I wasn't like, I always want to be a fashion designer, but I always loved art and I loved how it was this creative expression that you could wear anywhere.

The art traveled with you.

- Yes.

- That was super important for me.

So, and it kind of created these, it's like, you know you look at someone in their appearance and it tells you something about them.

So it was just that other outlet to say like, hey I want to go deeper.

I want to show you what I'm thinking, let alone - [Jade] Yeah - Just like how I'm, you know, presenting my myself - Literally wearing it on your shirt.

- Yeah.

So I really loved that particular aspect of fashion from the artistic side.

And then I went to St. Rose for art education and I didn't really know what I wanted to do for my concentration.

You know, they make you pick a concentration in painting, drawing, whatever.

- Mhm.

And a lot of the other mediums, they felt very daunting to me.

It felt like I would look at a painting and know it was gonna take me 14 hours, 20.

I'm like, 20 hours from now I'm gonna be done.

- And I'm not even getting paid.

- And and you're making one.

You know, so I got my, my advisor, who is my art history teacher, she got me into the one screen printing class that was like impossible to get into cause it was a pre rec for graphic designers.

And that started everything.

So once I got to like the advanced level two I'll never forget it, I saw this girl Lauren Kennedy print on a T-shirt one day for her senior thesis.

She was doing a clothing line, she ended up getting picked up by Abercrombie.

- Wow.

- But yeah, so she was definitely in the know and I was like, I walked up one day, like how'd you do that?

And it was just a special water based thing.

And we use a lot of traditional art mediums at St. Rose it's all fine arts there.

So like everything was oil based.

You print oil on a shirt, it's gonna turn into a flat brick.

- Yep.

- But the water based just - Gave us a definition.

- Yeah.

And it just allowed it to just be a part of the shirt.

So here I am in the studios with now 18 screens and I'm filling the drying racks with clothing.

- Oh my god.

- It progressed heavily from there.

I just, I tried it and I never stopped.

And so that, that was the original, I just started printing truth down the side of shirts and I was just giving everyone whatever color they wanted.

- [Jade] Yeah.

- It was like what?

It was a two color print - The shirt dealer at the college.

- And they did not like that.

They just - I can only imagine - It was a problem for their like fine arts mentality and they perceived it as commercial art.

- You're like, that's still art.

You know, it's where you can make money too.

- It was a paradox of, you know, being this artist and they're trying to train you to be this artist in this contemporary world, but you don't want me to do the one thing that is almost mainstream at this point.

Yeah.

But they, they saw it as challenging their ideals, so - But you still were able to come out with Made In Truth which is the company that you have.

- Yeah.

- What is Made in Truth and what's the what's the meaning behind the name?

Actually I wanna know the meaning behind the name.

- Yeah.

Well truth has always been a part of everything that I've done.

Poetry at a young age.

I always signed, my name is Truth.

Any music I created from me developing, you know an affinity for poetry.

Always was labeling myself as truth.

In college, I would hide the word truth in all my etchings and wood cuts and print making.

So it was this like game.

- Aww your signature.

- It was like this game for my friends to like find the truth in my art.

- Oh I like that.

- So that just continued to play off and be this like where is Waldo of sorts.

- [Jade] Yeah.

- And then, so we were trying to figure out how to take a design and turn it into a sharp and refined logo and we're like just looking at clothes and and just like looking at everything in the room.

At this point we were just like dead in the water and I was like looking at the tag on the T-shirt and it said something like, you know made in China or something like that.

And I was like, "no made in truth."

And everyone was like "ohh."

- It's like that aha moment, you know - It was a very aha moment.

- Oh the show.

- Unintended you know, nice plug for the show.

So it, yeah, just that once I said it it was like, - [Jade] There you go.

- It is made in truth, - That light bulb.

So what are some services that made In Truth does?

Like what, what do you, what do you do?

- Made in Truth I think above all, as I reflect on it now is really about connecting people to people.

- [Jade] Mm.

- It's allowing people to have an opportunity to express themselves, whatever they're passionate about whatever they're looking to pursue whatever they're looking to service for other people.

So Made in Truth for me was this connection to self.

And it was this, you know, as a child and and you're using the word truth to represent yourself.

There's just such an allegory behind the, you know, the the usual happenings of like identity and figuring out who you are and - Yes.

- What you want to be and not even just what you want to be just like who you want to be.

And I spent a lot of time reflecting on that.

And I think it helped me to continue to reinvent myself continue to find me in places that I felt most suited and aligned.

And I think for me it's really important to help people find that journey themselves.

- So it's not like you're just selling or printing or designing clothes.

There's a deeper meaning behind it.

- Yes, absolutely.

- It's very artistic.

It's not just your regular screen printing and garment making business.

- Correct.

Yeah.

I just, I, I truly, I truly have a passion for showing people the value that they don't necessarily see in themselves right away.

- [Jade] Mm.

- And it's, it's always been there.

So now I just feel like I'm finding this avenue to to create it through the brand and it's helped countless people develop their own ideas, understand themselves more and then in return, you know, we always are finding out more about ourselves through that process, so.

- Oh, I love that.

Very symbiotic for everybody.

- Yeah.

- Very great for everyone too.

Service is not only the customer but also yourself and grows everyone in that situation.

So being a business owner and an artist, what are some of the challenges that you find with owning Made in Truth or just running a business in general?

- Well, it's being your own accountability which always becomes the hardest part for any artist that has such an expansive set of ideas - Yeah.

- And endless projects that they may not be finishing but it's understanding what your strengths are and really not being scared to identify what your weaknesses are.

The only way you can do it is if you understand those weaknesses because it's how long do you wanna play this game?

You know, - [Jade] True.

- How long do we wanna be stuck within ourselves and not asking for help, you know?

So it's finding those people who can support the areas in which you don't feel as strong and allowing that to really, you know let you focus on the things that make you shine.

- Oh I love that.

It's a very powerful message for artists who are also trying to start their own business and really try to use their art as a way to support themselves financially.

- Yeah.

- Well thank you Eugene.

Well thank you for coming today and thank you for talking to me and I appreciate it and I appreciate you.

Please welcome Belle Skinner.

- The first song that I'm gonna sing for you is called Mon Cheri.

It's a French love song that I wrote using my high school French and Google Translate.

It's, it's basically me confessing my love to somebody and realizing by the smile on their face that they love me back.

(singing) The next song I'm gonna sing is called Fall Into the Earth.

It's a song from my new record as well as the French song that I just sang.

It's loosely inspired by Annie Dillard called Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.

And um And the book and the song deal with themes of cycles of life and death and the beauty and violence of nature.

(singing) This song is called Violets and it's the title track of my latest album which came out in May.

And I'd like to think of it as a, as an homage to the tragic love songs of Patsy Klein and Dolly Parton.

(singing) (outro music) - Funding for aha has been provided by your contribution and by contributions to the wmht Venture Fund Contributors include the Leo Cox Beach Philanthropic Foundation, Chet and Karen Opalka, Robert and Doris Fischer Malesardi, and The Robison Family Foundation.

- At M and T Bank, we understand that the vitality of our communities is crucial to our continued success.

That's why we take an active role in our community.

M and T Bank is pleased to support wmht programming that highlights the arts and we invite you to do the same.