Issue 35 February 2024

Issue 34 November 2023

Issue 33 August 2023

Issue 32 June 2023

Issue 31 February 2023

Issue 30 November 2022

Issue 29 August 2022

Issue 28 May 2022

Issue 27 February 2022

Issue 26 November 2021

Issue 25 August 2021

Issue 24 May 2021

Issue 23 February 2021

Issue 22 November 2020

Issue 21 August 2020

Issue 20 May 2020

Issue 19 February 2020

Letter from the Editor –Lindsay Preston Zappas
Parasites in Love –Travis Diehl
To Crush Absolute On Patrick Staff and
Destroying the Institution
–Jonathan Griffin
Victoria Fu:
Camera Obscured
–Cat Kron
Resurgence of Resistance How Pattern & Decoration's Popularity
Can Help Reshape the Canon
–Catherine Wagley
Trace, Place, Politics Julie Mehretu's Coded Abstractions
–Jessica Simmons
Exquisite L.A.: Featuring: Friedrich Kunath,
Tristan Unrau, and Nevine Mahmoud
–Claressinka Anderson & Joe Pugliese
Reviews April Street
at Vielmetter Los Angeles
–Aaron Horst

Chiraag Bhakta
at Human Resources
–Julie Weitz

Don’t Think: Tom, Joe
and Rick Potts

at POTTS
–Matt Stromberg

Sarah McMenimen
at Garden
–Michael Wright

The Medea Insurrection
at the Wende Museum
–Jennifer Remenchik

(L.A. in N.Y.)
Mike Kelley
at Hauser & Wirth
–Angella d’Avignon
Buy the Issue In our Online Shop

Issue 18 November 2019

Letter from the Editor –Lindsay Preston Zappas
The Briar and the Tar Nayland Blake at the ICA LA
and Matthew Marks Gallery
–Travis Diehl
Putting Aesthetics
to Hope
Tracking Photography’s Role
in Feminist Communities
– Catherine Wagley
Instagram STARtists
and Bad Painting
– Anna Elise Johnson
Interview with Jamillah James – Lindsay Preston Zappas
Working Artists Featuring Catherine Fairbanks,
Paul Pescador, and Rachel Mason
Text: Lindsay Preston Zappas
Photos: Jeff McLane
Reviews Children of the Sun
at LADIES’ ROOM
– Jessica Simmons

Derek Paul Jack Boyle
at SMART OBJECTS
–Aaron Horst

Karl Holmqvist
at House of Gaga, Los Angeles
–Lee Purvey

Katja Seib
at Château Shatto
–Ashton Cooper

Jeanette Mundt
at Overduin & Co.
–Matt Stromberg
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Issue 17 August 2019

Letter From the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Green Chip David Hammons
at Hauser & Wirth
–Travis Diehl
Whatever Gets You
Through the Night
The Artists of Dilexi
and Wartime Trauma
–Jonathan Griffin
Generous Collectors How the Grinsteins
Supported Artists
–Catherine Wagley
Interview with
Donna Huanca
–Lindsy Preston Zappas
Working Artist Featuring Ragen Moss, Justen LeRoy,
and Bari Ziperstein
Text: Lindsay Preston Zappas
Photos: Jeff McLane
Reviews Sarah Lucas
at the Hammer Museum
–Yxta Maya Murray

George Herms and Terence Koh
at Morán Morán
–Matt Stromberg

Hannah Hur
at Bel Ami
–Michael Wright

Sebastian Hernandez
at NAVEL
–Julie Weitz

(L.A. in N.Y.)
Alex Israel
at Greene Naftali
–Rosa Tyhurst

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Issue 16 May 2019

Trulee Hall's Untamed Magic Catherine Wagley
Ingredients for a Braver Art Scene Ceci Moss
I Shit on Your Graves Travis Diehl
Interview with Ruby Neri Jonathan Griffin
Carolee Schneemann and the Art of Saying Yes! Chelsea Beck
Exquisite L.A. Claressinka Anderson
Joe Pugliese
Reviews Ry Rocklen
at Honor Fraser
–Cat Kron

Rob Thom
at M+B
–Lindsay Preston Zappas

Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age
of Black Power, 1963-1983
at The Broad
–Matt Stromberg

Anna Sew Hoy & Diedrick Brackens
at Various Small Fires
–Aaron Horst

Julia Haft-Candell & Suzan Frecon
at Parrasch Heijnen
–Jessica Simmons

(L.A. in N.Y.)
Shahryar Nashat
at Swiss Institute
–Christie Hayden
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Issue 15 February 2019

Letter From the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Letter to the Editor
Men on Women
Geena Brown
Eyes Without a Voice
Julian Rosefeldt's Manifesto
Christina Catherine Martinez
Seven Minute Dream Machine
Jordan Wolfson's (Female figure)
Travis Diehl
Laughing in Private
Vanessa Place's Rape Jokes
Catherine Wagley
Interview with
Rosha Yaghmai
Laura Brown
Exquisite L.A.
Featuring: Patrick Martinez,
Ramiro Gomez, and John Valadez
Claressinka Anderson
Joe Pugliese
Reviews Outliers and American
Vanguard Art at LACMA
–Jonathan Griffin

Sperm Cult
at LAXART
–Matt Stromberg

Kahlil Joseph
at MOCA PDC
–Jessica Simmons

Ingrid Luche
at Ghebaly Gallery
–Lindsay Preston Zappas

Matt Paweski
at Park View / Paul Soto
–John Zane Zappas

Trenton Doyle Hancock
at Shulamit Nazarian
–Colony Little

(L.A. in N.Y.)
Catherine Opie
at Lehmann Maupin
–Angella d'Avignon
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Issue 14 November 2018

Letter From the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Celeste Dupuy-Spencer and Figurative Religion Catherine Wagley
Lynch in Traffic Travis Diehl
The Remixed Symbology of Nina Chanel Abney Lindsay Preston Zappas
Interview with Kulapat Yantrasast Christie Hayden
Exquisite L.A.
Featuring: Sandra de la Loza, Gloria Galvez, and Steve Wong
Claressinka Anderson
Photos: Joe Pugliese
Reviews Raúl de Nieves
at Freedman Fitzpatrick
-Aaron Horst

Gertrud Parker
at Parker Gallery
-Ashton Cooper

Robert Yarber
at Nicodim Gallery
-Jonathan Griffin

Nikita Gale
at Commonwealth & Council
-Simone Krug

Lari Pittman
at Regen Projects
-Matt Stromberg

(L.A. in N.Y.)
Eckhaus Latta
at the Whitney Museum
of American Art
-Angella d'Avignon
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Issue 13 August 2018

Letter From the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Letter to the Editor Julie Weitz with Angella d'Avignon
Don't Make
Everything Boring
Catherine Wagley
The Collaborative Art
World of Norm Laich
Matt Stromberg
Oddly Satisfying Art Travis Diehl
Made in L.A. 2018 Reviews Claire de Dobay Rifelj
Jennifer Remenchik
Aaron Horst
Exquisite L.A.
Featuring: Anna Sew Hoy, Guadalupe Rosales, and Shizu Saldamando
Claressinka Anderson
Photos: Joe Pugliese
Reviews It's Snowing in LA
at AA|LA
–Matthew Lax

Fiona Conner
at the MAK Center
–Thomas Duncan

Show 2
at The Gallery @ Michael's
–Simone Krug

Deborah Roberts
at Luis De Jesus Los Angeles
–Ikechukwu Casmir Onyewuenyi

Mimi Lauter
at Blum & Poe
–Jessica Simmons

(L.A. in N.Y.)
Math Bass
at Mary Boone
–Ashton Cooper

(L.A. in N.Y.)
Condo New York
–Laura Brown
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Issue 12 May 2018

Poetic Energies and
Radical Celebrations:
Senga Nengudi and Maren Hassinger
Simone Krug
Interior States of the Art Travis Diehl
Perennial Bloom:
Florals in Feminism
and Across L.A.
Angella d'Avignon
The Mess We're In Catherine Wagley
Interview with Christina Quarles Ashton Cooper
Object Project
Featuring Suné Woods, Michelle Dizon,
and Yong Soon Min
Lindsay Preston Zappas
Photos: Jeff McLane
Reviews Meleko Mokgosi
at The Fowler Museum at UCLA
-Jessica Simmons

Chris Kraus
at Chateau Shatto
- Aaron Horst

Ben Sanders
at Ochi Projects
- Matt Stromberg

iris yirei hsu
at the Women's Center
for Creative Work
- Hana Cohn

Harald Szeemann
at the Getty Research Institute
- Olivian Cha

Ali Prosch
at Bed and Breakfast
- Jennifer Remenchik

Reena Spaulings
at Matthew Marks
- Thomas Duncan
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Issue 11 February 2018

Letter from the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Museum as Selfie Station Matt Stromberg
Accessible as Humanly as Possible Catherine Wagley
On Laura Owens on Laura Owens Travis Diehl
Interview with Puppies Puppies Jonathan Griffin
Object Project Lindsay Preston Zappas, Jeff McLane
Reviews Dulce Dientes
at Rainbow in Spanish
- Aaron Horst

Adrián Villas Rojas
at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA
- Lindsay Preston Zappas

Nevine Mahmoud
at M+B
- Angella D'Avignon

Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960- 1985
at the Hammer Museum
- Thomas Duncan

Hannah Greely and William T. Wiley
at Parker Gallery
- Keith J. Varadi

David Hockney
at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (L.A. in N.Y.)
- Ashton Cooper

Edgar Arceneaux
at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (L.A. in S.F.)
- Hana Cohn
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Issue 10 November 2017

Letter from the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Barely Living with Art:
The Labor of Domestic
Spaces in Los Angeles
Eli Diner
She Wanted Adventure:
Dwan, Butler, Mizuno, Copley
Catherine Wagley
The Languages of
All-Women Exhibitions
Lindsay Preston Zappas
L.A. Povera Travis Diehl
On Eclipses:
When Language
and Photography Fail
Jessica Simmons
Interview with
Hamza Walker
Julie Wietz
Object Project
Featuring: Rosha Yaghmai,
Dianna Molzan, and Patrick Jackson
Lindsay Preston Zappas
Photos by Jeff McLane
Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA
Reviews
Regen Projects
Ibid Gallery
One National Gay & Lesbian Archives and MOCA PDC
The Mistake Room
Luis De Jesus Gallery
the University Art Gallery at CSULB
the Autry Museum
Reviews Cheyenne Julien
at Smart Objects

Paul Mpagi Sepuya
at team bungalow

Ravi Jackson
at Richard Telles

Tactility of Line
at Elevator Mondays

Trigger: Gender as a Tool as a Weapon
at the New Museum
(L.A. in N.Y.)
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Issue 9 August 2017

Letter from the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Women on the Plinth Catherine Wagley
Us & Them, Now & Then:
Reconstituting Group Material
Travis Diehl
The Offerings of EJ Hill
Ikechukwu Casmir Onyewuenyi
Interview with Jenni Sorkin Carmen Winant
Object Project
Featuring: Rebecca Morris,
Linda Stark, Alex Olson
Lindsay Preston Zappas
Photos by Jeff McClane
Reviews Mark Bradford
at the Venice Biennale

Broken Language
at Shulamit Nazarian

Artists of Color
at the Underground Museum

Anthony Lepore & Michael Henry Hayden
at Del Vaz Projects

Home
at LACMA

Analia Saban at
Sprueth Magers
Letter to the Editor Lady Parts, Lady Arts
Buy the Issue In Our Online Shop

Issue 8 May 2017

Letter from the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Kanye Westworld Travis Diehl
@richardhawkins01 Thomas Duncan
Support Structures:
Alice Könitz and LAMOA
Catherine Wagley
Interview with
Penny Slinger
Eliza Swann
Exquisite L.A.
Featuring:
taisha paggett
Ashley Hunt
Young Chung
Intro by Claressinka Anderson
Portraits by Joe Pugliese
Reviews Alessandro Pessoli
at Marc Foxx

Jennie Jieun Lee
at The Pit

Trisha Baga
at 356 Mission

Jimmie Durham
at The Hammer

Parallel City
at Ms. Barbers

Jason Rhodes
at Hauser & Wirth
Letter to the Editor
Buy the Issue In Our Online Shop

Issue 7 February 2017

Letter from the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Generous
Structures
Catherine Wagley
Put on a Happy Face:
On Dynasty Handbag
Travis Diehl
The Limits of Animality:
Simone Forti at ISCP
(L.A. in N.Y.)
Ikechukwu Casmir Onyewuenyi
More Wound Than Ruin:
Evaluating the
"Human Condition"
Jessica Simmons
Exquisite L.A.
Featuring:
Brenna Youngblood
Todd Gray
Rafa Esparza
Intro by Claressinka Anderson
Portraits by Joe Pugliese
Reviews Creature
at The Broad

Sam Pulitzer & Peter Wachtler
at House of Gaga // Reena Spaulings Fine Art

Karl Haendel
at Susanne Vielmetter

Wolfgang Tillmans
at Regen Projects

Ma
at Chateau Shatto

The Rat Bastard Protective Association
at the Landing
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Issue 6 November 2016

Letter from the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Kenneth Tam
's Basement
Travis Diehl
The Female
Cool School
Catherine Wagley
The Rise
of the L.A.
Art Witch
Amanda Yates Garcia
Interview with
Mernet Larsen
Julie Weitz
Agnes Martin
at LACMA
Jessica Simmons
Exquisite L.A.
Featuring:
Analia Saban
Ry Rocklen
Sarah Cain
Intro by Claressinka Anderson
Portraits by Joe Pugliese
Reviews
Made in L.A. 2016
at The Hammer Museum

Doug Aitken
at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA

Mertzbau
at Tif Sigfrids

Jean-Pascal Flavian and Mika Tajima
at Kayne Griffin Corcoran

Mark A. Rodruigez
at Park View

The Weeping Line
Organized by Alter Space
at Four Six One Nine
(S.F. in L.A.)
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Issue 5 August 2016

Letter form the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Non-Fiction
at The Underground Museum
Catherine Wagley
The Art of Birth Carmen Winant
Escape from Bunker Hill
John Knight
at REDCAT
Travis Diehl
Ed Boreal Speaks Benjamin Lord
Art Advice (from Men) Sarah Weber
Routine Pleasures
at the MAK Center
Jonathan Griffin
Exquisite L.A.
Featuring:
Fay Ray
John Baldessari
Claire Kennedy
Intro by Claressinka Anderson
Portraits by Joe Pugliese
Reviews Revolution in the Making
at Hauser Wirth & Schimmel

Carl Cheng
at Cherry and Martin

Joan Snyder
at Parrasch Heijnen Gallery

Elanor Antin
at Diane Rosenstein

Performing the Grid
at Ben Maltz Gallery
at Otis College of Art & Design

Laura Owens
at The Wattis Institute
(L.A. in S.F.)
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Issue 4 May 2016

Letter from the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Moon, laub, and Love Catherine Wagley
Walk Artisanal Jonathan Griffin
Reconsidering
Marva Marrow's
Inside the L.A. Artist
Anthony Pearson
Mystery Science Thater:
Diana Thater
at LACMA
Aaron Horst
Informal Feminisms Federica Bueti and Jan Verwoert
Marva Marrow Photographs
Lita Albuquerque
Interiors and Interiority:
Njideka Akunyili Crosby
Char Jansen
Reviews L.A. Art Fairs

Material Art Fair, Mexico City

Rain Room
at LACMA

Evan Holloway
at David Kordansky Gallery

Histories of a Vanishing Present: A Prologue
at The Mistake Room

Carter Mull
at fused space
(L.A. in S.F.)

Awol Erizku
at FLAG Art Foundation
(L.A. in N.Y.)
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Issue 3 February 2016

Letter from the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Le Louvre, Las Vegas Evan Moffitt
iPhones, Flesh,
and the Word:
F.B.I.
at Arturo Bandini
Lindsay Preston Zappas
Women Talking About Barney Catherine Wagley
Lingua Ignota:
Faith Wilding
at The Armory Center
for the Arts
and LOUDHAILER
Benjamin Lord
A Conversation
with Amalia Ulman
Char Jansen
How We Practice Carmen Winant
Share Your Piece
of the Puzzle
Federica Bueti
Amanda Ross-Ho Photographs
Erik Frydenborg
Reviews Honeydew
at Michael Thibault

Fred Tomaselli
at California State University, Fullerton

Trisha Donnelly
at Matthew Marks Gallery

Bradford Kessler
at ASHES/ASHES
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Issue 2 November 2015

Letter from the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
Hot Tears Carmen Winant
Slow View:
Molly Larkey
Anna Breininger and Kate Whitlock
Americanicity's Paintings:
Orion Martin
at Favorite Goods
Tracy Jeanne Rosenthal
Layers of Leimert Park Catherine Wagley
Junkspace Junk Food:
Parker Ito
at Kaldi, Smart Objects,
White Cube, and
Château Shatto
Evan Moffitt
Melrose Hustle Keith Vaughn
Max Maslansky Photographs
Monica Majoli
at the Tom of Finland Foundation
White Lee, Black Lee:
William Pope.L’s "Reenactor"
Travis Diehl
Dora Budor Interview Char Jensen
Reviews Mary Ried Kelley
at The Hammer Museum

Tongues Untied
at MOCA Pacific Design Center

No Joke
at Tanya Leighton
(L.A. in Berlin)
Snap Reviews Martin Basher at Anat Ebgi
Body Parts I-V at ASHES ASHES
Eve Fowler at Mier Gallery
Matt Siegle at Park View
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Issue 1 August 2015

Letter from the Editor Lindsay Preston Zappas
MEAT PHYSICS/
Metaphysical L.A.
Travis Diehl
Art for Art’s Sake:
L.A. in the 1990s
Anthony Pearson
A Dialogue in Two
Synchronous Atmospheres
Erik Morse
with Alexandra Grant
SOGTFO
at François Ghebaly
Jonathan Griffin
#studio #visit
with #devin #kenny
@barnettcohen
Mateo Tannatt
Photographs
Jibade-Khalil Huffman
Slow View:
Discussion on One Work
Anna Breininger
with Julian Rogers
Reviews Pierre Huyghe
at LACMA

Mernet Larsen
at Various Small Fires

John Currin
at Gagosian, Beverly Hills

Pat O'Niell
at Cherry and Martin

A New Rhythm
at Park View

Unwatchable Scenes and
Other Unreliable Images...
at Public Fiction

Charles Gaines
at The Hammer Museum

Henry Taylor
at Blum & Poe/ Untitled
(L.A. in N.Y.)
Buy the Issue In Our Online Shop
Distribution
Central
1301 PE
Anat Ebgi (La Cienega)
Anat Ebgi (Wilshire)
Arcana Books
Artbook @ Hauser & Wirth
as-is.la
Babst Gallery
Baert Gallery
Bel Ami
BLUM
Canary Test
Carlye Packer
Charlie James Gallery
Château Shatto
Chris Sharp Gallery
Cirrus Gallery
Clay ca
Commonwealth & Council
Craft Contemporary
D2 Art (Inglewood)
D2 Art (Westwood)
David Kordansky Gallery
David Zwirner
Diane Rosenstein
dublab
FOYER-LA
François Ghebaly
Gana Art Los Angeles
GAVLAK
George Billis Gallery
Giovanni's Room
Hamzianpour & Kia
Hannah Hoffman Gallery
Harkawik
Harper's Gallery
Hashimoto Contemporary
Heavy Manners Library
Helen J Gallery
Human Resources
Hunter Shaw Fine Art
ICA LA
in lieu
JOAN
Karma
LACA
LaPau Gallery
Lisson Gallery
Lowell Ryan Projects
Luis De Jesus Los Angeles
M+B
MAK Center for Art and Architecture
Make Room Los Angeles
Matter Studio Gallery
Matthew Brown Los Angeles
MOCA Grand Avenue
Monte Vista Projects
Morán Morán
Moskowitz Bayse
Murmurs
Nazarian / Curcio
Night Gallery
Nino Mier Gallery
Nonaka-Hill
NOON Projects
O-Town House
OCHI
One Trick Pony
Pace
Paradise Framing
Park View / Paul Soto
Patricia Sweetow Gallery
Praz-Delavallade
Regen Projects
Reparations Club
r d f a
REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater)
Roberts Projects
Royale Projects
Sean Kelly
Sebastian Gladstone
Shoshana Wayne Gallery
SHRINE
Simchowitz
Smart Objects
SOLDES
SPRÜTH MAGERS
Steve Turner
Stroll Garden
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
The Box
The Fulcrum
The Hole
The Landing
The LODGE
The Poetic Research Bureau
The Wende Museum
Thinkspace Projects
Tierra del Sol Gallery
Tiger Strikes Astroid
Tomorrow Today
Track 16
Tyler Park Presents
USC Fisher Museum of Art
UTA Artist Space
Various Small Fires
Village Well Books & Coffee
Wönzimer
Outside L.A.
Libraries/ Collections
Baltimore Museum of Art (Baltimore, MD)
Bard College, CCS Library (Annandale-on-Hudson, NY)
Charlotte Street Foundation (Kansas City, MO)
Cranbrook Academy of Art (Bloomfield Hills, MI)
Getty Research Institute (Los Angeles, CA)
Los Angeles Contemporary Archive (Los Angeles, CA)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Los Angeles, CA)
Maryland Institute College of Art (Baltimore, MD)
Midway Contemporary Art (Minneapolis, MN)
Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles, CA)
NYS College of Ceramics at Alfred University (Alfred, NY)
Pepperdine University (Malibu, CA)
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (San Francisco, CA)
School of the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, IL)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY)
University of California Irvine, Langston IMCA (Irvine, CA)
University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA)
Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN)
Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, NY)
Yale University Library (New Haven, CT)

Art in Isolation
with Alison Saar

Alison Saar in her studio.

In the coming weeks, Carla founder and editor-in-chief Lindsay Preston Zappas will be hosting chats with members of the L.A. art community via Instagram Live on Fridays. 

The following was edited for web from an Instagram Live conversation on April 24, 2020 at 5:30 PST.

Lindsay Preston Zappas: One thing you wanted to talk about was how nature has been really soothing, and [about] finding a space for nature.

Alison Saar: I am really fortunate—I was raised in Laurel Canyon, and [when] we moved back from New York, we found a place in Laurel Canyon. Not only am I a mile away from my mom, which is really great, but we’re in this oak canopy, and there’s flora and fauna and lots of birds and wildlife, so it’s really lovely. It doesn’t feel we’re being shut in so much because we have this beautiful yard to be in.

LPZ: Have you been doing any gardening, or any landscaping?

AS: My daughter had [gotten] together a little garden and gave me the bug. We put in a little vegetable garden—we’ll see. We actually don’t have much sun because we have these great oak trees, so we’ll see if we get enough… you know, if we get one tomato in October or whatnot…

[Both laugh]

AS: We converted part of our garage into a ceramics studio, so right now, we’re trying to lay down some broken concrete paver so we can get a table put in [and] a little outdoor sink. It’s too hot to work on it today, but that’s in the plans. 

LPZ: Yeah, I know. It’s getting to that summer heat. I can feel it; it’s coming for us. All the artists without air conditioning in our studios… It’s pretty difficult.

AS: Yeah, it always comes hard and fast. 

LPZ: You mentioned that you’ve also shifted in scale during this time in your studio. I know, typically, you work huge. You have very life-size sculptures. [Can you] talk about how you’ve had to downsize or shift the way you’re working?

AS: My real studio is out in the valley in North Hollywood, [and] I’ve been trying to not travel so much, so I’m staying home. My old studio was in the garage, so I’m back in the garage, which is now primarily a print studio. I’ve got a couple of presses in there. Part of the reason I moved to this other studio in the Valley [was] not only because [it has] this big space, but also because I work with chainsaws and grinders. You can see this lovely neighborhood being totally destroyed by all of that noise, so I could bring my chainsaws here, but my neighbors would probably kill me. 

LPZ: It’s so funny because my husband also makes wood sculpture, and he does [use the] chainsaw in our backyard. As you’re talking about this, I’m like, “oh no!” I hope our neighbors aren’t going to kill us, but I don’t know. It might be a little more “live and let live” over here.

AS: Between all of the leaf-blowers and all of the construction, they probably wouldn’t notice. I used to work between ten and five, so I really shortened my time that I could work. So now this is great. Now, I’m actually making these little figures.

LPZ: So you’re just whittling those with hand tools? 

AS: Yeah. I got these brand-new little tools. Whittling is totally new to me, so I’m trying that. It’s nice to make these tiny figures. I can do it in the backyard. It’s not noisy. It’s more contemplative and chill, so that’s really been fun. I’m just trying to do little contained things, and it’s not so manic. I’m worried [that] with all this anxiety, wielding a chainsaw anyhow might be a little dangerous. 

LPZ: You said whittling is new for you. Typically, when you make your larger figures, do you do any small maquettes like that? 

AS: Well, I did do that for this Harriet Tubman piece, but when I did that, we basically ended up re-carving and re-claying it in its full scale, which was 13 by 11 by… I don’t know many feet. It’s huge. Generally, I don’t make little maquettes. Sometimes, I’ll do a small version of it, and then do a giant version of it, but I don’t necessarily consider them maquettes.

LPZ: Right. As you said, it’s such a different process to simplify your materials and your setup. I’m sure, how you normally work—it’s heavy, it’s big, the chainsaw, and probably there’s people helping you at different times. Now, you’re talking about this very simple gesture of whittling in the yard.

AS: Yeah. I’m finding it great fun. Within the studio, I usually don’t have a lot of folks. Sometimes, I have one woman who has been helping me for a while. I do all the carving, but they’ll hammer on the metal and things like that. Since I’m not doing any of the big work right now, and I’m in-between shifting gears—I’ve got some public pieces coming up.

LPZ: You have a show coming up this fall. Is it two locations, the Armory Center for the Arts and Pomona College Museum of Art

AS: Yeah, yeah. They’ve divided the show up. It’s called Of Aether and Earthe. One is dealing more [with] the earth aspect of my work, which looks at nature and a lot of these different water deities, [so] more grounded pieces. The show at the Armory is going to [have] works that are more metaphysical, or things that talk about expanding or transgression, transforming, and stuff like that. So it’s organized thematically, and when it opens to the public, [there will] be a bronze sculpture that’s out in front of the Benton Museum, which is Pomona College’s new museum, [and] my show will be the inaugural exhibition for it. 

LPZ: How has [it] been having this on the horizon and being forced to switch how you’re working? How far along [are you] in [your] progress?

AS: Luckily, I just finished the public commission. It’s still actually at the foundry, and we’re to wrangle a way to get it installed. The only other new piece that I’m doing will be an installation at the Armory, so I’m gathering material.

I’ve got the wood glued together, so that’s going to take a while to set up. I can then go back into the studio and start carving the bigger one. Hopefully, it won’t get too hot. I can work on that since everything else is on this weird, interim-hiatus space. There’s things that are going to all [be] pushed back, so we’ll just see how that turns out.

LPZ: Totally. It’s very difficult to have deadlines that are firm right now. I think all of us are trying to work with deadlines, project forward, and plan for the future, but it’s really difficult to do that. 

AS: For sure. We’re making this beautiful catalogue for the exhibition, so we’re pushing that through. At least that’s something we can do online between the designers, myself, and the curators. I think that’s pretty much done. It’s really beautiful, so I’m excited about that. It’ll be my first real, major, [and] retrospective-type catalog, so I’m excited.

LPZ: That’s amazing. I feel like there’s been a couple [exhibitions] in the last year where there’s an artist that’s split across venues like that, and I think it’s a really unique opportunity to present two dueling ideas together and reach more people. Pomona and [the] Armory both have different communities and education programs, so that’s really exciting.

AS: We’re hoping. But, by the time you’re in Pasadena, Pomona’s not much farther. We’re hoping people will, for one, realize that it’s not really that big a distance. I went to Scripps College, so I’m used to doing that trek. It’ll be interesting that they can bring students into Pasadena, and [vice versa]. We’re hoping people will actually go see both shows, but you never know. We’ll put it out there and see who responds. I’m excited. It’s going to be a pretty big show.

LPZ: That’s wonderful. So back to working small, and taking a break from all of that, in a way, or taking a break from the normal studio hustle. I feel like you’ve been making so much work, in the past few years especially—producing a lot! Does it feel like a welcome relief to go back to working small, and pulling the small prints? Does it feel like you have this time that’s a little more open-ended?

AS: It has been three years of constantly working towards shows, and the last being at Frieze. I had a booth at L.A. Louver.

LPZ: I know, it was packed with work! Oh my god. 

AS: Thanks. It was fun. But at this point, it’s refreshing to be able to go into the studio without a deadline, [and] without pre-set things that you have to do. You can go in and experiment, so that’s what led me to whittling, which is quite fun. Usually, when I make prints, I actually have professionals edition them, but this was an opportunity to try and do a simple print, and most of them registered…

This is the way I remember [how] art-making used to be, where you didn’t have any of these pressures, or a deadline for a gallery. So it’s really refreshing.

LPZ: Do you feel like there are things that you’re doing now, in this scaled-back, more free space, that might inform what you make next—as far as whittling and pulling these simple prints?

AS: Yeah, perhaps. I’m also excited because I bought a kiln a year ago, mainly for my daughter who works in ceramics. But for myself, I’m like, “that’s something I never really explored.” I should start making things and see what happens. That might definitely turn into something. We’ll see. It’s always nice to be in the position where you can experiment and get outside of your doldrums, but you really get set in your ways. 

LPZ: One thing that you mentioned in our emails [was] intimacy. I wanted to talk about that idea of intimacy and how you are thinking about that in this time of isolation [when] we’re all alone, but together, and I was just curious [about] what you meant by intimacy.

AS: In some respects, it’s just the intimacy [of] working in super small scales. I mean, this stuff is right up in my face. Also, the only people I’ve seen [are] my husband and my kids, who drop by periodically, and my mother. So, our little clan, our little circles become very small and really tight, and I’m fortunate, actually, to have that many people we can safely contact. 

It really causes you to—I don’t know, we’ve had some really great conversations that we wouldn’t have had otherwise, and it’s just been really nice. [My son] Kyle’s been working for me. He’s showing me a little video and doing some prints. He works in the film industry, so all of that’s completely shut down. It’s been nice to have some time with him to myself. He’s always so busy when he’s working, so it’s kind of nice to have that too.

LPZ: I feel the same way. I’ve been connecting with family a lot more. It’s interesting how I’m almost reaching out more than normal, and it puts interactions in a different scope. In my day-to-day life, I have a lot of interactions with people that are more acquaintance-level, or small talk type of stuff. I feel like we’re all connecting in a deeper way.

AS: Yeah, I think so. Every day, I’ll go through my contacts list and try to find someone that I haven’t spoken to in a while, leave them a voicemail, [and] tell them what we’re up to, what we’re streaming or what we’re cooking. A lot of people are doing some great cooking, so [it’s] really fun to share recipes. It’s been nice to [ask], “who do I want to be in touch with today?” I wouldn’t normally do that.

LPZ: Right. I’ve been also feeling a nostalgia for those people, too, and people from my past that I haven’t talked to in years. I’ve been thinking about and reaching out to them, and it’s interesting that this experience has brought some of that up.

AS: It’ll be something to keep in mind in the future, that we don’t lose track of that so much as well. People are so dependent now on Instagram, media, and all of that stuff. You know, I actually just want to write letters, but then, I don’t want to [jam up the] postal system either. 

That’s the thing. You second guess everything you buy. Is it really necessary? Do we need to have some poor fellow put this in some box with all this Styrofoam and send it to me? 

LPZ: Totally. I’ve been buying some stuff online, but being so much more conscious about it, [and] trying to source those things in a more sustainable way.

AS: Walking around the neighborhood, you see everybody’s blue recycl[ing] trash cans [are] filled to the brim with Amazon boxes, and I’m like, “[look] all of this.” I mean, we have [to pay more attention]. We should have been for a while, but it’s kind of exemplified right now.

LPZ: That’s been on my mind a lot… I feel like so many people have been saying, “I am loving this! I don’t want it to go back to normal,” and almost feeling guilty for that. You know, “I’m loving it too much. Maybe I shouldn’t be so happy during this difficult time.”

AS: Yeah. The two sides of it [are]—we’re really fortunate to have a home and all these other things—to actually have enough to buy our food and all of that. On one hand, it really is like a “staycation,” but we have to really recognize how fortunate we are that we have the ability to actively enjoy this time, whereas a lot of folks don’t. Again, I feel guilty about being happy making my little sculptures.

LPZ: I’ve been thinking all of that as well, but we have to find joy where we can: in going outside in your yard. Self-care has become much more prioritized for me in a way that I neglected before.

AS: —I just painted my toenails. 

LPZ: Oh, you did? That’s lovely. 

AS: I never [do] that. Maybe that’s too much information.

LPZ: That’s awesome. We have one question from a good friend of mine, Lani, who’s down in San Diego. She said she loves your work, and [asked], “Where do you go for inspiration?”

AS: It’s a combination of things. Sometimes, I get it from music. Sometimes, it’s from materials. I scrounge a lot of materials, and find a lot of materials, and those will suggest things to me or take me places. Sometimes, it’s the dark news that we’ve been having for the last four years, and I try to take that and turn it around to be something that can somehow point toward a lighter era at some point. 

Sometimes, it comes out of the news, things that I’m reading, television, or things that we’re experiencing with people out there. Even being rude to folks walking down the street, so sometimes that’ll take it in one direction. For Frieze, we made this funny little cookbook, so I’ve been finding inspiration in looking at my cooking ancestry from my grandfather and my grandmother. My grandfather lived in Texas, and was huge in barbecue. All of these simple comfort foods that also point toward a whole way of life for folks. It comes from anywhere. It can come from the kitchen, it can come from the newspapers and the radio. 

Alison Saar, Hot Comb Haint, Louella (2020). Wood, acrylic, spray tar, and found hot comb, 12.5 x 2.75 x 3 inches. Image courtesy of the artist.

LPZ: You’re talking about these cerebral ideas, but also looking back at family history and things like that. Your work has such a physicality to it. It’s really interesting to hear how your inspiration might meet that kind of physicality, because the sculptures themselves feel so approachable, and physical, and open-ended in a way… I love when works can start with one thing, idea, or impetus and branch out from there and have dual entry points for people.

AS: Right… For example, these little pieces that I’m carving are half of what are going to be these hot-comb figures. I kept collecting all these beautiful hot combs, and so then, I was like, “what could they be? What could they turn into?” I was really intrigued by the idea that these figures were these spirits, and the handles—I used to love the hot combs with the handles which were always all burnt by the fact that I’m too close to the burner. I started to think, “oh, these handles take on all of this heat. I saw them combing out all of our actual wildness by making our hair straight or Anglified. 

I really like this idea that spirit and that power and that sassiness—that kink had to go somewhere. These handles absorb that energy and so they’re called [Hot Comb Haint]. They’re the spirit of all of that wildness that you took out of your hair by straightening it. So, they get complicated and they [mean] different things to different people. People [who] don’t use hot combs might have a completely different take on it, but it just brought back all of these memories of my grandmother’s kitchens, my mom’s kitchen, and even going with my mom to the hair salon. All of the gossip and the hair salon things, and how it’s this very social thing around fixing your hair. 

It seemed like once the deed was done, then you were like a prisoner to the hair that was all straight. You couldn’t go swimming or go in the rain. I love getting to that point, because it’s such a rich, social, loving atmosphere where people are massaging your head. It’s so [rich]. That’s one thing that inspires these wacky, crazy pieces. I never know where it’s going to come from, basically, and materials dictate—I try to do one thing with it, but it refuses to go that way, so I have to collaborate with the materials themselves, too. 

LPZ: I love that idea of the handle becoming this infused energy. Like you were saying, brushing out the wildness and then it gets absorbed in the comb. It’s almost like this talisman or magical object.

AS: I figure that energy had to go somewhere, so why not in the handle? Again, the handles, as objects, spoke to me. You could see the burnt areas where the grease is all gathered up in the comb. I also feel that way with skillets. This last show [at L.A. Louver] had a couple of pieces dealing with skillets too. My skillets are good and clean on the inside, but they have a history of grease boiled up on the outside. I love that. That’s cross-cultural—that is true for most folks.

LPZ: No, totally. I love that idea. I’ve heard in past interviews of you talking about using found materials, going to the Watts Towers when you were younger, and things like that really influencing your use of found materials and things that have a history and a past, and that [have] a use and story to them.

AS: Right. I always have a specific narrative to the piece, but something exists beyond. Each viewer can glean their own history of that and find their own confluence with that piece of work by their own experiences. That’s when it’s nice that art can have this openness… and this history to it that people can find a bit of themselves in those pieces, which is what I hope happens, [but] maybe not necessarily at all. It’s what I aspire to.

LPZ: Yeah. I think that’s really true. There’s something about the materiality that really draws you in. The physicality of it, which, for me, is accessible from any walk of life. The presence of an object—you can tell they’ve handled and really crafted [it], which brings so much accessibility.

AS: When I was in grad school, I studied with Dr. Samella Lewis at Scripps. They had a really amazing selection of African art, and she would bring these pieces out, and everyone’s like, “what is that surface?” These are libations–liquor, and whatnot, [and] palm oil. This laying on of hands, this adoration, and touching of these surfaces that imbued them with this amazing power. 

The surface is really important to me. My hands are all screen now, but they’re doing this: [gesticulates wildly]. Touching is really a [thing] that I understand. Unfortunately, in museum settings, the art can only be partially experienced, because going out there, touching it, and feeling it [isn’t an option]. Even your ability to put your palms on it is how these pieces grow and accumulate power. 

LPZ: In an ideal situation, would you prefer to have your works be interactive when they are exhibited, or open for people to touch them?

AS: I would, and that’s one of the perks of being in your own house. You can do that. There are some pieces where I actively encourage participation. I have some pieces where they were distillery systems, so you had to squeeze these little things to make the water run through. One of them was a boxing glove that filled up with water, and of course, it would never fall in the pan or in the bucket as it was supposed to, so it would splash. Then, people just took it upon themselves to take the map and mop up the spilled blood, and I was like, “oh, that’s really great.” They really became involved in it, and weren’t thinking, “oh, am I supposed to touch the broom now? Is this allowed? Is that allowed?” It just felt like they were into it. They were experiencing the work as it was [meant] to function. 

Alison’s studio.
Alison’s studio.
Alison’s studio.
Alison Saar, White Guise (2019). Woodcut, relief, shellac-stained paper, hand-tinted iron on Mulberry non-bleached, natural deckled edge (Blue Heron Arts), 55 × 27.5 inches. Edition of 20. Image courtesy of the artist.
Alison Saar, Kitchen Amazon (2019). Wood, ceiling tin, barbed wire, tar, found skillets, linoleum, and found chain, 81 x 21 x 20 inches. Image courtesy of the artist.

Lindsay Preston Zappas is an L.A.-based artist, writer, and founder and editor-in-chief of Carla. She is an arts correspondent for KCRW. She received her MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art and attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2013.

More by Lindsay Preston Zappas