PUBLICATIONS
A Conversation wth Carol Salmanson
11211 Magazine, pp. 6-7, July/August, 2004
On May 1st and 2nd 2004, over 300 people participated in the first annual Wiliamsburg Arts Central (WAC) event. The event, which encompassed a five square block radius of Williamsburg surrounding the L/G Lorimer train stations, included exhibitions, music, film and open studios. WAC hailed their event as providing “accessibility unsurpassed ever before into an epicenter of emerging art.” The event was aptly titled “SEE WILLIAMSBURG”.
The immense success of SEE WILLIWAMSBURG reflected the exertion of tireless volunteers like Open Studios Coordinator Carol Salmanson, who supervised seventy-five artists.
On my first visit to Salmanson’s studio, I recognized her organizational skills, and requested she spearhead an Open Studio event in Williamsburg. She makes paintings and drawings, and has branched out into light installations in the last year. Her artwork exudes an inherent strength in composition, craftsmanship, and articulated, consistent concepts. Her studio, diligently self-curated, focuses on placement, lighting, and cohesiveness. As expected, Salmanson’s insight became pivotal in creating WAC.
A month after SEE WILLIAMSBURG, I sat down with Carol in her studio to talk about her work, having a studio in Williamsburg, WAC and the event she helped bring from vision to fruition.
OPEN STUDIO COORDINATOR
(Portrait of a Williamsburg Artist)
Leah Stuhltrager: Strong verticals and symmetry provide a consistent visual structure throughout your compositions. In contrast, the freedom utilized in mark making in your paintings alludes to admiration of organization found in nature. What inspired this visual language?
Carol Salmanson: My work’s about the intricacies of human interaction, which I had to learn about to compensate for my hearing problem, since hearing aids couldn’t help me until recently. In a sense, the work is related to theater at its best, when the play captures the hidden structure of those intricacies and is no longer about the words. Then, it’s about the energy imbedded in subconscious perceptions and calculations, about the things you see and know without realizing it. It’s where information intersects with emotions to create a specific kind of knowledge that is nonverbal, precise, and intense.
The gestural marks are very free, but paradoxically they form layers that end up as highly organized structures. Another paradox in my paintings is the perception of space. The backgrounds are very smooth, uniform surfaces that should read as flat space. But the layers of marks over them serve to transform the backgrounds, and instead they become energized 3-dimensional space.
LS: You’re the only light installation I saw while visiting open studios during SEE WILLIAMSBURG. What led to the development from painting and drawing into light installations?
CS: My painting has always had both an architectural and a theatrical component, a fascination with space and how to transform our perception of it, both intellectual and emotional. It’s also concerned with energy. So the transition to working with light is natural.
I studied dance for years, and used to see a lot of performances. Jennifer Tipton’s stage lighting always amazed me. There were no costumes or stage sets: the lighting alone created the theatrical experience. She carved out whole volumes of space, using light to enhance the emotional, structural and visual aspects of the work. I wrote her in 1997, asking where I could study lighting design, and she invited me to sit in on rehearsals and watch her work, which I’m deeply grateful for. It took me another six years, with several false starts along the way, to really begin working with light. Oddly, I had to go back to dance class; I think it has to do with spatial awareness.
LS: An airbrush is perched in the corner and goggles near a soldering iron. Your latest light installations incorporate LEDs. The variety of materials crosses a wide spectrum. Where did you acquire the technical and manual skills?
CS: I learn where I can; it helps that have a science background. Bill Hampton, an instrument maker, taught me carpentry years ago. An electrical engineer friend, Larry Dunn, taught me the electronics I needed to do my light installation at PS122 this past spring. I then spent time studying on the internet. Mark Esper, a terrific artist working in electronics, came to my studio and gave me pointers, and sound engineer and friend Patrick Derivaz helped perfect my soldering technique. I also managed to find what must be the last electronics-parts store in all of New York, with a Chinese proprietor who is encyclopedic and very generous with his knowledge.
It’s important to me to understand what goes into making the work, rather than simply jobbing it out. Fine art is special because it elevates the human spirit, which is in sore need of uplifting right now. Working out the process somehow helps me connect with that aspect of art-making.
WORKING IN WILLIAMSBURG, WAC & SEE WILLIAMSBURG
LS: I’ve read numerous claims touting Williamsburg as having the largest concentration of artists in the world. How did you find your studio?
CS: In 1999, I thought Williamsburg would be a great place because of the artist population. I homed in on this location because the L and G trains crossed here, and the BQE had a ramp, too.
A lot of people in Manhattan viewed Williamsburg warily, so this location was reassuring since there were ways to make a fast exit! In the last 5 years the area’s undergone lots of changes. There are several artist-owned galleries now that add to the flavor of the neighborhood. I love their focus: each gallery has a different aesthetic, and none are commercially driven. So the work is always really interesting.
LS: Your studio is located in the building that served as the SEE WILLIAMSBURG headquarters. What history do artists in your building have with organizing Open Studio events?
CS: My building organized three Open Studios prior to SEE WILLIAMSBURG. Eileen Weitzman initiated the first one in 2000, Susan Hamburger organized one the following year, and I handled planning in October 2002.
LS: How was SEE WILLIAMSBURG different from other collaborative Open Studio events?
CS: There were two huge differences: Williamsburg Arts Central’s involvement in the event and early planning. SEE WILLIAMSBURG included galleries, artists, businesses, venues, publications and organizations in addition to Open Studios. This made it more exciting for artists and brought more possibilities into the mix.
I had time to make flyers calling for artists. Dalit Gurevich and I started posting fliers up in December, five months in advance. I called our first artists’ meeting in March, two months beforehand. Great ideas were generated: Eric Hollender volunteered to make flags for each building, and we actually had time to design and fabricate them. Dalit suggested a reception area with 8x10 prints of each artist’s work. Joanne Unger made them, Franklin Perkins mounted them and then Dalit, Franklin, Ivan Gaete and Frederic Carpenter installed the images. Joanne and Kathy Koller collected and organized digital images for the website.
None of this could have been done without the extra time we had for planning, or without great graphic design by Tamara Gildengers for WAC. Tamara designed the building flags, and her font was used to create a letterhead for directional signs within the buildings. Organization and the luxury of time made all the difference in the world.
LS: A unified effort went into the Open Studios in details like silk-screened flags, maps, nameplates, a website and reception center. What elements of the event were most important to artists?
CS: I talked to a lot of artists during and after the festival. I sent out an email a few weeks after the event asking artists what we should do differently next year. I was surprised that they basically said: “Nothing!” A number of artists sold work to people they didn’t know. Others got shows. But the most important feedback I got was that we all share this feeling: we go into our studios and close our doors to make our work, whose main purpose is to communicate, and yet we all feel solitary. Artists were happy to have people seeing their work, and also to get to know the other artists around them. I hope we can all find ways to capitalize on our new acquaintanceship.