Local Art Residency - Chris Manobianco

LC: Thank you so much for allowing us to share your propagation stations here at Local! In six years, this is the first work of its kind and we're so happy to have them. Let's start at the beginning of this journey as such an interesting story. How did you begin working in this space?

Chris: No, thank you!! It has definitely been a slow progression into woodworking, but picking up steam over the last couple years. I’ve always loved working with my hands and building things since I was young. The quarantines over the past few years gave me some extra time to become more comfortable with wood, and the tools, to begin experimenting building some things!

LC: Please tell us how working in this medium has made you feel as I have to believe that the transformation from raw materials to a beautifully finished product is an extremely cathartic process.

Chris: It certainly is! It’s amazing to see the wood go from a very rough material, to a silky smooth and very solid feeling end product. Each step cleans up the rough edges, creates more definition in the piece, and brings out the natural beauty of the wood. It is also a very tactile hobby, each species has its own weight, grain, and smell as you work on it, really immersing you into the craft. After a long day of staring at a screen, it’s quite relaxing to bring something to life.

LC: Tell us about the types of woods that you seek out and are there any particular favorites? 

Chris: I am still very new to this and exploring the world of hardwoods, but the most prevalent ones in my current work are Maple, Mahogany, Cherry, Paduak, and Purpleheart. Out of those Paduak (the bright orang-ish/red one) is my favorite. There is something about the vibrance contrasting your typical browns of many other woods that always catches my eye. With that being said I love shopping at the wood supplier and seeing what new types I can try. The latest round of propagation stations will include a species called Wormy Maple, which has a really unique pattern.

LC: Perhaps a funny question but what has been the most interesting cutting or plant that has made its way into one of the stations?

Chris: A true staple in most of my propagation stations is the Pothos, featured on the walls in the coffee shop today! That being said one of the more exciting plants is definitely a Monstera Deliciosa plant (also known as a swiss cheese plant), with broad, bright green leaves and large fenestrations! I absolutely LOVE seeing the creativity of what everyone else puts in them, so shoot me a message on Instagram with your best décor!

LC: You included a philanthropic cause in this exhibition. Why is this important to you?

Chris: The root and name behind the company comes from my Mini Australian Shepherd, Evie, who I adopted about 8 years ago from a truly horrible shelter in the south. Since then I’ve always tried to be a big advocate for both pet adoption and animal sanctuaries in general. Having a hobby that allows me to both enjoy building new things and give back to charities is truly a win win!

LC: As a fellow canine enthusiast, I love that your heart is in this place as well. Tell us about Evie :)

Chris: I touched on this a little above, but Evie is one of the most unique dogs you’ll ever meet. Her experiences before I adopted her continue to impact her to this day so she is definitely not an average dog. She loves long walks, and carrying around her stuffed toys to show off to the neighborhood, and drinking water (weird, I know)!

LC: What is your favorite coffee or tea beverage?

Chris: While tea is always a morning staple, I have been slowly increasing my coffee intake over the years. While I’m still in the minor leagues (hello lattes <3), I am slowly becoming a more adventurous drinker! I will continue to work my way through the Local Coffee Menu in the coming months!

See more from Chris on his Instagram Page here

Local Art Residency - Fiona Chinkan

LC: Thank you so much for sharing your work here at the shop! What a wonderful reception thus far! Tell us why you chose them for the shop?

Thank you for the opportunity to share my work with the Local Coffee Montclair community - I really appreciate it! 

I chose these particular works because of the time of year! When New Year's rolls around, many of us are thinking of goals, resolutions or ways to challenge ourselves. On January 1st 2019, I decided to challenge myself creatively by taking on the "100 Day Project", where I would do one drawing a day for 100 days in a row. I managed to complete my goal and exhibit all 100 works together in a solo show later that year (Image here: http://www.fionac.nyc/100-day-project). Now 2 years later, I have less than 50 still available in my shop, but thought it would be fun to showcase the project together again.

LC: What do you hope viewers take away from this showing?
I hope by seeing this, it may inspire others to take on their own creative challenge this year!

LC: You mentioned the 100 day project in association with these works. Tell us more about this -

I became familiar with it through seeing fellow artists online participating through the hashtag #The100DayProject. While some folks draw and paint, other people do gardening or other hobbies they want to invest more time into. There are also several artistic challenges out there, such as "March Meet the Maker" or "Inktober", but they involve everyone working from the same "prompts" for a month. Something about creating my own personal boundaries for 100 days was appealing. I also had stacks of leftover color-aid paper that I thought would go to good use for this type of project. For anyone interested in doing their own project, you can see more on the official website here: https://www.the100dayproject.org/ 

LC: In reading your bio, I smiled at the notion of the 'shoot from the hip' style as I can often find this approach incredibly difficult to accomplish. Even when we hung your work, we were relatively loose and fast in the composition - and it worked out so well! Tell me about this approach especially as you work in a medium where people will review your work.

My personal approach to artwork is to have a dialogue with each piece I create. If I were to plan every brushstroke ahead of time, I don't believe it would be as interesting of a conversation. As an abstract artist, I'm able to really invest myself into a work and explore my emotions on a deeper level when I leave room to react to the surface as I build layer upon layer. There is something exciting about starting a new work with an idea in my head, but then seeing the unknown unfold as I let the moment lead me. There is a constant push and pull between being in control and letting chaos rule, which I enjoy. Even with the installation, I like a level of flexibility. I can plan everything inch by inch, but I may miss an opportunity that comes up in the present if I'm too attached to a plan. Being in the present in the moment and being open to possibilities is what excites me about the creative process.

I saw James Victore speak many years ago and he said something that has stuck with me. He asked the audience, "what is the most important part of business?" People replied with "money", "productivity", "efficiency", etc. He replied, "No. The most important part is play." As adults, we spend so much time in schedules and having every aspect of our lives planned, that we forget to "play". Even with creating artwork, some artists forget to "play". I like to leave myself open to "play" in my creative process.

LC: In our conversation, we discovered that we shared a bit of history together having worked at the same fashion company. How has working in a creative based industry such as fashion served or frustrated your gifts as an artist? 

Working as an graphic designer/art director has most definitely influenced my work. From my mark-making style, which developed out of my obsession with lettering, to the paper I work on, which is recycled from photoshoot backdrops. My choices with color, composition and even how I display my work are all influenced by my time in the fashion industry. With that said, it is also easy to burn yourself out creatively when working full-time in a creative role. I was spending my little free-time trying to harness any creative energy left to produce works for art fairs, gallery exhibits, etc. When I had a photoshoot call time of 8am, but was up at 5am to paint before going into work, I knew I was burning the candle at both ends. Thus I made the leap to be an artist full-time and this will be my 5th year of doing so.

LC: What is your favorite coffee or tea beverage?

I enjoy a latte, whether it's normal or a fun flavor like matcha. Hot or cold depending on the weather. Latte art or no art. Latte's just feel like a fun indulgence :)

Learn more about Fiona here

Local Art Residency - Janette Afsharian

LC: Janette, we first connected more than a year ago when the concept of showing your work at Local was first discussed. What I remember from that call is that we were on the phone for more than an hour (which is a rarity these days) and it was the most honest and enjoyable conversation I had in a long time. You have this pure form of communicating that both made me laugh but also made me feel better about some of my own thoughts. Have you always been this forthcoming in your dialogue?

JA: We totally clicked. Our phone conversation was great. But seeing you in action at Local it’s pretty obvious you have a talent for making people feel comfortable. It may be one of those, “it ain't me, it’s you” type of things. However, you are right that I’m pretty candid. I have a tendency to lead with letting people know I’m not on 100% footing on many things. I’ve been joking around lately saying that in a job interview when asked what are some of my weaknesses I’d say, “I’m wrong a lot of time.” Thankfully, I’m self-employeed. Also, I’m super cool until I totally panic. I like to tell people I’m the person that you’ll have to shake and slap a few times when things get in a high stress situation. Even though I like to lead with my mess, at times, I do have my crap together (sort of) but I like to connect with people on the interesting and funny stuff... the struggle that’s where I relate.

LC: I love this approach because I can tell immediately when either a person, a brand OR anything else for that matter tries to be or do something that they do not have the experience or right to express. Think this is part of the beauty of growing up in NYC... most of us can immediately sense authenticity or lack of it. How did your childhood and/or formidable years contribute to you being so real?

JA: That is 100% why when I moved to New York City 25+ years ago, I knew I had found home. I grew up with two cultures that strongly believe in manners over truth. The Iranian culture (my dad) and Texans (my mom) have may subtle mannerism which always left me wondering what was the truth. In New York if they like you knew it, if they wanted you to get the fuck out of the way, you knew it. I loved it!

LC: OK so I was setting you up with questions number 1 + 2...tell me how this honesty translates into your craft and expressing yourself in your art?

JA: Honestly, I have no idea. I think I’m trying to work out something in all these lines but I’m not sure. I paint in my attic listening to music. It’s meditative for the most but part but I do get frustrated at times because I can’t draw a perfect cat or deer or something like that but then I just move back on to my abstract line drawings. I try to balance the colors and find depth and balance as I draw each line with yard sticks. I try to perfect some things and destroy others as a progress. I think about my family, friends, kids, my past, crazy times, marketing art, and grand ideas of being an artist as a grow old. I'm really simply painting because I have always wanted to but also always found a reason not to until now. I’m just doing it.

LC: Tell us about this work you chose to share -

JA: Right now, I have a total of what I think of as four collections of work. The first, are in a minimalism style and fall into the Gerhard Ricther area (people say). I love these but some may I think they are too simple. Surprisingly these are ones I get the most purchase requests for on Instagram. I haven’t been able to part with them yet. Next, is the plaid series. These are the most fun to paint and look pretty cool in person but I didn’t think they are complex enough. The third, are leaning into cubism. I don’t have enough of them for a collection plus I just sold one of these yesterday so I have even less now. The forth, Linear Motion, is what I selected to exhibit because they are what I’ve been experimenting with most lately. I think they capture where I’m at with my painting at the moment. A combination of all of the other collection trying to fit into one space and be seen.

LC: I can tell you how much I appreciate it as it just seems so timely right this very moment. There is so much going on right now...so many distractions..so many directions but it is ultimately up to each of us to make sense of all of it. Also, these paths/lines can be quite chaotic but if you step back and breathe, they can also be quite beautiful based on your interpretation. I've gotten more comfortable with this concept as of late. In my best Wendy Williams voice, how you doin' (through all of this)?

JA: I think the painting capture how I’m doing. The lines are stationary yet there is a lot motion.

LC: Alrighty then...I know you are quite busy so I'll save the rest of my questions for when I see you next. But before you go, critical inquiry - what is your favorite coffee or tea beverage?

JA: Black coffee in the US. Black tea in Iran.

Learn more about Janette here and find her on Instagram @janetteafsharian.art

Local Artist Residency - Caleb Levine

Thanks for sharing your work here at Local. It's easy to drift into a conversation about your age and the ability to capture this level and context of imagery - so let's get it out of the way. You're 17 now, when did you start taking photos with the desire to share them to a broader audience?

I've been taking pictures for about five years, beginning in the summer after 6th grade. Public display has never been at the forefront of my creative process, but when an opportunity arose to show my work to my community and support a great cause in the process, I seized it.

Your generation was born with a camera in their hand (b/c of cell phones) as prior had to actively go and purchase a SLR to capture imagery. How do you either bundle yourself with your peers with respect to regularly taking photos OR separate yourself because of your photography intention?

There are elitist photographers who consider pictures taken on mobile devices to be less valuable or worthy of praise, but I find this ridiculous. The advent of pocket-sized cameras has democratized photography in a fascinating way and is responsible for some truly remarkable images. I enjoy taking pictures on my DSLR and not my phone, however, for two main reasons: my camera allows me to manipulate the components of the lens and sensor more directly and finely, and the act of shooting on a bona fide camera provides an intentional headspace that mobile cameras lack for me.

I appreciated the time we took to post your photos at the shop as you had a POV on what went where and to what degree the images played off of each other. Is there a particular story you are working to tell?

Though I was intentional in my placing of the pictures, accounting for color and contrast and brightness and subject matter, I didn't bring one cohesive theme to my installation. It's more of a collection of my best work.

What type of camera do you use for these photos and what technical aspects have you learned about photography from when you started to now?

I shoot on a Canon 80D, and over time have come to refine my use of aperture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance and flash. These are the parts of the camera I handle regularly.

You are donating the proceeds from your sales to the Montclair Sanctuary Alliance. Tell us a bit about the organization and the work they do, especially now during some challenging times.

The Montclair Sanctuary Alliance is a network of interfaith religious bodies of Montclair aimed at supporting and advocating for recently-immigrated families from Central and South American who are at risk of deportation or detention. Moving to a new country is jarring and difficult. But coupled with a language barrier, a pandemic and economic downturn that makes job-search more difficult, young children who struggle academically and socially, and alienating political rhetoric and the impending threat of deportation - you get the idea. These people need help. And the MSA works to provide it.

What's next for your photography platform? Are you aiming to broaden your understanding of this discipline or simply see where the day takes you?

For now, I hope to have a successful show and support the MSA as much as possible. I'm truly honored to have been given this opportunity. Long term though, I plan on studying photography in college and continuing to shoot for years to come.

More about Caleb and this exhibition here