Interviews by Brainard Carey

Esther Sibiude: The Song of Dirt Stammers our Tongue performance at the Kitchen at Westbeth on June 16, 2023. Credit: Rebecca Smeyne for The Kitchen Esther Sibiude is a visual artist, writer, and harpist working in New York. She studied Fine Arts at the Universität der Künste Berlin from 2009-2014. She currently has a show of new drawings at Entrance Gallery in New York City. In complement to her visual art practice she writes radio dramas and curates compilations of poetry and music for radio. Recent performances that she has written, directed and played harp in include“TheSong of Dirt Stammers Our Tongue” a live staged radio operetta performed at the Kitchen last month, and“Esra” a live staged adaptation of a radio drama, performed in the panorama of New York City at the Queens Museum. Esther Sibiude’s music ensemble includes a violist, cellist, vocalist, an organist who plays the synthesizer, and herself on the harp. 'One morning of all the mornings in the world, existence and its problematic aspect rose. Somewhere in this chaotic universe, in a relatively rare occurrence, molecular randomness generated organic proteins.', 2018Colored pencil on paper, 25½ x 31½ in. (Framed) 'Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was a calendar of space whose nature was to distribute good and bad luck. On day one, the calendar imposed vertiginous symmetries. An empty sound sprinkled into pink air.', 2022Colored pencil on paper, 25½ x 31½ in. (Framed) 'Her mind slipped down the stairs.', 2023Colored pencil on paper, 26½ x 38½ in. (Framed)

David Bordett (b. 1991, Shenandoah Valley, VA) is an interdisciplinary sculptor whose work critically examines American lore, half truths, and false promise, casinos and class struggle, road side attractions and exploitation, the optimism of the post war 20th century and the ideologies of control that are at work always in aesthetics. Objects and environments operate as catalysts of fantasy, creating a zone of simultaneous horror and seduction that reveals through popular cultural forms our collective desires, aspersions, and fears. He received his BFA from the VCU Department of Sculpture and Extended Media, and MFA from the Yale Sculpture Department. For now, he maintains no permanent residence and continues to drive his 1999 Toyota Tacoma that at the time of writing shows over 330,000 miles on its odometer. Lower Than Below (even the bluest sky changes hue at night) 2021 hand made excavator bucket: steel, aluminum, plywood, adhesive, fasteners, paint, water, aquatic flora (Collaboration - David Bordett and Tommy Coleman) Wild Card 2023 perforated 1970 Dock Ellis Topps baseball card, LySergic acid Diethylamide, aluminum, steel, concrete, rebar, museum acrylic, paint, security fasteners, Georgia Pine, western red cedar, Arri tripod stand, moss Starry, Speculative, Spectacle, Skeptical 2023. wood, electrical components, incandescent lightbulbs, braided steel line and hardware, recovered Volkswagen Karmann Ghia body, yard detritus, soil and sod, projectors

Susan Vecsey adapts the Color Field technique of pouring paint to create a personal language of abstraction, rooted in the natural world and the human experience of it. In a distinctive process that includes plein-air charcoal drawing, pastel and color studies, and multiple pours of liquefied oil on a surface of raw Belgian linen, she builds compositions in luminous tonal combinations that evoke the optical effects of sea, light, and air. Inspired by the landscapes of eastern Long Island, Vecsey’s paintings evoke not just a place, but it’s very atmosphere. Born in New Jersey in 1971, Vecsey earned her B.A. from Barnard College and her M.F.A. from the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture, where she studied with Graham Nickson. She has had solo exhibitions at Greenville County Museum in South Carolina, John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor, Tayloe Piggott Gallery in Jackson Hole, and Berry Campbell Gallery in New York, among other venues. She lives and works in Manhattan and East Hampton, Long Island. Susan Vecsey (b. 1971) Untitled (Gray), 2022 Oil on linen 52 x 58 in. (132.1 x 147.3 cm) © Susan VecseyCourtesy Berry Campbell, New York. Susan Vecsey (b. 1971) Untitled (Blue), 2023 Oil on linen 74 x 90 in. (188 x 228.6 cm) © Susan VecseyCourtesy Berry Campbell, New York. Susan Vecsey (b. 1971) Untitled (Blue Nocturne), 2023 Oil on linen 48 x 76 in. (121.9 x 193 cm) © Susan VecseyCourtesy Berry Campbell, New York

Diana Copperwhite(b. 1969, Ireland) lives and works in Dublin and New York. Recent solo exhibitions includeDriven by Distraction, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin (2016),Depend on the Morning Sun,Thomas Jaeckal Gallery, New York (2016) andA Million and One Things Under the Sun, Kevin Kavanagh, Dublin (2015). Selected group exhibitions includeLast Picture Showw/Mary Heilmann, Chris Ofili, Danny Rolph, Vanessa Jackson, Elio Rodriguez, Jill Levine, Rebecca Smith, Thomas Jaeckel Gallery, New York (2017) andVirtú, inc.Picasso, Giacometti, Henry Moore, Elizabeth Magill and Sean Scully at the Hunt Museum, Limerick, Ireland (2017). Copperwhite’s work is held in numerous public and private collections including: the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Arts Council of Ireland, Limerick City Gallery of Art, Office of Public Works, Contemporary Irish Art Society, Highlanes Municipal Art Gallery, Mariehamn Stadbiblioteque, Aland (Finland), Dublin Institute of Technologyand The President of Ireland. TRAPDOOR, 2022, Oil on canvas, 140 x 120 cm BLIZZARD, 2022, Oil on Canvas, 150 x 180 cm

Bjørn Friborg by Joe Kramm Bjørn Friborg is a Danish glass artist based in Denmark. Friborg challenges traditional methods of glass-making with a physically demanding approach that stretches the limits of both the material and technique. His technique is not a means to an end but a performance, as he fearlessly punches, penetrates, manipulates, and ruptures the molten substance to achieve otherworldly and sublimely beautiful results. Friborg’s movements are a tour de force reflective of his mastery. Friborg starts each artwork by blowing a large object that is then penetrated with a mass of silver nitrate-based glass poured on top. The molten nitrate-based glass sculpts the shape, freezes, and becomes an artwork. This process is described as “A blast of energy… all that power that you channel into the material gives it the expression.” Says Friborg. “That’s what it contains, and that’s what I mean when I say that I’m just trying to find the maximum of honesty that it just has. I’m just trying to push myself to the limits. Everything is just really impulsive; all the mixes … are created at the moment. Creating something is coming closer to yourself, and getting to know yourself better. It’s like an addiction, both in terms of doing and not being able to stop doing it.” Friborg began working in the glass industry in 1999 as as a high school drop-out. He then attended the technical school in Kosta for three years and got a job straight out of school at the Orrefors Glassworks where Kosta Boda produced all of their art glass. Friborg received a BFA from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture, Design and Conservation in 2013 after studying in Sweden at the Åfors Glasbruk, V.1 Mästare Ingvar Carlsson “Kalle Pack” and the Kosta Glass School. His work has been exhibited nationally in Denmark and the Scandinavian region and internationally. Installation view of Bjørn Friborg: Imploded, Photo by Joe Kramm Installation view of Bjørn Friborg: Imploded, Photo by Joe Kramm Bjørn Friborg, Implosion, 2023, Hand-blown glass 18" Dia. x 7” D, Photo by Joe Kramm

Tom Duncan’s love for sculpture began at age 4 when he was given a clay set by his aunt. Born in Scotland in 1939 just before World War II broke out, he moved with his mother and brother to New York City shortly after the war ended. Much of Duncan’s artwork reflects memories of his childhood during the war. He is an original tenant at Westbeth, where his three daughters, Rachel, Gwynne, and Jane, grew up. In his Westbeth studio, he has created mixed media pieces likeDedicated to Coney IslandandPortrait of Tom with a Migraine Headache, each of which took some twenty-five years to complete. Tom Duncan (b. 1939) The Execution of Private Slovik, 2009 mixed media 74 x 21.5 x 12.5 inches Tom Duncan(b. 1939) 5 Catholic High School Girls ..., 2001 Mixed media 37 x 22 x 1.5 inches Tom Duncan (b. 1939) Portrait of Tom with a Migraine Headache, 2013 Mixed media 128.75 x 61.5 inches

Julia Felsenthal (b. 1983) is a painter and writer working in Brooklyn and Cape Cod. Born and raised in Chicago, she studied English at Yale University and has written extensively about art and culture for T: the New York Times Style Magazine and Vogue. A lifelong painter, Felsenthal turned her focus to making art full time while living on Cape Cod during the Covid pandemic. Her water paintings emerged from the eeriness and anxiety of that time, and have evolved to reflect the ways that small permutations of the quotidian can become endlessly captivating and sublime. Her work has been exhibited in Brooklyn, NY and across the outer Cape, as well as on Block Island, in Woodstock, NY, and in Seattle, Washington. Felsenthal’s debut solo exhibition with JDJ is on view June 8 through July 21st, 2023. Julia Felsenthal, Ghost Sea in Azurite and Terre Verte, 2023, Watercolor and gouache on paper, 12 x 9 in (30.5 x 22.9 cm) Julia Felsenthal, Dancing Chop, 2022, Watercolor and gouache on paper, 16 x 12 in (40.6 x 30.5 cm) Julia Felsenthal, Over Sea, Under Sea, 2022, Watercolor and gouache on paper, 8 x 6 in (20.3 x 15.2 cm)

portrait by Emma Dove Amy Winstanley (b. 1983, Dumfries, UK) is based in Glasgow, UK. She is currently having a solo show, Lost Hap, at Margot Samel in New York. She received a BA (Hons) in Sculpture from the Edinburgh College of Art (2005) and an MA from the Sandberg Instituut, Amsterdam (2019). Recent solo exhibitions include: Moral Limb, Stallan-Brand, Glasgow, UK (2021); Grief Bruise, Lunchtime Gallery, Glasgow, UK (2021); Inscapes, AndCollective Gallery, Bridge of Allen, UK (2016); and Interconnections, Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries, UK (2015). Recent group exhibitions include: Strangers, Rongwrong, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2022); tangible/intangible, The Haberdashery, Glasgow, UK (2022); Potluck, Gallery 17717, Seoul, South Korea (2021); To All Our Absent Dialogues, Warbling Collective, London, UK (2020); Surge, Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh, UK (2017); Fugue Lounge, Neverneverland, De Punt, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2018); Surge, Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh, UK (2017); Every word left unspoken during the exhibition is the title, Neverneverland, De Punt, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2017); Spring Fling at Home, Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries, UK (2014); and Members Show, Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, UK (2015). Winstanley was nominated for the Sluijter prize for painting 2019 (Netherlands), and has been the recipient of the Hope Scott Trust award (2014) and the Creative Scotland Visual Arts Award (2010 and 2014). Along with the artist collective ALKMY she has published short stories and images in What Ties Ties, Ties (2020) and What Thoughts Think Thoughts (2021) both through Print Art Research Centre, Seoul, Korea. Winstanley has an upcoming solo exhibition at Cample Line, Thornhill, UK in July 2023. Amy Winstanley, Care Bond Chorus, 2023, Oil on canvas, 22 7/8 x 20 7/8 in | 58 x 53 cm, Courtesy the artist and Margot Samel, NYC, Photo by Gregory Carideo Amy Winstanley, Matter is Never a Settled Matter, 2023, Oil on canvas, 59 x 47 1/4 in | 150 x 120 cm, Courtesy the artist and Margot Samel, NYC. Photo by Gregory Carideo Amy Winstanley, Untitled, 2023, Oil on canvas, 13 x 8 7/8 in | 33 x 22.5 cm, Courtesy the artist and Margot Samel, NYC. Photo by Patrick Jameson

Kristen Sanders (b. 1989, California) lives and works in St. Paul, MN. She received a BA from the University of California Davis, and an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. Solo and two person exhibitions include Dreamsong, Minneapolis, MN, St. Cloud State University, St Cloud, MN, Kathryn Brennan Gallery, New York, NY, Step Sister, New York, NY, Sadie Halie Projects, Minneapolis, MN, and Sediment Arts, Richmond, VA. Group exhibitions include Good Mother, Los Angeles, Night Club, Minneapolis, MN, Hair & Nails, Minneapolis, MN, O’Flaherty’s, New York, NY, Monti 8, Latina, Italy, Moosey Art, London, UK, Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ, The Quarter Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, Katherine E. Nash Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, Left Field, Los Osos, CA, H.G. Inn, Chicago, IL, White Columns, New York, NY, and Patrick Parrish Gallery, NY. Residencies include The Maple Terrace, Brooklyn, Lacuna Gallery, Minneapolis, David Wurtzel Travel Scholarship, Florence, Italy, and Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT. Sanders has received press in BOMB Magazine, ARTNews, and New American Paintings. She currently teaches at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Morning Tide, 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 40 x 32 inches In the Negative Spaces, 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 50 x 40 inches Abyssal Plane, 2023, Acrylic on canvas, 27 x 20 inches

photo: Matthew Leifheit Rachel Stern (b. 1989, NYC) is a photographer whose work considers the intersection of beauty and power. Her photo-based installations turn to the tableaux and the proscenium creating dialogue between the histories and uses of kitsch and leftist aesthetics. Using materials culled from strip malls and thrift stores she creates images which ask art and visual culture to enter into a discourse of accessibility and, in the spirit of ‘bread and roses’, demand immediate access to beauty. Her work images a world that might be, built out of the world that is. It is a kitsch paradise, a queer-washed history, and an attempt at hope. She received her BFA in Photography and the History of Art and Visual Culture in 2011 from the Rhode Island School of Design, attended Skowhegan in 2014, and graduated from Columbia University in 2016 with an MFA in Visual Arts. She has exhibited her work at The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Baxter St., Brandies University Kniznick Gallery, Ortega Y Gasset Project, Invisible-Exports, and Asya Geisberg Gallery among others. Her work has been featured in BOMB, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, Vice, Hyperallergic, and Matte Magazine. I Know Not What It Means, 2023, 20x28”, c-print I Will Kiss Thy Mouth, 2022, 30x42”, c-print They Have Looked Too Long, 2023, 25x25”, c-print