Interview with Claire Cetera – Artist (Project Ethos)

Tell us about your style and where you draw your influence from?
My style is all over the place and very colorful - just like my personality. LOL. My house is all very neutral colors and mainly white, yet my art continues to come out a lot of the time in these bright bold colors. I think it's from being such a visual person, as well as how fortunate I've been to travel around the world and see many different places—China, Japan, the Philippines, Europe, South America...etc.—as well as being very inspired by the city I live in and love, Los Angeles. These LA streets are very colorfully painted with amazing muralists' work, especially downtown around USC where I went to college and in the Melrose alleys. These local areas are where a lot of my graffiti inspired work came from and the geisha and some of my other influences are inspired from my travels to other countries.

Can you tell me a bit about the materials you used?
I am like a pack rat when it comes to materials. I save everything! Old papers, bottles, stamps, Japanese fortunes I had from when I was baby to magazine clippings…. Things I just liked and wasn't sure where I'd use but knew it might be useful somewhere. I use spray paint, acrylic, oil, modge podge, newspaper, magazines, rhinestones, glitter....really just whatever I want and think would fit the piece I'm working on. :) Even though I was classically trained it's fun to forget everything you've learned and break all the rules again while letting your subconscious keep you on track.

What has being an artist taught you?
Being an artist has taught me to be more expressive as a person. If I don't know what I'm saying, nobody is going to understand me. And, if I am clear about what I want to say and express it articulately people can relate and understand. Sometimes it takes longer to figure that out…just like a painting, sometimes you have to let it sit for a while and simmer about what the next right action to take is. You don't want to rush it and put a big splotch of color on there that you might regret. You want wait for the right next move to come into your conscious. With all that said, I find that art is less literal than a verbal conversation and it really can just be about expressing to its audience a glimpse of how the artist sees the world or whatever subject they are portraying in a particular piece. A lot of my art is more an experiment for myself and about expressing what is in my subconscious by letting myself have a loose plan, but then letting my hands do the work and just going with whatever feels right in the moment. If I have a strong feeling about where I want to go I go with it and if I don't have any idea I wait until it comes and sometimes I just try things out for the hell of it. I really also love randomness and unintentional happenings in art and that is a big aspect of some of my paintings. I also love mystery. I if it's complex and different and you don't know what's going on, I like that. I like having a big mystery on my wall because sometimes it's just boring to know it all. I feel that Art is experimentation and lessons in learning and it is true that no mistake is a mistake only a learning experience to take to your next piece. Same with life…we make mistakes and experimentation only helps us to become a better informed person who is more confident in who he or she is.

How do you feel art, fashion, and music influence each other?
Oh yeah. They are my 3 favorite things.

What artists do you admire?
Buff Monster, Gajin Fujita, Van Gogh, and Monet

What would you like to be remembered for?
I would like to be remembered as....hmm, well I guess I hadn't really thought that far. I enjoy living in the moment and letting the future unravel itself, but if I had to say I would probably want to be remembered as that cool, fun artist whose work brought light and enjoyment to numerous people's lives…and that artist who sold every single piece of art she brought to Project Ethos, 2010.

Where can people purchase your work?
You can purchase my art on etsy.com under the seller: TripleCProductions or contact me at ccc2ocho2@gmail.com To view some of my other works you can visit: http://www.triplec.carbonmade.com/

Interview by Nikki Neil