Sophie Treppendahl Interview Part 1

Mighela Lorenceau: In our current time and circumstance, what has become essential to you?

Sophie Treppendahl: I'm going to cheat and list three things. Firstly, amaro, or more specifically amaro daiquiris. I can thank and blame my husband for introducing me to these. It's the perfect sip at the end of the day. Second, house plants. Our house looks like a greenhouse these days with all my new green friends. I've become obsessed with watching them grow, checking for new buds each day when I come home. Third, a new favorite podcast called "You're Wrong About...". This podcast has been my constant companion, whether I am out on a walk, in the studio, at home cooking, or on one of the many long road trips taken this year. It's educational, lighthearted and makes me feel like I'm hanging out with two new friends (the hosts) all day long.

Mighela Lorenceau: Could you talk about the works you have selected for this exhibition?

Sophie Treppendahl: The two paintings included are a playful pair that speak well to each other. The first is River Stripes, Afternoon (2018), depicts a day at the James River in Richmond, Virginia where I lived for a few years. The river was my muse while I lived there. The painting was of a day when I was working in my studio, taunted by the perfect weather outside. I decided it was time for a break and drove to my favorite spot for an afternoon dip. The second piece, Self Aware Landscape Painting (2020), is a more recent work that in some ways pokes fun at the first painting by being a landscape painting (also of the James River) from the view of my studio. The piece is a lighthearted critique of my own work as it shows the process of painting a lush, outdoor landscape using a photo on the laptop as the source, dispelling romantic notions of the way I, and others, often paint landscapes nowadays. I paint from photos all the time, sometimes on my computer or even on my phone. I believe there's no wrong way to paint, but it's fun to make fun of myself sometimes.

For the exhibition MATCH, I decided to show a diptych work from the Kundry series, Kundry V which was taken on the Etna Volcano in Sicily in 2015. For the theme of the show, the notion of self reflection immediately came to mind. These mirrored prints seemed like a good answer, an image looking at itself. Kundry uses large format analogue photography to tell the legend of Parsifal. The myths core theme of redemption is analyzed and deconstructed by this mirroring process in the work. This particular work, Kundry V, takes place in the beginning of Act II in the narrative as Kundrian and Parsifal embark on their voyage through the unknown on their way to retrieve the Holy Grail. In the classical template of narration of the hero's journey, this would be the call to adventure. This body of work's intention is to treat the photo paper like a musical stave, inducing synesthesia, making the audience hear something while looking at something. Moving the senses closer to one another, overlapping almost.

An Interview with Nick McPhail Part 2

Mighela Lorenceau: Could you tell us about the works that you selected for the exhibition?

Nick McPhail: I selected these two paintings for "Match" because they are similar meditations on these themes. In each painting the viewer is clear on where they stand in relation to the composition, but is left with only a fragment of a scene. The mind is allowed space to automatically fill in missing information that has been hindered or cropped out of view. In Sunlight the architecture is left mostly unobstructed, while with "View" the tree acts as a screening mechanism and the viewer must work a little harder to see the windows behind.

An Interview with Warner Williams Part 1

Mighela Lorenceau: If you could carry out an art heist, steal any work you love from a museum, which one would it be?

Warner Williams: I would take the Birth of Venus by Botticelli, but my apartment is too small to fit the painting. I wouldn't steal anything, because my mama told me not to.