Interview: Stefanie Caril Vermillion

What is your gay activist superhero lady name?

My gay activist superhero lady name is Miss Rainbow

Miss Rainbow, what are the mediums you have used in your activist-related artwork?

I have primarily used screen printing and had my work featured in a movement called Event Horizon which was a project used to alert the community about social issues.
http://www.event---horizon.com/about.html

What do you think is so powerful about a screen-print? Is it the fact that you can make so many reproductions at one time? How does that factor in to the whole "spreading awareness" thing?

I really love working with screen printing because like my primary photographic medium (pinhole) there is a rawness to it. You really have to get your hands dirty and connect with your project on not just an emotional level but a physical one. Of course, the mass distribution factor is appealing and important to me and is a big reason why I took the opportunity to speak out about my feelings on gay rights when this project was presented to me.

What are your feelings about gay rights?

Wow, where do I begin? I feel like calling it Gay rights is restricting at times. Mostly because I look at this issue as a Human Rights issue. I have always been interested in how humans share the space around them and how they are allowed to share that space and why.

I feel like love is something that can not be tamed or restricted or ruled. It angers me to my core to think that I can choose to walk down an aisle one day and say "I do" and have a wedding when my brother can not. It saddens me to see that level of restriction on a such a raw uncontrollable feeling like love.

I decided to take that energy and propel it into something positive. I not only make art but I donate money and sign legislation to change the way this country views this. People who oppose it often say to me that this is not an issue worth pursuing and that this is a social issue not meant to be in politics. This may be true as I believe the government should not tell citizens who they can and can not marry, love, have sex with etc. but it has been dragged into our laws and so must be discussed to be changed.

And I also feel that the people who oppose this so violently don't understand why it must be talked about because they aren't having to fight for their Human Rights. I feel like in a country like the USA that touts itself on having such freedoms we should live up to that in all capacities.







How does that issue present itself in your current home, Austin, TX? How was it different from Boston?

In a strange way Austin seemed more laid back than Boston. When I did this project and put the broadsides up there were a few people in the community that didn't want to see them. They seemed uncomfortable and didn't ask me a lot of questions. I took it in stride because being in Boston as an Art Student not a lot of people take you seriously. In Austin, most of the community doesn't care if you are gay or not gay just as long as you are happy. I have to say that for Texas there is a reason why Austin is called weird. The community is about being local and close. There is a sense of understanding and peace here that I felt Boston lacked.

Is it less of the competitive sense, and more nurturing?

Definitely. In Boston everything always felt very urgent and restless. Everyone was always questioning and exploring which was an amazing energy to be apart of, but it also meant you always had to be on your game. You couldn't really lose track of who the next big artist was going to be.



So what is your creative process in screenprinting? Ive seen your shirts as well as posters. I know the posters featured text very prominently.

My creative process with screen printing is a simple one. I think you have to understand the limitations of a medium before you can commit to using it for a project. For example, the Broadside project was perfect for screen printing because I needed the posters in mass quantities and once you get a rhythm going you can crank out quite a few within an hour. Typography is something I fell in love with as soon as I got to Art School. As a poet I have a natural attraction to words but it became more than that. I began to understand the relationship between text and how it shapes our interpretation of the world around us.

In my broadsides I used very bold and striking text to draw attention to the statistics, but used Blackadder to add a more romanticized interpretation to the words that headlined the broadsides. Typography is all about choosing the right font for the task at hand.

If I had used a font like Times New Roman or Helvetica the broadsides would have melted into the background of the T stations and sidwalks. No one would have paid them any mind because those are fonts that surround our daily life.



So now on to your photography. I've seen so much of your work, from early to current as of a year ago. Your black and white photography is very interesting, you don't seem too interested in creating the whitest white point. How do light and dark values come into play in true pinhole photography? Your camera kicks so much ass.

First of all yes, my camera does kick so much ass! I used to shoot my pinholes in an oatmeal can and make paper negatives (which I have supplied an example of called Anna Pinhole). That process was fun but very tedious. When I got my film pinhole camera it opened up a medium format world of pure pinhole bliss for me.

You are right about the whitest white in my pinholes. Light has always been the most important element when I go on a shoot. I tend to shoot in the early evening when the sun is just about to set. I find that is the time the light is most ripe and spreading the most interesting cast on the landscape. I like to envision the world as a doll house when I am shooting with my pinhole. Everything looks less real and more fantastical almost like a dream. I like to be surprised and I always am with pinhole. It allows me as an artist to not overwork my pieces and to trust in my instincts because they are usually right.



Yes but whats amazing is in spite of the dreaminess, you still make sure to anchor it with some objects being clear. How important is focus when youre relegated to a tiny canvas space in a pinhole photograph?

You are quite right, there is always an anchor in which I must tether the image to. Most of my pinholes are voyeuristic and I am rarely up close and personal to an object. I like to observe from afar and take in a whole scene. Understanding the light, elements and concept is extremely important to me. I work fast and meticulously, if I don't feel a scene I leave. I don't linger and try to make it work. Focus is something that can't be contrived or it will feel that way to the viewer and me.



That really seperates pinhole from other forms of photography, doesn't it? Other photography, particularly commercial, is about constructing an image, messing with lighting, and composing, sometimes from scratch, sometimes "recasting" an existing place or scene and messing with it to get the desired image. Pinhole, to me, sounds more like a meditation of finding images in the world, at the right moment?

True, I have to admit one of the reasons I like shooting with my pinhole is that I have ultimate freedom. I don't need to lug around lights & umbrellas and sets. Nature is my set, the sun is my light and the world is my subject. I have infinite possibilities and I prefer to work alone. I have a lot of chatter going on in my hand when I go on a shoot so the less distraction the better.



It's really cool, collecting the light into the hole, and hoping that the image also got collected and it isnt just a jumble of dark and white shapes! So, in terms of making a series to be shown, what are some subjects you are tinkering with or would like to tinker with in order to create a cohesive show?

It is exciting, but sometimes it doesn't work out. I get a lot of images that look like nothing more than shadows. Currently, a lot of my photographic work has migrated into investigating family. I am interested in how where you come from shapes how you view the world around you. The faces that you see your whole life and what they mean to you. It is amazing what one can capture of people you know so well when they are not looking. How that familial connection can be broken or distorted in an image. A lot of m work has been focused on outward inspection and now I feel like I need to make an introspective pilgrimage in order to understand where I fit into the world I explore in such detail.



So in your family-related work, is it straight up protraiture, or is it also about objects?

Portraiture. I need to approach it finally. I have avoided it for so long, but it is time.

How do you think gay rights might surface in this new series?

I think a lot of that would depend on my brother and how much he would let me in. What he would feel comfortable with letting me explore. It takes a certain amount of bravery to allow yourself to completely let go and let someone in all the way. But I know he is as committed to this cause as much as me and he trusts me. I also trust him, which is important to trust your subject especially when it becomes more emotional. You have to let down your guard and have an honesty flowing in both directions.

What do you think is the relationship between an artist and viewer, then... in terms of honesty?

That is trickier because as a viewer you can't expect total honesty. You have to allow yourself to have a suspension of disbelief depending on the subject matter. Sometimes the art you may see is not rooted in reality so one can not expect realness. That is what is fun to me though, the tug and pull between fiction and non-fiction. This ties back into why I love pinhole so much, because sometimes people can not decipher if my subjects are real or not. I leave it up to the viewer's interpretation, because as an artist you can not micro manage how people interpret your work. Once you choose to display your work publicly it becomes subject to many critics.



You return to certain images a lot. Care to volunteer a few of your favorite things and why you come back to them? How does what you listen to and read, or how do other artists, influence you?

I am attracted to flowers a lot because they show me the vulnerable side to nature. They are proud and strong for a time but eventually die. I shoot a lot of out door scenes from inner city to landscape mostly because I am interested in exploring these environments that humans have created. I am intrigued with why we create spaces and then abandon them, for example movie theaters, parks, etc. I like to imagine that what those spaces were like when they were busy and full of life. Perhaps it is the nostalgic side to me but I find the depiction of these spaces when they are lonely fascinating because I have that inner dialogue going on in my head.

As for music I like, I have to remain true to my favorite band that is Everclear. The music still resonates within me a raw, have to move, won't take no for an answer vibe that often motivates me. It has been the background noise to a lot of interesting times in my life. I also love Mazzy star and even named my kitty after her (thanks to Amy for introducing me to her long ago!). Her music sounds like it is traveling to me from a distant room filled with incense and vanilla skies.

Sorry to interrupt you, but you recently met Everclear, right?! What was that like?

Seeing Everclear was an amazing experience for me. I had been listening to them since I was about 14 so it has been a decade of waiting. The band has evolved a lot since I started listening to them, including new members. However, Art Alexakis is definitely the heart and soul of the band and I made sure I was first in line so I could see him up close at the base of the stage. He is a brilliant and energetic performer and I loved all the songs he sang. It was surreal to see this band live since it is something I have wanted to do for so long, when it was actually happening I couldn't believe it. He played old favorites like Strawberry and Heroin Girl but also played more recent songs like Portland Rain. The opening bands were local Austinites, The Pons and Motel Aviv. They both were really good and had a lot of energy to pump up the atmosphere. When Everclear took the stage though, I was sucked into a moment I never thought would come, and it was awesome. At the end of the show I snagged the set list Art was reading from and got him to sign it. He also gave me one of the picks he used during the show with his name on it. Everything lined up in a magical & perfect way. I have to say that some people fear that meeting their icons will never live up to the image of them in their head. For me this was not the case. Everclear was everything I thought it would be and more.



Okay, please continue telling us about your favorite things.

My two favorite books of all time are Scented Gardens for the Blind by Janet Frame and She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb. Scented Gardens is all about a girl in her own fantasy world where a dung beetle who wears an apron is her only friend. This book reminds me of my childhood and the fantastic worlds James and I used to create. That sense of living in your own head and saying to people, "What do you mean this isn't real life!"

And She's Come Undone touches on what growing up as a girl is like. It also spurred within me a special connection to whales, as one of the characters develops a connection to a dying whale. I remember in the book the dying and glazed over eye is described and the sense of weightlessness something so large seemed to have in the water resonated this idea within me that we are all connected somehow.

My favorite artist of all time would have to be Bethany De Forest. She is a dutch artist I found in high school when I first started shooting in pinhole. She inspired me so much that she was the driving force behind my exploration of pinhole. Her website is http://www.pinhole.nl She is so talented, I adore her work. Adam Fuss, Sophie Calle and Barbara Ess are more of my favorites. Their imagery is ethereal yet somehow rooted in this plane. They understand human nature and portray it in all its dark and beautiful subtleties which I appreciate. I applaud them for their artistic bravery and they often remind me to take risks.



You want to play a word game?

YES!

YAY!

Weee!

Okay, I'm gonna give you a word, and you're going to give me its opposite! Dont think too hard about it! Okay: RAINBOW

Monochrome

Peach

Green

Snowflake

Acid Rain

POUR HOUSE

Umi

Awww. Okay now I'm going to ask you about favorites. Okay? Just answer with your favorite item.

Ok.

Favorite music video?

Beyonce, "If I Were a Boy

Wow! Why?

I love the story it tells and how it is in Black and White. That sense of being a woman in man's world and how crushing it can feel at times. Yet, she empowers with the way she approaches the song.

Awesome answer. Okay... Favorite '80's movie and WHY!

Haha, oh no! I hate to admit it but I really like Romancing the Stone!!! Wow, can't believe I am revealing THAT dark secret. I just like how hard Kathleen Turner tries to resist Michael Douglas and all the cheesy and weird ways the movie was shot. It's all so deliciously ridiculous.

HAHHAA NO NO THAT MOVIE IS SO GOOD!

I love it so much! Whew, so glad you have seen it.

What's your favorite '90's movie and WHY??

I am sure James remembers that movie... Ever After. I love Drew Barrymore, she is so beautiful and smart. She really epitomizes the creative successful woman to me. I also love the take on the fairy tales in that movie, how it makes it more real. More honest. That good things can happen but it isn't all glitter and magic pumpkins. It is real people coming together to create magic.

Favorite restaurant?

Boston: Rod Dee Thai Austin: Counter Cafe and Diner 24

I think Ro Dee is gone?!?!?!?

It sadly burned down. I don't know if they ever rebuilt. :(

Coutner Cafe is soo good! The pimiento cheese sammiches!

I know! I love them. You would like Diner 24, its new. They have delicious fries.

Okay... favorite comfort food that you make?

Homemade macaroni and cheese with goat cheese and hot sauce

YUM! HOT SAUCE REALLY? Gosh that sounds amazing. Favorite hot sauce?

Louisiana Hot Sauce: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Hot_Sauce

What are the next five ways we (the audience) can see your work somehow?

Right now the only way is through my website: http://www.stefanie-vermillion.com

I will also have my tshirts for sale on my Etsy account soon: http://www.etsy.com/shop/svermillion

Yay

Yay!



When should we check back in on you?

June 24th 2011

It's a date!

Yay!

Hey Stef, do you think they figured out we are close friends yet?

They better!