>Artists to see thumbnails again Anthony Ausgang Nathan Spoor Blaine Fontana Eugenie Jolivett Shogo Minamikawa Chaz Bojorquez Mike Figgis Robbie Conal Mear One Brandon Herrick Brady Redman Richard Duardo Van Arno Frank Diettinger Sandow Birk Freddie C Rachel Schmeidler Wilson Hsu Joshua Krause Tim McCormick Mark Dugally David Choe Joshua Petker VYAL Pat Merrill Ron Outlaw Overton Lloyd Mark Vallen Marka 27 Natalia Fabia Launa Bacon Doug Murphy Janice Tieken Miner Yem Jeff Newburg

>Rachel Schmeidler www.mytreehut.com While exploring the woods in search of a tree hut built by my older brother, I encountered an abandoned Jewish cemetery. It was small, hidden away from our nearby home. The images of those fallen, decrepit gravestones with Hebrew inscriptions have never left my memory. I was a six year old child living in Germany, and it was the first time I became aware of my heritage and the implications of my Jewish identity. My father is a concentration camp (Holocaust) survivor who raised his family in Germany for over a decade after moving back to Europe from Israel. Becoming a citizen in three countries (Israel, Germany, and the United States) has opened my mind – and also intensified my interest in history and my need to express the pain of my family’s experience. The Holocaust has affected every aspect of my life and has fueled a quest to understand Anti-Semitism and other hatreds, and to promote tolerance. Words cannot easily capture my ambitions. My work displays the isolation and confusion of the human condition. The images that I paint are infused with layers and textures representative of the complex relationship between human emotion and nature. My melding of disparate media births a deeper understanding of oneself and the world - process is very important. To achieve this, I experiment with a variety of mediums: wax, oil-based colors, and other mixed media. My art confronts---it evokes new emotions, ideas and memories that challenge the viewer through the use of color, cutting and pasting to create a 3-dimensional element. I go through an intricate process of experimenting with wax, the richness of oils, colors and textures. I do not necessarily have specific intentions upon starting a new piece. Honesty in my work comes from my own self-awareness and spontaneity. Wax allows me to incorporate sculpture into painting - to create a physical presence. It’s not about what I end up with in the studio, but about the journey I undertake while painting. The wax and the experimentation, the colors, the richness of the oils and the shapes transform me.