Postcard

Andres Cisneros

Andres Cisneros was born in Tijuana, Mexico in 1945. From 1961 to 1967 he apprenticed in an Open Studio in Tijuana under the direction of Hector Castillon. He held his first exhibit in 1962 at the BanaMex Gallery in Tijuana. Intermittently he traveled the southwest as a migrant farm worker and a ranch hand. In 1968, Andres moved to the bay area.

Once he arrived here, Andres enrolled in several bay area colleges and received a BA degree. He also completed the course work for a teachers credential. He taught in the Oakland Unified School District from 1973 to 1978 and returned to Mexico in 1978 to continue his studies in fine arts, with an emphasis in print-making and painting.

In 1984, Andres returned to the bay area and joined the staff of the National Institute of Art and Disabilities as a teacher, later becoming the artistic director.

Andres has exhibited nationally and internationally. Andres' artwork is a reflection of his life as a Mexican Indian artist. He draws his inspiration from Mexican and Indian Iconography.

Ayeen Telopa

Denise Collier

I am a stationery designer by day, artist by night, bound together by my love of paper. Paper. I love its functionality, simplicity, and beauty. It can be flat and take up very little space, or it can be folded, sculpted, stacked in three-dimensions.

My artistic education harkens back to Kindergarten, when I “mastered” cut-and-paste using construction paper and that glue all the kids ate. As a five-year-old my world perspective was fresh and innocent. Today, my 3-year-old daughter keeps that perspective alive and covers the walls in our Emeryville home with her art; she is a constant source of inspiration. I still enjoy gluing paper to paper. Collage is great because almost anyone can do it and my challenge is taking a simple medium that is paper and to give it a unique spin that reflects me.

I am a fourth-generation Japanese American and spent much of my childhood being more “American” than “Japanese.” Now that I’m an adult, I am curious about my roots and want to learn as much as I can about my cultural and ethnic background. I am inspired by Japanese dance like the summertime dancing festival called obon-odori, Japanese dress like the kimono from the Heian and Edo periods, and the Japanese love of nature, from the delicate Sakura cherry blossom to the stoic Mt. Fuji.

My aim is to find an artistic balance between Eastern sensibility and Western design. The papers I incorporate in my pieces range from Japanese silk-screened papers referred to as Yuzen or Washi that are dense and rich in design to the delicate Thai Unryu tissue paper that conjure up images of airiness and clouds and represent the transient nature of life.

Max Ferman

http://max-inc.com

I'm wildly in love with technology and spend hours on the computer. I enjoy what it allows me to do as an artist, and I spend hours collecting images and gathering information. I take literally thousands of digital images, and work primarily with Illustrator and Photoshop to create what is currently being called Digital Art or Photo Manipulations. I see "great images" all around me and want them for later use. I study them endlessly, looking for colors, shapes, and images that tell a story. All very personal and profound inspiration, I feel an urgency to capture what I see both in and outside of my head. Many of my collage pieces reflect the overwhelming experience of absorbing images, thoughts, and feeling with great intensity. Every image used is selected with much intention. Every picture tells a story, or delivers a message. Many are buried or hidden. I selfishly ask the viewer to spend time looking, studying, and hallucinating with me. No right answer, only abstract interpretation. I rarely revise, and I am an obsessive artist who doesn't stop until I'm satisfied that the piece is finished. I can relate to the creative process that drove Mozart mad in the film Amadeus. I understand how he could hear the completed symphonies in his head, and fight to capture each note, like trying to catch water as it slips through your fingers.

Nadja Lazansky

Sara Kagan

Telopa