I interviewed Brett Tocco...

Yo! So I know that you are a film major…...

What influences surrounded you when you decided to focus on film?
My high school had a good video program. i learned alot there and was
hooked. My older brother, Darryl, also got me into it at a young age.

Did you have any film experience before you came to Mason Gross?

like I said I’ve been working with digital video since 2005. Prior to that
i experimanted with tape to tape editing with my older brother starting
when i was 8 or so.

Are there any other artists in your family?
My older brother is a working videographer with some heavy titles under
his belt. His main focus is bmx video montage, almost like a highlight
real of all hte best moves for a rider over any given period of time.

What is your favorite thing about making films and why?
I don’t have a specific focus in story telling. I prefer to edit, I like
to make something out of what other people have started kind of like
appropriation.

Are there specific materials that you consistently use or rely on?
The Sony Vx-2000/2100, the Panasonic DVX 100ap the century optics .3x wide
angle conversion lens. Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Motion 3, After
Effect, Adobe Photo Shop there’s some others in there too but they come
and go.

What is your #1 piece of advice for anyone interested in pursuing the art
of film?
Everyone has a story to tell. Learn some proper editing ans shooting
techniques, (180 rule and continuity are big ones), try a variety of
lenses, it makes you work stand out.

Where do you make your films?
Where ever I can. I shot on location
mostly, especially for bmx. I think sets make a video look phony. As far
as editing i do a lot at my kitchen table I’m actually working on a studio
proposal tonight as well i had one two years ago and it was the best thing
ever to have a place i could work all night. Like anything else once you
get started you don;t want to stop.

Is there a specific style of shooting/directing that you have or seem to
be developing? ( I know absolutely nothing about film, so please feel free
to fill in gaps in my weird questions)
I’ve been working with motion graphics alot over the past few years, it
makes you projects pop. I’m also slowly getting into 3d rendering for
titles. I like this kind of work because it build off of the foundations
of graphic design I like to fin inspiration in advertisements form the
70’s. They had the best colour schemes then everything was so raw and
flat, but at the same times the colours they used were vivid and textured.
As far as shooting I’m looking to mix the more raw, guerilla style of bmx
and skate shooting and classic studio doc/interview style.

How would you describe your films to someone who has never seen any of them?

My work varries heavily from dramatic, violent narratives to clean cut
graphics.
I like to mix styles, this way it never gets boring.

After you finish your degree, where would you ideally like to go with your
skills and
ideas?
I’d like to do freelance motion graphics for a while. Music videos, ads
that kind of stuff out of school. This appeals to me because it’s not the
stock 9 to 5 and I’ll be able to push my narriative and bmx work with out
the hinderances and obligations of the “real world.” When all is said and
done I’d like to do graphics or technical directing for a few years at a
news studio, it’s fast paced and logical to do while looking to raise a
family and hold down a home and all that kind of American dream, stuff.
after that I hope to go back to the town i grew up in and take the
position as the high school video teacher. The current teacher loves the
job he has a lot of free reign gets to buy cool new toys, (like a mobile
edit suit), while teaching kids how to work in video and encourage young
artist to express themselves, pretty much the dream job.

Do you have any future plans?
Travel and expand my knowledge of people it’s good to be well rounded I’d
prefer to make work that isn’t ignorant to the way the rest of the world
thinks, I’m not on that level yet.

Name a few favorites and why if you have any specific reason.
Movies, directors, other artists (even painters, photographers, etc.)
Movies i could go on for days about I’m a big fan of Tarantino, he has
that I really don’t care attitude and his films are usually dialed, plus
he gets RZA from Wu Tang to do some of his sound tracks, RZA is an out
right genius and he respects Tarantino, enough said.
I’m also a big fan of Ryan Navazio, he’s a bigger name in the bmx world as
far as videos go. You can pop in a Navazio piece and know that it’s his
project within the first 30 seconds. His editing is clean and his skill
behind the camera is untouchable. He also holds it down with the Sony
vx1000, in a world full of people who get hd cams and think that makes
them good it’s hard to find someone with actual skill. 
As far as
artist go Egglestien is amazing, I like that he shoots primarily natural
lighting, that’s big in bmx, as we often don’t have time to set up lights
or even have the time to get a shot before the police or security guards
shut us down. I also am inspired big time by my friend Jon Stars he’s a
studio photographer for the most part but he’s self taught and has a knack
for taking bmx photos as well. He’s the opposite of Egglestien and often
shoots with 6 or more lights. any time i shoot a scen that i can light
he’s always right there with ideas.

Brett interviewed me...

Bonjour D!

What influences surrounded you when you decided to painting?

Well, as far as school is concerned, I had two choices: art or music.  I knew I would go to Mason Gross (tuition remission) so technically I could have studied either.  When I was in high school I figured I would go into music, specifically early music, but quite honestly there are NO schools in this country with the type of music program that would be able to facilitate a musician like me.  The only place to go to be successful in my field is England.  My dad also advised me that the music business wasn’t pretty and that unless I wanted to teach music I wouldn’t be able to make much money (there isn’t much work for church musicians in this country).  That’s when I decided to study painting at school and definitely keep going with my musical career, just not get a degree in it right now.  So, all in all, music was my first choice but I know that I made the right decision.  I feel and have been feeling like I’m doing the right thing with myself.

You work mainly in oil with a more classical style right? Do you step out
of that world at all?

Yes, I generally work in oil but I do wonder from time to time.  I do very well in the clay department.  I’ve been making some really cool things.  And yeah most people say I work with a classical style.  Really though, I’m physically an abstract painter, but I don’t really paint ‘abstract’ images.  My images always contain a lot of abstraction in them.  I convey unique moments of discovery. I’ve been working with water as a subject for nearly 3 years now, and I haven’t blocked yet! I’m still learning and probably won’t ever stop.

What is your most prided piece?

That’s really hard to answer… but at the moment, I’m leaning towards a painting that I did in the spring of 2010. It has these swirling hands underwater with a strong light source off to the right.  I’m not often proud of my work, but that one pulls on my heart strings every time I look at it. I swear there is a piece of my soul in that painting somewhere.

Your father works in the music department, do you dabblein any other art
forms or just visual?

I am a singer. I focus mainly on early music.  I do sing classical things sometimes when the occasion calls for it.  I mostly sing renaissance polyphony, but I also do a lot of solo work.  I also do intuitive massage… I really do a lot of things. But they all relate.

Are there any other artists in your family?

My grandmother on my dad’s side was an impressionist.  She was an incredible painter! Her paintings and my paintings cover my parent’s house. Unfortunately, I never got to meet her. She died way before I was born, but I know that her talent runs through my veins. So that’s good enough for me until I see her in heaven.

When did you first start painting and how has that influnced you life?
My first memory of painting is when I was either 3 or 4 years old. I was in preK and I remember painting a big piece of paper dark blue with poster paint.  I haven’t put down my brush since.  It has influenced my life in many indescribable ways.  When I was in high school for example, when I wasn’t at a choir rehearsal, I was up in my bedroom, copying renaissance paintings (that was how I learned to do what I do by the way).  Painting has been in a sense my life- long lover or partner.  I always look at things  and think to myself, ‘how would I paint that?’ or ‘which pigments would I use to make that color?’

5 tools you keep in your art box?

Besides the obvious brushes and paint and things-  a palette knife, a rag, a 5-in-1, roll of tape, and extra tubes of pthalo blue!

How do you feel about more abstract forms of painting, photo realism and
urban art?

I say painting is painting and you have to be true to the type of painter that you are, no matter if you fit into any of the categories.  But, to be honest, I tend to have a problem with abstract expressionists as people. Not necessarily the art itself.  It’s not my favorite, but I have respect for it.  I really just don’t like the people and how they talk about art and themselves. By the way, this is just a general feeling, and I have met a few abstract expressionists that I have a great deal of respect for.  So far, however, the stigma that I have in my head applies 95% of the time.

Ideal place to create?

If I could lay in my amazing bed all day everyday and paint there, that would be friggin’ awesome! Unfortunately, I do not have the space to facilitate such a fantasy at the moment… somday I’ll make it happen.

If there was one way you could push your work farther what would that be?

The best way I could push my work further than where it is would be to paint all day everyday and let it push itself.  I let my painting go where it needs to go and I try very hard not to over analyze it and take control.  If something isn’t feeling right, I stop immediately.  I’m a very intuitive painter.  In a lot of ways, it’s my paint that tells me what to do.

How do you think your work would be looked at in times past, is there a
specific time in which you feel your work would fit best be it past
present or future?

I think Michelangelo would have digged my stuff.  People then definitely would have thought I was a bit strange, but I think I would have been pretty successful in 15^th cent. Italy.

We’ll be done with school in May, (hopefully), what are your plans how are
you preparing?

I have decided this week actually to take 5 yrs. But my plan after I get my degree is to move to the UK and go to school for art conservation.  I’m preparing by pacing myself and trying to stay organized. I will also be able to pursue my musical career over there and have already made tons of connections.

Will you ever put the brush down, or do you think you’ll be working well
into old age?
Good question Brett. That made me go ‘hmmmmm…’  I have to say that in order to be a real true artist, you have to be able to put the brush down.  Who is to say that you won’t pick it back up anyway?  So yes, someday I will put my brushes away, but for an indefinite amount of time.  But even if I never did pick them up again, there would always be paint on my mind and in my veins.  So I guess, B, it really all depends on your definition of brushes…


What direction will you be headed for your thesis project?

Speaking of Michelangelo, his ‘Last Judgment’ in the Sistine Chapel inspired my thesis idea. I’m not going to go into too much detail at this point, but to give you a small inkling of an idea,  it’s going to be 13’ x 9’…

Resume draft

Diana Maye Whitener

21 Buffa Dr. Somerset, NJ 08873

732-977-9759

dianamayewhitener@hotmail.com

dwhitene@eden.rutgers.edu

http://dianamayewhitener.blogspot.com/

Education

BFA 2012 Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University

Grants/Awards

Solo Exhibitions

Group Exhibitions

2007  Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, BFA

Commissions

2010 Portrait, Dr. Mark A. Boyle

2008 original piece, Joseph Hill and Reid Powell

2006 original piece, Dr. A. Vosey

Collections

Bibliography

Current Employment

Christ Church, New Brunswick. Section leader in volunteer choir

Water and God: the Story of Creation

It all started with Christmas 2008- My parent’s living room is a beautiful cerulean blue with a tiny touch of cobalt (I picked this color by the way…)  When the light from outside shines in, everything in there starts to glow…  anyway, the photos that I took were all so beautiful and inspiring, with the blue and the light and food and happiness, that I decided to paint a small series of them (at the time I was studying with Marc Handlman, so painting in series was a must).   The paintings came out well, and I discovered a lot about what I like to paint, what colors I like to use and where I put them and why, and what really inspires me to put paint down in the first place.

Two paintings of mine in particular really revealed a lot of information about me to myself ( and probably my professors as well): a portrait of my dad sleeping in his chair, and these poached pears in a cobalt blue casserole dish covered in plastic wrap.

I got less representational in my physical painting of these.  My mind started going more toward of the direction of ‘what do I need to do in order to get this point across?’ and ‘I’m going to do this in order to give the impression of…’   I abandoned ‘I really want this to look this way’.

It was then that I semi-stopped planning out my images. It became more about a certain energy and a feeling of intuition. 

That is exactly when I started the water paintings.  I needed something to paint, so I decided to start looking through my photos (I always work from my own images).  I came across pictures of me and a few friends swimming in a fountain.  There were a few images that really made me excited- the camera looked through the ripples of the water to our hands underneath.  The water bent the images and the colors.  I thought ‘How beautiful.  And I bet most people wouldn’t even notice this in the picture, they’d probably go straight to the faces above the water.  As I looked more at the images, they weren’t even about the friends anymore. They were about light and color and distortion and above all, water. Water does, after all, have complete control over those things when present.

I worked with water as a subject for the rest of the semester, and tried lots of different things, mostly to do with the action of the water’s surface.

Once I came back to school the following semester in the fall, I started a whole new series of water paintings.  Believe it or not, I didn’t really have a plan, it all just happened almost the same way as I initially started with the Christmas paintings.

I was sitting in my hot tub again with a few friends, and thought that the water looked really cool and started taking pictures of the surface. When I downloaded them, I was in awe of these amazing moments and images! I decided ‘oh boy, here’s my semester…’ those images dealt with pretty much the same things- light, color, distortion.  There was something different though, they looked and felt like they had more purpose, like they were trying to tell me something. 

Of course I ignored that something (because I had this very stubborn agreement with myself that I only painted to paint, not to speak) and started painting away.  Then I had my first critique with Hanneline and she started talking about spirituality and stuff like that.  I am a very religious and spiritual person, but I never had the intention of creating spiritual paintings at this time.  I realized then and more throughout the semester that even when I don’t try to say anything or make meanings out of things, they are still going to come through in my art because I am full of passion.

After that very refreshing discovery about myself, I kept on my merry way doing what I do. After a few more paintings, I started getting flashes in my head of my thesis and what it is going to look like.

It isn’t going to be about beautiful water with distorted figures, even thought though such images will be used.  It is going to be about reaching for God, the spiritual search and journey. It’s about coming out of the darkness and rising to the light of God.  This is what my paintings have secretly been about for the past year and a half.  Now that I have realized that I really am trying to say something, I can get the hell on with it.

After that epiphany, I held a handful of photo shoots in my friend’s pool and started taking pictures actually underwater instead of above it. At this point I have decided to use the water only as a tool.  My subjects are now only the figures  and their situation.

artist's statement

I paint images that either represent or connect to water.    I create very realized and focused images but physically paint them abstractly.  I don’t paint to represent. I call myself a figurative abstract impressionist. I also am a color theorist, so I am very deliberate with my color. My images are very intimate and spiritual, featuring light, water, color, and the figure. I’ve been painting water for nearly three years.  I haven’t yet grown tired of the subject , and continue to learn from it painting by painting.