Dig In Magazine Interview with
San Francisco Artists,
Rick Kitagawa & Eve Skylar

Artists Rick Kitagawa and Eve Skylar, a team of artists based out of San Francisco, CA are owners of the company Monkey + Seal, which produces works, storefronts, and writings. They vend at craft fairs, illustration booths, and other events. I met Rick and Eve, a.k.a Monkey + Seal, at the SF Zine Fest held at the SF County Fair Building in the Fall a few years back. Rick has been involved in running the Zine Fest for the past 3-4 years and gives workshops there. He is also co-owner of a new art gallery in San Francisco called Big Umbrella Studios, which is part collective workspace, part gallery, part event venue, and part community space. Both Eve and Rick teach art workshops at the new gallery. Eve will be showing artwork at the RAW Art Exhibit on May 6, 2011 in Oakland, CA. You can learn more about Rick at: www.rickkitagawa.com and Eve at: www.eveskylar.com [Interviewed on March 30, 2011]

Dig In Magazine: Where are you both from and where are you currently based out of? What is your racial/cultural background? Is your art influenced by Asian art and culture at all?

Rick Kitagawa: I was born and raised in Stockton, California, the most miserable city in the country. I'm a 5th generation American of Japanese ancestry. In one of the current series I'm working on where I'm painting a bestiary of mythical creatures, I do have quite a few Japanese beasts, but I'm also painting creatures from folklore from pretty much every continent. I do believe that my experiences as an Asian American definitely affect my art, whether on a conscious or subconscious level. I believe that you cannot create in a vacuum, and my work is highly influenced by the world around me - my identity politics included.

Eve Skylar: I grew up mainly in Long Beach, California: I sang for a rock band, was a filmmaker, and surfed through daybreak along the PCH. I have also lived in parts of Australia and Indonesia, but I consider San Francisco my hometown. I identify as Japanese-Indonesian-Australian-American. Whether subconsciously or consciously, I am a product of my cultural and historical influences. My art inhabits both a position of in-betweeness and simultaneous juxtaposition.

DIM: What and who is Monkey + Seal?

R: Monkey + Seal is the collaborative works/storefront/writings of Rick and Eve. When we vend at craft fairs, illustration booths, and other events, we show up together as Monkey + Seal, and it also acts as our online store. We also run a blog where we do our best to help out other emerging artists to make a career out of their art and to inspire them to chase after their dreams.

DIM: What types of zines do you publish?

R: We publish a few different zines. Right now our main zine is The Bad Date Zine, where I curate stories (and sometimes illustrations and comics) about people's bad dates. The zine accepts rolling submissions (which can be sent to thebaddatezine@gmail.com).

We also publish a few other zines of our own creation: Eve has an awesome little comic about following your dreams, and I have a True Ghost story zine, one person-zine made up of short stories and other random goodness, and my own raunchy, purposefully poorly drawn comic with a title that is about a paragraph long.

E: We are also currently working on a graphic novel and art process book to be published in the near future.

DIM: How did you both get into creating zines?

R: I actually started out with the first issue of The Bad Date Zine about three years ago when I found out about the the San Francisco Zine Fest.

E: I'm lucky to be surrounded by a lot of self-publishing, DIY, opinionated bad-ass artists, comikers, and writers, so it was a natural step for me to try my hand at it.

DIM: Rick, I understand that you have run the SF Zine Fest for 3-4 years, how did you step into that role?

R: I started getting involved with the Zine Fest when I started working at Paper Source. My manager at the time, Francois Vigneault, was the lead organizer and was looking for more volunteers to help run the Fest. I enthusiastically joined the team, and have been actively involved ever since.

DIM: What exactly is the SF Zine Fest?

R: The SF Zine Fest is a two-day event held at the SF County Fair Building in the Fall. It's a celebration of zines and alternative publishing and we have people selling, trading, and buying zines from all over the world - we had vendors come as far away as New Zealand and the UK! The Zine Fest also welcomes other members of the DIY community, and you'll find crafters, artists, and workshops galore! It's always one of my favorite events of the year, and that's not just because I help run it.

DIM: What types of workshops do you teach?

R: I currently teach workshops for Paper Source as well as at Big Umbrella Studios. For Paper Source, I teach people how to make their own wedding invitations and day-of items (like programs, table tents, placecards, etc.). I also teach case binding and box making. For Big Umbrella, I teach the Intro to Silkscreen class, a Color Theory lecture, a Business Basics for Artists lecture, and I hope to teach some sewing bookbinding courses and a full painting course soon.

E: I teach "Pen&Ink," "Environment/ Concept Art Landscape Painting" class, and workshops on "Professional tips and tricks for Illustrators" at Big Umbrella Studios.

DIM: My favorite zine of yours is the "Bad Date Zine," what is it all about and where did you get the idea for it?

R: The Bad Date Zine is all about people's bad dates. I got the idea after always hearing about my single friends going on really strange, or weird dates, and it seemed like a topic that could be really entertaining as well as cathartic.

E: Then we started getting submissions and responses far and wide. So we knew that everyone can relate to the stories to some degree. People can laugh about it and realize that they're not alone.

DIM: Where can people find Monkey + Seal products and what other products do you develop and sell?

R: People can find Monkey+Seal products online at www.monkeyandseal.com. You can also find our ties at Urban Bazaar and RAG co-op, some of Eve's newest prints at Sweet Breams in San Mateo (www.sweetbreams.com), and you can find both of our stuff at Big Umbrella Studios. Besides zines, we also sell giclees prints, postcards, hand-printed t-shirts and microfiber ties, and e-books.

DIM: Rick, I understand that you are the co-owner of a new gallery in San Francisco called Big Umbrella Studios, what types of art do you display there, what artists do you work with and what does the gallery encompass?

R: Big Umbrella Studios is a hybrid beast of part collective workspace, part gallery, part event venue, part community space. We display a wide variety of work as our members have a wide breadth of styles and influences. We've shown abstract work, figurative pieces, installation work, photography, painting, serigraphs, collage work, and sculptures.

We work primarily with artists from our own membership, but we also curate in other artists as well. We primarily hold group shows with members holding features or split-feature shows occasionally.

On top of the gallery component, we offer 24-hour access to studio/storage space for our members, and I'm also working to grow a workshop component. Additionally, we are trying to build up Big Umbrella as a community space, as we hold a BYOB Drink N' Draw on alternative Wednesdays, and we're starting to hold movie nights and figure drawing workshops to really create a space run by artists for artists and the larger community that supports them.

If people are interested in Big Umbrella Studios (we're currently accepting applications for membership), please check out www.bigumbrellastudios.com. If you're interested in our workshops, you can find them at www.monkeyandseal.com/workshops.html.

DIM: Where have you shown your artwork?

R: I've shown my paintings at 111 Minna, Space Gallery, Project One, Wonderland SF, Chillin' Productions, 1015, and Big Umbrella Studios. I'll also have some work up at ARC gallery for a fundraiser for Japan on April 7, and I'm currently working on paintings and some interactive work for a split show with Eve at OZ Gallery in the Mission.

DIM: What is your educational background and where did you study art?

R: I studied Integrative Biology with a minor in Asian American Studies at UC Berkeley. After graduating from Cal, I realized that I wanted to pursue art as a career and I went back to get a degree from the Academy of Art here in San Francisco.

DIM: How many businesses do you run?

R: Hahahaha. Well, I'm co-owner of three: Monkey + Seal, Big Umbrella Studios, and a screen-printing business called Lords of Print (www.thelordsofprint.com). I also pick up freelance design and illustration gigs and am working on a greeting card company that is currently still in the planning phase.

DIM: Rick and Eve: You both are very active when it comes to fundraising events, what types of these events have you donated your artwork and time to?

R: For a long time I was very active in social/environmental activism, and when I started creating art, I struggled to consistently force my politics into my art. Now, I've realized that I don't HAVE to force my ideals into every single painting, and now I do my best to assist organizations and causes that I believe in by donating art, or design services.

Most recently I've donated time and art to the relief effort in Japan, the Asian American Theater Company, and DrawBridge. Monkey + Seal also donate at least 10% of all our t-shirt sales to various non-profits such as The National Center for Lesbian Rights, La Casa De Las Madres, and Charity:Water.

E: Whenever possible, we offer portions of our art proceeds to different charities. I believe that art is intertwined with the current events in our world. I work closely with Hyphen magazine, VDAY, and the Asian American Theater Company. It's the very least I can do as an artist. I usually perform theater or do live paintings and donate my artwork. Recently, I donated artworks to raise funds for elementary education at La Gran Pachanga and for Japan post-earthquake and tsunami relief efforts. Several great organizations are working hard to raise funds and my artwork was up for auction at Hyphen magazine in conjunction with JCCNC's "Humanitarian Asians and Pacific Islanders (HAPI) Fundraising Hour for Japan", Warholian's "Sketch for Japan" and Rise Japan's "Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fundraiser" to name a few.

RICK:

DIM: How did you first get into art?

R: While I was very artistic as a child, from 5th grade until I met Eve, I had squashed any dreams of actually pursuing art as a career. I did a lot of theater at Cal (that's how I met Eve), and soon after working on a theater project together, Eve gave me my first sketchbook and convinced me to keep drawing.

DIM: Rick, I see that you draw a lot of monster-type images, how would you describe your artistic style and what/who are your influences?

R: While I feel like I'm still developing my artistic style, I definitely would say that I enjoy mixing classical rending with aspects of graphic novels (primarily outlines and text).

In terms of my influences, I find that I'm influenced by pretty much everything around me - I tend to absorb stuff like a sponge. From pop culture to obscure anime references to politics and social justice, I think a bit of everything bleeds into my work and I have a difficult time weeding it all out. However, I will say that recently I've focused more on creatures and monsters and beasts, and it is pertinent to say that I have always been heavily influenced by horror films and monster movies ever since I was a child. I also listen to Psuedopod, a weekly horror podcast, and find a lot of inspiration from cryptozoology, mythology, and folklore from around the world. I've also been on sort of a H.P. Lovecraft kick as of recent and Cthulhu has been finding his way into a lot of my design work.

In terms of other artists, I'd say that stylistically I've been influenced a lot by illustrators such as Jordan Crane, Alex Pardee, Tomer Hanuka, and Tara McPherson. In terms of subject matter, I'd say Camille Rose Garcia, Junko Mizuno, James Jean, and Marci Washington. In terms of just work ethic and how to be a badass artist, I'd go with BANKSY, Shepard Fairey, and Eve Skylar.

DIM: What inspires you to create art?

R: To be honest, everything. I think that my need to create art stems from my egotism and just wanting to share stuff that I find fascinating or cool or funny or horrific with the rest of the world.

DIM: What are your plans for the future in terms of art and your many business ventures?

R: My biggest plan is to try and stay focused and keep all the businesses in the black. I'm working on building up Big Umbrella's workshop program and in making it one of the city's go-to spots for cool stuff to do. For Monkey + Seal we're working on a crapload (that's the scientific term for 6-10) new shirt designs as well as some new e-books as well as getting new prints up in the shop. For my own art, I'm trying to focus on my show with Eve in June and simultaneously work on a completely separate and new body of work that's completely different from what I'm currently doing.

EVE:

DIM: What is your artistic background? Did you grow up around a lot of art or artists?

E: My parents were always busy with work, so I was often left alone in front of the tv with my sister or with stacks of books. I unknowingly grew up through the "golden age of 2D" into the transition and prevalence of 3D. In my solitude, I was immersed with literature, art, and technology, but having come from a working class family, life was all about survival, so it wasn't until about 2 years ago that I finally took art seriously as my calling.

DIM: Where did you study art and where did you attend college?

E: In high school I won a scholarship to Art Center College of Design, but after three semesters I couldn't afford to continue. So I ended up at Long Beach city college, and worked two jobs while painting and drawing on the side. It was here that I was taught to be resourceful and to seek art desperately in the everyday. It wasn't until recently, through the help of Rick, Martha, and generous friends, that I finished my BFA at Academy of Art University. Because of my informal and formal education, I consider myself a self-taught artist as well as academically trained.

DIM: How would you describe your artistic style?

E: It's a difficult question. I never thought that I had a specific style. My art, in terms of subject matter and approach, inhabits an in-betweeness and simultaneous juxtaposition that does not easily fit into a given genre or style. I am often put into multi-crosssectional boxes: concept art, viz dev, illustration, fine arts, animation, production design, sculptural, landscape/ environment painter - along with several genres and descriptions: "sci-fi," "fantasy," "storybook," "expressionistic,""painterly," "realistic,""illustrative." Right now, the closest styles I identify with are works done by animation background painters, production designers, and viz dev artists.

Because I do concept art and production design, I am exposed to and am encouraged to embody a lot of different styles, depending on what the film needs. So, I make art as I see it, in whatever medium and style is necessary for what needs to be said, in the hopes of connecting to people through it.

DIM: Do you do a lot of live painting and is this a new trend in the art world today?

E: I do and I love it. I'm very influenced by my surrounding as I paint: with the people I interact with throughout and the live music bouncing, my painting is a champloo collaborative effort. Live painting allows the artist to meet and engage with the viewers directly and allows the viewers to gain more insight, access, and answers directly from the artist as the art is being made. I think the art world always appreciates spectacle and performance. So live painting adds value to the experience for both the artist and her audience. They can then both point to the piece of art and say, "I was there."

DIM: I understand that you studied animation, what types of projects have you worked on in the past and what are you currently working on?

E: I formally studied visual development/concept art, but it's directly related to animation, film, and games. In the past, I've worked on a couple of independent films and stop motion films in a variety of roles: as a concept artist, cinematographer, storyboard artist, puppetmaker, and animator. I recently finished a visual development project for an animated film by Unicorn Studios. (www.unicorn-studios.com) Right now, I am preparing for the next Japan relief fundraiser organized by Rise Japan, it will be held on April 7th at ARC Gallery. My next show will be at May RAW Art Gallery Exhibit curated by the talented and visionary Mr. Carly Ivan Garcia alongside an amazing line of talent. I am also painting for my split-collaboration gallery show in June with Rick. The theme will be of "discovery" and I will be showcasing some of my imaginary environment animation landscape paintings. It will be held at OZ Gallery in the Mission District of San Francisco. On the side, I am continually working on my graphic novel based on the "Skyace Wasteland" painting series. On top of that, I am very excited to be currently working on an animated film in collaboration with stellar veteran talents from all over the world.

DIM: Your art skills seem very broad in terms of illustration, painting and animation, what is your favorite medium?

E: NICKER Poster Colour–until a few years ago, all backgrounds for Japanese animation were painted with this. Sometimes it's been dubbed "Studio Ghibli paint." In the US, it's the equivalent of your everyday household poster paint like Tempera. But this brand reacts uniquely, the paint can be translucent as watercolor, layered on like acrylic, and as opaque as gouache. But since not a lot of animation studios paint backgrounds by hand anymore, it's a "dying-medium" and is not available in the US. I get mine sent to me from Japan.

DIM: I recently saw you at HYPHEN Magazine's Issue #22 Launch Party, what is your affiliation with HYPHEN Magazine?

E: Rick and I, along with the Hyphen magazine staff, co-curated their first illustration show "Alien/ation" in July 2010. They have always been a great supporter of our art and we enjoy doing live paintings at their events and appreciate the ground-breaking work that they do for the community. We have established and built a long professional and personal relationship with the staff. We have a great respect for the work that they do and we often find ourselves in similar circles of activism and outreach through our art events.

DIM: What in life inspires your artwork?

E: A lot of my inspirations come from personal experiences. They are rooted in where I have been and where I am, and where I am going. When I am painting, it's almost as if I am taking a snapshot from the moving film in my head and what I see before me. I am also influenced by literature, animation, film, music, nature and other inspiring artists. "Juxtaposition," "Discovery," and "Figure of Capable Imagination" play recurring major themes in my art.

DIM: What artists do you admire?

E: I have a very extensive list of artists who I admire and have played a role in my development. In terms of storytelling and directing, I have been largely influenced by Hayao Miyazaki, Eiichiro Oda, Brad Bird, Tim Burton, and Yuriy Norshteyn. For style and subject matter: Oga Kazuo, Eyvind Earle, Joko Budiono, Brian Despain, Nathan Fowkes, Juanjo Guarnido, and Xiangyuan Jie. For production design: Hans Bacher, Steve Pilcher, Harley Jessup, Shinji Kimura, and Tatsuyuki Tanaka. For pure spirit and work ethic: Rick Kitagawa.

I am sure that I am forgetting many and I hope they won't curse me.

DIM: What do you try to communicate through your art?

E: I hope it's some sort of truth about our experience as human beings. Sometimes I am simply painting what speaks to me personally. Perhaps it is a selfish reason, but often creating art is what quells the demons within by giving them a voice. That perhaps, and I hope, that some of these demons speak for you too. I can only present what I see and imagine, so it's up to the viewers to filter the experience for themselves.

DIM: What galleries have your artwork been displayed in?

 

R: The list so far: 111 Minna, Space Gallery, Project One, Wonderland SF, Big Umbrella Studios, 1015, and the Academy of Art Gallery at 79 New Montgomery.

E: Same as above, plus Long Beach Art Gallery and The Thick House.

DIM: What magazines have you been featured in?

 

R: No magazines thus far, but we've been featured on a few blogs such as Northern Focus, io9, and the blog run by Hyphen Magazine.

DIM: What do you both like to do outside of art? What are your other interests?

R: I'm pretty much a big geek, so besides making the art, I play board games like Settlers of Catan, Small World, and various versions of RISK! (primarily Clone Wars and Lord of the Rings versions). I also got Munchkin and am totally hooked. I also admit to be a recovering World of Warcraft addict, and after closing my account, I've gotten my video game fix from Words With Friends (username=Ricktacular) and Zuma Blitz. I also listen to a lot of podcasts, my favorites being Snap Judgment, This American Life, Pseudopod, and Radiolab. I also like reading novels, graphic novels, zines, trade paperbacks, and pretty much anything with a good story. Besides the nerd-core, I enjoy drinking beer with friends, cooking vegan food, and am a big fan of checking out films, theatrical productions, and spoken word events when I get a chance.

E: I like walking around the city and finding good chai. I take photos of the city and its architecture - I find physical imprint details to be very interesting. As a kid, I had entertained the idea of being a journalist or private eye. I like capturing the mundane, the everyday conversation on the bus, discovering an alleyway in Chinatown/ North Beach, and observing life. I like catching up on comics, films, and galleries. I do miss the surf of Huntington Beach and rock climbing in Yosemite. I usually like to be out more, but San Francisco is cold, so I end up just painting indoors, even on my days off. Lastly, you can probably find me spending hours at Green Apple bookstore or Japantown.

DIM: Rick and Eve, where can people find your work?

R: You can find all my "portfolio pieces" at www.rickkitagawa.com, but you can also see a crapload of sketches and works-in-progress and my attempt to create a piece of art every day for about 9 months over at my blog at www.politicsartculture.blogspot.com. You can see my work live and up close at Big Umbrella Studios where I'm in a split feature with illustrator Grant Gilliland that's up until April 10th.

E: You can catch my work currently up at Wonderland SF from the "Just Because" show and Project One from the "Warhol Reimagined: The New Factory" show. You can find my archival prints at Sweet Breams in San Mateo. And both Rick and I will be having a show in June at OZ Gallery. When the films I worked on are released in about 1-2 years from now, I will be posting my artwork on my site. You can find my portfolio at www.eveskylar.com and my daily artwork on my artblog: www.artriot.blogspot.com.