Artist Talk with Sarah Szczesny and Olivia Mole

Sarah Szczeny’s method of dissecting, distorting and separating images, such as cartoon film elements, characterizes her collage, painting and video work.

She examines the conditions of painting by stretching the medium’s boundaries through experimental interventions – for example by using gif and loop techniques as well as sound effects -, a multidimensionality is created that gives the painting character of movement and thus locates it in the tradition of cartoons. In this process of animation of collages, which is so essential for her work, Szczesny combines formal studies and citations of pop culture and art history.

Olivia Mole is an artist and educator who works across disciplines including installation, performance, drawing, and animation. She examines the ways in which popular culture serves historical and contemporary ideologies and explores ways in which those ideologies can become unfixed, politically and personally.

She has participated in exhibitions, screenings, and performances at the Hammer Museum, 2220 Arts, Weirdo Night, Gattopardo LA, LAXART, JOAN Los Angeles, Los Angeles Contemporary Archive, The Wattis Institute, Southern Exposure and Cloaca Projects, San Francisco, among others, and teaches graduate and undergraduate classes in video, performance, and studio practices at UCLA, UC Riverside and California Institute of the Arts.