Don’t talk to me. I see through you and everyone else and you’re probably pretty boring, most people are. I’m just here to make stuff, I don’t want you to see what that is. But maybe you’re cool, in which case I might ask you for an opinion or give you a beer at open studio. Don’t be a bummer, because I’d rather be alone than unhappy.
From the tangled web of Chicago open mics and showcases to middle-of-the country comedy clubs and dive bars emerges Derek Smith.
Derek Smith was a different kind of little kid. While everyone else was playing Power Rangers in the street, he was in his room letting Bill Cosby LPs flow into his ear to stew is in brain. A couple of decades later he’s probably more Bill Hicks than Cosby. And when all the comparisons inevitably fail to describe what he’s become, he stands as a different kind of animal entirely: one to be dissected, studied and thoroughly enjoyed.
Despite being a bag of vices and complaints, he remains likable and lovable, like a smart, irritated Teddy Bear who makes poor life decisions. He’s been described as disgusting and smart. He could probably write this generation’s definitive dick joke in his sleep. He probably will, but only in between being a hundred kinds of funny, intelligent, and captivating.
“Growing up on Cape Cod, MA, whatever I was doing I was usually aware of whether the tide was coming in or going out.
Now in Chicago, I check the weather more than the tides. I live with my husband, an art historian and partner in utopian dreaming, and a few plants.
All of my work is dedicated to the people who have made it possible for this person, to be in this moment, writing this to you.” – Kristin
“Our wonderful city of Chicago offers it’s own beauty aside from the great outdoors. I strive to bring nature to the city and to my fellow Chicagoans. By venturing to some of the most extreme outdoor destinations I am able to find the inspiration for my work, which manifests in the form of high contrast pieces composed of simple lines and dots framed in basic geometric shapes. Because of travel, my appreciation of the city has grown exponentially and it helps me look at Chicago in a different light. I enjoy correlating the massive towers of Torres Del Paine to our city skyline, the winding hiking trails of El Chalten to the busy bike paths of Lakeshore Drive, and the lava flows of Iceland to the brake lights down Milwaukee Ave. I like to think my work inspires people to get out and to educate themselves of the beauty of our planet which, in turn, will allow them to develop their own correlations between the manmade world and the natural world.” – Jordan W
Chris Flynn is an artist, printmaker and drummer from Chicago who earned his MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Columbia College Chicago in 2017. Since earning his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1999, Flynn has been the Master Printer for Anchor Graphics, collaborating with an extensive range of artists and teaching printmaking to students of all ages and experience.
Statement
Chris Flynn’s current art practice builds on an open body of work entitled The Antigravity Puppet Project, which integrates sculptural papermaking and print media with percussion music and sound art. The Puppet is a self-portrait as a human-scale marionette, while The Antigravity Project is its dissection by image and sound. The figure, its fragmented image and its internal soundscape are played beside each other in translation games between graphic and musical forms, telling the allegory of the puppet through percussive sound composition, photogravures, visual scores and data glitches.
Traci Wile is a badass feminist activist architect (BAFFA) who works to empower ordinary people to become activists and change-makers in their community. She is currently the Director of Community Engagement at OFA (Organizing for Action), in Chicago, IL. She received her BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston in 1997 and her Master of Architecture from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2011. In her former life she was an artist, restaurant snob, Apple Mac Genius and movie extra. Her claim to fame: she worked on the West Wing, the Italian Job and Pirates of the Caribbean.
Shae Synnestvedt (pronounced SIN-EST-VET) is an illustrator living and working in Evanston, IL. Can be found mostly emailing and grocery shopping, aside from coloring and making friendship bracelets.
Creative design and visual branding mercenary for hire. Experience with print design, web design, image making photography and project management.
Zerobird is a screen printing and design studio located in the historic Feather Loft building in Chicago’s West Town Industrial Corridor. Run by the husband and wife team of Jennifer Burak and Dan Spielman. We make extremely efficient use of the 18’ x 18’ space where we do all our designing, file prep, screen exposure, printing, sewing and packaging. All prints ( paper, tshirt and fabric ) are hand pulled using water based inks and soy based solvents. Our equipment is mostly handmade using salvaged materials – the tables were even built from torn down walls in our old studio. We also enjoy embracing traditional printing methods whenever possible, including Rubylithe transfers.
Jennifer grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and was trained as a Graphic Designer before traveling to San Francisco, Germany, and Minneapolis to pursue a career in advertising as an Art Director. She finally settled in downtown Chicago in 2006, began biking, riding the el, falling in love with the city and spending way too much time tied to the computer. What started as a weekend lesson with Steve Walters at Screwball Press in 2008 purely for fun, quickly became setting up a make shift studio in the corner of her apartment and creating a brand to participate in the Renegade Craft Fairs. Jennifer then began selling prints and handmade pillows in stores around Chicago, spending any free moments printing and sewing. In 2011, she left full time advertising work to focus on Zerobird. She also began teaching screen printing classes to 4th-8th graders on the north side of Chicago, exposing them to the craft for the first time. Jennifer still freelances as an Art Director.
After traveling over the US, Europe and Asia, Olivia currently lives in Chicago.
One of these winters she’ll pack it up, but until then you can find her at rummaging
through a bookstore, at a bar, or out for a run.
Want to chat? Have a question?
You can email her at olivia@oliviaorndorff.com
