Strand, the Story of an Artist

Kevin Kirkwood sat down with artist and designer Brian Singer for a brief conversation in his San Francisco studio, located in the Mission District. Brian reflected on his upbringing in Silicon Valley, discussed the ideas behind several of his artworks, and shared his thoughts on the evolving direction of his creative practice. Best known for his thought-provoking work, Brian Singer, is a multimed...

Episode 085: Abby Zhang Kevin Kirkwood met up with Abby Zhang in Bayview, California at a park just south of San Francisco. Abby Zhang is a Bay Area–based artist working across painting, printmaking, and installation. She holds an MFA from Pratt Institute and has exhibited her work nationally. Currently in residence at Kala Art Institute, she is expanding her printmaking practice through experimen...

Kevin Kirkwood sat down with Bibby Gignilliat, a Northern California–based artist whose work radiates color, texture, and fearless creativity. They met in her Sausalito studio, a small waterfront town just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. Before becoming a full-time artist, Bibby built a thriving culinary team-building business in four major cities. In 2017, she sold the company to dedicate hersel...

Kevin Kirkwood recently sat down with Nina Katz, a Berkeley-based painter whose work explores the figure and portraiture. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Hong Kong, Nina studied in Boston before settling in the Bay Area. Largely self-taught, she’s been painting full time for the past 15 years; creating deeply expressive and intimate works. Nina’s latest exhibition, Figures and Fragments, is now on...

Kevin Kirkwood shared a conversation with Fernanda Martínez Gutierrez, an Oakland based painter and muralist; In her work, she incorporates nature elements as themes, organic shapes, bold textures, and deconstructed patterns to develop intrinsic narratives. Recently her practice expanded to sculptures, where she experiments with different materials to translate her distinguishable shapes and maste...

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to sit down with Fanny Wu, an architect and artist who lives and works in San Jose California. This episode is particularly meaningful to me because Fanny and I spent many afternoons sketching various locations of the communities that we helped design. Fanny is passionate in building and creating spaces that promote creativity and well-being.  She believes ar...

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to sit down with Lenny Grant, an architect who lives and works in San Luis Obispo, California. This episode is particularly meaningful to me because Lenny played an important role in my early growth as an architectural designer. With over thirty years of experience, Lenny brings a thoughtful perspective to his role as Managing Partner at RRM Design Group. His...

Kevin Kirkwood visits artist Kim Anno in her Berkeley, California studio for a conversation about how her family influenced her creative beginnings, what inspired her to make her collection of films, and her journey to becoming a Guggenheim fellow in 2024. Kim Anno is a painter, photographer, and filmmaker/video artist born in Los Angeles whose work has been collected and exhibited by museums nati...

Kevin Kirkwood shares a conversation with artist Chase Lanier, recorded live at Westobou Gallery. Together, they explore Chase’s process, his approach to making, and the conceptual ideas that inform his work. Chase is a boomerang native of Augusta, GA, where he teaches art at the Academy of Richmond County. In 2024, he showed at ArtFields in Lake City, SC — the annual competition that brings toget...

Kevin Kirkwood chopped it up with David Clifton-Strawn, an Atlanta based fine-art photographer. David focuses his practice on exploring the traditional art of portraiture through a contemporary queer lens.  Clifton-Strawn's work is represented by Alan Avery Art Company and has been exhibited across the United States, Canada and Europe. His work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Conte...

Kevin Kirkwood sat down with Craig Drennen at Westobou—one of the South’s standout contemporary art spaces—to talk about his creative practice and his latest curatorial project, The End Space – The First Five Years. This exhibition is currently on view at Westobou through August 2.   Craig is a 2018 Guggenheim Fellow, represented by Brigitte Mulholland Gallery in Paris. His recent solo exhibitions...

Kevin Kirkwood joined Juliette for a conversation a few weeks ago while he was living in Lacoste, France. This episode captures a fleeting, intimate moment in time and feels particularly special. Because at the time of the conversation, she was pregnant. Just last week, she welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world. This episode offers a glimpse into her life during a profound period of transi...

Kevin Kirkwood shared a few minutes with Diego at his art gallery in Marseille, France.  In this conversation, Diego shares insights from his time at the École du Louvre, and how his career has taken him through esteemed auction houses like Tajan in Paris and Sotheby’s in London. Galerie Diego Escobar, formerly known as ArtCan Gallery, dedicated to contemporary art. Founded by Diego Escobar in 201...

Kevin Kirkwood sits down with David Van Doesburg, owner of the Amsterdam-based gallery Stigter Van Doesburg. They explore David’s early creative roots in film and television, the artists that the gallery represents today, and the vision behind NAP+—a platform co-founded by David to support emerging and mid-career artists, curators, and galleries through accessible and affordable opportunities. Whe...

Kevin Kirkwood visited the studio of Dutch painter, Pim Blokker. In this conversation, they talk about what he enjoys about being a painter and why humor is important to his craft. This recording was made in late February, prior to our knowledge that he would be invited to show his work at the Stigter Vandoesburg gallery in Amsterdam. Since this recording, his solo exhibition was titled “no Worrie...

Kevin Kirkwood visited the studio of photo and video artist Daya Cahen. There, they talked about how some of her childhood experiences impact the work that she creates today.  Daya Cahen (NL/USA, born in Amsterdam) studied photography at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. She works primarily in the fields of photography and video. In her work, she focuses on forms of political influence and...

Kevin Kirkwood met with Lucas Lenglet at his Amsterdam studio. Lucas shared stories about his early installations, his solo show at Stigter Van Doesburg Gallery, and his latest endeavors in making ceramic sculptures. Lucas Lenglet (b. 1972 in Leiden, the Netherlands) makes sculpture and works with photography in which he explores notions of inclusion and exclusion. Using the language of architectu...

Kevin Kirkwood shared a conversation with the talented Cara K. Griffin a few weeks ago in Lacoste, France. She shared stories about growing up in Alabama, the loss of someone special, and how she fuses her yogi lifestyle into a creative practice.  Cara K. Griffin is a multidisciplinary artist based in Maui, Hawai‘i, working from a 100-year-old pineapple cannery. Her work explores impermanence, mat...

Kevin Kirkwood shared a conversation with the talented Ruth Ribeaucourt a few weeks ago in Lacoste, France. Ruth opened up about her Irish heritage, her early entrepreneurial spark, and the experiences that led her into the creative world. Ruth began her career as an international publicist and talent handler for Walt Disney Studios before trading the world of cinema for a slower life in Provence,...

Kevin Kirkwood sits down with artist Cyril Carret for a conversation at his home in Lacoste France. They dive into Cyril’s journey as a creative person, exploring his early influences and the experiences that led him to move to his hillside retreat in the Luberon. Cyril is a multidisciplinary artist with an extensive creative background in photography and interior design. Today, he channels his cr...

Kevin Kirkwood shared a few minutes in Lacoste, France with Gérard-Philippe Mabillard, a talented Swiss portrait photographer. Gérard is also a passionate contributor to the Moipourtoit Foundation, an organization dedicated to uplifting the community of Pereira, Colombia. One of his latest projects is a book titled The Stars Share, which features over 150 black-and-white portraits of both famous a...

Kevin Kirkwood met in Armin’s Berlin studio and talked about his solo exhibition, “LUST ANGST SCHMERZ EKSTASE,” which occurred last autumn at KÖNIG GALERIE. They also talked about some of the things that inspire him and the impetus that pushed him into the creative world. LUST ANGST SCHMERZ EKSTASE, a solo exhibition by Armin Boehm in the Nave of St. Agnes. This exhibition marks Boehm’s debut with...

Episode 064: Nicolas Rupcich Kevin Kirkwood met with Nicolas at the Reiter Gallery in Berlin, Germany to talk about his recent solo exhibition titled, “Offline Islands”.  In this show, he  presented a series of video installations and works developed over the past two years as a result of an artist’s residency in the Arctic Circle. These works primarily address themes related to image production i...

Kevin Kirkwood sits down with another Berlin based artist, Tiziana Jill Beck. She primarily works in drawing, often combined with artistic publications, installative objects, and paintings. Her work is characterized by a great joy in experimentation with material, form, color, and perspective. After extended stays in South Korea and Paris, Tiziana lives and works now in Berlin. She is currently pr...

Kevin Kirkwood sits down with Alban in his Berlin studio to explore the key milestones that have shaped his remarkable career. They delve into his thought-provoking contribution to the 2019 Venice Biennale and unpack the deeper themes behind his latest documentary, I Believe the Portrait Saved Me. The film has already captured significant attention at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival (B...