i first discovered anne vieux's work at bushwick open studios this past summer and she's since been on the top of my list of people i wanted to interview. her work is crazy good; it's totally strange and totally beautiful. i've never seen anything like it. a few months ago i had the pleasure of visiting anne's studio in bushwick, brooklyn. anne was rocking a lemon colored sweater, a hue i've randomly been seeing everywhere. when speaking about her work, anne is incredibly intelligent but also humble. her work explores obsolete technology and blurs the lines between the analog and the digital, the unnatural and the natural. she makes paintings, videos, lenticular prints and zines. in all that she does, anne attempts to make the invisible visible. she is interested in how a painting can feel like a screen. and for her, zines are like sketching. i loved hearing about anne's journey and her artistic process so i'm very excited to share her story here.

more about anne below:

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cultureisland: tell us more about you.

anne vieux: i grew up in oklahoma with a few years of living in france. i studied painting at the kansas city art institute and painting from cranbrook academy of art. i've moved eastward every few years and now i'm here. nyc seemed to have opportunities and a community of artists working with ideas i am interested in and that inspire me. nyc is cool because things change quickly and i like that.

anne vieux // double vision ii & iii: double double // acrylic paint on inkjet print // 32" x 50" each // 2015 — anne vieux // double vision ii & iii: double double // acrylic paint on inkjet print // 32" x 50" each // 2015

cultureisland: tell us more about your paintings. what led you to select painting as a medium?

anne vieux: it’s hard to say because it was a natural attraction for me. the immediate gratification, potential of color/space, and the relationship to architecture/the body etc. the real or imagined conversation with the past and future one can have through work and theory around painting. growing up during the technological revolution has really shifted the way young artists view the potential of painting, so it seems to be an exciting time.

anne vieux // double vision vii // acrylic paint on inkjet print // 32'" x 50" each // 2015 — anne vieux // double vision vii // acrylic paint on inkjet print // 32'" x 50" each // 2015

cultureisland: how has your painting style evolved over time?

anne vieux: earlier my paintings were really raw and gestural. i started using black lights/installation to illuminate/frame the paintings. i got into projecting video onto paintings too. i had a studio visit with a someone and they suggested attempting to create what the video added within the surface itself. that was kind of an ahha moment, bringing this virtual space into material space -- slowing down the read of a virtual image and speeding up the read of painting.

anne vieux // double vision i & iii // acrylic paint on inkjet print // 32" x 50" each // 2015 — anne vieux // double vision i & iii // acrylic paint on inkjet print // 32" x 50" each // 2015

cultureisland: what is your process for making your work?

anne vieux: most of the imagery is created by photographing and bending reflective papers. in the end the imagery flattens and reads as painterly. lately, i’ve been using printed fabric stretched over panel, on which i paint. i love using highly saturated colors. the fabric gives a physicality to the digital image, and reads as watercolor on another plane. i like reintroducing the hand into these rendered digital images, through paint, and also leaving gesture with my finger prints and tape. these moments really excite me.

i have another body of work that is made of lenticular prints. you know those images used in advertising a lot? a few images are laced together kind of making an analogue animation. they move as you move around them. the feel very slick and look like screens. this feedback loop between the digital and physical flows through different bodies of work and continues to evolve. playing with gesture, scale, pattern, zoning out, and making the the invisible- visible.

anne vieux // infinite cube // lenticular print // 12.5" x 12.5" x 14" // 2015 — anne vieux // infinite cube // lenticular print // 12.5" x 12.5" x 14" // 2015

cultureisland: what role does technology play in your work? how did your interest in it come about?

anne vieux: early on i played a lot on computers and learned to program a bit. my family started a weather modeling company out of our house in the 90’s. growing up with glitchy weather maps and screensavers on pc’s and in a very techy environment had an impact. i love the idea of it from bit; that everything is digital information and can be computed.

anne vieux// arch-repeat // inkjet print woven wallpaper // 24" x 172" // 2015 — anne vieux// arch-repeat // inkjet print woven wallpaper // 24" x 172" // 2015

cultureisland: what is your process for naming your work?

anne vieux: i use a serial naming system for each body of work. the name for each body grows out of working on them, finding so essential content or word that comes into my mind while working on them. they are then named in order that they are made.