Shannon Kringen, Part II

This is the second part portion of yesterday's interview with the spirited Shannon Kringen. Be sure to click on images to enlarge... and enjoy.

Ennyman: What made you choose your medium?

Shannon: When I was a kid painting was the easiest because I am naturally drawn to color and my shyness did not stop me from doing visual work. When I hear music I see shapes dancing in my head and I feel compelled to draw abstract shapes in response to this "inner seeing." I wanted to be a performer as kid but my shyness held me back. I took dance, ballet, tap, sang in the choir and did some plays and wrote some short stories but I was more confident and successful with my visual art and writing.

When I found photography and video I felt like FINALLY I can express fully all aspects of myself and my shy, introspective self won't get in my way! Video allows me to combine music/sound/spoken word/color/light/performance/photography/acting out emotions: so many sides of what I want to share... it feels like a VESSEL or container I can pour all my creative energy into when I make a video.

Ennyman: Which of your pieces best represents you as an artist?

Shannon: My videos. My self portrait photographs with my KringSPEAK as audio encapsulate me as a whole. Color/composition/reflection/transparent layers/metaphor/poetry/musical spoken word/my voice backwards making it's own abstract language is really what makes me feel fully expressive. Like my entire body/mind/heart/soul is fully active and participating in life. I love video the most because it enables me to combine all my passions in ONE final form. Audio/visual/movement/performance/color. Photography and video are amazing to me because they are so versatile. You can share your inner world through the medium OR you can point outward and capture the world around you and share that.

When I do my self portrait photographs I feel like I am "acting" in a scene for some larger story. it has this wonderful feeling of combining visual and performing arts.

Ennyman: What's your favorite piece of art? Why?

Shannon: I am not sure I can pick one piece. I make a new 28 minute video every week but the themes repeat. I would say some of my videos are my favorite pieces of work because they combine visual and performing arts. Sound/vision/movement and performance. I think my videos say the most. Combining my literal voice and words with my photographs really satisfies something inside me.

Ennyman: Who's you favorite artist? Why?

Shannon: I'm very fond of many. Sabrina Ward Harrison, Laurie Anderson, Cindy Sherman, Miranda July are a few... but the painter/architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser is my favorite of all. He had a whole philosophy about life and his artwork was the embodiment of that. He designed buildings with no straight lines that were in harmony with the natural world. Curvey shapes and textures and eco friendly, too. Rooftop gardens and compost toilets and such wonderful colors and balanced but asymmetrical shapes. His paintings look similar to his buildings. I took a train to Vienna, Austria just to see the museum he designed which houses his paintings. The walls and floors curve and you feel like the building "grew out of nature" and would blend into a forest yet it has very man-made shiny, glazed ceramic tile in all kinds of different sizes and shapes. I find his buildings happy and dazzling and inspiring. I love to stare at them. His buildings feel "fertile" to the imagination. Hundertwasser thought much of the modern "straight line" architecture was bad for people in terms of "energy" they give off. Like a feeling of "prison" and not being one with nature. I agree with him that humans are much happier and healthier when we see how WE are NATURE and not separate from it. His buildings look very organic and mirror the shapes of plants/animals/natural growing things. I believe mans place is to nurture nature and not to control or "conquer" it. So I love his work visually as much as I love his philosophy. (Hundertwasser buildings are a little like Antoni Gaudí and his paintings are a little like Gustav Klimt.)

Ennyman: Do you have any local gallery shows coming up we should watch out for?

Shannon: Right now my main outlet is my TV show "Goddess KRING" on Mondays at 1030pm (now also webcast live from scantv.org), my website:
http://www.shannonkringen.com and flickrstream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shannonkringen/
I also screen video shorts once a month at the 911 media art centers open screening.
I'm thinking of putting out a book of my best photography. Really, I'd love to travel around the world, take photos and publish them and go on 'tour' sharing what I create. Maybe doing slide shows and talking about my travels then signing books after.

Ennyman: What do you like most about the art scene in Seattle?

Shannon: I like that Seattle is a kind of small city. It has a funky casual feeling. I enjoy that music and theatre are so lively here.

Ennyman: What would you like to see changed?

Shannon: I'd love to see more multi-media installations and more daring, risk taking and boldness being shared!

Ennyman: Have you tried to change it?

Shannon: Yes. I've shared a few multi-media installations myself including my video/audio/photography and painting. I'd like to do more of this in a public space.

Ennyman: I can't help but ask why you call yourself Goddess Kring?

Shannon: The whole Goddess Kring happened cuz of being a figure model nude all the time and then seeing those voluptous statues in spiritual bookstores and thinking a cool nickname for me would be Goddess Kring with my last name being Kringen (Kringen means multiple "circles" and "spirals" and Kring means one circle I think?)

When I say goddess I mean "god-us" like we are all gods and goddesses in our own ways on this planet... so i sort of mean it in a namaste, sacred me greets the sacred you... more than I mean any kind of "worship me I'm a goddess"... Its my way of saying I wish more people would see the sacred in each other and rise to that occasion and not be so low down inside... but rise up inside! And express from that space. the higher self instead of the lower self.

Ennyman: I'm glad I asked. Interesting thoughts. Thanks for sharing yourself here.