1xRUN Thru Interview
The Big Bang by Stephanie Henderson
1xRun: Tell us a little bit about this piece, is the original still for sale?
Stephanie Henderson: The Big Bang was painted with oil on linen and is a continuation of a totally new direction for me which had taken hold in The Floating World. The original is currently available.
1xRun: Tell us how the idea and execution came about?
Stephanie Henderson: This painting is a visual reminder of hippies placing daisies down the barrels of guns and is inspired by the growing war fatigue our nation has experienced. I consider Felix one of our first silent film stars. There are many layers of meaning and binary oppositions in this painting. Normally when working on a piece I start with a general thumbnail of my concept. Then the painting becomes itself over time as I work, so there are many changes. This is why the work takes much longer than if I had started with a tight drawing and color sketch, but it’s a process I enjoy, it’s a playful journey and ends up with a lot of depth.
1xRun: When was the piece created and how long did the piece take?
Stephanie Henderson: It was finished in 2012 and took about a year and a half to complete.
1xRun: Why should people buy this piece?
Stephanie Henderson: To put over their bed. If it speaks to you, makes you think, and makes you smile.
1xRun: Describe the piece in one gut reaction word.
Stephanie Henderson: Fun.
1xRun: When did you first start making art and what was your first piece?
Stephanie Henderson: I first started making art when I was a kid. I can remember my first piece being a “glue monster.”
1xRun: What artists inspired you early on?
Stephanie Henderson: Salvador Dali.
1xRun: Do you listen to music while you work? If so what? If not what is your work environment like?
Stephanie Henderson: I usually paint in silence because I find it to be very meditative.
1xRun: If you could collaborate with any living artist who would it be and why?
Stephanie Henderson: It would be one of 3, either Leonard Cohen because of his poetic lyrics, Matthew Ritchie because of his interest in time and space, or Mariko Mori because of her interest in birth, death and rebirth.
1xRun: If you could collaborate with any deceased artists who would it be and why?
Stephanie Henderson: Hokusai, because of my current trajectory.
1xRun: What was the first piece of art that you bought? Do you still have it? The last?
Stephanie Henderson: A glass piece by Stuart Shulman. Yes, I still have it. The last was a painting by Niagara, which I love.
1xRun: Any big shows or events coming up that you’d like to share?
Stephanie Henderson: Currently I am in Magical Dreams II, an international European invitational touring Poland, Austria, and Germany. The curator is Miroslaw Bator with the Beskidian Art Gallery. Scheduled to open June 12 at the Bedford Gallery, a contemporary art space in the San Francisco Bay Area, I’ll participate in another invitational, The Skull Show, curated by Carrie Lederer. Dreamscapes V, an invitational in Belgium, curated by Marcel Salome will take place in October.
1xRun: Where can we find you?
Stephanie Henderson: – Website –
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