Chatting with LadyHawk

This issue we are talking with Hawk, the Creative Director of KotaPress and the new KotaArt Editor. Want to know what drives the man that drives our artistic vision? Check out the Q & A below to get all the answers!

Q. What potential do you see in the digital art format for the next generation of artists?

A. Despite this latest slight hiccup, the Internet presents one of the greatest opportunities for young artists to distribute their work to an eager, worldwide audience. That said, it's important for up and coming artist to develop skills that are native to the Internet technologies like Flash, 3-D animation, and digital video formats.

Q. When and why did you start creating digital art?

A. I started working with PhotoShop back in the 1980s, and in recent times I've been getting into 3-D applications in a big way because with the electronic canvas you can create subtleties and visual nuances that simply cannot be duplicated with traditional media.

Q. Why and how did you come up with the idea for the KotaArt Award?

A. It seemed to me that many of the existing art award sites were focused on displaying the works of established digital artists. KotaPress has always been a forum for the up and coming, initially in poetry, and now in art.

Q. Did a personal event cause you to create KotaPress with your wife?

A. Yes. Two years ago my son Dakota died, and in our grief we found various outlets for our emotions. For my wife, it was poetry. For me it was art and music. We created KotaPress as a platform through which the memory of our son could be honored and so that others suffering the loss of a loved one could be comforted as well.

Q. Do you think that restricting art that displays nudity on your site equates to censorship?

A. Yes and no. You must understand that the KotaPress audience consists of poets, artist, and people who are grieving the loss of a loved one. It has been my experience that grieving people come in all shapes, sizes, and most especially ages. I am concerned that young children viewing our site would be presented with visual imagery that they would be ill equipped to deal with given their age, and so in that sense, we are censoring imagery. There are, however, any number of forum for the distribution of artworks intended for an adult audience, but we are just not one of them.

Q. Can you say a few words about why you think viewers should submit works to the KotaArt Award Contests?

A. Our objective is to promote the work of up and coming artist without regard to the previous reputation one might have attained or not attained yet. Ours is a forum for community expression across multiple digital formats from photo art to 3-D animation. In the future we hope to be able to actively promote the works of new artists, and in doing so, hopefully becoming a spring board to an accelerated career path in the arts for our winning artists.