Seen

• Mickalene Thomas

  In this episode, Mickalene Thomas, Brooklyn-based contemporary African-American visual artist, sits down with Carrie Scott for a conversation recorded live at her retrospective exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in London. Thomas shares her remarkable transformation from aspiring lawyer to groundbreaking artist and reflects on the profound impact art has had on her life's trajectory. With raw honesty, she reveals how Buddhist philosophy and unwavering faith have guided her successful career path outside traditional gallery structures. Thomas offers powerful insights on maintaining creative integrity, finding balance amidst chaos, and the vital importance of kindness in both personal relationships and broader society. Whether you're an artist, collector, or simply curious about the creative process, Thomas's wisdom on keeping an open heart while navigating life's complexities will leave you inspired and contemplative. Don't miss this intimate conversation with one of contemporary art's most influential voices.From Carrie: We're at the Hayward Gallery the day after Mickalene Thomas' retrospective opened. Last night it was like standing room only, wall -to -wall people celebrating thismoment because it's all happening and the show is open now so it's alive. She's had this touring retrospective. It opened at the Broad in LA. It then went to Philly. It's now here in London and it feels like the crescendo of 20 years of work. And I don't know what we're gonna get because we've got like a live audience who weren't invited to this particular conversation, but I'm excited to just take the temperature for her and see where she's at and how she feels about the giant stageshe's finally on.'Thanks for listening to this episode of the Seen podcast. Liked what you heard? Get early access to these episodes and a ton of other great art content by becoming a member of Seen at seen.art (https://seen.art) . If you want to connect with us between episodes, follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/watchseenart).Join our free newsletter and become an art insider: https://bit.ly/Seen-Newsletter-SignupAbout the Seeing SeriesThe Seeing Series gets to the heart of what makes an artist tick. By always searching for the motivating truth behind an artist’s practice, we give viewers insider access to some of the most exciting artists in the world, all in a down-to-earth, honest way. From established artists like Rashid Johnson and Mickalene Thomas to emerging stars like Simonette Quamina, we speak to the good and the great of the artworld, ultimately creating an accurate portrait of how creatives survive, flourish and function today.

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• Charlotte Colbert

  Join our free newsletter and become an art insider: https://bit.ly/Seen-Newsletter-SignupIn this episode of the Seeing series, Carrie chats with  award-winning filmmaker and multi-media artist, Charlotte Colbert. Her work has strong philosophical undertones and often questions narrative, time, identity, dreams and the unconscious. The surreal and fantastical become a way to look at our world afresh and find the space to question and reimagine.From Carrie: "Sometimes the hardest interviews to do are with artists who you really respect or whose work really, really resonates and this is the case with Charlotte Colbert. I'm worried that this interview isn't the best one I've ever done and here's why. I have got this major, major respect for this woman and her work breaks me. I have no other words for it. It's emotional, it's emotive. It's all about the feminine sublime. It's all about the feminine and sirens and women and I want it. So sitting with her was hard. Sitting with her was hard. I had to try and play it cool, not very good at that and tried not to completely geek out on all the feminist stuff because I don't want to alienate an audience that should know her work and appreciate it. This woman is light and love with so much urgency and pain and passion. She's just awesome. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Seen podcast. Liked what you heard? Get early access to these episodes and a ton of other great art content by becoming a member of Seen at seen.art (https://seen.art) . If you want to connect with us between episodes, follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/watchseenart).About the Seeing SeriesThe Seeing Series gets to the heart of what makes an artist tick. By always searching for the motivating truth behind an artist’s practice, we give viewers insider access to some of the most exciting artists in the world, all in a down-to-earth, honest way. From established artists like Rashid Johnson and Mickalene Thomas to emerging stars like Simonette Quamina, we speak to the good and the great of the artworld, ultimately creating an accurate portrait of how creatives survive, flourish and function today.

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• Susan Chen

  Join our free newsletter and become an art insider: https://mailchi.mp/seen/waitlistIn this episode of the Have You Seen? series, Carrie chats with Susan Chen, a New York based artist exploring community portraiture, autobiographical self-portraits, and conceptual still lifes. She has collaborated with over a hundred different individuals in the studio from diverse backgrounds — many of whom are members of the Asian diaspora and beyond. Her paintings explore themes of race, community, belonging, prejudice, identity, family, longing, love, and loss.  Deeply curious about her sitters’ experiences, she continues to discover painting’s magical ability to survey communities and is driven by the political potential of figurative painting to inspire social change.From Carrie:"Have you seen Susan Chen's work? It's vibrant. And oh,so political. And I was expecting, wrongly so, this like super loud, heavy -hitting personality to be as bold as her work is. And she's just not. This is an artist who leaves every bit of her emotion and every bit of her political hopes and dreams and agendas in her work. And I think that that is extraordinary.Her pieces are like vibrant patchworks of different individuals, different portraits. They are a powerful statement on unity and the importance of every unique story and completely tied up in women's rights. It's remarkable.And our conversation was awesome and is all about not just reading a book by its cover.Explore Susan's work: https://susanmbchen.com/Thanks for listening to this episode of the Seen podcast. Liked what you heard? Get early access to these episodes and a ton of other great art content, by becoming a member of Seen at https://seen.art.Connect with us between episodes on Instagram, @watchseenart - https://www.instagram.com/watchseenartAbout the Have You Seen? series:The ⁠Have You Seen? Series⁠ is all about talking to emerging and mid-career artists about their journey to now.Curious about how an artist got to where they are or indeed why they chose art in the first place? Then this series is for you. Join us as we speak to emerging and mid-career artists across the globe. Don’t worry, there’s no hiding behind art speak here, or pretending that being an artist is a bowl of cherries. We’re here to hear it all, straight from the source.

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• Ryan Gander

  In this episode, conceptual artist and contempoary art world megastar Ryan Gander chats with Carrie Scott and In this intimate conversation with contemporary art world megastar Ryan Gander, we skip the usual exhibition promotion to explore the deeper "why" behind artistic creation. Gander shares personal insights about making art accessible without being elitist and reflects on how art intersects with our perception of time and memory. Rather than explaining his work, he invites us into a philosophical discussion about attention spans in our distracted world, the value of challenging art versus easy entertainment, and how imagination might help us control our experience of time. This episode offers a rare glimpse into the mind of an artist grappling with existential questions that extend far beyond the gallery walls.From Carrie: "Ryan Gander has a giant opening coming up at the Pola Museum in Japan and so we came to the studio today to talk to him about the show and everything he's got going on and guess what? We didn't talk about it at all and that's totally fine because there are hundreds of great interviews that Ryan has given that explain his practice and talk about his work because this man is a megastar in the contemporary art world. What we did today was kind of talk more personally about the point of art and why he does what he does, but also, like, what we're getting wrong. We got into, like, the deep big stuff that really bends my mind and,like, keeps me up at night and I think keeps him up at night and really got to the heart of why any of us do what we do. It was a great conversation and yet again, this is the third time I've got to interview him. I've walked away beinglike, 'Oh, that's the point. That's the point of all of this.' It's epic."Thanks for listening to this episode of the Seen podcast. Liked what you heard? Get early access to these episodes and a ton of other great art content by becoming a member of Seen at seen.art (https://seen.art) . If you want to connect with us between episodes, follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/watchseenart).Join our free newsletter and become an art insider: https://mailchi.mp/seen/waitlistAbout the Seeing SeriesThe Seeing Series gets to the heart of what makes an artist tick. By always searching for the motivating truth behind an artist’s practice, we give viewers insider access to some of the most exciting artists in the world, all in a down-to-earth, honest way. From established artists like Rashid Johnson to emerging stars like Simonette Quamina, we speak to the good and the great of the artworld, ultimately creating an accurate portrait of how creatives survive, flourish and function today.

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• Charlie Hamilton James

  In this episode, Charlie Hamilton Scott, a world renowned photographer and wildlife filmmaker and BAFTA and Emmy award-winning director chats with Carrie Scott. His three-decade career has evolved from traditional wildlife photography into powerful conceptual work that challenges our detachment from environmental destruction. With refreshing honesty, James confronts the contradictions in his own relationship with his art—creating beautiful images of devastating subjects, questioning the impact of his work while continuing to make it, and balancing sincere conservation messaging with dark humor. This conversation explores not just environmental activism through art, but the very human struggle of trying to make a difference in a world that seems increasingly numb to both beauty and tragedy. James reveals how personal experiences shaped his unique visual language and why, despite his pessimism, he keeps creating work that demands we pay attention to what we're losing.From Carrie: "Let's be honest, the art world can be pretty allergic to sincerity, whether it's animals, activism, actual emotion, it's just not cool to be sincere. Maybe that's a worldwide problem, not just an art world problem, but it is a thing. And yet here I am, talking to Charlie Hamilton James about his project, which is totally sincere and I tried to catch him out about ten times. I tried to like find the fatal flaw in his project and it's just not there. This is a man who truly believes that what he's doing is important, because like it is crucially important. This conversation wasn't easy. It's not easy to engage with his work on the level that it requires, but it was so worth having.Thanks for listening to this episode of the Seen podcast. Liked what you heard? Get early access to these episodes and a ton of other great art content by becoming a member of Seen at seen.art (https://seen.art) . If you want to connect with us between episodes, follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/watchseenart).Join our free newsletter and become an art insider: https://bit.ly/Seen-Newsletter-SignupAbout the Seeing SeriesThe Seeing Series gets to the heart of what makes an artist tick. By always searching for the motivating truth behind an artist’s practice, we give viewers insider access to some of the most exciting artists in the world, all in a down-to-earth, honest way. From established artists like Rashid Johnson to emerging stars like Simonette Quamina, we speak to the good and the great of the artworld, ultimately creating an accurate portrait of how creatives survive, flourish and function today.

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