“Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth.” -Albert Camus

Stories are an integral part of the human experience. We use them to make sense of our own reality, to parse out the details that are too difficult or opaque to look at directly. Our fictions become almost as important as the world in which we live. We treasure stories, pass them down to the next generation and look to them for answers. Characters from fictions become icons to whom we turn in times of trouble for their wisdom.

Elise Tak is a painter turned digital painter who lives and works in Brooklyn. Her subjects are fictional “world famous” movie actors. Over her career she has created 10 characters. She uses 3-D and 4-D tools to painstakingly make each of her created characters look real. Tak has recently finished creating imagery and projection design for the play Paging Doctor Faustus. To hear more about her fascinating art and other projects, listen to the complete interview.

Mohamed Ben Soltane lives and works in Tunisia. He has an upcoming group show in New York titled Occupational Hazard at Apex Art. For this show Soltane created a triptych mosaic that expresses aspects of the history of art in Tunisia. The work itself is three versions of a signature. To hear more about this piece as well as Mohamed Ben Soltane’s other projects including the residency program he co-founded, listen to the complete interview.