Why Make? Podcast

See Joyce’s work at joyce-lin.com

Why Make? Episode 79: Tom Haney Why Make Download

Welcome to the world of Automata, a form of sculpture this episodes guest Tom Haney specializes in. What is Automata? It is kinetic figurative sculpture that tells a story. And the figures are powered by an equally artful system of handmade gears, and springs that resembles a watch movement. A art form that requires an incredible degree difficulty that extends to just pronouncing the word Automata. A task me, your humble interviewer struggled with mightly. Listen carefully to this episode and you too will be a cool cat and be able to pronounce it flawlessly.

We joined Tom in his Studio in Black Mountain North Carolina and had a chance to see the full range of his creations, powered by hand cranks, electric motors and amazing ingenuity. Also go to the video page and see a short documentary on Toms work

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Why Make? Episode 78: Vivian Chiu Why Make Download

I have always been amazed by detailed meticulous objects because I know I am not capable of such work myself. I do not have the attention span or patience to manufacture and assemble hundreds of pieces of anything into a detailed mosaic of an idea no matter how compelling that idea might be. But as this episode’s guest Vivian Chiu clearly states she is not afraid of time nor repetition in fact there is something very comforting and enjoyable in figuring out the process of boring hundreds of accurately placed holes and then boring said holes. And the results of her labors speak for themselves, a body of work that is both diverse and compelling.

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Why Make? Episode 77: Cyanotype Why Make Download

This episode is the story of two artists, two very different approaches and a almost two hundred year old photographic process called Cyanotype or blue printing. Join us as we journey to take a look at an exhibition at the Visions of Museum of Textile Art in San Diego California called Cyanotype with two of the participating artists Patti Gaddis and Morgan Ford Willingham. As we once again explore the world of modern fiber art.

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Haystack at 75 An Experiment in Community and Education Why Make

Today we’re sharing a piece we are calling “Haystack at 75 - An Experiment in Community and Education” in celebration of the school's 75th year. A conversation with Haystack executive director Perry Price. We talk about the history of Haystack and the iconic campus that is perched on a cliff above the Atlantic Ocean. Why it still calls itself a school of craft and not art. How the craft school experience differs from an academic institution and finally how has Haystack approached teaching technology. So take a listen, breath in the salt air and hear the sound of the waves pounding the cliffs below Haystack.You can listen to it here and on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

View fullsize Haystack campus in Deer Isle, Maine, aerial photo courtesy of OPAL Architecture / Research / View fullsize Students move their looms onto the deck outside the Fiber studio to enjoy the sunshine on the Haystack campus, 2023. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. View fullsize View of the Metals studio overlooking Jericho Bay, 2023. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. View fullsize Resident artists gather and collaborate in the Fab Lab during Open Studio Residency, photo by Dan Rajter, 2023. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

There are four unattributed voices in the podcast that I would also like to mention and they are in order of appearance, Adam John Manley of San Diego CA,

Lisa Geertsen Seattle WA, Jason Nemec Charlton NY and

M Craig Campbell of Ness Creek SK

Again my many thanks the Emma board of directors for Inviting Why Make to the 2024 event and to the Emma community as whole for being the wonderful supportive generous people they are. Please go to https://www.emmacollaboration.com/ for more information

Turning the Tables Why Make Download

In Episode 74, my sister Johanna Zorn turns the table and interviews me about the podcast. This should be a familiar name to those who listen to the credits at the end of our episodes. She has helped edit many of the episodes we have released in the last two years and was in the background making suggestions years before that. She is a veteran of radio and the audio documentary format having worked at WBEZ public radio in Chicago and then founding the Third Coast International Audio Festival, an organization dedicated to audio storytelling. She is now a freelance editor and producer. So take a listen as she tries to get me to answer the question, why I make Why Make?

Why Make? Episode 21 Reissue: Sylvie Rosenthal In Memoriam Robb Helmkamp and Erik Wolken Download

In 2009 I attended the Furniture Society conference in Boone North Carolina and sat in on an artist presentation by three young amazing makers whose work left a lasting impression. Sylvie Rosenthal, Katie Hudnall and Yuri Kobayashi. Sadly Sylvie passed away on October 14th and that bright shining light is no longer with us. In remembrance of Sylvie please take a listen to the wonderful conversation we had with her in October of 2020.

Sylvie Rosenthal is a Madison, Wisconsin based artist and educator. She maintains a studio practice making commission furniture, work for online sales, and fantastic genre challenging sculpture dealing with the intersecting flight patterns of the histories of trade, hybridity, materiality, queer theory, and the natural world.

On Episode 21 of Why Make? we discuss her fascinating 2018 show at the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum in Milwaukee called “House Of Risk” and the implications of taking risks in ones work. We also talk about the way in which Sylvie seeks to put multiple layers of understanding and interpretation in her work but ultimately leaves it to the viewer to determine meaning.

Take a chance, roll the dice and join us for the next hour as we discuss risk with Sylvie Rosenthal!

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Why Make? Episode 73: Smile Honey Why Make? Download

In Episode 73 of the podcast we talk with Teresa Audet an artist and educator based in Pittsburgh PA. Her journey as an artist took it’s first turn in college when switched from being a painting major to spending all her time in the wood shop. She then spent the 10 years after graduating making cutting boards, furniture, working in a hardware store and working one day week for a wood carver named Cecilia Schiller who creates Automata. Kinetic whimsical wooden characters that move through a system of gears and hand cranks. Graduate school led to an exploration of performance art and participation in the groundbreaking exhibition Making a Seat at the Table- Women Transform Woodworking. And that is not all, please take a listen to our conversation with Teresa Audet

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WhyMake? Episode 72: 2025 Fiberart International Download

In this episode of Why make we are going to literally talk about something close home, both my childhood home of Pittsburgh and my mom who was a fiber artist. That is the 2025 Fiberarts International produced by the Pittsburgh Fiber Arts Guild, of which my mom was a longtime member, Contemporary Craft and Brew House Arts. We will talk with two of the artists involved in this years show Akudzwe Elsie Chiwa and Chieko Murasugi .And two long time members of the Pittsburgh Fiber Arts Guild,which has produced this exhibition for over 50 years, Patty Kennedy-Zafred and Risë Nagan.

Take a listen as we weave a tale that for me starts with my mom and ends with learning something about an art form long denigrated as women’s work.

View fullsize Tobey Wolken View fullsize Detail Muranda WaShe Akudzwe Elsie Chiwa View fullsize Detail Muranda WaShe Akudzwe Elsie Chiwa View fullsize Detail Muranda WaShe Akudzwe Elsie Chiwa View fullsize Ghana Bags View fullsize From Rags to Wishes- front view- Chieko Murasugi View fullsize From Rags to Wishes- back view- Chieko Murasugi View fullsize Detail From Rags to Wishes Chieko Murasugi View fullsize View fullsize Grand Prize: Sally Baldwin Disasters of War View fullsize 2nd Place: Delaina Doshi, Reconciled View fullsize Zelin Seah, In the Presence of the Land, We Have No Names

Why Make? Episode 71 : Sit Like A Girl Why Make Download

Fully automated, remote controlled fighting tables that compete for ultimate supremacy, seems to be a good place to start any conversation. Especially when that conversation is with artist ,woodworker, educator and humorist Annie Evelyn. From fighting tables we move onto the merely absurd, like what it means to be a conceptional functional furniture maker. Her time as a resident artist at the Penland school of Craft. And the work she produced participating in two ground breaking exhibitions for women craft artist

View fullsize Sit Like A Girl View fullsize Flower Box Back View fullsize Magic Tables View fullsize Windsor Flower View fullsize Scale Lounge View fullsize Nest View fullsize Oshibana View fullsize Cathedral Train View fullsize Red Diamonds View fullsize What Is Real View fullsize Squishy Sticks View fullsize Let Them Eat Cake

Why Make? Episode 70: Seating Assignment Why Make Download

This is the story of how a seed of an idea sowed years ago becomes a ground breaking exhibition of women chair makers.

The exhibition entitled Seating Assignment happened in March of 2024 at the Sawtooth School for Visual Art in Winston Salem NC. It’s chief instigator was the then artist in residence at Sawtooth Rebecca Juilette-Duex. In this Mind of Maker episode we look at the inspiration for creating this exhibition, learn about the Chair Library at Winston Salem College and talk with Elsa Hoffman one of the artists in the show.

To view the exhibit online go to Seating Assignment

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Why Make? Episode 69: How Do You Measure Your Worth - A Remembrance of Paul Sasso Why Make Download

“How do you measure your worth”, this is a question Paul Sasso addressed in his 1990 sculpture featuring a woman and a man’s torso wrapped in measuring tape. It is a deeply metaphorical question that goes beyond the simple representation of measuring ones self as presented in Pauls sculpture. Paul passed onto that great measuring tape beyond in March of 2025, and in this episode we share excerpts from a previously unpublished conversation we had in 2023. A remembrance of an amazing artist, educator and mentor.

This episode of Why Make? is brought to you by Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.Thanks to Haystack to becoming our first sponsor and partner. Haystack currently has open spaces in select Square ONE Workshops for beginners and Summer 2025 Workshops! Spaces in workshops and housing are limited, and applications are processed on a rolling, first-come, first-serve basis. Applications for these open spots will be open the public starting Wednesday, March 26. To see workshop details and to apply, visit haystack-man.org or go to https://www.haystack-mtn.org/summer-workshops-details#workshops-how-to-apply

On this episode of Why make we continue our conversations from the 2024 Emma International Collaboration in Big River, Saskatchewan This time Miranda Jones. Miranda is primarily known in the art world for her paintings of animals but she is so much more than that. I saw her mostly in the metal fabrication area with plasma torch in hand but she could also be found in Tiny Shiny the jewelry workshop as well as the painting area. Miranda is a longtime participant in the Emma Collaboration and also sat on the Emma board, so a great person to talk to to get the length and breath of this hard to describe event. Here is my conversation with Miranda, we start with a silly reference to her honorary citizenship from New Zealand I refer to as her Kiwiness. Miranda is in fact a Canadian citizen and resides in Saskatoon but was originally from Australia.

Why Make? Episode 67: What If with Michael Hosulak Why Make? Download

In this episode the last episode of 2024 a special treat, the first of our many recorded interviews from the Emma International Collaboration which took place in August of 2024. This conversation is with Michael Hosulak the brainchild behind Emma though he takes no credit for being founder. We talk about two of the many pieces Michael was involved in making during Emma and also talk about the beauty that is “cocktail hour” and the “junk pile”. Sit back and listen as we contemplate the possibilities of “What If”.

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Why Make? Episode 66: Making Basket Casket with Ellie Richards Why Make? Download

In this episode, we are returning to our “Mind of a Maker” mini series with furniture maker and sculptor Ellie Richards, the idea behind the “Mind of a Maker” series, which is a new element inside the regular why make podcast is to talk to artists about the genesis and creation of a specific work, or body of work, in a sense, peeling back the onion yet one more layer to further expose that messy thing that is the creative process.

This story starts with an idea that was brewing for years before Ellie began making the piece we talk about in this episode, and that idea was a fascination with the fantasy coffin practice that exists in Ghana. Fantasy coffins, as the word implies, are fantastical, large, hollow, sculptural forms built almost entirely with hand tools that can be just about anything from a jet plane to a tomato… basically trying to capture a person's passions as they pass on and they are, quite simply, then buried in it, a practice far different from our western views on death and burial. She was encouraged to pursue her exploration of fantasy coffins by the artist Eric Adjetey Anang, a descendant of the original Ghanaian coffin makers. Eventually Ellie started to consider how to use these skills to create an object of her own design, and in this edition of Mind of a Maker, Ellie walks us through the process from inspiration to the final construction of her piece titled Basket Casket.

To see Ellie at work on the Basket Casket… Check out our short film on the video page of why-make.com, or find it on Youtube. Here are links to Eric Adjetey Anang and the Kane Kwei workshop. If you want to learn more about the fantasy coffin practice in Ghana.

Music for this episode was generously provided by Jim Roberts, the guest on why make episode 64. It comes from his recordings, Waka, Waka and Two Traditions. Additional music comes from The Ghana Project 2013,that recorded several traditional funeral songs performed by Ghanaian artists in Ghana. It’s used in this episode under a Creative Commons license. You can find more of their recordings on YouTube by searching the username “the Ghana Project 2013.” Finally, music in our episode also came from the Internet Archive,

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Why Make? Episode 65: Bonding with Jack Larimore Why Make Download

In this episode of why make I talk with sculptor, furniture maker and educator Jack Larimore about how his background in landscape architecture. What led him down the path to discovering a love of design and eventually making furniture. Furthermore how a lack of a formal education In the arts really allowed him to explore sculptural ideas with few preconceived notions. Then we get into a deep dive about in his most recent exhibition called Bonding that was held at Rowan University in the spring of 2024. A video of Jack working on the exhibition can be seen Here

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Why Make? Episode 64: Percussionist Jim Roberts Why Make ? Download

On this episode of Why Make we have Jim Roberts a percussionist, producer, artist and educator who resides in Chapel Hill NC. Jim plays the drum set, djembe, congas, and has many recordings under his belt. He has just finished a 17 year teaching stint at Elon University where he taught percussion and directed the Elon World Percussion Ensemble.

Jims journey in percussion dated to his earliest years playing in band class to marching band to drum and bugle core to African music traditional fiddle music and so much more. Please join us for a percussive journey with Jim Roberts

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Why Make? Episode 63: Impressions of Emma Why Make Download

In this episode I talk about my first impressions of the Emma International collaboration, which took place on July 31 to August 8, 2024 in Big River Saskatchewan. If you need a little more background on Emma take a listen to What is Emma? Episode 59 of the podcast

When I returned from Why Makes great adventure to Emma earlier this month, I knew I needed to sit down and collect my thoughts about my experience before they started to drifted away. This short episode is a collection of my thoughts about having attended my first artist collaboration. I promise you there will be much more to come.

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I Want to Paint the Moon with Steve Fishman Why Make Download

In Episode 62 of the Why Make Podcast we introduce the 1st in our Mind of a Maker series, a new part of the Why Make Podcast, with our guest Steve Fishman. Steve is a North Carolina printmaker and a painter in many mediums, as well as being skilled with pen and ink and the mighty pencil. He is also a teacher and someone who really knows how to think about the process of making art.

So journey back with me, Erik Wolken a little bit… to May of 2023. I'm thinking about how to put some new elements in the podcast and come up with the idea of trying to follow the thought process of an artist creating a specific piece of art. The name that came to me for that was Mind of a Maker, which I stole directly from the Anthony Bourdain PBS series Mind of a Chef

I was also thinking of this as a hybrid project, both a podcast and a short film, because of course after making one film I have mastered the medium. So the first thing I need is a guest/guinea pig to try out the idea, someone who will not mind if I waste their time and flail around. And that would be my good friend Steve Fishman, a willing victim, whom I've spent endless hours talking with about art and art making.

Steve had recently completed work on an exhibition of moon inspired paintings that were part of a much larger ongoing series. And as Steve and I are both fond of saying, "Bob's your uncle." I now had a willing subject and the perfect topic for my experiment.

So sit back and listen as Steve regales you with tales of painting the moon 🌙 🎨🌝

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