Interview with artist Eric Rewitzer of 3 Fish Studios
The gallery show Land's End, featuring the work of 3 Fish Studios artists - Eric Rewitzer, Annie Galvin, Orlie Kapitulnik, and Sean Hipkin is in full swing at our Divisadero location. The show focuses on San Francisco's famous Sunset District, where 3 Fish Studios' headquarters is located. We sat down with one-half of the founding partnership of 3 Fish Studios, Eric Rewitzer, to get a deeper look into what goes into creating such vibrant and detailed artwork.
KC: 3 Fish Studios is such a unique and amazing space! How did you come about opening it, and how long have you been in business?
ER: Aw thanks. We like it here, too! 3 Fish Studios started in Annie and Eric’s garage in the Outer Richmond almost 15 years ago. Back then we opened up our garage door on weekends and sold our artwork from there. I know. When people really started responding to our work, Eric was first to quit his job-job and take the plunge into being a full-time artist. We opened up our first commercial studio in Dogpatch in 2006, and then moved to our current location in the Outer Sunset in 2011. Annie quit her job-job in 2013, which is right around the time when Orlie and Sean joined our team, too.
KC: Everyone has a different and unique style, but your pieces feel cohesive when they are displayed together. Do you feel like you each inspire the other's work?
ER: We inspire each other, absolutely. Since we all work in a creative space, it is easy and natural to bounce ideas off of each other. We are all familiar with each other’s work and practice - we all easily move back and forth from printmaking to painting. This kind of studio life encourages a rapport of ideas, techniques, and experimentation.
KC: Do you give each other advice and tips when you’re suffering from a creative block?
ER: All of us have been doing this long enough to know that inspiration finds us working. So we all have a disciplined art practice. Our main issue is not creative block, but time. Time to make the work we want to make. It goes by so fast!
KC: How did you go about coming up with ideas for the show? Did you all brainstorm together as a team, or approach the show individually?
ER: When we were planning this show, we quickly came to agree on “Land’s End” as a theme, so we could all focus on the unique ways we love and respond to the beauty of our neighborhood, the Outer Sunset. The palette we chose to work on came from this environment, too. We all worked our individual pieces working from this theme and palette, and wow when we saw all the work together for the first time we were pretty excited. Framing them all up the same way really brought the collection together, and we are thrilled it all looks so cohesive and intentional. It is quite a love letter to the City we love.
KC: With San Francisco being a consistent theme in a lot of your work, what is your favorite thing about the city? Where do you find inspiration?
ER: Look around you! Anyone who comes to this city sees the beauty instantly. It's easy to be inspired by such a beautiful, interesting, dynamic place. And our favorite thing about the City? It’s on the water.
KC: What does Land’s End, as a show theme, mean to you?
ER: The show description says it all:
Land’s End is a celebration of the special places where land meets water. Focusing on urban coastal living in San Francisco’s famous Sunset District, where 3 Fish Studios is located, each artist chose to explore the visible, mysterious, and omnipresent boundary between city and sea. Each artist is interested in capturing the quiet narratives and ordinary magic that can be found among our everyday experiences.
KC: What would you like people to take away from the show, Land’s End?
ER: Some art! Second to that we hope people might be curious as to who made it, and make a trip to the Outer Sunset to visit our studio and meet us in our element. We’ll make them a nice coffee.
You can currently find the artwork of all 3 Fish Studios artists - Eric Rewitzer, Annie Galvin, Orlie Kapitulnik, and Sean Hipkin, in the gallery show, Land's End, showing at Rare Device Flagship now through September 4th. Pieces are available for purchase online here.