tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61093089332960448562024-03-13T19:31:23.771-07:00Cultural ReProducersat the intersection of contemporary art + family lifechristahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.comBlogger109125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-1592747924663995872022-12-14T06:19:00.009-08:002022-12-15T08:31:29.627-08:00Designing Motherhood: Things that Make and Break our Births<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6b9BzSkSqaeEZU1HBTQ_knNjZzMZZzwbjM8FUsSIry0vagJO41BwxgSaYXOZeqLtsYVe8kw5NuzbC2Z_8eOabC0z52TEYJhi3V2_onmtom-noTRpWfFnkCHJvLPH48BPTVUuSY_Z-WpLLEoefqVNaZweqjrFfPs-vQSKN3EqFflDDGv19-gFWvcUk/s1440/D6B49FA9-1329-4692-89DE-AEC9C8E9E41B.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1167" data-original-width="1440" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6b9BzSkSqaeEZU1HBTQ_knNjZzMZZzwbjM8FUsSIry0vagJO41BwxgSaYXOZeqLtsYVe8kw5NuzbC2Z_8eOabC0z52TEYJhi3V2_onmtom-noTRpWfFnkCHJvLPH48BPTVUuSY_Z-WpLLEoefqVNaZweqjrFfPs-vQSKN3EqFflDDGv19-gFWvcUk/w640-h482/D6B49FA9-1329-4692-89DE-AEC9C8E9E41B.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><i>Designing Motherhood: Things that Make and Break our Birth</i>s
is a multifaceted project that explores human reproduction through our material cultures. Organized collaboratively by Juliana Rowen
Barton, Zoe Gregg, Michelle Millar Fisher, Gabriella Nelson, and Amber
Winick, it began as an award-winning<span style="color: red;"> <span style="color: black;"><a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/blog/featured-book-designing-motherhood/" target="_blank">book</a> </span></span>published through MIT Press, and evolved to include a design curriculum, a <span style="color: black;"><a href="https://designingmotherhood.org/" target="_blank">website,</a></span> and an <a href="https://maam.massart.edu/exhibition/designing-motherhood" target="_blank">exhibition</a> traveling from Philadelphia to Boston, then Seattle and Stockholm. I was excited to catch it at Boston’s MassArt Museum of Art (MAAM), where it's on view through December 18th.<br /><br /><i>Designing Motherhood</i> is a complex show that can appear deceptively straightforward. The layout is clean with minimal wall
text, and many items on display will seem familiar at first to those
who’ve experienced the ups and downs of having a uterus. As I wandered
through I nodded in recognition at an array of delicate, curiously
shaped IUDs, early tampon designs, and a selection of baby carriers used around the world. But
among these were quite a few things I couldn’t identify. Consulting the
exhibition guide I discovered critical tools I'd never heard of, many
designed to address inevitable flaws in a birthing industry where men
predominate. The accompanying texts unfurl narratives of struggle, innovation, love and
empowerment.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuzfbzO2pEOBTJi9zmessw_M0Btbfq-7vx1O1OawXvQniXJqTLnWIdXZUedACvJe1bxl47TkaFPXWMFHlg9zO6ZRyQ_R3V-YX55182NhXpEfJsJEQU4y8mu45LpCzIEaJzWcvmv-vIUQhzpfYSjPRwkvz0w4yISoFNIJkhRnNFHS_rr8CvlofpvHsV/s1440/1D125D71-A5C9-4551-8A2E-B0F797265D69.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1171" data-original-width="1440" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuzfbzO2pEOBTJi9zmessw_M0Btbfq-7vx1O1OawXvQniXJqTLnWIdXZUedACvJe1bxl47TkaFPXWMFHlg9zO6ZRyQ_R3V-YX55182NhXpEfJsJEQU4y8mu45LpCzIEaJzWcvmv-vIUQhzpfYSjPRwkvz0w4yISoFNIJkhRnNFHS_rr8CvlofpvHsV/w320-h260/1D125D71-A5C9-4551-8A2E-B0F797265D69.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: inherit;">prototypes for a discreet, flushable pregnancy test <br />designed by Bethany Edwards and Anna Couturier <br />Simpson, and a tactile pregnancy test for the blind <br />designed by Josh Wasserman</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>During my visit, a college class arrived for a tour with
co-curator Michelle Millar Fischer, who led the group towards an
unpleasant-looking surgical device designed by J. Marion Sims, the
so-called "father of modern gynecology." She explained that though it is commonly known as the Sims
Instrument, the tool is also labeled here as "Lucy," the
name used by Ob/Gyn Kameelah Phillips and her surgical team to shift
recognition to one of the enslaved black women on whom it was
first tested. We moved on to a silicone speculum now under development by a
four-woman team, and a guide
created by disabled members of San Francisco's Planned Parenthood to make pelvic exams less painful and more accessible for a variety of
bodies. This approach exemplifies the tone of the exhibition: it spotlights designs that support reproductive sovereignty, solidarity,
and care across a spectrum of cultural, disability, gender
identities - without shying away from the patriarchal history of
obstetrics and gynecology. As the show travels, it incorporates local <span style="color: black;"><a href="https://maam.massart.edu/self-care-support-resources" target="_blank">resource guides</a></span> that include feminist healthcare collectives, counseling centers, and other systems of support.<br /><p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi51QOj3gVAnMXpnLFJcboM0Lj1pFKHB81l4DWV6MFxxm6Wuvog6_PX4j-X71JqZnZ3X2YSQpHGV0KycZAW3erqch5S9k-U-NTGKClaSevgZWp9H1W78S_3OQDsbwA-uVY6aGpNOS_S0ZW7_KloBRMYM0gOVeQy0uozKeJQBZON4cUFv2hAEK9SAvTG/s1171/EAC98916-81C5-4A67-AAFF-CD086FF22FC0.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1171" data-original-width="918" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi51QOj3gVAnMXpnLFJcboM0Lj1pFKHB81l4DWV6MFxxm6Wuvog6_PX4j-X71JqZnZ3X2YSQpHGV0KycZAW3erqch5S9k-U-NTGKClaSevgZWp9H1W78S_3OQDsbwA-uVY6aGpNOS_S0ZW7_KloBRMYM0gOVeQy0uozKeJQBZON4cUFv2hAEK9SAvTG/s320/EAC98916-81C5-4A67-AAFF-CD086FF22FC0.jpg" width="251" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption">a necklace with color-coded beads to track ovulation, <br />designed with a group led by Dr. Maria Hengstberger </td></tr></tbody></table>In <i>Designing Motherhood</i>, design
and activism are often interchangeable, and community organizing stands out as a critical form of care. There are flushable pregnancy
tests for those in precarious
situations, and home abortion kits made from easy-to-find objects,
created
in 1971 by the Los Angeles Self Help Clinic. Documentation of the MIT
Media Lab’s “<a href="https://makethebreastpumpnotsuck.com/" target="_blank">Make the Breast Pump Not Suck” Hackathon</a> plays on a monitor
alongside those standard pump models that keep surprising new moms with
their poor design, and a video by artist Arrow (aka Ari Fitz) explores
maternity wear from the perspective of a queer masculine pregnant person
of color. <p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Numerous products used in women's health care haven't been updated much since their invention, something <i>Designing Motherhood</i> aims to change.
In its Philadelphia iteration, its curators collaborated with UPenn
professor Orkan Telhan to develop an <a href="https://designingmotherhood.org/dm-curriculum" target="_blank">open source curriculum</a> for art and design classes, introducing the
challenges and inequities mothers encounter as series of creative
prompts. In Boston,
the show is hosted by MAAM, a teaching museum linked to the city’s
public college of art and design. During my visit, a student gestured
her
group over to inspect an irregular grid of blue and red rectangles by
Ani Liu. It was a chart tracking the time of every feeding,
pumping, and diaper change during the first 30 days of her child's
life. It's a form of data-collection that pediatricians urge many mothers to
undertake, and I remembered the process all too well. Even so, it is striking to see a single graphic that captures the extreme, round-the-clock fracturing
of time that takes place in early parenthood, during which
Liu was
granted no maternity leave. I try to imagine what the next generation
might make of this information, and what it could mean for the future. </p><p class="MsoNormal">The exhibition will travel on to Seattle in 2023, and then on to Stockholm, Sweden. No matter where you
are, the <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/blog/featured-book-designing-motherhood/?utm_term=&utm_campaign=F22-Subject-Literature-Google-Search&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=8539032139&hsa_cam=19226796459&hsa_grp=144908376872&hsa_ad=640898851197&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=dsa-871614666223&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gclid=CjwKCAiAheacBhB8EiwAItVO25agpyceJ_kUwp2vEK1Pt8xlCuOkaWYCIs7PXuwi7H24PmRdBldqbRoCzEkQAvD_BwE" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;"></span></a><a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262044899/" target="_blank"><u><i>Designing Motherhood</i> </u>book</a> is well worth seeking out. It is not an exhibition catalogue but a thick, beautifully-designed collection packed with essays,
interviews, and images that extends beyond the scope of the show. You can also find designed objects, international policies and more by following their ongoing IG account <a href="https://www.instagram.com/designingmotherhood/?hl=en" target="_blank">@designingmotherhood</a>. <br /></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwT2j-0m5NM2fQKzlxLrMGdryadSJAVZgGAwQRRmtHa2CF6LZTNfTBMP3AjdDGjCRiR6WplTVb0gYSniAhw3r7oG1JHMKl71wag6XrTtTBOXAbvI0J8vOfdSl_fhNuJA0H36XlY0fiMywRTMKo3utRttBUSk_aCJyD9Zo8PkvwswRWkKp4ImuyH6vw/s1722/Screen%20Shot%202022-12-13%20at%2011.19.30%20PM.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1418" data-original-width="1722" height="564" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwT2j-0m5NM2fQKzlxLrMGdryadSJAVZgGAwQRRmtHa2CF6LZTNfTBMP3AjdDGjCRiR6WplTVb0gYSniAhw3r7oG1JHMKl71wag6XrTtTBOXAbvI0J8vOfdSl_fhNuJA0H36XlY0fiMywRTMKo3utRttBUSk_aCJyD9Zo8PkvwswRWkKp4ImuyH6vw/w684-h564/Screen%20Shot%202022-12-13%20at%2011.19.30%20PM.png" width="684" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ani Liu's "Untitled (Labor of Love)," charting the first 30 days of her child's life<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p>
<p><br /></p><p><br /></p>christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-11298496616813991662022-01-13T11:04:00.008-08:002022-03-15T10:35:40.148-07:00Interview: Faye Lim <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div dir="rtl" style="text-align: left;"><b><b></b></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b></b></div><div style="text-align: right;"><b><b><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgiPs9TUZUt_t0wrNVlHGw6ipMK6muVRFviIrM9soJ3jmUYnWXdB4VcEDdX9MlyE8D59qANLjjNa94dRqF335DDzrQrjlN345wWOXrsvaWe7Edz_bUVQom3fVsEzD7sVD_Nt1hvUZkw_mu4Ai-BMfhCd_-pJin2ENn0hIz3SCuyNVX9E-hqwDAi0bLd=s1364" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="two dancers, one wearing a white full-body suit and the other a black one, supporting a small child with their feet" border="0" data-original-height="1348" data-original-width="1364" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgiPs9TUZUt_t0wrNVlHGw6ipMK6muVRFviIrM9soJ3jmUYnWXdB4VcEDdX9MlyE8D59qANLjjNa94dRqF335DDzrQrjlN345wWOXrsvaWe7Edz_bUVQom3fVsEzD7sVD_Nt1hvUZkw_mu4Ai-BMfhCd_-pJin2ENn0hIz3SCuyNVX9E-hqwDAi0bLd=w400-h395" title="image by Larry Toh Photography, courtesy of Rolypoly Family" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b><b><span face="Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">Faye's son supported by dancers in a work by Rolypoly Family, <br />image by Larry Toh Photography</span></b></b></td></tr></tbody></table></b></b></div><span style="color: #666666;"><span><b><a href="https://fayeminlim.com/">Faye Lim</a> is a dancer and movement-maker. She is a mother, an educator, and an advocate for parenting artists. Her choreography and direction have been presented in public spaces, stages, and galleries in Singapore and internationally. As co-director of Derring-Do Dance, she makes body-based artworks and programs through Movement Arts and <a href="https://rolypolyfamily.com/about/">Rolypoly Family</a> for diverse children and their families. Her training and experience span the fields of the arts, education, non-profit impact research and sexuality education consulting. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Faye began working with a team of cultural producers to initiate <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/133533314643243/">Parenting Artists SG</a>, an online forum for discussing how the Singapore arts scene can be a more supportive environment for artists raising children. </b></span></span></div><p><b><span style="color: #666666;"><span>This interview is part of a creative exchange between Cultural ReProducers and the artist-run gallery <a href="https://comma-space.com/">CommaSpace</a> in Singapore. It began during a residency where connecting with fellow artists meant meeting online because of the pandemic. Given these circumstances it felt especially lucky to meet Faye in person to connect over our mutual creative interests, and we followed up remotely once I returned to the United States. (Christa Donner for Cultural ReProducers)</span><span> </span></span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><br />Cultural ReProducers:</b> <b>How old is your child now? How would you describe him?</b><br /><br /><b>Faye Lim:</b> He is going on seven. It’s funny - recently my word for describing him has been “perfect.” I’d been thinking about it, and this word just kept coming up. Clearly not everything goes according to plan, but all the areas that he's growing in, learning in, figuring out, struggling - everything just feels like it makes perfect sense with who he is.<br /><br /><b> </b><b><b>CR: What has changed in your creative process after becoming a parent, and what has stayed the same?<br /><br /></b>Faye:</b> I think what's been constant is my practice in movement improvisation, as well as studying and experiencing what freedom and the sense of liberation are like. I’ve always been quite topsy turvy in the way I choreograph and make dances, and having a child has enriched that approach and the sensation of disorienting and orienting again. <br /><br />I experience dance differently now, after becoming a parent. Time and space and energy-wise, certain restrictions closing in on me. But moving around with him, improvising with him helped me to…play, I suppose, with that feeling of time and space closing in. I've been getting really a lot more curious and paying a lot more attention to how children and different caregivers move and work with their bodies. I mean, when I think about movement improvisation, dance improvisation - I also think about the autonomy and self-determination there and then. Like, how do children experience that? How do they experience their bodily autonomy around their caregiver - around adults, in different settings?<br /></p><p><b><b><b></b></b></b></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGTbLumJDYMqVfp-kZ-zXNGKKu4WQKbHWfS2rBrg406S6X77qAt6Mlnl7v04QKHGStjczlQvZcx1Vd3xp_n7Cp-oaQWRFSH1_Lyg__cLp_N6IiWYjdSf90PLXIRSNwmbmezft0RapY7pJ4dHhsR94aG9V7pamXqQqCuU_x_AIzUboQMLFQ5arS6MHV=s1814" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1368" data-original-width="1814" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGTbLumJDYMqVfp-kZ-zXNGKKu4WQKbHWfS2rBrg406S6X77qAt6Mlnl7v04QKHGStjczlQvZcx1Vd3xp_n7Cp-oaQWRFSH1_Lyg__cLp_N6IiWYjdSf90PLXIRSNwmbmezft0RapY7pJ4dHhsR94aG9V7pamXqQqCuU_x_AIzUboQMLFQ5arS6MHV=w400-h302" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span face="Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">image by Kavitha Krishnan, courtesy of Rolypoly Family<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><b><b><b>CR: How did motherhood change your relationship to the artistic community here in Singapore? <br /></b></b></b><p></p><p><b>Faye:</b> My practice now includes working with children in a committed way. And also because of the attention I've put on advocating for artists with caregiving responsibilities [through Parenting Artists SG], I have started to work with artists I didn't used to have interactions with. Some of them have become very important and supportive peers for me, and I hope me for them also. <br /><br />I think some folks think of me as only working with children. I'm happy about that work, but I also have mixed feelings about that. I don't think this is the case across artistic communities and families - but there is definitely that association of “oh yeah, she is the artist who works with children and cares about caregiving.” (laughter) At the same time it's also quite thrilling to be able to bring these aspects into the fold of our dialogues as artists, and to be available to other parties who care about this model. Within this community, there’s this artist – they and I have been practicing contact improvisation together, and organizing events here in Singapore with other folks as well. But it was great when they also became a parent, and I was dancing with them when they were pregnant. Just to be in that space of overlap – of our movement practice, our changing bodies, our changing identities and of having this other being tag along and be around us. I was one of the first among my friends who was practicing and became a parent. Here in Singapore, I didn't have many parenting dance artists as predecessors when I had just given birth. There are a few dance artists I work with closely, who have either just given birth or are about to. I feel like a community of support is more possible now.<br /><br /><b>CR: Being a parent in the performing arts poses specific challenges: there are so many components that you have to physically show up for – rehearsals and performances coordinated with many other people. Building that community seems crucial. Could you talk a bit about the group you recently launched, Parenting Artists SG? </b><br /><br /><b> Faye: </b>Yeah, so we had some informal meetups in 2020. I wasn't actually all that keen on starting another Facebook group – but out of the first meeting we had, just at the start of the pandemic in Singapore, there were suggestions from the group to start something online, where people could gather. It was February 24 2020, just as Covid-19 cases were increasing here, and I specifically remember, we were on the edge of our seats - like “Can we do this? How can we meet up safely? Do we do this online?” We did temperature checking and signing in (for contact tracing), and it was hybrid, so the three or four artists who didn't feel well, they had their own discussion group online, and the rest of us met in person. The people who came were not only from the performing arts, but you are right to say there are challenges unique to performing artists. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiLu7losg8uI3CB62lr3VE3La2o8cL1zojdyF5m58hzS2eUjcz7mgsGSQY47MkspseEODtPuj0_l60n7376F-48hsH6XBOT4JHZP2SpeFeu7zGKF9Dz98eThK2zKbJnrLK_ciNjVxkwvubntUlhLtUWTYonwbUal7m7e8nI4eHHmJ1bFKwv7Cy384p8=s1358" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1358" data-original-width="1342" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiLu7losg8uI3CB62lr3VE3La2o8cL1zojdyF5m58hzS2eUjcz7mgsGSQY47MkspseEODtPuj0_l60n7376F-48hsH6XBOT4JHZP2SpeFeu7zGKF9Dz98eThK2zKbJnrLK_ciNjVxkwvubntUlhLtUWTYonwbUal7m7e8nI4eHHmJ1bFKwv7Cy384p8=w395-h400" width="395" /></a></b></div><p><b>CR: How did that initial event come about? What was the impetus to get it started?<br /><br />Faye:</b> Well, when my son was quite young I gathered a very small group of artists who wanted to discuss parenting, inspired by an event at Movement Research in NYC. Four of us met to chat about what our experiences had been like, as working artists and as arts audiences (3 parents, 1 artist who was not a parent yet and became one a few years later). Two years later another small group got together, including two producers. In the meantime, I was looking around online, researching how other artists were talking about being parents. Cultural Reproducers is a resource I went to a lot, and a couple of others, like Mothers Who Make. One of my producer friends posted something about a residency that was specifically supporting parenting artists and mentioned it seemed like a positive direction. And then another friend who is not a parent – who was advocating for more visibility and more support - posted that she wanted to do more. So I approached the both of them - it was me and these two friends who are not parents, but who care about this. <br /><br />That set the tone for how things came together. There are folks who are active in the group who are not parents, and I really appreciate their attention, their care, their time in organizing some of this together in sharing resources. One of them combed through the internet to locate all the relevant government and arts policies, and created a resource document. A lot of these things I wouldn't have been able to cobble together if not for these folks. One of them is a producer who is an organizer with a group of arts producers here called Producers SG. It’s quite deliberate that there's that partnership with Producers SG, because there's the push for artists to work in teams - we want to not handle everything on our own, and a lot of the times the producers are the folks who are helping to gather the resources. They gather the funds for the work, and they are the ones who then help to put the provisions that are needed – like childcare- into the budget sheets, into the application forms, into the negotiations with funders and such.<br /><br /><b> CR: I don't know if it's a performing arts thing or if it's a Singapore thing, but could you just briefly explain what you mean by a producer here? It is not something that I had heard about for smaller groups of artists in the United States, but it seems quite common here. <br /><br />Faye:</b> Oh, my goodness yeah. It’s funny because you’re called Cultural ReProducers, and like, how are we using those terms differently? So first a disclaimer: I think different producers work in different ways for different projects. The producer typically helps make the project happen - the person who pulls the creative team together - whatever technical or administrative needs, and they may put in the infrastructure for the timeline, the fundraising, keeping the project on track in terms of division of labor and such. So they help make it happen, and take that load off the artists. Just this past year, during the worst of the pandemic here, I got to work on my first project fully produced by an independent producer. <br /><br />Having producers that understand what it's like is very helpful. One of the producers went off to a festival in Europe where they were talking a lot about the visibility of work by women artists. He came back with an understanding of what to look out for to produce in a way that's more inclusive. So I feel like these things are happening in parallel. <br /><br /><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgFP898OXJRYObwEAFVlXZ7UvYzA4sxiyjZp_F6cUsSBupy-uIEM09xq-Pvyp_2hJFSMpw7GgJ84xMl_Jgwn5SYb5U5UKJbwhw2gWtr7sn8JWCVi3vOhdsUuGHMsRFOJhqVl6tR12QOC772BnFbz24fUKn_4JRtc9IjczAwd8L-PvAc5aGd7OWCdUhw=s2400" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1258" data-original-width="2400" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgFP898OXJRYObwEAFVlXZ7UvYzA4sxiyjZp_F6cUsSBupy-uIEM09xq-Pvyp_2hJFSMpw7GgJ84xMl_Jgwn5SYb5U5UKJbwhw2gWtr7sn8JWCVi3vOhdsUuGHMsRFOJhqVl6tR12QOC772BnFbz24fUKn_4JRtc9IjczAwd8L-PvAc5aGd7OWCdUhw=w640-h336" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">a still from the film "Beautiful Fields Beyond Me," (currently in development). image by Faye Lim<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b>CR: What do you feel are specific challenges to being a parent in the creative community in Singapore -- things you’d like to work to change?<br /><br />Faye: </b> Culturally, there are quite specific expectations of how children should behave, and that puts these expectations on the parent as well. And art spaces, as you know… as progressive as we imagine them, sometimes are not necessarily progressive. That whole “children should be seen and not heard” thing. The arts community here is many communities. It’s really diverse. I think there are some other communities within the arts that are comfortable sharing space with children, but I don’t think in the contemporary dance community, that we can assume a familiarity with sharing space with children. Either that, or children tend to be objectified or exoticised - they are interesting and valuable to some artists insofar as they further the artists’ vision and artistic goals. <br /><br />As someone who parents a child and advocates for children’s rights, it is quite challenging being in some of these spaces - but that has been an opportunity of growth for me. Practising compassion and empathy for my colleagues, collaborators, partners and myself hasn’t always been easy but has certainly paid off. The frank discussions and negotiations make room for us to challenge assumptions and can be generative for the working relationship.<br /><br />I think another thing is also the concept of caregiving – is it a community or a society responsibility, or is it on the individuals. he concept of caregiving, when confronted in the workplace, feels very much like an individual's responsibility. I have heard laments about how other colleagues/collaborators have to take on extra workload when a parent takes childcare leave. The idea here is - your child, your problem. Whereas in some arts communities I am fortunate to work in, caregiving is viewed as part and parcel of work life - whether it is the care of a child, an elderly family member, or a colleague who needs extended medical care. I much prefer the notion that caregiving is something we look at collectively, so as to invest in our collective health and future. My friend had started up this informal performance space called "Make It / Share It," and that was also the time when I was thinking about how to thrive as a parenting artist. I talked to her about it and she said that in Sweden, children are anywhere and everywhere - they are present in arts spaces. So she created this open stage performance platform and added guidelines like “children are welcome.” She didn't call it a “family” space. Her guidelines were along the lines of “If you want to perform here, do expect that you might hear some sounds from children - don’t get grumpy about it.” I performed there, but I also brought my son to shows. I have friends who make movement-based improvisational performances, and it was great to have this space where my son could join in, and they were so able to incorporate his sounds and his movement and his story-making into their show. That's the kind of risk taking, the kind of disruption and improvisation that I’m interested in when I make art. It doesn't have to come from a child, but how often do we get another adult audience members disrupting our show, much less in Singapore? (laughter) That’s the energy that I am completely excited by - to have a space where my son could be himself and the artists could be themselves… it was really perfect. <br /><p></p><p></p><p><b>CR: I’m curious what projects you’re thinking about these days, or longer term, once your child is older. <br /><br />Faye:</b>
I have different strands of creative energies and goals and visions,
and they tend to overlap, intersect, and diverge. Alongside what I’m
making as a dance artist, I've been looking for avenues where I can have
more conversations and intersections between art and public health,
specifically for children. I’ve been trying to lay down some foundation
to work at that intersection, whether it's as an artist, as an
organizer, as a consultant. And then, alongside that, always my movement
practice in contact improvisation. That’s like a stream that just flows
for me, on and on and on. I imagine that will continue, and I’ll have
different points of discovery along the way with my movement practice,
and I don't necessarily have a plan for that.<b><br /></b></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiuIUOcWQcOupgHZ9_15xQnuFJivnNmQDtU8XIIvx5tEfB9ofiN6qrpC4_VJVvvzMzVg3s-eYHSInnQOAcrK0rjdaMJsRaki8OBB-589Q3-umHYVLtwHGZ4NF4XbsflHcDtbIgfAqPWoFW3Dt5_BTj0BgcWr77B9loaY8tu-R358Gjbq_xc1oDkx-kg=s2420" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1362" data-original-width="2420" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiuIUOcWQcOupgHZ9_15xQnuFJivnNmQDtU8XIIvx5tEfB9ofiN6qrpC4_VJVvvzMzVg3s-eYHSInnQOAcrK0rjdaMJsRaki8OBB-589Q3-umHYVLtwHGZ4NF4XbsflHcDtbIgfAqPWoFW3Dt5_BTj0BgcWr77B9loaY8tu-R358Gjbq_xc1oDkx-kg=w640-h358" width="640" /> </a></td><td style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Faye Lim dancing in "Telescopic Dreams," image by Finbarr Fallon</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b><br /><br /></b><br /></p><p></p><br />christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-70303549125174686542021-01-20T20:28:00.006-08:002021-01-27T07:19:03.305-08:00Interview: Mintio and Kabul<div><p></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W98X8RAskKw/YASm9iANQLI/AAAAAAAAGwo/H4PIGlIPzJk0jcGcmrnz_P9J7pDRy5psgCPcBGAYYCw/s1280/Malam-di-jari-kita.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="761" data-original-width="1280" height="484" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W98X8RAskKw/YASm9iANQLI/AAAAAAAAGwo/H4PIGlIPzJk0jcGcmrnz_P9J7pDRy5psgCPcBGAYYCw/w815-h484/Malam-di-jari-kita.jpg" width="815" /></a></b></div><b><br /> Mintio (Samantha Tio) and Kabul (Budi Agung Kuswara) are internationally exhibited artists whose work has shifted profoundly since becoming parents. As the sexism and privilege of the art world presented new barriers, the two artists merged their separate practices into multimedia collaborations, including “<a href="https://ketemu.org/projects/the-wax-on-our-fingers/" target="_blank">The Wax on Our Fingers</a>” and “<a href="https://ketemu.org/projects/the-current-s-we-call-home/" target="_blank">The Current/s We Call Home</a>.” They also founded <a href="https://ketemu.org/" target="_blank">Ketemu Project</a>, a socially-engaged arts organization in Bali that allows them to operate beyond the commercial art world. Ketemu uses art to engage marginalized groups in the community, address environmental concerns, and support the work of fellow artists through a new family-in-residence program. When we spoke, the two parents were separated by the pandemic, with borders closed: Mintio working from home in Singapore with their 8-year old daughter, Ning, and Kabul in Indonesia, where Ketemu is based. <br /></b><br /><b><b>Cultural ReProducers is pleased to share a series of conversations
with artists parenting in Singapore. This interview is part of a
creative exchange between Cultural ReProducers and the artist-run
gallery <a href="https://comma-space.com/" target="_blank">CommaSpace</a>. This partnership began in the midst of
the Covid-19 pandemic, when connecting with artists meant juggling
online conversations while caring for e-learning children at home. We’re
so thankful for these conversations, which raise critical questions
about support, culture, and creativity.</b></b><br />____________________________________________________________________________________<br /><b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hTQh-Vot9_E/YASoQd0_ucI/AAAAAAAAGws/zktjHNiSVaca4ecszAsWsYSDIkEqJ3M6wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1304/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-11-12%2Bat%2B11.45.30%2BAM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1014" data-original-width="1304" height="311" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hTQh-Vot9_E/YASoQd0_ucI/AAAAAAAAGws/zktjHNiSVaca4ecszAsWsYSDIkEqJ3M6wCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h311/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-11-12%2Bat%2B11.45.30%2BAM.png" width="400" /></a></div>Cultural ReProducers: Mintio, you grew up in Singapore and Kabul in Bali, and you typically travel between the two when you’re not grounded by a pandemic. How has this shaped the culture of your family and your creative community?</b><br /><br /><b>Kabul:</b> I’m not a typical Balinese: my mom is Javanese and my dad is Balinese. I grew up in this mixed culture environment, so when I was younger my family from my mother’s side, when I visited Java they brought me to a mosque to pray. And when I come here to Bali I would go to the Hindu temple to pray. Traditional Balinese they are really connected with daily cultural activities. When I went to JogJakarta for 13 years - to study, and I had my studio based there – I felt comfortable because I had 24 hours my time to manage on my own. So when I met Mintio in Jogja, I don’t see it as much different in terms of cultural background. But when I visited Singapore, I had … a challenge to fit. Everything’s really efficient in Singapore, but my work as an artist is not a “profession” there. <p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cvrJhxOep8I/YAS0Uv4dYnI/AAAAAAAAGxo/wDWyTI6ZZk4stOi7PurWhchcLW2jIB3UgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1154/MintioKabul%2BColab.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1154" data-original-width="816" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cvrJhxOep8I/YAS0Uv4dYnI/AAAAAAAAGxo/wDWyTI6ZZk4stOi7PurWhchcLW2jIB3UgCLcBGAsYHQ/w283-h400/MintioKabul%2BColab.png" width="283" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>Mintio & Kabul, image from "The Wax On Our <br />Fingers" series, cyanotype and wax on cotton.</b> <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b>Mintio:</b> We are facing transnational issues in terms of Visas, and I think that’s the biggest thing that we’ve been working out the entire of our parenting and family life. Reflecting on my own cultural identity, I see myself very much of an outcome of migration. I’m born to an immigrant family of Southern Chinese and, you know, this is not my land. Whereas in Bali, Kabul has his ancestral hall, and all the lineages and histories attached to the land. I’m this kind of floating entity. Kabul really has that status as a third-culture child, by having mixed parentage. So I’m wondering what’s gonna be in it for [our daughter] Ning, as a third-culture kid.<br /><br />In a sense, what we want to establish for our child is that you can be at home anywhere. You can be anything you define yourself to be. But of course that also involves a lot of scaffolding – it has to be very conscious and aware. So even as a very young child I talked to her about “What’s the difference between your cultural identity, your nationality? What does it mean? Who are you?” Because these questions get thrown to her a lot in school here: in Singapore you are believed to have this very singular identity: you’re either Malay, Indian, Chinese, or “Other.” <br /> </div><div>What grounds us culturally is art. We see art as that binding force in our family. That allows us to exist anywhere as a family – being nomadic, you know, we build our own kind of network as a family, creative community around the world. Kabul and I have a practice that, whatever we make, it has to fit into our luggage. Or it could be rolled or folded. That constraint gives a certain kind of liberty to where we can show – it has shaped the medium of our works. Ever since that we work a lot with tapestry, textiles, anything that can be folded. It could even be something that you could wear onto the flight, you know, like a really big jacket. The installation was about 100 meters square, but we fit everything into a self-bought bag that Kabul could take onto the flight.<br /><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zDvjR8xirpc/YASxN5eTJfI/AAAAAAAAGxI/G2nbad1f_2Ysx9K4-D2RhBFEm2aiAMRdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Currents.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="562" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zDvjR8xirpc/YASxN5eTJfI/AAAAAAAAGxI/G2nbad1f_2Ysx9K4-D2RhBFEm2aiAMRdgCLcBGAsYHQ/w749-h562/Currents.jpg" width="749" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>Mintio and Kabul, installation view of "The Current/s We Call Home," mixed media with sound </b></td></tr></tbody></table></b></div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>CR: This cultural complexity informs
your collaborative work. I know you work both separately and also
together. Could you talk about that?</b><div><br /><b>Mintio:</b>
We have our joint practice and we have our individual practices, and
they are quite different. When we come together, we quite naturally turn
to address the issues we are facing together. I think my own work is
quite acultural because it’s quite technical. But Kabul… recently it’s
become more cultural, but previously it focused more on socio-political
issues. </div></div><div><b> </b></div><div><b><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hlo2Yqlb2Bg/YAS1yOuseYI/AAAAAAAAGyI/vSitIyS1FTQJN8ujRqX4uhLdqJGdyu9oQCLcBGAsYHQ/s984/Kabul.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="984" data-original-width="694" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hlo2Yqlb2Bg/YAS1yOuseYI/AAAAAAAAGyI/vSitIyS1FTQJN8ujRqX4uhLdqJGdyu9oQCLcBGAsYHQ/w226-h320/Kabul.png" width="226" /></a></b>Kabul:</b> Yes, because my situation here also relates to… cultural consequences. Because my mother is Javanese and my father is Balinese from a certain caste, things happened to me as a child that didn’t allow me to carry that caste. So when I am younger, this gives me a different treatment. For example, I can’t share a cup with my family. In the beginning I see this treatment as something that really makes me sad. But after studying in university I moved to Jogjakarta, and I come to see this as a kind of freedom. I was able to see Bali more clearly, looking back. I start to learn about history, how Balinese culture formed. When I’m in Jogja I’m exploring social issues. Now that I’m back, I work closely with historical material and cultural practices that I tweak with my own understanding. For traditional Balinese they can’t do this, because it’s against their beliefs.<br /><b><br />Mintio:</b> Together we run an art organization called Ketemu Project in Bali. Ketemu means “to meet,” so basically what we are doing is we are meeting each other. Katemu is this… other thing, so it’s everyday work that people can connect to in Indonesia. <br /><br />In our residency program, we have a family-in-residence, where we create the infrastructure to support entire families. That came from our experience being in residence at Bamboo Curtain Studios in Taiwan. We were invited as a family, so that was wonderful. Other than everybody being very welcoming, there were things like high chairs, open spaces for her to run around. Being with a child wasn’t a taboo conversation. We would bring her to all our shows, all our workshops - she was always there. So it didn’t seem like our parenting lives were separate from us throughout the entire residency. <br /><br /><b><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A5VjbrFSt9g/YAS0nB_pmTI/AAAAAAAAGx4/sWPURRnH8_MXvBDxHZYeV42DT_gCy1AGQCPcBGAYYCw/s1156/Kabulart.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1156" data-original-width="818" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A5VjbrFSt9g/YAS0nB_pmTI/AAAAAAAAGx4/sWPURRnH8_MXvBDxHZYeV42DT_gCy1AGQCPcBGAYYCw/w226-h320/Kabulart.png" width="226" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Budi Agung Kuswara (Kabul), "The <br />Grateful Society," cyanotype and ink <br />on cotton paper </b><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table></b>We realized that ever since we became parents, we’d been cut off from many residency opportunities. Most residencies expect you to go alone for extended periods of time. You cannot bring a spouse – you definitely cannot bring a child. We find that framework really challenging for artists holding caregiving identities, and it defines artists in a really narrow way. So we were inspired and motivated to further support families through our own residency program, to support artists more holistically. <br /><b><br /></b></div><b>CR: How did your practice change when you had a child? </b><br /><div><br /><b>Kabul:</b> For me, what had to change is having to adjust to the idea of being a parent in Singapore. I never worked in an office, or worked for other people before. Luckily, my in-laws slowly accept me, but in the beginning, they asked me to find a job [there]. I tried to do that. I spent two years for experiment. I didn’t come up with artwork that was final or ready. Sometimes I can say this artwork is “done,” just to make myself happy – but I realized this is not maximal. This was a really important process as a step to develop my work now. <br /><br />The biggest thing after having kids is, What art really can do, beyond the object? To achieve this we can’t work alone. Ketemu is the infrastructure to support this vision. And what art can do, especially in this pandemic situation… the challenge in Bali is that the largest industries are shut down and no tourists can come, so what can we do? When we talk about art and creativity, it’s becoming more and more relevant to social challenges. Ketemu can be a tool and it can also be a legacy. I adjust as someone who has to take care of other people outside of myself. I enjoy parenting very much. Since our daughter was born until she is 3, 4 years, I’m the one who gives her bath every day. Because that’s how, here in Bali, parents take care. It was really rare for my circle here to have helpers to take care of their kids. But I think it will be different for Mintio.<br /><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><span style="color: #6aa84f;">"Instead of having this tangible end product, we think about how we can actually shape society."</span></i></span><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></i></span></span></h3><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CkPcFxR_9uE/YASzmq4tz5I/AAAAAAAAGxY/PFlMR9hLdGMNDTgyHdZ0LystVW-m5lNEgCPcBGAYYCw/s1199/Mintiophotoshoot.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="995" data-original-width="1199" height="333" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CkPcFxR_9uE/YASzmq4tz5I/AAAAAAAAGxY/PFlMR9hLdGMNDTgyHdZ0LystVW-m5lNEgCPcBGAYYCw/w400-h333/Mintiophotoshoot.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Mintio photographing batik artisans for "The Wax on Our Fingers"</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Mintio:</b> I think parenthood really changed a lot. Prior to having our child, I was very much a career artist – I would do shows pretty regularly, I could draw regular income from my work. But that work was also very physically strenuous. The conditions of production, even on a logistical basis, are so different. I still have not managed to resolve it.</div><br />I photograph predominantly with the large format [camera], so I had all this really huge gear and I’d walk for hours, work alone for days at a time, with very little human interaction. Through my pregnancy I sustained a bad back injury that I’m still dealing with now, and I had to hire an assistant to carry my gear for me. It became very clear that this mode of production might not be able to sustain itself. The cost of hiring an assistant long term, and of production itself, was so high that I started to have that mindset of comparing the sheets of film that I will use to diaper money or milk powder money. And that held back... I didn’t have that same degree of experimentation that I had while being single. It became a mental block. <br /><br />So what was continuing to drive my work was collaborations with Kabul. There were times when we would fight, and I would wish I could just go back to my own personal practice. But there’s also many wonderful, magical things that came out of it. We were able to travel together as a family, like the Bamboo Curtain residency. That was where the art community recognized our joint practice, and were able to give us opportunities based on that. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gEewuhECnaA/YASz7A1xBQI/AAAAAAAAGxc/OSiq_RNpTygsqTGFTMoVttFs62vxCelRACLcBGAsYHQ/s1080/Mintio.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gEewuhECnaA/YASz7A1xBQI/AAAAAAAAGxc/OSiq_RNpTygsqTGFTMoVttFs62vxCelRACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Mintio.png" /></a>In Singapore I face a lot of discrimination for being an artist and a mother at the same time. When I was expecting, I applied for a scholarship to pursue my Masters. Having higher education beyond a Bachelors has always been my dream. I got good responses from the University, and got scholarships on the other end, but I needed scholarship here. The final round of interviewing came one, two weeks after I gave birth to her. I remember that day. It was pouring rain, I had to leave Kabul and Ning at home and went for my interview. The interview was scheduled to be around 3pm, and it ran late… it didn’t begin until 6pm, and I didn’t pump enough milk for her. When I got home, he was carrying her around and she was just crying. I was in tears, it was raining, it was really bad. <br /></div><p>But what added to the whole negativity of my experience was that the whole interview became about my motherhood. When I came in, everybody clapped. And I was like “Why are you clapping?” And they said “You just gave birth, didn’t you?” And I was like “Yes…but what does that have to do with this interview?” (laughter) I was pretty anxious already, having left Kabul and Ning alone for so long. Lets get right to it. This male panelist said, “You just gave birth. What makes you think you can study?” Another male panelist was just sitting across from me doing this the whole time (leans on hand with a troubled expression, shaking her head). What they just couldn’t figure out was, how could you go do your Masters when you just had a child? It wasn’t information I gave in the application. I wasn’t being evaluated for my ability as an artist - more on the disability that I would face. I couldn’t believe that half the time of the interview I had to defend that. In the end I didn’t get the scholarship. I’ve always been quite stimulated by the academic setting – it’s a place I want to be. But I don’t even think that I could go beyond a Bachelors now, with all the challenges. <br /></p><b>CR: It’s a little shocking how many people still assume a woman will stop her career once she</b><b> becomes a mother, even if you’re actively parenting together with a partner. </b><br /><p><b>Mintio: </b>I’m very fortunate that my earlier works have still been circulating, going around to shows, globally. But I have not managed to make anything new, besides our joint works. There’s always this pressure as an artist that you need to constantly make new work to validate yourself. But only now, in the case of the pandemic, do I tell myself “It’s okay not to make work! It’s okay to take a pause. It doesn’t mean you won’t make work in the future.” There’s the anxiety of being forgotten by your collectors, that the art world will think you’re not active anymore and hence exclude you from any opportunities. <br /><br />Shortly after the interview, I was at a festival opening, the Singapore International Photography Festival. There was a curator there that I really respected. He introduced me to some other guy as “This is Mintio, but she’s not very active now because she just had a child.” I didn’t know what to say. All these microagressions, they ate into my self-esteem as an artist. When I was awarded a commission, I questioned myself. All my negotiations felt asymmetrical, and it became really unhealthy. It doesn’t seem to impact male artists in this way. They wouldn’t go up to a male artist and say “oh this is so and so, but he just had a kid, so of course he hasn’t been producing work.” <b><br /></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-viN3qORVrm0/YAS1eLp-7aI/AAAAAAAAGyA/lf453g_u9pkbur491nrBHewvU5vkNvcbwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/currents-molding.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1462" data-original-width="2048" height="285" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-viN3qORVrm0/YAS1eLp-7aI/AAAAAAAAGyA/lf453g_u9pkbur491nrBHewvU5vkNvcbwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h285/currents-molding.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><b>Kabul and team molding banana fibers with Mintio's photographic <br />prints into sail forms for "The Currents We Call Home."</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>CR: Are there any artists you’ve been able to look to, examples of how to make it work as artists and parents?</b><br /><b><br />Mintio:</b> I did a lot of research, actually. I went to a lot of symposiums where mothers talked about what could be done. There was one artist who said “bring your child to work,” and there were all these tips being dropped. But the ability to do all of that comes with a lot of privilege. Our family is quite modest financially. We can’t afford a caregiver or a helper, which I’m actually very thankful for. All these mothers being able to incorporate their kids, to have it all, there’s all this privilege that you don’t see. Maybe they have a hedge fund, or they draw rental income (laughter). So as much as earlier on there were parenting artists I want to emulate, in the end my earlier models were like “pffft” [makes a gesture of something going up in smoke]. <b><br /><br />Kabul:</b> After we had Ning, we have been doing much more community-based work. We actually take care of many, many more people. So for me, it’s been about activating my instincts of taking care. Maybe it will mean adding additional staff that I will have to deal with, but when I look at it as a life, something that I just enjoy – our lives have this perspective by seeing what I can do, and I can learn from other artists in the same way. For me this is all natural. I don’t actually compare them. I really learn a lot, taking care of more people after we have kids. <br /></p><b>Mintio:</b> Instead of having this tangible end product, we think about how we can actually shape society in a certain way. It’s all about changing mindsets and perspectives. Our recent project has been about disability and mental health. It was not a physical work that we could sell -- the work was about how we could impact our own communities. I don’t know if you feel this way, but being a parent makes us aware of our own mortality. Like, what’s going to happen to Ning if I die? And it also makes us think about our legacies: What do I want to leave behind? For a lot of families in Singapore it would be like, I want to leave behind excess: a house, some money for my children… but for us it is quite clear that we don’t want to leave behind all that. So very clearly our work now is that we want to be able to leave behind a society that Ning could thrive in, where she can be herself and feel accepted. <p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8G5HVpiVvnM/YAUF9VL5_BI/AAAAAAAAGyU/CSYgAeqy2NwJNGtEz_hz3T303SwcE0JUACLcBGAsYHQ/s1800/Ketemu-01.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1800" height="345" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8G5HVpiVvnM/YAUF9VL5_BI/AAAAAAAAGyU/CSYgAeqy2NwJNGtEz_hz3T303SwcE0JUACLcBGAsYHQ/w690-h345/Ketemu-01.jpg" width="690" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div>christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-54441447631360246662021-01-08T10:30:00.012-08:002021-01-08T13:27:17.711-08:00Interview: Susie Wong<b><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dz8Wfzx4Il0/X_h-n8OvvAI/AAAAAAAAGuY/458Uo9ARP5gItw5BKo0ck0acw3ziD5_3QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_1463.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dz8Wfzx4Il0/X_h-n8OvvAI/AAAAAAAAGuY/458Uo9ARP5gItw5BKo0ck0acw3ziD5_3QCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/IMG_1463.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Susie Wong (photo credit: Tamares Goh)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><a href="https://susiewongart.wixsite.com/suwong/home" target="_blank">Susie Wong</a><a href="https://susiewongart.wixsite.com/suwong/home">’s</a> current work contemplates memory, mass media, and the
consumption of circulated images. Active as an artist and arts writer
since the 1980s, she forged her own path in Singapore’s art scene. Her
practice has been enhanced by curatorial projects and her work as an
educator at LASALLE College of the Arts. She has contributed art
criticism for the Straits Times as well as features for magazines
including ID and d+a in architecture and design, among many others.
Recent projects include a multimedia installation for Objectifs gallery,
and a site-specific video projected on the windows of her HDB flat as
part of the National Gallery of Singapore’s series, out of isolation:
artists respond to covid-19.<br /></b><b><br /> Cultural ReProducers is pleased to share four conversations with parenting artists in Singapore, begun during a residency there where connecting with fellow artists often meant meeting online, because of the pandemic. This interview is part of a creative exchange between Cultural ReProducers and the artist-run gallery <a href="https://comma-space.com/" target="_blank">CommaSpace</a>. <br /></b><p></p><p><br /><b></b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u5B-qqdBrlA/X_iHQySCVvI/AAAAAAAAGvQ/VAGkPqy2eN8eEU5dvYDLHmXxq83HgZkHwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1212/00WongScreen%2BShot%2B2021-01-08%2Bat%2B9.57.37%2BAM.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1212" data-original-width="1038" height="440" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u5B-qqdBrlA/X_iHQySCVvI/AAAAAAAAGvQ/VAGkPqy2eN8eEU5dvYDLHmXxq83HgZkHwCLcBGAsYHQ/w378-h440/00WongScreen%2BShot%2B2021-01-08%2Bat%2B9.57.37%2BAM.png" width="378" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">Susie with Anmari, at her 1993 solo exhibition <i>Portraits &</i><i> </i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Places, </i>National Museum Art Gallery, Singapore</span><br /></div><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b>Cultural ReProducers: Did motherhood change your relationship with the art community in Singapore? If you could,</b><b> what might you change to create a more supportive environment there? </b><br /><p><br /><b>Susie Wong:</b> During that time, in the 90’s and early 2000s, even being an “artist” was quite a new phenomenon in Singapore, in terms of numbers. I experienced the art community as an inclusive place. I felt – as a single parent – like I belonged. Perhaps it was a less structured place, and I can make it effective for myself and my child by including her in most activities. In retrospect, the art community had been fluid and accepting. By art community I include as well the institutions I worked with along the way – I brought her everywhere - meetings, events, workshops - and I have not encountered any exclusion. It could be on account that I work with more women than men who led the projects. <br /><br />As for the wider community of Singapore–being an artist, let alone a single parent/artist, does attract more prejudices, as one can expect—culturally, traditionally. Today perhaps, there is greater acceptance of artist as a profession, a career, than before. Being a single parent, particularly a woman, still attracts a stigma. There is a national idea of “family”– traditional mould– that is being heavily rooted, and endorsed politically, and therefore societally, as the conservative segment of our society holds to gendered stereotypes in a family. So if I were to promote changes for inclusivity, I will propose new “family” models, alongside other forms of diversity. Examples of discriminatory policies are the lack of subsidized care or support for single women/parent with “illegitimate” offspring, in public housing, and in childcare. There do seem to be some changes, at least, support from various NGOs. <br /></p><p><br /><b>CR: Could you tell us a little bit about your daughter? <br /><br />Susie:</b>
Anmari is precocious, an independent spirit. She is now very involved
in the arts, an arts manager</p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wvJuGhLFtoo/X_iJQvtYw0I/AAAAAAAAGvo/-jh_MvCsyfQg1px--zSA6bAhBJieovzowCLcBGAsYHQ/s1090/00suw-KLvalentine1997x.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="919" data-original-width="1090" height="338" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wvJuGhLFtoo/X_iJQvtYw0I/AAAAAAAAGvo/-jh_MvCsyfQg1px--zSA6bAhBJieovzowCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h338/00suw-KLvalentine1997x.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Susie and Anmari at Susie's 1997 exhibition <i>Soul & Flesh<br /></i>Valentine Willie Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia</span><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p> in the F&B industry, also a curator,
writer. She has always been assisting me, recording or documenting my
work. She just shared with me a picture of us at the opening of an
exhibition at The Substation in the 1990s. in it, she was holding a
voice recorder, looking all serious, and recording our speeches. <br /><br /><b>Cultural ReProducers: How did parenthood shift your creative practice? Were there changes in the</b><b> work itself? <br /><br />Susie Wong: </b>Anmari was born in 1989. Prior to her birth, I was already searching for my artistic practice and voice; I had spent one or two years teaching art, and had participated in small group exhibitions. My daughter was born at a time when my marriage was breaking down. Around that time, I was in Indonesia, in a kind of artist space/studio/residence in which I had made paintings, drawings, and connected with other artists there. In 1990 I returned to Singapore with her. <br /><br />My practice still continued to be paintings, and I had some solo exhibitions. Painting is a very solitary practice, a space of solitude; in terms of time and space, it was a manageable way of juggling baby/child minding and art. The most difficult part was obviously the income that I needed to cover my living expenses. Selling my work had not made me financially independent. I had to resort to writing, editing and teaching; I have been a freelancer since those days. I think motherhood has provoked a certain interest and questioning of my place as a woman / single parent in society; this can be seen in several exhibitions and works. Being isolated in terms of my freelancing work— not fully connected in the conventional sense — meant that my work tends to take on more domestic perspectives and family situations. The frequently flailing empowerment in a society that presumes women as equal resulted in a new awareness. This became an important source from which ideas flowed. From the 1990s and on, collective engagements were important for my artistic growth. <br /><br />Being a single parent and being an artist both involve… a lot of constraints. But I think the separation of two - being a parent and being an artist - there’s not very clear demarcation in these roles for me. She is really a part of my work. And today what is really lovely is that we bounce a lot of ideas off each other. She is very interested in the arts, inevitably, right? It’s her destiny. [laughs] Throughout the 30 years that she’s been around, she’s been exposed to a lot of artistic practices. So it’s – what is the word for it? It’s synergistic. <br /></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zK0xUjrfnL8/X_iRGskQs4I/AAAAAAAAGv0/vT0dJpy7AjcCpZNAHLBfRBTkYnmJSPvGgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2580/00Susie%2BWong%2BBar.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1219" data-original-width="2580" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zK0xUjrfnL8/X_iRGskQs4I/AAAAAAAAGv0/vT0dJpy7AjcCpZNAHLBfRBTkYnmJSPvGgCLcBGAsYHQ/w678-h320/00Susie%2BWong%2BBar.jpg" width="678" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;">video stills from dancing alone, 2020, Objectifs, Singapore<br /></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><b><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b>CR: What advice would you pass on to a new parent struggling to balance parenthood, paid work, and an artistic practice? <br /><br />Susie:</b> I think of life and art as quite seamless. I always thought of the child as precious, placed as foremost in my sights. Once that is so, the struggle to balance becomes less acute. As for paid work, such a necessity, I live simply, and do what I can. Looking back, those must have been difficult years (maybe even depressive years), but I learn to live literally day-to-day, perhaps hand-to-mouth. I have been a part-time or freelancer for decades, and I actually believed for the longest time that this is the future model of work. The wonderful thing is that all this extra work - writing, workshops, teaching, curating - revolves around art as well, so I rarely need to step outside the field. It is at the emotional level that the child has played an important role in my life. You learn utmost patience, in growing slowly, and savoring the world.<br /><br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kPlc1k_7Ww4" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /></p>christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-69600033820780994032020-12-12T09:47:00.004-08:002020-12-12T19:16:52.470-08:00Artist Alisha B. Wormsley Launches Residency for Black Mothers<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zp5JBZShWjI/X9T7bgfrNHI/AAAAAAAAGrk/dmrpJ3UnxqoiasUn_Dpk1UzjdfjE8X6UACLcBGAsYHQ/s2000/siblys-shrine-screenshot-2000x1000-min.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="2000" height="331" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zp5JBZShWjI/X9T7bgfrNHI/AAAAAAAAGrk/dmrpJ3UnxqoiasUn_Dpk1UzjdfjE8X6UACLcBGAsYHQ/w662-h331/siblys-shrine-screenshot-2000x1000-min.jpg" width="662" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Sybils Shrine meeting takes place over Zoom<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br /> </p><p> </p><p>When she first learned she was pregnant, artist Alisha Wormsley found herself excluded from artist residency opportunities she had already been awarded. Now she's turning that experience into a new program supporting black artist mothers in the Pittsburgh area. Cultural ReProducers looks forward to following up on this project and the artists involved as it gets underway in the new year, but in the meantime, we're sharing this lovely article, which first appeared on the <a href="https://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2020/december/sibyls-shrine.html" target="_blank">Carnegie Mellon University news</a>.</p><p>by Heidi Opdyke</p><p><b><a href="https://alishabwormsley.com/" target="_blank"> Alisha B. Wormsley</a></b> built her career as an artist around residencies, which provide opportunities to live and produce work in different environments, including in places like Houston and Cuba. Then came her first pregnancy.<br /><br />"I had two years of residencies lined up," recalled Wormsley, who is a Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellow in art at Carnegie Mellon University. "I reached out to the organizations and they were all like, 'I guess you're not coming.'"<br /><br />The experience was eye opening, and provided the inspiration for <b><a href="https://alishabwormsley.com/sibyls-shrine" target="_blank">Sibyls Shrine</a></b>, which gives residency opportunities to Black women who are mothers and identify as artists, creatives and/or activists. Wormsley founded the organization in collaboration with Naomi Chambers and CMU alumna Jessica Gaynelle Moss.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sh5X1lINV_Y/X9T_rUOOdnI/AAAAAAAAGrw/EtJnTw6AvgorG5zUE1cGYvvj_LAQ3pQTgCLcBGAsYHQ/s984/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-12-12%2Bat%2B11.35.46%2BAM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="984" data-original-width="760" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sh5X1lINV_Y/X9T_rUOOdnI/AAAAAAAAGrw/EtJnTw6AvgorG5zUE1cGYvvj_LAQ3pQTgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-12-12%2Bat%2B11.35.46%2BAM.png" /></a></div><br />"For these women, the challenges of parenting in combination with systemic racism and sexism often make the barriers to entry into the art world insurmountable," Wormsley said.<br /><br />Named after the priestesses of the Black goddess Mami Wata, Sibyls Shrine is motivated by a similar goal: helping Black mothers with opportunities for self-care, childcare, space and support so they can further develop their craft and create a sustainable arts practice.<br /><br />"As soon as Alisha told me about the project, I was in love," said Chambers, who was selected for a Community Liaison Residency for Sibyls Shrine. "Being an artist in Pittsburgh, and being a Black mother, there's not a lot of opportunities that you get to take advantage of to still be a really good artist and maintain your practice while also trying to be a really good mom."<br /><br />As part of her role, Chambers, who is a painter and assemblage artist, will be creating a marketplace for artists while working on her own art. She and her husband previously ran the Flower House in Wilkinsburg, which served as a community art studio.<br /><br />"We all look at art making as problem solving and world building. It's just one of the ways that I've been able to survive and figure out things in my life," Chambers said. As a community liaison, she's looking to understand how to help people find resources they might not have known were available as well as develop her own identity as a leader. "I'm learning more about what my skills and strengths are to understand how that can align with how to help those who need help," she said. "I'm excited by the opportunity."<br /><br />Sibyls Shrine includes three additional residency programs and is funded by the Just Arts program of The Heinz Endowments, The Pittsburgh Foundation, and Opportunity Fund. Additional financial support has been provided by the Mattress Factory Museum and Silver Eye Center for Photography. Along with the Community Liaison, the Visiting Artist and Home residencies will begin Jan. 1, 2021.<br /><br />"There's nothing else like this," Wormsley said. "Our goal is that this is not only successful for us but we want to create a model that can be replicated around the country. That's part of our mission."<br />Sibyls Shrine is a new artist residency program for Black women. The organization is named after priestesses of the Black goddess Mami Wata. The term, which predates Greek history, was used to name the guardians of the Matriarchy. <br /><br /><b>SIBYLS SHRINE VISITING ARTIST RESIDENCY<br /></b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FfOML2EQX28/X9T_4h8RwmI/AAAAAAAAGr0/X5PCTpg4dz4HQ9UuXri9rnHdsZyf485CgCLcBGAsYHQ/s816/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-12-12%2Bat%2B11.35.11%2BAM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="462" height="253" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FfOML2EQX28/X9T_4h8RwmI/AAAAAAAAGr0/X5PCTpg4dz4HQ9UuXri9rnHdsZyf485CgCLcBGAsYHQ/w143-h253/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-12-12%2Bat%2B11.35.11%2BAM.png" width="143" /></a><br />A deliberate force in the landscape of contemporary American art for the last three decades, Renee Cox is an internationally renowned photographer and mixed media artist. Cox frames her self-portraits as poignant arguments on race, desire, religion, feminism and visual and cultural aesthetics. Cox will begin her yearlong residency in January 2021. As visiting artist-in-residence, she will be supported for one year with an unrestricted honorarium, material and supply budget, travel and residential accommodations. While in Pittsburgh, she will have access to the facilities and support of multiple arts organizations and institutions, ultimately resulting in an exhibition with additional members of the Sibyls Shrine team. Cox will participate in public programming throughout the city and will serve as a mentor to the three Sibyls Shrine Home Residents over the duration of her residency.<b><br /><br /><br />SIBYLS SHRINE HOME RESIDENCY<br /></b><br /><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wiNEgnu9WAw/X9UAJ6mfPjI/AAAAAAAAGsA/TDbfgugpUnMkkoI0P2lqkBNx_D7TCQ92ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1064/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-12-12%2Bat%2B11.35.19%2BAM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1064" data-original-width="462" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wiNEgnu9WAw/X9UAJ6mfPjI/AAAAAAAAGsA/TDbfgugpUnMkkoI0P2lqkBNx_D7TCQ92ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-12-12%2Bat%2B11.35.19%2BAM.png" /></a></b>The Home Residency will support three Pittsburgh-based artists, Mary Martin, LaKeisha Wolf and sarah huny young, with professional and personal development, space, connectivity, mutual aid, financial and creative support, mentorship and exhibition opportunities. The artists will remain in their own homes, but will be supported with relief from some of their day-to-day tasks of homecare, childcare, cleaning, and grocery purchasing and shopping in order to provide them with the time, space and resources to support their creative practices. Other Black creative mothers and working professionals from the Pittsburgh area will be hired to provide support and assistance.<br /><br />Martin is a high school visual arts instructor at Winchester Thurston School and a member of Women of Visions, Inc., an arts collective of Black female artists. She exhibits nationally and collaborates on educational programming for various cultural institutions.<br /><br />Wolf is an artisan and owner of Ujamaa Collective, a micro-enterprise centered on making and wellness. She has grown her skills working to uplift and center her <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BpU4WqXpBcE/X9UASwwY7ZI/AAAAAAAAGsE/HmF6zNjYbf8ZsCAZqpyqvjGM0V6lODIoQCLcBGAsYHQ/s504/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-12-12%2Bat%2B11.35.27%2BAM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="462" height="156" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BpU4WqXpBcE/X9UASwwY7ZI/AAAAAAAAGsE/HmF6zNjYbf8ZsCAZqpyqvjGM0V6lODIoQCLcBGAsYHQ/w143-h156/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-12-12%2Bat%2B11.35.27%2BAM.png" width="143" /></a></div><br />own healing, as well as other Black women and the Africana community, using nature, arts and culture. Wolf's resources are stones and natural elements, symbols and affirmations.<br /><br />Young is an award-winning visual artist primarily documenting and exalting Black womanhood and queer communities through portraiture and video. Framing her muses as collaborators, she often shoots on-location across the country in personal, intimate spaces of the subject's choosing. Her work has been featured in Pittsburgh City Paper, New York Magazine and The New York Times.<br /><br />At the conclusion of visiting artist and home residencies, a final group exhibition will be held at the Mattress Factory Contemporary Museum.<br /><br /><b>PANDEMIC PIVOT<br /></b><br />When Sibyls Shrine was first conceived, Wormsley had added travel and networking costs into her team's budget. COVID-19 changed those plans.<br /><br />"We were like, well, we have this money, we can't travel, and moms need support. Let's create a network where we can," Wormsley said.<br /><br />The Network Residency was born. Cohorts of 30 participants meet virtually for eight-week sessions. Each participant receives a stipend for joining as well as an honorarium for presenting on a topic of their choice. So far, 60 mothers have gone through the program. About 75 percent are from the Pittsburgh area. Wormsley said presenters provided information on everything from gardening, website tutorials, budgeting to discussing their artistic practices or doctoral research."I'm so happy. It's actually the right thing for right now," Wormsley said.<p></p><p><br />While Sibyls Shrine grew out of Wormsley's own experience, it continues to feed her art as she constantly explores ways to engage and create community. At CMU, her research fellowship is focused on the resurgence of practices in Black communities such as herbalism, plant medicine and midwifery. Skills, which Wormsley said, allow Black women to be sustainable in their communities.</p>christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-91928825527353895342020-05-18T00:30:00.000-07:002020-05-19T17:56:10.930-07:00CR Favorites List: Pandemic Edition Part I<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--x0OGhVdGTM/XsI1M_2m55I/AAAAAAAAGbU/K74fiYbO-dE2XTkJllzlbzkELjVuA1oeQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Two%2BInteriors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1250" data-original-width="1600" height="499" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--x0OGhVdGTM/XsI1M_2m55I/AAAAAAAAGbU/K74fiYbO-dE2XTkJllzlbzkELjVuA1oeQCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Two%2BInteriors.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption">Christa Donner, Two Interiors (installation view), 2014</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span id="goog_408158538"></span><span id="goog_408158539"></span>Sheltering in place with the complex dramas of young children doesn’t exactly lend itself to thoughtful article-writing or transcribing interviews. But there are so many great projects coming out now that are relevant to this community, we wanted to collect some of them together in one place. Whether you’re looking for inspiration, or just something that’s interesting to watch with the kids in your life, we hope there’s something on this list you’ll like. We'll keep 'em coming. And if you’re on Facebook, please join the Cultural ReProducers Network, where parenting artists are actively skillsharing and posting great things like these from around the world all the time.<br />
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<br />
<a href="http://studiowalter.com/experiment120/" target="_blank"><b>Experiment 120: A Playlist of Short, Experimental Films for Kids </b></a><br />
Looking for something interesting to watch with your kids besides Netflix cartoons? Look no further than this great playlist. After watching, introduce your kids to one of the many free stop-motion apps out there, and see what they come up with while you dedicate some time toward a short creative project of your own.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://uam.nmsu.edu/labor2020/" target="_blank"><b>Labor: Motherhood in Art</b> </a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u0vTnK835c8/XsI32B8jJVI/AAAAAAAAGbk/ZCIXKs0sHRgzXbRzu1ODcWgeNQUuPGwgQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-05-18%2Bat%2B3.22.32%2BPM.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u0vTnK835c8/XsI32B8jJVI/AAAAAAAAGbk/ZCIXKs0sHRgzXbRzu1ODcWgeNQUuPGwgQCK4BGAYYCw/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-05-18%2Bat%2B3.22.32%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption">Joey Fauerso, “You Destroy Every Special Thing I Make” (2017-2019), <br />
installation view, <i>Labor: Motherhood & Art 2020</i> (images by Trey Broomfield <br />
courtesy of New Mexico State University Art Museum)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I think most of us would agree that it's tough to replicate the experience of a physical exhibition online. <br />
However, there are some advantages, including the chance to see (and document!) a show you might never otherwise know of or travel to see in person. So perhaps it is in everyone's best interest that this exhibition, <span class="None"><span style="font-weight: 400;">co-curated by museum director Marisa Sage and artist Laurel Nakadate,</span></span> has been meticulously documented,<a href="https://hyperallergic.com/556805/channeling-the-nuances-of-motherhood-into-art/" target="_blank"> reviewed</a>, and shared virtually. The show features an outstanding collection that includes pieces by Yoko Ono, Patty Chang, Amy Cutler, Hồng-Ân Tru’o’ng & Hu'o’ng Ngô, Wendy Red Star, and many others. <br />
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The exhibition also features two smaller exhibitions: one collecting of Mexican mother-and-child Retablos organized two curatorial studies MA candidates, and a gallery dedicated to the creative output of MFA students <span style="font-weight: 400;">Katrina Chandler and Maggie Day. The two mothers</span> applied and participated in Lenka Clayton’s <a href="http://www.artistresidencyinmotherhood.com/" target="_blank">Artist Residency in Motherhood</a>, thanks in part to childcare support offered through the museum to support the development of new work, artists statements, and bios to support their studio practices. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.artistresidencyinmotherhood.com/" target="_blank"><b>Artist Residency in Motherhood</b></a><br />
Speaking of which... maybe now's a great time to apply? This generous and generative ongoing project grew from artist Lenka Clayton's own struggles to reshape a professional identity and creative practice as she entered into motherhood (twice), and has built an active and international community of exchange between mothers, using the challenges of life at home with children as a creative prompt.<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/producerssg/permalink/1517791961716494/" target="_blank"><br /></a>
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/producerssg/permalink/1517791961716494/" target="_blank"><b>Parenting Artists Singapore #2: Meetup with Christa Donner on May 22</b></a><br />
Parenting
Artists SG is a new group generating conversations about caregiving and
creative community in Singapore. On Friday, May 22nd, Cultural
ReProducers founder Christa Donner will present to the group about the
work she’s been doing at home as an Artist-in-Residence at Yale-NUS in
Singapore with her family, as well as the strategies of other artist
parents and family residency experiences she’s learned from along the
way. Depending on where you are in the world, be sure to check your time
zones before signing up (Singapore is roughly 13 hours ahead of
Chicago). <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdPMBpm_64GCBrHXj6o2Y3EFgMcteFD753IggvZ1BYVsoHYXA/viewform" target="_blank">Registration</a> will be capped at 30 participants.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GV7mWHLcW_U/XsI4edNl56I/AAAAAAAAGbw/ATvoWZW52r89J8ij04FVAuXTWsGUR_qegCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Painting-on-Bark-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GV7mWHLcW_U/XsI4edNl56I/AAAAAAAAGbw/ATvoWZW52r89J8ij04FVAuXTWsGUR_qegCK4BGAYYCw/s400/Painting-on-Bark-3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption">Shaun Leonardo and Mckendree Key paint on tree bark with their children
<br />
in Vermont during quarantine. (photo courtesy Mckendree Key)</td></tr>
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<b><a href="https://hyperallergic.com/560734/during-pandemic-artist-parents-reflect-and-get-creative-with-their-kids/" target="_blank">During Pandemic, Artist-Parents Reflect and Get Creative with their Kids</a></b><br />
Hyperallergic
is posting all kinds of interesting things about artist-parents these
days. This article features in-progress work by parenting artists Edgar
Arceneaux, Shaun Leonard, Mckendree Key, and others getting creative
with their kids during the Pandemic. They also shared a great Mother’s
Day review of the book <a href="https://hyperallergic.com/562684/inappropriate-bodies-art-design-and-maternity/" target="_blank">“Inappropriate Bodies: Art, Design, and Maternity</a>.<br />
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<br />
<b> </b><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/video/watch/a-mother-uses-art-to-alleviate-her-sons-pandemic-fears" target="_blank"><b><br />A Mother Uses Art to Ease Her Sons' Pandemic Fears</b></a><br />
If
you could use something inspiring and hopeful, take a minute to watch
this beautiful New Yorker video about photographer Elisabetta Zavoli,
and the work she’s been making with her two sons in the garden at night,
as a way to work through their collective anxieties during Italy's
quarantine, and an opportunity to reconnect with them in the process. The NY Times recently shared this photo essay by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/05/16/magazine/covid-quarantine-family.html" target="_blank">conflict photographer Paolo Pellegrin</a> on the choice to stick with his family instead of covering the pandemic, and the work that has resulted. And if you haven't yet, take a look at our recent interview with <a href="https://www.culturalreproducers.org/2020/04/interview-amber-dohrenwend.html" target="_blank">Amber Dohrenwend</a>, who developed her creative practice during time spent in the apartment with her small children in Tokyo.<br />
<br />
<script async="" src="//player-backend.cnevids.com/script/video/5eb432fa42b5f0573957c2e4.js"></script><br />
<div style="margin: 10px 0; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://thescene.com/watch/thenewyorker/a-mother-uses-art-to-alleviate-her-sons-pandemic-fears" style="color: #444444; font-family: sans-serif; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="TheScene.com">Watch this video on <span style="color: #0c48fe;">The Scene</span>.</a></div>
</div>
christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-5130295645591507122020-05-09T23:58:00.001-07:002020-05-11T01:38:08.254-07:00Inappropriate Bodies: Art, Design, and Maternity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LQVp0TOpsQI/XregAA6jvII/AAAAAAAAGZw/SG2lP9RbTJk0laAKDRKj5FoiZjTNIXsYACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Inappropriate%2BBodies%2BFC%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LQVp0TOpsQI/XregAA6jvII/AAAAAAAAGZw/SG2lP9RbTJk0laAKDRKj5FoiZjTNIXsYACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Inappropriate%2BBodies%2BFC%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
Reviewed by Chrissy LaMaster<br />
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Rachel Epp Buller begins her introduction in <a href="https://demeterpress.org/books/inappropriate-bodies-art-design-and-maternity/" target="_blank"><b>"Inappropriate Bodies: Art, Design, and Maternity"</b></a> by posing a question to readers: is maternity appropriate? The answer (I don’t think I’m giving anything away here) is both yes and no. “Maternity is both a cultural ideal and a cultural taboo, both appropriate and inappropriate” she writes as she goes on to explain how she and co-editor Charles Reeve went about deciding upon the overarching theme for their book. The result of their effort, 20 texts by practicing artists, designers, curators and academic scholars, is an amazing collection of both essays and conversations and an invaluable addition to the field of maternal studies.<br />
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Divided into the three sections of “Body Politics,” “Family Practices,” and “By Design,” one finds scholarly essays interspersed with personal testaments, conversations and interviews. Contributors seek to “examine maternity’s centrality as a defining term of female identity” for all women, regardless of whether or not they have chosen to have children. In addition to Epp Buller herself, featured are many artists, writers, and collectives familiar to the Cultural ReProducers community: Courtney Kessel, Lena Simic, Irene Perez, Jill Miller, Lise Haller Baggesen, Miriam Schaer, and many others. These contributions are significant, thought provoking, and at times inspiring. One piece that stood out to me was a a conversation between the curator, artist, and scholar Natalie Loveless and "mamactavists" Martina Mullaney (Enemies of Good Art), Christa Donner (Cultural ReProducers), and collaborators Andrea Francke and Kim Dhillon (Invisible Spaces of Parenthood). Many things have changed since that initial conversation, which took place in 2016, from the “#MeToo" movement to the global pandemic that has thrown the complex expectations of working mothers into sharper focus. It is interesting to reflect on the shifts that have taken place and what they may (or may not) mean for mother's rights, mother's bodies, mother artists, maternal studies, and mothers in general. I also appreciate the exchange of letters between Rachel Epp-Buller, Lena Simic and Emily Underwood-Lee for many of the same reasons. "Discussions" like these are rare in most books on maternal art, but it is this collective approach that makes the book engaging to a range of readers, from those seeking scholarly documentation of maternal art practices to any creative person thinking through their own dual labor as artists and caregivers, and perhaps seeking solidarity.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Enn725Trh44/Xregi_VeJDI/AAAAAAAAGZ8/XriRdbcwZNYq8LGgfSrevuSwHLio2UG0QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Hendrickson%2Bfig%2B2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Enn725Trh44/Xregi_VeJDI/AAAAAAAAGZ8/XriRdbcwZNYq8LGgfSrevuSwHLio2UG0QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Hendrickson%2Bfig%2B2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lise Haller Baggesen, Mothernism, 2013-ongoing. Audio<br />Installation. Copyright Lise Haller Baggesen</td></tr>
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As a feminist and an artist who is interested in a more authentic
representation of motherhood within both contemporary art and society in
general, I found the book particularly relevant. Although several
excellent texts concerning the maternal in contemporary art have been
published in recent years, "Inappropriate Bodies"<b> </b>has quickly
become my favorite. It is a wonderfully diverse combination of critical
theory and personal perspectives. Intentional in its design, it is at
once academic and approachable, which allows it to be accessible (and I
feel more useful) to anyone interested in issues surrounding the
maternal in art. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zcqJ-_6PI7I/XregexKjk7I/AAAAAAAAGZ4/4_djkOZtozoQ51dCUzHPtN8Hu5bxWP60QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Balabanoff%2BFig%2B4%2BBirthing%2BRoom%2Bmodeling%2BBirds%2BEye%2BView.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1310" data-original-width="1381" height="302" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zcqJ-_6PI7I/XregexKjk7I/AAAAAAAAGZ4/4_djkOZtozoQ51dCUzHPtN8Hu5bxWP60QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Balabanoff%2BFig%2B4%2BBirthing%2BRoom%2Bmodeling%2BBirds%2BEye%2BView.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doreen Balabanoff, Birthing Room conceptual model, bird's<br />eye view, 2016. courtesy of the artist</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
"Inappropriate Bodies: Art, Design, and Maternity<b>"</b> is published by <a href="http://demeterpress.org/" target="_blank"><b>Demeter Press</b></a>, <br />
an independent feminist press committed to publishing peer-reviewed scholarly work, fiction, poetry,
and creative non-fiction on mothering, reproduction, sexuality and family.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.chrissylamaster.com/" target="_blank">Chrissy LaMaster</a> is an artist currently living in Billings, Montana. Chrissy holds an MFA in Photography and Certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies from Illinois State University and an MA in Studio Art from Bradley University. Her primary areas of interest and research include the history of photography, gender studies, historical and contemporary representations of motherhood, and the history and theory of craft. Chrissy has experience in teaching, curating, and programming in a variety of arts related settings. Her work has been exhibited internationally, and can be found in both public and private collections. <br />
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christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-60234429864837004492020-04-17T23:14:00.002-07:002020-04-18T00:25:28.377-07:00Interview: Amber Dohrenwend<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iysL4iFnm6k/XpqXz9uYTxI/AAAAAAAAGWg/KKdxzpr-GJIEM7qSRPt1cnZs8bas40rHgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/191009_amber%2B%252818%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iysL4iFnm6k/XpqXz9uYTxI/AAAAAAAAGWg/KKdxzpr-GJIEM7qSRPt1cnZs8bas40rHgCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/191009_amber%2B%252818%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amber at work in her home / studio. photo: Yuki Sato</td></tr>
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<br />
<b><a href="https://www.amberdohrenwend.com/" target="_blank"><br />Amber Dohrenwend</a>
is an educator and self-taught artist who grew up in the US and is now
based in Tokyo. We first met Amber through a shared interest in
Adventure Playgrounds: open-ended spaces where children shape their own
environments using repurposed materials. Amber’s artistic practice –
which developed in her small apartment with kids at home, using simple
tools and recycled cardboard to make amazing things – feels especially
relevant right now, as so many parenting artists find ourselves working
to restructure creative time at home with what limited privacy and
supplies we can manage. <br /><br />This interview is the second in a series of conversations organized through Cultural ReProducers Tokyo, thoughtfully
conducted by artist, art researcher, curator, and CR Tokyo organizer
Catherine Harrington. These conversations explore some of the
culturally-specific challenges of working as an artist-parent in Japan,
and the fundamental questions we are all working to sort out together.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iXI1wS9ix14/XpqiMy2BddI/AAAAAAAAGX8/LDYgpFrsl9QxhwuuHsYXsnKSKT0SbjDrACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-04-18%2Bat%2B2.45.30%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iXI1wS9ix14/XpqiMy2BddI/AAAAAAAAGX8/LDYgpFrsl9QxhwuuHsYXsnKSKT0SbjDrACK4BGAYYCw/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-04-18%2Bat%2B2.45.30%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a><b>Cultural ReProducers Tokyo:</b> <b>To start, tell us a bit about you and your daughters.<br /> </b><br />
<b>Amber Dohrenwend:</b>
I am originally from Michigan in the U.S. and I grew up on a farm
there. In 2018, my husband and I moved to Japan. Previously we were
working in Egypt and Pakistan. My two daughters were born here (now
nearly 8 and 10 years old.) We all have been deeply influenced by our
time living in Japan. My daughters go to Japanese schools, and are
really rooted in this place. I still feel like a foreigner, but Japan
has also come to feel very familiar to me.<br />
<br />
<b>CR Tokyo: First as a parent and then as an artist, how did you begin to find community and connection here in Japan?<br /><br />Amber: </b>My
husband teaches science here, so when we came there was a community of
foreigners, but I was one of the few women at the time who was not
working a day to day job, and was at home as a caregiver. This was a
difficult time because I lost my identity as a professional. I really
felt that because I wasn’t “making money” in many ways I was invisible. I
had to build a new identity for myself from the ground up.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jFnde_yJCHo/XpqZVRjtBYI/AAAAAAAAGXY/AleFFZFPJbIzmaO1ZtYs1yyB95wcpuzsgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/P3128146.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jFnde_yJCHo/XpqZVRjtBYI/AAAAAAAAGXY/AleFFZFPJbIzmaO1ZtYs1yyB95wcpuzsgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/P3128146.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amber working on a sculpture with her daughter. Photo: Peter Dohrenwend</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I
started studying Japanese at a nearby community center, then I started
to make some Japanese friends through some of the early learning
programs for children, and also by going to local adventure playgrounds.
There were usually always a few people that spoke English, and would
very generously help me navigate difficulties. It has taken a long time
to build the patchwork community that I have here, and it’s very special
to me. I know and spend time with a very diverse group of people.<br />
<span id="goog_2004948117"></span><br />
In
terms of the art community, I am a self-taught artist and I am still
trying to find my place in the art world here. I mostly began my art
practice in isolation, and until recently didn’t think I would be able
to easily connect with artists in Japan because of the language barrier,
but I am just now realizing it might be easier than I had thought. I’m
excited about meeting people through Cultural ReProducers. <br />
<br />
<b> CR Tokyo: During our conversation today, you said your journey into art practice began after </b><b>you became a parent. Can you tell us more about this journey, and how your art practice emerged in the midst of parenting?</b><br />
<b><br />Amber: </b>I
started working with cardboard as a material because it was easy to
collect. I would just ride my bike around on recycling day and find
interesting pieces of cardboard that other people in my neighborhood had
put out. I didn’t need many tools or much space to work, and we lived
in a small apartment. Even now I mostly work on the floor in my tatami
room with just a pair of roofing shears and a stapler. It took me about 6
or 7 years of engaging with the material to get enough skill to be able
to communicate my ideas.<br />
<br />
When my children were very
small, I was immersed in their worlds. We spent a lot of time playing
together, and it was this time of engaging in the act of play again that
really ignited a spark in me. As they grew and played, I played too.
The play turned into making things for them, and then making things for
myself, which became my current art practice.<br />
<br />
<b>CR Tokyo: How do you manage to find a balance between your art practice and parenting? Do you schedule time to make artworks? <br /><br />Amber: </b>When
my children were younger it was more of a struggle to work. I was
mostly just exploring the material, but nevertheless I needed time to
concentrate. I remember at one time I got a pair of overalls, and would
try to wear them so that everyone in my family knew that when I was
wearing the overalls, they couldn’t disturb me... but it didn’t really
work. Sometimes there were times when my husband would take the kids to
the park, or my children were napping that I could work, but mostly I
had to wait until they entered school to have more time. Because I don’t
have a studio, I wear headphones and listen to music when I work and my
family is present, and sometimes I put the doors on the tatami room so I
have more privacy. I sometimes even wear headphones at home without
music when I am by myself, because I guess I have conditioned myself to
know that’s a time to focus.<br />
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</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BnkJKSV3h1w/XpqjGS1-JFI/AAAAAAAAGYI/Pp2G9YdXA_YQmuZ1ehvUbIT3VmP7CqqGgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-04-18%2Bat%2B2.49.20%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BnkJKSV3h1w/XpqjGS1-JFI/AAAAAAAAGYI/Pp2G9YdXA_YQmuZ1ehvUbIT3VmP7CqqGgCK4BGAYYCw/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-04-18%2Bat%2B2.49.20%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Detail from cardboard installation. Photo: Amber Dohrenwend</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>CR
Tokyo: You mentioned that cardboard was a medium that was easy to come
across in your area, and also that it was an easy medium to use in a
small apartment space. Can you say more about why cardboard has
continued to be a key part of your practice? Has this medium taken on
new meanings for you?<br /><br />Amber: </b>As I have reflected on my
practice, I realize that collecting cardboard; foraging for it, makes me
feel human. It takes me back to my childhood cutting willow branches
and weaving them. I feel more connected to nature in this way than
actually going to the park and walking through the forest. Honestly,
it’s a real puzzle to me, and I always wonder why green space doesn’t do
more because I feel so intrinsically connected to nature. Collecting
and making, and particularly communicating something sculpturally
through the use of a found material, it just feels good to me.<br />
<br />
…I
also feel very connected to the ephemeral nature of making things with
cardboard. I don’t have a desire to make something that would physically
outlast, me, in fact just the opposite. I am very devoted to the idea
of impermanence, of making things that can be recycled and then made
into something else; more paper, soil, staples that can be melted again,
art, and on and on. Cardboard is a byproduct of consumerism, so I also
think it is particularly interesting to show work in a consumer context,
both subverting and promoting it at the same time. That tension feels
very interesting to me. <br />
<br />
I love that when you hold
cardboard and shape it with your hands, you are actually leaving marks
on the cardboard with your fingertips, much like when working with clay.
This is something I find infinitely interesting; what cardboard looks
like in this bent and twisted, softened state. This is the way I like to
work with cardboard, and how I hope to keep making discoveries, and
playing with this material.<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: magenta;"><i><b> </b></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<b> <span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>"At one time I got a pair of overalls, and would try to wear them so that everyone in my family knew that when I was wearing the overalls, they couldn’t disturb me... Because I don’t have a studio, I wear headphones and listen to music when I work and my family is present"</i></span></span><br /><br />CR Tokyo: How did you begin exhibiting your artwork in Japan?<br />Amber:</b>
Before showing my work, all along I was hosting pop-up cardboard play
days, and teaching classes about working with cardboard. Before I
started my current work, I was an elementary school teacher. Teaching is
also about communicating ideas and engaging with people, so I’m sure
that teaching people, making things and “playing” with others will
always be a part of my practice.<br />
<br />
Through teaching, I
got to know the designers Mike and Yuri Abelson who own Postalco, a
Tokyo-based business and they really encouraged me. They asked me to do a
workshop at their shop and then, later, create an installation for a
window display. After that, I started to get some commercial work and
the opportunity to do exhibitions and workshops. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tYiPatQ2vgQ/XpbLxEdV6QI/AAAAAAAAGVs/FUm_MLcu2Fk0Ds5BxYp9IkxXA9d89yY9QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-04-15%2Bat%2B4.52.27%2BPM.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="1052" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tYiPatQ2vgQ/XpbLxEdV6QI/AAAAAAAAGVs/FUm_MLcu2Fk0Ds5BxYp9IkxXA9d89yY9QCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-04-15%2Bat%2B4.52.27%2BPM.png" width="315" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Builders of all ages at Adventure Building Camp. <br />
Image credit: Amber Dohrenwend</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>CR Tokyo: You run a summer camp in Michigan and
you run workshops on using tools for very young children. Can you tell
us more about these projects and practices?<br /><br />Amber:</b> <a href="http://www.warehousemqt.org/philosophy" target="_blank">Adventure Building Camp</a>
is a program I run in Michigan in the summer. It came about from
spending time working with Gever Tulley who helped start a small
educational movement in California, out of his experiences working in
Silicon Valley. <br />
<br />
His project, <a href="http://www.tinkeringschool.com/" target="_blank">Tinkering School</a>,
was focused on an approach where children would learn tools in context
through tinkering and experimentation rather than a step-by step: learn
this, and then you can do that approach that we mostly find in education
today. It’s very much process-based. When you need a tool, that’s when
you learn how to use it. It was a counterpoint to technology and high
stakes education and all of the simulation that kids face in learning,
where they don’t actually get the experience to really do things, make
things, try things out, make adjustments, and keep working. Tinkering
School is a lot about removing the barriers that children face, so they
can see for themselves if their ideas work. This is what inspired me to
create Adventure Building Camp, which is based on the same philosophies
as well as some of the guiding principles from Adventure Playgrounds
where I have spent a lot of time here in Tokyo.<br />
<br />
Working
with kids in this way really surprised me, and also inspired my art
practice. Teaching a 6-year-old to use a power drill and start building
something out of wood and screws that they sketched, is a truly
wonderful experience.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<b>CR Tokyo: When we talked earlier, it seemed that
“tools” themselves have special significance for you. I wonder if you
could say more about this.<br /><br />Amber: </b>Yes, I love tools, I love really good tools. They are usually at the forefront of overcoming barriers. I
could talk about this for a long time, but let me say that, one day
when I was taking a shower, I had a kind of light bulb moment when a lot
of the things that I had been thinking about and wondering about for
many years came together, as a kind of unifying idea, and that idea was
about understanding “barriers to making.” That has really become my
“question,” even though it’s not really a question. I don’t know if many
other people experience this, but I can’t really get away from the fact
that most of what I do is always about engaging with this idea of
thinking about barriers and how to remove them, both for myself and
others, in all kinds of contexts. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TsPwOpZk12A/XpqjjwGDFfI/AAAAAAAAGYU/6KqXPUN6mBwyC_wtF2WW72Lv_17GX_yPgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/P1040270.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TsPwOpZk12A/XpqjjwGDFfI/AAAAAAAAGYU/6KqXPUN6mBwyC_wtF2WW72Lv_17GX_yPgCK4BGAYYCw/s400/P1040270.jpg" width="400" /></a>So tools have this
significance for me because they are often the things that I turn to
when confronting barriers. For example, when I work with children, the
main barrier they face is getting access to tools and materials because
parents think the tools are too dangerous, or the kids can’t handle
them. So I give them tools and materials, and I am there, and we slowly
and safely work together and amazing things start happening. <br />
<br />
This
is also what I experienced working with cardboard, developing a
relationship with tools so I could communicate my ideas. I think it’s
about making space for the ideas and the connections.<br />
<br />
<b>CR Tokyo: Have you had any role models for artist-parenting/parent-artisting?<br /><br />Amber: </b>Images of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Asawa" target="_blank">Ruth Asawa</a> weaving wire sculptures with her children at her feet have definitely been an inspiration to me. <br />
<br />
<b>CR Tokyo: What advice would you share with other artists struggling to be both a parent and an artist?<br /><br />Amber:</b> Parenting is a season of your life. <br />
Do
what you can. If you can’t make the art you want to make right now, put
as many ideas down, and leave as many bread crumbs as you can for
later. Live in the moment with your children and learn to play again. <br />
<br />
If
you are afraid of losing your career, or your identity, or of facing
discrimination in the art world as a parent, all those things, I would
say are very real. But, if we can make art we can make a new culture
too, and there are more side roads in, and fewer gatekeepers now than
there have been in the past. I want to be a part of changing the culture
for parents making art and I hope you will too.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tzOrC4MGnq0/XpqYylqISsI/AAAAAAAAGXM/APUixJO7nlYvNQ8PUyB4X1-XkYZhzHSCACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/20190511-11.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tzOrC4MGnq0/XpqYylqISsI/AAAAAAAAGXM/APUixJO7nlYvNQ8PUyB4X1-XkYZhzHSCACLcBGAsYHQ/s640/20190511-11.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amber introducing her work to the next generation. Photo: <span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0.23999999463558197px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Minoru Nomura</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
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christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-52964886250356452762019-10-23T12:25:00.002-07:002019-10-23T13:50:41.813-07:00Interview: Natsumi Sakamoto<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OxjbNspKhEQ/XbCjP3JBxLI/AAAAAAAAGCI/eGPSTRdoEAgxA8r2SEiQw4sKSwIpriaKACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-10-23%2Bat%2B1.59.54%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1446" data-original-width="1240" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OxjbNspKhEQ/XbCjP3JBxLI/AAAAAAAAGCI/eGPSTRdoEAgxA8r2SEiQw4sKSwIpriaKACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-10-23%2Bat%2B1.59.54%2BPM.png" width="341" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Natsumi Sakamoto in her studio in Glasgow, UK</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><a href="http://www.natsumi-sakamoto.com/" target="_blank">Natsumi Sakamoto</a> is an artist exploring the relationships between memory, history, and mythology through a range of media including video installation, painting, and animation. Her work has been exhibited in London, Tokyo, Seoul and beyond - including shows at PlaceMAK, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, and the 13th Gunma Biennale for Young Artists. Sakamoto is also a member of the feminism-focused artist collective <a href="https://backandforthcollective.wordpress.com/quiet-dialogue-exhibition/" target="_blank">Back and Forth Collective</a>. <br /><br />This interview is the first in a brand new series from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/Culturalreproducerstokyo/" target="_blank">Cultural ReProducers Tokyo</a>, thoughtfully conducted and translated by artist, art researcher, curator, and CR Tokyo organizer Catherine Harrington. These conversations explore some of the culturally-specific challenges of working as an artist-parent in Japan, and the fundamental questions we are all working to sort out together.</b><br />
<br />
<b> Catherine Harrington (CR Tokyo): To start, tell us a bit about you and your son.</b><b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>Natsumi Sakamoto:</b> I’m an artist, mainly working with multi media. Focusing on untold histories such as individual’s and women’s histories, and everyday customs and beliefs, my aim is to examine the possibility of preserving the ephemeral, as a way to recover a loss. One of the documentary films I made in 2014 took me to places in Japan and the UK that were connected with my grandmother’s significant, personal memories. I have been developing this project in my more recent work, and in 2019 I am going to start a new project in Scotland about Scottish superstitions and witch hunts.<br />
My son’s now four years old and he’s very active and inquisitive - curious about everything. Now, at his age, he asks why, why about everything. That was something I was really looking forward to. I wanted to answer those questions, even if they are sometimes silly questions, or really huge questions. For example he asks, “Why do you see the moon everyday?” and I try to be respectful to him as a person and I try to answer everything, even the little questions. Sometimes I need to Google them. He’s opened up a new world for me and made me more curious. Life has become richer than before, I would say. On the other hand, he’s stubborn. He doesn’t easily change his opinions.<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>CH: What kind of identity shift did you experience when you first became an artist-parent? <br /><br />NS:</b> I didn’t really have a clear shift because I was working all the time. When I came back to Japan from the UK, I was pregnant and I really wanted a chance to network and show my work again in Japan. I kind of knew that it is going to be difficult to do an exhibition for maybe another year once our little one had arrived. So I thought I should plan something in advance, and decided to curate a group show just before the baby arrived. That was my first experience organizing an exhibition by myself – from getting the funding to finding a venue, and it took over a year and a half. The exhibition title was Everyday Fiction, and included work by artists from Japan and the UK dealing with two different worlds: reality and fiction, and the flexible boundaries between them. <br />
<br />
I applied for several open calls and funding applications a few months after the baby was born - I was trying to keep on doing as much as I could in my spare time such as during the baby’s nap times. It was very tough! I probably did that purposely so as not to make a clear transition point between being an artist and being an artist-parent. It was thanks to support from my parents, my partner, my friends, and temporary childcare that I was able to do it. <br />
<br />
I tried not to change my everyday schedule and attitude to life. You physically change and you psychologically feel that you have to be a good mother. It’s not like I became someone else, but more like I have a mother-identity and my artist-identity, and I shift between them, instead of trying to combine both. So, I don’t think about art when I spend time with my son; I become just a mother. If I can switch easily between these two identities in a given moment, I can enjoy them. But sometimes it doesn't work and it becomes a bit of a mess. Exhibition time is very stressful because sometimes the switch doesn't work, and I’m always thinking about art while I’m talking to my son.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Natsumi Sakamoto, still from <i>Rowan Wards off Witches</i>, 2019</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b><br />CH: With that in mind, do you feel that parenthood changed your art practice in some way? <br /><br /> NS: </b> Before becoming a mother, my art practice was all about me and the environment around me. But after becoming a mother, I started to see the structure of society and the mother’s position in society. I guess I started to be interested in feminism more, and began to think about these questions through my art practice. I wouldn’t have been able to think this way without the experience of being physically incapable of certain things while being pregnant and while looking after a small child. You suddenly become so powerless in society. This was probably my first experience of becoming seriously aware of gender equality issues in real life. <br />
<br />
In that first year I had this very concentrated time of being with my son twenty-four hours a day. I went to parks or the <span style="color: #38761d;">jidokan*</span> with my son almost every day. It was a happy time, but when I saw other parents in those places, I started to become more aware of this unequal situation.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">Note: *<b>Jidokan(s)</b> 児童館 and<b><i> </i>hiroba(s)</b> 広場 are playgroups or play spaces where children and parents can play or socialize with other children and parents. These spaces or groups can also involve organized singing or play activities.</span><br />
<br />
At jidokan, I rarely saw fathers and mostly saw mothers, because the fathers were working on weekdays. Most of the mothers I met were unable to get a place for their child at a nursery. We talked with each other about how difficult it is to get a place in a nursery, how to make a successful application, and how hopeless our future careers would be if we couldn’t get a full-time nursery place for another few years. I actually met a mother who was thinking of a ‘temporary divorce’ from her partner so she could change her condition from ‘married’ to ‘single mother’ and strengthen her nursery application. The situation is so desperate. I hardly ever met fathers who had taken paternity leave, and whose partner had gone straight back to work after their child’s birth. <br />
<br />
I was disappointed and angry about this situation. Japan has a declining birthrate, which is a big social problem, and the Japanese government encourages couples to have children as well as encouraging women to work more to help with economic growth. This is a contradiction: how can you encourage women to work without offering child care? There were many women who felt the same at this time and took part in protests. All this made me really aware of the issue of gender inequality. I felt I should do something – so I started to work with a few of my artist friends as part of a group we call the Back and Forth Collective.<br />
<br />
<b>CH: Yes! The practice of the Back and Forth Collective is really important and valuable, and I hope you can continue to pursue this project. When did you form the Back and Forth Collective? <br /><br />NS:</b> We met at a workshop called Feminism for Everyone at <span style="color: #38761d;">Kosaten*</span> in Tokyo around two years ago. I met Asako Taki and Mei Homma there. We all graduated from the same art university in London, but at different times. So we had known each other, but this was the first time we actually met altogether. We hit it off at that meeting, and started to talk about working as a collective.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">Note:<i> </i><b>Kosaten</b>* is an intersectional community space in Tokyo. Events such as discussions, conversations and workshops are held there with people from different backgrounds, and for instance; of different nationalities, ethnic identities, religions, sexualities, genders and (dis)abilities. </span><br />
<br />
The core members are three artists at the moment, but we often collaborate with different artists and researchers. Each artist has a different area of interest but our common interest is feminism, so we started by working on this topic together. We’ve held workshops, exhibitions, and had a meeting with invited female artists. Last summer we had an exhibition at Tokyo Metropolitan Museum called Quiet Dialogue – Invisible Existences and Us. Artists from Japan, Austria, Turkey and Indonesia showed work responding to the theme. The topics explored included Japanese women’s suffrage, the history of home economics, immigrants and minority ethnic groups, witch hunts, the issue of female labor and sex trafficking in East and South East Asia including Japanese girls serving as sex workers called Karayuki-san, and so on. To show the wide range of each artists’ research, we made a library in the exhibition space, which also functioned as an open space to talk.<br />
<br />
If I didn’t have that intensive first year as a mother, I might not have joined. I’m not sure how to put this, but I think that experience I had has given me stronger opinions about solving these problems.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> filming on the Isle of Bute, UK</td></tr>
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<b>CH: Did your experience with the art community shift when you became an artist-parent? What kind of changes would you like to see in the art world? <br /><br />NS:</b> Tokyo is quite big and there are many galleries and museums. It’s also an expensive place to live, so it is not easy for artists to have a studio in the city. I always feel that working in a local artists community has a good energy, with a lot of encouragement and exchange of ideas. But there are a lot of artists like me, working with digital media or small-scale work, who work from home. There are groups organizing events and meetings for artists and curators such as artist talks, screenings or discussions, and reading events. I met quite a few people through those events, and we often ended up doing projects together. <br />
<br />
There is a certain difficulty to taking kids to art events. I’ve never tried. I would probably leave the room every time he gets fussy or cries. I just always think, “oh, I have to find somebody to look after my son.” My partner is very helpful and supportive with what I want to do, and always looks after my son so well. I need that help. But I feel bad every time I do this. <br />
<br />
There are some changes recently: I’ve seen more and more baby-friendly event descriptions, including childcare services, on museum websites etc. This is a great improvement, but it is still not enough at all. If I go to events in the evening, everyone always asks me “What is your son doing? Who is looking after your son?” I’m just thinking, if any fathers go to these events, probably not everybody is going to ask them this. Probably they think that the mother is looking after their child.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sUTbvz_yTLs/XbCi4eI0QwI/AAAAAAAAGB8/By36Cwavfc4N7o2yDI-YUnU_n6GEU_sKQCEwYBhgL/s1600/interview4.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sUTbvz_yTLs/XbCi4eI0QwI/AAAAAAAAGB8/By36Cwavfc4N7o2yDI-YUnU_n6GEU_sKQCEwYBhgL/s400/interview4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Natsumi Sakamoto, still from <i>unforgettable landscape (ROWAN TREE)</i>, 2014</td></tr>
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<b>CH: Have you had any role models for artist-parenting? </b><br />
<b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sUTbvz_yTLs/XbCi4eI0QwI/AAAAAAAAGB8/By36Cwavfc4N7o2yDI-YUnU_n6GEU_sKQCEwYBhgL/s1600/interview4.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a> <br />NS: </b>I don’t think so, no, because those stories are quite hidden, I don't know anybody personally. Most of the successful female-artists I know are either single or they don't have a child. Maybe the situation is different in the UK or other countries, so I hope I can meet some more artist-parents there. <br />
<br />
<b>CH: One issue that has been raised a lot in Japan – which is also a wider issue - is that of childcare. You had that first year when you were with your son for 24 hours a day. After that, did you continue working alongside your son at home, or did you use childcare? What was the next step?<br /><br />NS:</b> The first year I didn't get childcare, so I had to wait another year. From two years old, he went to nursery. He goes five days a week, so I could work on my art as well as working at my part-time job. I became more financially stable and I have a lot more freedom now than in the first two years.<br />
In Japan you can only apply for the nursery if you have a job. It’s very competitive. So I was teaching two days a week. For those two days [before getting a nursery place], my mum helped out by looking after my son. That was such a big help. I put my condition down as freelance artist, editor, teacher and translator, working two days outside, and three days at home. I made a schedule with all the details such as who I work with, what kind of project it is, and where the funding comes from. <br />
<br />
Basically I tried to combine all the types of ‘work’ I do – no matter if it’s paid or not – to fill up my working schedule. Other mothers were working full time, five days a week, and more than 40 hours a day. I needed to make my schedule equivalent to this, even though my work schedule isn’t a fixed one. The reality is that I often worked in the middle of the night and between nap times, so it was almost impossible to count how many hours I actually worked. <br />
<br />
<b> CH: So you found another way to apply for a nursery place ‘as an artist’?<br /> <br />NS:</b> Yeah, I was trying to find a solution. But I know it is not easy for everyone – another artist-mother friend gave up applying to nursery. She was making her artwork at home every day when she had time, and didn’t have a part-time job. She was a full-time mother-artist. The reality is that an application from someone working from home or as self-employed isn’t as strong as one made by a full-time company employee. So for her, there was almost no hope of getting a nursery place. From the government’s perspective, the occupation ‘artist’ isn’t as reliable as other occupations. I presume they don’t want to provide childcare for people who don’t make money, so it might be a bit different if an artist is only working on commissions. But the reality is that not a lot of artists actually make their living from only art! <br />
<br />
Under these circumstances, being an artist-mother is very difficult in many ways, and it makes us feel guilty to work on our artwork. And when the baby is small, you have so much housework to do … there’s so much invisible labour that needs to be done. <br />
<br />
<b>CH: This issue of what counts as labour and how different forms of labour are perceived is directly related to being an artist-parent in the art world. And with all this invisible labour to deal with - how did you find time for your practice? What was your strategy in those first two years?<br /> <br />NS:</b> Before getting nursery care five days a week, I just had no time. But I had this group show, so I had to make time. So I got up super early in the morning every day. Morning was the best time for me, before the baby woke up. If anyone else wakes up then a mess appears, or some other work - it becomes difficult to keep working or doing. So I decided to wake up really early in morning, sometimes 4am, in the dark, and I just had to make a deadline for every little thing. For example, “this writing has to be done in the next hour”, or something like that. I made a super tight schedule. And then when the baby cries I have to go and pick him up. I’m like an athlete… running.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pik9FNrxK4M/XbCi5TRbwKI/AAAAAAAAGCA/DnoZyD4tQa82dS11Oi0D9eG1FaijioMRQCEwYBhgL/s1600/interview5.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="995" data-original-width="1600" height="396" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pik9FNrxK4M/XbCi5TRbwKI/AAAAAAAAGCA/DnoZyD4tQa82dS11Oi0D9eG1FaijioMRQCEwYBhgL/s640/interview5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Natsumi Sakamoto, <i>The Interview with a Witch</i>, 2019. Installation view at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum</td></tr>
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<b><br />CH: So how did you deal with sleep deprivation?<br /> <br />NS: </b>Yeah, I can’t remember. I think I went to sleep early with my child. I often used social networks, just to show or prove that I’d done something. At the time I felt I was invisible in society. I couldn't go to see my friends because I had to be in the house. I wanted to connect to somebody. As an everyday routine, I would make one small drawing and post it to Instagram – like a diary – it works, you see the progress every day. You make a little bit day by day.<br />
<b><br />CH: I recently read about a parent and child- friendly studio residency at the Washington Project for the Arts in the US, where the children can stay in the studio while the parents work. Would this kind of initiative be helpful here? If this kind of studio programme existed near you, would you want to be part of it?<br /> <br />NS: </b>A studio, with childcare? It sounds interesting. But I do wonder whether they have a strong barrier between the kids’ area and the parents’ area. I can imagine my son often coming to interrupt me... so, personally, I’m not confident that I could concentrate on my work when my kid is with me. It is a contradiction, because I totally agree with this idea of making your workplace more accessible to kids, but then, I know how difficult the reality would be. <br />
<br />
Not only workplaces, but public spaces like museums or theaters still have a strong separation between kids and adults, and the unspoken rule is that kids shouldn't disturb the adult’s world. Having a separation is definitely the most productive and less stressful way for adults. For example, I am always nervous when I take my son to the museum. He loves to make noise in a quiet space, so the other people’s evil eyes towards me make me really sad and upset. I can totally understand what they feel, so my feeling is complicated. I feel angry and I also feel bad to have disturbed the other people at the same time. This situation is probably more particular to Japan than the UK.<br />
<br />
I think it’s definitely worth <span id="goog_664790595"></span><span id="goog_664790596"></span>trying these kinds of new ideas – otherwise the situation is never going to change.<br />
<i><br /></i><span style="color: #38761d;">Note: At the time of this interview Natsumi Sakamoto was based in Tokyo, Japan. She is now based in Glasgow, Scotland.</span><br />
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christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-34367008447124344712019-09-11T12:31:00.003-07:002022-03-15T10:29:47.046-07:00Events: Graham Foundation Series<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--Pm4fZrbkDE/XXlEAfjbTxI/AAAAAAAAF8w/eZYl_nqNaU8e_3K2zXdWPhG9CVVE_DE2ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-09-11%2Bat%2B1.55.27%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="978" height="245" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--Pm4fZrbkDE/XXlEAfjbTxI/AAAAAAAAF8w/eZYl_nqNaU8e_3K2zXdWPhG9CVVE_DE2ACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-09-11%2Bat%2B1.55.27%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tatiana Bilbao Estudio, from U<i>nraveling Modern Living</i>, digital collage, 2019 </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Cultural ReProducers is excited to share a new series of events created in collaboration with the Graham Foundation this Fall, in conjunction with the exhibition <b><a href="http://www.grahamfoundation.org/public_exhibitions/6033-tatiana-bilbao-estudio-unraveling-modern-living">Estudio Tatiana Bilbao: Unraveling Modern Living</a>.</b> The Mexico-City based architecture office transforms the former domestic space of the Graham Foundation's historic Madlener House<span id="exhibit"> to explore new forms of collectivity. CR and other groups will activate and intervene in these spaces throughout the season.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iT-oI1Ir0os/XX7--IscQuI/AAAAAAAAF94/Z9UoQd0LpxMc6N2lKinY9STr1oMa-2ZbACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-09-15%2Bat%2B10.15.59%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1245" data-original-width="1600" height="310" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iT-oI1Ir0os/XX7--IscQuI/AAAAAAAAF94/Z9UoQd0LpxMc6N2lKinY9STr1oMa-2ZbACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-09-15%2Bat%2B10.15.59%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Alberto Aguilar, "Portal Court" (detail), sidewalk chalk, bean bags, rubber </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">balls, and public participation, 2019</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Portal Court <br />Alberto Aguilar</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Sunday, September 15, 2019<br />1:00pm</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Graham Foundation, 4 West Burton Place</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Chicago, Illinois 60610</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">To join us, RSVP<b> <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/family-program-cultural-reproducers-with-alberto-aguilar-portal-court-registration-72275192045">HERE </a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Using pavement, chalk, bouncy balls, and bean bags, artist
Alberto Aguilar transforms the sidewalks surrounding the Graham Foundation's Madlener House
into a floor game court and participatory performance. This event is
designed as an outdoor program for children and families though
participants of every age are invited to join in.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><a href="http://albertoaguilar.org/">Alberto Aguilar</a> </b>is a Chicago based artist.
He has exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit; El Centro
de Desarrollo de las Artes Visuales, Havana, Cuba; Palo Alto Art Center;
National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL; Museum of Contemporary Art
Chicago; Minneapolis Institute of Art: Crystal Bridges Museum of
American Art, Bentonville, AR; and The Art Institute of Chicago. His
work is held in the collections of the National Museum of Mexican Art;
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art; Soho House Chicago; and the
Chicago Cultural Center. Aguilar is the recipient of the 3Arts Award.</span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h8kppSMZJNc/XXlHjNuAy5I/AAAAAAAAF9E/ql_9ImrzTQoGmLvZF8W-MABvckf6D3VCQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-09-11%2Bat%2B2.13.07%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1124" data-original-width="1400" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h8kppSMZJNc/XXlHjNuAy5I/AAAAAAAAF9E/ql_9ImrzTQoGmLvZF8W-MABvckf6D3VCQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-09-11%2Bat%2B2.13.07%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Cultural ReProducers, <i>Making it What We Need</i> at Glass Curtain Gallery, 2014</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br />Making it What We Need<br />Christa Donner<br />Saturday, November 23rd, 2019<br />9:30am - noon</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Graham Foundation</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">4 West Burton Place</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Chicago, Illinois 60610</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Help create the creative community you'd like to be a part of - in conversation with curators, artists, arts administrators, and others. <b>Making it What We Need</b> is a generative workshop considering
alternate models for living, making, and making a living as artists, led by Cultural ReProducers organizer Christa Donner.
Non-parents are welcome to join the conversation, which will be relevant
to anyone working toward a sustainable life in the arts. Free, on-site childcare will be available through pre-registration. Space at this event is extremely limited. If you'd like to join the conversation, please fill out this <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeq_BBC0AgOLDM7UeuQ8FLLo0dg-cLq923AYDxRSvPbLC9W_A/viewform" target="_blank">Participation Form</a> by November 7th.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><a href="http://www.christadonner.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">Christa Donner</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"> is an artist, curator, and mother who incorporates drawing, participatory performance,
and small-press publications to create multi-layered projects that are both intimate
and community-centered. Donner’s work is exhibited widely, including projects
for the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (Berlin, Germany);
BankArt NYK (Yokohama, Japan); Chiaki Kamikawa Contemporary Art (Paphos,
Cyprus); Yale-NUS (Singapore); the Museum Bellerive (Zurich, Switzerland), and throughout the United
States. In 2012 Donner helped launch the collaborative platform
Cultural ReProducers</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">, providing
skillsharing, critical dialogue, participatory events, and an international
community supporting the dual work of artists raising children. </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Exploring the Grahamlener Bilbraoducers Commons</b></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zn10NM7ziGc/XZ9g_WmTamI/AAAAAAAAGAM/0UQLPaBShPI2zGcqt1XSWPD2tr6TurpngCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/0618-16-2557.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1377" data-original-width="1600" height="275" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zn10NM7ziGc/XZ9g_WmTamI/AAAAAAAAGAM/0UQLPaBShPI2zGcqt1XSWPD2tr6TurpngCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/0618-16-2557.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hui-Min Tsen, view of the Graham Foundation, 2019</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Hui-Min Tsen<br /> December 7, 2019<br />10am </b><br />Graham Foundation<br />4 West Burton Place<br />Chicago, Illinois 60610<br /><br />Come explore the Graham Foundation! Participants will be given a diverse range of prompts and sent out to interact with the historic Madlener House and Tatiana Bilbao's exhibition, "Unraveling Modern Living." What will you discover? How will you perceive the building? On return from your explorations your tales and impressions will be woven into the broader story of the building and some of Tatiana Bilbao's ideas. This intergenerational program is open to participants of all ages.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><a href="http://huimintsen.com/ht/">Hui-Min Tsen</a></b> is a photo-based, interdisciplinary artist whose work contemplates the spatial and mental landscapes residing in the gap between Here and There. In projects ranging from walking tours to boat building to works on paper, she uses research and observation to interweave stories of history and the collective imagination with our everyday experience of place and the unknown. Tsen received a BFA from the Tisch School of the Arts, and an MFA from School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has exhibited and published with the Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago Artist's Coalition, MDW Fair, and Sector 2337, among others. Her book, "The Pedway of Today" was published by Green Lantern Press in 2013. She currently teaches photography at Loyola University.</span></span><span style="color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-63742528115700149132019-09-10T19:30:00.000-07:002019-10-10T09:52:05.184-07:00Publications: Art Fair Adventure Book<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G7rtuZwj7dM/XX1FI9w4urI/AAAAAAAAF9k/pAs0lt4Jgksbdc6ASIxJevNl_CDiUMuzwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Adventurebookweb.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="776" height="329" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G7rtuZwj7dM/XX1FI9w4urI/AAAAAAAAF9k/pAs0lt4Jgksbdc6ASIxJevNl_CDiUMuzwCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Adventurebookweb.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Art Fair Adventure Book</b></span><br />
Published in Chicago by Cultural ReProducers 2019<br />
5.5" x 8.5", 11 pages <br />
<br />
It's Art Fair season, and we have just the thing to your keep school-age kids from getting bored while you chat with fellow art folks: our <b>Art Fair Adventure Book</b>. Drawn and designed by Christa Donner, this little zine has eleven action-packed pages of risographed fun for ages 7 and up, featuring a multisensory scavenger hunt, fair fashion design, comics templates, people-watching games, art review-writing, and more. <br />
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<b>$3 US plus shipping</b><br />
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christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-42372592953584485582019-04-02T14:44:00.001-07:002019-04-02T19:25:49.707-07:00Interview: Angela James<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><i><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u3kWAlu7v3I/XJgi7sJZmLI/AAAAAAAAE9w/eSmZ67PdLeEG2cC8Mr3gkUkoaZKjcZgUACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/AngelaJames2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1043" height="500" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u3kWAlu7v3I/XJgi7sJZmLI/AAAAAAAAE9w/eSmZ67PdLeEG2cC8Mr3gkUkoaZKjcZgUACPcBGAYYCw/s400/AngelaJames2.jpg" width="357" /></a></b></i></b><i>Singer-songwriter <b><a href="https://www.angelajamesmusic.com/">Angela James</a></b> moves fluidly and collaboratively between the genres of alt </i><i>country, improvised music, and indie rock. The Chicago Reader called her 2016 album, Time Will Tell, “smoldering and gorgeous.” </i><br />
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<i>When Angela found herself struggling with postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter, she turned to her music as an anchor. Now she’s using it to celebrate and support artist-parents. Her forthcoming album, <b><a href="https://angelajames.bandcamp.com/album/preorder-quiet-night-a-collection-of-lullabies">Quiet Night</a>,</b> is a collection of lullabies that evolved through the difficult days of early motherhood. As the songs became an album, Angela made a commitment to work exclusively with fellow parents on the project, from the instrumentalists and the sound producer to the publicist and the album artwork. </i><br />
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<i>Quiet Night debuts April 12th with a <b><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/angela-james-quiet-night-record-release-tickets-56839720133">3pm all-ages show on April 20th at the Hideout</a>,</b> the Chicago institution where the project got its start. If you’re in Chicago, bring your family! Cultural ReProducers sat down with Angela over hot mugs of tea to find out more about this labor of love.</i><br />
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<b>Cultural ReProducers: Finding time for creative work as a new parent can be… complicated. How did you return to music after becoming a mother?</b><br />
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<b>Angela James:</b> After Hattie was born I did this month-long residency at the Hideout. I’d scheduled the residency before I had her, because I was like, “if I’m not back making music and performing when she’s nine months old<i>,</i> then I’m not relevant anymore.” (laughter) I put a tremendous amount of pressure on myself to reconnect.<br />
<br />
The residency basically meant that I had to perform every Tuesday for a month, put together a bill every week. It’s an opportunity to do new material, which would be one thing if I just decided to play one show, but I was like “I’m gonna play a show every week!” These are the ideas you have when you don’t have a child yet. The first show of that residency was called Women of the World Take Over, with 18 different female performers each covering a different Chicago female performer. I got sick in the middle of it and lost my voice, and there were all kinds of things that happened. It was so much work. It was wonderful.<br />
<br />
I had these melodies that I wrote while spending all these hours trying to get her to sleep. I was gonna go crazy otherwise. After the residency, I started making them into songs. I have no illusions that these melodies actually helped her sleep (laughter) - they were lullabies for me.<br />
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<b>CR: That’s something I feel like people don’t talk about enough: that lullabies can be just as important to the parent as it is to the child being sung to. Singing creates this breathing and resonance that is so grounding for someone who’s exhausted and dealing with a baby that won’t go to sleep.<br /> </b><br />
<b>Angela: </b>It’s also part of this whole arc of things. It’s what I’m going to play during a bedtime routine <br />
at the end of the day, and the days are long. That’s also why I decided
it would all be mid- to low-tone instruments, no percussion. The
vibraphone and the bassoon, those are the instruments that just make me
kind of … sit a little deeper. I can remember when I was first exposed
to Peter and the Wolf as a child – the idea that instruments have their
own personalities. It was huge for me. I’m a singer, but it gave me this
internal sense that these things have voices just like I have a voice.
The vibraphone just makes me feel… safe. There’s something about that
bell-like chiming sound that is so soothing.<br />
<br />
<b>CR: You’ve made an intentional decision to work with fellow parents on every aspect of this </b><b></b><b>album. How did that idea come about?</b><br />
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<b>Angela: </b>Well, I know some incredible musician parents in jazz or experimental new music. And then I was like, “Well, if I’m gonna have all the performers be parents, then …”<br />
<br />
My friend Shelly usually does live sound, but she was a new mom and had just gotten a new job in broadcasting and asked me if I had a project that was fairly simple that she could record. And I was like “Well yes, actually, I do.” And then I decided that whoever mixes it has to be a parent, and whoever does the artwork has to be a parent. And the mastering engineer. And now the publicist, she’s also a parent.<br />
<br />
It’s been a great opportunity to observe and honor what people are able to accomplish while raising young children. Most of our kids are preschool-age. I feel like everybody’s just trying to hold on, to maintain some kind of creative practice. And at the same time - I know in my case - that creative work keeps getting better. There have been some interesting articles about this in the past few years, whether it’s time-management, or because your world view has gotten more expansive because your love is… exploding, but you also have to focus. There is something better about my work, now. And it’s cool to see that in everybody that’s involved in the project in different ways. These people’s careers are blossoming at the same time that they’re raising a newborn. That’s so inspiring to me.<br />
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<b>CR: You’re open about your struggle with postpartum depression. How did that experience intersect with your work and your identity as a creative professional?</b><br />
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<b>Angela:</b> “Quiet Night” came out of this really emotionally fraught time. I think it is for everybody! Even if you have a great breastfeeding experience, or your child sleeps through the night at two weeks old, which is … impossible (laughter) but some people do have really chill postpartum newborn situations. Even then, it’s still kind of crazy. As an artist I just put all this extra pressure on myself, which was another layer to my postpartum depression. I thought, “I’ll never make art again. This is just the way it’s always gonna be. This is the child I have made.” You can’t see anything else.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>I feel like everybody’s just trying to hold on, to maintain some kind of
creative practice. And at the same time that
creative work keeps getting better.</i></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span>I remember having a panic attack – [my partner] Jordan was curating at Elastic at the time, and he had to go to an art opening. We lived a couple of blocks away, but I was panicking at the thought of being home alone with Hattie. She was two weeks old at the time. I thought that was just the way people feel. It took another week of that to realize that I was suffering. We don’t realize it’s a problem because there’s not a visible support structure for that. I went in for a checkup and my doctor said, “I don’t want to offend you, but you’re not okay.” And I was like, “No offense taken. You are correct.” She connected me with a therapist who specializes in postpartum depression, so I was able to address it with talk therapy and medication. Those feelings were a huge part of this project. The more I listen to the songs on this album, the more I think that maybe they’re really for me. That they will be soothing for parents that are going through this difficult and all-consuming time. <br />
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<b>CR: I love that idea of using music as a way of caring for people who are going through something you went through.</b><br />
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<b>Angela:</b> I didn’t set out to do that, I guess few people actually do – but the lyrics of one of the songs is like, “I don’t know what you need, I don’t know what to do, I don’t see what you see, I can’t go everywhere with you… but I love you. The most.” I think the desperation is evident in that song<span style="font-size: x-large;"></span><br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y63gJh563og/XJgjoSDI4mI/AAAAAAAAE98/T8NwzbrZ9SIWsPLbZFPY7w-LfGFDkjdaQCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/LullabyCover.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1410" data-original-width="1600" height="351" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y63gJh563og/XJgjoSDI4mI/AAAAAAAAE98/T8NwzbrZ9SIWsPLbZFPY7w-LfGFDkjdaQCPcBGAYYCw/s400/LullabyCover.jpg" width="400" /></a><b>CR: It’s interesting because I don’t find that edge in most of the songs. Even knowing what you went through in the process of making it, the music itself is incredibly soothing.<br /> </b><br />
<b>Angela:</b> Right, well there’s one other song that’s like, “we’re both really tired. Just, please go to sleep.” But everything else is just about love. That’s the real thesis statement. I didn’t write the lyrics when there was that edge. She was finally sleeping and I was finally starting to come out of it. I hear these mythological tales of artists who can create while they’re in a horrible spot in life… I had a very difficult decade in my 20s with lots of experience that could be material to write about, but there’s no way I could have written music and lyrics when I felt that way.<br />
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<b>CR: How would you say this is album is a departure from your previous work?</b><br />
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<b>Angela:</b> Well, it’s all me. This is the first project that I’ve done musically without Jordan. That’s a new layer that I’m still processing now, the fact that Jordan doesn’t play on it. A lot of it is logistical: he has to be home with her while I’m doing these recordings. We’re not gonna pay for a babysitter. He wrote one song, but he’s not involved in the recording. I got a DCASE Grant to manufacture it, and I just received word yesterday that I got an Illinois Arts Council Grant to pay for the PR.<br />
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<b>CR: Congratulations!</b><br />
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<b>Angela:</b> Thank you. I’m super excited about the publicist I’m working with. She specifically does kids music. I’ve never worked with a publicist before. Usually the people who need publicists the most don’t have them, because the good ones are very expensive. If I hadn’t gotten this grant, I don’t know if I could do this. I am committed to talking about postpartum depression in an open way, and this album is a vehicle for me to do that. It’s an experience that so many women have, but we’re not encouraged to talk about it. I think that’s important.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8WahdWLGluU/XJgjkP1wEaI/AAAAAAAAE98/46-FJvOnxYAKBmfeHUHjXz5XRq4DX34NwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Hattie%2526IQuietNight.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="540" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8WahdWLGluU/XJgjkP1wEaI/AAAAAAAAE98/46-FJvOnxYAKBmfeHUHjXz5XRq4DX34NwCPcBGAYYCw/s640/Hattie%2526IQuietNight.jpg" width="359" /></a><br />
<b>CR: Your daughter is two years old now. How has the reality of making music while parenting </b><b>measured up to your expectations pre-motherhood?<br /> </b><br />
<b>Angela:</b> All babies are different. Early on I had this idea that, you know, we’ll all go to shows… I’ll wear her, and she’ll wear those ear protector things. But that’s not the child I was blessed with. I have a child that likes to be in her own bed at 7pm, and then a 45-minute interval of alone time where she chats and sings. And if you don’t give her that time by herself she’s very cranky and won’t sleep. I respect that about her. She’s not shy or introverted, but she has a sense of self-awareness out of the gate that I really admire. It took me until I was in my 30s to learn how to create some boundaries for myself! (laughter) I choose to honor that this is how she feels about these things. She doesn’t like snow, which I’m disappointed about… but you know, she doesn’t have to like snow just because I do. She matches pitch really well. I’m constantly navigating my own pressures and expectations as a mother, but also of my child. To let her be who she is.<br />
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Sometimes I feel a lot of mom guilt, because any spare time I have, I’m just trying to maintain a creative practice in my own home. I have this career that really doesn’t pay me anything, and it’s separate from childcare, it’s just… extra. It’s desire, it’s pressure, it’s all of these things – but I need it to feel okay about myself. That realization actually made me feel better. She doesn’t need to go to dance class, she’s two! She can dance any time she wants. We all live in a building together with my mother-, father-, and sister-in-law. My mother-in-law was a concert pianist, and there’s a baby grand piano in their apartment. Hattie has a pretty decent form just from watching her grandmother. The piano’s got weighted keys - it’s not this miniaturized kid keyboard - it’s the real thing. And that’s her normal. I just want my daughter to observe her parents as artists, and see that that’s possible.</div>
christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-63167539793566659842019-03-09T10:35:00.000-08:002019-03-10T15:25:33.298-07:00What Artist Residencies Can Do For Artist Parents - And What Artist Parents Can Do for Artist Residencies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wj8fgNH2PBw/XIQNV7PWHRI/AAAAAAAAE8A/ocGQARHrhf00V3lDPnvqmvODWq-UnW-HgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-03-09%2Bat%2B12.59.22%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1498" data-original-width="1146" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wj8fgNH2PBw/XIQNV7PWHRI/AAAAAAAAE8A/ocGQARHrhf00V3lDPnvqmvODWq-UnW-HgCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-03-09%2Bat%2B12.59.22%2BPM.png" width="305" /></a><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jj8vntbVe6MGGhrMdlWVZvDkvDSCB7UA/view?usp=sharing"></a></div>
An ad-hoc group of artists, artist residencies, and funders is working together to spread the idea of parent-friendly residencies beyond the pioneering group of residencies that currently offer space for families.<br />
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A little background: In the summer of 2017, Eve Biddle and Will Hutnick of The Wassaic Project talked with Travis Laughlin, then of the Joan Mitchell Foundation, about the challenges of supporting artist parents. That conversation led to a larger gathering at The Wassaic Project, with leaders from Artists U, the Joan Mitchell Foundation, the Marble House Project, the Millay Colony, Sustainable Arts Foundation, and Wassaic.<br />
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In 2014, Artists U did a project called <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/53767189e4b07d0c6bf4b775/t/5388abffe4b02f7f94909052/1401465855677/Artists+Raising+Kids+Compendium.pdf">Artists Raising Kids</a>: a national survey, in-depth interviews, and gatherings in Philadelphia and Baltimore. As a result, I have a lot of artist parents in my network. So before the meeting at Wassaic, I surveyed 300 artist parents about artist residencies: What are the barriers?<br />
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The top two barriers were not surprising: accommodations for children, and childcare or money for childcare. Those are real needs, and addressing them takes significant resources. But the third and fourth most common barriers were: duration of residencies, and lack of scheduling flexibility. I was struck that addressing these barriers, while they require some administrative work, do not cost a lot in dollars. How many more artist parents could do a residency if they could choose the duration and start date? How many artist residencies might be willing to take this smaller step and become more parent friendly?<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YslNcEnylzI/XIQMmXu8DLI/AAAAAAAAE78/2DGRGnfEeFsBt9lHGo14KYgo8Tz6OjiQACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-03-09%2Bat%2B12.42.44%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1534" data-original-width="1176" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YslNcEnylzI/XIQMmXu8DLI/AAAAAAAAE78/2DGRGnfEeFsBt9lHGo14KYgo8Tz6OjiQACPcBGAYYCw/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-03-09%2Bat%2B12.42.44%2BPM.png" width="306" /></a>Here is one output from our conversations at Wassaic. We outlined a “spectrum of support” that <br />
residencies can offer artist parents. Family-friendly residencies, with accommodations and childcare for children, are amazing, of course. But we also highlight other, smaller steps residencies can take. We hope the entire residency sector can make some of these smaller, simpler changes to open up possibilities for artist parents.<br />
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On the flip side of the poster, we offer ways artist parents can help problem-solve these challenges. In Artists U, we don’t start with our needs; we start with our skills.<br />
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Please <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jj8vntbVe6MGGhrMdlWVZvDkvDSCB7UA/view?usp=sharing"><b>share this poster</b></a> with artists and residencies. And if you have thoughts or ideas about it, get in touch.<br />
<br />
andrew simonet<br />
artist<br />
founder, <a href="http://www.artistsu.org/">Artists U</a></div>
christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-53082335867259500702018-10-24T11:52:00.000-07:002018-10-24T18:15:38.913-07:00Residency Report: Marble House, Dorset, Vermont<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Residency Report is an ongoing series of posts from artists who've undertaken creative <span id="goog_125101751"></span><span id="goog_125101752"></span>residencies with their families. Find out about programs that support artists with kids, and see how other artist-parents balance the residency experience. <br /> </b><br />
<b>We've been curious about <a href="http://www.marblehouseproject.org/residencyprograms/">Marble House</a> ever since they first announced their 17-day family residency program, not only for its interdisciplinary approach but also because it's one of very few that includes an on-site day camp to keep artists' children engaged and exploring while their parents get down to their creative work. </b><b><b>We were thrilled when artist and activist <a href="http://www.sheryloring.org/">Sheryl Oring</a> agreed to share her experience there.</b></b><br />
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Imagine a Tuscan villa with an ornate eight-bedroom marble mansion complete with fountain-filled grounds and an ample garden. This one is in Vermont, though, on the site of an old marble quarry. And each summer it offers its bounty to a group of artists and their families as part of the family-friendly residency program at Marble House Project. <br />
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The house itself, built around 1820 and expanded on in 1908, is on the National Register of Historic Places. The grand expansion to the house and addition of the gardens, designed by Charles Downing Lay, was commissioned by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Lef%C3%A8vre">Edwin Lefevre Sr.</a>, an author, entrepreneur, and son of a Central American diplomat. In 1909, he was appointed ambassador to Spain and Italy by his native country, Panama.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oGTGOD85-Oc/W9C4AYTr9dI/AAAAAAAAE1Q/PGQeoAkTScEuz6e5o733LbB8W7b_S3P0gCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-10-24%2Bat%2B1.18.08%2BPM.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1163" data-original-width="1600" height="290" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oGTGOD85-Oc/W9C4AYTr9dI/AAAAAAAAE1Q/PGQeoAkTScEuz6e5o733LbB8W7b_S3P0gCPcBGAYYCw/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-10-24%2Bat%2B1.18.08%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The gardens provided plenty of fresh produce for our dinners.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This historical home and the surrounding 48 acres was turned into Marble House Project by founder Danielle Epstein, who launched the artist residency program together with Dina Schapiro in the summer of 2014 after acquiring the property and doing renovations. Each year, Marble House Project hosts one 17-day summer residency session exclusively for artists and their families. Artist groups are multidisciplinary including artists working in film and video, literature, visual arts, music and composition, dance and performance and culinary arts. Besides the family residency session, Marble House Project also runs a series of three-week residencies (no children allowed) from mid-April through the end of October. <br />
<br />
When I applied to Marble House Project, I had not done a residency for nearly two decades. My 10-year-old daughter Shira was just as excited as I was, and the Marble House experience lives on as a true highlight of our summer adventures. As it happened, Shira was one of the older kids at Marble House. At first I was worried she wouldn’t integrate into the groups of younger kids that seemed to form immediately upon arrival. But by the second day, she stepped up to the task and soon started playing with the younger kids and also taking on bedtime story duty for several of them. That made the other parents very happy. <br />
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Marble House Project is organized “around a responsibilities-sharing system, highlighting sustainability and fostering community.” What that means in practicality is that Marble House Project provides the shelter, workspace, weekday childcare (from 9 am to 3:30 pm) a tremendous garden and chickens that lay a prodigious amount of eggs – and the residents are responsible for cooking and basic household maintenance. In such a large group of artists, mostly with “only” children, this could get harried at times. But when spirits got high, there was always the swimming hole to dive into or the firepit to roast marshmallows by and then most of our cares faded under the light of the moon. <br />
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption">Agitype drawing series started at Marble House and feature quotes <br />
from the #MeToo movement.</td></tr>
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Then, after the morning breakfast rush and the kids went off camp, we got some precious time in the studio or for a walk through the forest or to chat with one of the other artist-parents gathered in this special place. The time at Marble House Project allowed me to create a series of prints based on my <a href="http://www.sheryloring.org/i-wish-to-say"><i>I Wish to Say</i></a> performance project in which I invite people to dictate postcards to the U.S. President. The prints I made at Marble House Project were shown at Art Prize in Grand Rapids, Michigan, this fall. I also made the first of a new series of drawings called <a href="http://www.sheryloring.org/agitype/"><i>Agitype</i></a> that features quotes from the #MeToo movement drawn with stencils in a format that resembles newspaper headlines. I also used two days of the residency to work with Emily Larned, my graphic design collaborator, who drove up from Connecticut, stayed in a nearby Airbnb, and joined me in my studio to work together on a catalog for a mid career survey show. The work we did on the catalog for <a href="http://www.sheryloring.org/blog/agitype">Agitype: Changing the World One Letter at a Time</a> at the Lois and David Stulberg Gallery at the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota was critical for getting it done on a short deadline. The quiet at Marble House Project allowed the work to happen.<br />
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Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the stay at Marble House Project fostered friendships with the other artists, and shared experiences as artist parents. My daughter noted as we drove home that the children of artists are just a bit different from her other friends. And hanging out with a whole group of them for two weeks was something she’ll never forget. Beyond that, it was a place where she had the freedom to roam, to swim, to run, to play… and to collect eggs each day. <br />
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<b>GOOD TO KNOW</b><br />
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cooking in the culinary studio with chef Angel Torres and <br />
writer Amanda Rea.</td></tr>
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Residents are responsible for cooking group meals 5 days a week and also for doing the dishes and kitchen clean-up. In my group, we had 14 adults and 9 children, and sometimes more if the staff or guests joined. Cooking for such a large group is not everybody’s thing and so this is something to be aware of. We figured it out and ate some amazing meals with the help of resident chef Angel Torres. <br />
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Cell phone reception is dependent on which carrier you have. I have T-mobile and had zero service. Others with Verizon and AT&T were better off. The internet in the main house was unreliable. I ultimately gave up trying to use the wifi there; luckily the wifi worked better in my studio. Others had better luck with wifi in the main house. My room was one of two rooms on the top floor of the house and this might have been the cause. <br />
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At the end of each session, artists are asked to present their work at an event called Art Seed. This takes the form of talks, performances and open studios. Participation is optional.<br />
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<b>CHILDCARE</b><br />
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Kids going off to camp in the morning; </div>
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childcare is provided on weekdays from 9-3:30.</div>
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Marble House Project provides a daycamp for children ages 4-14 on weekdays from 9 am to 3:30 pm. The programming involves nature, art, playing, swimming, farming and cooking. Lunch is provided. Marble House Project co-founder Dina Schapiro, who creates the camp, has been working with kids for over 22 years as an art therapist and educator, and brings graduate Art Therapy students from Pratt to work with your kids as well. Kids outside this age group are welcome but there is no childcare provided so bringing a partner along to share with the care would allow the artist more worktime.<br />
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<b>COSTS</b><br />
Application fee is $32. The residency is free to the artist and their child or children ages 17 and under. There is a $100 deposit that is refundable at the end of the residency. If you bring a partner or spouse who is not an accepted artist, there is a $200 fee to help defray the additional food costs. <br />
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<b>ABOUT THE STUDIOS</b><br />
<b>Music studio:</b> Main space is 19'4 by 16' and also contains a kitchenette and stone fireplace; there are two additional rooms and a bathroom. Includes: Baby grand piano, drum set, organ, various small instruments, writing desk, amp, studio speakers. <br />
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<b>Dance and performance studio:</b> A former swimming pool converted to dance studio with a sprung dance floor, track lighting and marble-lined walls. High windows flank the entire space providing abundant natural light. Studio is 26' by 40' with 11' ceilings.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the art studios in the garage.</td></tr>
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<b>Artist studios in the garage:</b> Studio spaces are given to each resident based on their studio needs and their projects. There are three studios in this building, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Studios have white walls and range in size. Studio sizes are: 24'10" by 14'4''; 10'4" by 13'6”; 8' 8" by 15' <br />
<b><br />Artist/writer studios in the Ice House: </b>There are two artist studios, an ADA compliant half bathroom, sink and electric stove in the Ice House. One of the studios is wood paneled, the other has white walls. Studio sizes are: 19'1" by 19'9'' and 12' by 15'3" <br />
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<b>The Quarry office studio:</b> This building has two wood-paneled rooms with a screened in porch overlooking the marsh. Writing desks, lamps. chairs, and easy access to exterior space. This is a summer cabin with no heat or internet. Often used for writers or sculptors needing outdoor space with easy access to a studio. The bathroom and kitchen is next door in the Ice House. One room is 12' by 12'; additional smaller room is 12' by 7'8"; screened in porch 8' by 20'6".<br />
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<b>Culinary arts studio: </b>There is a fully outfitted prep kitchen that is 15' by 22'.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Collecting eggs was a favorite activity for many of the kids.</td></tr>
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<b>GETTING THERE</b><br />
By far the easiest way to Marble House Project is by car. Other options include:<br />
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- The Greyhound Bus from New York City to Manchester, VT, is 2 hours and 50 minutes.<br />
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- Amtrak train (Empire Service and Ethan Allen Express) from Penn Station to Albany is 2 hours and 25 minutes. When you arrive in Albany you will need to take a bus to Manchester, VT. The Amtrak station is a twenty minute walk from the bus terminal in Albany or you can take a taxi service which you can find at the train station. Marble House Project is a ten minute cab ride from Manchester or you can make arrangements with a taxi service from Albany or other locations. <br />
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<b>NEARBY ATTRACTIONS</b></div>
<b>Northshire Bookstore:</b><br />
Less than 10 minutes away in Manchester, VT, this bookstore has a large children’s section with books and toys.<br />
<a href="https://www.northshire.com/">https://www.northshire.com/</a><span id="goog_125101725"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_125101726"></span><br />
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<b>Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass Moca):</b><br />
This art museum has a number of galleries that are certain to have exhibits appropriate for children and it also has Kidspace, a child-centered art gallery and hands-on studio presenting exhibitions and educational experiences in collaboration with leading artists. The program focuses on contemporary social issues and expanding notions of art and art materials. Mass MOCA is about an hour away by car in North Adams, Massachusetts.<a href="https://massmoca.org/">https://massmoca.org/</a><br />
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<b>Dorset quarry:</b><br />
One of Vermont’s most beloved swimming holes is just five minutes down the road and offers natural diving platforms of varied levels.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kids went swimming in the quarry nearly every day.</td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.sheryloring.org/"><b>Sheryl Oring</b></a> has typed thousands of postcards to the President from locations across the U.S. since launching her <i><a href="http://www.sheryloring.org/i-wish-to-say/">I Wish to Say</a></i> project in 2004. Oring had received public art commissions at airports in San Diego and Tampa and has shown her work at Bryant Park in New York; the Jewish Museum Berlin; the Berlin Wall Memorial; at Art in Odd Places in New York; the Art Prospect festival in St. Petersburg, Russia; and Encuentro in Sao Paolo, Brazil. An Associate Professor of Art at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Oring has received the North Carolina Arts Fellowship and grants from Franklin Furnace Fund, Creative Capital Foundation, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. Her book, <a href="https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/A/bo25032139.html">Activating Democracy: The I Wish to Say Project</a>, was published by University of Chicago Press. A mid career survey of her work, <a href="http://www.sheryloring.org/blog/agitype">Agitype: Changing the World One Letter at a Time</a>, is on display at the Lois and David Stulberg Gallery at the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, through December 8, 2018.<br />
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christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-78175659146736771042018-09-12T19:31:00.001-07:002021-02-08T12:27:26.877-08:00Interview: Kelly O'Brien<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption">the O'Brien Family, 2018</td></tr>
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<b><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/21/opinion/how-does-life-live.html" target="_blank">Kelly O’Brien</a> is a Toronto-based independent filmmaker and a mother of three whose autobiographical work often features her children. In 2007 she left behind her career as a TV producer to care for her second child, Teddy, who was born with cerebral palsy. Three years later she returned to independent film, pursuing an MFA in Film Production and eventually creating the documentary <i>Softening</i>, about her family’s experience having a child with a severe disability. The film won the grand jury prize in the shorts competition at the 2013 DOC NYC festival. Two of her shorts were presented as Op-Docs by The New York Times online, where she wrote, <i>"Having children has transformed my creative life in ways that constantly surprise me. Sometimes I wish I could approach the world from a less personal perspective, but I can’t. Instead I try to make work that captures the poetry of the everyday and finds universal themes through my family’s experiences.</i>” <br /><br />Kelly O’Brien’s films resonate with many, and have been especially important to Allison Ellingson, an artist finding her footing while raising two young children, one of whom also has cerebral palsy. She interviewed Kelly for Cultural ReProducers, and their conversation explores systems of support, grief and joy, and the choice to share all this through artmaking. </b><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><b><br />Note: italicized photo captions below represent text O'Brien used when sharing on social media.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Here's another failed attempt at a family portrait. I'm starting<br />a
collection. I listened to an interview with Anne Carson <br />recently and she
said, "That’s what you discover when you look <br />at your old family
photographs — a lot of them are pictures of <br />nothing, very evocative
pictures of nothing." <br /><br />That slight difference between nothing and something is why, <br />I guess, I keep trying. </i></span><br />
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<b>Allison Ellingson / Cultural ReProducers: Briefly describe your kids - and how parenthood has changed your creative practice.</b><br />
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<b>Kelly O'Brien: </b>I live in Toronto with my husband Terence and our three kids: Emma (14), Teddy (11) and Willow (7). If I had to reduce their temperaments to a few adjectives I would describe Emma as intense, curious, creative and moody; Teddy as joyful, mysterious, sweet and challenging; and Willow as fun, defiant, warm and imaginative. <br />
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It’s not like I wasn’t creative before motherhood, but I would have to say that the experience of having children has enriched my artistic life in ways that constantly inspire me. If I wasn’t a documentary filmmaker interested in personal storytelling I think it would be much harder to find that motherhood/career balance. I’m glad those stars aligned.<br />
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Whether mothers can make “good” art about their children and whether or not it’s even valued by the culture at large seems like a hot topic these days, evidenced by a <a href="https://www.culturalreproducers.org/p/home.html#articles" target="_blank">slew of recent articles on the subject</a>. The truth is I don't spend enough time in any professional art world context to know how difficult it really is for other artist mothers. At this point in my life, I’m grateful for one creative burst a day!<br />
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During our emails back and forth for this interview you wrote something about your life that resonated so deeply with mine. “Some days,” you wrote, "I feel like I am falling through an abyss and nothing makes sense or matters, while other times I have total clarity that making something beautiful is all I need to do in life.” I feel like we're kindred spirits.<br />
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<b>Allison: </b><b>That's how I felt when I first saw <i>Softening</i>. I'm so glad to talk with you about the beauty and heartbreak of our family lives. My son, Hans, has cortical visual impairment and as a result, can’t see patterns, which makes the textile artist in me so sad. How does Teddy experience your work?</b><br />
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<b>Kelly: </b>That’s a tough question. If you asked me a few years ago, I wouldn’t be able to answer without crying. In fact, I probably wouldn’t be able to answer at all. Teddy has cerebral palsy of the “severely disabled” kind, both physically and developmentally. He’s also legally blind and deaf, although he can see and hear a little – more than the medical tests account for. All this to say I don’t think he experiences my work as a viewer. But sometimes he has fun with the process, which really is the most important part. Because I make work about my kids, our family and everyday life, Teddy is often one of the subjects, and there’s nothing he likes more than being with his two sisters. I’ve found, at first quite unexpectedly, that making films or taking photographs opens up different opportunities for us to spend time together and Teddy loves that. <br />
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<b><br />Allison: I love this picture! It reminds me of Hans, whose favorite place to be is sitting with one of us on the couch. He also has severe cerebral palsy, of his own variety, and my question to you today is: how do you make sense out of the caregiving role of "special needs" motherhood, and how do you find time to make work given its demands (appointments, therapy etcetera)? </b><br />
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<b>Kelly: </b>For the first few years of my life with Teddy, I made zero work. I actually didn’t think I would make anything again. It was enough to make it through a day with Teddy and his various appointments without sinking into sadness and worry. If someone had told me then that I would go on to make a film about the experience and that a short version of it would <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/11/opinion/my-brother-teddy.html?_r=1" target="_blank">end up on the NYTimes website</a>, I never would’ve believed them.<br />
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By the time Teddy was around three years old, I started to feel a little less overwhelmed and a little more restless. I couldn’t go back to my old job as a TV producer because the hours were too long, so I applied to do an MFA in film production. I knew that if I could find the strength to make a film about my experience, I might be able to reach other parents and siblings in a similar situation. Most days it was too hard to make that film – it took a certain distance that grief doesn’t give you – but eventually, over time, little bits of recorded life turned into a diary film about our story. (I must point out here that I couldn’t have done this without the emotional and financial support of my husband Terence. His jobs as a teacher and art writer have kept us afloat – although with very little subsidized government help for kids with special needs, it hasn’t been easy.) <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/89118197" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="640"></iframe>
<i><a href="https://vimeo.com/89118197">My Brother, Teddy</a></i>, a short Op-Doc version of <i>Softening</i>, from <a href="https://vimeo.com/newyorktimes">The New York Times</a> <br />
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The film I made, called <i>Softening</i>, took a long time, almost five years, and then Willow was born so I was back to full-on childcare, with even less time to make films. But back in 2009 I reluctantly joined Facebook. We were having a benefit to help with Teddy’s therapy and care costs. It was a way to get the word out about the event. I didn’t have much to do with Facebook again for the next few years until I somewhat spontaneously started posting pictures and stories about my kids. I’ve always been interested in trying to capture the everyday, the poetry of it, and Facebook became an unexpected way for me to do that. I didn’t have the time, energy, money or patience to make a film, and I wasn’t into social media at all (I still don’t know how to tweet!), but looking back I must have been desperate to make something, anything. I liked the immediacy of Facebook. I never saw what I was doing as “art” per se. I never referred to it as an art project. It was more of a daily experiment, a way to make sense of what was happening around me. In an interview with Marguerite Anderson about her memoir, <i>La Mauvaise Mère</i>, she said, “The relationship between a woman and her children is I think the most intimate relationship one can have in life. I really believe that, very deeply, so it's important that we write about it and truthfully.” I’m almost embarrassed to admit it, but I used Facebook as a way to do just that. <br />
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For the past two years, all three kids have been in school during the day so I’ve had more time for my work. Last fall I started a PhD in Environmental Studies, with the hope of turning my dissertation into a personal essay film that tries to find some beauty in this time of environmental crisis.<br />
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The truth is though, even before Teddy, I never had the confidence in what I did as a filmmaker to think that I could turn it into a full-fledged career, and over the years I’ve become less ambitious — my priorities naturally shifted after Teddy was born. But slowly, but surely, I just kept making small things.<br />
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After having a kid with disabilities, and coming to terms with the painful truth that life doesn’t always work out the way you thought it would, you don’t take as much for granted, at least I try not to. There are still long stretches of time when I make nothing, or when I feel like whatever I make is terrible, and who cares about me and my family and what I think anyway?! But mostly, I’m just so grateful I have a way to express how I feel. It’s less lonely. <br />
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<i><span style="font-size: small;">"What are inside trees?" she asks.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;">I think she wanted an anatomy lesson but it made me think that maybe if we thought more about the insides of things we would care more.</span></i></div>
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<b>Allison: What drew you to environmental studies?</b><br />
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<b>Kelly: </b>I grew up on the West Coast just outside Vancouver, near the ocean, a forest and mountains. When I moved to Toronto over 20 years ago I thought it was the ugliest place on Earth. I’ve come to love many things about it, like my friends and the cosmopolitan-ness of the place — everything but the landscape — which, if you’re from beautiful British Columbia (the province’s license plate slogan), is pretty significant!<br />
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Anyway, when I had kids I felt like they were missing out on the idyllic childhood that I had in proximity to nature. They got traffic, pollution and urban density instead. But when Emma was about six she attended an elementary school downtown that was beside a street endlessly under construction. I’ll never forget this one cold November afternoon after picking her up. We got to the crosswalk and she cried, ”Look mom!” She was pointing to a tiny tomato plant growing up through the cracks in the cement. In the middle of the city, in the ground beneath our feet, I was reminded that there’s resilience and beauty. That moment was kind of a turning point for me, and since then, whenever I can, I try to expose my kids to nature in the city. Turns out it’s not that hard to find once you start looking for it. <br />
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So my interest in environmental studies extends backwards to where I grew up, but also forwards, because like all parents, I’m worried about the world we’re leaving behind for our children. <br />
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<b>Allison: Beyond your husband, where did you draw emotional support as you began to make work about your experience with Teddy?</b><br />
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<b>Kelly: </b>When I went back to graduate school I was the oldest student by decades and the only mother, but because I’d been part of the art community in Toronto for a long time, many of the professors in the film department knew me a little. If it wasn’t for their unanimous, unwavering support I never would’ve been able to finish <i>Softening</i>. They pushed me along in the most gentle way. There are so few personal films about kids like Teddy, especially ones outside of mainstream portrayals like movie-of-the-week happy-ever-after narratives, so I think my professors knew the value of what I was doing and did everything they could to facilitate it, both emotionally and creatively. <br />
<span id="goog_1499627957"></span><span id="goog_1499627958"></span><br />
It took me so long to finish the film that when I was done, I needed a break from making work about that experience. Every image of Teddy carries such weight and I constantly wrestle with how to transcend the burden of representation so he isn’t just seen as a disabled child but as the happy-go-lucky and challenging kid that he is. It was a lot to take on, especially as his mother. I was also spending more time with my youngest, Willow, because Teddy and Emma were at school during the day, so I became immersed in her world and ended up photographing and writing about her. The short NYTimes Op-Docs film, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/21/opinion/how-does-life-live.html" target="_blank"><i>How Does Life Live</i>? </a>was inspired by all the questions that Willow asked me. Recently though, I’ve been approached by a film producer to make a follow-up film to <i>Softening</i>, so I’ve been thinking more about that. I don’t think the process will be as intense. Life is lighter now. I mean, not always, but the sadness is bearable and there is more joy. <br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Emma paints Willow. Willow paints Emma. Emma and Willow paint Teddy. <br /><br />Summer’s rare moment of sibling togetherness.</i></span></div>
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<b>Allison: What is your relationship like with the disability justice movement and culture? </b><br />
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<b>Kelly:</b> When Teddy was born, people always wanted me to meet their friend, or their friend of a friend, who had a child like Teddy. I also heard a lot of miracle stories — you should meet so and so because they did this with their child and now he or she can walk, talk, hear or see …. The gesture to connect me with others was kind and well-intentioned — the hope always being that introducing me to the right person would make me feel better, less alone — but the truth is, it rarely did. <br />
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Early on, a social worker suggested that Terence and I go to a play group for parents with special needs babies. We went once, but no baby there had as many needs as Teddy and we left feeling even worse. And then Teddy’s physiotherapist put me in touch with another mom with a special needs kid. I’ll never forget meeting her for the first time and telling her how lost and grief-stricken I felt. When I asked if she felt the same way, she basically told me that wallowing in sorrow was no way to move forward. “I just willed myself to move on,” she explained. But I was falling apart. I had no idea how to will myself into any place other than the one I was in, and no amount of practical advice from a stranger, no matter how much we had in common, was going to help.<br />
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Years later I was screening <i>Softening</i> at a hospital event and I told the story about that woman, more as a way to talk about my own slow process. I wanted to reassure other parents in the audience that some of us need time, possibly years, to make sense of their new life as a parent raising a child with disabilities. Coincidentally, the woman was at the event. She came up to me afterwards and apologized. “I’m so sorry I made you feel worse,” she said. “I should’ve known better.”<br />
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Those early encounters definitely made me less interested in reaching out to others like me, but I was also so overwhelmed by what had happened that I wasn’t interested in connecting with anyone outside my very tiny world, period. Retreating became my way of coping. <br />
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In the last few years I’ve tried to identify more with the disability justice movement because I’ve felt like I need to be more of an advocate or spokesperson for kids like Teddy. For example, I admire one of Teddy’s teachers so much and recently made a short film called <i><a href="https://vimeo.com/211539393" target="_blank">Walk With Me</a> </i>based on a short story she’d written about working with kids with special needs for over a decade. It’s more polemical than other work I’ve made, but it felt necessary. <br />
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<b><span id="goog_471595630"></span><span id="goog_471595631"></span>Allison: How do you navigate the terrain of making your children’s lives public? </b><br />
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<b>Kelly: </b>I’m going to begin my answer to your question with another one of my Facebook posts: <br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>"I like this picture you took," Emma tells me, "but it's the opposite of Willow." </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><br />"What do you mean?" I ask. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><br />"I don't know, it's just not her." <br /><br />I
know lots of people who would never post pictures of their kids on
Facebook. The whole idea makes them uncomfortable. I totally get it, but
it still makes me feel like I’m doing something wrong. I want to say my
kids are my muses, they’re amateur actors, occasional collaborators,
but I’m not sure this is a good enough answer. When asked about her
photographs of her family, Sally Mann replied, "The fact is that these
are not my children; they are figures on silvery paper slivered out of
time. They represent my children at a fraction of a second on one
particular afternoon….These are not my children at all; these are
children in a photograph.”</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>I have a harder time separating my kids from my pictures of them.</i></span></div>
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Now that Emma’s older, the posts with her have become more collaborative. She’ll say things like, “Take a picture of me, Mom!” or if Willow says something wise or funny, Emma will encourage me to write about it. It’s like I have another pair of eyes and ears helping me. I also ask Emma for permission before I post something about her, but I feel less comfortable sharing her life publicly. Willow is still a bit young to understand what I’m doing, but she likes scrolling through the pictures even though she sometimes tires of me taking them! Teddy will never really get what I'm up to, but I try my best to represent him in a way that's accurate, in a way that's true to his sweet and complicated being. More than anything, I feel like the process has opened up communication between all of us, given us insight into the different ways we see and understand the world. I also know that my time with them is limited and one day they'll be telling stories about me. As British novelist Rachel Cusk writes, “Children are characters in the family story we tell – until, one day, they start telling it themselves."<br />
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<a href="https://allisonellingson.com/" target="_blank"><b>Allison Ellingson</b></a> is an artist working primarily with textile processes and the social fabric. She received a B.A. from St. Olaf College in 2002, a Master of Divinity from McCormick Theological Seminary in 2007, and in 2015 earned an M.F.A. in Fiber and Material Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Originally from Chicago, Ellingson recently moved to rural Minnesota. She is the mother of two human beings.<br />
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christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-49203423614998892922018-07-09T09:04:00.001-07:002018-07-09T12:17:30.803-07:00Interview: Laura Shaeffer <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Compound Yellow Workspace, drawing by Madeline Aguilar</td></tr>
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<b><a href="http://badatsports.com/2013/laura-shaffers-homecoming/" target="_blank"><br />Laura Shaeffer</a> is an artist-organiser cultural producer, and informal educator based in Oak Park, Illinois since 2016. Over the past 20 years, she has worked alone and in collaboration on numerous projects housed within unconventional and often underutilized spaces on the South Side of Chicago, including <a href="http://thelarch.org/artwork/3135940.html" target="_blank">Home Gallery</a>, <a href="http://theopshop.org/about.html" target="_blank">The Op Shop</a> and <a href="https://southsidehub.wordpress.com/about/" target="_blank">Southside Hub of Production</a> (SHoP) and now, in Oak Park, <a href="https://compoundyellow.com/about-1/" target="_blank">Compound Yellow</a>. </b><b>She specializes in developing collaborative networks in the arts and other creative endeavors. </b><br />
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<b>"<i>Her approach is a combination of activism and common sense; community building and home-making. She honors domestic spaces as sites of radical, informal pedagogy, and this manifests itself in an important through line that runs across her projects; they act as platforms for kids to express their creativity and imagination, and indulge their curiosity. Alongside immersing them in art and cultural production, an important byproduct of this is kids’ engagement with other kids, families, neighbors and neighborhoods. By remaining open, nurturing organic expansion and leveraging intuition, Shaeffer stewards growth rather than shoehorning artists into rigid themes or mapping them onto discrete timelines</i>." <br /> - Thea Liberty Nichols for <u>Bad at Sports </u></b><br />
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<b>Cultural ReProducers is thrilled to share this interview with Laura conducted by artist and art historian Rachel Epp Buller, whose recent research has led her to investigate care, correspondence, and domestic art spaces as creative practice.</b><br />
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<b>CR: As a 'Cultural ReProducer,' what would you like to share with us about your family?</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laura Shaeffer (third from the left) and family.</td></tr>
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<b>Laura: </b>My husband, Andrew, and I have two sons, Jasper now 16 and Sebastian almost 14, and a very sweet but challenging Bull Terrier, Shelby. I think most every project I’ve been involved in since becoming a new parent has been inspired by my children's surprising perspectives, needs, and honest responses to the conditions of their lives. They are both introverts like their father, extremely creative and critical people who have more or less gone along with my crazy ideas and strategies for how to work with whatever you have to create a world in which you want to live.<br />
<br />
<span id="docs-internal-guid-2863a7c1-5b45-8ddd-0654-0870eda74808" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"></span>When I moved back to the U.S. from Berlin, where I had been living for many years, I experienced culture shock and felt very isolated, and having children initially increased that sense of isolation and feeling alienated from the art world. To address this issue, we decided to open our own home in Hyde Park as a “gallery,” a place to gather, meet other artists and get to know our neighbors.<br />
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It was at that point that I began to see my kids and other kids as collaborators: with their spontaneous and unbridled curiosity, their ridiculous gestures, and their brutal honesty, they became at times Fluxus mentors, instigators, guinea pigs and my hardest critics. I realized the more I tried to be a “good” parent and do what “good” Moms are supposed to do, the worse it was for my kids. I had to find a way, or multiple ways, to combine creative practices with parenting, and this led to HOME, our first project together. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hoyun Son (stairs) and Samantha Hill (photos) at HOME, 2013</td></tr>
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<b>CR: You've experimented with a number of different types of alternative arts spaces. Can you tell us about the different motivations behind HOME, The Op Shop, SHoP, and Compound Yellow?</b><br />
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<b>Laura: </b>I think finding creative ways of meeting unmet needs in our neighborhoods as well developing strategies for finding collaborators and new connections between people is the common motivation behind all these projects for me. Also, I love art experienced in unconventional places. The first project space we opened in 2000 was in a dilapidated old department store above the Arc Thrift Store; we called it CAN Gallery. For one year we invited local artists (mostly young students) to exhibit and interspersed these local shows with exhibitions of Berlin-based artists. The motivation here was to ease the culture shock of moving back to the U.S. after 13 years in Europe and to find new connections with artists in Chicago.<br />
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The second project, HOME, we started 3 years after moving to Hyde Park and after having two small boys. The motivation was to build a creative community where you live. I invited all of my neighbors, kids, families, older people and artists from all over Chicago and beyond. We ran HOME for 7 years and had at least 12 exhibitions. Through this experiment we met so many people living in Hyde Park and so many artists living all over Chicago. In this sense it was a very fulfilling experience.<br />
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In 2009 Hyde Park was riddled with empty storefronts; I wondered why there were no independent galleries or independent cultural projects here so I decided to find a public space to make one. I approached Mac Realty with an offer to clean up and care for an empty space for one month for $1, returning it in better condition when I left. This was the start of a series of experimental cultural projects that moved all over Hyde Park. The Op Shop had a sense of freedom and fluidity: each Op Shop had a strategy or theme, and for most of these I worked in partnership with a different artist. It became a way to informally research the neighborhood of Hyde Park and the broader South Side.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i> Soft Shop</i>, a participatory installation by Chris Lin and Kayce Bayer at SHoP, 2012<br />
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Op Shop opened the door and paved the way to a bigger and more ambitious project that developed with the opportunity of renting a 16-room mansion, the Fenn House, near the University of Chicago campus. In 2010, SHoP (Southside Hub of Production), was conceived by a small group of forward thinkers and artists including John Preus, Eric Peterson, Mike Phillips, and myself as a place to stimulate local cultural activity, provide spaces for artists and neighbors to work, perform, exhibit, collaborate and socialize, and for relevant community programming. <br />
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SHoP became a vital cultural and social hub for all ages. For the 15 months of its existence, SHoP continued to enjoy that fluid, flexible and organic quality of the Op Shop but the question of sustainability loomed over us as Hyde Park became more and more gentrified. Fenn House was put up for sale in 2014. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sebastian, Jasper, & Andrew at HOME w. work by Shawn Greene and Katrin Asbury </td></tr>
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<b>CR: How did your children react to living with art in their home and to having their home double as a gallery space for the public (at least periodically)?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Laura:</b> I think they had mixed feelings about all of it. Their views and memories change over the years. On any given day, they may say something like: "I don't know, it was fun I guess," or "No, I loved it, it was cool being around all of those artists and doing crazy things," to other less favorable responses that I have had to pay attention to, like "I just want to have some privacy and I don't care about art or any of this!" <br />
<b></b><br />
<b>CR: I read that part of your vision for SHoP was to offer an after-school space for kids - a kind of community maker-space. Can you tell us more about that, and how it worked? And does that element, of serving younger audiences as well as adults, continue in Compound Yellow?</b><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2vCfDbnxtKA/W0NoznxlTcI/AAAAAAAAEjU/Nuew9DXsI-gRXqI6EgfCcRdC_ghK0UPewCEwYBhgL/s1600/1snow.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="1280" height="297" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2vCfDbnxtKA/W0NoznxlTcI/AAAAAAAAEjU/Nuew9DXsI-gRXqI6EgfCcRdC_ghK0UPewCEwYBhgL/s400/1snow.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HOME SCHOOL kids visit <i>Dibs Garden, </i>by Curtis Myers</td></tr>
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<b>Laura:</b> We set up a space in the Fenn House that we called the Autonomous Making Space. <br />
collected donations of all kinds of materials and bought tools for the kids to use to make things out of wood and other stuff. We tried to set it up for families and latchkey kids to come in and work anytime we were open and put things back in their places to keep a sense of communal order. (That order part didn't work out terribly well, which became the impetus for a wonderful project by Jorge Lucero, educational prompts and placards for the Autonomous Studio).<br />
<br />
Coming from a long line of teachers, I vowed that I would never become one myself. However, my <br />
mother, a devout educator for over 50 years, inspired a love of and passion for education in me that is behind all that I do. She brought me to conferences with her on topics of multiple intelligences, alternative pedagogy and radical philosophies of education as a young child. I used to volunteer in my son's classroom on Fridays, bringing unusual materials in for the kids to work with; they didn’t have art in school then. They loved making their own new worlds from straws, clay and broom bristles, for example. The results were unimaginable and wonderful. Later when the kids got a little older, I started an after school program that ran from 2011 to 2015. We used an empty apartment and called it HOME SCHOOL #3, part of much larger project with other iterations and locations. We also used the basement of the Quaker House for some time. The idea was to fill the spaces with donated materials and allow the kids to freely engage with them in an open and creative environment. The adults (artists, actors, writers, filmmakers) acted as facilitators and collaborators, allowing themselves to be led by the desires and ideas of the children. It was an awesomely inspiring time for us all. I also co-ran summer camps with artists like Matthew Searle, Jerry Marciniak, Spencer Hutchinson, Hoyun Son, Dan Godston, Nitsana Lazerus and so many more for years in Hyde Park. We had kids ranging from 3 to 13, a very diverse group; many of the same kids came every summer. It was a wild and memorable ride, and one of the most significant projects in terms of mothering as an artist. My own kids of course took part in these camps, which was also a way to be with them and provide for them when school was out.<br />
<span id="docs-internal-guid-0f6ef8e5-5b47-7225-18ad-940a0ea55431" style="background-color: transparent; clear: right; color: black; float: right; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="300" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/d-2BpvB15s4mCnIdrF7U9zpxs52m45X5kOTdfOQt00U3X_3_L3icZ0eKLoNfyP1qtvL__P5RQsCrId1mq2rGbyWSGZRATo6Wuvq1WcT422BPPyOwDH2Q8s587dP0vpe1p_6hfmni" style="border: medium none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">high school students meeting at Compound Yellow</td></tr>
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By the time Compound Yellow started, my kids were already teenagers and Oak Park was all new to us. Naturally, I am more interested in older kids and their needs and what they have and don't have to meet them. We did try a camp here last year called Camp Yellow, led by Raffa Reuther and inspired by the Self-Reliance Library by Temporary Services, Brett Bloom and Marc Fischer. The library and the camp encompassed all sorts of topics: “visionary architecture, desperate or wildly imaginative mobility, miniature buildings and nomadic living, self-publishing and design, skill sharing, everyday repair solutions, running a music venue, spaces for parenthood, toys and design for children, ecologically sound living, foraging, blueprints for fantasy worlds and alternate realities, pranks and mischief, technologies used in prisons and other restrictive or impoverished settings, survivalism, weapons for self-defense or recreation, and creative approaches to living radically.” It was nice for the kids but being new to Oak Park, we decided to wait until we really knew what we were doing at CY before launching another camp scenario. Also, I now have a full time job, and my kids do not want to do camp with me or anyone else.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="300" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/jgztBWc4zEw-BBxjslnA6oiN4RcMJ398QGZt5lhRJ2USTZdePZ3Fw3MdxQNTahY_ZDrRm9pzSYicQ-GoeDgB3XhkWpa0wbF94vkvqTU1kZJKSnG5XsNsPCoGnHEiPMfeuto6o0EL" style="border: medium none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alberto Aguilar painting, Compound Yellow, 2016</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<b>CR: Your current space, <a href="https://compoundyellow.com/" target="_blank">Compound Yellow</a>, is on the same property as was formerly occupied by <a href="http://www.culturalreproducers.org/2013/09/a-suburban-peculiarity-for-teen.html" target="_blank">the Suburban</a>, a domestic gallery run by Michelle Grabner and Brad Killam, but it doesn't seem like you've just picked up where they left off when they moved. How do you see your aims for your space, and your motivations for running it, as distinct from what they did with the Suburban?</b><br />
<br />
<b>Laura: </b>This is an interesting question and one that we think about a lot. In terms of our family, each person had a different vision for this move: Andrew wanted a hermit hut, a place of his own; Sebastian never wanted to leave Hyde Park in the first place, but being a realist, and after making a few friends, he’s decided to build a chicken coop on the side yard with his dad and get on with it; Jasper wanted to find a place to be himself and new friends who accepted him. I wanted a space to cultivate a project with time, to stop moving for a while. I also wanted to share space, to create a kind of art commune, and to work collaboratively with others. We have all learned a lot since moving here. This desire for collaboration and community seemingly differentiates us from the Suburban's aims; however, what we share in common is significant.<br />
<br />
As soon as we moved here, we were welcomed by the art community in Oak Park. I'd like to express gratitude to artist and organizer Sabina Ott, who played a special role in connecting me with Lora Lode and Matthew Nicholas through her own domestic project, <a href="https://www.terrainexhibitions.com/" target="_blank">Terrain Exhibitions</a>, and the 4th of July <i>Terrain Parade</i>. Thus began my collaboration with Lora and Matthew on this project, <a href="https://compoundyellow.com/about-1/" target="_blank">Compound Yellow.</a> We're now in the process of applying for Not-for-Profit status.<br />
<br />
What inspired me personally about the Suburban is the concept of an “uncurated” space where artists are in complete control of what they produce and the criteria for what made for a successful show, according to Michelle Grabner, was "if the artists learned something about their own work from their relationship with the space, and the suburbs." We also don't sell work here or charge money for events or workshops. We are most interested in using the site as a place to prototype ideas, to cultivate sharing economies, participatory art, and interdisciplinary explorations. There is a generosity here that we inherited when we moved in: the prairie garden is so wonderful, the studio, the windows, the light, the tree, the sweet side yard, the little cinder-block hut. All the decisions made before we came along are greatly appreciated by us every day. In many ways we are connected to the Suburban and are supported by Michelle. I am inspired by what I see happening at <a href="http://poorfarmexperiment.org/" target="_blank"> The Poor Farm</a> and see connections to what we are doing here as well.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D2Qx2kaTvl0/W0Nou1OxW1I/AAAAAAAAEjU/2dbgyZdSZyUVAje1tnpycSdgFlFma8WyACEwYBhgL/s1600/1miriame%2Bkaba.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D2Qx2kaTvl0/W0Nou1OxW1I/AAAAAAAAEjU/2dbgyZdSZyUVAje1tnpycSdgFlFma8WyACEwYBhgL/s640/1miriame%2Bkaba.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Attendees at a talk by Miriame Kaba in Compound Yellow (L Studio), 2017</td></tr>
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<br />
<b>CR: What have you learned about yourself, your family, and/or your artistic motivations through these projects?</b><br />
<br />
<b>Laura: </b>What have I learned about myself through these projects? I’ve learned that I am a natural connector, that I love watching things grow; plants, people, kids, fires... minds. I’ve learned to be more flexible, to listen more and to know when to let others take the lead. I’m just beginning to learn how to take care of myself, to be a participant, to support others’ projects by going out and meeting people where they are at, not just inviting them to my house!<br />
<br />
What have I learned about my family? I’m learning to give them space and to let them gravitate to what really resonates with them. To not push them to participate in what I’m doing if they don’t want that, and they usually don’t these days, but that’s okay. I’m learning to honor their needs as those needs change, and it’s not easy. I continue to be inspired by artists like Alberto Aguilar, Christa Donner and Jorge Lucero, for example, who work with their families creatively in their practice; this is my motivation.<br />
<br />
What have I learned about my artistic motivations through these projects? I've learned about collective creativity and intelligence. I think these kinds of intergenerational spaces help us find in others an extension of self and family, to rely on collective creativity to raise consciousness around what it means to be in a community where we all participate in raising our children together and trying to find meaning together. I guess I want to make everything an art project: the house, the yard, the street, the subway, the grocery store, work, family and relationships. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rFiKJb0ZXqI/W0N3eCT_y6I/AAAAAAAAEj8/m4J9gJ6zGlUOoS06fEm8uwgaiPKJ_anGACLcBGAs/s1600/adhoc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="912" data-original-width="1600" height="364" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rFiKJb0ZXqI/W0N3eCT_y6I/AAAAAAAAEj8/m4J9gJ6zGlUOoS06fEm8uwgaiPKJ_anGACLcBGAs/s640/adhoc.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Ad Hoc Playground</i>, a collaboration between Laura Shaeffer, Raffa Reuther, and Verónica Peña for Gallery 400, 2016</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a href="https://balance.ddtr.net/about/" target="_blank">Dr. Rachel Epp Buller</a> is a feminist printmaker book artist art historian university professor and mother of three. Her artistic, written, and curatorial work addresses these intersections, focusing on the maternal body and feminist care in contemporary art contexts. Her books include Reconciling Art and Mothering and a forthcoming volume on Inappropriate Bodies: Art, Design, and Maternity. She is a board member of the National Women's Caucus for Art and a regional coordinator of The Feminist Art Project, and currently serves as Associate Professor of Visual Arts and Design at Bethel College.<br />
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christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-83194532398776679542017-11-08T18:05:00.000-08:002017-11-09T17:59:48.592-08:00Residency Report: Popps Packing, Hamtramck, MI<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a6wc59hXs64/WgJ1d2vy7YI/AAAAAAAAEME/oKysymAjJ9w-6wB0TemZNq_TuKQ7XDvRwCEwYBhgL/s1600/guest%2Bhouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a6wc59hXs64/WgJ1d2vy7YI/AAAAAAAAEME/oKysymAjJ9w-6wB0TemZNq_TuKQ7XDvRwCEwYBhgL/s640/guest%2Bhouse.jpg" width="640" /></a><span id="goog_496075643"></span><span id="goog_496075644"></span><b>Residency Report is an ongoing series of posts from artists undertaking creative residencies with their families. Find out about programs that support artists with kids, and see how other artist-parents balance the residency experience. <br /><br />Here artist <a href="http://kaitlynnredell.com/home.html" target="_blank">Kaitlynn Redell</a> writes about her experience at <a href="http://www.poppspacking.org/residencies/" target="_blank">Popps Packing</a><span id="goog_628541618"></span><span id="goog_628541619"></span>, an artist-run, neighborhood-based nonprofit space focused on creating impactful arts programming and creative exchange between international and local artists in the community of Hamtramck / Detroit, Michigan.</b><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s-BR2yrdkYQ/WgJ2pa5T0PI/AAAAAAAAEMs/BSNoB0rgTMYRbU5VJAo__6XzED7Y3ItoACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/not%2Bher%2528e%2529%2Bstuffed%2Banimal.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1220" data-original-width="973" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s-BR2yrdkYQ/WgJ2pa5T0PI/AAAAAAAAEMs/BSNoB0rgTMYRbU5VJAo__6XzED7Y3ItoACPcBGAYYCw/s400/not%2Bher%2528e%2529%2Bstuffed%2Banimal.jpg" width="318" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>not her(e) (stuffed animal)</i></td></tr>
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Popps Packing is run by parent-artist couple Faina Lerman and Graem Whyte. Their<a href="http://www.poppspacking.org/news/momm-and-popp-residency-program/" target="_blank"> Mom and Popp</a><a href="http://www.poppspacking.org/news/momm-and-popp-residency-program/" target="_blank"> Residency</a> is funded by the Sustainable Arts Foundation and included both an artist stipend, childcare stipend (I brought my almost two-year-old with me) as well as housing and studio space. My entire residency experience was incredibly easy and I truly believe this—in part—has to do with Faina and Graem’s understanding of the delicate balance between art-making and parenthood. Even the “before” process of preparing for the residency was flexible; I was offered one month to come and work, and was easily able to choose my own arrival and departure dates. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay the full month due to scheduling conflicts, so instead I worked there for three weeks. My partner was allowed to come and stay as long as he wanted -- in our case, only a long weekend because of work. We had an entire house to ourselves, and my studio was one door over at <a href="http://www.poppspacking.org/poppsemporium/" target="_blank">Popps Emporium</a> (still within baby monitor range). I had two different wonderful child caretakers who Faina and Graem use with own young children.<br />
<br />
<br />
More than anything, I think the best part about the residency was the amount of support and flexibility. I’ve had so many other residencies - even those with childcare stipends for the child to remain at home - be a lot more rigid. We all know as parents, rigid is the last thing we need thrown at us; things come up and you have to learn how to go with the flow.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BS2lN183p64/WgJ1lAsIRvI/AAAAAAAAEMg/w64NUYEzqcsscPGc1afFR-56wId8VTYoQCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/popps%2Bstudio%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1312" data-original-width="1600" height="327" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BS2lN183p64/WgJ1lAsIRvI/AAAAAAAAEMg/w64NUYEzqcsscPGc1afFR-56wId8VTYoQCPcBGAYYCw/s400/popps%2Bstudio%2B2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Popps studio, with work in progress</td></tr>
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I thought it would be most helpful to other parent-artists, to outline a few logistic tips and notes about the residency:<br />
<br />
<b>THE GROUNDS</b><br />
Popps currently has two different living spaces and studios options. It is comprised of three buildings, all in very close proximity to each other. We stayed in the Guest House, I had my studio in Popps Emporium and held a workshop in the original Popps Packing building. Popps also has an amazing garden (offers a new garden residency), chickens, outdoor play areas, and two very sweet dogs and a cat. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>STUDIO TIME</b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-idOUaeGTOgQ/WgJ1YRVoCMI/AAAAAAAAEMg/nuUURLuEhS0Jh1UBxfiI6L1_6OD8XvlSwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/belle%2Bisle%2Bconservatory.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1490" data-original-width="1490" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-idOUaeGTOgQ/WgJ1YRVoCMI/AAAAAAAAEMg/nuUURLuEhS0Jh1UBxfiI6L1_6OD8XvlSwCPcBGAYYCw/s320/belle%2Bisle%2Bconservatory.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the nearby Belle Isle Conservatory</td></tr>
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During our three-week stay, I was able to create the pieces I originally set out to do, run a workshop, as well as have extra time to make a pretty large wall piece. My studio time was structured during my daughter's nap time as well as when I had available childcare. My daughter and I also had ample time to check out the surrounding areas and sights, like DIA, Eastern Market, Dabls African Bead Museum, Belle Isle, What Pipeline, Wasserman Projects and Hamtramck Disneyland just to name a few.<br />
<br />
<b>PROS:</b><br />
* Very family friendly space. Faina and Graem’s two kids were very sweet playmates to my daughter.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3Ks31q4useM/WgJ1UYWdcRI/AAAAAAAAEMg/stOsDK6QEMMJM5kgFPnDchQboWKDIN48QCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/guest%2Bhouse%2Bshower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1490" data-original-width="1118" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3Ks31q4useM/WgJ1UYWdcRI/AAAAAAAAEMg/stOsDK6QEMMJM5kgFPnDchQboWKDIN48QCPcBGAYYCw/s400/guest%2Bhouse%2Bshower.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">guest house shower</td></tr>
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* Lots of kid stuff provided: toys, stroller, dishes, car seat, high chair, bath tub.<br />
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* Laundry on-site.<br />
<br />
* Our flight arrived late, but Faina still met us at the car rental with the car seat and even had grabbed us some groceries so I didn’t have to go out again!<br />
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<b>THINGS OF NOTE <br />(depending on your comfort level):</b><br />
<br />
* Older house - it’s Detroit, so a lot of the houses are. A bit like camping because of this (no heat, no ac, outdoor shower), but that was fine for us.<br />
<br />
* Outdoor shower (which is kind of amazing in the morning), but no actual tub. They provided a small toddler one which also worked fine for us.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kvf_JMPvMt0/WgJ1n4Ci88I/AAAAAAAAEMg/MpsWH6jMhisP1U88XXRp3_Prp0cvvP0vwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/popps%2Bworkshop%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1490" data-original-width="1490" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kvf_JMPvMt0/WgJ1n4Ci88I/AAAAAAAAEMg/MpsWH6jMhisP1U88XXRp3_Prp0cvvP0vwCPcBGAYYCw/s320/popps%2Bworkshop%2B1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">workshop with local artist-families</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
* Double-check the childcare schedule before coming. It ended up working out, but if you need hard dates/times make sure you confirm before-hand.<br />
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* Slightly dusty workspace. Again, not an issue for me, but other artists might have a problem, depending on your work. They are in the midst of renovating some of the residency buildings, so some extra dust from that as well.<br />
<br />
* Wifi was super weak at the guest house where we were staying, but to be honest, it was nice to have an internet detox.<br />
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<b>TIPS:</b><br />
* Definitely rent or bring a car. I had never been to Detroit, but rented a car as per Faina’s recommendation. The area is pretty spread out and having a car with a kid is a must if you intend to go anywhere besides the immediate neighborhood.<br />
<br />
I would highly recommend this residency. It is going to be even more amazing once all the renovations are complete. I can’t say enough about Popps and how fully invested Faina and Graem are in their local community and creating an artist run exhibition space/residency that supports other artist parents.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K46mMdGLXD4/WgJ1gHu_1EI/AAAAAAAAEMg/W8XunMD9N2stEoxpJQcAIvh-c4uJbCIYwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/not%2Bher%2528e%2529%2Btable.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="986" data-original-width="1500" height="419" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K46mMdGLXD4/WgJ1gHu_1EI/AAAAAAAAEMg/W8XunMD9N2stEoxpJQcAIvh-c4uJbCIYwCPcBGAYYCw/s640/not%2Bher%2528e%2529%2Btable.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>not her(e) (table)</i></td></tr>
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<a href="http://kaitlynnredell.com/home.html" target="_blank">Kaitlynn Redell</a> is a visual artist based in Los Angeles, CA. Her practice is invested in the exploration of race and gender in relation to the body and how the body becomes codified within these socially constructed categorizations. More specifically she is interested in inbetweeness and how “unidentifiable” bodies—that do not identify with standard categories—negotiate identity. She has participated in numerous exhibitions nationally and internationally including at El Museo del Barrio (NYC), Rush Arts Gallery (NYC), A.I.R. Gallery (NYC), Western Project (LA), Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery (LA), Charlie James Gallery (LA) and Museo Laboratorio - Ex Manifattura Tabacchi (Italy). Her work is currently on view at the 32nd Biennial of Graphic Arts: Birth As Criterion, in Ljubljana, Slovenia. </div>
christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-5109075749258323062017-09-08T11:37:00.000-07:002022-03-15T10:29:58.377-07:00Events: Extended Practice Series<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Cultural ReProducers is thrilled to join forces with <b>Extended Practice</b>, a new project merging professional skillsharing, exhibitions, and programming with on-site childcare for artist-mothers organized by Angela Lopez and Sara Holwerda. The event series, supported by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, picks up where CR's Childcare-supported series left off, and features on-site childcare, exhibitions and screenings of recent work by mother-artists, and professional practices events with networking lunches for participants. Find out more about the project at <a href="http://extendedpractice.com/home.html" target="_blank">ExtendedPractice.com</a>, and mark your calendars.<br />
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<b>September 17th, 2017<br />11am-3pm <br />The Art of Making it Work: Reimagining Participation and Production as Artist Parents </b><b><b><br />Registration Fee $10 (includes childcare and lunch - vegan and gluten free options available)</b></b><br />
<b>Chicago Family Picnic<br />3711 N Ravenswood Ave #105, Chicago</b><b>, IL</b><br />
On September 17th, artist and Cultural ReProducers organizer Christa Donner will lead an idea-generating conversation and strategy-building workshop on 'making it work' as a parent and artist. Participants will explore existing artist-led initiatives that address the challenges of artist-parenthood, and will reflect on their own experiences with balancing art-making and child-rearing. Through individual and collaborative activities, participants will identify key needs and desires of artists parents and will develop new models for creating a more sustainable artistic life in Chicago. Space is extremely limited, so reserve a spot for yourself and your kids right <a href="https://extendedpracticeprojects.wufoo.com/forms/extended-practice-the-art-of-making-it-work/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<b>Saturday, October 7th, 2017<br />Video Screening </b>(Time TBD)<b><br /> The Nightingale Cinema</b><br />
<b>1084 N Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL<br />Suggested Donation: $7- $10</b><br />
An intergenerational screening of animated works by filmmakers and artists who are mothers. Bring the kids! Are you an animator and a mother? <br />
Extended Practice is<b> <a href="http://www.chicagoartistsresource.org/calls-for-artists/call-animations-artists-filmmakers-who-are-mothers" shape="rect" target="_blank">Accepting Submissions</a></b> until September 16th!<br />
<br /><b>Monday, October 30th, 2017<br />Ways We Make: Mothers of Color Nurturing and Building our Creative Communities </b><br />
<b>Part 1: Childcare-Supported Gathering and Potluck </b>5:30-7pm<b><br />Experimental Station<br />6100 S. Blackstone Ave, Chicago, IL</b><br />The first of two interconnected events organized with artist Wisdom Baty, Ways We Make is a childcare-supported gathering of mothers who make. As children engage in supervised play and art making, mothers will connect with each other over a shared meal and guided conversation. Together, we will discuss the challenges of making while parenting, share strategies for how to carve out the space and time we need, and question traditional artist spaces. Registration is required: <a href="https://extendedpracticeprojects.wufoo.com/forms/extended-practice-ways-we-make/">https://extendedpracticeprojects.wufoo.com/forms/extended-practice-ways-we-make/</a><b><br /><br />Sunday, November 5th, 2017<br /> Professional Practices Workshop by Selina Trepp + All-ages Performance by Spectralina </b><br />
<b>Experimental Station</b>, workshop will be from 11am-2pm with a live performance from 2-3pm<b><br />6100 S Blackstone Ave, Chicago, IL<br /> Registration fee: $10 (includes childcare and lunch - vegan and gf options available)</b><br />
Artist Selina Trepp will give an artist talk and lead a discussion about how she empowers herself as a mother and artist. She will discuss her multi-disciplinary art practice, and will go into detail about how parenthood has affected her artistic production. Trepp will explain how she navigates logistics, politics, and money in her practice, and her interactions with institutions. Following the talk, participants are invited to a networking lunch - and brainstorming session - guided by founders of Extended Practice, Sara Holwerda and Angela Lopez. <br /><br />Afterwards all ages can enjoy a live performance by SPECTRALINA, the collaborative audio-visual performance project of artists, musicians and parents Dan Bitney and Selina Trepp. Working with an improvisational structure, Spectralina combines singing, percussion, electronics and real-time video processing. Together, Bitney and Trepp create an engaging image and sound relationships in their performances, in which projected animation and improvised sounds come together as visual music.<b></b><br />
<br /><b><b>Tuesday, November 7th, 2017<br />Ways We Make: Mothers of Color Nurturing and Building our Creative Communities </b><b> </b></b><br />
<b><b>Part 2: Intergenerational Exhibition / Sharing</b></b>, 5:30-7pm<br />
<b><b>Experimental Station<br />6100 S. Blackstone Ave, Chicago, IL</b></b><br />
At the second of two interconnected events organized with artist Wisdom Baty, we will celebrate the creative work of mothers of color. Everyone is welcome to join us for this free, one-night exhibition and sharing: families and extended support networks of friends, fans and supporters. Mothers - and children - are invited to share and discuss their work at this informal, intergenerational event.<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Coming in 2018...<br /> Exhibition + Community-Building Events<br />Roman Susan Gallery</b><br />
<b>1224 W Loyola Ave, Chicago, IL</b><br />
A rotating exhibition and weekly meet up featuring work by artists who are new moms. <br />
Free and open to the public. Children and families welcome.<br />
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christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-16640211107371714422017-09-06T13:43:00.001-07:002022-03-15T10:28:33.300-07:00Events: Many Possible Futures<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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What
futures might our children help to create, and what tools or ideas
can we offer them as a starting point? How will youthful vision expand our own sense of the possible? In conversation with like-minded collaboratives Temporary Services, Compound Yellow, and The Mothernists, Cultural ReProducers presents <b>Many Possible Futures</b>, a duo of generative workshops exploring the intersections between our roles as artists making in the midst of social, environmental, and political unrest, and as parents mindfully raising the next generation. Through informal writing, drawing, and conversation, we'll generate ideas that will become part of a collective archive and a small-press zine, published by Temporary Services, as part of their Self-Reliance Library. If you're unable to attend one of these but this idea resonates, please drop us a line - there may be other ways to participate from afar.<br />
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<b><b>Many Possible Futures (Chicago)</b></b><br />
<b>September 30th, 2017: 3pm-5pm <br />Self-Reliance School<br />Compound Yellow<br />244 Lake St., Oak Park, IL </b><br />
Created in conjunction with Temporary Services' <a href="https://compoundyellow.com/#/new-gallery-1/" target="_blank"> Self-Reliance School</a> at Compound Yellow, this workshop is designed for caregivers, artists, educators, and their children. Adults will work in one area while kids age 4-7 work on parallel activities in a nearby room, before regrouping for shared conversation. If you want to participate but have kids outside this age range, let us know and we'll work out a plan. Email us at culturalreproducers (at) gmail.com.<br />
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<b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HZBKBXzB5lw/Vi_tnji1UtI/AAAAAAAAC-0/XVNMUgCKbugWRYvacT8UNz9-36TaXqM2ACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-07-03%2Bat%2B5.35.51%2BPM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="892" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HZBKBXzB5lw/Vi_tnji1UtI/AAAAAAAAC-0/XVNMUgCKbugWRYvacT8UNz9-36TaXqM2ACPcBGAYYCw/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-07-03%2Bat%2B5.35.51%2BPM.png" width="320" /></a>Many Possible Futures (Copenhagen)<br />October 16th, 2017<br />The Mothernists II: Who Cares for the Future? <br />Astrid Noacks Atelier<br />Rådmandsgade 34, 2200 København N<br />Copenhagen, Denmark</b><br />
We're looking forward to expanding this conversation with an international
convergence of artist-activist-mothers, as part of the
conference <a href="https://www.mothervoices.org/news/2017/9/3/the-mothernists-ii-who-cares-for-the-21st-century" target="_blank"><i>The Mothernists II: Who Cares for the Future? </i></a>. The meeting is the brainchild of Deirdre M. Donoghue (m/othervoices foundation for art, research, theory, dialogue & community involvement) and Lise Haller Baggesen (Mothernism) and combines their two long-running projects concerning artistic and academic research into maternal (aest)ethics. For those who can't make it, you can expect our report of the conference once we've recovered from jet lag, with links to video and presentations as those become available. </div>
christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-74341229921155864222017-07-14T11:17:00.000-07:002020-06-18T01:11:53.242-07:00Interview: Hồng-Ân Trương and Jina Valentine<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>In the midst of social, environmental, and political unrest, two of our most important resources are care and creative thinking. Artist-parents play a critical role in both, mindfully raising the next generation while also activating public imagination. Cultural ReProducers explore this intersection through a series of conversations with artists about the future our children will inherit, and the work we’re making in response. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.hongantruong.com/">Hồng-Ân Trương</a> and <a href="http://www.jinavalentine.com/">Jina Valentine</a> are active artists, writers, mothers, and professors based in Durham, North Carolina, where they both teach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). Their practices share a deep engagement with issues of cultural identity and social justice, and they’ve joined forces through the community-based project, <i>All Rise</i>, which we were lucky to catch at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago in April. <i>All Rise</i> combines strategies from two ongoing collaborative projects: Hương Ngô and Hồng-Ân Trương’s public performance <i>And And And Stammering: An Interview</i> and Jina Valentine and Heather Hart’s<i> Black Lunch Table</i>, activating candid conversations over a shared meal. As close friends and collaborators, Hồng-Ân and Jina also operate as a sort of extended family, which in turn has expanded their creative lives. As we sat down to have this conversation over Skype, Jina had just accepted a new teaching position in Chicago, a geographical change that is the start of a new chapter in life, work, community and collaboration.</b><br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m62uBty4HRg/WVVeYrQFBdI/AAAAAAAAD9g/VTFuKiU3T18RSf6p2HF6EmiBS90zxrRhwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/sylva_XJ_porch1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m62uBty4HRg/WVVeYrQFBdI/AAAAAAAAD9g/VTFuKiU3T18RSf6p2HF6EmiBS90zxrRhwCPcBGAYYCw/s320/sylva_XJ_porch1.jpg" width="240" /></a><b>Cultural ReProducers: First, could you briefly describe your kids? Ages, names, general</b><b> </b><b>temperaments… </b> <br />
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<b>Jina:</b> My son’s name is Sylvan Miles Palm Valentine, and he is four and a quarter years old. He’s playful, exuberant, and he loves people. He’s also aggressively affectionate, like a Labrador puppy. And Xuân June - she’s also very affectionate, but also very contemplative. And she’s compassionate, and wise in her compassion well beyond her years. <br />
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<b>Hồng-Ân:</b> I know! Xuân June is two and a half and she is totally this really emotionally mature human. It’s just... I don’t know <i>where</i> it came from (laughter). She is joyful and loves to laugh, but her temperament is very thoughtful, serious, and considerate – she’s aware of how people are feeling and is always asking how they’re doing. And she’s not afraid of trying anything physically – she’s kind of a monkey. Xuân June and Sylvan are like brother and sister: sometimes they totally love each other and then sometimes they totally don’t want to hang out.<br />
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<b>CR: What kinds of expectations did you have about what it would mean to be a working artist who’s also a parent, and how have those squared with the reality of it? </b><br />
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<b>Jina:</b> I think I had <i>some</i> idea that it was a big deal, but I still remember going in to tell the Chair of our department that I was expecting. He has a kid, and he’s like, “I’m really happy for you, but you’ve been really active in the department and have been taking on all these tasks... and when you have a kid, things change.” And I said “oh no, it’ll be fine, I’ll still be on all these committees, I’ll keep doing all this extra stuff, and you know, going out every night… (laughter) ” I couldn’t imagine how things might be different. He said “It’s not that you can’t do these things, but where you want to spend your time may change.” I think that was one of the biggest surprises to me. In Creative Capital workshops, one of the things they ask about is your professional priorities. Before, the way that I prioritized my time had been something like… departmental service at the top, then teaching, studio research, and then family. Now I’ve been trying to figure out how to flip that whole equation: family first, then research, teaching, and service. <br />
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I didn’t expect the experience of motherhood to change my worldview so drastically, and change the <br />
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way that I work in my studio – I mean not just practically, but what I’m talking about in the work. I knew that having a child is an obligation, of course you have to take care of this person that you made. But I didn’t expect him to be a friend. I miss him when I’m working. I enjoy just hanging out with him. </div>
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<b>Hồng-Ân:</b> It’s hard for me to remember what my life was like before Xuân June, which is so bizarre.<br />
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It already feels like this very far away thing. I think I did have the attitude that, “I’m going to be just as busy in the studio as I ever was and there’s no way that anything is going to take me away from that. I’ll give myself six months and then its back to normal, back to evrything.” It’s such an understatement that everything changes, and you just don’t realize how it can alter the fabric of your everyday life, and really alter your priorities. But I also didn’t expect that it actually wasn’t going to be that devastating to not be busy in the studio. I mean I remember at first, when I wasn’t really in the studio at all, till she was really about a year and a half, really, I was like “huh” (shrugs) – I wasn’t worried about my art career, it didn’t cause me anxiety.<br />
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<b>Jina:</b> That’s interesting. I don’t know that I felt the same way. Sylvan is four, and it’s only in the past <br />
year and a half really that I’ve been able to spend a significant amount of time in the studio. I feel so much healthier, spiritually, intellectually. It’s been good for me and it’s also good for him, cause I’m more… me.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O-DcHzwnA90/WVVeKtCQZkI/AAAAAAAAD84/dD6TGMU-RRcVSeueVYkuaywMz4asXox2wCEwYBhgL/s1600/HA_XJ_allcott_gallery_edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O-DcHzwnA90/WVVeKtCQZkI/AAAAAAAAD84/dD6TGMU-RRcVSeueVYkuaywMz4asXox2wCEwYBhgL/s320/HA_XJ_allcott_gallery_edited.jpg" width="240" /></a><b>Hồng-Ân:</b> But that time period when I was on leave during the first year of Xuân June’s life was when I started to realize that I needed to focus on being present here, in Durham, in North Carolina. So that was when we actually first collaborated, when I worked on the first integrated <i>Black Lunch Table</i> with you and Heather. So I think there was a shift in priorities in that sense; I wasn’t busy working on my individual material-based projects, but was working on stuff that felt really meaningful to me in a different way than just going at it in my studio. <br />
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Also, I was really lucky in that Xuân June was born in May, and I was off for a year, but the summer after she turned one I had a three-month residency in Dublin, so I think in my mind I was like “That’s when I’m going to launch back into my studio practice.” As an artist you’re always thinking in this future way that’s kind of unhealthy, about what’s on the horizon. <br />
<b><br />CR: What was that first residency with your family like? </b><br />
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<b>Hồng-Ân:</b> It was really… hard. (laughs) It was really great, I met great people and it was the most amazing, beautiful place ever. I love Dublin, and the Irish Modern Art Museum -- it’s in this old military complex, and the studios and apartments you stay in are old stables. But the thing that was hard was that my partner, Dwayne, was basically full time care for Xuân June. That was so stressful, and I felt guilty the whole time. I really shortened my days. I didn’t get to the studio until like ten in the morning, and then I’d break to nurse her, and then I’d finish up in the late afternoon. <br />
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<b>CR: You each have separate practices that activate dialogue around cultural identity and community, but you also do a lot of work in collaboration with others, including each other. Most recently you’ve brought together two of these group projects to develop <i>All Rise</i>, a performance and community-based meal that opens conversation about immigration and institutional racism. What do you feel is activated in merging your projects in this way? </b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GLS-AJxCe_0/WVKug4eQXuI/AAAAAAAAD7A/2JivuH4owKUMvf62ga-jfpA5wE8B0BEmwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/allrise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1117" data-original-width="894" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GLS-AJxCe_0/WVKug4eQXuI/AAAAAAAAD7A/2JivuH4owKUMvf62ga-jfpA5wE8B0BEmwCPcBGAYYCw/s400/allrise.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption">stills from Hương Ngô & Hồng-Ân Trương's <i>And And And <br />Stammering: An Interview</i> (top) and Jina Valentine & <br />
Heather Hart’s<i> Black Lunch Table</i> (bottom)</td></tr>
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<b>Hồng-Ân: </b>Bringing<i> Black Lunch Table</i> as a central part really added this other level of engagement to the project. Before we did the discussions afterwards, the performance part existed and then we would have this casual, moderated conversation with the audience, but there wasn’t a way for people to engage meaningfully with the thoughts and feelings they were having while watching the performance. Working with Jina and Heather really activates a strong piece that was missing. <br />
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In general I really enjoy collaborations. I still have a need to make work on my own, because there are some processes in the studio that are not necessarily shareable in a broader way, but it’s so much more enjoyable to make work with other people. I feel like collaboration is such a more human way to make work.<br />
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<b>Jina:</b> I think also practically speaking, collaborations are really important, especially as a new mom… When Sylvan was really tiny I was working on this piece with Heather Hart and Steffani Jemison, where we did over a year of meetings over Skype, and we still talk about how in the screen grabs there’s always Sylvan sitting on my lap or breastfeeding. That was how I was able to stay productive, by having other people to be accountable to, and to have this kind of group conversation that could keep things moving even when I’d only slept three hours. <br />
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Heather and I had been talking about how to expand<i> Black Lunch Table</i>, and I think it was around January of 2015 when Hồng-Ân and Dwayne came over to have dinner with our babies. And we sat and talked about the Michael Brown shooting and about all of these police shootings. We were like “what are we going to do?” besides hashtagging and re-posting and marching, which are also necessary. We ended up getting a little money from the Institute for Arts and Humanities to do the first iteration of the<i> Black Lives Matter Roundtable</i>, which was organized collaboratively with Hồng-Ân and included her amazing community here. We invited the Durham-based activists and the folks from the Center for Documentary Studies, and professors from both Duke University and UNC, and students, and preachers to dine together at two events in Durham and Chapel Hill. That was the first event in a series that we’ve since been doing around the country. <br />
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As for <i>All Rise</i>, this collaboration with Hồng-Ân and Hương...<i> Black Lunch Table</i> centered conversation around social justice issues. <i>All Rise</i> was an opportunity to focus conversation on people’s family histories, or immigration specifically, so I think that was really good for us to do. We also thought that it was our part of our responsibility as professors here at UNC to bring in the community, which has been fairly reluctant to have these kinds of conversations.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>This is the community
that I’m raising my kid in. How does that relate to my life as an
artist here, as a teacher here, as an activist here? So it was a really
intentional choice to make work here. It was so
connected to everything else in my life as a new parent.</b></i></span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tKbT-mSzjZQ/WVVe-BrwptI/AAAAAAAAD9U/hePZVAEWIhoC4VD1gBgPWpYSCmK1pvXuQCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/XJ_whitneymuseum.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tKbT-mSzjZQ/WVVe-BrwptI/AAAAAAAAD9U/hePZVAEWIhoC4VD1gBgPWpYSCmK1pvXuQCPcBGAYYCw/s400/XJ_whitneymuseum.JPG" width="400" /></a><b>Hồng-Ân:</b> When we collaborated for the first time I was on maternity leave. Xuân June was like six months old. It came together at a moment when I realized I really needed to focus on what’s here in front of me, and I do think it’s related to being a parent. There was a point when I said “I’m not going to fly to New York every other weekend like I used to do. I can’t do that shit anymore!” It made me recognize my desire to be more locally focused. This is the community that I’m raising my kid in. How does that relate to my life as an artist here, as a teacher here, as an activist here? So it was a really intentional choice to make work here. It was this other re-focus, without the anxiety of having an art practice that felt separate. It was so connected to everything else in my life as a new parent.<br />
<br />
<b>CR: For any parent, there’s always this question of what kind of world our children are growing up in, what challenges they might face, and what we hope for the future. How does the current political climate impact your approach to raising your kids? </b><br />
<b>Hồng-Ân:</b> I’m trying to think of whether I’m living my life differently now than if the situation was different. And I don’t know if I’d be doing anything differently if we were another era, or if Hillary or Bernie had been elected – there’d still be the same things out there. I think the Manchester bombing probably still would’ve happened. It brings up a larger question about global politics in general, and this state of powerlessness. I’m struggling with how to make sense of this era in some way, to temper my feelings of anxiety in having a larger view about the different conditions of violence that have always existed. It feels hyper intense right now. There are different levels of preparation for absolute crisis, and we’re preparing. If I wasn’t a parent I don’t know that I’d be doing anything differently in terms of all that. Do you think you’d be doing anything differently?<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_Te2aHROLdo/WVKr841qlpI/AAAAAAAAD6M/dMTM0cnDAQcEjWIsXZj9-uTf9MzVUinvwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-06-27%2Bat%2B1.55.29%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="804" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_Te2aHROLdo/WVKr841qlpI/AAAAAAAAD6M/dMTM0cnDAQcEjWIsXZj9-uTf9MzVUinvwCPcBGAYYCw/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-06-27%2Bat%2B1.55.29%2BPM.png" width="300" /></a><b>Jina:</b> Yeah, I do. I know that I take better care of myself, for him. I started writing my will, and taking out life insurance. Stability is totally a priority. Even if the world is going to shit I try to maintain the appearance that everything is normal for him. Are things more extreme than they were in the cold war? I don’t know. James Moeser, a former Chancellor and now the acting Director of the Institute of Arts and Humanities at UNC, is a wise man who’s seen a lot of history in this state. He said to me, “Everything goes in cycles. I’ve been around for a <i>long</i> time. The pendulum always swings back the other way.” This period we’re in cannot last. But it’s also about the reality that the world might actually end. What happens when the glaciers melt? Will there be an earth for our grandchildren? If I was not a parent everything would be very different for me. I think I would be engaged in a very different way. You know? But now we have to engage in meaningful ways that are also safe.<br />
<br />
<b>Hồng-Ân: </b>You’re right. In the early 2000’s I was on the front lines. I would be the first one to get tear gassed if… and now I wouldn’t. There is this other level of thoughtfulness around what is on the line. On the one hand there’s a lot more at stake about the future because we have kids now, so we should be working harder, and yet our bodies, our lives have a different kind of fragility and meaning because we have a child that we have to take care of. It has brought up this question of when I want to go to this protest, do I bring Xuân June or not? And then Dwayne and I have a conversation about is it safe, maybe just one of us will go.<br />
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<b>Jina: </b>We look for different ways to engage. We do things like <i>Black Lives Matter Roundtable</i>. Or we consider examples to model our civic engagement... like Pierce Freelon, hopefully the next Mayor of Durham, who’s the son of Nina Freelon and Phil Freelon, the architect of the African American History Museum. Or the activist and councilwoman, Jillian Johnson. You and I were just talking about what our roles are here in NC and at UNC... how do we change the system from within? Shit needs to be shaken up, and I see that as a kind of activism too.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B7y3xIgveXw/WVK9pQ-I0LI/AAAAAAAAD78/YktZZWW9XvQqhtyXVUEYoj5qzZ76lGbcgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-06-27%2Bat%2B3.15.57%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="579" data-original-width="1600" height="231" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B7y3xIgveXw/WVK9pQ-I0LI/AAAAAAAAD78/YktZZWW9XvQqhtyXVUEYoj5qzZ76lGbcgCLcBGAs/s640/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-06-27%2Bat%2B3.15.57%2BPM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jina Valentine, <i>Testimony </i>(detail), iron gall ink and oxidant on paper, 2015</td></tr>
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<b>CR: So how has all this impacted your artistic practice?</b><br />
<b>Jina: </b>I guess my first substantial body of work after Sylvan was about my inability to empathize with mothers who had lost their sons to police violence. I felt sympathy for them, and our relationship as moms changes to them because we want to empathize with them, but it’s your worst nightmare. When you’re hearing about Manchester, you’re thinking about the mothers of those people who were killed, not even necessarily the people who died. That kind of grief is pretty unfathomable. My most recent project is called <i>Literacy Tests: Rorschach</i>, looking at the most heavily gerrymandered districts in the country, which sort of look like Rorschach inkblot tests, and it’s also a play on the literacy tests that black folks had to undergo under Jim Crow. My work tends to inspire dialogue around the things I want to explain to Sylvan at some point.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i_N2Zafs_EY/WVK0tD2zcBI/AAAAAAAAD7Y/_oYGYuG7grstvTcBe5HKFznEzW37AIXEwCEwYBhgL/s1600/HongAn.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i_N2Zafs_EY/WVK0tD2zcBI/AAAAAAAAD7Y/_oYGYuG7grstvTcBe5HKFznEzW37AIXEwCEwYBhgL/s400/HongAn.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hồng-Ân Trương, <i>On minor histories and the horrifying recognition of the swift work <br />of time</i>, phototex, voile curtain, pigment print on fabric, HD video, c-stands, lights </td></tr>
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<b>Hồng-Ân:</b> The big project I’ve worked on for the last year and a half was about my mom. And this other photo-based project that I worked with Hương [Ngô] was also a photo-based project based on our moms together, about women and labor. So the two full bodies of work that I’ve completed since she was born have been about my mom, and you know, not at all unrelated and having this other level of of intense, emotional attachment to my mom vis a vis her relationship with to Xuân June. A lot of my work links together my family history with larger social and political histories, the impact of those broader social and political histories on these more personal narratives. I had done several projects about my dad, who passed in 2013. It was kind of an organic turn to my mom. <br />
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<b>CR: You have brought together your creative approaches within an art context, but you also collaborate in everyday life, as a sort of chosen extended family. Could you talk about how that network of support has worked for you as artists, and how it has evolved? </b><br />
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<b>Hồng-Ân:</b> It just started really organically. We bring our kids everywhere. We have our kids with us all the time, and by that necessity they’re automatically going to become closer. Jina and I have very different households in terms of what support I have and what support she has, so it makes a lot of sense to share resources, and work together to make it work better and be… more fun! There’s this blurring between hanging out, being a parent, and getting work done at the same time. If we’re both going to be at a faculty meeting, we share someone who’s taking care of both of them together. There were just some very obvious ways we could join forces. We can go out to eat dinner and Dwayne will go run around with the kids so we can talk for a bit. There’s a sharing of caretaking when we’re together, that’s an obvious way to relieve the pressure of being “the parent” in every situation.<br />
<br />
Vietnamese as a culture and a language is very familial. So when Xuân June hangs out with Jina she calls her Dì Jina, which is Aunt Jina. Everything is relational, even with strangers, and so I really enforce it among my close friends. I want her to feel just as comfortable with Jina as if she was an auntie. I feel really strongly that that’s a really important way to develop trust in the world, and also have different notions of support and family structure. I foster that intentionally by insisting that she call certain people by auntie or uncle. <br />
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<b>Jina: </b>I don’t know if I’m as intentional or if my son is just that weird only child who feels really comfortable around adults (laughter).<br />
<br />
<b>Hồng-Ân:</b> I think kids of artists are more like that, because they’re around adults all the time. And <br />
just thinking about your comment about wanting to hang out with Sylvan - I want to hang out with Xuân June, but I want to hang out with… adults, too. So I want her life to have the texture of being… not insular. So texting Jina and saying, what are you doing for dinner, do you want to come over? I just like that fluidness between spaces that are not sacred to that nuclear sense of the family. I really am conscious of wanting that.<br />
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<b>Jina: </b>I echo everything you just said, and I would add that for Sylvan and I, there’s just the two of us. His dad lives around the corner and we see him on the weekends, so there’s this attempting to give a semblance of normalcy. I grew up in an ultra-normal suburban household. My folks have lived in the very same house for 42 years, and have been married for a few longer than that. Growing up, the five of us always had a sit-down dinner, my mom cooked, and the kids cleaned up. It was the same thing every night, and then we’d have homework, TV, bed. We don’t have that kind of domestic structure now. But I think for Sylvan it’s like I’ve always had, in my adult life, this chosen family, the people that I text right after I just saw them. We also have his community, the kids he meets at school and their families – I feel like we’ve kind of chosen them together, but it’s a very different thing. You set the date a week in advance, it’s much more planned how long we’re going to be there, what we’re going to do. I feel like it’s really important to cultivate those kinds of relationships that are Sylvan-centric. As much as possible I try to blend those communities.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Advisors, mentors who are official and unofficial, those folks are definitely models for
how we might care for the next generation of artists. I feel like that’s
part of our responsibility too.</b></i></span> <br />
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<b>CR: Who have been your models for artist-parenting or parent-artisting?</b><br />
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<b>Jina:</b> Maybe it’s an extreme example, but Hank and Deb Willis have an amazing relationship as collaborators, as friends. I think about Hank a lot. I mean I think that’s the dream -- to be established to a point at which I want to be established by the time that Sylvan is a teenager or going to college, so that I can pass all of this knowledge and what not to do, how to survive, and also… create work with him.<br />
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<b>Hồng-Ân:</b> Deb Willis is an amazing example. She’s actually the reason I went to art school. I didn’t <br />
know her when she was parenting Hank as a kid because Hank is exactly my age, but of course she is still and always a mom. Just thinking about what a powerhouse she is, and how did she do all of this while raising an amazing son. She’s powerful, kind, brilliant… so generous and so critical of the art world, and making her own way about how to exist as an artist and an intellectual. She’s definitely been my role model in general because she really embodies a really ethical way of operating as an artist and an intellectual. One of the most powerful things we can do is to model the way we think artists should exist in the world. <br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zm3M1uBFKCI/WVVeOJOj8qI/AAAAAAAAD9U/zhps9rjHEfsBT8-CDUZ3SxWXaSQwt4FsACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Sylvan_XJ_Lump.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zm3M1uBFKCI/WVVeOJOj8qI/AAAAAAAAD9U/zhps9rjHEfsBT8-CDUZ3SxWXaSQwt4FsACPcBGAYYCw/s400/Sylvan_XJ_Lump.JPG" width="400" /></a><b>Jina: </b>Other amazing Art moms... I used to have what I called “fairy godmothers.” Advisors, mentors <br />
who are official and unofficial, those folks are definitely models for how we might care for the next generation of artists. I feel like that’s part of our responsibility too.<br />
<br />
Lisa Sigal – she has two, three kids, they’re teenagers. She is a painter, and among other things, Curator at The Drawing Center. If she’s not there she’s in her studio, or she’s out in meetings with artists involved through the Drawing Center, or she’s having people over for dinner. She has children, and sometimes her husband is in town and sometimes he’s not, but it seems like it all works out. <br />
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<b>Hồng-Ân: </b>Around the time when I started thinking about having kids, a lot of my colleagues and friends had kids. I saw other people having kids and that gave me some sense that, okay, it’s possible. Not in the sense of holding someone up in high esteem, but just that there were people doing it. It’s not impossible. In the arts, you assume that people are parentless until proven otherwise. I think in the last five, six years that has really changed. I remember finding out that Simone Leigh and Saya Woolfalk were moms, and I was like “wow, badass.”</div>
christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-76516778225595961922017-07-12T13:17:00.000-07:002017-07-13T07:37:04.097-07:00Not Your Mama's Residency<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>The following letter was shared by an artist who was recently awarded a place in a
competitive residency program. For the sake of professional discretion,
identifying details have been replaced with the letter X. Upon
contacting them to work out the logistics of her stay, the artist was
informed that some of the program’s policies and funding had changed
(neither accommodations nor restrictions were mentioned on their
website). After further conversations by phone and email, the program
declined to negotiate a stay shorter than its standard two months. Her
place will be offered to another artist, presumably one without family
commitments. Given the months-long process of application, acceptance,
and negotiation, this outcome is not just a disappointment but a
professional setback. It will impact her ability to fabricate
large-scale work for an upcoming exhibition and erases the recognition
of such an award as she applies for tenure.</b><br />
<br />
<i>Dear X, </i><br />
<i><br />First, I want to thank you for inviting me for a residency in 2018. I was delighted to receive this honor. I spoke with X last week about some of the recent developments that are impacting whether or not I will be able to attend the residency. I’d like to share my concerns with you in this letter.<br /><br />I applied to X because it was highly recommended to me by colleagues in the field. X is particularly conducive to producing large-scale sculpture and I have an important exhibition in fall 2018 featuring a large structure. I appreciate the opportunity to introduce my work to a new audience in the area, and the focused time for production in a rural area would be a welcome change from my practice in Chicago. Finally, as a mid-career sculptor who is also a mother, I find that most residencies are available primarily for emerging or childless artists who have fewer obligations. Rarely do residencies provide accommodation or the means for an artist-parent to bring their children. My friend and fellow artist, X, raved about his experience at X as a family-friendly residency. While the reasons stated above regarding timing, facilities, and location were all factors in my decision to apply, it was his glowing report of X as one that enables artist-parents to produce their work that was most attractive to me. The fellowship and generous family housing that was provided to him enabled him to produce his work and fulfill his role as a father, and is one that I felt I needed in order to make this opportunity work for me.<br /><br />I was deeply saddened to learn that there is no longer any housing available for families and that children are unable to be present at the studio at any time. Additionally, the unfortunate loss of the fellowship is of great concern to me. As a parent, I wonder who could take care of my children while work, how I could afford that care, how I could possibly be away from them for such an extended period of time, and where they will stay during the course of my two-month residency. The stipend and family housing would have gone a long way toward making this possible.<br /><br />As you are certainly aware, the benefits of artist fellowships are two-fold. While fellowships can make an opportunity financially feasible, they also serve as an honor. Funding for mid-career makers are few and far between in our current political climate. The chance to feature the stipend on my dossier as I apply for tenure in 2019 is particularly meaningful, as well as being an honor that can lead to other opportunities. If any small amount of funds becomes available toward the stipends in the future, it would still allow artists to have the honor of the award, if only a token of your original intentions. I also suggest that the policy of having no children or support for artist-parents be stated on the website so that future applicants can weigh that information in deciding to apply.<br /><br />In light of the recent changes regarding X’s ability to accommodate artist parents, and to provide funding that could make this opportunity feasible for me, I would like to request a shorter residency of four weeks. While a two-month residency is ideal for many reasons, I feel that a shorter residency can still fulfill many of our mutual goals. Last summer I completed a two-week residency at X and found that the short time contributed to the urgency of productivity and I was able to make the most of every moment there. I made important contacts with members of the arts community, conducted research, and started artwork that is now going to be part of a solo exhibition at the same venue this summer. I propose to come to X, and bring my husband who will assist me in making the work, the scale of which will be physically difficult for me to manage alone. Having a shorter residency will significantly ease the financial burden and logistical challenges of this residency and enable me to accept this offer. <br /> </i><br />
<i> Thank you for your consideration and, again, for the invitation to a 2018 residency. I look forward to hearing from you.<br /><br />Sincerely,<br />X</i><br />
<br />
<i>- - - - - - - </i><i>- - - - - - - </i><i>- - - - - - - </i><br />
<br />
Residencies provide cultural producers with a range of important opportunities, often including the chance to enlarge their community and take creative risks. Every program is different. Some are only open to artists working in specific media, like printmaking or sculpture. A few are not handicapped-accessible. And while some are more transparent about it than others, quite a lot of the hundreds of residency programs worldwide are out of reach for artists raising children. <br />
<br />
Researching programs with the flexibility to accommodate parenting artists can be a confusing process. Some programs quietly allow for it on a case-by-case basis and many make no mention of policies or restrictions either way. Among the few programs that do support artists with families in some capacity, that information can be hard to find and, as evidenced here, sometimes changes without warning. Underlying this is the assumption that parenting artists are the exception and not the rule. Can the arts operate beyond traditional capitalist models if they’re continually built around the myth of the lone genius? <br />
<br />
Economic parallels between the arts and other careers are limited, since creative practice draws no reliable salary. Artists participate in residencies at their own expense, often paying for
travel, residency fees, childcare, or taking time off from other, paid work. But let's look at those entrepreneurial models for a moment, since the professionalized art world seems bent on following their lead. Some would argue that you’d never expect to find a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/03/business/a-woman-led-law-firm-that-lets-partners-be-parents.html" target="_blank">family friendly law firm</a> or bring children <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tarabrown/2012/10/22/want-more-women-at-your-conference-offer-child-care/#17d808496421" target="_blank">to a professional conference</a>. But in fact <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3056417/how-these-companies-have-created-kid-friendly-offices-for-working-parents" target="_blank">that’s exactly what’s underway</a> as professionals in other, non-'creative' fields aim for more gender-balanced and productive work environments. If the arts are a space for open experimentation and social critique, it should not be so radical to imagine family life as part of the broader creative community.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wicaJraRTBU/WWRC0zZrZfI/AAAAAAAAD-w/busYT-Z56fw61W1_jZPQFKCG0XmxbIsHgCEwYBhgL/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-07-10%2Bat%2B10.01.16%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1082" height="265" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wicaJraRTBU/WWRC0zZrZfI/AAAAAAAAD-w/busYT-Z56fw61W1_jZPQFKCG0XmxbIsHgCEwYBhgL/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-07-10%2Bat%2B10.01.16%2BPM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">participants at Kala Art Institute, which offers support for parenting artists</td></tr>
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To be sure, there are practical reasons why not all residencies can accommodate artists with family commitments. In 2013 <a href="http://www.sustainableartsfoundation.org/" target="_blank">the Sustainable Arts Foundation</a> started a granting program to support programs working to creatively address challenges like safety and shared resources. Some provide children's activities and family housing during special sessions, while others offer flexible scheduling or childcare awards that allow parents to participate <i>without</i> bringing kids along. The Foundation states that “the goal of this program is not only to reward organizations with original and effective solutions, but to share the results, so that other residencies might learn from them as well.” Their <a href="http://www.sustainableartsfoundation.org/residencygrantees/" target="_blank">list of funded projects</a> serves as a valuable resource for any program working to better serve the creative community, as well as for artist-parents researching accessible residency options.<br />
<br />
As Cultural ReProducers we recognize that incorporating children into the practice of creating culture is not always simple. We also know that there's a lot to be gained in that process. Not all programs can or will realistically support a diverse artistic community that includes parents, and that's fine. What we ask for is clear information about what residencies can and cannot offer so that we can do the same. </div>
christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-61578637524213360992017-04-09T10:45:00.003-07:002017-04-17T09:44:34.193-07:00Interview: Soheila Azadi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Muted Uprising</i>, installation detail</td></tr>
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<b>In the midst of social, environmental, and political unrest, two of our most important resources are care and creative thinking. Artist-parents play a critical role in both, mindfully raising the next generation while also activating public imagination. Cultural ReProducers explore this intersection through a series of conversations with artists about the future our children will inherit, and the work we’re making in response. </b><br />
<b><br /><a href="http://www.soheilaazadi.com/" target="_blank">Soheila Azadi </a>is an interdisciplinary visual artist and lecturer based in Chicago and Iran. Azadi uses performance and participatory installation to explore intersections of race, religion, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity within womens’ everyday lives. Born in the capital of Islamic cities, Esfahan, Azadi absorbed storytelling skills through Persian miniature drawings as a child, and her inspirations come from her experiences as a woman living under Theocracy. As a new mother her recent work creates spaces for cultural dialogue and addresses the barriers she has found as a mother-artist.</b><br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8UkzlT7viS0/WOr7lqVqiBI/AAAAAAAADvY/8nxRSFhAF8swhmeYq70mm-sJtfd-tSgnwCPcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-04-09%2Bat%2B10.23.11%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8UkzlT7viS0/WOr7lqVqiBI/AAAAAAAADvY/8nxRSFhAF8swhmeYq70mm-sJtfd-tSgnwCPcB/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-04-09%2Bat%2B10.23.11%2BPM.png" width="297" /></a><b><b>Cultural ReProducers: First, briefly tell us a little bit about your child: age, name, general temperament…</b></b><br />
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<b><b> </b>Soheila Azadi:</b> My baby’s name is Ario, and he’s 6 months old. He’s a very happy and curious baby.<br />
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<b>CR: Before you had a child, what kinds of expectations did you have about how parenthood might impact your life as an artist? And how do those expectations square with your experience so far?<br /> </b><br />
<b>Soheila: </b>I remember I had an interview when I was pregnant and I was like, “yeah, once I have the baby it’s not going to impact my work, my life that much.” (laughter) But once I had the baby everything was like, for three months, on pause. After he was four months old I started coming out of my cave. I think my expectations were that it would be easy, it would be like anything else. I consider myself a strong person, and I can do whatever I want to do, and although I had the same ideas once I had him, you are dealing with this fragile human being. He became my first priority, basically. There were times when people contacted me and asked me to collaborate with them and I had to say no. I was in shows while I had him, but I had to pause everything else. <br />
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<b>CR: Do you feel like motherhood has affected your relationship with the art world?<br /> </b><br />
<b>Soheila: </b>It has affected it, big time. I used to go to lectures every Friday night, I would go to openings, I was really active. Once I had Ario it was a matter of now my partner being able to accompany us. We are going to openings as much as we can, the three of us, but lectures, it’s just so – that really doesn’t happen unless I’m teaching and I take my class with me. I remember the first time I encountered the idea of motherhood within the art world was this panel discussion on motherhood, and I remember even then, there were people who came with babies, and they were talking about motherhood and one baby started crying… and everybody looked back like (makes a surprised face) “Whoah, what?… there’s a baby here! Why are you crying?” So I think that was my first introduction to this whole idea. Once I became a mom, this became reality for me: I’m not going to be able to do some of the things that I was planning to do. In Europe you see babies walking and playing in galleries, and in the US … you barely, barely see that in the US. So that made me feel upset, thinking, “My child doesn’t really have a place here, you know?” But one thing to note is that even before I became a mother I always assigned my students a reading about motherhood in the arts. I always assign my students part of “Feminist Art and the Maternal” book by Andrea Liss. Although I was not a mother, I always felt it is my duty to contribute to raising awareness about mother’s challenges who are artists. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ario plays on the gallery floor during installation</td></tr>
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<b>CR: You bring up a good point here, which is that the conversation is very different in places where there is more support for mothers, where kids are more naturally welcome in the gallery scene. I say “the Art World” but really we’re talking about “this art world over here in the US,” where it’s part of a larger culture that tends to prioritize the needs of the individual over the community.</b><br />
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<b>Soheila:</b> Exactly – that’s another thing that I’ve been finding, especially in Chicago. In the US we hide babies. They are not visible. We hide older people. And I think that’s really problematic. <br />
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<b>CR: What kinds of changes would you like to see that might better support artists raising children in the United States?<br /> </b><br />
<b>Soheila: </b>As you mention, it’s the system of support. Maybe if the system was similar to Europe, for instance. If there was some support from the government… I mean, financial support, oh my God! It’s a real thing. It’s about survival. So that’s a systematic thing. But also I would say as educators we have a huge role in this. As mothers, as fathers, as human beings – I think it’s everybody’s responsibility to help each other, to come together to shape this.<br />
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I don’t know so much about the art world in Iran, because I never go there as an artist. But I know as a mother you have so much support. I went to a baby shower of a friend who is Iranian. I wanted to get food, and this lady came up to me and offered to hold my baby so I could get something to eat. I didn’t want to trouble her, and she was like “No, just relax.” It was something I had never experienced here. Nobody ever in this last six months… I mean, several times in the past I was struggling with the stroller, too many things on hand, my baby having explosions (laughter), and nobody even offered to hold the door! And now I am finally able to hold my baby and my food at the same time and you are offering to hold my baby so I can eat? That’s the difference. It’s much easier because of the support you get from family, and people have a certain understanding of how family works, the support that you have to give. I have a friend now in Iran, she is pregnant, and I asked if she will be quitting her work or continuing, and she said -- and this is a saying there -- “With the help of everybody, I will make it happen.” <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soheila Azadi and Liz Cambron, <i>Witch Hunt</i> (video still)</td></tr>
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<b>CR: Your work explores issues of identity and division through your experience as a Muslim-born Iranian American. For any parent, there’s always the question of what kind of world our children are growing up in, what challenges they might face, and what we hope for the future. How does the current political climate impact your approach to raising a child in the US?<br /> </b><br />
<b> Soheila: </b>The more tangible it becomes, the more it affects my life. I think about… how will I tell my son that Grandma won’t be able to come, because of this government? Or we will travel there, but with the fear of losing what we call home. I cannot imagine how even a 4-year old kid would understand these things, but they sense your fear, from young age. Now more than ever, it is my duty to raise a feminist, for sure… but also to raise him an Iranian. Now it’s about pushing back. How does this impact his life down the road, but also how does this impact… millions? It’s about also my friend who has a 9-month-old child who doesn’t have any support here, and she won’t be able to exit the country to see her family. It’s about being landless. In summer I’m planning to go home. If something happens, I told my husband, I won’t be coming back here. I would rather deal with – it’s basically the same politics, as of now – and be with my family. Being here, what am I gaining really, at this point? I’m still struggling with all these questions and ideas now. It’s still shocking.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Knife</i>, installation view</td></tr>
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<b>CR: How will this shape the kind of work you put out into the world? </b><br />
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<b>Soheila:</b> I was interviewed for a year-long residency, and they wanted me to propose a project. I could not not think about what is happening now, and the place of Muslims in this country. I’m thinking of using fabric and glass, different densities of mirror – so in some places there will be crisp mirror where you see yourself, and others will be mirror where you can see through it, and drawing inspiration from Islamic patterns –- turning them into a quilt that is made from glass. People will be seeing themselves and seeing the other simultaneously.<br />
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I haven’t exhibited my work in Iran because of restrictions there, and because I talk about religion in <br />
my work. My work situates itself on this edge that could fall on either side, and that could become really dangerous for me. When I go to Iran, I take down my website. I take any documentation of my work off my laptop, I just empty it out. I don’t want to risk anything. All my family lives there and I have to be able to go back. I’ve been away for fourteen years now, and at that point I was not making socially engaged art. I’m really hesitant to do that in Iran. On the first page of my website, the image is sort of separating me from the viewer but also it says “this website is highly censored.” Highly public, highly private. <br />
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I had never thought about reaching out to Muslim communities, which I was told I should – but for the first time I told my husband “I think I should do this.” So for the first time I am. I am working on a music video with my collaborator Liz Cambron, called <i>Hijabi Mermaids</i>, going back to this situation in France, where the government said you may not go to the beach and wear this thing [Hijab]. I started writing the lyrics and we are working with a musician in Ohio. The other thing was another music video called <i>Witch Hunt</i> which we made in 2015. When the Muslim ban happened we decided to upload it to Youtube and make it public as a way to protest the current loss.<br />
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<b>CR: Has the current situation changed your relationship with the religion? </b><br />
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<b>Soheila:</b> It hasn’t changed anything. My practice is about raising the question of what happens when we separate people based on their sex and their race, which is the result of religion. In grad school what became very frustrating for many people is that I keep them in this space where I don’t say it’s a bad thing or a good thing – and for many people who were anti-religion, they were really frustrated by it. I was saying “I actually identify as a Muslim and hey, this is what it was like for me growing up, and it wasn’t too bad for me. It was bad for certain things you see on TV, but there are things that you don’t know about. Let me introduce you to those realities”. I think my work was actually more for religion than against it. It still has backlash, especially from Muslim-born people who do not identify as Muslim anymore. They absolutely hate the work -- they think that I beautify being Muslim. My work is more about creating spaces where dialogue happens – about sex, race… religion has always been a part of it. And the new work is creating a space where we can talk about motherhood.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Artist is on Maternity Leave</i>, installation view</td></tr>
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<b>CR: Your recent piece, <i>Artist is on Maternity Leave</i>, was a manifesto installed on the floor of a group exhibition, with a spotlight to hold the space. Could you talk about how that expands on these ideas? </b><br />
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<b>Soheila:</b> This time I’ve placed myself within the work. Oftentimes before I would create spaces and then exit from them, which allowed for conversations for and against the whole idea. But for the first time I realized that this work was really personal. So yes, there was this space I was holding within the gallery – because I had to do that to survive as an artist and a mother…and for my child. The way I held the space was through my manifesto. It talks about how my identity now is torn between being an artist and a mother, and now my first priority is my child, Before it was my work, and where does that place me now? I was forced… to push people away to keep my space within the art world. Recently I was offered the chance to teach two classes at the School of the Art Institute. I had waited for one year for that offer. I worked hard for it, but I had to turn it down because I was pregnant. I went to a few meetings without having any contract, so that they don’t forget me. I felt like I’m battling with the world, with all the people in front of me. So in <i>Artist is on Maternity Leave</i>, I was holding my “space”. <br />
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<b>CR: <a href="http://chicagoartistwriters.com/hold-that-space-for-me/" target="_blank">You wrote about the experience of watching visitors pass over the piece without seeing it. </a>You didn’t put the manifesto on a pedestal, or on a wall: you put it on the floor. It seems an apt metaphor for the lack of visibility many women artists find on having a child.<br /> </b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Mother is Present</i>, detail from Skype performance</td></tr>
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<b>Soheila:</b> Yes, I was talking about being a mother and an artist and finding your space within the artwork literally and metaphorically. At the opening, people came up to me and they’d say “I see your name here, but I didn’t see your work.” So they had to go back again to that part of the gallery to see it. This happened to almost all of my friends who came to see the work. A week ago, I went to the gallery and I realized that most of the text was ripped off, which showed that people literally walked over my work. It was black vinyl on gray floor, and there’s the light that hits that spot. So it’s hard to miss it. But they missed it. I know that happens within galleries. I thought, okay, this goes parallel to my idea of being unnoticed as a mother artist. <br />
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One week afterwards I was scheduled to do a Skype performance. Skype is very much a part of my practice, and now, being a Mom – I mean, we are Skyping now, and it’s great. So I wanted to do the Skype performance, and the day of they said, “We need to cancel. We have things happening here.“ I knew that they hadn’t even advertised for my performance ahead of time, where they usually do when a performance happens in that space. The work was called <i>Mother is Present</i>, drawing inspiration from Marina Abramovic’s work, <i>The Artist is present</i>. Basically they would be able to see me interacting with my child the whole time, without me being able to interact with the audience. I had to push for it, and one week later they said they had to reschedule. So we rescheduled. And again, it was supposed to happen on Saturday, and on Friday at 3pm I said, “are you not going to advertise this at all?” And they said “Yes, we will do it,” and finally Friday night it seems they did advertise it. I see that I have to push for this. I have to say “You must realize that this is an artwork, even if you don’t see it as art.” Later on, the person who runs the space said “why didn’t you come here with your child and do the piece here?” Which would have been a completely different piece. I was thinking about the space of home and the space of the gallery, and the space of being a mother and the space of being an artist, bringing those two spaces together. So I thought, “Maybe you guys fell short and now you’re thinking about changing my piece.” I was not expecting that from them. With performance art, whatever happens becomes part of the work. So they could have added to the piece by responding like that.<br />
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christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-49810021882936941552016-11-05T17:54:00.000-07:002016-11-06T05:07:02.050-08:00Interview: Aram Han Sifuentes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UsFDTSS3s-c/WBdzVXnC9qI/AAAAAAAADjY/BKx_AHZjO7svHMlZt1DR9O4Z_xQN5SxzwCPcB/s1600/IMG_1562.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UsFDTSS3s-c/WBdzVXnC9qI/AAAAAAAADjY/BKx_AHZjO7svHMlZt1DR9O4Z_xQN5SxzwCPcB/s640/IMG_1562.JPG" width="640" /></a><b><b>For artist, writer, and curator <a href="http://www.aramhan.com/" target="_blank">Aram Han Sifuentes</a>, needle and thread are a political tool, </b>connecting the material labor of sewing with a social and performative practice to activate the </b><b>cultural histories of immigrant communities. This approach was never clearer than in her recent solo exhibition at the Chicago Artists Coalition, where she chose to highlight the work of her mother, Younghye Han, an artist who set aside her painting practice for a steady job when the family moved to the US from South Korea more than two decades ago. Younghye returned to drawing and painting after the birth of Aram’s own daughter last year. Cultural ReProducers is pleased to share interviews with both artists. You can find <a href="http://www.culturalreproducers.org/2016/11/interview-with-my-mother-younghye-han.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #38761d;">Aram’s interview with her mother</span></a> here.</b><br />
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OpH_7jMFrFA/WB06Ec_DDbI/AAAAAAAADkY/kHg3aKBsnS00-CWtwlpDA3bnEO4QVh0HgCPcB/s1600/image%2B3.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OpH_7jMFrFA/WB06Ec_DDbI/AAAAAAAADkY/kHg3aKBsnS00-CWtwlpDA3bnEO4QVh0HgCPcB/s320/image%2B3.jpeg" width="240" /></a><b><br />Aram Han Sifuentes’ work has been exhibited widely in the US and internationally, including recent projects for the Chung Young Yang Embroidery Museum (Seoul, South Korea), the Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago, IL) and the Elmhurst Art Museum (Elmhurst, IL). She the recipient of numerous awards, most recently including a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship and a public residency through the Chicago Cultural Center. Her current project, <a href="http://www.hullhousemuseum.org/vox-pop-the-disco-party/" target="_blank"><i>The Official Unofficial Voting Station: Voting for All Who Legally Can't</i></a>, is a massive multi-site collaboration with artists and activists in fifteen cities across the US and Mexico, commissioned by Chicago’s Jane Addams Hull House Museum. </b><br />
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<b>Cultural ReProducers: Briefly describe your daughter in your own words.</b> <b> </b><br />
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<b>Aram Han Sifuentes: </b>My daughter, Nara Han Sifuentes, is 15 months old. She is a beautiful Chicana Coreana or Mexorean aka multiculticutie. It’s been such a joy watching her grow and to figure herself and the world out. She does new things every day and I am just astounded and floored over and over again. Today she learned how to squeeze her bath toys and aim the water coming out of them at my face. She was very serious for the first year but lately she is so silly and playful. She often wakes up in the morning singing, waking us up with kisses, clapping, and asking for her favorite cartoon “Pororo”. She doesn’t say “umma” (mom) much but she says Pororo all the time. She also loves giving all her stuff toys kisses.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Younghye Han: My Mother's First Exhibition</i>, installation view</td></tr>
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<b>CR: In the project <a href="http://www.aramhan.com/younghye-han-my-mothers-first-exhibition.html" target="_blank"><i>Younghye Han: My Mother’s First Exhibition</i></a> you present this beautifully complex cycle of intergenerational influence, starting with your mother as a young artist in Korea whose creative aspirations shifted in moving to the United States. There is a circling back through your own creative practice and the birth of your daughter. How did this project come together?</b><br />
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<b>Aram: </b>As a part of my Bolt Residency at Chicago Artist Coalition, I had an opportunity for a solo exhibition in the Summer of 2016. In 2015 after the birth of my daughter, my mom started drawing and painting again for the first time in 22 years. She used to be an artist in Korea and even ran her own art center. When we came to the United States in 1992, she started two drawings and one painting which never got completed. After our first year in the United States my parents took employment at a dry cleaners and later came to own their own, where my mom became and still works as the seamstress. They work 70 hour weeks so there is no time for anything else.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-18QbuTSuQnY/WBd8ymRXYUI/AAAAAAAADjg/Q48VaF-LphYVz3m0M2RoyQWGbah0k1SmgCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-10-31%2Bat%2B12.16.27%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-18QbuTSuQnY/WBd8ymRXYUI/AAAAAAAADjg/Q48VaF-LphYVz3m0M2RoyQWGbah0k1SmgCLcB/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-10-31%2Bat%2B12.16.27%2BPM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Younghye Han,<i> Nara on a Pillow,</i> 2016</td></tr>
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But they recently had hired someone to help them out part time and my mom started to create <br />
wonderful portraits of Nara at the cleaners. My mom lives in California, and Nara and I Facetime her every day. She was showing us these beautiful new drawings and paintings with such pride. I was thinking through what I wanted to do for my solo exhibition and it dawned on me one day that it would be so great if my mom could show her work. So I asked her if she wanted her own solo show. She didn’t answer me right away. She actually freaked out a bit. She told me the idea stressed her out, but then she agreed. When we moved to the United<span id="goog_2093547511"></span><span id="goog_2093547512"></span> States, my mom only salvaged and brought over three paintings that she made in the 80s. I told her I wanted to exhibit these as well.<br />
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I had never forgotten about those two drawings and that one painting she started in our first year in the U.S. but never finished. Those actually sat in my room for a long time while I was growing up. I’d stare at them all the time, wondering when my mother would ever return to them. I asked her if she wanted to continue them but she told me she wasn’t interested. They weren’t her style anymore. So I asked her if I could complete them in some way and include them in the exhibition. She was excited by the idea and that’s also how they became included in the exhibition.<br />
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<b>CR: You address questions of cultural identity in your artistic practice, examining family </b><b>traditions as well as the assumptions and barriers you find there. This is an important part of the work of your husband, Roberto Sifuentes, as well. How does this process of questioning, celebrating, and re-articulating spill over into the messy business of parenting, or family in general?</b><br />
<b><br />Aram: </b>Nara has already lived one month of her life in Korea and one month of her life in Mexico! We also speak to Nara in English, Korean, and Spanish. I usually speak to her in Korean, and Roberto in English. Then we both mix in Spanish whenever we feel like it. I speak Spanish pretty badly and studied a lot of Portuguese in college so I’m always making words up. Roberto also attempts to speak Korean and then mixes Spanish into it all the time. So it never makes sense. So at home, we are definitely on our way into creating a hybrid language called Konglishñol. But we don’t ever understand what each other is saying. We also do this with food. We are working on a cook book called Korean Today, Mexican Tomorrow because I’ll cook Korean for dinner then the next morning Roberto likes to turn the leftovers into something Mexican. It transitions amazingly well. I think this is the way we both approach our cultural identities- we revere and love them but then really enjoy messing and riffing off of them. And we parent in this way. I Tiger Mom when I want to but then let her eat a bunch of chocolate and not brush her teeth at night when I feel like it.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hjHSOVo_O7U/WBeUhfj1skI/AAAAAAAADj8/ewljFPghQgw2_Z9j21G1McslqkJFBWh9wCPcB/s1600/image.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hjHSOVo_O7U/WBeUhfj1skI/AAAAAAAADj8/ewljFPghQgw2_Z9j21G1McslqkJFBWh9wCPcB/s400/image.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nara revisits artist William Pope L.'s performance, <i>The Great White Way</i>.</td></tr>
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<b>CR: So what was your process like for returning to a creative practice after having a newborn? What has been the most challenging and most rewarding, at this stage in things?<br /> </b><br />
<b>Aram: </b>I had two exhibitions and performances back to back in different states three weeks after her birth. It was hard. I’ve been incredibly busy this past 15 months with amazing opportunities. I must say I have been much more active in my career than I was before Nara was born. Nara and my career taking momentum happened at the same time. It definitely hasn’t been easy. As Nara gets older, she gets more and more active, which means I get to do much less work while she’s awake. She slams her hands on my keyboard when my computer is open and there is no way I can do any hand sewing while she’s around. She would definitely grab for the needle. She isn’t much of napper but luckily sleeps well at night (8 hours). So the biggest challenge for me right now is that I can only work when she is sleeping, which also means I sleep a lot less. I’m one of those people who needs 10 hours of sleep a night so this has been really hard for me. The most rewarding is that it’s been fun for my career to grow at the same time as Nara. I try to take her to everything and she gets to witness it and be a part of it all. In this way, she sees different parts of the world and gets to meet all sorts of exciting people. I’m very lucky as well that Roberto is really supportive and takes care of Nara often while I install an exhibition or leave for a week to do a visiting artist gig, and etc.<br />
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<b>CR: How has becoming a mother affected your relationship with the art world? In imagining an ideal creative community, what alternative structures or attitude shifts would be part of that? <br /> </b><br />
<b>Aram: </b>I think overall I’ve become bolder in the world. I have more battles to fight and things feel more urgent and pressing because I don’t want things just to change for me, but I need them to change for my daughter. My relationship with the art world is the same. The art world needs more people of color and to represent us in all our complexities. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t56TkL9JxDI/WBdyEBZ8ouI/AAAAAAAADjI/XRzoomFtplglsmB0kXAlA8nt9NrGuu0yACEw/s1600/Sara%2BPooley2016_0930_Aram_Han_Sifuentes_MG_2948_002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t56TkL9JxDI/WBdyEBZ8ouI/AAAAAAAADjI/XRzoomFtplglsmB0kXAlA8nt9NrGuu0yACEw/s400/Sara%2BPooley2016_0930_Aram_Han_Sifuentes_MG_2948_002.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Official Unofficial Voting Station's Vox Pop: The Disco Party </i>in collaboration <br />
with Lise Haller Baggesen and Soundscapes by DJ Sadie Rock</td></tr>
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<b> CR: Can you talk about what you’re working on now, and what’s on the horizon?</b><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3RCe1M_7CqQ/WBdxm1aWJyI/AAAAAAAADjI/jizQAtdYojEGctvqES6GCFPzwy6hiNGrQCEw/s1600/14753733_10209803710863190_7867396088660322755_o.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3RCe1M_7CqQ/WBdxm1aWJyI/AAAAAAAADjI/jizQAtdYojEGctvqES6GCFPzwy6hiNGrQCEw/s400/14753733_10209803710863190_7867396088660322755_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Official Unofficial Voting Station</i> in Tijuana by collaborators Cecilia Aguilar <br />
Castillo and Erick Fernández Saldaña</td></tr>
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<b>Aram: </b>I currently have a solo exhibition at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum called <b><a href="http://www.hullhousemuseum.org/vox-pop-the-disco-party/" target="_blank">The Official Unofficial Voting Station: Voting for All Who Legally Can’t</a></b>. During this polarizing election season, I am working with 15 artists and radical thinkers all over the United States and in Mexico to create voting stations that are open to all, but particularly for the disenfranchised. There are at least 106 million people who live in the United States and its territories who are disenfranchised. These groups include: youth, non-citizens, incarcerated, ex-felons (depending on the state), residents of U.S. territories, and those without proper IDs (also, depending on the state). To engage the various communities of the disenfranchised, all of these <a href="http://www.hullhousemuseum.org/official-unofficial-voting-station-collaborators/" target="_blank">stations</a> take on different form depending on the collaborator. They range from participatory public artworks to radical performances to pedagogical tools. For example, my collaborators in Mexico City, Tijuana, and Acapulco, Cecilia Aguilar Castillo and Erick Fernández Saldaña, created a station where participants voted with fake blood then drilled screws and Mexican flags into styrofoam heads of Trump and Hillary to vote against them. On November 8th we will have a big public program at the Hull-House from 1-5pm where DJ Sadie Rock will be playing music, and Yvette Mayorga and I will be facilitating a workshop where the public helps us to build a piñata wall. When the wall is complete, the public is invited to help bash it. That evening, from 6-7pm on Nov. 8th, Roberto Sifuentes, DJ Sadie Rock, and I will be performing and asking the public to fill out ballots at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. All the ballots come from and are counted at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum. After Nov. 8th the installation at the Hull-House then turns into a suggestion station and is on exhibit until the end of April.<br />
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After this project, I’m interested in gestures of mass voting that can happen across borders. I will be focusing on doing Official Unofficial Voting Stations in the United States for Korea’s 2017 Presidential Elections and Mexico’s 2018 Presidential Elections.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7u-2XSDq_ds/WBdxkloIaJI/AAAAAAAADjI/s9IDOY44x5ctAt7tNJbUr9RH73bv5CbFwCPcB/s1600/14188105_10105650811854553_6684551067901615418_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7u-2XSDq_ds/WBdxkloIaJI/AAAAAAAADjI/s9IDOY44x5ctAt7tNJbUr9RH73bv5CbFwCPcB/s400/14188105_10105650811854553_6684551067901615418_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption">Nara casting her ballot at <i>the Official Unofficial Voting Station</i></td></tr>
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christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-65518911565084302592016-11-05T17:00:00.000-07:002016-11-05T17:56:58.569-07:00Interview With My Mother, Younghye Han<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tOw_7OwD3pM/WBdXKiRU1KI/AAAAAAAADio/6fW3VARPerAs6u0ajKK7HFgykci0d1MxgCLcB/s1600/Younghye-roses.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="572" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tOw_7OwD3pM/WBdXKiRU1KI/AAAAAAAADio/6fW3VARPerAs6u0ajKK7HFgykci0d1MxgCLcB/s640/Younghye-roses.png" width="640" /></a><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Younghye Han</span> received her BFA in Traditional Ink Painting from Ewha Woman’s University and ran her own painting and drawing academy for children for five years in Seoul, South Korea. She has been working as a seamstress and running Mainz Dry Cleaners in Manteca, CA with her husband for more than 20 years. She recently had her first exhibition at the Chicago Artists Coalition in collaboration with her daughter, Aram Han Sifuentes, an artist who combines fiber art with social practice to engage labor, cultural history, and immigrant communities. Cultural ReProducers is honored to present conversations with both artists, a testament to the intergenerational creative impact of mothers, daughters, and granddaughters. </b><br />
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<b>You can find <a href="http://www.culturalreproducers.org/2016/11/interview-aram-han-sifuentes.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #38761d;">our interview with Aram Han Sifuentes</span> </a>here. The interview below was conducted as part of the exhibition <i>Younghye Han: My Mother’s First Exhibition</i>, and begins with an introduction Aram wrote for the show: </b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Younghye Han,<i> Nara on a Pillow,</i> 2016</td></tr>
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<b><i></i></b><b><i>My family immigrated to the United States in 1992. A trained artist in Korea, Younghye Han left that behind and has spent the last 24 years, working 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, as a seamstress and running her own dry cleaning business in Manteca, California. It has been 24 years since her last painting. Inspired by the birth of her first granddaughter in 2015, she began drawing and painting again. This is my mother’s first exhibition. It features her works made in Korea, her most recent pieces, and my responses to her last unfinished drawings made in the first year we immigrated to the United States. </i></b><br />
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<b><i>These are the questions I’ve asked my mother. Some of these are questions I’ve asked again and again throughout my life and the answers have changed and evolved throughout the years, further complicating my mother’s story. Some of these are questions I’ve never had the courage to ask her before. This interview was translated from Korean. </i></b><br />
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<b>Aram: How did you decide to become an artist?</b><br />
<b><br />Younghye:</b> When I was seven or eight years old, I found out about an art contest at my elementary school. I went home and told my sister who yelled at me and told me to get money from our parents to apply. So I was crying when I asked my parents. They gave me the money and I went to school after hours to apply. This was my first time I participated in an art contest but I won a big prize. From then on I applied every year and continued to win big prizes. Later on I asked my sister why she yelled at me to apply. She said that she would see me draw and I didn’t draw like other kids my age. They would draw stick figures but I wouldn’t. She said I drew high heels particularly well and saw that I had talent. My sister wanted to study theater and our parents were opposed to it and didn’t let her pursue it. Then in high school our family went bankrupt and I wanted to go to college. I knew that artists wouldn’t be able to make much money straight out of school. So I was deciding whether or not to go into art or to go into nursing. Even though it would be hard, I decided to go into art. So I took the tests and got into art schools. My mother wished I wouldn’t pass. She didn’t even believe it when I passed the tests.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SqJ0rU6mooI/WB06AXxVwsI/AAAAAAAADkM/Y3EVy08G0AMvMXZl85b7rwInHN0UvJPTACEw/s1600/image%2B2.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SqJ0rU6mooI/WB06AXxVwsI/AAAAAAAADkM/Y3EVy08G0AMvMXZl85b7rwInHN0UvJPTACEw/s320/image%2B2.jpeg" width="317" /></a><b>Aram: Why did you decide to move our family to the United States?<br /> </b><br />
<b>Younghye:</b> Even though your father and I received our education from very good universities, our English wasn’t very good. So we thought that you and your sister could do anything if you knew English well. This is why we decided to move to the U.S.<br />
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<b>Aram: What type of job did you think you would work in the U.S?<br /> </b><br />
<b>Younghye:</b> I knew it would be difficult. But I just wanted you and your sister to learn English. Then you both would be able to do anything and get any type of good paying job. I didn’t think about myself so I didn’t know what type of work I would do. I just thought about your future. My parents weren’t able to help me so I wanted to make sure that I could help you both in any way. <br />
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<b>Aram: You didn’t think about it?<br /> </b><br />
<b>Younghye: </b>I thought that if other people could do find work and make it in the U.S., then I could do it too. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QfYRK7th9aM/WBdXD5KPicI/AAAAAAAADi0/tymvGassorQTGUs5ROQxMXJJpE3AkCsgwCPcB/s1600/Younghye%2BNara%2Bsitting.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QfYRK7th9aM/WBdXD5KPicI/AAAAAAAADi0/tymvGassorQTGUs5ROQxMXJJpE3AkCsgwCPcB/s400/Younghye%2BNara%2Bsitting.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Younghye Han,<i> Nara Sitting,</i> 2016</td></tr>
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<b>Aram: Why a dry cleaners?<br /> </b><br />
<b>Younghye: </b>When we came here, it seemed that the only jobs available to us were to run a liquor <br />
store, ice cream shop, or dry cleaners. We didn’t want to work at a liquor store because during this time the LA riots were happening and they were targeted so we decided not to go that route. And I can do anything with my hands. I knew how to sew already and thought that working at a dry cleaners would be easier. <br />
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<b>Aram: Did you think you would be able to practice art here?<br /> </b><br />
<b>Younghye:</b> I knew that I would make art again at some point in my life before I die. It was too hard working at the cleaners. I gave up even though my mind was there and I thought about it often. But when I saw Nara, I started to make art again because I felt so inspired. <br />
<b><br />Aram: How did you feel about me becoming an artist?<br /> </b><br />
<b>Younghye:</b> Now I feel happy about it. At first I was so worried. It is not an easy job and there is no stability. I know since I was an artist. It was so hard for me so I didn’t want that for you. It is too hard. Now that I have worked too hard for many years, I’ve lost my happiness. While raising you two and working so hard, my life and happiness has become lost. Now I am thankful toward you. Through you I was able to find my art again. You Facetime me every day so I can see Nara and you talk to me in Korean. I always thought that if you are kind, then life will be good to you. I gave up on this but this has come to me suddenly. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IBDZ3eeVAqI/WBdW9LPWjcI/AAAAAAAADis/aD3dolJiaYkEScVi69sHtuX_r1X_2RiqgCEw/s1600/Younghya%2BMom%2527s%2BDrawing.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="544" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IBDZ3eeVAqI/WBdW9LPWjcI/AAAAAAAADis/aD3dolJiaYkEScVi69sHtuX_r1X_2RiqgCEw/s640/Younghya%2BMom%2527s%2BDrawing.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aram Han Sifuentes, <i>Mom’s Drawings of Roses</i> (1992) Encased, 2016, Mulberry paper and wax</td></tr>
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christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6109308933296044856.post-35756393454238715752016-10-21T13:26:00.001-07:002022-03-15T10:28:43.164-07:00Events: Multimedia Time Machine, Family + Friends<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br /><b>Multimedia Time Machine</b><br />Saturday, October 22, 2016<br />10 AM - 12 PM<br />Gallery 400<br />400 S Peoria Street, Chicago <br /><br />For a lot of us, 'family' events are a whole lot more interesting when they're not designed just for children. That's why Cultural ReProducers is partnering with Gallery 400 to present <a href="http://gallery400.uic.edu/events/multimedia-time-machine" target="_blank"><b>Multimedia Time Machine</b></a>, a truly intergenerational workshop and live video performance next Saturday, October 22nd. Bring your kids, your parents, your college students, and yourself for a collaborative live animation with artists and musicians Ben LaMar, Selina Trepp, and Christa Donner. We'll transform Gallery 400 into a multimedia time machine using electronic and acoustic sound, overhead projectors, shadow forms, and transparent materials to create layers of past and the future. The resulting projection and soundtrack will be documented as a realtime video collaboration.<br />
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<b>Families and Friends Matinee Series</b><br />Sunday, Oct. 23rd, Nov. 20th, and Dec. 17th 12 PM - 2 PM <br />
Township <br />
2200 North California Ave, Chicago<br />
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If you'd rather enjoy live music than make it yourself, check out Township's live concert series for all ages, continuing its second season thanks to musician, artist, and father Thomas Comerford, who started organizing the series for Township in the Spring. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/189507221484394/" target="_blank"><b>Families and Friends Matinee Series</b></a> kicks off for Fall on Sunday, October 23rd, with the trancey, visual electronica of Spectralina and openers Son Monarcas, who combine Mexican roots with South American cumbia and tango. Bonus: you can order some excellent food from the Township kitchen if kids get hungry between sets. I'm pretty sure the cover is still $10 per family. Here's their full Fall lineup:<br /><br />10/23, #7: Spectralina + Son Monarcas, noon<br />11/20, #8: Glass Mountain + Girls of the Golden West, noon<br />12/17, #9: Tselanie Townsend + Wes Hollywood, noon<br /><br /><br /></div>
christahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09048189403113596507noreply@blogger.com0