Meet this month’s artists-in-residence!
Residency session: June 12 - July 8, 2024
MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR this session’s open studios:
Wednesday, July 3rd, 5-7PM
Carolina Mercado Vargas
Isabella, Puerto Rico
Carolina Mercado Vargas (also Nadirr) is a Puerto Rican photographer, writer and graphic designer, currently based in Isabela, Puerto Rico.
Her work is an exploration of the intricacies of daily life, emphasizing urban experiences and the solitude that accompanies them, occasionally infused with surreal elements, Her focus revolves around crafting memory spaces and interlacing narratives. Her current interests include textile work and documenting the ongoing changes in her home island of Puerto Rico, particularly in the context of the prevailing gentrification. She has had her work exhibited in Puerto Rico, Japan and Spain.
Leah Horowitz
Queens, New york
Leah is based in Queens, NY and holds an MFA from Brooklyn College where she taught 3D Design. She holds a BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art.
“These artworks invite viewers to engage with them and consider what is typically overlooked or rendered invisible. As a “learning disabled” young girl I would spend long periods of time in empty rooms to complete schoolwork. During this time I would fantasize about alternative realities and lives away from the present. I am no longer imagining a future outside of society; I work to depict our collective present landscapes. While making work that presents both artificial and natural qualities, my attention slips into abstract spaces in order to process emerging ecologies. As a queer artist with ADD and dyslexia, I attempt to make an alternative translation of reality that exists outside of accepted linguistic, social, and cultural norms into an empowering space.”
Mar Figueroa
Brooklyn, New york
Born in Ecuador and based in New York, painter Mar Figueroa’s work interweaves personal memories with historical references to engage in a dialogue about the layered Latin American identities in the diaspora and to celebrate her Indigenous heritage. She received her education at the Rhode Island School of Design and, shortly after graduating, launched her art and design studio. In 2020, she was recognized by Forbes in their 30 Under 30 list in Art & Style. Most recently, she taught at RISD and is currently a faculty member at the School of Visual Arts in New York.
Saida Blair
Chicago, ILlinois
Storytelling is an integral part of Black culture. As a Caribbean oral historian and artist from Harlem, NY, this is a critical idea that propels Saida Blair’s work as a storyteller.
Blair’s interest in storytelling was sparked as a child when trying to understand her cultural background as a Trinidadian and Jamaican girl; sneaking into the hallway to grasp the whispers of her aunts and uncle gossiping about home. She pieced together these different narratives, creating a visual mosaic of what “home” looked like to her.
Blair carries on this methodology now as an adult. She collects stories shared with her and uses her passion for art to create conversations around topics and events that affect herself and her community. She uses a mixture of contemporary and archival images from various timelines to create a dynamic narrative of the past. Her goal in creating these conversations is to have people engage with the works in a brave and open environment.
Blair graduated from SUNY Purchase, where she obtained a BFA in Photography and Art History. She recently graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, obtaining her MA in Visual and Critical Studies.
Dana Buzzee
Calgary, Canada
Dana Buzzee is a visual artist and arts educator currently based on Treaty 7 land in Southern Alberta. Rooted in queer hauntology and speculative materialism, Buzzee's interdisciplinary practice engages an exploration of consumer fetishism tied to extractive capitalist economies, serving as a narrative medium for deep-time storytelling and speculative futurity.
Buzzee holds a BFA from the Alberta College of Art and Design and an MFA from the University of Oregon, and has exhibited and participated in residencies in Canada, the United States, and Europe. Their practice has been supported by grants from the Calgary Arts Development Authority, The Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Noor Khan
Toronto, canada
Noor Khan (b. 1994, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) is a community-engaged multidisciplinary artist. Due to constant migration and nomadic ethnic lineage, they were subject to socio-economic and political consequences, such as isolation and surveillance. As a result, their work is an inquiry of human-made designs; encompassing architecture, infrastructure, objects, materials, policy and law that facilitate cultural, political, and socio-economic activity. Noor uses art and design as a collaborative process to cultivate community, reconnect with people, land, and global indigenous value system(s). They have seven years of experience as an artistic producer (project managing the production and exhibition of art), and four years of teaching in the field of art administration. They live in Toronto, Canada, and work internationally.
Noor holds an M.F.A. in Community Arts and a Certificate in Art Education specializing in higher education from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Additionally, they possess a Certificate in Digital Art from Ontario College of Art & Design University (OCADU) and a B.A. in Community Development from University of Toronto. Noor’s practice as an emerging artist has gained recognition from local organizations like Scarborough Arts to national institutions such as the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Noor's projects have received support from notable entities such as the Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, FACTOR Canada, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. Their work has been presented at Nuit Blanche (Toronto), AWAKENINGS at Toronto History Museums, MUTEK (Montreal), and more.
Jalen Williams
north charleston, South Carolina
Jalen J. Williams is a photographer/video artist based in Charleston, SC. He received his B.F.A in Studio Art (Photography) from Coker University and is currently pursuing his Master's degree in the Photography + Media & Society program at the Maryland Institute College of Art.
"The visual image is important to the narratives we create about ourselves and our environment, and photography is the most fulfilling way for me to explore these concepts, allowing me to create and re-create conceptual situations people can relate to visually, bridging cultural and individual boundaries in an attempt to reach a sense of familiarity."
Pallavi Singh
New Delhi, India
Pallavi Singh (b. 1988) is an artist from New Delhi, India, known for challenging social norms and gender stereotypes through her art. Holding a Master's in Fine Art from the College of Art, Delhi, Singh has showcased her work both nationally and internationally.
Singh's artistic journey is adorned with prestigious awards, including residencies at The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, USA (2015), the Vermont Studio Centre, USA (2019), and being a finalist in the 10th Sovereign Asian Art Prize ’13-’14. Recently, she received the Space 118 Fine Art Grant 2022-2023 (India).
Her artistic exploration spans various mediums, delving into themes such as sexuality, desire, grooming, corporate culture, and cultural inheritance. Singh's art challenges conventional roles and societal norms, drawing inspiration from personal experiences and observations.
Central to Singh's exploration is the evolution of masculinity in Indian urban landscapes, where she blends elements of modern mass media with Indian mythology. In her paintings, Singh intentionally showcases male bodies in their raw authenticity, disrupting the notion that beauty is exclusively reserved for the female form. Through this deliberate approach, she aims to subvert the historical dominance of the male gaze in artistic narratives, sparking a visual dialogue that reimagines identity and embraces flexibility in perceptions of gender.
Drawing from everyday life, Singh's art invites introspection and contemplation. Her figures navigate between intimate and performative spaces, adorned with motifs and symbols that transcend rigid traditional definitions of gender. Through dynamic exploration, she crafts a visual language that celebrates the multifaceted essence of humanity, urging viewers to immerse themselves in the narratives she presents.
In this artistic dialogue, Singh extends an invitation to move beyond the frame, celebrate diversity, and embrace the boundless ways through which human essence finds expression. Singh is currently represented by Art Heritage Gallery in Delhi, India.
kelli rae adams utilizes clay in various states of permanency—often alongside additional materials—to create installation-based works that examine prevailing economic systems and probe our existing relationships to labor, currency and value. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally at venues including MASS MoCA (North Adams, MA), the Corcoran School of the Arts & Design (Washington, DC), the David Winton Bell Gallery at Brown University (Providence, RI) and the Museum of International Ceramic Art (Denmark). She has been a fellow at the Halcyon Arts Lab (Washington, DC) and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (Amherst, VA) and artist-in-residence at Anderson Ranch Arts Center (Snowmass Village, CO), Santa Fe Art Institute (Santa Fe, NM), the Studios at MASS MoCA (North Adams, MA) and Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center (Denmark), among others. In 2019, she served as Arts Envoy to Honduras for the US Department of State, lecturing & teaching in Tegucigalpa and jurying the XVIII Central American Sculpture and Ceramics Biennial. Most recently, she was a Fields of the Future Research Fellow at the Bard Graduate Center in Manhattan.
Her study of ceramics began in Japan, where she apprenticed over a period of five years with Tetsuro Hatabe, a master potter in the Karatsu tradition. kelli holds an MFA in Ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design and a BA in Visual Arts and Spanish from Duke University.