WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.465 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:00:03.465 --> 00:00:10.900 align:middle line:90% 00:00:10.900 --> 00:00:11.660 align:middle line:90% Welcome. 00:00:11.660 --> 00:00:14.050 align:middle line:84% Thank you all for joining us for today's program 00:00:14.050 --> 00:00:16.360 align:middle line:84% featuring Claudia Alvarez presented 00:00:16.360 --> 00:00:18.970 align:middle line:84% as part of the Wignall museum's Home Edition. 00:00:18.970 --> 00:00:21.740 align:middle line:84% Home Edition is a series of curated artists talks, 00:00:21.740 --> 00:00:23.620 align:middle line:84% workshops, and discussions featuring 00:00:23.620 --> 00:00:25.700 align:middle line:90% artists and cultural workers. 00:00:25.700 --> 00:00:26.830 align:middle line:90% My name is Rebecca Trawick. 00:00:26.830 --> 00:00:29.960 align:middle line:84% I'm the director and curator of the Wignall Museum. 00:00:29.960 --> 00:00:32.140 align:middle line:84% The Wignall Museum is a teaching museum 00:00:32.140 --> 00:00:35.620 align:middle line:84% and interdisciplinary art space that introduces 性视界 00:00:35.620 --> 00:00:39.190 align:middle line:84% students, faculty, staff, and community members, 00:00:39.190 --> 00:00:42.520 align:middle line:84% to innovative, contemporary art objects and ideas. 00:00:42.520 --> 00:00:46.210 align:middle line:84% By fostering critical thinking, visual literacy, discourse, 00:00:46.210 --> 00:00:47.470 align:middle line:90% and empathy. 00:00:47.470 --> 00:00:50.650 align:middle line:84% The museum seeks to enhance the intellectual and cultural life 00:00:50.650 --> 00:00:52.780 align:middle line:90% of our community. 00:00:52.780 --> 00:00:55.800 align:middle line:84% We want to take a moment to recognize that we are situated 00:00:55.800 --> 00:00:59.070 align:middle line:84% on the Rancho Cucamonga campus of 性视界, which 00:00:59.070 --> 00:01:02.070 align:middle line:84% resides on the traditional and unceded lands of the Tongva 00:01:02.070 --> 00:01:03.300 align:middle line:90% people. 00:01:03.300 --> 00:01:06.240 align:middle line:84% We offer our recognition and respect to the elders 00:01:06.240 --> 00:01:09.090 align:middle line:90% both past, present, and future. 00:01:09.090 --> 00:01:11.850 align:middle line:84% And hello, my name is Roman Stollenwerk. 00:01:11.850 --> 00:01:13.350 align:middle line:84% I'm assistant curator at the Wignall 00:01:13.350 --> 00:01:15.480 align:middle line:90% Museum of Contemporary Art. 00:01:15.480 --> 00:01:20.220 align:middle line:84% Visit us at www.性视界.edu/Wignall 00:01:20.220 --> 00:01:22.860 align:middle line:84% to access our full schedule of programs and available 00:01:22.860 --> 00:01:23.970 align:middle line:90% recordings. 00:01:23.970 --> 00:01:25.690 align:middle line:84% You can follow us on social media, 00:01:25.690 --> 00:01:29.760 align:middle line:84% including Facebook and Instagram @WignallMuseum. 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:32.458 align:middle line:84% When possible, recordings are made available on our website 00:01:32.458 --> 00:01:34.500 align:middle line:84% announcements are posted to our email subscribers 00:01:34.500 --> 00:01:37.710 align:middle line:84% and social media when new videos are available. 00:01:37.710 --> 00:01:40.410 align:middle line:84% All recordings on our site include captions and audio 00:01:40.410 --> 00:01:42.510 align:middle line:90% descriptions as options. 00:01:42.510 --> 00:01:45.150 align:middle line:84% We ask that you complete a brief survey after the session 00:01:45.150 --> 00:01:50.570 align:middle line:84% at tinyurl.com/wign allspring21visitorsurvey. 00:01:50.570 --> 00:01:51.940 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:01:51.940 --> 00:01:53.060 align:middle line:90% And hi, everyone. 00:01:53.060 --> 00:01:54.670 align:middle line:90% My name is Andy Hadle. 00:01:54.670 --> 00:01:56.830 align:middle line:84% I'm the preparator at the museum. 00:01:56.830 --> 00:01:59.050 align:middle line:84% I'll be assisting Rebecca and Roman 00:01:59.050 --> 00:02:01.000 align:middle line:90% with today's Zoom session. 00:02:01.000 --> 00:02:03.910 align:middle line:84% In a moment, Claudia Alvarez will present for about a half 00:02:03.910 --> 00:02:08.139 align:middle line:84% an hour or so with the remaining time being available for Q&A. 00:02:08.139 --> 00:02:09.669 align:middle line:90% Thanks Roman and Andy. 00:02:09.669 --> 00:02:13.120 align:middle line:84% So today, we're thrilled to introduce Claudia Alvarez. 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:15.490 align:middle line:84% Claudia Alvarez is a Mexican-American artist 00:02:15.490 --> 00:02:16.930 align:middle line:90% living in New York City. 00:02:16.930 --> 00:02:20.020 align:middle line:84% She received her BA from the University of California Davis 00:02:20.020 --> 00:02:21.580 align:middle line:90% in 1999. 00:02:21.580 --> 00:02:23.500 align:middle line:84% And her MFA from California College 00:02:23.500 --> 00:02:26.740 align:middle line:90% of Art San Francisco in 2003. 00:02:26.740 --> 00:02:29.710 align:middle line:84% Alvarez is currently a visiting artist assistant professor 00:02:29.710 --> 00:02:33.220 align:middle line:84% at Pratt Institute and lecturer at New York University. 00:02:33.220 --> 00:02:36.550 align:middle line:84% Alvarez explores notions of memory, immigration, 00:02:36.550 --> 00:02:38.670 align:middle line:90% and identity in her work. 00:02:38.670 --> 00:02:40.950 align:middle line:84% For drawing, painting, sculpture, and sight 00:02:40.950 --> 00:02:43.530 align:middle line:84% responsive installation, she investigates 00:02:43.530 --> 00:02:46.500 align:middle line:84% fundamental questions about human behavior, ethics, 00:02:46.500 --> 00:02:48.330 align:middle line:90% and power struggles. 00:02:48.330 --> 00:02:50.620 align:middle line:84% Her work addresses the way social, political, 00:02:50.620 --> 00:02:53.310 align:middle line:84% and psychological structures impact our behavior 00:02:53.310 --> 00:02:55.550 align:middle line:90% and personal interactions. 00:02:55.550 --> 00:02:57.360 align:middle line:84% By imbuing sculptures of children 00:02:57.360 --> 00:02:59.970 align:middle line:84% with adult characteristics and mannerisms, 00:02:59.970 --> 00:03:03.900 align:middle line:84% Alvarez tackles issues relating to violence, empowerment, 00:03:03.900 --> 00:03:08.100 align:middle line:84% endurance, and what they reveal about human nature. 00:03:08.100 --> 00:03:09.810 align:middle line:84% Alvarez's work has been exhibited 00:03:09.810 --> 00:03:14.700 align:middle line:84% in the United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico, and Japan. 00:03:14.700 --> 00:03:16.620 align:middle line:84% Alvarez has received multiple grants 00:03:16.620 --> 00:03:19.560 align:middle line:84% and has participated in residencies across the US, 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:22.075 align:middle line:90% Mexico, Japan, and Switzerland. 00:03:22.075 --> 00:03:24.450 align:middle line:84% And her work has been included in a number of collections 00:03:24.450 --> 00:03:28.450 align:middle line:84% at major institutions across the US and Mexico. 00:03:28.450 --> 00:03:31.440 align:middle line:84% Please visit our website for more information about Alvares 00:03:31.440 --> 00:03:33.000 align:middle line:90% or visit her site directly. 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:35.670 align:middle line:84% We'll put that link in the chat in a moment. 00:03:35.670 --> 00:03:38.760 align:middle line:84% And we're so happy to see Claudia again. 00:03:38.760 --> 00:03:41.400 align:middle line:84% I think it was in 2010 she participated 00:03:41.400 --> 00:03:44.910 align:middle line:84% in a large group exhibition titled Separation Anxiety 00:03:44.910 --> 00:03:46.120 align:middle line:90% at the Wignall Museum. 00:03:46.120 --> 00:03:48.390 align:middle line:84% So we're thrilled to have her back. 00:03:48.390 --> 00:03:50.640 align:middle line:84% So please join me in giving Claudia Alvarez 00:03:50.640 --> 00:03:52.530 align:middle line:90% a warm virtual welcome. 00:03:52.530 --> 00:03:53.370 align:middle line:90% Hi, Claudia. 00:03:53.370 --> 00:03:55.100 align:middle line:90% Hi, everyone. 00:03:55.100 --> 00:03:56.110 align:middle line:90% Thank you, Rebecca. 00:03:56.110 --> 00:03:59.340 align:middle line:84% Thank you so much for inviting me and everyone at the Wignall 00:03:59.340 --> 00:04:02.340 align:middle line:84% Museum who is involved in the Home Edition series. 00:04:02.340 --> 00:04:04.800 align:middle line:84% Thank you Roman and Andy for being here 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:09.390 align:middle line:84% and participating in what we're going to be showing today. 00:04:09.390 --> 00:04:12.720 align:middle line:84% I would like to share my slideshow of images. 00:04:12.720 --> 00:04:13.950 align:middle line:90% It goes on a loop. 00:04:13.950 --> 00:04:17.850 align:middle line:84% And there are images that are mixed in my painting 00:04:17.850 --> 00:04:20.490 align:middle line:84% and sculpture and also my community projects, 00:04:20.490 --> 00:04:22.170 align:middle line:90% residencies, and teaching. 00:04:22.170 --> 00:04:24.880 align:middle line:84% They are all kind of intertwined together. 00:04:24.880 --> 00:04:27.300 align:middle line:84% And I wanted to show you just how 00:04:27.300 --> 00:04:29.730 align:middle line:84% everything's interconnected in my life 00:04:29.730 --> 00:04:31.770 align:middle line:90% and what I've been doing. 00:04:31.770 --> 00:04:34.530 align:middle line:84% So over the past 20 years, they have 00:04:34.530 --> 00:04:39.080 align:middle line:84% influenced each other and the trajectory of my development. 00:04:39.080 --> 00:04:41.600 align:middle line:84% During the pandemic, I spent long periods of time 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:44.450 align:middle line:84% absent from my ceramics studio in Brooklyn 00:04:44.450 --> 00:04:46.020 align:middle line:84% when the lockdown first happened. 00:04:46.020 --> 00:04:49.100 align:middle line:84% I avoided the subway and most of the work that I was doing 00:04:49.100 --> 00:04:52.010 align:middle line:84% was from home in my home studio here in Manhattan. 00:04:52.010 --> 00:04:56.800 align:middle line:84% I was mainly working with large watercolors and drawings. 00:04:56.800 --> 00:04:58.540 align:middle line:84% So for the past few years, I've been 00:04:58.540 --> 00:05:01.820 align:middle line:84% exploring botanicals native to Latin America, 00:05:01.820 --> 00:05:04.810 align:middle line:84% specifically from Mexico and from the Central 00:05:04.810 --> 00:05:07.270 align:middle line:84% Valley of California, where my family settled 00:05:07.270 --> 00:05:09.340 align:middle line:90% in the early 1970s. 00:05:09.340 --> 00:05:11.290 align:middle line:84% I grew up around my family's garden 00:05:11.290 --> 00:05:13.900 align:middle line:90% consisting of plants and trees. 00:05:13.900 --> 00:05:16.120 align:middle line:84% My mother is in her late 80s and she still 00:05:16.120 --> 00:05:19.720 align:middle line:84% sells plants, fruit trees, every kind of plant, 00:05:19.720 --> 00:05:21.980 align:middle line:84% and she still lives in California. 00:05:21.980 --> 00:05:24.790 align:middle line:84% Her house has always been bursting with flowers 00:05:24.790 --> 00:05:26.800 align:middle line:90% and many kinds of plants. 00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:29.900 align:middle line:84% In the backyard, I played with the mud. 00:05:29.900 --> 00:05:33.520 align:middle line:84% I worked in her garden and I even boxed-- 00:05:33.520 --> 00:05:38.560 align:middle line:84% had boxing matches as a kid around the field with flowers. 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:42.400 align:middle line:84% So here I am boxing and kind of beating up the local kids 00:05:42.400 --> 00:05:45.170 align:middle line:90% and all around flowers. 00:05:45.170 --> 00:05:46.850 align:middle line:84% So the past few years, I have been 00:05:46.850 --> 00:05:50.260 align:middle line:84% making sculptures referencing botanical plants mainly 00:05:50.260 --> 00:05:53.320 align:middle line:84% using porcelain, paper clay, and stoneware clay. 00:05:53.320 --> 00:05:56.590 align:middle line:84% It has allowed me to explore a range of new images 00:05:56.590 --> 00:05:58.450 align:middle line:90% and sculptural forms. 00:05:58.450 --> 00:06:01.960 align:middle line:84% I don't have any images of that, I'm still developing it. 00:06:01.960 --> 00:06:03.610 align:middle line:84% But I, hopefully, will eventually 00:06:03.610 --> 00:06:05.300 align:middle line:90% finish that work in a few years. 00:06:05.300 --> 00:06:07.150 align:middle line:90% Hopefully, we'll see. 00:06:07.150 --> 00:06:09.070 align:middle line:84% So during the Black Lives Matter march 00:06:09.070 --> 00:06:11.260 align:middle line:84% they were happening right outside my window. 00:06:11.260 --> 00:06:13.420 align:middle line:90% I live in Manhattan and in Soho. 00:06:13.420 --> 00:06:15.970 align:middle line:84% And I'm one block away from where the marches 00:06:15.970 --> 00:06:18.130 align:middle line:90% were happening daily. 00:06:18.130 --> 00:06:20.530 align:middle line:84% So with the stay at home restrictions this past summer, 00:06:20.530 --> 00:06:23.910 align:middle line:84% I began thinking about the unicorn in captivity. 00:06:23.910 --> 00:06:28.600 align:middle line:84% The tapestry at The Met Cloisters in New York. 00:06:28.600 --> 00:06:31.780 align:middle line:84% I wanted to make them and recreate them. 00:06:31.780 --> 00:06:33.660 align:middle line:84% So instead of making a white unicorn, 00:06:33.660 --> 00:06:37.050 align:middle line:84% I made the unicorn from a black brown perspective. 00:06:37.050 --> 00:06:39.510 align:middle line:84% And what that means today, as an immigrant, 00:06:39.510 --> 00:06:45.000 align:middle line:84% I'm interested in how identity works and how we are seen. 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:47.880 align:middle line:84% In the work, I specifically depicted botanicals 00:06:47.880 --> 00:06:49.650 align:middle line:90% native to African countries. 00:06:49.650 --> 00:06:52.500 align:middle line:84% Exploring botanicals to the black brown unicorn 00:06:52.500 --> 00:06:55.200 align:middle line:84% allowed me to think about immigration 00:06:55.200 --> 00:06:58.290 align:middle line:84% and the connections of idea about identity, memory, 00:06:58.290 --> 00:06:59.550 align:middle line:90% and portraiture. 00:06:59.550 --> 00:07:02.040 align:middle line:84% I think about our history and our ideas 00:07:02.040 --> 00:07:04.230 align:middle line:90% related to the conquest. 00:07:04.230 --> 00:07:06.720 align:middle line:84% The idea of taking resources from a country 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:09.390 align:middle line:84% and the use of labor or of people as property 00:07:09.390 --> 00:07:11.900 align:middle line:90% and ownership of land. 00:07:11.900 --> 00:07:14.900 align:middle line:84% While looking at plants, I was interested in England's 00:07:14.900 --> 00:07:19.430 align:middle line:84% documentation from the explorers from the 1970s exceeding 00:07:19.430 --> 00:07:23.000 align:middle line:84% the 1700s, who discovered botanicals across America 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:24.620 align:middle line:90% and renamed them. 00:07:24.620 --> 00:07:26.600 align:middle line:84% Most of the watercolors you're looking at 00:07:26.600 --> 00:07:30.700 align:middle line:84% are taken from flowers and images from my mother's garden. 00:07:30.700 --> 00:07:33.970 align:middle line:84% So I'd like to begin with a brief description of my art 00:07:33.970 --> 00:07:37.510 align:middle line:84% practice and how I arrived at making this kind of work. 00:07:37.510 --> 00:07:39.760 align:middle line:84% So my work, as Rebecca mentioned, 00:07:39.760 --> 00:07:41.860 align:middle line:84% engages in subjects such as immigration, 00:07:41.860 --> 00:07:45.100 align:middle line:84% violence isolation youth, and aging. 00:07:45.100 --> 00:07:48.670 align:middle line:84% I am most interested in ethics and its function to critique. 00:07:48.670 --> 00:07:50.410 align:middle line:84% It allows me to ask different kinds 00:07:50.410 --> 00:07:53.660 align:middle line:84% of questions about people's ideas between right and wrong. 00:07:53.660 --> 00:07:55.960 align:middle line:84% It allows me to think about political structures, 00:07:55.960 --> 00:07:59.440 align:middle line:84% human behavior, human nature, rooted 00:07:59.440 --> 00:08:03.460 align:middle line:84% in deeper personal observations of race, culture, identity, 00:08:03.460 --> 00:08:05.590 align:middle line:90% economics, and language. 00:08:05.590 --> 00:08:09.130 align:middle line:84% I'm interested in the primal impulses and the immediacy 00:08:09.130 --> 00:08:11.770 align:middle line:90% of clay and also in drawing. 00:08:11.770 --> 00:08:14.890 align:middle line:84% They somehow lead me to these topics. 00:08:14.890 --> 00:08:17.930 align:middle line:84% In many of the installations, there are ceramic figures. 00:08:17.930 --> 00:08:21.220 align:middle line:84% Some are painted or glazed, others are just fired. 00:08:21.220 --> 00:08:25.420 align:middle line:84% At times they're in groupings often to create a Tableau. 00:08:25.420 --> 00:08:29.440 align:middle line:84% I think about the creating an environment or an emotion 00:08:29.440 --> 00:08:32.919 align:middle line:84% at times responding to the surrounding space. 00:08:32.919 --> 00:08:35.919 align:middle line:84% Nearly all of the figures have the vesic of children yet 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:38.500 align:middle line:90% many display behavior of adults. 00:08:38.500 --> 00:08:41.440 align:middle line:84% I explore the same or similar kinds of imagery 00:08:41.440 --> 00:08:44.530 align:middle line:84% in painting and more recently in video. 00:08:44.530 --> 00:08:47.500 align:middle line:84% Most of my work is somehow connected to the people I know 00:08:47.500 --> 00:08:49.420 align:middle line:84% and people that I work with in communities 00:08:49.420 --> 00:08:51.030 align:middle line:90% that I have engaged in. 00:08:51.030 --> 00:08:53.230 align:middle line:84% In their stories, I found connections 00:08:53.230 --> 00:08:56.290 align:middle line:84% to social issues ranging from immigration, 00:08:56.290 --> 00:08:59.890 align:middle line:84% racial intolerance, and concepts stemming from fear, hate, 00:08:59.890 --> 00:09:01.480 align:middle line:90% to violence. 00:09:01.480 --> 00:09:04.270 align:middle line:84% Many of my work is based on my own experiences 00:09:04.270 --> 00:09:06.040 align:middle line:90% and also of my family. 00:09:06.040 --> 00:09:09.190 align:middle line:84% And sometimes they are intertwined. 00:09:09.190 --> 00:09:11.960 align:middle line:84% The foundation of my work stems from memory, 00:09:11.960 --> 00:09:14.590 align:middle line:84% how we remember our past, reflect upon it, 00:09:14.590 --> 00:09:16.630 align:middle line:84% and we contextualize it through the process 00:09:16.630 --> 00:09:18.380 align:middle line:90% of art is interesting. 00:09:18.380 --> 00:09:20.140 align:middle line:84% I also think about memory as a way 00:09:20.140 --> 00:09:23.170 align:middle line:84% to draw what I remember of that object to be 00:09:23.170 --> 00:09:25.660 align:middle line:90% or the character of someone. 00:09:25.660 --> 00:09:29.440 align:middle line:84% When I work with clay, I don't work from a model or an image, 00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:34.100 align:middle line:84% I focus on the building process and how the sculpture emerges. 00:09:34.100 --> 00:09:36.110 align:middle line:84% I'm interested in notions about the body 00:09:36.110 --> 00:09:40.370 align:middle line:84% through imagination, experience, and reference to observation, 00:09:40.370 --> 00:09:43.330 align:middle line:90% physically and psychologically. 00:09:43.330 --> 00:09:47.050 align:middle line:84% I was born in Mexico and legally immigrated to the United States 00:09:47.050 --> 00:09:50.020 align:middle line:84% in 1972 when I was three years old. 00:09:50.020 --> 00:09:53.460 align:middle line:84% We became American citizens in the 1980s. 00:09:53.460 --> 00:09:56.010 align:middle line:84% I became more aware of my identity speaking 00:09:56.010 --> 00:10:00.120 align:middle line:84% Spanish at home and English at school around second grade 00:10:00.120 --> 00:10:02.250 align:middle line:84% when a few boys playing at the playground 00:10:02.250 --> 00:10:04.980 align:middle line:84% shot at me and my brother with a BB gun. 00:10:04.980 --> 00:10:08.570 align:middle line:84% As I ran, I was shot from behind. 00:10:08.570 --> 00:10:11.000 align:middle line:84% I'm interested in how we remember certain things 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:13.790 align:middle line:84% and how it shapes our identity, reimagining 00:10:13.790 --> 00:10:16.220 align:middle line:84% what is experienced, what is observed, 00:10:16.220 --> 00:10:18.830 align:middle line:84% and how cultural practices evolve and change 00:10:18.830 --> 00:10:21.740 align:middle line:84% our perspective is curious in the development 00:10:21.740 --> 00:10:23.570 align:middle line:90% of how images appear. 00:10:23.570 --> 00:10:26.870 align:middle line:84% i remember how abstract it was to attend the Mexican rodeo 00:10:26.870 --> 00:10:29.450 align:middle line:84% as a child in California and experience 00:10:29.450 --> 00:10:33.680 align:middle line:84% the traditional charro costume dresses and the horses. 00:10:33.680 --> 00:10:36.950 align:middle line:84% My sister used to perform at the rodeo with her rope 00:10:36.950 --> 00:10:39.950 align:middle line:84% and my mother used to make costumes for her. 00:10:39.950 --> 00:10:42.200 align:middle line:90% To me she was a Mexican cowgirl. 00:10:42.200 --> 00:10:45.650 align:middle line:84% And I was really aware of the two cultures. 00:10:45.650 --> 00:10:50.090 align:middle line:84% This merging, this acculturation balancing of both cultures 00:10:50.090 --> 00:10:52.760 align:middle line:90% and adapting to being American. 00:10:52.760 --> 00:10:56.150 align:middle line:84% An idea may stem from a personal thought or experience, 00:10:56.150 --> 00:11:00.420 align:middle line:84% and is initially a single drawing or a painting. 00:11:00.420 --> 00:11:03.620 align:middle line:84% It is a starting point to enter into a body of work 00:11:03.620 --> 00:11:07.070 align:middle line:84% to explore variations on that theme allowing 00:11:07.070 --> 00:11:11.660 align:middle line:84% a body to transition into possibly making work 00:11:11.660 --> 00:11:13.970 align:middle line:90% that I did not plan on making. 00:11:13.970 --> 00:11:16.370 align:middle line:84% I work between materials at the same time 00:11:16.370 --> 00:11:20.000 align:middle line:84% on disparate ideas in search for transformational quality 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:21.140 align:middle line:90% in the work. 00:11:21.140 --> 00:11:24.380 align:middle line:84% Taking the intimate or personal, to potentially find 00:11:24.380 --> 00:11:28.490 align:middle line:84% universal connections between merging the meaning material 00:11:28.490 --> 00:11:31.840 align:middle line:90% content intention and evolution. 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:34.030 align:middle line:84% I am interested in the process of how 00:11:34.030 --> 00:11:36.430 align:middle line:84% ideas are re-contextualized, and at 00:11:36.430 --> 00:11:39.970 align:middle line:84% times have social or cultural implications in how 00:11:39.970 --> 00:11:42.880 align:middle line:84% we think about our collective experience. 00:11:42.880 --> 00:11:45.640 align:middle line:84% Over the years, I sometimes revisit a concept 00:11:45.640 --> 00:11:49.720 align:middle line:84% with a different iteration on a theme with titles 00:11:49.720 --> 00:11:52.180 align:middle line:84% such as the dirt cleaners that you see 00:11:52.180 --> 00:11:55.480 align:middle line:84% and the history of immigration to explore those ideas 00:11:55.480 --> 00:11:58.540 align:middle line:90% in new materials. 00:11:58.540 --> 00:12:00.760 align:middle line:84% In the studio, I ask how the construction 00:12:00.760 --> 00:12:03.580 align:middle line:84% of the self through a fragmented memory 00:12:03.580 --> 00:12:05.920 align:middle line:84% have the potential to evolve in the changing 00:12:05.920 --> 00:12:08.740 align:middle line:84% nature of the consciousness from youth 00:12:08.740 --> 00:12:11.710 align:middle line:90% to old aging, youth to aging. 00:12:11.710 --> 00:12:14.830 align:middle line:84% I explore how they can coexist in the same space 00:12:14.830 --> 00:12:17.330 align:middle line:90% visually or emotionally. 00:12:17.330 --> 00:12:20.450 align:middle line:84% I often think about human nature and power structures. 00:12:20.450 --> 00:12:25.000 align:middle line:84% There are many kinds of power, political, economic, cultural, 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:28.510 align:middle line:84% physical, and even power relating to health. 00:12:28.510 --> 00:12:31.780 align:middle line:84% Some of the child imagery comes from the 12 and 1/2 years 00:12:31.780 --> 00:12:34.200 align:middle line:90% I worked at a hospital. 00:12:34.200 --> 00:12:38.250 align:middle line:84% From the age of 17, I was hired at the University of California 00:12:38.250 --> 00:12:39.420 align:middle line:90% Davis Medical Center. 00:12:39.420 --> 00:12:43.110 align:middle line:84% First as a patient escort, then as a Med transit driver, 00:12:43.110 --> 00:12:46.080 align:middle line:84% driving terminally ill patients from their bed 00:12:46.080 --> 00:12:49.600 align:middle line:84% in the hospital to the treatment centers throughout the campus. 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:53.640 align:middle line:84% We also served the Shriners Hospital next door. 00:12:53.640 --> 00:12:55.350 align:middle line:84% I worked there until I was accepted 00:12:55.350 --> 00:13:00.450 align:middle line:84% into graduate school for fine art when I was 30 years old. 00:13:00.450 --> 00:13:04.350 align:middle line:84% During this time, I was an undergraduate at UC Davis. 00:13:04.350 --> 00:13:08.250 align:middle line:84% I was making ceramic water jugs and distorted hearts and lungs. 00:13:08.250 --> 00:13:11.070 align:middle line:84% I also made them with pastel drawings. 00:13:11.070 --> 00:13:13.710 align:middle line:84% My professor at the time was Annabeth Rosen. 00:13:13.710 --> 00:13:15.090 align:middle line:84% And one of my painting professors 00:13:15.090 --> 00:13:19.020 align:middle line:84% is Wayne Thibeault. My memories of working with children 00:13:19.020 --> 00:13:21.180 align:middle line:84% at the Shriners Hospital and working 00:13:21.180 --> 00:13:23.220 align:middle line:84% with the elderly and the critically ill 00:13:23.220 --> 00:13:25.740 align:middle line:84% at the Medical Center, influence the kind of work 00:13:25.740 --> 00:13:27.890 align:middle line:90% that I would eventually create. 00:13:27.890 --> 00:13:30.590 align:middle line:84% Combining child imagery with older characteristics 00:13:30.590 --> 00:13:34.100 align:middle line:84% allowed me to address both human vulnerability and strength 00:13:34.100 --> 00:13:36.710 align:middle line:90% simultaneously. 00:13:36.710 --> 00:13:39.980 align:middle line:84% The children I worked with appeared mature , experienced, 00:13:39.980 --> 00:13:41.570 align:middle line:90% wise. 00:13:41.570 --> 00:13:43.490 align:middle line:84% The old patients were like children. 00:13:43.490 --> 00:13:47.000 align:middle line:84% They were filled with fear and looked very vulnerable. 00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:51.560 align:middle line:84% The children were brave, strong, and somehow overcame illnesses. 00:13:51.560 --> 00:13:55.370 align:middle line:84% The adults were afraid, bitter, at times with themselves 00:13:55.370 --> 00:13:57.790 align:middle line:90% and with their children. 00:13:57.790 --> 00:14:02.360 align:middle line:84% I was also careful when I carried my patients. 00:14:02.360 --> 00:14:06.640 align:middle line:84% I had a two-year-old little boy with the pale translucent skin 00:14:06.640 --> 00:14:09.520 align:middle line:84% with an enlarged belly on my gurney. 00:14:09.520 --> 00:14:12.430 align:middle line:84% Working from memory and clay, the small body 00:14:12.430 --> 00:14:16.300 align:middle line:84% appeared as a little vessel or water jug with age marks 00:14:16.300 --> 00:14:20.260 align:middle line:84% on the surface of the clay reminiscent of an old soul. 00:14:20.260 --> 00:14:22.840 align:middle line:84% Reminding me of my first clay vessels, 00:14:22.840 --> 00:14:25.870 align:middle line:84% some appear to look like human organs. 00:14:25.870 --> 00:14:28.390 align:middle line:84% I saw patients expressing great joy 00:14:28.390 --> 00:14:31.540 align:middle line:84% when their child laughed and experience great sorrow when 00:14:31.540 --> 00:14:33.010 align:middle line:90% their child was in pain. 00:14:33.010 --> 00:14:37.570 align:middle line:84% The two extreme emotions are so complicated and layered. 00:14:37.570 --> 00:14:40.270 align:middle line:84% In my work, I focus on the subtlest gesture 00:14:40.270 --> 00:14:43.180 align:middle line:84% in the simplest case and how the two emotions can 00:14:43.180 --> 00:14:46.120 align:middle line:90% coexist in the simplest way. 00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:47.890 align:middle line:84% For me, that time was really powerful 00:14:47.890 --> 00:14:51.580 align:middle line:84% because I was 17, 18, 19, 20 years old. 00:14:51.580 --> 00:14:55.210 align:middle line:84% And to see that and to be a part of that, and to help families 00:14:55.210 --> 00:14:59.580 align:middle line:84% was really incredible and had a big impact. 00:14:59.580 --> 00:15:01.710 align:middle line:90% I want to somehow simplify. 00:15:01.710 --> 00:15:06.690 align:middle line:84% I was not making work specific to a person or about death, 00:15:06.690 --> 00:15:10.830 align:middle line:84% rather a combination of the cultural between me, 00:15:10.830 --> 00:15:15.620 align:middle line:84% my identity, the work, and even history. 00:15:15.620 --> 00:15:17.870 align:middle line:84% It is the child spirit in the adult 00:15:17.870 --> 00:15:21.150 align:middle line:84% that I search for and vise versa. 00:15:21.150 --> 00:15:25.140 align:middle line:84% The child-sized sculpture parallel adult characteristics 00:15:25.140 --> 00:15:26.460 align:middle line:90% and mannerisms. 00:15:26.460 --> 00:15:28.980 align:middle line:84% I'm interested in how their intimate skill reflects 00:15:28.980 --> 00:15:30.840 align:middle line:90% and occupies our space. 00:15:30.840 --> 00:15:34.200 align:middle line:84% Their small body frame for me, function and surrogates 00:15:34.200 --> 00:15:37.320 align:middle line:84% to embody psychological and sociological structures 00:15:37.320 --> 00:15:39.330 align:middle line:90% of human behavior. 00:15:39.330 --> 00:15:41.340 align:middle line:84% Within the frame, every small body 00:15:41.340 --> 00:15:43.230 align:middle line:84% appears a person at different stages 00:15:43.230 --> 00:15:44.820 align:middle line:90% of aging and development. 00:15:44.820 --> 00:15:48.300 align:middle line:84% From innocence through puberty to adolescent behavior 00:15:48.300 --> 00:15:50.310 align:middle line:84% and through the process of aging, 00:15:50.310 --> 00:15:52.800 align:middle line:84% I try to grasp a deeper understanding 00:15:52.800 --> 00:15:55.330 align:middle line:90% of the human condition. 00:15:55.330 --> 00:15:58.720 align:middle line:84% I'm reminded of the last great major paintings depicting 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:02.570 align:middle line:84% a small adult body in a modest sized frame. 00:16:02.570 --> 00:16:05.350 align:middle line:84% Their faces are so human and so humble, 00:16:05.350 --> 00:16:09.130 align:middle line:84% yet the paintings feel and seem to embody grandness 00:16:09.130 --> 00:16:11.200 align:middle line:90% and intensity. 00:16:11.200 --> 00:16:14.110 align:middle line:84% I worked with patients of all ages and illnesses , 00:16:14.110 --> 00:16:17.920 align:middle line:84% from renal dialysis patients, cancer, burn patients, 00:16:17.920 --> 00:16:21.370 align:middle line:90% and people with rare cases. 00:16:21.370 --> 00:16:25.050 align:middle line:84% The elderly, the children were in the most vulnerable 00:16:25.050 --> 00:16:27.990 align:middle line:84% like the homeless and people who didn't speak 00:16:27.990 --> 00:16:30.970 align:middle line:90% English affected me the most. 00:16:30.970 --> 00:16:33.010 align:middle line:84% Because the child-sized sculptures 00:16:33.010 --> 00:16:35.770 align:middle line:84% look like children with aged faces, 00:16:35.770 --> 00:16:39.640 align:middle line:84% I began to look at child culture and the inquisitive child's 00:16:39.640 --> 00:16:42.400 align:middle line:84% mind as they ask unfiltered questions that 00:16:42.400 --> 00:16:45.760 align:middle line:84% parallel the ultimate nature of our questioning 00:16:45.760 --> 00:16:49.550 align:middle line:90% notions of social structures. 00:16:49.550 --> 00:16:53.240 align:middle line:84% The work depicting violence came about when I was reflecting 00:16:53.240 --> 00:16:55.160 align:middle line:90% on the notions of childhood. 00:16:55.160 --> 00:17:00.260 align:middle line:84% It led me to investigate American cartoon culture 00:17:00.260 --> 00:17:02.510 align:middle line:90% and our exposure to violence. 00:17:02.510 --> 00:17:05.780 align:middle line:84% I went online and typed kids with guns. 00:17:05.780 --> 00:17:08.839 align:middle line:84% I was surprised to see images of kids in America 00:17:08.839 --> 00:17:10.520 align:middle line:90% at the shooting range. 00:17:10.520 --> 00:17:13.520 align:middle line:84% I had imagined I would see children, soldiers, 00:17:13.520 --> 00:17:16.010 align:middle line:90% from third world countries. 00:17:16.010 --> 00:17:21.550 align:middle line:84% This led to a range of questions and imagery over the years. 00:17:21.550 --> 00:17:24.390 align:middle line:84% And in that, I search for universal themes attempting 00:17:24.390 --> 00:17:26.730 align:middle line:84% to attempt to connect similarities 00:17:26.730 --> 00:17:28.230 align:middle line:84% between different kinds of people. 00:17:28.230 --> 00:17:30.870 align:middle line:84% Searching for ideas related to tolerance. 00:17:30.870 --> 00:17:33.300 align:middle line:84% I am curious about people, their compassion, 00:17:33.300 --> 00:17:35.820 align:middle line:90% and how inclusion begins. 00:17:35.820 --> 00:17:38.230 align:middle line:84% The volunteer work I have done throughout the years 00:17:38.230 --> 00:17:41.310 align:middle line:84% initially came about because someone 00:17:41.310 --> 00:17:45.150 align:middle line:84% needed a Spanish speaking person or a commercial driver. 00:17:45.150 --> 00:17:48.930 align:middle line:84% In the beginning, teaching happened naturally. 00:17:48.930 --> 00:17:51.420 align:middle line:84% Instead of just driving or translating, 00:17:51.420 --> 00:17:54.000 align:middle line:90% I wanted to also teach art. 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:57.090 align:middle line:84% At the same time I had a commercial driver's license 00:17:57.090 --> 00:17:59.970 align:middle line:84% to drive an ambulance and a class C vehicle, 00:17:59.970 --> 00:18:02.400 align:middle line:84% which is a commercial vehicle such as a large bus 00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:03.630 align:middle line:90% and a wheelchair vehicle. 00:18:03.630 --> 00:18:07.500 align:middle line:84% And I wound up driving big motor-homes and big buses 00:18:07.500 --> 00:18:08.240 align:middle line:90% as well. 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:10.830 align:middle line:84% I did a lot of moonlighting at the Medical Center too, 00:18:10.830 --> 00:18:14.330 align:middle line:84% driving really large buses, the 40 passenger. 00:18:14.330 --> 00:18:18.200 align:middle line:84% And I was about 19 or 20 and about 100 pounds. 00:18:18.200 --> 00:18:20.660 align:middle line:84% So it was really funny to see this small person 00:18:20.660 --> 00:18:23.510 align:middle line:90% with this huge steering wheel. 00:18:23.510 --> 00:18:26.840 align:middle line:84% In the late 1990s, I drove a group of high school students 00:18:26.840 --> 00:18:30.350 align:middle line:84% who volunteered to work in the community around Mexicali. 00:18:30.350 --> 00:18:32.570 align:middle line:84% I went as a driver and a translator, 00:18:32.570 --> 00:18:34.070 align:middle line:84% and soon realized there was a need 00:18:34.070 --> 00:18:37.700 align:middle line:84% to work with a specific group who had been overlooked. 00:18:37.700 --> 00:18:42.500 align:middle line:84% They were young girls ages 13 to 21 who were single mothers. 00:18:42.500 --> 00:18:44.720 align:middle line:84% I drove with a friend to the border 00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:46.520 align:middle line:84% for our supplies and the next day 00:18:46.520 --> 00:18:49.160 align:middle line:90% we taught a textile workshop. 00:18:49.160 --> 00:18:51.260 align:middle line:84% The focus of the project and discussion, 00:18:51.260 --> 00:18:55.440 align:middle line:84% was around worth and value of women in their communities. 00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:58.670 align:middle line:84% I taught the girls how to create curved angles with cardboard 00:18:58.670 --> 00:19:01.550 align:middle line:84% and to make various containers and how to sew fabric 00:19:01.550 --> 00:19:03.810 align:middle line:90% around a container. 00:19:03.810 --> 00:19:08.790 align:middle line:84% In the late 1990s, around '97 or '99 while in undergraduate 00:19:08.790 --> 00:19:12.870 align:middle line:84% at UC Davis and at the same time taking ceramics classes, 00:19:12.870 --> 00:19:14.730 align:middle line:84% I was working with migrant children 00:19:14.730 --> 00:19:16.140 align:middle line:90% near Woodland California. 00:19:16.140 --> 00:19:20.730 align:middle line:84% Teaching California history and ceramics through a program 00:19:20.730 --> 00:19:22.820 align:middle line:90% called Arts Bridge Program. 00:19:22.820 --> 00:19:26.550 align:middle line:84% I would revisit this area to do a ceramic installation 00:19:26.550 --> 00:19:27.750 align:middle line:90% in the orchards and fields. 00:19:27.750 --> 00:19:30.450 align:middle line:84% And I think the images are there. 00:19:30.450 --> 00:19:34.560 align:middle line:84% I had made work there when I was a visiting artist and teaching 00:19:34.560 --> 00:19:37.740 align:middle line:84% ceramics at UC Davis for a semester. 00:19:37.740 --> 00:19:39.870 align:middle line:84% When I was 13 years old, I had worked 00:19:39.870 --> 00:19:43.570 align:middle line:84% in that area with my girlfriends for the summer. 00:19:43.570 --> 00:19:45.540 align:middle line:84% It reminded me of my first summer 00:19:45.540 --> 00:19:49.590 align:middle line:84% also working as a child picking cherries. 00:19:49.590 --> 00:19:52.660 align:middle line:84% And also during that summer when I was 13, 00:19:52.660 --> 00:19:54.570 align:middle line:84% that we picked in the fields-- that we picked 00:19:54.570 --> 00:19:57.810 align:middle line:90% plums and all kinds of things. 00:19:57.810 --> 00:19:59.960 align:middle line:84% I think about the fields, the grape vines, 00:19:59.960 --> 00:20:02.030 align:middle line:90% the cherry orchards often. 00:20:02.030 --> 00:20:05.310 align:middle line:84% The smell of the dirt in California is like no other. 00:20:05.310 --> 00:20:07.990 align:middle line:84% I have a deep connection with it. 00:20:07.990 --> 00:20:10.930 align:middle line:84% For many years, I did not have a ceramic studio 00:20:10.930 --> 00:20:13.570 align:middle line:84% and relied on residency programs to have access 00:20:13.570 --> 00:20:15.190 align:middle line:90% to ceramic facilities. 00:20:15.190 --> 00:20:17.890 align:middle line:84% At times spending two weeks to a few months making 00:20:17.890 --> 00:20:19.840 align:middle line:90% projects for the year. 00:20:19.840 --> 00:20:23.440 align:middle line:84% I applied to many programs with specific projects in mind. 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:26.800 align:middle line:84% It allowed me to travel to a place and focus on a project. 00:20:26.800 --> 00:20:28.750 align:middle line:84% Some included the Northern Clay Center 00:20:28.750 --> 00:20:31.120 align:middle line:84% in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Bemis Center 00:20:31.120 --> 00:20:33.010 align:middle line:84% for Contemporary Arts in Nebraska, 00:20:33.010 --> 00:20:35.590 align:middle line:84% and the Vytlacil in Nyack, New York. 00:20:35.590 --> 00:20:38.960 align:middle line:84% And others in France and China as well. 00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:41.530 align:middle line:84% And usually, the first few weeks at the residency, 00:20:41.530 --> 00:20:43.060 align:middle line:90% I would work with clay. 00:20:43.060 --> 00:20:44.890 align:middle line:84% And after the sculptures would dry, 00:20:44.890 --> 00:20:47.680 align:middle line:84% I would focus on painting and drawing. 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:51.520 align:middle line:84% My first residency was during my second year of grad school. 00:20:51.520 --> 00:20:55.180 align:middle line:84% I took a year leave of absence to participate in a six month 00:20:55.180 --> 00:20:59.350 align:middle line:84% stay in Switzerland called for tour in the village of Reppas 00:20:59.350 --> 00:21:01.510 align:middle line:90% Ville South of Lake Zurich. 00:21:01.510 --> 00:21:04.630 align:middle line:84% My professor invited one MFA student a year 00:21:04.630 --> 00:21:06.370 align:middle line:90% to apply to the program. 00:21:06.370 --> 00:21:09.730 align:middle line:84% The residency offered a monthly stipend, a furnished apartment, 00:21:09.730 --> 00:21:13.450 align:middle line:84% and a beautiful art studio built in the 1300s that 00:21:13.450 --> 00:21:16.120 align:middle line:84% were the marble floors and glass elevator. 00:21:16.120 --> 00:21:17.420 align:middle line:90% It was really beautiful. 00:21:17.420 --> 00:21:21.670 align:middle line:84% And I worked with paper and plaster and any objects 00:21:21.670 --> 00:21:24.410 align:middle line:90% that I can find at the time. 00:21:24.410 --> 00:21:28.130 align:middle line:84% My second residency was in 2005 at the Bemis Center 00:21:28.130 --> 00:21:30.800 align:middle line:84% for Contemporary arts in Omaha, Nebraska. 00:21:30.800 --> 00:21:33.980 align:middle line:84% When I was an undergraduate in 1997 at Davis, 00:21:33.980 --> 00:21:36.290 align:middle line:84% my ceramic professor had invited an artist 00:21:36.290 --> 00:21:39.550 align:middle line:84% by the name of Jun Kaneko for a glaze workshop. 00:21:39.550 --> 00:21:41.860 align:middle line:84% We made over a thousand pounds of clay 00:21:41.860 --> 00:21:44.620 align:middle line:84% and created large plates for him to glaze. 00:21:44.620 --> 00:21:49.170 align:middle line:84% During his lecture, he had spoke about his wife who focused-- 00:21:49.170 --> 00:21:52.210 align:middle line:84% who founded the Bemis Center, which 00:21:52.210 --> 00:21:54.220 align:middle line:84% is an internationally known residency 00:21:54.220 --> 00:21:56.710 align:middle line:90% and it sounded amazing. 00:21:56.710 --> 00:21:58.900 align:middle line:84% As an undergraduate, I knew I would 00:21:58.900 --> 00:22:00.850 align:middle line:90% apply if I went to grad school. 00:22:00.850 --> 00:22:05.050 align:middle line:84% And right after grad school I applied to go there. 00:22:05.050 --> 00:22:08.500 align:middle line:84% In 2004 when I graduated from the California College of Arts 00:22:08.500 --> 00:22:11.710 align:middle line:84% in San Francisco with my MFA, I applied to the Bemis Center 00:22:11.710 --> 00:22:13.030 align:middle line:90% and was accepted. 00:22:13.030 --> 00:22:14.890 align:middle line:84% At the time I was teaching in Los Angeles 00:22:14.890 --> 00:22:16.450 align:middle line:90% at Viola University. 00:22:16.450 --> 00:22:18.580 align:middle line:84% And during this time I was also volunteering 00:22:18.580 --> 00:22:23.670 align:middle line:84% across the border in Mexico at this orphanage called Ensenada. 00:22:23.670 --> 00:22:26.910 align:middle line:84% I taught kids art from third grade 00:22:26.910 --> 00:22:28.560 align:middle line:90% all the way up to young adults. 00:22:28.560 --> 00:22:31.590 align:middle line:84% The orphanage allowed kids to stay there until they were 21 00:22:31.590 --> 00:22:33.780 align:middle line:90% if they needed to. 00:22:33.780 --> 00:22:36.420 align:middle line:84% I had planned to stay in Omaha for three months. 00:22:36.420 --> 00:22:39.690 align:middle line:84% And it turned out I never moved back to California. 00:22:39.690 --> 00:22:44.220 align:middle line:84% Since 2005, I had been living between Omaha, Nebraska and New 00:22:44.220 --> 00:22:45.210 align:middle line:90% York City. 00:22:45.210 --> 00:22:48.990 align:middle line:84% Spending most of my time now in New York since around 2009, 00:22:48.990 --> 00:22:52.140 align:middle line:84% and mainly because of teaching and my studio. 00:22:52.140 --> 00:22:54.240 align:middle line:84% While in Omaha, I was able to participate 00:22:54.240 --> 00:22:56.550 align:middle line:84% in different communities teaching art 00:22:56.550 --> 00:23:00.430 align:middle line:84% to various organizations, including in Lincoln, Nebraska. 00:23:00.430 --> 00:23:02.080 align:middle line:84% Through the Hayton Art Center, I worked 00:23:02.080 --> 00:23:05.530 align:middle line:84% with a program called the Latino Center, 00:23:05.530 --> 00:23:08.140 align:middle line:84% helping Spanish speaking women of domestic violence 00:23:08.140 --> 00:23:09.860 align:middle line:90% in Lincoln, Nebraska. 00:23:09.860 --> 00:23:12.366 align:middle line:90% And this was really incredible. 00:23:12.366 --> 00:23:15.430 align:middle line:84% As you can see in the images that we did all different types 00:23:15.430 --> 00:23:18.510 align:middle line:90% of projects painting on fabric. 00:23:18.510 --> 00:23:20.970 align:middle line:84% During that time, I also taught in after school programs 00:23:20.970 --> 00:23:23.220 align:middle line:84% painting murals and also teaching ceramics 00:23:23.220 --> 00:23:25.260 align:middle line:90% at El Museo Latino in Omaha. 00:23:25.260 --> 00:23:26.940 align:middle line:84% And I also worked at the Hope Center, 00:23:26.940 --> 00:23:29.760 align:middle line:84% which was an after school program in North Omaha, 00:23:29.760 --> 00:23:33.200 align:middle line:84% teaching ceramics to local African-American kids. 00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:37.430 align:middle line:84% And while in Omaha, I also worked with the local library 00:23:37.430 --> 00:23:40.800 align:middle line:84% and worked with the local high school kids. 00:23:40.800 --> 00:23:42.020 align:middle line:90% Students made clay. 00:23:42.020 --> 00:23:44.480 align:middle line:84% I taught them how to make clay, how to make glazes. 00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:46.970 align:middle line:84% How to design a mural and create a budget. 00:23:46.970 --> 00:23:49.700 align:middle line:84% They did a presentation with the head librarian 00:23:49.700 --> 00:23:52.250 align:middle line:84% and we discussed everything from the concept 00:23:52.250 --> 00:23:54.020 align:middle line:90% to installation and maintenance. 00:23:54.020 --> 00:23:55.910 align:middle line:84% And we created a permanent installation 00:23:55.910 --> 00:23:58.800 align:middle line:90% at the local library there. 00:23:58.800 --> 00:24:02.520 align:middle line:84% In 2012, I bought account finally, 00:24:02.520 --> 00:24:05.040 align:middle line:84% and had my first studio in Brooklyn. 00:24:05.040 --> 00:24:07.890 align:middle line:84% With the strict fire safety codes in Manhattan, 00:24:07.890 --> 00:24:10.260 align:middle line:84% it was difficult to find a space willing to allow 00:24:10.260 --> 00:24:12.090 align:middle line:90% me to install a kiln. 00:24:12.090 --> 00:24:14.190 align:middle line:84% And so this was the first place that allowed 00:24:14.190 --> 00:24:16.590 align:middle line:90% me to put an electric kiln. 00:24:16.590 --> 00:24:20.000 align:middle line:90% And I've been there ever since. 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:23.250 align:middle line:84% In my studio I explore different kinds of materials. 00:24:23.250 --> 00:24:26.450 align:middle line:84% I am curious about the potential of clay because of its range 00:24:26.450 --> 00:24:27.980 align:middle line:90% and possibilities. 00:24:27.980 --> 00:24:31.100 align:middle line:84% From the firmness of touch to its sensual nature 00:24:31.100 --> 00:24:34.340 align:middle line:84% when modeling its gestural subtleties from wetness 00:24:34.340 --> 00:24:35.720 align:middle line:90% to bone dry. 00:24:35.720 --> 00:24:38.870 align:middle line:84% And mostly I'm attracted to the malleable qualities. 00:24:38.870 --> 00:24:40.940 align:middle line:90% It allows me to work quickly. 00:24:40.940 --> 00:24:43.460 align:middle line:84% It has the ability to record the movements 00:24:43.460 --> 00:24:46.370 align:middle line:84% of the mark, the fingerprints, and the gestures 00:24:46.370 --> 00:24:47.940 align:middle line:90% in the building process. 00:24:47.940 --> 00:24:49.760 align:middle line:90% I am interested in all of it. 00:24:49.760 --> 00:24:54.590 align:middle line:84% From making clay and glazes, to research and glaze chemistry, 00:24:54.590 --> 00:24:55.880 align:middle line:90% and clay bodies. 00:24:55.880 --> 00:24:58.400 align:middle line:84% I'm interested in the engineering process. 00:24:58.400 --> 00:25:00.680 align:middle line:84% I love the idea of building hollow. 00:25:00.680 --> 00:25:03.500 align:middle line:84% I love centering, weight and balance. 00:25:03.500 --> 00:25:06.680 align:middle line:84% Shifting of hollow forms and creating asymmetrical shapes 00:25:06.680 --> 00:25:09.470 align:middle line:90% with the hollow forms. 00:25:09.470 --> 00:25:12.860 align:middle line:84% And it really influences my drawing and painting as well. 00:25:12.860 --> 00:25:15.730 align:middle line:90% They go back and forth. 00:25:15.730 --> 00:25:19.350 align:middle line:84% I feel a connection to pre-Columbian ceramics. 00:25:19.350 --> 00:25:23.940 align:middle line:84% Its history feels so intimate and yet it is so mysterious. 00:25:23.940 --> 00:25:27.090 align:middle line:84% I think about the imagery of Mother Earth seen in Chicano 00:25:27.090 --> 00:25:29.280 align:middle line:90% art and in the Mexican murals. 00:25:29.280 --> 00:25:32.490 align:middle line:84% I am curious about the cultural merging of Western art 00:25:32.490 --> 00:25:34.800 align:middle line:90% history and Native studies. 00:25:34.800 --> 00:25:36.840 align:middle line:84% The Virgin of Guadalupe in contrast 00:25:36.840 --> 00:25:40.560 align:middle line:84% with Sandra Botticelli's Birth of Venus and the mother goddess 00:25:40.560 --> 00:25:43.440 align:middle line:84% seen in the ceramic figurines of ancient Mexico. 00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:45.540 align:middle line:84% How are they all interconnected and how do I 00:25:45.540 --> 00:25:48.040 align:middle line:90% make sense in my work. 00:25:48.040 --> 00:25:51.340 align:middle line:84% Delving into the various aspects of my ceramic studio 00:25:51.340 --> 00:25:54.550 align:middle line:84% from recycling clay, raking chunks of dried clay, 00:25:54.550 --> 00:25:57.670 align:middle line:84% vacuuming, mopping, glazing, and sometimes making clay 00:25:57.670 --> 00:26:02.050 align:middle line:84% with my feet, all contribute to the ideas in my process. 00:26:02.050 --> 00:26:05.350 align:middle line:84% Every aspect is important and meaningful to me. 00:26:05.350 --> 00:26:08.860 align:middle line:84% Putting my hand inside the slimy recycled clay 00:26:08.860 --> 00:26:12.160 align:middle line:84% reminds me of playing with mud as a child. 00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:15.700 align:middle line:84% And also the various tasks my mother did while gardening, 00:26:15.700 --> 00:26:17.800 align:middle line:84% digging a huge hole in the backyard 00:26:17.800 --> 00:26:21.130 align:middle line:84% in order to mix her magic recipe of dirt. 00:26:21.130 --> 00:26:23.080 align:middle line:84% I always thought of her combinations 00:26:23.080 --> 00:26:26.380 align:middle line:84% of dirt and fertilizer to have magical powers. 00:26:26.380 --> 00:26:29.410 align:middle line:84% Her herb plants could heal anything and anyone. 00:26:29.410 --> 00:26:34.030 align:middle line:84% Her fruits and flowers grew like Jack and the Beanstalk. 00:26:34.030 --> 00:26:37.870 align:middle line:84% Responding to the raw nature of clay and its processes, 00:26:37.870 --> 00:26:41.350 align:middle line:90% my approach is mostly intuitive. 00:26:41.350 --> 00:26:46.120 align:middle line:84% For me, clay is a way to draw with coils in three dimensions. 00:26:46.120 --> 00:26:47.380 align:middle line:90% I work back and forth. 00:26:47.380 --> 00:26:50.980 align:middle line:84% I sometimes approach things formally or aesthetically. 00:26:50.980 --> 00:26:55.540 align:middle line:84% At times, I think about specific events and their social impact. 00:26:55.540 --> 00:26:57.520 align:middle line:84% What is happening in the world abstractly 00:26:57.520 --> 00:27:00.450 align:middle line:84% enters intuitively in my process. 00:27:00.450 --> 00:27:03.600 align:middle line:84% I try to use the idea of fragmented narratives 00:27:03.600 --> 00:27:05.820 align:middle line:84% to approach different kinds of stories 00:27:05.820 --> 00:27:08.520 align:middle line:84% as a way to understand relevant issues 00:27:08.520 --> 00:27:12.490 align:middle line:84% and how they connect universally. 00:27:12.490 --> 00:27:15.490 align:middle line:84% From an intimate relationship between mother and child 00:27:15.490 --> 00:27:17.860 align:middle line:84% to global concerns related to power, 00:27:17.860 --> 00:27:20.860 align:middle line:84% territory, and the environment, to ethically 00:27:20.860 --> 00:27:23.500 align:middle line:84% social and humanitarian concerns and how 00:27:23.500 --> 00:27:27.460 align:middle line:84% they interface historically, and how can I 00:27:27.460 --> 00:27:31.230 align:middle line:90% have a voice as a brown person. 00:27:31.230 --> 00:27:33.480 align:middle line:84% The overarching themes in the world 00:27:33.480 --> 00:27:36.240 align:middle line:84% propel me to work at ideas in my studio 00:27:36.240 --> 00:27:38.400 align:middle line:90% and ask questions about my role. 00:27:38.400 --> 00:27:42.630 align:middle line:84% How will I contribute to and/or be active in a community. 00:27:42.630 --> 00:27:45.780 align:middle line:84% It has led me to different kinds of community service. 00:27:45.780 --> 00:27:48.300 align:middle line:84% From teaching workshops to creating public projects 00:27:48.300 --> 00:27:50.280 align:middle line:90% ranging from murals. 00:27:50.280 --> 00:27:53.340 align:middle line:84% In schools, working in schools, after school programs 00:27:53.340 --> 00:27:58.170 align:middle line:84% to having socially engaged discourse with students 00:27:58.170 --> 00:28:00.810 align:middle line:90% and also young kids as well. 00:28:00.810 --> 00:28:04.530 align:middle line:84% Since 2009, I have worked in the surrounding Boroughs 00:28:04.530 --> 00:28:07.380 align:middle line:84% of New York with underrepresented youth 00:28:07.380 --> 00:28:09.420 align:middle line:84% in elementary schools and high schools. 00:28:09.420 --> 00:28:13.080 align:middle line:84% First with Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation and now 00:28:13.080 --> 00:28:15.660 align:middle line:90% with Art Yard Brooklyn. 00:28:15.660 --> 00:28:18.450 align:middle line:84% I combine art history and basic art techniques 00:28:18.450 --> 00:28:20.940 align:middle line:84% such as teaching gray-scale painting combined 00:28:20.940 --> 00:28:22.830 align:middle line:84% with learning about civil rights movements 00:28:22.830 --> 00:28:26.940 align:middle line:84% as you see in some of the slides that I am showing working 00:28:26.940 --> 00:28:28.410 align:middle line:90% with middle school kids. 00:28:28.410 --> 00:28:30.540 align:middle line:84% And in this particular project, we 00:28:30.540 --> 00:28:34.650 align:middle line:84% were working with a theme titled The Year of Freedom. 00:28:34.650 --> 00:28:37.770 align:middle line:84% And each year Rush and Art Yard has a theme. 00:28:37.770 --> 00:28:39.970 align:middle line:90% And each year we make projects. 00:28:39.970 --> 00:28:41.820 align:middle line:84% And at the end of every six months 00:28:41.820 --> 00:28:43.290 align:middle line:84% we have exhibitions with the kids. 00:28:43.290 --> 00:28:47.650 align:middle line:84% And they learn how to give talks, how to be docents. 00:28:47.650 --> 00:28:53.970 align:middle line:84% And so it's pretty exciting to see them grow and develop. 00:28:53.970 --> 00:28:56.370 align:middle line:84% Teaching art at the Young Women's Leadership School, 00:28:56.370 --> 00:29:00.510 align:middle line:84% we used our bodies and the movement of our hands to draw. 00:29:00.510 --> 00:29:03.330 align:middle line:84% We did a meditation with our eyes closed. 00:29:03.330 --> 00:29:05.250 align:middle line:84% We drew with our both of our hands 00:29:05.250 --> 00:29:07.410 align:middle line:84% while I guided the students on a journey, 00:29:07.410 --> 00:29:10.950 align:middle line:84% visualizing fast and slow marks with charcoal, 00:29:10.950 --> 00:29:15.000 align:middle line:84% making long gesture glides or short aggressive marks. 00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:18.450 align:middle line:84% We hung the large drawings and projected the videos 00:29:18.450 --> 00:29:20.580 align:middle line:90% we made for our exhibition. 00:29:20.580 --> 00:29:23.810 align:middle line:84% You can see this-- during the exhibition with the videos, 00:29:23.810 --> 00:29:26.880 align:middle line:84% you can see, the sound of the charcoal 00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:28.890 align:middle line:84% and the movements of the charcoal. 00:29:28.890 --> 00:29:31.620 align:middle line:84% I was really excited to see that. 00:29:31.620 --> 00:29:34.050 align:middle line:84% And at California State Summer School for the Arts 00:29:34.050 --> 00:29:35.760 align:middle line:84% where I taught at CalArts campus, 00:29:35.760 --> 00:29:40.950 align:middle line:84% I was there from I think 2006 to 2011. 00:29:40.950 --> 00:29:42.870 align:middle line:84% We were only there for one month. 00:29:42.870 --> 00:29:45.120 align:middle line:84% And we had three weeks and each student 00:29:45.120 --> 00:29:48.160 align:middle line:84% created three large sculpture to make 00:29:48.160 --> 00:29:50.730 align:middle line:90% a collaborative installation. 00:29:50.730 --> 00:29:52.255 align:middle line:90% And I gave them readings. 00:29:52.255 --> 00:29:53.880 align:middle line:84% We would discuss articles and readings. 00:29:53.880 --> 00:29:55.380 align:middle line:84% And in this particular case, we made 00:29:55.380 --> 00:29:59.190 align:middle line:84% a chess set and we responded to the readings and discussions 00:29:59.190 --> 00:30:00.540 align:middle line:90% of the Art of War. 00:30:00.540 --> 00:30:04.350 align:middle line:84% And each year when we made the chess, 00:30:04.350 --> 00:30:06.660 align:middle line:84% I did that about three years in a row. 00:30:06.660 --> 00:30:09.270 align:middle line:84% Each time we also would come up with a different theme 00:30:09.270 --> 00:30:13.320 align:middle line:84% and so the imagery was completely different as well. 00:30:13.320 --> 00:30:16.680 align:middle line:84% In Miami, I work with young men in detention centers. 00:30:16.680 --> 00:30:19.560 align:middle line:84% And the following year I work with several coed centers 00:30:19.560 --> 00:30:21.150 align:middle line:90% around Miami area. 00:30:21.150 --> 00:30:23.040 align:middle line:84% We created a project and displayed it 00:30:23.040 --> 00:30:27.600 align:middle line:84% at the lobby of the Perez Museum during the art fair in Miami. 00:30:27.600 --> 00:30:31.440 align:middle line:84% Each project starts with a lesson and a concept in mind, 00:30:31.440 --> 00:30:33.300 align:middle line:84% but the students bring the content. 00:30:33.300 --> 00:30:35.250 align:middle line:90% And each one has a story. 00:30:35.250 --> 00:30:37.590 align:middle line:84% And working with the kids at the detention center, 00:30:37.590 --> 00:30:40.980 align:middle line:84% it was really amazing to see them kind of open up and be 00:30:40.980 --> 00:30:43.400 align:middle line:90% willing to tell their story. 00:30:43.400 --> 00:30:46.835 align:middle line:84% By this summer, I taught a workshop on Zoom with Art Yard 00:30:46.835 --> 00:30:48.410 align:middle line:90% , with the theme on community. 00:30:48.410 --> 00:30:51.050 align:middle line:84% We looked at artists who were engaging 00:30:51.050 --> 00:30:54.800 align:middle line:84% in communities virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic. 00:30:54.800 --> 00:30:57.410 align:middle line:84% We created art with materials available to us, 00:30:57.410 --> 00:31:00.410 align:middle line:84% making work about the environment, social justice, 00:31:00.410 --> 00:31:02.660 align:middle line:84% and looking at creative ways to collaborate. 00:31:02.660 --> 00:31:04.340 align:middle line:84% And this led to a new body of work 00:31:04.340 --> 00:31:09.410 align:middle line:84% that you can see in my Instagram or I can eventually 00:31:09.410 --> 00:31:12.140 align:middle line:90% show it at some point. 00:31:12.140 --> 00:31:15.530 align:middle line:84% In my studio, I work across materials, and I teach this-- 00:31:15.530 --> 00:31:18.440 align:middle line:84% I teach in the same way as well, exploring materials 00:31:18.440 --> 00:31:21.620 align:middle line:90% that best can explore that idea. 00:31:21.620 --> 00:31:23.960 align:middle line:84% I have been drawing since I was a child. 00:31:23.960 --> 00:31:27.530 align:middle line:84% And in seventh grade I used to draw for my classmates. 00:31:27.530 --> 00:31:30.590 align:middle line:84% I was making ink drawings on white pillowcases. 00:31:30.590 --> 00:31:35.090 align:middle line:84% I had several stolen from my locker in junior high. 00:31:35.090 --> 00:31:37.250 align:middle line:84% My first paintings were on fabric. 00:31:37.250 --> 00:31:40.250 align:middle line:90% I was around 13 or 14-years-old. 00:31:40.250 --> 00:31:42.290 align:middle line:84% My mother used to sew baby blankets 00:31:42.290 --> 00:31:46.130 align:middle line:84% and give them every time we had a new baby in the family. 00:31:46.130 --> 00:31:49.520 align:middle line:84% She also would sell them for baby shower and christenings. 00:31:49.520 --> 00:31:51.900 align:middle line:84% She would say make an angel or make a Teddy bear 00:31:51.900 --> 00:31:53.540 align:middle line:90% or make a unicorn and so on. 00:31:53.540 --> 00:31:59.030 align:middle line:84% And I would carefully, very fine with the fine brush would paint 00:31:59.030 --> 00:32:00.470 align:middle line:90% whatever she wanted on there. 00:32:00.470 --> 00:32:03.470 align:middle line:84% And I would try not to make a mistake. 00:32:03.470 --> 00:32:05.930 align:middle line:84% During that time my mother was painting on aprons 00:32:05.930 --> 00:32:06.950 align:middle line:90% that she sewed. 00:32:06.950 --> 00:32:09.710 align:middle line:84% She sold them at the local cannery where she worked. 00:32:09.710 --> 00:32:11.850 align:middle line:84% She painted directly from the tube, 00:32:11.850 --> 00:32:14.060 align:middle line:84% which is the opposite of what I was doing. 00:32:14.060 --> 00:32:17.180 align:middle line:84% And she also used to write on them in Spanish. 00:32:17.180 --> 00:32:20.245 align:middle line:84% And her writings were usually very vulgar. 00:32:20.245 --> 00:32:22.370 align:middle line:84% She would say something-- she would write something 00:32:22.370 --> 00:32:28.310 align:middle line:84% like [SPANISH] or [SPANISH] or anything that would make 00:32:28.310 --> 00:32:30.170 align:middle line:90% the ladies from her work laugh. 00:32:30.170 --> 00:32:33.840 align:middle line:84% And they would wear them to work. 00:32:33.840 --> 00:32:35.490 align:middle line:84% And this really kind of allowed me 00:32:35.490 --> 00:32:38.850 align:middle line:84% to think about loosening up and being 00:32:38.850 --> 00:32:40.620 align:middle line:90% very gestural in my paintings. 00:32:40.620 --> 00:32:43.410 align:middle line:84% And just-- because SHE would also paint images just 00:32:43.410 --> 00:32:44.920 align:middle line:90% from right at the tube. 00:32:44.920 --> 00:32:47.610 align:middle line:84% And so they were very abstract and I just 00:32:47.610 --> 00:32:51.300 align:middle line:84% thought that was really enlightening for me to have 00:32:51.300 --> 00:32:54.230 align:middle line:90% the ability to loosen up. 00:32:54.230 --> 00:32:57.680 align:middle line:84% When she was diagnosed with breast cancer in her early 80s, 00:32:57.680 --> 00:32:59.870 align:middle line:84% I wanted to revisit that work with her. 00:32:59.870 --> 00:33:03.480 align:middle line:84% After her recovery, I asked if she wanted to collaborate. 00:33:03.480 --> 00:33:07.550 align:middle line:84% Our discussions led to what would an image look like 00:33:07.550 --> 00:33:10.310 align:middle line:84% and what would it look like now versus then. 00:33:10.310 --> 00:33:12.650 align:middle line:84% And also, what would happen if we used bright colors 00:33:12.650 --> 00:33:14.450 align:middle line:90% in the fabric. 00:33:14.450 --> 00:33:16.900 align:middle line:84% I painted the blankets during a residency 00:33:16.900 --> 00:33:19.390 align:middle line:84% I did at El Museo Del Barrio in New York 00:33:19.390 --> 00:33:23.100 align:middle line:84% and exhibited them at the end of the residency. 00:33:23.100 --> 00:33:25.980 align:middle line:84% In drawing, I think about line and gesture. 00:33:25.980 --> 00:33:28.740 align:middle line:84% I am drawn to the subtleties of drawing. 00:33:28.740 --> 00:33:30.900 align:middle line:84% There is an ink drawing by Isabel Bishop 00:33:30.900 --> 00:33:34.560 align:middle line:84% from 1935 of a mother and child on a couch. 00:33:34.560 --> 00:33:37.800 align:middle line:84% And in that image, I think about it a lot. 00:33:37.800 --> 00:33:40.590 align:middle line:84% In the image you can see volume, you can see value, 00:33:40.590 --> 00:33:43.050 align:middle line:84% you can see line drawing, gesture drawing, 00:33:43.050 --> 00:33:45.000 align:middle line:90% large wash of shadow. 00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:46.710 align:middle line:84% And there's a little section that renders 00:33:46.710 --> 00:33:49.080 align:middle line:90% a fine detail in the face. 00:33:49.080 --> 00:33:51.150 align:middle line:84% The feet are drawn with control or you 00:33:51.150 --> 00:33:53.730 align:middle line:84% could see with the simple abstraction 00:33:53.730 --> 00:33:55.590 align:middle line:90% of the outline of the foot. 00:33:55.590 --> 00:33:58.500 align:middle line:84% And I often think about that and how I may translate that 00:33:58.500 --> 00:34:00.390 align:middle line:90% into the surface of the clay. 00:34:00.390 --> 00:34:02.940 align:middle line:84% In other words, how would I create a composition 00:34:02.940 --> 00:34:05.040 align:middle line:84% around three dimensional sculpture 00:34:05.040 --> 00:34:09.210 align:middle line:84% to have ideas of making a line embedding that into the clay, 00:34:09.210 --> 00:34:12.270 align:middle line:84% creating gesture with my hands or with my thumbs, 00:34:12.270 --> 00:34:15.989 align:middle line:84% reflecting the movement of the building process, 00:34:15.989 --> 00:34:17.550 align:middle line:90% and how would I work detail-- 00:34:17.550 --> 00:34:19.949 align:middle line:84% what areas would I pick a little detail 00:34:19.949 --> 00:34:22.290 align:middle line:84% and what areas would I smooth out and how would 00:34:22.290 --> 00:34:25.650 align:middle line:90% I show the fingerprints. 00:34:25.650 --> 00:34:27.150 align:middle line:84% And also, I think about it formally. 00:34:27.150 --> 00:34:29.520 align:middle line:84% How would I think about that in terms 00:34:29.520 --> 00:34:30.690 align:middle line:90% of painting the sculpture. 00:34:30.690 --> 00:34:34.530 align:middle line:84% And I do think about ideas of painting and the relationship 00:34:34.530 --> 00:34:35.380 align:middle line:90% to it. 00:34:35.380 --> 00:34:37.440 align:middle line:84% So in other words, the physical relationship 00:34:37.440 --> 00:34:39.480 align:middle line:90% of sculpture to painting. 00:34:39.480 --> 00:34:41.610 align:middle line:84% And so that's really allowed me to kind 00:34:41.610 --> 00:34:45.982 align:middle line:84% of just look at the sculpture as a canvas in a way. 00:34:45.982 --> 00:34:47.940 align:middle line:84% And I think for that reason, a lot of the times 00:34:47.940 --> 00:34:51.030 align:middle line:84% I don't glaze them heavily or sometimes I 00:34:51.030 --> 00:34:53.500 align:middle line:90% don't add any surface to them. 00:34:53.500 --> 00:34:55.500 align:middle line:84% Because I'm more-- in that particular sculpture, 00:34:55.500 --> 00:34:57.333 align:middle line:84% I may be more interested in the fingerprints 00:34:57.333 --> 00:34:59.910 align:middle line:90% and the marks of the clay. 00:34:59.910 --> 00:35:03.270 align:middle line:84% I sometimes gesso my sculpture and oil paint them. 00:35:03.270 --> 00:35:05.850 align:middle line:84% And I treat the oil paint kind of like a patina. 00:35:05.850 --> 00:35:08.730 align:middle line:84% I often under-glaze them and mix the under-glazes 00:35:08.730 --> 00:35:11.700 align:middle line:84% in the same way that I would treat watercolor oil paint. 00:35:11.700 --> 00:35:14.220 align:middle line:84% So I take the powdered ceramic pigments and I mix 00:35:14.220 --> 00:35:14.970 align:middle line:90% slip with it. 00:35:14.970 --> 00:35:19.650 align:middle line:84% And sometimes I mix fret or some ceramic material 00:35:19.650 --> 00:35:21.150 align:middle line:90% that will melt it a little bit. 00:35:21.150 --> 00:35:24.040 align:middle line:84% And I try to treat that as a painting as well. 00:35:24.040 --> 00:35:25.950 align:middle line:84% And sometimes I just simply add water color 00:35:25.950 --> 00:35:28.320 align:middle line:90% to the ceramics directly. 00:35:28.320 --> 00:35:30.930 align:middle line:84% As you can see in some of the images there, that some of them 00:35:30.930 --> 00:35:31.710 align:middle line:90% are-- 00:35:31.710 --> 00:35:34.775 align:middle line:84% they're labeled so you can see which ones have watercolor 00:35:34.775 --> 00:35:38.260 align:middle line:84% and which have oil paint and so on. 00:35:38.260 --> 00:35:40.890 align:middle line:84% I also like to treat the surface of the ceramics 00:35:40.890 --> 00:35:42.540 align:middle line:90% with other materials as well. 00:35:42.540 --> 00:35:45.720 align:middle line:84% I add plaster, gesso, gold pigment, 00:35:45.720 --> 00:35:48.240 align:middle line:90% all kinds of other things. 00:35:48.240 --> 00:35:50.790 align:middle line:84% In the exhibition titled Acercate, 00:35:50.790 --> 00:35:54.000 align:middle line:84% which means to come close, I applied oil painting, 00:35:54.000 --> 00:35:57.090 align:middle line:84% watercolor, and some gold pigment to the stoneware 00:35:57.090 --> 00:35:58.870 align:middle line:90% after the firing. 00:35:58.870 --> 00:36:01.690 align:middle line:84% In 2014, I received a research grant 00:36:01.690 --> 00:36:04.780 align:middle line:84% from Art Matters in New York and a residency at SOMA 00:36:04.780 --> 00:36:08.200 align:middle line:84% to work in Mexico City, where I had a solo exhibition 00:36:08.200 --> 00:36:13.240 align:middle line:84% at Centro Nacional de las Artes, which is the National Center. 00:36:13.240 --> 00:36:16.930 align:middle line:84% My first few days in Mexico, I made paper clay with my feet. 00:36:16.930 --> 00:36:20.110 align:middle line:84% My research involves studying ancient ceramics, mostly 00:36:20.110 --> 00:36:23.650 align:middle line:84% naturalistic figurines that were depicting everyday life. 00:36:23.650 --> 00:36:26.380 align:middle line:84% I mainly looked at work from the Steven Higgin collection, 00:36:26.380 --> 00:36:29.140 align:middle line:84% which are a really sweet little miniature figurines. 00:36:29.140 --> 00:36:33.040 align:middle line:84% And I also spent a lot of time at the Anthropology Museum. 00:36:33.040 --> 00:36:34.870 align:middle line:84% The collection influenced the sculptures 00:36:34.870 --> 00:36:38.170 align:middle line:84% I made for the exhibition there in Mexico. 00:36:38.170 --> 00:36:40.390 align:middle line:90% I think I was there for-- 00:36:40.390 --> 00:36:43.780 align:middle line:84% I think it took me about a month or two to make the work 00:36:43.780 --> 00:36:44.950 align:middle line:90% and wind up being-- 00:36:44.950 --> 00:36:49.270 align:middle line:84% I think it was like 12 or so sculpture. 00:36:49.270 --> 00:36:52.840 align:middle line:84% During that time, the Senate also 00:36:52.840 --> 00:36:55.450 align:middle line:84% arranged for me to speak with students at the art school 00:36:55.450 --> 00:36:57.910 align:middle line:90% there called La Esmeralda. 00:36:57.910 --> 00:37:01.030 align:middle line:84% And I was also invited to give a lecture at the National 00:37:01.030 --> 00:37:05.710 align:middle line:84% Autonomous University in Mexico, where I met with students 00:37:05.710 --> 00:37:07.300 align:middle line:90% in the Ceramics Department. 00:37:07.300 --> 00:37:11.290 align:middle line:84% Spending time in Mexico City really kind of influenced me. 00:37:11.290 --> 00:37:14.420 align:middle line:84% And I have been back there several times. 00:37:14.420 --> 00:37:17.560 align:middle line:84% And I feel like I have a lot more research to do there 00:37:17.560 --> 00:37:18.730 align:middle line:90% and to learn. 00:37:18.730 --> 00:37:21.900 align:middle line:84% So I'm really excited about that. 00:37:21.900 --> 00:37:23.940 align:middle line:84% A similar sequence of events unfolded 00:37:23.940 --> 00:37:27.000 align:middle line:84% during a residency in Japan in 2016 00:37:27.000 --> 00:37:29.550 align:middle line:84% where I also worked with the local clay. 00:37:29.550 --> 00:37:32.640 align:middle line:84% The residency was timed to coincide with the SASAMA 00:37:32.640 --> 00:37:36.000 align:middle line:84% International Festival in Shizuoka, 00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:38.460 align:middle line:84% which brought together artists and professionals 00:37:38.460 --> 00:37:43.740 align:middle line:84% from across the world and also in undergraduates from Japan. 00:37:43.740 --> 00:37:47.550 align:middle line:84% It was really amazing to be in Japan, 00:37:47.550 --> 00:37:51.150 align:middle line:84% because the little village that I was in there 00:37:51.150 --> 00:37:54.000 align:middle line:84% was no children or no young people. 00:37:54.000 --> 00:37:57.390 align:middle line:84% I think the youngest person was 50-years-old. 00:37:57.390 --> 00:37:59.220 align:middle line:90% So it's 50 and older. 00:37:59.220 --> 00:38:05.130 align:middle line:84% And the residency location used to be the elementary school. 00:38:05.130 --> 00:38:09.810 align:middle line:84% And it also was converted into a residency and a spa 00:38:09.810 --> 00:38:11.420 align:middle line:90% and some other types-- 00:38:11.420 --> 00:38:13.650 align:middle line:84% It was used for a multipurpose event. 00:38:13.650 --> 00:38:17.505 align:middle line:84% And the high school had been transformed into a museum, 00:38:17.505 --> 00:38:18.555 align:middle line:90% a ceramic museum. 00:38:18.555 --> 00:38:21.440 align:middle line:90% 00:38:21.440 --> 00:38:24.212 align:middle line:84% I was listening to the stories of the local people who 00:38:24.212 --> 00:38:25.920 align:middle line:84% were saying that it was really sad to see 00:38:25.920 --> 00:38:29.220 align:middle line:84% their last young person leave the town. 00:38:29.220 --> 00:38:32.310 align:middle line:84% So I think after their last seniors graduated 00:38:32.310 --> 00:38:34.500 align:middle line:84% from high school, they closed the high school 00:38:34.500 --> 00:38:37.050 align:middle line:84% and they'd converted into a museum. 00:38:37.050 --> 00:38:40.620 align:middle line:84% And so I wanted to make a sculpture that 00:38:40.620 --> 00:38:43.470 align:middle line:90% references the idea of memory. 00:38:43.470 --> 00:38:48.060 align:middle line:84% And so I made a mother and child with seven standing sculpture 00:38:48.060 --> 00:38:52.380 align:middle line:90% around the center of town. 00:38:52.380 --> 00:38:55.150 align:middle line:84% As soon as you enter the town you can see the sculpture. 00:38:55.150 --> 00:38:59.160 align:middle line:84% And again, I was working with ideas of memory. 00:38:59.160 --> 00:39:01.980 align:middle line:84% And for me, the idea of memory I try 00:39:01.980 --> 00:39:06.060 align:middle line:84% to use that abstractly on the surface of the clay. 00:39:06.060 --> 00:39:08.640 align:middle line:84% The festival, in Japan, featured a series 00:39:08.640 --> 00:39:10.930 align:middle line:84% of lectures, demonstrations, and exhibitions 00:39:10.930 --> 00:39:12.750 align:middle line:90% that I participated in. 00:39:12.750 --> 00:39:16.110 align:middle line:84% They also had a small food fair and an art fair 00:39:16.110 --> 00:39:18.270 align:middle line:90% of local ceramic potters. 00:39:18.270 --> 00:39:23.880 align:middle line:84% And the permanent installation was around the green tea 00:39:23.880 --> 00:39:28.500 align:middle line:84% factory in the village, which was the main production 00:39:28.500 --> 00:39:30.210 align:middle line:90% of that town. 00:39:30.210 --> 00:39:32.320 align:middle line:84% So I was only there for three weeks. 00:39:32.320 --> 00:39:34.500 align:middle line:84% And so I think within the first week and a half 00:39:34.500 --> 00:39:36.240 align:middle line:90% I made all that work. 00:39:36.240 --> 00:39:43.770 align:middle line:84% And basically, they basically built a film around my pieces 00:39:43.770 --> 00:39:45.540 align:middle line:90% when they were still wet. 00:39:45.540 --> 00:39:48.720 align:middle line:90% And we fired them still wet. 00:39:48.720 --> 00:39:51.450 align:middle line:84% And the local people were cutting the wood 00:39:51.450 --> 00:39:52.950 align:middle line:90% and building the kiln. 00:39:52.950 --> 00:39:55.110 align:middle line:84% It was really amazing that it happened 00:39:55.110 --> 00:39:57.300 align:middle line:90% so quickly and so fast. 00:39:57.300 --> 00:40:04.260 align:middle line:84% And so it was really just incredible to see that. 00:40:04.260 --> 00:40:08.715 align:middle line:84% So that's what I've been doing these last 20 years, Rebecca. 00:40:08.715 --> 00:40:11.220 align:middle line:90% 00:40:11.220 --> 00:40:14.140 align:middle line:84% I think it's been 10 years since I last saw you. 00:40:14.140 --> 00:40:16.880 align:middle line:84% But so, yeah, if anyone has any questions. 00:40:16.880 --> 00:40:19.360 align:middle line:84% I know that the images are scattered in and out. 00:40:19.360 --> 00:40:21.470 align:middle line:84% And I kind of did that on purpose, 00:40:21.470 --> 00:40:24.280 align:middle line:84% because you can just see how I talk 00:40:24.280 --> 00:40:27.100 align:middle line:84% about going through a new iteration of an idea. 00:40:27.100 --> 00:40:30.680 align:middle line:84% I visit the same idea over and over again. 00:40:30.680 --> 00:40:32.350 align:middle line:84% And I think-- because I feel like it's-- 00:40:32.350 --> 00:40:35.170 align:middle line:84% I go through my sketchbook and I think I have this great idea. 00:40:35.170 --> 00:40:39.040 align:middle line:84% And then I go back to 2007 and that's the same idea. 00:40:39.040 --> 00:40:41.190 align:middle line:84% But it's a new iteration of that. 00:40:41.190 --> 00:40:44.207 align:middle line:84% And so I feel like there's so much-- 00:40:44.207 --> 00:40:45.790 align:middle line:84% I think the first couple of statements 00:40:45.790 --> 00:40:47.960 align:middle line:90% that I made were kind of loaded. 00:40:47.960 --> 00:40:51.880 align:middle line:84% And there's so much things that I can do with that just one 00:40:51.880 --> 00:40:55.960 align:middle line:84% simple research with the surface and the texture 00:40:55.960 --> 00:41:00.280 align:middle line:84% and the face and the memory, and all those kinds of things. 00:41:00.280 --> 00:41:01.090 align:middle line:90% Thank you, Claudia. 00:41:01.090 --> 00:41:04.300 align:middle line:84% What a beautiful and generous presentation. 00:41:04.300 --> 00:41:06.610 align:middle line:84% I know at the beginning or maybe it 00:41:06.610 --> 00:41:08.530 align:middle line:84% was even before we let everyone in, 00:41:08.530 --> 00:41:12.520 align:middle line:84% you made a comment about how your work and your life 00:41:12.520 --> 00:41:13.680 align:middle line:90% is so intertwined. 00:41:13.680 --> 00:41:18.190 align:middle line:84% And it's interesting to see how your influences, your community 00:41:18.190 --> 00:41:19.720 align:middle line:84% service and teaching, and the themes 00:41:19.720 --> 00:41:23.920 align:middle line:84% you investigate, you research, your travel, all of it, 00:41:23.920 --> 00:41:28.600 align:middle line:84% keeps informing everything that you're doing in the studio. 00:41:28.600 --> 00:41:31.560 align:middle line:90% That's really incredible. 00:41:31.560 --> 00:41:34.440 align:middle line:84% I don't know if this is just personal knowledge 00:41:34.440 --> 00:41:37.800 align:middle line:84% from my experience with your work in 2010 00:41:37.800 --> 00:41:39.240 align:middle line:90% or if I read this somewhere. 00:41:39.240 --> 00:41:42.120 align:middle line:84% But I believe many of your children 00:41:42.120 --> 00:41:47.520 align:middle line:84% are almost lifelike but not exactly lifelike. 00:41:47.520 --> 00:41:49.860 align:middle line:84% Can you talk about your choice of scale 00:41:49.860 --> 00:41:53.430 align:middle line:84% and equally, if you're making those same choices in your 2D 00:41:53.430 --> 00:41:54.835 align:middle line:90% work as well. 00:41:54.835 --> 00:41:55.335 align:middle line:90% Yeah. 00:41:55.335 --> 00:41:58.830 align:middle line:84% In my sketchbook, I have really small, little smaller 00:41:58.830 --> 00:42:00.450 align:middle line:90% scale stuff. 00:42:00.450 --> 00:42:05.520 align:middle line:84% But in general I do like to work almost life-size, 00:42:05.520 --> 00:42:07.830 align:middle line:90% kind of like a five-year-old. 00:42:07.830 --> 00:42:11.820 align:middle line:84% And I think part of it was that I was haunted by the children 00:42:11.820 --> 00:42:14.220 align:middle line:84% that I had worked with in the picking 00:42:14.220 --> 00:42:17.890 align:middle line:90% up of these little bodies. 00:42:17.890 --> 00:42:21.750 align:middle line:84% And so I wanted to keep them to a scale that kind of existed 00:42:21.750 --> 00:42:25.510 align:middle line:84% in the same space but at the same time, 00:42:25.510 --> 00:42:28.680 align:middle line:84% we're just slightly off to reality. 00:42:28.680 --> 00:42:31.740 align:middle line:84% I wanted to really think of a more as magical space 00:42:31.740 --> 00:42:33.150 align:middle line:90% or surreal kind of space. 00:42:33.150 --> 00:42:37.590 align:middle line:84% But they do feel that there are life-size in a way. 00:42:37.590 --> 00:42:39.960 align:middle line:84% I think the biggest ones I have made 00:42:39.960 --> 00:42:41.670 align:middle line:90% are anywhere between 40 inches. 00:42:41.670 --> 00:42:45.480 align:middle line:84% If you see the mother and child, those are life-sized. 00:42:45.480 --> 00:42:48.570 align:middle line:84% But the ones that I have done in the last 10 or 15 years 00:42:48.570 --> 00:42:51.330 align:middle line:84% are anywhere between 34 to 36 inches. 00:42:51.330 --> 00:42:53.640 align:middle line:84% So it's somewhere around a third, 00:42:53.640 --> 00:42:55.890 align:middle line:90% three-year-old or four-year-old. 00:42:55.890 --> 00:42:59.670 align:middle line:84% And I like that you can enter them 00:42:59.670 --> 00:43:03.580 align:middle line:84% and you have to kind of move your body down to them. 00:43:03.580 --> 00:43:08.550 align:middle line:84% And with the work titled A Falling, 00:43:08.550 --> 00:43:12.660 align:middle line:84% the sculptures are looking up at you. 00:43:12.660 --> 00:43:15.900 align:middle line:84% And I think that was a conscious thing to think about, 00:43:15.900 --> 00:43:19.928 align:middle line:84% how can I change the physicality of us not going down. 00:43:19.928 --> 00:43:22.470 align:middle line:84% What would it look like if you were just looking down at them 00:43:22.470 --> 00:43:23.910 align:middle line:90% and they were looking up at you. 00:43:23.910 --> 00:43:26.040 align:middle line:84% And so I played around with that a little bit 00:43:26.040 --> 00:43:27.930 align:middle line:90% like how can you physically-- 00:43:27.930 --> 00:43:30.660 align:middle line:84% how can they have that space and have a grandness. 00:43:30.660 --> 00:43:34.320 align:middle line:84% Even if I just put one piece in a space you know-- 00:43:34.320 --> 00:43:39.900 align:middle line:84% I had someone here that came to cut my hair and he said, 00:43:39.900 --> 00:43:43.440 align:middle line:84% I can't stop thinking about that sculpture that's looking at me. 00:43:43.440 --> 00:43:47.490 align:middle line:84% And I had it like way on the other side of the studio facing 00:43:47.490 --> 00:43:48.480 align:middle line:90% the other way. 00:43:48.480 --> 00:43:51.650 align:middle line:84% But yet, they can feel it in the same space. 00:43:51.650 --> 00:43:53.400 align:middle line:84% And I just thought that was so interesting 00:43:53.400 --> 00:43:55.950 align:middle line:84% like how can I make it as subtle as possible 00:43:55.950 --> 00:43:57.540 align:middle line:90% even if the back is turned. 00:43:57.540 --> 00:43:59.520 align:middle line:84% So I do play with that idea as well. 00:43:59.520 --> 00:44:01.080 align:middle line:84% It's like when I put them in a space 00:44:01.080 --> 00:44:03.090 align:middle line:90% sometimes I just show the back. 00:44:03.090 --> 00:44:05.610 align:middle line:84% And it kind of brings hopefully, brings someone 00:44:05.610 --> 00:44:08.120 align:middle line:90% to come closer to them. 00:44:08.120 --> 00:44:10.150 align:middle line:84% Gabriela has a question in the chat. 00:44:10.150 --> 00:44:15.120 align:middle line:84% Where do you see your garden installation taking you next? 00:44:15.120 --> 00:44:17.020 align:middle line:90% That's really interesting. 00:44:17.020 --> 00:44:18.720 align:middle line:90% I'm not sure yet. 00:44:18.720 --> 00:44:19.890 align:middle line:90% I'm really thrilled. 00:44:19.890 --> 00:44:21.330 align:middle line:84% I've been doing it for a long time 00:44:21.330 --> 00:44:23.413 align:middle line:84% and I've been thinking about them for a long time, 00:44:23.413 --> 00:44:26.550 align:middle line:84% I just haven't glazed them or most of them I have not glazed. 00:44:26.550 --> 00:44:30.600 align:middle line:84% And I'm not sure exactly what kind of environment I'm 00:44:30.600 --> 00:44:32.850 align:middle line:90% going to create for them. 00:44:32.850 --> 00:44:36.150 align:middle line:84% But most likely they will have one figure or some figures 00:44:36.150 --> 00:44:39.400 align:middle line:84% interacting with them in some way. 00:44:39.400 --> 00:44:40.890 align:middle line:84% But I think the most exciting thing 00:44:40.890 --> 00:44:43.950 align:middle line:84% about working with the garden pieces 00:44:43.950 --> 00:44:46.950 align:middle line:84% is that I'm really dealing with gravity. 00:44:46.950 --> 00:44:49.080 align:middle line:84% I'm dealing with asymmetrical shapes. 00:44:49.080 --> 00:44:51.360 align:middle line:84% I'm dealing with negative space underneath them. 00:44:51.360 --> 00:44:53.440 align:middle line:84% I'm creating roots underneath them. 00:44:53.440 --> 00:44:56.940 align:middle line:84% And I'm also figuring out creative ways 00:44:56.940 --> 00:45:00.750 align:middle line:84% to fire them and creative ways to put them together. 00:45:00.750 --> 00:45:05.100 align:middle line:84% And I'm also mixing various kinds of clay. 00:45:05.100 --> 00:45:08.100 align:middle line:84% So every three months I change the clay body. 00:45:08.100 --> 00:45:10.290 align:middle line:84% Even though the flowers are still porcelain, 00:45:10.290 --> 00:45:12.720 align:middle line:84% I'm still working with various clay bodies 00:45:12.720 --> 00:45:17.760 align:middle line:90% to see that unpredictability. 00:45:17.760 --> 00:45:20.040 align:middle line:84% So I'm kind of curious about that. 00:45:20.040 --> 00:45:22.890 align:middle line:84% But I have been looking and researching botanicals 00:45:22.890 --> 00:45:24.762 align:middle line:84% and making drawings of them and kind 00:45:24.762 --> 00:45:26.220 align:middle line:84% of researching where they came from 00:45:26.220 --> 00:45:29.220 align:middle line:84% and what part of California or what part of Mexico 00:45:29.220 --> 00:45:30.190 align:middle line:90% they're from. 00:45:30.190 --> 00:45:32.250 align:middle line:84% And then how I can kind of mutate them 00:45:32.250 --> 00:45:34.740 align:middle line:84% into a sculptural shape, you know. 00:45:34.740 --> 00:45:36.050 align:middle line:90% So I'm curious. 00:45:36.050 --> 00:45:37.800 align:middle line:84% And I think one of the things that I might 00:45:37.800 --> 00:45:41.130 align:middle line:84% want to do in the future is to do a residency so that I 00:45:41.130 --> 00:45:43.080 align:middle line:90% may make them larger as well. 00:45:43.080 --> 00:45:47.310 align:middle line:84% Because in my studio I can only make them around 37 inches 00:45:47.310 --> 00:45:50.610 align:middle line:90% without fragmenting them. 00:45:50.610 --> 00:45:53.040 align:middle line:84% So I have been able to lay them in parts 00:45:53.040 --> 00:45:55.410 align:middle line:84% and then attach them to look like they're one piece. 00:45:55.410 --> 00:45:57.060 align:middle line:84% But I don't like to fragment them. 00:45:57.060 --> 00:45:58.852 align:middle line:84% I don't like to make them look like they're 00:45:58.852 --> 00:46:01.550 align:middle line:90% broken or separated. 00:46:01.550 --> 00:46:03.160 align:middle line:84% We have another comment and question 00:46:03.160 --> 00:46:06.520 align:middle line:90% in the chat from Priscillas. 00:46:06.520 --> 00:46:09.760 align:middle line:84% They say amazing presentation, exclamation point, 00:46:09.760 --> 00:46:11.470 align:middle line:84% you have an amazing body of work. 00:46:11.470 --> 00:46:13.710 align:middle line:84% Where do you keep all of your pieces? 00:46:13.710 --> 00:46:14.890 align:middle line:90% That's a good question. 00:46:14.890 --> 00:46:17.020 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:46:17.020 --> 00:46:20.740 align:middle line:90% They are all over the place. 00:46:20.740 --> 00:46:24.010 align:middle line:84% My husband and I have a storage in Nebraska. 00:46:24.010 --> 00:46:25.900 align:middle line:90% He bought a dance building. 00:46:25.900 --> 00:46:29.590 align:middle line:84% So I didn't usually need to store them. 00:46:29.590 --> 00:46:35.450 align:middle line:84% I had a gallery early on and was able to find places for them. 00:46:35.450 --> 00:46:40.180 align:middle line:84% But as the time goes by, they're hidden everywhere. 00:46:40.180 --> 00:46:42.040 align:middle line:84% I have them in corners and closets 00:46:42.040 --> 00:46:45.340 align:middle line:90% and they're all over the place. 00:46:45.340 --> 00:46:47.440 align:middle line:90% So yeah, they're building up. 00:46:47.440 --> 00:46:52.300 align:middle line:84% So someday I'll have a big installation of them. 00:46:52.300 --> 00:46:55.210 align:middle line:84% I like that you have a lot of little children hiding 00:46:55.210 --> 00:46:57.800 align:middle line:84% all over the place, I think that's a-- 00:46:57.800 --> 00:46:58.300 align:middle line:90% Yeah. 00:46:58.300 --> 00:47:00.250 align:middle line:84% The studio has really high ceilings. 00:47:00.250 --> 00:47:02.840 align:middle line:84% As you can see they're super high. 00:47:02.840 --> 00:47:06.940 align:middle line:84% And so the closet areas are super high. 00:47:06.940 --> 00:47:09.190 align:middle line:84% And so if a closet looks this big, 00:47:09.190 --> 00:47:11.080 align:middle line:84% I can probably put about 20 pieces in there 00:47:11.080 --> 00:47:16.120 align:middle line:84% and doesn't that look like they would fit, so. 00:47:16.120 --> 00:47:20.080 align:middle line:84% I wanted to ask, a lot of the work that we saw 00:47:20.080 --> 00:47:24.880 align:middle line:84% existed in your studio or in various residency 00:47:24.880 --> 00:47:26.740 align:middle line:90% spaces, galleries, museums. 00:47:26.740 --> 00:47:30.610 align:middle line:84% But a lot of the work was also out in the landscape, 00:47:30.610 --> 00:47:33.760 align:middle line:90% in architectural spaces. 00:47:33.760 --> 00:47:36.520 align:middle line:84% Can you talk a little bit about showing your work 00:47:36.520 --> 00:47:38.680 align:middle line:84% in spaces beyond museums and galleries 00:47:38.680 --> 00:47:40.870 align:middle line:84% and traditional spaces like that? 00:47:40.870 --> 00:47:41.870 align:middle line:90% Yes. 00:47:41.870 --> 00:47:45.400 align:middle line:84% I don't know if you remember the swing installation in the slide 00:47:45.400 --> 00:47:46.120 align:middle line:90% show. 00:47:46.120 --> 00:47:47.620 align:middle line:90% That was in 2005. 00:47:47.620 --> 00:47:49.870 align:middle line:84% I made them at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts. 00:47:49.870 --> 00:47:53.500 align:middle line:84% And I was going to initially install 00:47:53.500 --> 00:47:55.810 align:middle line:84% those at the Cherry Orchard's that 00:47:55.810 --> 00:47:58.630 align:middle line:84% is down the street from my house where I grew up. 00:47:58.630 --> 00:48:01.120 align:middle line:84% I always imagined them being there. 00:48:01.120 --> 00:48:02.950 align:middle line:84% And because I never went back to Omaha 00:48:02.950 --> 00:48:05.740 align:middle line:84% and because those pieces are placed already, 00:48:05.740 --> 00:48:09.410 align:middle line:84% I never got the chance to kind of fulfill that idea. 00:48:09.410 --> 00:48:12.880 align:middle line:84% And so I've been thinking about the orchards and the fields 00:48:12.880 --> 00:48:14.750 align:middle line:90% for a really long time. 00:48:14.750 --> 00:48:17.470 align:middle line:84% And when I was in Davis, I only showed 00:48:17.470 --> 00:48:21.010 align:middle line:84% about two or three pieces that were at the grapevines 00:48:21.010 --> 00:48:22.210 align:middle line:90% and a few other places. 00:48:22.210 --> 00:48:24.070 align:middle line:84% But I took the rest of the pieces 00:48:24.070 --> 00:48:27.290 align:middle line:84% and I photographed them in my mother's backyard. 00:48:27.290 --> 00:48:29.500 align:middle line:84% And then also in other places around the little town 00:48:29.500 --> 00:48:31.870 align:middle line:84% that I was born-- that I was raised in. 00:48:31.870 --> 00:48:37.180 align:middle line:84% And so I really I'm trying to find a space for them that 00:48:37.180 --> 00:48:40.780 align:middle line:84% have a personal feel to them, but also 00:48:40.780 --> 00:48:46.500 align:middle line:84% a feel that other migrant people can relate to as well. 00:48:46.500 --> 00:48:50.240 align:middle line:84% And I think the fields working in Willow Springs Elementary 00:48:50.240 --> 00:48:52.340 align:middle line:84% and working with the kids in that area, 00:48:52.340 --> 00:48:54.110 align:middle line:84% I really wanted to connect with them 00:48:54.110 --> 00:48:56.520 align:middle line:84% and have a conversation with them. 00:48:56.520 --> 00:49:00.090 align:middle line:84% And also take art to them as well. 00:49:00.090 --> 00:49:05.540 align:middle line:84% And so I thought that would have been a way for me to do it. 00:49:05.540 --> 00:49:09.080 align:middle line:84% But I also have some I photographed them 00:49:09.080 --> 00:49:10.770 align:middle line:90% around New York. 00:49:10.770 --> 00:49:12.210 align:middle line:90% I just took my intern like-- 00:49:12.210 --> 00:49:16.280 align:middle line:84% I also do internships with the New York Arts Program. 00:49:16.280 --> 00:49:19.140 align:middle line:84% So every semester I have an intern that works with me. 00:49:19.140 --> 00:49:22.020 align:middle line:84% And in one particular semester, she just 00:49:22.020 --> 00:49:27.990 align:middle line:84% carried my pieces all over New York and photographed them. 00:49:27.990 --> 00:49:30.900 align:middle line:84% And I did want to put them in downtown, but there's already 00:49:30.900 --> 00:49:35.820 align:middle line:84% a little girl there that I really did want to see-- 00:49:35.820 --> 00:49:39.180 align:middle line:84% put them in the context of this figure being in an empty space 00:49:39.180 --> 00:49:44.820 align:middle line:84% by themselves in a city and what that would feel like. 00:49:44.820 --> 00:49:47.070 align:middle line:84% I'm not sure if it's a question or a comment. 00:49:47.070 --> 00:49:49.290 align:middle line:84% But I remember in the beginning of your presentation 00:49:49.290 --> 00:49:51.720 align:middle line:90% you had mentioned the unicorn. 00:49:51.720 --> 00:49:53.850 align:middle line:84% And I think it's kind of an interesting symbol. 00:49:53.850 --> 00:49:57.180 align:middle line:84% And I was wondering if you would be able to elaborate maybe 00:49:57.180 --> 00:50:02.190 align:middle line:84% a little bit more on the history of that and that incorporation. 00:50:02.190 --> 00:50:02.940 align:middle line:90% Yeah. 00:50:02.940 --> 00:50:08.320 align:middle line:84% I really took a different direction during the lockdown. 00:50:08.320 --> 00:50:11.880 align:middle line:84% And I was really moved by what was happening with the Black 00:50:11.880 --> 00:50:15.300 align:middle line:84% Lives Matter marches outside and the idea 00:50:15.300 --> 00:50:17.580 align:middle line:84% that we were kind of trapped inside. 00:50:17.580 --> 00:50:22.470 align:middle line:84% And my partner is also an artist and he'll 00:50:22.470 --> 00:50:25.920 align:middle line:84% make a huge stroke in like a second on a huge canvas. 00:50:25.920 --> 00:50:30.030 align:middle line:84% And I really wanted to think about the concept of what 00:50:30.030 --> 00:50:33.910 align:middle line:84% it is to be locked in for a really long period of time. 00:50:33.910 --> 00:50:35.880 align:middle line:84% And so I took the finest brush that I 00:50:35.880 --> 00:50:39.180 align:middle line:84% could find like with two or three hairlines 00:50:39.180 --> 00:50:43.890 align:middle line:84% and I researched all these different botanicals 00:50:43.890 --> 00:50:47.040 align:middle line:84% from Africa where they came from, what part of Africa 00:50:47.040 --> 00:50:47.880 align:middle line:90% they were. 00:50:47.880 --> 00:50:53.280 align:middle line:84% And I tried to think of any color, any value. 00:50:53.280 --> 00:50:56.190 align:middle line:84% I try to change the value in the tint of each flower 00:50:56.190 --> 00:50:59.670 align:middle line:84% and have five to six or seven different colors in one little 00:50:59.670 --> 00:51:02.080 align:middle line:90% stem and how I can do that. 00:51:02.080 --> 00:51:03.960 align:middle line:84% And I think part of it was echoing 00:51:03.960 --> 00:51:07.440 align:middle line:84% that idea of being in isolation and being trapped 00:51:07.440 --> 00:51:12.390 align:middle line:84% and at the same time what was happening outside 00:51:12.390 --> 00:51:15.570 align:middle line:84% you know with the Black Lives Matter. 00:51:15.570 --> 00:51:18.390 align:middle line:84% And the idea that this unicorn, this white unicorn 00:51:18.390 --> 00:51:22.710 align:middle line:84% is considered to be magical, and the meaning of that, 00:51:22.710 --> 00:51:25.440 align:middle line:84% the meaning of white and the meaning of black. 00:51:25.440 --> 00:51:27.690 align:middle line:84% And then and I started thinking about what 00:51:27.690 --> 00:51:30.490 align:middle line:84% about the brown perspective as well. 00:51:30.490 --> 00:51:33.300 align:middle line:84% And so some of the smaller unicorns I made 00:51:33.300 --> 00:51:37.690 align:middle line:84% were various tones of browns as well. 00:51:37.690 --> 00:51:40.470 align:middle line:84% But at the same time, I really wanted to talk about beauty. 00:51:40.470 --> 00:51:45.780 align:middle line:84% Beauty and ideas of Africa having rich resources 00:51:45.780 --> 00:51:48.390 align:middle line:84% in the same way that I was looking at the botanicals 00:51:48.390 --> 00:51:51.690 align:middle line:84% from Mexico and California of having a rich resource 00:51:51.690 --> 00:51:54.300 align:middle line:84% in history with botanicals as well, 00:51:54.300 --> 00:51:56.970 align:middle line:84% since I had been looking at them for a long time 00:51:56.970 --> 00:51:59.040 align:middle line:84% and putting them in my watercolors. 00:51:59.040 --> 00:52:03.120 align:middle line:84% So I wanted to kind of bring those ideas together somehow. 00:52:03.120 --> 00:52:07.590 align:middle line:84% And also with the concept of an animal. 00:52:07.590 --> 00:52:11.710 align:middle line:84% I have been making animals for some time as well. 00:52:11.710 --> 00:52:13.920 align:middle line:84% And some of them kind of look like me 00:52:13.920 --> 00:52:16.590 align:middle line:84% in some way, at least that's what people tell me. 00:52:16.590 --> 00:52:19.470 align:middle line:84% They're like oh, your portraits people 00:52:19.470 --> 00:52:21.433 align:middle line:84% say that they're a little bit about you 00:52:21.433 --> 00:52:22.350 align:middle line:90% or they look like you. 00:52:22.350 --> 00:52:23.330 align:middle line:90% But I think your-- 00:52:23.330 --> 00:52:25.580 align:middle line:84% somebody told me, I think your dogs look more like you 00:52:25.580 --> 00:52:28.860 align:middle line:90% than your figures. 00:52:28.860 --> 00:52:31.140 align:middle line:84% And I thought that was a really interesting comment 00:52:31.140 --> 00:52:32.415 align:middle line:90% because they do. 00:52:32.415 --> 00:52:35.100 align:middle line:84% You can see the humanistic qualities, 00:52:35.100 --> 00:52:37.890 align:middle line:84% the humanistic emotion, in the same way 00:52:37.890 --> 00:52:40.410 align:middle line:90% that you would see the figures. 00:52:40.410 --> 00:52:45.030 align:middle line:84% And so I think I try to think about the unicorn and the idea 00:52:45.030 --> 00:52:46.590 align:middle line:90% of making a portrait. 00:52:46.590 --> 00:52:49.800 align:middle line:84% How closely can I make it human and yet still be a horse 00:52:49.800 --> 00:52:52.200 align:middle line:90% or still be a unicorn. 00:52:52.200 --> 00:52:55.320 align:middle line:84% And I also think about that when I'm actually 00:52:55.320 --> 00:52:59.080 align:middle line:84% making drawings and watercolors of dogs and cats 00:52:59.080 --> 00:53:00.750 align:middle line:90% and birds and things like that. 00:53:00.750 --> 00:53:05.100 align:middle line:84% It's like I try to think about changing the eyes to make them 00:53:05.100 --> 00:53:06.720 align:middle line:84% look more human or creating some more 00:53:06.720 --> 00:53:10.620 align:middle line:84% reflection in the facial features to give it an attitude 00:53:10.620 --> 00:53:15.100 align:middle line:84% or to make it more human in some way. 00:53:15.100 --> 00:53:17.610 align:middle line:84% And so I think that conceptually, 00:53:17.610 --> 00:53:22.290 align:middle line:84% that idea kind of falls into questioning 00:53:22.290 --> 00:53:25.458 align:middle line:90% the humanity of animals. 00:53:25.458 --> 00:53:27.750 align:middle line:84% I don't know about you, but I'm hooked to animal videos 00:53:27.750 --> 00:53:30.190 align:middle line:90% on the internet. 00:53:30.190 --> 00:53:33.780 align:middle line:84% And so the humanity of animals and in relationship 00:53:33.780 --> 00:53:37.500 align:middle line:84% to the humanity of human beings, and the kindness 00:53:37.500 --> 00:53:39.270 align:middle line:90% and also the opposite of that. 00:53:39.270 --> 00:53:42.460 align:middle line:84% The violence, and the terror, and all of these things. 00:53:42.460 --> 00:53:43.410 align:middle line:90% And when I think-- 00:53:43.410 --> 00:53:46.880 align:middle line:84% I don't know if you remember the sculpture titled 00:53:46.880 --> 00:53:51.030 align:middle line:84% Inoncencias Brutalidad, the innocence brutality, 00:53:51.030 --> 00:53:53.100 align:middle line:84% of the dog barking at the girl and the girl 00:53:53.100 --> 00:53:55.650 align:middle line:90% barking at the dog. 00:53:55.650 --> 00:53:59.790 align:middle line:84% But that sculpture came about because when 00:53:59.790 --> 00:54:02.100 align:middle line:84% I was thinking about fear and violence, 00:54:02.100 --> 00:54:06.120 align:middle line:84% I was thinking that when a dog barks at you 00:54:06.120 --> 00:54:09.140 align:middle line:90% he's usually afraid. 00:54:09.140 --> 00:54:11.880 align:middle line:84% And I've found that really interesting 00:54:11.880 --> 00:54:14.430 align:middle line:90% to see that in humans as well. 00:54:14.430 --> 00:54:17.640 align:middle line:84% A lot of the times when someone attacks you-- 00:54:17.640 --> 00:54:18.810 align:middle line:90% I try to be-- 00:54:18.810 --> 00:54:20.310 align:middle line:84% I try to think this person's hurting 00:54:20.310 --> 00:54:23.700 align:middle line:84% or this person has their story and so I'm not going 00:54:23.700 --> 00:54:26.285 align:middle line:90% to attack back type of thing. 00:54:26.285 --> 00:54:28.410 align:middle line:84% And so I think that's where that kind of came from. 00:54:28.410 --> 00:54:32.760 align:middle line:84% Is like the relationship between anger, violence, attack, 00:54:32.760 --> 00:54:36.030 align:middle line:84% and compassion, and how can they intertwine 00:54:36.030 --> 00:54:39.960 align:middle line:90% in the same image in some way. 00:54:39.960 --> 00:54:42.120 align:middle line:84% I hope that the dog's eyes are fearful 00:54:42.120 --> 00:54:44.462 align:middle line:90% but the teeth are growling. 00:54:44.462 --> 00:54:46.170 align:middle line:84% At least that's kind of what I'm thinking 00:54:46.170 --> 00:54:50.130 align:middle line:90% about when I make them. 00:54:50.130 --> 00:54:53.430 align:middle line:84% Gabriela asked sort of what aspect of Cuban sculpture 00:54:53.430 --> 00:54:54.870 align:middle line:90% are you drawn to and why. 00:54:54.870 --> 00:54:57.680 align:middle line:90% 00:54:57.680 --> 00:55:00.320 align:middle line:84% I am not familiar with Cuban sculpture. 00:55:00.320 --> 00:55:02.780 align:middle line:84% I mean, the only Cuban that I'm really 00:55:02.780 --> 00:55:05.870 align:middle line:84% responded to is Ana Mendieta And I think part of it 00:55:05.870 --> 00:55:09.800 align:middle line:84% is because she went to Mexico a few times 00:55:09.800 --> 00:55:13.010 align:middle line:84% and was really influenced by the culture there. 00:55:13.010 --> 00:55:17.660 align:middle line:84% And hence the Mother Earth performance in sculptures 00:55:17.660 --> 00:55:20.320 align:middle line:84% came about through her trips to Mexico. 00:55:20.320 --> 00:55:24.050 align:middle line:84% And so she's one of-- she's a Cuban artist 00:55:24.050 --> 00:55:26.450 align:middle line:84% that I look at and really fond of. 00:55:26.450 --> 00:55:29.030 align:middle line:84% And really interested in her theories 00:55:29.030 --> 00:55:31.820 align:middle line:84% and feminist theories and writings. 00:55:31.820 --> 00:55:33.320 align:middle line:84% Well, a huge thanks to you, Claudia. 00:55:33.320 --> 00:55:35.930 align:middle line:84% We appreciate your generosity and time today. 00:55:35.930 --> 00:55:38.110 align:middle line:84% And thanks to all of you who attended and shared 00:55:38.110 --> 00:55:39.530 align:middle line:90% some of your afternoon with us. 00:55:39.530 --> 00:55:40.990 align:middle line:90% We appreciate you. 00:55:40.990 --> 00:55:44.110 align:middle line:84% A reminder to visit our website to sign up for future episodes 00:55:44.110 --> 00:55:46.300 align:middle line:84% or to see archived episodes of Home Edition 00:55:46.300 --> 00:55:50.300 align:middle line:84% like this one which will be there in a few weeks. 00:55:50.300 --> 00:55:52.180 align:middle line:90% Thanks again, Claudia. 00:55:52.180 --> 00:55:53.890 align:middle line:84% Thank you all and please take care. 00:55:53.890 --> 00:55:55.880 align:middle line:90% And we'll see you next time. 00:55:55.880 --> 00:55:57.810 align:middle line:90% Thank you so much. 00:55:57.810 --> 00:56:18.000 align:middle line:90%