TV Interview: Spotlight on Cocooning Catharsis

PBCJamaica "Spotlight" TV Interview Originally aired January 2014
for the solo photo-Based exhibition Cocooning Catharis at HiQo Gallery, Kingston, Jamaica
(Dec 19 - Jan 13th, 2014)


This was thankfully a casual but in depth discussion on the inspiration behind the work, and some of the methods used to make the pieces.  It was a great hang with the crew too.

Select works available at HiQo Gallery






Related links and articles:

Smile Jamaica/TVJ Morning Interview

Petchary Blog Review

Arc Magazine Release

The Gleaner

SeBiArt News: Showtime Roster & Roll Call! :)

Thanks so much for the enthusiastic reception of my last news post guys!

So as promised here's the line up of current and upcoming shows/events in Kingston (Jamaica) and New York City.  Bring friends and share the merriment!!  

Not in either place? Then pass this along to those you know here and there!

PS - you can click all flyer images for a larger view and to share this post.  

Please note - this blog post will be updated through the end of the year.

CURRENTLY SHOWING

SuperPlus Under 40 Artist of the Year Juried Exhibition

Curated by Artist Finalists: 
Marvin Bartley, Leasho Johnson, Berette Macaulay, and Olivia McGilchrist

Mutual Gallery 
Website: MutualGallery.com

2 Oxford Road

New Kingston, Jamaica

Map

New Photo based mixed media Installation Project (currently in progress)

Opening November 1st, 2012
Public VOTING  until Nov 18th
Winner Announcement Ceremony  Nov 19th
Show Closes Nov 23rd 
 

Gallery Hours:

Monday - Friday 10AM – 6PM 

Saturday 10:30AM – 3PM 

Sunday closed
Free Admission

•••

BOOK RELEASE News:

Remember that great photo exchange project I did last year, The Big Picture (MoP 2011) with Illiterate Media? 

[MoP - Month of Photography]

Reminder:  

    

Well the book just came out - The Big Picture 2011 (available in print from blurb and in the App Store for iPads). It has an engaging layout documenting the worldwide wheat pasting photo exchange created by Mark Sink + Illiterate Media Gallery, and shows SeBiArt and Studio 174's student involvement in Jamaica. Check it out and share!

Order Book HERE - See pages 37, 40,41, and 74 for my work and the work with Studio 174 in Jamaica! :)

•••

Recent Events Passed

“Occupy!” Exhibition on Governor’s Island 

Presented by the International Center of Photography (ICP)

Website: icp.org
 

The exhibition, titled “Occupy!” features photographs taken of or inspired by the movement, which began in New York on September 17, 2011. 

"To mark the one-year anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, arguably the most inclusive and effective protest movement of the past decade, the International Center of Photography will stage a six-week exhibition of photographs on Governor’s Island. ..."

FIVE SeBiArt images from Occupy!Denver are on view in this show.

Governor’s Galleries, Governor's Island 

Opening August 18, 2012
Closing September 30th, 2012

FREE Admission!

“You cannot evict an idea whose time has come.”       ---Occupy Wall Street Media Team

Art Beast blurb on Daily Beast

•••

Annual Juried Photography Exhibition

Jurors: Elisabeth Biondi & Martine Fourgeron

Curated by CCNY

The Camera Club of New York (Founded 1884)
Website: cameraclubny.org
The Arts Building
336 West 37th Street, Suite 206
Nearest Trains: A,E,C,1,2,3 to 34th St Penn Station
                B,D,F,V,N,R to 34th St Herald Square            

Map

OPEN: August 16th - Sept 8th, 2012

Closing Reception Friday Sept 7th

Gallery Hours:

Monday - Friday 11AM - 6PM 

Free Admission 

•••

National Visual Arts Exhibition 

National Gallery of Jamaica

Curated by NGJ

National Gallery of Jamaica

Website: NatGalJA.org

12 Ocean Blvd, Block C 

Entrance on Orange Street 

Kingston, Jamaica

Map

Opening - July 8th

Closing -  EXTENDED til Aug 25th, 2012

Gallery Hours:

Tues - Thurs 10AM - 4:30PM

Friday 10AM - 4PM

Saturday 10AM - 3PM

Sun/Mon  Closed

Free Admission

•••

Art From the Heart 

Curated by Jennifer Kahrs 

The Vanderbilt Republic GOWANUS Loft
Website: VanderbiltRepublic.com

61 9th Street 

#C8 

Brooklyn, NY

Nearest Trains: F, G

Map

Saturday July 28th, 2012

6 - 12pm

Get Tickets HERE

AFTH2012 @ Gowanus Loft from The Vanderbilt Republic on Vimeo.

•••

Charity Event for Lovers of Life, Art, and Food

 
Spur Tree Restaurant
Website:SpurTreeLounge.com 

76 Orchard Street

Bet Broome & Grand

New York, NY

Nearest Trains:  F, D

Map

Tuesday July 24th, 20102

6:30 - 9:30pm

Suggested Donation: $25

Appearances: 
Music by Crimson Heart Replica

Comedy Sketch - Lori Sommer (Comedian/Founder of Fine, Funny, & Female)

Spoken Word Poetry - LOVE POETRYSMOTION
plus Spur Tree DJs

RELATED POSTS:

SeBiArt News: from the Bat Cave :) (July 2012)

Appeals for the life of a friend (June 2012) 

BIG PICTURE Fun on the Rock (March 2011)

SeBiArt News: from the Bat Cave :)

Bursting at the seams so straight to it!

1)
A few weeks ago I was one of 4 artists* accepted by jury into the Annual Mutual Gallery SuperPlus Under 40 Artist of the Year competition in Kingston, Jamaica. 

I'm working in an entirely new image making process for a project titled:   

ReKON: differenzierte Möglichkeit (trans. Reconstruction: Differentiated Possibility). 
It is most arduous, frightening, and fullfilling process on a daily basis - and I'm quite certain the finish will be an unexpected aesthetic to us all.   Such intensity requires I be quiet and staunchly disciplined to get through it...hence "Bat Cave".

here's a sneaky peek from the inside:

2)

Three images I shot earlier this year in downtown Kingston (Trench Town, Tivoli, and the Waterfront) were accepted for the annual JCDC/National Gallery of Jamaica competition.  I received the bronze prize for Waterfront Divers on Kingston's Edge this past Sunday.  Yayyyyyy!  This work will be up through August at the National Gallery of Jamaica - if you're on the island check us all out.

3)

In the last couple of weeks I was informed that my portrait work series Neue Rootz was selected as 2nd place winner in CCNY's 2012 National Annual Juried Photography Competition!!  I can hardly believe what I am typing - I'm still soaked in shock.   The jurors were Elisabeth Biondi - who over the last 20 years worked at The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Stern, and APERTURE as the Visuals Editor, Director of Photography, and contributor respectively, and in other distinguished roles in publishing and academia. And the other juror, Martine Fougeron - is an accomplished fine art and editorial photographer/contributor to the New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, and New York Magazine.  I'm completely elated to have them view my work - let alone select me for 2nd place.
                            
Quote from the email notice:  

"We are happy to say the jurors, after many hours of carefully considering each entry, felt that your submission was particularly strong, and that you have been chosen as the second-place winner of this year’s competition. Congratulations on behalf of the entire CCNY board and staff!"

 OMG!!!

The winning spots are 1st, 2nd, and tie for 3rd place plus 12 honorable mentions.  Congrats to all the artists, who I'm sure are as excited as I am. 


See official announcement on the CCNY website.

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4)

I submitted work to the Vanderbilt Republic (whom I showed with last year at 25CPW Gallery) and made it through the curatorial and voting phases - yayyy - so I will show with them again this month in AFTH 2012 (Art From The Heart)show at their new Gowanus Loft Location in Brooklyn, New York. 

These folks are the most playful and sweetest group of seriously solid quality artists around - because the founder of VR, George del Barrio sets the energy that way.  Light light light!

http://vanderbiltrepublic.com/

5)
Last but so not least - I just got back from Costa Rica. I went down to breathe sweet life into a new multidisciplinary project collaboration with local friend actor/artist Olger Ignacio Gonzalez and NYC friend/dancer/teacher/choreographer Roger C. Jeffrey.  It's a baby of a project now, but this was such a beautiful and INTENSE creative trip that it will have its own post later in the year after further development.  But for now - think dance/film/photography/social-art project.  Yummy-liciousness.

Roger snappin' lights of inspiration - hahaha :)

Lft to Rt: Roger, Margarette, me, Olger. As you see we got to hang with my mama too!

 

Roger and Olger: Plaza de la Democracia

More photos + show dates and gallery locations coming up in another post soon.

This year keeps slapping me and hugging me at the same time people! Happy Summer to you all - hope to see you at a couple shows - and live-life-live-life-live-life and lift someone in a hug too while you're at it!

*Other 3 artist in Mutual Gallery show in November:
Olivia McGilchrist, Leasho Johnson, and Marvin Bartley

RELATED POSTS:

Next SeBiArt Show - New York City/Central Park West (Nov 2011)
SeBiArt News: Running on Joy (July 2011)
SeBiArt Getting Award for LIQUID (July 2010)

 

OWN Your Skin NOW

At last it feels right
No more struggle or fight
Evolving into me
Expanding beyond the deep


The meditation for the past few months, or years, well, my lifetime, is to actualize 'self', which creates such fulfilling connections with others, to keep opening and expanding the heart so as to lead the body with love. 


It is so important to learn how to be ourselves, and not a premeditated, planned out version of this...; and in being who we really are - being the beautiful imperfect beings that we are in every moment of 'now', will inevitably lead to the perfect expression of our essential selves, our inner most beauty, the core light that shines unobstructed and thus brighter from this 'letting'. 


It has taken (and is taking) a lot of time, focus, daring, and fight, ...constant conscious pushing... to grow into me, to grow into myself, to grow into my skin; to stop struggling with the fit as if it belonged to someone else or should belong to someone else, to evolve beyond an old idea that the fit was wrong or would never be a good enough, or worse - that it sometimes felt so itchy that I wanted to rip it off and cast it away. But alas, it is the perfect fit. We settle down don't we (?), and then every crevasse fills in snugly.  

Sweet exhale: Growing into self.  Growing into me. 


Mind the Gap note for today and always...
Be Yourself.  Everyone else is taken.
~Oscar Wilde

SeBiArt News: Running on Joy

It would simply be a shame to let too much time pass without sharing this news guys.  Last week was full of fortune and surprises that all occurred rather closely together. 

Last Sunday I found out that my work (shown below) was awarded at the JCDC/National Gallery of Jamaica Competition and exhibition with a Bronze medal for Visual Arts and the sectional trophy and cash award for Adult Photography.  Wow.  That's the 2nd year that's happened.  And here I was feeling all itchy about having not produced enough new work in the last months, fretting that my incubation period would adversely affect the reception of my work.  The Universe really reinforced my dreams and vigor to keep going.  

Coronation Market Lady                                                                                               2011 JCDC/Nat'l Gallery JA Award Winner

Then 2 days later, (and actually a few minutes after I had shared the former news on Facebook) I got a random, really random email from the CEO of MyArtSpace, Catherine McCormick-Skiba (a site that I have a membership page on but, embarrassingly, I rarely use due to overwhelm) congratulating me on being featured on their front page media windows!!!  As in the front page of their website!  A site that according to some articles out there gets more hits than Saatchi Gallery!  Hello!  What?  I totally freaked.  Who knew anyone was watching? Especially a sloth-like network member like me?  And it was for my (not-so) new series, still in progress, BRANDED, that I'd just uploaded over the weekend*.  Please visit and check it out!  I could never pay for such exposure - really.  Of course I took a screen capture of it to share here - see below. 

*view images samples of the project, featuring music mix by Sawandi.

click for larger view - or footer tab to share!

I wrote her back after two days (it took me a minute to digest this stuff) and thanked her quite enthusiastically; I did not make any effort to hide my shock and befuddlement - trust me.  Haha.  And she wrote back the most complimentary and encouraging email about how she felt about my work - with adjectives like "emotionally impactful" and "poignant". I still CANNOT believe it.  So - the dare is on people...Mind the Gap...EVEN more. Hahaha! You know - in this life, you really NEVER know who's watching.  Funny thing is, I kinda put that project to bed, or on a long pause shall we say, but now I aim to finish this thing and get it submitted, once and for all dammit.  Special shout out to Sean John (Spur Tree Lounge, NYC) for pushing me to finish this.  Love ya buddy! And, and - while I'm there - congrats to him for the recent feature on his restaurant in Maxim Magazine - #2 in top 5 dinner line up in America!  AND to my god brother, Akindele Hickling (who my father named by the way - heehee) for his JCDC visual arts awarded paintings as well. He's SUCH an amazing talent as you can see below for yourself.  YeehAW! 

The Trials of Elegba by Akindele Hickling

Okay so lots of glee here, but I have to reveal something, and I'm sure some of you will concur, that the reality of life as an artist is indeed cathartic, exciting, and purifying, but, it's utterly terrifying sometimes.  Especially when it comes to sharing this kind of news, or appealing for support. Overcoming fear to create work is somehow easier than writing this blog post right now...which is why I'm forcing myself to do it. It is important for me to share with you, that of all the little adventures I gleefully, and sometimes (maybe most times) naively charge into - this is always the biggest dare of all.  So thank you for hugging me along the way - you'll never know how encouraging it is, how much it means to me.  

~

Sooooo...(eye dab, sniffle), on that note; here I go leaping across the gap again to plead for your support on a couple other ventures.

I have 4 photos in a shoot out contest called "Beginnings" on the JPG website. Eeek!  No awards there, but a cash prize is up for grabs, and I need to hear chi-CHING soon! Please check it out if you have a spare minute. I've linked each entry below.  Just click the photos to Visit, View, and Vote:

Is it better at the start?

Sick of Waiting

(from BRANDED series)

Endless Island Bliss

(published in Jamaica Fi Real, Randle Publishers 2010)

 

Timelessness

 

Secondly, the JCDC/National Gallery Visual Arts Competition has a Viewers Vote section - which I'm now in the running for (like last year some of you might recall...). It would be awesome (and financially useful) to win this - hello - funding to continue my work!!! This is for those of you in Jamaica specifically, as it involves text voting with local cell phone providers. I will be blogging the details on how to vote in my next post. Stay tuned!

In the meantime - make sure to visit the National Gallery and check out the show - it's going on now until Aug 20th! Lemme know how it is since I can't be there.  :(   :)

Have a SUPER productive, creative, and fun week people!!

RELATED JOURNEY POSTS:

->SeBiArt Getting Award for LIQUID (July 2010)

->Ha - I got support like Obama used to have! Lol (July 2010)

->Some talk about a new project...'BRANDED' (October 2010)

->Condensed Milk (December 2010)

 

The Ruling Valve

Performer: Crimson Heart Replica 

Does the wounded part of your heart direct your life, or do the wishes of the soft untarnished part race to create your experiences? People say life is short.  But I say life is long.  Think of how many memories you have, how many people you've met, how many disappointments you've moved past, how many surprises have tickled your outlook?  And just think how many more of those are ahead.  Every aspect of life, major or minor, in every place you have lived, every job you've had, every failing or successful result from any effort, every person - asshole or angel, stranger, family member, or friend, has shaped and reshaped your choices for your life,  the lessons you've learned, and how you feel about yourself and others...in short your identity...your heart.  

Our hearts get molded and recolored over and over again, but over the course of this long LONG journey we start to see and feel a graphic pattern of our ruling valve; the one that shapes our perceptions of this journey.  Does your ruling valve restrict flow to protect the whole heart from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune*?  Or does it pump energetically and openly, absorbing those arrows with an enduring life flow of wonderment and delight?  We all know the latter creates ease, and the former creates pressure...and with enough of the former, follows an inevitable implosion of explosive destruction.  That valve would restrict any inclination for open exploration, including the idea that seeking to remain innocent is life affirming, rather than emotional suicide.  

Like most people, my valves work in shifts, and as I get older I restrict myself more frequently - which always comes about from

fotos © Monique MOGI Gilpin

fear of a myriad of things, including fear of wanting good things for myself. But my ever dreaming childlike valve keeps screaming to reign supreme.  I breathe better by searching for fair perspectives in things; mercy and forgiveness  amidst negativity, acceptance of the inexplicable or indelible hurts, and the insistence in dancing on common ground with myself and everyone I share space and time with.  Yes there are some serious assholes out there, and real life challenges to contend with, but I feel we must understand that those who behave like assholes are simply people who are emotionally restricted by fear; and that the mental and physical work required to overcome personal conflicts or life challenges are better sustained with an open flow of positive energy (if even at a distance), than by use of suffocating anger or despairing restrictions of the heart.

What you are choosing at this precise moment is what is ruling your life at present.  But life is long, so there's time, now - if there's a need - to change your ruling valve.  What you feel, is how you live. It's your heart, no one can break it, build it, or open it more completely than you. 

* from Shakespeare's Hamlet, III.i., To be, or not to be, - sililoquy
 

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Crimson Heart Replica: Beautiful Mistake

"My music is my natural instinct, an illustration of immense emotion bleeding out from passionate hearts and souls." ~CHR 

---

To all my peeps who keep my ruling valve open. 

♡♡♡

"Sonnet 29" - Performed by  Rufus Wainright, Clips from Pride & Prejudice:

When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

--William Shakespeare

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NOTE to Facebook Readers: 
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RELATED JOURNEY POSTS:   Warm Light and Love (AUG 2010)

                         I Broke Up With Self-Sabotage...(JUNE 2010)