FEB 2020
dear friends,
happy celebratory palindrome day, in date form anyway (02/02/2020)!
this past year has been, in short, really busy. i'm hoping to take some time to be a little more rested and contemplative, pulling back a little in order to think through a new animation project called Hospes. The word “hospitality” comes from the root word “hospes” a word that can be translated to mean either “host”, “guest” or even “stranger”.
the story unpacks the idea of belonging by following a traveling amalgam of body parts, a being that simultaneously belongs everywhere and nowhere. our protagonist encounters an environment aimed at sorting its pieces, breaking apart its body. pieces resist through individualized choreography that eventually come together again. the amalgam’s pieces alone and apart from one another are incomprehensible fragments, but as intersectional pieces might form an “indiscernible” body. i’m thinking through a multi-rigged puppet and set whose parts can be animated separately, but also as a conglomerate whole.
i've needed a lot of help understanding this project - a big thank you to the many folks willing to engage in so many meandering conversations so far and a big thank you to the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund fellowship through JHU for the mentorship and workshops.
in an effort to contribute more to DMV arts communities more directly i'm still mentoring artist w/ IA&A Hillyer's Advisory Committee and but have also joined the highly active board at Reston Arts Center. Reston is undergoing a rebranding process while also searching for a new Executive Director and Curator. Please apply if you're interested or forward this along to someone awesome: https://restonarts.org/about/jobs/
Thank you again everyone for the support and friendship.
Below are some projects that I have coming up.
curated by Saisha Grayson, curator of New Media, SAAM
Friday, March 6, 7-9pm at the Cinema @Eaton DC panel following the screening w/ Sobia Ahmad, Brittney Sankofa, Stephanie Williams and Plakookee (Rachel Debuque and Justin Plakas)
Saturday, March 7, 2-7pm at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Watch the landmark feature film Born in Flames and join the director Lizzie Borden and SAAM curators in a post-screening discussion.
Join us for a film festival that highlights women artists working outside the Hollywood game, making their own rules and seeking adventurous audiences for their bold visions. This is a key effort to bring time-based and film artworks and artists to our audiences, and engage with timely issues while amplifying voices beyond those represented in the collection. This year, in recognition of the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage, the Festival asks: How are female-identifying and non-binary filmmakers using their art to imagine the world differently? Cinema @Eaton DC, 1201 K Street NW, WDC, 202.289.7600 SAAM, F st & 8th st NW, WDC, MUSEUM HOURS: 11:30am-7pm
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curated by Cheryl Harper January 21 – April 16, 2020
OPENING RECEPTION & new performance by Angela Ellsworth: March 8, 2pm a performance by Caleb Weintraub: March 12, 2020, 12:45pm Stedman Gallery, Rutgers University - Camden Center for the Arts 314 Linden Street, Camden, NJ, 856.225.6350
GALLERY HOURS, MON-SAT: 10am-4pm
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curated by Laure Drogoul
February 20 – March 28, 2020
Merkin Dream opens Thursday, February 20 with a reception beginning at 6pm (free) and closes Saturday, March 28 with a ticketed Fashion Show, doors at 7pm. Maryland Art Place, 218 W Saratoga St, Baltimore, MD, 410.962.8565 GALLERY HOURS, TUES-SAT: 12-4pm
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recent past projects
Face Value @the Parlour, Baltimore, MD Unruly Bodies @Stevenson University, Stevenson, MD Where We Have Been @Towson University, Towson, MD Art Night @Washington Project for the Arts/Hickock Cole, WDC The Tenderness Project - THE TENDERNESS PROJECT IS AN EXPERIMENT IN RADICAL EMPATHY CURATED BY ROSS GAY AND SHAYLA LAWSON. written stuff
Akea Brionne Brown, On Why We Need to Talk About the Philippines, Shades Collective, October 22, 2019
Brandon Soderberg, Border Crossing in Lingering Survival of the Unfit, BmoreArt, July 26, 2019
Cara Ober, Immigration, Environmentalism, Race, and Culture: 2019 Sondheim Finalists Tackle Personal, Civic, and Universal Issues, BmoreArt, June 28, 2019
Elsabe Johnson Dixon, East City Artnotes: Stephanie J. Williams, Things That Don't Have Names, East City Art, June 20, 2019
Mark Jenkins, In the Galleries: Whimsy Rendered in Black and White, Washington Post, June 7, 2019
Suzy Kopf, Art AND: Stephanie Williams, Bmore Art, May 30, 2019
School 33 Resident Biennial Catalogue, School 33, Baltimore, MD, 2019 essays by George Ciscle and Megan Koeppel
Lily Siegal, Languid Objects Animated, curatorial essay for Things That Don't Have Names, Greater Reston Art Center, Reston, VA, 2019
Rebekah Kerman, Friday Gallery Roundup: School 33 Edition, Bmore Art, May 17, 2019
Janet Rems, ...Explores the Question 'What are you?', Fairfax County Times, May 16, 2019
Cara Ober, A Look At the 2019 Sondheim Finalists, Bmore Art, April 2, 2019
Silvio Manganero, Acevedo, Wiliams, Wowsugi: Storie Americane, Il Giornale Dell' Arte, March 20, 2019
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