Virtual Salon Podcast

In this episode, we speak to artist and educator, Paloma Menendez.  Paloma is based in Mérida, Yucatán, and her work is inspired by classical paintings, myth, and the verdant landscapes surrounding her in Mexico. She talks about why the process of making work is important for her as well as experimenting with different mediums.

Music in the episode is performed by Fernando Troche.

In this episode, Leeanna Chipana and Alex Paul Loza talk about finding inspiration in their indigenous Peruvian heritage, and using their work to highlight the voices of their marginalized communities.

Music in the episode is performed by Fernando Troche.

Fernando Troche is a classical guitarist from Uruguay. In this episode, he talks about the process of arranging and recording an album with his cousin, operatic tenor Martin Nusspaumer.

Thank you to Fernando for graciously allowing us to use his recording of Torre Bermeja by Isaac Albeniz throughout this series. Additional musical performances can also be streamed on his website.

Monika Rosen is a Mexican-Canadian artist born and raised in Toronto, Canada.  She reflects on her exposure to disparate cultural backgrounds as well as finding herself through different healing practices and artistic mediums.

View episode images on www.theartistconfluence.com

Music in the episode is performed by Fernando Troche.

In this episode we chat with Alonsa Guevara.  Alonsa is a painter born in Chile and currently based in New York City.  Her artwork evokes rich imagery inspired by her childhood in the Ecuadorian rainforest.

Alonsa talks about the need to experiment with her artistic practice and how motherhood has added a new dimension to her work.

View episode images on our website: www.theartistconfluence.com

Music in the episode is performed by Fernando Troche.

In this episode we chat with Diego Garcia and Helena La Rota López.  Diego is a painter from Long Island, New York.  Helena is a multidisciplinary artist from Bogotá, Colombia.  The artists relate to each other and how they create spaces of meaning for themselves in their work.

Music in the episode is performed by Fernando Troche.

We begin our series of episodes about Latinx artists with Paloma Ponce and Jessica Alazraki. Jessica is a Mexican-born, New York-based painter, and Paloma is a chef from Mérida, Mexico. We thought it would be fun to introduce these two artists and discuss common aspects and inspiration relating to their backgrounds.

Both share a similar cultural heritage, drawing meaning from the warm atmosphere of the Mexican home. Gathering around the dinner table is a frequent ritual in Jessica’s paintings, a unifying element to her characters, and a theme Paloma relates to her own upbringing, which led her to become a chef.

Music in the episode is performed by Fernando Troche.  The song is Torre Bermeja by Isaac Albéniz.

We invited several artists to discuss the routines and rituals surrounding their creative work.  Featured in this episode are Louisville-based ballpoint pen portrait-maker, Sarah Sager, and Toronto-based jewelry-maker, Tessa Cameron.

Special thank you to all of the other artists who participated:

Kara Williams

Darryl Babatunde Smith

Zachary Lank

Elena Manero

Helena Vallee Dallaire

Steven Anthony Johnson

Benny John Plasencia

Music in the episode is by Kevin MacLeod.

Robyn Gibson is multimedia artist based in Brooklyn, New York.  As a Black artist, Robyn grapples with Black identity, especially the depiction, perception, and value of Black bodies.  In that exploration, she creates larger-than-life gestural charcoal figures, voluptuous ceramic vessels, as well as written pieces.  In this episode she reads three of her recent poems.

Follow Robyn on Instagram @theartist_rag

Music in the episode is by Kevin MacLeod.

In February of 2021, The New York Academy of Art held its first exhibition featuring BIPOC artists who attended the school. The show was called Parallels + Peripheries and it was proposed by alumna Robyn Gibson on the heels of the worldwide protests sparked by the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless others. Her proposal was accepted by the Academy and Larry Ossei-Mensah was invited to curate the show along with Robyn as assistant-curator.

In March, we had an opportunity to sit down with a number of the artists from the show and hear their reflections and to continue the conversation.

We hope that this show can be a model to other art institutions and that this kind of exhibition could be an annual one.

"It felt fundamental that every place should do this and all they have to do is listen." - Darryl B. Smith

In this episode you will here the voices of:

Darryl Babatunde Smith

Andrae Green

Guno Park

Leeanna Chipana

Steven Anthony Johnson

Prinston Nnanna

Link to show information: https://nyaa.edu/parallels-peripheries/

PARALLELS & PERIPHERIESis an ongoing exhibition series curated by Larry Ossei-Mensah investigating how contemporary artists create work constructed from narratives, myths, experiences, and memories that shape personal, political, and societal identities. For this edition of the exhibition, the inquiry seeks to explore how BIPOC artists are cultivating dynamic artistic practices designed to amplify perspectives and points of view that historically have pushed to the margins.

PARALLELS & PERIPHERIES: Practice + Presenceis the fifth iteration of the series focused on how the New York Academy of Art’s BIPOC artistic community (i.e. students, faculty, alumni, and visiting critics) uses their practice and platform to assert their presence within the world while attempting to negotiate issues of race, identity, visibility, and invisibility in a time of social volatility. Moreover, PARALLELS & PERIPHERIES: Practice + Presence intends to use the exhibition as a forum for unpacking the question of what happens when the power dynamics between “center” and “periphery” shift?

Music in the episode is by Kevin MacLeod