volume iv | issue 3

VOLUME IV | ISSUE 3
WWW.ONEFOKUS.ORG/INSIGHT
F.O.K.U.S. uses the arts to unite,
inspire and empower diverse communities.
This is accomplished through the production of events,
workshops and the publication of INSIGHT, our quarterly arts
magazine. F.O.K.U.S. is an organization led by young adults that
highlights the importance of and need for the arts and creativity in life.
We believe the arts enable people to rise above barriers
in society by creating new ways of thinking,
communicating, and interacting.
CONTENTS
Volume IV | Issue 3
02
04
06
16
26
29
30
38
46
52
60
68
Letter From the editor
Street StyLe
art iS...not
SeLF
we on a worLd tour
one Power
neuro PaintinG
maKinG my LiVinG
P-FunK
the Painted StorieS
Priz hymS
inFinte PLayLiSt
Street StyLe
art
articLeS / Q&a
PhotoGraPy
Poetry
F.o.K.u.S. cru
inFinite PLayLiSt
PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF / LAYOUT & DESIGN: ATIBA T. EDWARDS
Atiba is a perpetual visionary that likes to do art in the dark since it is easier to see the true light.
EDITOR: ALLISON MARITZA LASKY
Allison believes that children are the best artists—they are individual universes of infinite creativity.
EDITOR: ANDREW MILENIUS
Andrew has always been on the fortunate side of the fence thinking about how the people on the other side of the fence feel, and he wants to
break down that fence.
CONTRIBUTORS: ELEANOR BENNETT / JENNY BUCCOS / ROBERT DANIELS / ATIBA T. EDWARDS / JAMES EDWIN / AL
JANAE HAMILTON / KATHRYN KLOPP / ALLISON MARTIZA LASKY / PRIZ / SYMA
www.onefokus.org/insight
Questions and comments can be directed to [email protected]
Submission inquiries can be sent to [email protected]
All advertising inquiries can be directed to [email protected]
INSIGHT is published by F.O.K.U.S. Inc.
All rights reserved on entire contents. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Opinions expressed in articles are
those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of F.O.K.U.S., Inc. or INSIGHT.
LETTER FROM THE EdITOR:
VOLUME IV | ISSUE 3
We are blessed to have a wide array of art and artists in this issue. The common theme
is each artist tells a very personal story through art. Eleanor Bennet is a 15-year old
photographer who was able to accept who she was and what her talents were through art.
Allison got a chance to sit with Kathryn Klopp who is a teacher and artist that wants give
children the opportunity to keep marrying art with education.
How do you make money as an artist? This is one of the questions that each artist must
answer at their fork in the road. If the artist can come up with an answer, then they will
continue on their artists journey. If the artist cannot answer that question, then they usually
give up on art. Syma shares some of her success with monetizing her art. She has done
small creations all the way to sides of buildings in Philadephia and Boston. Her story gives
a good bit of insight that may be helpful along your artistic journey.
Jenny Buccos and ProjectExplorer are trailblazers in using video as a tool in education. She
used technology to create alternative education preceding the YouTubes and Skypes of the
world. The best part of it all is that all the tools and resources are provided for free.
James Edwin, Al Janae Hamilton, Priz and Robert Daniels all channel their youth, travels,
experiences and visions onto canvas and through the camera lens. Their canvas and
photography stories touch on many different points.
Read through this issue to take a pretty rich and exciting trip on an artistic rainbow. Can
the pot of gold only be found at the end of the rainbow?
Atiba T. Edwards
2 | INSIGHT
COVER aRT: OUT OF aLIGNMENT
Volume IV | Issue 3
RObERT daNIELS
This mixed medium work of art
portrays a dysfunctional family in the
urban setting. The pain from the verbal
and alcohol abuse is clearly etched
on the faces of the family members.
The colors are as dark as the mood.
The original work is 41x 49 and was
created in 2009.
Robert daniels is a visual artist and
educator. He is the founder of Nappy
Head Art. You can find his art on:
www.fineartamerica.com as well
as www.50megs.com. His e-mail is
[email protected].
Robert is also a member of the Weusi
Artist Collective and the Harlem Arts
Alliance.
INSIGHT | 3
Street Style: keys to brooklyn
Photo by Allison M Lasky
aRT IS...NOT...
an interview by
aLLISON M. LaSKy
a svelte, sweet-faced Kat Klopp
sits high up on a bar chair at
Tillie’s in Ft. Green, brooklyn
eating a muffin and sipping
coffee. at first glance, you think,
right… there’s another brooklyn
hipster chick trying to look like
she belongs. When I first met her,
she was being pulled around a
gymnasium-gone-gallery by one of
her many students at the academy
for Urban arts & Letters a few
blocks away from where we’re
meeting now.
after our first hour of conversation
turned interview and back again,
Kat responded to our F.O.K.U.S.
question ‘how do you finish the
line ‘art is…’?’ by saying “I studied
philosophy of language in school,
and learned that definitions are
often sought out by what they are
not as opposed to by what they
are… art is not…a mirror. actually,
I don’t think you can define it
like that, shit!” and so the social
worker turned artist tuned teacher
sat next to me as we unfolded her
path to where she’s been, where
she is, and, where she’s going.
6 | INSIGHT
ALLISON M LASKY: So where do we, well
you begin?
Kathryn Klopp: I was glued to the crayon
since birth. My mom pulled me into art
especially since our depressed community
in East Palo Alto and Redwood City, C.A.,
offered little to no excitement for me. As
soon as I realized I had the ability to create
on my own, I became a hoarder of art
materials. It didn’t take much to draw – it
was a hobby and an outlet. My parents
must’ve gotten sick of my creative process
– they’d buy me the materials, I’d do my
thing, and then throw it out only to begin
again. I was always doing art, but I was
reluctant to make it a career - I didn’t want
to commercialize it.
AML: You are clearly an artist now, in
more ways than one. At that time, though,
without art as a forseeable career, what
was the next creative move?
KK: Teaching. It was, and is, so natural for
me. I see it, art, as a gift to a child – instant
and visible outcomes. Last year, I taught
in the Bronx, and one of my high school
students who doubled as a skateboarder
got in trouble with the law. Though it was
a holiday, I had begged for my school
director to keep the art room open for
kids to have a place to go, and I would be
responsible for them. Instead of creating
in the art room, my student was attacked
by a cop because skateboarding was a
punishable offense. It occurred to me that
my students were thirsty for the ability to
art is...not...
be artists in a space that would encourage
their pushing limits, not punish them for
their ideas. I inevitably left that program
due to cutbacks, but established a new
program through a local non-profit
marrying graffiti and classical art ideas
that encourages high school students to
look forward to college while living the
dream-being an artist. I believe and know
that young people are smart enough
to push the horizons of art if given the
opportunity. Also, that the notion that art
can offer a forseeable career and future
must be tangible enough so that art
becomes a vehicle for education as well.
AML: I’m definitely all about education? I’m
immersed in it, and am also able to see art
on a daily basis amount to more than just
what it is. I’m so curious to know though,
how did you first become connected to
youths?
KK: While studying in Oregon for undergrad,
I worked with gang involved youths as
a probation officer [yea]. The youths I
worked with were all so driven by art as a
hobby so I was excited to be able to focus
on that. Judges would pass down, in my
opinion, contradictory sanctions for these
kids. While on probation, they wouldn’t
be able to leave their homes or speak to
their friends- so what do you do? Go crazy.
Come to art. And that’s what happened – I
would get black books, markers, etc. for
them. I believe its therapeutic and the
more I worked, connected, the more I
saw the social/emotional growth the kids
experienced by venting their insides out
onto paper. They were finally able to see
they were good at something, they had
worth. That also translated into my initial
work here in New York. When I got here
two years ago, I set up a trip to 5 Points
with my students where they were given
small wall spaces to create on their ownand they owned it, the art, it was theirs.
Despite many of their parents not seeing
art as a legit activity, and the disconnect
between disapproving parents and their
creatively active children, the kids will
always know there is art that exists in a
permanent space that they can be proud of.
AML: Kids are the best artists. [Kat nods]
And you, what kind of artist are you? What
is your relationship to art?
KK: I am always ready to participate in
art. I’m on a constant personal evolution
through art, through me. My art is a mixing
of things outside my head that end up on
a canvas through my actions. My paintings
teach me…they teach back to me about
who they are, about who I am. Whereas
I might have started off with a random
mess of ideas, suddenly, the piece will
have meaning that I/it didn’t come with.
It’s like a person having a conversation
with someone smarter than me. And,
because no one has the ability to manifest
everything inside, I am constantly reliving
the cycle of life evolution, of creating. I am
showing myself that I can’t make perfectly
what I saw in my brain, but that’s the
whole thing. Its what is not in my brain that
comes out in my work that I sit back and
say ‘how did this canvas know that I was
going through this in my life right now?’
INSIGHT | 7
8 | INSIGHT
Style
Spray Paint on Board,
2008
INSIGHT | 9
Kai
Spray Paint on Board,
2011
10 | INSIGHT
INSIGHT | 11
art is...not...
My relationship with my art is so honest –
art is my best friend – it is beautiful but
grotesque. I’m not religious, I’m more
spiritual, so art is all I have sometimes. It is
my confessional in a way because it makes
itself. It’s supernatural and disconnected in
a way. And, I can be afraid of it.
AML: Emotional connections to art are
seemingly universal, but personal. Do you
find your emotions pre, post or during your
creative process? What is your process?
KK: I’ve come to know that if you can
only appreciate the pretty phase then ‘ok,
good for you.’ But beyond that point, there
exists entertainment for people who see
that – see the grit, grime, voids even. For
example, I have found it interesting that
some of my art is just collage-like, pulling
images from disparate scenes. It’s a
revolutionary way to make meaning. By
juxtaposing and creating, I am making a
new beat – I am making that meeting, or
maybe the canvas did. I can be and am
part of the emotional journey because it
is mine. When I was young, I read this
book, My Name is Asher Lev, by Chaim
Potok – this boy takes a cigarette from his
sick mom’s ashtray, thinks the cigarette
being there for him is perfect timing, and
proceeds to use the ash to draw – that’s
what I do. I see something, it’s like a
puzzle. I see something and I know how to
draw it. I see a material and I know how to
use it. And while I admire artists who have
a style, I don’t’ think I can do that so I have
to keep trying everything. Back to emotion.
I am worried about having to outgrow
myself, getting in a rut. There was a good
12 | INSIGHT
period of time that I wasn’t painting – I
was tired and sad because I wasn’t getting
enough of the back and forth between the
canvas and me. I’m a learner, I need to
do it/art all the time so I was completely
starved for it during that period. Finally, I
started listening to music and audio books
while getting back into painting – I had
to put myself into cultural overload so I’d
be able to hear myself, experience myself,
talk with me through my art again. One of
the pieces that came out of those re-entry
moments was a blue piece I made while
living in the Bronx, listening to Oscar Wilde
– the entire piece, every word I heard was
me – I owned the work. It was then I began
to wonder, if people could see my art the
way I did, thus the question really became,
could people see me, did they know me? I
was full of AHA! moments then. Talk about
an emotionally draining and eye-opening
relationship – that’s what my art became.
That’s how I got obsessed with painting
Irises – yellow beard, tongue, doubledecker body – just like the talking flowers
in Alice in Wonderland. I became a hermit
with me and my art, having a nice time in
my house. Going out felt more lonely than
sitting with my paintings - I was rebuilding
my relationship with myself. Thank you art!
Untitled (right)
Oil on Canvas, 2009
Drink Me (pg 14)
Acrylic on Canvas, 2010
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14 | INSIGHT
art is...not...
AML: I used to think Alice in Wonderland
was Allison Wonderland, and I can attest
to spending many a moment transfixed to
the idea that there was another world we
could connect with and escape through –
full of bright colors, crazy animals, and
talking flowers. Thank you Disney! [KK:
Yes, Disney, Art, Yes!] How are you feeling
now, being here in the city and what are
you doing to keep your love affair with art
going strong?
KK: Moving to NYC two years ago felt like
coming home – the diversity of everything
is so easy for me to be a part of. I need to
get into straight up graffiti, street art, but
I’m nervous to put myself out there – and
that’s as out there as you can get. I’m
such a hypocrite though – if I can teach
it and preach it, I should be able to do
it. I think back to when I studied abroad
in Aruba and learned that people there
aren’t really pressured to do or have
incentive to choose a certain career
because everyone’s pretty much broke. It
wasn’t about talent, but about desire. This
experience is so valuable to their culture
because they were elevated to be what
they wanted, not needed to be. Recently,
I’ve been doing a lot of collabs and it
makes me so much happier. Doing large
walls is a major goal for me because I
hate people seeing stuff before it’s done.
On top of that, the graf world is so male
dominated because most have never
experienced the pressure of what NOT to
do in the same way women have.
would it be?
KK: I feel I still am my childhood self. But
I would say that it’s ok to do art because
that’s probably what I needed to hear.
AML: We’ve come full circle, and I’d like to
throw out the question of the hour… if you
could finish the line ‘art is…’ what would
you say?
KK: Shit! As soon as I would pin it [art]
down in my head, it would contradict
me and smack me in the face. It has
the ability for us to use it as a second
brain – a holding facility of the billions of
bits of knowledge that we need to keep
available to us. Art is a higher, more simple
form of how we think. One of my students,
De’Shuan does just that. He loves science,
holds its words at the tip of his tongue
and raps lyrics linking life and terminology
from class. Eg. ‘I rock parties, sedimentary,
crunchy like celery.’ While I can’t hold
everything I want to in - and I constantly
seek how to give back what I’ve lost in
my own art- I see art as an efficient and
abstract, but contained within it, millions of
pieces. Art tells me what it is and I say, ‘oh,
that’s cool.’
allison believes that children are the best artists—
they are individual universes of infinite creativity.
AML: If you could tell your childhood self
anything about your art experience, what
INSIGHT | 15
SELF
photography and
words by
ELEaNOR
bENNETT
Slow Child (right):
A self portrait I took about
feeling out of your depth. I
often used to feel scared of
opinions and how people
felt about me. Once I shed
the fears I found I started
winning awards and
being published. Art and
photography have given me
a great reason to embrace
who I am. Nobody ever
conforms , to say the word
“normality” you are telling a
bare faced lie.
eleanor Leonne Bennett is a
15 year-old photographer and
artist who has won contests
with national Geographic,The
woodland trust, The world
Photography organisation,
Papworth trust, winston's wish
and nature's Best Photography.
16 | INSIGHT
Look to the Sun: This is a new series of pictures on recycling and feeling thrown away.
View more photos from the series at eleanorleonnebennett.zenfolio.com.
Fight Down: This is a self portrait on aggression and violence. At times with the imagery
thrown at us growing up it can make you feel angst and frustrated. Having things to
do, hobbies, interests, achievements can save your mind and soul. Art helps to tame a
20 | INSIGHT
savage
being and is a prime distraction from mayhem.
Carpet of Ice and Stone:
This image is about
braving the elements
and baring yourself
in front of doubters
and harsh realities. I
am standing on metal
covering a sheet of ice.
INSIGHT | 23
24 | INSIGHT
Checkering My Work: I took this at the world photography festival in London this year. It
is about how you often never know about how people behind the scenes work to make
everything perfect.
INSIGHT | 25
WE ON a WORLd TOUR
an interview by
aTIba T. EdWaRdS
Jenny buccos lets you travel
the world for free. bucous is
responsible for capturing her
travel experiences in video
and bringing them to the
classroom via online videos and
lesson plans, exposing youth to
different cultures, landscapes
and alternative ways of learning.
Simply put, it’s what she calls
the “Travel Channel for kids.” Her
primary audience is 8 to 18yr olds
but many of the videos appeal
to adults. ProjectExplorer has
been around for over 8 years and
about 4 millon students have used
it. ProjectExplorer is focused on
supplementing the education
system by providing free videos,
lesson plans and will even help
teachers integrate it into their
classroom. The videos cover a wide
range of topics from Newton's
Law to world music. We sat with
Jenny to learn a bit more about her
trailblazing the use of online video
for teaching, ProjectExplorer and
its role in education.
ATIBA T. EDWARDS: What led you to start
ProjectExplorer?
JENNY BUCCOS: I was sent to Hong Kong
on my first job and it totally changed my
life. I thought if every child could have
26 | INSIGHT
the opportunity to experience a different
country and culture, how different our lives
would be. Later, I took the money I got
with my severance package and started
ProjectExplorer in 2003- before YouTubeto try and convince teachers, parents
and students that online video was the
next thing in education. I also saw Project
Explorer as a way to help correct some of
the misconceptions and racism I noticed
towards other cultures.
ATE: How do you go about picking your
locations and series?
JB: ProjectExplorer picks its series based
on student, parent and teacher feedback.
I picked England as the location for the
first series since I didn't speak a foreign
language and the jet lag was minimal.
South Africa was the next location
and then the list grew from there to
include Central and South America, Tibet,
Afghanistan, North Korea, Pakistan and
India. All places that are newsmakers
but kids only know the name and a few
words associated with them. For example,
when we asked kids what they thought of
the Middle East, they would say war and
terrorism. So the focus of that series is to
break down war and terrorism. With South
Africa, people thought of war and AIDS and
with Mexico people thought of immigration
and people taking jobs away.
We try to teach topics not taught in schools
so we can address the misconceptions. So
we look and decide on what countries we
can go to to break down boundaries and
address peoples misconceptions.
WE ON a WORLd TOUR
ATE: What was the most difficult shoot
you had?
JB: We were shooting a snorkeling
segment in Thailand. It was 100 degrees
and it took 8 hours and we had no cover
from the sun. I learned if you get very
dehydrated you go deaf because the water
in your ear dries out.
ATE: How do you see ProjectExplorer fitting
in with today's education system?
to molecular gastronomy to religions of the
world. We give teachers what they need
and students a different way to learn. Not
all students learn by reading, some learn
by hearing and seeing. So no matter how
you learn we are doing that; textbooks
don't do that as they are outdated as soon
as they are printed.
ATE: How do you see technology playing a
role in education?
EdUCaTION IS a bUSINESS. bUT WE aRE a NOT-FOR-PROFIT. WE
aRE NOT dOING IT FOR THE MONEy. OTHER COMPaNIES aRE a
bUSINESS aNd aRE NOT GOING TO PROVIdE THEIR PROdUCTS OR
THE FULL PROdUCT FOR FREE.
JB: ProjectExplorer is designed to
supplement the U.S. education. For
example when we shot the history of
apartheid in South Africa. We show how
it relates more to the Native American
movement rather than the Civil Rights
movement. We look at it from a historical
perspective of systems of segregation
across the world. So we would cover
apartheid in South Africa to genocides in
Rwanda to the Holocaust.
We are not meant to replace traditional
education rather we supplement it I think
teachers need to be empowered with every
resource they can find and that's what
ProjectExplorer is trying to do. We cover
everything from the physics of bungee
jumping to voting for the first time with
Archbishop Desmond Tutu to world music
JB: 10 years ago everyone was talking
technology in the class room. Now that
we have it, it is about finding the right
resources that teachers need. I would
like to see more technology and content
created specifically for schools. Skype and
YouTube are good for education but are
not tailored for education. That's where
ProjectExplorer fits in as there are so
few sites that are specifically developed
for education. More of those sites need
to exist because the older teachers don't
know how to adopt technology into the
class room. The more things that we can
use technology wise that are specifically
designed for a teacher to plug and play, the
easier technology integration will be into
education. Cisco (one of my sponsors) is
brilliant with their telepresence application
and being able to connect a teacher or
INSIGHT | 27
WE ON a WORLd TOUR
classroom to one in Africa, but things like
that are not easily accessible financially.
We are filling a space that no one else is
filling right now. No one else, that I know of,
is doing it for free.
Education is a business. But we are a notfor-profit. We are not doing it for the money.
Other companies are a business and as
a result, are not going to provide their
products or the full product for free.
ATE: What areas has Project Explorer
gotten the most traction?
JB: Big cities are the easiest. New York,
New Jersey and Connecticut has been
the easiest because we can do school
visits. I would love people in Kansas and
Texas to use it but they are not as open to
it. California, Indiana, the Carolinas and
Canada are also big areas for us. 3/4 of
schools using ProjectExplorer are lowincome schools and that's why we are free.
It is great that expensive schools can use it
but they can also afford to travel.
ATE: What are your ideal plans for
ProjectExplorer in the future?
JB: Right now when we go to a country, we
film, come back and edit then write the
lesson plans and it goes to a classroom.
We would like the capability to do live
broadcasting. So when we go to pyramids
of Teotihuacan, Mexico, we can ask
students around the world what do they
want to know and give them the answers.
It is connecting that user experience
immediately rather than waiting for the
Jenny Buccos on location. Photo from Jenny Buccos
28 | INSIGHT
next series.
ATE: Complete the phrase 'Art Is...'
JB: Art is a universal language. Look at
any picture, painting or drawing and no
matter what language you speak you can
understand it.
Visit ProjectExplorer.org to access the free
videos and lesson plans and also learn
more about Jenny and the entire Project
Explorer team.
aiba is a perpetual visionary that likes to do art in the dark since it is
easier to see the true light.
ONE POWER
student photographer: Julietta Hoffbauer Sanch
student artists from the Urban Assembly Academy of Arts & Letters: Jabari Prescott, Ibrahim Demry,
Pharaoh Egbuna
aLLISON MaRITza LaSKy
During the final week of school at the Urban Assembly Academy of Arts & Letters, a gallery exhibition
was held in the school gym, featuring all students' pieces and collaborations throughout the year.
Students in one photography class were asked to replicate famous photos in history with their own
creativity. Not only did this project catch my eye, but I was taken back by this particular photo - the
remake of the 1968 Olympics Black Power salute.
allison believes that children are the best artists—they are individual universes of infinite creativity.
INSIGHT | 29
NEURO PaINTING
painting and words by
JaMES EdWIN
a direct relationship between the artist and the canvas, I seek to explore
the human mind. Taken at face value, the work becomes a labyrinth
of infrastructure developed through impressionistic expressionism.
Figurative forms dance throughout the work, as humanistic thoughts
manifest within the painting.
Palette choices are based upon mind frame and spontaneity. as forms
begin to exist in the work, choices are made to destroy them or compound
upon them. Layers build upon layers into a network of interaction.
Careful scrutiny leads the viewer's eye across the work as though
inspecting a body. Unable to place a timeline of events, the viewer
becomes aware of the work as an entity. It thus manifests into living
existence, a relationship pulses between the artist and the viewer.
Immediately, questions force introspection. Forms tug at imagery of the
mind. The maze of interacting brushstrokes give birth to manifested
imagery. Faces appear and disappear, as molesting figures palm at
painted forms.
Sternocleidomastoid #01 (right). 2005-2006. Oil on canvas. 60” x 48”. The original piece of
the series, this work shows one of the least abstracted of the figurative forms that teeters
on the edge of the implicit and reduced.
Sternocleidomastoid #05 (pages 24-25). 2007-2009. Oil on canvas. 30” x 48”. Finished at
the same dark stage as the latter, the palette echoes the evil sadistic nature of the piece.
Sternocleidomastoid #06 (pages 28-29). Oil, pastel, ink, and charcoal on canvas. 20062009. 60” x 96”. The largest and most extensively worked, this piece is a testament to the
theory to the series. It speaks incandescently to the forms inspired by the fascia of the
human form.
James Edwin was born and raised in the United Kingdom in Manchester. He moved to Tennesse in the United
States at age 11. He graduated from the University of Tennessee with a B.A. in Studio Arts with a concentration
in photography. He moved to New York in 2008 to pursue his photographic candid street portrait series and
seek inspiration for his continuing abstract expressionistic paintings. He works and lives in Brooklyn. His work
is available for viewing via appointment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
30 | INSIGHT
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32 | INSIGHT
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34 | INSIGHT
Sternocleidomastoid
#02. 2006-2007 (left).
Oil on canvas. 71”
x 58”. This piece
attempts to move
towards the figure
from the face, however
subconsciously ended
as a labyrinth of the
lineaments.
Sternocleidomastoid
#03. 2008 (right).
Oil on canvas. 36”x22”.
One of the smallest
pieces in the series,
this work synthesizes
silhouetted figure
with it’s anatomical
components.
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36 | INSIGHT
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MaKING My LIVING
words and art by
SyMa
I set up my first ceramic studio and showroom above Al's Liquor Store in the center of a
little town outside of Worcester, Massachusetts, in the early 1970's – and it has been a
rich journey ever since. Balancing my creative process with the challenge of finding ways
to put my work out into the world, and making a living as an artist, continues to be an
on-going process.
In order to keep my studio open I have begged, borrowed, and bartered. I have taken
on roles such as being a part-time classroom art teacher; a visiting artist and artistin-residence; a workshop leader in multiple venues; and an art-activities therapist at a
psychiatric hospital. I taught pottery workshops in my studio, and drawing lessons around
my dining room table.
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MaKING My LIVING
Currently I am teaching Studio Sunday
Workshops at New York's MAD Museum,
as well as drop-in drawing sessions
and family programs at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art. I’ve also had the
opportunity to collaborate with Boston
area architects to create low-relief
panels for building facades in Boston
and Philadelphia. I have sold my art
works at local street fairs, craft shops,
museum and gallery exhibitions, as well
as at my own studios and recently, my
online store SymaSmallWorks.etsy.com.
I funded my first pottery course by
working three days as a waitress on
the Jersey Shore. Years later, dressed
as a gypsy, I read palms at a street fair
to raise the funds needed to attend a
session at Haystack Mt. School of Crafts.
I have been exceptionally fortunate as
there has been a lot of magic in my
life. One foggy morning, I was walking
on the beach, wondering how to cover
expenses when out of the mist stepped
a former patron exclaiming that he was
delighted to see me because he wanted
to commission a ceramic charger for
his kitchen wall. A knock on my front
door often revealed a friend wanting
to buy a gift from my studio. Another
chance meeting was with the architectfather of my young daughter's playmate
led to the first of my collaborations with
architects and interior designers.
Friends and family have been
supportive in often surprising ways.
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How have I been able to monetize my art? By selling the art-making process as well as
the art work. By sprinkling a little 'magical thinking' into the mix of working hard and being
lucky. By holding the belief that hard cold cash, though always welcome, is not the only
form of currency. And by being open to the exploration of new possibilities. The wheels of
synchronicity have been good to me.
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aka Mr. Reed
Adenike is a Brooklyn girl who loves conversation and despises time; her
goal is to be limitless.
Millinery Resuscitation
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MaKING My LIVING
WildeBeads Necklace (pg. 36)
Terra cotta clay with underglaze on satin cord / 2005-11 / photot: Cary Wolinsky
I have led many hands-on workshops, most recently for the Asia Society Museum, where
participants use clay and feathers and found objects to create imaginary creatures.
Miniature samples had long been acting as kiln-gods in my studios. Eventually I made
some with holes and strung them together to wear to an art event in London. Each
WildeBead in my necklaces is individually hand-made and hand-painted. My hope is that
they might function as a kind of magical amulet. That wearing WildeBeads is a way to
celebrate the wearer's own imagination; and to honour their own wild side.
Newer, simplified versions of the WildeBeads necklace will soon be available from my
Small Works shop.
Working w/ clay in MAD Museum studio during 6 month artist-in-residency (pg. 37)
Terra cotta clay / 2010 / photo: R.G.Kahn
My residency goal was to expand the scale and the scope of my series of Pots of Gold.
Following an assignment from the Metropolitan Museum to present a hands-on activity
to accompany a lecture on Greek and Roman Art, and marking a return to my earlier love
affair with the ancient Greek Vases, I began making a group of 'faux Greek' black-figure
pinch pots less than 3 inches tall. In response to current economic conditions, wishing that
everybody could have access to the little pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, I lined the
interiors of my little vessels with 24k. gold leaf.
Working in the MAD studio and interacting with museum visitors, helped me to crystallize
my intentions and spurred on the evolution of the series.
One of 28 Student and Trustee Window Corners (pg. 38)
Sculptured Brick on the exterior facade of Gutman Library, Philadelphia University /
architects: Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott / designer and fabricator: Syma / brick
clay, firing, and technical assistance: Morin Brick Company / photo: Syma
I made life masks of 'high profile' university students and trustees. After sketching and
photographing campus architectural details, researching cirriculum and the college history,
I consulted with students, librarians, and the school president, as well as the architectural
team. These collaborations resulted in three surrounds for the faces, with interchangeable
tops and bottoms, giving us content-relevant 'frames' for the individual faces. Symbolism
included references to the schools athletic team mascot, the president's vision for the
future, elements of textile design and manufacture, machine and computer parts, and
slightly bent old fashioned computer cards that double as images of city buildings.
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MaKING My LIVING
Ole Blue Eyes Must Have Loved New York: From the Pots of Gold Series (pg. 39)
Terra cotta clay with underglaze and 24k. gold leaf / 2010 / photo: D. James Dee
Created during my residency at MAD Museum in New York City, using a traditional African
coil-building technique; conversations with museum visitors inspired the cut-out windows
and the use of blue dots to indicate the eyes of hidden faces.
I looked for shadows in the burnishing marks, or finger marks. Then I painted the
suggested shapes and tried to let my imagination go wild, while I carved the details to
develop the visual imagery. I think that I do these black figure drawings in this manner to
remind myself that in my life, nothing is ever only what it seems to be.
9/11: In Search of… (pgs. 40 and 41)
Terra cotta boot with mixed media / 2001-02 / photo: Syma
Adding toy airplanes to my grandmother's tiara, using a running stitch to sew the
magazine images onto the back of the velvet cape, morphing the peace symbol into a
stylized airplane badge; making this art work helped me to deal with my experience of
being present at ground zero during the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
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P-FUNK
words and photos by
aL JaNaE HaMILTON
I have always been fascinated by space. The concepts of aliens, extraterrestrials, and possibilities of other forms of life enthralled me as a
young child. as a girl, I imagined myself as George Clinton, sailing off in
a P-Funk space ship to explore otherworldly life. Today, I find that I am
doing exactly that.
as an artist, I attend to concepts of what I describe as "alien" blackness.
as Marlon Riggs contemplated what blackness "is" and "ain't" during
his artistic and earthly lifetime, I too am interested in pushing the
boundaries of black identity through the intimacies of the "alien" realms
of afro-punk, black queer life, "alternative" spirituality, mental illness,
sexual kink, and other non-normative conceptions of black existence.
Evoking the aesthetics of afrofuturism within my themes, I explore what
it means to be an "alien" within the literally "extra-terrestrial" african
diaspora.
The mechanisms of photography, painting, installation, and costume
design allow me to stretch the limits between pleasure and pain, kinship
and estrangement, migration and citizenship, and to complicate notions
of gender, sexuality, and the body. My work is recognized for its sharp
contrast and vivid intricacies, which ferociously capture a subject's most
interior emotions. The intense details of my candid photographs reveal
subtle intimacies in a striking manner, whether in the strands of hair in
a thick braid or an expression teetering between a wide smile and painful
grimace. The knowing eyes of dementia, the wrinkled hands that clutch a
loved one, the tensed muscles of a vogue pose, and the ugliness of painful,
bloody scars are transformed from subtleties into hard-hitting visual
candor. My photographs have often been described as "haunting," and it
is in this vein that I rupture comfortable understandings of "normal" and
"alien" life.
Al Janae Hamilton is a visual artist from Miami, Fl., currently based in New York City. Evoking the aesthetics
of Afrofruturism, her artwork attends to the concept of "aliien" blackness and pushes the boundaries of
black identity through photography, film, painting, costume and installation.View more work at www.
aljanaehamilton.com
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THE PaINTEd STORIES
words and photos by
RObERT daNIELS
I am inspired by the desire to tell a story. artist are messengers and we
document information in a visual form. I want both our children and
african-american adults to feel pride and identify with their rich and
illustrious history. art is a source of pride and spiritual healing.
Robert is a passionate abstract artist who works beyond the confines of
convention. His work is layered with historical themes relating back to
his african ancestors, and filled with spiritual undertones. daniels art
takes on a form of spiritual worship. bobs work breathes vivid colors
and his use of collective linear planes and textures defines his exquisite
signature style.
Nappy Head art is remarkably intricate and refined, yet unpretentious
and warm. Robert is a Visual Scientist.
Multicultural. 2004 (right).
Mixed medium work. 42x28. Depicts my old neighborhood East Harlem.
Sisters. 2006 (page 54).
Mixed medium collage/ painting. 36x36. The picture depicts my two daughters in
the foreground and me watching them in the background. silhouetted figure with it’s
anatomical components.
Robert Daniels is a visual artist and educator and the founder of Nappy Head Art. Robert is also a member
of the Weusi Artist Collective and the Harlem Arts Alliance. You can find more of his works on www.
fineartamerica.com as well as www.50megs.com. Robert can be contacted via e-mail at [email protected]
or 347-419-9491.
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Visions. 2003 (right).
Mixed medium. 24x36. The relationship between two people coming together in
thoughts to focus on there dreams.
Never Alone. 2007 (page 56).
This is a segment of a mural size painting. this is the section that I painted. It depicts an
urban child daydreaming. this is a reoccurring theme in a lot of my work.
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Fruit of My Loins. 2000 (page 58).
A tribute to the children in my life at this time.
Kings & Queens. 2010 (page 59).
Mixed media on tar and paper. 2010. This painting depicts our regal ancestral linage...
Remeber, a lot of the slaves stolen were from royal families.
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PRIz HyMNS
words and illustrations by
PRIz
My art work is a combination of comic-book art, commercial art and the
many subway-style influences and letter concepts of the 1970's. I still
use the old nose bleed designers, Prismacolors markers and technical
pens when I draw in my black books. I've always preferred inking in the
color black because it brings out a gritty, raw, old school feel in the first
phase of my sketches. I'm inspired by my predecessors who unknowingly
mentored and indirectly inspired me every time I applied pencil to paper,
benched on a subway station or drew comic-book characters. When I
draw, the beginning results are always a naked, stripped down version
with all its imperfections exposed. I believe that there's beauty in this.
a spontaneous draft from pencil to ink and then to color, which reveals
unintentional details that I don't notice until I've finally completed the
sketch. I don't like to hide my letters nor camouflage them in too much
detail or color. I feel that when you add too much, you sometimes loose
something. To me, the first outline will always be the purest form whether
I'm sketching out illustrations or wild styles
"HINT OF THE 70's." - INK. (1983) (left)
This was another early tag alias (SWAN-ONE) that I wrote in
the late 70's. I incorporated the tag with my interpretation
of a popular graffiti character, which was represented on
numerous walls and subways cars in those days.
"MOS EISLEY's 5TH." (M.E. 5) - INK. (2008) (right)
I've been a Star Wars fan since its inception. I incorporated
the number "5" into the drawing and title because it is
numerically important when it comes together with the
other two initials that make up our crew: TSF/TS5 (THE
SPANISH 5IVE).
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"CAN IT." - INK/PRISMACOLOR MARKERS. (2007)
It's a portrait that expresses my behavior as a writer
sometimes. This happens when I talk too much about
painting and obtaining large quantities of spray paint to
create with.
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BET/NIKE HIP- HOP AWARDS 2009
CYPHER WALL SKETCH.
INK/PRISMACOLOR MARKERS.
(2009)
I was asked to submit sketches
for a possible paint project, which
happen to be for the background
walls of the 2009 BET Hip-Hop
Awards Cypher segment. To my
surprise, the powers that be chose
scribblers instead. I came up with
this sketch and it's interpretation
of what I had seen, experienced
and became part of as a kid
growing up on the Upper West Side
of Manhattan in the late 70's when
Hip-Hop was at it's infancy.
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METHOD TO MY MADNESS.
- INK. (2011)
I was a novice, obsessively
practicing to become a legit
writer. As a kid growing up in
the 60's and the 70's, I drew
this piece while reminiscing
about the 60's, Adam West
Batman series, the subway
rides to and from Coney Island,
Vaughn Bode Lizards, the
colorful painted P.S. 9 walls by
BYB (BAD YARD- BOYS) and the
influential artwork of JEAN-13.
PRIZ started solo-bombing above
ground in the late 1970s as a novice
sreet writer. Influenced by the
letter flow movement and arrow
connections, PRIZ TS5, whose
name is based on the Prima Font,
describe his style as "old school."
He continues to paint legally
commissioned mural throughout
the five boroughs along side longtime friend STAN-ONE TSF.
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INFINITE PLayLIST: CHaPTER 9
SUMMERTIME
Curated by F.O.K.U.S. CRU
The F.O.K.U.S. Cru gathered up some of their favorite tunes to rock and
relax to as a soundtrack for their daily duties. To listen to it all, visit our
youTube playlist, www.youtube.com/fokus.
THE NOISETTES - NEVER FORGET YOU (WILD YOUNG HEARTS)
BLUE SKY BLACK DEATH - SLEEPING CHILDREN ARE STILL FLYING (NOIR)
FRANK OCEAN - THERE WILL BE TEARS (NOSTALGIA, ULTRA)
JOJO - IN THE DARK (CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME)
DJ FRESH - GOLD DUST (FLUx PAVILLION REMIx)
MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS - I AM NOT A ROBOT (THE FAMILY JEWELS)
STRFKR - BURY US ALIVE (REPTILLIANS)
BOBBI HUMPHREY - PLEASE SET ME AT EASE (BLUE BREAK BEATS)
COMMON MARKET - SWELL (TOBACCO ROAD)
LITTLE DRAGON - NIGHT LIGHT (RITUAL UNION)
OSCAR PETERSON - WAVE
GIL SCOTT-HERON - THE BOTTLE (WINTER IN AMERICA)
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