WELCOMING TWO FOUR ARTISTS TO THE TCP FAMILY!
Last month The Creative Process met Scott Pohl the patron behind the expansion of The Creative Project's Artist-in-Residency and TCP encouraged artists to submit their applications for consideration into this program.
This month we're proud to not only announce our finalists, but also that with the addition of a second home, two four artists will be in residency by the beginning of 2013!
The 2012 TCP Artist-in-Residency recipients are mixed-media sculptor Masud "MAO" Olufani, photographer Charlie Watts, animator/filmmmaker Andre Keichian and mixed-media installation artist Gyun Hur. It's a diverse group, stylistically and otherwise. But the thing each of these artists has in common is a desire to not only further their talents, but also to help others in doing so.
The new residents meet for the first time at the site of Gyun's Beltline Installation. Left to Right: Charlie Watts, MAO, Andre Keichian, and Gyun Hur.
Some of these artists have done residencies elsewhere, but most of them haven't been as immersive as their upcoming TCP experiences.
"I did Hambidge up in North Georgia, but I was only there for about six weeks," says Olufani. "It was amazing because there were a lot of other visual artists, writers, musicians and so on, so it was a marvelous experience. But I look forward to TCP because it has an outreach component that I think is wonderful. I'm looking forward to the possibility of the mentorship opportunities that may develop as a result of that. I also think it will be great to create a dialogue with the other people, which opens things up for collaboration at some point."
As we've seen with previous resident artists, this opportunity not only allows these artists the time and space needed to perfect their respective crafts, but it also introduces them to each other's talents and often leads to unexpected collaborations that might not otherwise have occurred. And it sounds like some of them already have some ideas about which other residents they'd like to work with.
"I'm mainly a photographer and Andre does a lot of production work, so it will be really good to collaborate between those two things," says Watts. "In November I have a show in the Carlos Museum at Emory and I'd love to do some production stuff, so it will be good to learn from Andre."
"Gyun and I both attended the same university, so I am most familiar with her work," says Olufani, who plans to work on a sculptural project during his residency. "I respect her Zen-like approach to her praxis. Her work is infused with a cerebral sparseness, a visually-striking materiality and a spiritual seductiveness. In some ways our work is very different, but I also notice a profound similarity. We are both rooted in a cultural sensibility in our respective approaches. This provides rich opportunity for potential collaboration."
"It is very exciting that such program is now in existence here. It will be a great launching ground for many young, mid-career artists, and such time, space, and support will encourage interesting collaborations and conversations" says Hur. "It also has a potential having other artists (i.e. recent MFA graduates looking for cheap housing, interesting places to live) from other cities coming to the city as well. This is really wonderful"
This residency benefits each of these artists in varying ways, but they all plan on utilizing the time, money and working areas in pretty much the same fashion: fully exploring their creativity.
"I'm really looking forward to having a designated studio space and realizing how that space may influence my practice," says Keichian. "For the past several years, I have mainly worked digitally and have been location-based. But I have had a long-withstanding urge to make a tangible mess of expression. I am craving physical construction, something to serve as a relic of distinction between mind and matter."
The Creative Process looks forward to revealing their artistic efforts in the near future, maybe even over dinner! As Gyun mentions she "would love to create a series of meals at the residency with invitations to different groups of friends and creative participants in Atlanta" and TCP would love to host you!
Congratulations to these four new resident artists. They will set the tone and help build the foundation for Atlanta's only artist housing residency!
MEET THE ARTISTS FRIDAY OCT 19th!!!
article by Jonathan Williams photography by: Neda Abghari