Existential Transport
- frida@artyardbklyn.org
- 55 minutes ago
- 14 min read
Oh wow we have a lot of good news this week!
Let’s start with a big THANK YOU to everyone who worked on our Movers & Shakers event on Saturday, November 22!!
Movers & Shakers was a great success! We had over 100 attendees including artists, friends, family, board members, and folks from the 180 Franklin Avenue community. In true AYB fashion, it was an inclusive, intergenerational crowd where everyone fit right in and found their own rhythm with the evening.
Big thanks go to:
• Our friends at 180 Franklin Ave for providing a beautiful venue
• Ajani, Evelyn, and Jules for mural painting and exhibition installation
• Benefit committee: Ajani, Ardelia, Tangie, and Allison for organizing and promoting
• Olivier for event sponsorship
• The AYB Board—particularly Cecile, Patrick, Tangie, Mario, Elinore, and Dennis—for their leadership with this fundraising and party
• TJ for helping with Instagram posting
• Tangie, Marley, Richie, and Allison for setting up
• Kyra for being the hostess with the mostess
• DJ Abby for providing the music and setting the tone
• Leni and Margaret for overseeing the art making
• Adji for Tarot readings
• Raffle contributions from Vera B., Fatima, Ajani & Abriel (Bob), Karla, Iviva, Richard, Tangie, Katie & Caroline at Valley Cottage Library, Marie, Adji, and Ed
• Melinda, Abriel (Bob), and Cammi for bartending
• Kris, Juliet, Ardelia, Summer Stern, Jan D’Amore Wines, and Brooklyn Seltzer Boys for delicious refreshments
• Reg and Delphine for providing the spoken program
• Robbie, Christine, and Ardelia for clean-up duty
• Danilo for making sure everything was in party-perfect order
Since the fire on September 18—which destroyed our studio—combining GoFundMe, Venmo, checks, gifts, last night’s event, and—just in!—a grant from the M&T Charitable Foundation, we have raised a little over $40k.
Riding on that wave of excitement (but a little tired!), I (Meridith) found myself subbing for Jacob Rath (who, like several others, was out with the flu!) for Monday night Advanced Studio on Zoom.
I designed my lesson for the audience—deep thinkers with rich emotional lives, keen intelligence, and vivid imagination—presenting a session entitled Existential Transport, inspired by ideas discussed by Tiya Miles in her book All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, A Black Family Keepsake.
I began by sharing this passage from the book:
We come to know ourselves through things, cement community ties through things, think with things, and remember what is important to us with the aid of objects. Beyond the critical role of communicating information, things function as tokens and repositories, as staples in the fabric of time, as a means to effect psychological, emotional or existential transport, or to convey viewers to another world or state of being.
I showed an image of the book cover and Ashley's embroidered sack (see above), along with a few examples of my own work, explaining the significance and relationship to the ideas above. Then I asked the assembled artists to create an artwork—using any medium, material, or style—about an object that serves to effect psychological, emotional, or existential transport. In some way, evoke an aspect or the essence of the journey the object represents for you.
Marilyn was so kind as to take notes on what the artists shared during our wonderfully engaged critique.
Rashida loved video games growing up, with Super Nintendo being the all-time favorite. The detailed drawing of her game console atop the checkerboard linoleum cellar floor of her childhood home represents leaving her old self behind.
Adji’s beautiful sketch of a woman with a flower represents renewal, growth, maturity, and feminine beauty. As a child, Adji looked forward to receiving waist beads, which marked a young woman coming into her own.
A box of special rocks is at the center of Fisola’s drawing. A lifelong lover and collector of rocks, she kept them in a box once on a low bookshelf and later on a high closet shelf—shown here with the hangers below. The box hasn’t been opened in years. The rocks represent an emotional transition—touching and feeling them makes her feel grounded.
Marilyn’s collage includes drawings of rings with great sentimental meaning: a ruby ring gifted by a dear uncle when she was six, her mother’s wedding band, and her sister’s three stacking rings. She still wears the heart necklace gifted by another uncle when she was eight. The background silk fabric is a scarf designed by her sister.
Meridith’s painting draws together memories of artist residencies at the American Academy in Rome. Plopped on the top of the picture plane is a can opener engraved “Appia Roma,” found while walking from Monte Verde down to Trastevere. The page is divided in half—a well-used map on top, and a long staircase off Via Dandelo below. All three images are rooted in the same location, steeped in memories far more potent than that rusty old bottle opener belies.
Travis described the story of a beloved chandelier at his grandmother’s house. Painted in a swirl of colors adjacent to a wall switch, the image illustrates his memory of her removing several bulbs to conserve expensive electricity.
Flo has been dreaming of dogs recently, perhaps lamenting the loss of their pet. Their line drawing of a dog’s head in profile is painted on a piece of bark (note the pun!) collected from a cemetery. The contrasting orange leash is suspended in space—provocative of the unseen companion.
The clipboard from Karla’s last job as a visual arts administrator is the platform on which she built a collage of memories. A favorite pair of metal scissors sits atop a sign made by her daughter, who loved making signs of her mother’s name. Scattered around are entries cut from her daily work calendar.
A second sentimental piece is a photo of her father’s typewriter, with an envelope from her grandmother perched on the typebars.
Karla adds: “My collage, Career Artifacts, is built on the clipboard I used to organize an outdoor annual national juried art show. My name—layered in color—was cut from a desk sign my daughter made in grade school. Scattered across the piece are entries clipped from years of my work calendars, and a cut-out tracing of the scissors I inherited from our office secretary when I retired. I now use those scissors to cut the elements for my collage works. It was only after my arts administration career that I was able to establish my home studio.
The typewriter in my drawing was used by my father, and I typed on it as a child. My grandmother—my father’s mother—sent me letters that were always typed, even the envelopes, complete with a return-address sticker. No handwriting at all! I rolled one of her letters and the envelope into the carriage, and it’s displayed in my studio now. Lots of memories!
Thank you, Meridith, for the great lesson! The resulting works and stories were especially wonderful! Everyone was so engaged, and the critique comments were filled with expressive observations and compliments. Each work was such a personal reflection of memorable experience.”
Cheyenne started a lovely drawing of a pilón from her grandmother in Puerto Rico, connecting her to the culture and practices of generations. Surrounded by flowers, it is a reminder of personal family as well as larger cultural heritage.
Leah’s beloved childhood stuffed bear—still living safely in her childhood bedroom in Ohio—is a most prized possession. The soft colors surrounding the bear and the shadowed plush form communicate the peace and comfort that Rainbow provides. The bear was a gift passed along through a friend of Leah’s older sister, given to Leah at birth.
In Assata’s nuanced charcoal drawing of a eucalyptus plant in a vase, the sides seem to eerily vibrate, giving life to the piece. Folks noted that the vase takes on a deeper meaning of “vessel,” adding another layer to the piece’s perceived energy.
Libraries are very important to Vera. In her piece, she draws the viewer up the yellow (brick) road to the front door of the library, heralded with an emerald sign. Vera’s initial drawing from class is a study she is now developing more deeply—diving into symbolic content through form and color. Check back for more updates as she intends to create a finished painting!
On Tuesday, AYB Advanced Studio was back in person at 180 Franklin Avenue with AYB Artist Fatima Traore leading a session called "What We Carry: Stories In Motion". It was a festive atmosphere to be back in the space for the first time since the party! Plus Travis attended his first in person session and loved it, and we had a brand new thanks to our Tik Tok video artist Sebastian. Who so fit right in we felt like we already knew them!
Fatima writes: "I invited students to explore migration through symbolism, composition, and personal storytelling. The session framed the experience from the very start, emphasizing not just movement, but meaning in transit.
Class began with a lively group discussion on individual packing styles. Students reflected on how differently people prepare for a journey: some travel light with minimal belongings, others rely on carefully written lists, and some prefer to pack everything they might need, plus more. This conversation helped set the foundation for the creative challenge ahead—understanding that what we carry says something about who we are and where we’ve been.
I followed with an engaging art-historical presentation featuring Jacob Lawrence, Kerry James Marshall, and Njideka Akunyili Crosby as key references for paintings and prints that highlight migration. Although these artists primarily focus on figurative and portrait-based narratives, I posed a twist—challenging students to create a “self-portrait” through luggage instead of a face. Students were encouraged to allow objects, rhythms, and linework to speak for them.
Throughout the lesson, students pondered guiding questions including:Home. Family. Culture. Something you would never leave behind. Something irreplaceable.
Additional reflective prompts pushed their thinking further:
· How can you tell the viewer it belongs to you through symbolism?
· What would your luggage look like if it were see-through?
· How can motion—or stillness—show the state of migration?
· How do time and distance affect what you choose to pack?
The studio portion that followed generated a wide range of thoughtfully expressive artworks:
Rashida, a light packer, designed a see-through suitcase, highlighting her favorite personal items neatly inside.
Lilo painted her real suitcase covered in authentic stickers and logos—a visual signature of ownership—and added the Trinidadian musical instrument she longs for as part of her cultural identity.
Adji used hands carrying luggage, layering concepts and text with the prompt: “What if you pull the weight down?”, showing lungs beside it as a metaphor for holding, pulling, and surviving the weight of migration.
Sebastian, our newest addition to the group, was already in the process of packing. They captured their neat yet highly particular packing style.
Fatima contributed a two-stage suitcase painting, capturing both the packing phase and the moving phase. Among her selected symbols were items representing major categories of her life: art, jewelry, clothing, and a childhood teddy bear, a timeless symbol of personal history and comfort.
Siblings Dylan and Delanny worked passionately as both artists and class assistants, each painting personalized luggage filled with essential objects they always carry. They later collaborated with Meridith on her backpack-on-wheels design, inspired by Meridith’s insight that she always pins an eye on her suitcase as a third-eye guide to see what happens behind her.
Meridith's AYB rolling backpack painted by Delanny and Dyla
Travis revealed part of a figure opening a suitcase in a water-filled environment, protected by hinged “teeth” like a Venus fly trap, symbolizing safety within movement.
Ariel chose a single symbolic item—a pair of black boots, the perfect companion to her go-to black dresses, representing comfort, consistency, and identity.
Juliet translated jewelry into narrative motion, painting a hand placing jewelry for packing, letting the objects trace the movement for her.
Cheyenne illustrated cherished objects swirling and blowing in the wind across a vibrant, rhythmic background.
Overall, the lesson was a resounding success. Despite the rainy evening, the room was filled with music, creative energy, and deep reflection, with flan as the sweet ending to the journey—the cherry on top of a productive studio experience.
Other Art News
AYB Artist Lila Green shares a new collage made from magazine cutouts, printed pictures, and colored paper:
Lila explains: “This collage is my way of dealing with the powerful, complex feelings that followed the big fire in Red Hook. I used magazine clippings, some pictures I printed, and bright pieces of construction paper to layer up this story of grief, but also of incredible hope.
The whole piece is built around the idea that even after a disaster, a new start is ahead. I was thinking about the transition from the Year of the Snake (2025) to the Year of the Horse (2026)—that feeling of how hard it is to actually let go of the past and step into something new. This art is a reminder that we all have a fresh beginning, and we have the spirit to rise up and meet it.
You see the figures standing at the center, looking into the towering flames. They represent all of us, standing together in that moment of loss. But above, there’s this beautiful golden face looking forward, symbolizing the enduring strength and wisdom of our community. Even with the broken clock face and scattered memories around it, the message is clear: the spirit is unbreakable.
This work is truly a tribute to what happened after the fire. It celebrates the community leaders who stepped up and worked miracles, and how everyone instantly came together. The big lesson I wanted to capture is that a building is just a building; the art and the spirit of creativity live right inside us. This piece is a powerful way to remember what we lost while moving forward with unwavering hope.”
While steep ticket prices are prohibitive, those of us who have been fortunate to be able to see Monet in Venice at The Brooklyn Museum have been blown away!! Once you get through the video in the two large entry rooms, it is a feast for the eyes. Not only are there a whole slew of breathtaking paintings, drawings, sketches and ephemera from Claude Monet, there are also works by other artists including astoundingly detailed Venetian scenes by Canaletto, drawings and prints by Whistler, beautiful watercolors by both John Singer and sister Emily Sargent, Small atmospheric pieces by Turner, and more! A reminder that seeing art in person is what we should always strive to do!
Meridith and Colin visit Monet in Venice. Photos by Meridith McNeal
The rest of the fifth floor—dedicated to American Art—is a wonderfully curated, quirky explosion of ideas, color, design, style, and attitude. Well worth a visit even if Monet in Venice is not in your budget.
Some highlights for me were by Jacob Lawrence, Harlem Street Scene, 1925; Laura Wheeling Waring, Woman with Bouquet, 1940 and the wall paper choice; Fred Wilson, Iago's Mirror, 2009; and Louise Nevelson, First Personage, 1956 which reminded me of Travis's suitcase. (In that order below)
And that Liza Lou camper in the lobby… I find myself encouraging strangers walking by to go back and look inside.
A short walk from the Brooklyn Museum, The Shirley Project Space (609 Washington Avenue) has a stunning must-see exhibition, Spectral Evidence, on view for one more week!
AYB Artist Evelyn Beliveau reviews the exhibition:
Spectral Evidence, a group exhibition curated by Sarah May and Rachael Wren, displays a delightful breadth of techniques for bringing out the subtleties of color. Works by artists Joell Baxter, Theresa Daddezio, Minako Iwamura, Marina Kappos, Jenny Kemp, Amy Lincoln, Audrey Stone, and Rachael Wren are brought together for their shared use of color gradients in abstract painting, making for a lively show whose tight focus highlights the differences between the artists’ approaches. The exhibition is on view at The Shirley Project Space from October 24 through December 7, 2025.
The works, most of which are paintings in oil or acrylic on canvas, linen, or panel, are installed in a rhythm, with smaller works in clusters of two or four and larger works given plenty of breathing space on the wall. A nearly-enclosed space to the left in the back of the gallery provides a more intimate setting in which to view a selection of smaller pieces. The exhibition appears as a unified ensemble at first glance, with the zing of hard edges and harmonious palettes catching the eye from every corner of the space. Up close, however, I was struck by the variation in paint-handling and surface texture among the works, with some artists employing airbrush-smooth gradients and crisply masked edges, and others a thicker impasto with edges that tremble with the energy of the handmade.
Spectral Evidence installation views. Photos by Meridith McNeal
Though the two sculptural pieces diverge in form, they still very much live in the world of painting. Baxter’s Study for an Infinite Line hangs from the ceiling on the righthand side of the space, catching the light from two generous corner windows; the piece consists of individual segments of acrylic rod, each painted a vibrant color along one face and strung on a 1,944”-long continuous loop of monofilament. In a corner, Stone’s Gradient Crush takes painting into three dimensions: an acrylic painting on canvas is crumpled into a vortex-like form that billows up to the ceiling from a point halfway up the wall. Its gradient from pale yellow through rich oranges, magentas, purples, and blues is achieved with the same stripes of gradually shifting color that Stone uses in works on stretched canvas or panel.
Rachael Wren, Heal, Lift, and Visit, 2025. Photo from gallery checklist
The artist’s hand is evident in two very different ways in the works of Daddezio and co-curator Wren. In Wren’s abstractions, which have the heartbeat of landscape paintings, she achieves an incredible play of shifting color in lively but precise patchworks of angular, geometric brushstrokes. Daddezio’s hand appears only on close observation, when her dizzying swirls of stripes and lobelike forms reveal themselves to be painted in an organic and tactile manner within their sharp edges.
Iwamura, Kappos, and Lincoln employ more representational imagery than the other artists in the exhibition, though their works are still in the world of abstraction. In small works in oil and white charcoal on panel, Iwamura employs forms reminiscent of celestial bodies, glasswork, and anatomy, traversed by filament-like webs of straight lines. Her intricate compositions contrast the soft, airbrush-like blending of horizontal stripes with crisp edges of curving shapes that seem to tile together. Similar to the works by Kappos, there is an illusion of flat, translucent shapes layering over one another to create subtle shifts in color on either side of an edge. Kappos references the figure with ghostly facial profiles and hands, and Lincoln’s Three Rainclouds depicts the titular subject within a full rainbow of eddying wavelike forms.
Kemp, similar to Daddezio, Lincoln, and Stone, uses stripes of approximately equal width in configurations both sinuous and geometric. In Kemp’s Kernel and Flounder, she weaves curling bands of color (finely modulated tints of pink, teal, or brown) separated by much thinner stripes of blue or yellow that read as background, in a manner reminiscent of a Celtic knot that has gone on vacation. Yellows shine in these pieces and in Pinwheel, a larger painting by Kemp, calling to the yellows in works by Daddezio, Iwamura, Lincoln, and Stone.
In fact, my initial sense was that the works in the show share similar palettes, although there is actually quite a range. What the works do share is a strong sense of color harmony, whether the palette explores the range of values and saturations within one hue (Stone’s If If 3), features a full rainbow of bright colors (Baxter’s Study for an Infinite Line, Lincoln’s Three Rainclouds), or dexterously weaves together more subdued tones (Daddezio’s Open, Iwamura’s Seventy Eight, Kappos’s Spectral Study (Eve), Wren’s Lifeline (blue), Kemp’s Flounder). For a fresh look at virtuosic color use in contemporary hard-edge abstraction, and surfaces that reward close looking, I recommend stepping into The Shirley Project Space during the run of this show, especially on a day when the sun is pouring in.
Opportunities
Planning ahead… AYB Artist Ajani Russell is hosting a retreat in Thailand next November. This will be an art-filled, inspiring trip to get in on early while space is available!
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