You travel a great deal. Tell us about where you have been and how this has influenced your work.
I have been back to Guadalajara twice since my residency. I really connect there, and I want to continue to develop my Jalisco relationships.
I traveled to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan last fall. I have been traveling in Central Asia the last 4 years — a lifelong dream to see the Silk Road cities and other historic sites. This was my third trip, and the first time that I made art works that are specifically influenced by the place. I made a 5-minute video in the Pamir region of Tajikistan that features a farm worker processing wheat with a pitch fork. The video is slow motion and is accompanied by an Abby Lincoln and Max Roach soundtrack. The piece is about the repetition of work required for sustainable living. The Pamir people live amongst the extremely high mountains of Badakshan on the Pyaj River. Their way of life appears to have not changed much in over 2000 years (though they do carry cell phones -). Afghanistan is 100 yards away on the opposite bank of the river
I am currently participating in the Flux Art Fair in New York --‐ an outdoor sculpture fair in Harlem.
My work Blue Elegy is informed by Zoroastrian and pre-Islamic, pre-Buddhist cultural and religious sites in Central Asia. These settings are often very plain with minimal markings, yet with enormous feeling and presence. Blue Elegy is a series of 12’ high poles made from broom handles on top of which are stainless steel mirror flags. Small bells are attached. Blue Elegy is about the gentrification of Harlem which is not only economic, but also racial and historic; it is the black and brown people of Harlem that are being pushed out. Blue Elegy is a kind of remembrance of the great people and their accomplishments of past and present day Harlem.
Tell us about recent and upcoming exhibitions or residencies.
This past year I’ve had works shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Detroit, and the Bronx River Art Center in the Bronx. Larger bag versions which incorporate repeating inset mirrors have been proposed to the NYC Parks Department, and to the Festival of Regions in Austria.I am currently working on promoting the works I have already done: I want to find a venue for the large mirror bags, for the Pamir video, and a new setting for Blue Elegy. I will be participating in the Jentel Artist Residency in Sheridan, Wyoming in June15 to July 15, 2016.