spring 2024 studio update
reminder: to access the full version of the newsletter complete with images, please subscribe (there’s no fee!)
Hi y’all,
Happy equinox! I hope you’re all enjoying some sunshine and taking good care of yourselves and the folks you care about. As always, it’s a busy season in the studio….
Last week, I announced the start of my new wearable art line, Altar Goods. I have worked as a ritual artist now for a decade. Doing this work has shown me how clothing can also serve as a ritual object that transcends the wearer beyond her/their/himself. I wanted to create clothing that would remind people that no matter how difficult the world may be, we can make altars out of our bodies. Now more than ever, we must remember that all bodies are sacred. All bodies are divine. Your body is an altar, a prayer. Your body is hallowed ground.
To learn more, follow @altar.goods to check out the new line. You can visit the shop and order your goods here. Many thanks to Khalil Anthony for creative direction, Haldun Morgan for photography, and Sam McGinnis for design and production assistance.
Folks have also been asking how they can support my practice. I’m also excited to launch my new Patreon page, a place where you can support my work while gaining access to exclusive content. Subscribe now to see behind the scenes photos from the Altar Goods shoot and to hear my reflections on what my first clothing line means to me.
I’m happy to announce that Oñí Ocan will be making its East Coast debut this spring at Sarah Lawrence College’s Heimbold Visual Arts Center Gallery. Several photos from Solastalgia will also be on view. Groundings: Care and Climate Justice is a wonderful show curated by Sarah Hamill and Izzy Lockhart featuring Emily Johnson, Cannupa Hanska Luger, Sarah Rosalena, and myself. I’m in very good company. It’s up from March 26th until May 12th, and I’ll be there on the 26th for an artist roundtable at the Donnelly Film Theater. I’d love to chat after the talk.
I’ll also have work up in Canada this season, this time as a featured artist in the incredible Art Souterrain public art festival curated by Heather Davis and Sonia Robertson. This year’s theme is “Environment Entends-tu / Environment do you hear?,” highlighting dozens of talented artists making work about environmental issues. Images from Soil will be on view from March 16th to April 7th.
As an A.I.R. Gallery National Member, I’ll be showing work in their annual Members exhibition, curated by Nicole Kaack, this June 28th - July 28th. If you’re in New York, you won’t want to miss it!
And for those in Europe, it’s not too late to catch the tail end of Remedios, which is up through March 31st at C3A in Córdoba, Spain.
Oñí Ocan is also up at YBCA until May 5th, now in an altered state. On February 15th, eight of the featured artists in BAN9 chose to publicly alter our own works “to serve our role as artists in the fight for the liberation of Palestine, for the right to return home, for the right to resist and live in freedom... As artists, cultural workers, and people who use our craft to digest, process, and share our stories, we [felt] that we must act decisively and call for an end to the bombing, starvation, and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.” You can read the rest of our open letter to the museum here, and follow @b.a.a.a.g for more updates. While the show has now been reopened to the public, there’s still so much work to be done.
This May, I’ll be hopping on a flight to Iowa City for a 6 week residency at the Center for Afrofuturist Studies. I’m so grateful for this opportunity to study and focus on new work, especially in a city so deeply touched by Ana Mendieta’s legacy— she’s one of my absolute art heroes and will be close to my heart while I’m there. I can’t wait to show you what I create.
More soon,
C