ACCESSIBILITY
ASL will be provided. PICA's back lot is accessible for those with mobility aids but does have a slight slope. Priority seating for those with access needs is available.
Fall 2021 Creative Exchange Lab: Meet the Artists
Crystal Cortez (Portland, OR)
mario lemafa (Seattle, WA)
Sara Siestreem (Portland, OR)
Maya Vivas (Portland, OR)
Timothy White Eagle (Seattle, WA)
DESCRIPTION
We are thrilled to announce our Fall 2021 Creative Exchange Lab artists, with an edition focused on building connections between the Portland and Seattle regions: Crystal Cortez (Portland, OR), mario lemafa (Seattle, WA), Sara Siestreem (Portland, OR), Maya Vivas (Portland, OR), and Timothy White Eagle (Seattle, WA). PICA’s Creative Exchange Lab (CXL) is a residency program that provides artists with time, space, and funding to develop projects, ideas, and relationships. With no expectations of a “finished product,” CXL is an open opportunity for artists to immerse themselves in their practices, and to learn from and connect with one another. True to its name, CXL lends itself to generating deep and meaningful bonds within each Lab cohort, often leading to future collaborations and partnerships. Join us for our CXL Meet the Artists event to learn more about each of these artists and their current projects, processes, and practices!
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Crystal Cortez is a sound and installation artist and creative technologist based out of Portland, Oregon. She is also a professor of Creative Coding and Sonic Arts at Portland Community College. As someone who never saw herself represented in computer music or creative tech, her work focuses on the empowerment of underserved populations gaining access and knowledge around technology. In 2019 she co founded whateverSpace, a maker space offering free and sliding scale workshops and technology rentals with priority going to the BIPOC community. Under her performance moniker Crystal Quartez, she transforms field recordings, using synthesis, audio programming, data sonification, and 3D sound spatialization to produce sonic realms for reflection and release. Her practice has recently involved the development of interactive sculptural interfaces and wearable technology that monitor movement and other corporeal methods to liberate the performer from their interfaces. Her art has been shown at NIME, PNCA, Disjecta, PICA, Navel (LA) and more.
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mario lemafa (b. 1990 / Hawai'i) is an artist and independent organizer based in Seattle, WA. their recent work includes presentations at the '19 Honolulu Biennial, SOIL Gallery, cogean?, and yəhaw̓ at King Street Station.
"when i was a child my mother used to like a certain Suave shampoo, "Tropical Breeze" (i believe it was called). it reminded her of home. nothing in the shampoo bottle reflected her material relation to the islands. while she wore a scent to remember a place, others might wear the same one with the desire to some day go there. i still think about that."
https://cargocollective.com/mariolemafa
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Sara Siestreem (Hanis Coos, 1976-) is a master artist from the South Coast of Oregon. She comes from a family of professional artists and educators; her training began in the home. Her lifelong mentor is Lillian Pitt (Wasco, Warm Springs, Yakima). Her weaving teachers are Greg Archuleta (Grand Ronde) and Greg A. Robinson (Chinook Nation). Siestreem graduated Phi Kappa Phi from PSU in 2005. She earned an MFA with distinction from Pratt Art Institute in 2007. She has been represented by Augen Gallery since 2010.
Her studio work is multi-disciplinary and branches into education and institutional reform. These concepts directly influence and are reflected in her artwork and public presence. Siestreem created and runs a weaving program for the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw people. She teaches collegiate studio arts and theory at PNCA. Her work in institutional reform relates to curatorial and educational practices regarding Indigenous fine art and critical race theory. She is director of the Present Future Action Lab at the OJMCHE.
Siestreem's work has been widely supported through grants, residencies, and fellowships. It has been shown in museums and institutions regionally, nationally, and internationally. Locally, her work has been on near constant public display for over a decade. Her work figures in public and private collections around the world.
She lives and works exclusively in the arts in Portland, Oregon.
https://www.augengallery.com/artists/artists/siestreem/
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Maya Vivas is a multidisciplinary artist working in a variety of mediums such as ceramics, performance, video, and installation. Maya has exhibited work, spoken on panels, and hosted workshops throughout the United States at venues and institutions including PICA, The National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, Louisiana State University, and Yale. Vivas is also co-founder of Ori Gallery, whose mission is to redefine "the white cube" through amplifying the voices of Queer and Trans Artists of color, community organizing, and mobilization through the arts.
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Timothy White Eagle is a mixed race artist. He graduated from the University of Utah with a BFA in theater. His art practice rises from a decades-long exploration of traditional ritual and embodiment practice. His preferred mediums include objects, photography, durational performance, storytelling, and installed space.
He has served as an artist-in-residence at Town Hall and On The Boards in Seattle, as well as La Mama ETC in NYC. Timothy was the recipient of the WAA/AIP Launch Pad award in 2019 as well as a Seattle City Artist award in 2020.
Timothy toured internationally as one of the artistic directors and a performer with MacArthur Fellow Taylor Mac’s Pulitzer Prize finalist “A 24-Decade History of Popular Music.”
Timothy’s new ritual performance work, “What To Do When The Air Returns,” will premiere at LaMama in November 2021.