RESIDENCY UPDATE
Photography & Collage Artist Residency
A five-day, in-person collage artist residency in New Orleans
In “What Good Is a Photograph?”, Ric Kasini Kadour writes, “The photograph as language, as a tool of everyday communication, is not new. Twentieth century theorists have wrung every possible drop out of visual literacy as a concept. It does not explain a problem curator Marvin Heiferman frames as, ‘We know that photographs work, but not quite how they do.’ This is dangerous. We may go misunderstood. Or worse, we may be misunderstood by others…Knowing how something works is key to using it effectively.”
The mediums of collage and photography are bound together in an ongoing dialogue. The photographer makes pictures of the world. The collagist remixes those pictures to tell a story about the world we live in. “Today, we’re taking more photos than at any previous time in history,” noted EyeEm contributor Lars Mensel. “Many photographers are asking themselves how to set their work apart from that of their peers. Photography has become less about the skill to take technically perfect pictures–most modern smartphones accomplish this at the touch of a button–but how pictures are combined to tell a story.”
The Photography & Collage Artist Residency will invite photographers and collage artists to come together in dialogue, learn from one another, and make artwork for a series of exhibitions that explore the intersection of collage and photography. Unfolding in two tracks over the course of a week, we will ask, What happens when a collagist picks up the camera? What happens when a photographer collages their pictures? Presentations will explore collage in theory, artist practice, the ecosystem of art, the state of photography, and the history of photography and collage. Artists will shoot on film, explore the dark room, and make collage with the results. Artists will also shoot digital images which will be printed as collage material.
During the residency, artists made make an artwork that will be exhibited at the New Orleans Photo Alliance Gallery, 9 June-28 July 2024 at the New Orleans Photo Alliance Center (7800 Oak Street, New Orleans). A reception will take place on Wednesday, 12 June 2024, 5:30-8:00PM as part of Kolaj Fest New Orleans, 12-16 June 2024.
After the residency, artists were invited to submit 3-5 artworks that will be considered for an exhibition at Kolaj Institute in December as part of PhotoNOLA 2024, an annual celebration of photography in New Orleans, produced by the New Orleans Photo Alliance in partnership with museums, galleries, and alternative venues citywide.
The residency is led by Dafna Steinberg, MFA, professor of darkroom photography at Delaware County Community College, and Lance Rothstein, a photojournalist and street artist who operates the darkroom and teaches photography and collage workshops at the Morean Art Center in Saint Petersburg, Florida. The project is being curated by Ric Kasini Kadour, Director of Kolaj Institute and a 2020-2021 Curatorial Fellow of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and produced in partnership with the New Orleans Photo Alliance.
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
Kolaj Institute is excited to announce the five artists from Canada and across the United States that were selected to participate in this five-day residency in New Orleans.
4″x8″; mixed media collage; 2023. Courtesy of the artist
Western Massachusetts-based Alejandra Spruill has been creating small one off collage photobooks since law school. Not only does she center photography and collage art in her practice, but she passes pass along that knowledge as an educator. Before introducing her students to the darkroom, they all create collages, both as a method to learn about one another, but also to begin unlocking the visual sectors of the brain. The artist holds a BA in Visual Media Arts Production, as well as a law degree. She serves on the In-Sight Photography Project Board of Directors, a Vermont-based nonprofit centering enriching the lives of teens through the photographic arts. She also sits on the Board of Advisors at Artists for Humanity, a youth nonprofit in Boston, a program of which she is also an alumna.
12″x12″; mixed media collage; 2023. Courtesy of the artist.
As a photographer deeply committed to capturing the essence of the world around her, Ashley O’Connor finds solace in the interplay of light, texture, and form. Her practice extends beyond the conventional lens, embracing alternative processes and unconventional materials. Here, she delves into the realm of abstraction, where the boundaries between reality and imagination blur. She collects remnants of existence: weathered leaves, discarded papers, fragments of forgotten lives. These objects, once mundane, now find new purpose. In her compositions, they collide and converse, creating visual poetry. The artist holds a Masters in Teaching and a Bachelors in Studio Art (Photography) from the University of Virginia; and a Bachelors in Art Education from the University of South Alabama. O’Connor lives and works in Mobile, Alabama.
12″x18″; photography; 2020. Courtesy of the artist.
Using a diverse range of photographic techniques, including experimental exposure methods, unconventional lighting, and layered compositions, Brandon Thomas Brown navigates the interplay between light and shadow, form and space. His approach allows for the creation of images that challenge preconceived notions about black identity and invite viewers to search for a visual landscape that blurs the lines between reality and abstraction. The artist holds degrees from the University of Delaware and The New School. Originally from Maryland, Brown lives in Brooklyn, New York, where he works as a portrait photographer.
12″x18″; inkjet print; 2024. Courtesy of the artist.
Photography is the medium that brings Michigan-based artist Marcus Fields into other interests like videography and printmaking. He experiments with his photography and other graphic design projects through risography printing, letterpress printing, and relief printing. He experiments in a range of artistic expressions, including theater, video production, photography, and printmaking among others. His interest lies in finding intersections between these various mediums and allowing them to inform one another. He currently works as Assistant Director of Arts and Media Learning at Michigan State University’s Residential College in the Arts and Humanities (RCAH), where he supports learning in a variety of technology-rich creative learning spaces: a media lab, an art studio, and a theater.
6″x9″; watercolor, screenprinted paper, vintage map, magazine clippings, wallpaper samples; 2017. Courtesy of the artist.
New Orleans-based artist Roxanne Rudov‘s practice involves photography because she often uses her photographs in her collage. She also uses her photographs to inspire compositions of her collage. Her photography and collage practice inform each other and work in unison with her painting practice as well. Rudov studied painting, film and digital media at Tulane University, followed by screenprinting training, and jewelry making in her early career. She also does community organizing with political campaigns and youth art education.
ABOUT THE FACULTY & ORGANIZERS
Dafna Steinberg
Dafna Steinberg holds an MFA in Socially Engaged Studio Art from the Moore College of Art and Design, an MA in Photography and Urban Cultures from the Centre for Urban and Community Research at Goldsmiths, and a BA in Liberal Arts from Hampshire College. She is currently a professor of darkroom photography at Delaware County Community College. Her collage and photography work has been shown in solo and group shows in England, Scotland, Slovenia, and the United States. Her artwork has appeared in publications including Death in the Family: An Open Call, edited by E. Aaron Ross (2023); #ICPConcerned: Global Images for a Global Crisis (2021), Create! Magazine #23, among others. Her article, “Report from Miami”, appeared in Kolaj 28. The artist lives and works in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area. www.dafnasteinberg.com
Lance Rothstein
Lance Rothstein has been making collages with trash and found objects, then leaving them out on the streets since 2010. A professional photojournalist by trade, he’s worked for many major newspapers and publications throughout the US and Europe, but he returned to his art school roots after moving to Belgium with his wife in 2009 and dove headfirst into producing several forms of Street Art. His artwork has been shown in galleries in Belgium, France, the United Kingdom and the United States. His work has been featured in Wallflowers: Collage as Street Art, Be a Pal magazine, Unfamiliar Vegetables, the World Collage Day 2018 Special Edition, and Circulaire 132. Works of his are also in the permanent collection of the Doug + Laurie Kanyer Art Collection in Yakima, Washington as well as The Schwitters’ Army Collection of Collage Art in Sanquhar, Scotland, and the Postcards for Democracy traveling collection by Mark Mothersbaugh and Beatie Wolf. www.rayjohnsonfanclub.com
Ric Kasini Kadour
Ric Kasini Kadour, a 2021 Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Curatorial Fellow, is a writer, artist, publisher, and cultural worker. Working with the Vermont Arts Council, Kadour curated four exhibits: “Connection: The Art of Coming Together” (2017) and Vermont Artists to Watch 2018, 2019 and 2020. In 2017, he curated “The Art of Winter” at S.P.A.C.E. Gallery in Burlington, Vermont. In 2018, Kadour curated “Revolutionary Paths: Critical Issues in Collage” at Antenna Gallery in New Orleans, which bought together collage artists whose work represents the potential for deeper inquiry and further curatorial exploration of the medium; followed in 2019 by “Cultural Deconstructions: Critical Issues in Collage” at LeMieux Galleries in New Orleans, which furthered the conversation; and “Amuse Bouche”, also at LeMieux Galleries in 2023. Since 2018, he has produced Kolaj Fest New Orleans, a multi-day festival & symposium about contemporary collage and its role in art, culture, and society. As Curator of Contemporary Art at Rokeby Museum in Ferrisburgh, Vermont in 2019 and 2020, he curated three exhibitions, “Rokeby Through the Lens” (May 19-June 16, 2019), “Structures” (August 24-October 27, 2019), and “Mending Fences: New Works by Carol MacDonald” (July 12-October 25, 2020). He also curated “Contemporary American Regionalism: Vermont Perspectives” (August 17-October 20, 2019); “Where the Sun Casts No Shadow: Postcards from the Creative Crossroads of Quito, Ecuador” (November 1-30, 2019); and “Many Americas” (August 20-November 27, 2022) in the Wilson Museum & Galleries at the Southern Vermont Arts Center. “The Money $how”, co-curated with Frank Juarez, was presented at the AIR Space Gallery at Saint Kate-The Arts Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (April 10-September 12, 2021). For Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival in Birr, County Offaly, Ireland (August 13-20, 2021), he curated “Empty Columns Are a Place to Dream”, which traveled to the Knoxville Museum of Art in January-February 2022. At 516 ARTS in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Kadour co-curated with Alicia Inez Guzmàn two exhibitions: “Many Worlds Are Born” (February 19-May 14, 2022) and “Technologies of the Spirit” (June 11-September 3, 2022). In 2023 at the Knoxville Museum of Art, Kadour curated “Where the Sun Casts No Shadow: Postcards from the Creative Crossroads of Quito, Ecuador” (January 9-February 16, 2023) and “Mystical Landscape: Secrets of the Vale” (March 17-May 28, 2023). In September 2023, he curated “Word of Mouth: Folklore, Community and Collage” at A’ the Airts in Sanquhar, Scotland. His short film, The Covenant of Schwitters’ Army, debuted at Collage on Screen during Kolaj Fest New Orleans 2023. Kadour is the editor and publisher of Kolaj Magazine. He has written for a number of galleries and his writing has appeared in Hyperallergic, OEI, Vermont Magazine, Seven Days, Seattle Weekly, Art New England (where he was the former Vermont editor) and many others. Kadour maintains an active art practice and his photography, collage, and sculpture have been exhibited in and are part of private collections in Australia, Europe and North America. In January-February 2020, he was artist-in-residence at MERZ Gallery in Sanquhar, Scotland. He holds a BA in Comparative Religion from the University of Vermont. Kadour splits his time between Montreal and New Orleans. www.rickasinikadour.com
New Orleans Photo Alliance
The mission of the New Orleans Photo Alliance (NOPA) is to encourage the understanding and appreciation of photography through exhibitions, opportunities, and educational programs. They operate a darkroom, gallery and studio/event space. NOPA produces PhotoNOLA, the Festival of Photography in New Orleans, in partnership with museums, galleries, and venues citywide. Showcasing work by photographers near and far, the festival includes exhibitions, workshops, lectures, a portfolio review, and more. Learn more at www.neworleansphotoalliance.org and www.photonola.org.
Kolaj Institute
The mission of Kolaj Institute is to support artists, curators, and writers who seek to study, document, & disseminate ideas that deepen our understanding of collage as a medium, a genre, a community, and a 21st century movement. We operate a number of initiatives meant to bring together community, investigate critical issues, and raise collage’s standing in the art world. www.kolajinstitute.org