Current Residents

List Grid

Current Resident: Sep 1, 2024–Oct 31, 2024

Studio #304

Xiaojing Yan

Xiaojing Yan’s art reflects her cultural journey, culminating in a distinct personal vocabulary. Her unique perspective bridges past and present, exploring themes of identity, nature, and transcendence. Drawing on ancient Chinese traditions, rituals, and materials, Yan uses natural elements to evoke mystical and philosophical reflections on life, death, and humanity’s connection to the natural world. Her work is rich with symbolism that remains as relevant today as it was historically, engaging with issues such as environmental sustainability.

Xiaojing Yan has exhibited work at Suzhou Museum, China; Royal Ontario Museum, Canada; and Sharjah Art Museum, United Arab Emirates, among others.

yanxiaojing.com

I'm fascinated by how technological advancements give humans the illusion of power over nature. I explore this through collaborations between human and natural elements, designing controlled environments that give way to organic processes. For my lingzhi sculptures, I put woodchips and lingzhi spore mixtures into molds, controlling humidity, temperature, and light. Once the mycelium binds the woodchips, I remove the mold and place the mixture in a greenhouse to grow. This process creates transformative sculptures, covered in delicate brown spores. My female bust series extends this concept, highlighting the lingzhi mushroom's properties and its role in environmental sustainability and contemporary art.

Xiaojing Yan, Lingzhi Girl #10, 2017, lingzhi mushroom, mycelium and woodchips, 18 × 16 × 18 in. (45.72 × 40.64 × 45.72 cm)

Spirit Cloud is a hanging work made of over 33,000 freshwater pearls suspended by clear filaments, forming a three-dimensional pointillist painting. Inspired by Chinese garden stones and auspicious clouds, the curvilinear form symbolizes the fusion of water, air, sky, and earth. In Chinese mythology, gods and immortals ride on clouds, which also serve as signs of weather changes. The pearls mimic the structure of a cloud, creating the illusion of a solid form and capturing a moment of its shifting nature, evoking continuous energy and movement. This work also highlights the impact of environmental change on natural elements.

Xiaojing Yan, Spirit Cloud, 2017, Medium: fresh water pearls, filament and aluminum, 118 × 128 × 528 in. (299.72 × 325.12 × 1341.12 cm)

I'm fascinated by how technological advancements give humans the illusion of power over nature. My lingzhi sculptures explore collaborations between human and natural elements, starting with woodchips and lingzhi spore mixtures in a mold. Controlled humidity, temperature, and light allow the mycelium to grow and bind the woodchips, which are then placed in a greenhouse to develop into transformative sculptures covered in delicate brown spores. This hybrid science/art experiment highlights the properties of the lingzhi mushroom, such as adaptation and self-healing, while addressing themes of environmental sustainability. My work evokes traditional Chinese medicine, mythology, and religion.

Xiaojing Yan, Far from where you divined, 2017, mycelium, cultivated lingzhi mushrooms, wood chips and wood, dimensions variable

Inspired by volcanic eruptions and cosmic explosions, I suspend thousands of lava stone beads on golden thread to capture the universe's beauty and power. These natural phenomena symbolize creation and destruction, with lava beads representing past eruptions and explosions, and golden thread embodying the energy that holds everything together. My installation evokes the mystery and wonder of the cosmos, illustrating how volcanic activity and astronomical events create new possibilities. It reminds viewers of the interconnectedness of all things, highlighting how our actions ripple through the world, shaping our environment and future.

Xiaojing Yan, Nebula, 2019, lava stone beads and golden thread, 236 × 157 × 157 in. (599.44 × 398.78 × 398.78 cm)

In this project, I use tens of thousands of artificial flower stamens to create a satellite image of a storm, representing the effects of climate change. The stamen, a flower's male reproductive part, is essential for plant growth, and here, artificial stamens symbolize human intervention in nature. This artwork highlights how climate change impacts pollinators and plant populations, similar to the butterfly effect. The storm cloud imagery and an olfactory component, emitting the scent of rain, remind viewers of climate change's power and potential consequences, blending synthetic materials with natural elements to reflect humanity's attempts to control and preserve nature.

Xiaojing Yan, Stamen, 2023, wax and cotton thread, 108 × 144 in. (274.32 × 365.76 cm)

Residents from Canada

Antonietta Grassi

Canada

Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec

Studio #201

Stanley Wany

Ase (pronounced “ah-sheh”; also spelled ashe) Yoruba words often have multiple meanings: Ase is generally defined as “the power to make things happen” and also refers to the spiritual life force that flows through things, much like the Chinese concept of chi. Deepening the exploration of my relationship with my ancestors, Ase, a drawing that measures almost two meters high by three meters long. For this piece, charcoal, a medium with archaic roots, is used to evoke powerful waves crowned by troubled sky. Towards the bottom of the drawings, the waves melt into abstraction, dripping onto the white surface of the paper. The title Ase, referring to Yoruba culture, embodies my ongoing relationship with my ancestors, those who perished in the sea as well as those with whom known ties have been cut by the transatlantic slavetrade. When creating this work, I also reflected on what it meant to be Black in the Americas and how my identity had been defined by the dominant society. I turned to the writings of Stuart Hall, Franz Fanon as well as of Edouard Glissant, whose concept of “creolisation” serves as a focal point in my practice going forward.

Canada

Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, CIÉCO

Studio #222

Kara Springer

Canada, Barbados

Canada Council for the Arts

Studio #305

Canada, Barbados

Current Resident: Oct 1, 2024–Dec 31, 2024

Canada Council for the Arts

Studio #305

Artist

Kara Springer

Kara Springer’s work centers on armature—the underlying structure that holds the body in place. Using photography, sculpture, and site-specific interventions, she explores systems of structural power and support. Her practice is deeply rooted in processes of care and attentiveness, focused on understanding the specificities of a given context and environment. This sensitivity allows her to consider how a structure might exist sustainably in relation to the world around it.

Kara Springer has exhibited work at Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; and Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, among others.

karaspringer.ca

Kara Springer, The Shape of Mountains, 2023, double-sided inkjet prints on rice paper, poplar wood support structures, ceramic fragments, 120 × 72 in. (304.8 × 182.88 cm)

A structure containing two light boxes, each featuring the same image of a woman whose face is partially obscured by a print of a ceramic scan. Wires descend from the light boxes and coil on the floor beneath.

Kara Springer, Judith Mae Part III, 2023, two double-sided lightboxes, dimming mechanism, arduino panels, power source units, wood support structure, dimensions variable

A skeletal pyramid like structure, one face contains a high resolution photograph of oil thickened into industrial grease. The print appears shimmering and purple as the images were taken at sunset with the light reflecting off of the sticky black oil

Kara Springer, Do I have to build you a fucking pyramid?, 2021, double-sided prints on dibond panels, poplar wood, dimensions variable

An industrial light box, 5 ft wide, features an image of a ladder protruding from the sea. The scene is idyllic with the bright blue sky, fluffy white clouds. The lightbox is held down on a rudimentary cart like structure on wheels with a ratchet strap.

Kara Springer, The Earth & All Its Inhabitants, 2019, double-sided light box, found materials, dimensions variable

Thirteen brightly colored light boxes mounted in a structure made of 1 x 1 planks of poplar wood. Cables descend from each box and wind their way to a central control panel which controls the luminosity of each box

Kara Springer, I / must be given words, 2022, twelve double-sided lightboxes, dimming mechanism, arduino panels, power source units, wood support structure, dimensions variable

Iran, United States

Current Resident: Apr 1, 2023–Apr 30, 2025

Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Alice and Lawrence Weiner, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, New York City Council District 34, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, Hartfield Foundation, Danna and Ed Ruscha, The Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation

Ground Floor

Artist

Azita Moradkhani

Azita Moradkhani’s practice is heavily influenced by Persian art, culture, and politics as a result of her upbringing in Tehran. Her work centers on the female body and its exposure to various social norms, examining the experience of personal insecurity and the sensitivity of the dynamics of vulnerability and violence.

Azita Moradkhani has exhibited work at Jane Lombard Gallery, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, China; and Royal Academy of Arts, England, among others.

azitamora.com