Mary Babcock

Artist Statement

I am an Hawaii-based visual/performance artist and educator deeply interested in the intersection of art, contemplation and social activism. Mending is a central theme in my work, both as actual reparative action and as metaphor for personal and socio-environmental change. My work is driven by a need to understand and critique my culture, rooted in the desire to bridge two prevailing paradigms for art-making: art as beauty and art as social criticism. Residing in the Pacific, my current focus is on cultural and ecological sustainability in the face of climate change.

Referencing the flooding of the historical town of Vanport, OR - a largely African American community- the work is intended as a cautionary tale regarding the impacts of reckless greed, drawing parallels to current global existential threats and to our apparent acquiescence with climate apartheid.

Bio

Currently Professor of Sculpture / Expanded Practices at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, I see my teaching as an act of creative resistance - a means to empower future generations. I am experimenting with ways to extend my teaching outside of the university, creating intergenerational contexts for knowledge sharing and meaning making. Recent bodies of work include Hydrophilia and Deliquesce, in which I explore concepts of absorption and dissolution in the context of sea level rise and climate change. I received my MFA from the University of Arizona and PhD in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. I have performed and exhibited work in individual and collaborative contexts nationally and internationally including Korea, Japan, Australia, the Philippines, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, the Ukraine, Cyprus, Algeria and Niger. My work is in numerous private and private collections including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the US Embassy in Niger.

www.marybabcock.com

Maya Erdelyi

Artist Statement

I’m a collagist; cutting, sourcing, and colliding ideas into hand-crafted animations, 3-D paper works and experiments. Themes interweave, ranging from: abstraction, color theory, automatic drawing, intergenerational trauma, the Jewish diaspora, motherhood, family stories, memories, and dreams. My cross-disciplinary practice has involved: experimental animation, stop-motion, puppets, geodesic domes, printmaking, curatorial projects, full moon artist salons, drawing clubs, and various collaborations. Using bold colors, patterns and found paper, the final artworks exist as animated films, collages and installations. My work aims to create conversation, evoke memories and wonder, experiment with space/time/form, and ultimately bring people together.

Maya Erdelyi Film still from "Anyuka" hybrid collage from animated documentary 2023 Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center

Bio

Maya Erdelyi is an award-winning animator and artist. Her works interweaves experimental animation, installation, drawing, printmaking and collaborative experiments. Screenings and shows include: national and international film festivals, galleries, museums and DIY venues including Lincoln Center, the Ann Arbor Film Festival, MoMA NYC, MFA Boston, REDCAT LA, Harvard Film Archives, Animation Block Party, among others. More recently: a solo show at Trustman Gallery at Simmons University (fall 2022), artist workshops at the ICA Boston (summer 2022), and a 2019 Yaddo Residency among others. Maya is a Colombian/Hungarian first-generation American. Born and raised bilingually in New York City, she is currently based in Boston where she teaches animation at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University and lectures at numerous Universities and workshops. Maya received her MFA in Experimental Animation from Calarts and first studied animation at Harvard University. She lives with her husband, an animator, and their daughter Paloma, and is always working on some kind of experiment.

www.mayaerdelyi.com

Mary Simpson

Artist Statement

Activism inspires my writing and visual art practice. I volunteer each year to help low-income communities file their taxes to receive government credits and refunds. I also lead my rental building’s tenant union and advocate for affordable housing in New York. Writing helps me process these issues through personal essays and nonfiction profiles. Painting comes from a place for which I have no words—which can be a relief, because confronting unfair power imbalances often leaves me with no more words to give. I fell in love with myth as a kid, when story—told through action, archetypes, and images—became my way of understanding the world. I am always thinking about the importance of community in storytelling. I believe we share stories so that others might see themselves reflected in our experience.

Mary Simpson, nonfiction essay published in July/August 2024 issue of the Brooklyn Rail

Bio

Mary Simpson is a writer and artist from Alaska, currently living in Brooklyn, New York. Her writing has appeared in The Brooklyn Rail, Bomb, Parkett, Broadcast, JRP Editions, The Happy Hypocrite, Hoosac Institute Journal, and other publications. She earned an MFA in visual arts from Columbia University, attended the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. She won the Rema Hort Mann prize and has had numerous solo exhibitions in New York, Chicago, and Minneapolis. Her work has been included in group exhibitions at the Seattle Art Museum and the Boise Art Museum. She has shown internationally in galleries in Brussels, London, and Beijing. Her film screenings and lectures include the Artists Institute, The Kitchen, Goethe Institute, Henry Art Gallery, and CAM2 Madrid. She works as curator for the estate of Jimmy DeSana.

marysimpson.net