Everything Is Connected

On this episode I'm joined by Michaela Yearwood-Dan. Throughout paintings, works on paper, ceramics, and site-specific mural and sound installations, Michaela Yearwood-Dan (b. 1994; London, UK) endeavors to build spaces of queer community, abundance, and joy. Yearwood-Dan's singular visual language draws on a diverse range of influences, including Blackness, queerness, femininity, healin...

On this episode I'm joined by Alex Delotch Davis. Alex is an art and fashion marketer who specializes in developing high-earning multicultural audiences. Presently, Delotch-Davis is Manager of Marketing at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, where she supports the reservoir of culture and commerce that the institution generates for the Atlanta metro area.  I got on a call with Alex a couple we...

On this episode I'm joined by Gideon Appah.  Born in Accra, Ghana in 1987, Gideon received his Bachelor of Fine Arts at The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana in 2012.  Appah lives and works in Ghana. With a diverse practice that ranges from the expressionistic to the surreal, Appah draws from his personal experiences to depict life in his native Accra. Appah’...

On this episode I'm joined by Liz Andrews. Liz is an artist, curator, museum professional, and leader who is dedicated to the arts and social justice. She has worked with arts organizations across the nation. In August 2021, Liz began her role as Executive Director of the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art. Prior to joining Spelman College, Liz Andrews was Executive Administrator in the Direc...

On this episode I'm joined by Danny Baez. Originally from the Dominican republic,  Danny  moved to New York City when he was 18. His journey in the arts can be considered coincidental but I don't believe in coincidences. Everything in life happens for a reason and the places that we find ourselves are not by accident.  Danny has built a career over decades rooted in supporting his friend...

On this episode I'm joined by Kent Kelley. I met Kent Kelley for the first time a couple years ago through Anwarii Musa who was on a recent episode. Kent comes from the financial world and has worked as a CFO for many years. He recently started collecting art and currently sits on the board of the High Museum in Atlanta. Kent was a big part of an article I wrote for Artnet highlighting the in...

On this episode I'm joined by Reyna Noriega. I met Reyna in 2021 when I was working on an editorial for Bal Harbour shops and highlighting taste makers in Miami. Reyna invited me over to her place to do our interview in person and shoot a little content. Overlooking the bay in Miami we talked about her art - she’s an illustrator and has worked with some of the world's biggest brands crea...

On this episode I'm joined by Anwarii Musa. Over the last decade Musa has built an art advisory firm focused on the work of contemporary artists. He works with emerging as well as seasoned collectors who sit on the boards of some of the worlds most important institutions as well as works with several athletes and former athletes who are actively building legacy collections. It’s  Frieze week...

On this episode I'm joined by Kimberly Drew. Kimberly Drew is a curator, critic & author of two books, This Is What I Know About Art and the anthology Black Futures with Jenna Wortham, both released in 2020. Drew received her B.A. from Smith College in Art History and African-American Studies. The last time I caught up with Kimberly we were both in Ghana experiencing all the country has t...

On this episode I'm joined by Ambrose Murray. Murray received their BA in African American studies from Yale in 2018. They are a self-taught painter and seamstress from North Carolina with roots in Florida. Through their work, Ambrose seeks to bring physical form to the ideas and theories they have been struck by from Black feminist writers and visionaries.  In an artist statement they reveal...

On this episode I'm joined by Jeffrey Meris, the New York-based artist whose paintings, sculptures, and conceptual work draw on his lived experiences.   Meris was recently announced as one of this years winners of the prestigious and highly coveted Studio Museum of Harlem residency which has seen the likes of heavy hitters such as Chakaia Booker, David Hammons, Kerry James Marshall, Julie Meh...

On this episode I was joined by Larry Ossei-Mensah and this time he interviewed me!  Sitting on the other side of the table was definitely a change of pace for me, but Larry asked all the right questions.  We  reflected on Ghana and our experiences  as cultural workers and thought leaders within our industry. Larry's insightful questions helped me to open up and share some of the personal thi...

This year, to start off 2023, we're back with season 3 of Light Work presents: Everything is connected, a podcast where we talk to artists, thought leaders and creatives across industries, mainly within the arts, about life, work and culture.  This season we are taking a more global approach as we share episodes recorded in Ghana throughout the year. As always, our conversations are intended...

On this episode we're joined by Bony Ramirez  Bony Ramierz is a self taught artist who retains a connection to his Dominican heritage through his art, incorporating elements of the Caribbean with his own distinctive details. He left the island when he was a child and migrated to the US. Through painting and drawing, Ramirez creates life-sized paper figures onto painted wood panels. His subjec...

On this episode we're joined by Terrell Villiers.  Terrell is a multi-disciplinary visual artist, community organizer, curator, and producer currently based in Brooklyn, New York. Recognized internationally for his cartoon illustrations, where he explores the nuance of identity, through the intersectionality of black homosexuality, and black queerness / transness. Through the myriad of unaddr...

On this episode we're joined by Chela Mitchell.  Chela provides art advisory to private, public, and new collectors looking to navigate the contemporary art market. With a deep understanding of the art market, CMA helps clients build fine art collections. Founded in 2018, CMA's strength is building cultural and medium-diverse art collections. We work closely with our clients to understan...

On this episode were joined by Nate Lewis . Nate is a visual artist, most well known for his layered works on paper where he explores history, time and movement through the body. He engage in practice that incorporates photography, sculpture, drawing and painting.  Lewis’s work is in the public collections of the Baltimore Museum of Art, The Blanton Museum, The Studio Museum in Harlem, Grinnell Co...

 Cierra Britton is a curator and art dealer living and working in New York City. As the director of the Cierra Britton Gallery, her mission is to make space for artists who are creating exploratory work across all mediums.  Founded in 2021, the Cierra Britton Gallery is the first NYC-based gallery dedicated to representing BIPOC womxn artists whose work contributes to the contemporary cultural dia...

On this episode we're joined by Marcus Leslie Singleton. The Brooklyn based painter depicts intimate moments of Black life. He has exhibited his work at galleries and art fairs in New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Singleton reflects on the process of identity building and questions around Black consciousness.  --------------------------------- Follow & Subscribe  Subscribe on Substack F...

On this episode we're joined by Lauren Pearce.  Lauren Pearce is a black artist who pulls inspiration from her community, creating powerful mixed media art, bringing textures in her portraits, and iconic shapes and colors to her captivating murals. Her passion for expressing her identity led her to art School. At the age of 24, she began her professional career as an artist. Using an array of...

On this episode we're joined by Storm Ascher, founder and owner of superposition gallery which opened  in 2018 The gallery represents emerging and mid-career artists from around the globe with an emphasis on creating community. Taking on the life of the nomadic artist and resident, curatorial projects come to fruition through iterations of borrowed space in Los Angeles, New York, and Miami. N...

On this episode we're joined by Jake Troyli  Jake Troyli investigates the construction of otherness and the commodification of the Black/Brown body, confronting and exploring labor capitalism and sweat equity as a demonstration of value. He makes energetic paintings, often featuring a self-portrait or avatar of himself embedded in engaging scenes, with a markedly classicist approach. Utilizin...

On this episode we're joined by Jenee Daria Strand, the Curatorial Assistant for the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum. Jenée-Daria aims to expand her knowledge of art history, and integrate her interests in performance practices, to examine Black subjectivity within the museum setting. She holds a BFA from Florida State University, and is pursuing an MA at N...

On this episode we're joined by Genesis Tramaine, is an expressionist devotional painter who creates abstract portraits of men and women who transcend gender, race, and social structures. Genesis Tramaine’s striking, near-abstract portraits of Black subjects take inspiration from biblical hymns and the scrawling figuration of 1980s New York graffiti art . The Brooklyn-born artist has exhibite...

On this episode we're joined by Clotilde Jimenez - born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1990 he is a visual artist currently  based in Mexico City. Jimenez has developed an artistic practice that spans multimedia collage resulting in a thought provoking cannon of motifs including: tropical fruits, pink painted fingernails, lingerie, and boxing gear. Emotions triggered from vivid dreams and memories ta...