5 Years Later: Back in the Gallery

Time flies when I am making the art. I didn’t even realize how long it had been since I’ve posted in the blog and shared with you all what has been happening in the magical world of Ariana and Alchemist Productions. This post is about the spaghetti I am throwing at the wall hoping for a piece to stick. One of the pieces stuck, and it wasn’t the piece I thought. It’s really interesting because when I made the decision to leave my dream job to work on Alchemist I had not intended to do gallery exhibitions. I haven’t shown my personal work in 5 years. I’ll tell you the story…

Once upon a time…in 2004, I moved to Sarasota, Florida to go to college. I spent 4 years developing my personal art practice. Attending Miami Art Basel every December discovering contemporary art. I graduated in 2008 and did my best to continue to make art, but I wasn’t very successful, or self-motivated. The end of 2009 to the beginning of 2010 broke that cycle when I was accepted to Vermont Studio Center for a 6 week artist retreat. In July of 2010 my mentor invited me to move into his warehouse studio space with him, allowing me a space to create larger sculptures and develop installations. He also invited me to show in an exhibition for the first time since my senior thesis. That October I created a sculptural installation with a video performance. The following year I joined S/ART/Q, the local contemporary art collective, and started doing pop up events with them around town. At the same time I began creating window display installations for a local boutique, Juno & Jove. In 2012, S/ART/Q raised enough money to go to Miami Art Basel and show at Select Fair. This was the last time I showed in a “gallery” setting. 

S/ART/Q Exhibition Installation, 2011

My personal art practice was really difficult to maintain while producing the branded content for the boutique. It just wasn’t my time, and that was okay. In the middle of 2013 I took a year off from making art. Then in mid-2014 I was hired by Anthropologie and moved to Naples, FL. I made art for them for about 3 years. At the beginning of this year, I was presented with an amazing opportunity to create something that brought my personal art practice together with branded content and granted me this magical sense of social responsibility to get back to making my own personal art. That’s one of the reasons I made the decision to leave my dream job and move to Miami.

In August I was scrolling through instagram and I came across a Prism Creative Group post promoting the Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series. I had been focused making personal work. I had content again, so I submitted 3 pieces. This is really interesting because I’ve never applied to anything like this before. I’ve never felt this confident about my personal work, but at the same time this particular competition spans all of North America. I had no idea who else was submitting work, or who the judges are. All I knew was that if I didn’t try I would never know if my work was in line with other contemporary artists. 

When I received the email that I am a regional semi-finalist and that I would be in a group show with 14 other artists in a Miami gallery, I was extremely surprised and excited at the same time. It is an honor to be selected as 1 of 15 artists in the Miami region. I am so pleased that I moved to Miami and live in a city that collaborates on opportunities like this. Yesterday I dropped off my assemblage at N’Namdi Contemporary in Wynwood. It has been 5 years since I have shown in a gallery setting. This Thursday October 12, will break the cycle again. The Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series is happening in collaboration with Artsy.net to showcase emerging artists at Scope Miami Beach during Miami Art Basel. You can vote for my work online once a day, everyday until November 7th by clicking this link. I also lined up a solo show in February in the Mitchell Gallery at the Englewood Art Center which is affiliated of Ringling College of Art and Design, my alma mater. 

The selected assemblage for the exhibition.

The piece I will be showing titled "My Mother's Jewelry"

Although I am still following leads to take my work outside of the gallery and create bespoke branded sculptural installations for businesses, and site specific commercial buildings, this is a great start to build relationships with the art community. It’s one of the most important things I can be doing. Building relationships. Contributing to the landscape of art and culture in my community. Giving back to the community that has supported me in the past. I invite you to join me as the cycle breaks and I share my work with the world.