Category: Residency

FRESH MILK XIII Photographs

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We are pleased to share images from FRESH MILK XIII which took place on Thursday, October 24th 2013 at the Milking Parlour Studio.

To listen to an interview conducted by Stacia Brathwaite with Fresh Milk Founder/Director Annalee Davis promoting the event and speaking about Fresh Milk’s mission, which aired Wednesday October 23rd on Starcom Network’s 6:00pm Williams News Makers segment, click here: Fresh Milk Feature.

The event comprised of a screening of our resident artist damali abrams’ documentary Fresh Performance: Contemporary Performance Art in NYC & The Caribbean; the launching of our new public gallery space FRESH MILK ARTBOARD & our Virtual Map of Caribbean Art Spaces; screening a selection from Project 35: Volume 2, a traveling exhibition produced by Independent Curators International, New York; and showcasing the new additions to the Colleen Lewis Reading Room.

Special thanks to the US Embassy in Barbados for supporting damali’s residency and contributing to the expansion of the Reading Room; to the Maria Holder Memorial Trust for supporting the Virtual Map as well as expanding the library collection; Groundation Grenada for taking part in this collaborative residency with us; the ICI for sharing Project 35; and to Musson Realty for donating their billboard for Fresh Milk to use as an exhibition space. We are extremely grateful for all of the relationships we have formed, which assist us in carrying out our mission.

All photographs by Mark King unless otherwise stated.

Photograph by Mark King.
Damali Abrams. Photograph by Mark King.

Damali Abrams’ Residency: Week 4 Report

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Damali Abrams. Photograph by Mark King.

This residency has brought me to a new level of possibility in my work. I am extremely grateful that I’ve had this opportunity. Every single moment has been a chance to learn and grow and be inspired. In Barbados and Grenada I absorbed more natural beauty than I ever thought possible. I have also seen the value of being part of new (to me) conversations in new (to me) places. I have learned a lot about myself and my limits and my strengths. I am filled with an incredible amount of inspiration and I am excited to see how it all manifests in my work.

Fresh Performance: Contemporary Performance Art in NYC & the Caribbean, the documentary that I came to this residency to complete, came out very differently from what I expected (but I expected that as well). During the last two weeks of the residency, the video took a huge turn. Its form completely transformed. When I was in Grenada, I found myself editing out huge chunks of the film. Things that just weren’t moving me in the same way that they had before. It became clear to me that if I was no longer finding it interesting, there was no way I could expect an audience to care. I began to leave in only the portions of the interviews that clearly explained the importance of performance to these particular artists. I wound up cutting about two-thirds of the piece. It went from about 90 minutes to roughly 30 minutes. Then I had to rearrange the clips so that the words of all of the artists I interviewed flowed together. It wasn’t until I got back to New York that I realized that the project had taken shape based on the conversations and experiences I had during the residency (which I think must be the entire point of a residency anyway).

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Damali during the screening of her documentary. Photograph by Mark King.

The final presentation far exceeded my expectations. People in the audience were excited and inspired and said that they learned a lot about performance art from the documentary. I had been feeling pretty wrung out trying to get it done on time, and felt good that my intentions had come across clearly to the audience even though I view it as a work in progress. The audio was not as smooth as I would have liked but the next day I sent it to someone to have it cleaned up, because I have an opportunity to show Fresh Performance again very soon.

The documentary will be part of an exhibition called Face Time: New Portraiture Now opening on Friday November 8, 2013 at Ground Floor Gallery in Brooklyn. I am excited to see how it is received in a gallery setting where people are just seeing bits and pieces of it versus the sit-down screening that we had at Fresh Milk. Also, how will the New York art audience’s response compare to the Barbadian art audience? The questions that led to this project about art in the Caribbean and in New York are even more intriguing to me after this experience. I want to continue to find ways to keep that conversation going. Especially since many of us in New York are either born in the Caribbean or are part of the Caribbean diaspora, it seems like a natural discussion to continue having.

I cannot thank Fresh Milk and Groundation Grenada enough for allowing me this opportunity to travel through art and connect with so many artists and creatives. I felt completely supported and because they were willing to believe in my work and invest in me, I feel more confident in my work as well. And thank you to the twelve amazing artists who were willing to share their time and their processes with me. I would also like to thank the U.S. Embassy Bridgetown for funding this residency.

– Damali Abrams

Versia Harris’ Residency at the IBB – Final Update

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Barbadian artist Versia Harris blogs about her residency at the Instituto Buena Bista (IBB) in Curacao, where she recently completed her stint in their International Project Space programme for the month of October, 2013.

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The End…

Friday marked the end of my five week residency at the IBB in Curacao. A truly wonderful experience filled with ups and downs. I am flying away from this island but I will hold it in my little heart pocket with all other things that I am fond of.

The two weeks of workshop with the students were the most challenging part of the residency, but it was also one of the highlights of my stay. It was physically draining and it delayed my other work. It challenged my patience but it also opened my eyes to what teaching entails. It’s more than just passing knowledge and advice, it’s also caring enough to push the students, especially when they don’t want to or feel like they can’t do something. At times I felt like I am still too selfish to pour this amount of time and energy into mentoring someone.  And yet watching them produce their own animations and then seeing the finished products made me happy and proud to have been able to teach someone something new.

The last two weeks were the most productive. Before coming to Curacao, I had just finished my second animation and was now searching for a direction or at least a starting point for my next video. When I started to work I was drawn to the same kinds of images that I had created for my previous animations, i.e. the open landscape and the small room, devoid of almost all furniture. So I decided to place a version of myself in the images to see what could be revealed to me. The scenes became not just environments, but more about my attitude towards dealing with fantasy.  And in creating these images, I thought about the construction of fantasy and how reality and fantasy constantly inform each other – and so the video became an experiment about the layering of fantasy and reality. Two projectors were placed facing each other with a screen in the middle. A different video played on each one, but because they were projected onto the same surface it was viewed as one video. In preparing for this I was forced to use new computer programs and to learn new ways of producing video.

The exhibition at the end was a culmination of my digital prints and video, and the students animations. They also opened their studios for the viewers to walk through and observe their other works.

I fell in love with the Curacao landscape and no amount of pictures or videos is enough for me to have when I leave. The IBB is a great place with great people managing it and also passing through it. I immensely appreciate the challenges I faced here, and I am inspired by the things I loved.

Thank You IBB!

To view footage of Versia’s final exhibition and presentation at the IBB, click here.

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Adrian Green and Sky LARC’s Residency: Third Report

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Art is Chemistry. Still shot of Adrian Green, image by Sky LARC

Art is Chemistry. Still shot of Adrian Green, image by Sky LARC

Take a look behind the scenes as the H(art)D work video evolves.  It is like the creation of a solar system.

Images from the mind of Director Larc, start to orbit around the the poem by Adrian Green.  Out of the chaos will emerge a new galaxy; a world created by the artists, the cast and the crew.  Like archangels aiding in the process of creation, they volunteered their time and energy.

But this time it will take more than seven days or a big bang and it will not come together by random selection.  This is a controlled burn over several longggggg days that has begun.  After repeatedly proclaiming “Let there be light,” and with all the pieces in place, the director will say, “It is good.”

Exhibition by Versia Harris at the IBB

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Instituto Buena Bista, Curacao in collaboration with Fresh Milk and Barbados Community College (BCC), has the pleasure to announce that Barbadian Artist Versia Harris will be exhibiting on October 25th 2013.

Versia Harris together with British/Barbadian artist Nick Whittle is residing at the IBB as part of the IBB’s Junior/Senior exchange program and our efforts for an exchange project and collaboration with the BCC. Nick unfortunately had to take sudden leave for family matters, but he plans to return to finish his residency in the near future.

Versia Harris (1991) is a Barbadian artist living and working in Weston, St. James. She graduated from the Barbados Community College with a BFA in the Studio Art program in 2012, with an award from The Leslie’s Legacy Foundation for the most promising student. She recently completed her second local residency at The Fresh Milk Art Platform and her first international residency at the Vermont Studio Center in Vermont. Versia explains that in her work she explores the fantasies and experiences of an original character. The character is introduced to Walt Disney animations, and consequently layers what she desires from these animations onto her life, especially her physical self. Her relationship to the world around her changes, as she compares her reality and the fantasy of Disney Animated stories. She struggles with her perception of self being in complete contrast with the Disney princesses.

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Sparked by her interest in storytelling, she created the character and story to generate a comparison between Walt Disney iconography and her reality. Despite the fabricated narrative, she addresses issues that intrigue her such as how one can be influenced by media and the process of comparing oneself to another of unrealistic standards. You can follow the artist on Tumblr or on Twitter @versiaharris

Versia also provided an animation workshop to the students at the IBB. Students were asked to work in groups of two to create their own character and make a short hand-drawn animation. Using Photoshop as a manipulation tool, students made short animations ranging from feel-good themes all the way to more dramatic subjects. The final results will also be presented during the night of Versia’s exhibition.

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We invite you to come and meet artist Versia Harris, experience her work and be transported to her amazing world of manipulated pen-drawn animations.

Date: Friday, October 25th 2013
Time: starts at 7p.m. sharp
Place: Instituto Buena Bista

For more information on the exhibition or the IBB please visit our website or call us weekdays at +5999 736 3605 and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook.