Artist Profile: Laurie Frick

Unlike those of us who cringe at the thought of "big data" tracking our every electronic move, Austin-based data artist and McColl Center alumna Laurie Frick has never met an algorithm she didn't like. I had a chance to talk to Frick about her process, wherein she mines the patterns in a person's data signature – as unique as any fingerprint – to create colorful, textured mixed-media installations. Her work is less about our dependence on technology, and more about our human connectedness. Click here for link to McColl Center brochure, profile on pp. 15-20.

Artist Profile: Renée Stout

I recently profiled Renée Stout, mixed media artist and 1999 McColl Center alumna artist-in-residence. Stout uses a variety of media to create complex assemblages that explore individual and cultural identities – particularly as they relate to the African diaspora. 

“I’m always examining the human race,” [says Stout.] “Especially now, when it can feel like some of us are living worlds apart. Everyone’s human emotions are the same, at the core. We owe it to each other to open up those closed doors and discover one another.”

Click here for full profile on pp. 14-20.

A Storm Like That

Happy to have a piece of flash fiction titled, "A Storm Like That," in the latest issue of the Baltimore-based journal, The Avenue. Thanks to Chris Kosmides and the other editors for giving everyone's words such a nice place to live. The issue is available on Amazon.

Tell Me a Story

A link to my essay, Tell Me a Story, from The Stories Between blog, which looks at the way stories sustain us and give us the strength to get through all of it. And we all have our own version of “it." This is a project started by my friend Sharon Perfetti in Baltimore. Her day job helping kids and families deal with the emotional toll of pediatric cancer, prompted her to create a place where friends and family could celebrate the entire arc of a loved one's life, not just the beginning and end. 

Artists Collaborate: David Furman and Robert Langford

David Furman and Robert Langford used to work on real estate deals together; now their focus is on art. Furman, a well-known architect, developer and sculptor, invited long-time friend and abstract artist Langford to paint one of his pieces for his series of new works titled Architechture II, at Charlotte's New Gallery of Modern Art. As part of a new series on artist collaborations for HappeningsCLT, I talked to them about their own artistic process and what it was like for one artist to engage so directly with the work of another. Read it here.