Conversation with Artist and Vocalist Valentina Gonzales (VRGNZ)

It was incredibly refreshing to sit down and talk with such an honest, strong and opinionated creative mind as Valentina Gonzales aka VRGNZ. 

VRGNZ. Photo Credit:Travis Duran

Valentina creating a mural on a new ShelterCare facility, Eugene, 2014.

In this episode, Valentina shares her journey as the artist, the mother, and the human. She reminds us all that as an artist, there is no point A to point B, but it is a long and winding path which, if you are open to receiving, will teach you passion and determination and ultimately could restore your faith in humanity. Valentina is a power house, and if you want to laugh and cry, get motivated to create, or just hear some crazy ass life stories, then listen in to hear Valentina's interview.

 

Here is the conversation with Valentia Gonzales (VRGNZ):

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All music featured on this Episode courtesy of VRGNZ

More about the artist: 

Valentina, better known in the music and art scene as VRGNZ was born a daughter of Texas music. This Appala Chilean exemplifies diversity not only in heritage, but also in her multi faceted artistic backgrounds. Her Chilean father, a musician and night club owner, and her Kentucky raised mother, a teacher, worked hard to cultivate they're daughters creative spirit. As a teen, Valentina grew with the underground hip-hop movement and after connecting with Chris Calloway, her greatest musical mentor and the daughter of legendary Cab Calloway, Valentina began her journey as an independent artist. Finding experience and passion through recording, traveling, skateboarding, and design, Valentina continues to evolve her artistic pursuits and abilities.

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VRGNZ

Conversation with Artist Bethany Edmunds

Miss b.Me  Photo Credit: NativeLight Media Photography 

I feel so proud to be able to share the work and world of multidisciplinary Māori artist Bethany Matai Edmunds (Miss bMe). Through the scratchy channels of our cyberspace Skype interview, all the way from her home in Aotearoa (New Zealand), Edmunds' creative determination radiates clearly and straight to the heart. Edmunds reminds us that it is the larger circles we are creating today that will sustain our cultures and create new opportunities for growth and evolution of indigenous ways. By continuing to be innovative we will retain the strength of our ancestors and 'never forget'. 

"As a descendant of the far north living in the city, it’s the taura here of my whakapapa that connects me to my cultural identity and the land that my tupuna are from. I often feel like a manu aute, with my wings spread and my eyes wide open, riding wind currents, and soaking up sights and smells, acknowledging influences and celebrating and creating connections and reference points in this multi-cultural global world we live in, asking myself what does it mean to be urban indigenous? For so many of us whose whakapapa Māori is diluted our connections to the north are dislocated, how do we achieve the success that our grandparent’s generation strove for when they moved to the city? Reclaiming knowledge and sustainable practices and at the same time embracing our Māori identity to innovate, interpret and be proud of the influences and materials available in our immediate environment." - Bethany Matai Edmunds BAA, MA (Ngati Kuri, Pohotiare) 

Here is the conversation with Bethany Matai Edmunds:

Subscribe to Art Beat Conversations on iTunes HERE and download this episode

Miss bMe (aka Bethany Matai Edmunds) performing with her band Kinaki on the Aotearoa stage at Pasifika Festival, March 2014

More about the artist:

Bethany Matai Edmunds a.k.a Miss b.Me is a weaver, artist, fiber sculptor and Hip Hop lyricist. Edmunds visual work is grounded in traditional Maori weaving which she conceptually translates using traditional materials and fibers, combined with contemporary denim and mixed media, which further expresses her experiences of being a culture bearer of 'pART mAOri' descent. Lyrically, Edmunds also called Miss b.Me, explores similar concepts which she poetically expresses through cultural references and feminine flows, combining stories inspired by her Maori heritage and her unique worldview of life as an artist, poet and MC. Edmunds has a strong focus on the enhancement of taitamariki, young people, through the use of the arts, and ensuring that nga taonga tuku iho, the skills passed down from our ancestors, are retained for future generations.

Learn more about Miss b.Me and her band Kinaki HERE

'In the Hood' Woven out of Kuta a lake reed which is a traditional weaving material used to make rain capes. This piece is about retaining cultural identity while operating in an urban reality. Weaving by Bethany Edmunds, January 2014

'Raninikura' Kuta and Pingao (sedge grass that grows in the sand dunes) This garment is a woven personification of Raninikura the daughter of our famous tupuna Tohe, and references the transient tribal connections of Te Hiku o te Ika (the Tail of the fish of Maui/ the far north). The materials are sourced from Muriwhenua (another name for the far north), and the golden colour palette of Kuta and Pingao suggests the glistening image of Raninikura that Tohe held in his memories. Weaving by Bethany Edmunds.

Conversation with Artist Patrick 'Cloud Face' Burnham

Patrick Burnham, better known in the art continuum by the handle Cloud Face, is a Navajo/Hopi painter, musician, dancer, dj, producer and all around true expressionist.

Cloud Face

Much like the constant evolution of form and direction we see in a cloud making it's way across the sky, Cloud Face the artist, possesses the ability to enter an environment and enhance every aspect of his surroundings, shape shifting seamlessly through his crafts to create an inspiration that is comparable to a modern day renaissance man, now often known as the B-Boy . 

"A cloud, changing shape across the sky..."

Here is the conversation with Patrick 'Cloud Face' Burnham:

Subscribe to Art Beat Conversations on iTunes HERE and download this episode

All music featured on this podcast is from Cloud Face's own debut album Secrets of the Invisible.

The heart knows. Painting by Cloud Face

Painting by Cloud Face.

The 12th Letter. Painting by Cloudface

Hopi Girl. Painting by Cloud Face

More about the Artist: 

Cloud Face representing indigenous art crew XFRX

From live painting, to dance, from Dj'ing to teaching, from composing, to collaboration, Cloud Face represents community and the true definition of a B-Boy. Obsessing until he feels he understands each fundamental aspect of Hip Hop, he then adds each piece carefully to his tool bag, to be incorporated with elegance and jaw dropping precision visible in all of his work. Cloud Face has a new and visionary approach to surviving and thriving as an artist, proving, with his shear will and skill, the ability to maintain self sufficiency and to survive as an artist is possible. By using his hustle, learned at a young age from growing up in an artisan family, mixed with his self determination, and a hit of what I like to consider 'soul', Cloud Face stands out in a crowd, or actually he doesn't stand at all, he is too busy getting down to stand around, but if he is involved in a project you will take notice, his style requires our attention. Cloud Face is currently an active creator in the indigenous hip hop scene in New Mexico, incorporating whichever element necessary to create his artistic dialogue. Always in motion, as a cloud floating through the heavens, inspiring us all to keep creating.

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