Conversation with Artist Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski

Artist Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski, mural collaboration with Artist Rebekah Tarin in Penasco, NM. 

I am so proud to present a conversation with artist Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski. A passionate activist and visionary, DeJesus Moleski possesses a positive, humble and gracious presence that is whole and rare. Her work is refreshing and unique, inviting the observer to engage further, to look deeper, to feel the warmth in the the color palate, and to further explore the integration of the various mediums she chooses. DeJesus Moleski invites collaboration and conversation through her art, asking the viewer into a complex dialogue threaded through her work. Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski focuses on futuristic femme myth as it relates to marginalized communities.  She primarily works in 2-D media and performance, and is based out of Oakland, CA. In this conversation we are able to further understand DeJesus Moleski's inspirations and share her process, unfolding how she developed her ability to balance beauty and activated resistance in such a precise and elegant manner. 

Here is the conversation with Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski:

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Music featured on this podcast, listed in order of appearance: Sylvio Rodriguez, Angel Haze, Immortal Technique, EDIT ft. The Grouch, REG ft. Medusa, Fernanadindo, Alice Russell, and ending track 'Revolution' by J-Boogie's Dubtronic Science/Lyrics Born/Mamaz.

'Instructions for a Storm'. Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski

More about the Artist:

Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski was born in France but spent her life moving around the East Coast, Down South, and Midwest of the US.   DeJesus-Moleski has received awards and honors in the areas of visual art including the ArtLA Student Artist of the Year, All College Honors, and is an Alumni of the AICAD New York studio residency program.  Her work explores the tensions between private tenderness and public defiance, specifically within communities that are typically depicted as stressed and vulnerable.  She has been working with organizations such as the Brown Boi Project, Strong Families, Third Root Health Center, and the Estria Foundation among others.  DeJesus-Moleski has exhibited work in New York, LA, and the Bay Area.  She is currently working on a solo show called Thick Dig, which focuses on futuristic femme myth as it relates to marginalized communities.  DeJesus-Moleski aims to practice the integration of multiple art forms as a way to make myth and tell the truth. She is an experienced muralist, performance poet, playwright, youth organizer, and visual artist. She is the co-founder (along with Cynthia Ruffin and Jessie Workman) of the B.R.E.A.T.H (Building a Revolution of Expression through Heartwork) program in Albuquerque, NM that teaches poetry and performance to incarcerated youth as a means to heal, resolve conflict, and uplift.  Amaryllis has dedicated her life’s work to stand with countless others in the movement that intersects the arts with activism, using creativity and expression as the tools necessary for community liberation, and the means by which we may all realize our most potent dreams.

Learn more about Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski on her website.

"Thick Dig (Ghost Sighting)". Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski

"Weave (for spell)". Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski

Conversation with Artist Micah Wesley (The Werewulf)

Forgive Us Our Trespass, Pt. 2. Micah Wesley

Currently, there is a shift taking place in the work of Micah Wesley. If you look at Wesley's work over the past ten years, you know he has skill with the pen. His graphic work is precise and controlled. His content gives a perspective of the outsider, the underdog, it shows the stripped down truths that we tend to overlook. The humor in the pain, the hero in the ordinary, the Native in America. Wesley also has a handle to painting that not many artists can boast, able to really work in the simplest of medium and color to create an extensive palate and depth that is mind blowing. Yet currently, Wesley is focusing on discovering his work on a more conceptual level. 'White washing' over intricate lettering and dynamic forms and figures, leaving very little to the eye and forcing the viewer to imagine the story that has been covered. And the story has been washed over, many, many times, until the painting itself becomes a simple color swatch or 'buff', a byproduct of the process Wesley has gone through with the work. Wesley may have painted the finest of detail in his experience with a piece, then he will outline that, shift the color, add the details, and then wash it out and begin another masterpiece on top of it. Much like life, this process proves the impermanence of everything we think is perfect and beautiful. Nothing stays the same, nothing is forever. 

Buffalo Gal Has Found Objection. Micah Wesley

When interviewing Wesley, it's clear that he is currently in the most sacred space an artist can achieve, the continuous process of creation. Wesley speaks with Art Beat Conversations about the uncomfortable yet necessary interaction he is currently in with his art. Tackling some very relevant and heavy issues in Native America, such as stereotyping and racism, his concept is what fuels his intense and consuming method. Wesley feels it is necessary to allow himself to push through his comfort zone, opening a space for thought to form, for the work to speak for him, through him, and in turn create a dialogue to other people. Wesley is not concerned however with how others may receive his latest works. He is in the middle of discovering how he feels about and reacts to them himself. This is inspiring and something that often gets lost in our 'instant' post and share world. This 'all in' approach is the part that intrigues, and has brought me personally to another level of respect for this artist. 

Here is the conversation with Micah Wesley "The Werewulf".

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

Music featured on this episode taken from a 'Werewulf' mix-tape. Artists listed in order of appearance: Motley Crue, The Beat, The Werewulf, Funkdoobiest, Bob Marley vs. Bill Laswell, Funkadelic, DJ Krush, and ending track 'Satan is Real' by Hank III. 

Micah Wesley

More about the artist: 

"The Werewulf" Micah Wesley (Creek/Kiowa) is a painter who works in Oil, Acrylic, and Graphite. Wesley is currently living in Norman, Oklahoma attending OU for his MFA. Wesley is also a DJ, and plays out at weekly residencies throughout Norman.

Find out more about Micah Wesley on his WEBSITE or follow his work and ways on TUMBLR

Selected works from Micah Wesley's latest series 'My Red Neck/ My Red Skin':

High Cheek Bones. Micah Wesley

We Are. Micah Wesley

My Red Skin, Pt. 3. Micah Wesley

My Red Neck, Pt. 1. Micah Wesley

We Are, Pt. 2. Micah Wesley

Conversation with Artist Courtney M. Leonard

"Baleen". Courtney M. Leonard. 

When speaking with ceramic and mixed media artist Courtney M. Leonard, I can't help but feel a tidal rhythm in her story, a knowing, a conscious patterning of learning and teaching, as if a map is being drawn up through the conversation, a reminder that all things are connected, and to be aware of the connection points. By relating greatly to the ocean in her work, which has sustained her people for generations, Leonard gives us an opportunity  to look deeper at our natural world, and remember to listen to nature. Leonard's work opens a vital conversation about the environment, and our impact on it, but never in a forceful way. When first engaging with the art of Courtney M. Leonard,  a conversation begins in pure abstraction, delicate patterning, line and color, a dream story. But upon learning Leonard's journey and experiences, it becomes apparent there is an urgency within her work. A story mapped out through the various forms and lines, connecting one image to another, and layered in context and concept. The viewer is not told what to see, but invited to look deeper, to see further, to engage with the environment and remember how to think critically about the world we are a part of.

Artist Courtney M. Leonard of Shinnecock Nation

In this episode of Art Beat Conversations, artist Courtney M. Leonard shares with us her journey through education and the various tools for connection and growth she has collected along her path as the artist. We also learn about her travels in Aotearoa and the many inspiring people who weave together her story and continue to inspire her work and world.

"BREACH: STRANDING #1" Courtney M. Leonard, 2014. 2' x 4' Acrylic on Wood Panel. 

Here is the conversation with the intensely hardworking and inspiring indigenous artist, Courtney M. Leonard. 

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

Music Featured in this episode by Fat Freddy's Drop.

Featured Song: Fat Freddy’s Drop vs. SP:MC, mash-up by dj erin e

BREACH: Scrimshaw Studies. Courtney M. Leonard, 2014

More about the artist:

Courtney M. Leonard from the Shinnecock Nation of Long Island, New York. Leonard's work explores the evolution of language, image and culture through various mixed media pieces, woven together with an asthtetic that seems to map an experience of the world she has experienced. She studied art and museum studies at the Institute of American Indian Arts (AFA 2000), Alfred University (BFA 2002), and the Rhode Island School of Design (MFA 2008). She currently lives in Santa Fe, NM and works as a professional artist and educator.

Visit Courtney M. Leonard at her website here.

Connect with Courtney M. Leonard on her Facebook Fan Page.

Conversation with Activist and Artist Jesse Hazelip

'Feather Merchant' mixed media. Jesse Hazelip

It was truly inspiring to have a conversation with the profound and activated artist, Jesse Hazelip. A humble and very thoughtful human being, Hazelip seems so modest in his demeanor, yet is work, his focus and the dialogue he evokes is purely radical. He continues to ask questions, to force us to look further into the cracks of our society, the places and the people that many of us pass by and ignore. Hazelips larger than life wheat paste style, coupled with his 'all in' approach to his vision and cause, creates a place of awareness and pure motivation. He invites the observer to activate themselves and begin to ask questions about our society and its structure. 

'509th' mixed media. Jesse Hazelip

I am proud to invite you into the conversation with Jesse Hazelip on Episode 3 of ABC. 

Music  for this episode by CocoRosie

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

Love Lock: Cycle Of Violence. Jesse Hazelip

More about the artist:

Jesse Hazelip was born in 1977 in Cortez, Colorado amidst Navajo and Ute Nation territory, where at a young age, he became acutely aware of the racism and classism of our Nation. At the age of 13, he relocated to Santa Barbara, CA. Shifting into this vastly different environment from his childhood, Hazelip became involved with graffiti, which has become the groundwork for his aesthetic and technique. His love for vandalism is rooted in the traditional sense of the act; where activism becomes ground level, unleashed for the masses to ingest alongside the ever present corporate billboards and consumer propaganda.  Hazelip is currently using the Gallery environment as his main venue for showing his work, but his message does not falter, he simply has the chance to reach another level of audience. Political activism continues to be a huge thread within his works and he is currently addressing the prison system and incarceration. Hazelip is currently based in New York and recently held an exhibition at the Jonathan Levine Gallery entitled, Love Lock: Cycle Of Violence, which addressed the inhumane prison conditions in America. His work with the issue of incarceration seems far from over, and I can only assume there are many more inspiring projects that Hazelip has yet to provide to us as inspiration on how to stay human. 

'Hole', Love Lock: Cycle of Violence. mixed media. Jesse Hazelip. Jonathan Levine Gallery.

Conversation with Artist Cannupa Hanska Luger

Ceramic artist Cannupa Hanska 

In this episode I talk with ceramic and mixed media artist Cannupa Hanska (Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara/Lakota). Cannupa Hanska is from Standing Rock Reservation, North Dakota, and in this interview we learn about his life and process, beginning with growing up on a ranch, being free to explore his imagination without constraint. He also talks about being the son of an artist mother, about attending art school, being 'art trash', and the shift of becoming a father. Cannupa also explains his process and we learn to further appreciate the dynamic relationship between the artist and the clay.

I invite you to listen in to the world of artist Cannupa Hanska.

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

Episode 2 features musical interludes in order of appearance from artists The Advantage, Astronautalis, Doug TwoBulls, Robert Johnson and The Wake Singers. 

Eat Prey, Love. Ceramic. Cannupa Hanska

Rochambeau. Ceramic/Mixed Media. Cannupa Hanska.

Apocalypse Doll. Ceramic/Mixed Media. Cannupa Hanksa

More about the Artist

"Communication drives me as an artist, but ultimately, I create out of responsibility.  In the entire world I am the only one who can see what I see, and maybe I can create a vision that someone can relate to, and this is enough." -Cannupa Hanska

There is a unique way that artist Cannupa Hanska sees the world. It seems he is activated on every level of his being, engaging with his art in such a complex and compassionate way, that it seems he is in a constant state of discovery and adaptation. Perhaps he has found a love for continual creation through art not separate from every part of his life, a balance that not many can maintain. His creative process has no end and no beginning, and this is reflected in each new, refreshing and complex body of work he produces. 

Cannupa Hanska is represented with Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe, NM.

Check out Cannupa's Website or follow him on Tumblr and Facebook.

Stereotype: The Stefani. Ceramic/Mixed Media. Cannupa Hanska