Yes, Toronto based Bahamian artist Gio Swaby is back on the podcast! I only had her on seven months ago, but since then her career has exploded… clearly, we need to hear everything! From articles in the New York Times and interviews on oprah.com, to five (FIVE!) museums acquiring her work! Also, can we talk about Gio in that dress at LACMA’s “Black American Portraits” opening gala!? Okay, I just realized that I ended every sentence with an exclamation point… but HOW CAN I NOT!? Listen right up there under that gorgeous self-portrait, or download ART FOR YOUR EAR wherever you get your podcasts.

Last time he told how he first tried generic Cialis, he took the pill from his brother.

First up, a closer look at the image above, and a few more of Gio’s recent self-portraits:

Drawing with thread, painting with fabric. Stunning. Speaking of which, look at this crew of fabulous women… four Swaby sisters:

These three pieces are from Gio’s “Pretty Pretty” series, and these three…

… are her sisters featured in Gio’s “Love Letter” series. So, so beautiful (and a pretty creative and beautiful way to say ‘I love you’.) 

Next up, the “New Growth” series that hung in a grid at Untitled Miami in December:

Again, gorgeous! ps. That fabulous dress is by ÖFUURË.

Okay, from an art fair in Miami to 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London:

I had to include those outtakes… Gio has such a great laugh, and here it is in action!

Okay. You guys, here is THE dress:

FABULOUS. That’s Gio (wearing Greta Constantine) with Claire Oliver (galleriest-extraordinaire), Bisa Butler (insanely talented artist), and while she mentioned jumping the drink line with Paris Hilton, somehow Gio neglected to mention hanging out with Lil Nas X. Whaaat?! Yep.

And finally, a few bits and pieces of very exciting, much-deserved press:

[CRAZY APPLAUSE HERE]… ah, it’s all so exciting, and honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she’s back on very soon to talk about another giant list of amazing stuff (book signings, anyone!?). Huge thanks to Gio for taking time to talk to me again; thank you to “Ask Ronna” Podcast for supporting this episode; and, of course, thank YOU for listening. There will be a brand new episode of ART FOR YOUR EAR in two weeks.

Other links:

1. Gio on Instagram
2. Gio’s website
3. Gio on Oprah.com
4. Claire Oliver Gallery
5. Amy Sherald / on AFYE
6. Bisa Butler  / on AFYE
7. 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London
8. Untitled Miami
9. Ruffly dress (Miami) by ÖFUURË
10. LACMA’s “Black American Portraits”
11. Lime & Lavender dress by Greta Constantine
12. Tern Gallery, Bahamas
13. Rizzoli Books
14. Nikole Hannah-Jones, Writer at NYTimes Magazine
15. Museum of St.Petersburg / Gio’s solo show: May 28/22 – Oct 9/22
16. Refinery29 Article
17. New York Times Article

Supported by : “Ask Ronna” Podcast

You guys… @andreaanimates, aka Andrea Love, is on the podcast! Tiny felted banana splits, and miniature pots of spaghetti coming to life through her absolutely mesmerizing stop motion videos? Yes please! Before we recorded, I asked my Instagram community to give me their questions, and oh boy, they had a LOT of questions… the main one being, “HOW!?” Don’t worry, we totally covered that! Listen right up there under Andrea’s soft little groceries, or subscribe on Apple Podcasts.

First up, Andrea’s tiny kitchen and stills of the magic that gets cooked up in there:

Oh, it’s all so perfect, and yep, I made sure to include the “red thing” that so many of you had questions about! Spoiler alert: it’s a red pepper that didn’t make it onto the plate. To see alllll of these videos, check out Andrea’s Instagram feed, or pop over to this page on her site.

Next, a peek at sweet little Tulip:

Well, it’s all pretty wonderful, but that final photo brings it all home! That’s Andrea and her creative partner Phoebe Wahl being, well, creative! There are a list of screenings for Tulip on the official TULIP WEBSITE.

And finally, the project Andrea and Phoebe just completed… an absolutely beautiful, super duper sweet holiday music video with Ingrid Michaelson & Zooey Deschanel:

So. Flippin. Cute. Watch the full music video right here… you may want to have sugar cookies nearby. Thank you so much to Andrea for taking time out of her insane schedule to record this episode with me (good luck with OSCAR, Andrea!); thanks to Create Magazine for supporting the episode; and thank YOU for listening! There will be a new episode, the last episode of 2021, in two weeks.

Other links:

1. Andrea on Instagram at @andreaanimates
2. ALL of Andrea’s cooking animations
3. Tulip Website… and merch!
4. Phoebe Wahl, Andrea’s creative partner
5. Ingrid Michaelson & Zooey Deschanel Holiday Video 
6. Hornet
7. livingfelt.com (Felting supplies)
8. Create Magazine Call for Art, Nov 30th Deadline

Works on paper, the wall, and … um … filling the entire room! This fabulous collection of textures and color is the work of American artist Liz Miller. Here’s a snippet from her artist statement:

“I create elaborate site-specific installations that are equal parts absurd, menacing, and poetic. Pattern and tactility confuse and complicate identification, camouflaging recognizable forms and evoking recognition when applied to non-objective forms. The tensions between fact/fiction and dimensionality/flatness are endlessly fascinating to me, playing out in my work as a dialogue between reality and illusion.”

Absurd, menacing, and poetic… love, love, love! ps. Not only is she a working artist, Liz is also a Professor of Installation and Drawing at Minnesota State University-Mankato.

Whoa. These insanely fabulous sculptures/shoes are the work of Toronto based artists Marina Dempster. In the spring of 2021 they were under glass at the Art Gallery of Burlington as part of a two-person show, titled ‘In Visible’, with Meera Sethi {curated by Hitoko Okada}. Each of Marina’s shoes have an in-depth title/description. This is the writing paired with the shoe at the top of the post… with the tongue!

REFLEXIVE
1. directed or turned back on itself / 2. marked by or capable of reflection. / 3. characterized by habitual and unthinking behavior.

This piece speaks to the archetypal challenges of motherhood and an invitation to exercise self-compassionate awareness while inevitability having ones buttons pushed. An invitation to embody, like mother of pearl, ones strength, resilience, and iridescence over time.

Ah, yes, motherhood and the pushing of buttons!

Oooh! These floral wall hangings are the work of New Jersey based, Korean-American artist Alyssa Ki aka @SolipDIY. She uses all sorts of textile techniques to create these beauties (weaving, macrame, needle-felt and crochet), and her color palettes!? They make me wanna run out to the garden… or to an ice cream shop. Here’s a bit of Alyssa’s bio from her website:

I’m Korean-American, and I was born and raised in Virginia. I went to school in snowy upstate New York, where I studied Photojournalism. I work full-time in the wild west of NYC events, and I’m also a freelance photographer. Other than my all-consuming love for beads, yarn and DIY – I also love the outdoors and thrift shopping.

SOLIP is me – it’s my Korean name and the direct translation is ‘pine needle’ so chosen after my father enjoyed a nice liquor derived from the tree.

Pine needle. Well that is kind of perfect given her love of foliage! ps. Alyssa just wrote a really moving, personal post on Instagram about #StopAsianHate. You can read it right here.

Oh. My. Word. This is just the tip of the absolutely breathtaking iceberg that is the work of New York based artist and educator Beverly Semmes. She’s a sculptor who incorporates painting, film, photography and performance so, yes, her portfolio is immense. That said, I clearly have a thing for her series of large-scale dresses that flow across the floor, filling entire rooms! She became known for these works in the 1990’s, but if you keep an eye out you can still find recent additions to the series {ie., the piece at the top, titled “Bow (Blue Curtain)”, is from 2016.} This is how Beverly describes these installations:

Imposing and majestic, the dresses cascade down walls, conjuring wearers of power and size.

So powerful. Just imagine seeing that pink piece {complete with wearer!}, titled “Petunia, 2002”, in person? Majestic, indeed.

*Images found via Susan Inglett Gallery & Shoshana Wayne Gallery.

Sculptures? Paintings? Yep! This is the gorgeous, and totally unique work of American artist Susan Maddux. After years in New York, painting textiles for the fashion industry, Susan made the jump to LA and her own fine art practice. Born in Hawaii, to a hapa Japanese-American family, Susan has “absorbed the influence of Japanese folk art traditions and Buddhist temples as well as the arts of Polynesia.”  Love! I also love this quote I found on one of her Instagram posts, and had to share it:

“All my life, people have told me [being an artist] was impossible, so I honestly never considered it a real option even though making things is all I’ve ever wanted to do. But what I discovered when I was at my lowest, is that ‘impossible’ is just a story. Stories are so powerful. Tell yourself a good one!” 

See? So good!

Fine, I won’t try to eat any of these pieces, but wow, that’s alotta eye candy! This absolutely gorgeous, joy-filled, I-wish-I-could-lick-it show is titled “Curious Matter”. Oh, how I’d love to sit in the middle of that happy space for an afternoon… so therapeutic. “Curious Matter” was installed at Skye Gallery Aspen, and featured the work of three fabulous female artists: Dan Lam, Yellena James, and Meghan Shimek. Now, who wants some sugar?

*Install shots by Jason Siegel

From a little kid growing up in the Bahamas, to a young woman setting the art world on fire! Bahamian born, Toronto based artist Gio Swaby is my guest today, and I could not be more thrilled. I met Gio a few years ago at an art show in Vancouver, and I’ve been following her ever since… lately she’s been hard to keep up with! Spoiler Alert: She just had her first solo show in New York and it SOLD OUT. I asked Gio all of my questions, and her answers covered everything from going to church in a bathing suit and jeans, to preparing for her first solo museum show… yep, quite the gamut! Look/listen right up there under Gio at her recent show in New York, or subscribe on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify.

First, this is some of Gio’s work I saw the night we met, way back in 2018 at the “Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series” show:

See? THAT is why I had to track her down at the party! So. Good.

The next series I saw – thanks to Instagram – included a few of these pieces. These are the ones she often hangs in large grids and or salon style:

Love! The pieces above are from two series. The solid silhouettes are from “New Growth”, and the ‘drawings’ are part of “My Hands Are Clean”.

Next, just a few of my faves from Gio’s recent solo show, “Both Sides of the Sun”, at Claire Oliver Gallery in New York:

I said it before and I’ll say it again… What the wha!? I love them all so much.

And, what Gio and I both love more than we can say:

… Black women and girls “seeing themselves” in Gio’s work. No wonder she cried when those photos started showing up online. And yes, that’s Claire with Gio in the final photo. A force of nature x TWO! Thank you so much to Gio for taking time out of her insane schedule to talk to me for so long; thanks to Wireframe for supporting this episode; and thanks to YOU for listening! There will be more ART FOR YOUR EAR next weekend.

Other links:

1. Gio on Instagram
2. Claire Oliver Gallery, Harlem NY
3. New York Times article
4. Museum of Fine Art St. Pete {Florida}
5. College of The Bahamas
6. Emily Carr University of Art & Design, Vancouver
7. Ontario College of Art & Design
8. Bisa Butler, Artist
9. Bisa Butler on ART FOR YOUR EAR
10. John Oliver ‘Last Week Tonight’ : Black Hair
11. Wireframe {Podcast}

Gasp! Can you imagine discovering one of these magical pieces in the middle of nowhere? This is the breathtaking, colorful, large-scale textile work of Oklahoma based artist Rachel Hayes. Here are a few excerpts from an interview, giving insight into her work/process:

“I developed a love of materials, textures and processes while studying textiles and fiber art as an undergraduate student [Kansas City Art Institute]. Sewing, dyeing fabrics and weaving in particular are processes that I learned early on and continue to use to this day … When I first began my career, I wanted to challenge the dialog that often surrounded my work in relation to craft and specifically the process of sewing. Out of frustration, I created work as large and as bold as I possibly could – as if that would deem it more masculine, therefore more powerful – all while using delicate materials and building with tiny stitches … I lead viewer’s eyes with scale and the ordered construction of bright color, yet hope they will also experience more subtle and ephemeral nuances such as the changing light and shifting shadows or the sound of fabric rustling in the breeze.” ~ via she-explores.com

Beautiful.

{NOTE: This is the final week that new posts will be going up on the blog. Starting next Monday, March 15th 2021, all new content will be packaged up and delivered directly to YOUR INBOX! If you haven’t already become a member of ‘The NO SUCH THING AS TOO MUCH ART Society’, you can SUBSCRIBE right here.}