During the month of June, selected participants will be embarking on a collaborative journey with the goal of enhancing their own practice and the practices of others. The Yards Collaborative Residency program is upon us, beginning on June 5th and coming to a close with a “First Friday” showcase on July 12th (Rescheduled due to the Holiday). This month, we are proud to host six talented artists in their collaborative exploration.
Artists in residence will be able to draw from each other’s practices for guidance and inspiration in order to create a month-long body of work. Not only will they be able to utilize the creative minds around them, but it will also be important for their own knowledge and experience in their artistic practice to be shared and considered among their colleagues. In addition to collaboration with each resident, either in ideation or in physical practice, residents will be able to work with our team of permanent studio renters and community members. They will receive studio visits from local guest critics, and in turn make their own gallery visits in the Rochester area. At the conclusion of the month, our June residents will have gathered the resources to create something new and inspired, with the option to exhibit this work at their own exhibit in our gallery space.
Here is a look into the current practices of the six artists who will participate in the June Collaborative Residency:
Megan May
Megan May is a multi-media artist based in Southern California and New York City. Putting her own body and practice at the heart of the work, May utilizes psychologically engaging tools like meditation, kundalini yoga and body movement practices to confront the interplay between physical and energetic facets of human embodiment.
“Moving away from object-oriented art-making into a performance-based practice I am a conduit for the experience. I build through daily personal practice, prayer, and communion with the moon and the elements. My attunement to the intelligence of non-human aspects of our reality informs my movements, my symbols, and my installation space. Drawing on esoteric knowledge, wisdom teachings of various traditions, depth psychology, psychoanalysis, somatic therapy, critical race, gender and sexuality theory, and feminist writings on women’s spirituality I bring a wealth of knowledge and insight.”
Instagram: @the_creative_cycle
Terri Zebrak
Instagram: @terrizebrakdesigns
Terri Zebrak was born in Arizona, but has spent most of her life various regions of the U.S. as well as a few years abroad. The artist currently resides in Fairport, New York with her husband and three children. Her work is influenced greatly by her family. She has earned degrees in Literature, Education, and Graphic Design/Studio Art and recently left teaching to pursue a career in art.
On her artist statement, “I don’t quite know what it is. I suppose it all stems from fear…the fear of time. Time, the juggernaut, is an unstoppable force that can never be conquered. My art reflects my fear of time. I paint peaceful moments that can be cherished or distorted by memory.”
Adair Finucane
Adair clams to be prone to using whatever media is on hand to depict her subject matter--but is partial to watercolors in small dimensions. She finds a sense of accomplishment in making small pieces that can be finished quickly, preferring to make art for herself rather than for a larger statement.
“I like to paint animals. I've been joking for a while that when I finally have an art show, that will be my artist statement. But really, I like to paint animals. In addition to creative energy, I try to channel…attention to detail into my artwork. My process is less about making a statement than it is about making time for myself and creating.”
Instagram: @yoga_adair
Karrah Teague
From painting to tattooing, Karrah is an artist of many practices. Walking a line between minimalism and abstraction, Karrah’s work lends to tensely balanced outcomes of colorful, morphing shapes.
“The immediacy and texture of acrylics allow me to slash and jab about the canvas, physically navigating the space between intuition and purpose. I rarely paint without a concept in my head, but it’s often so ambiguous that the only way to carry on that conversation is visually. Continuing or attempting to resolve the intangible internal is what drives most of my work.”
Instagram: @the_grim_weeper
Taylor Mica Kennedy
Taylor primarily uses pastel drawing as her medium to create portrait or scene based works, to capture the memory, humor, satire and melancholy found within family dynamics. Taylor’s use of illustrative marks, pattern, unusual perspective and rawly crafted figures depicts the day-to-day in an attempt to convey and capture the cyclic behaviors and routines of people.
“Moving home has been a story within itself, and my quest during the residency is to ground myself artistically using the duality of knowing two very different places (Upstate, NY and NYC) in my practice. I returned home to have my practice be at the center of my life again.”
Instagram: @taylor_mica_kennedy
Emily Harper
Instagram: @emmalaurharper
Emily has been working on and off as a geologist and alpine ski tech while making time to travel and create art for the last decade. Emily is generally self taught, though draws much of her practice from inspiration of other artists. She incorporates repetition of basic graphic elements and color gradation into surreal or geometric landscapes and portrait-like images of plants and other circular forms.
Creating has been a long time meditative practice for Emily, branching from freehand ink mandalas into further explorations of shape, color, and repetitious patterns navigating the wiry world of adulthood and gathered life experiences. Patterns and shapes found in the earth and in foreign landscapes seep into compositions along with jarring, saturated color schemes.