Soundwaves, by Linling Lu ’09, ’11 (Painting BFA, LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Art MFA) was recently on view at The Phillips Collection as part of the museum’s ongoing Intersections contemporary art series. The show features Lu’s signature works of abstract painting with concentric rings of bright, pulsating colors.

Soundwaves responds to Philip Glass’s Etude no. 16 played on piano by Timo Andres as part of the 2015 Phillips Music program. Lu’s paintings visualize the sound into a spatial configuration — soundwaves. Repetitive notes and chords from Glass’s music are translated into a physical space: the seven notes played on the piano by the left hand are represented by seven paintings on the left side of the gallery and the five notes played by the right hand are represented by five paintings on the right side of the gallery.

Read more at The Washington Post

 

Sagar Kamath ’23 (Mount Royal School of Art MFA) was artist-in-residence at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art during its inaugural festival celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. From May 1 to May 14, America’s first national museum of art marked its centennial by hosting the first festival in a five-year initiative. The event included headline performers, panel discussions, interactive experiences, culinary adventures, art-making projects, and programming from the Middle East, Asia, and America’s Asian American communities.

Over a two-week residency, Kamath created bamboo and banana leaf sculptures in both the museum and the Moongate garden that reacted to the environment as they transformed, wilted, and dried. He also led workshops for visitors to draw or write on additional leaves to represent the intersections of identity and the passage of time as they added their stories to the artwork.

Read more at The Smithsonian's official website. 

 

Sandy Cheng ’23 (Curatorial Practice MFA) recently curated frequent goodbyes at H-Space in Washington, D.C. The exhibit featured five third culture artists — third culture are those who spent a significant part of their formative years living outside their passport countries — whose experience spans five continents and eight countries. Among the exhibiting artists are two MICA alums, Samia Bzioui ’22 (Studio Art MFA) and Gabriel C. Amadi-Emina ’18 (Photographic and Electronic Media MFA).

Cheng, who was born in Taiwan, curated the exhibition as part of her thesis. With media including photography, collage, mixed-media, painting, ceramics, and video, the work in frequent goodbyes showcased the diversity of cultural experiences and challenges the notion of a singular identity.

Read more at The Washington Post