Ever wanted to be a fly on the wall in a working art studio? Now’s your chance! Tune in to Instagram this Saturday at 5pm for a live studio chat between Akin alumni Samar Hejazi and Leone McComas. Folks are invited to listen-in and comment while Samar and Leone continue their work-in-progress projects in their home studios and chat about art, current events, pop culture and more!
To tune in visit the @akinprojects Instagram or Leone’s McComas’ Instagram accounts and click on the Instagram Stories at 5pm this Saturday May 23rd. This can be done by tapping the account’s profile image. The profile picture appears at the top of the Feed with a colorful ring around it and will have the word ‘’Live’’.
Akin's Instagram: www.instagram.com/akinprojects
Leone's Instagram: www.instagram.com/lehohneh
Still unsure how to watch Instagram Live videos? Learn more here: https://help.instagram.com/699289326902954
About the artists:
Samar Hejazi
By channeling her ancestry through the historical choreography found in craft practices, she observes the complex conversations between social constructivism, ethnology and the ethos of modernity. These ideas are engaged in an ongoing way through the process and development of diverse materials and forms.
Samar uses visual perception to question interpretations of structural systems of belief. She emphasized temporality and transformability to challenge the mind’s inclination to hold and ascertain truth. Repetition and the use of multiple foci allow the viewer to create their own rhythm and movement within their relationship with the artwork. Light and shadow are manipulated to constantly change in relation to varying points. It is through the viewers exploration that the artwork is revealed, basing it in their interaction.
Stylistically her practise echos her cultural upbringing as a Palestinian whilst being intellectually inspired by the writings of Audre Lorde, Hudith Butler, Donna Harraway, Emmanuel Levinas, Benedict Anderson and Jane Nejdet Erzen.v.
Leone McComas
Leone’s painting practice examines ideas of the self and the internalization of social ideals; observations of which are used to create conceptual relationships between figure and post-digital landscapes. Following a growing sense of artistic responsibility, Leone now creates work from her source of life to counteract the increasing presence of anxiety, social polarization, and emotional fatigue. Metaphors of transformation sift the surface of her work, reflecting ideas of change and perspective shifts; while contrasting matte black paint magnifies the sensation of renewal despite the unknown. The desire to maintain luminosity in her paintings has led to the development of a transparency-driven painting process, which produces highly detailed, saturated, and translucent oil paintings that glow from within.
Leone graduated from OCADU receiving her BDes in 2013 and participated in the Faculty of Art’s 36th Florence Off-Campus Program. She is a recipient of the OIEOS scholarship in 2010, the OAC Visual Arts Project Grant in 2018, and took part in AKIN’s inaugural studio residency in MOCA Toronto 2018/19.
How to Participate:
As you’re watching let us know if you have questions or comments! Viewers of the live stream are welcome and encouraged to share their thoughts and responses to what’s going on ‘’live’’ in the conversation. While not all questions may be seen or responded to in the moment, we’d be interested in hearing from you and may use your questions or ideas in future ‘’Studio Banter’’ conversations.
If you’d like to host or participate in a live ‘’Studio Banter’’ conversation from your own studio with a friend or colleague just let us know. This is a chance for you both to share your thoughts on process, techniques, questions of artistic philosophy and/or the role of the arts. It could also be just a friendly opportunity to demonstrate how your work is progressing as you chat about life.
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/172810617473090/