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Atiba T. Edwards // Founder & Chief Curator
Atiba is an engineer focused on making and connecting creative people through moments so that they can impact their own world.
Jozi Zwerdling // Curator
Jozi is an artist enabler, educator and organizer who loves the INSIGHT project as a means of re-imagining, linking and documenting selves, stories and worlds.
Shani Cohen // Curator
Shani is a Brooklyn based writer who believes in uniting our diverse communities through art and the power of words.
Cheryl Lee Bowers // Curator
Cheryl is a Brooklyn based visual artist who believes photography and art is her freedom. “Visual Art is all about revelation, communication and celebration.”
Jordan Kifer // Curator
Jordan is a writer focused on creating art that invites conversation and inspires larger cultural impact.
INSIGHT Magazine showcases and archives emerging contemporary artists from all art disciplines. FOKUS produces this magazine to provide insight into people who are creating art, traditional and non-traditional, in their own way.
INSIGHT: BORDERS
Cover “Over The Fence” by Jorge Martins Jorge Martins is currently an art director for the children’s newspaper, News-O-Matic. As a designer, he most enjoys the combination of type and image. He tries very hard to illustrate dogs whenever he can. You can view more of his work at www.jorgemart.com Contributing Artists:
Jamiah Calvin • Atiba T. Edwards • David Flores • Matilda Heindow • Walter T. Lacy III • Esther Loria • Karmimadeebora McMillan • Jorge Martins • Jacqui Martinez • Al Myer • Masaya Nakayama • Joshua Sariñana • Christine Sloan Stoddard • Theeprincemelo • Lauren Wagner /FOKUS
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Questions, comments and contributions can be sent to insightsubmit@gmail.com. To view past issues of INSIGHT, visit www.fokus.org/insight. Copyright © 2018. INSIGHT (ISSN 2164-7771) is a publication of FOKUS, Inc. All rights reserved on entire contents. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.
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Al Myer The Obstacle Esther Loria Beyond The Wall Jamiah Calvin Crossing Of The Rubicon Atiba T. Edwards the door begets the wall Anonymous OysterStories/London Underground Jacqui Martinez I Paint This Reality Christine Sloan Stoddard Cynthia Silver Masaya Nakayama Untitled Theeprincemelo Milk Fountain Walter T. Lacy III Line of Scrimmage Karmimadeebora McMillan Imaginary Spaces Lauren Wagner Love In Black And White David Flores Icons Joshua SariĂąana Prosopagnosia Matilda Heindow Crazyhead
Photography
Visual Art
Creative Writing
Articles
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The Obstacle Al Myer
A vivid and crude representation or the border which frequently threatens one’s well-being when trying to cross it. These are the spines which once presented an obstacle for those who were hunted down, pursued and threatened. 4 | www.fokus.org
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Al Myer has always had an attraction towards photography, but it wasn’t until he acquired his first camera that he was driven by a need to explore and capture his own vision of the world. almyer.com www.fokus.org |
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Beyond The Wall Esther Loria
Esther Loria was born in India in 1950 and immigrated to the US in 1955. She was a self-taught artist in the fields of oil painting, acrylic painting, writing and photography. Esther passed away in 2015. EstherLoriaAsISeeIt.com 6 | www.fokus.org
Crossing Of The Rubicon
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Jamiah Calvin
Jamiah “Miah� Calvin is a visual artist from the West side of Chicago. Miah received a BFA with an emphasis on painting from Northern Illinois University. miahart340.wixsite.com/jamiahcalvin www.fokus.org |
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the door begets the wall Atiba T. Edwards
Watching the red lights Pull away with our dreams Leaving behind my desires
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OysterStories/London Underground
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Anonymous
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A London based photographer, documenting his city commute and its stunning, often unnoticed, environment, framing each shot so that it portrays a beautiful narrative of its inhabitants. www.fokus.org |
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I Paint This Reality Jacqui Martinez
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Both pieces connect to a part of my identity that requires a lot of unpacking and understanding of the richness and oppression of my people. I am deeply rooted in Central America, where indigenous heritage exists, asylum seekers are born, migrant workers are from, as well as a fruitful culture that I am proud to wear on my back. Central America carries lines of colonization that have separated its success and failures from other regions of the planet. There is a thick border between the U.S. and Mexico/Central America that determines the livelihood of a lot of people. 20 | www.fokus.org
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Hacia El Norte
Unfortunately, Central America is highly dependent on the U.S. and often undergoes extreme violence due to the lack of social organization and lack of resources and support. I paint this reality. Jacqui Martinez is a Lenca Honduran Artist and Educator. She attained her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of California Santa Cruz and her Master’s Degree from New York University. Her work is inspired by her experiences, her environment and the study of human gestures. jacquimartinez.carbonmade.com www.fokus.org |
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Cynthia Silver
Christine Sloan Stoddard
This piece is about confronting what you know will be a crossing point. Once you cross that border, life will never be the same. Some of us fear those borders. That fear isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We should think about our actions and consider the consequences. But there is such a thing as overthinking. Sometimes the border must be crossed. Christine Sloan Stoddard is the founder of Quail Bell Magazine and author of several books, including Water for the Cactus Woman (Spuyten Duyvil). Find her work in Ms. Magazine, Bustle, The Huffington Post, and elsewhere. WorldOfChristineStoddard.com 22 | www.fokus.org
Untitled
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Masaya Nakayama
I always feel there are borders between adults and children. This world can be very harsh and merciless. Yet, I believe that we, “now,” are the ones that make the irrational “future” world. Within my artwork, I interact with the embodied “future” figure by borrowing the figure of a child. Being unable to move in this big flow of the world, we know that our existence will one day be the past, and yet I wonder what we can do, teach, and leave for the left ones. They cannot even choose the era to exist and they are just born into the world that we leave them into. When I think about this, I feel very irresponsible and feel as though it is unfair that I don’t feel the same pain and suffering as them. I want to at least give my art the strength and sturdiness for these innocent and pure children for them to be able to revive someday when they confront despair. For those of us who currently live in the world where anything can happen tomorrow with no surprise, what we need to have is the responsibility and sincerity towards our future. Masaya Nakayama graduated from Osaka University of Arts. After teaching at a public junior high school in Osaka, Nakayama moved to the United States in 2012. He produces art that questions our values in modern society and what is truly important in life, using children as a motif. masayanakayama.com www.fokus.org |
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Milk Fountain Theeprincemelo
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As we grow, it is very important in life as we grow to receive energy that makes the mind, body and spirit rich. I created “Milk Fountain� to represent the energy and nourishment we need. The fountain was designed around a woman, the mother, to symbolize the channel of a nurturing energy. The borders of this painting protect an intimate and precious feeling close to us all. Theeprincemelo is an artist whose work directly reflects our culture and reminds us that we can change the world we live in by inspiring others. theeprincemelo.com www.fokus.org |
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Line of Scrimmage
Walter T. Lacy III aka Soul Emcee Detroit I grew up in a townhouse apartment complex surrounded by metal fences. I am convinced that this was no coincidence. I give thanks for learning the depth of irony so young. Born & raised in Freedom Place. We OSB’s call it Freedom State. “Free” is a place I’ve sought for years But a state that is hard to achieve. When the bars around your home, Mimic the walls that consume our brothers & sisters. Prisoners of war in a fight between good vs. evil, Exorcising the demons that seek to destroy us from within Whilst fighting d’evils that aim to eradicate our people. Poisonous pigs with a license to kill. The self-righteous cowards who murdered Tamir. CIA henchmen with a penchant for violence. Black operations. Assassinations, coup d’etats, and Black market politics. Parlor tricks mastered by sleight of hand. Mass manipulation from media mouthpieces, Mobilized to orchestrate madness. Order sustained through organized chaos. Society walks a tightrope along the edge of insanity, Who knows what awaits when the line of scrimmage is passed. As border patrol agents unload tear gas canisters at migrant caravans, Like riot police trying to impose their will upon protesters who sought justice in Ferguson. In Baltimore. At Standing Rock. The foundations of humanity have been shaken in such a way, That human beings are hardly recognizable. Men and women have become more like automatons, Than spirits of free will and critical thought Made in the image of God.
Walter T. Lacy III. aka Soul Emcee Detroit, is a poet and spoken word artist and an underground Hip-Hop performer. Walter was born and raised in Detroit, MI. He is a passionate artist with love for his city. blacknomadpoetrydetroit.wordpress.com 26 | www.fokus.org
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Our existence is deeper than campaign promises made to conceal hidden agendas. Masks worn by politicians that marvel us with charisma, Only to cloak their true intentions, before twisting the dagger into our collective spinal cord. A psychic unity short-circuited by the illusion of choice. Donald trumpets the alarms of racist fear-mongering. Persistent in his efforts to construct a wall that will stand as A monument to America’s decline. A revelation of deceit, that belies its stated commitment to the cause of liberty. No refuge for refugees in pursuit of happiness, who would settle for survival. Those who pray for asylum in the aftermath of Obama’s bombs, A continuation of the Bush and Clinton families’ war on fill-in-the-blank. Not to mention that many immigrants are fleeing from nations broken By Bill’s free trade agreement. But I digress. In short, the suffering of others is hard to digest. As disgusting as Nike knighting Colin Kaepernick To become a Black face for Phil Knight’s white hypocrisy. There was no concern for morality or human rights When his workers were living on less than a dollar a day. Being beaten and killed for protesting their pay. Given a half-ass apology, some settlement money, and an increase in wages. But the machine keeps moving. Parlor tricks mastered by sleight of hand. Order sustained through organized chaos. Who knows what awaits when the line of scrimmage is passed. Eventually, we will all have to decide whether we will Stay on-side or cross the line of scrimmage. But once you jump offsides, There is nowhere to go, but forward. And no safe space out of bounds.
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Imaginary Spaces
Karmimadeebora McMillan
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My work talks about blackness and the past but it also talks about my journey happening right now. I like to intertwine real life events with the abstract and collide real landscapes with the invented. The characters I portray weren’t always viewed in a positive light and that’s the main reason why I use them. Color and identity go hand in hand in my work. Found Black dolls and characters from the Black Panthers Coloring Book that was created by a subsidiary of the FBI called Cointel, make up my gang of misfits that appear in my paintings. I’m creating imaginary spaces where a different story is beginning to unfold. The use of black dolls and the colorful abstract landscapes are an escape and a dose of reality. The dolls represent my southern roots and remind me of a time when African Americans weren’t allowed to do anything that was creative including singing, dancing or make anything art related. The dolls are a symbol of a rebellion that was beginning to unfold within the African American slave community. Karmimadeebora “Mima” McMillan is an artist working and living in New York and Boston. Karmimadeebora is a part-time faculty member at Tufts @ The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. karmimadeebora.com www.fokus.org |
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Love In Black and White Lauren Rae Wagner
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Borders are comparable to walls. When you find your soulmate, your borders change and the walls that once protected you as an individual are torn away. Different walls are created that welcome a new chapter of you. 36 | www.fokus.org
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Lauren Rae is a Milwaukee based photographer and social marketing expert. She thrives off the raw, real and authentic, especially in photography. Her work is about capturing the spark of imperfect romance. It’s about the small, tiny, beautiful details that brings two humans together. It’s about all of the things that give meaning to life. The authentic, natural and real. Laurenraeephoto.com www.fokus.org |
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Icons
David Flores
David Flores was born in Tulare, California. He graduated High School from Tulare Union High School, attended college in Santa Barbara and left with a degree in graphic design. After graduation Flores began his career as a commercial artist in the skateboarding industry. davidfloresart.com
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Representation of Hidden Communication Joshua Sariñana
Researchers play an integral part in culture but the public knows very little about how science is done, who actually does it or exactly why it’s important. One consequence of opaque scientific work is the inability to see which individuals are conducting their research, usnig their personal stories, and their motivations to help reveal the complexity of the nature we are imbued by. These images were captured with a compact large format camera using experimental New55 PN instant film. The opaqueness of the positive (left) represents the raw data collected by scientists on their quest to understand nature. The inverted negative (right) represents how scientists reveal nature through filtering data, beautifying imagery, and at times removing unwanted, but captured information. All scientists and equipment are part of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Joshua Sariñana completed his PhD at MIT. He’s had a solo exhibition at the Griffin Museum, was featured on an iPhone commercial, published on the intersection of photography & neuroscience for PetaPixel and has given talks at several universities and galleries. joshuasarinana.com 44 | www.fokus.org
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Crazyhead
Matilda Heindow
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My art is in its essence all about breaking borders created by society. I chronicle my mental health journey to fight against the stigma created though misinformation and shame. I want people to see that they’re not alone, that they’re not isolated. That there are others who feel this way too. The best way to do that is to start breaking down the borders, to open up about our own experiences, and to start talking about mental health. Matilda Heindow is a Swedish artist and advocate. She creates comics and illustrations themed around mental illness, writing openly about her personal experiences and struggles in hopes to weaken the stigma surrounding mental illness. almyer.com www.fokus.org |
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The theme for the next issue is: HEALING