getting to know the graduates
Graduating Student: Nico Lima (W 22)
Writing the process paper has involved more introspection than I have ever done before. It was also the most writing i’d ever done about myself and my practice. My Grad Exhibition work feels like a complete transformation of my practice, rooted in my collaboration with ecology to generate a nourishing culture for Earthlings.
Who, or what is your work in conversation with?
The New York Correspondence School
The Arte Povera Movement of the 70’s
I’m interested in that blurry space between science and art which yields experiences that neither can generate on their own.
How did VCFA change your approach to thinking about your studio practice and your community at home?
VCFA pushed me to not take anything at face value; to flip ideas around and approach them from many viewpoints. Also, to be critical of the material and context of my work. I can not go back to a linear practice; everything is now a potential art material or idea.
Who were your Artist-Mentors?
I got to work with some brilliant mentors in the past two years.
Abbas Akhavan (The Illuminated Loiterer)
Kate Donnelly (a.k.a. Lady Donnelly)
Sumru Tekin (a.k.a. Jedi Master Sumru)
Faith Wilding (The Shaman)
What was on your play list during your time at VCFA?
1st Semester: Colony Collapse
2nd Semester: ATTENTION FARMERS
3rd Semester: Lab Notes: Whale Bacon/Unesu/ウネス
4th Semester: Kitchen Garden
Who are your favorite protagonists in fiction?
He is the best blend of detective, scientist, bon vivant.
What, or who, should you like to be – if not yourself?
If I could be another creature, I’d be a Mantis Shrimp; they have technicolor ultra-vision, and the fastest punch of any boxer.
Where do you live?
If you’ve never been to Vermont, It is like an independent republic based on agrarian socialism. Very enlightened domain.
Maiyan Linane (W 22)
Tori JD (W 22)