Artist: Simonette Quamina

Artworks

Articles & Reviews

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Simonette Quamina – Canboulay at Smack Mellon

Featured Artist

Canboulay, Simonette Quamina’s solo exhibition at Smack Mellon, features a series of immersive wall-sized visual horizons which borrow the methodological framework of a caesura, a break in a poem. The notion of “break” exists within each work through cuts and rips as well as overall, separating elements of her continuous visual story into vignettes of individual works. Through her use of sophisticated variety of collage and printmaking techniques, Quamina integrates narratives referencing histories such as socioeconomic ramifications of sugarcane and familial subjugation, into complex, dark surfaces.

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Lacey McKinney in Domestic Brutes at Pelham Art Center

In Dialogue with Lacey McKinney

Lacey McKinney who resides in Upstate New York, is drawn to the alchemy of processes like painting and alternative photography. For the last several years, McKinney has worked within the framework of painting, using figuration to reference embodiment. Usually splitting her time between working in the studio and teaching, this year she feels lucky enough to embark on a one-year teaching sabbatical, which has given her extra time for experimentation with other media such as using cyanotype process to make photograms that incorporate into collage and mixed media works. The artist shares some insights on her body of work in Domestic Brutes, the all women group show at the Pelham Art Center which engages the visitor with diverse approaches of what feminism means in American society today.

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Simonette Quamina – The Big Fight

[caption id="attachment_876" align="aligncenter" width="423"] Simonette Quamina, Swing: An ode to romanticism. 50 x 70 in. , 2017. Graphite, relief print on paper, courtesy of the artist[/caption]

Simonette Quamina coalesces printmaking, drawing, and collage seamlessly. She is using only paper, graphite and ink to create richly textured surfaces in subtle yet bold monochromes. Her images vacillate between stillness and movement, personal and epic narratives, memory and tangible presence. I first saw her work at the Elizabeth Foundation open studios and invited her to share her ideas and methods. Besides this interview for Art Spiel, her work was included in an article I recently wrote for Kolaj Magazine (upcoming issue).