A CURATE LA “MUST SEE”

IPSHITA MAITRA

FRANCESCO TORI

LINDA ZAMBOLIN

SILVIA GAFFURINI

STEVIE KINCHELOE

L. MIKELLE STANDBRIDGE

TAMARA REYNOLDS

MELODY JOY OVERSTREET

GREG SMITH

ALEXANDRA TERLESKY

EL NIDO BY VC PROJECTS: 1028 N. WESTERN AVENUE, LOS ANGELES, CA 90029

CLOSING RECEPTION: SATURDAY, 14 DECEMBER 2024 FROM 1 PM - 4 PM

SMALL BITES, LIGHT REFRESHMENTS AND CASUAL CONVERSATION

EXHIBITION HOURS: THURSDAY - SATURDAY FROM 1PM - 4 PM

REMEMBER, REMEMBER

THIS IS NOW AND NOW AND NOW

LIVE IT. FEEL IT. CLING TO IT.

I WANT TO BECOMING ACUTELY AWARE OF ALL I HAVE TAKEN FOR GRANTED

— SYLVIA PLATH

AN EXCERPT FROM THE DIARIES OF SYLVIA PTAH CIRCA 11 SEPTEMBER 1950

A GROUP EXHIBITION EXPLORING PHOTOGRAPHY, OBJECTS, POETRY, AND SOUND

CURATED BY VICTORIA CHAPMAN AND STEVIE KINCHELOE

THIS EXHIBITION TAKES US ON A JOURNEY THROUGH THE INTRICATE LAYERS OF THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE, RENDERED THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY, POETRY, SOUND, WRITING, AND OBJECTS. IT DELVES INTO THE ESSENCE OF THE PRESENT MOMENT— FLEETING. PROFOUND. EVOCATIVE.

PHOTOGRAPHY, WITH ITS POWER TO FREEZE TIME WITHIN A SINGLE FRAME, SERVES AS OUR INITIAL PORTAL. THROUGH REFLECTIVE COMPOSITIONS, THE DIALOGUE CREATED BETWEEN THESE IMAGES, CAPTURE THE SUBLTE INTERPLAY BETWEEN SIGHT AND MOTION, INVITING CONTEMPLATION ON THE EPHEMERAL NATURE OF EXISTENCE.

LIKE A DELICATE THREAD, WRITING AND POETRY CLIMB THE WALLS OF THE EXHIBITION. DRAWING INSPIRATION FROM THE CONFESSIONAL TRADITION OF SYLVIA PLATH, THESE EXPERIMENTAL YET RAW WORDS AND VERSES UNRAVEL PERSONAL NARRATIVES, REFLECTING THE COMPLEXITIES OF CONTEMPORARY LIFE.

OBJECTS, BOTH ORDINARY AND EXTRAORDINARY, PUNCTUATE THE EXHIBITION WITH THEIR SILENT STORIES. THEY EVOKE HISTORIES LIVED AND FUTURES IMAGINED, GROUNDING US IN TANGIBLE EXPRESSIONS OF MOMENT AND MEMORY— BOTH INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE. EACH ARTIFACT OFFERS A GLIMPSE INTO PERSONAL ARCHIVES, A PHYSICAL DIARY, INVITING VIEWERS TO FORGE THEIR OWN CONNECTIONS BETWEEN WHAT HAS PASSED AND WHAT IS TO COME.

THIS IDEA OF CONNECTION BETWEEN PAST AND PRESENT EXTENDS FURTHER WITH THE INCLUSION OF KINTSUGI— THE JAPANESE ART OF REPAIRING SHATTERED POTTERY WITH LACQUER AND POWDERED GOLD, SILVER, OR PLATINUM. RATHER THAN TOSSING OR CONCEALING DAMAGE, KINTSUGI HIGHLIGHTS BROKENNESS AS PART OF THE OBJECT’S HISTORY, CELEBRATING ITS IMPERFECTIONS. THIS PHILOSOPHY RESONATES WITH MUSHIN OR “NO MIND,” WHICH EMBRACES CHANGE IN A NON-ATTACHMENT ACCEPTANCE OF FATE, SHOWING THAT OUR BROKENNESS CAN BE TRANSFORMED INTO SOMETHING EVEN MORE BEAUTIFUL.

NOW AND NOW AND NOW IS MORE THAN A COLLECTION OF ARTWORKS, IT IS A TESTAMENT TO THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF ART AND HUMAN NATURE. IT CELEBRATES THE PRESENT MOMENT— FRAGILE YET RESILIENT, FLEETING YET ETERNAL— WOVEN INTO A VIBRANT TAPESTRY OF VISUAL, POETIC, AND NARRATIVE FORMS.

– VICTORIA CHAPMAN

LISTEN IN ON CO-CURATORS, VICTORIA CHAPMAN AND STEVIE KINCHELOE

AS THEY DISCUSS “NOW AND NOW AND NOW”,

THEIR PERSONAL DISCOVERIES, PROCESSES, AND THE PRESENT MOMENT

A red-shoulderd hawk soars—

a garter snake

caught in its talons

vanishing in the sky—

a fine thread.

— MELODY JOY OVERSTREET

the finch

its feathers lift in the wind,

laying under the tree in dignified

unawareness. small eyes closed, wings

tightly folded, utterly still.

gone the morning after.

— ALEXANDRA TERLESKY

WEEK 1 - ARTIST PROFILES: SILVIA GAFFURINI

Now and Now and Now features work by Italy-based artist Silvia Gaffurini. Her two pieces are part of a series titled Lampada della Permanenza (Lamp of Permanece), 2021-22 - Eighth Lamp, inspired by John Ruskin's 1849 book The Seven Lamps of Architecture. Silvia’s "Eighth Lamp" concept imagines a contemporary continuation of Ruskin’s exploration of architectural ideals.

In Ruskin's work, each "Lamp" represents a principle that examines history's remnants through a lens of visible and invisible layers. Silvia’s ongoing project builds on this idea, investigating the potential for memory's redemption and rebirth. She describes her work as "a visual report on the state of abandonment of once ‘load-bearing’ walls." These remnants, though deteriorated and unstable, are more than debris; they are pieces of a shared history we must remember.

Silvia uses semi-transparent paper to obscure lost details, symbolizing the veil of time. Beneath this layer, hand-drawn embossing of imaginary architectural forms brings forth the poetic and enduring essence of these ruins. Her work reasserts the importance of these structures in our landscapes as markers of identity and symbolism.

As curators, Stevie and I wanted to engage in revealing a new stage of Silvia Gaffurini’s work, adding another layer to its presentation. In one display, we framed her work and placed it upon a book and a hide, while in another, we fastened it with string, unframed, to a book by Sylvia Plath. With Silvia’s blessing,  we were able to provide a certain movement and dialogue, aligning with the exhibition's themes of being and the now.

It is an honor to collaborate with Silvia Gaffurini, whose work has been gaining significant recognition across Italy, where she has exhibited extensively and received numerous awards. Recently, Silvia completed a residency in China, where her work will be exhibited next year. To the best of our knowledge, this marks the first time her work is being shown in the United States. We are thrilled to showcase it in this exhibition and to foster the reflective conversations it inspires among our guests. -VC

Q & A

Below is an email Q&A with Silvia. We communicated between English and Italian, using Google Translate to bridge the language gap.

VC: What inspired this body of work?

 SG: The project ‘The Eighth Lamp’ is a work articulated in several photographic series. The intention is similar to that of John Ruskin in his text ‘The Seven Lamps of Architecture’: to depict architecture, in this case the remaining ruins, as allegories. Following Ruskin's approach, I have divided the project into chapters, each of which is represented by a ‘lamp’.

VC: Which lamp from John Ruskin's book inspired you the most?

 SG: The ‘Lamp of Permanence’ series - realized between 2021 and 2022 - represents the first chapter of the ideal book I am writing through images. In a sense, I am continuing in my time the value intent outlined in the reference book. This series is not inspired by a specific chapter of John Ruskin's text, but gathers and interprets those elements of care, respect, beauty and memory that belong both to Ruskin's book and to my professional history.

 The photographic images that make up this series are intended to condense apparently contrasting values: fragility, melancholy and weakness are intertwined with resistance and permanence, represented by these architectural remains, tenaciously clinging to the earth, surviving in the fields of Molise. Paraphrasing Ruskin's text, these remnants of the past “...express a kind of affinity with the human condition, through a measure of obscurity equivalent to that which is present in the lives of men... mostly through the impressiveness of their shadowy zones…”.

 It is precisely the strength of their stubbornness that captures my interest, because in their defiance of oblivion the ruins redeem time and instil hope in me, a rare sentiment in a world as unstable and fluid as ours. They become a symbol of a wider disconnect between people and their environment, an echo of the carelessness that condemns the past to neglect.

 VC: Can you share something about setting up the shot to capture the image of this series that you are sharing with me?

 SG: Photographing these remains, these fragments of walls, required considerable physical effort. In order to get the ideal shot, I had to reach the best positions on foot, often crossing uncultivated, uncomfortable and sometimes inaccessible terrain.  

 VC: Are there any particularly noteworthy technical aspects other than paper rifling?

 SG: After taking the photographs, I made visual notes in a notebook, stylizing contemporary inspired architectural drawings in pencil. Subsequently, I developed the files using digital photo editing software, integrating the previously realised architectural drawings and superimposing them on the photographs, thus creating an ‘ideal’ trace for the subsequent manual engraving. (Recently, for the new chapters of The Eighth Lamp, the creation of the drawings is done with the support of Artificial Intelligence software, which generates architectural drawings in real time using text-to-text and text-to-image models).

 VC: Can you tell me about the front and back of the work?

 SG: To understand the front and back sides of these photographs, it is essential to consider the importance of the medium and light, aspects that reflect the concept behind my work. Metaphorically speaking, the real medium is not simply the paper, but rather the photographic shot printed on it. The paper I have chosen, which is transparent and resistant (300 g/m²), allows me to manually perform the embossing technique to highlight the drawing that is the identifying language of my artistic practice.

With the embossed drawing, the concept of rebirth and redevelopment is best perceived by observing the ‘front’ of the photograph, especially when it is lit from the side with a grazing light, which highlights the relief and also amplifies the tactile perception. Conversely, on the back side, the photograph vanishes, leaving only the concave sign that, in the simplicity of its lines, sublimates the concept.

 VC: Can you tell me what kind of camera you use and what is your printing process?

SG:  From a technical point of view, I used a Nikon D750 camera and, in the case of this series, I used a Nikon 35 mm lens. The printing process of my works takes place in a professional fine art printing workshop in my city, using inkjet printing technology. However, because the support paper I have chosen is particularly slippery and difficult to print on, special technical measures are required. The printer, in my case, adopts a specific technique that involves selective profiling of the printing machine, to ensure an optimal rendering of the image on this very special substrate.

 The ‘Lamp of Permanence’ series represents a set of conceptual, sensorial, metaphorical and technical experiences that reflect my need to explore the value of redevelopment, searching for an invisible link between past and future. Through this investigation, I intend to explore the potential of what has gone before us, suggesting new alternative spaces that art and technology can reveal, metaphorically regenerating our history and projecting us into the future.

-Victoria Chapman and Silvia Gaffurini, 2024

WEEK 2 - ARTIST PROFILES: francesco tori and linda zambolin

We are delighted to welcome Francesco Tori and Linda Zambolin, referred as “Archetipo Creativo” to this year’s group exhibition. Last year, their work was the focus of a solo exhibition showcasing their breathtaking series Echi consisting of bodies of  water, and abstract elements captured in Italy’s Gran Paradiso National Park. Their hand-tinted and waxed photographs transform images of water into sensory-charged masterpieces, created using a technique they refined during this time. Drawing inspiration from an earlier artistic tradition, they are dedicated to preserving and advancing this distinctive approach.

Archetipo Creativo’s works, deeply rooted in the European Romantic tradition, invite viewers to journey through landscapes where the realistic and descriptive aspects often dissolve, unveiling an abstract exploration of profound emotional resonance. Their art is influenced by pioneers like Fox Talbot—who introduced the world to ‘calotypes’ in the 1840s—as well as the fantastical visions of Michel Kier, Gustave Le Gray, Margaret Cameron, and Cesare Schiapparelli. By drawing from these historical inspirations, Archetipo Creativo seamlessly bridges the past and present.” — Dr. Sarah Sivieri, Ph.D.

For the group exhibition Now and Now and Now, we have thoughtfully selected four pieces from their series Places of the Soul.  Stevie and I found these works to hold profound significance in relation to the exhibition’s theme, offering a window into intrigue and contemplation. To provide deeper insight into their Places of the Soul series, I conducted a Q&A with Francesco and Linda —and their responses are truly rewarding!

– Victoria Chapman

Q & A

Below is an email Q&A with Francesco Tori and Linda Zambolin. We communicated between English and Italian, using Google Translate to bridge the language gap.

VC: Tell me about this series and what you were thinking when you took the shots:

 F/L: This series is very special.

It was the first of all, to be shot and worked on in the way it is seen. For the first time, the camera was used not as a means of reproduction, as we have worked for many years in the advertising sector, but more as a pen for a writer and their notebook. A companion for evening walks with which a scenario was represented that was new to us compared to our usual themes. That of the soul. Reflecting and photographing what emotions outlined.

Even the post-production was approached from another perspective. It was no longer necessary to improve and make a commercial product more appealing but rather the opposite. Blurs, textures, and other ingredients (as we like to call them) to represent the dreamlike, the inner state that, confused, no longer sees reality as such but as a distorted reflection. The title of the project is derived from this vision: Places of the Soul.

VC: What inspired you?

F/L: A personal event that destabilized our relationship. Hence the need to escape the routine and walk to regain some peace.
It all started from here; photography becomes the cure for the soul.

VC: Where did you capture these images?

F/L: The images are from the town where we live, Cossato in the province of Biella, located in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy. It was the fifth of countless rebalancing walks, reviewing those places where you played as a child, lived your adolescence, and then your adulthood, in which you saw and searched for yourself again.

Autumn and winter evenings helped with their darkness enveloping the glimpses of Cossato, aiding us in the process of transfiguration, making it, in our eyes, an unprecedented place and therefore all to be discovered like the feelings experienced during that period.

VC: How did you set up the shots?

F/L: Let’s say, ironically, in the way the academic process for a good commercial photograph tells you not to do. That is, with high ISO, blurs, and shallow depth of field.
Joking aside, we tried to step out of the aesthetic norms of advertising photography, favoring a more immediate shot that helped to represent the here and now of the emotional state. The photographic medium and its use had to facilitate the instinctive shot.

 VC: How long did it take you to complete this series:

F/L: Approximately a couple of years.
The strange thing was the beginning and end of the project, especially from an inner point of view.

The frst shot represented the awareness of the beginning of the journey or rather the path that led to discovering and analyzing feelings of anger and frustration. Taking photographs became necessary for the process of understanding these feelings. Like a cry for help coming from deep within to externalize and process.
It is said that writing in a diary often helps to decipher one’s thoughts by reflecting them outward so they can be read. In this project, photography was the same, only the feelings were reflected in the form of images.

The last photo, that of the leaves, represented the end of the emotional journey. Right after taking it, at the very moment it was viewed on the monitor, a message arrived from deep within the soul that marked the conclusion. The image represents the awareness of having resolved, trusting once again in one’s future and life.

The series represents an up-and-down of inner emotional states that sometimes calm and sometimes return to darkness. In particular, the four images that are exhibited by you, Victoria, represent the attempt to resolve from deep within, that act of clinging to a vision of hope that, even if small and confused, becomes a lifeline.

-Victoria Chapman and Francesco Tori and Linda Zambolin, 2024

BIOGRAPHY - Francesco Tori and Linda Zambolin

Linda loves the sunset and the silence of the evening, Francesco prefers the dawn and the calm of twilight. During a break, she will most likely choose a cup of tea, while he will certainly go for coffee. We are both sporty, love being in nature, simple things, our cat Minù, and spending time well.
We are Linda Zambolin and Francesco Tori: it's a pleasure to have you on the other side of this screen.

From the window of Archetipo Creativo, our gaze rests on the Prealps of Biella: our studio is our home, and at all times, we are immersed in the projects we create. Creativity has neither specific days nor hours, and when the idea comes, we immediately put it in front of our lens.
This is our story and our "why."

The Story of Archetipo Creativo
It all began in 2000: we were both doing other jobs, although we had always had a great passion for photography. One day, by chance, we saw the name of the John Kaverdash Academy of Photography in Milan in a magazine: we made an appointment and immediately enrolled in the Master of Photography course, focusing on basics, still life, fashion, and retouching. Everything we know and apply today comes from the methodology that the Academy passed on to us during those 4 years of intense training. The added value comes precisely from this: our training with film allows us, even today, to carefully consider every single shot, working with extreme precision and achieving a well-balanced image during the shooting phase so that post-production serves "only" to take the product beyond what it already is. In 2004, our studio was born, and over the years, we have worked for many medium-sized companies in various sectors throughout Italy.

RECENT PRESS: NOVEMBER 22, 2024, COSSATO, ITALY

FEATURES NOW EXHIBITION AND THE WORK OF FRANCESCO TORI AND LINDA ZAMBOLIN “ARCHETIPO CREATIVIO”

WEEK 3 -ARTIST PROFILES: MELODY JOY OVERSTREET and ALEXANDRA TERLESKY

Writing has always been a source of fascination and empowerment for me. From my childhood library visits to middle school self-reflection and later explorations of spirituality and philosophy, writing has been central to my journey. It has deepened my empathy—not only for people but also for animals, objects, and situations.

This empathy fuels my passion for including text in exhibitions, such as past projects like The Spoken  and Written Word and The Visible and Invisible Being, created with Stevie Kincheloe and Steven Dayvid McKellar. Stevie Kincheloe, my collaborator and co-curator for this exhibition, and I share a deep love for words and poetry.

A turning point came when a spiritual master asked if I identified more with the cloth (spirituality) or the sword (poetry). While I once leaned toward the cloth, I now find myself drawn to the poet’s path, embracing its power to capture fleeting moments and connect deeply with the world around me.

This reflection leads me to the work of Melody Joy Overstreet and Alexandra Terlesky, both unique poets. Melody gifted me her book, Reverberations, and I connected deeply with her haiku about a hawk. Its themes of fleeting moments resonated, especially given my affinity for birds and their symbolization of time, amongst other things. Melody’s dramatic yet visual text inspired Stevie and me to tear pages from her book and nail them directly to the wall, adding a layer of vintage newsprint beneath them for a timeless feel.For Alexandra, the process was similar. She sent me a PDF of her poems, and the piece about a Finch stood out. Stevie and I printed it on cream-colored vintage paper and framed it within a narrow-windowed frame—serendipitously the perfect fit. Initially, the framed piece sat in a chair in the exhibition space. As I worked daily within the space, it moved around, embodying its subject—a golden Finch alive within the show, offering guidance and presence.

Curating is an ongoing conversation. As I live with the works, their relationships to the space evolve with the changing light, temperature, and air. This group show, Now and Now and Now, draws from confessional poetry, especially the works of Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf. Melody and Alexandra’s contributions embody that spirit, making them essential to the exhibition.

– Victoria Chapman, Co-Curator/Founder, El Nido by VC Projects

Sharing insight and correspondence from Melody Joy Overstreet

The artist shared these notes with me, offering insight into the creation of Reverberations, a collection of poems written during her residency with the On Being Project where she contributed a reflection about her experience.

Melody Joy Overstreet shares some passage from On Being  that continue to resonate deeply today:

Through this time, I have had moments of stillness that feel akin to a river that runs clear. Moments to listen and dwell in intimate presence with the kindred world. From these moments of clarity, words and stories emerged. I felt moved to create a book of poems and illustrations titled Reverberations. This body of work explores themes of memory, being, reciprocity, place, and change.

___

As I prepared to create this work, I took slow walks alongside the local river, under the canopy of swaying redwood trees, and through my garden, where a significant amount of this writing took place. Being in conversation with the plants, I gently observed what was seasonally present (so much!). I was drawn to the trees and the river, and gently gathered fallen redwood cones and water, which I worked with to create a handmade ink. Witnessing the constant movement and change around me, I worked with this ink to paint all of the gestural wash paintings for this book. For me, being in conversation with place includes the context of the long-arc story of the ecology, including all the people who have touched, tended, lived, and still coexist alongside this land. More than anything, this work was guided by the questions, “What does it mean to be human?” and “What does it mean to live well in a place, together?”

___

I live within a floodplain, and like the changing river, words sometimes rush full and intensely, and sometimes so quietly they are almost imperceptible. The words that compose these poems arose while in reflection — both within the house of my own body and within the larger web of life — from still time in my home garden, the garden where I teach, and the river that runs parallel to my humble home.
___

From the garden, the kitchen, from the river to the loom, I weave these words together as an offering of love and praise to this holy, tender world — and to you. I wonder: are there words that can feel like they are making eye contact with the reader, so that wherever you are, however lonely you might be, you somehow feel seen for the magical being that you are, for the troubled yet beautiful world you are a part of?

About the poem shared in the exhibition Now and Now and Now:
This poem was written as I was home within a floodplain along the coast of California. At home we have tended a garden for many years, and the more we tend, the wider the web of life seems to visibly expand. I witnessed a hawk circle overhead, then dart down to hunt a garter snake. As the snake, caught in the hawks' talons, vanished into the sky, I saw us as one unified thread in the vast web of life, as the ones tending its destruction or its healing, as it simultaneously sustains or destroys us. As a writer and weaver, I wanted to illuminate each fragment, each thread, as vital to the rest. - Melody Joy Overstreet

ARTIST PROFILE ALEXANDRA TERLESKY

Sharing insight and studio practice

with Alexandra Terlesky

Alexandra Terlesky offers a glimpse into her creative process, highlighting the balance between routine and inspiration that shapes her poetic practice. She describes how daily habits and spontaneous moments of reflection come together to fuel her work:

Alexandra Terlesky: As for my creative process, I write three pages of whatever comes to mind almost every morning (from the Artist’s Way) and journal each night about what happened during the day. I do this to 1) create a routine and 2) record memories and various activities I can look back on someday. I don’t work on my poems every day, but I’m always jotting down various moments I experience or thoughts that I have, and usually when I sit down to really write I pick through all those thoughts and start to form poems around those. So I would say it’s a mix of routine and inspiration alike.

Biography - Alexandra Sophia Terlesky has been writing, drawing, painting, and creating for as long as she can remember. In her early life, she was largely self taught, writing all sorts of various stories and using photographs and drawing books to instruct herself. She would also put together short films with her cousins, or her younger sister, with all of them acting together, directing, writing, and editing. When she got to college, she attended her first art school, studying for a semester in Aix-en-Provence, France, with the Leo Marchutz School of Painting and Drawing. This was an incredibly formative experience for her. Much of the program was taught through in-person figure drawing sessions and plein-air drawing and painting. Though she retained her ability for incredible hyper-realistic work, studying at a primarily Impressionist school taught her to trust her instincts and relinquish control to her work, rather than trying to control the final product. Upon returning from that semester, she entered her last year of undergrad during which she completed her first poetry manuscript, Alone, Now.

WEEK 4 - ARTIST PROFILES: IPSHITA MAITRA

WEEK FOUR: Connection

From the moment I first encountered Ipshita Maitra’s work, I was captivated, and that enchantment has only deepened with time. In her series ‘Where Voices Call' Ipshita evokes a sacredness in the landscape that feels almost elusive—something I have yearned for in film but rarely found. There is a spiritual synergy in her imagery, an innate ability to weave together the seen and the unseen, leading us on a journey that feels like a rite of passage. She is a natural storyteller, her narration seamlessly present yet timeless.

Through her masterful use of symbolism—the fertile earth, the consuming fire—Ipshita Maitra’s work resonates with layered whispers of philosophy, shadow, and Jungian explorations of the psyche. In series like ‘At Home, In Exile’ the elements themselves become co-creators in a profound dialogue about belonging and transformation. Her imagery weaves the intimate and the vast, forming a poetic meditation on intuition, time, and the boundless present. With her camera as both witness and guide, Ipshita captures the raw, exploratory essence of the moment. In each frame, we feel her hand and heart reaching out, seeking a connection that transcends the image.

In our current group exhibition, ‘Now and Now and Now’ Ipshita’s presence radiates through the three works on display. Each frame invites us into a global conversation, her lens forging a connection between subject and audience that transcends borders. Her work lingers in the mind, reflecting a longing for communion in this ever-shifting present.

It has been a privilege to explore Ipshita’s artistry through two in-depth podcasts, where we delve into the narratives and philosophies behind these series. I will share the links below for those who wish to journey further into her creative vision.

– Victoria Chapman, Co-Curator/Founder, El Nido by VC Projects

I like making records. It’s like distilling time. I also like telling stories.
Then I am distorting it.
In any case, it is only a perception of linearity.
Materiality has a certain draw, a magnetism of sorts, perhaps because in the process of making, it also gets infused with essence. - Ipshita Maitra. ‘Diaries’

The two black and white photographs are from Ipshita’s ongoing body of work  ‘At Home, In Exile’ where she chronicles the internal journey of the flowering of consciousness - reflections on which occurred in a period of deep solitude born from a self imposed exile of sorts.

As the artist began noticing certain synchronistic phenomena between her inner and outer world, the photographs were shot spontaneously around her neighbourhood which she roamed in a ritualistic repetition. Treated much like a labyrinth of memory the works are thus infused with the intimacy of familiarity, a slower time, a deep penetrating gaze...

Symbolic and archetypical they are meant to trigger regions within the viewers consciousness, as Ipshita insists symbols are both universal and true, and a certain visual pattern of evocation can create pathways to spark both imagination and tap into the collective unconscious.

Her primary influence for this body of work, rests heavily on the studies and findings of Carl Jung and in particular his book ‘Man and His Symbols’ which she began reading as a way to understand the occurrences in her own life that were beyond the plane of empirical sciences. Her own experiments with consciousness through meditation and yoga further consolidate the theoretical into a practical knowing and doing while lucidly traversing quantum concepts of receptivity, creation, entanglement and transformation..

“We should be particularly watchful when synchronous events occur, for a numen is then in sight.In a certain mood one notices that the crows fly left. When an archetypal event approaches the sphere of consciousness, it also manifests in the outer life.”

Carl Jung. ‘Conversations’

The photographs similarly depict ritualistic passages - burning as a symbol of cleansing - purification - renewal, bursts of sunshine on grey wintery mornings to depict the illumination of our shadow selves, ancient stones in circular arrangements - our link with ancestry and innate esoteric knowledge, an abandoned trunk - the cycle of decay and loss...

Unconscious recesses play out as narratives of mystery and magic. Time assumes a suspension, devoid of the linearity of movement. In the abyss of isolation the self becomes the observer and the observed, and in this repository of the awakened unconscious we try to draw meaning from absurdity, try to draw form from ether, try to erase, try to reconstruct. - Ipshita Maitra. ‘Diaries’

The choice to restrict the works to B/W is to allude to the integration of the psyche - this realm between light and shadow, real and surreal, time and timelessness. Taking it a step further by using expired negatives as the primary stock, self developing and consequently printing in her studio, a radical spirit of play marks the artists experimental oeuvre where she occupies a certain non doership to allow her camera, organic celluloid and light sensitive emulsions to come in as equal narrators in the making of her works. Working alongside, allowing for blanks, blurs, light and darkness, the body kinetic takes over and instead of relying on measuring apparatus she uses an intuitive approximation in order to stay rooted to the moment of this ‘occurring’ that she is intent on recording. The works thus are very much born out of this practice of absolute present ness that the show ‘Now and Now and Now’ draws attention to.

In ‘Where Voices Call’ Ipshita turns her attention to sacred groves as a way of understanding our link with nature and seeking true harmonisation of mind - body - spirit - earth - ether.  Sacred groves exist all over the world and have been venerated by indigenous communities since ancient times. They are living ecosystems of rich and rare biodiversity and hold immense potential in the region of healing.

With a deeply spiritual lens she approaches this body of work as a rite of passage or a journey of initiation. By creating visual records of ritualistic practices, divine trees, life giving water, symbolic folklore, rare and medicinal plant species- Ipshita attempts to bring back the magic of the forest to urban dwellers who have lost this link with nature, and thus their own inner ecology. Through a passage of revisitation and revitalisation of these metaphysical knowledge systems of transference and transmission the project is a call to restore personal agency from a cosmological perspective.

Being rooted in the magnificent restorative qualities of nature, the works demand a sensorial tactility, a feeling of inhabiting the space and thus a realistic, even hyper realistic rendition was required. The photographs shot in both colour and black and white hold within them a definite suspension, a leaning into the immediate present, almost like a deep gasp of wonder and have been shot entirely in natural light, to allow for the interaction between colour temperature - surface texture - reflectivity and refraction to create its own sense of ephemerality, where again she as just the witness just presses the shutter at the exact moment of incidence. Based on an accurate understanding of the play of elements, and some blessings from the divine the works act as testament to living permeable interconnected consciousness and Ipshita likes to think of them as alchemical records where the transcendent nature of spirit has been encapsulated.

Her references are varied ranging from Buddhist texts like the Lotus Sutra to tribal folklore and historical/ ethnographic records. She is also in the process of researching the aspect of bio diversity hotspots and energy vortex’s through the project as a way to understand earths dormant energies of magnetism and electrical impulses to map how this affects consciousness and creation.

Installation views of Ipshita’s work in ‘Now and Now and Now’ group exhibition at El Nido, Los Angeles

From an ecological perspective ‘Where Voices Call’ is an urgent cry for the preservation of green spaces and sustainable forestry practices in order to protect our living resources, and the communities that honor it with a deep sense of stewardship.

“Forests have always been considered the ‘other’ of culture and civilization. For the villagers, the forest is ‘Buru’, a living space. There are a number of stories and myths around spirits, good and bad - which inhabit the sky, water, trees and animals. These spirits belong to another world and have a life of their own. Then there are human activities and events, biographies and autobiographies that submerse the unfamiliarity of the forest.

And yet, the forest is mysterious and unpredictable, as it discloses only what it chooses to reveal. Therefore the forest is also a place of learning and it is possible to unearth its secret only by a deep sense of gratitude and reverence towards the knowledge it discloses.”

• Ritambhara Hebbar. ‘Homecoming In The Forest’

BIOGRAPHY IPSHITA MAITRA

Artist and film maker, Ipshita’s practice incorporates photography, print making and mixed media collages. With themes that are influenced by the landscape she occupies they stem from a deep sense of loss and begin as archival records to document the passing of a time – geographically, culturally, internally. She asks questions of identity and belonging, juxtaposing them with time and memory.
Her works are process driven and handcrafted, born out of experiments with analogue and historic processes of photographic printmaking. Materiality occupies an important place, and there is a definite leaning towards abstract expressionism and deconstructivism in her gesture.

PODCASTS WITH IPSHITA MAITRA

During this episode, we speak to Ipshita Maitra, a lens-based artist from India who works across various forms of mixed media and collage.

We discuss Ipshita's At Home, In Exile series, captured in black and white photography. We also hear Ipshita's views on the artist's relationship with their practice, reaching the spiritual through the physical, being a vessel, influences, and philosophies, and further, pushing the medium - experimentation and play.

‘At Home, In Exile’ - Ipshita states:

A deep silence penetrates this body of work that marks the artist's time in a self-willed form of exile. The everyday, marked by a transcendental quality transforms into a labyrinth, where one is drawn into the inner intimacy of memory, of a time lived, forgotten and evoked (again)

Creation assumes a multidimensionality, planes between real and imagined, manifest and un manifest collapse

A terrain of wilderness that exists within is unleashed It is ritualized by the aspect of coming 'home' Standing on known unknown ground

Within the wanderings buried archetypes explode ...

The unconscious recesses of the psyche, play out as narratives of mystery and magic. Time assumes a suspension devoid of the linearity of movement, sometimes a vibration-less state, sometimes fragile, and dear clutching at fragments of memory. In the abyss of isolation, the self becomes the observer and the observed.

Layers of the collective unconscious and the ego/personal unconscious come together in an almost Jungian synchronicity where one wonders within a repository of symbols trying to draw meaning from absurdity. Trying to draw form from ether, trying to erase, trying to reconstruct. The work encapsulates the passage from alienation to reconnaissance, the flowering of the consciousness through a certain remembrance /  of repetitive movement.

This is an enlightening talk. When I ask Ipshita about what she might share with her younger self or to those in the thick of creativity, she responded: "It's important to follow your gut or your intuition. And to take that journey into yourself; because that is where all the magic begins. Also, I would say, silence is a discipline -- but not too much. And to younger artists - some amount of silient times for your self -where you provide space to not think, or be overwhelmed or even bogged down. The more one dwells in that space the more things come to you. Finally, learn to be the vessel and the receiver, and to be present in the moment. - VC Projects

In this episode, we dive into a conversation with Ipshita Maitra, a lens artist based in India, renowned for her work in mixed media and collage. Our focus is on her series ‘Where Voices Call’ captured through color photography. The discussion starts with Ipshita’s morning rituals, which lead into the deeper psychic and spiritual themes of her series. Ipshita explores the secrets of the forest and her project’s origins, which began as a dream.

Ipshita shares captivating stories about her creative process, personal discoveries, and the challenges she encountered. She offers profound insights into her artistic journey, revealing how she navigates both internal and external exploration. Her account of healing and discovering “the forest of her dreams” is a testament to the transformative nature of her work. This conversation is a true treat, as Ipshita vividly describes her experiences in a sacred, living forest, leaving both the interviewer and listener in awe of her perspective.

Music by Stevie Kincheloe and Steven Dayvid McKellar

WEEK FIVE: ARTIST PROFILES: GREG SMITH

Week Five: Relationship

This week, I am honored to feature the work of my dear friend and artist, Greg Smith. Currently splitting his time between Goa, India, and Los Angeles, Greg often describes Goa as his "happy place." Just this morning, I woke up to a WhatsApp message from him that simply said, "I love you." That’s Greg in a nutshell—his deep care and connection always come through, whether in his art or his relationships.

Greg and I go way back. We first met when I was 15 or 16 years old, introduced through mutual friends even though we attended different high schools. Over the years, our paths have uncannily followed each other. When I moved to Boston, Greg lived in New York. When I returned to London, he was also in London. And years later, when I moved back to California, I hadn’t seen or heard from Greg in a while, so I meditated for six months to reconnect with him. Not long after, he walked into the Laguna Beach gallery where I was working. It turned out he had just moved back to Los Angeles.

Our bond feels as though it was meant to be. His great-grandmother, Leanora Prouse, was from Cornwall, England, just like me. Our villages are not far apart. That shared connection to place and ancestry runs deep. Greg, ever the caretaker of spaces and souls, even helped design and restore the beautiful, serene environment of El Nido. But this story is not just unique to me—everyone who knows Greg feels that same special bond. He has a way of honoring friendships and the objects and moments that make life meaningful.

Greg’s thoughtfulness is legendary. He never shows up empty-handed, always bearing gifts—treasures from his travels, a homemade meal, or even a surprise dessert delivered just because he was thinking of you. This attentiveness to people and things is something he inherited from his great-grandmother, Leanora, who carefully documented her life and collected objects with immense love and care. Many of these heirlooms are now with Greg, and he treats them as living pieces of history, studying their stories and preserving them with the same reverence Leanora once did.

One of these heirlooms—a blue and white serving tray—had a crack in it. This imperfection became the starting point for Greg’s journey into the art of Kintsugi, the Japanese technique of repairing broken objects with gold or silver. This practice transforms flaws into features, imperfections into beauty, and for me, it’s deeply symbolic. In a world where we’re often quick to discard what is broken—be it objects, relationships, or even parts of ourselves—Kintsugi reminds us to honor and cherish what we have, to see value in repair, and to celebrate resilience.

Greg’s work, like the piece featured in the “Now and Now and Now” exhibition, carries this philosophy at its core. It’s not just about mending a physical crack but about recognizing the stories and relationships that give life meaning. For me, Kintsugi resonates on a deeply personal level. It mirrors the journey we all take—making mistakes, facing fractures, and yet finding ways to carry on, to heal, and to honor the beauty in the process. Through Greg’s artistry, we’re reminded to cherish not just objects but the people, animals, and strangers around us, to honor life in all its imperfect glory.

– Victoria Chapman, Co-Curator/Founder, El Nido by VC Projects

Greg Smith shares objects collected by his great-grandmother, Leanora Prouse, who was born in 1887 in Cornwall, England. The artist is currently working on a book about Prouse’s life, where she spent time in a small fishing village called Mousehole. At the age of nine, due to financial hardship, she left England for America with her mother’s siblings.

Starting in 1923, Prouse began writing a diary in which she shared many personal items. This meticulous recording of events and collected objects captures the essence of her being. Some of these objects, broken years earlier, bore visible fractures. To honor their history, the artist carefully restores them using gold and silver. This process draws inspiration from the Japanese art of Kintsugi, or "golden joinery," which emphasizes the beauty in the cracks, reflecting the profound truth that life itself is beautifully imperfect.

Smith divides his time between Los Angeles and Goa, with his primary studio based in Los Angeles. Previously, the artist lived and worked in New York and London.

Greg Smith’s Kintsugi Series resonates deeply with the themes of the group exhibition "Now and Now and Now" by intertwining time, memory, and transformation. Smith's work draws inspiration from objects collected by his great-grandmother, Leanora Prouse, whose journey from a small fishing village in Cornwall, England, to America symbolizes resilience and renewal. By meticulously repairing fractured heirlooms with gold and silver through the Japanese art of Kintsugi, Smith elevates these objects, turning their history into a celebration of life’s fragility and continuity.

Much like Sylvia Plath’s connection to confessional poetry and the stream of consciousness, Smith’s process invites introspection and personal dialogue. His work keeps these objects alive, not just as artifacts of a bygone era, but as dynamic vessels that provoke interpretation and reflection. Each piece becomes a poetic object, charged with layers of history and emotion, waiting to be discovered and reimagined by the viewer. Just as Plath’s work blurs the line between the personal and the universal, Smith’s objects create an intimate yet open-ended narrative where the viewer can find their own meaning.

This practice mirrors the exhibition’s focus on how the present moment is shaped by layers of personal and collective history. Prouse’s diary and the objects she preserved serve as vessels of memory, linking Smith’s narrative to broader themes of time, migration, and generational connection. Through repair and storytelling, Smith’s work reflects the exhibition’s emphasis on the “now” as both a culmination of the past and a bridge to the future, offering a profound meditation on transformation, resilience, and the power of art to evoke dialogue and discovery.