WOW WAO WAAW!!!!

******

DIRT PALACE MAY 2022   A Show!! BOCHEK TRIGGER DISCIPLINE COMO QUE WAO 5/14/2022  Doors at 9pm, show starts at 9:30pm PWYC/NOTAFLOF $7 - $15 Suggested donation This will be a masked event! If you want to wear a "spooky" mask over your COVID mask even better (but only the mouth masks are required)

WINDOW MAY WINDOW ARTIST: REGINA GUTIERREZ Matatag Kami : We Are Resilient. The forms in which I exist are non-negotiable, and yet so understated. How do I begin to uncover my Filipino body that has faded into the background behind the facade of what it may mean to be an Asian-American? A Filipino Woman? Everything is worth so much more, yet everything is erasive in relation to- my body, and every body that embodies this imposed and unprotected moment of confusion through its racial identity and gender performance and cultural relativity. When we call on the phone, grandma, you don’t call me pretty in acknowledging all of my queerness, or excessive existence– how when I breathe, it feels I trail every crevice, line every edge and that I could touch everything all at once, but it would not be engulfing or entrancing or singular. I don’t think you call me pretty for the way I want to mutilate my breasts. June 5th they’ll be salubriously separated from my body, and I haven’t even told you yet. And it’s alright: transitional stages prompt disconnect, it makes family almost objective like that. It still hurts to imagine my distant relatives in the Philippines don’t perceive me as beautiful for the ways I actually am. Maganda Ako. The phrase obscures the faces of my relatives– or it would’ve if I hadn’t let it fall to the back and only illegibly bleed through the skin. In return, I thought it would have protected them from critique: any projections from a white audience, and it would’ve allowed the phrase to speak for them. Though I don’t think that’s what I meant for it to feel like. Protection takes away from praise, there is always so much to give. Subjecting my family members’ faces to this form of projection may seem elusive, maybe exploitative, yet it feels necessary. Urgent almost. They deserve this moment, the likeness of them deserves to be taken in this way. There is so much gratitude in finding myself between the stories and images of mothers who cared before me; beginning to understand the way beauty lines every face, and every wrinkle that makes up my own physiognomy. Matatag Kami speaks on cultural and generational pain, depicting matriachs of my family as to note forms of femininity between my non-binary body and motherhood as a construct. Thoughts on what it means to embody feminisms have left my brain dwelling on alternative forms of equally just and whole and devoted motherhood. In the lineup of notable Filipina mothers, I place my body. I allow “Matatag Kami” to crown us, in all of our nurturing and understanding and formidable presence. We project this generational landscape, a billboard made to celebrate us, while re-identifying, re-aligning, and re-considering the colonized history of the Philippines. It is to speak such neglected truth to the present of Filipinos, post-colonialism, to allow space for my family’s immigrant story; space to understand queer identities within immigrant families, identifying the disconnects, the inbetweens, and to praise every type of mother holding it down anywhere, everywhere. I love you and thank you for caring so incredibly/tirelessly/endlessly. Regina Gutierrez is a first- generation Filipinx born and raised in New York. Currently studying sculpture in their second year at the Rhode Island School of Design, Regina has found a multidisciplinary skill set necessary in expanding their art practice that centers transness, identity, and racialized bodies. Their work pushes forth informed concepts and self-respected mediums, embracing histories of metalwork, plaster casting, mural making, and personal writing. Actively involved in making art more accessible, they are familiar to public gallery spaces local to Long Island and Providence, including the Heckscher Museum, All County Art Exhibitions, The Baldwin Public Library, and Adelphi University, and The Providence Art Club showcasing work annually within these community driven spaces for the past 5 years. Outside of their public highschool’s art department, Regina has studied fine arts at NYSSSA, FIT, and Adelphi University, creating work that further projects their Filipinx identity onto the formally white framed gallery space. Into the periphery of their practice, Regina takes interest in Trans theory and sociology, and has been an assistant to the Head Pastry Chef at the Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn, AKA likes baking, bikes occasionally, writes personally, and is an outspoken advocate for queer marginalized bodies within gallery spaces. MARCH WINDOW ARTIST: ANABEL VÁZQUEZ RODRÍGUEZ Amor y Anarquía Check out an Interview with Anabel where she discusses Amor y Anarquía and other aspects of her practice with curator Kate McNamara on our blog HERE Anabel Vázquez Rodríguez (b. Guayama, 1977) is an interdisciplinary artist, intersectional curator, and educator based somewhere in-between Borikén and the traditional homelands of the Narragansett and Wampanoag peoples. Their artistic production explores the colonial system, otherness, resistance, nostalgia, the galactical and feminist discourse. They have exhibited, lectured and performed nationally and internationally. ____________________________________ Storefront Window Gallery Projects are made possible in part through support from the City of Providence Arts Culture Tourism Department. UPDATES FROM THE PEOPLE OF THE PALACE!!      NATASHA BRENNAN Hello internet world! Super excited for the show on Saturday! Please stop by!!!!! I finally printed my comic- here's a page from that and a weirdo screenprint!  I've been teaching at City Arts this spring and it has been awesome! May is the craziest month and I'm absorbing it all in. In June, I'll be at the spring risd craft sale with a bunch of stuff. Every time I wear my old Bonedust tee (2006) to work (at the coffee/bakery emporium) people ask me where I got this cool vintage shirt so that's nice and wacky. I am conspiring to make my cat Thimble and Xander's dog Liv best friends but you know- cats and dogs. SEND ME A CARD AND I'LL SEND ONE BACK! xoxo    ELLEN (LN) FOSTER The cherry blossoms (my favorite) have pretty much come and gone, but I'm still amped for the Lilacs. Lately, I’ve been digging into some older live recordings while creating new ones, getting ready to play some shows.  On April 30th I shared a live viola/vocals/beats set at Black Lace across the street in Olneyville for an event with Kai Salem,  Adaa, Cyberbully and Nybor. It was the first time I had played live in a *long* time and it was exciting to get back out there. May 7th, I had an opening DJ set at the monthly Bleep and Klang event organized by symposium records. Honored to have shared the decks with the super talented Final Object and Abby Echiavarri. Had a fun DP work day. Thanks to the help of Dan Wood and some reference videos from previous resident Daniella Ben-Bassett, the DP Letterpress is now up and running. Excited to dig into that in the coming months. Also used my newly acquired "woodshop skills" to help Pippi put down some colorful subfloor of cut-up wood c/o Xander <3  Stay tuned: Helping to put together dance party x Experimental Noise show coming up on June 4 @ Dirt Palace. Forthcoming Collaborative multi-media experimental piece written and formulated with fellow questioning academic Shannan Lee Hayes to be published in Refuse.   KAI VAN VLACK Hello hello. I had a busy few months. Here’s what’s been up: I was invited to speak at the New Haven Pride Center’s Lesbian Day of Visibility. The organizer, Suyane Oliveira and I had a talk about intersectional existence as queer women of color in DIY punk. A recording of our talk is available on youtube: Trophy Hunt’s new LP “The Branches on Either Side” will be released on May 19th on Middle-Man Records, Tomb Tree, and Zegema Beach records. The album will be available HERE after that date in both cassette and CD formats. 12” LPs are in production. In the meantime preview tracks are available here and here.   Reading/Listening/Seeing George R.R. Martin - Fire and Blood A poetic metatextual mystery pretending to be the dreary history of a fantasy world. Rosalía - MOTOMAMI Flamenco singer turned experimental hip-hop weirdo trying her hand at everything under the sun and doing all of it well. This one is AOTY for me so far. You Won’t Be Alone What if Terrence Malick directed an A24 horror film but also what if it was good? Best of April:     YSANEL TORRES The City of Providence’s Department of Art, Culture + Tourism, Department of Public Property and Department of Recreation commissioned six RI- based artists including YSANEL to design and install a mural using “parachute cloth” at Dave’s Lopes Recreation Center with Amber Art & Design.  JOSEPHINE DEVANBU "Venus" Carved Ivory Soap     XANDER MARRO   Its been five years this month since X & P started physically working on the Wedding Cake House (there were about 8 months of planning before getting the keys). This anniversary has been both a moment of reflection and of brainstorming about how to take what has been an intense half decade, down a notch. These past five years have been full of challenges and magic, but also mostly just full of long assed days of putting one foot in front of the other. They're trying to post a bunch of pre-renovation pics on @weddingcakehouse_renovations IG this month, so if traveling back to the summer of '17 and piles of rubble is of interest, follow there. In light of the "take it down a notch" vibe, X is making (chill) plans! She’s having wild (chill) ideas! But also she is so annoyed that it keeps not really being warm out…will today be the day that the season shifts? Pretty please!?!? Also she is sort of losing her mind about politics and is trying to cope by befriending plants and digging in the dirt, can you relate? The other thing that’s been keeping her going is Pandemic Pen Pals. Mega Mail Mash up above. (w/images of stuff that came in the mail from: Greta, Gina, AK, Stephen, James, Mike, Gaby. Shoutout to them & everyone else who’s sent stuff). X is working on a summer mailing. Unlike last spring’s mailing, the word-find won’t be all flowers and phrases like “nude popsicle” or  “daffodildo”. Unfortunately it will likely be about abortion and/or war, because dear friends, here we are again in a garbage world. If you want in on this quote unquote “mail-box-party”, send me an email with your snail mail address (missxander@hotmail.com). Or better yet drop me something in the actual mail (14 Olneyville Sq, Providence RI 02909). All love.     PIPPI ZORNOZA Pippi gave an artist talk as part of Mobius Artists Group Spiderweb series. Check out Mobius's archive HERE to see the video of her talk as well as other artists talking about their work! Want one of these prints below? Send something you've made (a drawing, a print, an audio track, a popsicle (don't actually send a popsicle), a manifesto, a small child) to Pippi Z, 14 Olneyville Square, Providence RI 02909 and she'll send you one in the mail FOC. Offer available till they are all gone. Don't forget to include your return address. This was originally a "friends & family" deal now extended to the "public". But whatever you call yourself, feel free to send mail in exchange. RECTRIX Will be playing Summer Scum in NYC July 22nd & 23rd. Which date you ask? All will be revealed.     ****************************** Library Hi-Lites! MONTHLY PICTORIAL TREAT FROM THE DUSTY SHELVES OF THE DIRT PALACE FURTHERING THE QUEST TO SPREAD FUN LIKE GIN AND JUICE, MOSTLY GIN Some New ones...too great not to include both: Gaby Hurtado-Ramos' Let's Get Acquainted (Lesbian Bars of Houston) and Mike Leslie's Flyer Collection. Feast your eyes & minds.  Let's Get Acquainted Mike Leslie's Flyer Collection:        ****************************** BULLETIN BOARD   *************************** Happy Birthday Anabel Vázquez Rodríguez! Sara Wintz! Miranda Van-Boswell! Bridget Ferrill!  ****************************

Forward to a friend // Dirt Palace Instagram // Wedding Cake House Instagram // IGF Instagram

 

Amor y Anarquía

For this next series of Storefront Window Installations we'll be pairing our exhibiting artists with other artists and curators for interview conversations. This spring we were pleased to host Anabel Vázquez Rodríguez's installation Amor y Anarquía.

Anabel Vázquez Rodríguez (b. Guayama, 1977) is an interdisciplinary artist, intersectional curator, and educator based somewhere in-between Borikén and the traditional homelands of the Narragansett and Wampanoag peoples. Their artistic production explores the colonial system, otherness, resistance, nostalgia, the galactical and feminist discourse. They have exhibited, lectured and performed nationally and internationally.
Below is a conversation between Anabel and Providence based Curator Kate McNamara.

KM: I wonder if before we jump into speaking about the Dirt Palace window installation, we can take a minute to discuss your interdisciplinary work and practice as a curator, artist, performer and educator? I see all of these roles seeping into each other in a way that makes your work urgent, generous and empathetic. I know you studied art-making and specifically photography in your formal education - was photography a gateway into the multiple roles you currently engage with? How?  AV: Gracias Kate! si photography was most definitely a gateway. I was fortunate to have studied photography with artist Frieda Medín at La Liga de Arte de San Juan. I was just 16 when I first signed up to her weekend b&w darkroom course and was completely blown away. Frieda instilled in me a deeply conceptual and magical way of engaging with photography. I will never forget a lecture she gave at Casa Aboy where she described how she would perfect her negatives with her fangs. Medín’s work was my first experience of the power of the personal is political. Later I attended the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, were I was immersed in a rigorous humanities program as a painting major (there was no photo major at the time) and I was immediately in awe of the vibrant arts scene and began experimenting in sculpture as performance, photography, action painting, literature, punk rock and so much more. Suffocated by the colonial US chokehold, I ended up at MassArt, Boston and in 1998 I embarked on a photography degree there and was quickly mesmerized by filmmaking and artists like Maya Deren and Carolee Schneeman. Film was to me an organic expansion of the psychological space that I was/am intrigued by in photography and led me to installation work, film programming, performance, collective art/activism, diy space programming, skill shares, and more. The camera obscura magic as a portal.

Escalones, AutoGaláctica series 2014 © Anabel Vázquez Rodríguez

KM: You participate in many communities within the U.S., Puerto Rico, and beyond and have been actively engaged in the politics and art movements unfolding over these last tumultuous years. How does transnational identity inform your work as an artist, curator and educator?  AV: wao that’s a big question! As a Caribbean colonized person, l believe my identity allows me to make palpable and broader connections among socio-political and art movements. This most definitely permeates into my practice as artist, curator and educator. KM: Circling back to Dirt Palace, can you tell me how you first became involved with the DP community and how it evolved?  AV: My first experience of the Dirt Palace was in the early 2000s as a spectator at their music, film, and performance events. It was love at first show! As a curator I exhibited the works of a few members and our connections continued to grow throughout the years. In 2016 I was asked to join the Dirt Palace Public Projects board, and have been serving ever since! KM: Let’s talk about the window, Amor y Anarquía. The window features two large-scale graphite portraits of radical women activists: Lucy Parsons and Luisa Capetillo. I wonder if you can speak to the selection and pairing of these two important historical figures for this installation, as well as the title?  AV: The title comes from the book Amor y Anarquía: Los Escritos De Luisa Capetillo.  I have been inspired by Capetillo’s life and writings for a while so she was a natural choice for me. In 2012 I made my first portrait of her, Doña Luisa Capetillo. Con razón o sin razón. Ha armado tremendo lío con su falda pantalón.   (Mrs Luisa Capetillo. Rightly or wrongly. Has made a tremendous impression with her trouser skirt)

"Doña Luisa Capetillo. Con razón o sin razón. Ha armado tremendo lío. Con su falda pantalón." 

2012 © Anabel Vázquez Rodríguez

The mix media piece’s title is from a news clipping, when she was arrested for publicly wearing trousers in Cuba in 1915. When thinking about radical women contemporary to the Tirocchi atelier to portray, I immediately thought of her, 2022 additionally marks 100 years from her untimely death. Lucy Parsons also felt like an instinctual choice, such a legendary and still enigmatic radical figure from the United States, whose legacy I was introduced to during my time in Boston. The radical bookstore The Lucy Parsons’ Center, on Columbus Ave. now located in Jamaica Plain, most definitely had an influence. It was a place to meet up, acquire radical writings, stay informed + there were weekly talks and film screenings. The major connections for me in the selection and pairing, were that both women worked as seamstresses/dressmakers, they both deeply advocated and organized for the working class and loved in radical ways. This pairing is also my way to create a bond not only between these two radical women but uniting the anti-capitalist struggle in the Caribbean and North America, through a Boricua and United Statesian whose fierce writings and speeches deemed them dangerous.

Amor y Anarquía, window installation detail, 2022 © Anabel Vázquez Rodríguez

KM: I know you were interested in tying in a range of site-specific, historical and contextual elements into these portraits, one of which was the relationship both activists had to making garments and the legacy of the Tirocchi sisters who formerly owned and used the Wedding Cake House as an atelier. Can you tell me about some of the formal decisions you made when drawing the clothing that so thoughtfully adorn Parsons and Capetillo?

AV: During my residency at the Wedding Cake House in the summer of 2021 I was reimagining that radical women contemporary to the Tirocchi sisters atelier would have a garment made there and/or would be connected to the dressmaking workers. These summer sketches of women were the inspiration to create these larger pieces. Some of the formal elements began when I was stenciling the silhouettes for each piece. I made a stencil using artist tape, created the background and then added details with the graphite, but some of the stronger or graphic elements emerged when I started experimenting with the artist tape itself as a mark maker. I would tear the artist tape creating more organic edges while retaining the sharp line. I used this technique to create a pattern in Parsons’ garment, accentuate Capetillos suit and tie, and both their updos. Parson’s design was inspired by one of the catalog drawings from the Tirocchi atelier collection. Capetillo is known for wearing a white mens suit, so it was important to keep that essence while accentuating the suit jacket with lines reminiscent in the  collection.

Lucy Parsons, Amor y Anarquía, process detail 2022 © Anabel Vázquez Rodríguez

KM: I am interested in your approach to portrait-making and how it connects to your ongoing photographic process. In previous conversations you have used the language of “operator and participant,” rather than subject.

I think this is a clear shift away from more patriarchal histories of dehumanizing and objectifying the person sitting behind the camera and instead speaks to a culture of caretaking, trust, agreement and collaboration. When you were working on the storefront portraits, did you find yourself thinking about these roles of operator and participant even within the medium of drawing and archive? 

AV: Absolutely. I kept having an imaginary dialogue with both of them. I researched extensively both their writing and lives. I felt like they were having a conversation with them like how they would want to be represented, their disdain for the bourgeois made it a lively conversion when talking about couture. 

Luisa Capetillo, Amor y Anarquía, process detail 2022 © Anabel Vázquez Rodríguez

KM: I really appreciate the way the portraits have a sculptural presence within the framework of the window - not only because of their scale, but the fact that they are hanging - almost unfurling. There is an objecthood to them - can you speak about your work in installation and how it figures into this project? 

AV: Gracias, I felt it was important for them to have that objecthood, I felt the space called for it. My installation work has usually incorporated projections/monitors, and cut paper life-size palm trees and objects to interact with while performing. In this project there is a departure from that, even though they are 2d works the hanging and spilling on the surface like a scroll feels in a way more sculptural than previous installation work. For this piece I was hoping for ancient-like large-scale portraits fit for a memorial or procession.  

Amor y Anarquía, process & install 2022 © Anabel Vázquez Rodríguez

KM: The composition so intentionally ties into the beautiful mosaic on the exterior of the building (made by Dirt Palace co-founder Pippi Zornoza). Was this a consideration from the very beginning of your installation planning?  AV: Thank you, yes, the mosaic work by Pippi Zornoza was definitely an inspiration and informed the layout from the beginning. The palette of the piece and the building, street lights and reflections were also considered. KM: Last question! Considering the role that garments play within this installation and your research, I have to admit that I am a total fan of your personal style! I wonder if you can talk a bit about your own approach to dress? Are there time periods or moments in fashion that you draw from? Personal histories that have been aestheticized?  AV: ¡Ay gracias! I love this question!  Luisa Capetillo wrote, Esta costumbre de pantalón se adapta perfectamente a la época de progreso femenino. This trouser custom is perfectly suited to the era of female progress. 1915 Though I have a collection of dresses, I love to wear trousers! Not only are they mostly practical, they do at times feel like armor. I became interested in fashion early on, finding inspiration in all the 80s and 90s magazines and music. I am currently inspired by various time periods, Victorian, 20s 30s fashion, and 90’s power suits. Blazers and a black on black palette with a tropical goth vibe.

AUTO GALÁCTICA EN EL TERCER ESPACIO, Performance ÁREA LUGAR DE PROYECTOS Caguas, PR 2014 © Anabel Vázquez Rodríguez

-------

Kate McNamara is a Providence-based curator, educator, arts administrator and mother. She is a staunch advocate for animal rights, moving her body is medicinal and is really hoping that one day, her ability to move objects with her mind will suddenly become manifest. 

------

This installation was made possible in part through support from the City of Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism.

Melting Month Mulch Much

 

******

DIRT PALACE MARCH 2022   A Show!! Diva Karr, Trophy Hunt, RECTRIX/House Red Collab Luci Dead Limb 3/19/2022  Doors at 8:30, show starts at 9pm PWYC/NOTAFLOF $7 - $15 Suggested donation Right now this will be a masked event, however, if case rates continue to decrease in the coming weeks this may change. We'll post updates on our instagram!

WINDOW FEBRUARY WINDOW ARTIST: ANGELS COLLECTIVE Angels is a multidisciplinary collective of queer & non-binary artists and practitioners making magic in Providence, RI. Angels is a licensed tattoo shop, and hopes to bring inclusivity and community care to the forefront of the local tattoo scene. Along with tattoo, Angels also offers mixed media art and myofascial bodywork out of their space. "To Light the Candle Inside of Me" is a collaborative art installation consisting of a collection of hand painted paper lanterns by the members of Angels Collective. We sought a light-hearted project that could be completed remotely from our own homes since Covid rages all over again this winter. Taking into account that February is still more night time than day time, we harnessed light in these literally and metaphorically dark times. Warmly illuminated, we hope seeing these hand painted paper lanterns might bring a moment of delight.   ANNOUNCING A NEW ADA BATHROOM AND OTHER IMPROVEMENTS PLANNED FOR THIS YEAR RIP DP shared Office/HELLO ADA BATHROOM. DP shared office, aka the packing room, aka the screaming room. A place where years ago when we all shared one phone line. You could pick up the phone and also happen to be on a crossed line call with the burger king down the street. Yes young friends, this is how weird the old pre-cellphone days could be. Pick up the phone and there is a hamburger on the other end of the line. Also it was where we all shared one house computer for a while, that Polina somehow procured. It hooked into the dial-up internet, so was er, slow (but fast enough to download stuff from limewire into the night). In later days when people got their own computers, and Etsy became more central to the hustle, it became a shipping/packing room. While change can be bittersweet, we’re amped to rip up that nasty old carpet and get moving towards building out a new ADA Bathroom! Don’t worry, screaming in this room will still be allowed (because lord knows that there’s many things to need to scream over these days). Maybe if forces align, we’ll be able to convince Jo Dery to come back and do a new painting on the new ADA-width door!?!? This is part of a larger project to make most of the downstairs of The Dirt Palace Classic building ADA accessible as well as to make the building in general more energy efficient. After five years of focusing on Wedding Cake House renovations, it’s great to be getting to do some upgrades here!  These initiatives are being supported by RISCA’s State Cultural Facilities Grant and the Champlin Foundation. We are deeply grateful for the support.         NEWS FROM WEDDING CAKE HOUSE RESIDENCIES 💙☃️💙❄️❄️💙💜Winter residency Cohort 1 photo 💜💙❄️☃️☃️💙💜 We Jumped into 2022 with a series of residencies at the Wedding Cake House! Because of the Omicron surge the first two were pod models, the next one starts at the end of this month! We are always so humbled and blown away by the quality of work and generosity of spirit that residents bring to the table. Click on the names of the artists to learn more about their work. Knock on wood, if COVID stays manageable, we’ll have an open house for this next cohort on April 5th.  We’re planning a family residency for the summer, some duo-residencies, and will have another open application process for group residencies opening up in August, so keep an eye out for further info!   COHORT 1:  Chrissy Jones  Diana Nucera, aka “Mother Cyborg” L Nichols  Oji Haynes  Sophia Foster/Dimino -  Stefania Gomez COHORT 2:  Celeste Diaz Falzone  Symone Salib  EJ Baker Flora Fattahi and Sabrina Clark  Jennifer Daltry  Lucía Retta  Jason Tranchida COHORT 3:  Heather Flor Cron (Flor)  Nelly Kate  MJ Robinson  Nemesister (Clover Power, Lily Sarosi and Lena Abraham)  Sarah Welch Daniel Luedtke  saylem celeste   UPDATES FROM THE PEOPLE OF THE PALACE!!      NATASHA BRENNAN Hi Everyone! February was pretty cool! I turned 24 which is fun and I like being an age that is divisible by so many numbers- 2,12,3,8,4,6- pretty nice. I've been screen printing a lot because I've been making wallpaper for my awesome coworker's nursery room for her baby who will be born soon. It has been literally one of the most fun projects I've ever gotten to work on :) I also adopted a cat recently- Thimble- who is quite a sassy but very sweet kitty. She likes to sit on me while I sew and read and draw which is very cute but she also bites me but that's ok- I understand. I'm really looking forward to warmer days and being able to sit outside. I'll be teaching a cool class at CityArts this spring called Call to Action! I'm super excited- I've been a huge fan of CityArts for a long time. Below are photos of Thimble, one sheet of the wallpaper, and a sketchbook page!     ELLEN (LN) FOSTER It’s been a bit of a winter hibernation over here for the past many month. Trying to seek out as many locally maintained saunas and hot pools of swirling water as possible. I finalized building a desk for my room and set up a functioning music-making area in the band room. Started work at a fine furniture wood studio, and I've been getting back into a regular drawing practice, which feels good! Generally, lots of organizing, and grounding, and hunkering down. Working on an application pushed me to further develop my artist website. Still very much a work in progress, though.   I worked on finishing a collaborative print with Sam De Poto, which is my first foray into multi-layer registration and layering/mixing color.     In January I took part in the Noisecapades out in Western Massachusetts [full video here], which was a very fun and sweet way to get back into the practice of playing in front of people. Everything sounds great on a thick layer of ice.   KAI VAN VLACK  Whoa it’s been a long time! I’ve been hibernating during my first winter in Rhode Island which was less brutal than I’d been led to believe. I have a handful of things to share this month. Two of which were secret secrets so I only owe you one now. Way back in November I had the honor of interviewing Edie Quinn(FKA Shawn Decker) for the 100th episode of their podcast, Everything Remade. Please give it a listen and take the opportunity to dig through the back catalog of podcasts they've hosted including one where they interviewed me! Just a few weeks ago De Facto Enscripture, a 39 person collective of which I am a member, released the album Sardonic Entropy Nexus. The album is available for digital download and pre-orders are available for cassette and cd formats. All proceeds are donated to Out Youth a Texas youth organization that provides support programs for the LGBTQIA+ community. Trophy Hunt played our first show in just under two years last Sunday and it felt amazing to shake the cobwebs off. Next weekend we will be playing in Staten Island with our sister band Strega Nona. If anyone is in the NY/NJ area, I know Staten Island is a little off the beaten path but the music scene there is very underrated.   YSANEL TORRES Here are some mixed media works from YSANEL’s recent collection called “Me Fui” that she’s been working on at the Dirt Palace since Summer 2021!  Sign up for the newletter on the homepage of YSANEL.com to stay connected with the artist. JOSEPHINE DEVANBU Trophy, Carved Asantee Turmeric & Ginger Soap   XANDER MARRO X has been taking it day by day. Making time for winter vibes to be what they need to be. Horrified by war and watching the turn of world events, but grounded, mostly cozy and drinking endless cups of decaf out of favorite mugs, she’s only wiped out on the ice like twice. Mostly no complaints, but as the proverb goes, the hardest thing about winter in New England is April - so not taking for granted that she’ll emerge from the season without any psychic battle wounds. C’mon daffodils! C’mon snowdrops & hellebore!      Next weekend she’s participating in a panel that is part of a weekend full of events featuring Baltimore artist Abdu Ali. This series of performances and workshops celebrates how artists develop creative practices as experiments in making homeplaces, sanctuaries, and sites of transformation. Grateful to be in dialogue & looking forward to spending some time reflecting on & appreciating this work. Some flyers below..(sick pink one by Lara Henderson). Maybe see you out in the world 💛🧡🌈💜💙🌷🍄     PIPPI ZORNOZA I have been experiencing a glitch in gmail where some emails have suddenly disappeared into the ether. Poof! Nope - not in the spam folder. Nope - not in the trash folder. Nope - not in "All Mail" or any  other folder. Just gone!  Totally disconcerting! If by some chance the person who wrote to me interested in artwork reads this - Please! Try me again! Your email disappeared! If you are someone who knows anything about this type of phenomena - get in touch! In other news - All albums and merch that weren't previously available on the bandcamp platform are now online! HERE RECTRIX Collab with friend House Red this March 19th at Dirt Palace! Some things coming down the pike...... More next time...........   ****************************** Library Hi-Lites! MONTHLY PICTORIAL TREAT FROM THE DUSTY SHELVES OF THE DIRT PALACE FURTHERING THE QUEST TO SPREAD FUN LIKE GIN AND JUICE, MOSTLY GIN At our last WCH residency some artists dug into the collection and pulled some great books as part of their research! Here's what we found on the "reshelfing cart" One of the books had the pic below folded into the pages. Guess which book, or what the heck the pic is of and win our undying admiration - email guesses to dirtpalace@gmail.com     ****************************** BULLETIN BOARD   *************************** ALL KINDS OF NEW RISCA GRANTS - DUE APRIL 1ST - https://risca.online/grants/ CONGRATS REBA ON TURNING 29 AGAIN!!!  IF YOU SEE PIPPI, CODY, GRETA sometime this week, take everything out of your pockets and gift it to them immediately in honor of their birthday season!!! (hint: carry around some chandeliers, googly eyes and fake flowers in your pockets all week just in case) ****************************