After a packed Spring and probably one of the most productive and active Summers of my life, I could not be more excited to welcome the new season and the shift that comes with the cooler months of the Fall (even though we just wrapped up our second Summer in the lower Hudson Valley with the temps reaching 90+ degrees)!

I don’t know about you but the Fall for me is always about ushering in new experiences whether it’s the explosion of colors in nature or reconnecting with friends who were away. Maybe it’s the spirit of back-to-school in the air but I always experience Fall with the excitement of a new sketchbook…pages and pages waiting to be filled with whatever words and medium I feel like exploring. And, I’ve gathered a lot of inspiration since you last heard from me.

The biggest moment happened in July when I went to Italy where I participated in my first artist residency. I was invited by fellow artist, Eyenga Bokamba who I met last Spring when we showed at Frieze LA together with Alice Riot and Black Dove. When a work connection turns into a true friendship, amazing things can happen! I had what can only be described as a magical, life altering week in northern Italy. High on a hill above the ancient Valle Camonica in the town of Cividate Camuno in Lombardy, surrounded by the majestic embrace of the Italian Alps, stands RUC. This mystical place is an ancestral home where artists from all over the world come to work in and be inspired by nature and history. During this week our group was made up of four artists from completely different backgrounds and life experiences working in various mediums. We met as strangers but we left as dear friends.

I arrived at RUC with no real plan for what I was going to make or how I would use my time. I’m a person who likes lists and maps and knowing what’s next but since multiple things can be true at once, I’m also interested in pushing myself beyond the bounds of what I think is possible and what is comfortable for me. Turns out having no plan was an excellent and important choice. I wasn’t interested in controlling any aspect of my time in residence and it felt like I was sinking into the roots of my intuitive art practice and extending them to my everyday life. There were no barriers to experiencing the place. My time there felt raw and like an opening. It was a reset and a space for creativity and quiet contemplation.

Every morning I woke up to a symphony of church bells in conversation with each other and the mountains where they created an echo, and I could hear the faint calls of the donkeys and sheep who lived just down the dirt road. Mercifully there was no rooster nearby to wake us all at dawn but those sounds, and the way the morning light filtered through the wooden shutters of my bedroom window, reminded me of my childhood visiting my grandparents in Argentina in a tiny, rural town. All of these memories blended together made me feel both firmly planted and mindful of the moment I was in and deeply nostalgic for a time long gone. I chose to wake early daily to share the sacred ceremony of a fresh cup of Italian coffee made in a percolator with my fellow residents. After coffee and meditation, I would hike up the canyon before the day got too hot and then I spent the rest of my time creating either outdoors or in a bright corner studio on the third floor overlooking the valley and the village in the distance with the vineyards and meadow on the property below.

While there was much time for creating, we also spent several afternoons exploring the area nearby including hiking with an anthropologist in Foppe di Nadro where we encountered ancient rock engravings left for us by our ancestors of the Copper, Bronze and Iron Ages, visiting the archeological museum in Cividate Camuno, enjoying a decadent farm to table meal on a mountain road, visiting a local market where I stocked up on everything from face masks to jars of spices and herbs (European supermarkets, farmers markets and pharmacies are as important to me as art museums when I travel abroad!), collecting stones and drinking local wines on Monte Isola, and swimming in beautiful Lake Iseo on one of the hottest recorded days in the region. Of all the things my eyes saw and everything I learned, what I walked away with that touched me most are the deep connections that were forged that week.

Every evening we gathered with other international artists living and working on the property for a deliciously curated vegan meal prepared by a local chef. We shared many conversations about life, history, contemporary art, aesthetics, culture, family, personal experiences, language and design. What I found most inspiring about RUC is that it carries decades of history and legacy, but also remains humble and open to new generations and ideas. It’s the perfect balance between old and new.

All of these experiences combined lead me to create work that embraces a vision of connection, empowerment and joy inspired by nature and historical and contemporary cultural influences. There was a fluidity to my time and work there that I know I will be bringing to my studio practice for years to come. The week culminated in an exhibit of our completed works inside a 12th century deconsecrated church in Breno, the Chiesa di Sant'Antonio part of the Camus Museo Camuno, where I felt like the spirit of the place possessed us. It was inspiring to bring the 21st century and contemporary art into such an ancient and raw space.

I’ll be sharing my artist statement about this collection soon but in the meantime you can see it here.

You can see more from this experience (including lots of videos) by heading to my Instagram feed.