Seeds In The SOIL
SOIL Gallery, Pioneer Square, Seattle, Washington
IAA’s first bi-coastal exhibition showcased nine alumni artists who were awarded the David C. Driskell Fellowship at Black Seed Studio.
The exhibition opening took place on February 1, 2024 from 5 to 8 pm PST at SOIL Gallery in Pioneer Square, Seattle, featuring an evocative collection of diverse work ranging from paintings, photography, fiber installation, performance, and video work that were conceived during their residency. Nine distinguished artists/ Driskell fellows included in the exhibition were: Rachel Gloria Adams (’22), Rosalba Breazeale (’23), Heather Flor Cron (’21), Brian J. Evans (’22), Hector Nevarez Magaña (’23), Raquel P Miller (’24), Veronica Perez (’21), Benjamin Spalding (’22), and Kevin Xiques (’23).
The opening reception of Seeds in the SOIL took place on February 1, 2024 from 5 to 8 pm PST at SOIL Gallery in Pioneer Square, Seattle.
Seeds in the SOIL exhibition was curated by IAA team members; Jordia Benjamin, Executive Director and Ashley Page, Studio and Programs Manager. “As advocates of diversity and unity,” says Page, “this exhibition not only shines a spotlight on the accomplishments of our residency Fellows but also ignites a cultural interchange between Portland, Maine and the creative community in Seattle.” The Seeds in the SOIL exhibition curators framed this collection that shares a nuanced exploration of identity, roots, and the infinite possibilities that arise when the past is intertwined with the present.
Genevieve Tremblay, SOIL artist and curator, has known IAA’s founders Marcia and Daniel Minter as collaborators for decades, since their time living in Seattle. Her dual role as an IAA Advisory Circle member and SOIL artist member offered the perfect conditions to activate this collaboration.
“We are thrilled to kick off our 2024 exhibitions calendar with this partnership with Indigo Art Alliance and the artists from the David C. Driskell Fellowship. Creating points of synergy and joint projects between our organizations, our communities and regions has long been part of our conversations at IAA, and these rich, bi-coastal partnerships are also part of SOIL’s organizational vision. Such magical things will be kindled!”
PRESS
Maine curators and artists put up exhibition ‘Seeds in the Soil’ in Seattle
PORTLAND, Maine — Portland non-profit Indigo Arts Alliance partnered with Seattle’s SOIL gallery to present an exhibition focused on the artist’s experiences and family history.
Artist’s: Bios & Portfolios.
(Left to Right)
Rachel Gloria Adams (Winter 22): Rachel Gloria Adams is a textile designer and painter living in Portland, ME. Inspired greatly by her beloved state of Maine and the beautiful chaos her two daughters bring, Adams has developed a vibrant, graphic pattern-based visual language filled with references to the natural world.
Rosalba Breazeale (Fall 2023): Rosalba Breazeale received an MFA from the University of New Mexico in 2022 and a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2017. Their multidisciplinary art practice ranges from analog and alternative process photography, videography, installation, and fiber art with an emphasis on sustainable materials. Breazeale’s identity as a Queer, Jewish, transnational adoptee from Peru forms the foundation from which they create work addressing connection to land, immigration, and environmental justice.
Heather Flor Cron (Fall 2021): Heather Flor Cron is a queer Peruvian-American farmer, performer & transdisciplinary artist who works with intuitive movement, installation, video & sound, printmaking, fiber, Instagram and food. Through performance and making with the readymade, available materials, Flor locates the present moment and the relationship between her two cultures. She explores the defeat and transformation of trauma through the twin powers of vulnerability and forgiveness, and how exposing pain can transcend trauma.
Brian J. Evans (Summer 2022): Brian J. Evans is a Citizen Artist: Individuals who reimagine the traditional notions of art-making, and who contribute to society either through the transformative power of their artistic abilities, or through proactive social engagement with the arts in realms including education, community building, diplomacy and healthcare. Evans is currently an Assistant Professor of Dance at Bates College having earned his Masters of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Washington, Seattle Campus.
Hector Nevarez Magaña (Summer 2023): Hector Nevarez Magaña is a Mexican-American photographer living and working in Portland, Maine. Originally from East Palo Alto, California, Hector attended Bowdoin College, where he received his BA in Visual Arts in 2016. The majority of his work is shot on roll film and printed on gelatin silver paper, though he hopes to produce more photo books in the future. Heavily inspired by his Mexican Catholic upbringing and by 20th century Mexican photographers such as Lola and Manuel Álvarez Bravo, his work focuses on themes of romance, remembrance, death, and faith.
Raquel P Miller (Winter 2024): Born and adopted from Cuenca, Ecuador, Raquel P Miller is an emerging artist from Biddeford, Maine. She is focused on using her art as a mode of expression and developing a visual language of her own. From painting to drawing, her work is focused on the confrontations and expressions of identity, experiences, and emotions.
Veronica Perez (Winter 2021): Veronica Perez is an artist whose work is deeply rooted in the community, exploring themes of erasure, identity, and interdependency through her braiding circles workshops. In 2020, they were awarded the Ellis-Beauregard Visual Arts Fellowship, followed by the inaugural fellowship at the David C. Driskell Black Seed Studio at Indigo Arts Alliance in 2021. In 2022, they were a fellow at the Lunder Institute at Colby College, and subsequently had their first solo exhibition titled voices, whispering at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art.
Benjamin Spalding (Fall 2022): Benjamin Spalding is an interdisciplinary artist based in Portland, Maine. Taking inspiration from his Puerto Rican grandfather’s profession as a big band leader, Spalding’s practice is preoccupied with movement and the pageantry of the body, weaving together elements of club culture, sports, and nature with family history.
Kevin Xiques (Winter 2023): Kevin Xiques is a self-taught artist based in Portland, Maine. In December of 2020 he began painting for the first time, and is now fully immersed in his practice. Xiques’s work is primarily based in acrylic paint on canvas. His subject matter focuses on free will and pure expression, which he channels through his use of color and mark making. Growing up as a person of color in a rural town in Vermont, Xiques actively suppressed his individuality, taking away much of his childhood freedom in an attempt to blend in. Currently, his practice is centered around reclaiming that freedom through his work.
The exhibition program included a virtual Voices + Visions Artist Conversation with three of the artists Rosalba Breazeale, Hector Nevarez Magaña and Raquel P. Miller on February 22, 2024.
Each artist shared a personal journey, delving deep into the rich soil of their family history, while emphasizing the transformative power of mentorship, fellowship and evidence that when creative seeds are planted, artistic growth and exploration are fostered.
MORE ABOUT: SOIL Gallery
SOIL Gallery is a Seattle-based not-for-profit, cooperative space, supported and operated by local artists and curators. It exists as an alternative venue for artists to exhibit, develop, and advance their work, and is committed to exhibiting and celebrating art of diverse artists’ backgrounds, media and content.
Exhibition collaborators are SOIL Gallery and their supporters at Shunpike, Artsfund, Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, Paul G. Allen Family Foundation for this exhibition opportunity.
Supporting Partners
