Issue #12 ~ Summer 2023
Artwork
Cover Art and two additional pieces by Sarah Louise Wilson
Sarah Louise Wilson is a California based artist. She writes, directs, teaches, paints, and acts. In 2006, she co-founded Stella Bella Productions with Mercedes LeAnza. There, she penned and starred in her pseudo-autobiographical romantic comedy “Jelly”. It stars Natasha Lyonne (Orange Is the New Black) and Hollywood icon Ed McMahon. Jelly has since been released on Netflix, Hulu, PBS, and The Sundance Channel. The second film for Stella Bella Productions was The Accidental Death of Joey by Sue. The film premiered at the HBO Latino Film Festival and stars Mercedes LeAnza, Steve Talley, Lin Shaye, Ashley Fink, Caroline LeDuc, Ignacio Serricchio, Vanessa Libertad Garcia, and Merrill Davis.
Sarah is a 2023 Creative Corp Grant Recipient. With this grant she will write a new musical about the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic specifically highlighting stories from the people in San Bernardino County.
She has been featured in Esquire KZ, Variant Literature, Drunk Monkeys, The Huffington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Indiewire, Cosmopolitan, Variety, Diversions LA, and more.
For more information check out her website at sarahlouisewilson.com
Two Pieces by Aaron Lelito
Aaron Lelito is a visual artist and writer from Buffalo, NY. In his photographic work, he is primarily drawn to the patterns and imagery of nature. His images have been published as cover art in Red Rock Review, Peatsmoke Journal, and The Scriblerus. His work has also appeared in Barzakh Magazine, Novus Literary Arts Journal, The Primer, and SPECTRA Poets. He is editor in chief of the art & literature website Wild Roof Journal.
Artist Statement: My central subject matter is natural imagery, using the fundamental shapes and patterns of nature to connect with larger themes of environment, climate, and ecology. Along with the macro view, there’s the micro–one’s personal, subjective relationship with nature. There are restorative, therapeutic, and transcendent aspects of interacting with the waves, flowing water, leaves, and branches. To me, these simple patterns have a deep resonance with the transformations that are a part of human life.
Three Pieces by Colomba Klenner
Colomba Klenner is a Boston-based painter and illustrator, pursuing a Painting Bachelors of Fine Arts at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Born in Chile and raised in Singapore, Colomba’s art incorporates contrasting cultures and ecosystems. Colomba’s art explores natural elements such as animals, plants, fungi and even microfauna. Her first solo exhibition, “Microscopic”, will be exhibited at the Banana Gallery in Boston, Massachusetts this October 2023.
Artist Statement: My art delicately weighs concept and process, recognizing that one cannot exist without the other.My subjects are the natural world. I represent the way this world looks on the outside—the flora and fauna who inhabit it—and the inside—the anatomy and building blocks of life.Within every subject, there exists a new world. Yet these worlds reveal themselves only to those who look closely. Recently the joy of scrutinizing fruit under a microscope inspired me to represent this paradox of worlds and the processes of life we cannot see.
Mulberry paper is my favorite material. Fragile in its essence as well, this paper is thin, translucent, and, best of all, built with fibers that endure throughout the artistic process. This allows not only for visual variety but a natural energy of vulnerability that glows beyond the physical paint.Each wooden panel has been treated and prepared with mulberry paper. Each is delicate and complex in the material nature, just like the world they display.There is beauty in this fragility — both physical and spiritual.
Shaping and Reshaping by Kim Roger Abi Zeid Daou
Kim Roger Abi Zeid Daou is a storyteller, artist, and PhD candidate at McGill University. At the heart of her stories and art is an exploration of meaning-making, neuroscience, and the dynamic and poetic ways in which we create narratives and experiences. She is the author of You are Memory, and I Archive (Cactus Press, 2023) and The Taste of Sun (Ethel, 2023).
Beauty of the Night by Mary Proctor
Artist Statement:
I want all to see beauty as it is meant to be seen. Take away the distraction of the day and spot light yourself and see just how truly beautiful you are. Just As I have done in capturing this image
My dream is to help all humanity learn it is ok to just be you. Replace all judgement, labels, and all created descriptive labels taught to us, with the knowing of just how precious each one of us are, with no need to define, such aweee, such amazement, such perfection, and unique beauty that we all possess, simply enjoy all the goodness within and all you see.
