My name is now spellbound as N”aoc”Wowsugi, weaving its magical spell in support of AOC.
Happy New Year,
Naoco Wowsugi
VERY SAD LAB: THE INCUBATOR
Online Symposium: How Can We Gather Now?
Organized by Washington Projects for the Arts
When: Saturday, February 5, 2022, at 2:00–3:30 pm EST via Zoom
A year ago, Berlin-based artist-curators Prem Krishnamurthy and Asad Raza were asked to think of a question around which we could collectively organize a project. They came back to us with: How can we gather now? Deceptively simple but rich in nuance, their question begs further questions in this moment of lingering health concerns and deep societal divides.
Over the past few months, Krishnamurthy and Raza have invited artists and organizers from around the world to respond to this question through a spectrum of scales and modalities. This weekend, they will be joined by a few of them: microsolidarity facilitator Richard D. Bartlett, Hong Kong and New York-based artist Tiffany Sia, and DC-based artist-organizer Naoko Wowsugi. They invite you to join them online in this congenial inquiry.
Graphics design by Mindy Seu. Please stay tuned for more details about the full project in the coming weeks and months.
This project is generously supported by the Goethe-Institute and Eaton Workshop.
Online Exhibition: Empathy Zone
Hosted by VisArts, Rockville, MD, and at Contemporary Art Mover in Beijing, China
On view: through March 26, 2021
Link: https://www.visartscenter.org/event/empathy-zone/
Globalization is a double-edged sword. While accelerating urbanization and modernization, it also exacerbates conflicts and social issues particularly in the ways immigrants and outsider/marginalized groups are confronted with increasing living costs and other unaffordable living pressures. These ongoing problems are only compounded by crises, such as COVID-19.
A cross-cultural artistic exchange project, Empathy Zone, critically addresses these various issues from the perspectives of eight independent artists living and working in two capital cities, Beijing and DC. In addition to cultural differences, these two capital cities are located in polar opposite places, with a twelve-hour time difference. A virtual exhibition runs through March 26, 2021, and the Empathy Zone blog is updated every Friday with new artwork.
The participating artists from China: Li Linlin, Duan Shaofeng, Ye Su, and Yin Yadi.
The artists from the U.S.: Sobia Ahmad, Antonio McAfee, Joseph Orzal, and Naoko Wowsugi.
This project is a partnership with Contemporary Art Mover (CAM), based in Beijing, and VisArts in Rockville, MD. Learn more about the project here.
Online Artist Talk: "Mapping the Future World: Reimagining Art in DC and Seoul"
Organized by The Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art and Transformer
When: Wednesday, September 2, 2020, at 7:30 PM (EST)
Register Here
Presented in collaboration with the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, this panel will explore cross-cultural artistic exchange in virtual spaces.
Featuring artists: Seo Young Chang, Maps Glover, Esther Eunjin Lee, Hannah Woo, and Naoko Wowsugi
Moderated by Carol Huh, Curator of Contemporary Art at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art.
Online Exhibition: Mapping the Future World
Presented Online: https://www.mappingthefuture.world/
When: August 19 - September 12, 2020
Opening Reception: “Dinner of the Future” on Monday, August 17, 2020, @ 7 PM (EST)
Connecting Korean and DC artists through a series of online conversations & digital communications, Mapping the Future World is building dialogue, connectedness, inspiration, insight, and artwork to make sense of, and move forward in, this uncertain and unprecedented time.
Considering the ways COVID-19 has been radically changing our world, both literally and figuratively, Transformer invited 8 artists to partake in a series of online conversations and group calls mid-May – early August 2020, to imagine ways of approaching an equal and equitable future. South Korean artists Seo Young Chang, Seulki Ki, and Hannah Woo, and DC-based artists Maps Glover, Esther Eunjin Lee, Nara Park, Valerie Wiseman, and Naoko Wowsugi engaged each other in creative dialogue, facilitated by Transformer staff, as they thought through and created artworks that reimagine and reinvent social arrangements, constructs, and structures.
Online Event: "Collective Online Healing: Tea(r)ism"
Hosted by Dirt
When: Sunday, May 31, 2020 at 12 PM EST (National Meditation Day)
Dirt invites you to join us as we collectively take part in a participatory crying tea ceremony Tea(r)ism, a guided meditation in the healing ritual of crying with artist Naoko Wowsugi. A space for contemplation and reflection, Tea(r)ism is a 16-minute audio-guided meditation that encourages participants to release emotions and cleanse their spirits. Originally created for the Smithsonian ‘Ae Kai: A Culture Lab on Convergence in Honolulu, Hawaii — Tea(r)ism facilitates therapeutic group healing to promote bonding and reconciliation with one’s self and neighbors through the form of a ceremonial mamaki tea gathering. Offered to a global audience on National Meditation Day (Sunday, May 31st at 12:00PM EST) via zoom, this 16-minute meditation can be enjoyed from anywhere with minimal set-up requirements.
To Participate:
Please register online here. A zoom link will be sent out to all registered participants
For the optimal Tea(r)ism experience, please come prepared with the following:
One person or more ready to participate
A quiet, comfortable place to sit
Headphones preferred for complete audio immersion
A cup of tea (not too hot)
Facial tissues (just in case)
House Rules *please read*
As the organizers of Collective Online Healing: Tea(r)ism, Dirt strives to create an inclusive and safe environment in which participants focus on the present experience and feel empowered to engage fully throughout this meditation. This participatory performance will not be video recorded, we ask all participants to follow this ethos respectfully.
The meditation session will begin with a brief introduction, followed by the audio-guided session. While individual participant's audio will be turned off during the span of the performance, should you want to share or put forward any intentions to the group, you may do so via the chat. If at any time you need to leave the session, please feel free to do so quietly.
For the optimal experience, participants are encouraged to use the attached custom virtual background if they are able to.
DC Metro Virtual Town Hall: Strategies for Survival in the Arts
Hosted by: the Third Space Network, McLean Project for the Arts, VisArts at Rockville, and Hamiltonian Artists
When: Tuesday, May 12, 2020, 6-7:30 pm
The DC Metro Virtual Town Hall will feature local artists & arts leaders moderating virtual roundtables to share & brainstorm online strategies, project ideas, funding sources, support for artists, & community outreach: all intended to confront the crisis. The Virtual Town Hall is also envisioned as an opportunity for initiating collaborative projects and initiatives: helping to unite arts & cultural communities in the DC region during these extraordinary times.
The event will address the impact of Covid-19 on the visual arts in the DC metropolitan cultural community, an invitation for visual arts organizations, galleries, artists, curators, arts professionals, and the broader public to participate in open dialogue.
Speakers: Tim Davis, Artist/Owner & Director, International Visions; Tim Doud, Artist/Co-Founder, Stable; Annie Farrar, Artist/Board Chair, Washington Sculptors Group; Jaynelle Hazard, Curator/Executive Director, Greater Reston Arts Center; Claire Huschle, Founder & Director, Scaffold; Keyonna Jones, Executive Director, Congress Heights Arts and Culture Center; Victoria Reis, Co-Founder, Executive & Artistic Director, Transformer; Vesela Sretenović, Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, The Phillips Collection; Naoko Wowsugi, Artist
Link: https://thirdspacenetwork.com/dc-metro-virtual-town-hall-ii/
Online Exhibition: "Care Package: Cultural Nutrients for Times Like This"
Curated with love by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center
Link: https://smithsonianapa.org/care/
Care Package is a collection of creative offerings by artists, writers, and scholars with who we have collaborated in recent years. Here, you will find a range of approaches to addressing uncertainty, anxiety, and grief through vision, reflection, and healing. Most have been exhibited in past programs, but have never been made widely accessible until now.
While this body of work may not hold the solutions for everything, we hope that it helps you find some calm amidst the chaos.
E16: The Revolution Will Be Televised @ Transformer in Washington, DC
Place: Transformer in Washington, DC.
When: July 20 – August 24, 2019
Opening Reception: Saturday, July 20, 6:00 -8:00 pm
Founded in 2004, Transformer’s annual Exercises For Emerging Artists is a peer critique & mentorship program created to support a selected group of DC-based emerging artists at critical points or crossroads in their professional growth and creative development.
Focusing on a different artistic discipline each year, E16 brings together four emerging DC-based artists exploring the use of video as a medium for socially conscious commentary. The invited artists will receive guidance and feedback from a series of visiting mentors comprised of established artists, curators, and critics, as well as Transformer staff and their peer E16 artists as they create new work or new body of work over the course of the program.
Designed to stimulate and encourage the participating artists as they create new work, the artists will participate in bi-weekly meetings & as well as studio and museum visits over several months period (May- July 2018), resulting in a group exhibition July 20 – August 24, 2019.
E16 artists include Maps Glover, Alexis Gomez, Paula Martinez, & Tam-anh Nguyen; with lead mentorship from Plakooke (Rachel Debuque & Justin Plakas); and guest mentorship from Mark Beasley, Larry Cook, Leigh Davis, Jaimes Mayhew, Naoko Wowsugi, and Transformer staff.
By The People @ Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building in Washington, DC
Place: Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building (900 Jefferson Drive S.W.)
When: Saturday, June 22, 2019
Washington, D.C.'s largest international arts and dialogue festival, By The People returns for its second year June 15-23 with nine days of free events for all ages in every quadrant; interactive art installations; a floating art installation that will travel D.C.'s waterways; dialogues that address how the District is positioning itself as a city of the future and an example to the world; art in unexpected places; a sale of work by DMV artists; and, together with the Smithsonian, a June 22 "Solstice Saturday" celebration with free programs and performances at Smithsonian museums, which will be open until midnight.
Storie Americane @ Sala1 in Rome, Italy
Storie Americane: Stephanie Williams, Naoko Wowsugi, Elizabeth Acevedo
Curated by Allison Nance
Where: Sala 1, Piazza di Porta San Giovanni 10, Roma
When: March 20 ‐ April 15, 2019 (Tuesday to Saturday from 4.30 pm to 7.30 pm)
Opening Reception: Saturday March 23 2019 – 4.30 to 8 pm
In partnership with International Arts & Artists, presents Storie Americane: Stephanie Williams, Naoko Wowsugi, Elizabeth Acevedo, curated by Allison Nance and supported by DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities' Sister Cities Grant Program, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts,
and with the patronage of the United States Embassy to Italy. Using video installation, photography, and poetry, this exhibition brings together three Washington, DC artists to share work on gender, ethnicity, and the
immigrant experience in America.
THE FUNGUS AMONG US: Our Mycelium Connection @ Redux Contemporary Art Center in Charleston, SC
Place: Redux Contemporary Art Center, Charleston, SC
When: Thursday, March 14th through Saturday, March 23rd, 2019
Produced by Enough Pie
THE FUNGUS AMONG US: Our Mycelium Connection Led by DC-based artist Naoko Wowsugi, the community will create a mushroom-themed meditational planetarium and community mapping project at REDUX Contemporary Art Center for AWAKENING: NOURISH. Artists Mikki Blackmon & Deborah Donovan Rice will fabricate the planetarium ceiling with their incredible textiles and help from Enough PiePs knitting circle, while Ms. Wowsugi will create a video installation to project bringing to life the incredible secret superpowers of fungi. Collaborations with school students from James Simmons Elementary and Meeting Street Academy to fabricate mushrooms, and partnership with local experts will inform the installation. Connections with “invisible” threads for communicating across the space, and an unami-themed tasting will be part of this fun and festive installation. Programming throughout this 10 day show is being scheduled. If you want to collaborate, please let us know! Special thanks to Technical Event Company, The City of Charleston Department of Cultural Affairs, and The Post and Courier Foundation for support of this installation.
Collaborators:
Mikki Blackman, Fiber Artist
Deborah Donovan-Rice, Fiber Artist
Valerie Wiseman, Mycorocosmos Main Visual Illustrator
Georgie Payne, Mycorocosmos Co-Scriptor
Matt Cohen, Music and Sound Design
Sage Dakota Graham, Bus Stop Artist
Heather Thornton, Bus Stop Artist
Todd St. Onge, Technical Event Company
Rosemary Giusti Dillon, Sculptor, Tua Lingua
Jennifer Murphy, Street Creatures Asheville
Mia Loia, Painter
Katie Petterson, Illustrator
Cara Ernst, James Simons Teacher, Artist & Organizer
Lindsay Huggins, James Simons & Meeting Street Academy Art Teacher
Sharon Beeson, James Simons Teacher
Pamella Gibbs, James Simons Teacher
Jennifer Savage, James Simons Teacher
Rene Souther, James Simons Teacher
Milissa Stooks, James Simons Teacher
Smarel Nicole Brown, Nutritionist & Restaurant Owner
Celie Daily, Botanist
Sebastian DeModica, EP Volunteer
Radia Heyward, Charleston Promise Neighborhood & Steering Committee
Yana King, First African Childhood Development Center
Jimmy Livingston, Mepkin Abbey Farmer
Brian Wheat, Agricultural Expert &
Liz Wuestefeld, John L. Dart Librarian
Elijah Williamson Rose, Mycorocosmos Narration
Stacy Schuur, Biologist & Yoga Facilitator, Mediation Narration
Luna Bui, Mycorocosmos Editor
Nollan O’Reilly, Mycorocosmos Editor
Kasey Sullivan, Two River Gourmet Mushrooms Mycological Advisor
Tradd Cotter, Mushroom Mountain Mycological Advisor
Antonius-Tin Bui, Illustration Assistant
Brennan Hatton, Digital Art Advisor
Amanda Willes, Special Assistant
Victor Zordan, Special Effect Support
Diante Gibbs, St. Julian Devine Community Center Manager
Enough Pie Knitting Circle: Beverly Bruck, Jill Conway, Christine Cronin, Erika Dinermann, Gita Garritano, Kathleen Gunning, Ryann Lyden, Raquel Quiroz, Brenda Shokes and Loquita Williams
Enough Pie: Cathryn Davis, Bennett Jones and Kate Nevin
Redux Contemporary Art Center: Cara Leepson, Greg Colleton and Megan Collier-Bansil
...and many more! Thanks to EVERYONE who made THE FUNGUS AMONG US!
The Night of Ideas: Facing Our Time
Place: La Maison Française – Embassy of France, 4101 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC
When: Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019, 6:30 p.m. till 12 midnight.
The first Washington, D.C., edition of the Night of Ideas, is co-organized by the Hirshhorn Museum and the Embassy of France in the United States. With talks and performances, a global marathon of ideas will be activated by today’s leading thinkers and creators. For one night only, guests will have the unique opportunity to hear from over 50 philosophers, sociologists, economists, musicians, artists, and authors from the Washington, D.C., area and around the world while exploring the museum during special extended hours.
For its Washington debut, the Night of Ideas will explore the theme “Facing Our Time” through a diverse range of topics, including civil rights, digital privacy, art and advocacy, economics, feminist philosophy, art history, and more.
Links:
Open Studio DC closing event
Place: Open Studio DC at 1135 Okie street, NE Washington DC
When: Friday, October 5, 2018 from 7pm till 11pm.
Join for Open Studio DC, yet another artist run studio closing. Throughout the night Amber Wolf’s Hair Salon “Feel So Fine” will help fundraising and giving out haircuts for @_nomu.nomu_ upcoming project for against really crazy over-development in DC. Come get haircuts and learn about the project!!!!! Music will 🔥 and there will be a collaborative installation with @lordyko💰 plus many limited edition prints and very very limited edition capsule items for sale!
The Umami Taste Development Center in Asbury Park, NJ!
Place: 2nd Avenue Beach, Asbury Park, NJ
When: Thursday, August 2, 2018 from 7:30 pm
Hosted by Siren Arts
Umami (/uˈmɑːmi/) is one of the five basic tastes. Umami was first identified by Japanese scientist, Kikunae Ikeda in 1908. He found that glutamate was responsible for the palatability of the broth made from seaweed. For The Umami Taste Development Center, each participant will get Umami training through a group meditation. Through the experience of stimulating our taste buds and epiphanic realizations, we can then channel other senses opening new avenues of appreciation for the universe.
The Outwin : American Portraiture Today @ Ackland Art Museum, UNC-Chapel Hill!
Place: Ackland Art Museum, UNC-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
From June 1, 2018 - August 26, 2018
Open Engagement 2018 "Sustainability"@ Queens Museum!
Place: Queens Museum, Queens NY
From May 11–13, 2018
Presentation: Cultivating DC through Permacounterculture
Panels: Nicole Dowd, SarahO’Donoghue, Tef Reese and Naoko Wowsugi
Taking its namesake from ‘permaculture’—an ecological approach characterized by ethical self-sufficiency—“Permacounterculture” synthesized punk music, urban farming, and diverse communities to advocate for food justice in rapidly gentrifying Washington DC. Through an introduction of the project, its collaborative processes, and its community- driven outcomes, the team will discuss how the work catalyzed local subcultures in addition to strategies for supporting sustainable social practices.
BABBLE @ Gallery CA!
Place: Gallery CA, Baltimore, MD!
From March 2 - March 29, 2018
Curator: Yuzhuo (Mark) Zhang
Web: www.babblebabble.com
The Outwin : American Portraiture Today @ Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art!
Place: Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO
From October 5, 2017 – January 7, 2018
Photo by Tal Wilson,
Tal was my photography professor at KCAI and he taught me how to photograph everything as well as the word “Caucasian.” He brought his students to the museum! So sweet!