Desert Stars and Queer Archives
Levi River House and Kat Smith Reflect on their Great Meadows Foundation Travel Grant
Great Meadows Foundation awards Artist Professional Development Grants (APDG) to Kentucky artists to promote the growth and development of visual art in the state by improving the critical skills, resources, knowledge, and connections of fine artists.
As part of this ongoing series, Kudzujelly publishes interviews with grantees upon their return, reflecting on their experiences and the ways the grant travel impacted their practice.
Can you tell us a little bit about your art practices?
Levi: Previously, I have primarily worked in acrylic paint and ink, but have found myself becoming increasingly interested in exploring different media, like working with layered paper and graphite. My work often explores concepts of home and how we relate to it, moments of daily magic, and connections to nature, gender, family, and solitude. A lot of my process hinges on spending time alone.
Kat: My creative practice mostly manifests through fibers, printmaking, zines, and film photography, often melding these materials together. The themes I’m often inspired by include the natural landscape around me, home, reflection, gender, communal practice, and liberatory lineages.
What was the focus of your grant application?
We applied to see exhibitions at the Palm Springs Museum of Art, including To Move Toward the Limits of Living, and Tzahualli: Mi memoria en tu reflejo (My Memory in Your Reflection). We also applied to explore Salvation Mountain, East Jesus, Joshua Tree, The Salton Sea, FolkArt Gallery, and San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art.
What were the highlights of your experience?
We first went to the Palm Springs Art Museum to see To Move Toward the Limits of Living, showcasing LGBTQIA+ artists and their responses to environmental and cultural climates, The Art and Design of Howard Smith, a retrospective of Howard Smith’s multimedia work, and Tzahualli: Mi memoria en tu reflejo (My Memory in Your Reflection), a collection of Guadalupe Rosales’ work and archival practices capturing and commenting on Chicano rave and party culture as well as the unjust targeting of Chicano culture by police.
Rosales’ exhibition was particularly impactful because it was a vulnerable collection of pieces from the artist’s years-long, personal archive. It included letters, entire runs of magazines, street signs, sculptures, paintings, word art, and photographs. The set up of the exhibition was different from what’s typically shown by large institutions– at one point, you walk upon a makeshift dancefloor next to archival projections of a Chicano rave.
In another room, a wall is split with a tricked out vehicle seat, complete with a disco ball in the middle. We questioned what it means to reclaim spaces that have a legacy of being inaccessible to marginalized communities and the ways that institutions can break away from sterile-feeling, stereotypical spaces. In each show, small moments are brought to life, honored, and cherished as a way to celebrate lives lived against the odds.
Next, we camped in Joshua Tree National Park. Along with hiking, we took time to do sketches of the landscape and practice our film photography by setting up a collaborative portrait session. We both felt impacted by being in a different climate, especially since we both feel that often, our art evolves from time spent in nature. The landscape was so different from any other environment either of us had ever been in, full of life flourishing in harsh conditions.
From Joshua Tree we visited Salvation Mountain, East Jesus, and the House of Dots, it was incredible to see such a variety of outsider art, talk with locals about the legacy of the area, and learn more about the sheer volume of people who visit. All three installations were a testament to art's ability to create spaces for connection. We talked about how each of these artists had a vision, did everything they could to make it happen, and did it for themselves before anyone else. Within our own art making, this is something we find ourselves aspiring to do- make what is true to ourselves, and hope that it resonates or moves someone else. We strive for internal satisfaction within our work, and aim to be committed to the discovery process along the way.
Next, in San Diego, we visited the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Mingei International Museum. The show that stuck out the most was For the People: Modern Printmaking in Mexico, showcasing The Taller de Gráfica Popular (TGP). The TGP was a Mexican printmaking collective portraying scenes of social resistance, anti-fascist propaganda, labor practices, and commentary on the Mexican Revolution. It inspired us to try out new methods, think more critically about what themes we’re exploring, and what mediums will most effectively propel our work conceptually.
How did the experience assist your development and growth as an artist, conceptually and otherwise?
Levi: Overall, I feel like I have been totally reinvented in my vision of my work and its future potential and have been given a new perspective on what is possible as an artist.
The experiences I had on this trip allowed me to see my own art differently. Through exposure to artists who pursued their passions no matter how their work was received, I was reminded of a value of mine that I had begun to forget: that I really can just make the art I want to make, and I don’t have to be scared when I do it.
Kat: There were themes throughout the whole trip that deeply resonated with me, such as queer reclamation of the home, the contradictory yet fused nature of revealing and masking our queer lives, ordinary moments, the value of archiving, and being in creative relationship with local ecologies. I’m excited to continually bring these into my practice, specifically with two different projects I’m currently working on. Lastly, I’m feeling really inspired by the dedication many of these artists had despite any formal training, but through the sheer commitment they had to living a creative life.
Any other non-art related highlights from your trip?
A favorite moment during the trip was stargazing in Joshua Tree. Seeing the stars in the desert is like nothing else. The sky was so open and clear– we could see the milky way and saw sooo many shooting stars! It felt really special to get to share a quiet moment reveling in the beauty of the cosmos and feeling small in the best way.