Ariana Lombardi | I Know That I Am

NO LAND
54 1/2 E. San Francisco St. #7
November 4- December 3, 2017

Opening Reception & Performance: Saturday, November 4, 6-9 pm
performances at 7 & 8 pm

Writing Workshop: Thursday, November 9, 6-9 pm
Reading: Saturday, November 11, 7 pm

From Minos to the modern day, every good labyrinth has held two types of challenges: those of the physical world, and those of the mind and soul. Ariana Lombardi’s installation at Strangers Collective’s No Land art space is no different. For the gallery’s first-ever artist residency, the writer, performer and visual artist will build an immersive display of art objects that links to a winding path of words she spun over several years of international travels. I Know That I Am opens on Saturday, November 4 from 6-9 pm, with a performance of the poetry that is the basis for the show’s visual components by Lombardi at 7 pm and 8pm. She will occupy the space from November 4-11, with a writing workshop on November 9 from 6-9 pm and a reading from her forthcoming travel memoir on November 11 at 7 pm. I Know That I Am will be on view through December 3, 2017. 

“It strikes me that people think writers just sit and write, because language is everything,” says Lombardi. “If I’m out in the world, I’m writing. You’re not just writing when you’re sitting there typing.” This notion has guided Lombardi, who graduated from Santa Fe University of Art and Design in 2012, to develop a thoroughly mobile writing practice over the past several years. The pursuit has taken her across the United States, through Turkey and Europe, to Guangzhou, China where she has lived since 2015. Along the way, Lombardi has collected words and drawings in her notebooks and objects in her pockets. These elements converge in I Know That I Am, which will feature found object collections, visual art, installation art, poetry and non-fiction writing.

“Whatever medium I’m working with, the intent is the same. Each piece is a moment that captures a movement of the soul, of the self,” Lombardi says. “Here I am in this moment, and that moves me to the next one.” Lombardi has methodically collected meaningful objects since her childhood in New Jersey, when her mother gave her a special box to safeguard small treasures. When she enrolled at College of Santa Fe in 2008 to study writing, her conception of collecting expanded to encompass words and experiences. The school briefly closed and then reopened at the end of her freshman year, leaving Lombardi and a small group of classmates to rebuild the community. They held salons to share their work, mounted interactive art and writing projects, and collaborated on a digital publication for emerging creatives called KNACK Magazine. 

In Lombardi’s junior year, she studied abroad in Turkey. After graduating she traveled across Europe with her sister Liv Lombardi, a musician who was in the midst of writing an album. These adventures were so fruitful for her writing and language practice that she ventured even farther, moving to China to teach English. Guangzhou became her home base for work and travels in Asia. “When I came to China, I started a new salon series and it blew up,” she says. She found herself at the forefront of yet another community of emerging artists and writers. “That’s the beautiful thing about China, you say you are and so you are,” Lombardi explains. This radical self-invention helped inspire the title of her residency at No Land.  

Lombardi has big plans for her next artistic endeavor. She’s gearing up to move to Taipei where she will study Mandarin, launch a new iteration of The Salon, and put the finishing touches on her book. She aims to bridge far-flung creative communities through her projects, Home Is A Lonely Hunter and The Salon. At the moment, she’s busy consolidating her creative output since college for I Know That I Am. On the exhibition’s opening night, she will read a cycle of poems, or language meditations, titled Instructions. These works directly relate to the art objects and artistic journey on view. At the end of her week of engaging with the public, she’ll read from her recently completed manuscript, This Body of Water. 

“I Know That I Am is a culmination of a universe of creative output,” says No Land co-director Kyle Farrell. “Visitors will discover common themes that carry them from one body of work to the next, but the experience is as intuitive as it is intellectual. Ari will inspire you to surrender to the moment, and get back in touch with your senses and emotions in visceral ways.”

Workshop Details

Thursday, November 9, 6-9 pm
$10-$15 suggested donation

Lombardi will present a creative communication writing workshop called, "Hear It Is".  She'll invite participants to work with the sonics of language in experimental ways in order to write a poem which reflects one's innate sense of sound. How do you create meaning from sound? The event challenges participants to investigate and experiment with the narratives we construct, emotionally and definitively, when we are stripped of the facility to understand the meaning of the words being spoken to us. Attendees will be led by Lombardi in a discussion about issues and considerations of translation. You'll walk away from this workshop with a more attuned sense of the texture that sound makes and how to approach writing in unique and creative ways. 

Bio

Ariana Lombardi is a writer, artist and educator. She is a founder and the host of The Salon. She has hosted salons in Guangzhou, China and the States, as well as Salon-powered creative communication workshops. She is Co-founder and Executive Editor of KNACK Magazine and is member of Strangers Collective. She has interned at The Georgia O'Keeffe Research Center and SITE Santa Fe. Her writing has been published in That’s PRD, Strangers, Vol. 1, and The Laurel Review. She has been participant and performed in exhibitions in Guangzhou, China and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Some include, Embrace Ambition, (Arte Place Gallery at the Guangzhou Opera House), Fei Gallery’s, Pink Party Summer Festival (One Creative Community Art Park), and Art23 Contemporary Art Gallery. Ariana has been living in Asia since 2015.

Creature Feature

A Halloween Market
by Dandelion Guild

NO LAND
54 1/2 E. San Francisco St. #7
October 28-29, 2017

Market Hours: 11 am-5 pm

Witches form covens, vampires stick to their clans, and werewolves hunt in packs. In the village of Santa Fe, a group of wildly creative black sheep has established a guild. Calixte Raifsnider’s start-up, Dandelion Guild, sprung from a regional community of makers that was hungry to collaborate. The DIY project’s series of pop-up artisan markets has been building momentum since last spring, when Raifsnider garnered a spot in the 2017 bizMIX Startup Accelerator. This fall, Dandelion Guild unites local artists, vendors, makers and monsters for a Halloween pop-up market at Strangers Collective’s No Land art space on October 28 and 29. CREATURE FEATURE is open both days from 11 am to 5 pm, with tricks and treats provided by Afterlife Alchemy Jewelry, Ashley Blanton, The Bookman & The Lady, Cold Lantern Collection, Jenny Rocks and Lindsay Payton. 

“Each market we create adds another chapter to our story,” says Raifsnider. “This one is shrouded in shadows, but that’s where you find the best treasures.” From the talismanic accessories of Afterlife Alchemy Jewelry to the metamorphic, mixed-media collages of Ashley Blanton, CREATURE FEATURE is Dandelion Guild’s spookiest manifestation yet. Cold Lantern Collection contributes illustrations inspired by classic horror films, Lindsay Payton conjures dark fairytales in her narrative drawings, The Bookman & The Lady unveils a curated collection of horror and dark fantasy novels, and Jenny Rocks offers up beautiful and bizarre found object jewelry. “If you’re looking to gear up for Halloween, there’s be no better place to be on the weekend before the big day,” says Raifsnider.

Raifsnider worked with Betterday Coffee to put together the first Dandelion Guild pop-up last April, and collaborated with Eliza Lutz of Matron Records on a larger, more elaborate manifestation of the market at Ghost in mid-June. She’s been a purveyor of vintage apparel for years, and works with her partner Benjamin Bailey-Buhner to sell rare books under the moniker The Bookman & The Lady. They run both businesses online, but have dreamed of opening a brick-and-mortar location. 

“We found ourselves in the same boat as a lot of DIY vendors we know,” says Bailey-Buhner. “We couldn’t afford a space on our own, so pooling resources made a lot of sense.” Dandelion Guild was their solution, a DIY passion project with a seriously collaborative mission. The company’s name, inspired by Ray Bradbury’s 1957 novel Dandelion Wine, is a reflection of this philosophy. “Dandelion is a lovely, lyrical word, and Guild anchors it,” says Raifsnider. “Our events are really fun and lively, and they also provide support to these professional makers and vendors who are working hard to make a living. It’s hugely inspiring.” 

Dandelion Guild’s participation in bizMIX this spring and summer has helped transform the grassroots endeavor into a full-fledged business, though Raifsnider is intent on preserving the organic energy of her early events. “We want to maintain that dynamic, vibrant, community fun feel, but within a structure,” she says. The pop-up markets are part of Raifsnider’s long-term plan to open a storefront that connects local vendors with treasure hunters.

“Dandelion Guild harnesses the collective power of emerging artists and artisans, a mission we can very much identify with,” says No Land co-director Alex Gill. “We’re excited to add some Halloween mischief to Calixte’s magical brew.” As past Dandelion Guild markets have shown, there are some surprises in store during the weekend of CREATURE FEATURE. “Who knows, there might just be a séance,” hints Raifsnider. 

Poster art: Cold Lantern Collection, Made Like New, digital illustration, 2017, 8 x 10 in.

Dandelion Guild

Dandelion Guild is curated, collaborative retail committed to forwarding the interests of talented local vendors and makers in Santa Fe. With this in mind, we will combine our resources to create a unique retail environment featuring vintage and handmade clothing, jewelry, books and other accessible art forms.

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Afterlife Alchemy Jewelry

Afterlife Alchemy Jewelry is Nature-inspired, earth-embodiment adornment that invokes healing and medicinal protection through talismanic representations. Each Afterlife Alchemy design is cleansed and super-charged with earthen, solar or lunar energy. Jewelry is not just jewelry; it is mystical energy. 

"Jewelry holds power, intention and meaning, creating realms that can emit this magic." 
-Monica Watson, Creative Designer

website.

Ashley Blanton

Ashley Blanton creates metamorphic mutations that are seeking new homes in which to belong. These handmade, original, small mixed media collages on paper are macabre, magical mementos for your walls.

website.

The Bookman & The Lady

The Bookman & The Lady believe in the magic of real objects...be they books or vintage clothing or perhaps the odd bit of ephemera. Combining powers, the two specialize in uncommon and collectible books, with an emphasis on fantasy, science fiction and horror. They also curate a small but colorful explosion of vintage clothing for stylish and eccentric souls.

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Cold Lantern Collection

I design and illustrate distinct and sometimes subtle images based on the Horror genre, specifically films. Have been described by others as “Macabre. Comic Booky. Satanic. Eighties.”  Don’t listen to them, they don’t know me. -J.

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Jenny Rocks

Jenny Rocks is the alter ego of Jenn Ingram--hot yoga teacher, clerk at Art.i.fact, waitress at Jambo and pet sitter extraordinaire. Jenny Rocks is a jewelry company as diverse as her resume with a sweet side and an edgy side. "Gumball" necklaces, steampunk jewelry, headbands with giant plastic sharks, bug pins, gnome rings, flower clips, and animal barrettes. You never know what you will find at a Jenny Rocks booth! 

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Lindsay Payton

A locally based artist in Santa Fe, NM, Lindsay Payton has always found refuge from every day life in stories. The raconteurs that made up her childhood influenced an eventual need to express her own stories through fiction, and then art.

Two years ago, fiction was put on the back burner to make way for the illustrations that were quickly coming to life. Today, she continues her narrative illustrations featuring children lost in the woods, local urban legends, hidden creatures and ancient fears. Making life less mundane by bringing light to the darkest tales of old so they are never forgotten.

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Ruminations & Remnants

A pop-up exhibition of illustrations & prints

by Kat Kinnick & Zahra Marwan

NO LAND
54 1/2 E. San Francisco St. #7
July 22-August 6, 2017

Opening Reception: Saturday, July 22, 6-9 pm
Closing Reception: Sunday, August 6, 6-9 pm with Lone Piñon

Kat Kinnick and Zahra Marwan met just a few months ago, and exhibited together for the first time in late June. The joint show was in a red barn at the Rio Grande Community Farm in Albuquerque, with illustrations and prints hanging from the rafters and pinned to alfalfa bales. In a new version of the pop-up exhibition, Kinnick and Marwan travel from the humble farm to a gallery on the Santa Fe Plaza. Though they’ve landed in a more traditional art venue, the artists maintain a down-to-earth philosophy about their work. Both of them blend natural imagery with personal narratives, seeking to connect with diverse audiences. Ruminations & Remnants opens at Strangers Collective’s No Land on Saturday, July 22 from 6-9 pm. The show’s closing reception on Sunday, August 6 features Albuquerque acoustic trio Lone Piñon. 

“It started at the farmer’s market,” says Kinnick. That’s where Marwan sells her illustrations, and Kinnick’s partner Jordan Wax sometimes performs with his band Lone Piñon. “Zahra saw an album cover I designed for Lone Piñon, and reached out to me to do a show,” Kinnick recalls. “She told me that she makes art as her living. I was like, ‘How does this person do this?’” They became fast friends, and have supported each other in their early careers as professional artists.“Kat calls herself an ‘in the closet’ artist, but since we did the last show she’s been making a lot more work,” says Marwan. “She’s inspired me a lot in so many ways as well.”

Kinnick grew up in Albuquerque, and her parents restore Navajo rugs. She studied art at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. Even in her time away from the high desert, she made paintings of New Mexico’s flora and fauna. Now living in Santa Fe, she continues to depict the natural world with the intention of bringing viewers back in touch with the wild. She works in watercolor and gouache to bring plants and animals to life on paper and board. “Creating culture is like creating a value system,” she says. “My work represents my heart and my values. I feel like if we knew animals and plants better, and were more connected to them, then we’d live in a healthier world.”  

Marwan was born in Kuwait, and moved to Albuquerque with her family when she was a child. Now an American citizen, she has traveled back and forth several times in the past few years to visit family. Her watercolor-and-ink illustrations capture everyday moments in both places, highlighting differences and similarities between the two cultures that Marwan moves between. Other drawings feature charming portraits of her friends, or scenes from her travels across the world. “I search for certain things that I remember, and invent things as well,” Marwan says. “I blend together real experiences with things that I imagine. Drawing helps gets these things out.” 

When it comes to selling their work, both artists prioritize accessibility. “At the market, some people are like, ‘You shouldn’t be selling your art at a place like this!’” Marwan says. “I’m like, ‘Why can’t it be sold like tomatoes?’”  

At the show’s closing reception on Sunday, August 6, Lone Piñon—who helped connect Kinnick and Marwan—will provide music. The group has revived and updated the Chicano stringband style that once flourished in New Mexico, bringing a devoted and explosive musicianship to Northern New Mexican polkas and chotes, virtuosic Mexican huapango and son calentano, and classic borderlands conjunto. Jordan Wax, Greg Glassman and Noah Martinez are the band’s members.