Vol. 8 Presenter: Nuttaphol Ma
Presenting
We Live In A Haunted Place
Summary
We stand on a foundation of ashes. It takes a sociopolitical jolt, at times a revolt, to exorcise the tears, the cries, the longing that’s deeply buried in the land. It is during these times of rupture do we realize that we live in a haunted place. What can we learn from our ghostly pasts? How can we compost our learnings to regenerate new stems of hope?
There are many hauntings to excavate. The visual essay focuses on Ma’s artistic responses to xenophobic aggressions made by the president where he told four congresswomen of color to “go back to their country”. Using images from his wanderings at Death Valley’s lowest point as a visual framework, Ma’s prose reflect the generative actions of his current project entitled “Stitching Dreams of Leaving, Dreams of Roots”. They include his public stitchings of a flag from an immigrant’s lens and his recollections of meaningful conversations with people about what a social imagination of a pledge to a flag may sound like to create a sense of home for all. This project along with a forthcoming artist book that chronicles Ma’s durational work is funded in part by the Fulcrum Fund, a grant program of 516ARTS, made possible by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
Bio
Nuttaphol Ma has participated in selected exhibition spaces that include The Fowler Museum, Canadian Museum of Immigration, The Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Human Resources, High Desert Test Sites, 18th Street Art Center and The Armory Center for the Arts. He has given artist talks and led workshops nationally including Otis College of Art and Design, University of New Mexico, Mills College, Open Engagement Conference at Carnegie Mellon University, and Pitzer College.
Ma has received generous support from the following fellowships and residencies: The Wurlitzer Residency, The Santa Fe Art Institute Thematic Residency on Immigration, The UCLA Confucius Institute and Boethius Institute Dunhuang Projected Artist Fellow, The California Community Foundation Fellowship, The Feitelson Art Fellowship, Pitzer College Emerging Artist Fellow and 18th Street Art Center Artist Fellow.