“The Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition” 2015 Profiles

Kenseth Armstead

Kenseth Armstead’s EAF15 project, Master Work: Astoria Houses, Building 24, exists to challenge viewer perspectives and visually bridge the gap between the neighborhood’s public housing and luxury condominiums. READ MORE>

Charlotte Becket & Roger Sayre

For their collaborative EAF15 project Full Tilt, Becket and Sayre built the facade of a neighborhood bodega, and tipped it over so that its front faces upwards towards the sky. Full Tilt addresses the mysterious ubiquity of these stores as well as the commercial rezoning that continues to affect the park’s community. “Bodegas don’t have complete immunity,” Becket says, “but they are persistent in a way that’s not very common…” READ MORE>

José Carlos Casado

José Carlos Casado approached the creation of his EAF15 project Trade with inspiration from the economic and environmental transformations he observed in the Arctic Circle. In October of 2014, José Carlos was part of an artist residency aboard an exploration ship that sailed to Svalbard in the Arctic Circle. READ MORE>

Torkwase Dyson

When Torkwase Dyson visited her mother, who was abroad in Ghana a couple of years ago, they went to Elmina Castle. The castle, which was erected in 1482 as a trading post, played a major role in the Atlantic Slave Trade route. READ MORE>

Carla Edwards

A “Bathtub Madonna” is an American vernacular tradition in which a statue of the Virgin Mary is placed inside an upturned bathtub to form a devotional icon creating a sacred space known as a grotto. READ MORE>

Davey Hawkins

As an active surfer, Davey Hawkins is intimately aware of the fluctuating state of marine environments. For his EAF15 project, Inclusions, Hawkins focused on marine Styrofoam—a synthetic, non-degradable blue foam that seeps into waterways and washes onto shorelines. “I find chunks of it all the time when I go surfing,” Hawkins says of the material… READ MORE>

Lena Henke

In European tradition a tree is placed atop a new building once it has been completed. This celebratory ritual, known as “topping out,” has made its way to America, in a modernized fashion, to replace the practice of ribbon cutting. Three years ago, Lena Henke arrived in New York City, a place in which she had always wanted to live… READ MORE>

David Horvitz

“When you’re awake, everything is linear,” David Horvitz says as he rings a wind chime to test its sound. The chime immediately induces a dreamy state, one in which the aforementioned linear perception drifts away into the breeze. Horvitz draws from the lullaby “All The Pretty Little Horses,” specifically seven notes in the melody that are repeated throughout the song… READ MORE>

Charlotte Hyzy

Too often, people grow up with their bodies placed under public and private scrutiny. Charlotte Hyzy’s EAF15 work, Dessert Babes: Queer Fat Decadence, seeks to counter that experience by celebrating diverse physiques and confectionary goods all at once. READ MORE>

Melanie McLain

Consider the facilities that hover between public and private. Health clinics, spas, and medical centers, which all cater to personal, even intimate, needs, are nonetheless sites to be occupied and used by the public. READ MORE>

Kirsten Nelson

The Long Island City waterfront has become a game of apartment-building Tetris. In response to this constant change in commercial and residential construction surrounding Socrates Sculpture Park, EAF15 artist Kirsten Nelson has recreated the corner of a building, represented mid-construction, thereby capturing a structure in its moment between production and destruction. READ MORE>

Freya Powell

A moment of pause is difficult to find in New York City. However, here and there, a park can offer a bit of respite from buildings and cars. 2015 Emerging Artist Fellow Freya Powell draws from this special relationship between parks and visitors… READ MORE>

Leah Raintree

Having been sourced from the park’s grounds, the original stone that Leah Raintree manipulated exists in a state both embedded within and unmoored from the site. During her 2015 studio residency at Socrates, Raintree spent the summer manipulating the stone; her process of mark-making could be observed as she stood, hunched over a large piece of rock that continued to look more and more like a comet with every tap of the hammer… READ MORE>

Aaron Suggs

Having spent the past ten years living in Brooklyn, New York and growing up along the Mississippi River in Memphis, Tennessee, Aaron Suggs has always lived near water. READ MORE>

Noa Younse

Every day information is collected, logged, and stored. From traffic movement to internet usage, the most minute details are captured. READ MORE>