(Truro) Castle Hill opens its first Artist Residency in partnership with the Crit Lab, headed by artist Patricia Miranda. The Crit Lab is a community of working artists. They are artist driven, not mentor-driven. Crit Lab participants are not students. They engage as colleagues and fellow artists in a community of peers.
Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill has been running the Artist & Residency Program for the past 8 years. Where we invite artist to come for a month or two weeks to have 4me and space to work on their work. Over the years we have connected with teachers/artists and leaders in the field to come and spend 4me at Edgewood and lead a “Masterclass” Residency.
We have 8 artists from Massachusetts, New York and Utah joining us. We will do an opening reception on Thursday, February 20th, from 4:00 – 6:00pm, please join us as we do a community walk through and open studios.
Jodi Colella: Balancing tradition and innovation, I employ needlework to infuse renewed power to craft, engage the senses and explore the human condition. I use textiles to convey stories of loss and constraint primarily in women’s lives and my durational process embraces the ideals of labor and community. I’ve recently introduced ceramics commingling rigid forms with fibers to create vessels that don’t hold water but instead contain stories embodying domes4c life as a form of inquiry and self-discovery.
John Sproul from Salt Lake City, Utah: In my work, I explore who we are, what we do, and why. I focus on fear and love, the two fundamental forces within us that o]en exist in opposi4on. Through the language of the body, I address themes such as body image, loneliness, ego, exclusion, self-doubt, and the fear of not being enough or being lovable. I also delve into the power of connec4on, resilience, honesty, and generosity—all stemming from our need to love.
I bring these elements together to pose questions that can lead to an acceptance of our complex and paradoxical selves. Working between the subconscious and conscious states, I allow the body and its quieter aspects to guide me, slowly integrating the work into a living process. I seek out questions that foster acceptance.
Kathryn Geismar: I began painting my oldest child, Sam, in the summer of 2020 when they were 17 and forging a non-traditional path. The paintings became an ongoing conversation between us, each photo reference shared with me by Sam, depicting their transition from a teenager wrapped in chains to a softened, feminized young person claiming a new gender identity. The project has felt like an intimate conversation, at once vulnerable and guarded.
The series explores the process in which an identity is forged, and the ever-evolving drama of constructing a self. The paintings often depict the figure in isolation, standing in a non-specific field of color. They are embodied, and yet facing the viewer without the familiar comforts of a living space. When there are references to background imagery, they are sketchy places, not yet fully realized. In other images, I have placed Sam in the role of canonical feminine art figures, asking whether a trans-feminine body can inhabit a place within this world.
ABOUT THE CRIT LAB: The Crit Lab began a pedagogy for the
digital space as its own unique form, rather than a poor
substitute for the real. This was developed in response to how
artists can best represent and communicate physical work in
the virtual space.
We became inspired by the digital space: no geographic limits,
and the intimacy of meeting without physical bodies. Online we
are heart and head; everyone has a front row seat; we share
equal space; and make room for one another in a spirit of
creative disagreement. We consider the environmental concerns
of travel, and continue to craft new ways of working, making,
reflecting, and supporting sustainable ecosystems.
Since 2020 The Lab has developed a Fellowship program,
Residencies in Italy and NY, exhibitions at MAPSpace and in
2024, and an exhibition at Hudson Valley MOCA.
The Crit Lab was founded by artist, curator and educator Patricia Miranda. Miranda designed a structured pedagogy to focus and deepen discussion beyond common subjective reactions, and to help support ethical structures in which artists can thrive.
We are excited to welcome this group of amazing artists. Be sure to join us on Thursday at Edgewood Farm from 4 – 6pm on February 20th.