The Time
By: Naomi Shihab Nye
Summer is the time to write. I tell myself this
in winter especially. Summer comes,
I want to tumble with the river
over rocks and mossy dams.
A fish drifting upside down.
Slow accordions sweeten the breeze.
The Sanitary Mattress Factory says,
"Sleep Is Life."
Why do I think of forty ways to spend an afternoon?
Yesterday someone said, "It gets late so early."
I wrote it down. I was going to do something with it.
Maybe it is a title and this life is the poem.
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Hello Hello!
I feel like a broken record, but seriously—how did July end and August begin so quickly?
Exhale...
I'm excited to share 9 things I discovered and/or that moved me this month—from exhibitions I look forward to seeing to music that has been helping me pull back some layers in the studio. July has been a special month, providing space for me to get lost in my studio work, experience some new things, teach at the Glen Workshop 2025 hosted by Image Journal, connect with people dear to me, and have a couple of tiny adventures in one of my favorite USA cities—Seattle.
The month also gave me some new finds and led me back to some old ones that I am excited to share with you today:
"The Trees Witness Everything" by Victoria Chang: Not sure why I am just learning about this poet, but I am so glad I stumbled upon her collection recently. In a surprising way, her words resonate deeply with some of the concepts I am working through in the studio. This collection is a hauntingly beautiful written elegy on the grief she bears and a meditation on mortality and the world around us. When I opened the book and saw that it was dedicated to W.S. Merwin—I was hooked and intrigued. One of my favorite poems, "Separation," is written by Merwin and has been one I have contemplated while creating this new body of work.
Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People by Imani Perry: It is no secret that blue is my favorite color, so when a book was written by one of my favorite African American contemporary women scholars exploring the color, I had to pick it up and read it. Black in Blues is a gorgeously written cultural memoir composed of 34 essays that uses the color blue as both a lens and metaphor for understanding the African American and diasporic experience. As you flip through the pages, you will encounter insights on how the color blue shaped rituals, aesthetics, and identities of African Americans. And as an extra bonus, it has a stunning cover and art intentionally curated found on pages in the center of the book.
A Brush with…with Ben Luke: I do love a podcast, and this podcast I discovered this month via Instagram is quickly becoming one of my favorites. It is a podcast hosted by art critic Ben Luke that features in-depth conversations with internationally acclaimed artists about their creative lives, artistic influences, and the thoughts that shape their imaginations. Each interview he asks the question, "What is art for?" Whew—what a question and something as an artist I do think about often. I appreciate hearing the different answers the artists share and the introduction to artists that I probably wouldn't know if not for this podcast.
What Is Art For? Contemporary Artists on Their Influences, Inspirations and Disciplines: He also has a book that will be released on September 2, 2025, that is inspired by the podcast. Word on the street is that it is a gem of a book. The book will include interviews along with commentary by Luke regarding thematic resonances and curiosities across artists. It's definitely on my list of books I want to sit with during my fellowship this fall.
Robert Rauschenberg: Life Can't Be Stopped: So I learned late July that the Guggenheim will be presenting a solo exhibition of Robert Rauschenberg's work October 10, 2025–April 5, 2026. Rauschenberg is one of my favorite artists, and I have been referring to his work and practice often this summer as a source of courage, inspiration, and permission to follow where the art + life is taking me in the new work flowing from my hands. So you can only imagine my excitement when I read about this exhibition.
The exhibition honors the innovation, the spirit of curiosity, and his interdisciplinary practice that helped to redefine the boundaries of modern art. It will not only feature a few of his iconic works, but also the evolution of his methods over his decades-long career.
Rauschenberg once said, "I want paintings to be reflections of life, and life can't be stopped."
Yes, and yes. I look forward to being encountered by this exhibition later this year.
Hilma af Klint: What Stands Behind the Flower is currently on view at MoMA in NYC through September 27. The exhibition includes a rare portfolio of 46 botanical drawings (HELLO!) of Klint during spring-summer of 1919 and 1920. Klint was a Swedish artist and mystic often recognized as a pioneer of abstract art. I find her incredibly fascinating as one interested in the intersection of spirituality, theology and the arts. Her art emerged from a deep spiritual calling. She believed she was channeling messages from higher realms—using color, geometry, and symbol to map the invisible.
Fabric of a Nation: American Quilt Stories from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston that is currently on view at the Frist through October 12, 2025, is at the top of my list of things I will do when I get to Nashville this month. The exhibition includes 50 quilts and coverlets spanning from the 18th century through 2021. The exhibition is grounded in the understanding that American textile history is a living form of storytelling as well as cultural expressions of life, love, hopes, and resistance.
belonging: a culture of place by bell hooks is a deeply personal and political exploration of home, land, identity, creativity, and the search for belonging. It was introduced to me by a friend while I was in the middle of my work for The Terms + Conditions exhibition, and I finally decided to pick it up and read this July as a conversation partner in my own exploration in the studio regarding concepts of home, family, identity, place, and belonging. bell hooks knows how to weave words together to create a gorgeous tapestry that not only is deeply personal, but wraps you in story that helps you better understand yourself and the world we inhabit.
A Southern Gothic by Adia Victoria, South Carolina born but Tennessee-based artist, is an album I have known about for some time, but it has been on consistent rotation since the start of July in my studio, because of Adia's hauntingly beautiful exploration of race, Black womanhood, and the American South. The album just hits differently at this time in our political and social history—and as I reflect upon my own "Magnolia Blues" journey back to my deep South Carolina roots to better understand some things about this here world.
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So, what about you?
Did you discover anything this month that you want to share with me and others? Please share in the comments or send me an email. I would love to know.