2023-24 RESIDENT ARTISTS
MCLEE MATHIAS
McLee Jessie Mathias was born in Stamford, Connecticut. Having been raised by a single mother who immigrated from Haiti, he was taught the value of hard work and perseverance from an early age. Since the moment he picked up a trumpet in elementary school his passion for music and the arts was fueled. First it was music, then photography and now he is growing his profile into the art world.
Being self taught in all these fields, his passion comes from his hometown of Stamford. Always being told he would have to leave to make it in the industry, McLee decided to take the challenge head on and "master his own domain."
Loving the diversity of people, socio economics, landscape and overall culture of his hometown offers, he implements that in his own work. Making a non-tangible idea tangible is exuded throughout all his passions. As a photographer, he works with his subjects to make their visions come to life. As an artist his use of multi-layering is synonymous with his outlook on life. Every person, place or thing has layers to them and McLee brings it to the surface. His journey has just begun and as a new Resident Artist at The Norwalk Art Space, only time will tell where his artistic experiments will end up. Stay tuned, he is just getting started.
BRIE MIYOKO
Brie Miyoko (she/her/hers) is a Connecticut born fine artist and art educator who specializes in acrylic + oil surrealism paintings. Currently her practice is based out of the New York metropolitan area where she focuses on pulling inspiration from her daily life.
Recreating past family photographs--- honoring our mother figures, grandparents, and community plays a significant role in her work. As well as creating new memories within the present day. Miyoko is currently enrolled at the University of Connecticut-Stamford, where she spent 2 years in the School of Fine Arts before switching over to Early Childhood Education. The passion for visual arts has been around for as long as she can remember. From drawing on the seats of a school bus during elementary school, selling custom portraits of friends in high school, and to group exhibitions in Brooklyn during college!
“My work has always been a reflection of my mental state and where I am in life. I think depicting that through visual concepts is so important as someone who has never been good with words or had the spaces growing up to express themselves. I hold a brush and blank canvas to such high value in my life because it’s better at creating the narrative than I ever will be. My physical work explores the idea of how women carry trauma in their bodies, so storytelling is something I try to emulate a lot during my process of creation. Through my work I explore the relationships between; mental health, toxic family culture, sexuality, and the influence of trauma on romantic partnerships all through the lens of a black woman in her early 20s.”
ALEJANDRA GONZALEZ ZERTUCHE
Alejandra Gonzalez Zertuche is a Connecticut-based oil painter and educator, originally from Coahuila, Mexico. She is also a recent graduate of Texas State University, where she received her BFA in Studio Art with a concentration in painting. Her paintings focus on the stories and memories of the people around her, and her identity as a Mexican person, now living in the United States.
“Through my work, I create a conscious remark and a report of my visual testimony about transformation, hope, and survival in the United States. I focus on representing the undocumented, and their experience in the United States, through scenes of resilience and courage. My artwork is a constant archive of personal stories that recall the journey and life after arriving in a new land. While many try to assimilate, others try to make their communities into tiny corners of the home they left behind by building businesses and marking a path for future generations.
I present my work as a third culture that is still being shaped and recognized. The identity of being “de aquí y de allá” (from here and there), a blend of Mexican heritage in northern soil, and not “ni de aquí ni de allá” (neither from here nor there). An expression that has often been used to describe a feeling of uprootedness and of not belonging anywhere. I intend for people to see themselves represented and for others to see a different perspective of the world we share.”
2022-23 RESIDENT ARTISTS
GREG AIMÉ
I’m a mixed digital and traditional media image maker who is currently attempting to understand the world and the people in it through visual translation into 2D color, value, edges, and lines. My work as of late has consisted mainly of two things: quiet meditations on the objects we touch daily / the places we live in + the ways in which we curate our daily performances of identity on ever-changing familial and cultural didactic imagery.
“My work at the root is a journey of self discovery. I explore the dynamics of my culture and how it affects my relationships with family, friends, and society. This process has aided me to heal, strengthened my spirituality, and led to realizations about myself that I may never have discovered otherwise. Through collage and other mediums, my aim is to spark conversation about the descendants of the diaspora, by displaying black history, royalty, heritage, and tradition. I hope to minimize the lack of awareness and relatability of our rich culture and history in order to have unquestionable self worth. Try on my lens and enjoy this journey with me.”
LILY MORGAN
Lily Morgan is an art educator and painter based in Norwalk, CT. Her work explores the relationship between abstraction, geometry and realism. Her paintings are built, layer by layer, and increase in complexity as they move towards the surface.
"In my work I strive to find balance between contradictory elements, impulse and intention as well as whimsy and weight. In the majority of my pieces, I begin by mixing a range of colors to cover the surface. Initial marks are fluid and intuitive and become more deliberate over time. These first steps of building a surface are as important to me as the rendering of the object in the final brushstrokes.
I find an extra element of joy in creating work with colors and objects that are intentionally silly yet rendered in a way that asks the viewer to spend more time with them. Nothing screams “don’t take this seriously” like a pile of disco balls on a hot pink background! However, you’ll find that the subject is then taken VERY seriously as it is painted, with attention to each shadow, reflected light, and each subtle shift in hue."
TIARA TRENT
Tiara Trent is an african-american multimedia artist who tells visual dreamlike stories from her heart and imagination. Tiara was born and raised in Bronx, NY, but has made Norwalk, CT her home in the past six years and has integrated herself in the local arts community. Her preferred media consists of ink, paint, digital painting software, and anything else she can get her hands on. Tiara is currently a Studio Arts major at Norwalk Community College and her biggest dream involves becoming an illustrator and animator like her biggest influence, Hayao Miyazaki. Tiara’s artwork presents themes of relationship with self, the black female identity, beauty, and spirituality.
"Using a broad variety of traditional and digital media I create visual atmospheric stories from my mind's eye. My artwork presents themes of relationship with self, the black female identity, beauty, and spirituality. My concepts often come from my own experience not only because it’s what’s familiar to me but also because I see my artwork as an extension of myself. Although my artwork has some somber undertones I see my process of making art as a ritual of self love. It’s a way for me to expel heavy emotions from my mind and through my body in a healthy way.
The act of creation has always made me feel so alive. I wanted to be engulfed in that feeling of passion. I craved it so much that I knew I wanted to have an artist lifestyle at a very young age. I wanted to breathe art and I was blessed to come from an encouraging family that realized how serious I was. I grew up in a small household consisting only of myself, my mother, and my sister. Although they weren’t visual artists they loved to write and tell stories and they inspired me to tell stories in my own way. My artwork is a deeply personal conversation that I’m having with myself and with the viewer. As the artist, I often add a layer of ambiguity to my work so that I can encourage the viewer to use their imagination and interpret their own story from my artwork in hopes that we can relate and connect to each other."
2021-22 RESIDENT ARTISTS
FRANCISCO MANDUJANO
I absolutely love what I am doing and my goal is to teach others how to create miniatures and terrain builds through simple techniques and cheap materials found all around us like bottle caps, lids, milk cartons, tooth picks, etc.
Most of my inspiration comes from the video games and cartoons I use to play and watch as a kid such as Dragon Quest, Dark Souls, and One Piece.
One of my favorite ways to create now is to recycle objects and turn them into something unique. This is something I learned as a kid since I didn’t have much of anything growing up. I’ve turned packaging foam into temples and regular tree branches into fortresses. What I make
is only limited by my imagination. I have also recently delved into the world of Dungeons and Dragons and other tabletop role playing games that give me a bigger excuse to keep creating.
I even started a whole Youtube channel dedicated to teaching people how to create your own terrain for the game. I like to think about it like playing chess but you first have to make your own board and chess pieces. The channel was just as important to me as it was to my audience. I teach them to make things they would have never thought they would be able to make themselves. At the same time, they have given me a reason to keep working on my craft and allow my skill to evolve in the process.
My plans for the future are simple, I hope that I become an artist. Hope that my dreams and ambition are enough to take me where I want to be. I'll be happy making a comfortable living doing what I love. I hope to inspire other people to be artists too. To live a happy life and to never lose that sense of wonder they once held as kids.
LORENA SFERLAZZA
Lorena Sferlazza (she/her) is a visual artist and educator from Norwalk, CT, whose work negotiates the dynamics of vulnerability and the effects of environmental impact through painting, drawing, and photography. Lorena earned an MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), a dual Honors BA from the College of the Holy Cross, and certificates of study from the Università degli Studi di Firenze and the Libera Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, Italy.
Her work has been published in Create! Magazine and exhibited across the Northeast and Italy, namely in: New York City (Anna Zorina Gallery, Sotheby’s), Philadelphia (Paradigm Gallery, FMC Tower, Cherry Street Pier, Museum Galleries at PAFA, The Plastic Club, Twenty-Two Gallery), Worcester (Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Gallery, ArtsWorcester), Hartford (Silpe Gallery), Delaware (Art Loop Wilmington), Fairfield County (Norwalk City Hall, former Westport Arts Center, CT 4th Congressional District Office in Bridgeport), and Florence, Italy (LABA). Lorena has been awarded a Merit Scholarship from PAFA, the Whitney Smith Gift Fund Artist Grant and Charles A. Dana Scholarship from Holy Cross, a Northeastern U.S. Gold Portfolio Award from Scholastic, Inc., a Portfolio Award of Excellence from Lyme Academy, and the Kevin M. Eidt Memorial Scholarship from Kevin’s Fund.
While serving as a Resident Artist for the Norwalk Art Space, Lorena works in education for The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum developing interactive learning programs for all ages and abilities. She also collaborates in creative design for local photography businesses and has varied experience teaching, researching, and administrating for museums, auction houses, galleries, and academic institutions. Lorena has served as a co-founding board member of Kal-Pa-Vriksh “The Giving Tree” 501(c)3 Nonprofit in Norwalk since 2011.
REMY SOSA
I learned how to draw from my mother who was an architect but really got into art after learned I could draw with an eraser. I've always loved making art and even found it helped with stress and anxiety. As a shy young girl, I was raised in a man-dominant environment where I couldn't speak unless spoken to and could never raise my voice. I learned to speak through lines and colors. Art is the way I scream. It's my language. I guess I always knew my future was going to be around art.
I've been focused on doing portraits of people who I know and even those who I don't. And even though the subject is often alone it is never small. I believe that being in emotionally intelligent gives a sense of power and growth. Because how would you know the good without the bad?
EMILY TEALL
Emily Teall (BFA Cornell University '16, MA Columbia University '18) is a Connecticut-based multimedia artist with particular interests in sculpture and installation art. My artistic career began with an early-childhood interest in and curiosity about nature. Organic elements continue to drive my artworks. My current work also draws from experiences with social anxiety and from the role of the body in (particularly a female) identity. I have exhibited in a number of group shows in and near my hometown of Riverside, CT; at Cornell University, where I completed my BFA; at Columbia University in a show curated by Gregory Amenoff; in NYC, NY; and in Hudson, NY. I have worked closely with installation artist Angiola Churchill and with painter, Christina Burch.
In addition to building a personal artistic practice through art shows and art collective involvement, I currently teach a broad variety of visual art and design courses to 5th-12th grades at Fusion Academy’s Greenwich campus. I am especially passionate about combining human rights with the arts and with art education; my Master’s thesis, titled Realizing the Right to Education for NYC’s Homeless Children: Identifying and removing barriers, focused on education of homeless youth.
2023-24 KORRY FELLOWS
ISABELLA MONTENEGRO
Timing is everything. Yet, the thing with timing is that you cannot control it. The clock does not stop, you can’t go back in time, and you cannot fast forward. The challenge with timing is to fully embrace being here, being present, in the moment. It has taken me time to learn to keep my head up and keep my eyes open because you never know who you may meet, what opportunities there may be, where you might end up, and your why. My why is to inspire those around me to carefully take a look, take just one second, and take everything in. There is no better time than right now.
AISHA NAILAH
Aisha was born and raised in Bridgeport, CT, currently a Reads Artspace member and resident. She holds a bachelor's in art therapy and is a certified special education teacher and teaching artist. She's a multidisciplinary artist. Her focus is mainly abstract and abstract figurative multimedia works, recently adding murals and public art to her list of skills. She combines a love of color and texture, often working fabrics, and paper into her pieces as well as using paint and ink. Her work concerns itself mainly with the feeling, color and spiritual vibrancy of the composition. Aisha is very inspired culturally being an African Diasporan woman of Costa Rican descent and by street art, especially the free forms and colors found in the styles and calligraphic movements. Aisha began exhibiting her art in 2010. Since stepping into the arts she has curated multiple large scale exhibits at Reads Artspace, exhibited nationally and internationally. She has also served as a curator at BLENDS gallery in Bridgeport from 2017-2019.
CARLOS RM
Carlos RM was born in Bogota, Colombia on March 9th, 1981. He grew up in Villa del Prado, a neighborhood in the outskirts of the city with his two older sisters. At the age of 9, Carlos’s parents enrolled him in oil painting classes with artist Maria Elena Gallo. In 1994, due to the instability of the country at the time, his family decided to relocate to the United States. In 1997 after visiting the studio of artist Miguel Malgaret, Carlos was inspired to pursue art as a career. From 1998 to 2002 Carlos worked and studied in Malgaret’s studio. In 2012, Carlos moved to New York City where he enrolled in Robert Cenedella’s class at the Art Students League of New York while working as an art handler for art galleries, museums and auction houses. In the summer of 2020 due to the pandemic Carlos moved out of the city to the near town of Norwalk, CT where he is painting fulltime.
2022-23 KORRY FELLOWS
JERRI GRAHAM
Jerri Graham is a photographer and writer purposefully planted in Westport where she lives with her daughter and a house of pets. Capturing life through imagery has been her language for over 35 years. A government-trained photographer, Jerri began shooting as a teen with her father who taught her the importance of 「telling all of the story」 through images.
Over the years, Ms. Graham has made her life as a writer, radio-show host, editor, teacher, foodpreneur, and freelance photographer on three continents. Through her lens, she captures life as she sees it and the stories she wants to tell. From street photography to her portraits of the known and the known to few, her priority remains constant: portraying the authentic human experience, via the grains of light and life that she sees through her lens. She sees her subjects as art-in-life, and insists that each of us is worthy of being on display and being heard.
The Westport Permanent Arts Collection recently acquired two of Ms. Graham’s prints and she has sells limited-edition street photography to private collectors in the region.
As a Korry Fellow, Jerri looks forward to creating a marriage between her images and her words in a multi-sensory storytelling exhibition where sound, story, and imagery come to life.
SUSAN HARDESTY
Susan has curated exhibitions for many years. She began at The Institute for Art & Urban Resources, The Clocktower, and PS 1, alternative spaces, promoting young, emerging artists. After a year of studying art in Rome, Susan returned to NYC and worked as Registrar for The Chase Manhattan Art Program. Soon, she became a curator and traveled nationally and internationally visiting local artists and acquiring art for Chase regional offices. She also curated traveling exhibitions from the Chase Collection.
Susan worked at Silvermine Arts Center as Gallery Director but soon left to open an Art Advisory with a partner. They worked with private collectors and major corporations, including SONY and Cadbury. While working as a consultant, Susan directed local art programs for Mustard Seed and Side By Side.
For the past 20 years, Susan was Director of Exhibitions and The Collection at Norwalk Community College. She curated and installed over 200 exhibitions.
SARAH KING
Sarah King is a painter, sculptor and children’s books illustrator who lives and works in Stamford Conn. Currently She is exploring the ever evolving theme of motherhood through a different variety mediums, all rooted in observation and her own experiences.
IYABA MANDINGO
I am honored to be a Korry Fellow. This recognition represents another show of encouragement and support from my peers and fellow art lovers. I have always been impressed with the collective of artists in Fairfield County. The Norwalk Art Space is an opportunity to bring these talents together to bring national attention to our state, to inspire all the budding homegrown artists who often imagine having to leave Connecticut for exposure. I am the product of a Stamford Art and English teacher who saw past the stereotypes of my demographic to encourage a shy immigrant boy to explore his imagination. I want to continue to pay that gift forward.
2021-22 KORRY FELLOWS
KELLY ROSSETTI
Kelly Rossetti is a contemporary abstract and figurative painter based out of Westport, CT. While primarily self-taught, she studied classical oil painting at a small Atelier in NYC where she credits getting her foundation and love of the figure. Kelly works in both Acrylic and Oil and often utilizes an array of mixed media to achieve depth, texture and marks.
JAHMANE
JAHMANE's career as an artist began in the form of "Graffiti" and has evolved into a wide spectrum of mediums including works on canvas, photography, fashion design, screen printing, graphic design, large scale murals and interior design.
LIZZY ROCKWELL
Lizzy Rockwell is the illustrator of numerous books and games for children and is the author and illustrator of Good Enough to Eat: A Kid’s Guide to Food and Nutrition, The Busy Body Book: A Kid’s Guide to Fitness, Plants Feed Me, A Mammal Is an Animal and How Do You Feel? Lizzy has worked with her mother, the late author/illustrator Anne Rockwell, as illustrator on Apples and Pumpkins in 1989, and Hiking Day most recently.
TARA BLACKWELL
Tara Blackwell is a mixed media pop artist working in Connecticut and New York. Raised in a household of artists, Tara was immersed in differing artistic styles and modalities from a young age. Experimenting with a variety of mediums and techniques, Tara employs bold colors, layers, and texture, often incorporating nostalgic pop culture to explore contemporary social issues.
JOSEPH FUCIGNA
Joseph Fucigna is a multi-media artist whose work is rooted in process, play and the innate qualities of the materials used. Through experimentation, play and innovation he creates sculptures that are known for their power to transform materials, inventiveness and odd but suggestive subject matter.
SCULPTURE GARDEN
Our sculpture garden, curated by Yvonne Shortt, is intended to be a dynamic link between The Norwalk Art Space museum and the adjoining community. The garden aims to inspire interaction and conversation in an artistic, welcoming environment. We have one permanent sculpture and three rotating sculptures which will change every two years. The permanent sculpture by Connecticut-based artist, Gilbert Boro, “After the Race III”, evokes memories of sailing on Long Island Sound. It was selected in part because of our founder, Alexandra Korry’s, love of sailing with her husband and daughters. "After the Race III" is a dynamic construction in welded steel, in which elegant curved surfaces rise 16 feet upward toward the sky. The intersecting planes energize negative and positive spaces around and within the sculpture. The carefully crafted steel plates are painted a vibrant orange, creating an ambience that reflects the light and energy of the day or evening. Gilbert Boro’s "After the Race sculpture series" was developed after many years of sailing and participation in sailboat races and regattas. Mr. Boro has had a distinguished career as a sculptor, architect, educator and international design consultant. His sculpture is concerned with the interplay of space, place and scale. He uses various materials, including steel, in this case, with the 16 foot height of the sculpture intended to help redefine our building as an art hub. Mr. Boro’s highly acclaimed work has been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the United States and Europe.
The second selected sculpture, “Tulip Bulb” is by artist Emily Teall. Ms. Teall is a multimedia artist with particular interests in sculpture, painting, and installation art. Ms. Teall’s current work draws from experiences with social anxiety and the role of the body in (particularly a female) identity. Ms. Teall is also a member of the The Norwalk Art Space’s inaugural class of Resident Artists.
Ms. Teall's "Tulip Bulb" draws on natural imagery of bulbs and wombs to evoke a gestation period in which the sitter can grow through introspection and reflection before re-emerging into the community. In our current environment of political polarization and community-conscious isolation,"Tulip Bulb’s" perforated walls provide a semi-permeable space that encourages the participant to look inwards yet retain the expectation of re-emergence into the community.
Steel and outdoor-grade acrylic paint
2019
8'x6'x5.5'
Our curator, Yvonne Shortt, is one of the three selected rotating sculptors. Ms. Shortt is a public installation artist creating work focused on African American culture through her series titled, “African American Marbleization: An Act of Civil Disobedience”. Ms. Shortt currently has over 30 public art installations on view throughout the tri-state area and is building a boat to harvest clay from rivers and creeks to tell African American narratives.
Ms. Shortt’s "Afro Pick: Don’t Go, Don’t Grow" draws from her own experiences as both a mother and a daughter. It depicts a moment of transition; of taking ownership and letting go. It does so using an object with a rich cultural history over 5,500 years old.
*The top piece of the Afro pick handle will change every so often in celebration of my African American narratives so keep stopping by.
Our third sculpture is titled "Shotgun Home" by Margaret Roleke.
Margaret Roleke is a contemporary mixed media artist based in Brooklyn and Connecticut. In 2020 she was awarded a Connecticut Commission on the Arts and was also awarded grants for public art projects at Creative Arts Workshop in New Haven and the Town Green District in New Haven. She had a residency at Governors Island in New York City through the organization 4 Heads from mid-August 2021 through mid-November 2021.
Roleke has had solo exhibits at Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT, Pen+Brush Gallery New York, NY, AHA Fine Art New York, NY, and Norwalk Community College, Norwalk, CT among others. Her work has been included in shows at The Aldrich, Katonah Museum of Art, Art Space New Haven, ODETTA Gallery, and Ethan Cohen (Kube), and other venues. Roleke has participated in art fairs including Spring Break, Pulse, Scope, Governor’s Island, Cutlog, Flux, 14c, Fountain, and Verge.
"America faces large challenges; racism, gun violence, global warming, and an assault on the truth. My work is an urgent response to these issues and a call for dialogue. Recently, I began making cyanotypes that explore Black Lives Matter protests and the effects of the pandemic. During the Trump presidency, I made work that implored compassion through cage-like structures that alluded to the prisons used to house immigrant men, women, and children at the southern border. Living near Sandy Hook Elementary School, the site of a 2012 mass shooting, inspired sculptures made out of shotgun shells, and to this day, I donate a percentage of all work sold to organizations that work for gun control. I move between these themes creating sculptures, installations, and prints that urge action on injustice."
Shotgun Home 2021
Steel frame, spent shotgun shells, cable, zipties, fencing, mirror, caution tape
6'6"H x 4'6"W x 4'10"D
This piece attempts to start a dialogue on guns, gun control and gun violence in America. The artist donates a portion of all sold work to organizations that work to end gun violence.
