Studio House Newsletter – September 2025

Welcome back to the StudioHouse Newsletter – September Edition!

It was an exciting summer, full of exhibitions, residencies, and artist talks.

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Artist Talks

Reframing The Black Figure

June 21, 2025
Location: Santa Fe Community Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

During Santa Fe’s Juneteenth Celebrations, a group of local Black women art lovers and enthusiasts organized an art panel discussion, where Black New Mexican artists had a conversation on the themes of double consciousness, past and presence, and aliveness, which appeared in Ekow Eshun’s recent exhibition The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure. What I appreciated about this event was that before the panel discussion, the organizers and facilitators of the event traveled to see Ekow’s exhibition in person (at the North Carolina Museum of Art) and wanted to share their experience of the exhibition with the local community in Santa Fe. This allowed the audience to experience Ekow’s exhibition and have content before the artists shared their thoughts on the themes and how they approach and incorporate said themes in their work.

Panelists

• Jakia Fuller, Multidisciplinary Artist, Designer, Writer & Podcaster
• Marie Alarcón, Experimental Video Artist
• Robert Washington-Vaughns, Photographer & Founder of the Black Men Flower Project
• Shelby Stone, Artist

Hosted + Organized By

• Kimi Switzer
• Sasha McGhee
• Chantell Murphy

Thank you so much to Kimi, Sasha, and Chantell for organizing and facilitating this enriching, nourishing, and timely event.

To learn more about The Time Is Always Now: Artist Reframe the Black Figure exhibition.

To learn more about Ekow Eshun.

C²: Creatives In Conversation | Jakia Fuller x Kamaria Umi

July 12, 2025
Location: Vital Spaces, Santa Fe, NM

C²: Creatives In Conversation is a conversational interview series where creatives engage in conversation with one another about their creative practice. I’m joined by Creative, Kamaria Umi, to discuss Oscillation, artistic and creative practices, and more. I discuss the exhibition at length further along in the newsletter.

Thank you so much Kamaria, for being a part of the very first C²: Creatives In Conversation! It was awesome to be in conversation with such an amazing artist.

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Residency

Ocean Virtual Artist Residency

June 25, 2025 – July 29, 2025

From June through July, I participated in the 3^rd cohort of the Ocean Virtual Art Residency. This residency was made possible through the collaboration of the Moku Art Studio and Mango Residencia. What was incredible and different about this residency was that each cohort of artists is from across the globe, who are passionate about the oceans and how they can use their art to communicate that with the world.  

For those who may not know, one of my secret dream careers is to be a Marine Biologist, but art and design are my calling. So when this opportunity presented itself, I thought this was a way to incorporate my love and interest for all things ocean and marine life conservation and preservation through art.  

My project, Migratory Cartographies, explores and documents the migration patterns of five highly migratory marine species (Blue Whale, Humpback Whale, Whale Shark, Blue Marlin, and Bigeyed Tuna) over a 20-year span. This was visually represented by embroidery on layered canvas. The intention behind this work is to show how their migration patterns have changed over the years due to the impacts of climate change, while also noting moments where they overlap. 

In addition to the sculptural component of the project, I created educational illustrations in the form of an infographic, one for each marine species, providing enticing facts to pique one’s interest and sharing how audiences can take inspired action. 

There was a lot of research involved in this project, which I enjoyed, combining my arts with science. For migratory data, I utilized MiCo, Migratory Connectivity In The Ocean, and for marine species information, Oceana, NOAA Fisheries, ICUN, and Sea Legacy.  To determine which map I would use as the foundation for this piece, after continued research, I decided on the Spilhaus World Ocean Map. What I love and appreciate about this map is that it truly centers the oceans and shows how connected everything is. The majority of today’s maps are human-centric so that we are able to orient ourselves. The Spilhaus World Ocean Map shifts the focus from human-centric to ocean-centric. This was necessary for me to communicate and illustrate the migratory routes of the Blue Whale, Humpback Whale, Whale Shark, Blue Marlin, and Bigeyed Tuna through the years.

I’m looking forward to creating a new series of work, where I dive deeper into the exploration of migration documentation that is accessible and digestible for everyday people. And I’m excited to collaborate with various projects, initiatives, organizations, and institutions that collect migration pattern data.  

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Exhibitions

Solo-Exhibitions

Oscillation

Exhibition Dates: July 8, 2025 – July 27, 2025
Location: Vital Spaces, Santa Fe, NM

I’m happy to share that my first solo-exhibition, Oscillation, was an absolute success! There was a good turnout in terms of attendance, with between 65 – 75 people in attendance over the 3.5 weeks the exhibition was on view, along with great social media traction and engagement.  

Exhibition Overview

How does oscillation appear in our lives? Multidisciplinary artist Jakia Fuller’s first solo exhibition, Oscillation, creates an environment where audiences can explore and reflect on patterns, values, views, beliefs, or emotions they are moving back and forth between.

Oscillation introduces audiences to her sculptural practice through a selection of existing and new works that cultivate mesmerizing, vibrant, and poignant moments of introspection, reflecting on the patterns, issues, concerns, beliefs, and perspectives they find themselves oscillating between. The exhibition encourages one to be present with this state of being that we all experience and find ourselves in. 

Opening Weekend Candids!

Testimonials

“10/10 would definitely recommend and come again!”

“Thank you for the reminder. The message is very clear…”

“It’s therapy.”

“I wasn’t expecting to go to a therapy session this morning.”

“A very intellectual show.”

“I love your show! I have spent lots of time on the floor in the gallery, just staring and being with your work.”

To experience the exhibition and catalog.

I’d like to express my appreciation and gratitude to the wonderful team at Vital Spaces for their amazing support and hosting my exhibition. Thank you Ileana Alarcon, Raashan Ahmad, and Erin Haldane. And thank you again to my amazing crew Damon Griffith and Jess Zeglin for helping me install the show!

Gruet Winery Santa Fe Tasting Room Artist of the Month

Exhibition Dates: August 7, 2025 – September 7, 2025
Location: Gruet Winery Santa Fe Tasting Room, Santa Fe, NM

For the month of August, I had the pleasure of being the featured artist at Gruet Winery Santa Fe Tasting Room (Gruet Winery). From August 7^th through September 7^th, I shared 5 works from the series We got a lot to be mad…And yet we still rise. In addition to showcasing my work, there was an artist meet and greet, where members of Gruet Winery were able to meet me, experience the work before the public, and ask any questions they had.  

I truly enjoyed meeting new collectors, what they look for in art, how they started collecting, and what they love about collecting art.

To learn more about the We got alot to be mad about…And yet we still rise series.

To review the series catalog and purchase artworks, please email me at jakiafuller@hotmail.com

Much appreciation and gratitude for the wonderful team at The Gruet Winery Santa Fe Tasting Room! It was an absolute joy to contribute to the overall vibe you are cultivating at the Gruet Winery Santa Fe Tasting Room. Special shoutouts to Justin Pichardo, Autumn Angel, and Regina Wilson. If you’re interested in learning more about their members’ program and exclusive events, click here. It’s always wonderful when local businesses are committed to supporting and highlighting local artists.

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Group Exhibitions

City of Albuquerque Juneteenth – Invisible Man Exhibition

Exhibition Dates: June 12, 2025 – July 18, 2025
Location: City of Albuquerque Arts & Culture | Gallery One, Albuquerque, NM

Exhibition Overview

What does it mean to be Black and “invisible” in Ralph Ellison’s work, which challenged our ideas on identity, individuality, and equality when he wrote his award-winning novel?

The City of Albuquerque and Public Art Urban Enhancement Division (PAUED) invites New Mexican artists to take part in its Juneteenth Pop Up Exhibition that examines the question of erasure or invisibility, based on Ralph Ellison’s award-winning novel, “Invisible Man”.

Invisibility: Within & Without, Navigating Monolithic Narratives, takes a nuanced approach to the theme of invisibility, inspired by the novel Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. This piece delves into the intersections of Blackness, Black girlhood to womanhood, misogynoir, the narrative of how Blackness is not a monolith, and the role of time.
The Monolith of Blackness, no one knows how it came to be, when it started, or where it came from; it has existed within the memory of the collective consciousness.
The three women represent the sisters’ fate, who are connected to each other and the Diaspora through the fabric of time. Throughout millennia, they have existed alongside the myth of the Black Monolith, tasked with guiding us on how to navigate its presence and the narratives it emits.

Ocean III Exhibition

Exhibition Dates: July 29, 2025 – Present
Location: Virtual

Exhibition Overview

A group exhibition of the work created from the Ocean Virtual Artist Residency. Through a lens of mapping artists, Ocean III, exhibits the projects developed by each artist from the Ocean Virtual Artist Residency. The use of a map format was intended to show that regardless of where the artists are located, we all share a deep passion, love, and concern for our oceans and planet’s waterways. It also shows spatially the planet’s interconnectedness.  

Artists

• Jakia Fuller, Multidisciplinary Artist: Albuquerque, NM
• Art Farm LK (Jaechung Kim: Director & Librettist and Jieun Lee: Music Director &  Composer), Classic Music, creating, producing, and recording company: Seoul, South Korea
• Lucinda Button, Textile Artist: Brighton, United Kingdom
• Sara Parker, Artist: Pittsfield, MA
• Abby Moon, Artist: Worcester, MA
• Dr. Sabine Joseph, Artist: Obidos, Portugal
• Dr. Candice Salyers, Dancer: Hattiesburg, MS
• Dawn Leigh, Mixed Media Artist: San Francisco, CA
• Kelley Perez, Artist: Dallas, TX
• Ruby Macnab, Illustration Artist: Dallas, TX

To experience the online exhibition

Arts Korea Lab – Ocean Immersive Exhibition

Exhibition Dates: September 1, 2025 – September 5, 2025
Location: Arts Korea Lab, Seoul, South Korea

One of the highlights of participating in the Ocean Virtual Artist Residency was getting to know my fellow cohort members and the work they do. I became acquainted with Jaechung Kim, Director & Librettist, and Jieun Lee, Music Director &  Composer, who lead Art Farm LK. Art Farm LK is a classic music, creating, producing, and recording company that puts on and composes operas with a focus on our oceans. After our time in residency, Jaechung and Jieun invited me to share my project, Migratory Cartographies,  in the Ocean Immersive Exhibition held at Arts Korea Lab in Seoul, South Korea, this September. But I had to make my very physical sculptural piece into a virtual and audio immersive experience. So, I said, Yes, challenge accepted!  

It was a new learning experience, translating an already completed piece into a different medium with a different intention. Art Farm LK graciously allowed me to use music from one of their albums. Along with my voice-over and music, it added to the overall impact of the experience. I’m inspired and excited to create more immersive experiences with older and completed works.  

To view snippets on Instagram | Thank You Message From Jakia

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Community Organizing – Earthseed Black Arts Alliance

In my community work with Earthseed Black Arts Alliance NM, we were approached by the People’s Kitchen Collective in July to collaborate on having a screening of their documentary, EARTH SEED: A People’s Journey Of Radical Hospitality, in the Land of Enchantment in September. After much consideration, Nikesha Breeze and I decided to go for it, but in true Jakia fashion, having one screening wouldn’t be enough. So, I proposed that we have a three-city screening. That way, various communities in Northern New Mexico would be able to experience this film, to think about what radical hospitality is and how to implement it into their everyday lives. Immediately following the film is a community conversation where audiences can share and speak with the team from the People’s Kitchen Collective about what radical hospitality means to them and their thoughts about the film. I’m excited to share that the screenings were a success, with over 70 individuals seeing the film. From this, we have been contacted by various groups to have a part two screening in other locations throughout the state.  

Screening Info

• Santa Fe, NM
  Location: CCA Santa Fe
  Date: September 10th
  Time: 6:30 PM
• Taos, NM
  Location: Olamina House
  Date: September 13th
  Time: 1:30 PM
• Albuquerque, NM
  Location: The Guild Cinema
  Date: September 14th
  Time: 12:30 PM
  

To learn more about Earthseed Black Arts Alliance NM | People’s Kitchen Collective

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On The Horizon

As you can tell, it has definitely been a full, busy, and exciting summer. And now it’s fall! My favorite seasons are upon us! To kick off the fall season, I’ll be featured in October in the Color Club Magazine! In the studio, I’m excited to begin work on new pieces. There are also a few exhibition proposals, residencies, and grants that I’ll be applying for as well. Lastly, I was invited to guest curate a sustainable fashion exhibition, The Art of ReUse at the Richard Levy Gallery in Albuquerque, NM, in the new year! I look forward to sharing good news with you all soon. 

Until next time!

To stay connected with me on IG | FB | LinkedIn

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