issue 10 release party

fields is celebrating its five-year anniversary and 10th issue release! Our new issue features interviews with author Laura van den Berg, poets Leila Chatti and Tongo Eisen-Martin, and artists Andrew Ordonez and Alexa Viscius. It also features an interview with Austin's own Andie Flores, performance artist, comedian, and writer and producer of the upcoming web series Muy Excited. Artwork is included from local artists Landon O'Brien and Deborah Roberts, whose stunning "Still We Rise" appears on the cover, and the issue includes short stories, poetry, and visual art from up-and-coming artists from around the globe.

In addition to interviewing and sharing new work, Andie Flores serves as curator for our issue release party. She has invited a group of incredible artists from around the state, including Sarah Castillo, Daniel Ramirez, Natalia Rocafuerte, Megan Solis, and Jose Villalobos. The exhibit will also feature work from Payasa, a collaboration between Flores and Cindy Popp, and performances from Flores and artist Rosalind Hussell.

The fun goes down at the new Fancy Fancy studios and gallery space, located in the Bolm Studios complex at 5305 Bolm Road, Bay 9, on Saturday, December 8, from 7-10 pm. Drinks will be provided courtesy of Tito's. 

fields is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department and is a sponsored project of Big Medium.

About the artists:

Sarah Castillo is an artist based in San Antonio, Texas working in mixed media and portraiture. Born and raised in San Antonio, Castillo obtained her master’s degree in bicultural studies from the University of Texas at San Antonio with the thesis title Art as an Embodied Practice: Artistic Expression, Conocimiento, and Identity Formation. She is co-founder of Mas Rudas Collective, creative director of Lady Base Gallery and resident artist at Clamp Light Studios & Gallery. She has shown at the University of Texas at San Antonio, Artpace, Contemporary Art Museum Houston, Institute of Texan Cultures, Mexic-Arte Museum, Mission Cultural Center of Latino Arts (San Francisco, CA) and was selected for the IV Biennial El Paso - CD. Juarez in 2015. She was awarded a National Association for Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC) Fund for the Arts: San Antonio Artist Grant in 2016.

Andie Flores is a writer, performer, and visual artist based in Austin, Texas. Her work centers around isolation within cultural, artistic, and familial communities through subtle humor and magical realism.

Rosalind Hussell is a queer performance artist and drag monster from Austin, Texas. They're known for creating uniquely characterized pieces with dream logic and a DIY aesthetic.

Payasa is Andie Flores and Cynthia Muñoz, who together play as two clowns who are the only people left in the world. Using photography, they create vibrant self-portraits where they boldly insert themselves into isolated landscapes, reframing the viewer’s understanding of spaces that have become rote. Their work is rasquache in nature and cutting in tone.

Daniel Ramirez's "A Series of Shots" is an expression of freelance photographs landscaping and reshuffling the visual guidance of our everyday eye. In A series of shots, he strives to capture a creative pose, shot or stimulus replica in mind that may be captivating to the naked eye, and furthermore, divulging to the photo fan who has yet to encounter such type of masquerade colorful photography.

Natalia Rocafuerte is a Mexican artist based out of Austin, Tejas. Their work, ranging from audio installations to printmaking, is inquisitive of identity and its environment in search of community. Rocafuerte’s work seeks to completely lose oneself into another identity or fantasy. During the night, Rocafuerte goes by DJ dada and spins records with Chulita Vinyl Club. (www.nataliarocafuerte.com)

Megan Solis is a current MFA sculpture candidate at the Rhode Island School of Design. She received her BFA from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Solis concentrates on painting and performance art with a strong conceptual practice. Regionally, she has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions at The McNay Art Museum, The Lullwood Group, University of Texas at San Antonio Main Gallery, and the San Antonio Art League Museum. Most recently, in 2018 she was invited for a solo exhibition at Revenant Gallery. Internationally, she has exhibited at the Czong Institute of Contemporary Art Museum in South Korea. Solis has also gained international exposure through a 2015 artist residency at Arteles Creative Center in Haukijärvi, Finland, and in 2016 completed an artist residency following a solo show at Hello Studio in San Antonio. 

Jose Villalobos' most recent work explores traditional "masculine" objects and idols that are glorified by most Mexican and Hispanic men. By softening the virility of these objects with subtle ambiguities, their MACHO-ness becomes delicate. As a result, the intent of his work is to create a sense of security and comfort while creating a feeling of distress, which establishes a duality. Currently Villalobos is an artist resident and co-director at Clamp Light Artist Studios and Gallery in San Antonio, Texas.

Fancy Fancy Studios, 5305 Bolm Rd, Bay 9, Austin, TX. | facebook