Autonomy in Art: Leica Women Summit

281 Park Avenue South,New York NY 10010

13 March, 2022

Description

Autonomy in Art How do we create and keep ourselves? Discover how artists celebrate their people and keep community stories accurate but not exploitative. This conversation focuses on creating with purpose and the personal ethics of making art with and for others. Discussion with artists who carve space for themselves and their community through their creative process. Speakers: Luisa Opalesky, Rochelle Brock. O.J. Slaughter. Photo credit: Luisa Opalesky. Vaccination Required: Please bring your proof of full vaccination card and a valid identification for entry to the event. About Luisa Opalesky Luisa Opalesky (b. 1987) is an artist whose practice seeks to question and examine human desires. Through photography, painting emulsion with heat, performance art, and dance, Opalesky documents and performs fantasies and visions from a conscious awareness inspiration from alter ego and past sexual abuse trauma. Her interest lives in recognizing the dynamic human parts, particularly the ones that are repressed. Latest work includes "Beauty Trilogy", consisting of "WIG", "HEEL", and "NAIL" photographed over the course of three years shot on medium format film and polaroid, exhibited as large scale prints. The series is an unconventional collection of images inspired by notions of "beauty" while acquiring hundreds of manufactured artifacts of "glamorous" appeal while being a nightlife dancer throughout her 20's. Originally from Philadelphia, she earned a BFA in photography mentored by George Pitts at Parsons New School for Design in 2010. She resides in New York City and teaches at the Bushwick Community Darkroom. About Rochelle Brock Rochelle Brockington (b. 1995, Brooklyn, USA) is a photographer who lives and works in New York City. Rochelle’s works allow her to conceptualize a world where women who look like the women in her family, her friends, and herself are celebrated and appreciated. Women who otherwise might not feel represented in fashion and beauty centered photography-due to societal beauty standards. Rochelle is inspired by the countless young women who have formed their own lanes in art and media while staying true to themselves, the color pink, the beauty in being soft, and the nostalgia of growing up in New York City. The main subject of Brockington's work is black and plus-size women. She focuses on topics directly related to their ideas of beauty, identity, femininity, emotions, and personal experiences with body image. Rochelle creates the work she wished to see when she was younger. About OJ Slaughter OJ Slaughter is a Virginia-born, New Jersey-raised, Boston-based artist. Their work focuses on autonomy in photography and allows subjects to work with them instead of telling them who they need to be in the photo. OJ creates work that places the viewer in a world of their making. OJ's primary goal is to capture images for our future past. Their work has captured everything from Civil Rights protests, album and magazine covers, news stories, and more. OJ works currently as the Visual Creative Director for Sound On, a music series for WBUR. They most recently created work for The Institute of Contemporary Art Boston in collaboration with Virgil Abloh for his "Figures Of Speech" show. "Breaking Cycles" was then featured in the Deana Lawson show at the ICA. OJ is now the Curator and Gallery Manager for Leica Gallery Boston.