sense lab 3:
felt presence
August 9-29 Occidental, California USA @Neon Raspberry Art House
There is someone we are thinking about. There is someone who is in our field. They might be a memory, a spirit, a perceived enemy, a thorn in our experience, a stranger with whom we shared a gaze.
In a time where we turn from each other, there is an opportunity to gaze internally and witness our own perception of someone - however deep, shallow, sideways, engaged - and create spaciousness to understand our relationship with them.
In this Sense Lab, we become curious to discover what can arise in form when we tune into our etheric community. We begin with a guided meditation (live on August 13th, recorded otherwise). Then, we are invited to make a record: a portrait in mark making, shape, or drawing directly onto the gallery walls to make seen those who exist in the periphery of our subconscious.
Begin the journey on August 13 at the live meditation and drawing journey, when we will connect as a group to build the collective record. Continue at the opening on August 15, or drop in any time before August 29… Neon Raspberry Art House in downtown Occidental, California.
Supplies will be provided, and participants are invited to bring their own and utilize the gallery as their studio, with the sole prompt to listen to the meditation and then draw, paste, and create a mark of this presence.
why & how
We spend a lot of time learning to connect with ourselves through contemplative practices on mats and cushions, and in our bodies as individuals. When interfacing with the world, we take all those we know with us. We know this, but it can be difficult to bring it from ether into form.
We will begin with a recorded meditation that you are invited to sit with intended to draw up in the mind that which will you are invited to translate onto the walls of the gallery. From mark to illustration, with no skills, we will cumulatively make visible that which is so often elusive: our connection to our people.
The final work will be a collective work that fills the gallery, the contributions of our community and their felt presence visitors.
the meditation
You are invited to experience the meditation offered during the show to explore Felt Presence in your own home or company. It's a beautiful and surprising experience to see what emerges.
So, grab your drawing materials- even a pen or pencil, and paper, find someplace comfortable, and join us on the meditation.
Jenna Barnes
Jenna Barnes is a master chef who works in the wild and in situ to build plant-based dinners and food experiences from a radically local foodshed with a global narrative.
Her herbal wisdom collaborates with a lifetime of working to nourish people resulting in interactive experiences that foster community, full of storytelling, qualities of the plants, and unusual recipes that build taste into history.
She has been studying the flora and fauna of Southern Baja for many years. Learn more at parakaloprovisions.com.
Nica Celly
Nica Celly is an artist and designer who connects disparate practices to build a common understanding and equanimity across disciplines.
She has been studying and practicing yoga (tantric Shaivist lineage, 500+ certified, nearly 1008 complete) for over 25 years, holds an MFA in textiles from California College of the Arts, and works across the fields of contemplative studies and mid-life established practitioners to connect mastery of their craft to emerging audiences.
Learn more about her here, at nicacelly.com, and nicolemarkoff.com.
about the artist
Nica Celly is an artist and designer who connects disparate practices to build a common understanding and equanimity across disciplines.
She has been studying and practicing yoga (tantric Shaivist lineage, 500+ certified, nearly 1008 complete) for over 25 years, holds an MFA in textiles from California College of the Arts, and works across the fields of contemplative studies and mid-life established practitioners to connect mastery of their craft to emerging audiences.
Learn more about her here, at nicacelly.com, and nicolemarkoff.com.
an exporation of breath & form, of presence & movement, of expansion in practice