About Us

Caitie Sellers received her BFA in Craft/Material Studies from Viriginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. After graduating, she spent the summer of 2008 teaching jewelry-making lessons to women in isolated regions near Xela, Guatemala. Upon returning to the U.S., Caitie moved between Montana and North Carolina, developing her own jewelry, working professionally as a floral designer, and assisting artists such as Joanna Gollberg, Natalya Pinchuk, and Amy Tavern.

Caitie’s work is informed by her observations of the many places she’s lived, from rural Virginia to Central America. She is interested in themes of urbanization, architecture, and social development. During her residency at HCCC, Caitie will use the local landscape of Houston to inspire a new body of work that will be a mixture of ink and wire drawings for the body and for the wall.

Caitie was chosen to speak at the 2012 Society of North American Goldsmiths’ conference as a Spotlight Emerging Artist and was a finalist for the Society for Contemporary Craft’s LEAP Award. Caitie will be with HCCC from December 2013 through August 2014. To learn more about her work, visit https://www.caitiesellers.com/.

Kamila Szczesna is an interdisciplinary artist working in various media and formats, including ceramic sculptures, drawing, and installation. In her work, she explores the complex interactions between the human body and the human mind.

During her residency at HCCC, Kamila will complete a series of hand-shaped ceramic sculptures that present the human touch as evidence of one’s existence. Through the “Meteopatic” project, she will explore the correlation between weather conditions and specific qualities of her work—in specific, examining under which conditions the work tends to be more dynamic rather than static, simple rather than complex, and other factors. The works will be accompanied by a mapping of the weather conditions, paired with photographs, in the form of a 2D collage.

Though she has lived and worked in Galveston, TX, since 2002, Kamila was born in Poland, where she earned her master’s degree at the Academy of Art and Design in Wroclaw. Her work has been exhibited and is held in public collections in Poland, Japan, Spain, Germany, Korea, and Denmark, as well as in the United States. In addition to having been selected for several artist residencies throughout Poland and Germany, Kamila has received numerous awards, including the First Place Award at Assistance League of Houston Celebrates Texas Art; the First Prize at Contemporary Ceramics CERCO-09 in Zaragoza, Spain; and the Bronze Award at the 8th International Ceramics Competition in Tajimi City, Japan. She will be with HCCC through February, 2014. To learn more about Kamila’s work, visit https://www.kamilaszczesna.com/.

Paris F. Jomadiao is a mixed-media artist. She was born in the Philippines and raised in Houston, TX, where she continues to work and reside.

Originally pursuing a career in design, Paris became drawn to the process of cut-paper as a means of creating illustrations; she combines this technique alongside a variety of other processes and media to create mixed-media collage and installations. A background in digital media allows her to further utilize her mixed-media work in the creation of stop-motion animations and short experimental films.

Paris’ artwork deals primarily with the personal narratives that stem from everyday experiences, interactions, relationships, and struggles. Through her work, she explores how these dynamics define and give meaning to one’s existence. During her residency at HCCC, Paris will focus on completing an animation and further developing work that continues to explore these themes.

Paris received her BFA in photography and digital media from the University of Houston. Her work has been shown in various local venues, such as the Houston Arts Alliance Gallery, Aurora Picture Show, and Caroline Collective.  She will be at HCCC through November of 2013.  For more information, visit https://parisfjomadiao.com/.

Delaney Smith is a visual artist working primarily with paper and bookmaking to create sculptures and interactive books. With a focus on aligning process and inherent qualities of material, she explores the ideas of accumulation, transformation, and duality. Her interactive books develop as the viewer alters the pages, creating a unique story of marks and questioning expectations of how one should approach a book.

Delaney received her BFA in graphic communications from the University of Southern Mississippi and her MFA in fibers from the University of North Texas. Her work has recently been selected for Materials Hard and Soft and is part of the permanent collection at Texas Women’s State University. She has received several grants and scholarships from the University of North Texas, including the B. Craig Raupe Travel Grant to attend the Yuma Art Symposium in Yuma, Arizona.

During her one-year residency, Delaney will continue to explore interactivity in her sculptures and books. She finds inspiration in collaborative environments and challenges herself to stay receptive.  Interchange with visitors and further experimentation with materials will shape her work. She will be with HCCC through August of 2014.  For more information, visit https://delaneysmithstudio.com/.

Demi Thomloudis, originally from the greater Philadelphia area, received her BFA in metals and jewelry from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 2007 and her MFA in jewelry and metalwork from San Diego State University in 2013. Her work has been featured nationally and internationally in exhibitions, such as Suspend(ed) in Pink, an international exhibition traveling to Germany, the United Kingdom, Austria, Paris, and the USA; CHAIN project, at A CASA, Museum of Brazilian Object, in São Paulo, Brazil; and La Frontera, at Fraz Mayer Museum in Mexico City and Velvet da Vinci Gallery in San Francisco.  Her work is also featured in HCCC’s fall 2013 exhibition, SPRAWL. Demi’s jewelry can be seen in publications such as 500 Plastic Jewelry Designs:  A Groundbreaking Survey of a Modern Material, 500 Enameled Objects, and The Art of Jewelry: Plastic & Resin: Techniques, Projects and Inspiration, all published by Lark Books.

Demi’s attraction to jewelry is forged by the opportunities it presents the maker, offering an intimate three-dimensional way to construct ideas.  Through experimentation, her chosen materials reveal their individual qualities, which are then used as information that dictates the fabrication of each composition. The intimacy of jewelry encourages a physical interaction between the viewer and the object and compels the viewer to inspect intricate details of materials and workmanship.  Her work questions our relationships with materials and skills, adapting the aesthetic and structural language of vernacular architecture to organize, build and conceptually guide the jewelry.   During her yearlong residency at HCCC, Demi intends to continue to build upon these formal relationships through material experimentation and research.  She will be with HCCC through August of 2014.  For more information, visit https://www.demidemi.net.

Grace Zuñiga was born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas. In 2007, she received her BFA from Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi, with a focus in photography. In 2012, Grace received her MFA in studio art, with a focus in printmaking, from the University of Georgia, Lamar Dodd School of Art in Athens, Georgia. Grace recently accepted a position as Visual Art Curator at MECA-Houston and is an adjunct instructor at Houston Community College – Central.

Grace says her work is about transformation and the process of transforming. “My media consists of, but is not limited to, handmade charcoal, handmade paper, resin, and various metals. When these materials are combined, they create a larger form and composition that exceed the singularity of an object.”  While in residence at HCCC, Grace wants to see these works grow in scale and to develop a strong body of installation-based work.

Grace has exhibited both nationally and internationally in venues such as The Mexic-Arte Museum in Austin, Texas; The Sharjah Gallery in Cairo, Egypt; and, recently, a solo show at the Paper Circle Gallery in Nelsonville, Ohio.  In 2010, Grace studied printmaking and papermaking in the UGA Cortona Program in Cortona, Italy.  She will be with HCCC through May of 2014.  For more information, visit https://www.gracezuniga.com/.

Susan Fletcher King is a fiber artist who has branched out from traditional quilting.  She mixes her quilted imagery with additional media, such as paint, dyes, specialty threads and embellishments.  Susan calls upon her professional art background in graphic design and illustration to create her illustrative quilt art.  While in residency at HCCC, she plans to pursue imagery created with deconstructed screen printing, as well as a soy-wax technique to create batik imagery.  To complete her pieces, she uses an assemblage style to combine additional elements and finishes with various quilting techniques.

Susan graduated from the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston and later returned to her school to teach graphic design for several years.  After earning her BFA from the University of Houston, she worked as a graphic designer in advertising and as a technical illustrator, eventually opening her own design studio and print agency.  Prior to raising a family, Susan took forays into a wide variety of other fields, including teaching, risk management, dairy milking and horse training.

Returning to the art world has been extremely rewarding for Susan, as she brings her many life experiences to her current artwork.  She has exhibited her work in local, regional and national venues.  Susan returns to HCCC this summer (June – August) for the second term of her residency, which she began last fall.   For more information, visit www.susanfletcherking.com.

Christina Carfora received her BFA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in Sculptural Ceramics and Art Education.  She is currently pursuing a MA at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Throughout her career, she has taught art on the elementary, high school and college levels.  When Christina is not producing artwork, her wanderlust compels her to travel to various places around the world. In 2009, she had the opportunity to live in Indonesia for one year.

Christina’s work stems from the experiences of her travels.  Her pieces confront concepts of communication and explore the way technology is changing culture.  She works primarily in clay, but drawing is intimately tied to her process. She draws directly on the clay, using colored slips and sgrafitto for surface design. Her figures are constructed using coils and slabs of clay.  During her residency at HCCC, she intends to complete a series of life-sized figurative sculptures, which will have an anthropological feel and address social issues she encountered on her travels.  Christina will be with HCCC through November of 2013.  For more information, visit https://christinacarfora.com.

Lauren Salazar weaves large sculptures and installations with twine.  She invites the viewer’s associations of this humble, everyday material with domestic objects and aims to subvert these associations by exploiting and magnifying the formal gridded world that she creates.  Through weaving, she is able to connect and explore within the medium’s layered cultural heritage, while also indulging in the geometric abstract language that she loves.

After Lauren’s pieces have been woven and are off the loom, the second act occurs, in which the artist aggressively manipulates her pieces. Stray ends are tightly corded or made into rope.  The weavings themselves are bound, bolted, and stretched onto and across frames, walls, ceilings, and floors. Both process and bodily symbolism are present within her final abstract pieces.  In the end, Lauren reveals a unique gridded language that is filled with tension and full of dualities.

Originally from Concord, North Carolina, Lauren holds a MFA from UNC Chapel Hill and a BFA in painting from UNC Greensboro.  She has exhibited in the solo show, Intertwined (2013), as well as several group exhibitions, including Sincerely Yours (2013), Come Out and Play Sculpture Show (2012), and BFF: built forged faked (2012).  Lauren will be with HCCC through August of 2013.  For more information, visit www.laurenlsalazar.com.

Susannah Mira earned a master’s degree in environmental art at the University of Art & Design Helsinki (now Aalto University) in 2008.  Born in San Francisco and raised in a nondescript Philadelphia suburb, she champions a highly itinerant artistic practice based out of a station wagon.

Susannah utilizes manufacturing sidestream to create intricate, geometric constructions that give form to notions of progress.  During her residency at HCCC, she will continue a series of sculptural objects that reflect the ways in which people plan for an uncertain future. Susannah’s work relies on massive quantities of discarded industrial items such as fabric, foam, paper, and plastic. She welcomes leads on sourcing such materials in and around Houston.

Susannah comes to HCCC having been awarded artist residencies over the last year with Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Village, CO; Art342 in Fort Collins, CO; Spiro Arts in Park City, UT; and the McColl Center for Visual Art in Charlotte, NC.  She will be with HCCC through August of 2013.  For more information, visit https://susannahmira.com/.