Artists Residency

Nela Garzón is a multidisciplinary visual artist whose work explores the intersection of traditions, cultural diversity, and acculturation. Drawing inspiration from diverse cultures, she addresses themes of colonialism, racism, social injustice, and migration, critically examining the impact of ethnocentrism in dominant societies. With a passion for folk art and handcrafts, Garzón immerses herself in traditional techniques, reinterpreting them to comment on the effects of globalization and capitalism. Her work advocates for the preservation of ancestral knowledge, the promotion of pride in minority communities, and the acceptance of immigrants and refugees in a pluricultural world.

Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Garzón earned a Bachelor of Visual Arts from the Javeriana University in 2004. Her art has been featured in significant exhibitions in Colombia, including the 41st Salón Nacional de Artistas and the 4th Salón de Arte Bidimensional. In the U.S., she has received notable achievements, such as the 1st Award at the Assistance League of Houston Show (2019), the LIFTS grant (2020), and a sculpture featured at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston (2022). She also received a Jones Artist Award from the Houston Endowment (2023). A commissioned work is permanently installed at Meow Wolf Houston (2024), and she was a resident artist at PAC (2023).

To learn more about Nela Garzón’s work, visit http://www.minkstereo.com.

Nela’s residency was generously sponsored in part by Jereann Chaney.

Stephanie Bursese is a Philadelphia-based multidisciplinary visual artist who has spent her life all along the East Coast, deeply embedded in many creative communities. Her work creates visual relationships between physical and psychological space using printed images, textiles, site-specific installations, book forms, sculpture, architectural elements, and other handmade objects. Often working through a feminist framework, her inspiration comes from research into behavioral patterns, personal and cultural trauma, embedded coping mechanisms, and how our environment affects our movement through developmental stages. Bursese investigates photography’s role in limiting perspective, both formally and as a concept, using loops, repetition, and doubling, to disrupt and develop doubt in the viewer.

Bursese earned her MFA from Syracuse University and her BFA from the University of Florida, both in photography, with minors in printmaking and art history. Her work has appeared in numerous group and solo exhibitions, publications, and museums, nationally and internationally, including The Aperture Foundation (NY), The Print Center (PA), Expo Chicago (IL), Cornell University (NY), Galerie Maison Kasini (Montreal), Everson Museum of Art (NY), Silver Eye Center for Photography (PA), The University of Virginia (VA), and many more. She is represented in both private and public collections. She was selected for a residency at the Fabric Workshop and Museum (2006); published her first book of photographs, Razor Thin Rock Hard (2013); released a second book in 2015, Belt and Brace; and was nominated for the MACK First Book Award in 2017.

To learn more about Stephanie Bursese, visit https://stephaniebursese.com/.

Stephanie’s residency was generously sponsored in part by Phyllis Childress

Preetika Rajgariah is a queer multidisciplinary artist whose works examine the complicated intersections of cultural + queer identity, nostalgia, and capitalist consumption, while referencing her traditional upbringing as an Indian-born Texas-raised American.

Notable residencies she has attended include the Golden Foundation, the Momentary at Crystal Bridges, Oxbow School of Art, and the Vermont Studio Center. Performances at the Asia Society Texas and Untitled Art Fair Miami, installations at Women & Their Work and Art League Houston, and a large-scale public art commission at Rice University have all shaped her multimedia practice. She received her MFA from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and currently lives and works in Houston, TX.

To learn more about Preetika Rajgariah, visit https://prajgariah.com/home.html.

Preetika’s residency was generously sponsored in honor of Sara Morgan.