Established in January 2020, Sub Rosa began as a digital journal dedicated to highlighting points of inspiration—a reflection of the systematic groundwork behind one’s practice. Within these pages, you’ll find the people, objects, moments, locations, and histories that have motivated me.
All views are my own.
Chronicles | Midyear 2022
My intent for Sub Rosa is to provide access to curated information centered on art and activism. Valuing my time as an artist, I’ve been thinking of a way to offer readers the choice to pay for my chronicles. Below is an option to support my project for as little as $1 one time or however you’re comfortable.
All images by Alexandra Hulsey / embedded with source links.
A R T
Favorites So Far
It's been a while, and I thought reconnecting via another chronicle made sense in the middle of the year. Maybe Sub Rosa is a bi-yearly thing now. Anyways, I'd like to share some of the art I've enjoyed seeing so far. Found in New Orleans Museum of Art this July, Dallas Art Fair in April, and Latino Cultural Center in May.
Some commonalities in these artworks below are that they're fantastical, colorful, shapely, entertaining, and offered me a much-needed pause.
Larry Bell, Pacific Red (VI), 2016-2017. New Orleans Museum of Art.
Gert & Uwe Tobais, I don’t Want Love, 2022. Cassina Projects at Dallas Art Fair.
Joan Miró, The Red Disk, 1960. New Orleans Museum of Art
Stefanie Popp, Obelism (Skilos), 2020. Keijsers Koning at Dallas Art Fair.
Michael Henry Hayden, Internal Clock, 2020. Moskowitz Bayse at Dallas Art Fair.
Vladimir Waone, Melody of Unkown Moments, 2021. Sapar Contemporary at Dallas Art Fair.
Areum Yang, Until I Find My Home, 2022. Derek Eller Gallery at Dallas Art Fair.
Carol Bove, Mood, 2017. New Orleans Museum of Art.
Kapoor, Anish, Untitled, 1997. New Orleans Museum of Art.
Elizabeth Osborne, Zinnias With Chair, 2017. Barry Campbell Gallery at Dallas Art Fair.
Raymond Yeboah, New Beginnings. Latino Cultural Center, Dallas, TX.
Fabian Treiber, This Place, 2022. Anat Ebgi Gallery at Dallas Art Fair.
100 W Corsicana
Located in Downtown Corsicana, 100 W Corsicana serves as a prestigious creative residency for rigorously working artists from visual to literary. I visited for the first time in May for 100W x 10YRS, a celebration of the conception of 100 W Corsicana. The building and its surroundings are hauntingly beautiful. It inspired me to continue a project I explored in college, where you ink up a portion of a textured surface, place paper on top, and press into it to make a monoprint.
The application for 2023 residencies closed on September 1st, and I’m eager to see the next cycle of artists.
100 W Corsicana
Downtown Corsicana
Downtown Corsicana
STOREFRONT
100 W Corsicana
100 W Corsicana
100 W Corsicana
100 W Corsicana
The residency also has a bookstore called STOREFRONT, where you’ll find literature and artwork by resident participants. I picked up Tatiana Ryckman’s I Don’t Think of You (Until I Do) and, more recently, Seven Samurai Swept Away in a River by Jung Young Moon.
Corsicana reminded me how much I appreciate old buildings and old things, which in a way brings me to our road trip to New Orleans.
New Orleans
I've been to NOLA a lot, in fact, twice this year already, but I visited the New Orleans Museum of Art for the first time in July. It's relatively small, and its curation is one of my favorites I've ever seen! The vibrant modern art galleries displayed household named heartthrobs from Warhol, Modigliani, Kasner, and Miró with many others to have a unique conversation I felt like I was a part of. At the same time, the contemporary gallery focused on new acquisitions of work by BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and female-identifying artists, which was badass in concept and execution. Outside was a massive sculpture garden that placed artwork complementary to the native swampy environment that felt otherworldly.
New Orleans has a lot of dualities to note, like placement/displacement, authenticity/facade, beauty/dismay, and stillness/chaos. I'm glad to have reflected on these this January and July, which felt especially meaningful in the context of 2022, if that makes sense. Some things feel new, some old, and there’s some new/old feelings, plus everything in between.
L O C A L
Dallas Artist Resources
Texas froze again in February, flooding circulated through the city in August, and temperatures reached as high as 109°F. throughout the summer, while the Dallas Climate Action seems over-ambitious for a city with 62 desert infrastructures.
One of the most significant ways individuals can make a change is to stop or cut down on meat and dairy in whatever way they can—also, taking agency on your own money. Consider alternative options for how much plastic accompanies what you're buying, what excess looks like for you, donating instead of throwing away, and research if the companies you shop at show actions against their role in climate change.
M U S I C
Something to listen to post-storm
Chronicles | February 2021
2020 Nasher Prize winner Michael Rakowitz’s work uses Iraq monuments as a way to reclaim art spaces, the optical illusion inspired wallpapers by Bradley L Bowers, how to responsibly collect Black artists work by Destinee Ross-Sutton, and who showed up and who is responsible for power outages during storm Uri’s in Texas.
A R T
Relics that Confront the Museum
Michael Rakowitz, the 2020 Nasher Prize recipient, takes us through his projects from The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist in Art21’s Extended Play series.
His artwork addresses the Western perceptions, associations, and censorship towards Iraq. Ancient Iraqi relics have been stolen and placed within museums, as well as destroyed on location. Rakowitz uses reclaimed materials to rebuild these structures as their afterlives. If you’re in Dallas, you have until April 2021 to view a selection of his works at the Nasher. Tickets are available here.
D E S I G N
Illusionist Design
I want a wallpaper from Bradley L Bowers for every room in my home! I’m captivated by his designs inspired by optical illusions. Below is Striae Wallpaper / Brass, Ripple Wallpaper / Fuji, and Melange Wallpaper / Tundra, image source: Bradley L Bowers website.
L I T E R A T U R E
Collect Responsibly
Curator, advisor, collector, and gallerist Destinee Ross-Sutton wrote an amazing article, How to Responsibly Collect the Work of Black Artists published by Artsy. The major takeaways are; In the U.S. there are no legal obligations for resale royalties for visual artists. Also, most galleries have no terms or conditions other than mandating payment. Collecting art is an investment and responsibility. You really shouldn’t buy art to resale at a profit, don’t do that. If you have to sell your purchased work, communicate with the artist or gallery and give it 3-5 years. Obviously, take a look at the article it's important stuff to know as artists, collectors, and generally speaking!
L O C A L
Uri’s Affect on Texans
Acknowledging those who showed up during this time & featured ways to keep helping:
Unfortunately, lives were lost during the winter storm, some because of a lack of experience of what to when trying to keep warm. From Afiya Center’s resource guide I learned to; never use a gas range oven for heating, never sit in your car with the engine running and the garage closed, never burn charcoal, use a portable gas camp stove or use a generator indoors.
In relation, it’s not okay to make fun of or judge Texans right now. Also, the comparisons to states that regularly experience frigid temperatures aren’t valid. Instead, imagine no snowplows, salted roads, winter clothes, and add houses built to keep you cool, a corrupt faulty power grid, and little to no experience of walking or driving on ice.
Eastside Gems, a small vintage furniture business took initiative before the temperatures dropped. They were able to raise over $30,000 to secure hotel rooms for homeless neighbors along with food, clothes, bus passes, and new supplies. Donations are exceeding the emergency needs of the storm to continue to help the community.
Feed the People Dallas supplied water, food, and other items damaged by the storm. Let's continue to donate to small and involved organizations like this. If you’re not local to Dallas, show support through with cash here.
Camp Rhonda is a Dallas-based autonomous encampment organized by the Dallas Houseless Committee, a collective of unhoused neighbors, mutual aid organizations, and DSE members. They’re still in need of supplies ruined by the storm and for their abrupt relocation. For guidance on how to help, check their Instagram.
While helping our community, the following shelters in DFW experienced severe flood damage Jonathan’s Place, Mosaic Services, and OurCalling are accepting cash and goods donations.
Knowing why the power outages were so severe:
I encourage us all to do the research but in short, to avoid federal regulations, most of Texas runs on its own power grid called ERCOT.
From the ERCOT website:
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) manages the flow of electric power to more than 26 million Texas customers -- representing about 90 percent of the state’s electric load. As the independent system operator for the region, ERCOT schedules power on an electric grid that connects more than 46,500 miles of transmission lines and 680+ generation units. It also performs financial settlement for the competitive wholesale bulk-power market and administers retail switching for 8 million premises in competitive choice areas. ERCOT is a membership-based 501 (c) (4) nonprofit corporation, governed by a board of directors and subject to oversight by the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas Legislature. Its members include consumers, cooperatives, generators, power marketers, retail electric providers, investor-owned electric utilities, transmission and distribution providers and municipally owned electric utilities.
The president of ERCOT said we were minutes away from month-long blackouts. Let's contact the following people with questions, concerns, and comments.
DeAnn T. Walker Public Utility Commission of Texas appointed by Governor Greg Abbott
chairmanwalker@puc.texas.gov
Arthur C. D’Andrea Commissioner of the Public Utility Commission of Texas appointed by Governor Greg Abbott
commissionerDAndrea@puc.texas.gov
Woody Rickerson Vice President, Grid Planning and Operations
“Mr. Rickerson oversees transmission planning, generator interconnection activities, training, and electric grid operations for the ERCOT region”
wrickerson@ercot.com
512-248-650
Bill Magness President and CEO of ERCOT
bmagness@ercot.com
512-225-7076
Chad Seely Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
“Mr. Seely oversees state and federal regulatory and litigation issues related to the ERCOT region, including market, operational, planning, and compliance matters”
chad.seely@ercot.com
512-225-7035
My intent for Sub Rosa is to provide access to curated information centered on art and activism. Valuing my time as an artist, I’ve been thinking of a way to offer readers the choice to pay for my chronicles. Below is an option to support my project for as little as $1 one time or however you’re comfortable.
Chronicles | February 2020
Browse through the films on my ‘to watch’ list from the 2020 Berlin Film Festivale. I’ve also featured Mondo Mondo’s fragrance selections and images from Louis Armstrong’s preserved 1970’s flat.
A R T
Embracing Fear and Failure
The NOWNESS series Photographers in Focus highlighted Alec Soth’s work for February. In the short film by Joppe Rog, Soth speaks about his career, his intent, and the subject of failure. Soth previously had a conversation with Aaron Schuman featured on Magnum Photo’s Theory and Practice where he explained, “A common mistake I make while shooting with sheet film is accidentally double-exposing the film. I did this last year while shooting in Warsaw and ended up loving the result.“
D E S I G N
Louis Armstrong’s Home
Although Louis Armstrong’s preserved apartment has been standing untouched since his passing in 1971, The New York Times published an article this month titled, Louis Armstrong, The King of Queens which showcases images of and histories about his home. Thanks to the article, I learned that $12 will get you into a house tour.
Chris Mottalini captured the home’s images above for an article published by Curbed in 2018, Visiting Louis Armstrong’s ‘Wonderful World’. The author, Rebecca Bengal conveys a story of Armstrong’s neighborhood concerning Jazz and identity.
F I L M
Berlin Film Festival
I’ll preface that AnOther’s article, Ten Films You’ll Want to Watch from the 2020 Berlin Film Festival, are in fact films I intend to watch. This year marks the festival’s 70th edition. Narrowed from Another’s breakdown I’ve selected three most interesting to me.
Berlin Alexanderplatz was originally a story conceived by Alfred Döblin in 1929 and I’m curious how the 2020 film references our current political climate. The contemporary narrative follows the story of an African immigrant’s promise to be a good person if his life is spared but the circumstances don’t make it all that easy.
Uppercase Print references duality and censorship. It’s a split story of one part anti-regime teenager circa 1981 in Romania and one part the government’s portrayal of him.
Zero is a documentary about Dr. Masatomo Yamamoto, a renowned and prolific Japanese psychiatrist. At age 82, he has decided to retire to care for his wife full-time which leaves his patents wondering what will happen to them now.
L O C A L
Censorship at Our Galleries
To me, the closing of 500x Gallery marks an end of a Dallas art era. Although, we as artists and art admirers hope for sufficient relocation, 500 Exposition Avenue was home to the gallery for 41 years. As censorship plays a role in the landlord’s decision to abruptly dislocate the gallery, I wonder if Dallas will ever actually let itself be more than the high-brow art hub it values so much.
M U S I C
Valentine’s Day happened and I published a playlist of songs about love that mostly makes you want to groooove.
P E O P L E
If you haven’t been already, I’d like to introduce you to Christina Koch & Christine Sun Kim. These two women were sources of establishing monumental moments in history this February.
Christina Koch returned to Earth after orbiting space for 328 days, breaking the record for the longest spaceflight completed by a woman and second-longest spaceflight in U.S history. Space freaks me out, and with that being said, documentation of her travels on through Instagram accompanied by her existential descriptions make me feel some type of way. In her last photo from the perspective of space the view of our blue planet shows with a caption that reads; “What will I miss? The exquisite beauty of both the planet Earth and this marvel that its amazing people create.” I encourage you to read up on her accomplishments during her mission here.
Christine Sun Kim is a multi-media artist who became the first Asian American deaf woman to sign the anthem at the Super Bowl. I’m particularly interested in this story because often conceptual artists and sporting events do not go hand in hand. I have strong concerns about what our society decides to glorify and invest in. Kim expressed disappointment that she was only featured for a couple of seconds of air time yet, her work is prolific and her performance was a breakthrough.
T H I N G S
Aromas
I discovered Mondo Mondo’s fragrance High Lonesome while researching product packaging. After investigating, I learned the aroma was inspired by the desert and the remainder of their collection proved just as intriguing. I opted to trial their package of seven permanent fragrance samples. While I enjoyed each of them, my favorites were The Center of The World, Doll, and Cowboy. Center of The World is the most subtle option in comparison but I enjoy how the fresh and earthy aroma lays on my skin. I am often disappointed with rose interpretations but Doll is spot on for credentials, it’s comforting and real. Cowboy is my favorite because it smells like Texas. Specifically, a freshly cut and watered lawn that had been warmed by the sun all day while hints of honeysuckle nectar flow through the air.