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 | July - September 2021
Keeping the theme of resetting in mind, a breakdown of my influences from July - September 2021 is listed on this chronicle.
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.
Hello,
I’m back from hiatus.
Now, Sub Rosa is a one to three months or, whenever-I-feel, chronicle. I began publishing things I found meaningful as an archive throughout the month for personal and communal benefits. When I’m feeling uninspired or pressured to post, it feels disconnected. So, I took some time to reset which, is a loose theme of what I found inspirational during July, August, and September 2021.
Enjoy!
-A
Art & Photography
Yes and No
One of the first things and artist may learn is; understand the rules of your medium before you break them. Photo No-Nos is a book by photographer and author of The Photographer’s Playbook, Jason Fulford. Photo No-Nos features several contemporary photographer’s approaches to what they deem as off-limits. Each photographer takes the prompt in different directions, from humorous to serious.
Personally, every cliche I could think of; flowers, buildings, sunsets, pets, food, are some of my favorite things to capture. I believe the execution and intent matters more.
Speaking of photo no’s, one is gatekeeping information from each other. Fuck Gatekeeping provides photographers resources on the industry created by Carmen Chan, Emiliano Granado, and Jared Soares. Categories include business, marketing, personal work, and money. Even if you aren’t a photographer, it’s worth checking out. The information is relevant to many careers, and it offers insight into a photographer’s role.
White Rock Lake, Alexandra Hulsey, 2021
An Artists Uniform
Artists often choose their wardrobes in response to their practice subconsciously or not. It could be simple, convenient, eccentric, political, etc. Undeniably a certain look can be associated with a figure for example, Bill Cunningham and his blue jacket.
What Artists Wear by Charlie Porter is a book that archives iconic artists and their clothes. Looking at these wardrobes inspires me to choose clothes I identify with as an artist.
What Artists Wear by Charlie Porter page 168 & 169. Image source: HYPBEAST
Bill Cunningham photographed by Yu Fujiwara in 2013. Image source: Dazed
Text & Image
Teju Cole is a photographer, author, and Harvard University, professor. Golden Apple of the Sun is his most recent book. It includes photographs of Cole’s kitchen counter during the early weeks of 2020 accompanied by an essay responding to harsh truths of America’s history. In discussion with Cole and Pac Pobric for Artnet, the two cover some of the book’s content and purpose. Cole’s work ties concepts to photographs through using text which, I believe informs any image. “It was almost as if the photos knew all those things, but I had to interpret them,” Cole says in the interview. On what it means to be American right now, he states: “We’re being asked to do something intolerable, to witness and understand other people’s pain, and then still move on with life. It’s very difficult to do, and yet it has to be done.”
Teju Cole’s Golden Apple of the Sun. Image source: MACK
DESIGN
Look at Things That Make You Happy Everyday
Oaxaca, La Princesa Y El Sireno. Image source: rafaeluriegas.com
A move from minimal to eclectic or, at least, incorporating more eclectic aspects in the home is happening. A method I’ve always enjoyed is murals.
Rafael Uriegas references religion through the Latin American lens and translates his bold shapely paintings into interior murals. Urigas’s Instagram showcases the diverse surfaces he paints.
Home of Italian futurist Giacomo Balla (18 July 1871 – 1 March 1958) has been turned into an exhibition space by Rome’s National Museum of 21st Century Art. Check out the video below to learn about Balla, his work, home, and the current exhibit.
For more images of Balla’s home, visit the link: Dwell.
dallas
Unearthed
TW: racism & violence
In September, Jim Schutze discussed his book The Accommodation with John Wiley Price, archived on the KERA YouTube channel linked here. Published in 1987, The Accommodation did not sell many copies but, being one of the only books that address Dallas's history of racism, violence, and corruption, it's rare and valuable. Previously, the book was downloadable online for $600, Deep Vellum is re-releasing it for $30.
The Accommodation has limitations, as Dallas Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation executive Jerry Hawkins states: “It’s obviously just this one man’s take on this vicious racist story. But it is important. It’s important for sure.” As noted by Schutez, sense 1987, historians have published more in-depth text on Dallas history including White Metropolis: Race, Ethnicity, and Religion in Dallas, 1841-2001 by Michael Phillips and Harvey Graff’s The Dallas Myth: The Making and Unmaking of an American City.
The history of Dallas is veiled, many writings and information have been lost or destroyed, and the topic is taboo. I choose to share information like this because it’s critical to educate ourselves and others. Especially now that House Bill 3979 law has passed in Texas which, is public to view here. House Bill 3979 excludes specific American history from the K-12 curriculums including but not limited to: Women’s Suffrage which is the 19th amendment, The Chicano Movement, The Snyder Act of 1924 granting Indigenous people the right to vote, The Eugenics Movement, The Ku Klux Klan, Martin Luther King Jr’s I Have A Dream speech and Letter From Birmingham Jail, The Civil Rights Act of 1964, The Emancipation Proclamation, and Brown v. Board of Education.
MUSIC
From Summer to Fall
This is my updated playlist from last year. Dedicated to the transition from summer to fall.
SUPPORT
Migrants & Refugees
Dallas Refugee Project focuses on community and resources for refugees in Dallas. Some of their services provide tutoring, personal items, school supplies, and food. Sign up to volunteer here, and donate here.
UndocuBlack is formed by currently and formerly undocumented Black people. The organization provides community, facilities, and resources like their know your rights section. Donate here.
Black Freedom Factory is a San Antonio-based organization with volunteer opportunities in San Antonio and Houston. Information and updates on current events about social justice are on their Instagram.
Celebration Nation is a Latino Nonprofit centered on equal rights for farmworkers. Volunteer here, donate anywhere on their site.
Missing BIPOC
TW: racism & violence
Among many other alarming statistics, there are 10% more missing Indigenous women and girls than all ethnicities. NIWRC is a non-profit organization dedicated to safeguarding women and girls from violence. Donations are linked here. Please read the information on missing Indigenous women and girls listed on Native Women’s Wilderness. The data and resources are pulled from UIHI and can be accessed here.
Black and Missing is a non-profit organization with a database for reporting, searching for, and sending anonymous tips regarding missing Black people. They also provide resources such as a downloadable missing persons PDF flyer and information on what to do if your child is missing. You can donate here.
Chronicles | July 2020
Barbara Earl Thomas will create a commissioned installation for Yale’s Grace Hopper College that addresses the school’s current namesake and the previous, John C. Calhoun. Dallas’s art industry is reemerging through historical hardships and current ones.
A R T
Barbara Earl Thomas
Barbara Earl Thomas is a Seattle based artist who has been commissioned to create a new set of windows for the dining hall of Yale’s Grace Hopper College. Physically, her pieces are both delicate and colossal. She uses materials such as; egg tempera paint, glass, cut paper, printmaking, and sculpture.
Thomas explained her intent in a statement published by YaleNews that, “My goal with this project is to depict the history of the college’s name in a way that is real, honorable, and in the spirit of our time. I want the images to tell the story of the renaming, addressing John C. Calhoun’s disturbing legacy while honoring the life of Grace Murray Hopper.” Grace Hopper, the namesake of the school, was a prolific Yale alma mater. Her career as a computer scientist began in 1944. The following year she enlisted in the Navy. While her predecessor, John C. Calhoun, was a leading voice for those seeking to secure the institution of slavery. Yale decided to change the name from Calhoun to Hopper in 2017.
Sonya Clark & Writing Prompt
Portland Art Museum shared a writing prompt on their Instagram inspired by Sonya Clark’s piece, Penny Loafers. The description asks that you research her work before you delve into the project.
Clark’s artwork addresses race, culture, class, and history. In the description of Penny Loafers by the Portland Art Museum, Clark is quoted stating:
“Objects have personal and cultural meaning because they absorb our stories and reflect our humanity back to us. Sometimes common objects are sponges. Sometimes they are mirrors. I am instinctively drawn to objects that connect to my personal narrative as a point of departure: a comb, a piece of cloth, a penny, or hair. I wonder how each comes to have meaning collectively.”
The prompt is to write for six uninterrupted minutes reflecting on “The Sound of Footsteps… / On the path...”⠀
Write Around Portland provides weekly writing prompts to Portland Museum of Art. You can share your work if you like by tagging @writearoundpdx on Instagram.
L I T E R A T U R E
Upgrade Culture
Not “If” But “When”: An Artist Looks Into Upgrade Culture by Lydia Pine for Glasstire, is a synopsis of Julia Christensen’s book, Upgrade Available. Christensen and Pine encourage us to reconsider the afterlife of our electronic devices and the culture of upgrading. Doing so can transform our role as consumers within realms of capitalism, colonialism, globalization, the economy, the environment, etc.
Tamu McPhearson’s All the Pretty Birds
All the Pretty Birds, established in 2008, publishes fashion, global news, and lifestyle content. All the Pretty Birds was founded and directed by Tamu McPhearson whose career emerged from creating streetwear content. All the Pretty Birds sources are creative, engaging, and resourceful.
L O C A L
BIPOC Arts Coalition
BIPOC Arts Coalition was formed this July by David Lozano director of Cara Mía Theatre, Tonya Holloway director of Soul Rep Theatre, Sara Cardona director of Teatro Dallas, and Teresa Coleman Wash director of Bishop Arts Theatre Center. The group ultimately aims to support each other with efforts of sourcing funding and creating an antiracist platform with urgency due to COVID-19. You can read the BIPOC Arts Coalition manifesto in Art&Seek’s write-up here.
Dallas TRHT
In the first edition of Dallas TRHT’s Transformation Tuesday director Jerry Hawkins spoke with BIPOC Arts Coalition. They discussed specifics regarding racism within the art industry of Dallas. There is a lot to learn and a lot to do, begin by watching the conversation here.
Bath House Cultural Center
Bath House Cultural Center is my family’s go-to spot when visiting White Rock Lake. It is also the first gallery I showed in with my Mom, in fact, for the 2008 Día de Muertos exhibition.
At the beginning of the year, before any of us knew the impact of COVID-19, the Bath House began renovations. Now, they are still closed, employees are furloughed, and there is a reality of not being able to fully restaff.
Yet, the city of Dallas has a say in funding that could save grace. The Bath House Board of Directors published a letter in White Rock Lake Weekly, requesting visitors to contact Mayor Eric Johnson and our local officials to voice a plea to save the Bath House staff.
Here is a link to the article with a template ready for you to send, although personalizing it will go further! Here is a link to directly message Mayor Eric Johnson, and here is a link to the local official's directory.
P E O P L E
John Lewis
The death of John Lewis has been felt deeply. As the information on his legacy and quotes of his consequential words filled our social media feeds, I searched for references between the arts and Lewis. I found that in 2009 he was selected for the Congressional Arts Leadership Award for his commitment to the arts. This included sponsoring The Artist-Museum Partnership Act, which allows us creatives to file tax deductions on our contributions. I also read a quote I hadn't seen before, "Without the arts, the civil rights movement would have been like a bird without wings" which still holds true, doesn't it?
For a documentary on John Lewis, I recommend Kera’s John Lewis - Get in the Way. The free link expires on August 17th but, is available on other streaming platforms as well.
I’d also like to highlight the times that John Lewis led a march through Comic-Con while promoting his graphic novel trilogy, March. At the convention, he would cosplay as himself during the March on Selma in 1965.