Meet some of the talented artists on The Phillips Collection’s staff, whose works are in the 2023 James McLaughlin Memorial Staff Show (on view through February 16, 2024).

Aditi Hazra

What is your role at The Phillips Collection? What is something interesting about your job?

I work as a museum assistant at The Phillips Collection. In addition to my role at the museum, I am also a multidisciplinary artist and an art educator, and I have exhibited my art in several countries. My upbringing in an artistic household in India has greatly influenced my passion for art and my artist father.

Who is your favorite artist in the collection?

Marta Pérez García, Nameless, 2021-22, Handmade paper, wire, nails, metal spikes, hair, teeth, film negative, Dimensions variable, Courtesy of the artist, Photo: AK Blythe

When it comes to my favorite artist in our collection, it’s hard to pick just one. I have recently been drawn to the works of Pierre Bonnard, Raoul Duffy, and Marta Pérez García.

What is your favorite space within The Phillips Collection?

As for my favorite space within The Phillips Collection, I particularly enjoy the interactions I have with visitors on the third floor of the Annex, where our special exhibitions are held. It’s an excellent opportunity to discuss new artworks, share our thoughts about the exhibition and/or the artist, and learn from each other. Additionally, I find the coatroom to be a relaxing space where I can doodle and jot down my creative ideas while assisting our guests.

On view at Staff Show: Charcoal

What would you like people to know about your artwork on view in the 2024 Staff Show (or your work in general)?

Regarding my artwork featured in the 2024 Staff Show, or my work in general, I aim to explore the transience of the human body and mind in a spiritual and philosophical sense. My focus is on accepting our imperfections and creating a symbolic relationship between art and communication. I believe that body movements and gestures encompass different forms of communication, and I strive to convey that in my art.

Aditi Hazra, Endless Dance II, 20 x 20 in.

About the artist:

Aditi Hazra has a BFA and MFA in Printmaking from Kala Bhavana- Santiniketan, India, and an MFA in Multidisciplinary Arts from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Baltimore. Her works include print media, drawing, painting, and time-based experimental animation. Her work explores and is inspired by her love for nature, current events, and storytelling about human relations, mental health conditions, and non-verbal communication.

Meet some of the talented artists on The Phillips Collection’s staff, whose works are in the 2023 James McLaughlin Memorial Staff Show (on view through February 16, 2024).

L. Turner

What is your role at The Phillips Collection? What is interesting about your job?

I am a Museum Educator at The Phillips Collection. My role is one that requires a broad understanding of pedagogy and an infinite love and appreciation for art and humanity. As a museum educator, I, along with my superbly talented colleagues, develop ways in which modern and contemporary artworks, and history, can be interpreted through customized engagement strategies. The role I perform is fluid. It is quite common to interface with the youngest of audiences in the morning with thought-provoking

Lois Mailou Jones, Place du Tertre, 1938, Oil on canvas, The Phillips Collection, Acquired 1944

viewing, then, within  a few hours, lead an intimate discussion on Modernism with serious art collectors and government dignitaries. Museum educators, in essence, are the bridge between The Phillips Collection and the public. We provide an inclusive stage to facilitate new conversations, fresh experiences, and forward-thinking approaches that strengthen our guests’ understanding and appreciation of the artwork.

Who is your favorite artist in the collection?

There are quite a few works in the collection that intimately speak to me. I particularly find alluring the highly-textured Parisian street scene paintings by Lois Mailou Jones and the monumental, deeply personal, mixed-media works of Benny Andrews and Kara Walker.

What is your favorite space within The Phillips Collection?

My favorite space within The Phillips Collection is Gallery 116 in the Sant Building. The expansiveness of the space, and the abundance of light, is dreamy—inviting one to wander freely and breathe in the magnificence of the artwork!

What would you like people to know about your artwork on view in the 2024 Staff Show (or your work in general)?

On view at staff show: fille de janvier

The artwork I create, utilizing collage as a medium, is charged with human emotion and reflects a refined aesthetic—weaving a rich tapestry of imagery, language, and rhythm. Minimalistic, yet bold, my handmade motifs invite intrigue and contemplation. They speak to my personal identity and the exploration of my life experiences but in an abstract or figurative way.

My exhibiting artwork, fille de janvier, is mosaically designed out of paper. Taking over a year to complete, this vibrant imagery depicts the quiet elegance and abundant strength of my mother, Frances Arlene Smiley Turner. Collage fille de janvier pays homage to the legacy of wonderfully chic women in my family who, having migrated from the rural American South as sharecroppers to the industrial Midwest, managed to rise above adversity with grace and resolve. Each leaf, flower, and object was cut with precision, and intertwined seamlessly, to form a powerfully expressive crown—symbolizing the toiling of the human spirit and the anticipation of a bountiful harvest.

L. Turner, Untitled

About the artist:

Leslie A. Turner is an African American mixed media artist, children’s book writer, museum educator, and mother whose intricate handmade collages are influenced by her love of nature, humanity, and artistic expression. Turner’s vibrant motifs reflect a refined aesthetic and a certain fluidity nurtured throughout her childhood in the Midwest, where wildflowers and sweet corn exist harmoniously on the fertile plains.

Frequent travels to New York and Europe exposed Turner to a visual narrative, composed of highly stylized subjects, places, and designs, speaking intimately to her. Minimalistic, yet bold, Turner’s abstract and figurative depictions invite intrigue and contemplation. Although having no formal training, Turner’s artistic interests span many decades. Turner holds an MA from Duke University and finds great pleasure in exploring the spaces between the soil and the sun.

Meet some of the talented artists on The Phillips Collection’s staff, whose works are in the 2023 James McLaughlin Memorial Staff Show (on view through February 16, 2024).

Museum Assistant Jeff Whitelow, who is also part of the museum’s AV team, shares the pivotal influence of The Phillips Collection on his piece Werk N Flux in the Staff Show.

Jeff Whitelow, Werk N Flux, Photograph

There are three works from the collection that directly influenced Werk N Flux: Aaron Siskind’s Martha’s Vineyard 107B, 1954, Alma Thomas’s Breeze Rustling Through Fall Flowers, 1968, and Irene Rice Pereira’s Transversion, 1946.

Aaron Siskind, Martha’s Vineyard 107 B, 1954/printed ca.1980-1984, Gelatin silver print, 36 x 50 in., The Phillips Collection, Gift of the Phillips Contemporaries, 2003

I first noticed Siskind’s work when The Phillips Collection had the exhibition Aaron Siskind New Relationships in Photography in 2004. Siskind started out doing pretty much straight forward black-and-white documentary style photography of street scenes but gradually turned toward abstraction under the influence of the New York school of Abstract Expressionism. I, too, started out with photographing street scenes using black-and-white film. What influenced me from this work is his close-ups emphasizing textures of decaying walls in the city and painterly patterns he would get in his pictures. I also was inspired by how this hyper-focus on details led to a new image independent of the initial starting point. This work showed me how to zero in on surface textures in a creative way. As of this writing Martha’s Vineyard isn’t hanging in the galleries but is on permanent display magnetically on my refrigerator door and temporarily displayed as background wallpaper on my laptop.

Alma Thomas, Breeze Rustling Through Fall Flowers, 1968, Acrylic on canvas 57 7/8 x 50 in., The Phillips Collection, Gift of Franz Bader, 1976

The second work is Alma Thomas’s Breeze Rustling Through Fall Flowers. A number of people have pointed out to me similarities between Alma Thomas’s work and my piece for the staff show. What attracts me to her is her vibrant use of color which seems to be the opposite of what Siskind was doing. I’ve been exposed to her work the longest. I first saw her work when I was a teenager at GWU’s Dimock Gallery. I can definitely relate to her abstractions of the world around her as a means of self- expression. I also enjoy her use of mosaic like patterns in this work.

Irene Rice Pereira, Transversion, 1946, Ceramic fluid, porcelain cement, oil paint on two planes of corrugated glass mounted on hardboard and wood, 13 1/2 x 15 3/4 in., The Phillips Collection, Acquired 1949

Last but not least is Irene Rice Pereira’s Transversion. This is more of a technical influence due to this work being made on glass. I find the layering of images pretty captivating. Right now I’m having my photographic images printed onto glass with no matting or framing allowing the work to operate on a sculptural level as well as simplifying the display process. This work opened up options to me about display and presentation. The art in the collection is a continual influence.