Staff Show 2017: Kim Sandara

In this series, Manager of Visitor and Family Engagement Emily Bray highlights participants in the 2017 James McLaughlin Memorial Staff Show, on view through September 17, 2017.

Kim Sandra, “Around Again”

Kim Sandara

What do you do at The Phillips Collection?

I work at the Admissions desk. It’s interesting seeing how often we get international visitors, as well as people who live right down the street. There’s a wide range of folks who come in.

Who is your favorite artist in the collection?

My favorite artists in the collection are Georgia O’Keeffe, Van Gogh, and Rothko. I really enjoy their use of color and flow of line work.

What is your favorite space within The Phillips Collection?

The gallery with the Jacob Lawrence series is certainly an interesting one to go through. I love sequential work and the history being told is so significant.

What would you like people to know about your artwork on view in the 2017 Staff Show (or your work in general)?

My work is about the translation of sound to visuals. I listen to a wide range of music and work in a stream-of-consciousness manner. I used to state what songs I was listening to but no longer want to put the audience under that subjectivity. I find it much more satisfying to hear what people experience when looking at my work. I like to think of it like cloud watching, there are no wrong answers, just lots of room for imagination.

About the artist

Kim Sandara was born in Falls Church, Virginia, 1994. In 2016 she graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, obtaining a BFA in General Fine Arts with a concentration in Illustration and Book Arts . She likes to explore all types of creating and design. In her time at MICA, she has taken classes in print making, painting, graphic design, animation, and illustration. Her practice is inspired by surrealism, abstract expressionism, personal narrative, fantastic story telling and the graphic and bold visual tendencies of street art. She also enjoys staying up until 4am writing, engaging in spiritual conversations and jotting down realizations about life that spastically enter her mind only at night. Kim Sandara’s work naturally explores stream of consciousness and perceptions of inner psyche versus outer persona. All of her work has an interest in psychology, stream of consciousness and she enjoys working in a sequential manner.

The 2017 James McLaughlin Memorial Staff Show is on view August 3 through September 17, 2017.

On Stage with The Migration Series

From left to right: Desmond Bing, Nora Achrati, Natalie Graves Tucker, Jeff Allin, Derek Goldman (director), James Johnson, and Craig Wallace. Rehearsing Terrance Arvelle Chisholm’s “In Constant Pursuit” inspired by Panel no. 3: From every southern town migrants left by the hundred to travel north. Photo: Kelley Daley

In conjunction with the recent exhibition People on the Move: Beauty and Struggle in Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series, the Phillips commissioned five local playwrights to create one-act plays in response to five specific panels in The Migration Series. The plays were presented twice as staged readings last fall, and on June 26th, 2017, the staged readings were recorded in the galleries alongside the artwork with the original cast and director.

The five plays address issues such as immigration, migration, racial tensions in America, and familial relationships. Filming the readings in the galleries, among the 30 panels The Phillips Collection owns, made for an interesting and meaningful atmosphere for the recordings. Read interviews with the playwrights here.

Recording “#51” by Laura Shamas, inspired by Panel no. 51: African Americans seeking to find better housing attempted to move into new areas. This resulted in the bombing of their new homes. Photo: Sarah Corley

Videographers Rob Migrin and Shaun Mir set up the scene for the recording of Annalisa Dias’s “A Legacy of Chains” while director Derek Goldman looks on. Photo: Sarah Corley

An Attitude of Possibilities

Exhibition at The Phillips Collection, Washington DC.

Installation view of The Life of Toussaint L’Ouverture at The Phillips Collection. Photo: Lee Stalsworth

On April 30th, The Phillips Collection will say goodbye to The Life of Toussaint L’Ouverture by artist Jacob Lawrence. The series portrays the life of the former slave turned leader of Haiti’s independence movement. Printmaker and artist Lou Stovall worked closely with Jacob Lawrence during his lifetime, getting to know him both as an artist and as a friend. Stovall spoke about Lawrence’s legacy with the Phillips in a 2001 interview: “He (Lawrence) painted people who changed the lives of other people, people who dedicated themselves to justice and honor.”

Jacob Lawrence utilized his artistic talents in a way that allowed him to portray his narratives in a most captivating way. He explored both realism and abstraction, with personal vision and popular style, said Stovall. The Life of Toussaint L’Ouverture will surely be missed by staff and visitors alike. In the words of Lou Stovall, “The triumph of the human spirit is to rise above limitations, to create a sense of order, a place of well-being, an attitude of possibilities, and a desire for accomplishment. Together, Jacob and I did that.”

Elizabeth Federici, Marketing & Communications Intern