What is transFORMable?

Alison Starr, Fabiola Valenzuela, and Karla García talk about why it is important to create transFORMable. 

Alison Starr

Initiating something new can be challenging in both positive and negative ways. When is it best to begin and how? Isn’t it wise to pause, contemplate and consider before a rash start? Maybe, but perhaps there are recognizable actions to initiate because we have already mulled them over to near death. After a few months of thinking we will begin a new endeavor, a blog we are calling transFORMable. We want to engage in a conversation about art and life; what we see, think and do and what others like you see, think and do. We are artists who happen to be in this institution at this specific time. We plan to be honest, open, and hopefully create content of interest to anyone landing on our blog. We believe that art – in all its forms – music, performance, architecture, all the types of visual art media, literature and poetry, fashion, technology and even nature – is critical to life. We each have been impacted and even transformed in some ways to the power of art. Artists, exhibitions, sneakers, songs, novels and performance art works have deeply influenced our lives. Thus, we name the blog transFORMable. Welcome and thank you for joining.

"We want to engage in a conversation about art and life; what we see, think and do and what others like you see, think and do."

Collector's Ways, Alison Starr. Sheets, thread, private handmade labels, 2018.

Fabiola Valenzuela 

Accepting change, growing, learning, unlearning, stopping, starting again are all transformable. Being human and knowing that not everything is black and white. There is something beautiful about recognizing that you are not stuck doing one thing the same way forever. You are allowed to rest. You are allowed to admit you were wrong. Transformable is growth. Our current lives move so fast that we tend to get lost in a mass of information. The information is great for us, but it can be overwhelming. Take a step back to see what you need and build a good community around you that understands the changes around us. Transformable is for all of us, we are fluid in this life.

"Accepting change, growing, learning, unlearning, stopping, starting again are all transformable."

Cinema, Fabiola Valenzuela. Video still, 2018.

Karla García

TransFORMable is very much like an art process for me. It is a fluid state of mind to think, research, create, and express our ideas. As an artist I find that making art is when we transform ourselves. We are putting ourselves in a vulnerable state where we must be willing to take the time and space it requires to absorb information, understand it, be courageous to express ourselves. In the same way, the conversations that Ali, Fabi, and I have, as we are creating this platform, comes from the same passionate and humble headspace where we feel safe to have from the silliest of conversations to the uncomfortable ones. Just like in the studio, this blog is a platform for us to share and invite perspectives that become our intellectual and holistic nourishment.

"We are putting ourselves in a vulnerable state where we must be willing to take the time and space it requires to absorb information, understand it, be courageous to express ourselves."

Untitled, Karla García. Digital photography, 2020.