TNAS INAUGURAL JOURNEY

Featuring Resident Artists Francisco Mandujano, Lorena Sferlazza, Remy Sosa and Emily Teall

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May 5th, 2022 - June 2nd, 2022

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Francisco Mandujano, Lorena Sferlazza, Remy Sosa, and Emily Teall began their one-year term as the first Resident Artists of The Norwalk Art Space on April 1, 2021. As we navigated through our first year, they helped us launch our educational program, allowing the vision of our founder, Alexandra Korry, to come to life. Their evolving personal journeys have been evident as they filled our galleries and studios with their unique art. Through our after-school art program, they provided guidance and confidence to over 90 students from Norwalk and surrounding areas. This exhibition celebrates their accomplishments and highlights their growth as “world builders”, painters, mixed-media collage artists, “naturalists”, and teachers during The Norwalk Art Space’s inaugural year.

Francisco Mandujano’s creative avatars and worlds of fantasy have inspired kids from ages one to ninety-one. Known to his 11,000-plus fans on YouTube as Franky D. Crafter, his artwork is based on his desire to facilitate and deepen games of Dungeons and Dragons, empowering participants to broaden their imaginations, and define who they are through the use of avatars within the game. Our Selection Committee did not understand how a D&D player/creator would work, but we were inspired by Francisco’s earnest devotion to the game and to teach, and offered him a Resident Artist position. Our trust paid off. He springboarded off of the game to give his students the opportunity to explore self-empowerment and self-preservation through the creation of fantastical characters, allowing a type of expression and social exploration not normally available to teens.  Embracing his cultural and gaming roots, has elevated his work over the last year, and inspired students to look into  their backgrounds and celebrate their own creative backstories.

Lorena Sferlazza's work was already exhibited in major galleries around the region when she was selected as a Resident Artist. She continues to excel as Educational Manager at The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, and her outstanding classroom abilities shone throughout this year. Her extensive knowledge of mediums, primarily acrylic painting, was broken down weekly into a detailed and well-thought-out curriculum that empowered her students with the courage to express who they are technically and emotionally. These curricula have helped define our training and expectations for future Resident Artists. Lorena's mastery of mediums also radiates in her paintings: she has evolved from brick walls and barriers to figures and life, showing tremendous growth, courage and self-reflection during her time with us. This year has allowed her to find her center and express it beautifully through her work. 

Remy Sosa's emotionally charged work has always captured our attention because it feels raw, personal, and authentic. Her richly collaged, mixed medium canvasses leave us with hauntingly beautiful images which pierce the psyche.  Remy’s fearlessness in her exploratory process allows her to scream out her emotions into artwork that demands attention. She helped her students tap into this same type of deep expression by having them let go in Blind Contour Drawing and then in Collage 101. These two classes pushed her students to stop expecting specific outcomes, allowing them to get lost in the process and mark-making. The students learned that it's not how beautifully rendered a piece can be but, more importantly, how to use the creative process to scream out loud.  

Emily Teall's work is hard to miss both in and outside The Norwalk Art Space. Her sanctuary, like Tulip Bulb in the Sculpture Garden, invites viewers in (both physically and emotionally). Her ever-evolving semi-organic sculpture in our front staircase, like the rest of her work, is influenced by the natural cycle of renewal, and brightly announces the promise of things to come while simultaneously hinting at the unpredictable twisting of nature untamed. She has been a constant figure at our events and has fully embraced the knowledge our Korry Fellows had to offer. Emily was a one-on-one instructor before coming to teach our students, and brought her personalized approach to our classrooms, gently and directly mentoring teens through their creative process. Behind her quiet demeanor, her mind is constantly planning ambitious work in steel, wire, charcoal, and paint, all of which she brings to fruition by constantly working in her studio. Without question, she rose to the challenge that The Norwalk Art Space provided and, in exchange, has offered a challenge to future Resident Artists; how will you use your residency?

We opened our doors in the midst of the COVID pandemic, providing a source of hope for our students, our artists, and our community. These four Resident Artists taught completely separate subjects and mediums, but the common thread was always the exploration of self, and the power in finding one's own visual language. Watching students be transformed through the process of art into confident individuals, ready to represent themselves and their creative voices to the world, has been a gift for all of us at The Norwalk Art Space. Thanks to Alexandra Korry's vision, we know that all of our artists, from students to Korry Fellows, will go out stronger into the community, knowing that they have an artistic family that is here to support them. We wish these four Resident Artists all the best in the years to come and hope their year here has given them a step up into a local art scene that, if embraced, can nurture their careers until they are ready to come back as Korry Fellows.