“Dogs do speak, but only to those who know how to listen.”
-Ohran Pamuk, My Name is Red
The deepest forms of connection often don’t announce themselves – rather they take shape as a nudge toward the door at exactly the right moment, a steady presence during difficult days, an uncanny ability to sense what we need before we’ve said a word. Moments like these remind us to slow down, pay attention, and recognize that understanding often begins with listening well rather than speaking first.
Nicola Tyson joined us to talk about Need, her recent show at Petzel Gallery. The show marks Tyson’s return to large-scale charcoal drawing, using tactile, psychologically charged figures to explore intimacy, dependency, and human connection through a distinctly feminist lens. To learn more, listen to the complete interview.
Bishakh Som joined us in the summer of 2021 to talk about her work. At the time she was in Brooklyn as the pandemic stretched on, but life was beginning to return to some semblance of normal. An Indian-American trans femme visual artist and author, her work has appeared in publications including The New Yorker and VICE. Her graphic novel Apsara Engine won the L.A. Times Book Prize and a Lambda Literary Award. To learn more, listen to the complete interview.
A Few Words to Keep in Your Pocket.
Some of the truest conversations happen with no words at all.
Outings.
Join me at Anat Egby for Gloria Klein’s Crisis Management.
Interviews are available on iTunes as podcasts, and for Android, please click here. All weekly essay pieces are here in a shareable format. The full archive of interviews is here.
More Books to Read.
Ours is a community of readers. Tell us what books you’re reading now by adding your titles to our reading list here. Praxis user Daniel Barroca is reading The Waterless Sea: A Curious History of Mirages, by Christopher Pinney.
Opportunities.
The Anita Wetzel Residency Grant at Women’s Studio Workshop supports artists 45+ with a fully funded 4–6 week residency, studio access, housing, stipend, materials, and travel support. For more details and to apply, visit the website. Deadline is May 15.