Shaya's Arquetopia Residency

                                                                              ***UPDATE*** 

I have communicated with the program director and was able to reduce my program fee byshortening my time. That being said, you’ve all helped me reach the halfway point! Every
share and financial contribution has been greatly appreciated. The official deadline is
Monday, February 24th. Let’s see how close we can get!

Updated program fee: USD$2630 = CAD $3475.22



ABOUT ME

My name is Shaya Ishaq and I am an emerging artist and designer based in Tiohtià:ke / Montreal, QC. In my interdisciplinary practice, I work with textiles and ceramics to create wearable art, jewelry, and installations. I love to draw upon the meditative gestures of weaving,
printing, knot making, and wrapping while working with fibres and I
devote myself to playful curiosity with my hand-built ceramics.

I’m happy to share that I was accepted into my first international artist residency with the Arquetopia Foundation ! The ceramics focussed program I’ve been selected for is a comprehensive, self-directed opportunity that will not only provide me with a well-resourced space to create
but will also support me through research assistance,  project
guidance, and critique from the curatorial staff, as well as other
participants who will also be working independently. It will be an 8
week session from April to May 2020 that will provide me with much
needed time to be present and focussed in a nurturing 
environment.

I’m very excited to work on the project I proposed that is a continuation of my exploration of Octavia Butler’s legacy  and revolves around ideas centered in speculative fiction. I’m looking forward to exploring phase one of this new body of work. This particular project will be creating adornment for the beloved Lauren Olamina, the protagonist of the Earthseed Series. Octavia Butler was a Black feminist writer and visionary whose work has been quite seminal to my recent projects.

Opportunities of this kind are not often accessible for people like me. I always try to dream big and not let initial barriers stop me from wanting the best for myself and reaching my goals.

 

Photo by Brandon Brookbank from my wearable series Mirror, Mirror released in

2019. 

 

WHY THIS OPPORTUNITY IS IMPORTANT TO ME

My journey as an artist has really not been linear. I have been in and out of school for various reasons and have specifically opted for a more self-directed approach to my ceramics practice because I have never felt supported or nurtured in post-secondary spaces. Although this route has been challenging, I have found the fruits of my labor to be rewarding and I am beyond grateful for the makers and mentors I have met on this path.

Being accepted to this residency has been a surreal big deal! I was honestly shocked that I was selected but definitely proud and excited to move forward with it. I’m grateful for the friends who encouraged me wholeheartedly during the application process. I haven’t worked with clay in the last two years so being accepted to this was another reason why this feels huge. Finding adequate and accessible ceramic facilities outside of an institutional setting is quite a challenge. I frequently experience a lot of scarcity in securing a place to work on my practice.  I will have access to a well-resourced space that will also provide me with guidance and support to begin phase one of a project I am really excited to begin. It will be an immense privilege to work in Puebla. As a social sciences student, I am deeply interested in material culture and often think of how objects fit into a lineage, a pattern of making and interpreting the world. I am very much looking forward to being immersed in the history of Puebla, a place that is culturally rich and home to Talavera ceramics.

I deeply trust the direction of my practice at this point in time. Although I don’t know the outcome of this endeavor, I am so ready to dive in.

 

Documentation of recent work titled "The Only Lasting Truth is Change"  (2020). 

 

FINANCIAL BREAKDOWN

Residency program fee: USD $3570 = CAD $4738.14

I am raising $5000 to round up the cost of the program fee. Any funds
that surpass this goal will be used to supplement other costs related to this learning experience.

                                                                                 ***UPDATE*** 

I have communicated with the program director and was able to reduce my program fee byshortening my time. That being said, you’ve all helped me reach the halfway point! Every
share and financial contribution has been greatly appreciated. The official deadline is
Monday, February 24th. Let’s see how close we can get!

Updated program fee: USD$2630 = CAD $3475.22

____________

 

Your support would be greatly appreciated because it would be helping me to maintain alignment with my creative path and stay true to the method of learning that serves me best. Every opportunity is a chance to learn more about myself as I continue to grow and raise the bar for myself as an artist, maker, and storyteller.   

So far I have invested a lot of time and energy into this process. I’ve made a deposit to secure my spot and have also applied for a grant for which a response is pending. I am just in the waiting stage at the moment that will take a couple of months but need to pay the rest of my program fee this month. I created this funding campaign to make this happen. If you would rather support this fundraising campaign off of this platform, you are welcome to send me an etransfer ([email redacted]) or contribute funds through Paypal (@shyshaya). If you don’t have funds but would still like to support me, please share this campaign.

_________________

Links:

www.arquetopia.org

www.shayaishaq.com