Art Point - Gumno
Residencies 2004 – 2010

Residencies 2004 – 2010

Residency 2010

Artists from Latin America on a creative stay in Sloestica

Exclusive guests at APG Residency in 2010 are the artists Elizabeth Ross from Mexico and Paulo Gaiad from Brazil whose artworks are reflecting the art of Latin America.

As she says for herself, Elizabeth Ross (http://www.elizabethrossmx.com/news/news.htm)  is an artist-nomad. She is concentrated on the multilayered origin of the identity, her own and of the others. She works with all existing art disciplines where she is able to use her fingers/intellect/body in combination with the technology, using mediums from clay to digital photography. She is also known from her ritual actions, lectures and workshops on different topics.

Ross is a founder and active manager of few international organizations and residencies which connect the art with the community (5cйlula, I d e n t i d a d e s and others).

The Brazilian artists Paulo Gaiad (https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulogaiad/) is “collector of memories”. His artistic work is very impressive, rich with cuttings from the life and traveling through the memories about real people, objects and events from the past up to the present time. In his paintings, they all live together in a same virtual world.

Part of Paulo Gaiad’s magic world (30 artworks) was presented on an exhibition entitled “Notes from the traveling” as part of the program of the International Ohrid Summer Festival in the Home of Culture in Ohrid.

This Artist Residency was partially supported by the Macedonian Ministry of Culture.

Residency 2009

Gayle Tustin from the USA and Lone Seeberg from Denmark are the international artists who stayed and work at the Art Point-Gumno workshop of September/October 2009 in Sloestica.

Gayle Tustin, Wilmington, NC, USA http://www.gayletustin.com

Gayle Tustin uses a variety of mediums to express her art. Although, according to her, her first love is the clay. In the process of creating, Gayle puts herself in a role of a writer, who lets the clay tell us its story. Her approach towards the canvas and paper is similar, as she uses different materials to get a tri-dimensional object. She is one of the founders of the international art colony “No Boundaries” (No Boundaries, Inc.) in Wilmington , North Carolina.

Lone Seeberg, Denmark http://www.kb-jensen.dk/gnh/gnh04/ 

Seeberg is also a “canvas-writer”. She graduated Scenography/Set Design on the Nordic University in Sweden and worked as an assistant by the famous danish sculptor Erik Varming. The search for the elements of the human universe prevails in the art world of Lone Seeberg. Her Artworks reflect the human EGO as being to big.  There is a duality in her works: underneath the tough external armor of the figures, we can find their inner feelings, and the message is, that the choice to create a better future and a more beautiful world is within ourselves! 

This Artist Residency was partially supported by the Macedonian Ministry of Culture.

Residency 2008 – Spring

Christian Rothmann from Berlin and the British artist Leon Patchett were the artists in residence between the 20th of May and the 10th of June.

Christian Rothmann, Berlin, Germany http://www.rothmann.info/Erste_Seite.html

Rothmann is an artist with a confirmed international reputation. His “parent” atelier is in Berlin, and the artist is always on the move (The most frequent answer from his e-mail adress is: “On the road again”). Art Point-Gumno had the honor of being the host of an artist of his status. In Sloestica, right after his arrival, Rothmann dipped his paper into the Spring landscapes. He also immediately recognized the village character who would later be a part of his huge traveling project “You and me?”, which has been realized in more than 40 countries until now.

Leon Patchett, Cromarty, Scotland http://www.leonpatchett.com/, http://www.touchwoodcraft.co.uk

Patchett is a sculptor who visits Loh Ness lake after every storm to search for thrown out branches, in order to give them a new life in his sculptures. In Sloestica, Leon visited the coast of the “White River”.  He managed to find branches modeled by the river spirit during his first meeting with the river, and got an influx of ideas for his works. The residence of this artist in Macedonia was supported by the “High Arts” association for art and culture from Scotland.

Residency 2008 – Autumn

The guests of the September 2008 Residency in Art Point-Gumno were Erica Harris and Seth Ludman, both from Brooklyn, New York.

Erika Harris, New York, USA http://www.ericaharris.org/

is inspired by the simpleness and usefulness of used objects. According to her, they all have a history, and she is trying to reincarnate that history through her creations, and give her a new dimension.

Set Ludman, New York, USA http://www.ideanotebook.com/

is an artist who documents the theatricality of the everyday life. He is a creator of ideas, and they arise from the simple things, which we usually don’t even notice.

Harris and Ludman have worked on joined projects more than once: scenography of theater shows for kids and with kids, murals, photo sessions, ceramics.

In Sloestica, this duo was inspired by the biggest treasure – the last villagers.

Residency 2007

Greg Arens, Virginia, USA http://www.arensart.com/

He lives simply in the woods below Virginia’s Blue Ridge and yet he is an internationally-known artist who has traveled from Mexico to Montana, Michigan and Macedonia in search of motifs. His works hang in collections on three continents. He is a realistic painter whose primary goal is to evoke some authentic emotions within the viewer. Arens came to Sloestica by the recommendation of ASOLARE Fine Arts Foundation.

Rody Gorman, Isle of Skye, Scotland, UK http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/profile-author/2686

Renowned Irish-born poet and translator who lives in Scotland. His main creative medium is Scottish Gaelic (at the time he was awarded with this Residency, he was translating Bob Dylan’s poetry into Gaelic!). Gorman won the so called “Macedonian award” for 2007, an award for which artists from the Highlands, Scotland can apply in front of the art board of the Highlands (The HI-ARTS Council) for a residency in Art Point-Gumno.

A poem Gorman wrote in Sloestica:

A Voice
I`m on my own in the colony
in a deadly quiet house
(apart from the old
grandfather clock)
in a foreign country
with a language of which i`ve no command
but i`m not alone.

The others - a photographer and poet
and landscape artist are gone
and i feel as if i`m back
with my family out for the day in the Auvergne
or Derryoober in the summer of seventy five
and i hear a voice from inside:

It`s alright. Everyone will be home before you know it.

Residency 2006 – Spring

Gerlinde Pistner, Nuremberg, Germany http://www.gerlinde-pistner.de/

Pistner comes from Nuremberg, the German city whose Office for International relations traditionally supports the artists for the Residency at Art Point – Gumno. She is an artist with an International carrier, with numerous exhibitions in Brasil, France, Italy, USA, Poland, Czech Republic, UK… She is also one of the founders of the International Artists’ Colony which is taking part at the castle Schloss Almoshof near Nuremberg. Beside painting, her occupation are objects. In Sloestica, she continued to work on her cycle: “Cleavages” and on her “strange” messages for raising awareness for the Nature.

Pamela Toll, Wilmington, NC, USA http://pamtoll.com/life.html

Pam Toll is a painter-poet, her work is rich with surreal symbolism. Her drawings and collage paintings are unique. She works as an Assistant Professor of Studio Art at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and is a co-founder of Acme Art Studios, a working studio space and community for artists in Wilmington, North Carolina. (since 1992) as well as a co-founder of the international art colony No Boundaries Inc..

Residency 2006 – Autumn

Art Point-Gumno`s art residency promoted as the “Macedonian Reward” in Scotland

Jonathan McLeod, Isle of Skye, Scotland, UK http://kencockburn.co.uk/tag/jon-macleod/

Jon McLeod is the first winner of the so called MACEDONIAN REWARD issued by the Cromarty Arts Trust in cooperation with the Hi-Art institution from Scotland. This reward is the result of the last year agreement for long lasting cooperation signed between Art Point-Gumno and Cromarty Arts Trust fro Scotland. Art Point-Gumno’s partner will completely cover the financial costs of the winner of the MACEDONIAN REWARD during his stay in Sloestica, and there will also be a partial financial support for Macedonian artists who Art Point-Gumno proposes for a stay in Cromarty. Mr. Robert Livingston, the director of Hi-Arts, states the following about this cooperation: “We are honored to be able to support this new possibility, which we believe will help us establish new international links for the artists from the Highlands and the Scottish isles!” 

In the last 10 years, Jon McLeod lives and creates on the Lewis island, Scotland, where he is one of the art directors of the art center “AN LANTAIR” (Lantern). His preoccupation is the research of the Gaelic culture, especially of the words who can only be found in the memory of living people. He experiments with all sorts of mediums, and is especially interested in graphics and film art.

Raed Al-Rawi, North Carolina, USA http://www.raedalrawi.com/

He is born in Baghdad, Iraq, where he worked as a designer and cartoonist for “Al Jamhorya” (Republic), a famous daily newspaper in Iraq, and for its sub-paper, the “Alef-bah”. Aside from painting and book ilustrations, Raed is one of the founders of the first association of cartoonists in Iraq. Because of his sharp caricatures pointed towards the Saddam Hussein regime, he was forced to leave the country. Raed lives and works in the USA since 1980. His works are represented in prestige american galleries such as the “Ward-Nasse” gallery in New York. Al-Rawi arrived in Sloestica on the recommendation of the Asolare Art Foundation (Asolare Fine Arts Foundation). 

Residency 2005 – Summer

Dick Roberts, Wilmington, North Carolina, USA http://dickrobertsartist.com/

An artist in every sense of the word – a painter, a poet and a musician, Dick first came to Macedonia in 1996 to the International Art Colony at St Joakim Osogovski where he fell in love with the mountains there that so reminded him of his boyhood in the mountains of North Carolina. He has returned to Macedonia almost every year since 1996 to paint and write on his favourite destinations: the monastery “ Joakim Osogovski”, Belcista (Debarca), Elen Kamen in Struga, Ohrid, Sloestica (Demir Hisar) and Vak’f (near Kratovo). Since 2007, Dick is an honorary citizen of Sloestica village with his own studio within Art Point – Gumno. Sloestica is his second home!

 His education includes the study of Marine Biology at the University of Miami, the study of Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and the study of Art at Western Carolina University where he received a Bachelor of Fine Art degree in Painting and Ceramics in 1979. He is a co-founder of Acme Art Studios, Wilmington, North Carolina, USA; and a co-founder of No Boundaries International Artist Colony.

Clemens Heinl, Schwabach, Germany http://www.clemens-heinl.com/

Heinl is a renowned German sculptor with an International carrier. He is a winner of several prestigeous National awards. His favorite medium is wood. His sculptures (sometimes up to 4 meters) were exhibited also in China, Brazil and Turkey.

For his trip to Macedonia, he was supported by the Office for International Relations of the City of Nuremberg.

Residency 2005 – Autumn

Arrow Ross, Wilmington, North Carolina, USA

Ross is a charismatic person, a worldwide traveler with an exciting biography. He was born in Denmark where he started his carrier experimenting with black & white photography. He continued with his studies at the Royal School for photography. He lived in Rhodesia for two years where he worked for “Rhodesia Herald”. As a free minded artist, human rights fighter and a socialist he was in constant collision with the regime which declared him communist. He goes back to Europe to work for Asger Jorn, one of the European leading artists and one of the founders of the avant-garde movement COBRA. Ross’s photo adventure continues in the USA where he worked as a photographer for the movie industry in New Orleans. As a passionate supporter of the hippie movement in the next 20 years, with his family and 6 other families he lived on the move, crossing the roads of the whole country. They settled in Missouri, living a simple life, resisting the American materialist society of that time. Ross is settled down in Wilmington, NC, where he owns a studio and works as an official photographer of the “No Boundaries” International Art Colony.

Ross came in Sloestica with his partner June Tilden to document the every-day life of the village in a project entitled: “The story about the bread”.

2_Vojneica

Residency 2004 – “the ones who broke the ice”

Daniel Peddle, NYC, USA http://www.danielpeddleart.com/, http://www.danielpeddlecasting.com/

As he wrote for himself, Danielle Peddle is a renaissance man. His life is a multifaceted layering of creation and experiment. He began drawing as a child and spent his childhood deep in the woods of rural North Carolina sketching and playing in the abandoned barns and homes of his surrounds. At the prodigious age of twelve, he began to document the dying culture of the local farming community for which he won the Aperture Award for documentary photography, becoming the youngest recipient ever.

Graduated with honors, double-majoring in Anthropology and Mass Media Studies, he is working on documentary movies, photography, visual art and casting. Top photographers have all sought Peddle’s keen eye for new talents from the range of ethnic beauties for Yves Saint Laurent, Yohji Yamamoto and others. Danielle came to Sloestica upon the recommendation of ASOLARE Fine Arts Foundation. www.asolare.org 

Yvette Wojciechowski, NYC, USA  http://yvettew.wipnyc.com/

Master of Arts, Visual& Urban Anthropology, San Francisco State University. Works as a director, art director, cinematographer and post-production consultant on numerous documentary-art movies. In 1999 she founded and is a president of Women in Production (wipnyc.com), a New York City-based networking organization for over 800 women in movie and TV production.

The spontaneous communication with the local people, especially the talks with the elder women portrayed by Daniel, motivated the two artists to record a short documentary movie about the women from the village. At the same time, they were editing a documentary dedicated to a group of women from New York’s underground calling themselves “The Aggressive’. This movie was promoted in Quad Cinema, New York City, October 7th, 2005 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462757/