North Indy News

Hoesy Corona, Artist-in-Residence, Opens Show

Wabash College announced that Hoesy Corona will serve as the campus Artist-in-Residence for the spring semester. Corona will open an installation of his work, “All Roads Lead to Roam,” on Thursday, Jan. 26, in the Fine Arts Center.

As part of the opening, Corona will host an artist’s talk at noon on Jan. 26 in the Korb Classroom. The Opening Reception will take place in the Eric Dean Gallery that afternoon from 4:30-6 p.m. EST. The installation runs through April 7.

The featured work highlights the complex relationship between humans and the environment by focusing on changing climate and its impact on habitation and migration patterns. By using a traveler, who is seen holding suitcases and voyaging through a wide array of landscapes towards a better place, Corona tackles the reality of the human aspect of climate change while celebrating the lushness and vibrancy of flora, bodies of water, and geographic forms, and bringing attention to the abundant powers of nature.

Corona’s installation also features his Climate Ponchos, which double as wearable sculptures. The intricate ponchos are cut from industrial, weatherproof vinyl or furnishing fabric materials and finished with leather cording woven through the edges. While their form recalls a simple rain poncho, the dynamic patterns on them tell colorful stories of migration and history depicting mundane scenes of mothers and other travelers on their journeys, ultimately humanizing the anonymous silhouettes.

“This is the latest iteration of my ongoing series ‘Climate Immigrants’, a timely installation and poetic performance that considers the impending plight of climate-induced global migration and its effects on all of us,” said Corona. “These performances were designed for the camera and include digital collages printed on a variety of fabrics.”

Corona, who has been exploring climate migration in his work over the last decade, lived in Mexico, Utah, and Wisconsin before moving to Baltimore, Maryland, in 2005 to establish a professional practice in the arts. He was a 2019 and 2020 GKFF Artist Fellow in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is a former Halcyon Arts Lab Fellow (2017-18) and a Nicholson Project Artist in Washington, D.C. Most recently, he was named the 2022-23 Winston Tabb Special Collections Public Research Fellow at John Hopkins University.

While in residence, Corona will engage with the community through school visits and gallery tours for local organizations. He is also co-teaching a course to Wabash students on socially engaged art. The Eric Dean Gallery will host a weekend community event at a later date.

“During my tenure as the inaugural Restoring Hope, Restoring Trust Artist-In-Residence, I am most excited to work with students in devising creative and unexpected artistic interventions that may help bridge the Wabash and Crawfordsville communities, while laying the groundwork for the success of future artists-in-residence,” Corona said. 

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