MUSED: LA 2 HOU | Sarah Sudhoff | Will You Love Me Forever

When I first moved to Houston in late 2016, I recall seeing Sarah Sudhoff at art openings, but we didn’t meet in person until February 2020 before the pandemic shut down the world. I impulsively called her one day and said, “Let’s be friends. Can...

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_02 (00:00):
Welcome to Mused LADU.
I'm Melissa Richardson-Banks.
Today's episode features SarahSudhoff from Houston, Texas.

(00:21):
She's an artist, artsadministrator, educator,
curator, and I'm also proud tocall her my friend.
Welcome, Sarah.

SPEAKER_00 (00:30):
Thank you for having me,

SPEAKER_02 (00:36):
Melissa.
It's such a pleasure to be here.

(01:00):
Sarah has a beautiful hat on.
She looks super cool andclassic.
That's just her look and style.
She's outside of her porch andit's a beautiful day in Houston,
Texas after a crazy couple ofweeks of weather here.
And I'm kind of sequestered andI was just telling her how pink
I look.
Zoom is not my favorite place tobe, but she looks great.

(01:21):
So Sarah, how is it inbeautiful, sunny Houston today
in your part of the world?

SPEAKER_00 (01:28):
It's great.
I have to mention it's myfavorite place to be.
son's ninth birthday oh yeah souh we're going to the zoo later
today to have a sociallydistanced birthday party yeah
last night we actually went to adrive-in movie uh which was
really great so feel veryfortunate that yes the weather
has been spectacular here inhouston and we were able to do

(01:50):
that last night sit in the backof my subaru and then today
we're going to the zoo so hisbirthday yes it's all about him
but it's also about me too so ithink a lot of people for Oh,

SPEAKER_02 (02:02):
I bet they do forget the mamas.
I mean, you have two children.
Yes,

SPEAKER_00 (02:06):
seven and nine.

SPEAKER_02 (02:07):
And this has been a crazy time during the pandemic.
You are kind of doing everythinghere.
You're cooking, cleaning,teaching, everything.
becoming and being an artist,doing things.
You're a chief bottle washer,they say, all of those things,
right?
How are you doing now with this?
Not very well.

(02:29):
Well, I do know that you'vereally reached out and developed
a very strong support system, Ibelieve.
I mean, I know you have yourartist mother group that you do,
and I think that's every Sunday.
Tell me a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_00 (02:42):
Yeah, I was very fortunate early on in the
pandemic to...
find this group called theArtist Mother Podcast run by a
woman named Kaylin.
And she founded it.
She's developed it.
It's constantly evolving.
I do not know how she has time.
She's balancing being an artist,an arts administrator, a mom of

(03:04):
three, and a wife.
And she's an extraordinaryfriend.
I can call her a friend nowafter almost a year of knowing
her.
And when we were all in lockdownand isolated and learning our
new roles, no matter who wewere.
For me, it was learning how tobe a teacher and a caregiver and

(03:27):
my children's best friends andtheir security while maintaining
everything else.
And so like most of us, weturned very heavily to
technology and onlinecommunities.
And somehow I found her, Ithink, through Instagram or the
group and started connecting andlistening to artists' interviews
and exhibitions.

(03:47):
joined uh participated in aexhibition with them and then
became a mentor for them and soi've been mentoring for the last
um Well, I started in the fall.
I guess that was my first group.
And now I'm on my second groupand I get to meet women from all
over the country.
Some of them are mothers, butyou don't have to be a mother to
participate.
And it's just been a reallygreat opportunity to connect and

(04:12):
to form community and to beinspired.
Obviously, my role is to inspirethose that I'm mentoring, but
they give me so much back andthe community is so giving and
welcoming that it's just been anan overwhelmingly positive
experience and I am so gratefulfor it.

SPEAKER_02 (04:31):
Well, when you, when we were, you and I sat down and
had a one-on-one talk before, Iguess really it was right before
the pandemic.
It must've been maybe it'salmost about a year ago now.
It's probably February or maybeearly March.
It was definitely beforelockdown because you came over
because I finally just picked upthe phone and said, hi, I'm

(04:55):
Melissa.
I've been lurking and looking atyou for the past few years that
I've been here in Houston.
And I'm And I'd like to get toknow you and let's be friends.

SPEAKER_01 (05:05):
And so I loved it.
And you said, okay, I'll comeover.
So you came over and

SPEAKER_02 (05:11):
I had

SPEAKER_01 (05:12):
coffee.

SPEAKER_02 (05:12):
Yeah.
And I remember sharing with you,I think, you know, if you
haven't seen me, I am like thisAmazon.
I'm like a bull in a China shop.
And I remember seeing you andnow I know how strong you are,
but you're just this, you'rejust like, you're built like a
dancer, right?
Or yoga.
And I know you probably do yogabecause we did yoga together.

SPEAKER_00 (05:31):
And I was a former dancer.
A

SPEAKER_02 (05:33):
former dancer.
And you have this classic beautythat I've always admired.
I'm not a classic beauty, butyou have these beautiful lines.
Your face is just, I want tophotograph it, right?
And so I was a little, it'salmost like asking someone for a
date, even though I'm not intowomen, but you are someone I
would date if I was into women.

SPEAKER_01 (05:54):
You're just gorgeous.
I totally got you.
Definitely heterosexual

SPEAKER_00 (05:58):
and definitely single.
Oh,

SPEAKER_01 (05:59):
good.
Well, maybe it's time.
I

SPEAKER_02 (06:02):
mean, you are gorgeous, but it also smart.
So that's what I loved.
And I thought, you know, is sheapproachable?
And then I realized how warm andfriendly and just, and, and just
intelligent and smart and sointeresting.
And, and I, two different, twoof your projects that I saw, um,
really kind of just intriguedme.
Like this is her physicalness,but here is now, this is her

(06:24):
brain.
And as I got to know your brain,I was like, man, this woman's so
fascinating.
And it ties in with your artistmother, because one of the
projects that I was reallyinterested in was your work
from, I guess it was fromseveral years ago, but you've
integrated in other waysthroughout your career.
But you did a project onbreastfeeding.

(06:45):
It's a project, and I think itwas called Supply and Demand.
And it was something because mysister and I said, oh, my God, I
really want to know more becausemy sister and her husband,
really, they developed andchanged the laws in the state of
Texas well before evenCalifornia and other states
where breastfeeding was.
was you could do it legally inpublic and do normal things.

(07:09):
And I really was interested inthat project.
So would you mind just talkingabout that for a few minutes?
And I think that was such afascinating project.
And then how it led to it.
I think you even invited mysister to be on the podcast too.
So she was so thrilled aboutthat.

SPEAKER_00 (07:23):
Yeah.
So in 2012, my son, who is ninetoday, was born.
And I...
like many women, although Ididn't know this at the time,
struggled to breastfeed andstruggled to produce enough
milk.
And so this was not somethingthat had been shared with me.
It was a lived experience, and Ihad a lot of anxiety around it,

(07:46):
trying to get him to latchproperly, taking enough milk,
and then produce enough milk.
I was also working full-time asa professor.
with a really intense schedule.
And so it was pumping beforework, during work, after work to
leave him enough milk, but Icould only ever leave him just
enough.
There was never any extra.
I did not have that freezer fullof breast milk.

(08:07):
If you've ever seen these imagesor gone to someone's house and
you're like, oh my gosh, youhave so much milk.
that was never my case.
And it was really heartbreakingfor me and very emotional.
But I didn't understand or evenrecognize at the time that that
is such a common experience forwomen.
And so here I am in somewhat ofa silo and somewhat of a, you
know, unique, what I thought wasa unique experience.

(08:30):
And I remember one of the lastdays that I was rocking my son,
knowing that my supply wasrunning out.
And it's such a It's such aweird experience to feel your
body.
It's supposed to do this naturalthing, and yet it can't do this
thing.
And you can literally feel itcoming to an end.
And looking at my son and going,I guess I'm going to have to

(08:52):
feed you formula now, which isnot that there's anything wrong
with it, but that's not thedecision or the choice I wanted
to make.
And now you can buy breast milkon the internet.
So there's a lot more optionsnow than there was back in 2013.
So I remember, uh, sorry, 2012.
And I remember looking at himand going, okay, I'm

(09:14):
surrendering.
I have to surrender.
This is in order to sustain yourlife.
I have to surrender to the factthat my body cannot do it for me
anymore and, or for us.
And from that kind of record,um, realization, I came up with
a performance in that moment.
And that performance is calledsurrender.

(09:37):
So when I did birthing classeswith my friend Shalina, who's an
artist in San Antonio, one ofthe things she had me do was
hold ice in my hand to try andredirect pain.
So I would hold it in my hand.
And if anyone knows me wellenough, they know I hate cold
things.
I do not like cold showers or toswim in cold water.

(09:57):
I grew up in Hawaii and Florida.
I am not a cold water person.
So the idea of holding ice wastorturous, but it taught me
something.
It taught me how to understandpain and understand its purpose.
So in that moment where I'mrocking my son, it all came
together in some way.

(10:19):
weird way.
My brain, I think, isfascinating.
Sometimes ideas come to me in asplit second.
And this was one of thosemoments, as was actually the
work I've made during thepandemic.
But I immediately saw theperformance.
I was like, I need to holdfrozen breast milk and melt it

(10:39):
with my own body.
And I knew it would be donatedbreast milk because I didn't
have any extra breast milk.
And so I was able to reach outto friends who had extra or it
was outdated.
And I found a location, plannedthe performance, hired the
filmmakers.
did not do a trial run.
And I remember when my friend,Angela, who's one, Angela and

(11:01):
Mark, the Wally's who are greatfilmmakers.
This is early on in their careerwhen I can afford them.
You know, she handed me thebreast milk, the frozen breast
milk.
And I like, I screamed and she'slike, Sarah, this is what you
wanted.
And I'm like, yes.
Exactly.
It is what I wanted, but Ihadn't practiced, so I didn't
know how cold it would be.

(11:21):
And it was such a thrillingexperience to perform.
Yes, it was a privateperformance.
And...
being done in a friend of mine'shouse, Dolly Petit in San
Antonio.
And she had just redone herhouse.
So it was actually empty in aperfect location for the shoot.
And it was during thisperformance that I realized,

(11:45):
one, I wanted to do a liveperformance.
I had not done a liveperformance.
And it was during this veryexcruciating 45 minutes of
melting this milk while beingfilmed and trying to look
angelic, but also thinking abouthow it was to breastfeed my son.
And sometimes it was veryintense and emotional, and
sometimes it was monotonous andboring.

(12:06):
And so, you know, in...
while doing this performance i'mrecognizing everything that's
happening around me and to mebut i'm also realizing how much
it needed to be a liveperformance and that i wanted to
return to performing in front ofpeople which i had not done
since i was a teenager as adancer and um from that

(12:29):
realization and that and thenalso watching the images in the
video from that performance anentire project evolved, which
was the supply and demand.
And a funny side note is I waspregnant with my daughter when I
did the performance.
And so my two pregnancies and mytwo children are connected in

(12:49):
this project, which I think isreally special for me.
And I began to...
sort of during my pregnancy withmy daughter and following her
birth, I developed this project,Supply and Demand.
And I was fortunate to win aTiffany Foundation grant, which
was an unrestricted$20,000 tocreate...

(13:10):
Well, I could use it foranything.
And I used it to live and createthis project.
And so it involvesself-portraits, a debossed
calendar of the days I was ableto breastfeed and the days I
wasn't able to breastfeed.
It has sculptures called,plaster sculptures called milk
bank, which is the amount ofmilk that would be consumed by a

(13:33):
child in a day.
And the molds were made fromthese milk collection devices
that look like small, tiny goldbars, or it could be gold bars,
but mine are little white milk,but they resemble gold bars.
And so I was thinking about thethe opportunities that we now
have to purchase milk, whateverit is, whether it be formula or

(13:55):
actual breast milk.
And then I did the liveperformance that was actually, I
had done the live performancefirst in Houston, Surrender at
Nicole Longnecker Gallery in2013.
And then I was able to do theperformance again in San Antonio
at French and Michigan Gallery.
And that was such anextraordinary experience to have

(14:16):
my work up and then to sit therein front of friends and sit
there in front of some of theaudience I didn't know.
And I didn't make eye contactwith anyone, but it was really
exciting to experience themexperiencing me and watching the
milk haphazardly flow onto theground.
And so it was this invisiblelabor that mothers go through.

(14:38):
You feed your child, but youdon't see it, right?
You just know that they'reconsuming milk and you hope that
they're consuming enough.
But the act of melting milk withmy body and watching it flow out
onto the ground was such anextraordinary experience to
think that this is what mothersall over the world are doing,
yet no one can really see it.
And to have a visualrepresentation of what that

(15:01):
looked like was so fascinatingto me.
And it also, at the same time,was heartbreaking that I never
had enough milk to do that.
I could have never made enoughmilk to do this performance
myself, even if I wanted to.
And so that some women, they'rejust, That's how their bodies
are made.
They're able to produce enoughmilk and extra milk and they

(15:22):
donate milk, which I think isfantastic.
And I have a relationship withthe Mother's Milk Bake in
Austin.
They've allowed me to comephotograph there.
One of their beakers is actuallyin my project.
And then that beaker is thesilhouette that made the
calendar called Failure of theOrdinary.
And one of the mostextraordinary or really special

(15:44):
moments in that project is Iinvited a group of midwives and
doulas to French and Michigangallery.
And I had my daughter with me.
She was a couple months old andhad her straddled on my hip.
And I'm giving this talk in thegallery.
And both my pregnancies werekind of difficult.
My first pregnancy, I had aplacenta previa, which meant I

(16:05):
could not have a naturalchildbirth.
And I couldn't do certainactivities and sports.
And I had to be very careful notto bleed out.
Luckily, in the end, I was ableto have a natural delivery.
But then when I was pregnantwith my daughter, I was high
risk.
because I was over 35 and Icould not give birth at a
birthing center, which wasreally what I had wanted to do.
But I ended up having doulas andmidwives, but in a hospital

(16:28):
setting.
And so it was really special forme to have these doulas and
midwives to see my work becausethat was really important to me.
And one of the midwives admittedto me that in seeing my
self-portrait calledill-equipped, which I'm standing
there, you don't see my head andI've got these milk collection
devices covering my breasts.
And one of my breasts isnoticeably larger than the other

(16:51):
breast and able to produce a lotmore milk.
And that was how it was with myfirst child and my second child.
Again, here was a situationwhere I thought something was
wrong with me.
I thought that I was literallyill-equipped.

SPEAKER_03 (17:05):
Not

SPEAKER_00 (17:06):
knowing- that that was normal.

SPEAKER_02 (17:10):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (17:11):
Completely normal.

SPEAKER_02 (17:12):
Well, what I love about you is the fact that you
truly are a photojournalist thatexecutes your expression in a
variety of art media.
And I think what's interestingto me about you is that you put
yourself out there too.
I mean, you mentioned thatperformance art really wasn't
your...

(17:32):
medium, if you will, at thatpoint, you had been a dancer,
but not in terms of yourexpression of the story.
And I guess when I first heardof you before I even saw you and
spotted you out, I knew of youas a photographer.
And then again, like, like a lotof us in the creative fields,

(17:53):
there's just so many layers.
And I What really attracted me,again, as I peel back the layers
of you, is the fact that you'rea dancer, you're an artist,
you're a photographer, you mixmedia, you're three-dimensional,
you do installation-based.
But all of that came aboutreally from...

(18:13):
You were just, I mean, you were,you were a, you grew up in a
home of scientists.
I think, was it, tell me alittle bit about your
upbringing.
And I think you also, didn't youtoy with going into the military
for a while?
I mean, there's all, tell thatjourney because I, I still kind
of trying to figure out the ideaof this, you know, young dancer,
but who also aspired to be ascientist and then how really

(18:36):
these worlds have come togethernow,

SPEAKER_00 (18:38):
now as a

SPEAKER_02 (18:39):
mom, as an

SPEAKER_00 (18:39):
artist.

UNKNOWN (18:40):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (18:41):
Yeah, it's like really interesting to sort of
like think about and I don'tknow how long winded this will
be, but hopefully it'll makesense.
But growing up, I come from amilitary family.
My father and grandfather wereboth Navy pilots and my
grandmother was actually a wave.

(19:01):
She was in the Navy.
And so I was expected to jointhe military.
However, in middle school andhigh school, I was drawn to
dance and piano and music.
I did have an early on interestin being a physician or a
doctor.
I used to love trauma in the ER.

(19:22):
That was like one of my favoriteshows.
And I would get in trouble atschool because I would talk
about the things that I saw,some of them gory details or
some of them sexual things, butit was all from a scientific
perspective.
But I was so fascinated as afifth grader, but those
conversations weren't permittedat my private school.
And so I would get constantlypulled out and told not to talk
about these natural, normal,everyday occurrences.

(19:47):
But as a fifth grader, it wasinappropriate.
Although, anyway.

SPEAKER_02 (19:51):
I'm going to jump in right there for a second because
that was a pivotal point in mylife in the fifth grade as well.
There's a reason why that I'mnot an artist today because I
was an artist up until the fifthgrade and I was pulled into the
principal's office because theythought that my, well, it was
advanced, my figurative drawing.

(20:12):
But for some reason, I guess Iwas obsessed with breasts
because I had enlarged breastson women and they thought that
was inappropriate.
So I was told, they brought myparents in and they said, she
can't, she's not able to, wedon't want her to draw anymore.
And I quit.
Yeah.
Because I was forced to, butanyways, so it's important what
happens during those, those,those early ages.

(20:33):
My mother now is an artist andshe's horrified that she allowed
that to happen because shebecame an artist about 10 years
ago.
So it's important what we dowith our kids and what you learn
at those ages.
So go ahead from fifth grade.

SPEAKER_00 (20:46):
So.
And I didn't really...
I don't think I grasped at thetime what my interest was or
understood where it was comingfrom.
But it was just an interest Ihad.
Everyone was watching or playingvideo games or whatever they
were doing.
But this happened to be myinterest.
And then I remember sometime inmiddle school...

(21:08):
Oh, actually, yeah.
So that was elementary.
Sometime in middle school, Iremember telling someone I
wanted to be a surgeon.
And they said, Oh, you're afemale.
You'll never make it.
And sadly...
Sadly, that interest of mine wasnot encouraged.
My Cuban grandfather was asurgeon and my Cuban grandmother

(21:30):
was a scrub nurse in Cuba beforecoming to the United States.
So I do have some physicians inmy family.
And then I had the militaryupbringing in my family.
And it was in...
I would say elementary or middleschool that I first picked up a
camera.
We were moving all the time.
And so by the time I gotcomfortable in a place or in a

(21:51):
space, we were moving again.
And I had no real record.
I had my family's record, but Ididn't have my own record.
So I remember in middle schooland in high school taking a lot
of pictures.
That was sort of like an outletfor me.
I stopped dancing in highschool.
I started playing soccer.
And then I was at the top of myclass.
I think I was like number fouror maybe six in a class of 400.

(22:12):
I was kind of nerdy.
I was both the nerd, theathlete, and the goth girl all
combined in one somehow.
I was just nerd.

SPEAKER_02 (22:21):
I was just nerd.
You got me at

SPEAKER_01 (22:22):
goth in the other, but now I was a nerd.

SPEAKER_00 (22:25):
I was all of it rolled into one.
And I remember having thisreally great science teacher,
Ms.
Goggins.
I don't know if she's still outthere, but I remember I wasn't
doing really well in her class.
I wanted to make all A's and Ithink I had like an A minus or a
B.
And she's like, Sarah, if youwant to be a scientist and a
doctor or physician or whateveryou want to do, you have to stay

(22:47):
in this class, even if you don'tmake the grade.
You have to learn thisinformation.
And she really pushed me topersevere.
And I don't even know what Iended up making, but I really
loved the fact that shechallenged me to, you know, that
it wasn't always about makingthe grade.
It was about the knowledge.
And come near graduation, Iremember meeting with a military

(23:09):
recruiter and thinking, okay,maybe I'll be a photographer in
the military.
That seems plausible.
And then thinking, is thisreally the direction I want to
go?
I'm expected to go here, but doI fit here?
And I decided against it.
And I decided to go to collegeinstead.
And And interestingly enough, Iactually went to university to

(23:32):
study astronomy.
I had grown up in Florida, nearCape Canaveral.
And my father had always wantedto work for NASA.
And that was a dream of mine.
I used to get to watch theshuttles launch, not from Cape
Canaveral, but from my street.
Oh my

SPEAKER_02 (23:49):
God, what an experience.

SPEAKER_00 (23:50):
Yeah, I could see them, you know, shoot off into
the sky.
And I thought how fascinatingand how interesting it would be
to be part of that legacy.
and that experience.
And so I actually was acceptedto Vassar and a couple of other
colleges to study astronomy, butended up going to UT for
financial reasons.
And after my freshman year, Iswitched gears.

(24:13):
It's not that I didn't lovescience and the stars and space
and travel and physics andcalculus.
But there was something about itthat didn't fit my personality
quite.
It wasn't quite the right fit.
And I spoke to someone in thejournalism department at the
University of Texas, RickWilliams, who is the head of the
program, who sadly passed awaytwo years ago.

(24:37):
But he welcomed me with openarms into that program.
Yeah, he really shifted my life.
Wow.

SPEAKER_02 (24:45):
So it sounds like you've been, you stayed in touch
with him.
I mean, or at least he was acritical part of your life.
And you obviously know that hesadly passed away a few years
ago.
So.

SPEAKER_00 (24:56):
Yeah, he founded the Texas Photographic Society,
which I was the executivedirector of for a year.
Oh,

SPEAKER_01 (25:04):
heart, heart.
Oh my God.
So it's full circle.

SPEAKER_00 (25:08):
Yeah, yeah.
So I, you know, in 2009, Istarted a photo nonprofit in
Austin called the Austin Centerfor Photography.
We had, I, you know, we didn'thave a brick and mortar space,
but we had, it was called theIcons of Photography Lecture
Series.
And it was a really...
fantastic just uh experience andexposure to bring these uh

(25:30):
photographers to austin and um Idon't know where I'm going with
that.
Sorry.
Oh, well, just, you know, myinterest in being part of
photographic nonprofits afterleaving New York and coming back
to Texas, I was like, there arenot enough organizations and
galleries and spaces to connectand places to meet these
fantastic artists.

(25:51):
And so, you know, I was really,really interested in helping
change that, the landscape ofthat in Texas.
And so a couple years ago, oractually several years ago, I
was a board member for the TexasPhotographic Society.
And then in 2019, I was theirexecutive director.
And yes, it felt like fullcircle, knowing that Rick was

(26:11):
the reason I became aphotographer and really embraced
me.
And here I was running theorganization that he founded.
Wow.
It was really wonderful.

SPEAKER_02 (26:20):
Wow.

SPEAKER_00 (26:21):
That's skipping a lot of years.
Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 (26:22):
Well, I want to go and tap into the military aspect
of your life.
My...
The second body of work thatreally intrigued me when I first
learned about you and that I sawin person was your...
I think it was...
Was it called Point of Origin orwas it Mechanics in Flight when
you did the Cindy Lissica show?

(26:44):
Did you have a working title?

SPEAKER_00 (26:45):
It was always Point of Origin.
Mechanics of Flight is the nameof the kites themselves.

SPEAKER_02 (26:50):
Okay.
Okay.
The actual installation piecethat you have in there.
Okay.
Because I remember stepping intothat gallery and...
First, I was just intriguedbecause at first you see this
amazing installation and thenthe whole space you see, I
guess, were those prints thatwere textile threads,
sculptural, there were somephotographic

SPEAKER_00 (27:12):
self-portraits.
Well, so the first...
installation at Cindy's was thethree kites, then debossed
patterns on the wall or printeddebossed patterns.
And then the sound installationwas me breathing at four
different rates.
And then the one in Austin lastyear had the self-portraits, the

(27:32):
kinetic sculpture, sound pieces,and other photographs as well.
So yeah, the first iteration wasmuch more minimal.

SPEAKER_02 (27:40):
And I think, so, but when I, when I really connected
with that the installation inthe show, it hit me because my
father built helicopters.
You know, he was with a Rad Macand he, um, developed this
floating warship during Vietnamwar.
It was a, it was a, it wasreally for helicopters to come

(28:00):
down and then they would be atsea and they would be, you know,
all the repair work that wouldneed to be done during wartime
and helicopters just meant a lotto me.
And my, I had just lost myfather, I think right before,
maybe a maybe months before yourshow.
And it was always this part ofmy childhood with my father.

(28:21):
And so I immediately connectedto what you were saying.
And then I realized a lot moreabout the show.
So share about Point of Originand how you brought this piece
together.
Because I just think it's justan amazing story about- So Point

(28:43):
of Origin is, it's amultidisciplinary series and it
includes the sounds of aviation,of course, military planes and
helicopters.
And what inspired you to dothis?
What did you, why?

SPEAKER_00 (28:56):
So I lived in San Antonio for seven years and one
of the places I lived, I wasunder the air emergency
helicopter system flight routefrom one of the downtown
hospitals to the medical centerin San Antonio, which is sort of
like on the northwest side ofSan Antonio.

(29:16):
And so I could hear thehelicopters flying over me all
the time, and I knew what theywere.
And then because San Antonio issuch a military town, I could
also hear the military planes,you know, the Air Force jets and
the larger cargo.
My dad would be so unimpressedthat I don't remember the names
of these things.
But the ones that you can drivevehicles onto, like the back

(29:36):
hatch opens up and they looklike a whale, a whale in the
sky, you know, you know, thatone.
I don't know what they'recalled.
And so it was this reallyinteresting visual auditory
experience for me to keep boththe medical chopper and the
military combined in one.
And I didn't think anything moreabout it, but it was just

(30:01):
something that I was aware of.
And I knew it was interesting tome.
I didn't know why it wasinteresting, except the fact
that I'd been interested inmedicine and that I came from a
military background.
Did I ever intend to make aproject about it?
No.
When I moved back to Houston,because this is my third time to
live in Houston, and I startednoticing all the red helicopters

(30:21):
here.
And of course, being a curiousformer photojournalist, as you
do, you research.
And I came across MemorialHermann.
I came across Life Flight.
I read about the history of RedDuke, that it was the first...
entity of its kind in Texas, andthat it is the busiest helipad

(30:43):
in the country to date.
And that no one had done aproject about it.
Yes, Lifetime had done a series,Drama in the ER.
You know, the show that I usedto watch in fifth grade and get
in trouble for, but that theyhad done a special episode on
Memorial Hermann's Life Flight.
So talk about another fullcircle coming around.

UNKNOWN (31:04):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (31:05):
Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 (31:07):
And I had the opportunity to apply for a grant
through the Houston ArtsAlliance.
And this would have been in2018, 2017, I think it was 2017.
I was awarded a large grant tomake a project on Memorial
Hermann's Life Flight.
And it took me over a year toget access to the VP of Life
Flight.

(31:27):
I tried through my mom, whoworks for the health department
here in Houston, marketing.
I tried through...
a doctor friend of mine who's anER doctor at the hospital.
It was like any avenue and allavenues I was exploring and
constant emails, phone calls.
And finally, after a year, theyinvited me in to give a

(31:47):
presentation.
And so I'd started this projectand built a website that was
going to collect stories fromthe public.
Because if you go on theirFacebook page, they've got all
these incredible...
journeys and testimonials ofpeople that were saved and how,
you know, even if they weren'tsaved, they were, their family
member was given thisextraordinary opportunity,
right?

(32:08):
And at life.
And by being in the helicopterversus an ambulance or other
means of getting to thehospital.
And unfortunately, that projectwas shut down by Memorial
Hermann.
They, for HIPAA reasons, theycould not support it.
And they said, well, what elsedo you want to do?
And I told them, I want yourflight logs.

(32:31):
And that really stemmed from mydad because my dad was a pilot
and I would see his flight logs.
Where was he going?
What was he doing?
And so he was in the Navy for15, 20 years.
And then he was a customs pilot.
And often I didn't know where hewas going until he got back
because there's like thesesecret drug bust missions and

(32:53):
things like that.
And so, yeah, he was flying toEcuador and Peru and Brazil
chasing drug lords in the air.
Wow.
So I wouldn't know.
Yeah, I wouldn't know where hewas, nor when he was getting
back until he was back.
And this is sort of a side note,but my dad would fly over my

(33:13):
school when he would get back.
Oh, I love that.
Oh my God.
I would see his plane because itwas a very unique plane.
It was a P3 with a rotor dome ontop.
It was called the AWACS.
That one I know the name of, butthe AWACS would fly over.
And I'm like, oh, there's mydad.
He's back from some undetermineddestination.

(33:35):
Oh, my

SPEAKER_01 (33:36):
God.
I love

SPEAKER_00 (33:38):
that.
So, you know, this idea of aflight log was really
interesting to me.
Where were they going?
What were they doing?
When were they coming back?
And so when Memorial Hermannasked, well, what do you want?
I said, I want the flight logs.
I want to know where yourhelicopter started out.
I want to know where they pickedup a patient.
And I want to know where theydelivered a patient.
And it took me a year to getthat.
I got one month.

(33:59):
of flight logs, which is about330 flights and for five bases
that support the Houston area.
I was able to meet with some ofthe crews, talk to the pilots.
I did a lot of research and alot of interviewing.
Some of that showed up in thework.
Some of it just informed thework and just allowed me to
understand the dynamics ofworking or being a life flight

(34:22):
pilot or nurse or tech.
Um, maybe someday the rest of itwill, will filter in, but, um,
I, I just try and dive in asdeep as I can and become as
familiar with the subject as, asone can from the outside.
Um, when I'm working on aproject.
And then again, I think thatstems from my photojournalism
background.
Thank you, Rick Williams.

(34:42):
And, um, And so, you know, I gotthese flight logs and I had a
friend of mine here, DavidRichmond, who's helped me on a
lot of projects.
And I said, okay, I've got thesenumbers.
Can you help me make patternsout of them?
And we made these patterns andthey were PDFs.
And I'm flicking through thepatterns, looking at them really
quickly.
And as I'm flicking on mycomputer, I'm like, oh, they

(35:02):
move.
They need to move.
The patterns need to move.
And then that's where thesculptures came from.
It was not, oh, I want to makesculptures off the patterns or
off the flight logs.
I knew I wanted the flight logs.
I wanted to see what the flightlogs look like as a pattern.
And then when I flipped throughthe patterns, they became a
sculpture.

SPEAKER_02 (35:21):
Oh, my God.
You've shared part of this withme before and Even just, I could
hear it over and I've just, Ialways learn so much from you
and how you do this.
It's just so interesting to mehow you just kind of take a deep
dive.
You really thoroughly researchit.
I love that fact that you saidit informs your work and I'm

(35:41):
just, I love it.
And I'm bummed that I didn't seeit when it was expanded in
Austin.
It was Gray Duck Gallery, right?
Yeah,

SPEAKER_00 (35:50):
Gray Duck Gallery,

SPEAKER_02 (35:52):
yeah.
But your website has a lot ofdocumentation, so if people want
to see a little bit more aboutit, it's pretty thorough what
you have on there.
Yeah,

SPEAKER_00 (36:01):
there's a video walkthrough of the gallery,
which I was really happy to havethat.
That was something that GlassTire did last summer for all the
artists whose exhibitions werecanceled or closed, they said.
Send us a five minute video.
And so we were able to put thattogether.
And so it's really great thatI've got that expanded
documentation of the showbecause I think seeing it and it

(36:21):
still images one experience andthen be able to watch this
walkthrough and how all thepieces are laid out in relation
to one another is, you know,it's on a whole nother level.
So.

SPEAKER_02 (36:30):
I love Glass Tire.
Thanks, Glass Tire.
That was so awesome.
It really helped me this year tobe able to see a lot of the
openings and stuff that Imissed.
So you've really been busyduring this time of coronavirus
and COVID.
And there are a couple ofthings.
I know you were just recentlyfeatured in, I think, Southwest

(36:51):
Contemporary Art Magazine andtheir Bodies and Boundaries
issue.
And I thought, I remember seeingan image of that.
I think it was called 60 Poundsof Pressure.
Can you talk a little bit aboutthe work that was just featured
in the magazine?
Because I was really blown awayby that.

SPEAKER_00 (37:10):
Sure.
So I would say other places inthe country were starting to
lock down.
My show earlier than Texas, myshow opened at Grey Duck March
6th and was closed the weekafter.
I remember taking my children ona remote spring break And then
coming home and really realizingwhat was happening in the world

(37:37):
and that they were not goingback to school.
I was not going back outside, atleast for a period of time that.
our domestic space was going tobe our entire space.
And reaching out to friends,especially family and friends in
New York, which was at thattime, if you remember, March
2020, was just the hotbed.
And I had so many friends andfamily there and was just

(38:00):
terrified.
Here, at least in Texas, andspecifically in Houston, we're a
little bit more separated.
And we've got side yards orbackyards or access to green
space without having to bump andrub shoulders.
And just seeing the imagescoming out of New York was just
horrendous.
And so So heartbreaking.
And I remember in March learningabout a young nurse in Georgia.

(38:21):
She was one of the firstfrontline workers to succumb to
the illness.
And she was found dead at homewith her four-year-old by her
side.
And as a single mother, I couldcomprehend it.
I was like, if I get sick...

(38:42):
you know, who's going to takecare of me because I don't want
to expose anybody else.
And then if I die, how long doesit take for someone to find me?
And how long do my children haveto sit with me?
And what does that do to themlong-term?
And, um, I, it was just a reallyunsettling and horrific and all
consuming experience to happen.

(39:03):
Um, and I, I, asked my childrento lie on me.
I told them I wanted to do thisperformance because I felt such
burden and such weight and suchresponsibility all at once and
fear and anxiety.
It was like all these emotionsrolling around inside my chest
and I could feel it.
And I wanted to somehow documentit and share it Not necessarily

(39:31):
with the world, but just get itout of me.
It was so heavy.
And this is one of those momentsthat it didn't take a year to
get access.
I read this news.
I had this immediate visceralresponse to that information,
even though I didn't know thiswoman or her family or anything
else about her.
But just the fact that I was asingle mother, she was a single
mother.

(39:52):
She was doing her job and shedied.
And...
So I asked my two kids if theywould lay on me so I could do
this portrait.
And of course I asked, I toldthem I wanted to be naked
because I wanted to show my bodywith their body and the impact
of their body on my body and theimpact of their weight on me and
how I was holding them up andholding them together and

(40:14):
holding us all together andbalancing it all.
And even in March, I didn'treally know what that meant yet.
Right now, a year later, Ireally understand what that
means.
everything that I've had to do.
But in that moment, I only hadlike a preview or a glimpse of
what the next, you know, yearwould look like.

(40:36):
And because I wanted to benaked, my children said, no,
mom.
And, you know, it's good forthem standing up for themselves
and, you know, setting their ownboundaries.
But I said, okay, could weplease do it with your clothes
on just so I could know what itfeels like?
And, you know, trying toresearch, okay, what would this
experience actually feel like?

(40:57):
And so my son laid on me firstbecause he was first and then my
daughter laid on top of him andI could barely breathe.
And it was difficult to balancethem on my chest while I was
breathing.
And in that moment, it is soweird the way sometimes art
unfolds or ideas unfold.
In that moment, I was like, ohyeah, I've got bricks in my side
yard that I pulled up to make aplay space for you guys.

(41:19):
I'm going to go get the bricks.

SPEAKER_01 (41:21):
Wow.

SPEAKER_00 (41:22):
And then we placed, I had a friend that was there
and we placed brick after brickon my chest until I couldn't
take anymore.
And I could still, well, that Icould take and still breathe,
right?
Of course, I probably could havetaken more weight, but I
wouldn't have been able tobreathe.
And so it's like finding thatsweet spot, that balance of the
pressure, but still being ableto, still being able to maintain

(41:43):
life or still be able tomaintain a breathing rhythm.
And so we placed the bricks onmy chest.
We had already had the cameraset up.
And we snapped a few images.
We shot a very short video.
And that was it.
And then it was done.
And that all happened in oneday.
From finding out the informationabout this woman to...

(42:06):
telling my kids about it, toputting the bricks on me, to
having these images and thisperformance that I started to
share because...
institutions, the PandemicArchive, which was actually
started by graduate students atParsons, where I'd gone to
school.
And so several organizationslike that were putting out calls

(42:29):
for artists to share the workthat they were creating.
And that's really the onlyreason it was seen is because
people were asking.
And so I happened to have thisWell, I didn't even think of it
as a project right then.
It was more of like therapy andan outlet.
And I shared it and it justevolved and blew up from there.
And people got really excitedabout it.

(42:50):
And then I did the performancein July live for the Pandemic
Archive over Zoom, which was areally weird experience.
And I don't know that I want todo another Zoom performance
because I've realized howimportant the audience is to
supporting me during that.
doing a live performance and howmuch I get out of the audience

(43:13):
watching me.
I feed off their energy just asmuch as they feed off mine.
And I'm fine to do performancesto be recorded, to be seen in a
gallery as a video.
But in terms of a liveexperience, I want there to be
an audience.
And so...
And then I redid theperformance.

(43:33):
I did a 30-minute version of itbecause it went to an exhibition
in Tennessee.
And then luckily, I had thatversion to share with the
Blaffer Museum, who asked thisfall if they could exhibit it as
part of their currentexhibition, Carriers, the Body
as a Site of Danger and Desire.

SPEAKER_02 (43:50):
Okay, so that's the one that's actually up there
now.
And you have some of yourprints.
I think it leads to...
Will You Hug Me Forever, whichis the work that really hit me
as well.
And that body of work.
And those two bodies of work,that's what's on view currently
at the Blaffer Art Museum inHouston, Texas.

(44:10):
Can you talk about that?
Because the Will You Hug MeForever just...
blew me away because obviouslywe're all living through this
COVID-19 pandemic and we're,we're dealing with having to
wear a mask.
And obviously here in Texas,things are changing next week.
Supposedly it's the mask mandateis gone, but I think we're all
struggling with the fact that Ithink people that wore masks

(44:32):
before are going to wear a maskafter until we're safe and
people who didn't do it beforeare not going to do it anyway.
So, um, Share about, will youhug me forever?
Because I, and again, theimagery is on your website.
It's also on your Instagram.
And of course I'm really wantingto go and see it live before it
closes March 14th, 2021.

SPEAKER_00 (44:53):
So 60 pounds of pressure was a performance that
was documented through imagesand video.
And I, I unfortunately hadfamily die from COVID in New
York.
So they were extended family.
It was my dad's wife's sisterand brother.
Some friends of mine in NewYork, close friends also had

(45:17):
COVID, but luckily recovered.
One of my good girlfriends andher son.
And so here I am in Texas,relatively safe.
And I've got family and friendsin New York who are being
exposed and dying.
And then I've got friends andfamily who are physicians all

(45:37):
over the country trying to savepeople.
And in one way, I felt soprotected in my isolation, but
so helpless in my isolation.
And I wanted some...
I wanted to mark that sort offeeling and recognize what was

(45:59):
happening to so many people in adifferent way than the bricks,
because it was a...
Although that piece was shotonly a couple of weeks after 60
pounds of pressure, but in thatshort of time, the world was
changing so quickly.
And now, not only...
were we in lockdown, but now wewere losing people and we knew.

(46:20):
And every day the New York timeswas mentioning, you know, who
was dying and printing all thedead names.
And so, you know, it was soimpactful to me, even though,
like I said, I was relativelysafe.
I lived through nine 11 in NewYork and I should have been

(46:40):
right there.
My boyfriend at the time was, Itwas a few blocks away.
I would have run to the towersto photograph as a
photojournalist.
I was working at Time Magazine.
And I, like many others, havesurvivor's guilt.
And I think, in a way, I washaving a similar reaction to
COVID that I wasn't in New York.

(47:02):
My friends were.
They were getting COVID.
Other people I knew were gettingCOVID and dying.
And in some way, I think, andI'm sure I'm not alone in this,
having survivor's guilt.
that I wasn't on the front linesand so many people were.
And I wanted a way to honor, atleast in the way that I could,

(47:22):
right?
I couldn't be out there on thefront lines.
I had two children to take careof, but how could I honor those
that were on the front lines andthose who were living, giving up
their life to save others?
and to honor my friends and myfamily who were ill or had
passed away.
And I decided to wear a PPEmask.
My dad, luckily, because of themilitary, had access to all

(47:44):
kinds of masks and gloves, andhe sent me a shipment.
And I decided to wear one inhonor of others, but also to
encapsulate my own experience athome and what that was like.
So I wore it while Ihomeschooled my children, while
I did...
Sorry.
while I cooked and cleaned andwent for a walk and played with

(48:09):
them.
And I kept the mask on for eighthours to recognize an average
school day or an average workday.
And I removed it every hour onthe hour and photographed myself
in my room and a makeshiftstudio.
Cause that's what I had.
I didn't go any place.
I just went upstairs.
I had the light set up.

(48:29):
You know, I took the mask off,took two to three frames, put
the mask back on and continuedon my day.
And, um, I did take a fewpictures with my iPhone with the
kids prior to starting.
And they said, mommy, why areyou doing this?
You know?
And I had to explain to them toa seven and eight year old or a
six and eight year old at thetime, um, you know, what I was

(48:50):
hoping to achieve.
And I think they kind ofunderstood.
And I said, people are having towear these masks and people are
getting sick.
And explaining to a six andeight-year-old about a pandemic
and about social distancing andabout illness and about not
hugging people and what theyknew as life was changing faster

(49:13):
than I could explain it orfaster than they could
understand.
And my daughter said to me, willyou be able to hug me forever?
And I said, yes, as long as I'mable.
But that's where the title camefrom because she saw what was
happening as much as she couldunderstand.
And I didn't know what I wasgoing to title the piece until
she said that.
And then I made these pictures.

(49:33):
And during the process of makingthe pictures, I mean, my face
hurt so incredibly bad and thepressure built and I started to
cry.
And I was able to document itall, which was really...
exciting for me as aphotographer, as a performance
artist to have this reallyauthentic expression of that

(49:56):
experience.
And again, I didn't know ifanyone was going to see it.
It was just something I neededto do for myself as a record of
this time.
And if I've learned anything,photography is such a great
means to record your life and toallow you to reflect back on it,
if for no other reason than foryour own personal understanding

(50:18):
of your journey.
And here I was doing this to,you know, really for me.
And then I saw the images.
How did you feel?
Well, like most of us in thislockdown, you know, not dying
our hair or, you know, doingsort of like outlandish things
that we would never do.
You know, I shaved the undersideof my hair and, you know, so I

(50:42):
felt like I was in Mad Max,which, you know, in a strange
way is 2021.
Oh my God.
Yes, it is.
It

SPEAKER_01 (50:50):
is.
Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 (50:52):
So I felt like, I felt almost like, a warrior,
right?
I was a warrior, but I was awarrior at home.
And so I had this undercut.
And so I remember looking in themirror that morning going, okay,
I'm going to do thisperformance.
I'm dedicating the next eightand something hours to this
piece.
What do I want to look like?

(51:12):
And And so I pinned up...
I had a few bobby pins in myhouse and I pinned up my hair so
that you can see the undercut.
And I knew I wanted to be nude.
Although you don't see that I'mnecessarily nude, but I'm nude
in the pictures.
And because I wanted to havenothing distracting from the

(51:33):
marks on my face.
That's what I wanted to be thecentral focus.
And so that's the onlyalteration I made was pinning my
hair back.
And...
Yeah, when I saw the image, theonly time I turned sideways was
at hour seven.
So hour six, I'm crying.
So at hour seven, I knew I hadone hour left for the

(51:55):
performance, right?
I could feel the light at theend of the tunnel, so to speak.
And I was like, okay, I'vepowered through.
I have cried.
I have ached.
I have mourned.
I have grieved.
I have held it together.
somewhat.
I have been responsible duringthe day.
The children are being fed.
They're doing their homework andI'm cooking and cleaning and

(52:18):
doing all the normal things.
I'm doing the best I can.
And so I think in hour seven, Iturned sideways, sort of like a
profile shot.
And I feel very empowered inthat picture.
It

SPEAKER_02 (52:28):
shows.
It was a powerful image.
That was one that really struckme.

SPEAKER_00 (52:33):
Again, institutions like the Center for Fine Art
Photography in Colorado and acouple other places around the
country, a filter photo.
We're looking for images frompeople responding to the
pandemic.
And I started sending it out.
I started sending 60 pounds ofpressure and I started sending,
will you hug me forever?
And it got picked up and peopleliked it and it had a really

(52:57):
great response.
And I said, oh, this is not justa record.
This is something that speaksto, you know, speaks to other
people and speaks to them onmultiple levels and has an
impact and a life after thepandemic, at least I hope so.
This fall, I was very pleased tohear from the Blaffer Museum,

(53:19):
the curators that they wanted toinclude it in the exhibition.
And so it's on view for one moreweek and I hope people can catch
it.

SPEAKER_02 (53:26):
You mentioned that there's going to be a round
table discussion.
Is that the one with the blacks?
Monday at six.
So Monday, March 8th, 6 p.m.
Central Time.
Yes.

SPEAKER_00 (53:35):
And that's all, that's almost all the artists
are participating.
It's not just me, but it's around table with most of the
artists in the exhibition.

SPEAKER_02 (53:41):
You have an exhibition on view right now in
San Antonio at the DeucemMuseum.
You were recognized and honoredto be the 2020
Artist-in-Residence.
And because of the pandemic,normally you would have your
solo show, but you've beenpaired and your work really
naturally flowed in with theshow they have up as well.

(54:01):
Their show is called BeautifulMinds, Dyslexia and the Creative
Advantage.
However, your installation is,again, part of your
Artist-in-Residency is calledThe Reading Brain.
And I really would like to talkabout that.
And hopefully, again, myselfSince I am driving distance, I'd
like to see it.
And I'm glad it's going to be onview through March 31st.
Can you talk to us about thereading brain?

(54:21):
And of course, this is on yourwebsite as well.
But I wanted to hear somethought, your thoughts behind
its creation and your and whyyou decided to do this.

SPEAKER_00 (54:33):
Timing.
In January, I decided, well,actually, December, I decided to
leave my position at TexasPhotographic Society.
and leave arts administrationand focus on my art career.
I felt it was time.
I'd been pursuing it for so longand trying to really push to be
an artist.
And then, of course, COVID hits.

(54:54):
I launched this hugeinstallation or huge solo show
in Austin, and then the pandemichits.
And so, like everyone, weshifted and we tried to realign
our expectations.
And I knew about the Dozeum'sArtist in Residency program.
It was a new museum that wasstarting to be built when I left

(55:19):
San Antonio.
And I had followed theirtrajectory and also followed
their Artist in Residencyprogram because their previous
artists were friends of minefrom San Antonio.
And I had it on my calendar.
I looked it up this year or in2020.
And it was right May, I thinkMay was about the deadline.

(55:42):
And because I was working fromhome or trying to work from home
and homeschooling my children, Ihad the opportunity to apply for
it.
And I feel very fortunate thatthat came about and I saw it and
I had the time to dedicate to anapplication.
And I had never made anything,no work about dyslexia when I

(56:03):
put my proposal together.
However, my son is dyslexic,August.
whose birthday is today.
And I really had a clearunderstanding of what that
challenge looked like fromhomeschooling him.
So I knew he had challenges atschool.
I had spoken to his teachers.
He had accommodations.

(56:25):
You know, some days were betterthan others.
He was struggling to read.
You know, all dyslexics are notthe same.
There's a spectrum.
But it was really during this,you know, spring term 2020 that
I got to see firsthand on aday-to-day, hour-by-hour, what
that looked like for him andwhat it meant for me.

(56:47):
And so as I'm researchingdyslexia and trying to figure
out what am I going to proposeto this call, and I knew it
needed to be good because Iwasn't based in San Antonio any
longer, although I had roots toSan Antonio, and so I really
needed to shine and And Ipropose collecting data on

(57:08):
dyslexic children and creatingan interactive installation.
I thought about my son and whathe'd like to do.
And he likes to buildsculptures.
And prior to the pandemic, hewas taking sculpture classes at
the Glassell and he loved it.
And thinking about what made himhappy, what he enjoyed doing.

(57:32):
And so just going off those twothings, homeschooling him and
what was in his world as far asart was concerned.
And that's where the idea camefrom.
And I had originally proposed inmy application working with a
certain device to collect thedata, which wasn't...

(57:53):
I was asked to revise thatvision.
And so I made a cold call to Dr.
Guinevere Eden at GeorgetownUniversity and said...
I'm a finalist for thisopportunity at a children's
museum in San Antonio.
I've worked with data before.
Here's the work that I did withMemorial Herman and Point of

(58:15):
Origin.
This is why I'm doing it,because of my son.
I want everyone to be excitedabout their brain, whether
they're dyslexic or not.
I want them to see that it'sbeautiful, that it lights up,
that it works, and that it'sunique, that every brain is
unique, no matter how it's made.
And she...

(58:35):
wholeheartedly jumped in.
And now we are friends and wekeep in touch.
And we had many conversationsabout what type of data she
could share with me, how much ofit, how I could use it.
And then I met with a programmerhere in Houston to talk about
what I wanted to do and said, isthis possible?
Because I wasn't sure at thatpoint what was possible.

(58:56):
The only data-driven kineticworks...
light works I had made were onepiece in the Point of Origin
show, which is called LifeSupport, which I had made for
the show last year in March.
And that was sort of thefurthest I had gone with working
with all those materials andtechnologies.

(59:18):
And so I was very lucky to getconnected with Clint Allen here
with New Aspect Design inHouston.
And he just supported me And,um, you know, we made a really
great team and I'm so glad tohave had him.
And, um...
the piece came out exactly as Iintended.

(59:39):
So I was really, really happy tosee it all come to fruition and
it be as engaging as I had hopedit to be.
And even during a pandemic thatit's interactive and children
can learn and parents can learnabout the different regions of
the brain through these reallycolorful floor pattern, floor
decals that tell you whichregion of the brain you're in

(01:00:01):
and they decipher for you ordecode for you how that part of
the brain process language.
And so one of my favoriteactivities that both my kids do
at their Montessori school is aworkbook called Explode the
Code, right?
And you have to figure out howto put images to text and
decipher different words.

(01:00:22):
And so a lot of things aboutdyslexia are about decoding and
deciphering.
And so I wanted somehow thatdecoding aspect of reading to be
folded into the exhibition.
And so the floor...
the floor stickers or floordecals decode for you how the
brain processes language.
And so without having to touchanything, you can jump around

(01:00:44):
underneath the installation.
You can watch it from theoutside and it'll flicker.
And what it's running is sixchildren with dyslexia and it's
showing you three regions oftheir left hemisphere and three
regions of their righthemisphere and the activation in
those regions.
So it'll be one child at a timeand it's 84 points of data per

(01:01:04):
child.
over six regions of their brain,and then it'll go to the next
child, and then it's on a loop.
And if you enter into theinstallation or just walk
underneath it, you will speed upthe data.
And if you have three childrenor three bodies in one
hemisphere, you will speed upthe data even further and shift
the color palette to moresaturated.

(01:01:26):
And then if all regions of thebrain or installation are
activated, it will go to red,which in the MRI scans that Dr.
Guinevere-Eden is doing, whenit's red, that means full
activation.
So again, I was trying toconnect to the scientific
terminology and the scientificcoding that they're doing, but
also make it digestible andplayful and engaging for for my

(01:01:49):
children and your children andanyone's children.

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:54):
I love this.
And again, just you have theinstallation shots and a video
on your website.
And that website is SarahSudhoff.
It's S-A-R-A-H.
Make sure your Sarah has an H init.
S-U-D-H-O-F-F.com.
And the Reading Brain, you'llsee the installation and the
video on her website.

(01:02:15):
I think this is a good...
place for us to wrap up ourconversation and let let me just
say that the museum had theright title for their exhibition
because it's actually i think mynew nickname for you which is
beautiful mind because you'rebeautiful inside and out but you
have this amazing um BeautifulMind.

(01:02:35):
So thank you, Sarah.
I really thank you for yourfriendship.
Thank you for your talents andfor so honestly and openly
sharing them with all of us.
I really appreciate it.
So just a couple of things.
The Deucem in San Antonio has,you can go and see it live

(01:02:55):
through March 31st.
And again, it's in conjunctionwith the exhibition, Beautiful
Minds, Dyslexia and the CreativeAdvantage and the Reading Brain
is what Sarah conceived and puttogether.
Their website is www.duseum.org.
And that'sT-H-E-D-O-S-E-U-M.org.

(01:03:16):
And at the Bluffer Art Museum,you can see Sarah's work, Will
You Hug Me Forever?
And 60 Pounds of Pressure.
And that Will You Hug MeForever?
Just Hour 7 is on view.
No,

SPEAKER_00 (01:03:28):
actually nine prints.
Yeah.
Nine

SPEAKER_02 (01:03:31):
prints and also a video of the

SPEAKER_00 (01:03:33):
duration.
Okay.
Yeah.
Five minutes.
Yeah.
Five minute video of the 30minute performance.

SPEAKER_02 (01:03:40):
And also for 60 pounds of pressure.
So those are on view to see inperson on through March 14th.
And please save the date forthis Monday, March 8th.
at 6 p.m.
I'm sure that they're going toactually keep that archival.
So if you do miss it, but it'dbe great to have it live because
I'm sure you'll be able to askSarah questions.
It's an online roundtable onMonday, March 8th at 6 p.m.

(01:04:03):
Central.
Check her website for the Zoomlink or visit the Blaffer Art
Museum's website atblafferartmuseum.org.
And again, follow Sarah onInstagram, just her name, Sarah,
Sarah with an H, S-U-D-H, And Iam just so excited.
Thank you so much for your time.
And I know you're off tocelebrate your son's birthday

(01:04:23):
today.
And I'm just I'm thrilled.
So thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 (01:04:28):
Thank you so much, Melissa.
I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03 (01:04:31):
Thank you.
Thank you.