Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Today, Emily chats with artist and floral designer Tasha Stimage, as they discuss her artistic journey, from her childhood experiences with nature to her current projects and inspirations. Emily highlights her creative process, experiences during the pandemic, and her upcoming installation at the Presidio Tunnel Tops.

About Artist Tosha Stimage:

Tosha Stimage is an Oakland-based multi-disciplinary artist who uses a variety of art mediums to examine how we create language. Her paintings, collages, installations, and floral sculptures “use experimentation to re-contextualize physical material and histories with fresh perspectives,” she shared.

As the founder of SAINTFLORA, a full-service floral design company specializing in “unconventional flower experiences”, Tosha is also a local entrepreneur and the third and final artist within the Presidio’s Public Art Mentorship Program. In July 2024 Tosha will create and install a large-scale art installation to transform the space between the Presidio Transit Center and the enclosed Picnic Pavilion at Presidio Tunnel Tops.

“Flowers put us back in the ‘circle’ and connect us to labor, land, and each other,” Tosha shared. “I’m incredibly excited to explore the flora of the Presidio and use it to spark curiosity and fresh perspectives. Nature provides an accessible and inclusive entry way for dialogue around complex social and environmental topics.”

Visit Tosha's Website: ToshaStimage.com

Support Tosha's Floral Shop: SaintFlora.com

Follow Tosha on Instagram: @SaintFloraCo

Learn More about her upcoming installation at The Presidio Tunnel Tops by CLICKING HERE.

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About Podcast Host Emily Wilson:

Emily a writer in San Francisco, with work in outlets including Hyperallergic, Artforum, 48 Hills, the Daily Beast, California Magazine, Latino USA, and Women’s Media Center. She often writes about the arts. For years, she taught adults getting their high school diplomas at City College of San Francisco.

Follow Emily on Instagram: @PureEWil

Follow Art Is Awesome on Instagram: @ArtIsAwesome_Podcast

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CREDITS:

Art Is Awesome is Hosted, Created & Executive Produced by Emily Wilson.

Theme Music "Loopster" Courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

The Podcast is Co-Produced, Developed & Edited by Charlene Goto of @GoToProductions.

For more info, visit Go-ToProductions.com

Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Today, Emily chats with Pacifica based artist Saif Azouz, discussing his journey in art, inspiration from nature and literature, his current exhibition 'Cost of Living', and his reflections on boundaries and displacement. Saif's experience with art, his use of materials, and his perspectives on creativity and community are highlighted throughout the episode.

About Artist Saif Azzuz :

Saif Azzuz is a Libyan-Yurok artist who resides in Pacifica, CA. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in Painting and Drawing from the California College of the Arts in 2013. Azzuz has a forthcoming solo exhibition at Blaffer Art Museum in Houston, TX in 2025 and has exhibited widely in the bay area including exhibitions at 1599dt Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Adobe Books, San Francisco, CA; Anthony Meier Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA; Galerie Julien Cadet, Paris, FR; ICA SF, San Francisco, CA; Pt.2 Gallery, Oakland, CA; Ever Gold [Projects], San Francisco, CA; NIAD, Oakland, CA; Rule Gallery, Denver, CO; Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, NY; Jack Barrett, New York, NY and K Art, Buffalo, NY. Azzuz is a 2022 SFMOMA SECA Award finalist and has participated in the Clarion Alley Mural Project and the Facebook Artist in Residence program.

Selected public collections include de Young Museum - Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA; Facebook, Menlo Park, CA; Gochman Family Collection, NY; KADIST, San Francisco, CA; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC; Rennie Museum, Vancouver, Canada; Stanford Health Care Art Collection, Menlo Park, CA; UBS Art Collection, New York, NY; and University of St. Thomas, Saint Paul, MN.

Learn more about Saif, CLICK HERE.

Follow on Instagram: @SaifAzzuz

Check out Saif's current exhibit "Cost of Living" HERE.

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About Podcast Host Emily Wilson:

Emily a writer in San Francisco, with work in outlets including Hyperallergic, Artforum, 48 Hills, the Daily Beast, California Magazine, Latino USA, and Women’s Media Center. She often writes about the arts. For years, she taught adults getting their high school diplomas at City College of San Francisco.

Follow Emily on Instagram: @PureEWil

Follow Art Is Awesome on Instagram: @ArtIsAwesome_Podcast

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CREDITS:

Art Is Awesome is Hosted, Created & Executive Produced by Emily Wilson.

Theme Music "Loopster" Courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

The Podcast is Co-Produced, Developed & Edited by Charlene Goto of @GoToProductions.

For more info, visit Go-ToProductions.com

Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Today, Emily chats with filipina-american interdisciplinary artist Charlene Tan.

In this Episode, Charlene shares her background, inspiration, and creative process behind her exhibition, Warp/Weft which pays homage to her Filipino heritage. It discusses her use of traditional Filipino materials like mung beans and ube, the personal connections embedded in her artwork, and the viewers' responses. Charlene's journey as an artist, from childhood to her current exhibitions, is also highlighted, along with insights into the labor-intensive nature of her work, family influences, and the supportive community that has shaped her artistic path.

About Artist Charlene Tan:

Charlene Tan is an interdisciplinary artist, whose work is thematically focused on the immigrant diaspora and its repercussions, post-assimilation identity, and anthropological investigations of nationalism and cultural heritage. Her work is inspired by her Filipina-Chinese-American identity, reconnecting her artistic cultural heritage of tribal weaving patterns of the Philippines. Using found images by means of digital scanning, these images are edited to pair down to the essence of the pattern.

Once free of scale and color, Tan retraces the patterns to attempt to create a muscle memory of a cultural expression that was once commonplace with her ancestors. Her work has been included in solo and group exhibitions in the US, and is part of several private collections. She holds a BA History and Theory of Contemporary Art with a focus on New Genres from the San Francisco Art Institute. Born in Houston, TX, she lived in the Philippines before moving to San Francisco for her education and work, and is currently a visiting artist at Minnesota Street Project studios.

Follow Charlene on Instagram: @Char.Art.Tan

Learn more about Charlene's art at the Warp/Weft exhibit at re.riddle by CLICKING HERE.

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About Podcast Host Emily Wilson:

Emily a writer in San Francisco, with work in outlets including Hyperallergic, Artforum, 48 Hills, the Daily Beast, California Magazine, Latino USA, and Women’s Media Center. She often writes about the arts. For years, she taught adults getting their high school diplomas at City College of San Francisco.

Follow Emily on Instagram: @PureEWil

Follow Art Is Awesome on Instagram: @ArtIsAwesome_Podcast

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CREDITS:

Art Is Awesome is Hosted, Created & Executive Produced by Emily Wilson.

Theme Music "Loopster" Courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

The Podcast is Co-Produced, Developed & Edited by Charlene Goto of @GoToProductions.

For more info, visit Go-ToProductions.com