Life & Work with Azaria G.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Azaria G. 

Hi Azaria, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I pretty much began my dance training and visual art studies at the same time, which was my freshman year of high school in 2014. I was given an internship with a local dance studio, Keata’s Performing Arts Studio after I received a scholarship opportunity for a two-week pre-college dance program during the summer before. This was thanks to a middle school program called AVID that had sought out opportunities for youth with interest in attending higher education. I had always been looking for dance classes and art lessons, but they were expensive! I was lucky that my high school had such an amazing and well-rounded art program, and as soon as I could, I did everything in my power to make sure I was in the art electives. I eventually decided I would go to undergrad for dance instead of art after taking an AP Art course my senior year and planned to maintain visual art as a hobby. Fun fact, the pre-college program I attended in middle school wound up being my alma mater! During undergrad, my professor Duane Cyrus invited me to do dance embodiment research with him and some peers, and he mentioned his interest in various mediums of expression. I told him that I was a visual artist also, and we decided to incorporate the two practices into my process and final outcome. The pandemic had offset our plans to study abroad, but it encouraged me to dive into my current research muse, Harriet Jacobs. I became invested in telling her story after reading her autobiography “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl”! The outcome wound up being the first draft of my dance film “Find Your Wings,” which was on display within my professors first interdisciplinary art exhibition at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Arts (SECCA) in collaboration with him and his company Theatre of Movement. After much mentoring from Duane and some encouragement from my close ones I decided to start my website and sell prints of my work in spite of the pandemic, as well as making myself a resource for collaboration and commissioned works in art, design, and dance! 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The journey has been rocky but full of resources! I had to design my own website and figure out how to take images of my artwork and turn them into files that are going to print with a quality that doesn’t omit any details in the artwork. To get quality lighting, I would go outside and stand on my car to get a good image without my shadow in the way! I also had to figure out how to ship and package my work without spending too much money. I had to determine what local print shops would be able to print at the size I wanted for a reasonable price. Also, some of my artworks were too big to be scanned once, so I had to learn how to photoshop the pieces together without compromising the art pieces! Dancing also hasn’t been easy; being immunocompromised during the pandemic hasn’t been the greatest, and with university regulations shifting the dance program had to be ready to adjust at any given moment! We would take classes over zoom or be in dance class with mask separated by 10 ft in boxes outlined with tape on the floor. This messed up several takes of my film because there would be markers on the floor for shots that were meant to have an all-black background, or I would forget to take my mask off. For my dance research, I had to film myself in small spaces to send my professor my movement ideas. I had to do last-minute edits involving the music for my film submission for the exhibition in the midst of trying to graduate, and that would have been impossible without my peer Shane Wheeler for supplying the amazing music for both drafts of the film! The amount of storage I used throughout all of this was crazy, and I had to YouTube how to manage it all and which hard drives were the most reliable. Might I add that I am not good with technology! My friend in media studies Faith Brown was my go-to videographer for the first draft, and with every hiccup and small tumble, I’ve been able to lean on my community for help and support! 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am an interdisciplinary performance and visual artist. I provide services in design, customizations, commissioned works, dance choreography, and performance. I consider myself a multifaceted creative; since I am curious, I find myself obtaining whatever skill is needed in order to get the desired results. I don’t compromise my vision; but instead I rise to the occasion and find a way to make it possible. I specialize in work that involves studying the way people embody their perspectives and experiences through movement and symbolism, and I typically use the idea of magic and spirituality to fuel my work. I create works that thematically utilize surrealism, improvisation, curiosity, spectacle, and honesty. I am often pulling from color theory and Africanist aesthetics when creating work, and I study how spirituality and culture influence audiences and how I can use these ideas to reach people and help them understand my point of view and where I am coming from. A lot of my work is sourced from my own personal catharsis, and I see myself as brave for being willing to share it with others. I respect any artist for doing that because it’s extremely vulnerable. I would say that’s what makes me different, but it’s also what makes us the same. I’m proud of myself for taking opportunities like this and sharing my work because it’s honestly a scary thing to do. 

How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
People can collaborate with me by reaching out to me through email at z_visuals@azariag.com or by checking out my website azariag.com and filling out the inquiry forms available throughout the website. People can support me by purchasing an art print or hoodie from my website and can consider me for their next commissioned artwork idea. I am available to do things as small as custom keychains to doing large paintings or mixed media projects. I also customize clothing with paint, dye, and sewing alterations and have an art Instagram @z_visuals2108 on Instagram and a Facebook and YouTube page under the name Azaria G. 

Pricing:

• Prints = $15 (shipping not included)
• Hoodies = $45 (shipping not included)
• Custom Keychain = $5 (shipping not included)

Contact Info:

• Website: azariag.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/z_visuals2108/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zvisuals2108
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF3UVYqpinFfqAxTxYNvSbg

Image Credits
Quan Apollo