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ARTISTS : MUSICANS : PERFORMERS : DANCE : JEWLERY
: VIDEO : PAINTING : PHOTOGRAPHY :
Art work, CDs and jewelry will be available for purchase,
as well as refreshments.
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Music |
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Karen
Davis - guitar & vocals - NJ
Karen Davis rocks the acoustic
guitar in a stlye reminiscent of Pete Townshend.
Her dark, poetic lyrics cover subjects
ranging from violent alienation to love
gone awry. Karen uses her powerful voice
to fill each tune with maximum conviction
and emotion. Even the quiter sections crackle
with intensity. She wrote and arranged
all the tunes on Boomslang's CD Bloody
Tales From the Suburbs. Karen's
constantly booking, drumming up press, or other forms of publicity. She's
played all over NYC and in Jersey. Karen'
major influence is Pete Townshend's double-time
rhythm. Karen plays a Red Guild acoustic
through a Roland Jazz chourus amp.
Contact: littlerbear@hotmail.com
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Lady
Jay - DJ - NJ/CA
Lady Jay does more than just dj. Aside
from her career as a motion graphics artist,
she fills most of her free time with djaying,
organizing events, and running the non-profit
organization United
Divas. Currently, she's a resident dj at The
Waterbug Hotel Words-n-Music open mic night
on Thursdays in Jersey City. She also earned
a dj residency in the bassment of Konkrete
Jungle in New York City, playing breaks,
electro & 2-step during the summer of 2004.
She plays all types of music, combining multiple
genres in one set. She focuses on playing with
music that creates the right mood and energy
for each event. She prefers breakbeats but
the tempo and glitch-level is negotiable.
Contact: referrals@uniteddivas.com
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Indicia - Band - digitalrust.com, indiciamusic.com -
CA
The
Los Angeles duo Betsy Ullery & David
Ward organically integrate trip-hop, breakbeat
and rock into their live performance. Ethereal
vocals and pounding beats intersect on stage
in a warped soundscape that Music Connection
has called a blend of "beatific sexuality
and electronic wizardry."
Contact: dave
@ digitalrust.com
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Visual
Artists |
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Tracey
Luszcz - Photography & Spoken Word -
United Divas - NJ
http://www.uniteddivas.com/traceyl/traceyl.html
“Popular culture is the main forum in the debate over ideas,” says Tracey Luszcz,
a poet and photographer. According to Luszcz, how we learn how to love, who to
hate and who to vote for is determined largely by culture.
“More than anything, I consider myself a story teller,” she said. In telling
the stories of working people, of women, of the disenfranchised, dismissed and
plain dissed, she hopes to persuade people to consider aspects of the debate.
"Growing up in America, we're taught there are two perspectives, the moderately
conservative and the conservative. This is somehow a ‘spectrum' of ideas. I hope
to present a different side for consideration.”
Luszcz is currently employed as a school teacher in Newark , New Jersey
. Her documentary photography on Vietnam and Cambodia will be featured
at City Hall in Jersey City in April 2005.
Contact: traceyx
@ hotmail.com
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Stephanie
Wright - Body Adornments - NJ
Using traditional jewelry making techniques, I create body adornment
that not only decorates the body but also has an effect on the body.
Currently the goal of my work is to decorate while at the same time restricting
the body of its senses and normal mobility. By casting the object from
an imprint taken directly from the body, a relationship is created between
the wearer and the object. This “print” helps to produce
a unique form and texture reminiscent of its original form. A personal
identity is printed onto the object and (sometimes) the object is used
to cover the part of the body it originated from. Most of the time, the
object’s final resolution depends on the outcome of this imprinting
process.
Contact: s_romano
@ hotmail.com
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Ada - Assemblages - NJ
Paying
homage to our past.
Saddened
by discarded pictures of families, I am driven
to create out of a sense of duty. I look into
the eyes of these women, children and gentlemen
that were once vital, and belonging. The images
weep and speak to me. They are a constant reminder
of our mortality and the sacredness of being
human; in my heart they all deserve a place
of honor. I hope my work gives them that refuge.
Enjoy these works as you find your own meaning.
Perhaps you too will find them haunting your
thoughts thereafter.
Contact: adasartroom
@ yahoo.com
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Jan
Tompkins - graphic design - United Divas
- NJ/CA
Jan finds synergy with the organic and
the mechanical. Fusing poetry from Middlepoet
with graphics, this project interprets his words
through her visions. Diametric oppositions become
a recurring theme as the same words take on conflicted
meanings.
Contact: ladyjay
@ uniteddivas.com
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 (Click to see larger image)
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Sara
Cembalisty - Photography -
CA
Elaborating on her interests surrounding her most recent body of painting
and photographic works, the “Toxicity & Light” series documents ‘radioactive'
situations, in which ones environment becomes subject to toxicity and/or pollution.
You may view the whole series in Sara's 2004-2005 web gallery.
http://www.uniteddivas.com/sara/2004/radioactivemovie/index.html
http://www.uniteddivas.com/sara/2002/2002.gallery.html
• “Toxicity
in Light: Radio Active in the Movies 01”
2002, digital photograph mounted w/ non-reflective Plexiglas
Edition 2 of 2, 12” x 16”
• “Toxicity
in Light: Radio Active in the Movies 02”
2002, digital photograph mounted w/ non-reflective Plexiglas
Edition 2 of 2, 12” x 16”
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 (click to see larger image)
(Detail) |
Moira
Hahn -
fine art print & posters -
CA
"Besieged" (Ukiyo-e Remix Series
II),
2004,
Giclee
Print,
Edition
of
50,
14 15/16" x 34 1/8" image, 17 3/16" x 36 3/8" paper.
from the "Twilight
Chorus" show (Courtesy of Koplin
Del Rio Gallery)
Similarities
and differences in the ways Eastern and Western
cultures codify beliefs about the afterlife
intrigue me. The ‘Heaven and Hell'
series examines striking similarities in Buddhist
and Christian iconography concerning what the
future may hold. I was surprised to learn that
Christian concepts, including purgatory and
limbo, exist in some forms of Japanese Buddhism,
as well as ‘gatekeeper' figures, and punishments
befitting the particular crimes that led the
soul to hell. William Blake's watercolors from The
First Book of Urizen (a chapter of his Bible
of Hell ) also influenced this series.
The long term ubiquity of anime and manga
in Japan and the US influenced me to replace
puti (cherubs) in heaven, and other supporting
cast members (in hell), with Doraemon and Atom
Boy, from Japanese cartoons. Mass marketing,
cell phones and an overdose of kawai (cuteness)
contribute to these updated visions of eternal
torment.
Ideas for paintings also emerged from observation
of the natural world, particularly the habits
of wild birds I feed every day and feral cats
that lurk in the shadows of our backyard.
Edo
(1600-1868) and Meiji period (1868-1912)
woodblock print masters Zeshin, Kunisada
(Toyokuni III), and Kuniyoshi, and Dutch
artist M.C. Escher (1898-1972) inspired me
to imagine a fourth dimension populated by
these creatures. -Moira Hahn
Contact: info@uniteddivas.com
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Digital
Rust - grafitti prints - CA
http://www.digitalrust.com/photos/SimpleViewer/SimpleViewer.php?album=Graffiti_Prints
Contact: dave @ digitalrust.com
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Jewelry |
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Trace
Palmer - Glass Jewels karmakulture.com,
uniteddivas.com -
CA
After winning a green card in the
lottery, Trace Palmer immigrated to the United
States in 1996 from Belfast, Ireland. While living
in Eugene, Oregon, she became inspired by the
art of glass blowing. Trace began experimenting
with the glass medium creating her own self-taught
style. Her original glass jewels are combined
with designed necklaces crafted with materials
such as suede and leather, sterling silver, and
semi-precious stone beaded necklaces. Her KarmaKulture
line also includes enchanting rings, earrings
and bracelets. Palmer's unique contemporary glass
jewels are her interpretation of traditional
Celtic mysticism.
Her designs have been worn by Sharon Stone in
Cold Creek Manor and Lisa Kudrow in "Friends". Halle Berry was photographed in Trace's Trinity choker in
US Magazine and Jill Scott wore one in her new video “Whatever” . Other
KarmaKulture-wearing celebrities include Hilary Duff, Pamela Anderson, Liza Minelli
and Farah Fawcett. Trace can be seen making a pendant with her torch on
HGTV's series “Crafters Coast to Coast”.
Contact: referrals @ uniteddivas.com
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Performance |
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AKRNYM -
Dance - NJ
(photo by
Tom Ruth)
AKRNYM is a multi-media based
dance company created by Amber Hirsch and
Hannah Ramsey. Hirsch and Ramsey met while
on tour together in Eastern Europe and
it was here that the seed for AKRNYM was
planted. Collaboration is the main vision
of AKRNYM. Some of the Recent collaborations
include live video design by Jason Senk,
costume design by Mario Monroy, photography
by Tom Ruth, and performances by Katie
Jackson. AKRNYM has performed at the Democratic
Convention in Boston , Mulberry St . Theater
as part of the NewSteps Series, Jersey
City Studio Tours, Green St. Theater, and
has recently been commissioned by the University
of Tennessee .
Contact: AKRNYM@yahoo.com
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Spoken
Word |
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Christine
Goodman -
Spoken Word - NJ
Christine Goodman recently completed
a successful run in the world premiere
of her one-woman, multi media show, "Sleeping
with Management" (writer/performer), part
of the 2004 New York International Fringe
Festival. Previous spoken word features include
WBAI, The Bowery Poetry Club, Cornelia Street
CafC)/Pink Pony West, The Back Fence, and on
the steps of City Hall in Jersey City , NJ .
Since September 2001, Christine has served as
Director of Art House Productions, creating performance,
broadcast, and publishing opportunities for artists.
Christine hosts THE ART HOUSE, an open mic performance
series held the first Thursday of every month
at Victory Hall Cultural Center in Jersey City
, NJ and is the Executive Producer for THE ART
HOUSE television series, airing on Comcast Channel
51 and Manhattan Neighborhood Network. She is
also Poetry Editor for the Hudson Current newspaper.
For more information, please visit www.christine-goodman.com and www.arthouseproductions.org.
Contact: christine
@ christine-goodman.com
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Betsy
Ullery - Poet - indiciamusic.net, cdbaby.com/indicia -
LA
Read
some of Betsey's poetry on the Indicia forum:
http://www.indiciamusic.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5
Contact: etsy12
@ hotmail.com
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Jocelyn
Bates - Spoken Word - NJ
I've been concentrating on redefining the role & impact of the arts in everyday
life through weaving the process & product of the arts together. I
use the arts not only to tell my own stories & change my own patterns, but
also to facilitate & witness this journey in others.
Contact: jocelyn.bates @ innocent.com
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Karina -
Spoken Word & Tarot Card Readings - NJ
http://onetb2.com/
Karina draws no distinction between her work as a psychic from her art, writing
or music. For her, reading the Tarot cards began as a self-meditative process.
Like her art, writing and music, Karina turned outward from self- expression
and self-healing to a sharing of experiences and healing art. Karina read out
of New Dimensions in Montclair for several years before she came back home to
read in Jersey City. She has cultivated a regular private clientele that she
reads over the telephone. Although Karina works with Tarot cards, she finds that
her work as a medium is the most healing.
Contact:
karenkosdan @ yahoo.com
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Patricia -
Spoken Word, guitar & vocals - NJ
Patricia was born in Wayne but
raised and and currently resides in Paterson
, NJ . She started the open mic scene a year
and a half ago, traveling to read poetry and
sing her music in various counties in New Jersey
and New York .
“I'm grateful that I started contributing
to the open mic scene.” She says, “without
it, I don't know where I'd be.”
She
wants to credit everyone and everything that
has moved her enough to write. “Writing
is a way of me cleansing my soul. It's my personal
relationship with God.”
Contact: moca_bebe20
@ yahoo.com
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Sponsor & Host |
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Chilltown
Magazine - Sponsor - Jersey City, NJ
Chilltown Magazine is distributed throughout the major sections of Jersey City.
It is available at all of the PATH train stops within Jersey City, many local
restaurants, bars shops and other strategic distribution points.
chill-town.com |
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Victory Hall - Sponsor /
Venue - Jersey City, NJ
Victory
Hall is the "Neighborhood
Cultural Center on the Waterfront." It is a
not-for-profit community cultural center where
community residents can join together in artistic,
musical, theatrical, and other cultural and
spiritual pursuits, and enjoy a place to educate,
entertain, and share in each other's talents
and creative ideas.
Victory Hall is located at 186 Grand Street
in Jersey City, near the corner of Marin Boulevard
and York Street. The building has three floors. The
United Divas 2.2 Year Anniversary Benefit will be
held on the third level, the largest in the building,
has a large stage with a fly space, and an auditorium
that can seat 300 people.
victoryhall.org |
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The Waterbug Hotel
Sound by Lex
Co-hosts Middlepoet and
Lady Jay
The Waterbug Hotel is a Jersey
City based, grassroots collective of artists
and supporters whose main function is to help
the community evolve culturally and to celebrate
the arts. We organize arts related events throughout
the NJ/NYC area. We're a non-commercial entity
that relies on charitable contributions and volunteers.
The
Waterbug Hotel began its trajectory of activity
during Jersey City's Art Studio Tour 2003 with
a weekend-long array of music, spoken word,
art and performance. An award was given to
The Waterbug Hotel by the tour committee and
with this in hand the collective went on to produce
a series of weekly arts-related activities such
as workshops, spoken word nights and musical
performances. Their events have been held at
Waterbug Headquarters on Columbus, Rolon's
upstairs lounge, 111 1st St, City Hall and
several other locations in or near Jersey City.
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United
Divas - NJ/LA/SF/NY
United
Divas will have a booth set up where guests
can make donations & ask questions
or provide feedback about the organization.
Make a $15 donation & receive a red baby
tee (limited supply remaining - only women's
size Medium available!!!)
All
questions, as well as requests regarding
performances or sponsoring a United Divas
event in the future,
please contact: referrals
@ uniteddivas.com
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