“Visionary Visual Voices,” a special panel featuring four artists in celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, will be presented virtually by Silver Spring Town Center, Inc. from 7-9 p.m. on Thursday, May 4. The panel will feature local AAPI artists Mariam Memarsadeghi, Priya Vadhyar, Syahidah Osman, and Sally Tsou, who will share their creative practices in conversation with artist and host Neha Misra.
To register to view the event, go to Meeting Registration - Zoom.
More about the featured artists:
Mariam Memarsadeghi loved to make art as a child in Iran. She relishes walking and driving to take in sights, and has always been a doodler. Her abstract paintings are rooted in the natural world of wildflowers, woods, streams, oceans, big skies and mountains. They can also evoke futuristic space voyages and dreamscapes. Pencil line drawings are a regular feature. Her works are heavily saturated with color and often inspired by childhood whimsy.
Most are a combination of both drawing and brush stroke, with some pieces featuring mixed media and paper collage.
Mariam grew up in Frederick after migrating to the U.S. from Iran when she was 7—during the 1979 revolution.
Syahidah Osman is a self-taught, Southeast Asian artist who uses different mediums to capture the tragically beautiful and profoundly hidden aspects of the human condition. Besides original artworks, she also sells prints and accessories with part of the proceeds going to non-governmental organizations that echo her sentiment. She has exhibited across Asia and now plans to exhibit across Northern America.
Syahidah wants to harness the power of the arts to raise understanding when facts fail. She plans to instigate empathy, instill curiosity and uses her artworks as a catalyst for community engagement.
Sally Tsou was born in Southeast Asia and grew up on the colorful cosmopolitan yet primitive island of Taiwan. That provided a highly stimulating visual environment and upbringing.
She spent part of her adolescence in the Philippines. The greenery of the populated islands lends an unusual mix of the primitive raw energy and the sophistication to her work. She has shown in art exhibitions and art fairs nationally and internationally and has won many awards.
Priya Vadhyar is a visual artist based in Ellicott City. In her current work, Priya explores the manifestation of, what Loren Eiseley calls one’s “interior geography,” and the self’s relationship with the sum of things. Priya spent most of her formative years in Mumbai. In 2010, Priya moved to Tucson, Arizona. There, she studied advanced abstract painting with artist Josh Goldberg, who later became her mentor. Priya's work has been exhibited nationally and internationally.
She is a member of Pell Lucy, an artist collective under the Shim Art Network. Outside of her studio, Priya is a teaching artist. In 2021, she created Studio/ Line of Sight, a platform dedicated to immersive online workshops taught by experienced practicing artists.
Host Neha Misra is a contemporary eco-folk visual artist, poet, and an award winning climate justice advocate. Neha’s Earth stewardship centered multi-disciplinary studio uses the transformative power of art to build bridges. Neha has been recognized as a Regenerative Artivist by Design Science Studio—a partnership between the Buckminster Fuller Institute and habRitual for the world’s leading planet conscious artists.
Host Neha Misra is a contemporary eco-folk visual artist, poet, and an award winning climate justice advocate. Neha’s Earth stewardship centered multi-disciplinary studio uses the transformative power of art to build bridges. Neha has been recognized as a Regenerative Artivist by Design Science Studio—a partnership between the Buckminster Fuller Institute and habRitual for the world’s leading planet conscious artists.
