Tina Seligman is an artist, composer, writer, and curator based in Queens, New York. After earning a BA in Art from Queens College, she studied music and movement including Isadora Duncan dance technique. Her 2018 solo exhibit at Flushing Town Hall explored patterns from solar, lunar and tidal cycles. In 2016, Tina's video collaboration with Dan Rubin was screened as an experimental short at the New York Independent Film Festival.
Since 2000, Tina has been a Teaching Artist-in-Residence through Flushing Town Hall. In 2018, she became an Education Representative for their CASA afterschool programs and set designer for Adam Crescenzi’s CASA student productions. She contributed to Art of the Times magazine from 2005 through 2013 and wrote essays for art books including Duoling Huang: The Cultural Landscape in 2014.
Inspired by water and how they connect people in a universal way, this exhibition 'Wave Forms' features interdisciplinary arts.
The message of hope from nature through Tina's exhibition speaks to us, particularly in these times. She shows nature and art as a way to connect people and build bridges, and we see the relevance in the coming months as the world recovers from the pandemic.
"I am fascinated by patterns and cycles in nature and how they connect people in a universal way. We all experience water. Our bodies and most life forms need water to survive. We move differently through water than through air. This project expanded to include photography by Dan Rubin, a collaborative sound piece with Iga Mrozek, and a short film by Hyonok Kim. (To watch Hyonok's film 'For Sunrise' please click here.)
Walking along the sandbar in Truro, I love to gather stones and shells that have been reshaped by movements of waves. I began thinking about how ancient the ocean is and the beauty of water molecules which evaporate and condense into clouds that eventually return to the ocean through precipitation. And myth inspired by this process such as wave-like Chinese dragons of the sea and clouds. Listening to the often soothing, sometimes thundering sounds of the waves and varying rhythms of rain reminds me of the excitement I felt the first time I saw an audio wave form visually expressing sound. Those shapes led to a series of audio wave images of ocean and music.
Dan Rubin’s breathtaking photographs of winter surf in Hawaii capture the colors, shapes, textures, movement and force of ocean water in a way that could never be experienced by the eye. Angles of light and what is beneath the water alters our perception of the colors depending on location, time of day and weather. Inspired by these images and David Witten’s recording of “Winter” from The Seasons by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, I also collaborated with Dan on a short video. (You can watch Tina's recent video works here: Wintertide and Evanescent.)
This ongoing project explores these ideas using mixed media including found shells and stones, sea fossils, cyanotypes (sun prints) created at the sandbar, collage, painting, assemblage, video, music composition, and poetry. Inspired by my experiences at the sandbar and other bodies of water, I created a short video with music composed and recorded by jazz artist, Iga Mrozek.
I originally planned to offer an interactive experience with a shelf of shells and stones for viewers to rearrange into their own "musical phrases" and paper to write haiku or short poems inspired by water that can be added to the installation. If we are still sheltering in place, I will have a video workshop for everyone to create their own “Sea Scroll” and I still encourage everyone to write their own poems.
Poetry Contributors to 'Wave Forms': Gathering Sami Abu Shumays; Adam Crescenzi; Joan Digby; D'LENG; Scott Elder; Frances Hynes; Stephanie Lee; Meagan Meehan; Karen Oughtred; Jessica Pena; Thomas Rigney; Angela Rostick; Abha Roy and Joshua S. Roychowdhury; Tina Seligman; Ling Tang; Picara Vassallo; Spica Wobbe.
Special thanks to Dan Rubin, David Witten, Iga Mrozek, Hyonok Kim, Joan Digby, Robin Bady, Alicia Mugetti, everyone who contributed poetry, and the GAC artists."
Pink sea foam swirling…
my toes interrupting flow
of life underneath.
Swaying waves lifting
my limbs through ocean skin…
dancing baby crab.
Drunk on aged spirits
fermented by trilobites
and other creatures.
- Tina Seligman, 2020
Hyonok Kim is an internationally renowned, award-winning choreographer and director. Her multicultural background, born in Korea, trained dance and worked in Paris and New York as choreographer and director formed unique esthetics and dance language blending Asian, European and American. Her choreographic works have been presented in 22 countries including U.S.A, Australia, Germany, France, Korea, China, Japan.
Photographer Dan Rubin began working with black and white 35mm film and is currently focused on digital photography including infrared. With New York as his palette, Dan’s rich range of subjects and themes has been exhibited in Manhattan and Queens. His images can be seen at danrubinphoto.com and through his video collaborations with Tina Seligman.
Iga Mrozek is an old soul and musical maven currently focused on writing and co-writing music. Raised in the dazzling city of New Orleans, she cultivated her love of local styles and rhythms while steeping herself in the unique culture and traditions of Southern Louisiana. Over the years gospel, R&B, soul, blues, funk, bluegrass, and jazz wove themselves into the tapestry of her musical identity. She seeks to understand the world through her heart.
Pianist David Witten has performed internationally with concert tours in Ireland, Finland, Russia, Ukraine, Europe, Mexico, and South America. A 1990 Fulbright Scholar, he spent five months teaching and concertizing throughout Brazil. In the U.S., performances have included solo appearances with the Boston Pops Orchestra, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, and various chamber music collaborations with members of the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Joan Digby is Professor Emerita at Long Island University, where she was director of the Honors College and Poetry Center for many years. Her academic field is 18th Century Literature and animal fables. With her husband, collagist John Digby, she is co-founder of the Feral, now New Feral Press, publishing books of illustrated poetry. She also has a history as a photographer and figurative ceramic artist.
For more information, please visit www.solarlunarmusic.com/exhibit and
www.tinaseligman.com.