7 Questions with Nadia Liz Estela and linn meyers
Nadia Liz Estela and linn meyers visiting the Teshima Art Museum. June 24, 2022.
Dexter Wimberly interviews Hayama Residency artists Nadia Liz Estela and linn meyers in August 2022.
You both recently spent a month in Japan as the very first artists to participate in the Hayama Artist Residency. Now that you’ve been back home for a few weeks and have had time to reflect on the experience, I wanted to ask you a few questions.
1) What was your typical day like in Hayama?
Nadia Liz Estela: My typical day consisted of an early rise and a long walk through the Yokosuka trail, located just outside of our residence. The change in landscape from a bamboo forest to a more tropical forest that emptied into the ocean provided a meditative way to start my day. I would spend time meditating, reading on the beach, then head back for a late lunch. Go for another walk in the late afternoon and work at night. I am a bit of a night owl, so the first couple of days it took some time to get adjusted to the time difference. But once I got into a groove my days were for walking and my nights were for working. Hayama became a place for sourcing and inspiration.
linn meyers: On most days I got up early (sunrise is around 4 a.m.!), read and ate breakfast, and then went for a 2-hour walk. Along the way I took lots of pictures and sometimes I video chatted with friends so that they could enjoy the beauty of Hayama from afar. When I returned to Ami Hayama (where we were living), I would sit down at my desk and spend the remainder of the day drawing and painting. At home I am generally nocturnal, and I loved having my schedule turned upside-down while in Japan.
I was happy to be sharing the residency with Nadia - she's a wonderful companion, and we managed to find a balance of time together in the apartment with plenty of solo time. We had a lot of fun!
Outgoing tide at Isshiki Beach, Hayama. Photo: Nadia Liz Estela
2) What is your fondest memory of your time during the residency?
linn meyers: It's impossible to choose just one. I remember gasping when I first saw Mt. Fuji emerging from the clouds at a distance across the water. And each time I discovered a shrine or ancient Japanese building, I found myself enchanted. The two trips I took to Kamakura were great - I loved walking the old streets and visiting the giant Buddha and the gardens. And then there was the trip to Kyoto and Naoshima and Teshima, which happened towards the end of the residency. That experience was really remarkable, words will not do justice to what we experienced there.
Nadia Liz Estela: There are so many to count. I kept running into starfish and anemones on the beach. I think this is mainly because I spend so much time looking at the beach, that I was able to slow down time enough to enjoy the small things.
Objects collected on the beach. Photo: linn meyers
3) Did the experience of being in Japan for a month impact how you think about your artistic practice?
Nadia Liz Estela: Absolutely … and the truth is that I am still digesting. It is too early for me to tell you exactly how. I keep failing to find the words to encapsulate it. In part, that has been an aspect of the experience, not needing to define, labels to automize. Things can just exist in the present. Infants and toddlers live in the present FULLY; there is no distraction from the now, and Hayama allowed me to be more present than I can last remember.
Work by Nadia Liz Estela
linn meyers: The shift in pace // intention reminded me of the importance of wandering. Wandering IRL, and also wandering in my art-making practice. We are so goal-oriented, and it's hard to avoid being swept up in that, even though much of it is self-imposed. To find myself in a place where all of that was removed was a great reset. The residency has been a reminder to honor the slow-paced discovery that is integral to my practice.
4) Did you create any work or develop new ideas during the residency?
linn meyers: I made about a dozen new drawings and a handful of small paintings; many of them employed new and unfamiliar materials and compositional elements. When I departed the US for the Hayama residency I was in the midst of trying to finish a large painting that was really challenging me, and when I got back into my studio at the beginning of July, after a month away, I felt refreshed and able to jump in with more confidence and energy. Now, after being back for 4 weeks, I've almost finished the painting.
Nadia Liz Estela: I did – but it’s too early to talk about it.
Work by linn meyers
5) What was your favorite place to visit in Japan? Was it what you expected?
Nadia Liz Estela: My favorite place or to best describe it, experience, was the introduction to Rei Naito’s work. I visited the Kinza house installation at Naoshima followed by the permanent work of the Teshima Art Museum. I was not expecting much and was blown away beyond my wildest dreams. This experience has expanded how I conceive the elements of art, like line and shape.
linn meyers: It’s hard to name a favorite place because it was all so wonderful. I guess if I had to narrow it down to just one location I would have to say the Teshima Art Museum. I had expected it to be a museum with individual works or installations by a number of artists, but in reality, it is one project which engages architecture, light, sound, touch, time, nature...the list goes on. The artist who made the piece is named Rei Naito, and she worked with an architect named Ryue Nishizawa. The results of their collaboration are pure brilliance – I wish that everyone I know and love could see that place; it’s spectacular.
Teshima Art Museum. Photo: ©Benesse Art Site Naoshima.
6) What’s the one tip you would give to someone planning to visit Japan for the first time?
Nadia Liz Estela: Give yourself enough time to visit. I was in Japan for 1 month and only scratched the surface. Between the jet-lag and the language barrier, time is essential. Welcome the idea of getting lost, since you will always be pleasantly surprised.
linn meyers: Go there with an openness to being disoriented! Try to appreciate how that state of confusion can play a role in creative discovery. Japan is a fantastic country with such rich culture and history; you will always find lovely people and beautiful places wherever you wander. Get lost!
Various plants in Japan. Photos: Nadia Liz Estela
7) Do you have any upcoming projects or exhibitions you can share with us?
linn meyers: I will have three large paintings on exhibit at two fairs this fall: Frieze Seoul and KIAF (also in Seoul). I am working on a project for Arlington County Public Art, and I will have my second solo exhibition at Jason Haam in the fall of 2023, so I have a lot of work to do!! I plan to spend the fall semester in Los Angeles, and I'm looking forward to the change of scenery there.
Nadia Liz Estela: I currently work in a curated group show titled “Slippage” by Jess Van Nostrand at 601Artspace in New York, as well as other projects at the end of the year. But mostly, I am looking forward to getting back into the studio and applying some of the things that emerged during my time in Japan.
Nadia Liz Estela and linn meyers on Naoshima Island. Photo: Dexter Wimberly