Miami artist finds connection, recovery through performance
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A poster for the immersive installation "Connectome." Photo: Courtesy of Marilyn Loddi
Marilyn Loddi feels most like herself when she's performing. It's her way of inviting people into a world she's created.
- "I've always been a performer," she told Axios recently. "It's a way to communicate with people [because] I'm taking aspects of myself and accentuating it."
The latest: The multidisciplinary Miami-based artist and filmmaker debuts her new show, the immersive installation "Connectome," next week at Edge Zones Gallery.
- Featuring an ongoing performance and the live visuals created from it, the show is the culmination of her time as a summer resident at Bakehouse Art Complex in Wynwood, which is celebrating 40 years.
"It's [my] most elaborate performance to date," said Loddi, whose artist pseudonym is Hush Fell. "Thanks to this residency, I felt like I could take it further than I have before."
Why it matters: Since June, Loddi and seven other artists have worked out of the complex's Audrey Love Gallery, part of the fifth annual Summer Open program.
- The program supports local artists, each selected through an application and jury process, by providing free workspace and connections to the city's art community, including curators. (Loddi noted how hard it is to find affordable studios in the city.)
- Bakehouse is hosting an Open Studios on Tuesday (6pm-9pm), where visitors can explore the artists' space and what they've created during the summer program.
"Having [this] space has allowed me to focus on my work more than I ever have, and it's helpful to have other creatives to talk to," she said.
- "It's taught me a lot about working with people and being more open-minded and accepting my art as it is."
The big picture: Much of Loddi's work delves into the mind-body connection and the role science plays — an interest that stems from her personal experiences with a debilitating eating disorder.
- Food, as a result, has become central to her work.
Zoom in: In one of her works, 2nd Brain Session 2, she improvised wet sculptures, composed of edible substances, to create a short film informed by digestion.
- Another project deconstructed meal materials from McDonald's, Taco Bell and Krispy Kreme into ephemeral sculpture.
The bottom line: "I've always been good-good at arranging food and giving it to people, but I've had this tension with food," Loddi said.
- "Working with it, though, it's helped me cope with recovery."
If you go: Loddi's show is Sept. 13 at Edge Zones Gallery from 6pm-9pm.