ISO



Journal



Flow States: La Trienal 2024 by Meg McCormick
April 8, 2025




Matthew Herman

El Museu del Barrio recently concluded its exhibition Flow States: La Trienal 2024, the museum's second survey of Latinx contemporary art. Organized by Chief Curator Rodrigo Moura alongside curators Susanna Temkin and Maria Elena Ortiz. The exhibition's title reflects its central themes: the fluid, ever changing nature of the diaspora and intercultural dialogue. The title emphasizes the flowing properties of identity alongside the physical movement of people through migration. These Ideas-of-shifting personhood and migration are explored through a diverse collection of media, encompassing photography, painting, sculpture, textiles and installation work. The artists featured have varying backgrounds and levels of experience, fostering exchanges across time, place and cultures. This collection of art serves as an expansive tool to discuss transforming identities and their relation to physical space and memory.

The large-scale exhibition included works from more than thirty artists from the United States, Puerto Rico, The Americas, the Caribbean, Europe and Asia. Among these artists I was particularly engaged by the work of Wildine Cadet, which utilizes photography to powerfully explore the overarching themes of migration and fluid identity.  

Widline Cadet is a Haitian born multimedia artist, who currently lives and works in Los Angeles. Cadet works primarily in photography incorporating elements of sculpture, sound and video. Museu del Barrios triennial exhibition features an installation piece by Cadet that spans an entire gallery wall, merging her interdisciplinary techniques. The piece includes four black and white framed photographs hung over a large scale print of leaves and purple flowers that entirely cover the wall. The largest of the images features a small mounted screen with a connected set of headphones, layering image and sound. 

In an interview with Frieze magazine, Cadets describes her work as being a method to know and represent past generations, while also acting as a method of being known to future ones. Her work is born from a desire to create tangible life through photography that addresses the lack of archival documentation of her own grandparents and relatives. Cadets' combination of sound, video and image serves as documentation of the lives and vitality of her community in Haiti translated through her diasporic experience living in America. Her photographs flatten time, constructing a place for “impossible meetings” between ancestors who could not exist in the earthly world. 



Meg McCormick

A striking example from the installation is the photograph on the far left of this installation, Cadet manifests this impossible meeting space with a black and white image of three women. In the Frieze interview, Cadet speaks about this photo directly. She reveals it was informed by a myth that she was told as a child in Haiti, involving an animal-like creature that transforms at night and stalks babies. The three women are engulfed in stark black that resolves at the top of the image to reveal a forestry external atmosphere. The woman in the center is turned back towards the viewer, her back and face are partially illuminated revealing just her right eye. The dreamlike tone created by the darkness of the image and the woman's gaze is a common characteristic of Cadets images. This photo makes physical the persisting presence of myth and memory, instilled in Cadet by her Haitian uprising. 

The installation by Wildine Cadet in Flow States presents a nuanced reflection on identity, transcending material, time and cultural boundaries. Cadets work captures the central themes of the exhibition, the fluidity of personal identity and the lingering resonance of diaspora.




Amalia Mauceri by Meg McCormick
March 3, 2025




Amalia Mauceri

Why did you start taking photos? Did you explore other mediums?

I started when I found an old camera in my attic and I thought I could mess around with it. It wasn't like I had a reckoning, I just started during sophomore year. I had tried other art and taken inspiration from a lot of different mediums, I was creative but still determining my avenue. I also did a lot of writing and I still do. I just fell in love with photography, it caught me by surprise.

Are there photographers who have had a significant impact on your own work?

I love Cece Alana's work and I have Orion Carloto's book. I take inspiration from how they portray the gaze and want to replicate that in my work.  

What's the relationship between your writing and your photos like? Do they ever intersect?

They are separate for me most of the time. Sometimes my photography can inspire me to write, I get in a creative zone and I think, how can I expand on this.

How does living in New York City inform your work?

I am honestly overwhelmed being here, as a photographer, because there's unlimited material. In New York it's constant, its people, its noises, its animals, it's everything. Even walking here through the park I was like damn, I wish I had brought my camera.



Amalia Mauceri

Are there any projects you've shot recently that you're especially proud of ?

My favorite project that I've done recently was at home over break with one of my great friends Audrey. I've shot her previously so I learned how to direct her. We didn't go in with any specific ideas for the project, we just wanted to do a shoot. I think that if you take a picture of a pretty girl, it's easy for people to dismiss it as fashion photography or just a picture of a pretty girl and I hate that. It ended up translating as a very powerful female statement of what it is to be a young woman. I was really proud of this project because Audrey is so good with her facial expression and presenting powerfully.

You mentioned how people often dismiss photos because of the type of subjects you portray, how do you think about using technique to get past or curb that?

To be honest, I don't always curb that, sometimes I play into it. I believe that it's great to make art for yourself, but also part of being an artist is understanding that the audience needs to receive your art in a certain way, so you have to put intention into how I want the audience to receive this. So I think it's not about going against these standards, it's more about playing into them and how can I expand upon them and make them multidimensional. So it's not just, again, a picture of a pretty girl, but it's more than that, It captures the attitude or atmosphere of the person.

What's your favorite album?

Okay, computer by Radiohead.

What about taking photos makes you happy?

The best joy of photography is capturing people in a way that they have never seen themselves. Especially when photographing teenage and early adult women who are struggling against confines and expectations. I've taken pictures of people and they've seen it and said they never thought they could look like that. I love taking photos and knowing there's a tangible thing that I made that I can be proud of. The storytelling through photography is just incredible, I feel like I am making history in the sense that I'm documenting it. Through finding photography and becoming a photographer, I feel like I'm part of the conversation with art.




Green by Anna Henderson  
November 2, 2023




Anna Henderson

In my desolate,

Gentle field in

Gordonville, Texas / Ten years old

I am briefly liberated

From the presence of others

Instead submerged

In my own reverie

Of lone survival and magic.

I search for the mossy tree

That reclines across

The cotton-mouthed creek

Where I laze until

Sleep almost swallows me,

I search for the abandoned trailer

That plays hide-and-go-seek

In a cluster of foliage.

The hours slip through

Strands of my hair and

My only unit of time is

The looming nausea

From being secluded

For too long, from the

Suspicion that I am

Suddenly the only person

Left in the world.





In Conversation with Ashley Peña by Lamar Kendrick-Dial
October 26, 2023




Ashley Peña

How does your work usually start?

How does my work start….I would say a lot of my photos are candid or in the moment. I’m usually not really thinking about it. Most often I just look at everyday actions in people and memorialize them through my images. If there’s a specific story that I wanna tell, I’ll look for people that can help me tell those stories. I prefer shooting with everyday people, or like people I’ve interacted with in my life. People who don’t typically model, since I think it’s important that people see themselves physically in artwork.

How would you describe your current work? How does it differ from your past work?

I feel like all of my work is connected. My work is a growing extension of when I started making photographs in 2015. My current work is a labor of love, It’s memories, current moments happening in real time, and honestly experimentation. It’s a lot. I’m experimenting a lot with motion, and I’ve been into physically altering work and working with negatives and physical paper – when I started, it was mainly into just a lot of digital work, or regular film and print.



Ashley Peña

What do you take inspiration from outside of photography?

Life.

Is connection between you and the people you photograph important? How so?

Well, yes. Building a connection is important very important to me – especially with strangers – because comfortability is essential. Even with personal work, if a stranger comes in front of my camera, they already have a certain level of trust in me based on my past work. I often find myself in scenarios where people express how comfortable they are quickly. It’s in the presence and pacing of a shoot, I don’t approach with just my camera. I approach with words and conversation first and the photos come after. But with my family, I would say they really inform my photography. Just because of all of our different family dynamics, and seeing like the results of trauma and love and hate … all of it. With me documenting my families different connections with each other, sometimes I feel that I’m making work for them….. but I’m also documenting them. I want them to see themselves in images, the good and the bad. I find beauty in that.



Ashley Peña

What’s your guilty pleasure?

Popeyes sweet & spicy wings.

What are you watching right now?

Well I’m rewatching girlfriends right now-it’s my comfort show.

What are you reading?

Women & migration(s) II edited by Kaila Brooks, Cheryl Finley, Ellyn Toscano, & Deborah Willis- a series of essays.



Ashley Peña

What are you listening to?

In this very moment I have Eddie Kendricks’ Intimate Friends playing haha.

What’s the first thing you do every morning?

Give myself one tight hug. Then I turn on some tunes and go on about my day.








Cernunnos in the Woods II, 2023 19 3/4 x 16″ Oil and Acrylic on Canvas. Courtesy Daniel Cooney Fine Art.

Luke Edward Hall, the multifaceted English artist and designer, recently joined Interview Magazine’s Mitchell Nugent in a conversation about his latest exhibition. Gardeners and Astronomers, is currently on view at Daniel Cooney Fine Art, and is the artist’s first stateside exhibition. In a crowded room that overflowed into the exterior hallway, the artist explained in a soft voice the inspirations behind the surrounding illustrations. Those in attendance were aptly plugged into the universe of Luke Edward Hall in attire that seemed to leap off of the works themselves, or from the moodboard postings from Hall’s Instagram account. The space itself lends to the storybook-esque world building of Hall’s work; to get up to the ninth floor gallery, one must take an elevator of antiquity, operated by an elevator attendant, that opens up to a sun filled floor with artists’ spaces in all directions.



March Tulips in Celery Vase II, 2023 16 1/2 x 11 1/2″ watercolor on paper. Courtesy Daniel Cooney Fine Art.




Pink Light I, 2023 16 1/2 x 11 1/2″ watercolor on paper. Courtesy Daniel Cooney Fine Art

Growing up an hour outside of London, Luke Edward Hall discussed the influence of the folklore of his English locale. Present in most of the works are hints of the English country that Hall holds so dear, with a continuous presence of florals, and colors that reference an English garden. Whimsical illustrations, with many focusing on shades of a single color, allow the viewer to step into the artist’s memories and tell a story that combines remnants of history and personal anecdotes. As an artist with a fine art career born from Instagram, the works featuring Hall’s husband, Duncan, call back to memories of homely Instagram story posts that fans of the artist can recall, or at least feel extremely familiar to. Though Hall mentioned to Nugent that he never intended to step into the world of fine art, gallerist Daniel Cooney reinforced his decision to take on Hall’s work in a fine art setting. And a fitting decision it is, as Cooney also represents artists such as Larry Stanton and Christopher Makos, whose works Hall draws direct inspiration from.



Faun in Summer Woods, 2023 23 1/4 x 16 1/2″ watercolor on paper. Courtesy Daniel Cooney Fine Art.

Taking cues from Andy Warhol, whom both Hall and Nugent cited as a source of inspiration, Luke Edward Hall has his hands on multiple creative projects, from collaborations with Diptyque, Ginori 1735, and Rubelli, decorating restaurants and hotels, to starting his own clothing line, Chateau Orlando, in 2022. Hall’s entrance into fine art exhibitions is an exciting step for an artist who himself and the work he creates feels very of the moment yet at the same time, nostalgic and familiar, similar to the wool sweaters he sells and the interior spaces he designs.

Gardeners and Astronomers is on view at Daniel Cooney Fine Art through October 28, 2023.





Katie Noble, ISO Editor-in-Chief by Helena Shan
October 12, 2023




Katie Noble

How does your work typically evolve?

My projects usually start from a personal experience, and build outward to a more universal concept. While I love taking photographs, my work evolves significantly in my post-production. Working in the darkroom has shaped a lot of my decisions, and I try to bring back materiality into the image through the printing process. I’m always trying to evoke a sense of permanence, even in my images that feel fleeting or unstable.



Katie Noble

How would you describe your current work?/ Describe your creative process in one word.

Yearning



Katie Noble

Are there any motifs prevalent in your work and what is their significance if so?

My work often reflects a nostalgic sense of memory and the way relationships evolve over time. I think of the photograph as able to reach back in time, as a way of re-experiencing the past with a new perspective. On the other hand, I try to capture ephemeral moments of connection between people; cementing the past as its happening. I have a fear that one day my memory will fail me, and as such, photography is my way of journaling and conceptualizing the world around me in deeply personal ways.



Katie Noble

What is your favorite place in NYC?

My favorite place to spend time is around Pier 26. I love watching the sunset on the river and enjoying the company of friends (usually my roommate!)

What are you currently watching/reading/listening to?

Currently listening to a lot of Adrianne Lenker and watching the new season of Below Deck. I can’t get enough reality TV!!



Katie Noble

How do you think collaboration helps build ISO?

I think some of the best advice I’ve received is to take advantage of the connections I can make with fellow creatives during my undergrad years – there’s nothing like it outside of school! ISO Magazine brought me in as a freshman, and gave me the space to learn how to critically and freely think about photographs. There was no pressure, like a classroom, and the skills of working with a team came easily when it was in a fun environment.