Artis, in partnership with the International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP), presented "Mend, Purl, Link, Repeat," a conversation with artist artist Gil Yefman and Alison Kuo, Arts Residency Manager at ISCP, on the relationships between craft media and queer identity as explored in Yefman’s conceptual and multi-layered art practice. Yefman, who is based in Israel, participated in a three-month residency at ISCP in the summer of 2021, and reflected on the experience of working in the context of an international residency program in New York. Yefman’s residency at ISCP was supported by Artis.

Gil Yefman creates sculptures, videos, performances, installations, and two dimensional works that are process-oriented and are often developed collaboratively. Using soft materials like felt and yarn, Yefman’s practice considers difficult histories while imagining the potential for individual and collective healing. Yefman and Kuo discussed recent works such as Trans(A)gression (2021), a multi-sensory installation that examines how gender is experienced as a sensation in the body. In this work, felt and knit objects that resemble internal organs and celestial bodies were installed with security cameras, loudspeakers, and microphones. The objects record movement in the gallery and emit sound when activated by human touch, bringing up sensations of surveillance and affection. Yefman and Kuo also discussed Subtraction (2020), an ongoing body of felted works by Yefman that resemble tattoos (pictured above), and allude to violence inflicted on prisoners at Buchenwald concentration camp in Weimar, Germany. Yefman developed Subtraction while in residence at ISCP, and shared insight into the research and process of working with felt.

The International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) supports the creative and professional development of artists and curators, and promotes exchange through residencies and public programs. Housed in a former factory in Brooklyn, with 35 light-filled work studios and two galleries, ISCP is New York’s most comprehensive international visual arts residency program, founded in 1994. ISCP organizes exhibitions, events and offsite projects, which are free and open to all, sustaining a vibrant community of contemporary art practitioners and diverse audiences. Over 1,500 artists and curators from more than 85 countries, including the United States have undertaken residencies at ISCP. www.iscp-nyc.org