Six Questions with Cornelius Tulloch
Ponganut Passion, Rhythmic Landscapes; Patterns of Identity Series (2022). Detail.
Cornelius Tulloch is an interdisciplinary artist, 2022 Artists In Residence In Everglades (AIRIE) Fellow, and the Creative Director of AIRIE. Last September, he also helped Commissioner kick off our fifth anniversary with his immersive installation, Bougainvillea: An Exploration of Adornment, at Faena Art.
On January 28, Cornelius’s curatorial presentation with AIRIE opens to the public at Nest Gallery. Titled Passages, participating artists include Arsimmer McCoy, Francisco Masó, Kunya Rowley, Lola Flash, M. Carmen Lane, and Ania Freer, and was inspired by the connections that AIRIE Fellows are making between their work, heritage, and the geography and stories of the Everglades landscape. Cornelius explains, “Passages can be seen as a connecting bridge by land or water, or as a short breath of literature or text, a narrative. Through these passages, this group of artists has created a sense of purpose, place, and lineage. The work not only helps us to understand their connections to the landscape, but it also encourages viewers to explore their own.”
We’re honored to be collaborating with Cornelius again, especially as we consider the deeper impact of providing multiple experiences and touchpoints throughout the season to illuminate the full breadth of the artist practice. Here’s our conversation with Cornelius, edited slightly for length and clarity. Passages is open to the public, visit the website for hours and information at airie.org.
You have your artistic practice. You are the curator of Passages. And, you are the Creative Director of AIRIE. How do these various perspectives inform your process with Passages?
My practice has always been expansive and collaborative. I’ve always seen the power in how multiple voices and visions can work together to amplify each other, while also crafting a unified storyline. As I was having discussions and learning about the practices and experiences of each of the 2022 Fellows, I was intrigued by how each artist took on this environment and the narratives within them in so many unique ways. And then I began to see the interweaving thread between each artist’s investigations, and it was the perfect opportunity to create the conceptual fabric of what you see reflected in the exhibition
How has the AIRIE residency impacted your work?
As a resident artist, AIRIE helped me to open up to narratives within South Florida that I didn’t even know existed. The scope of stories that I focus on in my work has grown so expansively due to this. I have also begun to forge a relationship with this landscape that I had never had before my month-long residency in the Everglades. And, as a creative director, it has shown me how much of a role creatives play in educating and bringing visibility to topics through our artwork. Now I see the impact a residency like AIRIE has: It allows artists the space to explore complex topics like environmental issues, ecology, history, and race; and create beautiful bodies of work that allow people to digest those subjects with ease.
“Ponganut Passion” (pictured) represents a recurring palette and theme across your current body of work. Where were these images captured and what do they mean to you?
“Poganut Passion” from the Rhythmic Landscapes; Patterns of Identity series was captured in Jamaica. I photographed that image in preparation for my AIRIE Residency. I was beginning to search deeper into the connections between the landscape of Jamaica and the landscape of South Florida. The AIRIE Residency helped me learn about things like the Salt Water Railroad and the movement of people between the Everglades and the Caribbean. This image is a portrait of the landscape, but the intense lighting and color are emblematic of the hidden histories of Black identities that existed in these landscapes.
What role do fashion and adornment play in your practice?
A large part of how we “fashion” our identities is through garments. Adornment allows us to tell a story about our bodies. Fashion allows me to explore the dynamic complexities of culture, history, and identity in my work. I often think, “who are we beyond our physical bodily characteristics?”, and fashion allows the human form to become more expressive. I use these ideas in my work to show the twofold impact of how identity is molded by the landscape, and of how the home landscape is cultivated by the identities within it.
How do you think locals can better support artists in Miami?
I think it starts as simple as showing up and taking in the work. Not just glancing, but taking intentional time to look at the concepts and dialogue artists are bringing out in their work. If more people did that, they would then find themselves so more curious about life and the world in general. A piece may move you to purchase it, start a conversation, connect that artist to someone who may be of use to what they are investigating in their work, share it with your family… The options are truly endless. But definitely show up for artists, because artists are showing up for society as a whole in so many ways.
What’s next for you?
Next month I’ll be off to Anderson Ranch; an Artist Residency in Aspen, Colorado. I’m excited to go there and have some time to just create and recharge. While there I’ll be exploring some more sculptural and architectural work. This work will help me develop some public art projects that I will be doing throughout this year, such as an architectural art installation that will serve as a storytelling space in Liberty City. I hope this project expands to other neighborhoods and allows residents to share their stories of Black and Caribbean neighborhoods throughout Miami. This project allows us to tell our own stories and participate in the communal memory and history of this city in neighborhoods that are facing cultural erasure. It gives a voice to many who have been purposefully left out of how the history of this city is told.
Visit Cornelius’s website to learn more about his incredible work.