Meet the Artist // Uma Halsted
Uma Halsted’s work explores bodies of water and how their puddling and spreading properties connect the human experience with the earth through shared memories of the womb.
During her residency at GlogauAIR, she will conduct an artistic excavation in discard. In her art practice, the act of creating and maintaining a canvas, sculpture, or space also becomes an act of dirtying it through accumulation of paint and material. She will critically consider the role of the body and how themes of embodiment relate to discard and regeneration.
What is your name and where are you from?
Uma Halsted, America.
When/ how did your art practice begin … Do you think where you’re from has affected your work?
My work has definitely been affected being from California. but my art practice really started and took off at university, so I think my intellectual and artistic community there was a greater effect on my work (as well as what/who/was studying).
How has your practice changed over time?
It changes every day. I’m really impatient and restless as a person. So I try to keep it changing, But I think the primary way its changing is it’s been becoming increasingly conceptual in the last year.
Do you think your art has evolved being a different environment E.g. Do you think GlogauAIR / being in Berlin has influenced your work?
I think more than anything having the space of my studio here and the quiet of living on this street and having a garden outside has allowed me to breathe and evolve my art.
What are your next plans after your residency?
I will go back to California for the holidays, and then I will be applying to jobs in Berlin and New York and looking for studio space. I’m hoping to move back to Berlin in the new year, but I will ultimately keep myself open for opportunities wherever.
