Light Grey Norway Creative Residency 2019: Team Nokken
June 12th - 17th 2019
The Light Grey Norway Creative Residency Program emphasizes connectivity, discovery, and learning together in a natural space fit for introspection and innovation. Surrounded by one of the most breathtaking landscapes in the world, artists will have the opportunity to make throughout the day as they travel along the Hardangerfjord in handmade boats, hike through coniferous forests, and wander through the cobblestone streets of Bergen. At night, artists will share their thesis projects through interactive conversations, lessons, and workshops about creative practice and growth.
TEAM NOKKEN artists-in-residence hail from El Salvador, Brazil, Australia, Canada, and various cities in the United States. And artists come from varying creative backgrounds including editorial illustration, photography, design, stationary, animation, storyboarding, comics, and more.
Read more about our 2019 artists-in-residence teams below.
TEAM NOKKEN: Adriene B Hughes, Amy Mai, Andrea Altamirano Reyes, Crystal Sullivan, Genevieve Santos, Grace Victoria Batista, Jonathan Neimeister, Julia Lundman, Julie Benbassat, Kat Lyons, Kate Pfeilschiefter, Nick Peters, Robin Sheldon, Ryookyung Kim, Sapphire Sheedy, Stephanie Cost.
Amy Mai
Los Angeles, CA
instagram.com/hiamymai
Amy Mai is a Vietnamese-American cartoonist and storyboard artist based in Southern California. She currently works at DreamWorks Television Animation as a storyboard artist on Trolls: The Beat Goes on! In her free time, she enjoys swimming and tending to her plants.
“I'm looking forward to connecting and reflecting with fellow artists as we explore!”
Genevieve Santos
San Jose, CA
lepetitelefant.com
Genevieve Santos is an illustrator born, raised and living in San Jose, and sole proprietor of a small stationery company, Le Petit Elefant. Wanderlust got the best of her so she's traveled to 31 countries before turning 30, sometimes backpacking, sometimes by camper van, sometimes on her own, but always with a sketchbook. Her love for animation started at a young age, and is what drives her to draw the slightest observations. She also has an insatiable weakness for ice cream.
“I'm excited to explore and have the most memorable, magical adventures!”
Crystal Sullivan
Colorado
crystalsully.com
Crystal Sully is a monster maker in the gaming industry who thrives within the realm of the untamed. She graduated from Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design with a bachelor’s degree in fine art and she currently does creature art within the gaming, film and publishing industries when she’s not busy taming dragons. Popular properties she has worked on include Elder Scrolls, Pathfinder, Paladins, The Dragon Lords: False Idols, and now her very own project that took Kickstarter by storm called The Untamed Beastiary: A Field Guide to Marvelous Monsters.
“I'm so looking forward to the chance to explore ancient sites and mythology first-hand. To see inspiring sights in person and be able to apply that to my work will be amazing.”
Ryookyung Kim
Toronto, Canada
ryookyung.co
Ryookyung Kim (who also goes by Jenny) is an Illustrator by trade, currently working as a Multimedia Designer at Virgin Mobile Canada.
She moved back to Toronto after graduating with a BFA at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, and has since worked off those pesky student loans by freelancing for a wide variety of clients, from Bank of Montréal to the International Human Rights Program at the University of Toronto.
Her spare time is mostly spent trying new cuisines with her friends, hanging out with her two cats, Agatha and Artie, and escaping the hustle and bustle of the city.
“I can't wait to learn more about the history and epic tales of Norway while being completely immersed in the heart of its natural landscapes.”
Robin Sheldon
Minneapolis, MN
Website
Robin Sheldon is a freelance illustrator and designer based out of Minneapolis, MN. Her work ranges from apparel design, print licensing, product design, and illustration. She is currently expanding her practice with self assigned projects, animated illustration, and documenting her process. When she isn’t illustrating she likes walks with her dog Gravy, trying new foods with her husband, and drinking lots and lots of coffee.
“Looking forward to the adventure of traveling to new places and meeting, getting to know, and learn from other creatives. “
Stephanie Cost
Seattle, WA
stephaniedraws.com
Stephanie is an illustrator working out of the Pacific Northwest. She's deeply passionate about the importance of storytelling and the history and evolution of folklore and mythology. Her work is primarily drawn with a digital tablet, but in the last year she's started to combine oil painting more often in her process, and is always looking for ways to experiment with, and combine, different media.
Because of her love for mythology and symbolism, Stephanie's work is often fantastical, with color palettes that are dreamlike and otherworldly. She is currently working on a fully illustrated tarot deck, and an illustration series centered around the history of artists' pigments.
“I'm really looking forward to meeting creative people and exploring the landscape of Norway. I often feel a little trapped in cities and just the idea of a new landscape, steeped in a unique and rich folklore, is already inspiring me to make new work.”
Julie Benbassat
New Jersey
j-bass.com
Julie Benbassat or JBASS is a freelance illustrator, painter, and soon to be Illustration graduate from RISD, living between Providence and Philadelphia. Her work has touched many different industries from editorial work for PLANSPONSOR, comic covers for BOOM!, to various gallery shows and children's books. When she is not working, she relishes a good hike, reading sassy nonfiction and eating pumpkin bread
“I'm looking forward to establishing a relationship of reciprocity and open-mindedness with my fellow artists/travelers, in terms of practice, perception of the world and our collective intake of Norway. “
Andrea Altamirano Reyes
El Salvador
instagram.com/yeahndrea/
Andrea Altamirano is an artist and illustrator based in sunny Central America. Best known for her hand painted ceramics and children oriented art, she works for several international clients including Scholastic and Santillana. Her work has been exhibited in multiple cities, including IDEP, Barcelona; Light Grey Art Lab, Minneapolis and Montmartre Gallery, San Salvador. She loves to keep on learning new techniques and themes ranging from embroidery to Astrobiology
“I want to expand my practice by meeting and collaborating with like minded creatives from all around the world, both for achieving emotional and professional growth.”
Nick Peters
Minneapolis, MN
website
Nick Peters is an illustrator and designer living and working in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He currently works full time as a product designer and spends his nights drawing for fun and for money. A small list of his clients are Target, JC Penny, Adult Swim, and Awesome Inc. When he’s not working on art he spends his time trying new food with his wife, hanging out with his dog Gravy, wondering why he has a cat, watching movies, and buying toys. Experiencing a new environment while getting to know and learning from new like minded people.
“Experiencing a new environment while getting to know and learning from new like minded people.“
Jonathan Neimeister
Georgia
artstation.com/andantonius
Jon is an illustrator who's been working in the games industry for 7 years, and is currently at Titan Forge Games doing splash art for SMITE. On the side, he dabbles in fine art like figure painting and still life, as well as producing music and videos.
“Good friends, quiet moments, and new experiences.”
Adriene B Hughes
San Deigo, CA
adrienehughes.com
Adriene Hughes is a San Diego based fine art photographer with an MFA from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Tufts University. She is a multi-media artist whose current body of work is based within the genre of grand landscape and the effects of global warming on the environment through the use of infrared technology, photography, and video installation.
Hughes' photography has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including a recent exhibition in FRESH 2018 with Klompching Gallery. Group exhibitions include Zuecca Projects Venice Italy, the Center for Fine Arts Photography at Ft. Collins, San Diego Arts Institute, Sawtooth ARI Tasmania, Microwave International New Media Festival Hong Kong, and Simultan Festival Romania. Her photographs have been featured in many publications including Wired, Harper’s Magazine, PDN, Phroom Magazine, German Foto, Humble Arts Foundation, Don’t Take Pictures, Lenscratch, PhotoPhore, FeatureShoot, and Crusade For Art. She is also the recipient of the 2018 Rhonda Wilson Award with Klompching Gallery, and 2018 Critical Mass Top 50 recipient. Public Art includes San Diego International Airport and the Boston Convention Center. She currently is preparing for a large-scale photographic mural project at the San Diego International Airport.
Kat Lyons
CA/NY
katlyons.co
Kat is an illustrator, background designer, and visual developer from the greater New York City area. She currently lives in Los Angeles, navigating the culture shock brought on by the strangeness of the West Coast.
She is currently drawing and art directing for David Korins Design, working on projects such as the Hamilton Exhibition in Chicago, Beetlejuice on Broadway, and the Elton John Tribute at Madison Square Garden. She also does personal work on the side, and more of her clients include Josh Tierney, Light Grey Art Lab, The Atlantic, Boeing, and Manhattan Mini Storage.
Kat loves the outdoors and enjoys climbing, hiking, and camping. She draws inspiration for her work from the world around her, and the things that make her happiest.
“I am looking forward to getting to know more artists from different walks of life. I am also looking forward to watching my own artistic journey over these next ten months unfold, to see where my work takes me, and where I end up by the time we go to Norway.”
Grace Victoria Batista
New York
thewednesday.co
Grace is a Graphic Designer/Illustrator based in NYC. By day she is a children's shoe designer and by night she works on her web shop The Wednesday Company. What started out as a funny idea turned into reality when Grace came home from a trip abroad and wanted to share her awesome experiences and discoveries. Grace wanted to share the story of a curious adventure seeking chica from the Bronx exploring the world! From the Bronx to Asia, Europe and even visiting our lovely neighbors up north, Grace wanted others to enjoy her adventures and inspire others to create their own adventures too! Sharing her travels, food favorites and all things zany turned into unique products for fellow travel, foodie and stationery fans.
“I'm excited to find the similarities and differences between The Bronx and Norway and sharing these discoveries through journaling.”
Julia Lundman
San Francisco
julialundman.com
Julia Lundman is a professional artist living in San Francisco, a veteran concept artist, illustrator, environment artist and Art Director in animation and games. Clients include Random House, Disney Publishing, Disney Interactive, Lego, Ghostbot, Zynga, Electronic Arts, General Mills. She is currently on a creative hiatus to explore personal work done traditionally in oil, pastel, and watercolor. Julia is also a history enthusiast, baking indulger, sci fi reader, and hiking explorer.
“One of the most important aspects of my personal work is reconnecting to the stories and inspiration of my childhood, much of it based in the art of ancient northern European cultures. While I am grateful for the career I’ve had working in the animation and games industry, I am currently focused on developing my personal work apart from work created for functional career reasons. I have found that over the years my portfolio has become full of work that looks like the projects I contributed to, but not a lot that reflects who I am. I have developed techniques of reconnection to my creative self that I think will be beneficial to share with artists in the residency and am really eager to meet artists of all kinds in the residency that have their own insight and experiences that I know already will be deeply inspiring. I am really excited!”
Kate Pfeilschiefter
Redmond, WA
artstation.com/pfeilschiefter
Kate Pfeilschiefter is a designer of creatures and beasts. A pacific northwest native and BFA graduate from Digipen Institute of Art and Tech, she has worked as a concept artist, illustrator and 3D character/creature artist for a variety of short films, pen and paper tabletop games, and videogames.
Growing up, an inborn love of animals led to a fascination with their biology and ecology, and from there to mythological creatures and folklore in general. The places where science and myth intersect form her favorite subject matter for personal work. Spare time is typically spent in the woods, via camping, hiking, archery or picking up strange bugs and berries. Mediums of choice include Photoshop, Zbrush, ink and graphite.
I'm looking forward to pushing myself and getting out of my comfort zone both personally and artistically. I've always wanted to travel and see new places, meet new people and learn from what different life and work experiences they bring to bare. I think as artists we all struggle a bit with effectively sharing and speaking with each other simply by virtue of holing up in our respective work caves. I hope to be inspired by the environment and people around me. “
Sapphire Sheedy
Australia
sapphiresheedy.com
Sapphire is a concept designer for children's animated shows for Netflix, Disney XD, ABC, Channel 10 and others. Sapphire is also passionate about the art of storytelling and combines her two passions to address and talk about vulnerable topics such as mental health in her comic series The Little Things.
“I am most looking forward to the new experience that not only Norway will provide but also the people who I will attending the program with. Listening and learning about people from different places and backgrounds is going to be very exciting.”