Category: Artist in Residence

Today we got to sit down with Dana Jelter to learn a little bit more about her and her art! Dana is an artist who we’ve had the privilege of hosting here at Generator as our most recent Artist-In-Residence. Dana utilized her residency to design, sculpt, and dress new puppet characters for her upcoming stop motion film. Towards the end of her residency, we had to opportunity to learn more about Dana’s influences and future plans that we are excited to share below!

Tell us a little bit about yourself… your background, education, etc.

I’m originally from Hudson, NY, a small, artsy town just a two-hour train ride from New York City. I went to college in Connecticut at Fairfield University where I got a media studies degree and it was great for my future career. I was able to complete an internship in Florence, Italy, with an independent theater called FESTA. It was run by two ex-pat women who would put on amazing plays at theaters across Italy and they also did these fun, confidence-building workshops for kids. I got to help them with both and it really solidified that I wanted to work in entertainment. When I came back from studying abroad, Fairfield’s close proximity to New York City allowed me to get an internship with Nick Jr. in Times Square, so I continued to work in children’s media for a bit. 

After graduation I decided to head to San Francisco and I ended up staying for 9 years. A huge part of that was because I landed a job at Lucasfilm (Star Wars), where I was able to do amazing things. Me and my team won an Emmy while I was a writer/associate producer for StarWars.com which was cool! I also met my husband in San Francisco who is also an artist (among many other things!). 

Once the pandemic hit, we moved to the Burlington area since big city living had lost its appeal. We had friends nearby and my husband was able to get a job. So we’ve been here since 2020, and now have an almost three-year-old son.

How did you find yourself creating puppets- was this something you learnt growing up or was an art you discovered while in school?

Puppets were always fascinating to me. Most kids love Sesame Street growing up but I always felt particularly connected to the Muppets. I just thought they were the most unique, funny, characters. I credit Jim Henson for molding my interests and passions and I don’t know if I’d do what I do, if he didn’t do what he did! 

In addition to the Muppets I loved stop-motion animation. I watched Gumby as a kid, Wallace & Gromit, Henry Selick and Tim Burton’s stop-motion films, etc. There was something really captivating about the art of stop-motion for me. The fact that unlike hand-drawn, traditional animation, this style seemed more real. They are tangible characters, and the handmade, imperfect look of them takes on an almost eerie quality. I always loved spooky things so the fact that this style is a little off-kilter really appeals to my weird side. 

Not long after college I saw the film Mary & Max by Australian animator Adam Elliot, and he was sort of the second Jim Henson for me when it comes to influences. I’ve never been so blown away by a film. It was one of those, “holy sh*t” moments where I knew I had to do what he was doing. Not totally rip him off, of course, but there was no better art form for me, than his extremely awkward-looking puppets that told stories about real people with real quirks. He calls his films “clayographies” and I just think they are so unique. Check out his newest film, Memoir of a Snail. It is amazing. 

So I started writing screenplays and took some film classes. I loved the storytelling side of things but I just could not shake wanting to make stop-motion puppets. I think I started sculpting in clay around 2014 and made my first stop-motion puppet in 2017. I didn’t take any classes, just learned from many talented artists on YouTube. So I took photos of the puppets, put them on my Instagram, and when they started to get a little buzz, I thought “Ok, some people actually like these, they’re not too weird.” 

So my husband and I decided to go to a couple conventions to sell our art and books. We made a book of short stories together, so we sold the book and I sold magnets of just sculpted heads. Some people did think they were too weird… which I sort of loved. The people that came by our table would either cringe and keep walking, or they were just blown away. I take the polarity as a win. The coolest moment was when one woman walked up to one of my characters and started to tear up because it happened to look just like her grandfather. As an artist there is nothing more special than that. 

After I got conventions out of my system I started working with my husband’s uncle who has a band in Norway. He loved what I was doing and asked me to shoot some videos for his band, Meg og Kammeraten Min. So I made three different videos for songs he sent me. They are not stop-motion animated, they are just live-action shot, edited videos of me playing around with different styles of puppets. 

Since then I took a stop-motion animation class with the School of Visual Arts in New York but I’ve realized that I don’t really love the process of animating. I love to write about it (I have a book coming out in September) and I love designing and creating characters, but the animation is so incredibly time consuming that I don’t have the stamina at the moment. Maybe someday, but for now, I love the idea of 3D illustration.

How did you hear about Generator’s Artist-In-Residence program?

I learned about the program just from looking through Generator’s website. I think I saw Generator on social media, and it looked like such a cool place I had to check it out. I applied for the AiR program because it seemed like the perfect fit for me. I got to visit Generator for the 10th anniversary party and then found out I got the residency shortly after. I was so excited!

Was there anything unique about this program that made it feel worth pursuing?

The community aspect is definitely unique about this program. I loved that I could be sitting at my studio on a random afternoon and have someone stop by just because they’re interested in what I’m working on. When you work by yourself at home you miss out on those interactions. It’s not only a confidence boost to have others interested in my work, but I also got unique perspectives and inspiration from the art that others have created at Generator.

As a Generator Artist-In-Residence, what has your experience been like?

I had such a great experience. The ability to learn from other artists and try out tools I’d never have access to otherwise has been invaluable to me. I was able to try out new ways of creating my art, for instance, 3D printing parts of my puppets. It’s not something I would have thought to do, but it made the structure of my puppets so much stronger. So overall the experience has made my creations more solid and I’ve gotten faster at building up the armatures, which was always my least favorite part. I don’t mind it so much now!

What was the main project that you were building on during your Residency?

During my residency I’ve been building puppets for a project I’m calling “Folks of Vermont.” I collected uniquely Vermont micro stories (think cows, snow, small-town mentality, etc) from real Vermonters and I’m going to illustrate a short book of stories with photos of my puppets. So it’s essentially a 3D-illustrated picture book. My inspiration here has been Red Nose Studio, the amazing work of Chris Sickels. This style has also been done by a South Korean artist, Baek Heena, whose book was just made into a short film and nominated for an Oscar. So it’s not unheard of, a few artists have done it, but it’s pretty rare.  

I currently have eight stories ready for my book, but that might grow! The stories are super short but have so much personality; it was not hard to think up characters for them. I collected the stories anonymously (aside from the town in VT in which they happened), which I actually prefer because I got to envision what the characters look like on my own. After doing some sketches and planning out the main scene of the story, I built my puppets. So while at Generator I built the puppet armatures (skeletons) using the 3D printer for some pieces like the chest, pelvis, and palms. I used the sewing room to make the clothing, and I just enjoyed having a studio space to sculpt — away from my curious toddler at home!

How have you grown as an artist during your residency? Are there things about the community, or the tools available, that allowed you to grow in ways that might not have been possible otherwise?

As a Mom, everyone knows you put yourself second constantly. When I became a Mom I really didn’t want to lose what made me “me,” and part of that was sculpting my weird little characters. I have a full-time job as an editorial manager, so I’m writing, editing, and managing writers all day for work, taking care of my son between nanny shifts, and I’m obviously super tired at night. But having a three-month block on my calendar to actually get in the car and drive to a studio was an impetus for me to create. I really didn’t want to throw away the amazing opportunity I was given, so I tried to get to the studio as much as I could… usually on nights and weekends and whenever I had a free hour or two. 

This made me grow as an artist because I realized you don’t need to have hours and hours to be creative. If I had an hour, cool, that’s enough time to start sculpting a face. Or if I have 2-3 that’s perfect for putting an armature together. When I had 5 hours on the weekend it felt like someone gave me a bag of gold. Time is such a precious commodity for parents and to have a designated space to just sit and make things?! I was so lucky. 

And then being able to work with a sewing machine was always something I wanted to do. A lot of the puppet clothes are very tiny, so I still had to hand-sew most things, but knowing how to thread a bobbin, turn on the machine, sew even a straight line was huge for me. And the 3D printer was super intriguing as someone who makes miniature objects by hand. The first thing I made was a tiny fruit bowl during my tool training and I was so happy with it!

 

Do you have any advice for incoming Artist-in-Residence?

Use the first month (before you get your studio space) to plan every detail. I wish I had done more planning first, because the three months go by very quickly! 

What’s you next goal for your art? Do you hope to accomplish anything in particular with your art?

The Folks of Vermont project is not yet complete, so I hope to keep working on it over the next year, at least! I’d love to get the book published and see it sold in local bookstores. The longterm goal with my art has always been to shine light on real situations and people. I like telling stories with unlikely protagonists and characters you don’t see much of in mainstream media. I want to inspire other people to make art that’s not cookie cutter, and tell stories that are unexpected. I want to make people feel things: good, bad, sad, creeped out — all of it!

Huge shout out to Dana for sharing her art and experience with the community at Generator! To learn more about Generator’s Artist in Residence program, check out our website! 

Today we got to sit down with Veronica Pham to learn a little bit more about her and her art! Veronica is an artist and educator who we’ve had the privilege of hosting here at Generator as our most recent Artist-In-Residence. Veronica used her residency to further explore traditional and contemporary Vietnamese papermaking techniques in order to preserve the centuries old craft from disappearing in an industrialized society. During the last week of Veronica’s residency, we had the opportunity to hear more about where her passion for paper making comes from and how others can learn more about the craft. Let’s turn things over to Veronica!

Name: Veronica Pham
Current Location: Burlington, VT
Hometown/Birthplace: Bridgeport, Chicago
Website: veronicapham.com 
Instagram: @veronicaypham

Tell us a little bit about yourself… your background, education, etc.

I was born in Bridgeport, Chicago and grew up only really knowing this Chinatown neighborhood. I’m a child of immigrant and refugee parents from China and Vietnam. Because of this, I found my little world of belonging in art, which helped me understand my place in the world.

My mom used to joke around and say that she forgot I was home when I was little because I would spend hours quietly drawing at my desk. I give my mother a lot of credit for always encouraging me to pursue art. I completed my BFA in Painting and Sculpture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and took a lot of time off before pursing my MFA at the University of Wisconsin Madison in Design Studies- Textile, Paper making, Material Culture.

By the time I started graduate school, I was asking a lot of questions about materiality- what relationship do I have with the materials I am using in my own work? I like to say that papermaking found me through this question. I completed my MFA in 2024 and right after that moved to Vermont to teach art and design in the Community Development and Applied Economics department at the University of Vermont.

How did you find yourself creating paper- was this something you learnt growing up or was an art you discovered while in school?

When I was painting and making sculptures [in undergrad], I was mainly using a lot of toxic, unknown materials. This created a disconnect with my practice- I didn’t feel like I was making a connection with the materials I was using, where it came from, or why I was even making it. I questioned all the sculptures I was making going into waste streams and it felt wrong in my work. Papermaking found me through those questions. I got plugged into a papermaking research lab, Fresh Press Paper, and I fell in love with the process of using the abundant agricultural waste found in the Midwest as a medium to make work. This gave me a sense of place and meaning in my work!

In graduate school, as I was making connections to land, materiality, and ecology, I started to ask more questions about the historical relevance of papermaking traditions across East and Southeast Asia to relate back to how my roots are tied to this specific craft. What I discovered was that traditional Vietnamese papermaking is the fabric of Vietnamese culture, used for spiritual events, food wrapping, art, and daily life. However in the past century, the craft is at risk of disappearing because of the history of colonization, war, and rapid industrialization. I found this information relatable- growing up I felt a disconnect with being Vietnamese. I saw the erasure of Vietnamese identity from my own father as a refugee assimilating to both American and Chinese culture. Stories get lost in these complex situations and only perpetuate as time passes, until you slow down and listen.

Vietnamese papermaking taught me to slow down and reconnect with my own identity. I’ve found relationships between papermaking and speaking about my own identity in other ways that I could not before- the nature of how I was slowly forgetting my family’s cultural traditions the same way history was forgetting traditional Vietnamese papermaking techniques. I see the purpose of making objects in my practice inextricably connected with the knowledge inherently passed down through my hands.

How did you hear about Generator’s Artist-In-Residence program?

My colleague, Steve Kostell, who also works in CDAE at UVM forwarded me the Artist in Residence program information. We also both work in handmade paper so we bounce a lot of ideas together! I’m so thankful he forwarded me this opportunity right when I moved to VT.

Was there anything unique about this program that made it feel worth pursuing?

The incredible facilities, especially the woodshop. I loved the idea of working in a community with other artist and sharing facilities. The Generator program really gives a chance for artists to explore different mediums or continue building off of a medium that you may have wanted to work in more. That was wood for me!

As a Generator Artist-In-Residence, what has your experience been like?

Working amongst a community of artists at Generator has been so fulfilling. When you move 1,000 miles from where your previous home was, it can be so daunting. Generator made home in VT feel much easier. Since being here, I have felt really focused. It also helps that I am working in a space with other incredibly talented artists.

How have you grown as an artist during your residency? Are there things about the community, or the tools available, that allowed you to grow in ways that might not have been possible otherwise?

I have spent almost all my time in the woodshop and have never completed wood projects this quickly. the woodshop at Generator is like a big sun hug. The natural lighting and garage doors really invite you into the space. Spending so much time in the sunny woodshop helped with those cold Vermont days.

Usually it takes me such a long time to complete woodworking projects, but with the 24-hour access at Generator, and all the right machinery, I was able to complete all the projects I started on. I’ve learned to be more focused in my projects and overall have become a much better person that can play/manipulate with wood kind of well!

Do you have any advice for the incoming Artist-In-Residence?

If your curiosity drives you, experiment with the medium that you have never really felt comfortable in. It will surprise you when the material starts teaching you. Also, try your best to connect with the other artists at Generator and collaborate. I was able to work with artist Eric Roy, prototyping for a project using the 3D printers and that has been such an unexpectedly fun collaboration. Connecting with other artists in their area of expertise is what makes Generator unique!

What’s your next goal for your art? Do you hope to accomplish anything particular? 

I want to continue advancing Vietnamese papermaking techniques, its craft related histories, and work to connect craft futures to time, land, and the inherent knowledge stored in our bodies. I’m also in the midst of working on a collaborative artist book project with the papermaking communities in Northern Vietnam. This will probably become a decades long project. Being new to Vermont, I hope to also connect with more textile/fiber artists, papermakers, and book artist within the Northeast.

Veronica will be hosting a commemorative workshop at Generator, what is the workshops focusing and why is this time of year so relevant? 

April marks 50 years since the Fall of Saigon during the Vietnam War. Many places around the U.S. and all over the world are hosting commemoration events related to this moment in history. I will be giving an artist talk and hosting a Vietnamese papermaking commemoration workshop on Saturday, April 26th from 1:00-4:00pm. Participants will be able to make their own sheet of paper using traditional equipment I constructed during my residency at Generator. They will also experiment with embedding their stories within the paper pulp through a watermarking process. This workshop will be free and open to the public, so I hope that you’ll join!

I feel immense gratitude that I am able to share this craft to the community here in Vermont. This is an extension of the generosity from my own friends, teachers, mentors, Zó Project, in Vietnam who continue to teach and collaborate with me. For many people, it will be their very first time making paper or knowing about Vietnamese papermaking/ This is exactly why I teach workshops! I love introducing new people to work in handmade paper. Much like my own experience, it is both exciting and challenging. Vietnamese papermaking is also a way to commemorate the unique stories of individuals. For me, this papermaking workshop is special- it is a dedication to my father and his journey from Saigon 50 years ago.

 

Big thank you to Veronica for sharing the story of her art! For any questions regarding Veronica’s upcoming workshop, please contact [email protected]. To learn more about Generator’s Artist in Residence program, check out our website! 

Today we get to sit down with Juli Badics to learn a little bit more about her and her art! Juli is a Hungarian American artist and illustrator who we’ve had the privilege of hosting here at Generator as our most recent Artist-In-Residence. Juli’s residency is coming to an end, and it has been wonderful watching her explore mixing paint and embroidery, and utilizing this space to create larger works. Juli is just getting going and we look forward to following her in the future. So… without further ado, let’s turn things over to Juli.

Name: Juli Badics
Current Location: Burlington, VT
Hometown/Birthplace: Acton, MA
Website: julibadics.myportfolio.com
Instagram: @jul_bad_art
TikTok: @julcsart

Are you from Vermont? If not… What brought you here?

Both of my parents moved to the United States in the early 1990s and raised my two older sisters and I in the suburbs of Massachusetts near Boston. We spent most summers in Hungary visiting family and friends and staying with our extended family in both Budapest and Ajka. In 2008 we moved to Hungary for a year so that my parents could show us what it was like to grow up there for a little while. College brought me here as I graduated from the University of Vermont in 2021 with a double major in anthropology and studio art and have kicked around here ever since.

How would you describe your art? Is your style something that came easily to you, or was it something you had to work to discover?

Hmm describing my own art… that’s a tough question. It’s always been something that has kind of naturally flown out of me and has changed through experimentation and explorations of different mediums over time. I’ve worked with printmaking, painting, drawing, illustration, clay, and fibers as a way to constantly pursue new elements in my work. I am a firm believer that each artistic medium informs one another as I ebb and flow within my own creative practice. Right now, I’ve been leaning into my painting the most but my drawing and multimedia explorations have informed and altered my approach. I would say that my art centers the human perspective and hopes to capture certain emotions and atmospheres depending on the scene I’m depicting. I am intrigued by places that feel placeful– that seem to have a history and a depth to them that can only be felt through experiencing the place itself, or rather, experiencing it through its artistic interpretation. The liminal spaces that hold so much rich emotion and often sadness and quiet, those are spaces I’m drawn towards.

My more thematic work surrounds my personal experiences growing up between two cultures and observing the pressures and cultural expectations in an almost out of body way. I feel like a silent observer in the settings of my paintings, observing the untold labors of the women in my lineage behind the scenes. Capturing feelings of nostalgia, longing, and distance. Witnessing their personal identities and inner peace fade for the sake of family, men, and societal expectation. There is a bittersweet edge to some of my paintings as my relationship with my Hungarian identity has its challenges. While Hungary hosts so much beauty and tradition, and many of the nostalgic scenes are reflections of my childhood innocence, the sexism and current political state which suppresses freedoms and denies its own involvement in history creates a strong discomfort with connecting to certain elements of the culture. Being a first generation American puts you in a unique position where you can feel the divide between cultures strongly and sometimes struggle to find your own place within those differences. I hope to explore these themes further in my current and future work and am really excited about my current works in progress. I hope to capture the rich storytelling and remnants of the old-world traditions my family practiced at the backdrop of generational changes that are being witnessed with the rise of the globalized technology age and feverish state of the world. I am dedicated to pushing the boundaries of my work through experimentation, exhibition, and interdisciplinary study and am eager to thoughtfully engage with color and material relationships throughout my future work.

How did you hear about Generator’s Artist-In-Residence program?

I had a friend—Josie Bunnel—who was a past artist-in-residence and her experience gave me the push to apply!

Was there anything unique about this program that made it feel worth pursuing?

Working in an environment that supports creativity and allows for focus and experimentation was the immediate draw. Utilizing the many facilities such as the sewing studio to create experiments and mixed media works was a huge bonus to the experience. And ultimately my favorite thing was being able to connect with the people who work there day in and day out and finding a community that supports and uplifts one another.

As a Generator Artist-In-Residence, what has your experience been like?

It’s been such a joy. A real stepping stone for understanding the importance of having a dedicated space to create outside of your own home. Until now, I had only ever worked from my living room and the projects and ambitions I have were starting to outgrow my space. I hope to be a part of the generator community in the future!

How have you grown as an artist during your residency? Are there things about the community, or the tools available, that allowed you to grow in ways that might not have been possible otherwise?

I have been able to scale up my work and create larger embroidered canvases as I had hoped and being able to purchase materials that elevated my work was so exciting as well. I got a hand held rolling press which allowed me to experiment with monotypes and I have plans to incorporate that into my larger works as well. The sewing studio has been a fun experience and I have plans to continue to utilize it and hopefully stretch my own canvases which I could build in the woodshop. For now the smaller experiments have been a great way to get a feel for new tools and generating ideas.

Do you have any advice for the incoming Artist-In-Residence?

Make use of the first month to get trained up! The delays in my personal life made it a challenge to fully utilize the space until a little later in my residency and now that I am in a flow, I don’t want to leave! Take advantage of the tools in your disposal and try to push the boundaries within your work.

What’s something you haven’t explored yet but would like to?

I want to use the laser cutter and woodshop more but have been bogged down with my larger projects. I want to spend the rest of my time exploring the multimedia elements I have some ideas with. Also building a better website would be an important next step for me.

Where do you hope your art will take you? Do you hope to accomplish anything in particular with your art?

I would love to show my work in new spaces and be a part of larger conversations around the subjects of belonging, dueling cultures, and gendered work and identity. Getting connected with curators and museum collections would be the dream! I have a passion for artmaking and have certain stories I’d like to tell through my work, and I am looking forward to finding my audience in the future and connecting with people on the human experience.

Do you have any advice for upcoming artists?

Everyone has their own process and experience in this program so lean into what feels right at the moment. Be ambitious– apply to everything and don’t let the fear of failure disway you from trying. That is ultimately the beauty in art, that everyone is simply trying their best to capture something intangible.